Month: December 2011

A CLAREMAN has risen through the ranks of Irish education to become chairman of the umbrella body that governs the country’s Institutes of Technology – not once but on three occasions.

Inagh man and former Mayor of Clare Flan Garvey was unanimously elected as chairman at a meeting in Dublin on Wednesday and in graduating to this prestigious position has pledged to play his part in spearheading the campaign for university status within the 14 institutes of technology around the country.

“It’s a great honour to be elected to this position,” Mr Garvey told The Clare People this week, “and to be the unanimous choice having being proposed by chairman of Limerick IT, John Clifford and seconded by chairman of Sligo IT and former European Commissioner, Ray McSharry is great.”

Mr Garvey, a former school principal of Gortbofarna and Inagh national schools, is the first person to have been appointed to the chair of the governing body on three consecutive occasions.

He is also a former chairman of Clare Vocational Education Committee, was a member of Clare County Council from 1985 until his retirement from politics at the 2009 local elections, serving as Mayor of Clare in 2006/07.

“It’s been a landmark year,” said Mr Garvey on Thursday after being elected chairman. “In March I published a book on the history of Inagh-Kilnamona and then in the weekend just gone there was the 23rd Clare Tourist Council conference and managing the Inagh camogie team that won the All-Ireland title,” he added.

Earlier in the month, Mr Garvey was honoured in the town of Clare Valley, South Australia, which has been twinned with Clare County Council over the past 25 years. In celebration of Mr Garvey’s role in cultivating that twinning arrangement, a tree was planted and a plaque unveiled in his honour in Clare’s main recreation centre that’s called Ennis Park.

SPORTING and musical ent husiasts who shone during the past year were last night honoured by Shannon Town Counci l, through thei r annual Liosta na Laochra scheme.

Ever y year, t he council awards people who have represented t he town with distinction during the previous 12 months and a wide variety of personalities were represented this year.

Ciara O’Loughl in, of Shannon Flyers Special Olympics club, who won silver medals in the shot putt and relay at t he World Special Olympic Games in Athens dur ing the summer, was awarded.

Gearóid McMahon, of Shannon Athletics Club, was honoured for his achievements during t he past year. He won a gold medal with Clare in the national cross count r y championships (under 11) and silver in the national communit y games finals (under 13 wal k).

Declan O’Rourke of Wolfe Tones, who was a member of the Clare team t hat won the All-Ireland intermediate hurling championship earlier this year, was also on the list of recipients.

Cara Ní Chai rba, who won t he under 12 har p competition at the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉi reann, was awarded, as was John Cawley, who won t he Irish Open Masters singles title in handball. Another handball player, John Ki rby, who won the All-Ireland r ugby Masters single and double titles, was awarded.

Three members of the Shannon Kickboxing Club, were awarded, having excelled during the past year. They were Josh Vincent, David Ryan and Leona O’Shea. Josh won an Irish light heavyweight championship, at the age of 17; David won both senior and junior Irish feather weight championships, while Leona won a double under 17 national junior championship title.

Members of the t rampoline club were also among those honoured. Shannen Miniter, Alex Russell, Dar ragh Moane, Louise Ryan and Callum Miniter were all rewarded for thei r heroics during the year.

Shannon came first in Midlands, Dublin, South and Munster Opens and is the cur rent All-Ireland gi rls inter mediate champion. Alex won silver at t he Al l-Ireland champions, while Dar ragh took home gold from the same event. Louise won a silver medal at the All-Irelands, while Callum came four th in his section of t he All-Irelands and was par t of the sout h-west region team which came t hi rd in the Grand Pri x final.

The other groups honoured last night i ncluded the Shannon Musical Societ y front of house commit tee, which won a national award this year; Rachel McIntyre of the musical society and Jayme O’Sullivan, a medal wi nner in t he world Ir ish dancing championships.

CLARE Labour TD Michael McNamara is to intervene in the ongoing difficulty surrounding Blakes Corner in Ennistymon and force the publication of a report on the controvertial site commissioned by Clare County Council earlier this year.

The Southgate Report was commissioned by Clare County Council earlier this year but, despite the protests of some councillors in the north Clare area, it was decided not to publish the finding of the report earlier this year.

Deputy McNamara yesterday con- firmed that he will make contact with the Minister of the Environment, Phil Hogan (FG), and ask him to put pressure on Clare County Council to publish the report.

