Category: News

MULTIPLE cases involving members of two different Traveller families are due to be heard at a special sitting of Ennis District Court in July.

Allegations of assault and criminal damage in areas of Ennis and Clarecastle allegedly involving members of the McDonagh and O’Donoghue families have been adjourned to July 1. Seven men charged in connection with the incidents alleged to have occurred over a nine month period appeared before Ennis District Court on Wednesday.

Darren McDonagh (20), Simon McDonagh Jnr (18) and Patrick McDonagh (32), all with addresses at 7 Aonach an Chláir, Clarecastle and Edward McDonagh (33), with an address at 18 Davitt Terrace, Cloughleigh are alleged to have caused € 1000 damage to a Ford Mondeo car at An tSean Dún, Tulla Road, Ennis on March 2 (2013).

Edward McDonagh (33) and Simon McDonagh Snr (38), with an address at 7 Aonach an Chláir, Clarecastle are both charged with criminal damage.

It is alleged both men threw stones through windows at Clarehill, Clarecastle on October 29 (2012).

The cases of three men involved in an alleged assault at Ennis Courthouse on May 1 (2013) have also been adjourned to July 1.

Simon McDonagh Jnr (18) and Edward McDonagh (33) are both charged with assaulting Shane O’Donoghue. Both men are also charged with engaging in threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour with intent to provoke a breach of the peace. Shane O’Donoghue (18), with an address at an unofficial halting site, Cragroe, Tulla, is charged with assault of Edward McDonagh.

He is further charged with engaging in threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour with intent to provoke a breach of the peace.

Alan O’Donoghue (20), with an address at 18, Old Forge, Tulla and Shane O’Donoghue (18) face a charge of criminal damage arising out of an alleged incident at 18 Davitt Terrace, Ennis on September 22 (2012).

It is alleged that Shane O’Donoghue and Alan O’Donoghue did without lawful excuse damage a motorcar.

Shane and Alan O’Donoghue are also alleged to have damaged a Silver Ford Focus at 7 Aonach an Chláir, Clarecastle on March 2 (2013).

Shane O’Donoghue is charged with breaking the front windows of 7 Aonach an Chláir and damaging a Ford Focus car on October 26 (2012).

He is also charged with criminal damage at 18 Davitt Terrace, Cloughleigh, Ennis on March 2 (2013).

Shane O’Donoghue is further charged with unlawful possession of a slash-hook at 7 Aonach an Chláir, Clarecastle on March 2 (2013). All cases are due to be contested.

All accused appeared before Ennis District Court on Wednesday.

Judge Patrick Durcan said if an application is made to vacate the hearing date he will refix matters to July 18. Judge Durcan added, “I am reluctant to move around the hearing date.”

A BOUNCER who broke the jaw of a West Clare man outside a pub in Ennis has had the charge against him dismissed.

Colin O’Donoghue (33) denied the charge of assault causing harm to Diarmaid Kelly (23) at Yolo Bar, Abbey Street in the early hours of March 11, 2012.

CCTV footage of the incident shown at Ennis District Court on Wednesday showed Mr O’Donoghue punching Mr Kelly in the face.

Mr O’Donoghue told the court that he lashed out because he feared for his life. Mr Kelly, the court heard, had earlier been ejected from the premises.

The court heard that after a 10minute period during which Mr Kelly demanded to be let back into the pub, he told Mr O’Donoghue;

“I’ve got something in my pocket for you. I’m going to cut your throat.”

Mr O’Donoghue, with an address at 19 Waterside, Cappahard, Ennis told the court that Mr Kelly was very drunk, kept cursing at him and banged his hand on the door behind the Mr O’Donoghue’s head.

Giving evidence, Mr O’Donoghue said, “I thought he had a knife or blade in his pocket. I wasn’t waiting to find out.”

The court heard that Mr Kelly contacted gardaí on March 14 to say that he “thought” he had been assaulted. He said he had received text messages from friends to say he had been assaulted.

Security officer Declan Flynn was working with Mr O’Donoghue on the night.

He told the court that Mr Kelly was very loud, aggressive and intoxicated. He said he heard Mr Kelly making the threat to cut Mr O’Donoghue’s throat.

