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TWO drug barons targeted in a 25day undercover Garda operation in West Clare are understood to have fled the country.

Gardaí in Kilrush, in conjunction with the National Drugs Unit spent a total of 1,400 man-hours on the operation that spanned five-months from November 2012 through to the first quarter of 2013.

It emerged during the hearing of one of the minor “but essential cogs” in the drug sales operations, that the “principal players” were not before the court, as they are believed by gardaí to have fled the jurisdiction.

Superintendent Seamus Nolan told Kilrush District Court that Michael Burke with an address at 2 Fahy Road, Kilrush, “would not have been a principal player.”

The 27-year-old was pleading to charges relating to the under cover operation and other unrelated charges.

The court heard that he arranged the sale of € 100 of cannabis to undercover gardaí by phone before meeting them to carry out the sale at 80 Dun na Hinse, Ennis, on November 20, 2012.

He also sold a further € 50 worth of the drugs at the same address on November 22, 2012.

Garda Conor Flaherty said Mr Burke sourced the drugs and then handed them over.

“He was subsequently arrested and co-operated with gardaí,” said the Kilrush Garda.

On June 18, 2013 Mr Burke also admitted being in possession of 50 valium tablets for sale or supply contrary to Section 15 of Misuse of Drug Act 1977 and unlawfully impeding a Garda in the exercise of his duty.

In his evidence to the court Garda Flaherty said Mr Burke had the drugs concealed in a kitchen chair.

“He managed to get his hands on them and hid them,” said the garda adding that gardaí later found them on his person.

Solicitor for the defence Gearoid Williams said his client was detained to mend his ways. “He is trying to live a good life now,” he said.

In his summation Judge Patrick Durcan said; “The Garda authority decided a special target operation be set up in West Clare area to detect this illegal activity.”

Michael Burke became an essential cog in that very efficient machine the judge added.

“The drug barons are now living outside the country and have left a trail of destruction and addiction behind them,” he said.

“This would not operate unless there were retailers in the market who run the operation,” explained the judge, adding that Mr Burke fitted into the category.

Judge Durcan sentenced Mr Burke to three consecutive four-month sentences for the sale and supply of drugs and took a charge of drug possession into account.

He handed down a concurrent sentence of four months in prison for obstructing a garda.He suspended the year in prison for two years, telling the defendant “this is a belt and braces job.”

He also ordered that he be assisted by the probation services.

ENNIS District Court was disrupted for periods last week after a man suspected of recording court proceedings was taken into custody.

The disturbances occurred as jailed peace activist Margaretta D’Arcy (79) appeared in court charged with interfering with the proper use of Shannon Airport by going on the runway without permission in September 2013.

The veteran anti-war campaigner and playwright was arrested and brought to Limerick women’s prison earlier this month after failing to sign a court bond forbidding her from entering areas of Shannon Airport unauthorised to the public.

Dozens of supporters were present in Ennis Courthouse for her brief appearance on Wednesday.

At the conclusion of Ms D’Arcy’s hearing, four supporters were escorted from the courtroom. Some had attempted to hold up posters.

Mayo woman, Maura Harrington, a member of the Shell to Sea protest group, shouted, “Free Shannon Airport from the US military.” Gardaí immediately removed Ms Harrington from court.

Minutes later, Judge Patrick Durcan said it had been brought to his atten- tion that an individual had attempted to record proceedings in court. He asked gardaí to take appropriate steps to deal with the matter.

Sgt Paul Slattery, of Ennis Garda Station, later gave evidence that he had been told a man attempted to record court proceedings with his phone. Sgt Slattery said that when approached, the man told gardaí he was checking emails.

He said the man would not give his full name to gardaí. Judge Durcan directed the gardaí to ascertain man’s identity. He was later identified as Naoise Ó Mongáin, Maura Harrington’s husband.

Judge Durcan later ordered that Ms Harrington and Mr Ó Mongáin to be taken down to the cells. He said those responsible for the disturbances had shown “total disrespect to other citizens”. “It’s becoming impossible here”, added Judge Durcan.

Later, when a number of people were not present in court when their cases were called, Judge Durcan said, “There has been so much disturbance in court today that a number of people have left the courtroom out of fear.”

Inspector Tom Kennedy said, “I’ve never been in a court where there was so much disruption in one day.”

After 3.30pm, Judge Durcan ordered that the couple be brought up separately to court.

