Category: News

A NEW York woman who spat at a flight on attendant on a transatlantic flight has been ordered to pay a fine of € 500.

The captain of a Delta Airlines flight was forced to divert the plane to Shannon Airport last week after passenger Marianne Thatcher (30) became difficult and aggressive, Ennis District Court was told on Thursday.

Ms Thatcher, with an address at 1257 Park Avenue, Apartment 3, New York City, pleaded guilty to three charges arising out of a drink fuelled incident aboard a Delta Airlines flight in the early hours of August 1.

She pleaded guilty to engaging in behaviour likely to cause annoyance or offence to any person on board the aircraft; being intoxicated to such an extent that might endanger herself or persons on board; engaging in behaviour of threatening and or abusive nature with intent to provoke a breach of the peace.

All offences are contrary to the Air Navigation and Transport Act.

The court heard that Ms Thatcher came to the attention of flight attendants four hours into the flight from New York’s JKF Airport to Athens.

The court heard that Ms Thatcher was drinking wine and became abusive towards staff.

Inspector Tom Kennedy said flight attendants offered Ms Thatcher a glass of water and some food.

“Ms Thatcher reacted badly and effectively demanded more wine,” he added.

The court heard Ms Thatcher was brought to a vacant seat at the rear of the plane.

Insp Kennedy said she spat at a flight attendant after being asked to sit down. She was restrained using plastic handcuffs.

He added, “The State will say she was intoxicated. Her behaviour was very aggressive.”

He said the episode lasted 30 minutes.

A total of 270 passengers and 13 crew were on board at the time.

The court heard the captain made the decision to divert to Shannon when the plane was 250km off the Irish coast.

Ms Thatcher was met by gardai at Shannon Airport and placed into custody. She has no previous convictions.

The court heard Ms Thatcher, who holds dual American and Greek citizenship, comes from a respected family and studied liberal arts and ceramics in college.

She previously worked in a Paris art gallery but returned to New York to care for her sick father.

Defence solicitor Catriona Carmody said her client suffered from depression and developed problems with alcohol following her father’s death.

She said Ms Thatcher was “terrified” to be in court.

Ms Carmody said her client had a drink at the airport and a few more on the plane and doesn’t remember anything about the incident on the flight..

“She is incredibly embarrassed about what happened.

“She feels she has brought terrible shame on herself and her family,” Ms Carmody added.

Passing sentence, Judge Aeneas McCarthy said passengers had been very much inconvenienced by Ms Thatcher’s behaviour.

“This is a clearly a serious matter. This airplane had to be diverted,” he added.

He imposed a € 500 fine with one month to pay and 10 days in prison in default.

Ms Carmody said the fine would be paid within 24 hours.

Recognances were fixed in the event of an appeal.

THE NUMBER of people signing on the live register in Clare has risen for the second straight month with 9,849 people signing on in the county in July.

This second straight rise comes after an extended period of good news on the live register – with the number signing on in May of this year at its lowest level in almost five years.

This last two months have come as a blow to the county – with hopes having been high that an end to the recession might have been in sight, although seasonal facts may have affected the figures.

The recent increase has been driven largely by increase in the Ennis area where the numbers signing on have risen by almost 250 people since May. Over the same period however, the numbers in the Ennistymon area have continued to drop. A total 1,404 people signed on in Ennistymon in July, the lowest number since June of 2009.

It is unclear whether this two-speed live register in the county is being driven by an increase in employment in the North Clare area as a possible result of a recovery in the tourism industry or by prolonged emigration from the area.

CLARE’S Water Safety Officer has warned people to remain vigilant on the county’s beaches following the rescue of a family of four from a West Clare beach last weekend.

The entire family were rescued by lifeguards, including a father, mother and four children who got caught in a rip current.

Describing the incident as serious Liam Griffin said, “If the lifeguards had not got involved I shudder to think what the consequences might have been for the entire family.”

“We still have a long way to go until the end of the summer. We still have the full month of August. If we get another fine spell we just don’t want three further drowning in county Clare.

“The three we had in July are three too many as far as I am concerned,” he said.

“If we do get a return of the fine weather I hope that we won’t have further fatalities and people will swim in the guarded locations and not to be swimming in quarries, reservoirs, rivers and un-recommended areas, places where they were swimming during the last warm spell.”

