Month: March 2012

A NORTH Clare fisherman, whose customers have included Bill Clinton and Boris Yeltsin, has earned a reprieve in a bid to keep his business on Liscannor pier.

At Ennis District Court on Friday, Judge Aeneas McCarthy ordered Clare County Council to cut through the “red tape” to facilitate William O’Callaghan (72), a man he described as having made a “major contribution to tourism in North Clare”.

Mr O’Callaghan, who has operated an angling tour business on Liscannor pier since 1984, was brought to court by the council for failing to comply with a planning enforcement notice served in 2009.

The case relates to a mobile home on Liscannor pier used as an office by Mr O’Callaghan. The court heard that the Council received a complaint about an unauthorised structure on Liscannor pier in April 2009.

Anne Colleran, executive technician and planning enforcement officer, told the court that the structure was deemed unauthorised as it had been put up without planning permission.

Ms Colleran said Mr O’Callaghan failed to comply with a notice from the council ordering him to remove the structure. She said that while there is no registered owner of Liscannor pier, Clare County Council is responsible for the maintenance of the area.

Ms Colleran said Mr O’Callaghan had applied to the land registry to take possession of the area of ground where his business is situated. The court was told that Mr O’Callaghan pays commercial rates to Clare County Council. Ms Colleran said the payment of rates did not “regularise the situation”. She said the council accepted that Mr O’Callaghan had operated a suc- cessful business from Liscannor pier for 27 years. She added, “He has our sympathy and he’d have our support if he went to an authorised structure.”

Solicitor for O’Callaghan, Micheal Glynn, told the court that his client had met with the council in 2009 in an attempt to resolve the matter. Mr Glynn said his client’s previous customers included world leaders such as Boris Yeltsin, Bill Clinton and former President of Ireland, Patrick Hillery.

Mr O’Callaghan, a former schoolteacher, told the court that he had represented Shannon Development at major tourism conferences around the world. He said he had recently spent € 540,000 on a top of the range angling boat. He said he required an office on Liscannor pier to carry out safety exercises with customers. Mr O’Callaghan added that it was also vital to maintain a prescence on the pier during busy periods to prevent vandalism. He added, “If Clare County Council develop the pier, I’d be willing to surrender what I have as long as I am accommodated.”

Judge Aeneas McCarthy said that at a time when tourism is of such importance to the Irish economy, it would be in the interests of the local community, society and Clare tourism for Mr O’Callaghan to be accommodated. He said, “This man has made contacts all over the world, he is known all over the world.”

Judge McCarthy said the council should come up with some sort of plan to develop Liscannor pier to “circumvent the red tape”. He adjourned the matter until September 28.

THE Killaloe Search and Rescue service have put emergency procedures in place to allow them to continue to patrol Lough Derg, despite the theft of two engines last week.

The theft, which was yesterday described by rescue service founder Tony O’Brien as a “crime against the whole community”, took place late on Wednesday night last in Killaloe. A group of thieves made away with two 90-horsepower Honda engines, each of which is worth € 15,000.

“It is devastating to think that people would go so low as to take equipment that could be used in a rescue operation. This is more than a theft from a person, this is a theft from the whole community. These engines were funded and paid for by the communities of Killaloe and Ballina and that makes it so, so disappointing,” said Mr O’Brien.

“We are a resilient group and we have put in place emergency procedure so we will be able to respond if there is an emergency. But these two engines will have to be replaced. I don’t know how we will do that.”

It is understood that the people involved in the theft were aware that the engines being stolen belonged to the volunteer rescue service.

“There is no question that they knew. The boat is quite clearly marked and the people who did this crime knew exactly who they were taking this from and what they were doing. It is sad that people would stoop this low,” continued Tony. “This is stealing material that would help to safe someone’s life down the line. If the people involved do find their conscience, if they leave the engines, someone we will go and collect them.”

The theft was also criticised by local Cllr Joe Cooney (FG) who described the theft as “outrageous”.

“It is awful what happened. Crime is getting bad out here in East Clare. It is simply outrageous. To take something like this from a voluntary group and put lives at risk in the process is just outrageous,” said Joe.

Anyone with information on the theft is asked to ring the gardaí in Killaloe on 061 620540.

A FORMER All-Ireland-winning Clare hurler has scored a victory against Tesco in a defamation case taken over the purchase of a bottle of wine.

Scariff man Patrick Moroney (33) was awarded € 7, 500 and costs at Ennis Circuit Civil Court last Thursday.

However, Judge Donagh McDonagh granted a request from Tesco’s legal representatives to have a stay placed on the order for a period of 10 days in the event of an appeal.

