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THE family of Ennis man Frank Hassett whose dead body was concealed in a shower for 19 days say questions remain unanswered about the circumstances of his death.

Mr Hassett’s badly decomposed body was discovered by gardaí in an apartment at Lifford Lodge on July 3, 2011.

The 25 year old had been reported missing in Ennis by his family on June 20, 2011.

He died sometime between the hours of June 14 and 15, 2012, in a bed-sit rented by Ennis man Bernard Flaherty (38).

In February, Mr Flaherty, with an address at 3 Lifford Lodge, received a three year suspended sentence at Clare Circuit Criminal Court after pleading guilty to making a false statement to gardaí on June 24, 2011.

An inquest into the death of Mr Hassett yesterday returned a verdict of death by misadventure.

Speaking afterwards at Ennis Courthouse, the deceased’s brother Ian Hassett said; “In one way it’s good it’s over, but we still have a lot of questions we don’t have the answers for.”

Asked about the suspended sentence handed down to Bernard Flaherty, Ian Hassett said the family are ‘not happy with it but what can we do’. He added; “The whole justice system in Ireland is a shambles.”

During the inquest, Mr Flaherty said; “I apologise to the Hassett family for the hell I put them through and the guards for wasting Garda time…If I could turn back the clock, I would. I really would.”

Mr Flaherty told gardaí that he panicked because he didn’t know what to do when he discovered Frank Hassett was dead.

A SURVEY of the Clare tourism sector shows evidence of growing confidence in the industry.

Up to 300 people involved in tourism in Clare gathered at the Inn at Dromoland on Thursday night to participate in the annual Clare Tourism Forum Gala Networking Evening.

During the conference participants were informed of the findings of a survey, which found that 57 per cent of operators are confident that 2013 will bring an increase in tourism business for their attraction/business.

A quarter of those surveyed said that business levels would be similar to 2012. Meanwhile, the majority of those surveyed say they are more hopeful for a recovery in the Irish tourism sector this year than they were last year, while 87 per cent said they plan to either maintain or increase existing staffing levels during 2013.

Just 13 per cent of operators said they were planning to reduce staff numbers this year.

Maureen Cleary, Marketing Executive, Clare Tourism Forum explained that Clare tourism operators have responded well to the shift in visitor trends in recent years with a significant increase in the number of people holidaying at home.

“While not neglecting the potential offered to Clare tourism by the international visitor market, a huge amount of work is being carried out by operators, both individually and collectively, to market the County’s many wonderful attractions to the domestic market. There is growing confidence in the Clare tourism sector as evidenced by the results of a recent Clare Tourism Forum survey of more than 100 local tourism operators,” she added.

Donnagh Gregson, Chairperson of the Clare Tourism Forum stressed the continued need for tourism operators to work together to increase tourism business in the County.

“The local tourism sector continues to face challenges in an increasingly competitive and commercial marketplace. However, Clare tourism and hospitality operators are actively working together to capture and increase visitor numbers to the County.

“Networking events such as this help consolidate Clare’s growing status as a competitive and appealing destination to both domestic and international visitors alike,” she said.

“This event also helps to promote collaboration between our members and other agencies involved in the promotion of tourism at home and abroad.”

The purpose of the free businessto-business event was to provide tourism providers with the opportunity to showcase their respective operations to the wider County Clare tourism Industry.

A BLITZ hero living in Coventry has been refused a telegram from the Queen of England for his 100th birthday next Tuesday for a very specific reason – he was born here in County Clare.

It is not clear what part of the banner county Dr William Navin was born in, but as he is not considered a British citizen, he has been refused the traditional telegraph by Buckingham Palace.

The retired GP carries an Irish passport, even though he is also entitled to a British one.

Buckingham Palace said the Clare native does not qualify for the telegram without a British passport as proof of citizenship.

A British passport will not come through before his birthday on April 30 however.

A campaign has begun in his hometown of Coventry to have him reinstated on the list of centenarians who are to receive a message from the monarch. The petition is being signed online via a local newspaper, The Coventr y Telegra ph , in shopping malls and a Conservative council member has even signed it.