Mr Griffin said that despite the downturn in temperatures the county’s beaches are still very busy.

He advised beach goers to go to guarded beaches and swim between the flags.

“If you do that you are going to be grand.

“You won’t have a problem but there are people who don’t do that. They swim away from where the swim zone is and when they get into difficulty we have to try to take immediate action,” he said.

ONE OF the Burren’s largest employers may be forced to close for good next month – leaving 16 people out of work.

The Gallery Café says they maybe forced to close for good at the end of the Summer, with owner Sarah Harty blaming a lack of support from the local authorities as the main reason for the closure.

An estimated 20 separate business have closed in Gort over the past two years – with many of the market towns traditional employers feeling the effects of the recession.

According to Sarah Harty, proprietor of the Gallery Café on Queen Street, businesses in Gort are being “buried alive” by Galway County Council.

“I have been running a business for eight years in this town, employing up to 16 people.

“In order to reinvent my business I needed to enhance the outside of my property to attract people in.

“After spending thousands each year on council rates, the council rejected my claim to improve the pavement outside which was a myriad of potholes – completely unsightly and near reck- less for any passer-by, due to lack of budget,” she said.

“So I took matters into my own hands and put up an attractive decking. This decking feature was instrumental in attracting people down this formerly little known side street of Gort, spreading business around this side of town.

“I was then asked to remove this by the council as it didn’t comply with their regulations, which I duly accepted.

“However, during the recent hot weather, my restaurant was too uncomfortable to sit inside, so I put tables and chairs outside on the pavement in order to keep my business going, making sure not to obstruct anyone.

“I then received a letter with a summons to court and a fine for doing so. I have now completely hit a wall and am considering closing – this lack of support for small businesses is killing our town, and I can’t afford the fine plus my rates.

“I feel I am getting no support from our local government.” The Clare People contacted Galway County Council in relation to this story but a spokesperson from the local authority declined to comment – saying it was policy not to comment on ongoing enforcement matters.

RATE payers in Ennis are facing an uncertain year in 2014 with the prospect of a split rate – with businesses paying more for the second half of the year than they do in the first six months.

The upcoming merger of Ennis Town Council and Clare County Council means that the Ennis authority will strike a rate for the first six months of the year in December and businesses in Ennis may be forced to pay a different “county” rate for the second hand of the year.

The difference between the rate charged by Ennis Town Council and Clare County Council is one of the highest of any town and county council in the country. If the charge was directly transferred at its current rate it would mean a 10 per cent increase in the charge levied for businesses in Ennis.

“The town council is going to set a rate in Ennis until June of next year and we don’t know what is going to happen in July. There is a huge disparity between the town council rate and the county council rate in Ennis, and the fear is that the new rate will be adjusted upwards. But businesses in Ennis could see a jump of something like 10 per cent next year,” said Rita McInerney, CEO of Ennis Chamber of Commerce.

“Our members could budget for the year on one rate and then come July that rate is no more. That is the fear that a lot of businesses in Ennis have right now.”

Following the news that 16 jobs could be jeopardy at the Gallery Cafe in Gort, Rita called for all local authorities to show more support for local businesses.

“It is difficult in the hospitality and tourism sector at the moment and everyone is looking at every way they cant increase revenue of to cut costs.

“Businesses have looked at all of their expenses – like rent or staff costs and they have been able to make some progress. However, when it comes to rates, it is not something that you can shop around with,” she said.

“That is the most frustrating thing for businesses, as the recession has hit and as things have gotten more difficult, they have been able to work with suppliers and workers – but there has been no reduction in rates.”

SEVEN summer festivals in Clare are receiving € 81,500 in Arts Council funding this year, with the Willie Clancy Summer School Festival receiving the majority of the funding.

The Miltown Malbay festival, which took place from July 6 to July 14, was awarded € 60,000 as part of Arts Council’s provision of € 2.1m in support to over 40 festivals scheduled to take place all over Ireland this summer and early autumn.

The Summer Music on the Shannon, which is currently taking place at different venues throughout the county received € 6,000, while the Feakle International Traditional Music festival which is to begin tomorrow (Wednesday) was awarded € 5,500.

