Category: News

CLARE’S dark history at the centre of the Magdalene Laundry system was laid bare by the McAleese Report, which was published in February.

The report identified 261 Clare women who spent time as unpaid slaves in these institutes between the 1920s and 1980s – the fifth highest of any county in Ireland.

The real number of Clare women in these asylums was likely to have been far higher, however. No Clare laundries were identified in the report, despite the insistence by many Clare people, including the Kildysart-born former trainee nun Patricia BurkeBrogan, that a laundry operated in Ennis for many decades.

Two decades ago, Ms Burke-Brogan turned whistleblower on the Magdalene system through her acclaimed play ‘Eclipsed’ and in February she claimed that the McAleese Report only scratched the surface of a nationwide problem, where women were subject to slave labour conditions by Church and State.

According to Ms Burke-Brogan, the report failed to “grasp the real horror” of what went on in laundries around the country.

“This report went into what happened in 10 or 11 laundries – there were 42 of them around the country. They were in Galway, they were in Clare, they were everywhere,” she said.

“It softened the story. That’s my main complaint. For someone who hasn’t experienced or seen what was going on in those places. I find it distressing. In some ways what’s in this report makes it worse.” The Clare People also discovered an account given by one woman, who claimed to have been physically apprehended by nuns at St Joseph’s Hospital in Ennis when she was just 15, and brought away to work in a Magdalene Laundry.

This woman’s story was part of a submission by the Justice for Magdalenes Group to the United National Committee Against Torture. The woman, who was not identified in the report, said she had worked as an unpaid maid in the hospital at the time and was targeted by the nuns when she was discovered speaking to a male hospital porter.

“One nun came in this side entrance [of the chapel in St Joseph’s] and she calls out to me. And I could see the other nun coming in the other door. And I felt strange – somehow I felt, something within me, something was going to happen to me,” she said.

“They grabbed me. And they bundled me into this car outside the chapel… I was crying. And I remember them saying to me, ‘you’re going to the Magdalene Laundry’.”

The McAleese Report also detailed the stories of three Clare girls, age 16 and 17, who were ordered to a Magdalene Laundry because their foster parents no longer wanted them. According to the report, this was common at the time as State payment for foster children ended once the child turned 15.

A SKULL discovered in Quin almost five years ago may have belonged to a compulsive pipe-smoking woman, who died in her 40s more than 300 years ago.

The human remains, which were discovered in Quin in August of 2008, have been shrouded in mystery for the last five years. However, research carried out by TVAS Ireland, who discovered the remains, had shed some light on the historic discovery.

While many questions remain unanswered, the possible life story of the Quin body began to emerge in June.

“We now know that the jaw bone had typical female traits, so we can cautiously say that the body was a female. We know that the person also suffered from arthritis; part of the bones discovered were from the spine and there was evidence of the bones rubbing together. So we are fairly sure that the person would have had severe neck pain,” said Edel Ruttle of TVAS.

“From the jaw bone we noticed a third molar or wisdom tooth. So we are confident that the body was aged somewhere between 21 and 40 years of age. Interestingly, we also saw a clay pipe semi-circle on the body’s teeth, this is consistent to a person holding a clay pipe in her mouth almost constantly.

“So not only was this person a smoker – they would have had to hold the clay pipe in their mouth for hours and hours every day to make marks consistent with the ones we have discovered,” she said.

Despite these discoveries, it is still unclear why the body was buried in that spot and what religion the woman was. One theory maintains that the woman was a social outcast of some sort, which is why she was buried on the edge of a disused Catholic grave and not in the regular Catholic or Protestant grave- yards, which were in use in Quin at that time.

“She is buried in an East/ West liewhich suggest that it was, at least, a partially standard burial, but the she is buried on the very edge of the cemetery, probably after the cemetery went out of use. So it’s difficult to know,” continued Edel.

“It is possible that she was a marginal figure. Maybe she wasn’t buried in the graveyard in Quin Friary because of some social standing or lack of social standing.

“These are possibilities, but we don’t know for sure. There is still a lot of mystery surrounding this body.”

IN NOVEMBER a Clare mother pledged to take her case against the Heath Services Executive who took away a medical card from her son to the gates of Dáil Éireann and straight to Taoiseach Enda Kenny.

Noreen Keane from Cratloe outlined for case to The Clare People , saying that she was on the brink of having to stop buying essential medication for her eight-year-old son following the loss of his discretionary medical card.

To highlight her case Ms Keane outlined plans to stage a protest in Dublin – her last ditch attempt to force the HSE to reverse the decision.

Her son Ronan Woodhouse (8) was born with Down Syndrome and suffers from 13 related conditions including acute asthma, a cardiac condition as well as sight and hearing difficulties.

