Month: April 2013

THE family of Ennis man Frank Hassett whose dead body was concealed in a shower for 19 days say questions remain unanswered about the circumstances of his death.

Mr Hassett’s badly decomposed body was discovered by gardaí in an apartment at Lifford Lodge on July 3, 2011.

The 25 year old had been reported missing in Ennis by his family on June 20, 2011.

He died sometime between the hours of June 14 and 15, 2012, in a bed-sit rented by Ennis man Bernard Flaherty (38).

In February, Mr Flaherty, with an address at 3 Lifford Lodge, received a three year suspended sentence at Clare Circuit Criminal Court after pleading guilty to making a false statement to gardaí on June 24, 2011.

An inquest into the death of Mr Hassett yesterday returned a verdict of death by misadventure.

Speaking afterwards at Ennis Courthouse, the deceased’s brother Ian Hassett said; “In one way it’s good it’s over, but we still have a lot of questions we don’t have the answers for.”

Asked about the suspended sentence handed down to Bernard Flaherty, Ian Hassett said the family are ‘not happy with it but what can we do’. He added; “The whole justice system in Ireland is a shambles.”

During the inquest, Mr Flaherty said; “I apologise to the Hassett family for the hell I put them through and the guards for wasting Garda time…If I could turn back the clock, I would. I really would.”

Mr Flaherty told gardaí that he panicked because he didn’t know what to do when he discovered Frank Hassett was dead.

MORE Kilrush businesses will close under the new local government structure, that will see a new Clare County Council take over the responsibilities of Kilrush Town Council, its longest serving member has warned.

Cllr Tom Prendeville (FF) said, “When Clare County Council takes over we will see rates going up and more Kilrush businesses going to the wall unfortunately,” he said.

Kilrush businesses have shown a consistency when it comes to paying the rate in the last number of years.

A total of 76 per cent of commercial rates have been collected in the town for 2012, and the figure continues to rise as some cash strapped businesses have opted to pay the local tax in instalments.

At the end of 2012 more than € 221,000 was colleted in rates from businesses in the West Clare town, up € 5,000 on the previous year.

The most up to date figures also show that write offs were down from more than a € 107,000 at the end of 2011 to € 71,678.50 on December 31, 2012.

Kilrush Town Council accounts also show that business people in the town managed to pay a substantial amounts of the rates owing from 2012 during the first month of this year – almost € 28,000.

At the end of 2012 uncollected rates reached € 123,532.49, but this had dropped to € 95,744.51 by the end of January.

Describing commercial rates as “a crucial part of our funding”, town clerk John Corry said that Kilrush Town Council is making every effort to recover these outstanding payments, while being mindful of the economic climate.

He explained that the local authority had engaged various methods of payments with businesses, including payment by instalment.

“We are trying to be as flexible as we can,” he said.

“The outstanding balance for 2012 continues to reduce due to the instalment payment we have introduced,” he said.

At the end of 2011 the rate collection in Kilrush was also 76 per cent, making it the highest collection rate in the county.

TWO men that had been living rough on the streets of Ennis have secured temporary accommodation at a tourist hostel in Galway.

It emerged last week that Czech national Josef Pavelka (58) and his Polish friend Peter Baram (35) had spent a period of time living in public toilets in Ennis town centre.

The men’s living arrangements were disclosed in a report by the Probation Services at Ennis District Court where Mr Pavelka appeared on charges of public intoxication.

On viewing the report, Judge Patrick Durcan commented that it was a “scandal” that a person is “living in a toilet in a prosperous nation”.

Mr Pavelka’s solicitor Daragh Has- sett said that if it wasn’t for the help of the church, his client “would be dead”.

The court heard Mr Pavelka has chronic problems with alcohol. Ennis Town Council operates the Automated Public Conveniences (APC), more commonly known as superloos.

In a statement last week, the council said it “has no evidence of any parties using public toilets in Ennis as accommodation facilities”.

