Month: April 2006

THOSE who were executed during the 1916 Rising are being remembered across the country this week, but thoughts are also being spared for another band of volunteers, who lost their lives in a different war.

These were the men of the First World War, who were also executed at the hands of the British. They now form the basis for the “Shot at Dawn” campaign being taken up by the Government.

Twenty-six Irishmen were executed during the war. A new report has described the treatment meted out by the British military authorities as “shocking”. One of those executed was a Clareman, Thomas Davis, from the Turnpike area of Ennis.

He was charged with quitting his post on June 22nd, 1915.

What really happened was that he suffered bad stomach cramp and had to go to the toilet.

A few hours later, he suffered another attack of cramp.

Private Davis, who was a soldier with the Munster Fusiliers, was only 21 years of age. He was taken out at 5 am on the morning of July 2, 1915 and shot by a firing squad at Gully Beach in the Aegean Sea.

Now, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern is in the vanguard of a campaign to secure a pardon for Private Davis and the 25 others executed.

“It is our objective to recover their memory from the dishonour that was done to them some 90 years ago. This week, we mark the 90th anniversary (of 1916) and later on in the year, we will remember the Battle of the Somme,” said Minister Ahern.

“For too long, the experiences of the Irishmen who fought in the first World War and the losses suffered by their families were not talked about and commemorated as they deserved,” he said.

“The British military system of justice seemed to ignore clear evidence of medical afflictions and was marked by class-bias and a disparity in the treatment of different nationalities, including particular Irish soldiers,” added Minister Ahern.

CLARE may not have risen up in revolution back in 1916, but 90 years on, public bodies in the county capital of Ennis and in Kilrush are gearing up to remember those who took up arms to strike for Irish freedom.

Wreaths of commemoration will be laid at the 1916 memorials in both towns, while ceremonies are also earmarked for Tuamgraney and the Republican plot in Drumcliffe Cemetery.

Mayor of Ennis, Frankie Neylon (Ind), will perform the honours at the ‘Laochra na Cásca’ plaque on the Club Bridge at 12 noon, while the Ennis Brass Band and the Army Reserve will be present for the occasion.

The commemoration plaque was unveiled for the golden jubilee Easter celebrations in 1966, by the then Bishop of Killaloe, Dr Joseph Rodgers and Clare County Council vicechairman, Michael Considine.

Forty years on, Mayor Neylon says it’s only right that the men of 1916 were remembered.

“These are the men who fought for our country and if we don’t remember the past, we don’t know how to shape our future,” he told The Clare People.

The ceremonies in Kilrush will be more lavish and are timed for 1pm. The commemoration wreath will be laid by Mayor Christy O’Malley (FF) while the guest of honour will be Independent TD James Breen.

“Everything will take place outside the Town Council offices where the plaque to the men of 1916 lies,” Councillor Tom Prendeville (FF) revealed.

“The Proclamation will be read in both Irish and English, while Padraig Pearse’s poem, The Wayfarer, will also be recited.

It’s only right that we are honouring the men of 1916 in this way,” added Councillor Prendeville.

Politicians local to east Clare are expected to be out in force for a wreath laying ceremony in the Republican park in Tuamgraney, which is known as the Garden of Remembrance.

Sinn Féin activists in the county will head for the Republican plot in Drumcliffe for their celebration of the Rising.

It expected that a leading official from the party in the Munster region will be present to perform the wreath laying ceremony and graveside oration.

Meanwhile, the Fleadh Nua which takes place in Ennis in May, will also mark the rising. This will take the form of a musical celebration in Glór on May 26.

“It will tell the story of 1916,” revealed Fleadh Nua chairman, Dónal Ó Loinsigh.

BANKING competition in Ennis has moved up a notch with the official opening today of the Bank of Scotland.

And while the move received a warm welcome from the Chamber of Commerce’s, its Executive Officer, Rita McInerney has called for more support through the planning process to ensure that retailers are encouraged into Ennis to balance big chains like the banks.

Ennis is the 11th branch to open of the 46 branch network that the Bank of Scotland intends to achieve over the next year. This will be the first

completely new retail banking net work in more than a century.

The new bank will operate longer than usual opening hours, starting at 9am Monday to Saturday and staying open until 5pm on weekdays and noon on Saturday. Ms Chrissy Quinn, Head of Retail Banking at Bank of Scotland said the banks is “delighted to officially open the Ennis branch” and she thanked the Mayor of Ennis, Cllr Frankie Neylon, for agreeing to perform the official opening.

Rita McInerney said that the Chamber “welcomes the opening of the bank. It shows confidence in the economy of Ennis as a regional town.”

