Month: June 2013

A NEW Clare group, founded earlier this year to campaign for the right of disabled people, will not be running a candidate in next year’s local elections. The Clare Center for Independent Living (CIL) say that their primary goal is to “protect and reclaim” the identity of disabled people in Clare and to speak out when other disabled organisation – which are funded by the government and Health Service Executive (HSE) are unable to represent the needs of the people.

The group came together in May of this year when the Department of Health announced plans to scrap a number of disabled transport scheme. After winning this battle follow- ing a government u-turn last week, the group have decided to formally come together as the CIL – to provide disabled people with an ongoing voice in the county. “We recognise that disabled people need the support each other to ensure that all the years of campaigning, developing and understanding of independent living and trying to have a rightful place in society is not lost as a result of the recession and other practices,” said Anne Marie Flanagan of Clare CIL.

“In Clare disabled people do not have a formal voice locally in how the HSE and the Local Authority spends the funding directly relating to their services, separate to the organisations who are in receipt of the funding. We need to be able to ask the strapped for cash HSE how the budget is being spend and say how we feel it can be improved. We are the service users, who will do everything to maximise the funding, to have the best outcomes for our lives. We can’t do that currently.”

The primary objectives of Clare CIL are to promote independent living and to promote the freedom of choice and self-determination of people with disabilities.

Ms Flanagan confirmed that there will not be a CIL candidate in next years local election – she did say that, should the organisation ever decide to put forward a candidate for election, it would most likely be to the Dail and not to Clare County Council. There are an estimated 9,000 disabled people living in Clare – the quote for being election in Clare in the 2011 general election was 11,500.

PROGRESS has been made in attempts to secure accommodation for a wheelchair bound man who set fire to a nursing home in Killaloe, a court has heard.

In February, James Sherlock Jnr, formerly of 16 Childers Road, Cloughleigh, Ennis pleaded guilty at Ennis Circuit Criminal Court to causing arson at the Lakes Nursing Home in Killaloe on August 20 (2010).

The 24 year old is confined to a wheelchair after loosing both of his legs to amputation.

Heroin addiction lead to the amputation of Mr Sherlock’s right leg. He recently underwent surgery to amputate his left leg.

Finalisation of the case had been adjourned pending suitable accommodation being found for Mr Sherlock.

Circuit Court Judge, Gerard Keyes has said the State must find suit- able facilities for Mr Sherlock. Judge Keyes has previously indicated that he will not impose a custodial sentence. The Court was previously told that due to Mr Sherlock’s past behavioral difficulties and his pleading guilty to arson, many nursing homes and hostels would not accept him due to insurance issues.

The court has heard that discussions have taken place between local authorities, The Probation Services and the Health Services Executive (HSE) with the aim of finding accommodation for Mr Sherlock.

The case came back before the court on Tuesday. Counsel for Mr Sherlock, Pat Whyms BL told the court that the local authority has made progress in attempts to find accommodation for his client.

He said the Probation Service were seeking a further adjournment of the case.

Judge Keyes said he was not going to “interfere” with the progress being made.

Mr Sherlock has spent a period of time staying at the vacant Fairways apartment block in Ennis.

A HOMELESSNESS campaigner convicted of stealing almost € 27,000 from a pensioner in Ennis will represent herself at a sentencing hearing next month, a court has heard.

Ennis woman Josephine O’Brien (59) told Ennis Circuit Criminal court last week that she had “dismissed” her legal team.

In April, Ms O’Brien, with an address at 15 Bridgeview, Roslevan, was convicted by a jury of nine of 10 counts of theft from the bank account of Stephen O’Halloran (87), a resident of St Joseph’s nursing home.

Ms O’Brien, a founder of the Homeless Education Learning Programme (HELP), was found guilty of stealing € 26, 503 on dates between July 2006 and October 2010.

The court heard she used some of the money to open a homeless shelter in Chapel Lane.

The case was listed for sentence at Ennis Circuit Criminal Court last week. On Tuesday, Defence Solicitor Daragh Hassett applied to come off record in the case.

He said Defence Counsel, Lorcan Connolly BL, was also coming off record.

Mr Hassett told the court he had “strongly advised “Ms O’Brien that she should have legal representation for sentencing.

Ms O’Brien confirmed in court to Judge Keyes that she wished to represent herself.

She added, “I’m an intelligent woman and I’m quite capable of representing myself.”

Judge Gerard Keyes said, “That is your choice and we will respect it.”

Ms O’Brien told the court she sent an affidavit to the Attorney General.

Judge Keyes told Ms O’Brien that she had been found guilty on a number of counts after a trial.

In reply, Ms O’Brien said, “I have been found guilty on facts but there was no crime.”

Judge Keyes advised Ms O’Brien that she must go through the process of sentencing.

He told Ms O’Brien that the option to appeal was open to her after sentencing is complete, if she wished to pursue it.

Ms O’Brien also indicated to the court that she wished to get the tapes of her garda interviews.

