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THE number of civic receptions and other civic functions ordered by councillors at Clare County Council skyrocketed in 2012 – reaching its highest level on record, it was revealed during the first week in February.

Councillors ordered eight different social events in the year, compared to just three in 2011.

These eight ceremonies included four civic receptions, two civic recognitions, one mayoral reception and one civic welcome.

Figures obtained by The Clare People showed that the number of civic ceremonies asked for by elected members has increased year on year since the beginning of the recession.

According to Clare County Council’s own annual reports, councillors hosted three civic receptions in 2006, four in 2007 and five in 2008.

In 2009 there were six ceremonies, including four civic receptions and two civic welcomes, with seven events in 2010, including five civic receptions and two mayoral receptions.

This number fell to just two civic receptions and one civic recognition in 2011 before the eight different events which were hosted by councillors in 2012.

The events were generally hosted in the offices of Clare County Council, Áras Contae an Chláir, and involved an amount of food and drink and sometimes entertainment. It was unclear what the costs are from staging these civic events.

The largest civic reception held in 2012 took place on June 14 when President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins, was officially welcomed to Clare following a motion put forward by Cllr Christy Curtin (Ind).

Other ceremonies in 2012 were held for the Inagh Camogie Team, the Environment Committee of the Committee of the Regions and a civic welcome to those taking part in the Shinty Hurling/Camogie International Festival.

There were also events to honour the Samaritans for 30 years of service in Clare, to the unveiling of a plaque in memory of the passengers from Clare who were on board the Titanic, a reception to honour Keeva Corry who won the Under 11 and Under 12 World Dancing Championships and a civic recognition ceremony to honour Noel Pyne who has competed in the South of Ireland Championships each year for the past 50 years.

PEOPLE in Kilrush who have fallen prey to those operating an illegal money-lending racket in the town have been told not to bow to intimidation to pay up their debts at extortionist interest rates.

The call was sounded out in the run into Christmas by Gardaí in the wake of a swoop on those believed to be behind the moneylending operation in the town and wider West Clare.

Eleven people were arrested after local members of the Garda, assisted by Criminal Assets Bureau, Regional Support Unit, and Special Detec- tive Units from Galway, the National Criminal Intelligence Unit as well as officials from Revenue, Social Welfare and Clare County Council staged a series of raids on properties in Kilrush.

Anumber of premises were searched and a total of 11 people were arrested following the searches. Those arrested were later released without charge and a file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions. The operation had commenced at 7am on the Tuesday, traditionally Children’s Allowance day in Kilrush.

According to locals in Kilrush, gardaí will find it very difficult to convince people to testify in any cases brought before the courts as a result of this operation.

“There is no doubt about it,” said The Clare People source in Kilrush, “but they won’t get anyone in Kilrush to testify against these people. Even the people who were beaten up and the person who got his hand broken by moneylenders won’t testify. It just won’t happen.”

The investigation, had been ongoing for several months, centres around complaints received from various individuals and is focused on those suspected of being engaged in unlicensed money lending. In June 2012 it was The Clare People that broke the story of the moneylending crisis in Kilrush, revealing that those in Kilrush who had fallen on hard times financially were living in the grip of fear as a number of moneylenders stalked the town, demanding repayments for loans that have been given out at extortionist interest rates. “Everybody knew that this was going on,” The Clare People source revealed this week, “that people were lending money and demanding huge interest rates – if you borrowed € 100, you had to pay € 10 back a week,” he added.

CLARE erupted in celebration as the county’s hurlers were crowned AllIreland champions after an epic two game series against Cork.

Darach Honan’s goal in the dying seconds ensured a 5-16 to 3-16 win for Clare over the Rebel County in the All-Ireland final replay played under lights on an unforgettable Saturday night in Croke Park.

Teenage forward Shane O’Donnell became an overnight sensation after scoring a first half hat trick. O’Donnell also scored three points as Clare’s pacy and skillful brand of hurling illuminated a final hailed by many as the greatest of all time.

Cratloe’s Conor McGrath scored a wonder goal at a crucial period in the second half to put Clare on the road to victory.