The statement continues, “Having checked with the Gardaí, a similar view has been expressed. Furthermore, the company contracted to maintain the public toilets says there is no evidence to suggest that the toilets are being used in such a manner.

The council says the toilets are “subject to an intense maintenance regime which involves a daily inspection by the said company”.

It continues, “The toilets are automated and the mechanism provides for a voice warning, an alarm activation and an automatic opening of the door after a 20 minute period. This includes an early morning inspection on at least five days each week. Ennis Town Council does not comment on individual housing circumstances, which are a personal matter. The relevant agencies and bodies have, however, been involved in addressing housing needs of the parties involved.”

Yesterday Pat Cahill, Manager of Laurel Lodge temporary accommodation centre where the men lived for two years, confirmed that Mr Pavelka and Mr Baram are now living on a temporary basis in Galway City. Mr Cahill said the men can stay in the hostel until May 7. He said the accommodation was secured following a multi-agency case conference.

Fr Tom Hogan, Ennis Parish administrator, said the men are “delighted to have a roof over their heads and a bed under them”. He said the men, who received meals from the St Vincent de Paul and the Church, “fell through cracks in the system”.

Fr Hogan said Mr Pavelka lived in public toilets for three weeks while Mr Baram lived there “on and off”.

Last Wednesday, Ennis District Court heard that Mr Pavelka was unable to take up an offer of re-patriation to the Czech Republic due to family issues. The court heard Mr Pavelka’s habitual residency has lapsed and as a result no state agencies can provide him with assistance.

TWO peace activists, including a 78year-old woman, look likely to stand trail for an incident which took place at Shannon Airport last October.

Margaretta D’Arcy (78) and Niall Farrell (60), claim to have received letters from gardaí in Shannon last week stating that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) is planning to press charges against them and that a summons would be issued at a future date.

The pair are accused of possible criminal damage and causing a security breach at airport on October 7 last. The pair gained access to the airport and disrupted a number of flights by holding anti-war placards on an airport runway for a number of minutes.

The protest was organised but the Galway Alliance Against War to mark the 11th anniversary of the war in Afghanistan. Since 2001, Shannon Airport has been an important logis- tics distribution point for American soldier and equipment heading to and from Afghanistan the Iraq.

A number of private jets used to carry out special rendition missions have also used the airport but it is unclear of any prisoners were on board while they were on Irish soil.

Margaretta D’Arcy is one of the leaders of the regular anti-war vigils which take place at the airport. She and her husband, the late Booker Prize nominated playwright John Arden, wrote performed a play based on the Ralahine Commune in Newmarket on Fergus in 2010.

“Our protest was part of an international week of action to oppose killer drones, which along with other deadly weaponry and troops are transported daily through Shannon’s Warport,” said Niall Farrell.

“Prosecuting us will not silence us, it will not prevent us from raising our voices in protesting against the death of Irish neutrality and this craven government’s role in the imperial wars of the 21st century.”

THE meltdown of the Green Party as a force in Irish elected politics could be re-enforced in the coming days with the possible defection of sitting member of Clare County Council and Ennis Town Council, Cllr Brian Meaney, from the party. The Clare People has learned this week, that Cllr Meaney is sensationally on the cusp of cutting ties with the Green Party, with sources within the Clare County Council chamber revealing that the 47-year-old is pre- paring to join Fianna Fáil.

A source within Fianna Fáil in the Ennis electoral area that Cllr Meaney represents has revealed that he has applied for membership of the party and is in the final stages of severing ties with the Green Party. The Clare People

THE THREE bottlenose dolphins who have made Bunratty their unlikely home for the past two weeks, may now have moved on the deeper waters. The dolphins, who attracted large crowds to Bunratty, were last spotted around the bridge in Bunratty on Saturday morning, April 13.

It is thought that the recent rain may have caused the fish that the dolphins had been feeding on to move upriver. The creatures had been spending less and less time in the area in recent days, appearing only once on Saturday and three times on Friday.

A planned rescue attempt for the dolphins was aborted last week when the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) carried out a detailed assessment to determine if the dolphins were trapped in the area – as had been thought.

