Author: admin

AN ENVIRONMENTALIST has maintained that a windfarm, which is currently part of a planning application to Clare County Council, will be visible from Doonbeg Golf Course.

Friends of the Irish Environment director Tony Lowes, who in 2000 held up the construction of the course when he raised concerns in the high court about the protection of the microscopic snail Vertigo Angustior, told a Scottish newspaper that he now wants new owner Donald Trump to help back a campaign against the proposed nine-turbine wind farm.

The billionaire businessman reportedly ceased plans to build a second luxury golf course in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, following a failed legal battle to stop the construction of an 11-turbine windfarm off the Scottish coast.

Last week West Clare Coastal Windpower lodged plans for the nine 126-metre wind turbines at Carrowmore South, Einagh and Shragh, two kilometres south of Doonbeg village.

The company’s previous plan for an “industrial scale” € 200 million windfarm at the same location was refused by an Bord Pleanála last July.

Local business people said this week that they were taking a “neutral stance” on the issue, and that the previous application went through the process without any major concern locally.

Mr Lowes is reported as saying he believes people will listen to Mr Trump rather than the environmentalists on the issue.

Asked about the Trump Organisation getting involved in any such issues locally, executive vice president Eric Trump said it was not afraid of taking on important issues.

“Maybe it is too early, but we have never been afraid to tackle important issues time and time again, and we have never been afraid to take on important issues,” she told The Clare People .

“We are not afraid to take on the fight for the betterment of the community and quite frankly often times the community looks to us to lean on, to help them and for that leadership and for the resources to do so.”

AN ENNIS woman has received an 18-month prison sentence for a string of offences including stealing money from a pensioner and assaulting a garda.

Ann Marie Molloy stole € 200 from 85-year-old Anne McCullagh as the pensioner walked through Paddy Quinn’s car park in Ennis on November 1, 2013.

At Ennis District Court on Wednesday, Detective Garda Claire O’Shaughnessy said Ms Molloy grabbed Ms McCullagh’s handbag before running away.

“She was extremely upset and crying. She was tramautised by the whole experience,” said Detective O’Shaughnessy of Ms McCullagh’s condition after the theft.

Ann Marie Molloy, with an address at Ballaghboy Halting Site, Quin Road Ennis, pleaded guilty to punching and kicking a female garda at Ennis Garda Station on May 14, 2012. She also pleaded guilty to a number of other theft and trespass offences including a break in at the Maria Assumpta Hall, Station Road, Ennis, between August 29 and 31, 2012, and theft of a wallet from a woman in a cinema on February 12, 2013.

She also admitted damaging post boxes at the Mill Road apartment complex. The court heard it cost the owner € 595 to repair to damage.

Defence solicitor Tara Godfrey said her client came from a large family of 13. She said Ms Molloy has learning difficulties and a drinking problem. “She’s a lovely lady with a horrible problem with drink,” she added.

Ms Godfrey urged the court not to impose custodial sentence but rather remand her client in custody for a period to “frighten her into understanding what she did”.

An offer to pay compensation to Ms McCullagh was rejected by Judge Patrick Durcan. He said he was not impressed by people who bring money to court trying to buy their way out of jail. He said he would much rather hear compensation had already been paid.

He said Ms Molloy engaged in “horrendous criminal activity” over a 12-month period. He said he was cognizant of her family background, physical and intellectual difficulties and problems with alcohol.

In the case of the theft from Ms McCullagh, Judge Durcan said the victim had “gallantly and valiantly fought back but had been left in a distressed state”. He imposed sentences totalling 18 months. Judge Durcan warned assaults against gardaí and the robbery of old women would be met with the toughest measures open to the court. Recognizance were set in the event of an appeal.

SHANNON Airport has stepped up to the mark as a key economic driver for the mid-west region, according to Transport Minister, Leo Varadkar, who has told The Clare People that Donald Trump’s acquisition of Doonbeg Golf Club was made possible by having an international airport on its doorstep.