All this after the first game between the counties ended in a draw earlier in the month. Despite dominating the game, Clare could not shake off a dogged Cork side who edged a point ahead in the final moments.

But in one of the most dramatic passages of play in All-Ireland history, corner back Domhnall O Donovan burst up field to swing over the eqaulising point deep in injury time to leave the sides all square (Clare 025 Cork 3-16) at the end of a pulsating encounter.

It meant the counties had to do it all over again three weeks later. By the time the replay rolled around, Clare had already secured a second successive All-Ireland under 21 title following a comfortable victory over Antrim.

Thousands of Clare fans mobbed the pitch as captain Paul Flanagan was presented with the trophy. Days later Clare were celebrating again as the county claimed its fourth senior All-Ireland title.

Goal scoring hero Shane O’Donnell was the man everyone was talking about afterwards.

“If I had a dream last night that I was going to score 3-3, I’d have woken up and said that’s ridiculous. I’d have been happy with one. It’s the stuff of dreams since I was five or six when I picked up a hurley,” he said.

The Éire Óg player was only told he would be starting instead of Darach Honan when the team gathered for their pre-match meal in St Patrick’s College.

“The last few weeks in training have been good to me. The week before the 21 match and from then I’ve been going well. You just hit a patch of form and I got it at the right time and I got put on,” he added.

Ballyea superstar Tony Kelly was superb on the day, scoring three vital points.

“The saying goes, ‘make hay while the sun shines’ and it’s been shining now for the last couple of years and long may it continue,” he said

Patrick Donnellan joined the short but illustrious list of Clare men who have captained their county to AllIreland glory.

“Surreal, absolutely surreal, you feel like you’re watching yourself do it. It’s the only way I can describe it,” said Donnellan of climbing the steps to receive the Liam McCarthy trophy.

“It absolutely unreal and just rewards for the amount of effort that those lads have put in all year to get their day in the sun and we had it this day.”

Close to 30,000 people packed into the Fair Green in Ennis to welcome home the All-Ireland champions. “The recession can go to hell” declared Davy Fitzgerald to the jubilant crowd.

“In 1995 I was privileged and honoured to be part of something special in the Banner County. I was lucky to play with a bunch of players that were exceptional. I was lucky to be led by a manager that was exceptional, so I was. Them guys are what led the way to this success,” said Fitzgerald.

“But the one thing I want to say tonight, we enjoyed our time in 95 and 97 but it’s now the time for 2013 and these exceptional players.”

DESPITE repeated warnings, a second person was hospitalised after being injured Dusty the Dolphin.

Local organisations and Clare County Council have told people not to swim with the dolphin who had taken up residence at Doolin pier.

Clare County Council lifeguards stationed at Doolin Pier had taken to raising the red flag, which indicated it is not safe to swim when Dusty is in the area.

Despite this people continued to swim close to the dolphin with re- ports of people covering Dusty’s blowhole and pulling her fins.

The latest took place when a female swimmer was charged as she left the water after a swim.

The dolphin is believed to have struck the woman in the kidney, knocking her over and leaving her winded.

The woman received treatment at the scene by the Doolin Unit of Irish Coast Guard and was taken by ambulance to the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Limerick for treatment.

Her injuries were described as not serious but she was badly bruised and shocked by the incident.

The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group put up posters in the area recommending that people not swim with Dusty.

The posters were distributed to premises in Doolin while additional posters were placed on the Doolin ferries.

“IWDG acknowledges that many people have had a fantastic encounter with Dusty and have built up a person relationship with the dolphin. However IWDG is very concerned that any visitors, especially in the summer, do not recognise the signals Dusty sends out when she is not happy with behaviour,” a spokesperson said.

“Ignoring such signs or behaving inappropriately had led on a number of occasions to aggressive interactions with some people being severely injured. If this continues it may lead to a fatality and then there will be strong pressure to remove or destroy the Dolphin.

“If you really are concerned about Dusty you will not swim with her or at least if you do, you will show her the respect a wild dolphin is entitled to.”

