Category: News

GARDAÍ in Ennis have admitted they were “extremely concerned” when a convicted sex offender who failed to inform them of a change in his address fell of their “radar” last month.

The 40-year-old man pleaded guilty at Ennis District Court on Wednesday to a charge of failing to inform gardaí of a change in his address.

It was alleged that the man, on dates unknown between September 29 (2012) and October 10 (2012), within the jurisdiction of the State being a person to whom part two of the Sex Offenders Act 2001 applied, did fail to notify the gardaí of his home address on the relevant date as required by the provisions of the Sex Offenders Act 2001.

Detective Garda John Casey told the court that as a result of the man’s previous conviction he was required to inform gardaí of any change in his address.

Det. Casey said he learned the man had moved from his previous address in Clarecastle but had failed to inform gardaí of his new place of residence.

Defence solicitor John Casey told the court that his client had lived rough in the Mill Road area of Ennis after his previous accommodation no longer became available to him in Clrecastle.

He said the man did not have the necessary money to get new accommodation but has since secured a new address.

Mr Casey said his client is in very poor health and had no family or friends to turn to.

He added, “This was a breach of very serious and onerous condition.”

Det. Casey said it came as a “great surprise” to him that the man had been living in the Park on the Mill Road.

He said, “When he went of my radar, I was extremely concerned.”

“It goes without saying that people subject to the register are closely monitored,” he added.

Det. Casey told the court that he is now satisfied that the man has a new address

Judge Patrick Durcan said, “This is a very serious case and people are obliged to comply with the directions of a garda.”

Judge Durcan imposed a twomonth prison sentence, suspending it for two years.

He said he was imposing such a sentence “because of the seriousness of the matter.”

A WOMAN has apologised after pleading guilty to a breach of the peace at Ennis Courthouse earlier this year.

Nora Maughan (24), with addresses at 20 Stonecourt, Drumbiggle, Ennis and Brayton Park, Kilcock, Kildare, appeared at Ennis District Court on Wednesday.

Inspector Tom Kennedy said the accused was charged following a commotion that developed in the foyer of the courthouse on September 25.

He told the court that gardaí found Ms Maughan with another woman. Insp Kennedy said Ms Maughan was not the only person involved in the incident.

She has no previous convictions. Defence solicitor William Cahir told the court that his client was extremely anxious to deal with the matter.

He added, “She holds her hands up and admitted it was out of order.” Mr Cahir told the court that Ms Maughan’s involvement in the melee was “not of her character or nature.”

Ms Maughan told the court that she was “very, very sorry for what happened.”

She said she had never been in such a situation before.

Judge Patrick Durcan the public had been discommoded by what had occurred in the courthouse on the day. He added, “This court discharged its functions in discomfort.”

He ordered Ms Maughan to pay € 100 to the court poor box. He also struck out the charges against her.

Judge Durcan said, “Whenever you go to courthouses in the future, behave yourself in the future.”

A 14-YEAR-old boy has appeared in court charged with offences in connection with an alleged violent incident at a primary school in Ennis.

The teenager was before Ennis District Court on Friday. He is charged with violent disorder at the Holy Family Primary School on March 20, 2012.

He is also charged with the production of a machete contrary to the firearms and offensive weapons act on the same date and location.

The court heard that jurisdiction of the case had previously been refused. Inspector Tom Kennedy requested an extension of time for the service of the book of evidence.

The teenager was remanded on continuing bail to appear again at Ennis District Court on December 19.

A MAN has been ordered to pay compensation after he admitted to jumping on a garda patrol car in Kilrush last month.

David Cuggeran (36), with an address at 6 St Senan’s Terrace, Kilrush, appeared at Kilrush District Court on Tuesday.

He pleaded guilty to engaging in threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour with intent to provoke a breach of the peace at Parknamoney, Ennis Road, Kilrush on October 21.

Superintendent Gerard Wall told the court that Gardai were called to deal with a disturbance near Kilrush golf club on the night in question

The court heard that Mr Cuggeran was an intoxicated state and was asked by gardaí to leave the area.

Supt Wall said the accused then ran in front of a stopped patrol car, jumped on it and cracked the windscreen.

The court heard that Mr Cuggeran also directed bad language at the gardaí. Solicitor Joe Chambers told the court that his client had been at a function with friends.

He said an element of alcohol was involved but Mr Cuggeran was not drunk.

Mr Chambers added, “An incident occurred outside of his making which incensed him greatly.”

He told the court that his client did not say anything abusive to the gardaí and that he respects the force.

“He did a silly thing. He jumped on top of a squad car,” Mr Chambers added. The court heard that € 407 worth of damage was caused to the car. Supt Wall said the garda was grounded for the night because of the cracked windscreen.

