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COCAINE use in Clare has risen sharply and is the second most used drug in the county, with its popular- ity now outgrowing ecstacy.

The use of heroin is also continuing to increase in Clare, as addicts travel to Limerick to get their fix, accord- ing to gardai.

The head of the Clare Garda Di- vision’s Drug Unit, Sergeant John Brennan, said the trends in drug use in Clare had changed dramatically over the past few years and cocaine was now widely available.

“Our seizures of cocaine would be next to cannabis. It would have been very rare, going back three or four years ago.

“It has eclipsed ecstacy and am- phetamine,” said Sgt Brennan.

“It is the demand for cocaine that is causing problems. A lot of people with good wage packets are indulg- ing in cocaine at weekends. Once there is a demand, there will always be a supply,” he said.

While gardai in Clare have not made any major seizures of cocaine in recent years, they believe that a string of minor hauls is resulting in inroads being made into its supply.

‘A lot of individual seizures are be- ing made. There has been a substan- tial increase over the past number of years in the amount of cocaine vis- ible to us anyway.

“It seems to be deemed acceptable across the board, by all sections of the community,” he said.

He said the link between cocaine use and violence was significant as people who wouldn’t generally have violent tendencies resorted to vicious assaults after taking the drug.

“It is very obvious it is responsible for violence and public order inci- CSN

“It is commonly accepted that the use of cocaine leads to violence and it has been a factor in some of the se- rious assaults that have taken place,” |ntemncy-B (em

The majority of drugs are brought into Clare from mainland Europe, via Limerick, and gardai believe that cocaine and cannabis come in Koons

A number of prosecutions have been brought to court and a number of others are still pending, relating to possession of cocaine.

Sgt Brennan said the use of heroin continued to pose huge concerns for ee KerNe

“There is still a considerable amount of it. A lot of our people are going in to Limerick to get heroin. Some of the notorious drugs gangs in Limerick are cutting back the supply of cannabis, because it is more bulky, and are replacing it with heroin,” he Sr HLGe

He said that the popularity of ecsta- cy tablets has “dropped completely”’.

THE amount of waste landfilled at Ballyduff Beg last year was the low- est since the facility was opened in 2002.

Almost 34,000 tonnes of waste were landfilled last year, which is a significant reduction on almost 53,000 in 2005. Almost 44,000 tonnes were deposited there in 2004, and nearly 56,000 in 2003. During the first seven weeks of this year, almost 7,000 tonnes of waste were deposited there.

The annual report of the facility, presented to councillors yesterday, stated that the reduction last year was mainly due to a decrease in quanti- ties brought by one major collector.

The maximum licensed intake of 56,500 tonnes per annum was almost reached in 2003 and 2005.

The facility’s expenditure last year was €1.78 million for landfill, €223,000 for the recycling centre and €7,000 for composting. Pay- ments to suppliers of goods and serv- ices accounted for 38 per cent of the landfill operating costs; machinery was 33 per cent, with payroll 29 per Cone

The gate fees last year were €125 per tonne, for quantities up to 10,000 tonnes per annum and €120 per tonne, for quantities over that. These fees are reduced by €5 per tonne this year.

The income budget for the facility is €3,750,000 this year.

The report confirmed that off-site odours have been detected from time to time, as a result of inspections by the council and the HSE.

‘The main odour being reported 1s that of landfill gas, with some reports also of fresh waste odour. Landfill gas consists mainly of methane and carbon dioxide, which are green- house gases, but are odourless, but a small fraction of landfill gas is made up of volatile organic compounds, Some of which are odorous,” stated the report.

Two non-compliance notices, cov- ering four subjects, were received by the Environmental Protection Agency, in the year ending March 2007. Odour off-site and the felling of trees outside the dates specified in

the licence were referred to, 1n one of the notices. The council asserts the trees were felled in late February, to facilitate construction of Phase 3 of the facility, which got underway last August.

The report also pointed out that complaints were made about ma- chinery noise and surface water run- off, relating to Phase 3 construction.

According to the report, the prob- lems raised were discussed at the Community Liaison and Monitor Committee meetings.

“Odour management in particular has been a recurring subject. Com- plaints about site noise, early entry to site and late departure, and quality of surface water run-off, have been raised at this stage,” it stated.

MEMBERS of Clare County Coun- cil have voted to adopt a public con- sultation strategy for the preparation of Development Plans in the county.

