Month: May 2014

AN alleged attack by two teenagers on a family vehicle on a main street last month formed part of a “wider dispute” between two Ennis based families, a court has heard.

Three people were in the car when it was allegedly attacked by two males allegedly carrying hurleys on O’Connell Street on April 10.

Two teenagers have been charged in connection with the incident.

They appeared before Ennis District Court and Ennis Children’s Court on Wednesday. They are charged with public order and weapon’s offences.

James Keenan (18), with an address at Childer’s Road Cloughleigh is charged with having a hockey stick intended to unlawfully intimidate or incapacitate a person or otherwise cause criminal damage to a vehicle.

He is also charged with criminal damage of the car owned by a woman and engaging in behaviour with intent to provoke a breach of the peace.

A 15-year-old boy is also charged with criminal damage and engaging in behaviour with intent to provoke a breach of the peace arising from the alleged incident at O’Connell Street.

The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is further charged with having a hurley intended to cause injury, incapacitate, intimidate a person or otherwise cause criminal damage to the windscreen, bonnet and side of a car while three occupants were on board.

On Wednesday, Inspector Tom Kennedy told the court the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had directed summary disposal of the cases in the district court.

He outlined the alleged facts of the case to allow Judge Patrick Durcan consider whether to accept jurisdiction of the matter in the district or transfer it to the circuit court.

Insp Kennedy said it is alleged both accused were carrying hurleys when they set upon the vehicle owned by Kathleen Doherty.

He said damage costing 4000 euros was caused during the alleged attack. Insp Kennedy said it is alleged the incident is part of a wider dispute between the families.

Judge Patrick Durcan refused jurisdiction, meaning it will now proceed in the circuit court.

Defence solicitor said he consented to the cases being adjourned to September 10 for service of the books of evidence. Both accused were remanded on continuing bail.

A LIMERICK man has pleaded guilty to handling stolen property in Magowna last May.

Darra Moore (23) admitted handling stolen property including four pairs of sunglasses, a harmonica, sunglasses and kodak digital camera on dates unknown between May 22 and May 23 in Magowna.

Mr Moore, with an address at Cosgrave Park, Moyross, Limerick, appeared before Ennis District Court on Wednesday.

Inspector Tom Kennedy told the court the property was stolen form an unlocked car outside a house between the dates in question.

A follow up investigation found that Mr Moore was in the area at the time.

The property was recovered and Mr Moore was charged with handling the stolen items.

The court heard Mr Moore has 76 previous convictions including for theft and handling offences.

Defence solicitor Daragh Hassett said his client fully cooperated with gardaí and took responsibility for all of the items recovered.

Mr Hassett said the offence was committed at a time when Mr Moore was taking drugs.

He said the accused is now dealing with his addictions and is genuinely remorseful for his actions.

The court heard Mr Moore is currently serving a prison sentence and is due for release in December.

Judge Patrick Durcan asked Insp Kennedy if anything could be gained by adding to Mr Moore’s prison sentence.

Insp Kennedy said the point had to be made that Mr Moore is a “serial offender” who shows no regard for other people’s property.

He said society could not tolerate persistent criminal behaviour such as this.

Judge Durcan imposed a three month prison sentence but told Mr Moore this would not extend his time in prison beyond December when he is due for release.

He said Mr Moore’s activities had hurt other people.

Judge Durcan concluded by encouraging him to avail of opportunities in prison.

A FATHER of eight has received a suspended prison sentence for his role in a row that took place outside a primary school in Ennis earlier this year.

At Ennis District Court on Wednesday, James Keenan (41) pleaded guilty to a public order offence that occurred on the grounds of Ennis National School on February 5, 2014.

Inspector Tom Kennedy told the court that Mr Keenan and Michael Delaney (26) traded insults and ver- bal abuse as parents arrived to collect their children.

The court heard Mr Delaney was collecting a child from school while Mr Keenan was dropping his children off for a tae-kwan-do class.

