Month: February 2006

SEVEN arts venues throughout the country have joined together to form a new organisation, entitled Nasc, in an effort to support and develop touring Irish theatre.

Nasc (meaning link or knot) was an idea first mooted by Katie Verling, Director of Glór Irish Music Centre in Ennis. It has received a considerable vote of confidence with news that each venue is to receive €16,000 additional funding from the Arts Council.

The collective is made up of the Riverbank Arts Centre in Newbridge, Pavillion in Dun Laoghaire, Dunamaise Arts Centre in Portlaoise, Backstage Theatre in Longford, An Grianán in Letterkenny, Siamsa Tíre in Tralee and Glór Irish Music Centre in Ennis.

The group first met last September to discuss the absence of a touring initiative in the Arts Council’s strategy and the difficulties for touring theatre companies in Ireland.

“In Glór we were finding it difficult to receive quality, audience driven theatre, so we talked to other venues experiencing similar problems,” said Verling.

“We decided to make a joint application to the Arts Council because we knew they had recently commissioned a report on touring.

Our hope is to get audience-driven theatre of a very high quality, which will attract audiences in all our areas, so that we know every year in a Nasc tour that we will be getting a particular type of show that will suit the seven of us.”

They are currently in negotiations with a number of Irish theatre companies. Anyone wishing to contact Nasc should do so through Katie Verling, at Glór Irish Music Centre, Ennis, or email kverling@glor.ie.

THERE is “no evidence” to support claims made in files handed to the gardaí and the DPP that prisoners bound for torture are being transported through Shannon airport, Minister Dermot Ahern has said.

But it has also emerged that under Irish law, Gardaí cannot search any foreign planes that have been given permission to land on Irish soil because the planes have immunity.

Sinn Fein justice spokesperson, Aengus Ó Snodaigh has handed what is described as a “book of evidence’ to gardaí concerning the alleged use of Shannon for rendition flights.

Two previous files which had been passed on to DPP showed that there “is a lack of sufficient evidence. The complaints related to a regurgitation of media reports,” the Minister told the Dail.

But according to gardaí, the Government would have to request the US to waive the immunity of flights landing at Shannon to allow gardaí search the flights. The US have not had any such request.

The only other way for Gardaí to get on board the planes, a spokesman said, would be with a search warrant issued on suspicion of a crime being committed.

Meanwhile an attempt to get an emergency debate in the Seanad on a combined Opposition motion to establish a select committee to investigate the rendition claims has failed by 28 votes to 18.

The motion, in the names of 25 members of the house, called for the establishment of a committee to consider the mechanisms whereby the State or its agencies could investigate, on foot of allegations or otherwise, whether persons were being transported, via aircraft landing at Irish airports, to locations where they risked torture or inhuman or degrading treatement and the extent to which such mechanisms had been invoked in the last four years.

And Fianna Fáil MEP, Eoin Ryan, who sits on the EU committee due to question European politicians on rendition flights said it is unlikely that Irish politicians will be quizzed.

It had been thought that the Ministers for Justice, Foreign Affairs, Defence and Transport would face questions fromt he committee, but MEP Ryan said that similar invitations would then have to be extended to most of their European counterparts and this would not be feasible.

A CLARE county councillor has claimed this week that the county is safe from any extension from Limerick City.

Councillor Cathal Crowe said that following a brief meeting with the Minister for the Environment, Dick Roche and the Taoiseach last week he got a strong indication that Limerick City’s proposed extension into Clare will not get the go ahead.

Instead Clare’s youngest councillor believes that Limerick County Council could provide adequate lands in their administrative area to the City Council.

This would not upset anybody’s THE work of members of Clare Civil mediate First Aid Course in 2005. defence was recognised at a ceremoMedals were presented to the memny at the Civil Defence Headquarbers of Clare Civil Defence who won ters, Clonroadmore Business Park, a record three in a row Munster Fire Ennis. The presentations were made Pump Drill Competitions from 2002by Ger Dollard, Director of Services 2004; the team who finished second with Clare County Council. Certifiat the National Finals and the Ladies cates were awarded to members who team who took top spot Munster and completed the Civil Defence Radio National Fire Pump Drill CompetiCourse in 2005/2006 and the Intertions in 2005. sense of county identity he claimed.

“Limerick City councillors need to understand that I am fully prepared to work with them on issues that affect the general mid-west area but I am not prepared to give a single inch of my native County Clare,” said the Fianna Fáil councillor.