After the punch was thrown, Mr Flynn attended to Mr Kelly.

He said he brought him a glass of iced water. He said Mr Kelly got back on his feet and walked away with a friend.

Mr Flynn added, “He seemed dazed and confused. I asked him if he needed an ambulance and he said he didn’t.”

Under cross-examination from defence solicitor John Casey, Mr Flynn said Mr O’Donoghue had a “non-aggressive” stance and kept his hands by his side while Mr Kelly demanded to be let in.

Mr O’Donoghue told gardaí that hit Mr Kelly to protect himself.

Staff from the nearby Queens nightclub and Front Bar gave evidence that Mr Kelly had earlier been ejected from the premises for being a nuisance and “squaring up to people.”

Mr O’Donoghue apologised for the injuries suffered by Mr Kelly. He claimed that Mr Kelly told him he would “get him and the pub.”

Mr O’Donoghue said Mr Kelly has passed the pub on several occasions since the incident, “making gun gestures.”

Under cross examination from Inspector Tom Kennedy, Mr O’Donoghue said he had never been assaulted in 14 years working as a doorman.

He added, “At the time I thought my life was in danger and I struck him.” Solicitor John Casey said his client “reacted in full defence of himself.”

He added; “This wasn’t a concentrated assault.

“It was one punch.”

Judge Aingeal Ní Chonduin dismissed the charge of assault against Mr O’Donoghue.

Mr Kelly, with an address at 6 Kilrush Road, Cooraclare, was convicted of provoking a breach of the peace arising out of the same incident. He denied the charge.

He has no previous convictions. Mr Kelly was ordered to pay € 300 to the court poor box within two months. Judge Ní Chonduin said;

“He was the author of his own misfortune, very clearly.”

A NEW form of calculating beach water standards has muddied the waters to such a degree that beaches with safe bathing water such as Miltown Malbay and Lahinch are losing their prestigious Blue Flags.

The Blue Flag in an international symbol to visitors that the beach is safe and the water clear, yet a calculation anomaly is leaving some of the county’s cleanest beaches without the flag, according to Clare County Council.

The local authority was informed by An Taisce and the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) that the two County Clare beaches had lost their Blue Flags for 2013.

Environmental watchdog An Taisce admitted to The Clare People however that the water quality at both beaches is safe and clean, but said there was little that could be done to return the flags as an EU directive had to be followed.

Clare County Council has claimed a “mathematical anomaly” in a new system of evaluating the Republic of Ireland’s beaches this year has resulted in the Clare beaches losing their Blue Flag status.

Describing the bathing water quality at White Strand and Lahinch as “excellent”, Clare County Council suggested that the anomaly would have resulted in both locations retaining their Blue Flags had ‘greater levels of e-coli’ been discovered in the water at both locations.

According to Paul Moroney, Senior Engineer with Clare County Council, “Even by the newly-introduced Blue Flag standards, which are 2 to 2.5 times more stringent that the previous standards, both Lahinch and White Strand have excellent bathing water, as evidenced in the EPA report on Bathing Water Quality published earlier this month. However, a mathematical anomaly that arises when low single figure e-coli test results, generally signifying pristine water, are included in the calculations would now appear to have resulted in both bathing waters losing their Blue Flag status.

“The methodology for assessing water quality in determining eligibility for Blue Flag status is based on the EU Bathing Water Directive, which was transposed into Irish law in 2008. The directive has previously drawn criticism from international experts who claimed that in some circumstances application of the methodology to good results could actually result in failures, a scenario that has now presented itself in this year’s Blue Flag Awards in the case of some Clare bathing waters. Ultimately, Clare County Council believes that the new system of calculating the results which is currently utilised for the Blue Flag scheme is not adequately equipped to deal with clean waters and should be reviewed.”

A spokesperson from An Taisce told The Clare People “no one was saying anything negative about the water”. She said the watchdog had reported the issue to Blue Flag International, who in turn was reporting the issues to the EU.

“This is something we are aware of and are working on,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Blue Flag Awards have been retained by six other Clare bathing areas, namely Fanore, Kilkee, Cappa beach in Kilrush, White Strand (near Doonbeg), Ballycuggeran and Mountshannon.

