Category: News

THE tragic victim of last week’s house fire was still in mourning for his father, whom he had buried just over a month before he died.

Mike Kennedy, who was born and grew up in Killaloe, lost his life in a housefire in neighbouring Ballina on July 3.

Last Wednesday and Thursday, huge crowds turned out to pay their final respects to the family man and musician.

Mike had buried his father, Timmy, who owned an electrical shop in Killaloe just over a month before his own death.

Mike – known as ‘Caddie’ – was well known for his interest in mu- sic and regularly played the banjo at sessions in Killaloe and Ballina. He also loved fishing and handball and, in his younger days, played under-age hurling for the local SmithO’Brien club.

Friends of the 53-year old said that the community is deeply shocked at his loss. “He was a very happy go lucky kind of person; a lovely man and very interested in music. He played music and he collected CDs and DVDs of well known musicians,” a friend told The Clare People .

Mike is survived by his wife Margaret, sons Kevin, Anthony and Declan, their partners Lisa Grace and Elaine, his mother Eileen, sister Geraldine, mother in law, relatives and friends.

MEMBERS of an interfaith group from Clare were honoured to be included on the President of Ireland’s diary in recent weeks.

President Mary McAleese hosted a garden party for various groups from around the country and the interfaith group from the mid-west was included on her schedule.

Members of the Mid-West Interfaith Network hail from Ennis, Shannon, Sixmilebridge, Broadford and Limerick.

The group was set up a year ago and consists of all religions including Catholic, Hindu, Sikh, Jewish, Baha’i and Zoroasterian. The members meet regularly and take part in meditation, prayer vigils and organise general meetings.

One of the members, Trish FallonBarry from Shannon, said the interest in the group has been significant and the meetings focus on positivity.

“It was set up by Alan Hillard, a Catholic priest from Ennis and Abed Aldaka, the integration officer with Doras Luimní. They were talking about the desirability of setting up an interfaith group. It would be very close to my heart. I believe all the religions are one,” said Ms FallonBarry, who is a member of the Baha’i group in Shannon.

“We have a core group. We meet up and broaden it out when we can, with meditation evenings, and we will go on a walk soon,” she said.

“It is faith based. It is very positive and peaceful. We share what we have in common and foster an understanding,” she said.

“We have more to celebrate together than we do separately. There is such a positive atmosphere at our gatherings,” she added.

Among those who visited Áras an Uachtaráin were Bart Gruzalski from Sixmilebridge, Alan Hillard from Ennis, Gurmukh from Sixmilebridge and Trish, who lives in Shannon. “We wrote to the President and she included us. She is so positive and supportive of us,” said Trish.

YOUTH depression and suicide are reaching epidemic proportions in parts of County Clare, where the effects of the recession are forcing many young people deeper and deeper into isolation.

These effects are being made worse in rural parts of the county where the breakdown of old community structures and a change in traditional attitudes during the Celtic Tiger years has created a situation where young people may not have anywhere to turn.

One west Clare councillor and therapist has described the rise of youth isolation as “alarming” and warned that rural communities may no longer be strong enoughto help young people, even if those young people ask for it. According to Kilrush-based therapist Michelle Bradley, the local community structures which existed during previous recessions are no longer in place.

“In the older days, people used to go out even when they didn’t have any money. That has changed now – money seems to be the main focus and people seem to have lost the ability to connect to people without spending money,” she told The Clare People .

“The whole focus for younger people now is the money that is no longer there. It can make people very uncomfortable when they go to meet their peers. They don’t want to say that they have no work or no money. There was a much better sense of community back then.

“At this stage, I’m not even sure how supportive the community might be. Everyone has pulled back and is minding themselves. We could be sending them [isolated people] out to a community that is just not there anymore.”

Ms Bradley, who has personally known three local people who have taken their own lives in recent year, says that much of the problem is as a result of people not being able to express themselves.

“It is a huge problem here. It is to do with the isolation and not being able to express for themselves what is going on or not being involved in any group which could offer support,” she continued.

“People are trying not to spend money and not going out but in reality they are actually doing themselves harm. It is quite alarming really and is something that is just not being spoken about. I would say everyone would know at least one person who is in this situation. I can see it myself and I can see the effects it is having on people.”

A 28-YEAR-OLD man has been charged with raping a female in Ennis.

The accused, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is accused of two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault of a 28-year-old female at an address in Ennis, on January 14 last.

Garda Hilda Moloney told Ennis District Court on Friday that she met the accused that morning and charged him with three alleged offences.

She told Judge Joseph Mangan that the accused did not reply to charge after caution.

Defence solicitor Siobhán McMahon applied for free legal aid for her client and sought bail.

Inspector Tom Kennedy said that gardaí were not objecting to bail, on an independent surety of € 5,000 along with the defendant’s own bail of € 2,000; none of which was to be lodged.

