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A MAN alleged to have broken into a pub in Ennis allegedly used kegs of beer to force open the rear entrance, a court has heard

Michael Maughan (38) is charged with entering the Diamond Bar and Wilson’s Photographic Shop on O’Connell Street as a trespasser on March 22 (2013).

It is alleged that he stole cash of € 3700, 12 bottles of spirits valued at € 300, an iPod valued at € 200 and cash and cigarettes valued at € 1400 from the Diamond Bar.

Mr Maughan is alleged to have stolen an Apple iMac valued at € 800 and four Nikon cameras valued at € 400 from Wilson’s.

He is further charged with causing criminal damage to windows of four cars in Paddy Quinn’s car-park, lower market street, Ennis on the same night. Mr Maughan, with an address at 20 Stonecourt, Drumbiggle Road, Ennis, appeared at Ennis District Court on Wednesday.

The alleged facts of the alleged burglaries were outlined in court to allow Judge Patrick Durcan to consider jurisdiction.

Inspector Tom Kennedy said the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had directed summary disposal of the cases.

Insp Kennedy said it would be alleged that Mr Maughan gained access to the Diamond Bar using kegs of beer to force open a rear entrance. Insp Kennedy said it would be al- leged that the accused stole cash and goods from the Diamond Bar and a number of items from Wilson’s.

The court heard that none of the property has since been recovered. Judge Durcan said he would accept jurisdiction.

Defence solicitor William Cahir said the charges would be contested and that he required time for disclosure.

Bail was approved for Mr Maughan subject to conditions. The case was adjourned.

A LOCAL surfer who got into difficulty close to the site of the massive Cliffs of Moher wave was airlifted to safety last week.

A group of four surfers were in the water close to the world famous Aill Na Searrach or Aileen’s Wave at the foot of the Cliffs of Moher when the incident took place.

A number of members of the Doolin unit of the Irish Coast Guard were already in the area when the alarm was raised and were quickly redeployed to the scene.

The man is understood to have been overcome by high waves in excess of 16 feet and separated from the rest of his group. It was first thought that the surfer had been washed ashore at a foot of the Aill Na Searrach – a treacherous location which would have required rescuers to abseil more then 600 feet to rescue him.

Along with a number of shore search terams, the Doolin Unit of the Irish Coast Guard launched its rescue boar and the Shannon based Irish Coast Guard helicopter was also sent to assist.

The surfer was spotted by the rescue helicopter, who lowered a man into the sea to rescue the injured surfer. The casualty was flown to University College Hospital in Galway where he was treated for suspected back and neck injuries, which are not believed to be life threatening. The surfer is understood to be from the local area.

“COMPLIANT householders are being denied natural justice” in Kilrush as they continue to pay their property tax, while living in unfinished estates.

Those were the words of Kilrush town councillor Christy O’Malley (FF), who was reacting to a call for public lighting to be completed in two Kilrush estates.

In all three estates have come to the attention of the council members as being unfinished.

Cllr Ian Lynch (FG) said that public lighting needed to be installed at Wood View and Cois na Ce.

“Another winter has passed and these lights have still not been activated,” he said.

Last year Wood View was exempt from the household charge, but residents are now expected to pay the property tax.

Cllr Tom Prendeville argued that this was unjust as there had been no major works carried out in the estate in the intervening 12 months.

“I wonder what has changed to warrant these unfinished estates being brought into the family home tax net when no major upgrading works have been carried out over the past 12 months? I am anxious to know what the current status of unfinished estates in Kilrush is now property owners in these estates are to be asked to pay taxes on their properties that the Minister vowed would go towards the upkeep of their estates, including the provision of basic services,” he said.

“As elected members we meet people living in unfinished estates where roads, footpaths, public lighting, sig- nage and general maintenance works in open spaces are less than satisfactory. It can be difficult to explain that this council is not responsible for the up keep of estates not yet taken in charge. We all appreciate the this council will not take an estate in charge until it is satisfied that all essential infrastructure facilities and services are up to the mark and that is how it should be.”

Moyne Court was the last housing estate taken in charge by the council as far back as April 2005.

“There is no record of any other estate taken in charge in the Kilrush area in the past 10 years and there are no applications pending from estates to be taken in charge,” said Town Clerk John Corry.

“The council is dealing with a small number of estates that are either unfinished, inadequately completed or not taken in charge which are being progressed through enforcement proceedings. The council is committed to engaging with all the relevant parties to progress the issues that arise on these estates to a satisfactory conclusion.”

Mr Corry said that in the case of Cois na Ce, the council has called in the bond, and the issue is currently with the bank. This can be a long process he explained.

Cllr Lynch added that as Kilrush was the planning authority, the fact that people were living in unfinished estates was the council’s responsibility.

“I think it is unfair to ask anyone to pay for services they are not getting,” he said, adding that the council should write to the Minister asking that three estates in Kilrush be exempt – Beal an Ibhir, Wood View and Cois na Ce.