Insp Kennedy said no blows were struck but abusive language was exchanged between the pair.

Outlining the background to the incident, Insp Kennedy said, “There is no love lost between them. That’s putting it mildly”.

He said a number of young children were in the vicinity when the row took place.

Mr Keenan, with an address at Childer’s Road, Ennis has some previous convictions for public order and theft offences.

Defence solicitor William Cahir said his client had gone to drop his children to a martial arts class and had no intention of encountering the other family.

Mr Cahir said Mr Keenan comes from a family that has lived in Ennis for a number of years. He said Mr Keenan has never been involved in disputes with other families in En- nis.

However Mr Cahir said something seems to have sparked of a dispute between the Delaney and Keenan families in this instance.

Judge Patrick Durcan said this was a serious offence committed in the presence of children.

He imposed a two-month sentence, suspended for 18 months on condition Mr Keenan enter into a bond to be of a good behaviour.

Recognizance’s were fixed in the event Mr Keenan’s intends to appeal the decision.

FINAL preparations are being made for the seventh annual Clare Burren Challenge Marathon with thousands of people expected to descend on Ballyvaughan for the event later this Saturday.

The marathon, which is organised each year by the Ballyvaughan Fanore Walking Club, has become a fixture on the Irish walking and running calendar – attracting participants from all over Ireland as well as a growing number of people travelling from abroad to take part.

The challenge, which will take place on May 24, is unique in Ireland – taking participants both on and offroad, across some of the most spectacular terrain and green roads in the Burren.

The marathon offers something for every level of participant with three different courses including the full marathon, half marathon and mini marathon.

The challenge is made possible as a result of excellent support from the local community, as well as the assistance of of Clare Sports Partnership alongside main sponsor Logues Lodge in Ballyvaughan, which is part of the Clare Coast Hotels Group.

The routes take in a number of private property, which is made available with the cooperation of local landowners. Event organisers are aware of the sensitivity of the Burren region and aim to leave no trace with zero waste and active safety policies in place.

All routes are clearly marked and course stewards provide water, fruit and chocolate bars at several points along the route.

Medical support is provided by Irish Cave Rescue Organisation as well as local doctors. For more information visit www.clareburrenmarathonchallenge.com.

THE Bishop of Killaloe, Dr Kieran O’Reilly, has appealed to the Mi nister for Education to show more “flexibility” when it comes to the issue of small r ural primar y schools.

Dr O’Reilly said concer n over the future of small schools is an issue throughout his diocese.

Addressi ng an audience, that included Minister Ruai ri Quinn, at the opening of t he new Ennis Na – tional School on Friday, Dr O’Reilly urged t he Gover nment to be more sympat hetic to the concer ns of r ural schools.

“I have t he ver y happy task of perfor ming confirmation ceremonies around t he count r y. One of the things that has come to my attention ver y forcefully, and I said I was goi ng to bend the Minister’s ear when he was here. I wasn’t sure if I would do it public but I’m going to do it publicly,” said Dr O’Reilly.

He continued, “It’s the issue of the numbers in small schools. I know you are ver y much aware of it. My only appeal to you and to your depar tment officials would be to see if there is any level of flexibility, even in a small two or three numbers that could be applied. People have spoken here about beauti ful schools, classrooms with whiteboards that are now going to lose a teacher because of maybe one or two students. I know you are const rained and we read it all the time i n the media. But I think having heard it in our diocese, which goes from West Clare up to Offally and into a small bit of Laois, it is a ver y impor tant thing on t he ground and I’m sure your local representatives have said it to you.”

Speaking afterwards, Minister Quinn said he would be meeting with t he Irish National Teacher’s Organisation (INTO) to discuss the issue.

He said, “There are personnel issues, there are capacity issues and there are fal ling numbers in some par ts. But we are tr yi ng to get a sensible solution to it. When you use the pupil teacher ratio as the only measure, which is what I’ve inher ited and is t he only instr ument I have, you can’t have t he flexibility you requi re at a time when some schools are losing population and some are growing.”

