Category: News

A MUSICIAN who carried a claw hammer through a busy street in Ennis to ‘frighten people’ has received a suspended prison sentence.

David Cronin (36) was in possession of weapon when he was stopped by gardaí on Abbey Street on May 25, 2013. Mr Cronin appeared before Ennis District Court on Wednesday for sentence.

In January, Mr Cronin, with an address at Apartment 73, Parnell Street, Ennis, pleaded guilty to possession of an offensive weapon contrary to the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act.

The matter was adjourned to allow for the issue of a suspended sentence imposed by the Circuit Court to be resolved. A Circuit Court Judge did not activate that sentence, the District Court heard on Wednesday.

Inspector Tom Kennedy outlined the facts of the case to Judge Patrick Durcan. He told the court gardaí met Mr Cronin carrying a claw hammer on Abbey Street at around 2.30am on the night in question. He said there were a lot of people in the area because the nightclub was just finishing up.

Insp Kennedy said Mr Cronin did not intend to use the hammer. “He said he had the hammer to cause fright in people,” explained Insp Kennedy. Insp Kennedy said Mr Cronin also told gardaí he had a dream three years ago about putting a hammer through someone’s head. “He was clearly not rational,” added Insp Kennedy.

The court heard the accused has a previous conviction for cannabis cultivation. He has no previous convictions for weapons offences.

Defence solicitor Fiona Hehir said her client was a heavy user of cannabis as a teenager. She said Mr Cronin gave up the drug in the weeks prior to the offence and was suffering “withdrawal symptoms” at the time.

Ms Hehir said that in a Garda interview, her client said he was carrying the hammer to get attention. He said he had the weapon in the same manner a person might wear an offensive tee shirt.

The court heard Mr Cronin is a guitarist who is currently receiving help from a psychologist. He is also seeking to secure a place at the Bushypark addiction treatment centre near Ennis.

“He is seeking help at the moment for his issues,” Ms Hehir said. Judge Durcan said he did not like people who wander around the town of Ennis with claw hammers in their hands trying to frighten people.

He imposed a three-month prison sentence, but suspended it on condition Mr Cronin enter into a bond to be of good behaviour.

Judge Durcan told Mr Cronin it was “totally unacceptable” for him walk around Ennis with an offensive weapon with the intent he did.

A CZECH national has been found guilty of having heroin for sale or supply in Ennis almost two years ago.

At Ennis District Court on Tuesday, Zoltan Parci (20) pleaded guilty to possession of heroin at his home at Dun Na hInse, Lahinch Road, Ennis, in August 2012. However he denied a separate charge of having heroin for sale or supply.

Detective Garda Dominic Regan of Ennis Garda Station told the court that eight wraps, or deals, of heroin were found in a small children’s bag during a search of the accused’s home.

A small amount of cannabis and plastic cut offs were also discovered. He said Mr Parci denied having heroin for sale or supply but admitted smoking the drug.

Det Gda Regan said he has worked with the Clare Divisional Drugs Unit for eight years and that in his opinion; the heroin was bagged for sale.

He said the gram of heroin recovered was worth € 142.

“My opinion would be the quantity is not consistent with personal use,” added Det Regan.

The detective told the court he did not find evidence of heroin use in the house and that the accused did not strike him as a heroin user.

Defence solicitor Tara Godfrey said she was not going into evidence and her client would not be giving evidence.

She said an interpreter may have been required but Mr Parci had instructed her not to seek an adjournment.

She applied to have the charge dismissed, saying none of the paraphernalia normally associated with drug dealing such as weighing scales and tick list were found.

Judge Patrick Durcan said he was satisfied the State has established a prima fascia case against the accused.

“I accordingly proceed to convict your client,” he said.

Mr Parci has no previous convictions except for some road traffic offences, the court heard.

Ms Godfrey said her client, a father of two, started smoking cannabis before moving onto heroin.

She said Mr Parci recently finished a course in computers.

Ms Godfrey asked the court to consider the involvement of the Probation Services or the imposition of a community services order.