A BALLYVAUGHAN grandmother who says she was ‘butchered’ by doctors when giving birth to her first son in 1965, is appealing to the Health Service Executive (HSE) to locate records of the birth, The Clare People reported in May.

Elizabeth “Ellen” Moore says that she has wanted to die on a number of occasions over the past 48 years following her symphysiotomy, which has left her in near constant pain and completely incontinent.

This procedure, which involved breaking a woman’s pelvic bone during labour, was conducted without her knowledge or permission in September of 1965. Mrs Moore has recently obtained all her medical records from the HSE under Freedom of Information, but records of the birth of her first son and the controvertial symphysiotomy have been lost. Ellen, who has five grown up children now living in Shannon and East Clare, says she wants the records so she can finally explain to her children why their mother was the way she was.

“My family are so supportive, they always have been. Sometimes I just curl up on the bed and hope that the pain will go away. It is difficult, [but] I had to get up every morning. I had five children, I had to keep going,” she said.

“There were times when I wanted to die, I wanted to get into bed and never get out of it, after I’d had an accident down the town or something.

“Nobody can give me back the years of my life. I should have had a good life, I should have been able to go places and do things but I’ve been tied to pain. I think if I felt sorry for myself, I’d start to crack up.

“It is so strange that they don’t seem to have the records I want considering all the other records that they gave me. I am still hopeful that they can be found. If I could get my years back, if I could look at these and ask what they were doing. I was butchered, that’s what happened, like a lot of other women.

In April, Ellen and other members of the Survivors of Symphysiotomy (SOS) group received the news they were waiting for. The Government passed a bill which would see some redress provided to the victims of symphysiotomy. It is unclear what form this redress will take and whether the full release of HSE records will be part of the redress process.

GUILTY verdicts were returned at the murder trials of two Clare men at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin.

North Clare man Colm Deely (41) had pleaded not guilty to murdering Deirdre McCar thy (43), between 11pm on March 27, 2011, and noon the following day.

But a jury of seven women and five men found the father of two guilty by unanimous verdict in just under three hours of deliberation.

Mr Justice Barry White said he was handing down a mandatory life sentence and that he had no discretion in the matter.

Ms McCarthy was socialising in a local pub with friends including Deely on the night she went missing. The cour t heard Ms McCarthy’s body was found on Fanore Beach four days later and that and that Deely did not take part in the search to find her. It also heard that after her body was found, Deely, of School Road, Ballyvaughan, attempted to take his own life by stabbing himself in the stomach.

Deely told gardaí they were “fooling around” in Ms McCarthy’s bed and he put his hands around her neck but did not mean to kill her.

FAS worker Deely claimed Ms McCar thy tried to blackmail him. Mr Patrick Giblin SC, defending, told the court his client was sorry for what he had done but “intended no harm”.

In a victim impact statement, the deceased’s sister, Helen Geoghean said, “I don’t think we will ever be able to tr uly put into words the devastation that we still feel each and every day.

“Dee was a happy easy-going person who lived as very simple life. She didn’t have much need for the material things in life but she was a very caring person who loved life,” she added.

Also at the Central Criminal Court, Barefield farmer Joe Heffernan (33), of Cappagh Beg, Barefield, was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of law student Eoin Ryan (21).

Heffernan pleaded not guilty to the murder of Ryan at Cappagh Beg, Barefield, on June 7, 2011.

The trial heard that Heffernan told gardaí he killed Mr Ryan because he made a pass at him, adding that the devil had been in the man’s eyes.

The court heard Mr Ryan sustained multiple injuries to his head and body and that his blood was found on a socket wrench at the scene.

The trial had heard that Mr Ryan was gay and that both men had left the pub together hours before his death.

The prosecution said that Heffernan’s motive was his abhorrence with himself that he might be homosexual or have engaged in a homosexual act that morning.

The defence asked for manslaughter verdict arguing that Heffernan’s adjustment disorder following his father’s death caused him to think he was killing the devil.

However a forensic psychiatrist who interviewed Heffernan three time said he knew what he was doing was wrong.

Eoin Ryan’s brother, Daniel Ryan delivered a powerful victim impact statement. “Our world ended on the 7th of June 2011. Each morning is begun with a jolt of pain as the memory of what happened to Eoin returns to us” he said.

