Category: News

“WE live in a beautiful part of the world with a huge range of natural heritage,” says Anne Rasehorn of what she labels the sleepy surroundings of Mountshannon.

On this day, she’s having an open house, with her fellow students sitting around a table and talking about the benefits of going back to education.

There’s camera flash around them as they go into the minutae of being of East Clare and using their surrounds in an educational context.

At the start of their 30-week course they might have been put off but not now, as they talk freely and under the spotlight of what it means to be back in education.

Tutor Shelagh Honan says, “One day, I came into class and brought a video camera with me. I asked them to make a presentation, talk to camera about a subject of their choice. Yes, some of them might have been intimidated by the prospect of doing it, but they did it and they all had something to say.”

With fellow tutors Catherine Bracken and Stephen McKeogh, Honan has overseen the course and is well placed to put its importance in context.

“Having courses like this for people out of work is very important and with increasing numbers of people out of work, the need for training and education becomes more important” she says,

“In times of economic recession, education and training is key. This is because giving people who are out of work the chance to re-train, up-skill and do a course that can cultivate a range of skills like starting your own business, embracing information technology and learning more about the heritage and history of your own area brings a lot of strands together.

“One student was blown away by what computer technology can do,” says Honan, before Eamon Nugent admits, “It amazed me that I could do it. Maybe I thought there was a barrier there and it was an impossibility, but I see now that there’s no barrier.

“It surprised me that you could see what you had written on a computer up in Flagmount on my own computer at home. Emails, I’m talking about. I thought that each thing was locked into its own computer,” Nugent adds.

“What Eamon says is important,” says Honan, “There’s no barrier. They’ve all proved that with their ability to do a range of subjects and bringing their knowledge of their own surroundings – Marie O’Leary talking in detail about Edna O’Brien; Kathleen Dowdall doing the same when talking about the stained glass windows of Harry Clarke and AE Child in St Cronan’s Church.

“The oral tradition on a tap was there and for them to be bouncing that knowledge off each other while learning at the same time was of great benefit,” she adds.

RENOWNED singer Paul Brady will take to the stage in Shannon this weekend, in what promises to be a concert with a difference.

That’s because the local gospel choir will provide support in what will be a source of immense pride for the choir members, at the Oakwood Arms Hotel on Saturday night.

The Shannon Gospel Choir was formed two years ago by local businessman Derek Barrett. Since its formation, the choir has played regularly at Masses in Shannon and has also performed in various churches across the county. The feedback has been hugely positive and the choir has gone from strength to strength since it was established.

Earlier this year, the group took part in a televised RTÉ Sunday Mass, which subsequently featured on YouTube. The choir has also supported Paddy Casey and the Harlem Gospel Choir and has performed at several weddings over the past two years.

Eighteen members of the choir, ranging from sopranos, tenors and altos, along with musicians, will perform with Paul Brady on Saturday.

Aoife Rice, who has been involved with the group since its formation, is thoroughly enjoying the experience.

Aoife, who is a piano teacher, was involved with the Quin choir for several years prior to joining the Shannon Gospel Choir.

“When it was starting, I felt that I would love to do something different. I am involved in music but this would be something different. I played the organ with the Quin church choir for 23 years, but I wanted a change. I wanted to get up and sing as opposed to always playing,” she said.

She is anticipating the Paul Brady gig at the weekend.

“It will be very different. We do Mass but this gig is a great opportunity for us. We haven’t even met Paul Brady yet. I am a little bit nervous,” she said.

Along with the enjoyment of taking part in gigs, the choir members are also forming great friendships. “You meet so many friends through it. There’s such a buzz,” she said.

The choir members range in age from 30 upwards. They rehearse in the Peach recording studios in Shannon town centre every week.

A FINE GAEL public representative has said the drink driving laws are threatening the “very fabric” of rural communities in taking his campaign to “save West Clare from extinction” directly to the Minister for the Environment, Phil Hogan.