Judge Durcan ordered the accused to pay € 150 to the court poor box in respect of the possession charge.

He said he would strike out the charge if the money is paid by September 3. He convicted and fined Mr Parci € 500 for having heroin for sale or supply.

Bridie O’ROURKE (née Callinan)
, Knockagonnell, Inagh. Funeral mass today (Tuesday) at 11amat Inagh Chucrch, followed by burial in the adjoining cemetery. May she rest in peace.

Mary KELLY (née Meade)
, 65 College Green, Ennis. Formerly of Crahera, Kildysart and London. Funeral mass onTuesday at 11amat Ennis Cathedral, followed by interment in Kilchreest Cementery. Family flowers only, donations if desired to Cahercalla Community Hospital. May she rest in peace.

Brendan MCLOUGHLIN
, 10 Girroga Heights, Gort Road, Ennis, (Ex Irish Avation Authority). Laid to rest inTemplemaley Cemetery. May he rest in peace.

Eileen O’BOYLE
, QuiltyWest, Quilty. Suddenly. Laid to rest in Quilty. May she rest in peace.

Kingsmill (KEN) PENNEFATHER
, 91 Cluain Airne, Shannon. Laid to rest in Illaumanagh Cemetery, Shannon. May he rest in peace.

Seán NEYLON
, Drimanure, Kilmaley. Peacefully, at St Joseph’s Hospital, Ennis. Laid to rest in Kilmaley Cemetery. May he rest in peace.

Michael HEHIR
, Church Street, Kilmihil. Laid to rest in Kilmihil. Donations in lieu to the Dialysis Unit, Regional Hospital, Limerick. May he rest in peace.

Mary LERNIHAN (née Reidy)
, Ballinagun, Cree. Peacefully. Laid to rest in LeitrimCemetery. May she rest in peace.

Michael O’BRIEN
, Church Street, Ennistymon, Laid to rest in the Old Cemetery, Ennistymon. Donations, if desired, to the Friends of Ennistymon Hospital. May he rest in peace.

John HARNEY
, Boston,Tubber. Peacefully at the Galway Clinic. Laid to rest in Mungret Cemetery. Donations, if desired, to the Galway Hospice Foundation. May he rest in peace.

Kathleen LENIHAN (née O Dea)
, Coolnahilla O’Callaghan’s Mills and Rathbeg Sixmilebridge, Better known as Cathy, in her 93rd year.Laid to rest in Killuran Cemetery. May she rest in peace.

Sean O’CALLAGHAN
, Carowbane, Knock andWoodroad, Cratloe. Peacefully at Cahercalla Hospice Ennis. Laid to rest in Bunratty Cemetery. Donations if desired to Cahercalla Hospice. May he rest in peace.

Trudy RODGERS (née Mullan)
, Bristol, England and Scariff. Laid to rest in the NewCemetery, Moynoe. Donations, if desired, to the Irish Cancer Society. May she rest in peace.

Yvonne O’GORMAN (née Browne)
,Ardnacrusha. Formerly of Truagh Castle,ArdnaCrusha. Peacefully at Cork University Hospital. Laid to rest at Kilbehenny in Cork. May she rest in peace.

THE heartbroken family of a grandmother who died in a tragic accident outside a shopping centre in Ennis have thanked members of the public who attempted to save her life.

Josephine Lucas (74) died after she was rolled over by her reversing silver Mazda car in the car park of Aldi Shopping Centre on Francis Street on February 23.

Members of the public, including an off duty nurse, off duty fireman and off duty paramedic, were on the scene and attempted to resuscitate.

Ms Lucas, who had been shopping with her two young grandchildren at the time, was pronounced dead at the scene. An inquest into her death yesterday found she died from acute cardio respiratory failure secondary to multiple traumatic chest injuries. A jury of four men and two women at Clare Coroner’s Court returned a verdict of accidental death.

At the end of the hearing, the Lucas family’s solicitor William Cahir said the family were extremely grateful for the efforts of those that tried to help Josephine.

He said the family wanted to extend thanks to all the first responders who helped on the afternoon.

