Month: December 2013

HUNDREDS of members of the leisure centre at Woodstock Hotel learnt for the first time they could be out of pocket to the tune of between € 200 and € 400 following the shock closure of the four-star hotel last Friday.

This fear was raised by a number of leisure centre members who contacted The Clare People and voiced their anger that membership fees for the pool, spa and gym facilities were accepted into the weeks leading up to the hotel’s closure.

“We don’t know if we will get our money back,” one member of the leisure centre told The Clare People . “We paid money in good faith, but now don’t know if there’s any comeback and our money could be lost,” another member added.

Membership rates for the leisure centre ranged from € 200 to € 400, while it’s believed that over 100 people may have already paid their fees for 2013.

No spokesperson from Fort William Ltd, the operating company behind the management of Woodstock, was available for comment but a former employee revealed; “There is going to be a director’s meeting called on January 23 and the directors will have to give a statement of affairs at that meeting.”

It has also emerged that many of Woodstock’s 60 employees were only given a half-hour’s notice of the emergency meeting that announced the closure of the hotel.

Staff were called to a meeting at 3pm where they were told that the hotel was to cease trading with immediate effect.

The hotel had built up a reputation as a popular wedding venue over the last number of years, but it’s understood that no wedding was due to take place the weekend of the story, while none are booked in for the following weeks either.

Woodstock Hotel was developed in 2000 as a standalone development separate to Woodstock Golf and Country Club which was designed by renowned golf course architect Dr Arthur Spring and opened in 1993.

This year, Woodstock Golf Club celebrates 20 years and is unaffected by the latest demise of the adjacent Woodstock Hotel.

IT WAS announced in early January that the West Clare town of Kilrush would be central to the national Famine commemoration, as it had been selected to host the main event.

Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Jimmy Deenihan announced that the maritime town would be the host location for the National Famine Commemoration Day, on a date later announced as May 12.

The annual observance in Ireland commemorating the Great Famine has been organised officially by the Government since 2009. The main commemoration event is held in a different place each year, rotating among the four provinces of Ireland.

Events at the main venue usually include lectures, arts events, and visits to places connected to the Famine.

Local events also take place countrywide, while a minute’s silence is encouraged for schools and workplaces. Kilrush planned a very successful 10-day event.

Then Mayor of Kilrush, Cllr Mairead O’Brien, welcomed the news stating, “Kilrush has historically been very closely linked with and was greatly affected by the Great Irish Famine. It is fantastic to see this link being recognised nationally.”

John Corry, Kilrush Town Clerk, said, “It is a huge honour for the town to host this event in the year of the Gathering and I hope that many visitors from near and far will visit our great town during this Commemoration.”

Kilrush is recognised nationally as one of the locations worst affected by starvation, disease and emigration between 1845 and 1852. The famine years brought much hardship to Kilrush. Evictions, fever and cholera reduced the population of south-west Clare to such an extent that it has never again attained its pre-famine numbers.

Famine author and Clare-based Historian Ciarán Ó Murchadha, who supported Kilrush’s bid to host the event, said, “I can state without any fear of contradiction that although all of Clare suffered grievously, no part of the county endured as much as Kilrush town and Kilrush union, and for such a prolonged period. That being the case, I am delighted to learn that Kilrush will host the next National Famine Commemoration event.”

DO NOT resort to moneylenders. That was the stark message to people facing financial pressures this January, a message that was to be repeated again and again through out the year.

As Clare families faced into the toughest financial weeks of the year, financial advice groups warned that illegal money-lenders should be avoided at all costs.

Twenty years after it was set up to counteract illegal money lending in West Clare, MABS (Money Advice and Budgeting Service) asked families under severe financial pressure not to opt for this form of short-term loan.

By the end of 2012, numerous financially-stressed families in Clare had turned to unscrupulous money-lenders, who would charge huge interest rates and threaten them if they did not pay up. As these lenders are not legal, organisations such as MABs cannot negotiate with them on behalf of the person taking the loan.

People are particularly vulnerable to this type of lending at this time of year and Paul Woulfe from Clare Citizens Information said this is leading to worry and depression.

“Many people parked their problems and money concerns coming up to Christmas so the next few months are going to be difficult.

“People also borrow on the run up to Christmas and add to credit card and store cards debt which adds to the problem now,” he said. “There is help out there as long as people do not panic,” he said.

