Author: admin

with mini baby booms.

The recent downturn in the number of Clare babies being born appears to be affecting girls rather than boys. While the number of Clare boys being born remains largely consistent – 208 in the f rst quarter of 2013 compared to 208 this year – the number of female births has dropped dramatically. According to f gures obtained from the CSO the number of female babies born in Clare has fallen by almost 9 per cent in just 12 months. The overall birth rate from the county has fallen from 14.1 last year to 13.5 so far in 2013.

Despite the reduction in the number of children born in Clare this year the overall population in the county continues to rise at a relatively steady rate. A total of 211 Clare people died in the f rst three months of this year – much less than the 396 people who were born during the same period.

A MAN who pleaded guilty to a public order offence at a housing estate in Ennis has been sentenced to three months in prison.

James Sherlock (45), with an address at 41 Dromard, Lahinch Road, Ennis, admitted a charge of failing to comply with the direction of a garda.

The charge arose from an incident at the Dromard estate on March 10, 2014.

At Ennis District Court on Wednesday, Mr Sherlock received sentences totalling three months. He received a one-month sentence for the incident at Dromard.

Judge Patrick Durcan also activated two months of a suspended sentence imposed last year.

Mr Sherlock is appealing the sentences. Details of the offence at Dromard were heard in court on Tuesday.

Garda Barry Comer of Ennis Garda Station told the court gardaí were called to Dromard following a number of complaints about noise.

Garda Comer said the noise from a car radio was “causing signif cant disturbance” for residents.

Garda Comer said Mr Sherlock came out to the car when gardaí entered the estate.

“He was quite unhappy with our presence,” Garda Comer said.

The court heard that when gardaí asked for the music to be turned down, Mr Sherlock turned the music up louder and warned his children not to turn it down. Judge Durcan said to Garda Comer, “he was trying to prove he was king of the castle”.

Sentencing was adjourned to Wednesday, as the offence was committed while Mr Sherlock was still under the terms of a suspended sentence.

On Wednesday, Judge Durcan activated two months of that sentence. The court was told that Mr Sherlock has 15 previous convictions including for assault and theft.

Defence solicitor John Casey told the court his client is “not the most popular man in the estate, putting it mildly”.

He said Mr Sherlock was upset that someone had complained about the noise.

Mr Casey said there a large number of houses in the Dromard estate that are rented.

Mr Casey said his client would say there are often loud parties and his client never complains about the noise.

“He was not trying to prove he was king of the castle…He reacted badly when the gardaí came up.”

Judge Durcan imposed a one month consecutive sentence. Recognizance’s were f xed in the event of an appeal in respect to both sentences.

WEST Clare may soon become the windfarm capital of Ireland with plans lodged for two major windfarm developments with the planning authorities last week.

These projects include the construction of what could be the largest ever windfarm undertaken in the county at Slaghbooly in Kilmaley, as well as separate plans for the construction of what would be the tallest turbines ever built in Clare at Cahermurphy in Kilmihil.

Slaghbooly Wind Farm Limited lodged plans to construct a 29-turbine windfarm in Kilmaley with An Bord Pleanala last week. The plans were lodged under the Strategic Infrastructure Development (SID) process, which allows for the developers of very large projects, which are considered to be of national importance, to gain planning permission directly from the planning board and not from Clare County Council.

The SID process is reserved for very large projects and no Clare windfarm has ever received it initial planning through an SID. Only the € 200 million West Clare Renewable Energy project, which when completed will provide enough electricity for all of Clare and Limerick, has been the subject of an SID – and that was only after it received its initial planning through Clare County Council.

While there is no concrete documented lodged in relation with this project, the fact that it is being considered for an SID would indicate it is likely to be large in scale.

Meanwhile, Mid Clare Renewable Energy lodged plans for four windfarms at Cahermurphy in Kilmihil with Clare County Council last week. According to information lodged with Clare County Council, these windfarms would have a maximum ground to blade tip height of 131 metres. This amounts to a height of around 429 feet or well over half the height of the Cliffs of Moher at its highest point.

This planning permission is based on a previous successful planning permission granted at the same location for a smaller scale development. The planning permission also mentions improving road access to the site and the construction of a wind anemometry mast, which could itself reach up to 90 metres in height.

The largest windfarm in Ireland is located in Tipperary and has a height of 140 metres from ground to blade tip.

A NUMBER of priests from the Catholic Diocese of Killaloe were among those protesting at the now postponed Permanent Diaconate, which bars women from taking up the role within the Church locally.

Among those speaking at the open forum in the Inn at Dromoland and attended by more than 150 people was Ogonnelloe, Bodyke and Tuamgraney based Fr Donagh O’Meara who queried “how are decisions made in our diocese and who makes them?”

“I was on that listening process and there was only one time when I heard about deacons. Once. Where did that decision come from and who made it? That’s the debate that needs to happen. That’s the deeper question,” he said referring to the Listening Process introduced by Bishop Kieran O’Reilly.

