Category: News

THE family of an Ennis woman who died in hospital two-and-a-half years ago has taken legal action against the HSE.

Mother-of-thirteen Tina Sherlock (39) from Childers Road, Cloughleigh, Ennis, died at the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Limerick on December 11, 2008, due to multiple organ failure, secondary to sepsis.

An inquest into her death last week returned a verdict of medical misadventure.

Ms Sherlock’s family contend that her condition was never properly diagnosed and have begun High Court proceedings, which will take place next month.

A solicitor for the Sherlock family said, “She had presented to the health services in excess of a dozen times, including five in-patient stays between June and December 2008 complaining of abdominal pain. As a consequence of complications, she miscarried in July 2008, developed post operative complications following subsequent surgery in November and December 2008 and died of multi organ failure secondary to sepsis on 11th December 2008.”

A spokesperson for the Sherlock family told The Clare People , “Martina’s heartbroken family are relieved that the inquest is now concluded. It is the family’s wish that no-one again should have to suffer what Martina went through and that no other family should have to endure the agony of losing a loved one in such circumstances.”

AMID fears that a radical overhaul of local representation to include the abolition of town councils and drastically reduced numbers of county councillors, Clare’s first citizen has leapt to the defence of local government in the county.

Speaking to The Clare People this week, Mayor of Clare, Christy Curtin has said the key to the survival of local government in the county lies in the development of closer links with the community.

“Going forward, in this time of scarce resources, local government must change,” said Cllr Curtin. “It must bond with the community more, become closer with the local community. That’s the way forward. I always believed in the concept of local government and I believed in the representation of people at that level.” He made his comments ahead of this Friday’s ceremony to mark Clare’s distinguished history in local and national politics. Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Eamon Gilmore unveil a roll of honour in Áras an Chláir to those who have represented the county in the Dáil and Seanad as well all those elected to Clare County Council since the first post-independence election in 1925.

“There was a need to mark these people – those public representatives who have worked for the people, particularly those since the foundation of the state,” said Mayor Curtin.

“They were the first crop of politicians in a free Ireland and it was right to mark their contribution. As Mayor of Clare I felt I had to do that. This was one of the projects I set out for myself.

“For posterity it was only right that we put a record of service in county Clare. Putting it in Aras an Chlair, the premier civic building in the county. There has been some legendary characters to represent the people of Clare. They all had their own style, their own character and all made their own contribution in their own way. They had the supreme mandate from the people, that’s the vote,” added Mayor Curtin.

FINE GAEL’S Bill Slattery and Seán McLoughlin were co-opted to Clare County Council, at its monthly meeting yesterday.

Last Monday, the co-option of both men was postponed for a week as the council meeting was adjourned due to a number of bereavements.

Both men were welcomed to the council yesterday, where they were wished well in their new positions. The seats were vacated after their party colleagues, Tony Mulcahy (Shannon Electoral Area) and Martin Conway (North Clare Electoral Area) were appointed to the Seanad.

Cllr Slattery, whose grandfather served as a TD, said he was nervous on the special occasion.

“I will liaise with Martin Conway and my fellow members to ensure I work to the best of my ability,” he told the meeting.

He recalled his younger days in school when his then teacher, the current mayor Christy Curtin (Independent), dissected a rabbit in class. “I hope now that you don’t allow me to be dissected here,” he quipped.

Councillor John Crowe (FG) pro- posed Seán McLoughlin, who has been a Shannon town councillor since 2004. He paid tribute to his work over the years, particularly in 2007 when he served as mayor of the town at a time there was public outcry when Aer Lingus pulled the Heathrow slots from Shannon Airport. His party colleague Sonny Scanlon said that Cllr McLoughlin was joining “a very pragmatic and collaborative team” in the Shannon Electoral Area, where Cllrs Patricia McCarthy, Pat McMahon, John Crowe, Gerry Flynn and PJ Ryan were working very well. Cllr McLoughlin said he intended to work with councillors in the Shannon Electoral Area over the coming years and said he will focus on Shannon Airport during this time on the council. “Shannon Airport is still suffering. That’s something I’m going to be fighting for,” he said. Several councillors warmly welcomed the newcomers to the chamber. Fianna Fáil councillor Richard Nagle said that Mr Slattery has been a “tremendous community activist and has made a huge contribution to the life of North Clare”.