A SPATE of aggravated burglaries targetting elderly people living in the West Clare area was a cause of huge concern in the community in the new year, as gardaí believed the culprits had local knowledge of their victims.

In a holiday attack, two elderly brothers were targetted in their home in Lack West Kilmihil during the weekend before Christmas.

At least two intruders, yielding iron bars, broke into the frightened men’s home between 2am and 3.25am on Saturday, December 22.

They terrorised the elderly occupants and forced them to hand over what was considered to be a sizeable amount of money. The thugs then fled in a car.

The only description available to the gardaí of the intruders was “that they were big”.

“A car with a loud exhaust was heard near the scene at the time,” a Garda spokesperson said.

This crime was very similar to burglaries committed in Moyasta on December 8 and in Boolyneaska Kilmaley on December 6. Again, older people were targetted and robbed.

In the Moyasta incident, three individuals broke into the farmhouse of two elderly sisters and demanded money.

The trio broke down the door of the rural house in Kildymo, Bansha, near the seaside town of Kilkee, between 10.30pm and 11.30pm on December 8 and entered the premises where the women had lived all of their lives.

A frightening ordeal then began for the two ladies in their 80s as the robbers ripped the phone from the wall and demanded money from them. There was very little money in the house and the thugs eventually got away with a small amount of cash from the old age pensioners’ purses. The three who had targeted the two vulnerable older women in their own home covered their faces during the robbery. Gardaí believe there may be a connection between at least two of the three burglaries. They are appealing for anyone with any information to contact them at Kilrush and Ennis Garda Stations.

GARDAÍ have confirmed they are investigating the circumstances in which an Ennis teenager was married by Bishop Michael Cox.

Inspector Tom Kennedy told Ennis District Court earlier this month that an investigation is underway into the apparent marriage of the 17 year-old Ennis teenager and his 18 year-old Cork ‘bride’.

He was speaking after the woman told Judge Patrick Durcan that Bishop Michael Cox married the couple in Birr, Co Offaly in November.

In sworn evidence, the woman said Bishop Cox charged them € 100 for the ceremony.

Bishop Cox had previously attracted controversy when he ordained Sinead O’Connor a priest in 1999 in Lourdes – he is not a bishop of the Roman Catholic Church and is instead a bishop of the Latin Tridentine Church.

In court, Judge Durcan was strongly critical of Bishop Cox.

He said the fact that the couple had paid money for the service was “appalling” and “brings things to the lowest depths.”

“I want to say loudly and clearly that anyone who masquerades as a clergy man and who takes money from young people and imbues in them a mistaken belief that he has married them, is in my view committing the most serious offence”, added Judge Durcan.

Details of the ‘marriage’ emerged at Ennis District Court on December 20 where the boy appeared for sentence.

The teenager, who was described as “naive”, previously pleaded guilty to multiple charges of burglary, theft a and robbery.

He was one of two people who stole a car from Castlewood Park, Ennis last summer.

The teenager pleaded guilty to trespassing on a farmhouse in Lemenagh, Kilfenora last October. He admitted stealing items from a house in the Lifford area of Ennis, also in October, 2012.

He also pleaded guilty to his role in burglaries at houses in Westwood, Ennis on dates unknown between December 25 and 26 (2012) and at Showground’s View, Ennis on dates unknown between December 26 and 27 (2012).

The court heard that after being arrested on a bench warrant, he absconded from custody on December 18 after gardaí stopped at Supermacs, Ennis to get him food.

The boy was due to be transported to St Patrick’s Institution for Young Offenders when he ran from a garda car on O’Connell Street.

Garda James Hanley told the court the teenager was discovered at home where he had used a hacksaw to remove the handcuffs.

Defence solicitor Siobhan McMahon said her client’s immaturity had led him to this point.

“He is happy to settle down in Cork and enjoy married life”, added Ms McMahon.

Judge Patrick Durcan said it upset him “greatly and deeply” that his last case of the year involved the imposition of a lengthy sentence on a young person.

However Judge Durcan added that despite the constant support and help of parents, solicitors and gardaí, the teenager’s list of offences indicates the teenager is becoming a “criminal of the worst kind”.

He imposed sentences totaling 12 months detention.

Recognizance were fixed in the event of appeal meaning the boy will be released until the outcome of any appeal if bail terms are reached.

