Month: January 2006

THE State has dropped its pursuit of seven members of the Burren Action Group for €35,000 in legal costs arising from the decade-long Mullaghmore conflict.

Last month, the Chief State Solicitor’s Office appointed a debt collection agency to pursue the seven, including author, John O’Donoghue, and NUIG academic, Prof Emer Colleran, for €34,427 in legal costs.

However, the Chief State Solicitor, David O’Hagan, has now written to the Group to state, “I have now been instructed not to pursue any further the balance of the State’s costs”. Mr O’Hagan gives no reason for the State’s climb-down.

After the appointment of the debtcollectors last month, the Action Group wrote to Mr O’Hagan, contesting the claim that they owed anything to the State, or its agents.

“We acted at all times in the public good and we were successful in our litigation campaign against the State’s plan to locate an Interpretative Centre at Mullaghmore.

“We also sought to minimise the costs to the State which, in spite of our efforts, amounted to €5.1 million of public money.”

The move by the State to pursue the seven also came under fire from the Action Group’s chief political opponent in the ten-year long battle over the proposed interpretative centre at Mullaghmore. Junior Minister, Tony Killeen, described the State’s action as “very unhelpful”.

One of the seven plaintiffs, author and broadcaster, PJ Curtis, expressed his delight that the “sword of financial persecution” had been lifted.

“We are all so delighted that five years after being proven right, we now have had the sword of financial persecution lifted from above our heads. The State should never have held this threat against us, but this is a great day.”

A spokesman for the Action Group this week welcomed the move by the state not to pursue the seven for the €35,000.

“Whilst perplexed that the state pursued us thus far, we, nevertheless, welcome the decision to put an end to the matter. It should give heart to those who pursue legitimate concerns through the courts in the public interest.”

Dean of the Faculty of Law at NUI Galway, Donncha O’Connell said, “The decision not to pursue the Burren Action Group for costs, however belated, is welcome.”

The other plaintiffs pursued include two Burren farmers, Patrick McCormack and James Howard, broadcaster, Lelia Doolin, and Fionnuala McNamara.

A Kinvara based organisation could put forward a single-issue candidate in the 2007 General Election if their campaign to secure sewage treatment for the town is ignored.

The development follows a protest from the group, Cairde Cuain Cinn Mhara, last week, which saw a toilet being strapped to a raft and launched into Kinvara Bay.

Last week’s protest is the latest in a series of activities undertaken by the group since they first began to campaign for sewage treatment facilities in 1999. Indeed, the group threatened to put forward a candidate in the local election at the time, prompting Galway County Council to give them a guarantee that a system would be put in place.

However, according to Richard Broad of Cairde Cuain Cinn Mhara, plans for the facility have been passed between the Department of the Environment and Galway County Council for the last seven years, with little or no progress being made.

“Almost 70,000 gallons of waste goes directly into the bay each day,” said Mr Broad.

“This is just 75 yards from the harbour and it does not wash out to sea. When the weather is calm you can see faecal matter floating in the bay.”

Cairde Cuain Cinn Mhara have collected some 1,000 signatures from local residents, calling on Department and Council officials to press forward with the project. Officially, a scheme is earmarked to begin construction in 2007, but sections of the local community have serious doubts over this date.

“The feeling is that the political process has let us down,” continued Mr Broad. “It could be well into the next decade before it is built. Unless it is fast tracked, there is no chance of it being up and running before 2009.”

While the group has not yet decided what action to take next, a spokesperson would not rule out the possibility of staging another election bid.

With his own convention likely to be weeks if not months away yet, Clare junior Minister Tony Killeen found himself at the centre of one of the most controversial Fianna Fáil selection processes in the last 12 months.

The Clare Fianna Fáil TD was in the chair of the Galway West convention, which ended in disarray on Sunday night last.

When delegates from the five seater Galway constituency refused to accept a three-candidate strategy recommended by Fianna Fáil Headquarters, the Clare politician adjourned the hotly contested convention.

Junior Minister Killeen said he was selected to chair the controversial meeting because he was not part of the convention committee and therefore not party to how the proposed three-candidate ticket was arrived at.

Under new party rules the Constituency Committee, chaired up by Finance Minister Brian Cowan, decides the number of candidates for each constituency.

Initially six candidates put their name forwards for the Galway West convention.

Junior Minister Killeen told The Clare People that on the night, two of the six candidates withdrew their names on the understanding that there was going to be just three candidates selected.

With four candidates remaining for selection, delegates demanded that all four be put on the ticket.

