Month: February 2006

PARISHES throughout the diocese, as well as past pupils of St Flannan’s College, Ennis mourned the passing of one of the schools former presidents this week.

O’Callaghan’s Mills native, the V. Rev. John Shalloo, died peacefully on Wednesday last in Tullamore General Hospital, following a short illness.

After ordination, Fr Shalloo served on the staff of St. Flannan’s College for 25 years, becoming vice president of the college in 1969 and president in December 1970.

He served as a priest with the Killaloe Diocese for 55 years, having studied for the priesthood at St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth from where he was ordained in 1949.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Fr Shalloo organised vigils to Lourdes from Ennis.

The late priest is also remembered for his work in Shannon. He was appointed curate to the parish in 1974. He became parish priest of Shannon in July 1975.

In September 1983, he volunteered to serve on the Killaloe Diocesan Mission to the diocese of Mutare in Zimbabwe.

On his return from Zimbabwe, he was appointed parish priest in Birr, Co. Offaly in July 1986.

Two years later, he was appointed Canon to the Cathedral Chapter of the diocese and in 1999, he retired as parish priest of Birr, but continued to serve the parish as assistant priest, until his recent illness.

Those who knew him well, described the late priest as popular and well liked.

Long time friend, Fr Cormac Mc Namara, now parish priest in Fr Shalloo’s native O’Callaghans Mills told The Clare People , “he was the most humble and unassuming man you ever met in your life.”

Having studied under Fr Shalloo in St Flannan’s College and later teaching there with him, Fr McNamara was later to work with Fr Shalloo again in Shannon.

“He was one of those people you looked up to. He was a great worker and above all, a very holy man,” said Fr McNamara.

Born into a family of seven in Tierrovan, O’Callaghan’s Mills, Fr Shalloo is survived by two of his sisters, one living in nearby Kilkishen and one in Laois.

Fr Shalloo was laid to rest in the grounds of St. Brendan’s Church, Birr, after Funeral Mass on Saturday.

A CALL was made this week for a coordinated approach to the marketing of the dolphin-watching industry in the Shannon Estuary.

Dr Simon Berrow of the Shannon Whale and Dolphin Foundation (SWDF) made the call on the back of figures released to The Clare People showing that the dolphin-watching industry had failed to build on the massive gains enjoyed at the start of the decade.

The SWDF figures show that there has been a slow, but steady decline in the numbers dolphin watching in the years recorded since 2002.

Last year there were 431 dolphin trips on the estuary. There are no statistics available for 2004, however, the 2005 out-turn represents a five per cent drop on the 454 trips in 2003.

The 2003 figure in turn represented a three per cent drop on the numbers dolphin watching in 2002.

Between 1998 and 2001, the thenfledgling industry enjoyed a massive 400 per cent increase in dolphin watching trips and 600 per cent increase in dolphin watching numbers.

“There is a need for a co-ordinated approach amongst all the operators in the estuary to market dolphin watching, because the figures have reached a plateau out in recent years,” said Dr Berrow.

“There has been a positive feedback from the operators to the idea of a promotional plan. I realise that they are competitors to one another, but they must make the pie bigger for everyone concerned.

Dr Berrow said that the dolphin watching in the Shannon estuary “is quite badly promoted.”

“I spoke to secondary students at a Shannon school recently and only 10 per cent had heard of dolphin watching which is an indictment on the level of promotion.

One of the operators, Paul Griffin of the Dolphin Discovery, said however that everything was been done to promote dolphin watching.

“There hasn’t been any reduced spend on marketing and we are doing everything we should be doing.

“Last year was better that 2004 and we would hope to increase the numbers again this year.”

“A lot of the business would have come from people holidaying in Lahinch and Kilkee and there has been repeat business from that area, but not now to the extent that was there and that would account for some of the drop.”

A 15-YEAR-OLD girl appeared before an Ennis court last week, charged with a list of offences including threatening a person with a knife.

Judge Aeneas McCarthy heard that the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons was “out of control” during the time between April and September last year when she committed a series of offences, including the knife threat, stealing alcohol from Dunnes Stores, stealing a handbag, theft, assault and criminal damage at shops in Ennis and possession of the banned drug, Ecstasy. The offences took place in locations in Ennis, including Fifila Belle’s, Cornucopia and the boys’ national school, the court heard.

