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THE National Roads Authority (NRA) were yesterday accused of “giving the finger” to Clare County Council and the people of North Clare because of its continued refusal to provide funding for a pedestrian crossing at Inagh.

The construction of the pedestrian crossing on the Miltown Malbay road in Inagh has been identified as the top local roads priority by Clare County Council in recent years but the NRA has not yet seen fit to provide funding for its construction.

The Miltown Malbay road currently divides the village of Inagh, with a large amount of community facilities – including a number of resources for young people – located at either sides of the roads.

“I am absolutely amazed the NRA cannot regard this pedestrian crossing as a priority. This is a national secondary route. There are huge volumes of traffic on this road and there and there is a massive numbers of people crossing that road every day,” said Cllr Richard Nagle (FG).

“Someone from the NRA needs to come down and have a look at this road.”

Lahinch-based Cllr Slattery (FG) pointed out that this issue has been raised by councillors on four separate occasions in recent years and on each occasions councillors received an identical response from the local authority.

“I received the reply I in January of 2012, Richard [Nagle] got in again in July 2012. We have received the same reply to this on four different occasions and that is not acceptable,” he said.

“People are coming to us with genuine issues regarding this road. What is the point of us putting in these motions and getting the standard response again and again. I know it’s not your fault [Clare County Council] but the National Roads Authority seem to be giving all of us the finger in relation to this road.”

In a response to the motion, local engineer Stephen Lahiff described the crossing as “vital” to the ongoing safety of people using the village.

A BOUNCER who broke the jaw of a West Clare man outside a pub in Ennis has had the charge against him dismissed.

Colin O’Donoghue (33) denied the charge of assault causing harm to Diarmaid Kelly (23) at Yolo Bar, Abbey Street in the early hours of March 11, 2012.

CCTV footage of the incident shown at Ennis District Court on Wednesday showed Mr O’Donoghue punching Mr Kelly in the face.

Mr O’Donoghue told the court that he lashed out because he feared for his life. Mr Kelly, the court heard, had earlier been ejected from the premises.

The court heard that after a 10minute period during which Mr Kelly demanded to be let back into the pub, he told Mr O’Donoghue;

“I’ve got something in my pocket for you. I’m going to cut your throat.”

Mr O’Donoghue, with an address at 19 Waterside, Cappahard, Ennis told the court that Mr Kelly was very drunk, kept cursing at him and banged his hand on the door behind the Mr O’Donoghue’s head.

Giving evidence, Mr O’Donoghue said, “I thought he had a knife or blade in his pocket. I wasn’t waiting to find out.”

The court heard that Mr Kelly contacted gardaí on March 14 to say that he “thought” he had been assaulted. He said he had received text messages from friends to say he had been assaulted.

Security officer Declan Flynn was working with Mr O’Donoghue on the night.

He told the court that Mr Kelly was very loud, aggressive and intoxicated. He said he heard Mr Kelly making the threat to cut Mr O’Donoghue’s throat.

After the punch was thrown, Mr Flynn attended to Mr Kelly.

He said he brought him a glass of iced water. He said Mr Kelly got back on his feet and walked away with a friend.

Mr Flynn added, “He seemed dazed and confused. I asked him if he needed an ambulance and he said he didn’t.”

Under cross-examination from defence solicitor John Casey, Mr Flynn said Mr O’Donoghue had a “non-aggressive” stance and kept his hands by his side while Mr Kelly demanded to be let in.

Mr O’Donoghue told gardaí that hit Mr Kelly to protect himself.

Staff from the nearby Queens nightclub and Front Bar gave evidence that Mr Kelly had earlier been ejected from the premises for being a nuisance and “squaring up to people.”

Mr O’Donoghue apologised for the injuries suffered by Mr Kelly. He claimed that Mr Kelly told him he would “get him and the pub.”

Mr O’Donoghue said Mr Kelly has passed the pub on several occasions since the incident, “making gun gestures.”

Under cross examination from Inspector Tom Kennedy, Mr O’Donoghue said he had never been assaulted in 14 years working as a doorman.

He added, “At the time I thought my life was in danger and I struck him.” Solicitor John Casey said his client “reacted in full defence of himself.”

He added; “This wasn’t a concentrated assault.

“It was one punch.”

Judge Aingeal Ní Chonduin dismissed the charge of assault against Mr O’Donoghue.

Mr Kelly, with an address at 6 Kilrush Road, Cooraclare, was convicted of provoking a breach of the peace arising out of the same incident. He denied the charge.

He has no previous convictions. Mr Kelly was ordered to pay € 300 to the court poor box within two months. Judge Ní Chonduin said;

“He was the author of his own misfortune, very clearly.”

ENNIS Town Council says it has “serious concerns” that development bonds valued at € 1.5 million have been left unsecured following the Government’s decision to wind up the former Anglo Irish Bank.

