Category: News

THE Burren and the Cliffs of Moher have been shortlisted for the world’s most prestigious award for developing sustainable tourism.

Over the weekend the Burren and Cliffs of Moher Geopark project was shortlisted for the prestigious Tourism for Tomorrow Award – alongside 17 other destinations from around the world.

The award, which is operated by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), saw scores of entries from more then 56. The winners and finalists will be recognised during the WTTC Global Summit, which will take place in Hainan in China this April.

The Burren and Cliffs of Moher Geopark has been shortlisted alongside Bonito in Brazil and Temes SA – Costa Navarino in Greece in the Destination Award, which recognised the development of sustainable tourism.

“Since 2008, Clare County Council has been working in the Burren to develop a truly sustainable tourism destination that gives direct benefits to the local community, promotes and celebrates local culture and produce, preserves the environment and provides a great experience for our visitors,” said Carol Gleeson of the Burren and Cliffs of Moher Geopark.

“This has been achieved with great support and partnership from local communities and businesses and agencies responsible for tourism and conservation and local development.

“This work includes establishing the Burren Ecotourism Network as far back as 2008, achieving UNESCO recognised Global Geopark status in 2011 and providing environmental and business training, developing a destination brand, promoting certification, and importantly linking high responsible tourism standards with economic benefit to the area.”

THE traditional Fianna Fáil church gate collection could soon be a thing of the past with a proposal to ban the collection to be discussed at the next meeting of the party’s Financial Committee.

Over the last number of years grass roots members in Clare have contributed more through the church gate collection than members in any other county in Ireland. Indeed the party netted in excess of € 17,000 from church gate collections in Clare in 2012, compared to just € 20 collected in Dublin and € 185,000 collected in Ireland as a whole.

Church gate collections have become a divisive subject in the Fianna Fáil party in recent years with urban members viewing them as old fashioned and outdated while members from more rural constituencies view them as a good source of revenue.

A Fianna Fáil spokesperson confirmed to The Clare People yesterday that the party’s high brass would examine scrapping the collection in the coming weeks.

“The matter hasn’t yet been referred to the Finance Committee. The committee meets every quarter and it will come up at the next meeting of the committee,” he said yesterday.

The spokesperson also described the proposal to ban church gate col- lections as a complex issue and declined to give a figure for the total raised by the party in Clare in 2013.

County Clare contributed almost 10 per cent of the total raised by Fianna Fáil from church gate collections in 2012.

This was an increase on the € 16, 536 raised by the party in 2011, but represent a significant drop on the amount raised in Clare while the party was still in government.

Clare has been a consistent cashcow for Fianna Fáil with € 21,727 being raised in 2010 and € 23,594 in 2009.

A complete ban on all church gate collections in Clare received cross party support when it was suggested by Ennis Cllr Tony Mulqueen (FG) late last year.

“All of the main political parties are now funded by the State. If the State is contributing millions towards the operations of political parties, I don’t see why they need to hold collections in front of churches anymore,” said Cllr Mulqueen.

“We seem to have an industry in collecting money in this country. As it stands at the moment, political parties receive State funding based on the number of seats that they win in elections.

“It seems a fair system and I received support from all parties when I suggested a ban on collections – including Fianna Fáil.” TODAY Th a n kfu lly a d ry day, su n n y b u t bre e zy a n d c h illy, ta m ps 7c .

THE DEATH of former postman and electricity meter reader Tony McElroy who was found dead in the Ballynacally Community Centre car park on Saturday morning last was one of natural causes.

Gardaí said they are no longer treating his death as suspicious, as a post mortem carried out the University Hospital Limerick on Saturday afternoon showed he probably died from a heart attack.

Mr McElroy, who was 61 years old and from Knockatunna, Kilmaley, had been socialising in Daly’s Bar in Balynacally on Friday night.

His body was found the following morning last 9.45am beside his car.

Gardaí at Kilrush were called and began investigating the circumstances around the sudden death.

The scene was preserved and the Offices of the State Pathologist was contacted, while Mr McElroy’s remains were removed from the scene and brought to Limerick Regional Hospital where the post mortem took place.

It is understood that the results showed the West Clare man died as a result of a heart attack.

Local people paid tribute to the man they got to know well when he worked in the area as the meter reader for the ESB.

He was also recognised as a keen card player and a man who enjoyed music sessions.

Mr McElroy’s funeral Mass will take place today (Tuesday) at 11am in Kilmaley Church followed by burial in Mount Temple Cemetery, Kilmaley.