“All our hopes for Eoin were destroyed in minutes by the barbaric actions of another just kilometres from our home.”

TOOTHLESS, € 10,000 talking shops were taking place in this HSE region every two months, while stressed and worried older people watch powerlessly all over County Clare as their home help hours are savagely cut. In figures released to The Clare People under the Freedom of Information Act 1997 and 2003, expenses paid out to councillors in the HSE West region who attend forum meetings were as high as € 8,600 per meeting.

One member of the forum admitted to The Clare People that the cost of one meeting would pay for the lifetime home help needs of one older person.

Under the FOI request, The Clare People learnt that the bi-monthly meetings of the HSE West Regional Health Forum cost € 154,104.92 during the last three years in councillor expenses alone.

Of this, € 12,179.29 was collected by the four Clare members on the 40-person forum covering the nine counties in the HSE West.

Clare councillors received up to € 240 per meeting in expenses, with one councillor in Donegal claiming as much as € 625.87 per meeting.

Members travel to meetings in Galway, Limerick and Manorhamilton, but have no say in health legislation, nor can they propose changes or make any representations. They can merely question the health authority.

Former Clare members of the health forum resigned from the body put in place to replace the former health boards as they described it as no more than a “talking shop”.

Cllr Paul Murphy (FG) found it “very frustrating because we couldn’t get answers or information from the HSE. I saw no point in travelling that far and claiming those expenses when we couldn’t actually get any- thing done.”

Even current members of the forum admited it is far from value for money.

Cllr Brian Meaney (GP) argued that the HSE must be kept accountable through some public forum, but said there must be a more cost-effective and efficient way of making this happen. And while councillors continue to claim for their expenses, it also emerged that at least two meetings in the last three years were abandoned, as they did not have a quorum – in other words not enough councillors stayed until the end of the meetings to make them viable.

CLARE’S dark history at the centre of the Magdalene Laundry system was laid bare by the McAleese Report, which was published in February.

The report identified 261 Clare women who spent time as unpaid slaves in these institutes between the 1920s and 1980s – the fifth highest of any county in Ireland.

The real number of Clare women in these asylums was likely to have been far higher, however. No Clare laundries were identified in the report, despite the insistence by many Clare people, including the Kildysart-born former trainee nun Patricia BurkeBrogan, that a laundry operated in Ennis for many decades.

Two decades ago, Ms Burke-Brogan turned whistleblower on the Magdalene system through her acclaimed play ‘Eclipsed’ and in February she claimed that the McAleese Report only scratched the surface of a nationwide problem, where women were subject to slave labour conditions by Church and State.

According to Ms Burke-Brogan, the report failed to “grasp the real horror” of what went on in laundries around the country.

“This report went into what happened in 10 or 11 laundries – there were 42 of them around the country. They were in Galway, they were in Clare, they were everywhere,” she said.

“It softened the story. That’s my main complaint. For someone who hasn’t experienced or seen what was going on in those places. I find it distressing. In some ways what’s in this report makes it worse.” The Clare People also discovered an account given by one woman, who claimed to have been physically apprehended by nuns at St Joseph’s Hospital in Ennis when she was just 15, and brought away to work in a Magdalene Laundry.

This woman’s story was part of a submission by the Justice for Magdalenes Group to the United National Committee Against Torture. The woman, who was not identified in the report, said she had worked as an unpaid maid in the hospital at the time and was targeted by the nuns when she was discovered speaking to a male hospital porter.

“One nun came in this side entrance [of the chapel in St Joseph’s] and she calls out to me. And I could see the other nun coming in the other door. And I felt strange – somehow I felt, something within me, something was going to happen to me,” she said.

“They grabbed me. And they bundled me into this car outside the chapel… I was crying. And I remember them saying to me, ‘you’re going to the Magdalene Laundry’.”

The McAleese Report also detailed the stories of three Clare girls, age 16 and 17, who were ordered to a Magdalene Laundry because their foster parents no longer wanted them. According to the report, this was common at the time as State payment for foster children ended once the child turned 15.

