Month: July 2014

RAPE Crisis Midwest says it is “truly humbled” by the public support received since announcing the forced temporarily close of its centre in Ennis.

In May, the centre cited “significant cut-backs” as the reason for closing offices and services in Ennis, Nenagh and Limerick.

Rape Crisis Midwest provides a confidential one-to-one counselling service to both male and female survivors of rape and childhood sexual abuse. The service sees approximately 80 clients a week in the entire mid- west.

Between 12 and 14 people a week attend the service at the Tracklands business park in Ennis.

“There is no reasonable prospect of meeting our shortfall, estimated to be in the region of € 120,000 in the entire mid-west. The current fundraising programme in place will not satisfy that shortfall,” explained at the time.

Many of those are adults who suffered sexual abuse as children. The Ennis centre is due to close on a temporary basis in September.

But in its latest newsletter, the service has paid tribute to the support it has received from the public in Clare.

“It has been a busy few months here at the centre. We were truly humbled by the support, publicity and donations we received when we regrettably announced the news of our onemonth temporary closure. Thank you”.

A spokesperson continued, “Once again, we would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to each and every person who got in touch, donated, organised events, and shared the news of our temporary closure. We are truly grateful for your support and generosity.

Rape Crisis Midwest says it is also in the process of starting a new ‘Friends of Rape Crisis’ fundraising campaign to help address the € 120,000 shortfall.

“This campaign is designed for long-term giving. It will enable people to donate to us regularly and automatically without the hassle of having to physically donate every month. If you would like to get involved in the preparations or join our Friends of committee please get in touch.”

Members of Rape Crisis Midwest in Clare are also preparing for the third annual Dainty Daisy competition.

The event will take place at Treacy’s West County Hotel on Saturday, November 1.

A CAMPAIGN to reinstate a permanent A&E service at Ennis General Hospital has been launched.

Kilmaley councillor, Tom McNamara (FF) was elected head of the Regional Health Forum last week, and has made the reclassification of Ennis General Hospital his primary goal for the next 12 month.

The Mid West Region is currently the only HSE region in Ireland not to have a secondary tier, or Model 3, hospital. Model 3 hospitals are designed to act as cover for the main Model 4 hospital in a region, in our case – the Regional Hospital in Limerick.

This campaign goes much further than a motion put forward at Clare County Council last month, which called for the temporary reinstation of A&E Services in Ennis, until construction work on a new facility can be completed in Limerick.

“There needs to be a lot of political pressure to bring this change about. But we’ve seen the evidence in the HIQA report [a damning report on A&E services at Limerick Hospital]. If a service is not being provided properly we have to act on that. Our health service is the most critical service in the country and we need to have a proper one here in Clare,” he said.

“We are the only hospital group in the country with no Model 3 hospital, I would be pushing for a Model 3 Hospital in the mid-west and Ennis is the ideal location for that. This would give us a 24 hour A&E and would give us a surgical service. I will be lobbying hard with the Department of Health and the HSE to put a Model 3 hospital in the mid-west. It is something that needs to be done.

“This would mean a permanent A&E service in Ennis, even when the new building in Limerick comes on stream. The HSE’s own plan means that you need all the different types of hospitals in an area and we have no Model 3 hospital.

“Limerick in our Model 4 hospital but we are missing a Model 3 hospital with a full A&E that can be used as a back up for the Model 4 hospital. At the moment they are saying that the population number are not there. But for the system is to work properly you need to have a Model 3 hospital to be in place.”

A SMALL number of new jobs are set to come in stream in Shannon in the coming months following the decision of American aircraft parts provider Aero-Zone, to set up a European headquarters in Shannon Airport with the creation of a new, Clare based subsidiary.

It is as yet unclear how many jobs will be created directly through the project, but it seen as a very positive long term development for the Airport. Over the last 18 months the Shannon Airport Authority (SAA) has been working to increase the number and type of air services it provides to airlines and this move could help attract more business to the airport.

Based in Arizona, Aero-Zone said it has selected Shannon so it can provide “increased interaction and improved service” for its European clients. It said the decision to set up in Ireland is in line with its strategy of housing inventory at diverse locations.

“Aero-Zone has a large customer base within Europe and the Middle East.

“Having a physical presence in the region means we have an inventory closer to our customers, and allows us to improve what is a leading aircrafton-ground rapid response programme,” said Alfredo Dreyfus, founder and president of Aero-Zone.

