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A RULING in the case of a Lisdoonvarna-based nXe)re group, accused of employing non-nationals without valid work permits in two of its ho- tels, will be made tomorrow (Wednesday).

In the first case of its kind in Clare last month, Ennis District Court heard from members of the Garda immi- eration bureau that 14 people, ranging in ages from 21 to 39, were employed at the Imperial and Hydro Hotels in Lisdoon- varna, without valid work permits, in September 2004.

The accused were William

O’Sullivan (manager of The Hydro), Geraldine Whyte (manageress of The Imperial), Marcus White, and The Hy- dro and Imperial hotels. The five accused denied a total of 36 charges against them.

The White Hotel Group ac- countant, Robert Hurley, told the court that people with- out work permits would not knowingly be employed. He said directions came from on high.

After hearing evidence over two days, Judge Joseph Man- gan dismissed the charges against Mr O’Sullivan and Ms Whyte, saying there was no evidence that either were

officers of the two defendant companies.

Defending solicitor Eugene O’Kelly said there was no evidence that Marcus White actively consented to the em- ployment of such people.

Inspector Michael Gal- lagher said two non-nationals were discovered “physically working” at one of the hotels.

Judge Mangan queried Whether there was evidence that Marcus White was direc- tor of both companies when the searches took place.

He adjourned the case to give the State the opportunity to prove he was director on WerLI@EcT oR

THE mother of Lorna Mahony has expressed her frustration at delays in the process of ex- traditing David Naughton. Last week Geral- dine Mahony travelled to London to be at Bow Street Magistrates for an extradition hearing. However, the application could not be proc- essed as the necessary paperwork was not be- fore the court by the Irish authorities.

“This was his fourth appearance in court in relation to the extradition and they are still waiting on paperwork from Ireland,’ Mrs Ma- hony said. “The magistrate seemed puzzled by the delay and said he would contact the Irish judge who issued the order.”

She continued, “The whole thing is very frustrating. One section doesn’t appear to know what the other side is doing. We are two

years after the girls’ deaths and we are no fur- ther down the process. We have to fight for any information from the authorities.

‘Families need to know what is going on. If we had a trial date or were kept in the loop, that would improve things. It is over two years since Lorna and Stacey left Stacey’s house on that Friday night, and we are still waiting for answers as to what happened.”

Mrs Mahony added, “It gets harder. Every- one is struggling because it hurts too much. It seems so senseless and we have no idea what happened. The inquest was formally opened in June 2004, but was adjourned because of the criminal proceedings.”

Extradition proceedings have been adjourned to December 6. Mrs Mahony said, “I would hope that by then, the Irish authorities would have the proper paperwork in place”.

: “T know that there were all sorts of rumours circulating about my health, but I’m glad to be able to say that they have no foun- CR IB(eyNe

“It was not very pleasant, but being so long in po- litical life, you have to grow a thick skin and that is sadly the more unseemly side of politics. I just prefer to stay away from that kind of approach to politics.”

On reports that she was not working on the ground in the constituency, Minister de Valera said, “Maybe you put that down to political mischief making; after all, conventions are afoot and elections are down for 2007. You will always have rumours like that circu- lating.

“T don’t put too much emphasis on reports like that and I have been working as hard as I can.”

Minister de Valera said that her decision to retire from politics was “a leap of faith to try to have a sec- ond career”’.

The 50-year old stated that she had been thinking about retiring from politics “for quite some time’, but declined to state for how long.

Asked how her retirement would affect Fianna Fail’s election prospects in Clare in the next General Election, Minister de Valera said: ““No one is indis- pensable and Fianna Fail is lucky that they have some potential candidates who already have tremendous experience.

“It will be up to the Fianna Fail organisation when the convention comes on January 9 and depending on the choice, I will be only too happy to support those particularly candidates.”

Minister de Valera said that her record in Clare was for others to judge.

‘“T have worked very hard. If you go into public life, although there is a some sense of cynicism, working and knowing the system from the inside, certaintly to be re-elected you have to work very hard, you re- ally do.

“It is a tough existence, it means that you have less time for family, friends and hobbies. That is the choice you make and you make that willingly and I will have been in political life for 30 years by the time the next election comes around, so it is time to move on.”

Minister de Valera described her decision as a ‘life-changing one” and said that she now hopes to complete her PhD in psychology and also write a po- litical memoir.

In relation to her PhD, Minister de Valera said, “It is not possible to carry those particular interests along with a political life. I have had marvellous opportu- nities in my political life, serving as a front bench spokesperson, vice-president of Fianna Fail, a Minis- ter at the cabinet table and now a Junior Minister.