According to those co-ordinating it, this process included feedback from 2,500 to 3,000 people and took 400 hours to put together.

“The overriding thing that I heard was about the absence of women in leadership roles and positions in the diocese. We then subsequently came back from that and what did we do? We were supposed to have to listened but we put in another layer of men. That appals me really,” he added.

Kilmihil priest Fr Peter O’Loughlin was equally forthright.

“One of the things that holds us all back at times is fear. Fear is created by people who have power and very often we’re afraid to speak. I congratulate you on speaking [to the organisers of the forum]. Thanks be to God you were listened to when some of us who have tried to speak on other oc- casions weren’t listened to,” he said.

“For myself I need to be listened to in my own diocese, but I’m not so I think it’s great to have groups like this expressing their viewpoints and the Church has to be listening as well,” the West Clare priest added.

Fr Harry Bohan made the point “If you smoother the debate you kill the organisation.”

Meanwhile Cross PP Fr Michael Casey asked one question, “What are the implications for the Church of excluding women from effective ministry in our own Church?” Communications off cer for the dio cese Fr Brendan Quinlivan fears were different however as he was worried that the stance taken by the women could result in a vocations crisis.

Speaking on a personal capacity he said, “If we are discouraging the development of holy orders in the Diaconate, you are also discouraging the development of holy orders in the priesthood. I hope and pray that I’m not a prophetic voice here tonight,” he said adding that the Diaconate stretches back thousands of years and that people may not understand what it entails.

“I think that in a lot of the discussion that has taken place and from people that I have listened to speaking, there is something of a lack of understanding in relation the nature of holy orders and sacrament. I’ve listened to def nitions of sacred ministry that are actually at variance with the teachings of the Catholic Church.

“It may not be your intended consequence but if you say that because women cannot be deacons, therefore we cannot have the Diaconate in the diocese then you might as well say that because women cannot be priests in the universal church today, that we should not accept candidates for the priesthood. That is the logical consequence of your argument,” he said.

Bishop Kieran O’Reilly sent his apologies for his non attendance at the forum.

One of the forum organisers conf rmed that Bishop Reilly had extend ed an invitation to meet with the forum committee, which she said they would take up.

GARDAÍ in Ennis are investigating a violent attack on a former IRA man and convicted killer that has sparked fears among residents living in the area. The attack occurred recently at Abbeyville housing estate in the early morning hours.

The intended target of the attack was asleep in his sitting room, when two men arrived at the scene at around 3am in a light coloured car.

The men smashed the front window of the room where the victim (63) was sleeping, forcing him to f ee his attackers who it is thought were armed with weapons including a machete. He suffered minor injuries from breaking glass but was not hospitalised. The men f ed the scene before the arrival of gardaí and an ambulance. A source described the attack at Abbeyville as “vicious”. “This was violent. You could see the hack marks on the PVC from them trying to get in. They meant to do him a lot of damage. It was vicious”, a source said. The man said the attack is the latest in series of violent incidents that have occurred in the area over the past year.

“It’s a nightmare to be living there. People are worried that something more serious will happen”, he added. A senior garda conf rmed yester day the incident is under investigation and that no arrests have yet been made.

“They are signs that the charisms, vision and ethos of the sisters are alive and well in our community. May our worship, praise and thanksgiving give fresh heart to us all in bearing witness to Jesus and in playing our own part in building up his kingdom of mercy and redeeming love.” The Sisters of Mercy founded Mary Immaculate Secondary School in Lisdoonvarna in 1947, responding to the very serious need for education in the area. Over more than 60 years, the local convent of sisters in the parish worked to develop the school and the local area by serving as teachers, catechists, and chaplains. Mary Immaculate College is now a thriving centre of educational excellence, and has been entrusted by the Sisters of Mercy to the patronage of CEIST – Catholic Education, an Irish Schools Trust. Tributes to the decades of service undertaken by the sisters were also paid by school principal John O’Loughlin and Sister Caitlin Con neely, provincial of the western province of the Sisters of Mercy.

CLARE is set to lose almost half of the € 8.276 million allocated to the county for coastal protection works following last year’s devastating storms. The Off ce of Public Works [OPW] wrote to Clare County Council last week, warning them that they could lose funding for coastal protection, such as damaged sea walls, if the money is not spent by the end of 2014. To date, the council has been granted € 16.2 million from the Department of Environment to cover damages from the January storm including € 8.2 million from the OPW for repairs to coastal defences – but have yet to receive any allocation following the devastating St Bridget’s Day storm in February.

The council have written to the OPW and the Department of Envi ronment on numerous occasions over the last seven months, informing them that it is not possible to develop an effective programme to facilitate spending all the money allocated for coastal repairs and coastal defences in a reasonable and balanced manner until a decision has been made on the February allocation.

It took the government 39 days to allocate money in relation to the January storms but, as of today, September 23, 235 days have passed since the equally destructive February storms with no allocation forthcoming.

