Category: News

THE cases of two people charged in connection with an alleged violent incident at a graveyard in Ennis are to proceed in the Circuit Court.

Brothers David and Brian Joyce, both with addresses at Dun Na hInse, Ennis, appeared before Ennis District Court on Wednesday.

Brian Joyce (19) is charged with assault causing harm to a man and unlawful possession of a wooden handle arising out of an alleged incident at Drumcliffe graveyard on August 27 (2013).

Inspector Tom Kennedy told the court the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had directed the matter proceed to trial on indictment.

He said a book of evidence is being prepared in the case.

Mr Joyce was remanded on continuing bail to appear again at Ennis District Court on December 18 for service of the book of evidence.

Charges were struck out against David Joyce (24).

David Joyce had been charged with assault causing harm and unlawful possession of a three-foot iron bar arising out of the same alleged incident at Drumcliffe Graveyard on August 27.

Insp Kennedy said no evidence was being offered in respect of the charges.

Judge Patrick Durcan granted the application to strike out the charges.

Judge Durcan refused jurisdiction of the case of a 16-year-old boy charged in connection with the alleged incident at Druncliffe.

The teenager is charged with possession of a steak knife and production of a hockey stick contrary to the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act.

Previous charges against the boy were struck out.

Insp Tom Kennedy outlined the alleged facts of the case to allow Judge Durcan consider jurisdiction.

The court heard that gardaí received an anonymous phone call to respond to an incident at Drumcliffe on August 27.

Insp Kennedy said it would be alleged that the teenager was found in possession of a hockey stick and steak knife in the graveyard.

“There was a fight. Blood was spilled”, added Insp Kennedy.

He told the court the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had directed summary disposal of the case.

Judge Durcan refused jurisdiction, meaning the case will now proceed to the Circuit Court.

The boy was remanded on continuing bail to appear again at Ennis District Court on December 18 for service of the book of evidence.

THREE more people were sentenced in the district court this week, following a garda operation targeting the sale of drugs in Kilrush.

The District Court in Kilrush heard that a number of people sold controlled drugs to under cover Gardaí during the end of 2012 and beginning of 2013. Among them were Martin O’Brien (32) The Bungalow, Wood Road, Kilrush, who pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled drug – Diamorphine (heroin) for sale or supply at the Tesco car park, on the Ennis Road, Kilrush, at 6.45 pm on January 30, 2013.

He was also charged with having heroin for sale or supply at Woodroad, Kilrush at 5.30pm on January 11, 2013 and drugs for sale at 6pm on January 14, 2013, in the Tesco car park, Kilrush.

Mr O’Brien was on bail at the time of the offences, is currently serving a three-year sentence for assault and has 37 previous convictions.

Solicitor for the defence Darragh Hassett said it was no secret that Mr O’Brien had a drug problem.

“He would have started out life as being one of the people being sold the drugs,” he said.

Mr O’Brien’s wife Valerie Power, The Bungalow, Wood Road, Kilrush, was also charged with having heroin for sale or supply at the Tesco car park, Kilrush, on March 15, 2013. She was also charged with having heroin for sale at the supermarket car park on February 16 and again on March 1, this year.

The court heard she began selling Mr O’Brien’s remaining drugs after he was arrested. She was also on bail at the time of the offence.

Mr Hassett said Ms Power does not take drugs and has warned Mr O’Brien she will leave him if he uses drugs again.

Sean McMahon (24) with an address at 25 Nagles Terrace, Kilrush, pleaded guilty to having cannabis herb for sale or supply at Kilkee Road, Kilrush, on December 12, 2012, and again on the Kilkee Road, on December 4, 2012.

His solicitor Patrick Moynihan said Mr McMahon had now moved away from Kilrush and was living in Galway while attending GMIT.

He said he was a bright man that did something stupid. He was addicted to cannabis and “got the fright of his life from this”, he added.

Judge Patrick Durcan served Ms Power with the probation act and placed her on her own bond for two years.

He sentenced Mr McMahon to six months in prison and suspended it for two years.

“I am not satisfied Mr McMahon has ceased to be involved in drug sale. Mr O’Brien’s case was adjourned to Ennis District Court on Wednesday to allow he judge consider his jurisdiction on sentencing.

On Wednesday Judge Durcan said Mr O’Brien fell into a much more serious category of offender than his fellow accused.

He said he had engaged in the sale of heroin in three areas of Kilrush, activities the court heard, that cre- ated a “drug epidemic” in the West Clare town.

Judge Durcan said, “The defendant Martin O’Brien would appear to be one of the bigger players, in a local sense, in the filthy pool of drug dealing.”