West Clare Electoral Area councillor Garbriel Keating has cited the drink driving laws as he told The Clare People that “it’s up to Fine Gael in Government to tackle the problems being experienced in rural Ireland, because rural Ireland has been neglected for so long.

“The very fabric of our communities are under threat. In the last couple of years the introduction of drink driving laws have resulted in many of our pubs in rural areas closing and the large supermarkets in town have forced our rural shops out of existence. Something has to be done,” continued Cllr Keating.

The Loophead representative has said that “the simple measure” of in- troducing a refurbishment grant for many derelict houses in West Clare would “kick-start economic activity and create jobs”.

“The demise of the local village is a major concern for our rural population,” warned Cllr Keating, “and something has to be done about it. Some years ago we had a campaign to save our rural post offices and Garda stations, but appeals fell on deaf ears.

“At a time when our new government is trying to create new jobs, this scheme would boost our economy by giving work to people in the construction industry,” he added.

“The demise of the local village is a major concern for our rural population. This simple measure would help address this.

“Reconstructed houses in these villages would provide holiday homes, would provide our diaspora with the opportunity to purchase a home in a rural setting. It would bring life back to rural Ireland,” added Cllr Keating.

IRISH industries can play their part in beating the recession by actively going out into the marketplace and bringing foreign direct investment into the country.

This call for companies to become proactive and do work normally left to the Industrial Development Authority or Enterprise Ireland has been sounded out this week by Clare businessman Edmund Jennings, managing director of the Cregg Group that has secured 170 new jobs for Clare with Zagg’s decision to locate in the Shannon Free Zone.

Mr Jennings’ company took the lead for industry in the region by bringing Zagg to Ireland, a major boost to the mid-west economy that he says can be a business model for industry in the region going forward.

“We recruited Leonard Kiely and sent him over to America to see if he could recruit more business for us,” Mr Jennings told The Clare People this week. “He went into Best Buy and noticed that a portion of the shop had been allocated to this company called Zagg. We contacted Zagg and told them what we did. It so happened that they had a plan to establish a presence in Europe. They had been looking at either going to France, Germany or Holland, but decided to come to Ireland,” he added.

Now, Mr Jennings has urged other companies to follow the lead of the Cregg Group. “There is huge potential there, for companies who don’t want to set up a manufacturing company in their own right but who will go into partnership with a company in Ireland.

“The opportunity is there for companies to go out and try and source companies that might find themselves in the situation that Zagg were in – a company with some sales in Europe who want to expand.

“Irish companies should consider that rather than try and compete against fellow companies in Ireland for the small amount of logistics business that’s there. They should look overseas at the possibility of offering services to US companies and Asian companies who want to get product into Europe,” he added.

THE ESB has lodged an appeal against one element of Ennis Town Council’s decision to retain a 24-metre high communications mast at St Flannan’s Drive, Ennis.

Last month, the council granted permission to retain the freestanding monopole type communications structure, carrying antennae and communication dishes, within a 2.4m high palisade compound.

The council also granted permission to attach additional antennae and communication dishes to allow for future third party co-location at ESB’s existing Cahercalla 38kV substation, St Flannan’s Drive, Cahercalla More, Ennis.

An Bord Pleanála previously granted permission for the mast in 2006, which was the subject of intense opposition from local residents and a judicial review.

In granting permission to the ESB, the council imposed a number of conditions.

In their decision, the council state, “This permission shall be valid for a period of five years from the date of the final grant. On expiry of that period the mast shall be removed and the site reinstated unless its continued use or a revised structure is allowed by reason of a future planning permission.”

The council also says that “In the event of the proposed and antennae becoming obsolete and being de- commissioned, the developers shall at their own expense, remove the mast and antennae and return the site to its original condition.”

The decision was also granted on the basis that “The developer shall provide and make available, on reasonable terms, the proposed mast for the provision of mobile telecommunications antennae of third party licensed mobile telecommunications operators.”