In her deposition to the inquest, Mairead Doohan, an off duty nurse, said she was coming out of Aldi at around 13.33 when she noticed a car reverse and hit a footpath.

She said she saw a body lying on the ground. She said the woman had a cut on her head, had no pulse and was unresponsive.

“She was lifeless,” Ms Doohan explained. Ms Doohan said she performed CPR and tried to create an airway for Ms Lucas to breathe.

Gearoid Blake, an off duty station officer at Ennis Fire Station, was also in the area on the day.

He said he phoned an ambulance and performed chest compressions on Ms Lucas as he awaited the arrival of the emergency services.

Andrew Long, an off duty paramedic, said Ms Lucas was initially unresponsive but started to breathe again following CPR.

Mr Long said he went to get basic resuscitation equipment but when he returned, Ms Lucas had stopped breathing. Garda Niall Cosgrave of Ennis Garda Station said he studied CCTV footage of the area to retrace Ms Lucas’ final moments.

A report by pathologist Dr Elizabeth Mulcahy found that the cause of death was acute cardio respiratory failure secondary to multiple traumatic chest injuries consistent with a road traffic accident.

The jury returned a verdict of accidental death. County Coroner Isobel O’Dea said that a Garda report referred to the incident as a “freak accident”. She extended her sympathies to the Lucas family. She said the difficulties experienced by the family went “beyond description”.

Inspector John O’Sullivan extended sympathies on behalf of the gardaí on this “tragic accident”. The forewoman of the jury also extended the jury’s sympathies.

AN unemployed electrician whom a court heard spent € 700 a week on drugs has been sentenced to 11 months in prison.

Shane Kerin (26) became involved in drug dealing in order to fund his own habits, Ennis District Court heard on Tuesday.

Mr Kerin, with addresses at Connolly Villas, Ennis, and Stonecourt, Ennis, pleaded guilty to multiple drugs offences committed between April and October, 2013.

He pleaded guilty to being in possession of cocaine at Ennis Garda Station on April 9; possession of cannabis for sale or supply at Connolly Villas on April 25 and possession of cannabis and possession of cocaine also at Connolly Villas on April 25;

He further admitted charges of possession of cannabis and possession of cannabis for sale or supply at Gort Road, Ennis on October 13.

He pleaded guilty to a charge of driving without due care or attention

Detective Garda Dominic Regan of Ennis Garda Station explained Mr Kerin drove away from gardaí at speed when they attempted to stop him on the night in question.

The court heard he was eventually halted near the Aughanteeroe hous- ing estate. Mr Kerin pleaded guilty to using a forged prescription at Flynn’s Pharmacy, Gort Road, Ennis, on October 15. The court heard he altered the prescription to include the addition of 90 xanax tablets.

He further admitted a charge of having cocaine for sale or supply at Sandfield Hall, Ennis on October 24.

Defence solicitor John Casey said his client’s father died in tragic circumstances when he was young. He said Mr Kerin left school at 16 but qualified as an electrician. He said Mr Kerin, normally a nice, quite young man, started smoking cannabis before moving onto prescription drugs, cocaine and then heroin.

Mr Casey said his client’s condition deteriorated in recent months.

“He has gone down. And the only way I can describe it is like speaking to someone under water,” Mr Casey explained.

He said a report furnished to the court disclosed that Mr Kerin was spending € 100 a day on drugs.

Judge Patrick Durcan said there was no evidence Mr Kerin had won the Lotto. He said the € 700 had to come from somewhere. Mr Casey said Mr Kerin sold drugs in order to support his habit.

He urged the court to follow the recommendation of the Probation Services and adjourn the matter for three months to allow his client to re-engage with addiction treatment services.

Judge Durcan said he was not impressed that the accused had not engaged fully with the services to take the steps required to deal with his addiction.

Asked for his view on the accused’s situation, Det Gda Regan said Mr Kerin has a “serious heroin addiction”. He said he could not see Mr Kerin’s life improving until he beats the addiction.

Judge Durcan said this was a young man who committed “very serious offences”.

