Category: News

UNEMPLOYMENT figures suffered an unexpected blow last month with a sharp rise in the number of people signing on the life register in the county. The number of people singing on in Clare increased from 8,585 in May to 8,717 last month.

This represents a month on month overall increases of 132 people – or 1.5 per cent. This news comes on the back of months of good news for the live register in the county with the May figures being the lowest recorded in Clare since February of 2009 – more than five years ago.

It is likely this this increase is being driven by a large number of university students coming back to the county for the summer and not be- ing able to find summer work. The increase was felt all over the county, except in the Ennistymon area office, where the effects of the summer tourism trade possibly offset and major increase.

The largest increase in the live register was felt in Ennis where the number signing on increase from 4,848 in May to 4,934 last month. This increase of 86 people represents a 1.8 per cent jump in just a month.

The largest percentage increase was recorded in East Clare however with the Tulla office recording a 3.2 per cent increase in the numbers signing on. A total of 1,246 signed on in East Clare last month, an increase of 38 on the 1,208 who signed on in May.

West Clare saw a similar trend with the numbers increase by 25 from 1,198 in May to 1,223 – an increase of 25 people or 2.1 per cent.

Only North Clare recorded a decrease with the number of people signing on falling from 1,331 in May to 1,314 last month – a decrease of 17 people of 1.3 per cent.

This negative turn on the county’s live register comes after consistent reduction saw the number drop to their lowest levels since the start of the recession.

THE results of a post mortem on a body found close to the Cliffs of Moher are expected later this morning, Tuesday July 8. The body, which was identified last night as missing Galway man Adrian Folan, was transported to the Mid West Regional Hospital in Limerick yesterday afternoon, with a State Pathologist, Professor Marie Cassidy, set to conduct an examination late last night. The body was discovered in a quarry at Shingaunagh North, just off the R478 Liscannor to Cliffs of Moher road, close to the Liscannor Community Sports Field. The area around the quarry was initially sealed off early yesterday morning as part of an investigation into the disappearance of Mr Folan. Yesterday afternoon Gardaí also sealed off a house in the Carraroe area of Galway as part of their investigate into the disappearance of Adrian Folan. The 41-year-old man was last seen in Athlone town on the night of July 3, and gardaí are investigating whether he may have been killed as part of a alcohol-fuelled row. A man has been arrested in connection with his disappearance and he is currently being held at Mill Street Garda Station in Galway. The detained man, who is also in his forties, was arrested in Galway and detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act. Up until his disappearance, Mr Folan had been studying in Athone IT and was last seen alive in Athlone town last Thursday night. Mr Folan had remained in Athlone after the college year had finished to work on an end-of-year project with some of his classmates.

CLARE Local Development Company (CLDC) are appealing to members of the public to join them on a protest rally which takes place in Dublin tomorrow, July 9.

The protest has been organised in an effort to prevent the administration of the LEADER scheme from being taken from CLDC, which is due to happen in January of 2015.

According to Doreen Graham, CEO of CLDC, the LEADER Programme in Clare has become a model for other programmes and has urged the Minister for the Environment, Phil Hogan (FG), to reconsider the change.

“This is the most successful LEADER model in all of Europe and it is community led. We don’t think that taking this out of the hand of the community and putting it in the hands of the state is a good move. It is retrograde step and it will dismantle something that has been working really well for years,” she said.

“LEADER has become a key part of the rural development of Clare over the years. A huge amount of relationships and expertise has been built up between the LEADER group and rural communities all over the county. It has worked really well in Clare and the county would be regarded, at national level, as one of the most successful LEADER counties.

“This is not broken. Most believe believe that this system is not broken and should not be dismantle. We have seen so many Clare communities coming from a situation where there was little or no development to a situation where they are delivering important projects for their areas. That is what this project has done.”

Anyone wishing to take part in the CLDC Dublin protest is asked to contact CLDC on 065 6866800 or email info@cldc.ie for further information.