A report on unfinished estates in Ennis states that the council “could not afford the cost of completing estates which are the responsibility of the developer or financial institution (or their successor) that hold the bond commitments”.

A full team of three staff has been allocated by the council to deal with the issue of unfinished estates in Ennis.

In a report to councillors, Town Clerk Leonard Cleary says the issues relating to unfinished estates is “absorbing significant local authority management time”.

The report acknowledges that many homeowners “experience frustration and disappointment” when estates are not complete.

Mr Cleary states, “In many instances, developers are still in a position to trade, but have been slow to fulfill their responsibilities to complete their estates. This is unacceptable.

The report states that there are currently 27 developments that remain incomplete within the urban area of Ennis.

Category 1 developments are those with bonds with held by IBRC and Ulster Bank and / or referred to the council’s legal team; Category 2 developments are progressing in conjunction with developer or bondholder; Category 3 developments are not progressing with little or no activity on site.

Since 2010, Ennis Town Council has taken in charge 11 housing developments including three – Glean na Coille, Claureen, Drumbiggle Drive and An tSean Dún, Tulla Road – in 2013. Eight category 2 developments are proceeding satisfactorily and are on target for taking in charge by either the council or management company.

Mr Cleary states that the pursuit of uncooperative developers through legal channels is required in several situations.

He adds, “The council is cognisant of the public purse when pursuing a legal course of action in an unfinished estate. The view from operations experiences is that if appropriate the best first action of the council to achieve a satisfactory resolution for residents and citizens of Ennis is with the active assistance and cooperation of the developer or those now responsible for the development in the absence of developer fulfilling his/ her responsibilities. The presence of receivers, liquidators NAMA etc has complicated matters even further but is a reality of the current economic circumstances of the building industry. When the above approach does not receive the required response in terms of estate completion, the council has no hesitation in discharging its regulatory role through Court proceedings.”

HEAVY drug use led one young Ennis man from a life in college to searching for food in a wheelie bin, a court has heard.

Evan McCormack (29) developed serious mental health problems from smoking an extremely potent form of cannabis, Ennis District Court was told on Wednesday.

Mr McCormack appeared in court charged with intoxication at Roslevan, Tulla Road, Ennis on April 6 (2013). He has previously pleaded guilty to shoplifting offences committed in Dunnes Stores Ennis in August 2012.

Mr McCormack, with addresses at 38 Maiville, Kilrush Road, Ennis and 28 Castlerock, Tulla Road, Ennis, appeared before Ennis District Court on Wednesday. Defence solicitor Daragh Hassett told the court that sentencing had been adjourned on condition that Mr McCormack be of good behaviour.

Judge Patrick Durcan enquired if Mr McCormack was the same man he had previously been told had gone from studying in college to searching bins for food to survive.

Mr Hassett said he was, adding that Mr McCormack developed an extreme bi-polar disorder from smoking an extremely strong form of cannabis known as ‘skunk’.

Mr Hassett said his client had “es- sentially fried his brain” from smoking cannabis.

The court heard Mr McCormack is currently serving a sentence imposed at Galway District Court.

Judge Durcan said he was conscious that Mr McCormack had tried to address his problems “but had fallen.”

He said he did not penalise people who made such efforts.

The case was adjourned until July 24 for a report from the Probation and Welfare Services.

A NEW form of calculating beach water standards has muddied the waters to such a degree that beaches with safe bathing water such as Miltown Malbay and Lahinch are losing their prestigious Blue Flags.

The Blue Flag in an international symbol to visitors that the beach is safe and the water clear, yet a calculation anomaly is leaving some of the county’s cleanest beaches without the flag, according to Clare County Council.

The local authority was informed by An Taisce and the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) that the two County Clare beaches had lost their Blue Flags for 2013.

Environmental watchdog An Taisce admitted to The Clare People however that the water quality at both beaches is safe and clean, but said there was little that could be done to return the flags as an EU directive had to be followed.

Clare County Council has claimed a “mathematical anomaly” in a new system of evaluating the Republic of Ireland’s beaches this year has resulted in the Clare beaches losing their Blue Flag status.

Describing the bathing water quality at White Strand and Lahinch as “excellent”, Clare County Council suggested that the anomaly would have resulted in both locations retaining their Blue Flags had ‘greater levels of e-coli’ been discovered in the water at both locations.

According to Paul Moroney, Senior Engineer with Clare County Council, “Even by the newly-introduced Blue Flag standards, which are 2 to 2.5 times more stringent that the previous standards, both Lahinch and White Strand have excellent bathing water, as evidenced in the EPA report on Bathing Water Quality published earlier this month. However, a mathematical anomaly that arises when low single figure e-coli test results, generally signifying pristine water, are included in the calculations would now appear to have resulted in both bathing waters losing their Blue Flag status.