Speaking in Shannon Minister Varadkar lauded the “the renewed energy and vibrancy” as a new growth phase was announced for airport services that will see a new programme of hangar development come on stream in the next year.

“It is fair to say that recent high profile investments in this region like the Regeneron announcement for Limerick and Donald Trump’s acquisition of and planned investment in Doonbeg would not be happening were it not for Shannon Airport’s presence,” said Minister Varadkar.

His comments came as a new deal was signed for an eight-year lease by Air Contractors, a member of the ASL Aviation group, with the Shannon Group for the remaining hangar space at the airport.

This will be used by Air Contrac- tors for line maintenance on its fleet of Boeing and ATR aircraft, including its Boeing 757 aircrafts which will be flown by Aer Lingus on the new daily Shannon-Boston service launched last week and its six times weekly JFK New York service that commences in March.

The airport currently has 50,700sq meters of space in nine hangars, all of which will be fully occupied following the signing of contracts with Air Contractors.

To meet a current request for near term additional hangar space, the board of the Shannon Group recently agreed to seek planning permission and to tender for the procurement and associated works of a fabric hangar of 4,300sq metres capable of accommodating wide-bodied aircraft.

It is anticipated the new hangar – intended to be the first of a number of new hangars developed at Shannon – will be built and open for business by the end of the year.

“I welcome the board’s progress in relation to hangar capacity and its plans to develop an additional hangar this year,” said Minister Varadkar.

“This is in keeping with the wider plans for growth at Shannon, includ- ing the development of an International Aviation Services Centre here to complement the existing cluster of 40 aviation related businesses operating in Shannon.

“The development of maintenance facilities is one opportunity identified under this plan and this is a very positive first step in that space,” he added.

According to Shannon Group chairperson, Rose Hynes, the airport is “making strong early progress in relation to the wider Shannon project. Our success in achieving full occupancy of our hangar capacity is evidence of this”.

AN Ennis woman charged with robbery has been told her bail will be revoked if she does not abide by all conditions

At Ennis District Court on Wednesday, Clara Chapman (19) admitted not residing at an address she had given gardaí when granted bail last month.

Inspector Tom Kennedy said, “Our application is to have bail revoked. Ms Chapman, in our view, is flagrantly ignoring bail conditions as set”. Insp Kennedy was speaking after Detec- tive John Casey of Ennis Garda Station told the court Ms Chapman was not present at her stated address of Banner Lodge, Ennis when he visited it on dates in January.

He said the owner had informed him, Ms Chapman had not resided at Banner Lodge since January 18.

Defence solicitor Tara Godfrey said her client was staying with her mother at Harbour House, Woodquay, Ennis.

She told the court Ms Chapman now realizes she should have first applied to the court to amend her bail conditions before moving address.

Ms Chapman is charged with robbing a handbag and cash from a woman at the Causeway Link Road, Ennis on January 18.

Judge Patrick Durcan said it was a concern to him that Ms Chapman had entered into a bond to reside at a certain address, which she had vacated four days previously.

The court heard Ms Chapman was not present in court earlier this month when she was called to explain the breach of her bail conditions.

Ms Godfrey said her client was unable to attend court because of an appointment in Limerick.

After a brief adjournment, Detective Casey told the court he had received confirmation Ms Chapman was at an appointment.

Judge Durcan agreed to amend the accused’s bail conditions to reside at Harbour House, Woodquay, Ennis.

Addressing Ms Chapman he said, “Any further non compliance, I will not accede to an application for bail”.

Ms Chapman was remanded on continuing bail to appear again in court tomorrow, February 19. She was also ordered to abide by a curfew from 10pm to 7am.

NORTH Clare farmers have pledged to fight on against the decision to sell the Ennistymon Mart to Aldi following a “fruitless” meeting in Ennis yesterday.

Three member of Ennistymon IFA met with representatives from Clare Marts for a number of hours yesterday, at a meeting facilitated by Clare IFA president Andrew Dundas.