They accepted it, after a debate on the issue at yesterday’s month- ly meeting of the Council, during which some councillors voiced their views on the formulation of develop- ment plans.

Councillor Patricia McCarthy (Ind) said, “It’s about communication with the ordinary people out there.”

Councillor Martin Lafferty (Ind) said, the document was “very well written. My experience of the last plan was it came in as an item. There wasn’t one word. It was proposed, seconded and adopted,” he said.

Councillor Tom Prendeville (FF) said it was not about a development plan as such. “We are talking about

local representation,” he said.

“The Department has laid out, in euldeline form, how we should con- sult with local groups. I would ask members to go forward,’ he added.

Councillor Richard Nagle (FF) said, “It is up to members here if they want to amend or change the County Development Plan. What we are talking about here is the public consultation strategy.”

“Some people seem to totally un-

derestimate the knowledge of the electorate. What we are talking about here is that we have a clear ap- proach,” he added.

He said that the document should be put on view for public consulta- tion, in libraries and public offices.

The Director of Services in the Planning Section, Bernadette Kin- sella said the document sets out how the council wished to engage in the process of consultation.

THE transport infrastructure in towns and villages in rural Clare has fallen into disrepair due to years of neglect.

That was the picture painted at last night’s monthly meeting of Clare County Council. Independent coun- ATE Key en Ol eve AA Orel a stem ec iNce MA elem t(on He called for the council to provide an inventory of the towns and vil- lages in north, west, and east Clare Where road surfacing and footpath improvements have ceased for the

past two to three years in anticipa- tion of new or upgraded sewerage schemes.

It was revealed that more than 15 areas across the county missed out on works while only a handful have been approved for works pro- grammes. However, work has not yet taken place in any of the towns or villages listed.

The Department of the Environ- ment is reluctant to grant foreshore licenses to proposed sewerage schemes in coastal communities and this is one reason for the delay.

Cllr Curtin said people living in rural areas were becoming increas- ingly frustrated.

‘The delay is causing huge difficul- ties. There has been no work carried out in Mullagh for over 25 years. There has been no improvement car- ried out in Miltown Malbay for four or five years. People understand there will be a delay, but that delay is undue. Inertia is creating an undue delay.”

Clir Joe Arkins (FG) said the situ- ation in some areas was a disgrace. “We have a situation in some towns and villages where footpaths are not

being maintained because of immi- nent sewerage schemes – if only we knew what imminent meant. The footpath from Miltown Malbay to- wards Spanish Point is an absolute disgrace.”

Cllr Michael Kelly (FE) said, ‘These services are needed if devel- opment is to take place. This is sti- fling development.”

Cllr Bernard Hanrahan (FF) said, “We are waiting on a sewerage scheme in Clarecastle. I don’t see any reason why this should hold up work on a footpath.”

Senior Engineer Walter Walsh ac- knowledges the council’s frustration. He said, “I can understand there is frustration out there. We are too frustrated too; we will talk to the en- gineer. But we must be prudent in the way we spend the money. It wouldn’t look too good, from a public rela- tions point of view, if we carried out repair works to roads and footpaths, only for us to go back a year later and Ch Tem detosenmel oy

“We have to strike a balance. I can say though, that we are more than anxious to advance these schemes.”

WORK on the long-awaited perma- nent water treatment facility for En- nis is set to commence in summer and expected to last 78 weeks.

Tender applications for the €7.5 million project will be finalised next week with a detailed report to follow soon after.

Speaking at Monday’s monthly meeting of Clare County Council, Councillor Joe Carey (FG) requested firm assurances from the council that the timetable would be adhered to.

“People are outraged in Ennis re- garding the water supply. There are people putting their hands in their pockets every week to pay for wa- ter. It’s hard on parents with young children. Will people be expected to boil water for year and a half? That is not acceptable, it is highly unsat- istactory. | have been going round to people’s doorsteps and seven out of 10 people have mentioned it to me.”

Cllr Pascal Fitzgerald (Lab) said problems with the water supply had damaged the image of Ennis as a tourist destination.

He said, “We’ve been waiting and waiting for something to happen. The people of Ennis deserve a proper service. When people visit Ennis and stay in hotels and they are told they have to go out to the shop to buy bot- tles of water, they must think it’s an absolute disgrace.”

Councillor Martin Conway said, “I have heard that the Dunnes Stores branch in Ennis is the number one in Ireland for selling bottles of water and that says it all. Clean water is a basic human right.”