According to Noreen, the cost of medication, therapy and doctor visits for Ronan costs an average of € 2,300 per month. The HSE contacted Noreen last February, informing her that Ronan’s discretionary medical card was to be revoked.

This decision was upheld after an appeal, prompting Noreen to begin a campaign last month to highlight her son’s situation. In the last number of weeks the “Ronan’s Cause” site on Facebook has gained more than 4,000 friends.

Noreen and Ronan also protested outside the Fine Gael Ard Fheis in Limerick in October, at which time Taoiseach, Enda Kenny (FG), committed to meeting her. This meeting has yet to take place.

“They are putting my child’s life at risk by taking away this medical card. I just can’t provide all these services for him so how am I supposed to prioritise things? Should I reduce the medication that he needs or do I stop bringing him to the doctor?” she told The Clare People .

“I’m going to keep fighting for this. I’m tired, I’d be lying if I said otherwise. I am a single mother. But I am going to keep fighting for this. I don’t have any other choice. Should I stop buying oil for the house or should I stop buying his medication? Then if the house is cold he is going to get sick.

“I work full time and I’m being penalised because I work. We are a oneincome family. When the medical card was issued to Ronan eight years ago we were a two-income family so we are much worse off now than when the card was originally issued. So how can they [the HSE] say that the system has not changed?”

CLARE’S six TDs and senators declared a variety of commercial interests to the Dáil in 2012, including eight rental properties, two farms and a trip to France paid for by the Alternative Iranian Government in Exile.

North Clare senator Martin Conway (FG) listed a trip to an international conference in Paris, paid for by the Iranian group, in the official list of interests submitted to the Dáil for 2012.

The conference, which cost € 395 between hotels and flights, was attended by former Taoiseach John Bruton (FG) as well as members of former US president John F Kennedy’s family.

“It was an informative and important event but it didn’t cost the Irish taxpayers, high up or low down, for me to attend,” Senator Conway told The Clare People yesterday.

“We stayed in extremely basic accommodation. We flew in on Friday night, spent all day Saturday at the conference, and flew home early on Sunday. So it certainly wasn’t a holiday.”

Senator Conway also declared his interests in Conway’s Shop in Ennistymon, in addition to four rental properties in Quin, Tobertascain in Ennis, Woodview in Ennistymon and Ard Donagh in Ennistymon as well as his family home in Ennistymon. Fellow senator Tony Mulcahy (FG) lists two rental properties in Shannon and a property for sale in Bal- lycasey among his commercial interests. Senator Mulcahy also listed his business property in Smithstown Industrial Estate in Shannon and his directorship of Clare School Meals and Catering Ltd among his assets. Senator Mulcahy also amended his declaration in November of this year to include statutory gratuity payment received from his time as a member of Shannon Town Council and Clare County Council. Fianna Fáil TD Timmy Dooley listed two rental properties in Dublin among his declared interests. The properties are located in Charlotte Quay in Dublin 4 and Moyville in Rathfarnham. Deputy Dooley did not list any Clare properties among his interests. East Clare Deputy Michael McNamara (Lab) declared income from occupation as a barrister at law and from his farm in Tuamgraney amongst his declared interests. Deputy Pat Breen (FG) listed the income from his farm in Lisduff, Ballynacally amongst his assets while Deputy Joe Carey (FG) listed no commercial or property interests besides his family home at “the Land” in Clarecastle.

THE sun began to shine in Clare in June and once it started, it just wouldn’t quit. As the county spent much of June soaking up the rays, the tills in north and west Clare were busy ringing as tens of thousands of tourists descended on Lahinch, Kilkee, Spanish Point, Liscannor and Fanore.

The heat-wave has been described as a Godsend for tourism industry in the county, with ‘no vacancies’ signs being dusted off in hotels and B&B’s all along the Atlantic Coast.

All of last week the roads leading to our coastal resort towns and villages were filled with families in search of the beach. Those visiting Lahinch, Spanish Point and Kilkee were forced to park a long way from the beaches as throngs of people made their way to the Clare coastline.

According to Lahinch hotelier Michael Vaughan, the past week was a reminder of the good old days. “Last week was reminiscent of the heady days of the 1970s. It was tremendous, there were droves of people coming from all over the country to rediscover seaside fun and there wasn’t a room to be had in north Clare.

“I think everyone up here went off the Prozac for a week and enjoyed the sun instead,” he said.

Michael Vaughan went on to explain that any issues arising from the hot weather were competently dealt with locally.

“We had a lot of traffic issues in the area but they are issues that we’d be happy to have any day of the week. Credit to the local gardaí, they were out on point duty and managed an unexpected situation really well.

The Cliffs of Moher is on line to record its busiest ever year, which could see the county’s leading tourist attraction hit one million visitors.

According to year-to-date figures obtained by The Clare People , number visitors to the Cliffs are up by more than 10 per cent on last year – and are predicted to hit 961,400 by year end.