A HOST of amateur North Clare actors will make their major television debut next Monday in the PJ Curtis film ‘The Road of Souls’.

The film, which was shot on location the Burren in 2011, features a mixture of professional and amateur actors including many members of the hugely successful Corofin Drama Group.

The short film, which was written by Curtis and is partially biographical, tells the story of Patrick, an 11year-old boy and his interaction with a stranger who comes to the Burren in the 1950s.

“It was a memorable experience having a film crew here to turn my little story into something bigger,” said PJ.

“I’m really looking forward to the television screening as it will give people throughout Clare a chance to see the film. It’s a fitting tribute to the cast and crew that worked so hard on the production.”

The cast is lead by a young Clare actor Emmet O’Doherty who plays the role of Patrick and also includes locals Michael Keane, Peter Daffy and Maura Clancy.

The film is the first such work for writer and music producer PJ Curtis and originally appeared in a collection of his short stories entitled ‘The Music of Ghosts’.

PJ himself won a Best Script Award for the film at the 2012 LIT Film Festival. Later this year, PJ’s novel ‘A Nightingale Falling’ will get the big screen treatment as it is set to become a feature film.

‘The Road of Souls’ is produced by Mixed Bag Media, who financed the film along with some assistance from Clare Arts Office. It will be screened on RTÉ 2 on Monday, April 22, at 23.35pm. It will then be available on the RTÉ Player for a further two weeks. To see a trailer for the film visit www.mixedbagmedia.com.

CAMPAIGNERS against the construction of Ireland’s largest fish farm off the North Clare coast will get a chance to have their concerns heard in public as an oral hearing into the controversial salmon farm is now likely to take place.

The Department of Agriculture is currently deciding whether to allocate a license for the massive fish farm, which could create as many as 500 jobs if it goes ahead. A formal request was made by Galway City Council to the Department of Agriculture last week for a full oral hearing on the matter to take place and it is understood, because of the complex nature of the proposal, this request is likely to be granted.

The proposed fish farm, which will be located a number of miles off the Fanore coast, has divided opinions since it was first proposed in November of last year.

Indeed, the farm has even led to government agencies going to war, with Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) who proposed the farm, going toe to toe with Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) who oppose it.

Both organisation have submitted a large amount of technical data on the possible effects that the farm could have on the wild fish in the area and the nearby spawning rivers. Both sets of expert data contradict on a number of key points – most significantly on the amount of water pollution that the farm will create and the damage that sea lice will cause to native stocks.

More than 2,000 anglers and en- vironmentalists took protest against a proposed organic fish farm last month.

BIM claim that the fish farm would be a major employment boost in the North Clare area and could create as many as 500 local jobs. These claims have been contested by organisation such as IFI, who say that the likely number of jobs created will be closer to 40.

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

CLARE County Council says a contractor appointed to oversee the maintenance and operation of the M18 motorway will be responsible for dealing with illegal encampments along the route.

The Council has been urged to liaise with the National Roads Authority (NRA) to tackle the issue to “avoid a lacuna in the legislation whereby neither the local authority or the NRA may not be in a position to take offenders to court”.

The view was expressed by Cllr Joe Arkins (FG) in a motion submitted to the council’s April meeting.

Cllr Arkins stated that motorway exists where the acquisition of land exceeded the amount required, “has left opportunities for illegal parking”.

In a reply to Cllr Arkins’ motion, Anne Haugh, Director of Services, states;

“The NRA is taking over responsibility for maintenance and operation of the motorway network within the next two months.

“This means the N18/ M18 from Gort to the junction at the Radisson Hotel near Limerick and the N19 from Junction 9 on the M18 to the entrance to the airport and incorporates everything between the boundary fences.

“The NRA has confirmed that dealing with unauthorised parking within the motorway curtilage is among the responsibilities of the contractor to be appointed by them to implement their new role.”

Ms Haugh continues, “The 1993 Roads Act provides for a robust defence of the National Road Network against unauthorised parking or encampments in this regard the Section 69 of the act makes it an offence to place or retain a temporary dwelling on a national road, motorway, busway, protected road or any other prescribed road or prescribed class, sub class or type of road.

“An authorised person may remove the temporary dwelling from any of the road classes referred to in the previous sentence – bearing in mind that the definition of a “road” elsewhere in the same act effectively comprises everything between the boundary fences – note also that slip roads roundabouts etc associated with motorway junctions are deemed to be part of the existing motorway.

“An authorised person is defined as a person authorised in writing by Roads Authority for the purpose of Section 69 or alternatively a member of An Garda Síochana.”

Ms Haugh concludes with confirmation that, “Both the NRA and Galway County Council are being asked again to give priority to land related issues associated with the Gort / Crusheen motorway with a view to offloading whatever may be deemed to be surplus to requirements for the future.