Senior Engineer Walter Walsh said

the contractor would determine when the project was completed.

‘We have been assured by the de- partment that when the application is forwarded to them that they will deal with it as swiftly as possible. The contractor has the right to change the period of construction. We can’t instruct him to change the contract period.”

TALKS are continuing today be- tween SIPTU representatives and management at Aer Lingus concern- ing the Labour Court recommenda- tion on the airline’s proposed cost- cutting measures.

SIPTU National Industrial Secre- tary Michael Halpenny wrote to Aer Lingus management offering to meet for discussions centring on the Pro- eramme for Continuous Improve- ment, following a four-a-half-hour meeting of shop stewards at Dublin airport last week.

Mr Halpenny said in his letter to the Aer Lingus Human Resources Director Liz White that he request- ing a meeting to “flesh out all of the issues in the Labour Court Recom- mendation”. He said the union offer to enter talks was made “without Ke een ome

If some agreement can be reached, it could avert a possible strike action at Shannon, Dublin and Cork.

The two sides had a lengthy meet- ing which continued into yesterday evening at the airline’s head office in Dublin Airport.

The discussions are expected to

cover some of the most contentious issues, including cutbacks in leave and overtime payments and reduc- tions in payments for bank holiday N00. e

The union is expected to make a strong case for substantial compen- sation for workers affected, although some changes in work practice may be seen as inevitable.

SIPTU represents almost 1,800 workers in Aer Lingus, half of the entire workforce. The union had threatened an ongoing overtime ban and work-to-rule, including with- drawal from callout, except for air-

craft emergencies if the company pushed through cutbacks.

In introducing the plan, the airline iS aiming to cut its cost base and to reduce the overall cost to the com- pany of each employee. The talks coincide with the expected release today of the Aer Lingus annual re- port. It is believed that profits will be down, but this is largely due to the cost allotted to restructuring and to the company addressing the question of the pensions deficit.

Union sources are expecting dis- cussions to go on for as long as three weeks.

SENATOR Timmy Dooley’s criti- cism of his own Government’s handling of the Open Skies deal has come in for a hammering from Clare general election candidate and county councillor, Madeleine Taylor- Quinn (FG).

She said it was “nauseating to listen to Senator Timmy Dooley decry the withdrawal of the transatlantic status of Shannon and criticise the minister for transport”.

She added that that “if Senator Dooley feels the Government have let down the people of Clare he should have the moral courage to stand as an independent rather than as one of the

flagbearers of a Government party that has downgraded Shannon”.

Cllr Taylor-Quinn also called for a number of immediate measures to offset any loss of business as a re- sult of the ending of the compulsory Stopover.

These measures include the com- missioning of an independent eco- nomic study to formally assess the economic fallout for the region.

Meanwhile, Shannon Development Chief Executive, Kevin Thompstone, said proposals for Open Skies under- lined the “necessity to accelerate the implementation of the recommenda- tions in the Tourism and Economic Development Plan”.

This was submitted to Government

last year by the Mid-West Regional Authority and regional stakeholders including Shannon Development, the Shannon Airport Authority, IBEC, SIGNAL, chambers of commerce and local authorities.

He said the possible introduction of an Open Skies regime later this year would “pose a unique set of challeng- es for Shannon [International Airport and for the Shannon region and the wider west of Ireland which rely on transatlantic air services to drive in- ward investment and overseas tour- ism in their economies”.

The Open Skies proposal was wel- comed last week at the Irish Hotel Federation’s annual conference. The IHF believe that the deal will see two

million high-spending American tourists come to Ireland on holidays.

The Shannon Airport Authority last week outlined its plans to secure one million transatlantic passengers within five years of the ending of the Stopover.

SW stew-leidsleminymeer-nemeercviPmer-lmeyer-vilce han said that the retention of a year- round service to the United States was achievable with a strong market- ing campaign and a substantial re- duction in the airport’s cost base.

He said the imminent phasing out of the stopover had been prepared for some time. The airport had “built up an extensive range of transatlan- tic services which carried almost 800,000 passengers in 2006”.

THE sight of wandering cattle with big horns on a busy stretch of road near Sixmulebridge caused grave dis- tress to passing motorists, a court has heard.

Before Shannon District Court was Christy Grady, of Rath Beg, Sixmile- bridge, accused of allowing beasts to wander, at Feenagh, Sixmilebridge, on January 10 and 11 last.

