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UNION _ representatives are to meet tomorrow (Wednes- day) with Enterprise Minister Michael Martin to discuss his decision to axe Shannon De- velopment’s industry brief in favour of the IDA.

SIPTU Branch Secretary, Tony Kenny said that the un- ion’s aviation and _ industrial

branches, “totally condemn what is being done to Shannon Development”.

In a statement issued yes- terday, the union said that for the “last 15 years, the IDA has been responsible for promoting every part of the region except the Shannon Free Zone and has been woefully inadequate in producing results. Shannon De-

velopment, however, delivered 12 new foreign direct invest- ment projects to the Shannon Free Zone in the last five years, while the IDA could only man- age two for the entire region in the same period. The number of jobs in these Shannon Develop- ment companies has grown by more than 18 per cent while the IDA job number have increased by only 0.01 per cent.”

GARDAI investigating the death of Ann Walsh have appealed for anyone who was in the areas of The Square, O’Looney’s Lane, Francis Street and Toler Street between 9.30pm and l1lpm last Wednesday night to come KOE TROR

Eyewitness reports to gardai sug- gest that the deceased was seen out- side Crotty’s bar in The Square with an individual at around 9.30pm and gardai are keen to establish where exactly they went after that.

A number of eye witnesses have come forward with information and gardai are keen to speak to others.

“We are trying to establish if they went down O’Looney’s Lane and on to Toler Street or did they walk from Francis Street onto Toler Street? We want to speak to anyone who was in the vicinity of the Square in Kil- rush that night,” said Inspector Tom Kennedy.

“There would be people smoking on the roadway outside public hous- es or using ATM machines in the area. We are endeavouring to iden-

tify all people in the public houses in this area and we want to eliminate them from our enquiries,” added the Inspector.

The results of the post mortem ex- amination carried out by Assistant State Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis are not expected to be known for some weeks. In the meantime, the garda investigation, involving sev- eral gardai from across the division, meee Leneleoentes

The incident room at Kilrush Garda Station can be contacted on Cee ee T0r eel OF

THE man charged in connection with the death of Ann Walsh was further remanded in custody, when he appeared before Ennis district court yesterday (Mon- day).

23-year-old Raymond Donovan, of New Houses, Cooraclare, is charged with intentionally or reck- lessly causing harm to Ms Walsh, at Toler Street, Kil- rush, contrary to Section 4 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act, 1997.

Inspector Kevin Moynihan applied to Judge Leo Malone to have the accused remanded in custody, to re-appear before the court on Friday morning.

Defending solicitor, Tara Godfrey consented to the application, which she said was without prejudice to a bail application at any stage.

Mr Donovan had been remanded in custody to Lim- erick prison when he appeared before a special sitting of Kilrush district court last Friday.

On that occasion, Ms Godfrey applied that he be remanded to the Central Mental Hospital, Dundrum, rather than Limerick prison. She pointed out that her client may have difficulties accessing psychiatric serv- coe LM Oeom TUE

But after Superintendent Joe McKeown – who is

leading the investigation into Ms Walsh’s death – said the court couldn’t remand the accused to Dundrum, the judge agreed and directed that a psychiatric examina- tion be conducted on him at Limerick prison.

Yesterday Ms Godfrey said she has spoken to the Governor and Assistant Governor at Limerick prison and was assured that a visiting psychiatrist would be at the prison once a week and she requested that her client be assessed this week.

The solicitor pointed out that her client – who is in receipt of a disability allowance and who has received psychiatric treatment in the past in the Mid-west and in Mayo – is accused of assault causing harm and said that some facets of the media have created the impres- sion that he was charged with “other offences.” She said she wanted to remind the media to keep within the parameters of court reporting.

But Judge Malone said he was not going to give any direction to the media. “They are well aware of their own responsibilities,’ he said.

The accused remained silent for both court hearings, which were attended by members of his family who travelled from Cooraclare. As he was being led away from the courtroom last Friday morning, the deceased woman’s sister Mary shouted abuse at him and she was KoA NANO OSLO Ml oN amee-H KOLB

AS hundreds of mourners crowded into St Senan’s Church in Kilrush for Ann Walsh’s funeral Mass on Monday morning, the young girl’s uncle appealed for people who may have seen any suspicious activity on the night of her death to come forward.

Martin Walsh – a brother of Ann’s father Stephen – told a tearful crowd how he remembered Ann talking, playing, drinking minerals and eating sweets as a little child grow- ing up in her native Kilrush.

“She loved life and was a lovely girl. It is a pity she was taken from us so tragically. You rear kids and think when they grow up that they could make their own way in life. It is a chilling fact that something like this could hap- pen just yards away from this church,” said her distraught uncle.

“People should look after one another and make sure nothing like this would happen in a small close-knit com- munity like this. I would appeal to anyone who knows anything that happened on the night in question to come forward,’ he added.

Ann’s only sister, Mary fought back the tears as she spoke briefly from the pulpit. She said she will never for-

get the 23-year-old.

“She was a great sister and daughter. She shouldn’t have been taken away from us like this. We love her. She was as good. She was an angel,” said Mary Walsh.

