Month: April 2006

FORMER Senior IRA figure Nessan Quinlivan grabbed international headlines when he escaped from Brixton prison in July 1991, along with Pearse McAuley.

Quinlivan, a native of Ballynanty Beg, Limerick, had been awaiting trial on a number of charges, including conspiracy to murder former brewery Executive, Sir Charles Tidbury, when they made their daring but successful escape. The pair used a gun, smuggled into the jail in a shoe, to make their escape.

In April 2000, the High Court in Dublin ruled that Quinlivan should be extradited back to Britain, to face the charges.

But Quinlivan claimed that it would be fruitless to extradite him, because under the terms of the Belfast Agreement, he would probably have to be freed by July of 2001.

However, the High Court disagreed, saying the agreement only applied to convicted prisoners and that it was not appropriate to extend the terms of the early release scheme to those awaiting trial.

The court ruled that there were no circumstances that would render it improper, unfair or oppressive to order his extradition. Mr Justice Peter Kelly ruled that the offences, for which his extradition was sought, were not political offences.

He was then taken into custody. However he subsequently walked free, after being granted bail.

Quinlivan then lodged an appeal to the Supreme Court and this has yet to be dealt with.

MORE than 200 people converged on Lisdeen Church outside Kilkee on Saturday afternoon for the wedding of Brixton Prison escaper Nessan Quinlivan.

Quinlivan, 41, a native of Limerick, married his long-term girlfriend Eileen Price, from Dublin, at a lowkey 50-minute ceremony.

The former IRA figure managed to evade the waiting photographers, as he arrived 30 minutes early for his wedding.

Many of the wedding party had an early drink in Keane’s public house across from the church, but the groom was nowhere to be seen.

There was no sign of prominent senior Sinn Féin figures, who had been expected to attend the nuptials.

Quinlivan was centre of attention during the wedding mass, which was said by Fr Donagh O’Meara, and appeared to thoroughly enjoy the attention bestowed upon him and his bride.

Wearing a dark grey suit, white shirt and pink tie, Quinlivan travelled the short journey from the Ocean Cove Hotel – where the reception took place – to Lisdeen church at lunchtime on Saturday.

Prior to leaving the hotel for his big moment, he chatted to family and friends in the hotel reception, and showed no sign of any nerves on his big day.

Just before he departed the hotel for the church, he tried on a pair of sunglasses belonging to one of the other guests and asked all around did they suit him – before deciding to go without them!

Moments later, he and his best men, Maurice Quinlivan and Sean Bromell, travelled to the church in Lisdeen.

Quinlivan lapped up the attention during the ceremony. When the couple were exchanging their wedding rings, Eileen had difficulty in placing his ring on his finger, and giggled loudly.

He turned to the crowds and laughed, “Big hands,” before giving his bride a peck on the cheek and then bowed to the crowd.

While Eileen was photographed entering the church before the wedding mass, 15 minutes late, there were no photographs of the happy couple afterwards.

The couple’s friends shielded them with umbrellas, as they left the church for an awaiting Lexus car, which sped off towards the Ocean Cove hotel in Kilkee town.

The wedding group partied until the early hours, before the couple began their honeymoon in Dingle.

“They can’t leave the country, because of the extradition,” a family member confirmed.

The wedding Mass was a traditional event, with songs such as ‘Amazing Grace’. ‘Bind Us Together’ and ‘Morning Has Broken’ the order of the day.

Fr O’Meara said the couple were destined to be together.

HOUSE prices in Ennis have jumped by almost 25 per cent in just over a year, a leading property dealer has revealed.

And the trend is likely to continue, with demand for homes in the town and environs on the rise.

David Costello of Costello Auctioneers says that the value of property in Ennis over the last 14 months has shot up.

The auctioneer pointed to examples where values rose by as much as 27.7 per cent over fifteen months.

A two-bed ground floor apartment in Ard Caoin on the Gort Road launched in February 2005 at €157,500. These are now making €195,000 an increase of 24 per cent.

“We would expect the next phase at €200,000,” Costello said.

Four bed semi-detached homes in Shanballa, on the Lahinch Road, went on the market at €197,500 and were reaching €250,000 towards the end of 2005, an increase of 25 per cent in 14 months. These properties are now costing €265,000.