Independent councillor Patricia McCarthy congratulated her neighour in Shannon, Cllr McLoughlin. She said he worked well with her during the Aer Lingus Heathrow issue in 2007 when she was mayor of the county and he was mayor of Shannon town.

Cllr PJ Kelly (FF) said the two new councillors had “a very hard act to follow” and said the two newlyelected Senators were “great team players”.

Tributes were also paid yesterday to Fine Gael TDs Pat Breen, who has been appointed the Chairman of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Trade and Foreign Affairs and Joe Carey, who has been appointed the assistant government chief whip.

AFTER 34 years in existence, the Ennis Evangelical Church has found a permanent home of worship.

The official opening of the new church will take place this Saturday (June 25) at unit six, block E of the Quin road business park, at 3pm.

Church member Margaret Angland explained that the church was founded in Ennis in 1997 by a small group of people who met regularly for prayer and bible study. Over the past 34 years the Ennis Evangelical Church has rented various premises to meet, worship, pray and study. Now the church has managed to purchase and renovate its own premises.

“Ennis Evangelical Church is made up of all ages, races and backgrounds. As a church we reach out to the community with the good news of the gospel of hope,” said Margaret.

The church holds a club for children in Cloughleigh Community Centre on a Friday. There is also a youth club run in the church where teens meet and learn about the Bible. The church holds weekly Bible studies on a Tuesday at 8pm, which is open to anyone who wishes to come along. Sunday morning service starts at 10.30am.

ENNIS Town Council is to contact businesses in the town to request the removal of temporary signs from roads and footpaths.

Town clerk Eddie Power told the June meeting of Ennis Town Council that the number of temporary advertising signs has “increased significantly throughout the town”.

However local councillors have warned against a policy of “absolute regulation”, saying it could harm businesses and create tensions.

Acknowledging that businesses are operating in a difficult economic climate, Mr Power stated, “These signs may cause obstruction to users of the public footpath and they may pose a risk to the personal safety of road users. Furthermore, the town of Ennis has an established record of high achievement in the Tidy Towns com- petition. The number of temporary advertising signs currently visible on the footpaths around the town detract from the image of the town and may have a negative impact on the marks awarded by the tidy towns adjudicators in this national competition.”

He added, “It is intended to contact the relevant businesses responsible for such temporary advertising signage requesting removal of same. It should be noted that the Council has the legal authority to remove such signage if the request is not complied with.” However councillors were skeptical about the policy.

Mayor of Ennis, Cllr Tommy Brennan (Ind) said he had not received any complaints about signs. He added, “Do we want to cripple the town altogether.”

Cllr Mary Howard (FG) said, “Businesses find it difficult enough. Where does it end? Does it mean that Jimmy Brohan [local businessman] can’t put goods outside his shop.”

Cllr Peter Considine (FF) urged the Council to pursue a “softly, softly approach”, adding that he was “very nervous of absolute regulation”.

Cllr Considine said that by forcibly removing signs, the Council risked creating unnecessary tensions with the business community. He added, “I would be inclined to let the hare sit.”

PART of Clare is going to be taken into Limerick when a decision is made in cabinet today on the Limerick boundary extension.

In a leak from a reliable source in advance of today’s decision, The Clare People has learned that land in Clare which has been, or is earmarked for, development by the University of Limerick is to come under Limerick’s control.

But fears that parts of Westbury, Shannon Banks and even Meelick and Parteen might be taken by Lim- erick in a boundary extension can be laid to rest.