Judge Durcan told Mr Ó Mongáin that he did disrupt proceedings earlier, but that he was free to go.

Judge Durcan said gardaí could investigate if Mr O’Mongain’s phone was used to record the court. However he asked that this be carried out as quickly as possible as Mr Ó Mongáin was entitled to have his phone.

He then told Ms Harrington her time in custody “fairly balances out what occurred earlier”. He told Ms Harrington he appreciated she was coming to the aid of her husband in court.

Judge Durcan said: “I regard the matter as terminated.”

A NEW Accident and Emergency Department for the region is at least two years away, despite construction being descried as “well underway on a new hospital shell block”.

Since the closure of the 24-hour service at Ennis and Nenagh hospitals, the only Emergency Department in the region is in Dooradoyle Limerick.

Just last week nurses again highlighted overcrowding issues in the A&E and the Medical Assessment Unit was closed for four days at the hospital at the beginning of the month to accommodate serious over crowding.

Work on the exterior building of the new wing of the University Hospital Limerick, which is to accommodate the new ED, is due to be completed by April 2014.

The unit will also include a new dialysis unit and a basement car park. “It is then proposed to progress the fit out of the basement to provide approximately 200 car parking spaces over the following six months. Separately, a tender process is being progressed for the fit out of the ground and first floors to provide the new ED and Dialysis Department,” a spokesperson for the hospital said.

“It is envisaged that the ED fit out works would commence in October 2014 with the new ED ready for opening in early 2016.”

“As an interim measure an extension has recently been completed to the existing ED in Dooradoyle,” he added.

The major development work currently underway follows the recent construction of the Critical Care block.

CLARE property prices have been hit harder than prices in any other county in Munster with the average asking price for a house in the county now 58.6 per cent below what they were at the height of the Celtic Tiger in 2007.

The prospect of a short-term recovery in the Clare property market also looks remote, as the rate at which the asking prices for Clare properties is also the highest in Munster.

According to new figures obtained from property sales website, Daft. ie, the average year-on-year asking price for a Clare stood at € 128,175, an 11 per cent on 2012 and a drop of almost 60 per cent when compared to the 2006 prices.

One-bedroom apartments in Clare was the worst performing category of any property type in the entire country last year with the average asking dropping to € 45,000, an 18.6 per cent drop on the 2012 average.

Indeed, each section of the property market in Clare recorded a significant drop in average asking prices in 2013. The average price of a two-bedroom terraced in the county now stands at € 57,000 – a 16.1 per cent drop on the previous years prices.

The were similar decreases recorded for three-bedroom semi- detached houses which recorded an 11.1 per cent decrease is asking prices in 2013 and now have an average asking price of € 86,000.

The average price of a detached, five-bedroom house was € 189,000 last year, representing a drop of 15.7 per cent since peak.

The best performing category of house in the county were four-bedroom bungalows, with an average price of € 175,000 representing a drop of just 8.7 per cent last year.

A KILKEE man was fined € 1,000 for hitting a garda with the wing mirror of his car when he drove off “ at speed”.

Eoin O’Shea, Miltown Road, Kilkee pledged guilty to assaulting Garda Adrian Cosgrove on June 6, 2011 Contrary to Section 2 of the Non Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997 at Kilrush District Court.

The court heard that the garda was out of work for two weeks due to resulting pain to his hip and leg.

Mr O’Shea was also accused of unlawfully impeding Gda Greg Gander in the course of his duty, when he wanted to search his car under Section 23 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977/84.

The court was told that the 28-yearold defendant was parked outside a hotel at Circular Road, Dough, Kilkee just after midnight when Garda Cosgrove asked him for his licence.

The window of the car would only go down a few inches and there was also a dog in the car “and anxieties rose” explained Joe Chambers, solicitor for the defence.

“He handed out the driving licence and NCT showing it had failed,” he added.

The gardaí then asked Mr O’Shea to get out of the car.

Mr Chambers said his client was embarrassed and he panicked.

He asked gardaí to meet him further up the road where they could search his car, but this may have got lost in the moment, according to the solicitor.

Fining the defendant € 1,000, Judge Patrick Durcan said, “ I dislike cases that come before the court that show disregard for the state.”

MEMBERS of the Doolin Unit of the Irish Coast Guard took part in a marathon seven hour-long recovery operation at the Aill na Searrach cliff, close to the Cliffs of Moher last week.