Described by the newspaper as a “devoted royalist” Dr Navin arrived in Coventry from County Clare in 1939 to work with the ear, nose and throat specialist at Walsgrave Hospital. This was not to be however and he ended up in general practice as the war broke out.

During World War II he was a medical officer and served with the Home Guard, earning him seven medals for service.

After the war, he took over a GP practice in Walsgrave Road, Coventry, where he continued to work until the age of 72.

He also worked as a police doctor with the city force in the 1950s and as a doctor for the Ministry of Labour’s medical board.

Those campaigning for him to be recognised as British and receive the royal honour have argued he has lived in Coventry for more than 70 years and “risked his life for the country during the Second World War”.

“As a lifelong royalist, he was looking forward to receiving a card from the Queen for his 100th on April 30. But his application has been rejected because County Clare in Ireland now forms part of the Republic of Ireland, even though it was still under British rule when he was born in 1913,” they argued.

CLARE newest singing super star will be the focus of an hour-long radio documentary which will be aired this Friday, April 26.

Over the last five years Ballyvaughan’s Naomi O’Connell has become one of the brightest young stars in world opera. Having recently graduated from the prestigious Juilliard School in New York, Naomi is currently starring in a production of Offenbach’s ‘La Périchole’ with the New York City Opera.

Naomi began her singing career at just 13 years of age when she joined the Lismorohaun Singers. While with the Lismorohaun she quickly became the prize student of Lisdoonvarna’s Archie Simpson, who continued to tutor her while she was in Ireland.

Naomi graduated from the DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama in Dublin, where she won a host of national and international singing competition under the guidance of Mary Brennan and then undertook a four-year post graduate course at the Juilliard School. After all of her practice, she finally made her Carnegie Hall debut last month. Her story will be told in the hour-long documentary ‘Witches, Bitches and Women in Britches’ which will be aired on RTE’s Lyric Fm this Friday at 7pm.

The documentary was produced by Doireann Ni Bhriain who visited Naomi’s home in the Burren to get a sense of her early influences and also travelled to New York to spend a few days with the singer as she prepared for her Carnegie Hall recital.

She also spoke with many of Naomi’s current mentors and admirers in New York including opera director Stephen Wadsworth, composer Christopher Berg and Steve Shaiman of Concert Artists Guild.

THE meltdown of the Green Party as a force in Irish elected politics could be re-enforced in the coming days with the possible defection of sitting member of Clare County Council and Ennis Town Council, Cllr Brian Meaney, from the party. The Clare People has learned this week, that Cllr Meaney is sensationally on the cusp of cutting ties with the Green Party, with sources within the Clare County Council chamber revealing that the 47-year-old is pre- paring to join Fianna Fáil.

A source within Fianna Fáil in the Ennis electoral area that Cllr Meaney represents has revealed that he has applied for membership of the party and is in the final stages of severing ties with the Green Party. The Clare People

NEIGHBOURHOODS and communities around Clare are being encouraged to report any suspicious activity in thei r areas in the bid to beat the burglars.

There has been a recent spi ke in burglaries in rural and urban parts of the county and Gardaí says scheme such as Neighbourhood Watch and Community Alert play an important role in helping to deter crime.

Supt Derek Smart of Ennis Garda Station said, “Anybody that sees anthing suspicious that they feel isn’t right, pick up the phone straight away and give us a call. No matter how trivial they think it is, let us look at it. Let us now and that can all be done in confidence.”

Supt Smar t said plans to roll out a community alert text system in Clare are cur rently being reviewed. “There is an issue there with ensuring that the cor rect information goes out on that system. It’s actually being reviewed on a trial basis in parts of the country. Any system like that, we’d be eager to adopt.”

Cll r Michael Guilfoyle (Ind) is the area co-ordinator for the Turnpike Neighbourhood Watch Scheme that has been in operation for 22 years. He said the scheme has been effective in curbing crime and giving residents greater security.

