Month: December 2007

YOU can show your support for the poorest of the poor on Christmas Day by taking part in the annual Goal Miles event at the Fairgereen in Ennis.

This fun-filled, worthwhile event is an integral part of the season of giv- ing for many thousands of generous people everywhere.

This is the 26th year of the event, with Goal Miles taking place at an unprecedented 65 locations na- tionwide — including nine brand-

new locations. The main event will take place in Dublin’s Belfield and is expected to attract 3,000 people on Christmas morning. But it is the impressive spread of Miles across the country that is the real source of pride for Goal.

Goal’s John O’Shea, who will at- tend the Belfield Mile, as always, says, “I’m urging every single person up and down the country to find their nearest Mile and take part.

“All you have to do is to turn up on the day, complete the Mile in your own time and style and then

make a donation to Goal. You can either make a personal donation or you can line up sponsorship from your friends and colleagues — it is entirely up to you what you do. The Goal Mile is a great opportunity to do something practical for the poor this Christmas,” he said.

Events this year hold a special sig- nificance, as the charity is celebrat- ing 30 years in operation.

Since 1977, the aid agency has spent more than €400 million in 50 countries, responding to virtu- ally every natural and man-made

disaster and implementing massive development programmes during ercLMm ab ealee

Goal’s outstanding success down through the years has been entirely dependant on the unflagging support of the Irish public.

This Christmas, the charity’s Goalies (volunteers) are working around the clock in 12 developing world countries throughout Africa, Asia and Central America, includ- ing Bangladesh, where the organi- sation is responding to November’s devastating Cyclone Sidr.

THE business community has criti- cised as unfair Ennis Town Coun- cil’s decision to increase commercial rates to 4 per cent.

The council approved the 4.8 per cent rate hike at its annual budget meeting last week.

Explaining the decision, town man- ager Tom Coughlan said in his re- port to the council that rates may not come down for a number of years.

‘The increase in the rate on valua- tion in 2007 of 4.8 per cent continued a downward trend in the rate on in- crease over the previous three years. The proposed increase of 4 per cent

in 2008 continues that trend for a fifth year. While it is an objective of the council to reduce the rate of increase, as has been achieved in re- cent years, it must be acknowledged that a future economic downturn, a reduction in central funding, increas- ing energy costs, increase in interest rates or unanticipated events may not allow this objective to be achieved in future years.”

However, in a statement, Ennis Chamber of Commerce said, “While Ennis Chamber acknowledges the proposed reduction in the increase of the commercial rate to 4 per cent, it is still an increase nonetheless. The business community funded 39 per

cent of the council’s expenditure in 2007 and this will increase to 40 per cent this year. Ennis Chamber will continue to reiterate that this is not a fair Share and reflective in the number of businesses that have ceased trad- ing in Ennis in recent years’.

Figures in the budget project that businesses in Ennis will pay €4.9 million in rates next year.

In his report, Mr Coughlan said, “The budget does not make provi- sion for any increase in car-parking charges. This measure will benefit members of the public who wish to conduct business in Ennis and also businesses which are dependent on the public. Provision is made for an

increase in parking permits, which have not increased since 2005, this increase is less than €1 per week.”

Parking permits are set to increase by €50 to €400 per year.

Ennis Chamber stated the increase was “not justified, given the fact that there has been a decrease in public car park charges for customers in En- nis. The increase in car permits for businesses is not justified given the fact that there has been a decrease in public car park charges”.

The chamber welcomed the coun- cil’s statement on its “continued com- mitment to the promotion of Ennis in partnership with the private sector and other agencies in 2008”.

THERE have been calls for Ennis Town Council to provide a more detailed breakdown of expenditure after it was shown that €38,000 was spent on training and sending coun- cilors to conferences.

Expenditure figures for 2006 re- vealed in the council’s budget, also show that spending on expenses rose by €2,700, from an estimated figure of €27,000 at the start of 2007, to 29,700.

The amount spent on members training and conferences was also up on estimated figures from €35,000 to €38,000.

Green Party councillor Donal O’Bearra said the figure was too high and has called for the nine-members of the council to be provided with a breakdown of what the money was Spent on.

“If you divide €38,000 by nine, it works out at almost €4,000 and then add on the figure for expenses, which works out at €3,000, 1t means that €7,000 was drawn down by each councillor. I can certainly say that I haven’t drawn down €7,000 or any- thing near that figure. I would like to think that we will be provided with a breakdown and I will be looking for one”.