The Shannon arm of the company will now be headed up by Sean O’Brien. He will be responsible for establishing a team of inventory specialists in Shannon, as well as supporting clients across Europe.

Established in 1994, the company provides parts for commercial airlines, corporate jet fleets and owner-operators. The company is now looking to procure a building in the Shannon Free Zone to act as its European Headquarters.

A MAJORITY of students in the classroom of a now retired teacher accused of indecently assaulting young school girls would say he was a “good teacher”, a court has heard.

The statement by defence counsel Roderick O’Hanlon SC was put to a woman who alleges the man indecently assaulted her on a weekly basis when she was in fourth, fifth and sixth class.

The woman was giving evidence on the second day of the trial of the 80year-old man who is charged with 67 counts of indecent assault at a Clare primary school between 1964 and 1985. He denies all charges.

The 48 year-old woman told prosecuting counsel Anthony Sammon the accused had “good days and bad days” as a teacher.

She said if the man was having a bad day, “somebody usually got hit really hard”. The woman said she recalled the man sitting down beside her and putting his arm around her.

She said the man would touch her breast area, thigh and inner thigh and genital area. She said all touching took place outside the clothes.

She said on more than one occasion she was brought to the front of the classroom where the man held her between his legs as he sat on a high stool. Under cross-examination from defence counsel Roderick O’Hanlon SC, the woman denied her recollection of the accused as violent man was “incorrect and untrue”.

Counsel put to it to the woman that the man “ran a classroom where the vast majority of students, their recollection is a good teacher”.

“It is an untrue account that you were ever sexually assaulted in this fashion”, he said.

“I was”, the woman replied.

When Mr O’Hanlon put it to the woman that the “atmosphere in the classroom was one of a normal happy classroom”, the woman said this was not true.

The accused, an 80-year-old man who cannot be named for legal reasons, replied not guilty to each of the 67 counts when they were put to him at Ennis Circuit Criminal Court on Tuesday. A jury of seven women and five men has been sworn to hear the trial, which is expected to last between two and three weeks.

A WOMAN has recalled the fright and hurt she felt as a young girl when her primary school teacher allegedly pushed her on a desk and forced his body on top of her.

The woman was giving evidence at the second day of the trial of an 80year-old retired teacher accused of 67 counts of indecent assault.

The man denies all charges, which relate to allegations between 1964 and 1985 at a Clare primary school.

The allegations concern 11 women who say they were assaulted by the man.

On Thursday at Ennis Circuit Criminal Court, the woman recalled an incident she alleges happened in sixth class.

She said the man pushed her on a desk and forced himself on top of her as she faced him.

“He was pushing his whole body weight down on me”, she said.

“My sister shouted stop, you’re going to break my sister’s back”.

The woman told prosecuting counsel Anthony Sammon SC that the incident was “very frightful” and “very hurtful”.

Defence counsel Roderick O’Hanlon SC put it to the woman that the incident at the desk never happened and that her memory is simply an “incorrect recollection”.

Under cross-examination, the woman maintained she had been assaulted by her former teacher.

“We were country children when we were subjected to this behaviour”, she added.

She said the children did not know what sex was but knew their teacher’s behaviour was “horrible” and “wrong”

She said they were “country children in a country school” when they were assaulted by the man.

She said it was a “no win” situation for the children because this was man in “power, all power” who knew their parents.

A 45-year-old woman told the court she recalled that when she was in fifth class, the teacher would sit beside her at her desk and touch her inappropriately.

She also recalled that the man used to admire her clothes.

She said the man used to hold her between his legs as he sat on a high stool at the front of the classroom.

She said she knows now the man was getting aroused.

“He had an erection and it was sticking into my back”.

In cross examination, defence counsel, Mr O’Hanlon SC, put it to the woman that his client never engaged in the type of inappropriate touching as detailed by her.

He told her she was “constructing a narrative” about what happened.

The fifth female complainant to give evidence told the court the former teacher was “very cross” and “very violent”.

She said she remembered one day when the man allegedly pulled one boy from his desk and proceeded to bang his head on every desk.

“I’ll never forget that. It was horrific”, she added.

Prosecuting counsel for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Anthony Sammon SC, put it to the woman that corporal punishment was permitted at the time.

The woman told Mr Sammon she thought the accused’s behaviour was “excessive”.

The woman detailed assaults committed against her by her then teacher. She said they occurred with greater frequency, as she got older in fifth and sixth class.

