Category: News

GARDAÍ are warning holidaymakers and people visiting the county’s tourist hotspots over the summer to be mindful that thieves are targeting parked cars in “opportunistic” spates of crime.

Every summer, tourist spots including Spanish Point, Kilkee, Lahinch, Dromore Woods and the Burren are hit as parked cars are broken into. Thieves mainly attack cars where they see valuables visible. Property including mobile phones, sat. navs., valuable clothing and handbags placed under seats are commonly targeted.

Last week, tents that were camped in Spanish Point were targeted. Personal belongings including handbags, mobile phones and money were stolen. Gardaí are warning that similar incidents may take place over the coming weeks unless people are vigilant.

The Crime Prevention Officer in the Clare Garda Division, Sergeant Joe Downey, said crimes of this nature are “opportunistic”.

“We see a bit of it and we see an increase of it at summer time because people are visiting resorts,” said Sgt Downey. “We would appeal to people not to leave property visible in cars and if they have valuable property with them, take it with them. Also, we would advise not to park in isolated areas,” he added.

“It is pure opportunistic. They (thieves) drive into an area and see things inside cars and take them,”

said Sgt Downey.

“The areas that at

tract them have large

amounts of people; tour

ist attractions and places

of interest. They break

windows and steal the

property,” he added.

While gardaí monitor

those areas, it can be

difficult to solve many

of those crimes in the

absence of concrete evi

dence.

“Unfortunately they

are not easy to solve. Seldom is there evidence left that we can use to solve them. Those who engage in this know where there are rich pickings,” he said.

People visiting tourist areas who see any suspicious activity should contact their local garda station.

THERE are four more priests serving in the Diocese of Killaloe than there were this time last year.

That’s according to the annual list of Diocesan clergy changes, which are being announced by Bishop Kieran O’Reilly today.

Currently there are 99 priests in full-time parish ministry in the Diocese, compared to 95 in 2010.

In addition, there are six priests involved in teaching, school chaplaincy, Diocesan administration and other pastoral work. Eight priests attached to the Diocese are in various ministries overseas, while seven others are retired.

The Diocese also benefits from the service of four priests from other dioceses or religious congregations serving as priests in parishes of the Diocese.

At present there is one student stud- ying for priesthood for the diocese of Killaloe, at St Patrick’s College, Maynooth.

As part of the changes, Fr Brendan Quinlivan, who is the priest in Feakle, will now also have responsibility as parish priest of Scariff, where Fr Pat Sexton has retired. Newly ordained priest Fr Ger Fitzgerald from Castleconnell in Limerick has been appointed to Ennis, while Fr Ger Jones from O’Brien’s Bridge, who will soon be ordained, will be based in Nenagh.

“With the changes this year we become aware once again of fewer priests available to serve the current pastoral needs of the Diocese. A central concern for me is the well-being of our personnel in ministry – given the age profile of those engaged in ministry in the Diocese. This concern will necessitate a close look at the present organisation of clusters,” said Bishop O’Reilly.

“This year, changes in the East Clare Cluster highlight the need to closely examine the organisation of Mass schedules in this cluster. I hope, after the summer holidays, to visit and meet together with the members of each cluster to deal with similar organisational matters and other issues relevant to the different clusters,” he added.

Among the other changes include Fr James O’Brien moving to reside in Feakle; Fr Michael Collins, Kilrush, moving to the formation staff of St Patrick’s College, Maynooth; Fr Martin Blake, Ennis, moving to Kilrush and Fr Fergal O’Neill to continue as curate in the Cathedral in Ennis and residing in Clarecastle. Fr Michael Cooney will be the Killaloe Diocesan representative on the National Justice and Peace Commission, while retired Bishop Dr Willie Walsh will be available pastorally to the parishes surrounding Ennis.

A CLARE builder is set to revolutionise the way hurleys are made with the invention of the world’s first mobile hurley making unit.

East Clare man Flan Marsh is currently awaiting the official patent on his mobile hurley making unit, which will allow him to make customised hurls for an entire team during a single hour-long training session.