The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and members of the Killaloe Unit of the Irish Coastguard were present during the day if a rescue attempt was needed.

IWDG Executive Officer Dr Simon Berrow, led the assessment and witnessed the mammals surfacing normally in a narrow strip of water around 100 to 150 metres up river of the bridge.

As water levels rose later in the day the IWDG deployed hydrophones into the water to track the dolphins movement and actions. They discovered that the dolphins were not trapped by the traffic noises on the bridge – as had been previously thought – but were able to pass freely under the structure.

In fact, the dolphins were so comfortable in the local environment that they began foraging for food and hunting fish.

Dolphins have a limited ability to survive in fresh water. After prolonged exposure to fresh water they can develop kidney and skin problems – eventually resulting in kidney failure and death.

However, in this instance, it appears that that the biggest threat faced by the dolphins was man with a number of recorded instances of stones being throw at the creatures as well as two men in scuba gear who attempted to swim with them.

Anyone who spots the dolphins is asked to email details to sightings@iwdg.ie.

MORE than half of the entire Traveller population in Clare is aged 17 years or younger.

According to The State of the Nation’s Children report released last week, there were a total of 468 Traveller children in Clare in 2011 – the last year on record.

The 2011 census revealed that there were 855 Travellers resident in the county, 417 males and 438 females. These figures mean that just under 55 per cent of the Travellers based in Clare are under 18 years.

The report also indicated that the number of Clare children born to members of the Travelling community has skyrocketed over the last decade. According to the 2002 State of the Nation’s Children report, there were just 401 Traveller children resident in the county. This amounts to an increase of 16.7 per cent in a nine year period.

Meanwhile, the number of children living with a lone parents has also increased dramatically over the past 10 years. According to the report there was a total of 4,348 children living in a single parent household in 2011. This amounts to 14.7 per cent of all children resident in the county for that year.

This number shows a marked increase on the same report carried out in 2002 when there were 3,412 children living in lone parents household in Clare, or 12.3 per cent of the total number of children in Clare.

The annual State of the Nation’s Children report compiles a variety of statistical information about young people in County Clare. Figures in the report show that there were 933 reports of child welfare and protection issues reported to the HSE concerning Clare children in 2011.

The report also revealed that there were a total of 1,163 families with children in need of social housing in Clare in 2011. Of these families, 667 are lone parent families, while 496 are families with two or more children.

This means that 2.7 per cent of Clare families with children were identified as being in need of social housing. However, the total of lone parent families in need of social housing is much higher at 15.34 per cent.

CLARE children are almost twice as likely to be admitted into a psychiatric hospital as children born in the rest of Ireland. According to the State of the Nation’s Children report, published by the Department of Children last week, a total of 20 Clare children were placed in the care of a psychiatric hospital in 2011 – the most recent year on record.

This means that Clare’s rate of committal per 1,000 children is 65.2 – the second highest in Ireland after Tipperary. Clare’s committal rate is almost twice the national average, which stood at 37.9 children per 1,000 in 2011.

The counties with the highest rate of children being admitted to psychiatric hospitals were all located in rural areas. Each of the counties with the highest rate of children placed in the care of a psychiatric hospital have suffered a major downgrade of their primary hospital in recent years with Clare, Tipperary, Roscommon, Monaghan and Leitrim having the highest ratios.

According to the report, 435 young Irish people were admitted to psychiatric hospitals in 2011. The vast majority of these young people were under the age of 18, however information concerning three people who were over the age of 18 but treated in child and adult units was also in- cluded.

Meanwhile, the report also revealed that Clare has the lowest rate of children with a registered intellectual disability in Ireland. According the State of the Nation’s Children report, just 148 Clare children had a registered intellectual disability in 2011.

The county’s rate of children with a registered intellectual disability is 4.8 per 1,000 children – almost half the national overage of 7.7 per 1,000 children.