Minister Quinn continued, “I’m quite prepared [to be flexible] i n isolated r ural areas where t he schools is essential for the health of the act ual community itself. That is quite different to a place where there is t hree schools in two kilomet res of each ot her. And yet they are both being treated the exact same.”

PRESIDENT Michael D. Higgins and Nobel Prize winner Svante Pääbo will participate in a three day event organised by the Burren and Cliffs of Moher Geopark.

The three-day symposium, which taking place in NUI Galway and the Burren this week, will celebrate the 150th anniversary of the naming of Neanderthal by Irish scientist William King.

Delegates attending the symposium, which is entitled ‘From Fossils to the Genome’, will attend a field trip to the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher Geopark.

William King’s proposal was to formally designate Neanderthal people as a separate species from ourselves. His suggestion was both extraordinary and revolutionary for its time – Charles Darwin’s masterpiece ‘Origin of Species’ had been published just five years beforehand. William King remains the first to name a new fossil human species, a privilege afforded to very few scien- tists.

The symposium will also feature a presentation from a Nobel Prize winner and one of TIME Magazine’s 100 most influential people, Svante Pääbo.

Professor Pääbo, Director of the Department of Evolutionary Genetics at the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig and the first person to sequence the DNA of Neanderthal people, will deliver the main keynote address of the symposium.

Next Monday, participants will take part in a post conference field trip through the Burren led by Christine Grant of the National Monuments Service, Michael Lynch and Michelle Comber, the Field Director for the Caherconnell Archaeology Field School.

NUI Galway’s Dr John Murray and Geopark Geologist Dr Eamon Doyle will be discussing the geology of the Burren.

“Professor King’s work represents a scientific milestone in the history of our understanding of human origins,” said Dr Murray.

THE storms which battered the Clare coast in January and February have caused Seamus Heaney’s swans to abandon their habitual home on Lough Murree on the Flaggy Shore in North Clare.

Large flocks of both whooper and mute swans have made the lake their home for hundreds of years – with its unusual location as a fresh water lake situated within 20 feet of the ocean attracting bird life of many kinds.

These swans were immortalised in Seamus Heaney’s poem ‘Postscript’, in which he said the natural beauty of the area and the swans had the power to “catch the heart off guard and blow it open”.

Following this winter’s storms, North Clare locals reported a dramatic change of colour in the lake, which has turned a black/brown colour. In recent weeks the famous swans have also abandoned the lake.

While the whooper swans traditionally migrate to Iceland around this time every year, the disappearance of the mute swans is being blamed on the discolouration of the lake.

According to John Murphy of Clare Birdwatching, this was possible cause by a large quantity of seaweed being swept into the freshwater late during the storm, effectively pickling the water and killing off the vegetation.

“The reason there are no swans there this year is because of the storms, it was too exposed,” he said.

“I would imagine that a lot of seaweed was washed into the lake [during the storms] that is decaying and causing the change in colour. That will continue to decay and breakdown over the summer month and it will actually be of benefit to some birds in the area.

“Over the summer the salt water will evaporate out and the fresh water will come in and balance the lake out again. If we don’t get any more storms things should go back to normal in the lake and the swans should return in October and November. I think the swans will be back in Lough Murree again come autumn time – both the whooper swans and the mute swans.”

Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney passed away in August of last year. His last public appearance was ay the Merriman Summer School done the road from Lough Murree in Lis doonvarna.

TRUMP International Golf Links and Hotel Ireland are to lay off staff during the winter months, but this, according to the resort’s manager Joe Russell, has been the practice for the last number of years.

“In fact we will have more people employed on the course this year that we have since we opened in 2002,” he said.

Last week Donald Trump visited his Doonbeg resort where he selected the site for the new banqueting and event centre and asked Mr Russell to proceed with plans for the review.

“Mr Trump’s visit went well. We spent a lot of time on the golf course and around the facility.