“For the Cliffs of Moher and larger towns like Ennis, the tourist number are very good at the moment, mainly because the American bus tourists are really back this year.

“So a 10 per cent increase in numbers at the Cliffs wouldn’t surprise me at all. The number wouldn’t be quite as good for local provider however – we would be aiming for a 5 to 6 per cent increase in number overall this year.”

The Cliffs of Moher is now expected to record its busiest every year in 2013 – passing out the 939,772 who visited the centre in 2007.”

MONEYPOINT Power Station continues to power the West Clare economy and contribute to the national electricity grid in a significant way, but in December concerns were expressed for the future of Kilrush and the environs if and when this station closes.

“A power station that was built in the 1980s would have probably been designed at that time to run for maybe 30 to 40 years or what ever would be typical enough for a plant,” said Brendan Kennedy, Station Manager at the ESB plant when addressing a meeting of Kilrush Town Council.

“I suppose we have done the maintenance over the years to keep that in line. I would be surprised if the station didn’t have it running for another decade anyway. I would expect Moneypoint to run on a high merit in the national grid for the next number of years,” said the Ennis native.

The ESB company pays up to € 12 million in rates to Clare County Council every year, as well as supporting sport facilities, clubs, organisations and the Christmas lights in Kilrush and West Clare.

“I hate to think what Kilrush would be like if Moneypoint never came,” said former mayor of Kilrush Liam O’Looney.

Cllr Mairead O’Brien is what is known locally as a Moneypointer, having moved to Kilrush when her father was transferred to the power station.

“Even if you see that is might last 10 years, that is a shock to me that it might not last any longer. I suppose I would have never contemplated West Clare without it,” she said.

“I would certainly hope there is a way for it to diversify,” she said adding that she hopes the company remains part of West Clare. Mr Kennedy said he did not wish to alarm people and that despite a very competitive market Moneypoint continues to be one of the main suppliers to the national grid.

There are currently 192 full-time people working at the plant, follow- ing 34 voluntary redundancies this time last year. At its peak in the 1980s there was an average of 450 people working there.

Having completed a € 360 million retrofit on site during the last decade the ESB plan to complete re-engineering work on the ash storage area next year as well as further investment in the coming years.

UNITS of Clare County Fire Services were called to deal with a major blaze at a well known eco-farm near Clarecastle last week. No one was injured in the fire, which broke out at a farmhouse in IM Eco Farm at around 8pm on December 23. Units from Ennis and Shannon Fire Stations attended the scene. Four pumps, two water tankers and a Bronco hoist vehicle attended the fire at the family run business. It took fire crews almost four hours to bring the blaze under control. Extensive damage was caused to a farmhouse. Gardaí are now investigating the blaze, which is believed to have been accidental in nature. It is not thought the fire was started for any malicious reasons. Set in 100 acres of countryside, ‘Im eco farm’ is an eco workshop and exhibition located near Clarecastle on the town land of Islandmcgrath along the Fergus estuary. The popular farm offers visitors the opportunity to experience renewable energy hands-on by displaying step-by-step guides and full-scale working models of wind, solar and waterpower as well as offering DIY courses for a more environmentally friendly future. The eco-farm, which opened inc 2009, is the brainchild of Clarecastle native Eddie Connors – a local farmer who obtained a Bachelor of Technology in wood and building technology. The farm was featured on the RTE tv series Higher Ground in 2010 and was recently booked out for a special Christmas event at Santa’s Farm. It is also a very popular venue for school tours.

A JUDGE branded as “crazy” the lack of places in facilities for juvenile offenders in Ireland.

Judge Patrick Durcan made the comment after being told that there were no beds available anywhere in the country for juvenile offenders.

Judge Durcan was imposing sentence on a 16-year-old Clare boy who pleaded guilty to a public order offence committed at a Health Services Executive (HSE) in Ennis last January. He also pleaded guilty to a charge of theft from Dunnes Stores last April.

Judge Durcan said he was compelled to agree with the recommendation of the Probation Services that a detention order be imposed on the teenager.

He said he would impose two detention orders of four months each.

However, Bláthnaid Connolly of the Probation Services, told Judge Durcan that no custodial beds were available anywhere on the day of the hearing.

Judge Durcan said, “This is a crazy situation.”

He said it is a matter for the State to provide facilities for young people.

Inspector Tom Kennedy urged Judge Durcan not to finalise his order without a place being available for the boy.

Defence solicitor Tara Godfrey requested that the Court finalise its order. She said that if sentencing was adjourned for a week, there was a danger her client “would run away or kill himself ”.

Ms Godfrey added, “The court should make this order today.” The court heard that the boy had suffered from drug abuse problems and suffers from ADHD.

Solicitor for the HSE, Aisling Carr, said a significant number of resources had been allocated to the boy over the past year.