A TEAM of paranormal investigators have finalised the report into their findings at Loop Head Lighthouse, and maintain there are ghosts at the lighthouse and surrounding buildings.

Modern day ghost buster Anthony Kerrigan of GhostEire said that the team have learnt specific information about a number of the 24 spirits – 14 men and 10 women – they contacted during their experiments which included the use of a lazar board dial that could be manipulated by spirits and a ouija board.

A lot of the “activity was detected” in the modern day light keeper’s cottage.

Mr Kerrigan reported that in the mess room “the initials W.G. for a name questioned and the year of ‘21’” were picked up using the laser board.

“Only did we find out a couple of weeks afterwards that a William Gordon worked at the Lighthouse around 1830 and a William Gardener pre 1860, other names that came through were ‘JEF’,” he said.

Upstairs in the cottage Mr Kerrigan said the team made contact with the spirit of a body washed up on the shore line in the 1940s.

The body had no head or arms, just a tattoo.

The paranormal investigator claimed that the spirit was an agent or spy.

“He was very secretive. The only name we got was the nickname Faz,” said Mr Kerrigan.

He added that spirits by the name of Michael and Trayloch detected in the lighthouse might have existed even before the building.

Dates were also detected during the investigation he explained, including the date March 3, 1916.

Mr Kerrigan believes this is re- sidual energy that refers back to the week before the Easter Rising, during which Eamonn Fennell of the Clare eighth brigade got information about Bristish boats along the coast from his brother who worked at the lighthouse.

Asked how he answers those sceptical of his work and findings, the founder of GhostEire said that he looks at all findings with a sceptical eye and that the team do not always find spirits or ghosts.

COUNCILLORS at Ennis Town Council will next month decide if they want to follow the lead set up Clare County Council last year and impose a ban on fracking or hydraulic fracturing.

A motion will be put to the local authority’s June meeting by Cllr Brian Meaney (FF). The former Green Party councillor is hopeful that a second local authority vote will put pressure on the Minister of Communications and Energy, Pat Rabbitte (LAB), not to grant a fracking license to Energi Oil – a UK-based company who are exploring fracking options in Doonbeg and the Clare Basin.

“We welcome any occasion at which the issue of fracking is raised. We welcome that people are made aware of the dangers of fracking, and we welcome particularly the fact that, if successfully passed this motion will be forwarded to the other town councils in Clare and nationally,” said a spokesperson from Fracking Free Clare.

Any ban on fracking imposed by Clare County Council or Ennis Town Council has little or no actual legal standing. The decision to grant or refuse permission to frack is a reserved function of the Department of Energy.

The department are currently awaiting a report on the possible impacts of fracking, which is being carried out by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA report is not due until mid-2014 and any proposed fracking in Clare will not start until late 2014 at the earliest.

Fracking involves injecting large amount of water and other liquids into underground shale rock at high pressures. This action shatters, or fracks, the rocks which release trapped natural gas. The biggest environmental threat from fracking is that the water and other chemical will enter the ground water.

NORTH Clare is set to become the world’s biggest film set in 2014 with two massive Hollywood blockbusters – with a combined budget of more than € 200 million – likely to film in the Burren.

The team behind the new Star Wars film are currently in discussion with the Irish Film Board (IFB) about filming in Ireland with the Burren mentioned as a possible site while it was confirmed over the weekend that a € 80 million on the life of Brian Boru will be shot in-part at the Cliffs of Moher.

The biopic, which is based on the graphic novel ‘Freedom within the Heart’ confirmed that some battle scenes will be shot at the Cliffs – but no other location has yet been confirmed. The bulk of filming could take place at Brian Boru’s traditional stronghold at Killaloe.

Director of the Cliffs of Moher Experience, Katherine Webster, said that the film could be a major boost for the North Clare Tourism.

“We would love to see parts of the Boru movie shot at the Cliffs of Moher and we know from experience how movie locations can help promote a tourism destination,” she said.

“We see the positive effect from a promotional perspective of the Cliffs being a location for Hollywood movies like ‘Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince’ and ‘The Princess Bride’ as well as Irishmade movies like ‘Into the West’ and ‘Hear My Song’. Hopeful the Boru movie will be the next big blockbuster to be filmed in County Clare.”