Bail conditions were imposed, including that the accused does not contact the alleged injured party or any witnesses in the case. He was also ordered to provide an address to the State.

Judge Joseph Mangan adjourned the case until September, for preparation of the Book of Evidence.

CLARE County Council has been asked to provide information on an investigation into a fire that destroyed a house in the Ballymaley Traveller accommodation scheme last week.

At a meeting of councillors in the Ennis west electoral area, Cllr Brian Meaney (GP) called on the council to provide an update on “what inves tigations are taking place and where the occupants have gone”.

A house at the site was burned out at around 4.30pm on Saturday, July 2. Gardaí are investigating the circumstances of the fire. The damage to a unit of Clare County Council’s Traveller accommodation stock follows incidents which took place in the Ennis area last year.

In May, two houses in the Ashline halting site on the Kilrush Road were burnt in an arson attack. One of the houses was extensively damaged, while the other was also damaged by the fire. In February (2010), houses at the Beechpark Traveller accommodation site were also badly damaged in an arson attack.

At the time, Clare County Council was forced to spend € 51,000 on repairs, while a further € 2,800 a week was spent on security arrangements at the site. Traveller families moved away from the site, which was built at a cost of two million euros.

A RELIGIOUS group will spend a week going door-to-door in north Clare this month to raise awareness of a special event being organised to tackle depression in the county, and to inform local people about the Ennis Evangelical Church and spread the teachings of the Gospel.

From July 25 to 29, four volunteers hope to visit as many homes as possible in a five- to 10-mile radius of Lisdoonvarna to highlight a free ‘Coping with Depression’ event.

The event is being coordinated locally by Lisdoonvarna man Phil Pain, who is a member of the Ennis Evangelical Church and whose son suffered from depression.

The Ennis Evangelical Church has been in operation in Clare for more than 34 years and teaches an orthodox Christian faith with an emphasis on the teachings in the Bible.

“The four people will base themselves in Lisdoonvarna and cover as much of the area as they can. They will knock on doors and ask if they can share the word of the gospel with the people inside or if no-one is there they will leave some material about the church and about the depression event,” Phil Pain told The Clare People yesterday.

“Depression is a real issue now in Ireland, especially in rural Ireland. When things aren’t going so well, when the economy is suffering, people feel trapped and lose homes. Suicide is unfortunately a frequent recourse for people in this position.”

Dr Steve Critchlow will be the main speaker at the free ‘Coping with Depression’ event which takes place at the Pavillion Theatre in Lisdoonvarna on Friday, July 29 from 7.45pm. The evening is aimed both at people who are suffering from depression and also at their families and loved ones.

Mr Pain said, “When I heard that my son might have been suffering from depression, I was totally taken by surprise. We were alerted to it when he started acting irrationally – he had quite a good job but he stopped going to work.

“When it came out that he was suffering from depression, I had no idea what I could do. I had never experienced anything like it myself so I could not empathise.”

“My son knew that something was going wrong but he couldn’t talk to us about it. He had felt ashamed to talk to us. That must have been awful, feeling like he could not turn to anyone. I felt totally useless when I heard. I was his dad, I had spent my life helping him but for this I felt that there was nothing that I could do.

“I found that one of the key things was just to be there and to listen just to be there for when they want to open up.”

THE first march aimed at legalising cannabis ever to take place in Clare is scheduled to go ahead in Ennis on Wednesday, August 10.

The march, which is being organised by Bunratty woman Niamh O’Brien, will include a “peaceful protest” and march in the county town followed by an information session at a venue in Ennis yet to be confirmed.

Ms O’Brien, who operated her own business in Ennis, suffers from a painful and debilitating bent spine and uses medicinal cannabis to treat the pain. The use of medicinal cannabis is legal in many states in America as well as in a number of EU countries but is currently treated no differently from the use on recreational cannabis in Ireland.

The Clare branch of the Legalisation of Cannabis in Ireland organisation is encouraging people who have doubts about the movement to come to the meeting and voice their concerns.

“I am hoping to have a little peaceful protest march through Ennis to a place where we can have a meeting and a proper questions and answers session. I would hope that concerned parents, drugs councillors, politicians, nurses and doctors would come along to that. I am hoping to get a large group of people in to talk about this, especially people who are seeing people abusing drugs each day at the side of the street,” Niamh told The Clare People yesterday.

“This is an opportunity to question the Government on the current laws because we feel they are not working. I think it is more important that the people who don’t agree with us come along. It’s about opening up a dialogue and education. We want to show people that prohibition just doesn’t work and has always made things worse.”

One of the main speakers on the day will be Irish American Vincent Lavery, who was the personal secretary to assassinated US presidential candidate Robert Kennedy and a pro-legalisation campaigner.

“This is the first time that something like this will happen in Clare so I think it will be an important day for Clare people to come out and let their opinion on this matter be heard. We are still waiting to confirm the day of the march 100 per cent but when we do we will let people know,” continued Niamh.

