Category: News

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.

FOUR people have appeared in court charged in connection with a disturbance at Tesco’s shopping centre in Ennis earlier this month.

The accused were arrested following an alleged incident at Tesco’s on Wednesday, December 18. Two people Anne Delaney (45) and James Delaney (26) were brought before Ennis District Court within hours of the alleged incident.

Garda Michael Daniels of Ennis Garda Station gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution in respect of both accused.

Ms Delaney, with an address at Waterpark Heights, Ennis, and Mr Delaney, with an address at Gordon Drive, Cloughleigh, Ennis are both charged with engaging in threatening, insulting or abusive behaviour with intent to provoke a breach of the peace.

Garda Daniels told the court that in response to charge after caution, Ms Delaney said, “I’m sorry for throwing the bottles”.

Mr Delaney made no response to charge after caution.

Both accused were granted bail subject to conditions. Garda Daniels said there is a possibility of further charges being brought.

Both accused were remanded on bail to appear again at Ennis District Court on February 12. The State were granted liberty to re-enter the cases at 24 hours notice. Two other people – a man and a juvenile – appeared at Ennis District Court on Thursday, December 19, charged with public order offences arising out of the same alleged circumstances. A M A N has appeared in court charged with weapons and criminal damage offences arising out of an alleged incident in the market area of Ennis earlier this year.

It is alleged Patrick McCarthy (20) had a hatchet which had a blade or was sharply pointed at Lower Market Street, Ennis on February 18, 2013.

Mr McCarthy is further charged with the criminal damage of a car at the same date and location. The accused, with an address at Woodlawn, Lahinch Road, Ennis, appeared before Ennis District Court on Wednesday (December 18).

Inspector Tom Kennedy told the court the matter would be proceeding on indictment and that a book of evidence would be required. Mr McCarthy was remanded on continuing bail to appear again at Ennis District Court in February (2014). Defence solicitor Tara Godfrey consented to an extension of time for service of the book of evidence.

MORE than 300 disabled Clare people faced a future of “darkness and isolation” as the axing of the Mobility Allowance and Motorised Transport Grant sentenced them to being prisoners in their own homes.

In March disabled Clare people prepared to wage war against the Department of Health in a last-gasp effort to protect their independence. Campaigners claim that the cuts will prevent Clare people with disabilities from reaching their full potential and lead to isolation, depression and suicide, especially in rural parts of the county.

The Department of Health decided to axe the schemes after Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly repeatedly warned the age limit on the payments was in contravention of equality legislation. It claimed that extending the schemes along with Ms O’Reilly’s recommendations would cost approximately € 170 million per annum.

This claim was disputed by campaigners in Ennis, who said the additional cost of including those over the age of 66 in the scheme would be minute.

The criteria for qualifying for both schemes is currently very strict. Candidates must prove that they were profoundly disabled and undergo a means test in order to be considered. Just 300 of Clare’s 9,000 disabled people currently qualify, meaning that the number of elderly Clare people coming onto the scheme, if it was extended to them, would likely be small, they argued.

“Elderly people would have to prove that they are profoundly disabled and show that their income is so low that they would pass the means test. So, if the existing scheme was extended to older people, there would be a tiny amount of extra people who would qualify,” said Anne Marie Carroll, who qualified for both schemes until she entered full-time employment.

“The legal issue here is a red herring. In my opinion, this is the Government trying to put manners on the Ombudsman because she has been outspoken on a number of issues. We are the fall guys in this, because disabled people are seen as a group who won’t stand up for themselves.”

Disabled people from all over Clare were worried that the loss of the schemes would make them prisoners in their own home.

“If this goes, it means I cannot get out,” said Ennis man Thomas Connole, who is visually impaired. “This allowance will go, and I am worried I am going to be housebound. I will effectively be trapped in my own home.”

According to Tom King, the former chair of Disabled People of Clare (DPOC), disabled Clare people are ready to fight the Government for these allowances. “This takes away the possibility of employment and a social life, but the main thing that it takes way is independence. This is going to leave disabled people isolated, in their homes, alone,” he said.

“There is an appetite on the ground to fight this. People with disabilities are feeling the recession as much as everyone else. We don’t have the money in our pockets to cover this and we are ready for a fight.”

DESPITE repeated warnings, a second person was hospitalised after being injured Dusty the Dolphin.

Local organisations and Clare County Council have told people not to swim with the dolphin who had taken up residence at Doolin pier.

Clare County Council lifeguards stationed at Doolin Pier had taken to raising the red flag, which indicated it is not safe to swim when Dusty is in the area.

Despite this people continued to swim close to the dolphin with re- ports of people covering Dusty’s blowhole and pulling her fins.

The latest took place when a female swimmer was charged as she left the water after a swim.

The dolphin is believed to have struck the woman in the kidney, knocking her over and leaving her winded.

The woman received treatment at the scene by the Doolin Unit of Irish Coast Guard and was taken by ambulance to the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Limerick for treatment.

Her injuries were described as not serious but she was badly bruised and shocked by the incident.

The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group put up posters in the area recommending that people not swim with Dusty.

The posters were distributed to premises in Doolin while additional posters were placed on the Doolin ferries.

“IWDG acknowledges that many people have had a fantastic encounter with Dusty and have built up a person relationship with the dolphin. However IWDG is very concerned that any visitors, especially in the summer, do not recognise the signals Dusty sends out when she is not happy with behaviour,” a spokesperson said.

“Ignoring such signs or behaving inappropriately had led on a number of occasions to aggressive interactions with some people being severely injured. If this continues it may lead to a fatality and then there will be strong pressure to remove or destroy the Dolphin.

“If you really are concerned about Dusty you will not swim with her or at least if you do, you will show her the respect a wild dolphin is entitled to.”