The Judge said that he was not satisfied on the basis of the evidence that Mr Kerin has engaged in any meaningful way with the services.

He said he was not prepared to accept the recommendations of the Probation Services, neither was he compelled by the arguments of the defence.

In sentencing, Jude Durcan also noted the accused was spending € 700 a week on drugs.

He said he was drawn to the conclusion that that burden was in some way borne by society.

He imposed sentences totalling 11 months and fixed recognizance’s in the event Mr Kerin decides to appeal.

A WEST Clare farmer has won rave reviews for developing a tractor that can be operated by remote control, allowing him to farm the land from the comfort of his own home.

Miltown Malbay man Michael Shannon has combined his passion for farming and machinery to develop his remote controlled tractor in what has been a labour of love over many years.

In what has been hailed as an unbelievable feat of engineering, Mr Shannon has taken a tractor that’s over 30 years old, remodelled and modified it so it can operate at the flick of a switch.

Now the 1983 registered Massey Ferguson MF250 is fully operational using a remote control device and can be let loose to work away on his family farm in Miltown Malbay.

It was Michael’s ambition when he gave up being a tractor dealer ten years ago to develop a fully working, reliable remotely operated tractor.

The farmer, along with son Tony, totally overhauled the engine and hydraulic systems as well as painstakingly redoing the wiring to make his dream possible. Not only can it be used remotely and with a human physically sitting on it, it can also run with the use of a Garmin GPS unit.

If a field is digitally mapped, you can let this tractor off by itself and it’ll spread fertilizer using GPS coordinates. “Once it’s set up to go the machine will spread to the required width and then return to the gate and stop in order to be driven home by a human on the road,” Mr Shannon revealed.

A VERDICT of accidental death has been returned at the inquest into the death of a Polish man in Ennis last year. The body of 38-year-old Thomas Nowakowski was found near a speed bump in Tobertascáin on May 15, 2013. The fast food worker had lived in Ireland with his wife for six years. The inquest into his death was opened at Clare County Coroner’s Court in Ennis in May.

A report from State Pathologist, Marie Cassidy found the cause of death was crush injuries to chest and pelvis consistent with a crush under the weight of a car. Acute alcohol intoxication was given as a contributory factor. The inquest resumed yesterday and heard from Henryk Orzeih, a friend of Mr Nowakowski and his wife, Patrycja.

Mr Orzeih said he knew the couple from when they worked in the Old Ground Hotel in Ennis. In his deposition, he said he drove Patrycja to Dublin Airport on the day of the accident as she was flying home to Poland for a holiday.

He said Mr Nowakowski called to his house later that night in a drunken state. The inquest heard the friends sat for three hours drinking coffee before Mr Orzeih drove his friend back to his house at Tober Beag, Toberteascáin, Ennis. He said the last time he saw Mr Nowakowski alive was when he exited from the rear of the car in an agitated state. The inquest heard that Ennis man Kevin Brennan was driving from Toberteascáin towards St Michael’s when he saw Mr Nowakowski lying just off the side of a speed bump.

Mr Brennan said he stopped the car and performed chest compressions on the man who was unresponsive. He said he flagged down a passing car for assistance. The emergency services were called and were soon on the scene.

Sgt Sandra Heelan told the inquest she attended the scene and carried out an investigation into the incident.

A mother of 10, Shirley Doherty, with an address at Tara Lawns, Belcamp, Coolock, Dublin, subsequently came forward admitted she was the driver of a grey Vauxhall Zafira that struck Mr Nowakowski on the night.

The 37 year old was prosecuted in the District Court where she pleaded guilty to being the driver a vehicle that was involved in the occurrence of an injury to one Tomas Nowakowski and failing to give on demand the appropriate information as required. She further admitted failing to stop her car on the night in questions. She received fines totalling € 1,000.

Sgt Heelan was cross examined on her evidence by counsel for the deceased’s wife, Lorcan Connolly BL.

Counsel questioned Sgt Heelan on the position of the body relative to the location of his nearby home. He said Mr Nowakowski was found lying on the side of the opposite to where he lived.