The four remaining candidates included sitting TDs, Minister for the Gaeltacht Éamon Ó Cuiv (cousin of Clare TD Sile de Valera) and junior Minister at the Department of Justice Frank Fahy.

Galway County Councillors Mary Hoade and Seamus Walsh were also available for selection after the two candidates withdrew.

Fianna Fáil currently holds two of the five seats in Galway West.

As a reported majority of the 350 delegates refused to follow the HQ directions, the Clare chairman adjourned the meeting.

Senior party officials are now to talk to the West Galway delegates about a possible solution.

Deputy Killeen believes that the party could decide to select its candidates in the Galway West constituency by an interviewing process if a convention cannot be agreed upon.

The preferred option, however, would be to allow the Galway delegates to select their own candidates, in an effort to appease relations between the local party and headquarters.

Deputy Killeen said he proposed to the delegates on the night that they select the three candidates as directed, and that the names be returned to headquarters with a recommendation that the fourth name be added to the ticket.

Initially, the Taoiseach had directed that all of the party’s conventions be concluded by Christmas 2005. A number of conventions, including the Clare convention, were postponed, for a number of reasons.

TWO Clare drivers are on the verge of being banned from driving, after receiving 10 penalty points.

One more offence will result in them receiving two more penalty points. Twelve points will merit a three-month disqualification.

More than 5,000 drivers in Clare have received penalty points, according to figures obtained by The Clare People .

Some 4,991 drivers have two points, 688 have four points, 118 have six points, while 20 have eight points.

Since the system was first introduced over three years ago, penalty points have been dished out to drivers who have been caught speeding, careless driving, driving without insurance or failure to wear seatbelts.

Last week, the Minister for Transport, Martin Cullen, added another 31 offences to this list, which will come into effect on April 1. These include failing to obey stop/yield signs, illegal overtaking, failure to obey traffic lights and driving on the hard shoulder. There are plans to introduce up to 20 additional offences to this list by the end of the year.

A new hand-held computer system will come into effect, to coincide with the new scheme. Gardaí will carry the computers, which are the size of walkie talkies.

It means that gardaí will not be issuing on-the-spot tickets for 30 of the 35 penalty point offences.

Instead, fixed charge notices will be issued in the post, under the Fixed Charge Processing System (FCPS).

“Instead of writing down your name and address in a notebook, the details will be typed in the computer and will be transferred immediately, electronically, to Dublin,” said Sgt Joe Downey.

“You will not be issued with a ticket . . . instead, a notice will come out in the post, directly from Dublin,” he said.

“This is not a revenue collection exercise. It is about changing driver behaviour. Initially there will be a time factor in that it will take a little bit longer than writing in a notebook. It will free up the administration section,” he said.

By the end of March, it is anticipated that payment of fixed charge fines will be made through post offices, instead of at Garda stations, as has been the case in the past.

Drivers under the age of 18 who commit offences will not receive summonses and will be dealt with under the Garda Juvenile Diversion Programme.

A DECISION has been taken to site the new bridge across the Shannon at historic Clarisford Palace in Killaloe.

It is expected that a second crossing, to be completed at a later date, will be located just below O’Briensbridge.

The choice of location for the Killaloe bridge and the road serving it has angered local people, who were informed of the decision yesterday, in advance of an official announcement due today.

The project will involve the demolition of at least one house and will cut across land close to St. Anne’s Secondary school .

The route was decided on after the completion of a constraints study report on eight different locations by consultants, RPS MCOS.

Locals angered by the choice of route say it will be a danger to the 400 students who attend St. Anne’s.

A statement issued on behalf of residents affected by the choice today claims it is in direct conflict with stated policies of a number of government and non-government organisations, including Vocational Educational Committees, Council planners, An Bord Pleanala, Government Departments, including the Taoiseach’s office, environmental groups and residents’ groups.

“The policies of the above bodies will challenge the councils leaving them with insurmountable obstacles in achieving funding for the favoured route,” the statement explains.

It goes on to say that the route passes within 15 meters of a residential site that received planning permission for a house as recently as twelve months ago.

“It also calls for the demolition and destruction of family homes. The development plan for this area (zoned residential) has no accommodation for such a major road and bridge.”

In running in front of Clarisford, it also proposes to go through land which has been “consistently protected by an Bord Pleanala because of the heritage importance of the house.”

Killaloe councillor, Tony O’Brien (FF), said that he was welcoming the decision, “because at least there is now some clarity to the situation. But now that the decision has been made, I want to see a proper town plan for Killaloe, with proper funding to put that plan in place.”