He added that while he bears in mind Mr O’Brien’s circumstances and his plea of guilty, the aggravating factors in the case are “staggering”.

He imposed sentences totalling 18 months but suspended the final three months on condition Mr O’Brien be of good behaviour.

He granted an application to fix recognizances in the event of an appeal. Judge Durcan commended the work of gardaí who had undertaken the undercover operation in Kilrush.

He described the amount of damage being done by heroin to Kilrush as “horrific”.

He said that while heroin is causing difficulties to communities across the country, “it is a particular problem in Kilrush.”

Judge Durcan said he was struck by the “brashness, the sheer brashness of the offence”.

Warning that business owners to be vigilant of criminal activity on their premises, he said the open trade of heroin in broad daylight would not be tolerated.

He said a mini market for the sale of heroin had been in operation outside the Tesco’s shopping centre.

“I do find it quite amazing that in a supermarket car park there is as much commercial activity as inside,” he said in Kilrush on Tuesday.

IRELAND’S last matchmaker, Willie Daly, is entering the modern age and will begin to use Twitter to bring lovers together from next week. The Lisdoonvarna love doctor, who will celebrate his 70th birthday next year, says he has completed a com- puter course and will start tweeting love tips to his followers as soon as he figures out how to work Twitter. A Twitter account at “TheLastMatchmaker” was created for Mr Daly last week and he says he will begin to Tweet messages to his followers as soon as possible. “I did a computer course before but my daughter was there helping me all along. I’m not very good with computers but I’m going to get some help with this [Twitter] and I should be up and running in about a week,” he said yesterday. “I’m sure I’ll have lots of things to say to people. I’ve think, over the last number of year, I have been missing out by not being involved [with the internet and social media]. Twitter seems to be the best way of talking to people – it seems to be better that Facebook from what I can see anyway. So I’m excited about doing it. Twitter seems to be the most modern one of them [social media sites]. So, if I’m going to get involved at this stage I might as well go for the most modern one. “Who knows the amount of unknown romances that I might be able to create for the people of the world on Twitter. I think I’ll also be able to get people into a more romantic mood and to help people in that way.” Willie Daly has been matchmaking at the Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival for more then 50 years. Over the years he claims to have brought together thousands of couples and claims responsibility for hundreds of marriages.

ONE of Clare’s most historic structures has been closed to allow for essential repairs to take place over the winter. O’Brien’s Tower at the Cliffs of Moher was closed to the public last week and will remain closed until repairs to the roof and interior of the structure can be completed.

No target date has yet been given for the reopening of building, which is expected to play a central part of 1,000 year anniversary of Brian Boru next year.

Director of the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience, Katherine Webster, said every care is being taken to protect the listed building.

“We usually close the tower for internal maintenance work for a period during the winter. This year we are also doing some work on the roof to address water ingress to the tower through this area,” she said.

“O’Brien’s Tower is a very important historic structure and given the exposed location near the highest point of the Cliffs of Moher it is subject to the onslaught of extreme weather.

“This leads to substantial maintenance requirements. We are very conscious of our obligations to maintain and conserve what is a unique piece of cultural heritage. I don’t have a date for reopening at this stage.

“It is particularly important that O’Brien’s Tower is fully ready for the year ahead in 2014, which marks the 1000 year anniversary of the death of Brian Boru, the first High King of Ireland and founder of the influential O’Brien Clan.”

LOTTO players in Quin were anxiously checking their numbers at the weekend as news broke that the € 5.5m jackpot ticket was sold in Corbett’s shop in the village.

The winning ticket, which was worth € 5,553,404 was a € 4 Quick Pick purchased on Saturday.

As of Monday night there was no confirmation of Saturday’s lucky winner with locals only speculating about the winner.

“The pubs are buzzing with who might have won it. I’ve heard three names already,” a local told The Clare People on monday afternoon.

This is the second big win in the county in three months. In August, a Lotto jackpot worth more than € 6 million was won by a Limerick woman who also bought a € 4 Quick Pick at Kennedy’s Centra, Lahinch.

In May 2012, Liddy’s Costcutters, Roslevan, Ennis, sold a € 2.6 million ticket.

TWO of the Labour Party’s local election conventions will be held in the Temple Gate Hotel, Ennis, on Thursday, ahead of the party’s conference at the weekend.

Two candidates are expected to be selected from the new look Shannon constituency, with one candidate to be selected in Ennis.

Shannon has always provided a strong base for the Labour party with two members currently on the town council.

On Thursday, the party’s only county councillor Pascal Fitzgerald and current Shannon town councillor Tony McMahon will go before convention, with both expected to be selected.