“Both authorities are being made aware of councillor’s concerns in this regard in context of the foregoing.”

CLARE’S rivers have been devastated by pollution over the last 15 years with nearly half of the county’s formally pristine waterways now polluted.

That is according to a survey released by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last week, which also calls for an investigation to be carried out to determine the exact cause of the rapid deterioration of the county’s waterways.

The survey has been criticised by the Clare branch of the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) who say that the information is out of date and does not reflect the massive improvements made in water standards over the last five years.

According to the EPA survey, there were a total of 45 ‘high status’ or pristine river sites in Clare in 1998. This number declined to 32 in 2006, with a further decline to just 24 pristine sited in 2009. This represents a drop of more than 46 per cent in the number of high quality sites between 1998 and 2009.

Broadford, Lough Graney and Owengarney each currently boast three high status sites each with the rest of the pristine sites located throughout the East Clare water sys- tems and the rest of the county.

The Clare Chairman of the IFA, Andrew Dundas, yesterday described the EPA report as scaremongering and out of date.

“The EPA information does not take into account the massive amount of work that was done on farms building in recent years – especially in the years between 2006 and 2008 when 2.5 billion was spend on Irish farms,” he said.

“Farming is now a very highly regulated area and many of the changes suggested [by the EPA report] are already in place. We have had the introduction of the Nitrates Directive and farmers must now undertake a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) before they undertake any drainage work can take place.

“This is scaremongering and the information is just not up to date. The report also identifies rural septic tanks as a main concern and we all know that that issue is being changed dramatically.

“Farmers see themselves as the caretakers of the environment and it is in our interest to ensure that pollution does not become an issue in our water systems.” The Clare People contacted the EPA in relation to this story but no comment was available at the time of going to print.

AN ATTEMPT to rescue the three bottlenose dolphins who are trapped in shallow waters in Bunratty will be made later this week.

The dolphins, who are part of a school who normally live much farther down the Shannon Estuary, have been stranded in the fresh water areas for 10 days now, and could succumb to liver failure if they are not returned to salt water soon.

A rescue mission is likely to be conducted this Wednesday or Thursday, to coincide with low spring tide. The low tide will make it easier to catch the dolphins but it also increases the chances that the one or more of the animals might get beached in the shallow water.

According to the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG), the dolphins currently appear relatively healthy. The animals have been creating quite a stir in Bunratty since they appeared on March 31, but there have also been reports of young people throwing stones and other missiles at them.

“In my opinion something will have to be tried this week. They are healthy at the moment but with the low tide coming on Wednesday, something will probably have to be tried,” said Simon Berrow of the IWDG.

“The longer this goes on the more stressed the animals will get. They are in fresh water and that is damaging their kidneys right now and it will also start to damage their skin as well.

“We have also heard reports of kids throwing stones at them when they get close to the shore and we would appeal to anyone who comes to visit the dolphins, not to engage in this sort of behavior.”

The dolphins were discovered on March 31, in murky water close to the old bridge over the Ratty River and Durty Nelly’s Pub.

The last time that dolphins became stranded in this area was in 1995, when Clare recorded one of its finest summers in recent memory. Some locals are hopeful that the return of the dolphins are a sign of a good summer ahead.

Hurling fans are also hopeful that the return of the dolphins to Bunratty may also be on omen suggesting a hurling season similar to what took place in 1995.

AN EAST Clare woman interrupted two burglars who broke into her home in broad daylight on Friday morning last. The woman, who lives in a house in Drewborough in Scariff, was out the front of her house painting at around 11.25am last Friday, April 5, when the incident took place.

She walked into her house and discovered two males in one of her bedrooms. The males, who were aged in their mid to late teens and were wearing baseball caps, fled the scene. They had entered the building after forcing a rear window.

A burglary also took place at a house in Lisdoonvarna over the last two weeks. The house, which is located in Rooska, was broken into some time between 6pm on Sunday, May 24, and 6am on Saturday, April 6. Glass was broken on the front door to allow access to the house and a box containing some cash and personal belongings was taken.

A number of incidents of theft and criminal damage were reported in the North Clare area over the weekend.

A boat located on the pier in Ballyvaughan was broken into some time between 10pm on Friday evening and 7am on Saturday morning. Noting was stolen from the boat.

Last Thursday, April 4, a number of cars were broken into close to the Poulnabrone Dolmen. Two rental cars belonging to tourists from New Zealand and Germany were broken into and handbags, wallets, cash and passports were taken.

More than 600 metres of cable was also stolen from a telephone pole in Tubber at some time between Midnight on Monday, April 1, and 5am on Tuesday, April 2.

Two tonnes of fertiliser was also stolen from lands at Ballypottery in Corofin at some time between 3pm on Tuesday, April 2, and 11am on Wednesday, April 3. Anyone with information on any of these incidents is asked to contact their local Garda station.