At the meeting, a spokesperson for Clare Marts confirmed that the sale of the mart had been agreed by the board of Clare Marts, but said that contracts had yet to be signed and the sale was dependent on planning permission being granted.

Tom Clair from Ennistymon IFA said yesterday that the people of Ennistymon feel like they have been “sold-out” by their fellow farmers for a “few dollars” from a multi-national.

“The people up here will fight this to the bitter end, that is for sure. But we are desperate downhearted that this has happened,” he said.

“The way that this has come about is not right.

“After all that was gone through to get that mart there in the first place and now to have it sold out from under us by our fellow farmers. And just because they had a few dollars dangled down in front of them. It’s not right.”

Yesterday’s meeting followed a protest help by more than 20 North Clare farmers outside of Ennis Marts last Tuesday evening and a mass meeting of more than 450 people which took place in Ennistymon earlier this month.

Those opposed to the sale will now likely take to the planning system to try and block the sale going through by lodging planning applications once Aldi bring forward a proposal.

The land where the mart currently sits was gifted to the people of Ennistymon by the McNamara clan as an area for fairs.

“It is though that the mart’s deeds could yet contain a condition requiring it to be operated for agricultural purposes. The Clare People contacted Clare Marts in relation to this story but they had no comment to make.

AN ENGLISH conman who duped businesses on a € 1,300 “nationwide tour” of hotels in Ireland has received a 12-month prison sentence.

David Brown (57) was arrested by gardaí in Clare last week after failing to pay for food and alcohol at the Ravine Hotel, Lisdoonvarna, on February 11.

It came after gardaí issued a nationwide alert for Mr Brown’s arrest after he committed a string of similar offences at hotels around the country between January 25 and February 12.

He appeared before Ennis District Court on Thursday.

Mr Brown, with an address at Mallard Road, Scunthorpe, England, pleaded guilty to six changes of dishonestly by deception availing of food, accommodation and beverages.

The charges relate to Mr Brown’s stay at Creevy Pier Hotel, Ballyshan- non, Donegal, where he accrued a bill of € 333 between February 4 and 6; his stay at Lismore House, Lismore, Waterford, between January 25 and 27 where the bill came to € 382 and the Templemore Arms Hotel, Templemore, between February 1 and 3 where the bill came to € 271.

He also admitted offences at Dunning’s, The Octagon, Westport, between February 7 and 8 (€ 65) and Murphy’s Law, Barrack Street, Athlone, between February 3 and 4 (€ 150).

Judge Patrick Durcan enquired what type of food and drink Mr Brown availed of during his stays at the hotels. Inspector Tom Kennedy replied that the accused was “pretty accomplished at entertaining himself”.

Garda Shane Kavanagh of Ennistymon Garda Station said he arrested Mr Brown in the early hours of February 12 after the accused failed to pay for drink and food worth € 81 at the Ravine Hotel, Lisdoonvarna.

Garda Kavanagh told the court Mr Brown would typically tell hoteliers he was over from England to do maintenance work on telegraph poles. He would claim his colleagues were arriving in a few days and they would pay the bill. “He would book in on a Friday but by Monday morning he’d be gone,” added Garda Kavanagh.

The court heard Mr Brown travelled across the country by hitch hiking and getting lifts from fellow ‘guests’.

Insp Kennedy said Mr Brown has 50 previous convictions, many for deception offences, and was only released from prison in January.

Defence solicitor Tara Godfrey said her client is divorced and previously worked as an unskilled labourer.

She said Mr Brown was homeless when he was released from prison and committed the offences as a means of surviving.

She said her client had mainly drank pints of lager and eaten burg- ers and pies during his time at the hotels. “The most extravagant thing he had was a Jack Daniels whiskey,” she added.

She asked the court to consider deporting Mr Brown back to the United Kingdom.

Judge Patrick Durcan said this was an “unusual case” one where like his countrymen did in the past, Mr Brown commenced his journey through Ireland in Waterford.