The report does not give any indication as to why Clare should have such a low rate of intellectual disability compared to other counties. Besides being a possible indicator that Clare has a low level of children with intellectual disability, it could also be interpreted to indicate that Clare children with intellectual disabilities are less likely to be diagnosed or are less likely to be officially registered with the statutory bodies once diagnosed.

CLARE TD Pat Breen (FG) has been accused of helping to rig parliamentary question time for the Minister for Health James Reilly’s (FG) – in order to flood the session with positive questions.

Deputy Breen used his allocated question, during Minister Reilly’s last questions time, to question the Minister for Health about cuts to waiting lists at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda.

This followed a similar question from Clare Deputy, Joe Carey (FG), about the reduction in the number of patients on trolleys at Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Ennis.

Indeed, more than half of the 170 questions submitted to last month’s health session were queries about cuts to waiting lists or MRSA infection rates submitted by Fine Gael backbenchers.

These actions were described as a “cynical abuse” of the rules of the Dáil by Clare Fianna Fail TD, Tim my Dooley.

“The Government parties are engaging in a cynical abuse of the outdated parliamentary question process to prevent opposition parties from getting to the truth of the broken promises which were made prior to the election,” said Deputy Dooley

“The five government reps in Clare, three TDs and two senators, need to face up to the litany of uturns on property tax, PRSI increas- es and child benefit cuts amongst others.”

The Minister for Health hosts a parliamentary questions and answers session every five weeks. The number of questions submitted has increased greatly in recent months with 71 submitted in September, 86 in November, 112 in February and 170 last month.

In a statement, Deputy Breen claimed that he had a perfectly valid reason for submitting the question.

“The reason why I submitted a PQ [Parliamentary Question] in rela tion to waiting lists at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, was because the Small Hospital Framework will shortly be published by the Minister for Health, which may have some affect on the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Ennis and given that hospitals in the Louth area have already undergone a reconfiguration I was interested in ascertaining the impact that this reconfiguration had on the waiting lists in Louth,” he said.

NEIGHBOURHOODS and communities around Clare are being encouraged to report any suspicious activity in thei r areas in the bid to beat the burglars.

There has been a recent spi ke in burglaries in rural and urban parts of the county and Gardaí says scheme such as Neighbourhood Watch and Community Alert play an important role in helping to deter crime.

Supt Derek Smart of Ennis Garda Station said, “Anybody that sees anthing suspicious that they feel isn’t right, pick up the phone straight away and give us a call. No matter how trivial they think it is, let us look at it. Let us now and that can all be done in confidence.”

Supt Smar t said plans to roll out a community alert text system in Clare are cur rently being reviewed. “There is an issue there with ensuring that the cor rect information goes out on that system. It’s actually being reviewed on a trial basis in parts of the country. Any system like that, we’d be eager to adopt.”

Cll r Michael Guilfoyle (Ind) is the area co-ordinator for the Turnpike Neighbourhood Watch Scheme that has been in operation for 22 years. He said the scheme has been effective in curbing crime and giving residents greater security.

He added, “I would encourage all communities, given all the recent cutbacks there has been to Garda resources, to set up neighbourhood watch schemes. It gives people in an area more security and confidence that their homes are protected.”

Ray Cummins, Chai rman of the Glassan Residents Association, said the area has been relatively unaffected by break-ins. However he said that the resident’s committee has discussed setting up a Neighbourhood Watch Scheme.

He said, “The one area, from a security and safety point of view that people are concerned about, is the inability to get proper street light- ing put in place. We are waiting for Ennis Town Council to take over the estate but that hasn’t happened yet.”

Meanwhile, three people arrested by Gardaí as part of an ongoing investigation into a series of aggravated burglaries in West Clare were released without charge last week.

The arrests of two men and one woman came following Gardaí investigations into recent aggravated burglaries targeting elderly people with incidents repor ted in Kilmihil, Moyasta, Kilmaley, and Inagh.

The suspects – all in thei r 20s were questioned by Gardaí at Ennis and Kil rush stations before being released without charge.