THE Mayor of Clare opted to spread Christmas cheer this year by redirecting his € 1,000 Mayoral Christmas Card Allowance to two local voluntary groups.

Each year the first citizen of the county is allocated € 1,000 from the council coffers to send Christmas cards.

This year however, as charities struggle to raise funds the mayor, Cllr Joe Arkins decided to give the funds to the Clare Filipino Community and the Clare Branch of the Irish Kidney Association (IKA).

Both charities benefited by € 500 each.

“I am delighted to contribute my Christmas card allowance to the respective fundraising efforts of both of these organisations who for very different but important reasons rely on such donations,” stated Mayor Arkins.

Commenting on his donation to the Clare Filipino Community, he said, “The entire world watched on in horror as a Super Typhoon wreaked havoc on the Philippines during November. Since then, fundraising efforts have been underway all over Ireland to assist those whose lives have been affected by the tragedy. Clare, and in particular Shannon, has a thriving Filipino community and I am delighted to pledge part of my Christmas card allowance to their fundraising efforts.”

The mayor also paid tribute to the work carried out by the Clare Branch of the IKA and its volunteers.

“I want to thank members of the association for their commitment to promoting organ donation and tireless fundraising efforts to support IKA services. I also want to pay tribute to the many donor families around Clare for their immense courage and compassion in donating their loved ones’ organs, as well as acknowledge those who carry organ donor cards,” stated the mayor.

A MAJOR employment boost could be on the way for North Clare in the months ahead as Ennistymon based sign company Data Display are on the verge of signing a landmark contract with the New York City Department of Transport.

The company, which has been one of Clare landmark industries over the last 30 years, has developed a unique solar-powered signage system that can display the length of time until the next bus arrives at a bus stop.

The system, which is currently on trial in the Staten Island area of New York City, could be spread city wide as part of a major upgrade of the entire public transport system due to take place in 2014.

While the tender process for this redevelopment has yet to be undertaken, Data Display are understood to be in pole position to win the lucrative signage contract.

The new solar-powered signs allows busses to contact directly with signs to give real-time information about how far away their bus actually is.

“In many respects public transport in the US, both in terms of quality and usage, has lagged behind its Eu- ropean counterpart for many years, but they are now looking to leapfrog ahead with live signs and apps,” said Paul Horan of Data Display.

“One of the key aspects is the low power usage.

“This low power system which can be powered by solar panels means that they don’t need any wires,” he said.

Data Displays, which already employs hundreds of people in its Ennistymon factory, gain a foothold in New York after electronics giant Siemens brought it in as a sub-contractor to install signs in the city’s subway system in 2005.

“Data Display has always had an international focus, managing to provide electronic displays from Seattle to New York, from Dublin to New Zealand,” continued Mr Honan.

“Customisation is a very important part of what we do, with customers not only desiring a finish that fits with their own specific environments, but also having different background systems with which we must interface.”

While no details of the 2014 citywide contract for New York City have yet been released, it is understood to include thousands of sign and will be worth millions of dollars to whatever company is successful.

FUNDING has been approved for a major upgrade of a “vitally important” wastewater treatment plant in Ennis.

Clare County Council has received confirmation from the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government that it is committing the necessary capital funding to enable the local authority to award the contract for the upgrade of the Clonroadmore Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Reacting to the announcement, Mayor of Ennis Cllr Mary Coote Ryan stated, “The provision of the most modern wastewater treatment facilities is key in terms of the continued progressive development of the town of Ennis. I want to acknowl- edge the contribution and patience of the elected members of the town council who have been pursuing an upgrade of the town treatment facilities for a long number of years.”

Mayor of Clare Cllr Joe Arkins welcomed the news describing the project as “vitally important” and central to ongoing efforts to expand the quality and scale of the wastewater infrastructure in the county.

“The town of Ennis is our capital town and it is vitally important that the standard of services is what one would expect in a major urban centre. This is a contract of major significance for Ennis, Clarecastle and surrounding areas and will provide for a significant upgrade of Clonroadmore Wastewater Treatment Plant,” added Mayor Arkins.