The Crotty Galvin Traditional Music Festival Weekend which will take place in early September and last months Ennis Street Festival received € 3,000 each, while the Music in the Glen and the Willie Keane Memorial Weekend, both to take place in October received € 2,000 each.

The funding was made available to these festivals under yearly grants, with a number also receiving fund ing through the Arts Council’s festivals and events scheme.

Orlaith McBride, Director of the Arts Council, said, “The Arts Council is delighted to be able to fund these very important upcoming festivals. Many of these festivals have be- come household names and this is down to the great work that is being done on the ground and in organisations around the country.”

“In addition, these festivals provide an important economic stimulus for the regions where they are held.

“Each year, thousands of tourists travel not just from across Ireland, but from across the world, to sample the atmosphere and to take part in the excitement that these events generate.

“Despite the vagaries of our summer weather, these festivals give a lift to cities and towns and create many memorable moments for visitors and locals alike.”

“Despite funding for the arts being cut by 30 per cent in the last five years, the Arts Council remains dedicated to maintaining support for the arts and ensuring that events around the country are available for people across Ireland in the months and years ahead,” she added.

AN Ennis based community group has issued an appeal to raise greater awareness of the issue of suicide amongst Travellers.

The Primary Health Care Programme is urging people struggling with problems to contact them or other services. The programme, which is run by the Ennis commu nity Development Project (CDP), was commenting following the recent death by suicide of a number of young travelers in the Mid West.

Programme coordinator, Dr Siobhan O’Connor, stated that deaths by suicide are “not uncommon in Clare.”

She said, “Ennis Community Development Project and the Clare Primary Health Care Programme for Travellers was saddened to read, once again, of suicides here in the MidWest.

“Our thoughts are with the families of the young people who died in Limerick and Tipperary. Unfortunately dying by suicide is not uncommon here in Clare.

“It breaks our hearts to lose those that died, their unrealised potential and their presence amongst us in our daily lives.

“We are distressed to bear witness to the heartbreak and confusion that is left behind.

“In 2010, the All-Ireland Traveller Health Study, the first study of Traveller health status and health needs that involves all Travellers living on the island of Ireland, was published.

“The study showed the suicide rate in male Travellers is 6.6 times higher than in the general population; and the female suicide rate is also higher than females in the general population”.

Dr O’Connor said suicide is blind to ethnicity, gender or faith. She continued, “Whether you are rich or poor, whether you live in the town or the countryside, it can reach everyone”.

Dr O’Connor said people need to know that help is available and are not alone in their struggle.

She said, “We appeal to anybody who is struggling, or needs to talk, or has a problem, to reach out, to find somebody to talk to before you take that very permanent solution to whatever it is and take advantage of all of the help that is there.

“Here in the Primary Health Care Programme for Travellers our Community Health Workers will listen in confidence. They can be contacted on 065 6823968.

Ennis CDP Primary health Care Programme for Travellers in Clare has a drop-in service every Wednesday from 10am to 1pm for any Traveller that wants to talk or get information on health services in the region.

OFFICIALS at Clare County Council admit they are baffled as to how a heavy bin full of rubbish was dumped in the River Fergus in Ennis last week. The large wheelie bin was thrown into the river near Eason’s bookshop in Ennis town centre sometime between Monday and Tuesday. Black refuse sacks could be seen in the bin, which has drifted down river towards the Club Bridge.

The act of illegal dumping comes just days after Council workers and local community groups took advantage of low water levels to carry out a clean up of the Fergus.

The Council has contacted the company that provides the bin and asked them to make arrangements to have it removed from the water. A council spokesman said last week that a crane would be required to lift the bin from the riverbed.

“We’ve been in touch with the contractor but it’s going to be very difficult to get it out from its current location. You’d probably be looking at a crane to lift it. Its full of rubbish”, he explained.

The Council believes a group of people may have been responsible for hoisting the bin over a fence and into the river. The spokesman said, “Its one of the bigger bins so you’d need a lot of power to get it off the ground and into the river. Physically, you’d need a number of people to do it. We think that they might have wedged the bin up against the wall and forced it over.”

“To see it happen so soon after the clean up is really disappointing, especially at a time of the year when we are asking people to be responsible when it comes to getting rid of rubbish. It is very disappointing that this happened.”

