The Clare People Archive

AN ENNIS man who stole bottles of spirits from Dunnes Stores has avoided jail but has been ordered to do some “pick and spade” work around the town. At Ennis District Court on Wednesday, Patrick McCarthy (21) was ordered to do 200 hours of community service in lieu of four months in prison, after pleading guilty to theft and public order offences.

Mr McCarthy admitted stealing bottles of vodka, Jack Daniels whis- key and Captain Morgan’s rum from Dunne Stores on February 4.

He further admitted stealing rum and whiskey from Dunnes Stores on February 9. Those bottles were later recovered, the court heard.

Mr McCarthy, with addresses at Woodlawn, Lahinch Road, Ennis and Ballaghboy Halting Site, Quin Road, Ennis, also pleaded guilty to being intoxicated to such an extent to be in breach of the public order act at Ballaghboy on May 14.

After being told Mr McCarthy had a number of previous convictions for theft, public order and drugs offences, Judge Patrick Durcan said the accused had an “appalling record”.

“He’s got a masters degree at this stage”, Judge Durcan said.

Defence solicitor Tara Godfrey told the court her client had a very difficult childhood. She said Mr McCarthy started taking head shop type drugs, aged 15 and has had serious problems with alcoholism.

The court was told he is currently awaiting sentence in the Circuit Court on a criminal damage matter.

Judge Patrick Durcan imposed pris- on sentences totaling four months but substituted them for 200 hours of community service.

He said this was a time of the year when Ennis is in competition for the Tidy Towns.

The Judge said he was sure the local authorities in Ennis would appreciate a few “pick and spade merchants” doing work around the town.

He remanded Mr McCarthy on continuing bail to appear again at Ennis District Court on September 17 for a pre-sentence report from the Probation Services.

A SOLID link connecting the Burren and the Lord of the Rings may finally have been established following extensive research by a Northern Irish scholar.

Dr Liam Campbell has studied a number of edits undertaken on JRR Tolkien classic fantasy novel between 1949 and 1954, when it was first published. By painstakingly cross-referencing the individual edits with known visits by JRR Tolkien to North Clare, Campbell believes he has, for once and for all, proved the connection.

According to Dr Campbell, who will speak at next month’s Burren Tolkien Society Festival, some of the discovered passages read like a virtual road map to the Burren.

“I have evidence of late passages which were put into the book in the 1950s by Tolkien. Once you are aware of the chronology of the book, and when he edited certain section, you can see some of the later edits which when written up read like a road map to the Burren,” said Dr Campbell.

“Many people say that the Lord of the Ring was finished in 1948, before his visits to Ireland, but I also uncovered a letter between Tolkien and his editor from April of 1953 in which he says ‘at last I have finished the book’.

“I know that he did a major rewrite of the whole book in 1952 with his son, and that took place after he came to the Burren and experienced the place.”

Dr Campbell will reveal specific passages from the book, which is the second most published book of all time, which have a distinctive Burren influence, and is keeping the exact details close to his chest until the Burren Tolkien Society Festival in August.

“It is true to say that if I was to read some passages to you, and told you it was a tourist guide to the Burren, you would not bat an eye lid. I can’t speak on which sections of the book have these passages but I will reveal that during the talk,” continued Dr Campbell.

“There is a deep connection between the book and the Celtic mythology. I would almost say that so much of the information about the Elves in the book comes almost directly from Celtic mythology.”

For more on the Burren Tolkien Society visit www.burrentolkiensociety.ie.

A BRAZILIAN carer who stole his 79-year-old employer’s credit card to fund a € 3,000 spending spree in Dublin has been sentenced to four days in jail.

Rodrigo Pires (21) stole the card from the home of Hugh Weir at Ballinakilla, Whitegate, on July 12, 2014.

The English language student travelled to Dublin where he used the card to buy flights to Italy, an Apple Mac notebook, and clothes from Brown Thomas, shoes and sunglasses.

