Month: April 2011

LONG waiting times for marriage counselling and the lack of a dedicate Clare Family Mediation Service centre is hampering Clare married couples from getting the help they need to save their marriages.

That is according to the Clare Citizen Information Centre (CIC) who believe that Clare marriages are being pushed to the brink of collapse unnecessarily as a result of delays in getting help.

The centre, which this week reported a marked increase in the number of marriage related enquiries over the past seven months, believes that more funding needs to be made available to end waiting lists and cre- ate a branch of the Family Mediation Service in Clare.

“We would be anxious for there to be an end in the waiting times for couples who are looking for counselling. People are waiting longer than they should be and that is not good for a couple whose marriage is in difficulty,” said Paul Woulfe of the Clare Citizens Information Service.

“The services that exist are doing an excellent job but we need to extend the services to Clare and work to end these waiting lists.”

At present any Clare married couples who wish to use the Family Mediation Service must travel to either Limerick or Galway to access free counselling.

Couples counselling is also avail- able from the Accord Agency in Ennis. According to Accord, it takes the majority of people (54 per cent) more than six months to begin relationship counselling after a serious problem has been identified.

The vast majority of people who attend Accord counselling (more then 70 per cent) have young children aged 11 years or younger, while 73 per cent of those who take part in Accord courses felt that they had gained a deeper understanding of themselves through the experience.

Accord in Ennis can be contacted on 065 6824297 or by e-mail at accord.ennis@eircom.net. The closest Family Mediation Service can be contacted in Limerick on 061 214310.

APPROACHES will be made to local landowners to see if there is land available to provide a new car park for Killaloe. Angry traders from the lower end of the town attended a meeting last week to demand action on the complete lack of parking for clients, business owners and staff.

The council painted double yellow lines at the bottom of the town late last year to improve traffic flow. But the move left local traders in Royal Parade and Abbey Street with just two set-down spaces for cars.

Business people say the parking ban has had a huge impact on custom and footfall in that part of town.

Business owners have also now learned that the council plans to pedestrianise John’s Lane – which cars are using as a rat run to the traffic lights – and to address parking and safety issues at the boy’s national school. Car-poolers who meet Between The Waters and leave their cars there while commuting to Limerick and Ennis make it difficut to find any parking at the bottom of the town during the day.

TD’s from Clare and Tipperary North who attended the meeting indicated that it is very unlikely that any capital will be made available from the Government’s coffers to provide a car park.

The meeting heard that it was previously suggested that Dean’s Field, which is currently owned by the Church of Ireland, might be a suitable site. This would provide room for about 150 cars.

Officials agreed that they would approach local landowners to see if there is any land available to lease or buy before grappling with the thorny question of funding.

Former councillor, Tony O’Brien, said that the difficulty is that parking is badly needed but road traffic considerations also come into it.

“People want to be able to park and to have parking for their customers at that end of the town but there needs to be a short-term and a long-term solution,” he told The Clare People .

Another meeting will be called when the council engineers have found out what is available.

A GROUP illegally parking beside a graveyard in East Clare were described as “disgraceful” at yesterday’s Joint Policing Committee meeting at the offices of Clare County Council.

According to one East Clare councillor, a group of three illegally parked caravans have been causing distress and embarrassment to local people wishing to access the grave- yard.

“I know at the moment in one village in East Clare there are three caravans parked illegally outside a graveyard who are causing a great disturbance,” said Cllr Joe Cooney (FG).

“It is embarrassing for people using this graveyard and it is also embarrassing for the local people who have people using their backyard as a toilet. Can anything be done to move these people on or what can we do to resolve this situation?”

The matter was raised as part of a discussion on issues related to 24hour parking in a number of Clare venues throughout the summer.

Addressing the meeting, a Clare Garda spokesperson said that the local gardaí can issue on-the-spot fines for all parking offences but stressed that the force does not “target any particular groups”.

In response to a question about large-scale illegal parking and fes- tivals and events in North and West Clare, Clare chief superintendent John Kerin said that the local force did not have the storage facilities or manpower to impound 60 or 70 caravans at the same time.