Ms Carr said the boy had missed appointments and not co-operated with his addiction counsellor. She said the teenager must co-operate with the services to a certain degree.

The boy’s father told the court that he did not want his son to attend a particular service in Limerick City because issues had arisen with some people from the area.

Ms Godfrey said her client suffered from a “bad form of ADHD”.

She added, “His father has tried to stand by his son every step of the way.”

Judge Durcan said the boy had to realize he could not be the sole determining factor of his own immediate future. He said the boy had “abused” any level of freedom afforded to him in the past.

Judge Durcan remanded the boy on continuing bail to appear again at Ennis District Court at the end of the month for sentence.

He said the HSE had a “particular responsibility in this matter”.

GUILTY verdicts were returned at the murder trials of two Clare men at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin.

North Clare man Colm Deely (41) had pleaded not guilty to murdering Deirdre McCar thy (43), between 11pm on March 27, 2011, and noon the following day.

But a jury of seven women and five men found the father of two guilty by unanimous verdict in just under three hours of deliberation.

Mr Justice Barry White said he was handing down a mandatory life sentence and that he had no discretion in the matter.

Ms McCarthy was socialising in a local pub with friends including Deely on the night she went missing. The cour t heard Ms McCarthy’s body was found on Fanore Beach four days later and that and that Deely did not take part in the search to find her. It also heard that after her body was found, Deely, of School Road, Ballyvaughan, attempted to take his own life by stabbing himself in the stomach.

Deely told gardaí they were “fooling around” in Ms McCarthy’s bed and he put his hands around her neck but did not mean to kill her.

FAS worker Deely claimed Ms McCar thy tried to blackmail him. Mr Patrick Giblin SC, defending, told the court his client was sorry for what he had done but “intended no harm”.

In a victim impact statement, the deceased’s sister, Helen Geoghean said, “I don’t think we will ever be able to tr uly put into words the devastation that we still feel each and every day.

“Dee was a happy easy-going person who lived as very simple life. She didn’t have much need for the material things in life but she was a very caring person who loved life,” she added.

Also at the Central Criminal Court, Barefield farmer Joe Heffernan (33), of Cappagh Beg, Barefield, was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of law student Eoin Ryan (21).

Heffernan pleaded not guilty to the murder of Ryan at Cappagh Beg, Barefield, on June 7, 2011.

The trial heard that Heffernan told gardaí he killed Mr Ryan because he made a pass at him, adding that the devil had been in the man’s eyes.

The court heard Mr Ryan sustained multiple injuries to his head and body and that his blood was found on a socket wrench at the scene.

The trial had heard that Mr Ryan was gay and that both men had left the pub together hours before his death.

The prosecution said that Heffernan’s motive was his abhorrence with himself that he might be homosexual or have engaged in a homosexual act that morning.

The defence asked for manslaughter verdict arguing that Heffernan’s adjustment disorder following his father’s death caused him to think he was killing the devil.

However a forensic psychiatrist who interviewed Heffernan three time said he knew what he was doing was wrong.

Eoin Ryan’s brother, Daniel Ryan delivered a powerful victim impact statement. “Our world ended on the 7th of June 2011. Each morning is begun with a jolt of pain as the memory of what happened to Eoin returns to us” he said.

“All our hopes for Eoin were destroyed in minutes by the barbaric actions of another just kilometres from our home.”

SHANNON suffered a major jobs blow in December when it was revealed that one of the longest serving companies in the Free Zone will close its manufacutring facility in 2014.

It was announced through a public relations firm in Dublin that Kraus and Naimer would shut down the manufacturing arm of its operation in the industial estate early in the new year.

“Production at the facility, which supplies electrical switchgear, will cease at the end of January 2014,” a statement issued by through FleishmanHilliard revealed.

The announcement was made to the total workforce of 63 by senior management from the company’s parent group in Austria.

The employees were told that “the closure is due to the business sustaining losses for the last number of years, which have been driven by the impact of weak customer demand due to the global recession.

“The decision follows previous efforts to restructure the facility and a move recently to enter short working time arrangements,” the statement continued.

“It is with deep regret we have had to make this decision which has been made due to ongoing and unsustainable losses incurred at the Shannon facility,” said Ted Naimer, Global President at Kraus and Naimer.

“We will be entering into a process with staff over coming days in relation to an orderly winding down of the facility, and thank them sincerely for the contribution they have made to the company,” he added

Kraus and Naimer established its facility, which is involved in the manufacture of a variety of electrical switches for industry, in Shannon in 1973.

SIPTU, which had been in talks with the company about strategies to maintain its operation in Shannon, said workers are shocked and angered to learn of the company’s decision to end production.

The union says further talks are due to take place at the company next week.

It will explore all avenues open to maintaining employment and if necessary trying to secure the best redundancy deals possible.