Clare County Manager Tom Coughlan noted, “As we move towards the period when Irish Water assumes Clare County Council’s statutory role as a Water Services Authority, I think this announcement demonstrates the capability of the council to design, procure and progress major water services schemes.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank the water services staff, present and past, for the significant contribution they have made to the provision and operation of the water services infrastructure. I also wish to acknowledge the role played by the elected members in devising policy and assigning the financial resources to build up the infrastructure to what it is today,” concluded Mr Coughlan.

Clare County Council confirmed it intends to complete the contract formalities with the successful tenderer so that the works can commence as soon as possible.

AN ENNIS man has received a fivemonth prison sentence after admitting breaking into a family home in Drumcliffe earlier this year.

Stephen Moloney (34) used a rock to smash the back window of the house in Drehidngower on the outskirts of Ennis on May 22, 2013.

Mr Moloney stole € 200 from the house, Ennis District Court heard on Thursday.

Imposing a five-month sentence for burglary, shoplifting and criminal damage offences, Judge Durcan said he had to bear in mind the impact Mr Moloney’s actions had on his victims.

Judge Durcan said the confidence of the victims of the burglary at Drehidnagower “must be shattered”.

“The message must go out loudly and clearly that private living spaces are inviolable,” he added.

Detective Garda Mike Kelly of Ennis Garda Station told the court the house, which is owned by a 66year-old man and his wife, was unoccupied at the time of the burglary. He said Mr Moloney was arrested after CCTV footage of the area was viewed.

Det Kelly said the accused made full admissions but had not paid € 40 compensation to cover the cost of the broken window.

Mr Moloney, with an address at Oakwood Drive, Ennis, also pleaded guilty to theft of items including X Box games, dog food, bottles of wine and a toothbrush from Tesco, Lynch’s Centra and Boot’s Chemist between June 24 and June 29, 2013.

He also admitted throwing a rock through a window of Ennis Community College on June 27.

Insp Tom Kennedy said the accused has 69 previous convictions, with over half of those for theft.

Solicitor Tara Godfrey said her client, a father of one, says he was drunk when he broke into the house.

Of the incident at Ennis Community College, Ms Godfrey said her client was very drunk and went to the Garda station afterwards to tell them what he had done.

Judge Patrick Durcan said Mr Moloney had gone on a “complete rampage”.

Of the burglary offence, Judge Durcan said, “I don’t know this family but its not just the pane of glass that cost € 40 that would have affected them, their sense of confidence must be shattered.”

He imposed sentences totalling five months. Recognizances were fixed in the event of an appeal.

FOUR people have appeared in court charged in connection with a disturbance at Tesco’s shopping centre in Ennis earlier this month.

The accused were arrested following an alleged incident at Tesco’s on Wednesday, December 18. Two people Anne Delaney (45) and James Delaney (26) were brought before Ennis District Court within hours of the alleged incident.

Garda Michael Daniels of Ennis Garda Station gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution in respect of both accused.

Ms Delaney, with an address at Waterpark Heights, Ennis, and Mr Delaney, with an address at Gordon Drive, Cloughleigh, Ennis are both charged with engaging in threatening, insulting or abusive behaviour with intent to provoke a breach of the peace.

Garda Daniels told the court that in response to charge after caution, Ms Delaney said, “I’m sorry for throwing the bottles”.

Mr Delaney made no response to charge after caution.

Both accused were granted bail subject to conditions. Garda Daniels said there is a possibility of further charges being brought.

Both accused were remanded on bail to appear again at Ennis District Court on February 12. The State were granted liberty to re-enter the cases at 24 hours notice. Two other people – a man and a juvenile – appeared at Ennis District Court on Thursday, December 19, charged with public order offences arising out of the same alleged circumstances. A M A N has appeared in court charged with weapons and criminal damage offences arising out of an alleged incident in the market area of Ennis earlier this year.

It is alleged Patrick McCarthy (20) had a hatchet which had a blade or was sharply pointed at Lower Market Street, Ennis on February 18, 2013.

Mr McCarthy is further charged with the criminal damage of a car at the same date and location. The accused, with an address at Woodlawn, Lahinch Road, Ennis, appeared before Ennis District Court on Wednesday (December 18).

Inspector Tom Kennedy told the court the matter would be proceeding on indictment and that a book of evidence would be required. Mr McCarthy was remanded on continuing bail to appear again at Ennis District Court in February (2014). Defence solicitor Tara Godfrey consented to an extension of time for service of the book of evidence.