The recovery saw six members of the Doolin unit abseil and climb down a sheer 80 degree incline on the cliff face before recovering the casualty and hiking almost a kilometre along the cliff front.

The whole operation was completed in very rough weather conditions with the coast guard members com- pleting the last three hours of the recovery in near pitch darkness.

“We were called to attend at Aill na Searrach near O’Brien’s Tower where a person had fallen from the cliffs down to the shore. Six climbers abseiled down the cliff, and carried him down the shore line for about 700 metres,” said Matty Shannon of the Doolin Unit.

“The coast guard helicopter was there at the scene but the casualty was positioned too close to the cliff for them to attempt an airlift. It was one of the more challenging operations that we have undertaken in recent times,” said Matty Shannon of the Doolin Unit of the Irish Coast Guard.

“It wasn’t a sheer drop but they climbed down a drop of about 80 degrees to the foot of the cliff. Between the height of the climb and the wind is a very difficult operation. The ropes get tangled by the wind as we are lowering or hauling so it is very difficult for the climbers as they have the weight of the ropes as they abseil keeping pressure on them.

“The operation was undertaken in blustery condition with heavy showers and strong North Westerly winds.”

No details of the casualty have yet been released.

JAILED peace activist Margaretta D’Arcy may serve the remainder of her sentence in Mountjoy, a court has heard.

The 79-year-old writer was arrested and brought to Limerick women’s prison earlier this month after failing to sign a court bond forbidding her from entering areas of Shannon Airport unauthorised to the public.

Ms D’Arcy, of St Bridget’s Place, Woodquay, Galway and her co-accused Niall Farrell (60), of Ballynacloghy, Maree, Galway, were convicted last month of interfering with the proper use of Shannon Airport by going onto the main jet runway with- out permission.

The pair held a peaceful protest on the main jet runway of Shannon Airport on October 7, 2012.

They denied the charge but were convicted and each given a three month prison sentence. The term was suspended on condition both enter a bond to be of good behaviour and refrain from entering areas of Shannon Airport that are unauthorized to the public.

Ms D’Arcy’s refusal to sign the bond led to the activation of the sentence. Ms D’Arcy and Mr Farrell were before Ennis District Court again on Wednesday.

They are accused of interfering with the proper use of Shannon Airport by going on the runway without permission on September 1, 2013.

The alleged offence is contrary to the Air Navigation and Transport Act.

Both accused deny the charge. Their cases were before the court to fix a date for hearing.

Inspector Tom Kennedy sought to have amendments inserted in the charge sheets for both accused. In response to questions from Judge Patrick Durcan, Insp Kennedy said he had not served notice of his application to the accused.

Ms D’Arcy is representing herself. Mr Farrell told the court he had asked Insp Kennedy to send all disclosure to his solicitors in Belfast.

Insp Kennedy said he was aware Mr Farrell had instructed solicitors in the matter but had not received any correspondence from them. He said papers would be sent to Mr Farrell’s legal representatives.

Judge Durcan directed the State supply all discovery to the accused. He also ordered the State to serve notice of the application to amend the charge sheet to Ms D’Arcy He adjourned both cases to February 13 when preliminary matters will be dealt with.

Ms D’Arcy urged Judge Durcan to strike out the charge. “It would save a lot of time if you threw this case out”, she said.

Mr Farrell later told the court there is a “likelihood” his “fellow peace dissident” would be transferred to the women’s unit in Mountjoy prison.

WHILE the local authority tackles one of the largest flood relief projects in the county town of Ennis, a new form of flooding has taken hold in other parts of the county.

During the last number of years, rural roads in Clare, which previously went unaffected by heavy rainfall, are now subjected to significant flooding.

The reason for the floods, according to the council, is blocked drains and ultimately a staff shortage, which has continued since a Government moratorium and a major early retirement scheme in the public service.

Tom Tiernan, Senior Engineer with Clare County Council, confirmed, “Blocked drains and subsequent flooding has increasingly become a problem around the county in recent years.

“Clare County Council is unable to carry out drainage clearing work as regularly as it would like to due to curtailed resources,” he said.

Frustrated local county councillors have been inundated with calls relating to the issue.

Cllr Tom McNamara said, the finances simply are not there to regularly undertake even the most basic of road maintenance works.