Flan has kitted out a van with everything he needs to customise the hurleys to suit an individual players needs and hopes to start visiting clubs and schools all over Ireland in the coming weeks and month.

“I was making hurleys away in the wood shed and I started thinking, if Mohammed won’t go to the mountain that I’d go to Mohammed – that’s where the idea for the mobile hurling making unit came from,” he said.

“So the idea is that I will go to clubs and to training all over the country and I’d make the hurleys, customised specially for them, while they train. I have everything I need in the van to make the hurleys exactly to their specification while they train.

“The hurls themselves would be 90 per cent made already and all I would be doing is putting in the special requirements that individual players want. I’d easily be able to kit out a full team during a training session.”

A roofing contractor by trade, Flan launched himself into the hurl making business when the recession hit the building sector in 2008.

“I wouldn’t be doing this at all only for the recession. They are tough times so I guess it was just a way of trying to make a job for myself,” continued Flan.

“I first come up with the idea of making a shatter-safe hurley, so when the hurl breaks in the middle that a part of it wouldn’t fly off. After that the idea just came to me to have a mobile unit for making the hurleys.

“Everyone has their own style of a hurl that they like, so this isn’t just a service for the elite players. I think younger players would be amazed to see what goes into making a hurley as well. It would be an education for children and adults as well; a lot of people would never have see a hurley getting made before.

“I think I’d be providing a service for people – mothers and father won’t have to go driving all over the country to get their children the hurleys they want. They won’t be wasting time and money; the hurleys will be delivered right to them.” For more info visit Flan’s website www.shattersafehurleys.com.

A THREE-hour search involving 16 members of Doolin Unit of the Irish Coastguard, as well as gardaí from Gort and members of the public, was stood down on Saturday evening without a sign anyone in difficulty.

A local wind surfer raised the alarm just after 6pm on Saturday evening after he saw what he believed to be a hand rising up above the water in the shallow water at Trácht Beach between Ballyvaughan and Kinvara.

The Doolin Unit of the Irish Coastguard launched the smaller D-Class boat to search the area along with six shoreline search teams.

The Shannon-based coastguard helicopter was also called to the location but after nothing was found the search was stood down shortly after 9pm.

Meanwhile, earlier that evening the coastguard was called to bring three anglers who were spotted in a dangerous location at a cliff at Trá Leathan near Doolin. The anglers were fishing and despite the dangerous storm surge had started a barbecue on the exposed cliff.

“The coastguard was tasked by the harbour master to bring the three angler to safety. They were fishing off the rocks and had set up a barbecue on the cliff,” said spokesperson for the Doolin Coastguard, Mattie Shannon.

“The weather over the weekend was very unusual for this time of year and people need to be vigilant when they are in coastal areas.”

DRIVERS taking their test in Kilrush are waiting almost twice as long for a test dates than cadidates in other parts of the country.

On Friday last, a comparison of waiting times with other centres on the Road Safety Authority’s (RSA) own site showed a wait of 17 weeks to get a driving test in Kilrush.

This was incomparison with a wait of just eight weeks in Shannon, ten weeks in any test centre in Limerick city or county, and ten weeks in County Galway. Ennis, the county town also had a longer than average waiting time, with drivers waiting twelve weeks for a chance to progress to their full licence.

When contacted by The Clare People , a spokeswoman for the RSA said that the wait this week is down to twelve weeks, but the site still lists it as a 17-week wait.

The Clare representative for the Irish Drivers Association, a pressure group campaigning against such issues as higher VRT on imported vehicles and compulsory NCTs, John Learnihan, said the wait is too long.

“17 weeks is a disgraceful length of time for anyone to have to wait for a driving test but the fact is, and the RSA won’t admit it, they don’t have enough testers. Only the people who registered with them can carry out a test and there aren’t enough of them.”

Mr Learnihan said that the long wait in Clare is made all the more outrageous in light of new legislation which compels learner drivers to produce evidence of having taken ten hours of driving lessons before they will be allowed sit the test.

“At as much as € 70 an hour in some places in Clare, that’s € 700. How are young drivers expected to meet these costs? They just don’t have the money. And now the RSA will tell us which instructors we can go to for lessons – it’s a money racket, nothing more.”