It has also been leaked that no residential land in the Banner will be taken into the new super authority which will result from the amalgamation of the city and county councils in Limerick.

While anti-boundary extension activists in Clare have welcomed the fact that residential areas will be left alone, many are less than happy that the UL land is going into Limerick City.

“While the fact that no residential areas are to go into Limerick is to be welcomed, people are concerned that if one extension (of the Limerick boundary) is allowed in the campus area this will pave the way for future extensions,” said local councillor Cathal Crowe (FF).

“Clare has always facilitated UL in extending the university campus and that collaborative arrangement has worked very well. There is no need for the boundary to be changed. People will not be happy about this or the implications for the future and it will be opposed,” he said.

Jim Gullt, Chairman of the AntiBoundary Extension Committee, said that they will wait to read the Minister’s speech and see the official announcement before reacting.

In relation to the leak which points to Clare land in UL becoming part of Limerick, he said: “Our position is still the same. There is to be no cherry picking with this. It’s not the case that we’ll say ‘Okay, you left Westbury alone so we’ll concede UL’ – we are 100 per cent that no part of Limerick is to come into Clare.”

A spokeswoman for UL said they would make no comment until after the official announcement is made today.

COILLTE and smaller forestry contractors may be forced to pay for damage done to roads as a result of transporting trees in rural parts of the county.

An estimated 200,000 tonnes of timber was transported on the county’s roads last year, with this figure expected to treble in the coming years. According to councillors at last night’s meeting of Clare County Council, roads in rural areas of North and East Clare have been destroyed in recent years as a result of the transportation of large amounts of timber. The Clare People understands that Clare County Council has entered into negotiations with Coillte with a view to working on some sort of road management plan for the forestry companies and a means of gaining reparations should damage be done.

“They are removing timber out to roads and these roads are not able to take the weight of the timber being removed. I think that Coillte need to provide us with a five-year plan where trees have to be felled or thinned out. They should at the very least supply a list of what roads they intend to use and these plan should need to be ap- proved by the county engineer,” said Cllr Michael Hillery (FF).

“This problem is going to get worse as time goes on. I know that right now roads are being damaged all over the county and I think it will take a lot of money to put these roads back to a level that will be acceptable to the local people.”

At present just over 13 per cent of the area of the county is covered in forestry with half of this being managed by Coillte. Commenting on the matter, Cllr Michael Beagley (FG), said that the current situation was ‘hell on earth’ for local residents.

“The level of support that Coillte give is often tempered because they have the excuse that other forestation in taking place along those roads,” he said.

“Quite a lot of private operators are growing trees in Clare and we should not give them [Coillte] an excuse to pay less than they should, but at the same time they shouldn’t have to pay everything if other private operators are in place. This is hell on earth to the local residents and the council needs to put something in place to deal with this problem, in a comprehensive way.”

According to the Council, negotiations are currently ongoing between Clare County Council and Coillte.

“We have found that in recent times there has been better engagement between ourselves and Coillte. In recent times Coillte have allocated some money to roads in the county,” said a council spokesperson.

“It may not be possible to have a one size fits all approach [for Coillte and the private operators]. We are at the early days of trying to formalise something and it makes sense to talk to the largest operator and I think that under these circumstances it would be easier for other operators to come on board once we have this formalised.”

FINE Gael is the party of government with four Oireachtas members in the county for the first time in its history – now the greatest ever year for its Clare wing is set to be enhanced next Monday when two more party representatives take the mayoral chains of local government office in the county.

Fresh from Cllr Mary Brennan’s election as Mayor of Shannon last week, in the coming week Cllrs Ian Lynch and Elaine Haugh-Hayes are set to be elected as mayor of Kilrush and Kilkee respectively.

The annual general meetings of the two West Clare local authorities are set for Monday evening next, with the power-sharing agreements in place on both councils set to pave the way for the elections of Cllrs Lynch and Haugh-Hayes.