The court heard that the girl was currently the subject of a care order, which has seen her placed in a secure facility catering for troubled young people.

One of the guardians appointed to the 15-year-old at the facility, told Judge Aeneas McCarthy that she had been making such good progress that she had been allowed home for Christmas and for weekend visits.

The Health Services Executive’s plan drawn up for her, provides that she can soon be moved to another, high-support unit in Limerick, which has a more open regime.

“She has been obedient, cooperative and pleasant to work with,” the guardian said.

Her mother had been co-operating with the girl’s programme and her father had also been very supportive, the guardian said.

Judge Aeneas Mccarthy said that he would adjourn the case until May 12 to allow the therapeutic programme which she was undergoing, to continue.

“She seems to be doing very well in the secure unit,’ the judge said.

He adjourned the case and remanded the teenager to the care of the Health Service Executive.

CLARE County Council has come under fire from Limerick City Council for refusing to meet with it to discuss the proposed city boundary extension into South East Clare.

City officials, in a submission lodged with the Department of the Environment that they, “offered to meet with both Clare and Limerick in order to present and clarify the proposal and answer any questions. This offer was declined and no direct discussion or negotiation took place.

“Clare entirely dismisses the idea of tripartite planning cooperation as “too complicated”.

The statement also claimed that a survey conducted by the council showed that the boundary extension proposal would be likely carried by a plebiscite and there was no significant opposition to the administration of the area by Limerick City Council.

With a decision on the proposed extension expected within weeks, public representatives across Clare have vowed not to give up their land, their rates or their hurlers.

Kilrush Town Councillor Jack Fennell (Ind) warned, “there is no hurling in North Clare and West Clare. If we keep whittling away at the hurling area of County Clare we will have no team left.”

His council colleagues have agreed to write to the Minister for the Environment asking him to refuse Limerick City’s request. Councillors in South East Clare have hit back angrily at suggestions made by Limerick City Councillor John Ryan (Lab) that Clare County Council wss neglecting its responsibility for the south east of the county.

His party colleague, Clare County Councillor Paschal Fitzgerald, hit back angrily telling the Limerick man to “stick to his own area”.

He said council’s plans to provide a library and council offices in the Parteen/Westbury area proved a willingness to provide a good service to the people of the area.

“I am very angry as an East Clare councillor, that not one TD in Clare has come out to back the council and the Clare people,” he added.

Meanwhile, Councillor Cathall Crowe (FF) maintains that no boundary extension into Clare will be granted.

“Whilst there is validity to

the boundary opposition argu ments put forward by Limerick County Council, I consider the Clare argument to hold far more substance. At the end of the day, Limerick city and county are part of the one geopolitical entity — Limerick,” he said.

THOUSANDS of fake driving licences are in circulation on the roads, a Clare court has heard.

The issue of the counterfeit licences came to light after a driver sporting a fake document was stopped at a routine checkpoint.

The judge in an Ennis court handed down a four-month prison sentence to the man in question.

Sergeant Dermot O’Connor told the Ennis District Court that he stopped Trevor Condon (38) of Goirtroe, Corrandulla, in Galway at Newmarket-on-Fergus on July 12 last.

“When I asked for his licence, he produced a document which appeared to be a full driving licence but when I checked it, in my opinion, it was a forgery,” Sgt O’Connor said.

“When I informed him of this, he challenged me and said that he had been issued the licence by Galway Corporation,” the Sergeant told Judge Aeneas McCarthy.

The Shannon-based officer seized the document and sent it to the handwriting section at Garda Headquarters, Dublin, for examination.

Sgt O’Connor said that the experts there “advised that it was a forgery and one of a batch of a few thousand which are in circulation, mainly in the Southern part of the country,” Sgt O’Connor said.

He described the forgery as being “of average quality,” and handed it over to the Judge for inspection.

The court heard that the accused man had a number of previous convictions, but none for road traffic offences.