Details of the spree were heard at Ennis District Court on Friday. Mr Pires, who is originally from Sao Paulo but was staying at an apartment at Shaun Court, NCR, Dublin, pleaded guilty to one charge of theft and nine charges of deception.

The offences were committed at Whitegate and locations around Dublin city centre on July 12 and July 13. Inspector Tom Kennedy explained Mr Pires came to Dublin to study English on a student visa. He said after completing his studies, the accused decided to move to another county because he was living with Portuguese friends and not getting his opportunity to speak English.

Garda Declan Condon explained that Mr Pires lived with Hugh Weir, an author of books on the environment, and his wife at their home in Whitegate.

He spent five months helping to care for Mr Weir, who suffers from polio. Garda Condon said Mr Pires earned € 100 a week for his work.

Garda Condon said Mr Pires was due to return to Brazil when his visa expired at the end of July.

Instead, he stole Mr Weir’s credit card and travelled to Dublin where he dishonestly by deception with drew sums of cash from AIB bank. He bought flight tickets from Aer Lingus and Easy Jet, sunglasses worth € 229 and clothes and shoes from stores such Schuh, Top Man and Brown Thomas.

Gardaí arrested the accused at Dublin Airport after the bank notified Mr Weir his card was being used in various locations in Dublin.

The court heard most of the goods were recovered but Mr Weir is still owed € 1,531. Mr Pires has no previous convictions.

Defence solicitor Stiofán Fitzpatrick said his client was ashamed of what he had done.

“He decided to do it in the spur of the moment. He saw the opportunity and he took it,” added Mr Fitzpatrick.

Judge Patrick Durcan said, “This is a very serious matter.” He sentenced Mr Pires to 90 days in prison but suspended the final 86 days, meaning the accused had to spend four days in prison.

Judge Durcan ordered that Mr Pires agree to leave Ireland on his release and not return for five years.

A SPECIAL sitting of Ennis District Court will take place today to deal with alleged drugs offences.

It is the first time the court has sat specifically to deal with alleged offences under the Misuse of Drugs Act.

A total of 69 cases are due to be heard at the District Court, which is due to get underway at 10.30. The cases concern allegations against 34 people some of whom are charged with multiple offences.

In some cases, defendants are facing non-drug related charges.

Pleas of guilty have been entered in many of the cases, while others are due to be contested.

In cases where defendants have pleaded guilty, Judge Patrick Durcan has already ordered the preparation of pre-sentence reports from the Probation Services.

These reports are read and considered by the presiding judge before passing sentence.

The reports often look at a person’s backgrounds and explains the reasons why they may have started using drugs.

The move to hear cases involving a specific category of crime was introduced in Clare this year by the District Court judge for the area, Patrick Durcan.

It is understood that one of the reasons to hear all cases involving drugs offences in one day was to ensure a level of consistency in sentencing, where it applies.

Special hearing days have already been set aside road traffic cases and general crimes such as public order and criminal damage offences.

The move towards specialised hearing days is also an attempt to introduce a greater degree of efficiency into the way criminal cases are heard in the courts in Clare.

CLARE is facing a ticking timebomb with a dramatic increase in the size of the county’s social housing waiting list and reports of a number of people being made homeless be- cause their rent allowance is no longer enough to cover their rents.

According to figures obtained by The Clare People , the number of people on the social housing waiting list has grown from 2,312 in October of 2012 to 3,066 this month.

This represents an increase of more than 32 per cent over the last 20 months and leaves the number of people waiting for social housing approaching an all time high.

This situation has been exacerbated by the recent increase in rental charges within the property market in urban parts of the county, with rent al- lowance payments no longer able to keep pace with the rising rents.

Ironically the news of the shortage of social housing units comes within a week of reports of a record number of properties currently unoccupied in Clare.

THE Judge presiding over the trial of a Clare teacher convicted of indecently assaulting his pupils over a 21year period told the jury they were entitled to convict beyond a reasonable doubt if they accepted the evidence of the complainants.