Both were elected to their town councils for the first time in 2009 and two years later will be given the signal honour of being their town’s first citizen for the next 12 months.

“I’d be hoping to get it,” Cllr Lynch told The Clare People this week. “I’ve been Deputy Mayor for the past year and it normally follows that the deputy steps up to become mayor the following year.

“When there’s a party in power, you might find that they share it out, but when you have situation like you have in Kilrush at the moment, with three Fine Gael, three Fianna Fáil and three Independents you have a power-sharing arrangement and it’s spread over the five years,” added Cllr Lynch, who at 33 years of age will become one of the youngest mayor’s in the West Clare capital’s illustrious local government history that stretches back over 100 years.

“We have to wait and see what happens on Monday,” Cllr Haugh-Hayes told

CLARE County Council last night decided not to vote on a motion to back Séan Gallagher’s bid to contest the forthcoming Presidential race – on the grounds that legal advice need sought before any vote could take place. This comes after five independent candidates addressed the elected members of the Council last night – each seeking the local authority’s nomination to contest the election.

Following a heated discussion, coun- cillors voted by 15 votes to 14 to seek legal clarification on the issue before making a decision. The motion was put forward by Cllr Michael Begley (Ind) – and after the meeting was adjourned Mr Gallagher commented to the Killaloe councillor that he could see “democracy was alive and well in County Clare”.

Earlier, Senator David Norris (Ind) had defended himself against criticism from Cllr Cathal Crowe (FF) that he was anti-Shannon Airport because of his stance against the use of the airport for special rendition flights.

Special Olympics chief Mary Davis told councillors that her connection with Clare was through holidaying in Kilkee and playing golf. She paid tribute to the work done by the Brothers of Charity in Clare and lauded the outreach programme.

She said she was aware of the issues facing young people in Ireland, adding, “As a county yourselves, you have experienced a tragic share of emigration, unemployment and sui- cide. The position [of President] has an enormous role to play in addressing these difficulties.”

Former Dragons’ Den judge Seán Gallagher said that he came from “simple beginnings”. He said he is not aiming to contest the presidency out of a personal ambition; rather as a result of what he has experienced through his work with the unemployed and those with disabilities. “It’s not about Seán Gallagher,” he added.

Dermot Mulqueen from Ennis, who also intends to run for the Áras, said he believes that a central capital of Ireland should be built. “Ireland is sinking eastwards. It drains resources, population, eastwards,” he said. “We should take over the Corrib Gasfield and have a State-owned gasfield like Norway and set up an international press agency like France.”

The other individual to address the meeting was Dr Pat Jones, a doctor of plant physiology from Carlow. He explained that his connections with Clare were through being a student of Maureen de Valera at UCG.

THE first aircraft ever owned by Aer Lingus was in West Clare last week to help celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the opening of the Spanish Point Airfield.

The “Iolar”, which was a working aircraft more than 80 years ago, was one of 30 working light aircraft which travelled to West Clare to mark the historic event.

Miltown Malbay man Joe Ryan landed an aircraft at a farm in Legard South in the 1970s. An experienced pilot and instructor at the time, Joe knew that the strip of land was suitable as a runway and, after another 20 years of careful examination, it was decided to open a runway and establish a Flying Club in Spanish Point.

The club ran successfully for many years but was badly hit by downturn in the sector after the September 11 attacks, while the salty air also quickened the corrosion of aircraft in Spanish Point.

After successfully training many pilots, the club closed nearly 10 years ago but the airstrip itself has remained in use and has recently seen a large increase in traffic.

“Unfortunately everything took a hit after September 11 and the training school had to shut down,” said Ruth Bagnell of the Spanish Point Airfield.

“There are three aircraft based there at the moment and we are getting more and more people coming to use it.

“The airfield has a long history. I know there was a pilot who crashed a Spitfire close to the site back towards the end of WWII. He was in trouble and saw the flat stretch and tried to land.

His plane crashed but he did survive the landing,” she added.