ENNIS District Court was disrupted for periods last week after a man suspected of recording court proceedings was taken into custody.

The disturbances occurred as jailed peace activist Margaretta D’Arcy (79) appeared in court charged with interfering with the proper use of Shannon Airport by going on the runway without permission in September 2013.

The veteran anti-war campaigner and playwright was arrested and brought to Limerick women’s prison earlier this month after failing to sign a court bond forbidding her from entering areas of Shannon Airport unauthorised to the public.

Dozens of supporters were present in Ennis Courthouse for her brief appearance on Wednesday.

At the conclusion of Ms D’Arcy’s hearing, four supporters were escorted from the courtroom. Some had attempted to hold up posters.

Mayo woman, Maura Harrington, a member of the Shell to Sea protest group, shouted, “Free Shannon Airport from the US military.” Gardaí immediately removed Ms Harrington from court.

Minutes later, Judge Patrick Durcan said it had been brought to his atten- tion that an individual had attempted to record proceedings in court. He asked gardaí to take appropriate steps to deal with the matter.

Sgt Paul Slattery, of Ennis Garda Station, later gave evidence that he had been told a man attempted to record court proceedings with his phone. Sgt Slattery said that when approached, the man told gardaí he was checking emails.

He said the man would not give his full name to gardaí. Judge Durcan directed the gardaí to ascertain man’s identity. He was later identified as Naoise Ó Mongáin, Maura Harrington’s husband.

Judge Durcan later ordered that Ms Harrington and Mr Ó Mongáin to be taken down to the cells. He said those responsible for the disturbances had shown “total disrespect to other citizens”. “It’s becoming impossible here”, added Judge Durcan.

Later, when a number of people were not present in court when their cases were called, Judge Durcan said, “There has been so much disturbance in court today that a number of people have left the courtroom out of fear.”

Inspector Tom Kennedy said, “I’ve never been in a court where there was so much disruption in one day.”

After 3.30pm, Judge Durcan ordered that the couple be brought up separately to court.

Judge Durcan told Mr Ó Mongáin that he did disrupt proceedings earlier, but that he was free to go.

Judge Durcan said gardaí could investigate if Mr O’Mongain’s phone was used to record the court. However he asked that this be carried out as quickly as possible as Mr Ó Mongáin was entitled to have his phone.

He then told Ms Harrington her time in custody “fairly balances out what occurred earlier”. He told Ms Harrington he appreciated she was coming to the aid of her husband in court.

Judge Durcan said: “I regard the matter as terminated.”

TWO drug barons targeted in a 25day undercover Garda operation in West Clare are understood to have fled the country.

Gardaí in Kilrush, in conjunction with the National Drugs Unit spent a total of 1,400 man-hours on the operation that spanned five-months from November 2012 through to the first quarter of 2013.

It emerged during the hearing of one of the minor “but essential cogs” in the drug sales operations, that the “principal players” were not before the court, as they are believed by gardaí to have fled the jurisdiction.

Superintendent Seamus Nolan told Kilrush District Court that Michael Burke with an address at 2 Fahy Road, Kilrush, “would not have been a principal player.”

The 27-year-old was pleading to charges relating to the under cover operation and other unrelated charges.

The court heard that he arranged the sale of € 100 of cannabis to undercover gardaí by phone before meeting them to carry out the sale at 80 Dun na Hinse, Ennis, on November 20, 2012.

He also sold a further € 50 worth of the drugs at the same address on November 22, 2012.

Garda Conor Flaherty said Mr Burke sourced the drugs and then handed them over.

“He was subsequently arrested and co-operated with gardaí,” said the Kilrush Garda.

On June 18, 2013 Mr Burke also admitted being in possession of 50 valium tablets for sale or supply contrary to Section 15 of Misuse of Drug Act 1977 and unlawfully impeding a Garda in the exercise of his duty.

In his evidence to the court Garda Flaherty said Mr Burke had the drugs concealed in a kitchen chair.

“He managed to get his hands on them and hid them,” said the garda adding that gardaí later found them on his person.

Solicitor for the defence Gearoid Williams said his client was detained to mend his ways. “He is trying to live a good life now,” he said.

In his summation Judge Patrick Durcan said; “The Garda authority decided a special target operation be set up in West Clare area to detect this illegal activity.”

Michael Burke became an essential cog in that very efficient machine the judge added.

“The drug barons are now living outside the country and have left a trail of destruction and addiction behind them,” he said.

“This would not operate unless there were retailers in the market who run the operation,” explained the judge, adding that Mr Burke fitted into the category.

