Month: August 2012

AN ENNIS resident who has been a victim of recent anti-social behaviour says he will drive to the office of the Minister for Justice, Alan Shatter, and complain to him in person if action is not taken to improve the service being offered to the public by gardaí in Clare.

The Glenina resident, who asked not to be identified, says he is only raising the issue with Minister Shat- ter in the hope that it will spark a change in the way anti-social, violent and intimidating behaviour is treated by the gardaí.

“I don’t have anything against any garda, but I think the people have just lost faith in them.

“I know their resources have been stretched but that makes it all the more important to engage with the local people,” he said.

“All I want is for this to spark a change. It is no good for the gardaí to sit there and wait for the people to come to them – they have to part of some sort of community approach to solving this problem.

“Until they do that, nothing is going to change – it will only get worse. When I was at school, everyone knew the local policeman.

“He was part of the community. It is not about driving up and down the Gort Road. It is about getting out of the car and actually talking to people. It is an old fashioned idea but it will work. What is happening in Ennis is bad but it is nothing compared to situations which have happening in other places.

“So it can be fixed. But if something is not put in place to fix this then it will get worse.

“We cannot bury our heads in the sand any longer. I’m not interested in Dublin or Limerick, if something is not done in County Clare soon then it will only get worse.

“If I don’t get a reply from Alan Shatter I will get into the car and go and visit him in his constituency office,” he added.

A FORMER Clare County Council worker who was found dead at his home in Kilrush last May died as a result of misadventure, an inquest has heard.

The body of Michael Noel Blunnie (61) was discovered by gardaí at his home at 2 O’Gorman Street on May 1, 2011.

An inquest into his death heard that Mr Blunnie died from positional asphyxiation, with alcohol intoxication and heart disease as contributory factors.

County Coroner Isobel O’Dea ruled that Mr Blunnie died by misadventure.

Door-to-door enquires were car- ried out in the area following the death and CCTV footage was also obtained.

Supt Gerry Wall of Kilrush Garda Station told Clare Coroner’s Court on Friday that “no evidence of criminality was established from these lines of enquiry”.

The inquest heard that an ambulance was called to the house on April 30 after Mr Blunnie complained of stomach and chest pains. Mr Blunnie refused to get into the ambulance. A friend, Paul O’Connor, said he placed a blanket over Mr Blunnie when he fell asleep that evening. When he left, he also placed a rag in the front door to jam it shut because there was no lock.

Mr O’Connor said, “He drank a naggin of whiskey while I was there.”

The inquest heard that Mr Blunnie’s house was in poor condition, with no electricity, heating or running water.

Michael Sweeney told the inquest that he had left his family home in Kilrush at around 6am to look for a lighter. After trying a number of houses, Mr Sweeney called to Mr Blunnie’s house. He told the inquest that he had known the deceased for a number of years. Mr Sweeney walked in, took the lighter and noticed Mr Blunnie lying down. He added, “I did not stay there. I panicked and left. I hate dead bodies.”

After calling to his brother’s house, Mr Sweeney phoned the gardaí, the inquest heard.

Of Mr Sweeney’s demeanor, Garda Gander said, “He appeared to be distressed and upset and struggled to get across what happened at 2 O’Gorman Street….He was very forthcoming.”

Deputy State Pathologist Dr Kahlid Jaber told the court that blood and urine analyses showed that Mr Blunnie “was drinking heavily at the time he passed away”.

He said the primary cause of death was positional asphyxiation with acute alcohol intoxication and hyper cardio-vascular disease as contributory factors.

Ms O’Dea said, “It is quite clear from the evidence there was no suspicion of foul play.” She paid her condolences to the deceased’s family and friends.

Retired garda Michael Ryan also paid his condolences to the Blunnie family. He said, “Mick Noel was nice, gentle man.”

CLARE County Council received complaints against 60 of its tenants last year in relation to anti-social behaviour.

According to figures received from the local authority, complaints were made against 60 of the council estimated 1,500 tenants in 2012.

It is unclear, however, how often each of these 60 tenants were complained, with some people complained on several or even dozens of occasions.

According to Liam O’Connor of the Housing Section at Clare County Council, the complaints are evenly distributed around the council’s properties and there are no anti-social blackspots.