Judge Keyes said Ms O’Brien must first make an application to the court. He added that the tapes would be released “subject to strict conditions.”

Sentencing was adjourned to July 11. Ms O’Brien is on continuing bail.

A JURY has begun deliberating in the trial of a Clare farmer, Joe Heffernan , charged with murdering a 21-year-old student on his land two years ago.

Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy yesterday (Monday) told the seven women and five men of the jury that they could reach one of three possible verdicts, none of which could be an acquittal.

Meanwhile the trial of Colm Deely (41), who is accused of murdering Deirdre McCarthy was adjourned for a number of days last week. It resumes this morning (Tuesday).

It is expected to have concluded by the end of this week.

A forensic psychiatrist told the Heffernan trial that the accused (33) knew what he was doing was wrong when he killed a student, whom he said was the devil. Dr Sally Linehan of the Central Mental Hospital was giving evidence to the Central Criminal Court in the trial of the farmer charged with murdering the 21-year-old on his farm.

Dr Linehan testified last Wednesday that she had interviewed Mr Heffernan three times since the incident and had studied his records from his time in the Central Mental Hospital following his arrest. The trial also heard harrowing testimony from two friends who were with Eoin Ryan on the night he died.

FIFTY years to the week that President John F Kennedy said farewell to Ireland at Shannon Airport with his famous pledge to “come back and see old Shannon’s face again”, it has been claimed that his wife Jackie Kennedy Irish ancestors hailed from West Clare. American genealogist Jim O’Callaghan has claimed that Jackie Kennedy was more Irish than her husband, saying that she was “one-eighth French amost of her ancestors coming from Shandrum, near Mullagh, in Co Clare”.

O’Callaghan discovered that on her maternal line, all eight greatgreat grandparents and two of her four great-grandparents were born in Ireland, making her more Mullagh than Montpellier. John F Kennedy also had Clare roots, with his great grandfather being James Hickey who hailed from near Dromoland Castle.

AN Bord Pleanála has approved planning permission to develop outdoor café facilities on O’Connell Street in Ennis.

The Ennis based Duesbury Limited has sought planning permission for the conversion one car parking space at O’Connell Street, Ennis to extended pavement area for out-door seating adjacent to Poet’s Corner/Town Hall. The developer also sought fascia signage and surround to the existing central doorway and incorporation of existing Poet’s Corner porch with main bar area. That part of the Old Ground Hotel is classified as a protected structure.

Ennis Town Council intially granted planning permission with Town Manager Ger Dollard stating that the principle of outdoor seating would “improve the vibrancy and character of the street.”

The Council’s decision was appealed by the owner of the Ennis Cash Company, Oliver Moylan to An Bord Pleanála on a number of grounds, including public safety issues, precedent and the loss of valuable on-street parking space.

In his report, Senior Planning Inspector Keith Sargeant states that O’Connell Street “reflects a good balance of activities between desti- nation shopping, pedestrian movement/street shopping, and vehicular movement”.

He continues; “The satisfactory functioning of O’Connell Street as a road, a street and a place, is clearly finely balanced. However I do not consider the loss of one car parking space would be detrimental to the maintenance of the fine balance. In reality the prospect of a motorist obtaining a parking space on O’Connell Street, at any busy time, is remote.

“Figures in this regard are stated in the Planning Authority response to the current appeal. In contrast the opportunity to enhance the sense of place surrounding “Poet’s Corner” area of the street is an opportunity in the public realm which should not be denied for the sake of one vehicular parking space”.

In granting permission, Mr Sargeant states that the “proposed development would not seriously injure the amenities of the area or of property in the vicinity.”

The report states that “the proposed fascia signage and surround to existing door shall be omitted”.

The report continues, “There shall be no retractable canopy or canopies attached to the façade of the building, save with a prior grant of planning permission. Proposed new paving must also match the existing footpath on O’Connell Street.

ORDERS from Clare courts that will see the Health Services Executive (HSE) notified of offences committed by parents described as “serial offenders” have been welcomed by one the country’s largest child protection services.

The Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC) described the transmission of such information to health authorities as “absolutely vital” to the protection of children.

The society was commenting following directions issued by Judge Patrick Durcan in respect of two sep- arate cases at Ennis District Court last week.

Judge Durcan ordered that the Courts Services notify the HSE of the convictions recorded against a mother of two for public intoxication and a father of three sentenced to six months in prison for having heroin for sale or supply at the family home in Ennis last year.

Judge Durcan further ordered that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) furnish a list of all previous convictions to the HSE.

The man and the woman, who are both in their twenties, have multiple previous convictions.

Judge Durcan said when court has knowledge that children are in the care and control of “serial offenders”, it has a duty to protect them.

In the case of the man convicted of having heroin for sale or supply, Judge Durcan added, “I’d like to get the HSE involved here as quickly as possible.”

Caroline O’Sullivan, Director of Services with the ISPCC, said the society “absolutely welcomes” the orders to notify the HSE.