He said that the legislation as it currently stands is difficult and stressed that the same rules must apply to holiday-makers who park illegally as to serial parking offenders.

“This legislation is not the easiest in the world to enforce. If the illegal parking is taking place on private property, we must get a statement from the landowner saying that it is preventing them from using their property and then give 48 hours for them to remove themselves from the location,” he said.

“The issue of nomads travelling around the county during the summer is a different entity. We do try and enforce the legislation that is there but it is not always easy legislation to enforce.”

ONE Clare home has been broken into each day so far in 2011, according to figures released at yesterday’s meeting of Clare’s Joint Policing Committee.

The figures, which represent the first three months of 2011, show that the crime rate in the county is generally lower than for the first three months of 2010.

The largest increases were seen in the area of assaults causing harm, which increased by 21 per cent, and non-violent thefts, which showed a 19 per cent increase.

The number of burglaries in the county is marginally on the 2010 levels, with 90 break-ins taking place in January, February and March – or roughly one each day.

The number of sexual offences was down by 19 per cent year on year from 21 in the first three months of 2010 to 17 so far this year. However, according to Clare’s Chief Superintendent, John Kerin, the majority of sexual offences reported to Clare gardaí so far this year relate to his- toric rather than current incidents.

Ten of the 17 offences reported so far this year relate to incidents from the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s, with the oldest case dating back to 1964.

The increase in non-violent thefts has been put down to a market increase in thefts involving scrap metal and heating oil from both commercial and residential premises.

“There has been no let up on the problem. It has not been decreased but there has been no let up and there have been a number before the court,” said the Chief Superintendent.

“The price of copper has trebled in the past few years. There are now gangs at this [stealing metal for scrap] in Ireland.

“We have made recommendations that legislation is looked at to force scrap dealers to record details of the person who sold the copper to them and the registration of their car. This has happened in other countries and we think that the invoking of new legislation is the only way to tackle this.”

The issue of home heating oil theft was raised by Cllr Pascal Fitzger- ald (Lab) who said that a number of houses in his area have been targeted in recent weeks.

“The theft of home heating oil has been a problem but a lot of the home heating oil being taken from houses is not being taken by trucks.

“In one incident here in Ennis, we had two lads with five-gallon drums on them,” said Chief Superintendent Kerin.

“People need to be more alert and need to put locks on their tanks they are hitting tanks at random all over the county.”

THE number of Clare people suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia is set to double over the next two decades, unless a major medical breakthrough is made in the treatment or prevention of the conditions.

At present, more than 1,400 people in the county suffer from dementia, with hundreds receiving regular assistance from the Clare branch of Alzheimer Ireland.

However, as a result of increasing numbers and diminishing funding, maintaining the high level of support is becoming increasingly difficult.

“The fundraising is massively important to the organisation; we couldn’t survive without it. The HSE are very good to us but there are cutbacks in every area now and it is more and more important that we are able to get funding from other sources,” said Ann Bedder of the Clare branch of Alzheimer Ireland.

“There are a lot of good causes out there. We realise that times are tough for everyone but people are still being very generous.”

The organisation is calling on Clare people to support their national tea day which takes place on Thursday, May 5.

“This is our main fundraiser nationally throughout the year. We ask people to hold tea parties in their own home and their friends and people from the locality come into their house for tea and give a donation,” explained Marissa Butler, chairper- son of the Clare branch of Alzheimer Ireland.

“A tea morning will also take place in St Anthony’s Hall beside the Friary in Ennis on April 30. We will have tea and pastries and face painting for children – it is always a great day.”

The local branch of the Alzheimer Society provides a drop-in centre, day care, a home care service, a support network for the care-givers and an information point for anyone who needs it in Clare.

“We receive around 60 per cent of our overall funding from the HSE so the rest of the work undertaken by the group is dependent on charitable donations,” said Kay Flynn, vice chairperson of the society.

“There is still time for anyone who wants to get involved to put on a tea day themselves or come along to one of the events already organised. All the money raised in Clare stays within the organisation in Clare.”

The Alzheimer’s National Tea Day 2011 takes place across Clare on May 5 with a special tea day event taking place from 10am to 4pm in St Anthony’s Hall in Ennis on April 30. A 10k run will take place in Broad ford on Easter Monday from 2pm.