Mr Moroney, who played wing forward on the Clare minor hurling team that won the All-Ireland title in 1997, took the case for defamation following an incident at Tesco, Corbally, Ardnacrusha on November 28, 2010.

The court heard that Moroney and his girlfriend, Claire Hayes, were on the way to his parent’s house when Ms Hayes suggested that they purchase a bottle of wine.

Ms Hayes, a trainee solicitor who was then aged 25, was refused purchase of the wine because she did not have identification.

Mr Moroney, a solicitor for Moroney Meehan Solicitors who have offices in Scariff and Limerick, was then refused the wine by Tesco employee Ann Devlin.

In refusing to sell the wine to Mr Moroney, Ms Devlin, it was claimed, said, “you might as well be buying it (wine) for the children on the street”.

This was disputed by Ms Devlin. However, in his judgment, Judge McDonagh found that “these words or words to that effect were used” by Ms Devlin.

He described the words as “inflammatory and unnecessary” and seemed designed to “put him (Moroney) in his place”.

Counsel for Tesco, Ronnie Robins SC, had previously told the court that Tesco were presenting a defence of qualified privilege.

He had stated that qualified privi- lege failed when malice is shown, claiming that Mr Moroney had failed to prove that there had been malice.

Judge McDonagh said he was satisfied that Mr Moroney’s reputation had been “impugned” and that Mr Moroney had discharged the appropriate proof.

He said that he had raised concerns over accepting jurisdiction of the case.

Judge McDonagh said no evidence had been given of “serious or any damage” to Mr Moroney’s reputation.

He added, “As defamation goes, it is not a serious defamation”.

He said the appropriate damages are € 7,500.

Noting that Tesco clearly recognise their responsibilities regarding the sale and supply of alcohol, Judge McDonagh said that the retail firm should also train their staff in the “limits of language”.

The court had been told that damages of up to € 50,000 could have been awarded by the court.

ST PATRICK has his work cut out for him if he ever decides to return to County Clare, with reports of grass snakes in the Ennis sewer, corn snakes in a Kilmihil graveyard and a 14-foot anaconda living in one Clare council estate.

According to the Clare Dog Warden, Frankie Coote, the Clare snake population has ballooned in recent years and, with no laws or licensing system in place for snakes, there is little that can be done to control the numbers being introduced into the county.

While the number of poisonous snakes in Clare is believed to be low, Frankie has urged snake owners to be vigilant and ensure that their animals are not allowed to escape. A number of snake escapes have been reported in recent months, most recently a corn snake which was discovered in Kilmihil and has since been returned to its owner.

“The county has become a lot more cosmopolitan when it comes to animals and there are a lot of different types of pets in Clare these days. There were a lot of people, during the boom time, who started buying exotic pets like snakes,” said Frankie.

“The problem is that because they are so new, there is no law for them. It is against the law to go down the road with a Jack Russell if he’s not on a lead, but it is not against the law to walk down the road with a big snake or a tiger.

“We had an incident in Ennis recently where someone was leaving his snakes out to play as people were on their way down to bingo – in the middle of the town centre. People were getting worried and phoning me but it turned out there was nothing against the law going on.

“We had one snake that lived in the drains in Ennis for six months. It was found in the back of Paddy Quinn’s pub in the market. It had been seen by several people going in for a drink but no-one believed them, they thought they had drank too much. We managed to find the owner for that one.

“I am also aware of one particular man who had a 14-foot anaconda in a council estate in Clare.”

The corn snake, which was found at the Kilmihil Graveyard, had lived there for six months and survived by hunting mice and rats at the graveyard.

PROMOTING Kilrush in Galway has proven too costly an endeavour for the Kilrush Town Council’s diminished marketing budget.

However, promoting the town and particularly the Loop Head Lighthouse, in Limerick and Kerry has already paid off according to the town council’s marketing and development officer Síobhan Garvey.

“It is an achievement to get people from Kerry out of their own county and spending money,” she told the March meeting of Kilrush Town Council.

But that is what the people south of west Clare and from many other parts of Ireland did last year, with 1,700 people visiting the lighthouse over a few weeks.

Despite having her budget cut this year, Ms Garvey said she is adapting and using imaginative ways to promote the town and the west Clare area. She said she was now pushing social media as a way of free advertising.

“You could put an ad into a magazine and you don’t know how much you get out of it,” she said.

The council pays to have the Kilrush promotional brochure in stands in Clare, Kerry, Limerick and Shannon Airport but it cannot afford to do it in Galway due to high costs.

“It is too expensive. I would love to get in there,” said Ms Garvey.

“I had to renegotiate for the other stands already because of the cuts to the marketing budget.”