THE North Clare coast has a new aquatic star. While Dusty the Dolphin may have abandoned Doolin in favour of the Aran Islands, a new creature has appeared in the waters just off Ballyvaughan.

The Galway Bay Protection Group (GBPG) last week launched a giant floating model of a fish riding a bicycle into Galway Bay, just off the pier in Ballyvaughan. The permanent structure, which has already gained much attention both from locals and tourists, was built as a protest against the proposed construction of twin fish farms in Galway Bay, just off the coast of Doolin and Fanore.

The proposed fish farm, which would be the largest ever made in Ireland if it gets the go ahead, has divided many in the fishing community with the two state fishing organisations – Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) and Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) on different sides of the argument.

While no decision has yet been made about the fish farm, it had been thought that the Minister for Agriculture, Simon Coveney (FG), was a firm backer of the BIM proposed farm. However, with Minister Coveney in line for a change of portfolio at this week’s cabinet reshuffle, it is now envisioned that a new minister will make the final call on the multibillion euro project.

BIM, who lodged the original application for the fish farm license, say that they have had strong interest from a number of international companies who wish to take on the operation of the fish farms. BIM also claim that hundreds of local jobs will be created if the farm gets the green light.

IFI say that the farm will damage local wild fish stocks and put the livelihood of scores of local fishermen and the local tourism trade in jeopardy. A final decision is expected later this year.

DETAILS of the life and medical history of Ballyvaughan woman Ellen Moore will be heard by the United Nations Committee Against Torture next week, following the unanimous decision of the Survivors of Symphysiotomy (SOS) group to reject a last gasp compensation offer made by the Irish Government last week.

Ellen, who was given a symphysiotomy without her knowledge or consent while giving birth to her first son in September of 1965, has been actively campaigning for recognition of the wrongs done to the hundreds of Irish women who were given symphysiotomies in the 1960s and 1970s.

In March of this year it was announced that her case would be one of a number of case studies sent forward to the United Nations Committee Against Torture.

The SOS move to take the case to the UN came after months of discussions and lobbying with the Irish Government.

With the UN hearing just days away, the Government made a compensation offer to sufferers last week. This offer was unanimously rejected at two survivor meeting in Dublin and Cork last week and the UN hearing is now set to go ahead on July 14.

The SOS spokesperson, Marie O’Connor, has called on the Government to admit that all symphysiotomies done in Irish hospitals were wrong.

“Truth has been the main casualty today. The official lie, that symphysiotomy was acceptable medical practice, continues,” she said.

“The Government has never admitted that these operations were negligent and that they should never have been done. All symphysiotomies were wrong, not only those done in the aftermath of a C-section.”

After meeting with Mrs Moore and other members of the Survivors of Symphysiotomy (SOS) group last October, the Health Minister, James O’Reilly (FG), agreed to lift the stature of limitation involving symphysiotomy and allow sufferers to gain compensation through the courts. The minister also agreed to release the second half of the Walsh Report, which probed the use of symphysiotomies in Irish hospitals. Neither of these promises have, to date, been kept.

A COROFIN priest, who attempted to set up a colony of Clare people in California in the 1840s, has just been identified as the man who precipitated the start of the American Mexican War.

It has also been uncovered that maverick priest Father Eugene Mcnamara died in mysterious circumstances while in possession of a fortune in Paris in 1852 and that fortune passed back to his Clare family.

Long lost details of the life of Eugene Mcnamara, who was originally from High Street in Corofin, has been uncovered following years of research by Professor John Fox. Fr Mcnamara had planned to bring thousand of Clare people to California, which was then a part of Mexico in the 1840s, but was wrongly iden- tified by the Americans as a British spy.

Fearful that Mcnamara and his Clare settlers would give the British a foothold in mainland North America, the US invaded California, starting the American-Mexican War.