In total the decision was granted subject to six conditions. The council adds that “Within two months of the final grant of retention permission the developer shall pay a contribution of € 6,293 to Ennis Town Council (Planning Authority) in respect of public infrastructure and facilities benefiting the development.”

An ESB spokesperson confirmed yesterday that ESB telecoms had lodged an appeal with An Bord Pleanála against “one condition attached to the grant”.

She added that the ESB was not appealing the “overall substance” of the council’s decision. A decision on the appeal is due in August.

THE 170 new jobs announced by the Cregg Group and Zagg in the Shannon Free Zone could be just the tip of the iceberg – says Managing Director Zagg International Brian S Packer.

According to Mr Packer, who was in Clare to officially announce the deal on Friday, the total Shannon based workforce from the deal could exceed 300 before the end of 2015.

Mr Packer, who is the overseeing the company’s expansion in the European, Middle Eastern and African market, had credited Ireland’s under threat 12.5 per cent corporation tax as one of the key reason for going forward with the Shannon investment.

“There are many reasons why we picked Shannon, but Ireland’s com- petitive corporation tax rate definitely sealed the deal for us,” he said.

“We will be manufacturing, shipping, marketing and selling our products from this base [in Shannon] and will be creating job opportunities, both directly and indirectly, over the next few years as we have at our US headquarters for Zagg.

“While we will be recruiting for a number of key positions, the majority of jobs will be created indirectly, as Zagg International will create a good number of jobs through our partnerships and key vendors such as Cregg.

“In total we expect over 300 jobs to be created over the next four years.”

Based in Utah Zagg Incorporated manufacture and distributing protective coverings for small handheld electrical such as i-pods and mobile phones.

The company had a revenue of more than $60 million in 2010 and it is hoped that this major expansion, which will be coordinated from their new European Headquarters in Shannon, could double that figure.

Zagg’s Shannon facility will carry out the sales and marketing as well as product design and administrative activities for the new expansion.

The partnership with the Cregg Group will the Clare company carry out all the manufacturing, assembly, packaging and logistics work for the expansion.

Two of Zaggs flagship products – invisibleSHIELD and ZAGGskins – will be produced by Cregg in Shannon. Cregg will also be responsible for the distribution of the full range of Zagg products in Ireland and Europe.

AHEAD of a walk aimed at promoting greater awareness of suicide, an Ennis-based businessman has spoken openly of his brother’s death from suicide.

‘Darkness into Light’, a walk organised by Pieta House, will take place in Ennis on May 7. The 5km walk will start at 4.30am and follow a route through a forest trail in Lees Road sports and amenity park.

Pieta House provides therapy and counselling services at five centres around Ireland, including Mungret, Limerick.

Speaking at the walk’s launch in Ennis last Tuesday Joan Freeman CEO of Pieta House, explained, “It starts at half four in Lees Road and just as you are coming over the finish line the dawn is breaking. It’s a really symbolic walk which symbolises what we do at Pieta House which is bringing people from darkness into light.”

Tom McEvoy, a coordinator for Pieta House in Clare, became involved with the organisation after the death of his brother Adrian (28) in 2007. Mr McEvoy, his wife and three children moved to Ennis in 2002.

Tom explained that the family were in the process of building a house in Roslevan when Adrian moved home from Australia.

He said, “He’s a very talented joiner, carpenter. Ultimately I asked him would he mind joining me for the build process. He was delighted to take part in that.”

In July 2007, Tom and his family left Ennis for a diving holiday of Inishbofin, County Mayo. “We left a list for Adrian to work away with it on our new house, which we hadn’t moved into at the time. He ended up wanting to stay there and do the work and we were delighted with that. I texted him a few times during the week and didn’t get a reply which wasn’t really unusual,” he said.

When the family returned home, Tom was still unable to make contact with his brother.

“I went to see a match on the telly with my brother-in-law. The Dubs were playing at the time. I got a call from my wife that she had had a visit from An Garda Síochana to say that they were after finding a person and she wanted me to come home.