Mayor of Kilrush, Councillor Ian Lynch (FG), who flew to New York at the weekend, has produced an investment document with the assistance of the marketing department, which he will present to business people, potential visitors and politicians.

Meanwhile Ms Garvey told the council members that she also has responsibility in providing a supporting role to the town clerk in the area of parking fines and permits.

Here too, she is using new and imaginative ways. In co-operation with the town clerk and Clare County Council, she is currently co-ordinating a pay-online facility for parking fines. This is expected to be live by the end of the year. “We have a lot of visitors that get parking fines,” she said.

THE MAYOR of Kilrush has threatened to get a brush and can of white paint and draw road marks on a road that has being dubbed “Bombay Junction” locally.

Mayor Ian Lynch (FG) was told that it would be a serious traffic violation to interfere with the road markings at Limekill Junction (sic) on the entrance on the town.

Cllr Paul Moroney (Ind) said it would be a shameful for the council, if something wasn’t done about the busy junction.

The councillor, who is also a volunteer member of the fire service, said the fire brigade has already been called to a serious accident at the cross roads where the occupants of the car had to be cut from their vehicles.

Another man told Cllr Moroney that he got knocked off his bike at this junction.

“It would be a shame if this council got this done two days after someone is killed,” he said.

“We have discussed this for two years. Let us do something about this now. Shame on us.”

Cllr Liam Williams (FG) said at nine in the morning when children are going to school it is a very seriously dangerous junction.

The councillors were responding to news that plans for re-drawing the junction are still not in place.

Clare County Council maintained previously that they did not have time or the staff available to design the junction.

Town engineer Derek Troy then designed a solution for the dangerous junction, which was not approved by the road design team.

Town Manager Nora Kaye told the members of the council that there were a lot of people out on sick leave and as a result a lot of work was on hold.

“We have a bit of an issue at the moment.”

She said the junction, which is a cross roads past Aldi as you enter the town from the Ennis side, was the re sponsibility of the NRA.

“Don’t lose sight of the fact that we do not have money to do it. Strictly speaking it is a primary secondary route and the responsibility of the NRA,” she said.

She said once the road design is complete the project will still not be done.

“We should just get the design done and worry about the money after. We look foolish on this when we can’t even get a white line drawn,” said Mayor Lynch.

Cllr Marian McMahon Jones (FG) asked, “Could we still be here next year and it still not done.”

MUCKROSS Park in Killarney could soon have some serious competition from Kilrush as the council proposes to introduce jaunting cars to Kilrush Wood.

The wood, which surrounds the popular Vandeleur Walled Garden, is also the responsibility of Coillte, and members of the council executive are to meet with the state body to discuss this proposal and a number of other issues.

At the March meeting of the council, Mayor of Kilrush Ian Lynch (FG) asked that “Shannon Development and Coillte in association with Clare County Council to explore the possibility of opening of the Kilrush Wood existing road and track network to the seasonal attraction of jaunting, which would complement the existing attractions of the Vandeleur Walled Gardens and Kilrush’s Historic Trail while also providing tourism revenue to the town.”

He said that there are already old stables on the grounds of the Vandeleur Walled Gardens and the tracks are in place.

Marketing Officer with Kilrush Town Council, Síobhan Garvey said, “The Vandeleur Walled Garden and Kilrush woods remain a top priority when the town council engages in any tourism promotion and in recent years Kilrush Town Council has invested in resurfacing the roadway leading from the main road in through the woods to the car park as week as including it in the Historic Town Trails Walk.”

“In 2011, following consultation with coillte, they developed their walkways further by adding a new marked way and interpretational signs. It is acknowledge that the gardens and woods are almost a hidden treasure in the area and every effort is being made to promote both.”

THE number of frontline civil service staff working in the county has been reduced by hundreds since the Government embargo in 2008.

The exact number is still unclear, but a least 100 more have been lost through the Government’s early retirement scheme, which ended on February 29.

Clare local authorities are suffering the greatest staff reduction, losing almost one fifth of its staffing levels since its peak in 2006.

In June 2006, there were 1,002 employees working for Clare County Council, Kilrush Town Council and Kilkee Town Council.

By March 1 this year, that number had dropped by 197 people to 805.

The council started to reduce its staffing numbers prior to the embargo in 2008, so as to avoid “a slash and burn” once the Government called for the cuts.

From June 2008 to March 1, 2012, Clare’s local authorities lost 159 staff members through retirement, voluntary redundancy and people leaving for other employment.

The councils are attempting to cover the staffing shortage by moving staff between departments and councils.