Judge Gerald Keyes was addressing the jury of seven women and five men at the conclusion of the 11-day trial at Ennis Circuit Criminal Court on Thursday.

Pat Barry (80), of Well Road, Kilkee, was found guilty by the jury of 59 counts of indecently assaulting 11 female pupils at Moyasta National School between 1964 and 1985.

Mr Barry, who served as principal from 1964 to 1989, denied all charges. Prior to the verdicts being returned, Judge Keyes directed the jury to find Mr Barry not guilty on eight of the original 67 counts.

In his charge to the jury, Judge Keyes told them they must “scrutinize” the evidence of each of the complainants especially as this was a case where there was no corroboration or independent witnesses.

He told the jury they must be careful to consider the possibility of “collusion” particularly as this was a case with a number of complainants.

He said the fact the allegations concerned events that occurred between 20 and 40 years ago made the jury’s task all the more difficult.

He noted that the delay between the time of the assaults and the matters being investigated and prosecuted made the case harder to defend than to prosecute.

However the Judge said the law does state that old cases cannot not be prosecuted.

He reminded the jury they must be “much more careful” in their consideration of the evidence.

“You’ve heard the evidence. Apply your common sense”, he added.

Judge Keyes told the jury they must treat each of the 59 counts separately as if they were each separate trials.

“Do not allow yourself to say if the accused did it once, he did it twice”, he said. Judge Keyes told the jury that three types of indecent conduct had been outlined by the women.

He said the behaviour alleged involved girls being called to the front of the class and placed between Mr Barry’s legs as he sat at his desk.

Another type of assault involved the accused sitting beside girls at their desks and touching them inappropriately.

He said the other allegation involved Mr Barry holding girls between his legs while he sat at a high stool.

He told the jury all 12 of them must be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the alleged conduct occurred. He said evidence had been given that Mr Barry was a violent man in the classroom.

The Judge told the jury that this case was not about about corporal punishment or whether Mr Barry was a violent man.

“Don’t let the issue of violence cloud your mind or colour your thinking”, he said.

“This is not the issue in this case”, he added. After the jury returned their unanimous guilty verdicts at 2.39pm on Friday afternoon, Judge Keyes thanked them for their “diligence”, “attention” and “time keeping” over the three weeks.

THERE were emotional scenes at Ennis Courthouse on Friday as a retired teacher was found guilty on 59 counts of indecently assaulting former pupils at a Clare primary school.

Victims wept and embraced each other as a jury returned guilty verdicts against Pat Barry (80), of Well Road, Kilkee.

Barry denied 67 counts of indecently assaulting 11 girls at Moyasta National School between 1964 and 1985.

Judge Gerald Keyes had directed the jury of seven women and five men to find Mr Barry not guilty on eight of the 67 counts.

At the conclusion of the eleven day trial at Ennis Circuit Criminal Court, the jury today returned unanimous guilty verdicts on the remaining 59 counts.

Barry, who has hearing difficulties, sat with his left hand cupped around his ear, straining to hear Judge Keyes for the five minutes it took the Judge to read out the verdicts.

The jury deliberated for five hours and 35 minutes over two days.

They returned unanimous verdicts, 30 minutes after being told by Judge Keyes he would accept majority verdicts in each of the counts.

In the hallway outside the courtroom, the women hugged and wiped tears from their faces.

They declined to comment but one family friend spoke the “huge sense of relief” felt at the end long of the near three week trial.

The trial heard from 19 prosecutions witness including the 11 female complainants.

In evidence, the women detailed how Barry would grope and touch them on a regular basis primarily when they were in fifth and sixth class.

They recalled how Barry would call them to the top of the class and hold them between his legs while he sat at his desk.

The court heard he would press their hands onto his genitals.

Another woman recalled how Barry would squeeze into her seat beside her and put his hand up her shirt and on her private area.

“That was one of his favourites”, she said.