Defence counsel Roderick O’Hanlon SC put it to the woman, the aggravated assault on the boy never happened.

He said no complaint had been made to the gardaí in respect of that time. The trial before Judge Gerald Keys commenced on Wednesday last and is due to continue today.

ENNIS is facing a housing crisis over the next two years with the cost of family homes set to double – and with little or no development in the pipelines. The average cost of a three bedroom semi-detached house in Clare has risen by 30 per cent over the past 12 month – with Ennis, Shannon and Sixmilebridge driving the increases.

Indeed, according to figures compiled by the Real Estate Alliance (REA), the average cost of a three bedroom semi-detached house in Clare has risen by more then 13 per cent so far this year. With little or no construction of new developments in Ennis over the past four years, and few major developments at the planning stages, the current trend looks set to increase in the medium term.

According to Ennis auctioneer and REA Clare spokesperson, Liam Browne, the price increase is being driven by certain house types in certain areas – while prices in many parts of the county remain flat.

“We are seeing prices increasing in certain houses in certain urban areas, but the increase does not apply across the board. There has been a surge in sales over the past six months and that is definitely having an impact on prices – when houses do come up they are going well,” he said.

“More and more mortgages are being approved, but the houses are not coming on the market. You will see house shortages in the Ennis area over the next year or two, no houses have been built for the past four or five years. This will possibly see house prices continue to rise as there is a lack of supply.”

With the level of planning permis- sion in Clare still at a record low, it looks unlikely that a major increase in house supply can be realised in Ennis in over the next few years.

“Fundamentally it is going to create a shortage of certain kinds of homes in Ennis over the next 18 months or two years. If you go outside the urban areas like Ennis, Shannon and maybe Sixmilebridge – the market is still flat,” continued Liam.

“Any increase in house prices will help those people who are in negative equity, but whether it will get a large number of people out of their situation is not clear.”

A MOTHER of two has warned people to be on the look out for bogus tradesmen who were operating in the West Clare area at the weekend.

The men removed a number of roof tiles from the home of Ruth Gilhool and her family.

The roof of the family’s home near Ballyncally was damaged following storms earlier this year. The family had been saving to get the roof repaired when two men in a blue Ford Transit van called to the house on Friday.

The men offered to fix the damage for € 350. Ruth said she accepted the offer as it sounded like a good price and she was desperate to have the roof fixed.

She said rain had already fallen into one of the bedrooms. Ruth was at home on her own Friday when the men called. Her nine-year-old son, who is moderately autistic, was last year diagnosed with a rare form of sarcoma cancer. Ruth’s husband was away with the couple’s son on a trip to Barrettstown – a specially designed camp in Kildare that provides therapeutic care for seriously ill children.

Ruth said that after examining the roof, the men told her further work was required. They said they needed to purchase materials worth € 300 from the Dock Road, Limerick.

The man said they would take € 300 for materials now and the additional € 350 required for the work could be paid over the following week.

Ruth paid the money, which she had originally intended using to tax her car.

When the men returned on Saturday, they told Ruth the cost of completing the work had jumped to € 3,250. When Ruth and her husband protested, the man said he would ring his boss. After making a phonecall, he said he could do the job for € 1,650.

The man said he needed € 1,000 upfront for materials. After Ruth asked for identification and a business card, the man said another van in the area had all the documents.

Ruth said the van left and did not return. It was after inspecting the roof she noticed some of the tiles were missing. “I was afraid to be in the house if they came back. I was afraid to be on my own. I locked my- self in the house.”

Ruth contacted the gardaí about the incident and published photos of her house and van and details of the encounter on Facebook.

Since then, friends have rallied around and offered to help with repairs.

“People have been so wonderful. I had a really heavy heart after this happened after I’d let people do this to our house and exposing us to dan- ger. But after seeing the kindness of people in Clare, my heart had lifted so much,” she said.

There have also been reports of a similar van calling to homes of elderly people in the Ballynacally and Lissycasey area.

THE allegiances of many in West Clare will be tested when the lights go up in the Festival Dome in Tralee next month, as a New Zealand Rose with impeccable West Clare connections, goes up against this year’s Clare Rose, Joanne O’Gorman.

Indeed, it has emerged that this year’s Kiwi Rose, Liza Bazalo from Wellington, has Miltown Malbay blood coursing through her veins. While Bazalo is by no mean a common West Clare name, Liza’s mother’s side of the family are Taltys, a name very familiar in Miltown, Quilty and all indeed all over West Clare.