He added, “I would encourage all communities, given all the recent cutbacks there has been to Garda resources, to set up neighbourhood watch schemes. It gives people in an area more security and confidence that their homes are protected.”

Ray Cummins, Chai rman of the Glassan Residents Association, said the area has been relatively unaffected by break-ins. However he said that the resident’s committee has discussed setting up a Neighbourhood Watch Scheme.

He said, “The one area, from a security and safety point of view that people are concerned about, is the inability to get proper street light- ing put in place. We are waiting for Ennis Town Council to take over the estate but that hasn’t happened yet.”

Meanwhile, three people arrested by Gardaí as part of an ongoing investigation into a series of aggravated burglaries in West Clare were released without charge last week.

The arrests of two men and one woman came following Gardaí investigations into recent aggravated burglaries targeting elderly people with incidents repor ted in Kilmihil, Moyasta, Kilmaley, and Inagh.

The suspects – all in thei r 20s were questioned by Gardaí at Ennis and Kil rush stations before being released without charge.

GARDAÍ have admitted they are seriously concerned by a recent rise in burglaries amid fears that criminal gangs from other counties are targeting Clare.

It follows a garda appeal for information following a spate of burglaries in Ennis last week. Four homes were broken into between the hours of 8.10am and and 7pm on Tuesday April 9.

Between 11.30am and 3.15pm a house in Westfields was broken into by forcing open the front door. A gold chain office for Chartered Accountants Midwest Society was stolen. A house in Toberteascain was ransacked when the front door was forced open between noon and 4pm.

Passports, bankcards and cash were stolen between 10.30am and 4pm from a house in College Park when the rear window was forced open.

Between 8.10am and and 7pm a house in College Green was entered when glass on a side door was broken. Cash and coins in a bottle along with the contents of small safe and jewelry were stolen.

Superintendent Derek Smart of Ennis Garda Station said the burglaries are under investigation and has appealed for anyone who may have seen anything suspicious in the areas to contact gardaí.

Supt Smart said, “We haven’t ruled anything in or out at this stage because the investigations are very active in respect to it. But there is a strong possibility of them being connected. With a certain amount of burglaries, we have travelling criminals from all over the country that are targeting the road network. Whether or not the ones on Tuesday are connected with that, we’re not that firm yet. They could be or if it’s something more local to us. There are a still a lot of enquiries to be finished in respect of that aspect of it. We would certainly believe that we have been targeted by travelling criminals in some of the burglaries that have been committed.”

There were 364 house break-ins in Clare last year though burglaries have fallen by 31 per cent in the county over the past five years.

Supt Smart said, “I think we’re probably slightly up on where we were last year with regards to the burglaries. I would have seen an increase in it and that would be very worrying for me in that regard.” Tue16April13

MORE Kilrush businesses will close under the new local government structure, that will see a new Clare County Council take over the responsibilities of Kilrush Town Council, its longest serving member has warned.

Cllr Tom Prendeville (FF) said, “When Clare County Council takes over we will see rates going up and more Kilrush businesses going to the wall unfortunately,” he said.

Kilrush businesses have shown a consistency when it comes to paying the rate in the last number of years.

A total of 76 per cent of commercial rates have been collected in the town for 2012, and the figure continues to rise as some cash strapped businesses have opted to pay the local tax in instalments.

At the end of 2012 more than € 221,000 was colleted in rates from businesses in the West Clare town, up € 5,000 on the previous year.

The most up to date figures also show that write offs were down from more than a € 107,000 at the end of 2011 to € 71,678.50 on December 31, 2012.

Kilrush Town Council accounts also show that business people in the town managed to pay a substantial amounts of the rates owing from 2012 during the first month of this year – almost € 28,000.

At the end of 2012 uncollected rates reached € 123,532.49, but this had dropped to € 95,744.51 by the end of January.

Describing commercial rates as “a crucial part of our funding”, town clerk John Corry said that Kilrush Town Council is making every effort to recover these outstanding payments, while being mindful of the economic climate.

He explained that the local authority had engaged various methods of payments with businesses, including payment by instalment.

“We are trying to be as flexible as we can,” he said.