Detached houses in Ballyalla Grove started at €360,000 in late 2004 and by 2006, they were selling at €460,000, an increase of 27.7 per cent over 15 months.

Costello says there are “a number of reasons for this kind of increase. One is that previously, houses in Ennis did not appreciate at the same rate as in other towns of similar size. Some part of the increase can be attributable to catching up. Also, the investment market in Ennis was very flat and it started coming back in 2005.”

A lack of residentially zoned land coming on the market is also fuelling the climb, he said. The town’s multicultural make-up is also driving the price of property, with an increase in the number of migrant workers needing accommodation and with many now buying property in the town.

“There’s exceptionally strong demand from indigenous home owners and first time buyers coming in,” the Ennis property expert said.

Costello said he believed that home-values in Ennis would continue to increase.

“I can see detached houses having an increased rise in value now as they also begin to catch up. The only thing that might slow house prices down would be a substantial increase in interest rates. I can’t see a rise of one or one point five having a major impact,” he added.

THE family of abuse victim Peter McCloskey, who was found dead at his Kilkee home earlier this month, say many questions remain unanswered, following their meeting with the Bishop of Limerick on Sunday.

Peter McCloskey died on April 1, days after a mediation meeting between himself, representatives of the Clerical sex victims support group One In Four and church representatives.

His distraught family met with Bishop of Limerick Donal Murray on Sunday, a meeting described by Peter’s brother Joseph as “very challenging.”

“Yesterday was an extraordinarily difficult day. There is clearly going to be a need for some form of investigation into the events. I still feel the Limerick Diocese has failed Peter,” said Joseph, yesterday (Monday).

He said it was “very positive” that the meeting took place as it “needed to happen.”

“I think the Limerick Diocese have a huge journey to travel in understanding the implications and knockon effects of their actions,” he said.

He said his brother’s death was “no accident. It could all have been so easily avoided.”

A joint statement was issued in the wake of the meeting between the Bishop and the family.

In it the Bishop acknowledged that he completely accepts the truth of Mr McCloskey’s experience of clerical child sexual abuse. He also acknowledged that there was a failure on the part of the diocese to inform itself as to Fr Daly’s suitability for the ministry. The diocese accepts that the information available at that time should have prevented Fr Daly from taking up ministry in Limerick. In an emotional press conference last week, Mary McCloskey, Peter’s mother, called on Dr Murray to resign as Bishop of Limerick over the way in which he and the diocese handled the case.

Peter was abused while serving as an altar boy at the age of ten in the Diocese of Limerick by Fr Denis Daly, a priest who had been run out of a parish in Sydney for a “moral lapse”.

Peter had been locked in a fouryear battle with the Diocese after responding to church calls for priests’ victims to come forward and tell their stories.

ENNIS Town Mayor, Frankie Neylon, has said “there is no way in the world” that Council housing should be provided on a pro-rata basis for local asylum seekers.

He made his comment after figures released yesterday showed that 40 per cent of the applicants on the housing list are asylum seekers and refugees.

The number of asylum seekers on the housing list has increased by 90 per cent in the past three years.

In 2003, there were 148 asylum seekers on the list, which totaled 590, and this increased to 282 on the list that now accounts for 680 applicants.

Asked if asylum seekers be allocated housing on a pro-rata basis which would entitle them to 40 per cent of new Council housing stock, Cllr Neylon said: “there is no way in the world that should happen.

“I would be totally against that. That would be very unfair to people born and reared in this town who are on the housing list.”

“There is no hint of racism in what I say. I welcome all the asylum seekers to Ennis, but I do have a problem when it comes to housing stock if the government isn’t prepared to provide additional funding to build the extra homes.”

Council figures show that houses are not being allocated to asylum seekers on a proportional basis.

Last year, the Council allocated just four homes out of 46 to non-nationals, while in the new Council development of 48 homes at Roslevan, only nine have been allocated to nonnationals.

Cllr Neylon said the Council was playing “catch-up” in trying to deal with the growing housing list and that asylum seeker families will get preference over local families because they had larger families.

“The list now stands at 680 and will be 1,000 soon enough. There is no way of solving it with the current level of new housing.