His solicitor, Bill Loughnane, said that the Galway man’s previous offences had all been when he was a young man and he had not been in any trouble for a considerable time.

“He is on disability payments and has numerous problems. He was offered the opportunity to purchase one of these licences and he foolishly accepted,” Mr Loughnane said.

After asking to see the licence, Judge McCarthy handed the convicted man a four-month jail sentence for possession of a forged document. But he suspended the jail term, provided the driver entered into a bond to be of good behaviour for 12 months. Judge McCarthy also fined Condon €150 for having no driving licence.

THE Rossport Five received news of a two-week stay of execution from the High Court, while visiting Doolin over the weekend. The five, who spent 94 days in prison last year for breaching an injunction taken out by Shell, were due to appear in the High Court yesterday (Monday) to learn if they would have to serve additional time in prison.

However, it was decided last Friday to defer the case to appear again before the High Court on Monday, February 27. Should the five men be ordered to return to prison, they believe it will set a new precedent in Irish law.

“Everything about this case is unprecedented. In fact, our legal team has told us that if we are to receive further punishment, it will set a new precedent in Irish law,” said Vincent McGrath of the Five.

“They decided, for some reason known only to themselves, to defer the case for two weeks. They gave us no reason at all.”

The five were in Doolin to give a short talk and take part in a concert on Saturday night.

“We had a great time in Doolin. There was almost 200 people there. I think we are almost twinned with Doolin now,” continued Mr McGrath. “It was great to have the head filled with music instead of with facts and figures about gas for a change.”

The five have currently suspended their involvement with the mediation with Shell because of what they describe as a lack of clarity about the scope of the negotiations. Speaking in Doolin, Mr McGrath wished to express his thanks to all the people of Clare who supported the five.

“The support given to us by the people of Clare gave us great encouragement and strength while we were in prison,” he said.

“I remember looking on the TV in the early days in prison and seeing a big Clare banner protesting for us outside. It gave us great heart.”

Meanwhile, Clare Shell-to-Sea are to host a ‘Boycott Shell’ picket at the Shell Service Station on the Limerick Road in Ennis at 1pm this Saturday. The protest comes amid new fears that areas in the Burren and Spanish Point could be targeted as gas resources in the future.

“I would be concerned that the lust for oil and gas in Clare would result in the reneging on committments to proper consultation with local communities, under the Agenda 21 principle of local government,” said Niall Harnett of Clare Shell-to-Sea.

A PLAN to develop Ireland’s first full-scale retirement village accommodating up to 300 residents outside Clarecastle has come under fire from An Taisce.

Last December, the Dublin-based Master Group announced the village, costing €50 million. It would create over 100 jobs on 75 acres of grounds of the historic 18th-century Carnelly House, five miles from Ennis.

There would be 120 houses of various sizes, 35 apartments and a 64-bed retirement home. Village facilities would include a leisure centre with a 12-metre pool and a speciallyequipped gym.

The property was purchased for in excess of €3 million by the Master Group last year.

Objecting, An Taisce told Clare County Council that, “There is an ample network of towns and villages, including locations with good service provisions and public transport access for provision of retirement and nursing home locations in Clare, to meet the needs identified by the applicant without having to resort to development in an unsuitable, rural, unserviced location of the type proposed in this application.”

An Taisce’s Heritage Officer, Ian Lumley, has referred the Council “to a number of precedents by which nursing home schemes have been refused in rural unserviced locations, including two relevant refusal decisions by An Bord Pleanala”.

“Any planning application which changes the use and planning status of Carnelly to an institutional one, no matter how well-designed or sensitive, can only be regarded as regrettable,” said Mr Lumley.

An Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) has been lodged with the application. However, Mr Lumley states, “We submit that the argument being put forward by the consultants in the EIS on location suitability is untenable.

“The effect of the proposal would be to bring an elderly population into an unserviced, non-public transport-accessible rural area, without addressing where the employees in the proposed development, who are stated to be 104, would live.

“An increasing number of employees in nursing homes in Ireland are from the Philippines and other nonEU countries, who would be on low incomes and not car owners. Nursing homes, where possible, should be located close to centres of population with easy access both for staff and visitors.