This has led to the deterioration of our roads, particularly in rural areas.

“For example, in recent weeks I have seen flooding occur on sections of the R474 between Ennis and Miltown Malbay as well as smaller regional and local roads where flooding has not occurred before, such as that experienced recently on the Bushypark Road. This flooding is the result of roadside drains not being maintained and becoming filled with debris. The blocked drains simply cannot cope with the volume of rainwater,” he said.

THE traditional Fianna Fáil church gate collection could soon be a thing of the past with a proposal to ban the collection to be discussed at the next meeting of the party’s Financial Committee.

Over the last number of years grass roots members in Clare have contributed more through the church gate collection than members in any other county in Ireland. Indeed the party netted in excess of € 17,000 from church gate collections in Clare in 2012, compared to just € 20 collected in Dublin and € 185,000 collected in Ireland as a whole.

Church gate collections have become a divisive subject in the Fianna Fáil party in recent years with urban members viewing them as old fashioned and outdated while members from more rural constituencies view them as a good source of revenue.

A Fianna Fáil spokesperson confirmed to The Clare People yesterday that the party’s high brass would examine scrapping the collection in the coming weeks.

“The matter hasn’t yet been referred to the Finance Committee. The committee meets every quarter and it will come up at the next meeting of the committee,” he said yesterday.

The spokesperson also described the proposal to ban church gate col- lections as a complex issue and declined to give a figure for the total raised by the party in Clare in 2013.

County Clare contributed almost 10 per cent of the total raised by Fianna Fáil from church gate collections in 2012.

This was an increase on the € 16, 536 raised by the party in 2011, but represent a significant drop on the amount raised in Clare while the party was still in government.

Clare has been a consistent cashcow for Fianna Fáil with € 21,727 being raised in 2010 and € 23,594 in 2009.

A complete ban on all church gate collections in Clare received cross party support when it was suggested by Ennis Cllr Tony Mulqueen (FG) late last year.

“All of the main political parties are now funded by the State. If the State is contributing millions towards the operations of political parties, I don’t see why they need to hold collections in front of churches anymore,” said Cllr Mulqueen.

“We seem to have an industry in collecting money in this country. As it stands at the moment, political parties receive State funding based on the number of seats that they win in elections.

“It seems a fair system and I received support from all parties when I suggested a ban on collections – including Fianna Fáil.” TODAY Th a n kfu lly a d ry day, su n n y b u t bre e zy a n d c h illy, ta m ps 7c .

THERE was mixed feelings towards the € 13 million allocated for the upkeep, improvements and general works on Clare’s regional and local roads this year.

The Government approved fund to Clare County Council, Kilrush Town Council and Ennis Town Council was down by € 2 million on last year, which is ultimately bad news for rural roads impacted upon by the storms and heavy rain of recent months.

Clare County Council is to receive just under € 12 million with the Ennis authority to receive € 339,200 and Kilrush to be allocated € 115,000.

Members of Clare County Council have criticised the funding reduction claiming it has “drastically reduced” the council’s ability to carry out basic road maintenance work such as road surfacing, hedge cutting, and road drainage clearing.

Ennis West Councillor Tom McNamara (FF) said the council was fighting a losing battle. “Rather than being financed sufficiently to maintain local and regional roads they have to focus maintenance on the most travelled roads only,” he said.

It wasn’t all bad news from his point of view however with € 50,000 allocated to Connolly.

There was also some good news for motorists using the R474 between Ennis and Miltown Malbay and the much-publicised Kilkee to Loop Head Road.

The maintenance of the later is essential to the Wild Atlantic Way route to begin later this year.

Meanwhile in East Clare there was unease that a project that is not scheduled to begin for at least another decade was again awarded funding from the council coffers.

“It is very frustrating that the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport have again made a substantial fund allocation to the Limerick Northern Distributor Road (LNDR) project,” said Cllr Cathal Crowe.

“The € 140,000 allocated towards the advancement of the Limerick Northern Distributor Road is, in my view, a shameful waste of taxpayer’s money at a time when funding to our county’s existing roads network has been savagely cut.”

In 2013 € 300,000 was allocated from the fund to the project that is meeting with resistance locally.

“If precedence is followed the € 140,000 allocated last week will be channelled into the surveying of the route line and volumes of paperwork which, to date, the public have been denied access to,” said the local councillor.