Mr Connolly said there is “internal conflict” in the movements of the deceased between the time he was dropped off by Mr Orzeih and Mr Brennan’s arrival on the scene.

Brendan Condon, Garda PSV Inspector, carried out an inspection of the car. He said the brakes, lights and tyres were not in good overall condition. There was also a defect with the front wipers while signs of other collisions were also visible.

However he said the condition of the brakes was not a significant factor in this incident.

Clare County Coroner Isobel O’Dea suggested to the jury that they return a verdict of accidental death or death by misadventure. After deliberating for three minutes, the jury returned a verdict of accidental death.

Ms O’Dea, the forewoman of the jury and Inspector John O’Sullivan all extended their sympathies to the deceased’s wife, Patrycja, who was present in court.

AN Ennis dog has become an internet star after his owner posted videos of his exploits on social media sites.

Charlie the beagle has attracted thousands of viewers to his own YouTube Channel and Facebook page. The sites were created by Charlie’s owner Daniel Drzewiecki, a Lithuanian man who works at a shop in Ennis.

Daniel and his partner Julia bought Charlie three years ago and started teaching him tricks and tasks.

Charlie formed a special bond with the couple’s daughter, Laura Olivia, who also features in the popular videos.

They began filming their canine companion as he helped them care for her – rocking her cradle back and forth, and even assisting Julia with diaper changing.

A video that shows Charlie bringing toys and household items to the five-month-old baby after accidentally making her cry has attracted hundreds of thousands of views on the video sharing website, YouTube.

Daniel set up a YouTube channel for Charlie last January.

When the couple’s daughter was born, it became a way of sharing videos with family in Lithuania and to collecting footage for Laura Olivia to have when she’s older.

Charlie’s YouTube channel currently has over 20,000 subscribers, and his Facebook page is nearing 13,000 likes. Daniel said he has been blown away by the response to the video.

“I just put it up on YouTube and nothing was happening for a long time but then it started to go up bit by bit,” he explained,

“The number of people looking at it started to grow and all of sudden, it exploded.

“It was shared by a couple of websites and that brought more people to it. It’s been amazing, the number of people that have looked at the videos.”

Last year, the animal loving cou- ple were plagued by pranksters after launching a poster appeal to find their missing pet ferret.

THE dog days are coming to an end on two of Clare’s flagship seaside resorts as a new loud-speaker system, designed to prevent dog fouling, has just been installed on Lahinch and Kilkee beaches.

The new high-tech tannoy system, which was installed on both beaches yesterday afternoon, will give beach users an audio warning, asking them to obey the beach bylaws and clean up after their dogs.

The system is motion activated, with a message being played every time a member of the public, or indeed a dog, comes close to the sensor array, which is located on the promenade of both beaches.

Contrary to local speculation, the system will not include a high frequency warning that can only be heard by dogs, but will be powered off at night to prevent the warning from becoming a nuisance to local people trying to get to sleep.

The public address system is the latest part of Clare County Council efforts to change public attitudes towards littering and is the brainchild of new Irish company, Riteview.

The company have been in Lahinch and Kilkee for the past two weeks, conducting a survey of dog use on the beach and the level of dog fouling. Company founder, Aidan McDermott, yesterday predicted an 60 to 80 per cent reduction in dog fouling over the next month.

“It’s a small unit which is attached onto a poll on the promenade in Kilkee and Lahinch. When somebody walks past it triggers an audio message.

“This audio message is customisable so it can whatever the local authority want, so in Lahinch and Kilkee it will focus on cleaning up after your dog fouling.

“It’s about changing people’s attitudes and the culture generally. The idea is to make it socially unacceptable for someone to turn a blind eye as their dog leaves fouls in the beaches. It is about tacking the unsightly nature of dog foul and the health ef- fects, it can be a dangerous thing for children, especially in seaside areas when they are digging in the sand. It will also shut down at night. So if people coming home from the pub want to have some fun by triggering it off over and over again, they won’t be able to.