Ms O’Sullivan said, “Often the only way the HSE can intervene in situations like this is when issues like this are highlighted to them. We would welcome it.”

She continued, “We would abso- lutely welcome it. If you have a situation where parents are taking drugs or are out drinking every day there is an obvious concern about who is looking after the children; who is feeding them; who is tucking them into bed. On a physical level, that is obviously a concern but then you also an impact on an emotional level also. It is absolutely vital that this type of information is passed on.”

Ms O’Sullivan said the orders fitted with the Children First guidelines the State’s official policy on the protection and welfare of children.

She said demand for the Society’s services in the Mid West is “increasing all the time.”

THE NUMBER of commercial flights using Shannon Airport each month continues to drop – despite the completion of the Shannon Airport Authori- ty’s (SAA) new board of management this month. Figures released by the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) last week reveal the enormity of the challenge faced by the SAA’s new chief executive, Neil Pakey, with the number of commercial movements for May more than 6 per cent down on the same period in 2012. However a number of new routes connecting Shannon to America and a number of European holiday destinations have been announced in recent weeks and this is expected to have an impact on figures for later in 2013. A total of 1,667 commercial movements took place in Shannon last month. This represents a drop of almost half (45.5 per cent) when compared to May 2008 – at the height of the airports capacity. Indeed, last month represents the second worst May ever recorded in the recent history of the airport. Lower figures were recorded in May 2010 – but this historic low was brought about by the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland which crippled flight all over northern Europe. “After an expected challenging start to the year, not least due to the drop in military traffic, the additional new services that have come on stream in May and earlier this month are starting to reap benefits for us,” said a Shannon Airport spokesperson. “May was on a par with last year in terms of passenger numbers and in June we are beginning to see growth for the first time. “This is really promising considering the airport has only been independent for six months and is down to the additional new services we have been delighted to secure this year at the airport.” The continued decline of commercial traffic through Shannon Airport comes as traffic numbers coming through both Dublin and Cork have shown significant signs of recovery. Transatlantic passenger number dropped from 574,843 in 2008 to 287,923 last year. Over the same period European passenger numbers fell from 1,020,437 to just 236,699 – mostly on the back of a large pull out from Ryanair.

THE current site of Ennis National School would be “ideal” for the future development of a commercial retail centre, according to Ennis Parish.

The view that the Kilrush Road site would become a “strategic location for retail development” is contained in a submission by the Parish on the draft Ennis and Environs Development Plan to Clare County Council.

Prepared by engineering firm Paddy Coleman and Associates, the submission cites the Retail strategy for the Mid West Region (2010-2016) in stating there is “a deficiency in retail use in convenience and comparison goods within the town of Ennis”.

The submission states, “It is their opinion that Proposal Site PS1 is ideal and should be promoted by the council through the Ennis and Environs Development Plan to cater for the identified retail deficiency. It is stated that they own part of the said site (the land associated with the Boys National School) and that the land will be available in the short term when it is vacated for the new school currently under construction at Ashline”.

Ennis National School is due to move from its current site to a new building at Ashline later this year. Builders are working to an accelerated programme to have the building ready by Autumn.

Town Manager Ger Dollard has already stated that discussions with landowners have taken place so “a masterplan can be prepared for its development with the objective of completing the planning process at an early stage to ensure that the redevelopment of the site as a primary retail area can be progressed immediately on the relocation of the school to the Kilrush Road.”

The Parish submission states that in order to increase the attractiveness of this site the town centre boundary should be extended to encompass the site. It continues, “this would greatly increase the prospect of developing the site in the near future because it would (a) become a strategic location for retail development in terms of sequential testing as it would become a town centre location rather than an edge of centre location.

It is stated that other sites in the town centre i.e. Cusack Park, the Ennis Shopping Centre and the Post Office Field are not currently developable due to planning restrictions on these sites”.

The submission states that other landowners are interested in the development of the site.

THE LABOUR party’s Seamus Ryan will be allowed to serve as a Clare County Councillor if elected – provided that he doesn’t get a promotion.

The North Clare man, who works as a library assistant for Clare County Council, has already stated his intention to run for the party in a Clare constituency next year.

However, according to legislation covering local government, an employee of a local authority is not allowed to serve as a county councillor – once they have achieved a certain position within the council.

Clare County Council confirmed yesterday that since 2004 any local authority employees whose maximum remuneration does not exceed the maximum remuneration for the post of Clerical Officer may become members of a local authority.

This mean that under his current level of seniority – Mr Ryan would be eligible to serve as a county councillor for the next seven years – unless he gets an unexpected promotion.

“Under the Local Government Act 2001 (Statutory Instrument 216, 2004) a person running for the County Coun- cil cannot earn more than the maximum salary of a Clerical Officer. Fortunately, I am at least seven or eight years from the top of the scale so there shouldn’t be a problem with going forward for election,” he said.

Ryan was last year elected onto the nation executive of the Labour Party, has already stated his intention to run in next years local elections – most likely in Ennis or in the new enlarged West Clare area.