Michael Murtagh of the O’Briensbridge Environmental committee said that residents there would prefer to see their crossing done in tandem with the Killaloe bridge “for fear that we would be forgotten about once the first bridge is done.”

MEMBERS of the Ennis General Hospital Development Committee say they remain concerned about the future of 24-hour A and E service at the hospital following a meeting with the HSE.

A week after the group nailed eight questions to the door of the authority’s regional head quarters in Limerick, a delegation met with John O Brien, HSE General Manager, and the Hospital Manager, John Doyle.

A spokesperson for the lobby group told The Clare People that Mr O’Brien was unable to answer the eight-point questionnaire presented to him, to the group’s satisfaction.

They also did not receive a satisfactory answer as to what was HSE policy.

Mr O’Brien did say he was hopeful that a planning application would be made next March for the proposed hospital upgrading.

Meanwhile, Tánaiste and Minister for Health, Mary Harney, refused to provide guarantees over the services at Ennis General Hospital, when questioned in the Dáil this week.

The Tánaiste faced nine separate questions — eight from Pat Breen TD (FG) — over the future of services at the hospital.

He asked if the hospital would retain a 24-hour, seven-day, consultant-led accident and emergency service, if the Hanly report was still Government policy and if the Hanly Report, as it related to Ennis General Hospital, was still Government policy.

In response to the question on A&E services, the Tánaiste said that the re-organisation of regional hospital services under the Hanly report was a task for the Health Service Executive.

However, she said that the government was, “committed to supporting and developing critical services, including key areas such as accident and emergency services in hospitals, which should open in line with patient need.”

She said that there was “substantial scope” for increasing the services provided in many hospitals such as Ennis.

“We need to harness the potential of every acute hospital to provide the best possible service to the local community.

“We are committed to developing facilities at Ennis General Hospital under the first phase of the capital developments proposed, which will include new and upgraded facilities in ward areas, radiology, accident and emergency, and outpatients.”

SERIOUS crime in Clare fell by six per cent last year while gardaí were busiest in the month of June, according to preliminary figures obtained by The Clare People .

Although the final figures will not be published until a later stage, the preliminary statistics show that the demand for garda services in the Clare Garda Division increased by 15 per cent last year, when compared with the previous year. Some 9,922 incidents were dealt with by gardaí in Clare last year, compared with 8,644 in 2004.

“This is a combination, from the most serious to the most trivial offences, all of which require a response,” said Chief Supt Liam Quinn.

Gardaí in the division — which takes in parts of north Tipperary — received over 1,000 calls in June of last year.

This compared with 588 in February, which was the quietest month last year.

The summer months — June, July and August — showed gardaí on the receiving end of an average of 950 calls per month. Behind February, the other quiet months were January, September, November and December.

“Obviously it is reflected in the traffic and tourists and the increased activity in the county as a result,” said Chief Supt Quinn.

Among the other statistics included in the figures were increases in drink-driving arrests (12 per cent) and speeding detections (17 per cent), while there was a 15 per cent increase in the number of drug seizures, much of which was attributed to the rise in the number of cocaine seizures.

There was a sizeable decrease in the number of theft and robbery offences, while the number of sexual assaults reported dropped by 29 per cent last year.

“There are huge variations in the area of sexual assaults.

“The reporting of these incidents is crucial. It is extremely important to report issues of that nature.

“Otherwise the offenders are left to do it again,” said Chief Supt Quinn.

He said, overall while the figures were preliminary, the targets set by gardaí in the county were met.

“Headline crime is down by six per cent,” he said.

VISITING restrictions have been put in place at two of Clare’s largest hospitals following detection of 19 cases of the winter vomiting bug.

Yesterday, the Health Service Executive Mid West Region confirmed an outbreak of the highly infectious virus in the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Ennis.

Fourteen cases were confirmed among patients and five among staff there. A further four suspected cases were reported in Unit 7 of St. Joseph’s community hospital in Ennis. Strict infection precautions have been put in place.

Norovirus, more commonly referred to as the “Winter Vomiting Bug,” is a community infection, with outbreaks in hospitals simply a gauge or reflection of what is happening in the community, according to the Department of Health.

Visiting restrictions have therefore been introduced at the hospital and anyone wishing to visit is requested to check with reception staff, or contact the hospital.

“Attendance at the Accident and Emergency Department should only be if absolutely necessary,” said a HSE spokesperson.

“Out patient, day care services and routine hospital admissions are not affected,” she added.

The public are also requested to co-operate fully with the advice and instruction of staff.