“The outstanding balance for 2012 continues to reduce due to the instalment payment we have introduced,” he said.

At the end of 2011 the rate collection in Kilrush was also 76 per cent, making it the highest collection rate in the county.

TWO men that had been living rough on the streets of Ennis have secured temporary accommodation at a tourist hostel in Galway.

It emerged last week that Czech national Josef Pavelka (58) and his Polish friend Peter Baram (35) had spent a period of time living in public toilets in Ennis town centre.

The men’s living arrangements were disclosed in a report by the Probation Services at Ennis District Court where Mr Pavelka appeared on charges of public intoxication.

On viewing the report, Judge Patrick Durcan commented that it was a “scandal” that a person is “living in a toilet in a prosperous nation”.

Mr Pavelka’s solicitor Daragh Has- sett said that if it wasn’t for the help of the church, his client “would be dead”.

The court heard Mr Pavelka has chronic problems with alcohol. Ennis Town Council operates the Automated Public Conveniences (APC), more commonly known as superloos.

In a statement last week, the council said it “has no evidence of any parties using public toilets in Ennis as accommodation facilities”.

The statement continues, “Having checked with the Gardaí, a similar view has been expressed. Furthermore, the company contracted to maintain the public toilets says there is no evidence to suggest that the toilets are being used in such a manner.

The council says the toilets are “subject to an intense maintenance regime which involves a daily inspection by the said company”.

It continues, “The toilets are automated and the mechanism provides for a voice warning, an alarm activation and an automatic opening of the door after a 20 minute period. This includes an early morning inspection on at least five days each week. Ennis Town Council does not comment on individual housing circumstances, which are a personal matter. The relevant agencies and bodies have, however, been involved in addressing housing needs of the parties involved.”

Yesterday Pat Cahill, Manager of Laurel Lodge temporary accommodation centre where the men lived for two years, confirmed that Mr Pavelka and Mr Baram are now living on a temporary basis in Galway City. Mr Cahill said the men can stay in the hostel until May 7. He said the accommodation was secured following a multi-agency case conference.

Fr Tom Hogan, Ennis Parish administrator, said the men are “delighted to have a roof over their heads and a bed under them”. He said the men, who received meals from the St Vincent de Paul and the Church, “fell through cracks in the system”.

Fr Hogan said Mr Pavelka lived in public toilets for three weeks while Mr Baram lived there “on and off”.

Last Wednesday, Ennis District Court heard that Mr Pavelka was unable to take up an offer of re-patriation to the Czech Republic due to family issues. The court heard Mr Pavelka’s habitual residency has lapsed and as a result no state agencies can provide him with assistance.

TWO peace activists, including a 78year-old woman, look likely to stand trail for an incident which took place at Shannon Airport last October.

Margaretta D’Arcy (78) and Niall Farrell (60), claim to have received letters from gardaí in Shannon last week stating that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) is planning to press charges against them and that a summons would be issued at a future date.

The pair are accused of possible criminal damage and causing a security breach at airport on October 7 last. The pair gained access to the airport and disrupted a number of flights by holding anti-war placards on an airport runway for a number of minutes.

The protest was organised but the Galway Alliance Against War to mark the 11th anniversary of the war in Afghanistan. Since 2001, Shannon Airport has been an important logis- tics distribution point for American soldier and equipment heading to and from Afghanistan the Iraq.

A number of private jets used to carry out special rendition missions have also used the airport but it is unclear of any prisoners were on board while they were on Irish soil.

Margaretta D’Arcy is one of the leaders of the regular anti-war vigils which take place at the airport. She and her husband, the late Booker Prize nominated playwright John Arden, wrote performed a play based on the Ralahine Commune in Newmarket on Fergus in 2010.

“Our protest was part of an international week of action to oppose killer drones, which along with other deadly weaponry and troops are transported daily through Shannon’s Warport,” said Niall Farrell.

“Prosecuting us will not silence us, it will not prevent us from raising our voices in protesting against the death of Irish neutrality and this craven government’s role in the imperial wars of the 21st century.”