For more information, contact 065 6868621.

A COURT has heard concern expressed over the “chronic” levels of absenteeism of two children going to schools in the Ennis area.

One of the children was absent for 69 per cent of the current school term while his brother was absent 68 per cent of the term, Ennis District Court heard on Wednesday.

Their parents appeared in court after a case was brought against them by the National Education Welfare Board. If convicted, the couple faced a fine of € 635 or one month in prison.

The court was told that the parents have been separated since 2001 and that the children live with their mother. Mary Kirsty Dallas, education welfare officer, told the court that notices had been served to the father in January 2011 and to the mother in February 2010.

Ms Dallas said that despite repeated attempts to arrange meetings between the parents and teachers, “I rarely had any response.” Ms Dallas said the difficulties associated with trying to make contact with the mother had been a “hallmark of the case”.

Solicitor for the father told the court that his client started work before his sons were up for school. He said the man worked for a small company that had suffered recent job losses.

He added that in recent months his client had made more of an effort to call to his former partner’s house to get the children up for school.

The court heard that the mother often found it difficult to get the children up for school because they stayed up late playing computer games.

The father told the court that he accepted that his children had developed bad habits and that he would make more of an effort to ensure his children were up in time for school.

The mother told the court that her eldest son did not like going to school because his friend had moved away and he found school boring. The mother added that since the couple were ordered to appear in court, her sons are “scared”. She said she was willing to go on a parenting programme.

Judge Timothy Lucey told the court that the basis of the problem is the relationship between the parents. A problem, he said, was compounded by the fact that the father does not want to lose his job.

He adjourned the case for a year and said that if there wasn’t a “substantial improvement” in the children’s attendance record, the parents would be convicted and fined.

A JUDGE has described the theft of heating oil from homes and businesses as a “particularly mean crime” and one that is on the rise.

Judge Timothy Lucey made the comments at Ennis District Court last Wednesday where he imposed a three-month suspended sentence on a 19-year-old man.

Stefan Coustrain, with an address at Ashline, Shanaway Road, Ennis, pleaded guilty to his involvement in the taking of € 872 worth of heating oil from a crèche near French Court, Clon Road, on February 14 (2011).

The oil was recovered by Gardaí at the scene. Garda Ross Garvey told the court that at around 2am on the night in question, Gardaí received a report of two men acting suspiciously in French Court.

He said that when Gardaí arrived, they observed two men hiding in bushes. He added that there was a “very strong smell of kerosene” off the men’s clothes. Gardaí subsequent- ly discovered six five-gallon drums of oil concealed in the bushes. The court also heard that a pipe leading from the tank had been damaged.

Detective Garda Paul Crowley, who examined the tank, told the court that the process of removing the oil “would’ve happened several times”.

The court heard that the accused, who has two previous convictions but none for theft, made a full admission to taking the oil.

Inspector Tom Kennedy explained that the other man involved in the incident had yet to appear before the court.

Solicitor for Mr Coustrain, Tara Godfrey, told the court that her client, a trainee chef, had been led to the location by another man. She said her client had not profited from the incident and that all drums have been recovered.

Ms Godfrey added that the man had received quite a “bad shock” from his run in with the law.

“Having had a brush with the dark side, he doesn’t want to go down that road,” she said.

Judge Lucey said that if oil had been spilled on the ground as it was being taken from the tank, then the defendant could have been liable for thousands of euros worth of damage.

Garda Crowley told the court that there had been “little or no spillage on the ground”. He added that the tank had been filled on the previous Friday.

Referring to the involvement of another man, Judge Lucey said that Mr Coustrain “knows what is going and should be coming cleaner”.

He said the theft of home heating oil is a “particularly mean crime” and one that is on the increase. He said people who commit this type of crime must understand that they face a potential jail sentence for doing so. He added, “This is something that must stop. It is a popular crime.”

He imposed a three-month suspended sentence and ordered Mr Coustrain to pay € 500 in compensation to the injured party.

A FATHER-OF-TWO, charged with the murder of a woman in North Clare last month, has made his second appearance in court.