“I think the Limerick City Council proposal for a boundary extension makes a farce of the Government’s National Spatial Strategy. The City Council’s proposal states that Limerick City is the urban hub of the MidWest Region. The proposal clearly negates the fact that Government policy has designated Limerick and Shannon as the ‘gateway’ to the MidWest Region.”

Showing Minister Roche a map of the south east Clare area the councillor outlined the various ways in which a boundary extension would negatively impact on local communities.

“I told the Minister that Clare County Council is currently providing a good service to my constituents. A commitment has already been given by Clare County Council to provide a full time Council area office and library facility in the Parteen/Westbury area. The Council has also adopted it’s Annual Roadwork’s Programme this week which provides €1,722,000 for local road surfacing and repairs in south east Clare,” he said.

TOURISM and farming are declining in the Burren and what is now needed “is a radically new approach to strategic planning, management and decision making in the Burren region”.

That is the view of Wildlife Officer with the Heritage Council, Dr Liam Lysaght, who told an audience in Ennis last Wednesday that the Government needed to establish a National Park Authority for the Burren.

Dr Lysaght said that a new landscape-scale national park for the Burren should extend from Doolin and Cliffs of Moher on the north Clare coast up to Kinvara in Co Galway over to Gort and down to Corofin. Currently, only a small portion of the Burren, around the Mullaghmore area, is designated a national park.

Dr Lysaght said that the current National Park – covering an area of 1,500 hectares – was really a nature reserve masquerading as a national park and the new proposal would cover 270 sq km.

No progress has been made on the provision of visitor facilities for the existing National Park over the past five years, since the ill-fated Mullaghmore centre was demolished.

Dr Lysaght said the new large scale park had “huge marketing potential – national parks are recognised world wide as special places and such a brand is a distinct advantage”.

He said the existing National Park was “quite simply too small, by necessity it is inward looking, and has no possibility, nor was it ever really the intention to influence, in any strategic manner, the wider Burren area”.

Dr Lysaght – who worked in the Burren for seven years – said that there was a need to help the community in the Burren realise its expectations, because “despite the Burren being of world renown, here agriculture is in decline, tourism is in decline, recreational opportunities are not fully developed, and there are few if any initiatives to develop produce based on the special characteristics of the region”.

Dr Lysaght said that various reports on future strategy of the Burren had failed and were doomed to fail “because there is no adequate management structure that operates at the strategic level; none that plans and delivers strategic action.

“This is a serious problem for the Burren and one that is a major challenge to have established. A Burren National Park Authority could provide that strategic planning and management which the Burren craves for.”

WHEN your roots are firmly grounded on the Loop Head peninsula, water is never far from your mind and the next parish always means the Americas.

It can be said to be especially true where Paul Gleeson is concerned – a Limerickman who is the son of Loop Head woman Lourdes Keating, from Cross village.

Gleeson is now resting up after the mammoth journey and achievement in rowing across the Atlantic with his girlfriend Tori Holmes.

They battled through 2,550 nautical miles to get to the finish, arriving in the Caribbean island of Antigua last Thursday morning (11 am on Wednesday, Irish time), 86 days after they set off from the Canary Islands.

After reaching land for 13 position in the race, he told The Clare People “it is hard to put into words how happy the two of us are.

“Coming in this morning just after first light was so surreal. Both our families were there. We were looking forward to this for the best part of two months, it was so unbelievable when it happened. We are just smiling from ear to ear,” he added.

The couple, who met in Australia, had no rowing experience before deciding to take part in the mammoth expedition in aid of Concern. They hope to raise €25,000 for the Third World charity. Two years ago Gleeson cycled across Australia for charity.

This successful crossing gave 29-year-old Gleeson the distinction of being the youngest ever Irishman to cross the Atlantic. He is the first cousin of former Clare football captain Barry Keating, while his uncle Gabriel Keating is a former chairman of the Clare Football Board.

The boat they used was given to them by the Kavanagh brothers of Arklow, who also crossed the Atlantic successfully in it in a previous race. Among the highlights of the trip was being tracked by a Sperm whale, while the lowlights included a freak wave which knocked Tori off the boat.

The Atlantic Rowing Race was first staged in 1995 and first hit the headlines this year when Irish pair Ciarán Lewis and Gearóid Towey were dramatically rescued, when they hit trouble in a storm 1,400 miles from Antigua.