The contest will therefore be for the Ennis Municipal District with two contenders in the race – current vice-chairperson of the party Seamus Ryan and long-serving member Dermot Hayes who began his political interest with Democratic Left.

Up to 55 members will vote to decide which of the two men will contest the election in the Ennis area.

A Labour candidate was elected to the Ennis Town Council in 2009, Paul O’Shea, but he later left the party in protest and declared as an Independent town councillor.

Meanwhile the party conventions for the West Clare area and Killaloe will not be held until after Christmas.

Names such as Darren Hayes, now living in Liscannor, have been mooted for the western constituency.

Killaloe is proving more difficult however, as the sitting Killaloe councillor, Cllr Fitzgerald, is forced to contest the Shannon area election this time around due to a change in the boundary.

REPORTS on the development potential of the Shannon Estuary date back to the 1960s, but the Strategic Integrated Framework Plan for the Shannon Estuary launched on Friday afternoon is ground breaking, those in attendance were told.

Gordon Daly, Senior Planner with Clare County Council, said the report was the first of its kind in the country as it mapped out future development and management of marine-related industry and tourism along Ireland’s largest estuary.

“We’ve talked about it and around it for years. We have had reports Arthur Young 1989, Brady Shipman 1999, Ewbank Preece 1989 and PWC 1998. Now finally we have done something positive in putting this plan in place,” said Mayor of Clare Joe Arkins.

He asked that the Oirechtais members present to ensure the Government “pick up and move on this plan”.

Minister for Housing and Planning Jan O’Sullivan vowed Government support for the strategy that identifies nine ‘Strategic Development Locations’ on the Estuary, including Moneypoint and Innismurry/Cahercon on the Clare side.

It also identified designated Shell Fish Waters at Poulnasherry Bay and Carrigaholt Bay and pointed to opportunities at Rinevella Bay, Killimer and Clonderlaw Bay.

The plan supported by 19 bodies including the lead organisation, Clare County Council, recognises the tourism potential of the estuary and includes objectives to further develop the cruise ship industry, while it highlights the potential of the Islands on the Fergus Estuary.

Meanwhile, the strategy features objectives relating to aviation and supports the future development of Shannon Airport, including acknowledging the importance of the 2000- acre land bank zoned for aviation uses in the Shannon Town and Environs Local Area Plan 2012-2018.

Balancing the industrial development of the estuary with the environmental needs of the area was the greatest challenge when drawing up the plan, all agreed.

County manager Tom Coughlan said that there were tensions at times between the protection of the estuary and the development of the estuary.

“The estuary also has a wealth of natural heritage and biodiversity system and the whole area is designated as a special area of conservation because of the presence of a number of important species. They are located through out the whole estuary, but the rich diversity of wild life and natural heritage in the area does not mean the development and the potential economic future of the area is off the agenda. It simply means that development in the overall area requires sensitive and careful management and I think we are all very much aware of that,” added Minister O’Sullivan. Without such a plan there is a risk of missed opportunity.”

“Looking the future the steering partners have agreed to stay in place. The challenge now going forward is to maximise the social economic and environmental protection of the estuary,” said Mr Coughlan.

CLARE resident Gerry Harrison last night spilled the beans on his time with the greatest band that ever lived. Gerry, who founded Banner Books in Ennistymon, was the assistant director of the legendary Beatles’ 1967 film ‘Magical Mystery Tour’.

During filming, Gerry struck up a friendship with both John Lennon and Paul McCartney and would go on to work with both men even after the break up of the Beatles.

In addition to working on ‘Magical Mystery Tour’, Gerry also worked on ‘London Town’, ‘Venus and Mars’ and ‘Mull of Kintyre’ with Paul McCartney and he spent a week working on the film of ‘Imagine’ with John Lennon.

“It was a great time. I am very much part of that sex and drugs and rock and roll generation. We lived in Notting Hill, which was the height of hip London at that time,” he said.

“Down the road was Island Records, in the next street there was Van Morrison and the band that played in the local church was called Pink Floyd.”

Gerry first worked with the Beatles on the filming of the ‘Magical Mystery Tour’, the first project completed by the Fab Four after the death of the manager Brian Epstein.

“There was no script so I was worried from the beginning. My job involved planning ahead, on extras and locations. I had to ask Paul McCarthy for a script on the first day and they found something for me.

“But what was interesting was the concept, which was illustrated as a circle by Paul McCarthy. At that time Paul was basically in charge because Brian Epstein had just died. It was a sort-of a Buddhist wheel of life and Paul put in different scenes at different places around the wheel.

“Every day of filming was mystery, but it wasn’t very magical. It was hard work in many cases. This [the film] derived from the whole concept of taking a ‘trip’ and the whole LSD thing was very important.