AN INVESTIGATION has been launched after tragedy was narrowly averted at Shannon Airport on Sunday morning, when a plane slid from the runway after landing in heavy winds.

The plane, which was carrying 21 passengers and four crew members at the time, was badly damaged in the incident but no-one was injured in the accident.

Investigators are believed to be focusing on the landing gear in the nose section of the plane, which is believed to have malfunctioned on landing.

After landing, the plane veered off the runway and crashed into a number of signs on the side of the runway, causing extensive damage to the plane.

The aircraft, which is operated by Aer Arann, was covering the scheduled Aer Lingus Manchester to Shannon flight when the accident took place.

The incident forced the closure of Shannon Airport for more than five hours on Sunday, with normal service suspended from 10.30am to 4pm.

A spokesperson from Aer Arann confirmed to The Clare People yesterday that an issue with the planes front landing gear is currently being investigated.

“As the aircraft landed on its second approach at around 10.30am, it experienced a suspected failure of the nose wheel landing gear and veered off the runway onto the grass,” said the spokesperson.

“Aer Arann cannot speculate as to the cause of the incident and the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) and Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU), branch of the Department of Transport have been informed.”

A number of flights, both entering and leaving the airport, were either delayed or diverted but no flights were cancelled as a result of the incident.

The Air Accident Investigation Unit is currently investigating the incident but cannot confirm the likely cause of the accident until that investigation is complete.

The plane is understood to have skidded along the runway for more than 100 metres before it veered off the runway and came to a stop.

Wind speeds in the area were gusting as high as 35 miles per hour at the time and the plane had been experiencing extreme turbulence.

Fire brigades from Shannon and Ennis as well as a number of ambulances from Limerick and Ennis were sent to the scene, and all passengers and staff were evacuated without incident.

CLARE County Council has applied for emergency funding to tackle urgent health and safety problems in six so called “ghost estates” around the county.

This follow revelations last week that Clare County Council was one of a small number of local authorities who had failed to apply for funding under a € 5 million scheme set up to tackle the issue by the Department of the Environment.

A total of € 1.4 million has already been allocated under the scheme with Longford County Council having already received a grant of € 400,000 to tackle issues on a number of estates.

A spokesperson from Clare County Council confirmed for The Clare People yesterday that the local authority had made an application for funding on six separate development last week. There is as yet no indication when funding for these developments will be granted and Clare County Council has declined to name the estates which funding has been applied for.

The funding has been available for councils to draw down since April has already seen more then 10 local authorities receive in excess of € 100,000 from the department.

A total of 72 Clare developments were officially classified as “ghost estates” by the Department of the Environment last October. Clare County Council questioned these figures at the time, saying that many of the development classified as “ghost estates” were working well and nearing completion.

THE opening of the historic landmark that is the Loop Head Lighthouse to the public for the first time in its 117-year history is the first step towards realising the tourism potential of west Clare.

That was the message delivered by Clare County Council Director of Service Ger Dollard on Monday as the famous lighthouse landmark – that dates from 1854 – opened its doors as part of a trial visitor scheme being pioneered by the local authority.

“This trial will enable us to establish valuable information on visitor patterns in the area and the view of the public on further expansion of the tourist offering at Loop Head,” said Mr Dollard.

“In the autumn, we will be continuing to work with our partners in Shannon Development and Loop Head tourism to arrive at a consensus on the future development of the tourism product.

“Clare County Council would like to acknowledge the tremendous assistance and co-operation of the Commissioners of Irish Lights in progressing this exciting tourism initiative,” he added.

Welcoming the initiative, Shannon Development’s Ruairi Deane said, “This is another major step in enhancing west Clare’s tourism product offering. Our work on the project is part of a range of initiatives that we have undertaken this year in west Clare, which include new loop walks in Lissycasey and Kilkee, with more projects in the pipeline. We look forward to welcoming an increased number of visitors to the area.”

From 1854 to 1991, the existing tower-style lighthouse was maintained by a keeper who lived within the lighthouse compound. Loop Head Lighthouse will be open to the public from 10am to 4pm daily.