The number of Gardaí in the county has dropped by at least 41 members in the last 11 months.

At the January meeting of the Joint Policing Committee, Chief Superintendent John Kerins told the members that there will be at least 41 less members on the force in Clare at the end of February this year when compared to the end of March last year.

As a result of the drop in personnel and the ever-tightening Garda budget, Carrigaholt lost its garda station this year, with more stations expected to close in the coming years.

At least 31 primary school teachers have retired from the county’s schools in the last few months, with many more choosing to take their retirement package from the county’s secondary schools.

The number of teachers in the county is expected to be reduced further in September, when the Department of Education increases class sizes.

Last week, the HSE announced that as many as 1,222 people have retired from the HSE West since last September.

The health service area, which includes County Clare, lost 680 people, mostly frontline staff, to the Early Retirement Scheme since the beginning of the year.

In the former Mid Western Health Board area, made up of Clare, Limerick and North Tipperary, almost 300 staff had retired just one week before the cut-off mark of February 29.

NATURAL food businesses in North Clare were to the fore last Friday when the Minister for Food, Horticulture and Food Safety, Minister Shane McEntee (FG) paid a special visit to Inagh Farmhouse Cheese and the Burren Smokehouse.

The minister was met in Lisdoonvarna by co-owner of the Burren Smokehouse, Birgitta Hedin-Curtin. Birgitta, who began the compa- ny with her husband Peter, had just returned from the Middle East, having met with a number of high-end retailers in Kuwait and Qatar.

“For the Burren Smokehouse, it is vital to meet face to face with our customers. I got an invite from my buyer in Kuwait two weeks ago and decided to immediately take up on his invite.

“This is à great opportunity for the Burren Smokehouse to further our brand in the global gourmet market and is part of our brand strategy,” she said.

The smokehouse will soon be launching their brand in specialty food shops in Portugal and Spain.

“This is not an overnight success. We have been building this business for 22 years, staying true to our core values of 100 per cent Irish raw materials, with excellent certification, building a great team, learning hard lessons and building trust with our customers,” said Peter Curtin.

The smokehouse began as a twoperson business with Birgitta and Peter but has since grown to employ 14 people in the low season and 20 in the very busy periods.

Meanwhile, Siobhan Ni Gháirbhith and her team welcomed the minister to Inagh for a tour of the farm and a tasting of their famed St Tola Organic Goats Cheese.

“We are delighted that the minister took the effort to come and visit us and it is a boost to us all that such importance and understanding is being applied to the organic agriculture industry,” said Siobhan.

“Over the past two years, St Tola Organic Goats cheese has grown its business from supplying the catering sector to having a major presence in the Irish retail market with product in all the major supermarkets. St Tola Divine and Logs will be on special offer this month and next in SuperValu and later in May in Tesco.”

GORT is in mourning today after the tragic death of two local men is separate incidents in recent days.

Enda O’Donohue from Ardrahan was killed in a car accident in Australia on Friday night last, just five weeks after emigrating to work with his brother Eoin.

The is the second major tragedy to hit the family in recent years, following the tragic death of Enda’s brother Aidan in Ennis in 2005. Aidan went missing following a night out in Ennis and was discovered dead in the River Fergus after a week-long search.

This latest tragedy comes just days after the death of Enda’s aunt in Gort last week.

The young carpenter, who is described as being a hurling fanatic, played for the Gort hurling club and also played soccer for Kinvara. His parents, Bernie and Mary, along with his siblings Alan, Caroline and Christina, gathered at their home last week to try and come to terms with the tragedy.

Enda is understood to have been walking home alone after socialising with friends and was crossing the Bruce Highway when he was struck by a car. The alarm was raised by a passer-by and the young Irishman was rushed to Ingham Hospital in a critical condition. He was later airlifted to the larger Townsville Hospital around 60km away but died there on Saturday morning.

Meanwhile, gardaí in Kerry are investigating if a Gort man whose body was found in the Ballylongford Bog in North Kerry had been involved in a row over a car before his death.

The victim, who was named locally as Brazilian national Bruno Limes de Souza Silva, was reported missing from his home in Gort last month.

Two men – a 19-year-old Irish man and a 24-year-old Brazilian – were taken into Garda custody on Sunday.

A spokesman for the Brazilian Embassy in Ireland said consular staff are in touch with the victim’s girlfriend in Gort, Patricia Silva, who first reported him missing.

“His family have been in touch with us before to say he was missing. At the moment, we do not know too much and we are waiting to see what happens from the gardaí,” said the embassy spokesperson.

Mr De Souza Silva came to Ireland eight years ago and was last in touch with the embassy in 2010 when he renewed his passport.