Cllr O’Bearra also questioned the

merit of sending the councilors to conferences, saying, in his experi- ence, they were poorly attended.

Speaking last week at Ennis Town Council’s budget meeting Town Man- ager Tom Coughlan said trips abroad and conferences allowed members to observe examples of best practice.

He said, ““When we went to Brug- ges, it was allowing us to see best practice in operation.

Meanwhile, each of Clare’s 3,000 plus rate payers will this week re- ceive an abridged version of the Clare County Council Annual Report for 2007. This moves comes after a mo- tion tabled by Cllr Martin Conway (FG) earlier this year calling for the

local authority to be more account- able to the people who fund it.

This is the first time that details of the council’s budget will be posted to ratepayers.

‘For too long now we have had a situation in this county and in this county where there is not enough accountability. It’s all been one way traffic and | think that the rate payers deserve to know what their money is being spent on,” said Conway.

“I felt like there was no feed back at all to the rate payers of the county. But this will help keep people in- formed about the positive things that are going on within the council as well as the not so positive things.”

‘SERIOUS and abnormal’ flooding in the Drumgeely area of Shannon prevented people from getting into their homes earlier this month.

The problem was discussed after it was brought up by Independent councillor Patricia McCarthy, at a meeting of Shannon area councillors earlier this week.

She called for a report to be pre- sented on the case and solutions to be brought into effect, to ensure that there is no repetition of the situation, which caused grave concern to resi- dents in the Corrib Drive area.

“Entrances to some of the parks

were blocked, due to the flooding. When the flooding was cleared on the right hand side, it moved to the left hand side, so much so that people couldn’t get into their homes,” she Sr NLGe

“It was unusual and it was a long, long time since that happened be- fore,’ she added, pointing out that she wants steps to be taken to ensure there won’t be a repeat of the flood- ing.

In a response to her query, Senior Executive Engineer Donal Hogan said that the “prolonged intense rain” on December 6 resulted in road and land flooding, not only in Shannon, but across the county.

‘In most cases, the road flooding in urban areas occurs when gulley gratings become clogged with de- bris such as leaves, litter etc, which washes into the gratings of the gul- lies,” said Mr Hogan, in a written response.

‘In some cases the flooding occurs because the underground gulley or the pipework from the gulley to the main drain has reduced capacity due to build-up of silt.

“The road flooding, which oc- curred in Drumgeely, occurred from the same reasons as outlined above for urban areas, with the build-up of leaves being the main reason,” added Mr Hogan.

He stated that the council’s outdoor staff were all diverted to deal with the flooding problems on December 6 and again on December 7.

‘The council endeavours to ensure that all road outlets are opened, gul- leys and pipework cleaned out as much as is possible. In areas such as Drumgeely, gulleys are cleaned out once each year, while pipework is cleaned out as the need arises.

“Notwithstanding these measures it is inevitable that rainfall such as occurred in this case will result in Surface water run-off which will, es- pecially at this time of the year, bring leaves etc to the gulleys resulting in flooding at some of them,” said.

THE Senior Citizens Club in Shan- non has paid tribute to one of its founding members Tom Moore, who passed away last week following a SeCOVM MOND Note

Mr Moore died a year and a week after the death of his wife Ann, who was laid to rest in December 2006.

Originally from Limerick, Tom moved to Shannon several years ago

and lived in Finian Park.

He worked at the knitwear com- pany Lanaknit for many years and Since his retirement, he became in- volved in various community groups in the area.

Tom immersed his life in Shannon and played a key role in several com- mittees and groups in the town for several years.

He was involved with the Legion of Mary and Pioneers in the town.

He was also on the parish commit- tee when churches and schools were built, several years ago. His love of and interest in the community spirit never left him and he became a famil- iar figure in the local community.

Tess Barry, who set up the Senior Citizens Club with Tom and a number of others in 19779, said his loss will be felt by everyone in Shannon.

“We really miss him. He looked after our money for many years. He

kept us on the straight and narrow,’ said PRO of the Senior Citizens Club, Tess Barry.

‘Tom was a great organiser and was very well liked. If he did something, he did it well.

‘His heart was in the right place. Since he retired he put his heart into the club,” she added.