Kilrush parish priest, Fr Michael Sheedy, one of five priests concelebrating the Mass, prayed for the Donovan family, who he said may well take longer to “come to terms with the shock and devastation in their lives.”

“We regularly hear of tragic deaths of young persons but very rarely do we expect our own community to have to come to terms with such a tragic death. We all wonder why this had to happen. We have been asking questions over the past number of days but getting no answers,” said Fr Sheedy.

He said Ann’s sudden passing had turned the lives of her family and friends ‘upside down.’ “There is a huge empti- ness in their hearts because of Ann, who they brought up through life and who her parents had loved for the past 23 years. It is so cruel she was taken from them in this way. She was so full of life,” he added.

‘She was taken out in the prime of her life with so much other work yet to complete and so much to do in her life. Her family always had pride of place in her life. Ann had planned to go on holidays but it wasn’t to be,” said Fr Neel e ays

THERE was a time, up to about four years ago when Shannon property prices lagged behind other towns in the county, but this is no longer the case. The airport town has played serious ‘catch-up’ and starter homes are now on a price par with those in Ennis.

According to Fachtna O’Donovan of Sherry FitzGerald McMahon, “the price of property was artificially low, because Shannon Devel- opment housing stock was sold off cheaply throughout the town, keeping the price of town houses down. This in turn affected the price of property in the higher price brackets”.

He added, “town houses are now reaching their true value and this has had a knock-on af- fect, having increased the value of property in the higher brackets too. Shannon prices used to be, on average, 30% lower than Ennis, this has now narrowed to zero in some brackets, although in the more expensive detached cat- egory, similar properties will make more in Ennis”.

Rory Fitzpatrick of Fitzpatrick Auctioneers, Shannon, agrees that Shannon property prices have come of age. “In the second hand mar- ket, good quality semi-detached properties, in fairly new developments are on a price par with their counterparts in Ennis. Prices for the older terraced style housing are around €150,000 plus. We recently sold a mid-terrace house in good order in Aidan Park for €163,000. The detached property market is small in Shannon and you can expect to spend €260,000 upwards

for this type of property.”

As a yardstick for prices achieved on modern apartments, Fitzpatrick said, “we recently sold 800 sq ft two-bedroom apartments in Ballyca- sey for €168,000”.

Fitzpatrick continued, “We have a develop- ment called Cluain Alainn, in Hurler’s Cross, on our books. Phase One sold out really quick- ly. It’s a mixed development of 57 houses built by Martin Fitzgibbon. The semi-detached

houses appealed to first time buyers and inves- tors, while the detached houses attracted buyers trading up, from Shannon. The semi-detached properties started in price from €185,000 and the detached houses from €230,000. All of the houses in Phase One were sold off plans about 6—9months ago”.

With a very buoyant rental market, investors remain interested in property in the airporttown. A new ‘tax designated’ development called Bru

na Sionna, currently under construction is sure to appeal to investors and professionals alike, working in the airport town. Apartments in the visually striking, up-market development have been released for sale by Sherry FitzGer- ald McMahon. The scheme consists of 119 two and three bedroom apartments, penthouses and three bedroom townhouses. The units are laid out in five blocks ranging in height from two to six storeys. Each block differs in style and shape, with some having gardens around them and others have balconies and terraces.

All of the properties are tax designated un- der the Urban Renewal Scheme and qualify for Section 23-type relief of up to 92 per cent. The two bedroom apartments cost from €228,000, town houses are priced from €262,000, while prices for the penthouses have yet to be final- ised.

Fachtna O’Donovan believes that the rental market will continue to remain strong in Shan- non. Commenting on current trends, he said, “Shannon is proving very popular with work- ers from overseas and workers from other parts of Ireland, due to the jobs availability in the towns’ industrial estates and the airport”.

O’Donovan concluded, “having been in Shannon since the mid sixties, I can see the town finally maturing into what was envisaged by the planners back in the fifties. In fact many people who have moved to Shannon in recent years have said to me that they would prefer to live in Shannon rather than Ennis or Limerick due to the facilities, the safe feeling they get in the town and the sense of community”’.

NACMm ALS Pope’s recent address at World Youth Day, Bish- op Walsh said that the Pope delivered his mes- sage “in a gentle and humble way and not in the way predicted by many in the media. His message was a very tra- ditional one”’.

Thirty young people from the Diocese of Killaloe – accompa- nied by local priests, Fr Donogh O’Meara and Fr Tom Hogan – travelled to Cologne in Germany to partake in the first World Youth Day celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI.

The group were part of a one-million crowd that were told by Pope Benedict that “in vast

areas of the world, there is a forgetfulness of God, a sense of dis- satisfaction with every- Oy item TeeM aio mAneun ero

The Pope said that religion constructed on a ‘do-it-yourself’ basis “cannot ultimately help ae

Dr Walsh said _ that the Pope “was_ look- ing at our world where there is a serious need for all of us to consider the things that bring us happiness and there is strong evidence that material success or in- stant satisfaction does not bring happiness and people are looking for something deeper and not just new-age spirituality that tend to say to people how you feel about yourself. The Pope put these solid truths before the young people.”

Dr Walsh said that the new Pope “is very clear in his beliefs”. He said: ‘He comes across as a very humble and gentle person.”

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