Category: News

GARDAÍ are hoping that after eight years, there may still be some information which can help them solve a brutal Clare murder.

Relatives of the late Sean Poland are mourning the eighth anniversary of his death. They are also appealing for anyone with information about the car-dealer’s death to come forward.

Gardaí are hoping that the time of year may jog someone’s memory of the New Year’s Eve eight years ago when Mr Poland was shot at his home.

The 39-year-old was shot dead during an armed raid at his home in Blackwater on New Year’s Eve 2002. Several arrests have been made in connection with his killing but noone has ever been charged. Mr Poland’s partner Joanne Lyons, 42, was tied up by the killers, who arrived at the house just minutes after the couple returned home from a night out. It is thought a deal made by Mr Poland in a city centre pub earlier that night may have been linked to his killing. The gang also escaped with about € 1,000 in cash from Mr Poland’s home. The attack shocked the country and sparked calls for greater control of firearms. It is believed criminals from the city were responsible for the murder and more than 20 people have been arrested to date by gardaí investigating the killing,

In 2004, gardaí in Limerick had arrested nine people in connection with the murder of the 39-year-old man.

The seven men and two women were arrested in early-morning raids across Limerick city. They were questioned and released without charge.

The previous year, two men and a woman were arrested but also released without charge.

Sean’s sister, Marie Horgan says that they are still hoping for a breakthrough in the investigation especially with the establishment of a dedicated cold case unit to look into old crimes.

The family make the appeal on each anniversary and last year, Sean’s brother Ray appealed for anyone with information about the killing to come forward.

“I know for a fact that somebody knows something. I would appeal to them to come forward with that information because we still don’t know who did it or the reasons why,” he said.

“Sean was an innocent man and. He was only 39 years of age and he should still be alive today. Some people deserve it, but he didn’t, and, really, there has been no closure for us,” he added.

Ray said that Poland this time of year was particularly difficult for him and his family.

“It is tough and the pain is still there. A lot of other cases seem to have been solved in the meantime but we haven’t got any answers. There doesn’t seem to have been any movement at all,” he said.

A Garda spokesperson confirmed that the murder investigation remained open, but said there had been no significant developments over the past 12 months.

“If anyone has information they can contact us in confidence,” he said.

Anyone with information about the murder pf Mr Poland can contact Henry Street Garda Station at 061 212400 or the Garda confidential line at 1800 666111.

MORE THAN most, north Clare filmmaker Alan Cooke has spent a lot of time pondering what needs to be done to secure Ireland’s future in 2011.

The Emmy award-winning filmmaker has spent much of the last two years researching the post-Celtic Tiger fate of his country and asking both what went wrong and what needs to be done to put things right for the future.

For Alan this is not a question of banks and budgets, but more a question of rediscovering out spirit and identity.

“In these times, we question the fabric of what we are. We wonder if there is a future in our country. We look at forces bigger than us trying to rip away the fabric of our values and decency. But I resolve as I hope others will that this decade we will find our way back to something ancient and old,” says Alan.

“I hope we will find that our communities turn to each other and grow stronger. I wish in 2011 that we realise there is something that they can never take from us. Our spirit is ancient. We are of royal blood from Celtic kings. We are not fools or filled with shame.

“I hope we can create a resolution that we can fight to bring Ireland to what it can be. We can resolve in 2011 that we can shed all of the hurt from the last decade, we can rise above the corruption and scandal in the Church, the government and the banks.

“I am going to go out and make a film about this country – to capture its beauty, its majesty, its power and the strength of our people. In 2011 I hope we can show the world how we are loved in our culture and our words and art.

“It is my job in this decade as it is the job of other Irish artists that we must lead and shine a light that the whole planet will turn to see. When I travel this land I see the incredible joy in people in the original nature. I see their dancing. I see their music and their words and stories.

“In my epic new film I hope to create something that represents the best in all of us. I resolve this and make a solemn oath that what is good in us will rise. All of the hurt of the last few years will be wiped away forever. Bless us all in 2011 and for the future we can take to be ours and make this country great again.”

To learn more about Alan’s new film or to make a donation to help fund the production visit www.thespiritofirelandfilm.com.

RESIDENTS of one Ennis housing estate affected by water shortages are already planning ahead for next year’s big freeze.