“We will soon provide 48 homes in Roslevan, but it may be another three years before we open another development and the list will continue to grow.”

“If only one asylum seeker gets a house, that means one of our own didn’t qualify. If that is going to happen, I have no problem, but extra government funding should be made available because of the influx. Ennis is particularly vulnerable to a housing crisis due to the amount of asylum seekers. We have had more than our fair share.”

Nigerian-born councillor Dr Taiwoo Matthew said that, while the Council wasn’t meeting its housing targets, it was doing as much as it could with the resources available.

“We work as a team. The Council provided 46 homes last year, but I wish it could have provided 500 if it got the funding.”

A 56-YEAR-OLD man was last night (Monday) fighting for his life in hospital, after being found lying unconscious on a pavement in Lisdoonvara in the early hours of yesterday morning.

Gardai are at a loss as to what happened to Jim Kearney and say they are not ruling anything in or out at this stage.

Mr Kearney, who lives locally at Rooska, was found with severe head injuries at Kincora Road, close to the Square in the town, at around 2am.

He was seen leaving a pub in the town just 10 minutes earlier, having been socialising for the evening, and is understood to have been on his way home at the time.

A passer-by noticed him lying on the pavement close to Burke’s garage and notified gardaí.

He was rushed to the Mid-Western Regional Hospital, Ennis, before being moved to Limerick. He was later transferred to hospital in Cork, where he underwent emergency surgery and was still in a critical condition there, at time of going to press last evening.

Gardaí say they have no evidence to suggest any suspicious activity took place, but are keeping an open mind.

“We are not ruling anything in or out. We have to find out what caused the injuries,” said a garda spokesman.

“One of the head injuries is consistent with a fall, but we have not ascertained what caused the other injuries,” he added.

A number of people who were socialising with the man have been interviewed and house-to-house enquiries were being conducted in Lisdoonvarna yesterday, as gardai tried to piece together what exactly happened. The street where Mr Kearney was found was closed for much of yesterday, while an area close to the garage was cordoned off yesterday morning.

Mr Kearney, a native of Wexford, has worked as a chef in various north Clare restaurants for more than 10 years and is well-known in Lisdoonvarna.

“We want to speak to anyone who was in his company during the night,” added the spokesman.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Ennistymon Garda Station on 065 7071020.

THE lease for the decentralisation offices due to open in Kilrush in November has finally been signed, but the Office of Public Works is remaining tight-lipped as to its exact location.

It is, however, believed that the new offices are to be located in Cappa.

A third of the 50 Revenue Commission staff destined for the west Clare town are believed to be coming from Ennis, another third from Limerick and one third from Dublin.

So popular a location is Kilrush for Irish civil servants, the 50 positions could be filled twice over, according to west Clare politicians.

Welcoming the successful negotiation of the lease, Kilrush Senator Brendan Daly said, “The fact the assigned building is already there means decentralisation will take place quicker than anticipated and ahead of schedule.”

While other towns across the country, including Shannon have been struggling to encourage civil servants to relocate, Kilrush has never had a problem enticing the government staff west.

Shannon Development’s John Quinlivan said that he influx of civil servants to the town would encourage further service industries in the town.

“It will create a vibrancy in the town,” he told The Clare People .

Mr Quinlivan along with Kilrush Town Council’s Marketing Manager Siobhan Curran are members of the Integrated Shannon Decentralisation Network (ISDN) which was established in November 2000 to promote a joint approach to decentralisation by the towns of Kilrush, Listowel and Newcastle West.

The ISDN is a partnership between Shannon Development, Town Councils in Kilrush and Listowel and the Community Council in Newcastle West together with the area representatives of Limerick County Council and supported by the Chamber of Commerce in each town.

The group met with the Minister of State at the Department of Finance Tom Parlon last week to discuss the next step in the decentralisation programme.

The ISDN also facilitated a familiarisation trip for senior Revenue Staff and produced a guidebook on the services in each of the three towns, which was distributed to Revenue staff that expressed an interest in the towns.

The Minister and his officials confirmed that property solutions were complete in Kilrush and Listowel and leases had been signed on premises. A total of 50 staff would be operating from each of these offices in November 2006. A property had been purchased in Newcastle West and a contractor would be on site by autumn 2006.