This delay has resulted in a situation where the OPW is warning the council that it is about to lose millions of euro in vital funding. The Clare People understands the OPW is fully aware that the council cannot spend this money.

Speaking last week County Manager, Tom Coughlan, says he has explained the situation to the OPW on numerous occasions but they “don’t seem to get it”.

BILLIONAIRE tycoon Donald Trump remained true to his promise to object to a nine turbine windfarm in the vicinity of his golf links and hotel in Doonbeg, when he lodged an 11th hour objection.

The owner of the Trump International Golf Links Ireland is one of 42 objectors in total, with the majority of the objections coming from local people and environmentalists.

Jim Hughes, Cunnane Stratton Reynolds, Copley Hall, Cotters Street, Cork, lodged the 16-page objection on behalf of Trump International Golf Links Ireland (TIGL) Ireland Enterprises Ltd.

Included in the objection is a detailed 40-page Observation Report carried out by Creagh House Environmental Limited.

The essence of the objection suggests that the second attempt by Clare Coastal Wind Power Ltd to build the windfarm just four kilometres from the golf resort in Doonbeg, will “have a signif cant negative impact on tourism”.

Clare Coastal Wind Power Ltd has applied for a 10-year planning application that would allow nine electricity-generating wind turbines of up to 126 metres in height to be built in Carrowmore South, Einagh and Shragh, two kilometres south of Doonbeg village.

According to the Trump objection; “The resort primarily relies on bookings from the international and in particular the North American market and a reduction in bookings as a consequence of the visual impact from the proposed development will have a serious negative impact on tourism in the area.”

The consultants commissioned by the Trump company go on to say; “The resort provides signif cant di – rect and indirect employment and represents an investment of € 150 million in the area, which will generate the same again in additional indirect tourism investment, giving an estimated total tourism investment of up to € 300 million along the West Clare coast and surrounding area.

“A loss of business at Doonbeg Golf Resort will have a direct impact on employment at the resort and also the surrounding area where many supporting tourist related businesses have emerged and thrived in the past 10 years,” they claim.

The objection also questioned the impact of the development on the local environment, stating there is a lack of appropriate f eldwork carried out to establish the impact.

It also states there “is an absence of any material commentary on the potential effects of a simultaneous construction of a Tullabrack windfarm and a Shragh windfarm.”

The Irish Peatland Conservation Council, with a base at Lullymore, Rathangan, Co Kildare, also raised concerns about the proposal on the West coast.

In its submission Tadhg O’Corcora, Conservation Off cer, said that while the IPCC recognises the importance of increasing the renewable energy sector as part of international efforts to combat climate change, it could not support the proposed development in Doonbeg as it would result in the destruction of “a mosaic of peatland habitats and its associated wildlife.”

atives aimed at preventing crime, reducing the fear of crime and pro moting community and road safety,” Crime Prevention Off cer, Sgt Joe Downey explained.

“We hope to achieve this objective, by visible, accessible, and proactive involvement with the various com munity partnerships and crime pre vention initiatives operating in their local areas.”

Sgt Downey said these measures will include: proactive foot patrols, mountain bike patrols and increased high visibility marked Garda car patrolling; erection of information stands at strategic locations such as supermarkets and festivals.

Gardaí will also meet with elderly residents of the area and multi agen cy community partners to promote interaction and joint approaches to common problems.

Sgt Downey explained that burgla ries tend to increase over the winter months.

He said security measures such as a properly working alarm and keep ing an unrestricted view of their property especially from the front in order to deprive would be criminals of cover, are essential to preventing burglaries.

He continued, “Report all attempt ed burglaries and burglaries immedi ately on discovery. Over half of all burglaries are through the rear of the property so extra security measures are required. In one f fth of burgla ries entry is gained through an un secured door or window. Keep them securely locked when the property is vacant. “The most common property stolen is jewellery, cash, laptops, tools and hi f equipment like cameras games consoles etc. Keep your most expen sive items hidden from obvious plac es and keep a record of them (photo) and mark large items in case they are recovered after being stolen. Be aware that keys left on a table close to the door can be ‘f shed’ out through the letter box,” Sgt Downey said.

have helped in a situation like that,” she said.

“I saw a young woman running from a rough area, which really isn’t safe for women to be walking in alone. She more or less ran into me and she was being followed by a masked man on a bicycle with an iron bar.”

The presence of Maura, who is a Sister of Charity of Our Lady of Evron, was enough to scare off the attacker and the North Clare nun was quickly able to comfort the teenager and reunite her with her family.

The attack took place just before 7pm last Saturday week, September 6, and the Soanes family yesterday released a description of the attacker. The attacker is thought to be around 5ft 10ins and of skinny build, he also spoke with a non-local accent which was possibly Irish.

Rebecca’s father Jeff Soanes yesterday hailed the Sister Considine as a ‘true saviour’.

“It was a horrible attack but it could have been a lot worse. Honest to God, she is a true saviour,” he said.

“This kid is dangerous. If somebody knows him, do yourself a favour and look at the morals you’ve been brought up with and drop us a name.”