During the first week of the trial, one woman told the jury how, “That man molested me more times than I care to remember”.

The former teacher had been granted anonymity throughout the duration of the duration of the eleven day trial.

But after the verdicts were returned, Counsel for the State, Anthony Sammon SC, told Judge Keyes, it was the “express wish of the complainants” that he now be named.

Barry served as principal at Moyasta National School from 1964 and 1989.

The garda investigation into him was sparked by a complaint made in 2010 by a former student, referred to in the trial as Mr A.

That man has since passed away. Gardaí took 163 statements during the course of their investigation. Barry, who will now be placed on the Sex Offender’s Register.

The case was adjourned to October 28 when a date for sentencing will be fixed.

Barry, who will now be placed on the Sex Offender’s Register, was remanded on continuing bail.

THE CEO of Shannon Airport, Neil Pakey, has invited members of public to attend a special meeting at the airport later this week which could see the establishment of a community led organisation to drive business in the airport.

Mr Pakey will himself chair the public meeting, which it is hoped will see the establishment of a ‘Friends of Shannon Airport’ organisation.

Speaking to the The Clare People yesterday, the Shannon CEO said that he has been impressed by the local support for the airport over the past year.

“The level of interest in Wednesday night’s meeting is another indication of the support and goodwill for Shannon.

“Should a Friends of Shannon Airport Group evolve from the meeting, it will be a very worthwhile exercise and we look forward to seeing what emerges,” he said.

“Since I came on board over a year ago as CEO, I have been really impressed with the goodwill within the region towards the airport.

“This has certainly strengthened with the gains we have been making in terms of new services and the positive news that our growth has generated.

“The region clearly recognises the importance of the airport.”

Member of ‘Friends of Liverpool Airport’ will also be in attendance at the meeting and explain how their organisation has helped in the development of the John Lennon International Airport in Liverpool.

Friends of Liverpool Airport was established by a small group of enthusiasts and people with a genuine interest in the well-being of Liverpool Airport and since then it has grown beyond expectations.

Their membership consists of people who want to be informed about the Airport, people who volunteer their spare time to help with specific airport needs such as tourist promotion and school tours.

The public meeting will take place at Shannon Airport this Wednesday, July 16, from 5.30pm. THREE North Clare schoolchildren will be the stars of a new RTE show this autumn. Robert Donnelly and Hannah Doyle from Gaelscoil De Hide Oranmore, and Keelin Fitzgerald from Kilnaboy National School, recently finished filming for the new RTE show ‘Bug Hunters’.

The show will hit the screens later this year as part of RTE Junior’s schedule of programmes.

Filming took place in recent weeks in the Burren and RTE studios. Robert, Hannah and Keelin were delighted to be involved with the show and are looking forward to seeing the end result later this year.

Bug Hunters is presented by Dr Michael Dugon. In each episode bug expert Michel meets up with three kids and takes them on an exciting bug hunting expedition.

As well as looking for, finding and discovering insects, Bug Hunters will allow the kids to handle these fascinating creatures and learn cool and interesting facts about them and their habitats.

Each episode of Bug Hunters is broken down into a separate environment. There are numerous animal-rich environments such as grassland, woodland, bogland, freshwater (ponds and streams), seashores, mountain/hills, farmland, urban areas (parks and squares) and houses.

Michel Dugon holds a Bachelor of Linguistics and Education from the University of Burgundy (France), a Masters in Ecology from Bangor University (Wales) and a Ph.D. in Zoology from NUI Galway.

From 2001 until 2005, Michel was employed as a lecturer and cultural coordinator at the French Alliance of Penang (Malaysia).

In 2005, Michel took over a reptile and venomous animal park on the archipelago of Langkawi (Malaysia). After discovering new populations of snakes and lizards, Michel was invited to pursue a M.Sc. in Ecology at the University of Wales Bangor. Michel graduated with distinction in September 2007.