THE plight of Travellers living on the roadside without sanitation is a thing of the past in Clare with council officials this week confirming that all of the county’s indigenous Travellers have been provided with living accommodation.

Over the past decade, Travellers have been forced to live without running water or toilet facilities as the Council failed to provide adequate accommodation after the closure of its main halting site at Drumcliffe outside Ennis in 1997.

The absence of any serviced accommodation forced Travellers to park illegally in urban areas, resulting in tensions between the Traveller and settled communities.

Bishop Willie Walsh intervened in a bid to resolve the issues and former County Manager, Willie Moloney had his car tyres slashed in a move believed to be connected with the Council seeking to provide emergency accommodation in 2001.

The fall-out from the Council’s failure to accommodate all the families resulted in a number of court battles financed by the taxpayer. Clare was also the first county where Travellers were sentenced to jail terms for contravening trespass legislation.

At the start of the Council’s Traveller Accommodation Programme, in 2000, there were 33 Traveller families living on the roadside. By the end of the plan in 2004, the Council reduced the numbers living on the roadside to 14 at a cost of over €12million.

Now with the provision of emergency accommodation outside Ennis and Ennistymon, the Council claims it has eliminated the problem.

In its latest Traveller accommodation plan to deal with new family formations, the Council has identified accommodation need for 88 families with 64 Traveller families in immediate need and a projected need for an additional 22 families.

County Manager, Alec Fleming said the council was very happy with what has been achieved and are working closely with the other state agencies and the Travelling Community to improve outcomes in a number of areas affecting Travellers.

Spokesman for Traveller rights group, Pavee Point, Martin Collins said that while he welcomed the news, there was a price to pay for Travellers as much of the accommodation didn’t accommodate their way of life, such as keeping horses.

“I don’t think that is inevitable and more should be done by the Council to accommodate Travellers in that way,” he said.

RESIDENTS of an Ennis housing estate have received assurances that a fence will be installed as part of the Westbourne housing development.

The controversial development received the go-ahead at this month’s meeting of Ennis Town Council.

Councillors decided to accept Town Engineer, Tom Tiernan’s recommendation, that the construction of 66 dwelling houses and 16 apartments including site development works and associated services, at Westbourne be approved by members.

But, despite opposition, Mr Tiernan said that the wall separating Bishop’s Court from the proposed Westbourne development will be constructed.

Ennis Town Council invited submission from residents of Bishop’s Court and Mountain View on the Watery Road. In total, 18 submissions were received.

The Bishop’s Court resident’s expressed the view that the provision of a three metre high wall between the proposed development and Bishop’s Court was essential. However The Killaloe Diocesan office said that it could not justify spending diocesan money on the wall.

“The wall proved to be the most difficult issue and we need to make inroads into it. We will provide that fence in time. The Department have made their feelings clear on that issue,” Mr Tiernan told the meeting.

Cllr Tommy Brennan (Ind) praised the work of Mr Tiernan and proposed that the council accept Mr Tiernan’s recommendations.

As part of the construction, three houses will be facilitated with solar-power technology.

A NEW sex-assault unit serving the mid-west is taking some of the trauma out of the investigation process that follows a sexual assault.

Clare victims of rape and sexual assault will no longer have to make a round trip of 150 miles, or more, to Cork for examination and the collection of forensic evidence.

A Sex Assault Treatment Unit (SATU) has now opened at the Mid West Regional Hospital in Limerick, saving victims from having to make the journey to the South Infirmary in Cork in the back of a squad car.

The Limerick SATU opened six weeks ago and has dealt with six people since then. The unit operates on a rota of 15 GPs and is housed in the hospital’s outpatients’ centre.

Limerick Rape Crisis Centre co-ordinator, Miriam Duffy, said that the mid-west had been crying out for the unit for many years.

“Studies have shown that where such a unit exists, survivors are more likely to stay in the legal process to the end.”

She said staff were “absolutely thrilled that we finally have a SATU. Usually, people are very surprised to learn that we don’t have a unit here.

But the reality was that people would have to get into a Garda squad car after they had reported the rape and travel to Cork in the same clothes, when all they wanted was to be able to take the clothes off as quickly as possible and have a shower.”