Meanwhile, Star Wars director JJ Abrams is currently in negotiations with the Irish Film Board about bringing some filming for the new Star Wars film to Ireland.

Abrams, who wife Katie McGrath is of Irish descent, spend a holiday along the Irish coast in 2011. The couple spent time in North Clare, as well as Donegal and Sligo and it is understood that these three areas are in a possible short-list for filming.

“The Irish Film Board, working with Trina Vargo of the US-Ireland Alliance, has been in discussions with JJ Abrams and his team at Bad Robot about filming a number of projects on their slate in the Republic of Ireland,” said IFM chief executive, James Hickey.

“We have provided them with briefings about Ireland’s tax incentive Section 481, our accessible locations, world-class crew and production companies.”

It is understood that original Star Wars cast members Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher will have roles in the new film.

CARS are being continuously broken into and vandalised at Clare’s most popular tourist beach because of a lack of basic security measures at a local authority car park.

This is despite a historic commitment made by Clare County Council to invest all money raised from parking charges at Lahinch in the local area.

The local authority took in more than € 600,000 in parking charges in Lahinch between 2009 and 2011, and Cllr Bill Slattery (FG) yesterday accused the local authority of not investing the money in the local area – specifically the local authority car park on the Liscannor Road.

“There is rubbish been dumped there every night, cars and being vandalised, windows are being broken and items are being stolen from these cars. I think that this [proposed changing the car park] would actually make the council money – as more cars would be able to park there,” said Cllr Slattery.

“Between 2009 to 2011 we took in € 613,000 in car parks in Lahinch. I can’t understand where this money is going. There was an agreement that this funding would be ring fenced. I don’t think that this money is going back into Lahinch at all.”

Clare County Council yesterday indicated that they would consider the proposal to upgrade the Liscannor Road car park.

“The figure mentioned [€ 613,000] is a gross figure but there are costs and expenses to come out of that, but there is a net balance of fund [from the car park charges],” said Niall Moroney, Senior Engineer at Clare County Council.

“We can look at this in the context of a plan, which is currently being prepared for the car park. It would certainly be possible to source funding for a project like this. There is a question of quantums to be addressed- we need to figure out what this will actually cost.”

THE owner of the Old Ground Hotel in Ennis says he expects the business to be fully back in action by Wednesday evening. A temporary closure was needed on Thursday last when a pipe was cracked during refurbishment work. A limited food menu is still available at the Old Ground while bar and accommodation services are running as normal.

In a statement, the hotel said an issue was identified with part of the drainage system of the hotel following a recent refurbishment of the ladies bathrooms.

The statement added, “As a precau- tionary measure, the hotel has taken the decision to temporarily close our main kitchen and we are working in conjunction with our local health authorities towards a speedy resolution of the problem.”

The hotel also apologized to customers for any inconvenience caused. The Old Ground Hotel employs 126 people.

Speaking yesterday, hotel owner Allen Flynn thanked the community and local businesses for the “avalanche of support” given to the hotel in recent days.

Mr Flynn said, “The industry that we are in is in very difficult times at the minute and to have this problem occur just coming into summer isn’t easy. But I suppose if anything has come out of it, it is truly the support of the local community and businesses since the problem arose.

“Truly we have received an avalanche of support from what I would have called competitors – I now call them friends – The Temple Gate Hotel, the Madden Family, Dromoland and especially St Flannan’s College who were more than willing to provide us with kitchen facilities over the weekend.

“They said they were willing to help somebody who does an extra special job of creating as much local employment as possible. It’s great to see support like that coming back to the hotel.”

He added, “We were doing a refurbishment of our ladies bathroom here. We were trying to solve a water issue that we had, we actually ended up cracking pipes underneath and that caused a problem with our drainage. Our drainage experts are back in with us and we’re trying to get all that sorted.”

Mr Flynn said, “At the moment we have a limited menu for food but the bar and accommodation is still running as normal.

“It was wonderful to see again over the weekend the atmosphere that could only be created in a place like Ennis with the Fleadh, with setdancing in the lobby until the wee hours.”