“I went and identified him and said how sorry I was that this had happened to him and that ultimately we wanted the best of him.”

Tom said that what happened to his brother is typical of many suicides. “We have numerous experiences like that in our community of young people showing an outward sign that they are okay and everything’s fine but ultimately they are in bits and they are in a very dark place,” he added.

Tom said that until the country learns to face the trauma of suicide, “we’re going to end up in the same boat this time next year and so on and so forth”.

AN 18-year-old woman involved in what gardaí described as a “nasty assault” at Ennis courthouse last year has been told by a judge to stay out of trouble.

Rosanne Joyce (18) with an address at Dún na hInse, Ennis, appeared at a sitting of Ennis District Court on Wednesday on charges of assault and shoplifting.

Inspector Tom Kennedy told the court that the assault had occurred just outside the courtroom when the defendant attacked a woman who had just given evidence against her brother.

Inspector Kennedy said Gardaí were forced to intervene, adding, “It was quite a nasty incident.”

Solicitor for the accused, Tara Godfrey said her client was very young and impressionable and had reacted to an allegation about her family.

Referring to the charge of shoplifting, Ms Godfrey said her client had been in the company of two other people at Dunnes Stores when clothes to the value of € 46 were taken.

Ms Godfrey said her client had pleaded guilty to shoplifting and that the probation services had previously highlighted the difficulties facing her client and her family.

The court was told that the woman had a number of previous convictions, including several for theft.

Judge Timothy Lucey said that the woman “seems full of good intentions but the facts contradict this”.

Responding to Judge Lucey’s question about whether she understood that she faced going to jail if she continued her current pattern of behaviour, the woman replied “yeah”.

Judge Lucey said he was enforcing the probation act “primarily because of her age”.

He told the woman that she was “starting with a clean slate” and advised her to stay out of trouble.

THE Doonbeg Drama Group secured a massive seven nominations at this weekend’s All Ireland Drama Finals in Wexford but sadly were unable to bring any awards home to the Banner County.

Their production of the comedy ‘Say Cheese’ attracted 600 people to the Wexford Opera House and was described by the organisers as the audiences’ favourite. To gain seven nomination was a triumph for the group – considering that comedies rarely feature in the All Ireland Final and receive very few nominations and overall awards.

“The crowds loved it – they said that it was the only laugh that they had all week long. We managed to attract 600 people into the Opera House to watch the show which was second highest number for any show throughout the All Ireland,” said John Igoe of the Doonbeg Drama Group.

“We had a lot of nominations, which was a achievement in itself, but unfortunately we didn’t win any overall awards. To get to the final at all was an achievement but then to go down so well with the audience was great – we were definitely the people’s favourite.

“Very few drama groups will take on a comedy and fewer still will get as far as the All Ireland Final with a comedy. There is a feeling out there that adjudicators don’t really vote for comedies – but the audience certainly do love it.

“But it was great to see people laughing down there this week. We got a great response to the show and that is the main thing.”

Nominated from the Doonbeg Drama Group were Mary J Egan for best actress, Ann-Marie Doyle for best supporting actress and the scholarship award, Helena Keane for best supporting actress, Mark May for best actor, Michael McInerney and Peter Smith for best lighting and the backstage team for the best set award.

This achievement comes just weeks after the Doonbeg Drama Festival celebrated its 50th year entertaining the people of Clare.

A 58-YEAR-OLD man has appeared before Ennis District Court charged with threatening his son with a loaded shotgun.

Patrick Moloney, with an address at Gaurus, Ennis, was present in court on Friday as Insp Tom Kennedy described details of the incident.

Insp Kennedy told the court that the charges relate to an incident that occurred at the home of Mr Moloney’s wife, where it is alleged that Mr Moloney threatened his son Joseph Moloney with a shotgun. Insp Kennedy told the court that no one was hurt in the incident. Judge Joseph Mangan declined jurisdiction in the case and remanded Mr Moloney on bail until May 6. He also ordered the preparation of a book of evidence.