“It has been a great experience and I have every 1n- tention of working extremely hard for the remainder of my time as a TD.”

Asked if she was in any way disillusioned with poli- tics, Minister de Valera said, “Disillusioned? No, I have and will continue to have a tremendous interest in politics.”

WEST Clare-based senator, Brendan Daly, claimed this week that no stone will be left unturned in Fianna Fail’s efforts to reclaim three seats in Clare in the next general election.

Twenty-four hours after his party colleague, Junior Minister, Sile de Valera announced her retirement from politics, Senator Daly was in defiant form last Friday, declaring, “There is going to be no stone un- turned to get back the three seats, no conceding anything to anyone at this stage.”

Less than a month ago, the former minister caused a surprise in some circles when he said he would be putting his name forward for cand1i- dature for the next general election at the Fianna Fail selection convention on January 9, 2006.

Now, assuming that he gets the green light from the Fianna Fail con- vention, Senator Daly looks to be a strong position to reclaim the Dail seat he lost in 2002 if Fianna Fail manages to hold onto its core vote in Clare in the next election.

Speaking at afunction at St Joseph’s Secondary School in Spanish Point last Friday — which was also attended by Minister de Valera – Senator Daly

continued, “Personally, it is impor- tant to win three seats. We are going all out for three seats, we have the policies to back it up, the candidates

In ebullient form, the Senator con- tinued, “We don’t know what the con- vention will throw up. At the end of the day when the convention is over

already declared are well-placed, we are going to put up a fight, we are not going to give up easily, we are gonna out ee

and if I am on that ticket, I would be confident of being elected. There is a very big area of west Clare used to having two TDs representing it.

“We have a challenge there to get back the seat we lost the last time, we’ve won and lost it several times. We had two and three-quarter quo- tas last time out and we will be chal- lenging very strong on the basis of the economic performance under the Government, and that we have three candidates who understand the prob- lems of the county. “The quality of life in this county is better than most. If you look at Clare’s economic per- formance, itis better than most coun- ties. Seventy per cent of our kids are going into college, which is much higher than any other county in I[re- land. We want to keep it that way.”

Last time out, Senator Daly lost his Dail seat to James Breen TD who resigned from Fianna Fail in the months prior to the election in order to run as an independent.

Senator Daly was first elected TD in 1973 and held onto his seat until 1992 and regained it in 1997. During his time in the Dail, Senator Daly has served in three Ministries- as Minister for Fisheries and Forestry, the Marine and for Social Welfare.

SILE de Valera has represented the Clare con- stituency since 1987. Born in Dublin in 1954, Minister de Valera was educated at Loretto Convent, Dublin and UCD, where she quali- fied as a career guidance teacher.

She was first elected to the Dail for the Dub- lin mid-county constituency, in the Fianna Fail landslide general election of 1977. She was the youngest TD elected that year.

In June 1979, she was elected to the Euro- pean Parliament for a five-year term. Later that year, de Valera was one of the Fianna Fail TDs who criticised the policies of Taoiseach,

Jack Lynch in relation to Northern Ireland and was a prominent supporter of Charles Haughey, who succeeded him as Taoiseach in December 19779.

She held her Dail seat until the 1981 Gen- eral Election, when the constituency bounda- ries were redrawn. She sought re-election in the new constituency of Dublin South. This caused tension within the Fianna Fail party locally, as one of the other candidates, Séa- mus Brennan, was a prominent opponent of Haughey. De Valera polled relatively well at that election, but narrowly lost to Niall An- drews. de Valera contested the constituency again at the February 1982 general election,

but she again failed to get elected, seeing her vote drop.

For the following general election in No- vember 1982, she transferred to Clare, where sitting TD, Bill Loughnane (a fellow sup- porter of Haughey), was standing down. Clare was the constituency that her grandfather, Eamon de Valera, had represented from 1917 until 1959. Again, she narrowly failed to get elected, but she remained living in the con- stituency, and in 1987 she was re-elected. She has been re-elected at every election since.

De Valera resigned the party whip from F1- anna Fail in 1993, due to the removal of the stopover at Shannon Airport. In 1994, the

new leader, Bertie Ahern, appointed her to the front bench. In 1997, she became Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands. In 2002, she lost her place at the Cabinet table but became a junior minister. She is currently Minister of State at the Department of Edu- cation & Science, with Special Responsibility for Adult Education, Youth Affairs and Edu- cational Disadvantage.