Homes in Woodhaven on the Kilrush Road have experienced supply shortages over the past fortnight. The local resident’s association is proposing to develop rain-harvesting systems to ensure homes have an alternative water supply.

“Some of the houses have had frozen stop-cocks and there’s also been problems with pressure. One house might not have water but the house next door would. We might look at rain harvesting; encouraging people to collect rainwater off chutes. Its just an idea at this stage,” explained a spokesperson.

Homes in Tulla and parts of Feakle were also trying to manage without water during the big thaw. Water tankers and a standpipe had to be brought in to help keep businesses going and households supplied with water for essentials.

“It’s been very difficult for people,” said local councillor, Pat Hayes (FF). He continued, “There are probably a lot more people in this part of Clare without water than we realise because a lot of homes would be on wells or private supplies and the council doesn’t have anything to do with that so we wouldn’t know.”

“We can’t put all the blame on the council. It’s an act of God and they have done their level best to deal with it,” said Ennis area councillor, James Breen (Ind).

Clare County Council has again urged homeowners and business to conserve water in the coming days.

A spokesperson said, “The council appreciates the patience of the public in dealing with these shut offs. Without the shut-offs supplies would be even more depleted.

“Consumers can expect a delay in resumption of supply after water is restored at the time indicated while the mains are recharging for several hours. Furthermore, consumers on the periphery of schemes or on high ground can expect even greater delays in restoration of normal supply and pressure”.

CLARE County Council estimates that up to 400 homes still have no water or have an intermittent supply as work to repair leaks continues today around the county.

A council spokesperson confirmed on Monday that in the initial period that followed the rise in weather temperatures around 2,000 of the 30,000 homes that receive water from Clare County Council experienced supply problems.

Restrictions on supply are expected to be in place for another three days at least.

“I’d be concerned that parts of the county are suffering more than most . Obviously there must be a lack of infrastructure and that must be examined”, said Mayor of Clare, Cllr Christy Curtin (Ind).

Supply was cut off last night (Monday) from Aughanteeroe on the Gort Road to Barefield in an attempt to boost supply in Crusheen, where members of Clare Civil defence tankered thousand of litres of water to 100 homes on Sunday.

Myles Carey, of Clare County Council’s water services section explained: “The idea there is that, if we can restrict supply on that stretch of pipeline, the idea is to push water out to Crusheen. Crusheen has been one of the kind of blackspots in all of this and has ended up without water for a long time.”

Mr Carey said work will continue in Ennis until all visible leaks that resulted from recent cold weather con- ditions are located and repaired.

“The biggest leaks, the biggest water losses, our lads are going to those first.”

Over 35 per cent of the 16,000 cubic metres of water being produced at the Ennis water treatment plant is currently being lost due to leaks.

Mr Carey said that the “exceptional losses” sustained in Ennis are due to the old and fractured network of pipes in the town. He said a € 6.2 million pipe rehabilitation programme will commence in Ennis later this year.

EARLIER this year a group of north Clare people made the trip to the Burren College of Art in Ballyvaughan with one objective in mind – to come up with a range of ideas which would allow the people of the Burren to take control of their own destiny.

Central to this grassroots movement was Mary Hawkes-Greene, co-founder of the Burren College of Art and a person who is deeply committed to the future of her adopted home.

For Mary, along with all the difficulties that the current financial climate presents, it also created an opportunity for great change and for the people of Clare to take control of their own destinies.

“I believe that as a nation we have all got what we deserve. Our political system has been based on parishpump politics which requires leaders to do special favours for people which leads to corruption on a larger scale. We need people to be more honest and for our political system to be completely overhauled so we can get rid of the culture of everybody scratching everyone else’s back,” said Mary.

“For Clare and for local communities in Clare I think that now is a great opportunity for natural leaders to emerge within communities. For a long time we have relied on huge grants to be handed out to people from the EU and people haven’t had to be creative. One of the most successful things in my community, in Ballyvaughan, last year was getting people together and looking at taking control of our own destiny and deciding for ourselves how we wanted our own community to be.

“It’s not about looking for the next grant or the next EU directive, it’s about getting together and deciding what are our values as a community and what do we stand for. These things are not all economic and are not all financially driven. We found that one important thing for us, for example, was a community which had room for both old people and young people to come together and be involved in each other lives. That is something which has nothing to do with money or the economy but could have a great impact in the quality of life that everyone in the community has.”