“He goes to California to choose the land for the colony but at that same time the American government become aware of him and see him as part of a British plot to take California. He really wasn’t, but when he starts getting lifts from the Royal Navy all around the Pacific, they become convinced of it. The Americans very much viewed him as British spy at this stage,” said Professor Fox.

“This leads directly to the American president taking America to war with Mexico to prevent them from allowing a British colony to be formed on California, a colony which they believed Mcnamara was about to start. The moment the president learns about Mcnamara the American president starts planning to take California either by force or by money. Mcnamara receives 20,000 acres in California from the Mexican government. He gets the deed from the land in California on the same day as the American army comes in and takes over. The British navy arrives eight days later and there is a moment when the Royal Navy appear in Monterey Bay with their cannon primed and find the America navy ready with their canon primed. It could have gone one way or the other.”

Mr Fox’s book ‘El Proyecto Macnamara’ will be published later this week by Irish Academic Press. Check out the Life section of next week’s

TWO Clare towns are set to benefit from improved broadband services following a multi-million euro joint venture between the ESB and telecommuncations giant Vodafone.

ESB and Vodafone have signed an agreement to invest € 450 million in building a 100 per cent fibre-to-thebuilding broadband network offering speeds from 200 Mbps to 1000 Mbps.

Ireland will also become the first country in Europe to utilise existing electricity infrastructure on a nationwide basis to deploy fibre directly into homes and businesses, initially reaching 500,000 premises in 50 towns.

The broadband scheme is expected to be rolled out in Ennis and Shannon. The fibre will be deployed on ESB’s existing overhead and underground infrastructure.

The ESB and Vodafone say that direct access to 100 per cent fibre broadband of up to one gigabit per second will transform the internet experience of small and medium businesses (SME), remote workers and consumers.

Subject to European Commission approval, the 50:50 joint venture will begin rolling-out the new network across Ireland in the coming months, with the first customers able to avail of 100 per cent fibre broadband from the start of 2015. The initial phase of the project is expected to be fully rolled-out by the end of 2018.

Pat O’Doherty, Chief Executive of ESB, said, “This innovative ESB-led initiative is a major milestone for Ireland as the fibre broadband network will be a key enabler for a knowledge-based, services-led economy that will help to attract investment to Ireland. This fibre infrastructure will use ESB’s existing electricity infrastructure, maximising the use of state assets to the benefit of Irish society.”

According to Fine Gael Deputy, Joe Carey, the investment will “help to both attract new investment and sustain existing businesses, as well as improving the quality of broadband available in people’s homes”.

SCATTERY Island is to celebrate its association with Brian Ború later this month when the tenth century invasion of the monastic settlement by Clare’s high king will be re-enacted as part of a local festival.

The re-enactment of the raid on the island by Brian Ború and his the Dál Cais army is the main event of the upcoming Scattery Island Festival that takes place on July 26 and 27 and is part of the national Brian Boru Programme, which coincides with the millennial anniversary of Ború’s death at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014.

The invasion of Scattery and the subsequent killing of the Viking King of Limerick and his two sons will be recreated – a battle that historians say paved the way from Brian Ború to become High King of Ireland.

“Whatever one’s opinion is of the manner in which the Norse King was slain, it is clear that his death paved the way for Brian to enjoy unchallenged rule over his home Province of Munster,” says historian Dr Catherine Swift, of Mary Immaculate College in Limerick.

Rita McCarthy of the Scattery Island Heritage and Tourism Group said the re-enactment will be the focal point of this year’s festival, the theme of which is ‘Invade Scattery’.

“We are inviting former island inhabitants and anyone with a connection with Scattery or indeed, its rich history to join us on the weekend,” she revealed. “Last year’s inaugural festival, held as part of the Gathering Ireland initiative, proved to be a huge success with more than 5,000 people travelling to the island. This has helped to raise the profile of what has for many years been one of Ireland’s least known monastic settlements.”

