Category: News

A STUDENT with a “dreadful” criminal record has avoided jail for driving offences committed in Ennis last year. Chris Kelly appeared in Ennis District Court on Wednesday for sentencing for motoring offences committed at Cahercallamore, Ennis on April 23, 2014.

In December 2013, Mr Kelly, with an address at Newtown, Castletroy, Limerick was convicted after a contested hearing at Ennis District Court of having no insurance, no driver’s license and no NCT certif cate.

The court heard he was disqualif ed from driving for 15 years at the time of the commission of the offence. Mr Kelly, a father of one, has eight previous convictions for no insurance and two for dangerous driving. He also has previous convictions for theft offences, the court heard.

Mr Kelly appeared back in court in September when Garda Inspector Tom Kennedy told the court the accused had a “dreadful record”.

Judge Patrick Durcan further adjourned sentencing to November 5 after requesting a detailed report on Mr Kelly’s academic progress at the University of Limerick. He also sought clarif cation on the accused’s previous convictions.

On Wednesday, defence solicitor Tara Godfrey said she had a letter from the welfare off cer at UL, say ing “very good things” about her client. Ms Godfrey told the court her client maintains his innocence with respect to the Ennis convictions.

She said Mr Kelly has not resiled from his original position that he was not the person in the car when it was stopped by the gardaí.

She said Mr Kelly would have appealed the conviction in the circuit court but the matter had not yet been f nalised in the district court. “He would be of the opinion he’s an innocent man and was going to pursue that to the Nth degree”, Ms Godfrey added. In relation to Mr Kelly’s previous convictions, Ms Godfrey said her client is a young man of tremendous promise who squandered most of his youth. Judge Patrick Durcan imposed a f ne of € 350 on Mr Kelly for having no driver’s license. He imposed a further f ne of € 1000 in respect of the conviction for no insurance. Mr Kelly was also disqualif ed from holding a driver’s license for 10 years. Judge Durcan said he was not imposing a custodial sentence in light of Mr Kelly’s academic progress. Recognisance’s were f xed in the event of an appeal at Mr Kelly’s own bond of € 500 and an independent surety to be approved by the court of € 1000.

AN ELECTRICIAN has pleaded guilty to theft offences arising from the unauthorised use of a bank card for online gambling.

Killian Torpey (26) used a bankcard belonging to his girlfriend’s mother for a series of online transactions in 2012.

At Ennis Circuit Criminal Court on Tuesday, Mr Torpey, with an address at Mahonburg, Inch, pleaded guilty to 15 sample counts of theft between June 14, 2012, and November 22, 2012.

He admitted stealing various cash amounts totalling € 1,900 from Mary McNamara at a place unknown within the State. Mr Torpey was originally charged with 155 counts of theft of cash amounts totalling € 23,474.

In court, prosecuting counsel, Stephen Coughlan told the court the pleas of guilty to the sample counts were acceptable to the DPP on a “full facts basis”. Counsel said the sen- tencing hearing would be lengthy as the facts of the case would take some time to hear.

Defence counsel Lorcan Connolly said considerable admissions will be made and maybe a “global approach” could be adopted at the sentencing hearing.

Mr Connolly added, “the offences in this case in essence relate to the unauthorised use of a bank card for online betting and the injured party is the mother of Mr Torpey’s girlfriend”. The court heard Mr Torpey is a qualif ed electrician with no pre vious convictions. Counsel said he would be calling his client’s employer to give evidence but said this person was currently in America. He said he understood Ms McNamara is also out of the country. “It’s somewhat of an unusual case, as you have may have gathered so far Judge,” Mr Connolly added. Judge Gerald Keys adjourned the case to November 18 when a date for sentencing will be f xed. Mr Torpey was remanded on continuing bail.

SHANNON Airport continues its remarkable rise from the ashes with an unprecedented 30 per cent increase in passenger numbers last month.

New passengers number released yesterday show a year-on-year increase of more than 28 per cent, compared to October of 2013. This represents the largest percentage increase ever recorded in Shannon and comes on the back of consistent growth since the airport gained independent from the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA).

Having been on the verge on being passed out by Knock Airport, and downgraded to Ireland’s fourth choice airport just 20 months ago, Shannon Airport looks set to overtake Cork Airport and reclaim the title of Ireland second airport.

The biggest increase in passengers coming through Shannon came from its European services, which were up an incredible 111 per cent per cent when compared to the same month in 2013.