Last Thursday, Minister de Valera an- nounced her intention to stand down at the end of the current Dail term. She is a niece of Vivion de Valera and 1s a first cousin of the current Minister for Community Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Eamon O Cuiv.

A REGROUPED, reorgan- ised and much more con- fident Fine Gael arrived in Cork at the weekend for its annual conference.

Among the upbeat group were hundreds of members from Clare, who are now looking to a second Dail seat in the constituency. In the af- termath of the de Valera re- tirement, the Fine Gael Party

was hoping to maximise its Ennis vote.

During the conference, party members and follow- ers cheered as their leader promised free GP services to under fives, €650 million in pre-school care and the es- tablishment of a new “super food authority”.

In a clear message to possi- ble coalition partners Labour, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny was adamant there would be

no increase in personal, cor- poration or capital taxes.

In what could be construed as a hand of friendship to an- other possible coalition part- ner, the party’s environment spokesperson said vehicles using energy-efficient fuels would be charged a lower Fede

Despite such suggestions, a possible alliance with the Green Party divided del- er ene

Controversy also arose when the party leader spelt out his vision for reform in the teaching of Irish.

The Mayo man controver- sially proposed to end com- pulsory Irish education for Leaving Cert students.

‘‘As one who speaks Irish, I believe we must acknowl- edge that our language is in trouble. Even though our young people receive, on average, 1,500 hours of

education in Irish, many are leaving school without any reasonable command of the language.

“Despite the fact that they teach Irish all through their schooling, only three out of 10 students of Irish attempt the honours paper in the Leaving Certificate. Worse still, thousands of them don’t even turn up for the exam every year,’ said Deputy oath

A 61-YEAR-old former cub scouts leader who indecently assaulted two young brothers in the early 1970s in Kilrush has been remanded in custody for four weeks.

Thomas Waters, of Moore Street, Kilrush – an employee of ESB at Moneypoint – pleaded guilty to 20 counts of indecently assaulting one of his victims between 1970 and 1975. He also admit- ted 12 counts of indecent assaulting another victim between 1970 and 1972 and one count of buggery, in 1970.

One of the victims – who are now both in their forties – was just eight or nine which the abuse started. The complaints were made to gardai in ree

Psychiatrist Dr Patrick O’Byrne told Ennis Circuit Court has treated Waters for over 20

years, after the accused visited him voluntarily. “There were little holes in his superego which would allow him to think he was doing young people a favour and wouldn’t see anything very wrong in it,’ said Dr O’Byrne.

Defending barrister Mark Nicholas said his client has acknowledged what he did was wrong and is filled with remorse. He said he attended counselling, before any complaints were made.

He pointed out that a report from the Grenada Institute for sex offenders stated that Waters now presents a low to moderate risk of offending. Mr Nicholas said Waters had assembled €60,000 for his victims, which he said was not a measure of compensation but a measure of his contrition.

Judge Carroll Moran said the case was a very difficult one, where the accused abused his posi- tion of trust.

“The facts of the case are very sordid and very

unpleasant. The accused was in a position of trust. He misused his position and betrayed the trust,” said the judge.

Pointing out that in one instance, the abuse took place twice a week over a three-year pe- riod, the judge said, “This was an appalling way to mistreat two boys. Of course it had a most detrimental scar on their childhood and on their development.

‘There was no show of remorse or apology un- til very late in the proceedings and he now comes into court with a substantial sum of money, but it is very late in the day.”

The judge pointed out that he took the guilty plea into account and accepted Waters’ entire savings were being used to meet the case.

Adjourning sentence until December 13 next, the judge said he needs time to consider whether the accused should face a custodial sentence.

WANDER EI place in Shannon later this month.

Irish Country Pottery is to hold a factory clearance sale of €180,000 of its stock, over three days.

The stock being cleared 1s a mixture of first quality and a selection of slight seconds, which have built up over the years, since the company was formed almost 40 years ago.

The decision to sell the stock at a reduced rate — up to 50 per cent off — was made in advance of the launch of a new range, which is expected to hit the shelves early next year.

Among the items on sale include lamps, wooden ac-

cessories, hand painted shades and various kitchen ACCESSOTIES.

“We haven’t done this be- fore and the main purpose 1s to clear out the stock. All of the items on sale are of high Standard,’ said Alec Good of Irish Country Pottery.