Cannabis has been proved to have medicinal benefits as an anti-inflammatory, as a pain relief, to combat depression and anxiety, to promote appetite and to help people who have Alzheimer’s disease, MS and Parkinsons. The Facebook page of LCI, Clare now has just under 1,000 people following it.

AN AVERAGE of 14 people have taken their own lives in Clare in each of the last five years, according to official figures received from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

The figures show that the number of suicides in the county reached a 10-year-high in 2007, the first year of the recession, and numbers have remained high in each of the subsequent three years.

The figures also show a massive gender split in the numbers taking their own lives in Clare, with 57 men taking their own lives over the past five years compared to just 15 women.

Shocking as these figures are, they would surely be a lot worse if it wasn’t for the good work being undertaken by a number of worthy organisations on the ground.

For organisations in the front-line against depression and isolation, such as Clare Youth Services, the key can often be to tackle a problem before it becomes too serious, rather than waiting until the situation has gotten out of control.

“When people think of the area of mental health, they think about a sit- uation where things have gotten very serious. But if you look at a youth club, there could be volunteers there talking to young people, treating them like an adult and making connections with them and that could help that young person in the future,” said Brian McManus, who works with Clare Youth Services to encourage youth clubs and youth cafés to open up around the county.

“We are there at that level and just simply having a connection or an involvement with someone might be enough to help them get over a problem.

“Adolescence can be a difficult time and if you have nowhere to go then it can be difficult to change that. But if you have a safe space, like a youth club or a youth café, then maybe there will be a chance for a person to get past a little problem before it becomes a big problem.”

Clare Youth Services cannot offer a counselling services to all the young people involved in a youth club or other organisation.

However, some young people who are involved in the Community Training Centre service can obtain counselling through their participation in that scheme.

A MAN who “made a nuisance of himself” at a garda station found himself before a court on a public order charge.

Seán Dobbin (22), of John Paul Avenue Ennis, was accused of public order arising out of an incident on November 15, 2009.

Inspector Tom Kennedy told Ennis District Court on Friday that the accused “made a nuisance of himself” at Ennis Garda Station.

He said he rang the bell for customer service and banged on the hatch. He said he would not leave when requested and “a struggle ensued; a schmozzle as would be described in sporting terms”.

He said that the accused arrived at the garda station in the early hours of the morning after a number of other people had been arrested.

Defending solicitor Tara Godfrey said;

“To be charged with refusing to leave the garda station seems somewhat perverse.”

Judge Joseph Mangan asked, “What’s perverse about that?” She replied, “Normally the gardaí are at pains to attract people to the garda station and charge them and deal with them.”

She said that her client was highly unlikely to be before the court again. Judge Mangan directed that € 50 be paid to the court poor box. This was done and the case was dismissed.

ONE of Ennis’s most historic buildings may be saved from collapse, courtesy of representations which have resulted in an € 85,000 grant.

But the shelving of a funding system, which was in place up to this year, means that Clare will lose grant aid for other historic structures, according to Dick Cronin, Architectural Conservation Officer with Clare County Council.

Last week, Clare got the highest single allocation in the country under the new Heritage Structures at Risk fund, with € 85,000 being allocated for urgent repairs to the 16th century McParlands, home of the former Bishop of Killaloe.

The house, at the corner of Chapel Lane and Parnell Street, which was built between 1580 and 1620 incorporates a large tripple-stack Jacobean chimney had to be shored up and made safe last year when it became clear that it could collapse.

“The whole gable is leaning more than a metre off the perpendicular and it is in very poor structural condition. This is not only a particularly important mediaeval building – it is also an historically important structure, having been the home of Dr Barrett, the Catholic Bishop of Killaloe, in the late 1700s and also the home of Harriet Smithson, who achieved fame as an actress in Europe and married the classical composer, Hector Berlioz. The house is an icon of mediaeval Ennis and with other recently discovered features, helps to date the whole town centre of Ennis,” Dick Cronin told The Clare People .

The conservation officer said that he is delighted that the grant application was successful. But the reality is that a huge slice of Clare’s architectural heritage and an important aspect of the county’s tourism attraction is in danger of being lost. One in five important structures are in urgent need of repair, he said.

“We have more than 900 buildings on the Record of Protected Structures in Clare and about 20 per cent of those are in need of help. Until this year there was grant aid available under the Conservation Grant Scheme, allowing us to assist in the repair of about 25 buildings each year, but this scheme has been shelved by the department for 2011 with no guarantee that it will be re-instated.

This shelving will result in loss of State revenue through VAT, taxes and PRSI, the loss of important historic buildings and indeed the loss of many traditional building skills, such as masonry, lime rendering and thatching, which evolved over generations and will now dissappear due to unemployment, emmigration and career changes.”