IT MAY have been a ‘school night’ but that did not stop the people of Loophead partying last night (Monday), as they gathered in the Longdock Bar in Carrigaholt to celebrate Loop Head peninsula being named Best Place to Holiday in Ireland.

Kilbaha woman Ailish Connolly was one of the many excited people delighted to see this area of west Clare get national recognition.

“I really can’t believe it. I was out dolphin watching on Saturday and I got a call saying they [‘The Irish Times’ sponsor] wanted to take a photograph. I got all excited but then was told that they were taking photos of all five finalists. I just kept telling myself we didn’t win, but coming in the top five was great,” she laughed.

Kevin Heapes of Pure Camping based in Querrin had spent Sunday night checking the web to see if an announcement had been made.

A win would have been a huge endorsement of the work carried out to date by Loophead Tourism, a group of local private businesses who, with the support of the Clare Local Development Company (Leader) and Clare County Council, got together to market the peninsula for sustainable tourism.

Of the 90 businesses on Loophead, as many as 45 are part of Loophead Tourism. And all 45 are in some way involved in the tourism industry.

Maps and information is published locally on recycled paper, the plaques for each building are designed and produced locally and all marketing and design work is produced locally, feeding back into the local economy.

“None of this would be possible without Leader. We would not have been able to pull it all together and market it,” said Ms Connolly.

“There are five businesses that want to get started in the next 12 months on the Loop and that cannot happen without Leader support,” she added.

Meanwhile Cillian Murphy, Chairman of Loophead Tourism said that with the company’s support sig nificant work had been undertaken during the past four to five years in establishing a community-wide approach to tourism development across the Peninsula.

“As a result of this, we have seen many members of the community establish their own tourism-based initiatives that are complemented by the supports being made available by other established local businesses, the Loophead Tourism network, Clare County Council, Clare Local Development Company (CLDC) and Fáilte Ireland,” he said.

“Loophead excelled in this competition not only because it possesses a rich variety of visitor attractions and activities and one of some of Ireland’s most unique scenery, but also because it matched the competition criteria that were very much focused on community, sustainability and the quality of the tourism product on offer. This reflects a shift within the tourism sector to visitors looking for a genuine and organic holiday experience, which is something that Loophead offers in abundance.”

THE Irish Cancer Society received just 103 enquiries from Clare last year – that is just .3 per cent of the 28,383 calls being taken nationally.

A spokesperson for the charity said it is hoped that with more awareness even more people with the disease will contact the organisation in the coming year if they need assistance.

With less than half a percent of the calls to the society coming from Clare it is one of the lowest in the country.

However local grown organisations, such as the West Clare Mini Marathon Centre, which is not affiliated with the Irish Cancer Society, is busy providing transport to an from hospital for patients and holistic and psychological support to patients and their families.

In the last month the Irish Cancer Society also announced that it would be providing transport for cancer patients in Clare to and from the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Limerick for treatment.

Other Irish Cancer Society services available to Clare patients include the National Cancer Helpline, which is staffed by specialist cancer nurses; and the Society’s Night Nursing service, which provides care to cancer patients in their last days of life so they can stay at home with their families.

During 2012 the society’s night nurses cared for 1,818 patients, providing 7,350 nights of care. 167 nights of care were provided to cancer patients in Clare.

Financial aid is also available to cancer patients suffering financial hardship as a result of their diagnosis. During 2012 financial aid to the value of € 1,047,461 was provided to 1,753 cancer patients across the country. € 24, 530 worth of financial aid was given to cancer patients in Clare.

The society thanked all those in Clare who supported Daffodil Day 2013, which helps to fund such services.

The charity said however that the bad weather impacted severely on fundraising this year, with funding down 50 per cent.

An emergency appeal was launched to re-coup the shortfall and appeal to those that could not donate as usual due to the weather. The appeal saw just fewer than 30,000 people donate following Daffodil Day, with donations being made online, by phone and by text. The response to the appeal saw the initial shortfall recover to within 20 per cent of the original target.

The society is now encouraging everyone who participated in this year’s Daffodil Day campaign to bank their funds as soon as possible.