Judge Durcan sentenced Mr Burke to three consecutive four-month sentences for the sale and supply of drugs and took a charge of drug possession into account.

He handed down a concurrent sentence of four months in prison for obstructing a garda.He suspended the year in prison for two years, telling the defendant “this is a belt and braces job.”

He also ordered that he be assisted by the probation services.

EVERY day Tony must park his car in his neighbours drive and jump over the sand bags to enter his own home.

The pensioner, who does not wish for his full name to be used, fears that if he lifts the sand bags his house will once again be invaded by water from the Atlantic.

Like his neighbours the Clancys and the Cusacks, Tony’s home is not on the sea front, but across the road from those homes that look on to the sea.

On June 7, he was not therefore expecting the storm to bring the high waves crashing through his neighbours’ homes, across the street and into his house and garage.

Thousands of euros of damage was done to the home he shares with his wife, as washing machines, dishwashers, vacuum cleaners and other household electrical goods fell victim to the water.

Two foot of seawater surrounded his home on that fateful morning, a sight he had not ever expected to see.

In the chaos that ensued as emergency services and local authority workers tried to assist, it became clear no one had expected the amount of water that invaded the homes.

“I had difficulty getting sand bags. In the end I had to fill my own using the coal bags we had,” he said.

COMMUNITY activists in Doonbeg have warned that the village and surrounding lands all the way to Cooraclare will be under water if a membrane of land holding back the sea breaks.

The land barrier at Doonbeg Bay was compromised in recent storms that did more than € 800,000 worth of damage to infrastructure of the area.

Tommy Commerford and Tommy Tubridy, both local publicans and local community activists, have now warned that if repair damage and reinforcement work is not carried out soon, the damage to the area will be more severe if there is more bad weather.

“Unless a reinforcement barrier put in there, if the sea breaks it, and it is breaking here already, you are going to have the whole area flooded right down,” said Mr Commerford pointing to land at the edge of the bay just metres from the village on the Dun- more Road.

During the storm on January 7, the land was flooded up to 150 metres from the village, reaching the 50 kilometres per hour sign at the bridge.

“The whole area down to Cooraclare will flood because it is a pure low land caucuses, shragh, land. It is a pure bog land if the membrane goes. “The membrane is only about five metres in parts of it and if it breaks it will sweep the bridge away going down and it will sweep into Shragh and down into the townlands of Cooraclare,” warned Mr Commerford. He said the county council must now look at how best to protect the land bank, as when it is compromised the financial cost and the cost to people’s lives will be significantly more. “Definitely the council need to reassess that whole area. It is a dangerous position,” he said. Two houses along the road were flooded during the storm, but reinforcement works carried out further up the bay saved more homes. The men point to armour rock just metres away that saved their homes and land, previously put under water. “That is what they wanted to do at Doonbeg Golf Course. If that was done at Doonbeg Golf Course there would have been no damage done there,” said Mr Tubridy. There are also concerns for an area across the bay at Rhynnagonnaught. The road leading to the houses in the area was compromised in the storm, and if it is not underpinned it will be completely washed away in the next storm, marooning the residents on an island similar to what happened at Kilcredaun on the Loop Head peninsula.

Clare County Council has requested € 547,500 from central government for the work.

Whitestrand and Doonmore, also experienced € 237,500 worth of damage.

Not only was the sea wall compromised, but holes were also blown open on walls across the road from the sea wall so fierce were the waves and the wind.

Local farmers and neighbours began removing stones from the road at Whitestrand last Wednesday.

As much as 6 to 7 metres of farm land and fencing was also washed into the sea as a result of the storm.

This area will also need to be reinforced with rock armour of galleons the men maintain.

LIVING in a house overlooking Farhiy Bay in Baltard, Doonbeg is a blessing most of the year, but the storm and high tides at the beginning of the New Year made it a precarious place to call home.

Gearoid Greene along with his wife and five children were shocked as the spray from the storm and high tide of January 7 beat off the back of the house.

What made it all the more surprising was the fact that the house was far above sea level, looking down on the sea from a great height.

Shortly after 8am as the storm took hold the family were in fear of severe damage to their home and even considered moving while the storm abated.

The winds and strength of the sea blew in the stones from the periphery wall into the garden, leaving the back of the home, which faces on to the sea, exposed.

Wiring securing electric poles were also up rooted, in damage never witnessed in the area before.

As well as dealing with the clean- up of the storm and the rebuilding of the secure wall, this farming family must also contend with reseeding land covered by seawater, when and if it eventually dries, in time for this year’s harvest.