But Ms McInerney expressed the Chamber’s concern “that a good balance between retail and services be kept. The bank is in a good location, as it is close to existing banks, but we would be concerned that more retail businesses be encouraged to come in and keep the town centre alive.”

The Chamber’s CEO said that the organisation would like to see greater assistance given to prospective retail businesses at the planning stage.

“We need good pre-planning meetings, with proper note taken of what is discussed and agreed. Retailers thinking of investing in Ennis need to know what restrictions might apply in terms of things like site and architecture. We need to keep the balance between services, chains and individual retailers,” she said.

The Ennis branch is managed by Ciara Flynn, who is joined by Diarmuid Kelly, Mortgage Advisor and staff Claire Keane, Suzi McMahon, Mary Gilmore and Pauline Casey. Head of Retail Banking at the Bank of Scotland, Chrissy Quinn, said that customers “will see and experience a real difference.”

CLARE County Council is to lodge an application with the Department of the Marine for up to €2 million in funding to allow it extend Doolin pier and dredge the local harbour.

The council says the works are necessary in order to upgrade the increasingly busy Doolin harbour, where four ferry operators are located in the peak Summer months.

The Department of Community, Gaeltacht and Rural Affairs has already committed to providing substantial funding to the €4 million project, according to County Engineer, Tom Carey.

Minister Eamon O’ Cuiv’s department could provide up to €2 million for the scheme, if matching funds are found. Mr Carey said the remaining shortfall was too much for the council to bridge, so it would apply instead to the Department of the Marine.

Mr Carey said that the council had been unsuccessful in the past in persuading Marine to provide the funding, because the department’s main focus lay with fishing harbours.

But, Mr Carey said that the council would be stressing the importance of the facilities at Doolin to the local fishing industry.

“We are hoping that the department will revisit their earlier decision,” said Mr Carey.

Mr Carey said that the council had already spent €120,000 on a geo-technical survey to see how the safety problems identified in transferring passengers from the pier to the ferry boats, at medium and low tides, could be addressed.

He said that progress had also been made on plans to progress visitor facilities for passengers at Doolin. He said these would cost in excess of €1 million.

In addition, some improvements had been made to plans unveiled eighteen months ago to establish a terminal for all companies operating out of Doolin.

“We are continuing to work on the plan and have had some fresh thoughts which have improved the proposals.

“We now hope to show these proposals to the people on whose lands we hope to locate the building. The Office of Public Works (OPW) has also entered the fray with their plans to build a station for the local coastguard unit, so there is a good bit happening in the background.”

Mattie Shannon of the Doolin Community Harbour Co-op welcomed the council’s initiative.

“Unfortunately, the Council has been refused by the Department of the Marine before, but now there are six fishing licenses that could operate out of Doolin. This issues needs to be pushed more.”

A SHANNON-based garda has appeared in court, accused of committing a public order offence.

Garda Pat Keating (33), with an address at Woodlands, Cahercalla, Ennis, is accused of engaging in disorderly conduct, at Shannon Knights carpark, Tullyvarraga, Shannon, on March 13, 2004.

At Ennis District Court last Friday, solicitor Daragh Hassett, acting as agent for Garda Keating’s solicitor, said he was seeking a date for the case to be heard.

“It will take at least three hours. There will be a very lengthy cross examination,” said Mr Hassett.

Inspector Michael Gallagher said the State was ready to go ahead with the case. He indicated that there would be twelve State witnesses. Mr Hassett said there would be at least three defence witnesses.

Mr Hassett said the accused had only received five statements from State witnesses and would be seeking statements from the others.

Inspector Gallagher said the accused should liaise with the superintendent in Kilrush on that matter.

The case will be heard later in the month.

THE search for a man who went missing from his home close to Gort last week intensified yesterday, when the Garda Water Unit began searching a river in the town.

Ernie Cooke (51), walked out of his family home near Kilcolgan during his breakfast last Tuesday morning. His distraught wife Mary and two young daughters have not heard from him since, while gardaí say his bank account has not been touched in the interim.

Ernie’s wife Mary told The Clare People that her two daughters – aged seven and nine – just want to see him return home.

“They just want their daddy found. They ask ‘Is daddy home yet?’” she said.

“We are extremely worried, but have to keep channelled on finding Ernie. He is normally very conscientious and this was totally out of the blue. He upped and left during breakfast. It was in the middle of breakfast. He had put the milk in his cup, he has a habit of putting the milk in the cup first,” she said.

Ernie has suffered from depression since November.