A total of 42,950 European passengers used Shannon Airport last month – more than double the 20,347 who used the airport in October of 2013.

Transatlantic passengers were up by 15 per cent, from 23,511 in October 2013 to 27,108 last month, thanks in the main to the increased frequency across New York and Boston services.

Shannon’s biggest market, the UK, also grew by 6 per cent last month from 61,681 to 65,243.

“It’s been a really great summer season for Shannon and f nished out with a very strong October. A very encouraging aspect to the growth is that there were gains across our three main markets, Europe, the UK and US,” said airport CEO Neil Pakey.

“Increases in European services are particularly strong thanks to the nine new services this summer season but the US also performed very well as a result of greater frequencies. It was also heartening to see growth on UK services as this is the strongest market for Ireland and a 6 per cent growth month-over-month is quite signif cant. “We have new winter services this year to Berlin, Bristol, Fuerteventura, Krakow, Paris and Warsaw. These, together with our other winter services, provide a really strong array of destinations for weekend or winter sun breaks as well as for business travellers.

“It’s good news also for the region as our winter schedule this year has really good options from an inbound perspective, which is particularly good for tourism operators here as there is a really good winter break offering across the West of Ireland.”

A FORMER pupil of disgraced retired principal Pat Barry has urged victims to have the courage to come forward and help expose abusers.

The woman called on victims of abuse to speak out. “Lets not keep their dirty secrets in the dark any longer”, she said.

Her statement was one of eight powerful victim impact reports heard in Ennis Circuit Criminal Court on Friday.

At the sentencing hearing, the women recalled how their lives were ruined by Barry, who was convicted on indecent assault in July.

One woman recalled the “fear” “terror” and “humiliation” she felt in her childhood.

Another woman said Barry’s abuse made her feel “dirty”. “I was extremely embarrassed by it all”. “He terrorised and molested me for years”, she added.

The woman described the former principal of Moyasta National School as the “vicious wolf who would lie in wait for me every day”.

A woman, who read her statement in court, became emotional as she detailed the dreadful impact the abuse had on her life. “I’m glad Mr Barry has been exposed for the sexual predator he is”.

Another woman said she will never forgive Barry but is glad she can close this “horrible chapter” in her life. A victim told the court her childhood was shaped by “shame”, “guilt” and “powerlessness” because of the abuse.

“I am proud of myself and the oth- er women for having the strength to face the court and tell our story”, she added.

One woman said, “Forty years have gone by and I’m still hurting”. She said the fear of being roughed up or “touched” in Barry’s class was terrifying.

The women also thanked Kilrush based Detective, Oliver Downes, who took up the investigation into Barry.

In July, following a three-week trial at Ennis Circuit Criminal Court, Pat Barry (80) was convicted by a jury of 59 counts of indecent assault.

Barry, with an address at Well Road, Kilkee, denied 67 counts of indecently assaulting 11 girls at Moyasta National School between 1964 and 1985.

Trial Judge Gerald Keys had directed the jury of seven women and f ve men to f nd Mr Barry not guilty on eight of the 67 counts. At the conclusion of his 11-day trial, the jury returned guilty verdicts on the remaining 59 counts. Det Gda Downes conf rmed to Roderick O’Hanlon (SC), for Barry, that no further charges are pending against Mr Barry. In his plea of mitigation Mr O’Hanlon said that for a period of 35 years since his retirement in 1989, “the defendant has lead a life from which no charges have arisen, none are pending before the court”. The court heard Mr Barry suffers from tinnitus and high blood pressure and stress related nose bleeds. The court heard the accused has no previous convictions and taught at a primary school in Wicklow from 1952 to1954 before joining Kilkee boys national school in January 1957. He took up the role of principal in Moyasta NS in July 1969.

He served on the board of the O’Curry’s Summer School for Irish in Carrigaholt and was actively involved in the local history projects.

A number of testimonials on Mr Barry’s behalf, including one from local Church of Ireland Rector, Canon Bob Hanna, were handed to Judge Gerald Keys.

Judge Keys said he required time consider the new documents submitted to the court so he could come to a “fair and just judgement”.

The case was adjourned to tomorrow (November 12), for mention when a date for sentence is due to be f xed. Mr Barry was remanded on bail.

SINN Fein members were prevented from carrying party banners during Saturday’s Ennis protest against Irish Water.

A number of party members, including local election candidate Noeleen Moran, took part in the Ennis protest, but were asked not to carry materials belonging to the Sinn Fein party, including banners.