Uninhabited since 1979, Scattery Island – also known as Inish Cathaigh – is located approximately one mile from Kilrush in the Shannon Estuary and is home to a monastery founded in the early 6th century by St Senan. The island features the ruins of six churches and one of the highest Round Towers in Ireland at 120 feet high.

The festival will feature guided walks, lectures, music and song, and marine activities celebrating the island’s association with St Senan, the Vikings, Brian Ború, the Spanish Armada and later as a defence outpost for the British.

AN UNNAMED Clare festival has been connected with Child A, a Roma baby wrongfully taken from her family by Gardaí last October.

The family of Child A were trading at a Clare music festival last July when an unidentified member of the public noticed the baby’s blond hair and blue eyes and later repor ted the incident to the Garda Missing Persons Bureau, describing it as a “suspected child abduction”.

This repor t led Gardaí to the removal of Child A from his family last October. The baby was later returned to his family after blood tests proved that Child A was a bio- logical part of the family.

According to details of the Logan Report, seen by The Clare People , the member of public repor ted the incident to the Missing Persons Bureau on October 21 last, three months after the sighting at the Clare festival. The report described the person stopping at a festival stalls to allow her child to have her braided when she noticed Child A.

“While my children were getting their braids in, I preoccupied myself with the little baby [Child A]. He had very blonde hair and the bluest eyes and his complexion was also fair… I commented on his colouring and the young woman then said ‘ehh his grandfather’ meaning he got his genes from his grandfather. Apart from the baby, all the others were completely dark in complexion, eyes and hair,” said the original email to the Garda Missing Persons Bureau.

Gardaí were able to identify the family by examining the details provided to Clare County Council by the family in order to obtain a licence to trade at the festival.

The Minister for Justice, Frances Fitzgerald (FG) last week apologised to the family of Child A and called for all sections of society to work to tackling stereotypes.

According to Orla Ní Eili of the Clare Immigrant Suppor t Centre, there are between 200 and 300 Roma families cur rently living in Clare. Of these families, many Czech Roma, Slovak Roma and Polish Roma have blonde hai r and blue eyes.

“We have a well-settled Roma community in Clare who are getting on well and doing their best to make a future for themselves and their families,” she said.

“The circumstances that many of these families are coming from is horrifying. The level of discrimination that many of these people felt in thei r own country before coming here is hard to describe.”

The Clare Immigrant Support Centre is campaigning for better educational suppor ts in school to help Roma and other migrant children make a life for themselves in Ireland.

THE launch of the 27th annual South East Clare Show will take place in Bridgetown on Friday.

Details of the show, which takes place at the Bridgetown showgrounds on July 27, will be outlined at the official launch. There is a packed programme of events for this year’s show with visitors getting the chance to have their photo taken with the Liam McCarthy cup.

Show secretary Yvonne McNamara said the launch will give people a taste of what can be expected on the day.

“This evening will include some fun for children, a taste of what we have to offer on the day of our Show and the chance to meet Charlie The Great Dane Dog on the evening. The Liam McCarthy Cup will be present for some photo opportunities together with a possible appearance from the Clare Rose,” she explained.

This year the South East Clare Show have chosen Milford Care Centre as it’s charity of choice. The show committee hopes to present a donation after the Show to Milford, a centre that touches the hearts of so many people in the local community.

The society held its first show in 1990 and has grown annually in volume and popularity, now widely acknowledged as one of the top ten agricultural shows in Ireland.

Show Chairman Pat Hayes acknowledged the efforts of all those who contribute to making the show the success that it is.

“The show provides a showpiece for the best livestock, bloodstock, horticultural produce as well as crafts and home industry. It would also be equally important for me to acknowledge the efforts of the present committee who have spared no effort in preparation of this years show. To all the competitors sponsors, supporters, patrons and friends of the show I say a sincere thank you and wish you an enjoyable day on July 27,” he said.

This year’s event introduces plenty of new events and features families, children and patrons both in the leisure and competitive capacity.

The launch takes takes place in Bridgetown on Friday night, 8pm.