A FORMER factory worker who admitted possession of child pornography at his home in Ennis will learn later this year if he is to receive a custodial sentence.

The 49 year-old man pleaded guilty in March to possession of five images and 43 movies of child pornography at an Ennis address on dates unknown between September 28 and September 30, 2009.

Details of the case were heard at Ennis Circuit Criminal Court on Thursday.

Gardaí searched the man’s house after his computer’s IP address was identified as having accessed child porn. The court heard gardaí seized a Dell Inspiron computer; a hand held XDA device and a memory card.

Garda Frank Browne of Ennis Garda Station told Counsel for the State, Stephen Coughlan BL, the man initially told gardaí he was looking for pornography of women dressed up as teenagers.

He said he may have had a problem with looking at pornography during that time in his life.

Sgt Alan Browne of the Garda Computer Crime Investigations Unit, Harcourt Square, Dublin told the court the images depicted young girls involved in sexual activity.

He said it appeared the girls were pre-pubescent but due to nationality and ethnic background, it was hard to place a definite age on them.

Sgt Browne said the images were in the mid to higher end of the scale used by Director of Public Prosecu- tions (DDP) to classify child porn images.

He said the movies lasted between a few seconds and a few minutes. The court heard they were accessed using peer-to-peer sharing programmes like Ares and Limewire.

Asked by Counsel if the movies could be accidentally downloaded, Sgt Browne said he couldn’t determine that.

He said all the movies had been permanently deleted into the unallocated space on the computer.

Defence counsel, Mark Nicholas BL, told the court, that of the 30,900 pornographic images recovered from the computer, only five were considered in breach of the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act.

He said that when the images and movies were deleted, his client would never again be able to access them. Counsel said his client had not attempted to hide or encrypt the images and videos.

He said the offending material just popped up when he was “trawling” for adult pornography.

Counsel said it had taken four years for the matter to come to court and his client had indicated an early guilty plea.

He said the man has suffered “reputational loss” and feels “absolute shame”. He said this was a case that did not require an immediate custodial sentence.

Judge Gerald Keyes said he required time to consider the case.

He consented to a defence application that the man not be named for the moment. He adjourned sentencing to October.

NEARLY ONE in every 8 Clare homes are contaminated with radon – a colourless and odorless gas which contributes to the development of a number of cancers, especially lung cancer.

The Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland have just released the results of the largest survey of radon levels ever conducted in Ireland.

The survey, which compiles thousands of radon test taken in houses over more a decade, reveals that just over 12 per cent of all Clare houses recorded unsafe levels of radon.

Of the 4,316 Clare houses tested for radon as part of the study, 433 were found to have radon levels in excess of the safe level of 200 bq/m3.

One Lisdoonvarna home was recorded as having a radon level in excess of 3, 500 bq/m3 – more than 17 times higher that the safe levels.

The average radon level in the Clare houses surveyed was 89 bq/m3 – one of the highest levels of radon in Ireland.

Because of the county’s limestone and karst landcsape, large sections of county Clare are specifically vulnerable to radon.

Radon has been proven to signifi- cantly increase a persons chances of contracting lung cancer. The gas also seems to act in conjunction with cigarette smokers – with people who smoke in high radon areas having a disproportionately high change of contracting lung cancer.

“Radon is the principal source of radiation exposure to the Irish population, contributing over 55 per cent to the average radiation dose.

“The radiation dose to individuals from radon can vary substantially with some people exposed to a fraction of the average radiation dose while others are exposed to hundreds of times the average,” said Dr Ann McGarry, Chief Executive of the RPII.

“Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas which can accumulate in buildings to unacceptable levels. It is the second biggest cause of lung cancer after smoking and is linked to up to 250 lung cancer cases per year in Ireland.

“Most of the radiation dose from radon is received in people’s homes although exposure at work is the largest contribution to occupational radiation exposure.”

Less than 1 per cent of the average radiation dose absorbed by Irish people is due to exposure to artificial sources such as Sellafield and Chernobyl.