Mr Moore was buried at Illauna- managh cemetery in Shannon last JDulee ne

THE sentence imposed on Adam Keane for raping Mary Shannon at a house in Ennis two-and-a-half years ago has been increased to 10 years, three of which are suspended.

Keane (26), of Barnageeha, Daragh was found guilty of rape at the Cen- tral Criminal Court in Dublin last February, arising out of an incident on May 30, 2005.

His three year suspended sentence was appealed by the State to the

three-judge Court of Criminal Ap- eer

The Court of Appeal ruled this week that the sentence imposed by the Central Criminal Court was “unduly lenient, even when all the migitating factors are taken into account”.

In imposing sentence last March, Mr Justice Paul Carney referred to a previous case. However the Court of Appeal said his “preoccupation” with the previous decision “distracted him from the essential particularities of this case”.

“The trial judge made no reference in his sentencing decision to the 1m- pact which the crime had on the vic- tim and her family life, nor did he ap- pear to attach sufficient weight to the place and circumstances in which the rape was committed.”

“This court 1s satisfied, having re- gard to the circumstances of the case, the particular circumstances of the respondent, that the well established principle that a custodial sentence should be imposed for the offence of rape ought to have been followed,

there being no facts or circumstances in the case which could justify the exceptional and rare departure from that principle. Accordingly, in i1m- posing a suspended sentence in this instance, the learned trial judge erred in principle,’ stated the 28-page re- port, published on Wednesday.

The judges ruled the fact that Keane had taken alcohol and drugs on the night in question and could not re- member what had happened did not “absolve him from criminal responsi- bility as the jury correctly concluded

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The Court of Appeal said it decided to suspend the final three years of the ten-year term.

“With a view to encouraging the re- habilitation of this young man and in all the circumstances of the case, the court will suspend three years of that term of imprisonment on his under- taking to enter into a bond to keep the peace,” it stated.

He will be subject to post-release Supervision for one year and will be placed on the sex offenders register.

DRINK driving, speeding and seat- belt use will be the central focus of the Garda drink driving campaign this Christmas, as ongoing efforts to cut road deaths continue.

The numbers of gardai deployed to the Clare Garda Division traffic corps doubled during the year as part of a nationwide campaign to crack down on road offences.

An increased emphasis is being placed on catching road offenders during the festive season.

Twelve people have been killed on the county’s roads this year. Eleven of those were in the Clare Garda Division while the other road death occurred close to Setright’s bar in Cratloe, on the Clare/Limerick Garda divisional border last month. Last year nine people died. Up to last Monday 525 people were arrested on suspicion of drink driving in Clare since the start of the year, which is a huge increase on the figure for 2006.

The head of the Clare Garda Di- vision traffic corps, Inspector John Galvin, said every effort would be made to ensure drivers abided by the law.

“We are putting considerable re- sources in road traffic. The main causes of fatal accidents are speed, drink driving and not wearing seat

belts,’ he said.

Several motorists have been caught for drink driving the morning after socialising. Gardai are reiterating the dangers of driving in the hours after drinking alcohol.

‘People have to realise when they are out socialising it takes several hours for alcohol to leave the sys- tem,’ said Inspector Galvin.

“Our main focus is to keep deaths down. We would prefer if no-one was arrested for drink driving,” he said.

“The drink driving figures are dras- tically up for the whole year. How- ever in the last number of weeks the figures are down on a weekly basis. We hope people are getting the mes- sage. Drink is a major contributory factor to deaths on the roads while there is also legislation on drug driv- ing as this also carries a disqualifica- tion,’ added Inspector Galvin.

Drivers are also being reminded that the use of mobile phones while driving is forbidden. Handsfree kits or earpieces are mandatory if us- ing mobile phones while behind the wheel.

“It is an offence which carries two penalty points,” he said.

“The traffic corps has increased in size over the past year. This is an indication of the seriousness with which it (the issue) 1s viewed by gardai,’ added Inspector Galvin.

CRITICISM of a sculpture of actor Richard Harris by members of the artistic community has angered its creator, the Kilbaha-based sculptor Jim Connolly.

In an open letter to the mayor of the city, councillor Ger Fahy, the Clare sculptor said his “personal and professional integrity were torn to aT kere ae

Well-known Limerick artist John Shinnors described the statue, de- picting Harris as King Arthur in ‘Camelot’, as “touristy kitsch” and said “it was an opportunity that was lost and thrown away’”’.