People from a wide range of countries are among the 70-strong workforce em- ployed at Irish Country Pot- tery, including those from South Africa, Zimbabwe, the Philippines and Ro- mania, while a number of people with disabilities also 0) U.N SESE

The clearance sale, at Shannon Community Work- shop, in the Shannon Indus- trial Estate, will take place between 10am and 6pm on Friday and Saturday (No- vember 25 and 26) and be- tween 12 noon and 6pm on Sunday (November 27).

INDUSTRY and opposition politicians have slammed the agreement which will see the Shannon stopover grounded from April 2008.

IBEC — which represents 500 busi- nesses, employing 50,000 people in the region — has branded the announcement that a deal has been cut to phase out the stopover as “a black day for the west.”

IBEC Mid-West Regional President, Mr Damien Clancy, added that the impact on industry, business and tourism would be devastating given that Government has not outlined measures to minimise the negative effect of this decision.

“The harsh reality is that, under Open Skies, US-Shannon flights could easily be reduced from 50 to 7 per week with an equivalent drop in US passengers of up- wards of 500,000 per annum as airlines seek to consolidate their Irish operations

for cost reasons,” he said.

Beginning next November, the number of flights serving Shannon will be re- duced to one in four on all scheduled routes. “This drastic reduction in serv- ices outlined by Minister Cullen will no doubt have a significant impact on invest- ment and jobs in Shannon and the greater West of Ireland region unless action is taken to plan for this change,” the IBEC President said.

Mike Halpenny of SIPTU, the union representing workers at the airport, says the deal is a disaster. “The big problem is that it’s a poor deal, not just for the air- port workers but also for workers in the industrial estate and the backward link- ages. And this has all been done without even the courtesy of an impact study.”

Joe Buckley of the Shannon Signal eroup said that it was “an appalling day for Shannon.” He added that, while the

Government had neglected to carry out any impact statement before the deal, in the US, a bill is moving through congress to examine fall-out for American indus- try in the Mid-West.

Fine Gael TD Pat Breen has criticised the one-in-four deal for Shannon over an 18-month-period as a drip-feed solution. He said, “This is a sellout of the West. It is a ridiculous sop which takes no ac- count of the threatened effects of an Open Skies agreement on the airport.”

But the plan has received a welcome from tourism interests and from the Lim- erick Chamber of Commerce, who said that “Open Skies could offer opportuni- ties and Shannon Airport’s business plan does make provision for its advent but it is now critical that they get their cost structure in order to attract carriers and compete on transatlantic business by of- fering lower landing charges.”

THE founding chairman of the Shannon Status Committee, which lobbied to keep the Shannon stopover, has expressed his support for the controversial Open Skies policy. Minister for Labour Affairs Tony Killeen expressed his absolute confidence that Shannon Airport will continue to “grow and prosper in the exciting new era of EU-US Open Skies”.

The Corofin TD was founding chairman of the committee as Clare County Council Chairman in 1989, and led the local FF revolt when Shannon was under threat 12 years ago. But he sup- ported Minister Martin Cullen’s decision this week, pointing out that none of the other 24 EU states has managed to negoti- ate an interim arrangement similar to Shannon’s.

In response to queries that he had changed his stance over the last decade, he said, “When full “Open Skies’ finally arises in 2008, it will be close to 20 years since the start of the ‘status’ campaign. At that time, unemployment hovered at close to 18 per cent. It is now, at 4.2 per cent, one of the lowest in Europe.

“Our debt-to-GNP ratio was 125 per cent and completely out of control. It is now a comfortable 30 per cent. And growth was

virtually at stagnation point, compared with today’s healthy five per cent,” the Minister of State added.

“Shannon has weathered the storm and the unprecedented success enjoyed by the new independent airport authority proves that Clare’s airport is fully capable of winning new business against all comers. I believe that the improved relationship with the new Aer Lingus management will greatly benefit Shannon, and US carriers using the airport have been more than happy with their load factors and want to retain their share,” he said.

“The new airport board, along with a revitalised and re-fo- cused Shannon Development, must continue to expand and build the marketing focus on the West of Ireland in the US, UK and European markets. And the completion of a first-class road and rail infrastructure must be delivered by Government.”

He claimed that the same “prophets of doom’, who foretold that the rabbits would overrun the runways in the 1940s and predicted closure of Shannon in the °90s, are “‘at it again”.

‘Their predictions are as inaccurate now as they were then”, Minister Killeen remarked, “and, as always, it falls to those of us who were prepared to take a stand in difficult times to pro- vide positive support so that Shannon can benefit from exciting new opportunities.”