Mr O’Connor also said that the local authority takes a proactive approach to dealing with anti-social behaviour by any of its tenants.

“A small proportion, approximately four per cent, of all tenancies would be reported during any one year as creating a problem in their neighbourhood,” he said.

“The council investigates in each case and works to resolve the issues. In very serious cases, where there is no improvement in the situation following the council’s intervention, eviction proceedings are taken by the council. One or two such proceedings would be underway during the course of any year.

“The council has formed a network of residents’ associations in which there are now 46 residents associations participating. Periodic network meetings are arranged with training and help being provided to the associations, whose voluntary work in their neighbourhoods is highly valued by the council.

“There is also active participation in the council’s ‘best kept estates’ awards each year, with 25 groups receiving awards at various levels last year.

“Notwithstanding this preventative and positive work with residents which contributes to a higher quality of life in those estates, the council also takes an active role in addressing tenancy breaches where those are reported. The council also liaises with statutory organisations including An Garda Siochána and the Health Service Executive on a regular basis, with regard to anti-social behaviour and related issues.”

ONE million euro has been donated to the Diocese of Killaloe to promote vocations and to help fund the training of new priests in the diocese.

The money was a bequest to the diocese in the will of an unknown local person, on the condition that it only be used to promote new priests entering the ministry.

The cash windfall was yesterday described by diocesan spokesperson, Fr Brendan Quinlivan, as a sign of “new hope” for vocations in the diocese.

The Killaloe diocese currently has one person studying to become a priest, while a number of other men are currently considering entering formal studies.

“This is a sign of great hope for the diocese. The person who made this donation must have been someone whose life was greatly impacted on by the priesthood,” said Fr Quinlivan.

“The money will be used for the promotion of vocations and also to help fund the studies of anyone from the diocese who decides to study to become a priest. Between accommodation and the cost of studies it can cost between € 15,000 and € 20,000 a year for a person to train to become a priest and this could take between five and seven years.”

According to Fr Quinlivan, the type of people who decide to join the priesthood these days are very different from the people who joined in the past. New entrants are generally older, and must undertake psychological testing as well as a period of deep reflection before they are allowed to begin their studies.

“We had two ordinations in the parish this year, we currently have one person in studies and we have a number of people who have expressed an interest in becoming a priest and are currently in a period of discernment,” continued Fr Quinlivan.

“It is different from how it was in my day when people came straight from school. These days we are finding a lot of older men, who have lived through the Celtic Tiger and have come to the conclusion that there is something different out there for them.

“Many of these people may have to give up jobs to begin their studies so it is a total change of life for them.”

The diocese will receive the € 1 million in three different payments over three years. Pic kin g u p to wa rd s th e we e ke n d bu t e a rly in d ic a t io n s a re n o t gre a t , m o re c lo u d wit h o n ly spo ra d ic su n sh in e .

CLARE will now have two respesentatives at this year’s Rose of Tralee Festival – and both of them will be named Flanagan.

Despite Clare Rose, Orla McDonagh, not making it through to this year’s final, the county will be represented by London Rose, Nóra Ní Fhlannagáin, who hails from Corofin, and also the New Zealand Rose, Alana Marshall, whose family comes from Ennis.

Alana, whose great-great-grandfather, Michael Flanagan, left Ennis for New Zealand in 1864, was among 15 overseas Roses who gathered in Dublin yesterday to be presented with a certificate of her Irish heritage.

Sporting the Clare jersey, Alana was presented with her certificate by leading Kerryman, Dick Spring. The Certificate of Irish Heritage is a Government document, signed by the Tánaiste, Eamon Gilmore, as an official recognition of a person’s Irish ancestry by the Government of Ireland.

“From a young age, I was very aware and proud of my Flanagan Irish connection. My parents took me to Clare when I was 11 and I returned again when I was 18, during my gap year.

“I felt an amazing sense of belonging and felt so at home. I am delighted to honour my ancestors and the sacrifices they made through the Certificate of Irish Heritage,” she said yesterday.

Each Certificate of Irish Heritage is a personal record of the recipient’s Irish roots, showing the name of their Irish ancestor and the town or parish in Ireland from which they came.