He said there had been no garda provocation on the night.

Judge Patrick Durcan adjourned the case until December to allow for payment of compensation.

Mr Cuggeran was remanded on continuing bail to appear again at Kilrush District Court on December 18.

THERE will be a contest for the top job in Clare GAA, with Noel O’Driscoll (O’Callaghan’s Mills) and Michael McDonagh (St Joseph’s Miltown) going head-to-head for chairman’s position being vacated by Michael O’Neill at the County Convention on December 18.

O’Driscoll has told The Clare People he will be in the race, while it has also been confirmed by sources within St Joseph’s Miltown that McDonagh, who served as chairman from 2003 to 2007, will be allowing his name go forward for the position.

ENNIS’ grid-lock problems at peak periods are set to be alleviated from this Wednesday when the long-awaited inner relief road finally opens up for traffic.

Mayor of Ennis, Cllr Peter Considine (FF) will formally declare the road open at a special ceremony at Friar’s Walk Coach Park at 10.30am, bringing to an end a long running saga for the provision of a new road to alleviate traffic problems in the county capital.

The final stage of the project was signalled in July when Ennis Town Council revealed that the final phase of the road was to begin later that month after the local local authority signed a € 360,000 construction contract with Gildoc Limited.

The contract provided for the construction of 180 metres of single carriageway road, footpaths and serv- ices, including new traffic lights at Station Road and Clare Road.

The Ennis Inner Relief Road Section E contract, to be delivered by Ennis-based Liam O’Doherty Building Contractor on behalf of Gildoc Limited, had a completion deadline for late September but was held up until final funding was secured.

At the time, outgoing Mayor of Ennis, Cllr Michael Guilfoyle (Ind) praised the local authority “for delivering this project which many had feared would not go ahead due to the “current fiscal constraints”.

“However, the necessary funding has been secured to ensure the delivery of what will be a very beneficial infrastructure project for Ennis town centre.

“It will complement similar road projects in recent years, including the section of the Inner Relief Road from Station Road to Francis Street and the Ennis Bypass, in further reducing traffic congestion in the Clare county capital,” he added.

“The new road will link Station Road at Madden’s Furniture to Friar’s Walk, the Causeway, Clare Road at Cathedral Court,” explained Eamon O’Dea, Ennis Town Engineer.

“This section of the Inner Relief Road will improve traffic flow to the town centre for customers and visitors to Ennis, and will reduce traffic congestion in the Station Road and Upper O’Connell Street area of Ennis,” added Cllr Guilfoyle.

THE young woman who lost her life in a road accident on the M18 near Barefield on Sunday afternoon has been named locally as Vicky Courtney from Athenry.

The young woman, who was due to celebrate her 27th birthday later this week, was driving home from Shannon Airport with her mother Pamela when the accident took place.

It is understood that the car collided with the motorway crash barrier before continuing for more than 20 metres and smashing into a timber fence.

Ms Courtney was thrown from the car and suffered extensive injuries. She was treated for her injuries at the scene by a doctor who happened upon the accident but her injuries were too severe.

Her mother was trapped inside the vehicle for a number of minutes before she was freed by the Ennis fire brigade.

Gardaí from Ennis are investigating the tragedy, which was the sec- ond fatal road accident in Clare this year. On February 24, a 30-year-old man died when the car he was driving struck a wall near Clooney.

Meanwhile, gardaí in Gort are appealing for witnesses after an elderly man died in an apparent hit and run on the N-18 on Friday evening.

The incident took place just after 7.30pm on Friday evening when a 65-year-old man was attempting to cross the road and was struck by a vehicle.

The man, who has since been named as Gerry Keane from Ardrahan, was taken to University College Hospital in Galway where he died early on Saturday afternoon.

Gardaí in Gort are looking to speak to the driver of the car, who did not remain at the scene, or anyone else who may have witness the incident. It is understood that the incident was captured on CCTV but Gardaí are appealing for the driver to come forward.

Anyone who witnessed this collision or who can assist with the investigation is asked to contact Gort Garda Station on 091 636400.

CLARE County Council have spent € 571,000 on legal expenses for the first 10 months of this year, according to figures released at last night’s meeting of Clare County Council. It now appears likely that the total legal fees paid by the local authority for 2012 will be substantially lower that the € 1,083,000 paid out by Clare County Council in 2011.

Despite the likely reduction of legal expenses for 2012, a number of councillors raised the issue of Clare County Council employing its own in-house legal team, instead of sourcing outside legal representation. Cllr Joe Arkins (FG) referred to a motion put forward by former county councillor, Senator Martin Conway (FG), on this issue a number of years ago.