Sergeant Con Ryan told Shannon District Court the defendant’s frie- sian bullocks were wandering on the road. It resulted in a lot of motorists getting frustrated.

‘He had been warned a few times about them. A lot of people were con- cerned. The animals hadn’t been de- horned,’ said Sgt Ryan.

He said the first report was made to Sixmilebridge Garda Station, at 3.10pm on January 10, from a driver who became “very distraught” on seeing what he described as “bulls with big horns”.

Sgt Ryan went to Feenagh, where he found two long-horned friesian cows wandering. He and another man moved the animals off the road.

A local farmer told him the cattle were belonging to the accused.

The following day, gardai received further reports, that cattle were wan- dering on the road near the mart at Sixmilebridge. Sgt Ryan found one long-horned friesian and put him back on land.

He said he met the accused and told him he would have to move the cattle. He co-operated fully with him.

“He undertook to move them. He is an elderly man. I don’t think he realised the significance of this. It 1s a busy stretch of road. He did move them the third day,” he said.

Mr Grady told the court he did not have cattle on the road at Feenagh – which was named on the summons – and for that reason he was not guilty.

His solicitor Caitriona Carmody said her client was adamant his cattle wouldn’t wander at Feenagh. If they wandered anywhere, it would have been at Ballysheen.

Sgt Ryan replied that the accused admitted to him that the cattle were Nhe

“T’ve seen Mr Grady on that road, tending to cattle and at that field,’ he nem

Ms Carmody said there was an ele-

ment of doubt. She pointed out that none of the complainants were in court and Sgt Ryan said they did not want to give evidence.

Mr Grady told the court that he removed one of the cattle to County Limerick.

“He was a bit wild. He might be used to mountainous country. They’d be used to be not confined. I took him to County Limerick and he hasn’t broke out since. He won’t ever stand in Clare again,’ he said.

Sgt Ryan said if the accused un- dertook to fence the land, he would agreed to withdraw the summons.

Mr Grady replied, “I will, but there’s no cattle breaking out since January 11. I have very good fences.”

Judge Joseph Mangan struck out the ores

TWO Polish brothers were caught “red-handed” stealing almost €4,000 worth of cosmetics in the duty free shop at Shannon Airport last week, it has been alleged in court.

Before Shannon District Court last Thursday arising out of an alleged in- cident earlier that day were Thomaz (25) and Bartosz (24) Lagan.

They are accused of stealing as- sorted cosmetics, valued at €3,887, the property of the Irish Aviation Authority, at the airport duty free sy aTe) oy

The court was told that the broth- ers arrived in Shannon, for one day and had intended to return home.

Inspector Michael Gallagher said the case was “very serious” and he applied to the court to remand the duo in custody for a week.

‘They are living outside the juris- diction. They just flew in yesterday. They have no address within the ju- risdiction,” he said.

He said there was a fear that if granted bail, the two defendants would not face the charge.

“By their own admission they ar- rived in Ireland yesterday and were due to leave this morning. They were caught red-handed,” he said.

He said that CCTV evidence relat-

ing to the case would be available from the airport authorities.

Judge Joseph Mangan said, “We will take it in future when an appli- cation like that is made (to remand in custody), one of the questions I will be asking is, ‘Were the defend- ants caught red-handed? Were they caught in the act?’”

The judge remanded the two in custody, to appear again in court later this week.

FRIENDS turned their backs on a Polish man who was drinking a bottle of vodka a day, the Ennis District Court heard.

Piotr Baran of 47 Dun Na Hinse, Lahinch Road in Ennis, was before Judge Joseph Mangan on 14 charg-

es of stealing drink from various premises in Ennis.

His solicitor, Darragh Hassett, said the man had “a very serious drink problem” which had been under control in his native Poland.

But after he lost a job here, he began drinking a bottle of Vodka a day. “He was drunk on every oc-

casion and easily caught. All the property was recovered. He wants to go back to Poland but his friends have turned their backs on him and no-one is willing to lend him the air fare. Rather than leave him lan- guish in jail, I would ask the court to release him on bail to attend AA and to get a job to raise his fare

home,” the solicitor said.

Inspector Michael Gallagher told the judge that the tradespeople of Ennis had a right to be protected from having their property stolen.

Judge Mangan released Baran on bail on condition that he sign on sober at Ennis Garda Station each ora