According to the Clare Says No To Water Charges group, who organised the Ennis protest, Sinn Fein was not targeted in the march but it was instead decided that no posters from any party should be displayed.

“It was a non-political protest. We had a meeting last Wednesday and, as a group, we agreed that we were not going under the banner of any political party. That was agreed as a group and that is the way we want to have it,” said Paul Whitmore of Clare Says No To Water Charges. “That is not just an issue with Sinn Fein, it was the same for all the political groups. We are not about politics or a political party. We are Clare Says No To Water Charges and there is no great plan beyond that – this is just about us beating the water charges.” Fianna Fail’s Timmy Dooley was Clare’s only Oireachtas member to take part in the protest but a number of county councillors including Clare Colleran Molloy (FF) and James Breen (Ind) marched in Ennis. The Shannon protest was co-organised by Sinn Fein under the Right to Water organisation with local councillor Mike McKee (SF) addressing the marchers alongside Seónaidh Ní Shíomóin, local elections candidate for the Anti Austerity Alliance. No other elected member from the Shannon area attended the Shannon protest but it is understood that Cllr Gerry Flynn (FG) attended the Dublin anti-water charge protest on Saturday.

continue in Clare, even if the Government introduces measures to water down the controversial charges in the coming days.

The membership of the Clare Says No To Water Charges group has swelled dramatically since Saturday’s protest and the group are now setting up local sub-groups in towns and villages across the county to spread information and organise members who are not contactable online. The group conf rmed yesterday that its members will also attend two national protests in Dublin on December 6 and 10 while a meeting will take place this Wednesday to discuss a number of local actions, which could include pickets and further protests.

An estimated 2,500 people attended protests against Irish Water in Ennis, Shannon and Westbury on Saturday. In excess of 1,500 people turned out in Ennis, with 50 protesting in Westbury and estimated numbers for the Shannon protest ranging from 500 people to 1,200 people.

“It was a good turnout, especially with the bad weather. We’re not shocked though, there is a lot of anger out there. What has happened over the weekend has highlighted this fact and there is more and more people getting involved. We’ve taking more than 200 new people into the group since Saturday alone,” said Paul Whitmore of Clare Says No To Water Charges.

“We are now organising for little groups to be set up in the small towns and villages for the people who don’t have broadband and who don’t have a way of communicating with us. People have a lot of questions and if they don’t have access to the group [online] they can feel isolated. We want this to be one big community group. It’s everyday ordinary people coming together.”

A large group from Shannon are also planning to take part in the Dublin protests – with local organiser Cllr Mike McKee (SF) promising to bring Dublin to a ‘standstill’.

“We’ve had reports of there being up to 1,200 at the Shannon protest so it was a really big turnout – it was the biggest protest in Shannon for very many years,” he said. “We are aff liated with the Right to Water protest on December 10. We will be going to the Dáil on that day and we hope to bring Dublin to a complete standstill.”

WHILE Irish Water may not be anyone’s favourite semi-state company just now, it did begin a process last week which could bring an end to one of Clare’s longest running issues as it formally applying for planning permission for an upgrade of the Shannon Town Wastewater Treatment System.

The system, which is used by both domestic consumers and a number of factories in Shannon, has been blamed for series of gas emissions in recent years – including a prolonger period of emissions in September and October of 2013.

Irish Water last week applied for planning permission for the construction of a new inlet works within the boundary of the existing wastewater treatment plant, located approximately 4.8 kilometres southeast of Shannon Town.

The development will include the construction of a large domestic and industrial balancing tank, more than one tenth of a hectare in size, as well as an odour control unit.

The work is part of an proposed € 3 million overhaul of the Shannon Sewage Scheme announced by the Department of the Environment in February.

The current Shannon scheme is more than 40 years old and is understood to be operating far beyond its original capacity.

Already this year work has been undertaken on four pumping stations on the scheme but the current pressure from domestic and industrial sources is understood to be preventing growth in the area.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Clare County Council received more then 50 complaints about the smell in Shannon in September and October of last year.

A RARE home performance from one of Clare’s best-known singers will herald the start of a new era for music in the county on Friday.

Maura O’Connell, the Nashville-based singer, will perform at the launch of Music Generation Clare (MGC) in Glór, Ennis, on November 7, at 7.30pm.

The twice Grammy-nominated singer and MGC patron will share the stage with Mike Hanrahan on a night that will celebrate the best in Clare music.