“I think the film was largely a reinaction [or actual experience that the Beatles had]. I remember the rehearsed lines. There was a scene between Paul and [Welsh actor] Victor Spinetti, that was the most structured part of the whole movie. The rest really was a mystery.”

A full feature interview about Gerry and his time with the Beatles will appear in next week’s Clare People . Gerry spoke about his time with the Beatles at Trinity College last night.

A SUB group of the Regional Drug Taskforce has been established to tackle a heroin problem in the town of Kilrush, as experts try to ascertain if there is a serious deep-rooted problem in the West Clare town.

Gardaí in Kilrush, in conjunction with the National Drugs Unit, have been tackling the supply issue with a special five-month undercover operation spanning the end of last year and the first quarter of this year.

A total of 1,400 Garda man-hours were used in the investigation and sting that resulted in at least eight arrests that have come before the courts so far. The Clare People has learnt that a special “drop-in clinic” for drug addicts was opened in the town eight weeks ago, to deal with the sociocriminal problem that has taken hold for the last year.

Regional drugs coordinator with the HSE Rory Keane said a heroin issue in a town of this size is usually attributed to a social-economic issue and supply.

Last week three of those arrested in the Garda drug ‘sting’ were sentenced in the District Court.

Meanwhile Mr Keane said the health service has been aware of a problem in the town for the last year. He added that a specialist team made up of the HSE Drug and Alcohol Service, Mid Western Regional Task Force, Bushy Park and the Community Substance Misuse Team, were now working in the town to examine the general drug issues including heroin.

The special drop-in clinic will close in the next few weeks and the body will regroup to assess the situation.

“It has been a concern for the last 12 months that there does seem to be a pocket of heroin use in Kilrush that would not be on other parts of the county,” said the drugs specialist.

“Availability would be an issue. The other concerns would be social-economic factors and issues of unemployment, motivation and poverty.

“A drug problem might come up centred around a few individuals or a supply issue in a rural area,” he explained adding that the concern in Kilrush was the problem was established for longer than would be expected in a town of its size.

“It is too early yet to say if it is a deep-rooted problem or a long-term episodic issue. We are not in a position to predict what will happen,” he said.

“My sense from talking to people is it is definitely a social and economic issue here,” said Mr Keane adding that it is no coincident that you see an increase in drug use at times of economic difficulties.

“There is a strong link between poverty and heroin. One of the challenges facing us is that it does leak across life and affects all facets of life.”

In Kilrush court last week one father told how he found his son in a “place” where drug addict go “to shoot up and smoke” not too far away from the court house.

Kilrush District Court Judge, Patrick Durcan described the amount of damage being done by heroin to Kilrush as “horrific”.

He asked that local businesses be vigilant and ensure it is not easily sold on their premises or car parks.

DETAILS of the HSE’s application were outlined at Ennis District Court on Wednesday where the boy appeared on assault and criminal damage charges arising out of an alleged incident in East Clare on November 6. A HSE social care worker told the court the HSE had been forced to look outside the jurisdiction for a secure place because of the waiting list that exists in Ireland.

The woman said an application will be made to the High Court and the authorities in Scotland have been notified of the placement.

It is proposed that the boy will stay in St Mary’s for a total of four months, which will comprise a threemonth secure placement and one month step down placement.

A Scottish Government Child Safety and Wellbeing report on the costs of secure accommodation show the average cost per secure bed per week at St Mary’s during 2011-12 was £5,160, ranging from £5,060 to £5,410. The estimated cost of the teenager’s stay in the unit could be € 61,920. The court heard that another troubled teenager from Dublin is also staying in the unit. The social worker told the court the HSE would pay the cost of the placement.

In response to questions from Judge Patrick Durcan, the woman said she did not have the cost of placing the boy in secure accommodation in Scotland.

Judge Durcan asked the cost of the placement be given to the Court Services.

Judge Durcan said he was “not happy” about the application but said that the HSE hare the statutory body with responsibility for child welfare.

The court heard the boy is being placed in a secure unit as it gives him the best chance of transitioning to a stable life in adulthood. The woman said the boy is looking forward to going to Scotland. The court heard the boy had been living with his wheelchair bound uncle as his father is in prison.

St Mary’s is a secure unit that accommodates 24 children. According to its website, it has a variety of recreational facilities including a sevenaside Astroturf pitch, gymnasium, fitness suite and swimming pool. In 2008, the unit was the scene of violent riot that resulted in £200,000 worth of damage. The teen’s cases were adjourned to Killaloe District Court on May 6. The Clare People submitted a number of questions to the HSE but no response had been received at time of going to print.