He said Mr Brown had perpetrated a “reign of commercial tyranny” against tourism businesses, many of whom are based in coastal communities devastated by recent storms.

“His spree, his nationwide tour, cost € 1,322,” added Judge Durcan.

“The only order I can make is one that forces the Irish people to pay € 1,700 a week to accommodate him further,” he said.

He imposed sentences totalling 12 months but suspended the final eight months on condition Mr Brown enter a bond to be of good behaviour. TWOmen have appeared in court charged in connection with an alleged burglary in the Corrovorrin area of Ennis. Patrick Ballard (28) and Michael Clune (28) are alleged to have entered 2 Corrovorrin,Tulla Road, Ennis as trespassers and attempted to commit theft therein.The charge relates to an alleged break in on December 11, 2013. Mr Ballard, with an address at Lifford Lodge, Lifford Road, Ennis and Mr Clune with an address at BridgeviewCourt, Ennis, both appeared before Ennis District Court onWednesday. The court heard the DPP has directed summary disposal of the cases in the district court. Legal aid was approved for solicitor Tara Godfrey. Ms Godfrey said she required time to seek disclosure fromthe State. The cases were adjourned to April 2 for the accused to enter pleas or to fix a date for hearing. A POLISH man who admits being in an intoxicated state at Ennis Cathedral will carry our volountary work in the town, a court has heard. Last November, Judge Patrick Durcan said he wanted Tomasz Hajduk (43) to get involved with a group like Ennis Tidy Towns to make up for his behaviour in the upper O’Connell Street area of the town on November 13. Tomasz Hajduk, with addresses at Sandfield Apartments, Sandfield Road, Ennis and Cree, pleaded guilty to being intoxicated to such an extent so as to be a danger to himself and to others. Gardaí found Mr Hajduk in an intoxicated state outside Ennis Cathedral and he has a number of previous convictions mainly for public order offences, the court heard. The case came back before Ennis District Court on Wednesday where solicitor William Cahir told the court his client had secured work with Ennis Parish on a voloutary basis. Judge Patrick Durcan adjourned the case to October 1 for review. Addressing Mr Hajduk, he said, “I expect you will so some work for the church”.

IRELAND’S oldest living person, Clare native Kathleen Snavely, celebrated her 112th birthday on Sunday by relaxing and getting her hair done.

Kathleen Hayes Rollins Snavely, who was born in East Clare on February 16, 1902, became Ireland’s oldest ever living person late last year when she overtook Louth woman, Katherine Plunket, and is now clos- ing in on becoming one of the oldest people ever to live on planet Earth.

Kathleen, who lives in Syracuse in upstate New York, is currently in excellent health and is now just three years from becoming one of the 10 oldest people ever to have lived. She is, however, still a long from becoming the worlds oldest person – that honour rests with Jeanne Calment, who was 122 years and 164 days old when she passed away in 1997.

Kathleen was born in Maghera near Feakle in East Clare in 1902. She emigrated to America in 1921 and set up a successful dairy, completely from scratch.

Up to two years ago, Kathleen was living independently, travelling on the bus and shopping for food, until she broke her hip and had to move into a local care centre.

Sr Kathy Osbelt, a friend of Kathleen’s, says that Snavely regularly talks about her experiences growing up in Ireland and her family.

“She talks about the wit and the appreciation for natural beauty. She is very funny and very feisty and loves a good story and to tell stories,” said Sr Osbelt.

“It is unfortunate that more people don’t know her. She is a treasure; she really is a peach.”

So far Kathleen has lived through two wars and survived 18 American presidents and two husbands. She never had any children.

Kathleen received a letter from President Michael D. Higgins last year and the centenarian bounty of € 2, 540.

FURTHER evidence that Shannon Airport is on the right flight-path to recovery was released over the weekend with the news that the airport recorded a promising increase in the number of flight movements coming through Shannon in January.