A 27-YEAR-OLD man who assaulted another man in the corridor of Ennis courthouse has been jailed for six months.

Stephen Moloney, a father-of-one, with an address at John Paul Avenue, Ennis, assaulted Anthony Gallagher, on June 24 last year.

The court was told that Sgt Haran heard a commotion and a verbal altercation was taking place between the accused and Mr Gallagher, on the corridor of the courthouse.

The defendant told the court that Mr Gallagher had said something to him, but he could not remember what exactly, as it was a “long time ago.”

He told Judge Joseph Mangan that his doctor told him to cease drinking for life in January, due to a liver problem.

“I have to give it up, or just give up myself,” he said.

The court heard that Moloney had a number of previous convictions, most of which were drink-related. Asked by the judge was he happy with his behaviour over the past decade, the accused replied, “Not really, no.”

Defending solicitor Tara Godfrey said her client had a drink problem and had been told by doctors that if he continued drinking, he would die, as he had a liver problem.

“Drink has taken its toll, physically,” said the solicitor, adding, “If he doesn’t deal with it, he is endangering his life.”

She said he had not drank for more than a month.

“He won’t get the level of treatment necessary for him in prison for his drink or for his bowel problem,” said Ms Godfrey.

Judge Joseph Mangan replied, “He doesn’t seem to be getting it outside either.”

He imposed a four-month sentence for the assault charge and a two month sentence for a public order offence in Ennis on December 22 last.

Both sentences will run consecutively. Recognisances were fixed in the event of an appeal.

CARRON National School, in the heart of the Burren, received a donation of $1,500 last week to allow them upgrade their library services. The school, which has some 20 pupils, was visited by a delegation from The Irish American Partnership last Friday and presented with the money.

“It will be a marvellous help to the children because we are always trying in encourage them to read,” said school principal Martin Clohessy. “Between the library and the stuff that we take off the Internet, it is going to make a huge difference to their lives that they will be able to have an extra resource in the school that they can take home, read it and bring it back.

“With the revised new curriculum, particularly in English, we are going to increase our stock of resource book, library books and novels,” continued Mr Clohessy.

“They asked that we will use the money for library purposes, so we will convert it to euros and invest in library resource books for students. We have a library in the school already, but this will allows to increase our stock of books greatly.

The Boston based partnership has been coming to Ireland for more than 20 years, and in that time has donated more than $12 million to Irish educational and social projects. In the last four years, the partnership has visited one national school in Ireland each year, with Lisdoonvarna National benefiting two years ago.

“We go to a different area of the country each year and this year we picked Carron,” said Patrick Kittredge of the Irish American Partnership.

For Mr Kittredge and his group, the trip was not all work, however, and they took the opportunity to take in some of the sites of the area.

“There is a big social element to the trip as well. We are going to visit a lot of local sites like the Ailwee Caves and a lot of the group is going to Galway City, and we will hit a few pubs on the way,” continued Mr Kittredge.

“The other schools have told us that it has had a bit of impact, so we will keep doing it.

“Two years ago we visited the Lisdoonvarna National School and last year we were at Kill in Waterford.”

JUDGE Carroll Moran told the jury yesterday (Monday) evening that it was “common case” that the theme of suicide was prevalent in the case.

He said Eavan Drysdale alleged that Gda Keating told her she would be the next Geraldine Kissane, who was shot dead by her former boyfriend in Shannon in 2001, before he then shot himself.

Gda Keating, in turn, alleged that Ms Drysale had texted him, saying she hoped his next suicide attempt would be a success.

Gda Keating told the court he attempted to take his own life in July 2004.

Earlier, defence barrister Thomas Creed said the complainant, Ms Drysdale, “is prepared to say anything until she is caught out.”

He said she had a solicitor’s letter sent to Gda Keating on May 12, 2004, ordering him to keep away from her, while at the same time she was making “secret contact” with him, by sending him text messages.

“She was dangling him at the end of a string, torturing him,” he said.

“Is this a damsel in distress? Is this indicative of a woman harassed?” he asked.

The barrister said Ms Drysdale alleged that Gda Keating had been aggressive towards her. However, he said a phone conversation between the two — which was recorded by Gda Keating on his mobile phone and was played in court — showed that she, not he, was the aggressive one.

Meanwhile, counsel for the prosecution, Stephen Coughlan, in his summing up, said three telephone conversations took place between the accused and the complainant on the night of August 17, 2004.

He said the threats were made during these conversations.