Mr Lumley states that the claim under the EIS that there are no alternative sites “is absurd, given the level of zoned land in Clarecastle, Ennis and other parts of Clare”.

LISDOONVARNA woman Shelley McNamara made history this week by becoming the first ever architect allowed to join Aosdána, a group made up of Ireland’s leading artists.

The organisation, which was founded by Charley Haughey in 1981 with Samuel Beckett as it’s first member, has recently opened its ranks to architects and choreographers. Ms McNamara is the first from either discipline to be granted membership.

Aosdána boasts some of Irelands leading artists, with the likes of Colm Tobin, Neil Jordan and Noble Laureate, Seamus Heaney, among its membership. Ms McNamara’s appointment is a major milestone for the group and has raised a number of eyebrows in the artistic community.

“It is the first time that architects have been considered for Aosdána and I would imagine that I am the first of many,” Miss McNamara told The Clare People.

While she is delighted with her appointment, she pointed to a numbers of problems that have to be addressed in the planning process in Ireland at the moment.

“I think that there are a lot of problems, mainly the fact that new developments don’t always consolidate within an area,” she said. “It’s not always to do with the architect, it’s about the planners as well. We all have to take responsibility for tackling the problem.”

Born in Lisdoonvarna, Miss McNamara attended UCD before establishing Grafton Architects with Yvonne Farrell in 1977.

A GARDA sergeant, who stopped to play good Samaritan to a motorist in trouble, found he had to book him instead.

And when Shannon-based Sgt Dermot O’Connor brought summonses for no insurance, tax or driving licence against Martin McDonagh of 44 Ard Alainn in Ballybane, Galway, he discovered that the man had 68 previous convictions, 60 of them for road traffic offences and was disqualified from driving at the time.

Sgt O’Connor told Ennis District Court that while off-duty, he was driving when he saw the defendant overtake him and then pull in to the side of the road, as if he had broken down.

“I went to see if I could help him and saw that he had no tax or insurance and he did not have a driver’s licence,” said Sgt O’Connor.

His record showed that he had 68 previous convictions, 60 of which applied to offences under the Road Traffic Act.

His solicitor said that McDonagh was just 21 years old and was currently serving a 19 month sentence due to end in August.

“He had bought the car just a short time previously and he was driving from Galway to visit relatives in Shannon,” the solicitor said.

Judge Aeneas McCarthy imposed a sentence of six months for having no insurance and ruled it should start after the completion of his current sentence.

THREE men arrested in connection with the murder of nightclub security man, Brian Fitzgerald, have been released without charge and a file sent to the DPP.

It is believed that while a Clare person is still being investigated in relation to the murder, this person was not one of those arrested during the past week.

Two of those arrested were held in Dublin and one in the Midlands under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act.

James Martin Cahill from Birmingham and with family connections in West Clare is currently serving a life sentence for the murder of Mr Fitzgerald.

The 30-year-old has told gardaí that he will testify against his criminal associates.

Cahill was paid €10,000 to kill the father of two, three years ago, in one of the most notorious murders in Limerick city.

Mr Fitzgerald was shot outside his home in Corbally in the early hours of November 29, 2002.

The 34-year-old father was head of security at the former Doc’s nightclub in Limerick.

It is believed a crime gang targeted him when he refused to allow drugs to be traded in the club.

After pleading to the murder charge last November, Cahill told his sentencing hearing that he was willing to testify in any future cases.

“What I am trying to say is that I will testify against people. That is why I feel my life is in danger,” he told Mr Justice Paul Carney.

A decision by the Supreme Court made just two weeks after Cahill’s sentencing, to dismiss an appeal by Dublin Crime Boss John Gilligan against his 20-year conviction on drug trafficking charges, gave gardaí fresh hope of finding all of those involved in the Fitzgerald murder.

At the time Gilligan’s lawyers challenged the reliability of witnesses under the Witness Protection Programme.

The programme was put in place to protect those willing to turn State’s witness and give essential evidence against their criminal partners.

Gardaí said that the decision by the Supreme Court to give qualified support to the programme is of huge importance to further investigations into the murder of Brian Fitzgerald.