“All the usual infection control measures have been employed and anyone wishing to visit the unit is asked to check first with hospital reception,” warned the HSE.

The bug was detected at the hospital a year ago. According to the National Guidelines on the management of outbreaks of the Norovirus Infection in Healthcare Settings, such outbreaks are not completely preventable, but they are controllable.

There is growing international evidence that thorough hygienic measures can effectively minimise the impact of this virus.

Ireland had 148 outbreaks caused, or suspected as being caused by Norovirus, which produced about 7,500 cases of illness, in 2002.

This compares with 63 outbreaks and just over 1,000 cases of illness in 2003.

“This is fairly typical of what we know about the behaviour of this virus.

“It comes in waves, producing extensive continent-wide outbreaks every four or five years,” said Dr Paul McKeown, Specialist in Public Health Medicine, NDSC and Chairman of the Viral Gastroenteritis Sub-Committee.

AN unprecedented 49 planning application were deemed invalid by Clare County Council during the first week and a half of this year.

Of the 90 applications made to the planning authority, almost 55 per cent were invalid for a total of 109 reasons.

The high number is believed to be due, at least in part, to a new application scanning system within the council.

Acting Director of Services Liam Conneally said that 25 of the applications were not accepted due to mistakes in newspaper advertising, 14 site notices were incorrect, 35 drawings proved troublesome, while there were mistakes with maps in 18 of the applications.

There were further miscellaneous problems with 17 other applications.

Meanwhile, a special meeting of the council on planning heard how pre-planning meetings for every application is not possible, as the local authority do not have the staff required.

Despite being regarded as best practice, Mr Conneally admitted that if he were to give every individual a meeting, he would require twice the staff currently allocated to his department.

County Manager Alex Fleming said he will increase the planning staff to allow the validation and filing of applications be reduced to one day rather than the five days it currently takes.

Horror stories of people being refused for planning permission were recounted throughout the three-hour special meeting.

Cllr Michael Kelly (FF) went as far as saying that, “people are being evicted from their own land through a backdoor system based on planning regulations and guidelines that are impossible to comply with.”

The council argued that planners were not consulting the members. They also claimed that the planners’ interpretation of the development plan was not as intended when passed by the council members. After hours of discussion it was decided that the subject warranted even further discussion at area meeting level before any changes or clarifications be made to the County Development Plan.

A TRADITION in policing in the mid-west is poised to continue well into the future now that Gda Damien Kennedy has followed in his dad’s footsteps, by graduating as a garda last week.

Damien, whose dad Detective Garda Kevin Kennedy has been in the force for the past 34 years, passed out at Templemore on Thursday.

Kevin, who is originally from Killanena, has been based in Ennis for the past 25 years and joined the detective branch in 1993. He has also served in Ennistymon and Quin.

He is renowned in sporting circles in Clare, having won county senior hurling championships with east Clare side, Brian Boru’s, and Éire Óg, Ennis, in the 70s and 80s.

Kevin managed the Clare team which won the Minor All-Ireland hurling title in 1997 and also managed the county’s U21 hurling side.

Damien, like his dad, is wellknown in sporting circles. He was a sub on the Clare senior hurling team that lost to Kilkenny in the All-Ireland final in 2002. He is a key player on the St Joseph’s/Doora Barefield senior hurling team. He has lined out for Clare at various levels over the years.

Damien (23), will be stationed at Roxboro Road station in Limerick. He was based there for the final part of his training at Templemore.

Damien is one of four Clare gardaí who passed out last week. The others are David Moloney from Inagh, who is based in Dun Laoghaire; Shane O’Neill, from Ballyea, Ennis, who is stationed in Templemore and Thomas Devereux from Kilrush, who is based in Shankill, Dublin.

Eleven of the 127 gardaí who passed out last week have been allocated to the Clare Garda Division.

Gda Elizabeth McDonagh (Askeaton) is the sole graduate who is stationed in Ennis, while ten others are based in Shannon. They are Gda Stephen Elvins (Kerry); Gda Christopher Lanney (Dublin); Gda Karen Coughlan (Wicklow); Gda Barbara Kelly (Dublin); Gda Joe Duggan (Dublin); Gda David Laing (Limerick); Gda Patrick Clarke (Kildare); Gda Conor McKeown (Dublin); Gda Philip Hayes (Tipperary) and Gda Micheál Mannion (Galway).

The garda who received the Commissioner’s Medal for highest marks in academic subjects — Gda Colm McDonachadha from Leitir Mór in Galway — was based in Ennis for part of his training.