This increase is more impressive when the effects of the recent storms are considered. Shannon Airport itself has been forced to close on a number of occasions in recent weeks and a number of flights destined to arrive at Shannon Airport were also cancelled because of difficulties at other airports.

Shannon Airport recorded an average total of 38 daily movements in January of 2014 compared to the same month in 2013. This amounts to a year-on-year increase of more than 3.2 per cent.

Ireland’s en-route traffic, which means the total flights that pass through Irish airspace but do not land, decreased by 9.2 per cent in January. This decrease has been blamed mostly on the poor weather and, if a similar sized decrease was felt at Shannon Airport, it means that real flights must have shown a sizable increase to off set the effects of the poor weather.

This is in stark contrast to the number of daily movements recorded for January of 2013, which were the lowest recorded at Shannon Airport for more then a decade. These drop, which coincides with the air- port’s first month of independence from the Dublin Airport Authority, represents a 10.7 per cent year-onyear drop on the flight number from January of 2012.

“Continued strong performance in our terminal business is very encouraging. Recent announcements by a number of airlines suggests growth will continue for the remainder of the year,” said Peter Kearney, Director of Air Traffic Operations and Strategy at the Irish Aviation Authority.

SHANNON-based mining company Mincon could be set to double in size over the next two or three years – with the prospect of more jobs coming on stream in looking increasingly possibly. That is according to Mincon’s “house brokers” Davy Stockbrokers, who in a letter to potential investors last week described the Clare company as ‘outperform’ and said it was primed for expansion.

“It has grown rapidly in recent years, while generating returns of over 20 per cent,” the Davy note said. “[The company is] a pure play on the structurally less volatile global consumable rock-drilling products industry.”

Earlier this year, the company’s two biggest shareholders gave employees € 1.2 million from their own private funds to reward them for their hard work over the years.

Company founder Paddy Purcell and Kevin Barry initiated the employee recognition plan, which excluded all members of senior management.

The money was paid to Mincon’s 140 eligible employees across the group and was based on years of service with a payment of € 1,000 per staff member per year of service.

The Shannon-based rock drilling engineering company was founded in 1977 and listed on the Dublin and London stock exchanges late last year. Many of the company’s Shannon-based employees have been there for a number of decades.

“It is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the Mincon Group employees that it has grown from its origins in Shannon into the interna- tional business it is today, with operations in Europe, Africa, the Americas and Australasia and with its securities quoted on the ESM and AIM,” said Paddy Purcell at the time that the payment was announced.

“As the largest shareholders in the company, Kevin and I wished to take this opportunity to show, in a tangible and meaningful way, our appreciation to the staff for their contribution in bringing Mincon to where it is today and positioning it for the next phase of its development organically and through acquisitions.”

DOONBEG was this week welcoming the investment by the Trump Organisation in the local Greg Norman designed golf course and hotel, and said it is looking forward to working with the new owners.

The community in Doonbeg have experience when it comes to deal- ing with large international companies and local development, having initiated the development of the world-renowned golf course in the late 1990s and manoeuvred its way through many issues surrounding its later development and expansion.

Rare snails, rights of ways and access to the beach were all difficult and emotive issues that have been worked through in the community and in the courts, but that hard work is now done, according to Doonbeg Community Development Ltd.

The chairman of the community group Willie Hanrahan said the investment by the Trump family “secures the whole golf course; it secures the properties, it secures the jobs and the on going facilities in the area”.

He said the financial backing of the company will have a major impact on the area. “If they help with the coastal erosion and secure the property that would be fantastic.”

He has no concerns that relationships may sour down the line, as Doonbeg is an established golf course and facility.

“There are always problems when you set up something new. Doonbeg is there. It is established. We have been there and done that. We had problems with the rights of way. We had problems with the access to the beach. They have all been sorted. They are all secured now. There will always be ongoing issues but we have a very good relationship with the management, with Joe Russell at the moment and the current management and we would hope that will continue,” he said.