SUICIDE continued to take a large number of lives in the county in 2013, with a number of local organisations being formed to deal with the issue.

In February it was reported that a person living in Clare is 10 times more likely to die by suicide than on our county roads, yet preventing death by suicide seemed to be way down the Government’s list of priorities when it came to funding.

There was just one resource officer for suicide prevention in the mid-west region – looking after three counties including Clare.

This professional with a vast wealth of experience was described by HSE area manager Bernard Gloster as “one of the HSE’s most valuable resources”.

However those dealing with people at risk of suicide on a daily basis said more resources are needed.

Concerns had already been raised that the psychiatric nurse specialising in assessing patients out of hours is often redeployed due to staffing issues in other areas of the mid-west region’s hospitals.

Pieta House said that not only should that specialist nurse not be redeployed, but more were needed.

As the recession ate more into public funding, figures suggest that there were also more people at risk of suicide, as life got significantly more difficult.

The Samaritans in Clare received more than 40 calls in confidence every day from people in crisis.

The organisation, which received no Government funding and is manned by up to 100 volunteers in Clare, also met in confidence with 295 people face to face last year.

The newly-appointed director of the local branch said that the numbers of calls have increased significantly since the recession.

“Everyone is different. Some people are very anxious, distressed, lonely, in financial difficulties or have relationship problems,” she said.

Pieta House – the suicide and selfharm crisis centre – received just 15 per cent funding from the Government.

Tom McEvoy, Funding and Advocacy Department, for the organisation in the mid-west said that the charity is being strongly supported by the community, an indication of how much the service is needed.

Pieta House opened four more houses in the coming year, bringing the number of houses to nine. However more needed to be done at national level to tackle the issue, according to former psychiatric nurse and member of the HSE West Health Forum Cllr Tom McNamara.

“We are going to have to take it on the same way as we tackled the road deaths.

“There are more people losing their lives through suicide than ever died through the road deaths,” he said. The councillor said that an organisation similar to the Road Safety Authority needs to me employed to deal with the issue,” he said.

CLARE’S six TDs and senators declared a variety of commercial interests to the Dáil in 2012, including eight rental properties, two farms and a trip to France paid for by the Alternative Iranian Government in Exile.

North Clare senator Martin Conway (FG) listed a trip to an international conference in Paris, paid for by the Iranian group, in the official list of interests submitted to the Dáil for 2012.

The conference, which cost € 395 between hotels and flights, was attended by former Taoiseach John Bruton (FG) as well as members of former US president John F Kennedy’s family.

“It was an informative and important event but it didn’t cost the Irish taxpayers, high up or low down, for me to attend,” Senator Conway told The Clare People yesterday.

“We stayed in extremely basic accommodation. We flew in on Friday night, spent all day Saturday at the conference, and flew home early on Sunday. So it certainly wasn’t a holiday.”

Senator Conway also declared his interests in Conway’s Shop in Ennistymon, in addition to four rental properties in Quin, Tobertascain in Ennis, Woodview in Ennistymon and Ard Donagh in Ennistymon as well as his family home in Ennistymon. Fellow senator Tony Mulcahy (FG) lists two rental properties in Shannon and a property for sale in Bal- lycasey among his commercial interests. Senator Mulcahy also listed his business property in Smithstown Industrial Estate in Shannon and his directorship of Clare School Meals and Catering Ltd among his assets. Senator Mulcahy also amended his declaration in November of this year to include statutory gratuity payment received from his time as a member of Shannon Town Council and Clare County Council. Fianna Fáil TD Timmy Dooley listed two rental properties in Dublin among his declared interests. The properties are located in Charlotte Quay in Dublin 4 and Moyville in Rathfarnham. Deputy Dooley did not list any Clare properties among his interests. East Clare Deputy Michael McNamara (Lab) declared income from occupation as a barrister at law and from his farm in Tuamgraney amongst his declared interests. Deputy Pat Breen (FG) listed the income from his farm in Lisduff, Ballynacally amongst his assets while Deputy Joe Carey (FG) listed no commercial or property interests besides his family home at “the Land” in Clarecastle.