“It may have looked like the case was all about text messages, but the real issue in this case is what happened on the night of the 17th of August,” he said, making reference to thousands of text messages mentioned throughout the case.

He said when Eavan Drysdale confronted Gda Keating after he had slept with another woman, in December 2003, he admitted in court that in denying he had been unfaithful, he had “lied through his teeth”.

“Pat Keating is asking you to believe him, in preference to Ms Drysdale,” Mr Coughlan told the jury.

EAVAN Drysdale said she felt her life was in danger due to a threat from her former boyfriend Gda Pat Keating who, she claims, told her by phone on August 18, 2004 that she was the next Geraldine Kissane.

In October 2001, Geraldine Kissane was shot dead by her ex-boyfriend, Mark Simms in Shannon, before he turned the gun on himself.

Ms Drysdale told the court: “I felt that my life was in danger and that he would take his own life as he was referring to the Kissane case.”

She said that earlier that night, Gda Keating had phoned her to say if he was going down, she was going with him.

Ms Drysdale said this was in relation to a public order charge that Gda Keating was facing.

Ms Drysdale was also a witness in the case that stemmed from an incident involving the two in Shannon in March 2004.

Ms Drysdale said that on the night of August 17, the calls had started from Gda Keating after she mistakenly sent him a blank text message.

Thomas Creed, defence counsel, then read out a series of text messages that Garda Keating has a record of that came from phones owned by Ms Drysdale in April 2004.

They read, “Curl up and die, goodbye”, “Fuck off and die and do yourself a favour”, and “The only people that listen to you are the crazy voices inside your crazy head.”

Asked by Mr Creed were these abusive text messages, Ms Drysale said, “No, I wouldn’t consider them to be abusive.

“They were responding to texts from Gda Keating.”

Referring to the date of the alleged offence committed by Gda Keating, she said he said a few short words to her and she hung up, “having had a long evening of texts and phone calls from him”.

She said she had heard over the

previous four weeks that Gda Keat ing had been admitted to hospital after an attempted suicide.

“I had heard that, some time in July, hence the reason I’d take his accusation very seriously. I was scared.”

It was put to her in cross examination by Mr Creed that she said to Gda Keating she hoped his next suicide attempt would be successful, but in court she said, “I don’t recall saying that.”

PAT Keating (33), a native of Kilbaha in west Clare, and a garda for 10 years, said the allegations made by his former girlfriend Eavan Drysdale had shattered his career and his life.

He said her allegations were ‘lies’. He had been suspended since they were made in August 2004.

“She made a promise, going back to day one, that she was going to destroy me. Regardless of what happens here in court today, or any day, my career is in ruins. My life is in ruins. She has been successful,” he said.

The separated father-of-one said the break-up of his nine-month relationship with Ms Drysdale in March 2004 had a devastating effect on him.

He first met her on June 21, 2003 when she reported a stolen bicycle at Shannon Garda Station.

He said he met her again in a supermarket the same afternoon and that evening she rang him to ask him out.

The romance moved along at a fast past and he said Eavan presented him with a key to her house for his birthday, just weeks later — a claim denied by her.

Gda Keating said some time later the relationship took a downhill turn. As a result, he cheated on her, something he was deeply ashamed of.

This led them to break up temporarily in December 2003. They got back together and broke up again the following March.

He said following the break-up, Eavan initiated contact with him on several occasions, some of which were in the middle of the night.

He said her calls ranged from abusive to nice. He claimed she called him various names including “psycho freak of nature”, “truly horrible person” and “bad man”, in text messages. Another message suggested there were “crazy voices” inside his head.

After the break-up, he was at “rock bottom” and could not sleep. At one stage, he did not eat for 13 days.

He attended St John of Gods hospital in Dublin under a consultant psychiatrist.

Referring to the date of the alleged incident for which he is on trial, he said he received a blank text from Eavan late on August 17.

He tried to ring her and texted her back a few times.

He said they had a telephone conversation, during which she was “completely wound up”. He denied making any threat to her.

“Under no circumstances would I say that. I wouldn’t even think of the name Geraldine Kissane (a woman who was shot dead by her ex-boyfriend in Shannon, before he shot himself in October 2001). . . I have never threatened Eavan,” he said.

“Since August the 18th, I feel I have been set up.

“I never lost faith in the relationship up to then,” he said.

Asked how he feels about the complainant now, he replied, “I don’t feel anything for her now.”