“We are tracking the results in Kilkee and Lahinch. We have been doing an analysis over the past number of weeks and assessed things like the number of dogs on the promenade, the peak times of the day for dog walkers and the level of dog fouling. We will be tracking the results from the Clare beaches and we would hope to see improvement of at least 60 per cent but it could be as high as 80 per cent or higher.

“This is a preventative measure. It a positive message about changing people’s behaviour and saving money, both for the dog owners themselves and the overheads for the council who won’t have as many prosecutions to follow through on.”

Riteview is an Irish start-up company based in NUI, Maynooth.

QUESTIONS have been raised over the ability of the newly-formed Irish Water to deal with the county’s water supply following a serious water disruption in the Doolin and Lisdoonvarna area last week. One local man, who reported the fault to the new state water agency, said that the agency could not find Doolin on the map and had no record of a fault the area, despite dozens of reports made by local people. Irish Water took over the management of the local water system from Clare County Council in January. Residents in sections of Doolin and Lisdoonvarna reported that their water turned a dark-brown colour on Tuesday last, and became smelly and undrinkable. According to Doolin resident James Corbett, Irish Water could not locate Doolin when he contacted them. “The water was brown, dark brown, and you just couldn’t drink it. It was the same all over Doolin and Lisdoonvarna. At first I called Clare County Council, they said they had received more then 400 complains about the water but it was no longer their responsibility, it was Irish Water,” he said. “So I rang Irish Water myself and they didn’t know anything about it. They couldn’t find Doolin on the map. The person I spoke to thought it was down beside Kilkee. There was no notification that this was going to happen. “We have two newspapers and a radio station and yet the people were given no warning.” A spokesperson from Irish Water yesterday confirmed that the water supply in North Clare was now back to normal. “Maintenance work was carried out in the last number of days on the distribution network by Clare County Council and this activity may have caused discolouration on the network. “Both Doolin and Lisdoonvarna were affected by this issue which has now been resolved,” said the spokesperson.

CLARE is set to remain a crematorium free zone, as councillors from Clare County Council voted against plans to construction two separate crematoriums at Clarecastle and Shannon in the past eight days.

The latest proposal, which came before a specially convened meeting of the local authority on Friday, included plans for a € 5 million development including a crematorium and a massive graveyard capable of accommodating up to 4,000 graves.

The project, which was proposed by Fenloe Properties Ltd, came be- fore the council because the land earmarked for the development had been zoned residential and a material contravention of the Clare County Development Plan was required in order for the planning to go ahead.

Indeed, a planning application for the proposed facility was already at an advanced stage with the CEO of Clare County Council, Tom Coughlan, stating before the debate that planing would almost certainly be granted – if the councillors had voted for the re-zoning.

A large crowd packed the public gallery during the debate, which lasted for nearly an hour. A number of councillors raised issues in rela- tion to the proposed Clarecastle site including the potential for pollution reaching the local water system, the traffic management of the site and a previous planning application for 250 houses on the site.

A number of procedural issues were also raised in relation to the proposal, including the proposal being advertised in the national and not the local media, with some claiming that more locals would would have made submissions on the proposal if it had been advertised locally.

Councillors also questioned why the zoning issue was not brought before the council before the applicant entered into the planning process.

“I would have though it unusual for planning application to be made on lands that was known not to be appropriately zoned. I don’t see why this has taken place in this way,” said Cllr Michael Begley (Ind).

“I don’t understand why a decision was made on the planning before a material contravention was granted. Would it not have been more appropriate for a material controvention to be made before this go so far in the planning process.”

Before the vote Clare County Council CEO, Tom Coughlan, said that the would be no change to council policy towards local burial ground no matter what the outcome of the Clarecastle facility.

“The council’s policy regarding the development of burial grounds is community driven. Unless there is a change of mindset at community level, we don’t see this changing. There will be no bylaw passed by Clare County Council to say that people cannot intern their loved ones in their local community,” he said.

The matter was put to a vote with 11 councillors voting to grant the material contravention and 15 voting against it. There was no party whip applied to the vote and councilors from all political party’s both supported and opposed the crematorium.