While reorganising the political and economic society which we all live in is an important step in 2011, according to Mary, it is not nearly as important as looking at the types of lives we all lead in our community.

“I think we need to look at everything that is valuable. It’s not just money, living in a beautiful place and what that does to a person’s health and well being is a valuable thing. People need to put some value on things which are not economic, things which make us happy which have nothing to do with money. There is a great opportunity for communities to look at their core being and discover what really is important to them. From there maybe people can figure what economic steps need to be taken to allow them to live the life that they want to do. I think it is time for a radical reforms and a radical and for people to take control of their own destinies.”

As the co-founder of one of the biggest innovations on the Clare arts scene in recent decades, Mary also sees the importance of art in the development of Clare and Ireland in 2011. “The importance of the arts cannot be overstated. The arts should be seen as essential and as crucial to our well-being as fresh air or health care. The arts are essential to our development,” continues Mary.

“They give us another dimension of life which is beyond economics and what we need. What we need is more music in schools and in the community. People can be transformed and lifted to a different place by the arts – it uplifts spirits and shows people what they can achieve what some people might think of as being unachievable. That is something that can transfer to every area of people’s lives.”

“PATRIOTISM used to mean going out and being shot – now it means creating jobs.” That’s the view of the new president of the Chamber of Commerce who is calling for the setting up of an employment generating alliance for the county.

John Dillane told The Clare People that he wants “people who are will- ing to put their money where their mouths are,” to contact him through the chamber to get the group up and running.

“We want all the stakeholders involved, The businesses, the county council – everyone. We need to get off our backsides and do something if this county is to pull out of the recession.”

The shoot-from-the-hip new presi- dent said that he believes that the new patriotism is job creation.

“In 1916 when the country was in trouble, people demonstrated patriotism by going out and getting shot. Now they can do it by going out and creating jobs.”

He is calling for a special meeting to set up the group which will have job creation as its focus.

“We need to get this county back on its feet. There’s no reason we can’t start a movement to do that, but we need to do it for ourselves and every single person in the county needs to get involved in that.”

“I’m calling on any companies that have some money in their pockets to come together and be part of this organisation for Clare. We can make a difference, we can employ more people.”

Mr Dillane, who is proprietor of Banner Motors, says that in the coming year the “red carpet should be rolled out for anyone who is employing people.”

In his role as president of the Chamber, Dillane says he hopes to motivate people in the county to get more people back in the workforce and to persuade consumers to support their own and spend in the Banner.

GARDAÍ in Clare arrested a total of sixty three people on suspicion of various offences between Christmas Eve and last Sunday.

The busy holiday period saw ten people arrested on suspicion of drink-driving.

Five of these were stopped in Ennis, three in Lahinch and two in Kilrush.

In Ennis alone, thirty four people were arrested and in seventeen of these cases the arrests were for alleged breaches of the Public Order Act. A number of these arrests were made on St Stephen’s night.

Gardaí working round the clock over the holiday period manned twenty sixcheckpoints around the county.

The busy period and the weather didn’t stop members of the force getting out on the county’s roads to check for drink driving, speeding and other Road Traffic offences.

According to a Garda spokesperson the road conditions “weren’t a big factor” in the holiday operations as the thaw had set in and only Christmas eve and Christmas day presented some dangerous road conditions and only in some places. During the icy road conditions members of the public did also heed garda advice on driving with extra care.

While the special operations to stop people drinking and driving during the holiday period will now be stood down, gardaí are reminding motorists that checkpoints and speed detectors are a feature of Garda operations all year.

2010 was very much a year of transition for new Clare senior hurling manager Ger O’Loughlin and his management team as a combination of high profile retirements, injuries and emigrations forced his hand to introduce a new wave of young talent into the squad.

Having worked with those players over the year and assessed the standard required at inter-county level, ‘the Sparrow’ now has a clearer vision of how much rebuilding work is required and despite the large workload involved, he is very much looking forward to the challenge.

“We are hoping that this year we do get out of Division 2. We are putting an emphasis on the league in trying to get off to a good start and our goal is to gain promotion this year. We got to the final of Division 2 last year with everybody fairly new to the set-up but we have a better handle on who’s who this year. I would be hoping that we’ll give this year a very good run in the league and get ready for the championship.