Last month water levels in the River Fergus dropped to their lowest point since September 1995 following a prolonged spell of dry weather.

Community groups and local authority workers took advantage of the dramatic decrease in the water levels to clean litter from the river.

Ennis Town Council environmental staff assisted members of Fergus Salmon Anglers Association, Ennis Trout Anglers Association, Ennis Sub Aqua Club and Ennis Tidy Towns during last weekend’s cleanup.

Gerry Murphy, Environmental Warden, Ennis Town Council explained, “With water levels being so low, debris and litter on the river bed had become visible. Amongst the items collected during the cleanup were general litter items including plastic bottles, cans and wrappers. Amongst the more unusual items recovered were supermarket trolleys, traffic cones, footballs and even bicycles.”

MORE than 11 per cent of mortgage holders in Clare have defaulted on their payments and many of these cash strapped home owners now face unpaid property tax been taken from their wages or social welfare payments in the coming weeks. Paul Woulfe Development Manager, Citizen Information Clare and MABS has attributed the struggle to stay up with household payments to increasing taxes and bills at a time when working hours are being cut. He told The Clare People that the majority of the people failing to pay their mortgages are not necessarily out of work, but people who have had their working hours or wages cut. “We are seeing this especially in the retail sector which has been badly hit. “People are having their hours and working days cut, with some being made redundant,” he said. “They are going into arrears because of changes in their circumstances. “Then there are extra charges such as the property tax,” he added. The citizen information expert said that at this time of year people are under particular pressure as they face the back to school bills. He was also critical of costs, bills and expenses that target the less well off such as the National Car Test and car tax. The NCT must be carried out in cars over four years old every sec ond year and every year on cars over ten years old. Car tax is also higher on older cars. “People have multiple debts, but we always encourage them to speak to their banks,” he said adding that there is some helpful information on the citizen information and MABS websites. The Ennis based official said there has been a marked improvement in the number of people contacting the office about mortgage payments problems since the introduction of the Central Banks Code of Conduct for banks, but people are still struggling. “There is a way of dealing with banks and the in formations is available on keepingyourhome.ie, citizen information or MABS,” said Mr Woulfe. Meanwhile Insurance company Caledonian Life has warned that the increase in arrears and mortgage restructure arrangements is leading to potential underinsurance issues for Irish households. Tadgh Malone Caledonian Life representative in Clare said; “According to a Moodys report from less than a year ago 11.3 per cent of people in Clare have defaulted on their mortgage and unfortunately it is unlikely that this per centage has decreased with the latest Central Bank figures revealing that arrears are on the up and so too are restructure arrangements for homeloans, with nearly 80,000 mortgage accounts classified as restructured.”

THE inquests into the deaths of two fishermen who died off the coast of Clare last year are due to take place at Ennis District Court tomorrow (Wednesday).

64 year old Skipper Michael Galvin – a married father of three and his 35 year old neighbour Noel Dickinson drowned when their boat – the Lady Eileen- sank off the coast of Quilty last August.

Their disappearance sparked a massive search involving coastguard units from Kilkee, Doolin along with a rescue helicopter and the Aran Island Lifeboat.

The bodies of the men were subse- quently recovered in the wreckage of the boat.

The official report into the tragic sinking of the “Lady Eileen” found that the 10.85 metre boat probably encountered wind or wave action on the day when the local fishermen lost their lives at sea.

“It is probable that the “Lady Eileen” encountered wind or wave action or a combination of both. This caused the vessel to be swamped and loose reserve of buoyancy beyond which it was able to recover for its loaded condition, resulting in its sinking,” the report said.

The inspector who carried out the “Report into the Sinking of FV “Lady Eileen” on August 13, 2012” also had questions regarding recent work carried out on the boat.

The report was clear however that the incident that resulted in the sinking of the vessel, and the death of the two men, was sudden.

“Both men were active able-bodied experienced individuals. The evidence would suggest that the incident happened very suddenly and that neither Mr. Galvin nor Mr. Dickinson had any time to react to the situation and access the emergency equipment,” the report said.

The report did claim however that “Neither crewmember was found wearing a lifejacket,” and “the wearing of lifejackets would increase the chances of survival.”