The cost of the bad weather continues to be counted.

FARMERS with land around Farihy Bay in Doonbeg are facing the possibility of a serious fodder shortage next winter as hundreds of acres of farmland remain water logged as a result of damage to a nearby sluice.

The sluice was installed by the Land Commission to channel water from the land when it would inevitable flood during extensive rainfall.

Heavy rainfall, coupled with storms and high tides resulted in land covered in salty water in the last fortnight.

A blockage coming from the back of the sluice means that water cannot flow freely and drain the land, leaving up to an estimated 300 acres of prime farm land flooded with sea water.

Thomás Flanagan and Gearoid Greene are just two of more than a half a dozen farmers affected by the break down in the infrastructure.

The farmers had employed a digger to clear the sluice of rocks lodge in the large concrete pipe, but to little or no avail as waves continue to carry debris over the sluice, which then lodges at the back of the sluice and eventually gets stuck in the stones of the main flow pipe blocking the water again.

Even high land that is not susceptible to flooding is not accessible to the farmers. Mr Flanagan explained that he cannot access prime grazing land which lies high above sea level as the access road has been washed away in the storm and the surrounding land remain water logged. At least 70 acres of Mr Greene’s land, which he would have used for silage in the spring, remains under seawater, the salt content of which continues to burn the land. He said he was very concerned about how he will access fodder for his cows next year.

“There will be houses in danger if this water rises again and the sluice is not sorted,” said Mr Flanagan.

“You don’t mind if you get have rain for a day or two and the water builds up once or twice a year; it will go eventually, but the problem we have here is the bits of rubbish get stuck between the stones and it blocks the stones. It will slow down the flow every time,” he said.

“About 80 per cent of the water went down when we cleared the sluice, but it is filling again. And if we get heavy rain it will be as bad again,” said Mr Flanagan.

In the 1990s their fathers paid to have the sluice repaired, but the cost of repairing the public infrastructure this time will cost significantly more, the farmers have warned.

The farmers fear that the repair of the sluice will fall between Clare County Council and the OPW and are anxious that one of the bodies take responsibility and rectify the problem immediately.

These full time dairy farmers rely on the income from their farms to support their young families, and while the sluice remains damaged their livelihood remains under threat, they explained.

A WEST Clare man who claims he walked 17 miles between Ennis and Kilrush while in a “drug haze” after he was arrested for breaking into a car has been ordered to comply with the Probation Services.

Sam Johnson (19) was arrested by gardaí after breaking into a car at Considine’s Terrace, Ennis on October 12, 2013.

Mr Johnson appeared at Ennis District Court on Wednesday where he pleaded guilty to two charges of illegally interfering with mechanically propelled vehicles.

Inspector Tom Kennedy told the court a resident of Considine’s Terrace contacted gardaí after she discovered her car had been moved from its original position to the middle of the car park.

Mr Johnson, with an address at New House, Cooraclare, was arrested after gardaí discovered his phone and a specimen of blood in the car. He was later released.

Insp Kennedy said gardaí received another report later that morning of a car being broken into at the Cross Roads Pub, Knockalough, Kilrush Road.

The court heard the owner had parked his vehicle at the pub before getting a lift to work in Meelick.

Insp Kennedy said Mr Johnson was seen in the car and arrested soon after.

Insp Kennedy said the accused was disorientated and intoxicated and was unable to give an explanation for his behaviour.

The court heard Mr Johnson has paid compensation of € 200 for the damage done to the car at Knockalough.

Mr Johnson has no previous convictions.

Defence solicitor Fiona Hehir said her client was still high on drugs and had no phone when he was released.

She said Mr Johnson walked from Ennis to the Cross Roads Pub.

“He was in a drug haze. There is no other way to explain it”, she added.

Ms Hehir said her client has not taken any drugs since the incident and is meeting with a drugs counselor.

The court heard that when asked by gardaí why he had broken into the car at Knockalough, the accused, said, “I wanted to buy the car.”

Insp Kennedy said the distance from Ennis to Knockalough was around 17 miles.

Asked by Judge Durcan if he accepted Mr Johnson’s version of events on the night, Insp Kennedy said, “No.”

“I don’t know how he got to Knockalough but I can assure you he did not walk it”, he added.

Judge Patrick Durcan said these were very serious offences. However he said Mr Johnson was in full time education and is taking steps to deal with substance abuse issues. Adjourning the case to April 2, Judge Durcan ordered a pre-sentence report from the Probation Services.