Liza’s grandparents, Michael and Colleen Talty, left Miltown Malbay in the 1958 and settled in New Zealand. Indeed, Michael’s brother, 93-year-old Senan Talty, still lives in Miltown, in the same house where the brothers grew up, while his sister, 88-year-old Mary, also lives in Miltown.

It is expected that Liza will visit her relations at the the family home in Carhuduff, on the Hand Road outside Miltown Malbay, where the Talty family have been living for more than 400 years.

The 24-year-old lawyer is very active in the Irish community in New Zealand and holds a number of awards for her Irish dancing.

“Three of my dancing teachers were national roses. They have all been role models for me,” she said.

“I enjoy expressing my heritage through Irish dance, and cherish the time I spend with my grandparents talking about home over cups of tea. My paternal grandfather was born in Croatia, and I consider myself lucky to live in New Zealand, which is a melting pot for many cultures.

“I studied law and land planning, and work as a lawyer at Buddle Findlay. I specialise in environmental and Maori law. A particularly rewarding aspect of my work is volunteering at a centre providing free advice to people in the community.”

PLANNING permission for the construction of a park and ride service to the Cliffs of Moher has been refused by Clare County Council.

The application, which sought to retain a planning permission granted to Atlantis Development in 2009, was submitted earlier this year by a new company, Lazarus Investments.

According to documents lodged with the Company Registration Office (CRO), both Atlantis Development and Lazarus Investments list Clare businessman John Declan Flanaghan as their director.

The proposed retention of planning permission was refused by planners on Friday, with changes to the Clare County Development Plan cited as the main reason for the decision.

Lazarus Investment are currently objecting to upgrade work planned by Clare County Council on the parking facilities at the Cliffs of Moher. The objection states that according to the original planning permission granted for the Cliffs of Moher Visitors Experience, a park and ride service and not a permanent car park should be provided.

In recent weeks, Lazarus Investments have also lodged a number of planning applications with Clare County Council in relation to properties connected to the Atlantis Development.

An application, which would have involved a major redevelopment to Egan’s and McHugh’s in Liscannor, including the construction of a seven-bedroom hostel, has also been refused by Clare County Council, while a proposal to construct a 11 houses at Teergonean in Doolin has been given the go ahead.

There are decisions pending on a number of other projects including the construction of a supermarket, crèche, medical centre and a chemist at Killilagh in Doolin.

Meanwhile, a Liscannor hotel, which once formed part of the Atlantis Development collection of properties in North Clare, has been offered for sale with a price tag of € 550,000.

The Cliffs of Moher Hotel, which was built in 2006, is being offered for sale by receiver Michael O’Regan of PriceWaterhouseCooper. The hotel, which is located a stone’s throw from Liscannor Bay, sleeps 22 and includes a fully-fitted out bar and restaurant.

THE auction of the year was to have been the sale of the correspondence between Jackie Kennedy and a priest in All Hallows College in Dublin, but they were withdrawn at the 11th hour because a dispute over their ownership.

Now, the seminary which is closing has come back for more with another auction that will take place over three days, with one of the lots providing an historic link with Clare.

It’s contained the collection of art that will go under the hammer at Sheppards Auctioneers from Durrow in Laois – a portrait of the Clareborn Archbishop of Perth Patrick Joseph Clune.

Archbishop Clune was born in Ruan in 1864, educated at St Flannan’s College and All Hallows College. He was ordained a priest in 1886 before his first appointment was to St Patrick’s College in New South Wales.

From there he rose through the ranks of the Church and became Bishop of Perth in 1911 before being elevated to archbishopric in 1913, a position he held until his death in 1935.

Though he lived nearly all of his adult life in Australia, Archbishop Clune was given a key part to play in War of Independence in Ireland when British Prime Minister, Lloyd George turned to the Ruan man to act as a mediator with Irish leaders to secure a cessation of violence.

This was despite the fact that at the time Archbishop Clune made no secret of the fact that he was a keen supporter of the Sinn Féin movement. “I admire their gallantry. When Mr Lloyd George termed them assassins I was content to reply to him: ‘No not murderers but the cream of their race’,” he said.

Archbishop Clune’s portrait is one of 14 ecclesiastical paintings that will go under the hammer in the highly anticipated auction and could fetch up to € 2, 500.