“I think the costs of legal fees are quite considerable. One wonders is there value in the argument that the council should have in-house legal expertise instead of having to buy it in in this way. I don’t think that the local authority can continue in this way. The public are looking for value for money and I don’t know does this represent value for money,” said Cllr Arkins (FG).

County Manager Tom Coughlan said that despite a previous motion by Senator Conway being approved by the council, this was not implemented because the council could not afford to take on an in-house legal team.

“The motion put to council by Senator Conway asked if it would be more efficient to outsource our legal services or to employ people in-house. Every motion adopted by the council can’t be implemented, because there is not funding for it. Just because a motion is put forward and seconded by the council, doesn’t mean that we have the ability and the money to actually do it,” said the county manager.

“Savings and value for money is something that we are looking at very closely. I wish we didn’t have any legal costs at all. Life would be much simpler for us if people didn’t take cases against us. It would also be much more helpful for us if these cases were resolved as quickly as possible. But that is the legal system.

“It is not that we just accept a bill and say we will pay it. Many of our bills, especially the larger bills, are assessed independently to determine if we are being charged fairly. I would prefer to drive down the legal costs in the system that we have and not change the system.”

The meeting also heard that total architectural, civil and mechanical engineering fees from January to October of 2012 came to € 930,000, auctioneering came to € 48,000 and energy came to € 3,228,000.

CLARE County Council are set to review sections of the County Development Plan that prevent people from selling a property built in certain parts of the county for seven years after its construction.

Councillors decided at last night’s meeting of Clare County Council to review the situation, following a joint motion put forward by Cllrs PJ Kelly (FF), Tom McNamara (FF) and Joe Cooney (FG).

According to councillors, a change to the current County Development Plan could promote construction work in parts of the county and allow people who have been forced to emigrate to offload properties at home.

At present, a property owner can apply to Clare County Council for a condition of a planning permission to be changed.

The council yesterday declined a suggestion from Cllr PJ Kelly to advertise the existence of this process in the local media.

“These mechanisms were put in place to grant planning permission where development would otherwise not have been possible, not to prevent developed. Planning systems are about proper planning and not economic decisions and I think that is as it should be,” said Director of Services for Clare County Council, Ger Dollard.

“Anybody can apply to have the conditions removed under the current situation. But putting an ad like that in the paper would only give false hope to people. There are no easy solutions to this and I don’t think that just letting the conditions be changed is the way forward.”

Councillors yesterday put a timeframe of one month on a review of these sections of the County Development Plan.

Cllr PJ Kelly also questioned County Manager, Tom Coughlan, about the powers of a county manager to make changes to individual planning applications.

Cllr Kelly suggested that he had some information that he would make public in the future.

“I don’t know what Cllr Kelly is talking about. If you [Cllr Kelly] have information, put it out there and let’s deal with it. We can’t answer hypothetical questions about hypothetical situations,” said Mr Coughlan.

“There is a legal policy for changing the County Development Plan and it cannot be done by a notice of motion. There has been a framework set up for making these amendments. The director [Ger Dollard] has suggested that this matter be referred to that process and I think that is what we should do.”

A PROPOSAL to ask the Minister for Transport, Leo Varadkar, to introduce new ‘D’ plates for any driver convicted of drunk-driving for a second time was rejected at last night’s meeting of Clare County Council.

The proposal, which was put forward by Cllr PJ Kelly (FF), proved controversial both because of the details of the motion itself and Cllr Kelly’s use of the phrase “Séan Mac An Asal”.

Cllr Gerry Flynn (IND) criticised Cllr Kelly over his use of the phrase, which he said was a derogatory term and insulting to rural dwellers.

“Many offenses are on the increase in this country because the punishment is not enough. Unfortunately, accidents are going to happen and we sympathise with anyone who has been involved with it. Accidents are inevitable but some of them are avoidable,” said Cllr Kelly.

“I don’t think that people would drive under the influence if there was a bigger deterrent in place. I think it would be much better to allow people to stay on the road and instead force them to carry a ‘D’ plate on the car.

“As well as that, I would suggest that people who are convicted of driving under the influence should be forced to appear bi-weekly at a local garda station. I think that would also be a deterrent for people.”

The motion was opposed by a large number of councillors and was eventually defeated, with 17 councillors voting against it and just two councillors in favourof it.

“I have a lot of respect for Cllr Kelly but I cannot support this motion. I think this would trivialise this [drink driving] to a serious degree and I can’t support that.

“This is a very serious issue and there have been plenty of lives lost because of this in recent years. The most suitable thing to do is put someone off the road,” said Cllr Cathal Crowe.

This feeling was echoed by Cllr Patricia McCarthy.

“I think that one conviction for drink driving is bad enough, but a second conviction, I think that a person should be put off the road for life. I don’t think anything justifies having a drink and getting behind the wheel of a car,” she said.