“Clare County Council has spent € 15,000 on a report on Blakes Corner and have decided not to publish this report. I find that hard to believe,” said Deputy McNamara.

“Clearly these two buildings cannot continue to stand in their current form if Ennistymon and Lahinch are going to continue to prosper. I would call on the local councillors to stop sticking their head in the sand and deal with this situation – that is what they were elected to do.”

The Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Jimmy Deenihan (FG), last week announced that plans to demolish and rebuild the historic buildings at Blakes Corner was “contrary to the thrust” of the 2000 Planning Act and would “require strong justification” before it could take place.

This announcement was welcomed by the Save Ennistymon’s Heritage group who said that they welcomed the ministers intervention.

“We urge Clare County Council to examine with Save Ennistymon’s Heritage the various options to help the occasional traffic chaos in Ennistymon,” said Denis Vaughan of the Save Ennistymon’s Heritage Group. It is unlikely that the report will be published at the next north Clare area meeting, which takes place in Ennistymon next Monday.

“The report was ready for the last area meeting and it was decided that it wouldn’t be released into the public domain until the planning process commences – we’re working towards this at present but the planning process won’t commence this side of Christmas,” said Tom Tiernan, Senior Engineer with Clare County Council.

THE possibility of Fracking taking place in west Clare has moved one step closer as the Enegi-oil company, who were granted the license to explore the feasibility of the project, published positive reports from their first round of tests.

The UK-based company confirmed last Thursday that it now plans to undertake a second round of tests in the Clare Basin – an area of lands which covers thousands of acres between Quilty, Kilbaha and Labasheeda.

Fracking is a very controvertial means of extracting natural gas from onshore sources. The process know as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, involves creating large cracks in the bedrock at the drill sites by pumping large amounts of highly pressurised fluids underground.

A number of information meetings on the subject have already taken place locally and the No Fracking Clare group claim that tremors created as a result of fracking could cause major structural damage so some of Clare’s key tourist attractions – including the Cliffs of Moher and the Doolin Cave.

“A preliminary field trip was undertaken, during which outcrops of interest for further study were identified and initial investigations into the overburden and burial history through geological time were un- dertaken,” said a spokesperson from Enegi-oil.

“Results and observations from that exercise have been analysed and used as a basis for the development of a more detailed prospecting programme for the region. The company has also been in discussions with, and is close to reaching agreements with, various qualified contractors who will undertake the detailed programme of laboratory studies and analysis of the samples that will be required.”

Enegi-oil also confirmed that it is now in a position to move forward with Phase 2 of the project which it hopes to complete before the end of this month. Phase 2 will involved “detailed sampling and stratigraphic logging of outcrops of interest” in the northern part of the Clare Basin while a similar study of the southern part is expected to take place in the early months of 2012.

Earlier this year the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources awarded a license option to UK-based company to search for shale gas deposits in a large section of west Clare.

Much of the research to date has centred around a well drilled in Doonbeg in 1962. An initial analysis of this well identified the presents of a large deposit of shale gas between 800 and 1,100 metres underneath the ground.

A 94-YEAR-OLD woman who lived to be a “great age” died as a result of natural causes, an inquest into her death has found.

Margaret O’Gorman, a retired hotel worker from Newport, Co Tipperary, had been a resident of the Lakes Nursing Home when fire broke out there on August 20 (2010).

County Coroner Isobel O’Dea found that Ms O’Gorman died from natural causes. She said there was nothing to indicate that she had died from smoke inhalation or anything to do with the fire.

Clare Coroners Court heard last week that Ms O’Gorman had been unwell for some time. She received medical attention onsite. The inquest heard that Ms O’Gorman’s niece, Peggy Ryan, later identified the body of her aunt to Gardaí.

Garda Trevor Shannon said that Ms O’Gorman had resided in room 40 which was opposite from room 50 where the fire had inflamed.

Dr Michael Curtis carried out the post mortem. His report was read out in court by State Pathologist, Dr Marie Cassidy.

She said there had been no significant injuries and that Ms O’Gorman was well cared for. Dr Cassidy’s report stated that there was “no evidence that she died from fire”. The report stated that Ms O’Gorman’s death was a “natural death”. He found that death was due to a heart attack.