“The methodology for assessing water quality in determining eligibility for Blue Flag status is based on the EU Bathing Water Directive, which was transposed into Irish law in 2008. The directive has previously drawn criticism from international experts who claimed that in some circumstances application of the methodology to good results could actually result in failures, a scenario that has now presented itself in this year’s Blue Flag Awards in the case of some Clare bathing waters. Ultimately, Clare County Council believes that the new system of calculating the results which is currently utilised for the Blue Flag scheme is not adequately equipped to deal with clean waters and should be reviewed.”

A spokesperson from An Taisce told The Clare People “no one was saying anything negative about the water”. She said the watchdog had reported the issue to Blue Flag International, who in turn was reporting the issues to the EU.

“This is something we are aware of and are working on,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Blue Flag Awards have been retained by six other Clare bathing areas, namely Fanore, Kilkee, Cappa beach in Kilrush, White Strand (near Doonbeg), Ballycuggeran and Mountshannon.

NORTH Clare is set to become the world’s biggest film set in 2014 with two massive Hollywood blockbusters – with a combined budget of more than € 200 million – likely to film in the Burren.

The team behind the new Star Wars film are currently in discussion with the Irish Film Board (IFB) about filming in Ireland with the Burren mentioned as a possible site while it was confirmed over the weekend that a € 80 million on the life of Brian Boru will be shot in-part at the Cliffs of Moher.

The biopic, which is based on the graphic novel ‘Freedom within the Heart’ confirmed that some battle scenes will be shot at the Cliffs – but no other location has yet been confirmed. The bulk of filming could take place at Brian Boru’s traditional stronghold at Killaloe.

Director of the Cliffs of Moher Experience, Katherine Webster, said that the film could be a major boost for the North Clare Tourism.

“We would love to see parts of the Boru movie shot at the Cliffs of Moher and we know from experience how movie locations can help promote a tourism destination,” she said.

“We see the positive effect from a promotional perspective of the Cliffs being a location for Hollywood movies like ‘Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince’ and ‘The Princess Bride’ as well as Irishmade movies like ‘Into the West’ and ‘Hear My Song’. Hopeful the Boru movie will be the next big blockbuster to be filmed in County Clare.”

Meanwhile, Star Wars director JJ Abrams is currently in negotiations with the Irish Film Board about bringing some filming for the new Star Wars film to Ireland.

Abrams, who wife Katie McGrath is of Irish descent, spend a holiday along the Irish coast in 2011. The couple spent time in North Clare, as well as Donegal and Sligo and it is understood that these three areas are in a possible short-list for filming.

“The Irish Film Board, working with Trina Vargo of the US-Ireland Alliance, has been in discussions with JJ Abrams and his team at Bad Robot about filming a number of projects on their slate in the Republic of Ireland,” said IFM chief executive, James Hickey.

“We have provided them with briefings about Ireland’s tax incentive Section 481, our accessible locations, world-class crew and production companies.”

It is understood that original Star Wars cast members Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher will have roles in the new film.

CARS are being continuously broken into and vandalised at Clare’s most popular tourist beach because of a lack of basic security measures at a local authority car park.

This is despite a historic commitment made by Clare County Council to invest all money raised from parking charges at Lahinch in the local area.

The local authority took in more than € 600,000 in parking charges in Lahinch between 2009 and 2011, and Cllr Bill Slattery (FG) yesterday accused the local authority of not investing the money in the local area – specifically the local authority car park on the Liscannor Road.

“There is rubbish been dumped there every night, cars and being vandalised, windows are being broken and items are being stolen from these cars. I think that this [proposed changing the car park] would actually make the council money – as more cars would be able to park there,” said Cllr Slattery.

“Between 2009 to 2011 we took in € 613,000 in car parks in Lahinch. I can’t understand where this money is going. There was an agreement that this funding would be ring fenced. I don’t think that this money is going back into Lahinch at all.”

Clare County Council yesterday indicated that they would consider the proposal to upgrade the Liscannor Road car park.

“The figure mentioned [€ 613,000] is a gross figure but there are costs and expenses to come out of that, but there is a net balance of fund [from the car park charges],” said Niall Moroney, Senior Engineer at Clare County Council.

“We can look at this in the context of a plan, which is currently being prepared for the car park. It would certainly be possible to source funding for a project like this. There is a question of quantums to be addressed- we need to figure out what this will actually cost.”

A MAN has appeared in court charged with assaulting a garda in North Clare earlier this year.

Paddy Harty (40), with a former address at Lisheen Park, Partrickswell, Limerick, appeared at Ennis District Court on Wednesday.

It is alleged that Mr Harty assaulted Garda David Keneally at Roughan, Kilnaboy on February 8 (2013).