The criticism was added to by Clare artist Thomas Delohery who

said, “I think it’s absolutely awful. It’s too small, Richard Harris was six foot three. They should have built it higher.

“His nose is wrong, his grand- daughter said he was so broad she couldn’t put her arms around him. I think everybody 1s afraid to say any- thing about it because the council- lors wanted this for so long,’ added Delohery

Mr Delohery held a series of exhi- bitions of his work on Richard Har- ris depicting different portraits of the actor 1n various settings.

In his letter, Mr Connolly states that Harris was six foot, not six foot three as stated by Thomas Delohery. This has been verified by Noel Har- ris, who said his brother’s height was

six feet and a half an inch at most.

The west Clare sculptor said the statue measures six feet two inches from the soles of Harris’ boots to the top of his head and said the chest measurement of the tunic is 48 inches.

The statue is estimated to have cost €150,000. At the unveiling Mr Con- nolly said he decided to portray Har- ris aS a mature actor.

“When he was at his peak with ‘Camelot’, which was a _ major success, he bought the rights to it and travelled the world with it as a stage show”’.

Another statue of Harris, created by Jim’s son Seamus, stands in Kilkee. It also divided opinion as to where it should be located.

INDUSTRIAL action among the county’s emergency and medical staff has been averted just one week before Christmas.

On Tuesday morning nurses at Ennis General Hospital suspended a planned work to rule less than 12 hours before it was set to start.

Had the action gone ahead the hos- pital would have been without phone cover for eight hours every night, with nurses concentrating solely on patient care.

Following proposals put to the INO by management it was agreed that an additional 63 nursing hours would be provided to the medical wards to maintain safe staffing levels on night Clas

‘An understanding has been reached locally that the appointment of an ad-

ditional nurse at the Emergency De- partment can only be resolved by the HSEEA. The INO will be pursuing this matter further at this level,’ an INO spokesperson said.

An all-out strike by Ennis fire fight- ers was averted at the Ilth hour on Tuesday after agreement was reached between their union representatives and Clare County Council.

Fire-fighters at the county’s largest station had planned to strike at mid- night on Tuesday amid claims that the council breached agreements and refused to agree to the appointment of an arbitrator to resolve long stand- ing issues including staffing levels at the Ennis station.

Fire fighting crews from the Army Corps of Engineers based at the Cur- ragh had been on standby in Limer- ick in case of strike action.

Following discussions between

SIPTU and Clare County Council on Tuesday afternoon, a general meet- ing of fire-fighters took place in En- nis later that night when staff agreed to call off their planned strike.

SIPTU said that the issue of man- ning levels at the station had been addressed by the council and that “an additional resource will be made available from an outlying station.”

Union Branch Organiser ‘Tony Kenny said that both sides agreed to engage the services of a Rights Com- missioner to resolve a dispute over a member of staff who was relieved of duty because he hadn’t passed his truck-driving test.

‘Both sides have also agreed to en- gage the services of advisory service of the LRC to look at industrial rela- tions practices, policies and proce- dures within the fire service in En- nis,’ Mr Kenny added.

REAL pressure will be on Clare County Council to provide and de- liver quality services next year fol- lowing news that the authority will receive less than the national average increase in funding from the Local Government Fund for 2008.

Local authorities were informed this week what they could expect from the fund in 2008.

Clare County Council will receive a 5.13 per cent increase in funding which, although 4.5 per cent more than its final allocation for 2007, is still below the national average in- crease for town councils, county councils and borough councils for 2008. Ennis Town Council will get funding just above the national aver- age.

Mayor of Clare Patricia McCarthy said, “It is extremely disappointing that Clare is not to receive even the

average of 5.4 per cent from the Gov- ernment local government fund for Local Authorities. 5.1 per cent rep- resents a reduction in real terms and fails to match the increased services

and operating costs of the council.

“This will place real pressure on the council’s ability to provide and deliver quality services to the pub- lic. Government cannot continue to expect the council to take on more and more responsibility without pro- viding the necessary funds to do so. Further Government departments must meet their obligations and pay for services that the council pays for and provides on their behalf,” the mayor said.

Mayor McCarthy added, “The council is obliged to pay its credi- tors within 30 days or incur interest charges. It’s a pity that Government does not incur the same penalties when it fails to deliver prompt pay- ment for services rendered by the council.”