GARDAÍ across the county are appealing for the public’s assistance in an effort to solve a string of burglaries and thefts over the past week.

Homes in Ennis, Shannon, Sixmilebridge and Flagmount were broken into, while people had property stolen in incidents in Sixmilebridge, Ogonelloe, Quin and Scariff.

A chainsaw, LCD television and Honda generator were stolen during a break-in to a house in Drummin, Flagmount, during the day last Thursday.

In Ennis, a house on the Gort Road was ransacked and damage was caused to it when intruders made their way in between Thursday night and Saturday morning.

In another incident, a garage on the Limerick Road in Sixmilebridge was broken into when a front door was forced open, between 1am and 9am last Monday. A box of CDs was stolen from the home.

Cash from a handbag was taken from a house in Cronan Park, Shan- non, in the early hours of last Tuesday, after a door was forced open.

Gardaí are investigating an incident in which a car had a corrosive substance poured over it while it was parked in the grounds of Ennis Tennis Club on the Mill Road in the town between 2am and 12 noon on Wednesday.

A range of tools were stolen from outside a house under construction in Ogonelloe overnight on Thursday. These included a Topcon laser level, an angle grinder, rotary drill and kango hammer.

In other incidents, a landcruiser jeep was stolen from outside a field in Moyriesk, Quin, last Wednesday morning; a trailer was stolen from Drumgeely Hill in Shannon last Tuesday; scaffolding planks were taken from a site at Ballyroe, Sixmilebridge, while a quad bike was stolen from Moynoe, Scariff, at around 7pm on Friday evening.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Ennis Garda Station on 065 6848100 or any Garda station in the county.

THE number of heroin addicts attending an Ennis residential treatment centre quadrupled last year compared to the previous year.

According to staff at the centre – whose main client base is Clare, Limerick and Galway – heroin is now the most prevalent dangerous drug in the county. This echoes the views of gardaí across Clare, who have expressed concern over the spread of heroin, particularly in towns.

According to Bushypark, the use of cocaine has re-emerged as a major concern, following a spell where its use was reduced.

The abuse of prescription drugs has also become more prevalent among those getting treatment at the centre.

Overall, there was an increase of four per cent in the number of admissions at the centre last year.

The number of people treated for gambling addictions increased by three per cent in 2010.

“We have had a huge increase in screenings last year; people looking for help,” said the manager of the centre Margaret Nash.

284 people attended for assessment in 2010, compared with 264 in 2009. A total of 504 calls were made to the centre in 2010, while another 220 people called to the centre for help.

“158 people showed up for admission in 2010 (compared to 148 in 2009). That’s a full house,” she said.

“We now have a counsellor available from 8am to 9pm,” she said.

Weekends tend to spur people to seek help from the centre as the numbers of calls received on Monday evenings and Tuesdays are generally higher than later in the week.

“We welcome that people are looking for help; taking the first steps,” said Ms Nash. “Through assessment, we highlight the nature of the problem and the extent of it.”

Ms Nash said that there has been a significant increase in the use of heroin and while the use of cocaine dipped over the past couple of years, it has re-emerged.

“There has been a huge increase in heroin and cocaine is increasing again. The Clare People can reveal that 33 people were treated for heroin addiction at the Bushypark Treatment Centre last year, compared with eight in 2009.

“We would suggest that cocaine was very prevalent. It died down. This was down to two reasons: there was a bit of a crackdown on it because of the products from the headshops. They were much cheaper so there was no need to be buying cocaine. The recession certainly would have brought down the market and would have killed the yuppie market around it. There were a few high profile casualties. For one-and-a-half to two years, figures for cocaine us- ers were well down. We feel it was replaced by head shop products,” she said.

However, she said that the use of cocaine has risen again during the past eight or nine months.

“The main drug of choice is heroin. It has quadrupled in use since 2009. Cocaine has stabilised. In 2009 there were eight clients (at the centre) whose primary drug of choice was heroin. There were 33 in 2010. We have seen a dovetailing of cocaine during that time. We had a number of head shop users – seven – in 2009 for the first time. It pushed them over the edge,” she said.

“Heroin is the biggest in Ennis and Limerick,” she said.