He is further charged with possession of two stolen handbags at Roughan, Kilnaboy, on February 8 (2013). The court heard that a charge of illegal trespass was withdrawn against the accused.

Sgt Siobhan Redpath of Ennistymon Garda Station gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution in respect of the assault charge.

The court heard that in response to charge after caution, Mr Harty said, “I was drunk guard. I apologise. I didn’t mean to do it.”

Evidence of arrest, charge and caution in respect of the second charge was given by Garda David Keneally of Ennistymon Garda Station.

Garda Keneally told the court that in reply to charge after caution, Mr Harty said, “I did not know those handbags were stolen. The car was open all day and I was drinking. There was another man with me.”

The court heard that the DPP directs summary disposal of the cases. Judge Patrick Durcan accepted jurisdiction.

A legal aid application from solicitor Fiona Hehir was approved. Mr Harty, who is described as of no fixed abode, was remanded on bail to appear again in court on July 28.

THE Irish Cancer Society received just 103 enquiries from Clare last year – that is just .3 per cent of the 28,383 calls being taken nationally.

A spokesperson for the charity said it is hoped that with more awareness even more people with the disease will contact the organisation in the coming year if they need assistance.

With less than half a percent of the calls to the society coming from Clare it is one of the lowest in the country.

However local grown organisations, such as the West Clare Mini Marathon Centre, which is not affiliated with the Irish Cancer Society, is busy providing transport to an from hospital for patients and holistic and psychological support to patients and their families.

In the last month the Irish Cancer Society also announced that it would be providing transport for cancer patients in Clare to and from the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Limerick for treatment.

Other Irish Cancer Society services available to Clare patients include the National Cancer Helpline, which is staffed by specialist cancer nurses; and the Society’s Night Nursing service, which provides care to cancer patients in their last days of life so they can stay at home with their families.

During 2012 the society’s night nurses cared for 1,818 patients, providing 7,350 nights of care. 167 nights of care were provided to cancer patients in Clare.

Financial aid is also available to cancer patients suffering financial hardship as a result of their diagnosis. During 2012 financial aid to the value of € 1,047,461 was provided to 1,753 cancer patients across the country. € 24, 530 worth of financial aid was given to cancer patients in Clare.

The society thanked all those in Clare who supported Daffodil Day 2013, which helps to fund such services.

The charity said however that the bad weather impacted severely on fundraising this year, with funding down 50 per cent.

An emergency appeal was launched to re-coup the shortfall and appeal to those that could not donate as usual due to the weather. The appeal saw just fewer than 30,000 people donate following Daffodil Day, with donations being made online, by phone and by text. The response to the appeal saw the initial shortfall recover to within 20 per cent of the original target.

The society is now encouraging everyone who participated in this year’s Daffodil Day campaign to bank their funds as soon as possible.

A VIGILANTE painter has struck at Clare’s most dangerous traffic junction, with a zebra crossing being painted at the notorious Blake’s Corner in Ennistymon.

The zebra crossing was painted in the early hours of last Tuesday morning, May 21, on the Lahinch side of dangerous junction. The identity of the vigilante painter is unknown, but some local people have started using the new zebra crossing.

Blake’s Corner has been the site of ongoing difficulty for Clare County Council, who have had to shelf long-awaited plans to create a new traffic flow system at the junction. Local group, Saving Ennistymon Heritage, opposed the new junction on the ground that two listed building, known as Blake’s and Linnane’s, would have to be demolished as part of the joint National Roads Authority (NRA)/Clare County Council project.

The process has been stalled for the last two years as Clare County Council have been unable to secure funding from the NRA to complete an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed development. More than two million people use the tiny junction every year to access the Cliffs of Moher and Lahinch beach.

Council engineer, Tony Neville, yesterday describe the vigilante action as a “dig” against the council.

“We have to take it out. It is emulsion so white spirits won’t take it out. We are scrubbing it at the moment,” he said.

“It is a bit of a dig. We have to condemn it and to note that is dangerous. People are using it and it is causing confusion. If anyone has information we would urge them to contact the gardaí.”

Local councillor Joe Arkins (FG) said that the action was a direct prompt from the local community aimed at the council.

“The community are prompting us to take on certain works here. We have a real problem there [Blake’s Corner] and the sooner we can apply outselves to solving this the better,” he said.

In an official statement yesterday Clare County Council urged local people to forward any information on the new crossing to the Gardaí.

“We will be removing the zebra crossing as soon as possible. If any member of the general public is aware of the identity of the person or persons who did this, they should report it to the Ennistymon Area Office or directly to the gardaí. Unauthorised surface markings can cause confusion for road users and can be hazardous for both pedestrians and motorists,” said senior engineer Tom Tiernan.