Ms O’Dea extended her sympathy to Ms O’Gorman’s family. “I hope it is some comfort to you that she died from natural causes.” Ms Ryan said her aunt had lived to a “great age”.

THE death of a 14-month-old baby boy in a car seat in Spanish Point last year was due to sudden unexpected death in infancy, an inquest has heard.

Clare County Coroner Isobel O’Dea said she was satisfied that Nathan Ryan died from natural causes.

Hyperthermia was cited as a risk or contributory factor to the infant’s death at the inquest at Clare Coroner’s Court in Ennis last week.

Nathan had been on holidays with his foster parents Liam and Fiona Doheny at Spanish Point caravan park on July 29 (2010). He had been in the full time care of the couple from Toureen, Ballysimon, Limerick since January 2010.

Miltown Malbay based GP, Dr Billy O’Connell told the inquest that he had been requested to go to Spanish Point to attend to a child that was unable to breath.

The child was then brought to a medical centre on the Spanish Point where adrenaline was administered and de-fibrillation was attempted. Paramedics also attended the centre and Dr O’Connell stated that Nathan was pronounced dead at 16.50pm.

Fiona Doheny told the inquest that she was a Montessori teacher and a foster parent with the Health Services Executive. She said that on July 29, Nathan ate breakfast. She explained that she put him into a car seat in the family car at 1pm. She said she was going to bring Nathan for a drive, as he had been unsettled.

She said Nathan fell asleep as she sat “about 10 feet” away from the car. Ms Doheny said she left a car door open and checked on Nathan “about three times”. She said that when she checked on him again at 4pm, “he wasn’t right”. “I called Liam twice and screamed,” she added. Ms Doheny said they called the emergency services and Martin Downes, a family friend living nearby and first aider for 25 years.

Liam Doheny stated that he got a pint of cold water and tried to pat Nathan down. He said Dr O’Connell and Mr Downes arrived quickly to the scene.

“Martin Downes was a great help and everyone that helped us on the day was brilliant,” he said.

Ms Doheny’s mother, Maureen Burke, described Nathan as a “delicate child”. She said he cried a lot but not because he was not cared for. She said her daughter kept going over to the car to check on Nathan.

“It wasn’t out of neglect. Nathan was well taken care of by my daughter Fiona,” she stated.

State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy concluded that a young child had been found dead in the back of a car on a warm day.

She told the inquest that Nathan appeared to be well cared for and there was no evidence of any specific disease or trauma.

She said Gardaí had carried out experiments in an attempt to re-create conditions in the car on the day in question. She said the temperature in the car would have risen but not to lethal levels. Dr Cassidy said Nathan had not been exposed to lethal temperatures.

She said death was due to sudden unexpected death in infancy with hyperthermia a contributory or risk factor.

Offering her sympathy to the Nathan’s family, Ms O’Dea said it “is a very sad situation when a young child passes away”. She said “great efforts had been made to revive Nathan”.

TRIBUTES have been paid to the late Stephen Kenny who passed away last week.

Mr Kenny (90), who lived in the Cornmarket area of the town, was from a well-known Ennis family. He worked for CIE for over 40 years. A keen sportsman, Mr Kenny was a member of Ennis Golf Club.

His funeral in Ennis last week heard that Mr Kenny loved his family, sport and local community. He also looked forward to games of cards with his family. Local councillors yesterday paid tribute to Mr Kenny’s life.

Cllr Frankie Neylon (Ind) described Mr Kenny as a great native of Ennis. He said to lose people of Mr Kenny’s vintage is “very sad for any town”. Cllr Tommy Brennan (Ind) also offered his sympathy to the Kenny family.

NEARLY 55 years to the day after Shannon first played host to refugees fleeing from Hungary, the airport was back in the international limelight on Sunday when a group of Libyans arrived for special medical treatment in Ireland.

The 14 casualties from the bitter civil war that finally brought an end to Muammar Gadafi’s regime arrived in the airport to a rousing welcome from over 80 members of the Libyan community in Ireland.

“These men are the freedom fighters who freed our country,” said the director of the Libyan Health Office in Ireland, Dr Amina Gsel, who is a Galway-based consultant.

“They are mostly young professionals, including doctors and engineers, and we are delighted we can do something for them. The Irish Government has been fantastic.

“I consider Libya and Ireland my countries and today is a very important day for Libyans in Ireland and the rest of Libyan society that we are doing this for our freedom fighters,” he added.