“He was very impressed with the facility, its location and the service and hospitality he received.

“Besides the radio and TV interviews he had, he spent a long time in our public areas meeting and taking photographs with people throughout the day,” said the Doonbeg boss.

During these press interviews Mr Trump promised hundreds more “good jobs”.

However after his departure during the week news broke that staff would be let go during the winter months.

“As discussed with all our employees last Wednesday and has occurred in the past number of years, we are scaling back our operations in the winter to weekends only in November and December, and in January and February we will close hotel operations only.

“The Christmas market and Christmas period will be open because they are well attended and when people use their vacation time to visit our facility,” explained Mr Russell.

“This is not something new for us or hotels on the west coast of Ireland given the level of business at this time of the year.

“Check out what my five star star competitors are doing in Kerry,” he said. “As you will have heard, we are doing a lot of work on our golf course due to the winter storm damage and we will continue our work for the season ahead and into the winter. His objective is to make our course the best golf course in Ireland.”

THERE were celebrations at Ennis College of Further Education on Friday as over 100 QQI Level 5 Certificates were presented to graduates across a range of courses.

The college is part of the Ennis Community College campus, which has a long tradition of Post Leaving Certificate and Further Education in Clare. The certificates related to courses in Legal Studies, Business Studies, Childcare, Special Needs Care, Nursing Studies, Community & Health Services, Office Administration/Medical Secretary and, for the first time, Health Science, Physiology & Sport.

Friday’s presentations were made by Ms Catherine O’Sullivan, FETAC External Authenticator, who congratulated the group and highlighted the currency of their awards for further education and in the workplace.

Mr John Cooke, Principal of En- nis Community College, praised the class for their dedication and hard work. He highlighted the fact that QQI qualifications open the door to third level for many students as they are accepted by the CAO as part of the Higher Education Links Scheme.

“These courses offer a wide range of employment opportunities and many of this year’s graduates have already secured employment in offices, crèches, nursing homes and sports facilities,” he added.

He also announced two new programmes which will begin in September: Level 6 Early Childhood Care and Education will enable learners to take on a supervisory role in an Early Childhood Education setting; Level 6 Business delves into business management and will offer a strong foundation for anyone wishing to take on a responsible role in business or pursue further studies at third level. These new programmes have been introduced as follow-on training from Level 5 courses.

CLARE County Council returned a surplus of almost € 650,000 last year, out of a total expenditure for the local authority of more than € 104 million.

According to the unaudited Annual Financial Statement for 2013 released by the council, the local authority ended the year with a € 643,00 surplus on a total revenue expenditure of € 104.4million.

Speaking at the launch of the statement, County Manager Tom Coughlan said that the council had made great progress in reducing its debt levels in recent years.

“Over the term of this council, the cumulative operating debit balance, which stood at € 1.77 million at the start of 2009 has been reduced to € 1.08 million at the end of 2013. This reduction in the cumulative deficit in a period of reduced fund- ing and uncertain economic circumstances is a positive development to be welcomed,” he said.

The accounts also show that that the local authority billed a total of € 36.1 million in commercial rates in 2013, which represents 35 per cent of the council’s total revenue expenditure in the year. The council collected € 35.8m in rates in the year and the total amount of rates outstanding at the end of 2013 is lower than the balance outstanding at the end of 2012.

“Customer balances are being actively pursued through engagement with customers in agreeing payment plans or through legal action, where necessary,” continued Mr Coughlan

“It is a difficult time for many businesses and the council tries to balance this reality with the need to maximise its collections to deliver services as planned at budget time to the people of County Clare.

“The council is committed to adopting a practical approach in terms of facilitating rate payers in their payment arrangements when possible.”

Clare County Council has also increased income over budget in the year, in particular from the Non Principal Private Residence (NPPR) charge. Income from the Non Principal Private Residence charge (NPPR) was € 2.2 million for the year. The income was greater than budget by € 0.7 million mainly due to a significant amount of income from penalties for late payment.