Colm Deely (39), of School Road, Ballyvaughan, appeared before Ennistymon District Court, sitting in Kilrush, on Wednesday. He is charged with the murder of Deirdre McCarthy (43), whose body was found on Fanore beach on March 31 last.

She was last seen alive on Sunday, March 27, and was reported missing the following day after she failed to turn up to meet a friend.

Mr Deely was brought before Ennis District Court last Thursday week, charged with murdering Ms McCarthy on March 28 last. He was remanded in custody to reappear in court last Wednesday.

Inspector John Galvin applied to Wednesday’s court to have the accused remanded in custody for a further fortnight. Defence solicitor Gearóid Geraghty did not object. Judge Joseph Mangan granted the application and remanded Mr Deely in custody to appear again in court on April 27.

The court heard previously that when charged, Mr Deely said, “I’m very sorry for what happened”.

The court was told the accused is a part-time Fás worker employed three days a week. Free legal aid was granted at the initial court hearing.

AN 18-year-old woman involved in what gardaí described as a “nasty assault” at Ennis courthouse last year has been told by a judge to stay out of trouble.

Rosanne Joyce (18) with an address at Dún na hInse, Ennis, appeared at a sitting of Ennis District Court on Wednesday on charges of assault and shoplifting.

Inspector Tom Kennedy told the court that the assault had occurred just outside the courtroom when the defendant attacked a woman who had just given evidence against her brother.

Inspector Kennedy said Gardaí were forced to intervene, adding, “It was quite a nasty incident.”

Solicitor for the accused, Tara Godfrey said her client was very young and impressionable and had reacted to an allegation about her family.

Referring to the charge of shoplifting, Ms Godfrey said her client had been in the company of two other people at Dunnes Stores when clothes to the value of € 46 were taken.

Ms Godfrey said her client had pleaded guilty to shoplifting and that the probation services had previously highlighted the difficulties facing her client and her family.

The court was told that the woman had a number of previous convictions, including several for theft.

Judge Timothy Lucey said that the woman “seems full of good intentions but the facts contradict this”.

Responding to Judge Lucey’s question about whether she understood that she faced going to jail if she continued her current pattern of behaviour, the woman replied “yeah”.

Judge Lucey said he was enforcing the probation act “primarily because of her age”.

He told the woman that she was “starting with a clean slate” and advised her to stay out of trouble.

THE 170 new jobs announced by the Cregg Group and Zagg in the Shannon Free Zone could be just the tip of the iceberg – says Managing Director Zagg International Brian S Packer.

According to Mr Packer, who was in Clare to officially announce the deal on Friday, the total Shannon based workforce from the deal could exceed 300 before the end of 2015.

Mr Packer, who is the overseeing the company’s expansion in the European, Middle Eastern and African market, had credited Ireland’s under threat 12.5 per cent corporation tax as one of the key reason for going forward with the Shannon investment.

“There are many reasons why we picked Shannon, but Ireland’s com- petitive corporation tax rate definitely sealed the deal for us,” he said.

“We will be manufacturing, shipping, marketing and selling our products from this base [in Shannon] and will be creating job opportunities, both directly and indirectly, over the next few years as we have at our US headquarters for Zagg.

“While we will be recruiting for a number of key positions, the majority of jobs will be created indirectly, as Zagg International will create a good number of jobs through our partnerships and key vendors such as Cregg.

“In total we expect over 300 jobs to be created over the next four years.”

Based in Utah Zagg Incorporated manufacture and distributing protective coverings for small handheld electrical such as i-pods and mobile phones.

The company had a revenue of more than $60 million in 2010 and it is hoped that this major expansion, which will be coordinated from their new European Headquarters in Shannon, could double that figure.

Zagg’s Shannon facility will carry out the sales and marketing as well as product design and administrative activities for the new expansion.

The partnership with the Cregg Group will the Clare company carry out all the manufacturing, assembly, packaging and logistics work for the expansion.

Two of Zaggs flagship products – invisibleSHIELD and ZAGGskins – will be produced by Cregg in Shannon. Cregg will also be responsible for the distribution of the full range of Zagg products in Ireland and Europe.