It is as yet unclear whether Clare’s two Flanagan representatives are in any way related to each other but they will be able to assess their family histories when the Rose of Tralee festival gets underway later this week.

Nóra Ní Fhlannagáin is an Oxfordbased PHd student but her roots are very much in County Clare, with her father, John Flanagan, living on the main street in Corofin and a collection of cousins and friends all over the county.

Indeed, Nóra even has a connection to this year’s Clare Rose as her uncle, Tom Flanagan, is a next-door neighbour of Orla McDonagh in Clouna.

A NEW constitution has been drafted for the people of the Burren – a document which, it is hoped, will help preserve the environment and way of life of the area for future generations. After more than two years of consultation with the local people, the first draft of the Burren Charter was released last week. The charter contains a set of aims for all sections of the community involved in the area and the hope is that the entire local population will sign up to uphold it.

The draft document was compiled by the BurrenBeo Trust, The Burren Farming for Conservation Group, Burren Connect, Burren IFA and both Clare and Galway County Councils.

“This has been developed through contact with the local community and it is about the people who live here deciding what they want for the future and what they can do to make this happen,” said Áine Bird of the Burrenbeo Trust.

“This is a draft charter at the moment and a lot of research has gone into it. But it is still a working document and we really want to the local people to get stuck into the document and tell us if they think we are going in the right direction.

“We need to get the community’s input into this and for them to tell us if we are going in the right direction with this or not.”

It is unclear at present whether members of the general public in the Burren will be asked to physically sign up to the Burren Charter once it is completed but the charter will have no legal standing.

“We are already working on different projects that have come about through the work already done on the charter.

“One of these is a community festival for the Burren which will take place in October and should be a great event but we are also working on a series of recordings of the farm- ing tradition with the Cuimhneamh an Chláir,” said Áine. “We are also looking at creating a one-stop-shop resource centre for the people of the Burren and also an audit of the heritage courses which are available in the Burren to see is there a gap in the market. This isn’t just a book exercise, things are going to happen ot of this.”

Anyone who wants to comment on the Burren Charter can download it at Burrenbeo.com or in the North Clare libraries.

THE future of the Burren Farming for Conservation Project (BFCP) is one of the key goals outlined in the draft Burren Charter, which was published last week.

The project, which formed part of the pilot BurrenLIFE project last year, currently supports 266 Burren farmers to farm in a way that will protect the Burren natural limestone pavement, control pollution and prevent the encroachment of scrub.

According to Michael Davoran of Burren IFA, the way of life for the people of the Burren can be saved through this charter.

“This is ground-up management for the Burren. It is about preserving the way of life for the people at the Burren and that is not something that the farmers of the Burren can do by themselves.

“We need help, we all need to work together, that is what this charter is about,” he said.

“It started off with farmers working with the National Parks and Wildlife and that is to broaden out through the Heritage Council to the management of all aspects of the Burren.

“Everyone needs to have a voice in this – it is people in once-off houses, people who live in villages around the place, people who earn a living locally through the service industry and tourism. We all interact with each other and we all need to realise that,” said Mr Davoran.

Along with the preservation of the BFCP, the charter also advocated the development of a one-stop Burren shop and helpline to support and help farmers, as well as increasing the opportunities for local farmers in the areas of conservation, tourism and enterprise to help supplement farm income.

“This is the people of the Burren managing the Burren for the betterment of all. It is the people of the Burren asking themselves, what can we do for ourselves, instead of having something imposed from above,” said Mr Davoran.

“The Burren is managed by the farmer. The archeology, the geology, the flora and the fauna are all a product of the farming which has gone on for generations. ‘If we want people to continue to support us in projects like the Farming for Conservation Programme, the more people who are playing a role in managing the Burren – farming and non-farming bodies – the better.”

A SENIOR executive of Microsemi in Ireland has said the company is considering expanding its operations in Ennis.

In light of Ennis being named Microsemi’s European headquarters, Vice President Richard Finn said operations at the plant could be increased further.

Ennis was selected as a base to consolidate many of Microsemi’s legal and human resources functions.

Microsemi also recently moved a new product line to Ennis, boosting the number of people employed by Microsemi in Clare to 300.