“The winners of Cork and Tipperary in the championship isn’t an easy hurdle but at the same time they are the sort of games we should be looking forward to.

“Cork proved last season that they are going to have to rebuild as well and we are probably ahead of them on that side of things. “Tipp are the team to beat in the country and they probably wouldn’t focus as much on Munster now as they would be on the All-Ireland so I would see this as an opportunity for us to give either of those two counties a very good game and if possible get to a Munster final.” However, with the county side very much a work in progress at the moment, Clarecastle clubman O’Loughlin is hoping that supporters will be patient and get behind these young players in the pursuit of those goals.

“That goes without saying. No matter what way you go about it, we have to be realistic and say that the present management have inherited a very young squad and even in the last couple of months, we’ve seen the comings and goings of some guys.

“That’s the way it’s going to be until we get what you’d call a settled 25 people who have what it takes. That doesn’t happen overnight and sometimes even successful counties like Tipp, Cork and Kilkenny go through the rebuilding structure that we are going through at the moment.

“I’m really looking forward to the year though because I just think that we can come on from 2010. I’d hope that fellas have matured a bit better and that when you are playing the likes of Wexford in a league final with Division 1 status on the line, that we would be more clinical because basically if we don’t grasp those opportunities with both hands, we will remain where we are.

“So there’s an awful lot of work to be done on the mental strength side of it as well. As I say we have it all to do but I’m looking forward to working with them in the coming season and hopefully make good progress.”

THE DEAL to save the Sixmilebridge Mart has not yet been completed, despite media reports to the contrary.

A shareholders meeting to decide whether the local consortium will purchase the mart from Golden Vale Properties (GVP) will take place this Thursday, and if an agreement is reached the local group will formally bid € 300,000 for the property.

Support for the project is said to remain high among the shareholders but there is a small number who believe that the time taken to complete the deal will hamper the mart’s pros- pects for success in the future.

The mart has been closed for more then 12 months with a group of more then 500 local farmers and Sixmilebridge residents in negotiations since early 2010. The group withdrew their final bid of € 350,000 for the premises in November when Golden Vale Properties were unwilling to match their valuation.

GVP contacted the group in late December with a revised price of just € 300,000 for the property. The mart had been placed on the market with a guide price of € 600,000 in early 2010 with GVP reportedly keen to sell the property for industry or housing, rather than for a mart.

Should the bid for the mart go ahead it is likely that it will be midMarch or April before the mart is up and going again.

“The negotiations were going on for a long time and we were getting frustrated so we withdrew the offer in November and told them they could do what they like with the mart. It was then that they got interested about selling it,” said local farmer Jim Enright.

“They looked for a meeting with the negotiation committee before Christmas and they made the offer of € 300,000 just a day or two before Christmas. Now our group had offered them € 350,000 for it earlier in the year and I guess they thought that we would keep coming – but we didn’t.

“It is great news and I would have no doubt that the group will sanction the sale. There is a small doubt though. Whether it’s a pub or a shop or a mart, and it’s been closed for more then 12 months, there can be doubt because people have gotten used to doing their business elsewhere, but I am confident that it will be passed.”

A meeting for all shareholders and prospective shareholders will take place in the Sixmilebridge GAA Hall at 9pm this Thursday evening, January 6.

IF IRELAND’S political parties have a genuine commitment to democracy they would not be seeking to abolish the Seanad.

This was the view of west of Ireland Independent MEP Marian Harkin when she insisted that a reformed Seanad would be a vital protection for citizens in a situation where democracy was being increasingly eroded at Dáil level.

She said, “It is disquieting to say the least that the main political parties are trying to outdo each other in populist advocacy of Seanad abolition.

“A reformed Seanad will be essential to the preservation of an effective democratic system in Ireland and as a protection for citizens against a system which has clearly failed to protect their interests.”

Ms Harkin said that in a reformed Seanad the voluntary sector should have a valid and necessary role.

“The Seanad, as originally envisaged and constituted was a valuable brake on government arrogance or ineptitude and, having regard to the huge role and effectiveness of the voluntary sector, there would be highly qualified and highly motivated people available to perform effective roles in a reformed Seanad.”

“The Seanad could also have an essential role in considering draft EU legislation in depth and subsequently monitoring its implementation. We have had too many instances of inadequate input into new legislation.”