The Libyan Health Office in Ireland was set up in recent months to organise treatment and care for people in the wake of the civil war.

ITS official – Christy Healy has been confirmed as a Guinness world record holder.

In October the Kilmaley man became the first person to successfully complete a 10km underwater dive. Christy completed the swim in Lough Derg in a time of 6 hours, 21 minutes.

All records and evidence from the mammoth undertaking were then turned over to Guinness for rigorous inspection. And Christy and his support team passed with flying colours. Christy was presented with his official certificate from Guinness at the Children of Courage awards for the Share a Dream foundation in Limerick last weekend.

Diving instructor Christy took on the challenge to raise money for the Share A Dream foundation. He was inspired to do after his family was affected by cancer.

In March 2010 Christy and wife Trish’s son Stephen, then aged 17, was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma – a cancer of the lymphoid tissue.

Thankfully, after six months of chemotherapy and a kidney operation, Stephen has been given the all clear.

In total, Christy’s world recordbreaking dive raised € 14,500 for Share a Dream.

“We finally got it. There was a lot of toing and froing. But it’s in there now and we’ll find out if we’re going to make it into the book next year. It’s worth it. A lot of effort went into from a lot of different people,” said Christy last week.

While Christy was fairly certain his lung-busting efforts had secured him a place in the world famous publication, the timing of the official confirmation came as a bit of a surprise.

He explained, “I thought it would be this week or next week or the week after it. I was kind of surprised in Limerick but I knew we would get it. It was just a matter of getting all the information and documents into Guinness.”

Having witnessed the courage of children affected by serious illness and disability, Christy said he would be keen to undertake another recordbreaking effort to raise money for Share a Dream next year.

“What we did was handy when you compare it to what these young people and their parents go through,” he added.

A team in excess of 20 people including snorkelers, rescue divers, paramedics, navigators, observers and support personnel assisted Christy on the day of underwater dive.

THE will left by acclaimed Clare poet and author John O’Donohue, that’s valued at over € 2m, has been declared void by the High Court because of a confusion over its “exact meaning”.

This judgment was handed down by Mr Justice Paul Gilligan on Thursday last after proceedings were taken by Mr O’Donohue’s mother, Josephine O’Donohue, seeking clarification of several issues arising from the will that was made in 2001.

The decision to declare the will void means that Mr O’Donohue’s entire € 2m estate passes to his mother, Josie O’Donohue.

In making this ruling, Mr Justice Paul Gilligan said the poet had “un- fortunately provided an illustration of exactly how a person should not make a will”.

Mr Justice Gilligan concluded he was “unable to decipher the exact meaning” of the will.

He said that while Mr O’Donohue was “a man of considerable learning”, the fact he did not benefit from legal advice or assistance was evident from the will. He said the will was deficient due to lack of clarity and said Mr O’Donohue had also unwittingly made “the classic error” of having two intended beneficiaries as witnesses.

Mr O’Donohue’s mother Josie and brother Patrick witnessed the will, but this meant they could not benefit from it as a witness to a will cannot be a beneficiary.

The judge said it was with regret that he concluded that the terms of the will rendered it void “for uncertainty”.

The former priest made a will in February 2001, just before leaving Ireland for a tour of Australia. That will was made without the benefit of legal advice and was later admitted to probate.

That one-page document was signed by him and witnessed by his mother Josephine and brother Peter but issues have arisen as to what was meant by its terms.

In the will, he stated he was leaving all his worldly possessions to his mother Josephine to be divided equally and fairly among his family with “special care and extra help” to be given to his sister Mary.

He also stipulated gifts of money were to be given to a number of oth- er persons.

O’Donohue’s best known work was Ana m Ca r a , published on the same day that Princess Diana died in 1997, it had 13 reprints within 12 months. His other published works include Eter na l Echoes , Divine Bea ut y , Echoes of Memor y , Cona ma r a Blues and Benedictus .

O’Donoghue, who lived in Connemara, died suddenly in January 2008 after collapsing while holidaying in France. He is survived by his mother Josie, brothers Patrick and Peter, sister Mary, two nieces and two nephews.

After his death, new president of Ireland, who was a close friend of Mr O’Donoghue called him “an inspirational figure”, who was “a person of immense courage who gave witness to truth”.