Mr Finn sees similar developments as crucial to the growth of the Ennis plant.

He explained, “Since January we’ve taken on 50. We’ve moved a product line out of Lawrence, Massachusetts, just 20 miles north of Boston, in January.

“We’re still hiring a few engineers and technicians. Hopefully it will continue to grow.”

Asked if the designation of Ennis as Microsemi’s European headquarters could aid expansion of the plant, Mr Finn said;

“Absolutely. My job is to find what the next thing is that we can move in here because we do squeeze some efficiencies in here and we do have economies of scale in what we do which is primarily the test and burn- ing of discreet semi-conductors, which is a fairly narrow field. But we’re the best in the world at what we do. If we can bolt on something else, then so much the better.”

Mr Finn said there was no shortage of skilled workers in the labour market.

He added, “Generally yes. We’ve had a great response.

“We advertised in January and got a great response. We got huge numbers.

“We got maybe 400 people for 30 jobs in terms of people applying. We interviewed about 100. There is no shortage of people looking for work or willing to do it.

There’s always going to be a scarcity in a specialised field.”

ENNIS is well positioned to benefit from any future expansion plans by Microsemi.

That’s according to the IDA who have welcomed the announcement that Ennis has been chosen as the European headquarters for the US company.

Barry O’Leary, Chief Executive Officer of the IDA, said, “Microsemi is a growing company with ambitious plans and Ennis is wellpositioned to contribute to this growth.”

He added, “The contribution of the company to the local economy and community is highly significant, and it is gratifying to see the partnership strengthening with the announcement that Ennis is to become its European headquarters.

According to local Fine Gael TD, Joe Carey, the news that the Ennis facility will serve as the company’s European headquarters is “a real vote of confidence in this region, its workforce and the future of the mid-west”.

He added, “The company will have done their homework and will know that we have a vastly improved infrastructure network in the midwest, easy access to global markets and a skilled and dedicated workforce, all of which will help foster future growth and development.

“I welcome the fact that 50 jobs were created this year and look forward to more announcements on jobs in the future as the company continues to grow and develop and expand its range of products and activities in Ennis.”

ENNIS has been officially named as the European headquar ters for Microsemi, one of the county’s largest employers.

The Ennis plant, which employs 300 people, beat off competition from Microsemi plants in Wales and Bordeaux.

According to the company, the announcement “represents a significant endorsement of the work of the Ennis facility and its contribution to the wider Microsemi global network”.

The statement continued, “Ennis has been a world-class facility and a key contributor in the manufacturing processes of the company’s high reliability products, and is well-poised to contribute to Microsemi Cor poration’s planned expansion and growth strategy.”

Ennis faced competition from Microsemi plants in Wales and France. According to Richard Finn, Vice President of Microsemi Ireland, Ennis was always in a strong position to be chosen as the company’s European base of operations.

He said, “It was something we were working on for a while. 15 years ago this was the only site in Europe but we’ve acquired a lot of countries in the past four or five years. A lot of them are small micro-units in various different countries. We’ve ended up with a total of 15 different sites and 18 different legal entities in Europe. This is an effor t to consolidate some of that and organise it a bit differently. We have all these legal and HR functions, here, for across Europe.”

He continued, “We have a site with the greatest scale. We’ve moved a lot of things in here in the last five years. Everything has worked well. We’ve a good reputation of deliver- ing what we promised. That’s probably the main reason. We have about 300 people which is well up on what it was four or five years ago.”

Microsemi provides high reliable products for aerospace programmes and satellites. Components are specially tested at Microsemi Ennis to withstand the harsh environment in space.

The Ennis facility is the largest Microsemi operation outside of the US and the company is one of the largest employers in Clare.

The announcement was made last Tuesday at a celebration commemorating the company’s 20-year anniversary in Ireland, which was attended by several senior company executives including James J. Peterson, Microsemi’s President and Chief Executive Officer.

Mr Finn added, “It’s good to get it done. We’re in Ireland for 20 years, July 1992 this site was acqui red for what was then Unitrode. It coincides with that. We’ve had our Board of Directors over here for the past three or four days for some meetings. It’s good that they are over here to see what is going on. We’ve made a lot of improvements on the site over the last five or six years.”