Artists and groups performing include Dave Flynn and the Clare Memory Orchestra Chamber and Vocal Group, Clare Youth Service, Scoil Chríost Rí Trad Rock Fusion Band, and the Burren Children’s Choir.

At 9pm there will be an announcement celebrating the launch of Music Generation Clare (MGC), followed by a performance by Maura O’Connell. MC for the evening will be Marty Morrissey.

George O’Callaghan, Chairperson of the Clare Music Education Partnership, stated, “Music Generation in Clare presents us with a wonderful opportunity to build, develop and enhance the rich musical tradition in County Clare.”

A series of new initiatives delivering music education in school and community settings throughout the county are currently being rolled out by Music Generation Clare. The Escalation primary school singing programme is reaching almost 700 children in more than 20 schools throughout the county, with nine performances in December scheduled to take place. A representation of the schools partaking in this new programme will perform together on the night. The Early Years programme will commence its pilot phase in November, where 3 to 5 year olds will embark on a journey of experiential learning to include live music experience, listening, responding, interaction, performing and composing original pieces. These will be followed by instrumental tuition and song-writing programmes in January, 2015.

“With the wide range of partners supporting Music Generation Clare, it hopes to complement the vibrant music initiatives in the county, to further and ensure access to a high quality music education which nurtures creativity, self-expression, inclusion and a life-long love of music in a generation of musicians of all genres,” explained, Emer O’Flaherty, Development Off cer with Music Generation Clare.

Rosaleen Molloy, National Director of Music Generation, commented, “We are delighted to be working with all of the partners involved in Music Generation Clare to make music education happen for thousands of children and young people in the county over the coming years. Through the combined philanthropic support of U2, The Ireland Funds and local partners over € 800,000 will be invested in music education in County Clare over the next three years and beyond that the programme will continue to be co-funded and supported by the Department of Education and Skills. This exciting launch event marks the beginning of terrif c things to come for music education in County Clare.”

Summerhill house ransacked
BETWEEN7pmonTuesday, October 28, and and 9amonWednesday, October 29, a house in Summerhill, Ennis, was broken into by forcing open the rear window.The house was ransacked.

Kilrush burglary
A HOUSE in the Pella Road area of Kilrush was broken into between noon and 10pmon October 29.A 3 mobile phone dongle and a black Compaq laptop were stolen.

Passports stolen
A NUMBER of passports were stolen following a break in at a house in Ennis last week.The break in occurred in a property at the Hawthorns, Limerick Road, Ennis, when the side windowwas forced open. It occurred between 6pmand 9pm on Friday, October 31.Two Chinese passports, an Irish passport and a yellowsafety deposit box containing cash was stolen.

Burglary in Tobartaiscain, Ennis

A MAN charged in connection with an attempted robbery at a shop in Shannon has appeared before the Circuit Criminal Court.

Gerard Delaney (28) made a brief appearance before the Circuit Criminal Court in Ennis when his case was called on Wednesday.

A day earlier, Mr Delaney appeared before Ennis District Court where he was served with the book of evidence.

Mr Delaney, with an address at Inis Eagla, Shannon, is facing two charges arising from his alleged involvement in an attempted robbery at Mace Stores, Ballycasey Crescent, Shannon on June 24, 2014.

It is alleged Mr Delaney attempted to rob from a woman at the shop on the day in question.

He is further charged with the production of a knife during the course of attempted robbery, contrary to the f rearms and offensive weapons act. At Ennis District Court on Tuesday, Sgt Tim Ryan of Ennis Garda Station gave evidence of serving the book of evidence on the accused.

Inspector Tom Kennedy told the court the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) consented to Mr Delaney being returned for trial, in custody.

Legal aid was approved for solicitor John Casey and one junior counsel. Judge Patrick Durcan delivered the alibi warning and made the order returning the accused for trial.

The case was called before Judge Gerald Keys in the circuit court on Wednesday.

Defence solicitor John Casey said he was seeking to have the matter adjourned to the call-over of cases on January 12, 2015.

Judge Keys remanded Mr Delaney in custody to appear again in court on January 12, when a date for trial will be f xed.

rity staff member Aidan O’Connor and Mr Cooper.

“I was taken from behind and put out the door for no reason”, he said.

Mr Sherlock said he repeatedly asked to see the manager but was pushed back by Mr Cooper.

“Kevin Cooper kept pushing me till I fell to the ground and when I was on the ground, I received a kick to the head”, he added. The court heard Mr Sherlock was taken to Limerick hospital where he received four sta