“For some reason he got this notion to go. When I realised he was gone, I followed him, but I lost three or four valuable minutes,” she said.

Mary pursued her husband, in a car, but could not find him.

She remains optimistic that he will come home.

“He is probably just wandering around. He may be just confused. We are appealing to Ernie to come home,” she said.

There have been numerous reported sightings of Ernie, originally from Donegal, over the past week. However gardaí say many of those reports are adding to confusion.

Extensive searches have taken place over the past week in parts of Galway, Clare and Limerick, on the foot of reported sightings. Several of Ernie’s work colleagues from Crown in Galway, travelled to Ennis last week, in the hope of locating him.

Initial reports suggested he travelled, via bus, from Gort to Barefield on Tuesday. He was also reportedly seen at Ennis General Hospital and in parts of Limerick and Dublin.

“The search is now being refocused, after a week of pursuing reported sightings,” said Gort Superintendent Paul Mockler, who is leading the investigation into his disappearance.

“All of the reported sightings have been looked into, without any success. There have been conflicting reports. He can’t be in all places at one time,” he said.

It’s understood that a relative of the missing man received a telephone call from a woman claiming to be a nurse, who said he had been checked into hospital in Ennis. However, despite intensive efforts, gardaí could not locate him there.

A NEW mid-west private medical facility will provide services for Clare patients and take some strain off existing public services, people attending Ireland’s first National Private Healthcare Conference has heard.

Limerick’s new 95 acute bed private hospital which is being built on the southside of the city on the Dock Road, was one of the sponsors of the conference held in Dublin last week.

The Blackberry will provide one floor dedicated to day procedures, containing two minor procedure/day surgery theatres and 12 recovery suites for day care patients.

It will also provide a dedicated surgical floor, providing four full specification operating theatres, six intensive care units, 12 high dependency bedrooms, 65 additional private en-suite bedrooms, 14 beds in semi private accommodation, as well as 16 beds in four dedicated respite units, to provide care to long term or terminally ill patients on each of the remaining two floors. Physiotherapy facilities and consultancy suites will also be provided in the new hospital.

Shay Sweeney, managing director, Blackberry Properties Ltd said that “step down, long stay and intensive nursing patient care will be provided at the hospital, which will ease pressure on the existing hospital services”.

He added that it was “important that debate is stimulated as to the type of healthcare service we want to develop for the future.”

The conference was opened by the Tánaiste and Minister for Health, Mary Harney TD.

MEMBERS of Ennis General Hospital Development Committee have said they are “disheartened” but determined to fight on, following a week of confusion about the future of the accident and emergency service at the hospital.

The lobby group had just begun celebrating the arrival of a letter, which confirmed the future of 24 hour A and E at the county’s hospital, when a phone call said it had all been a mistake.

The letter from a HSE official stated “that a 24 hour A and E service will continue to operate at Ennis General Hospital. This service was recently enhanced by the recruitment of emergency care physicians.”

Just minutes after receiving the letter, the chairman of the hospital group Peadar McNamara received a phone call from a HSE official explaining that the letter was sent by mistake.

Days later, the hospital committee received a similar letter, with the same date – March 29.

Signed by the office manager for the National Hospitals Office, the significant opening paragraph confirming the future of A & E was omitted.

The new letter merely pointed to the on-going independent review of all acute hospital services in the mid west, which was to be completed at the end of the year.

A spokesperson for the hospital committee said they were concerned that such a review was taking place without any consultation with the group.

The National Roads Authority has committed to examine whether the new Gort to Crusheen by-pass can be equipped with two turn-offs to and from Gort.

The move follows a secret meeting between the Chief Executive of the NRA and members of the Gort Regional Alliance for Community and Environment (GRACE), in Dublin.

The NRA officials have now agreed to look at all possible alternatives and get back to the GRACE delegation with their decision within a matter of weeks.

The secret meeting, which was described by a GRACE delegate as “very open and frank”, came on the back of a town meeting, which attracted some 200 people.

The meeting, which was held at Sullivan’s Hotel on Wednesday 29, was attended by senior officials from Galway County Council’s Roads Design Office as well as officials from the NRA, but produced few concrete results.

A campaign has been in place in Gort concerning the proposed bypass since 2000.

AS family and friends of murdered Ennistymon woman, Emer O’Loughlin, gathered for her first anniversary mass on Sunday, gardaí were continuing to investigate whether her killer was in the UK.

The 23-year-old art student was discovered burnt to death, close to Tubber, on the Clare/Galway border one year ago, last Saturday.

Despite an intensive Garda investigation, no-one has been charged for the Emer’s horrific death, in the caravan she shared with her boyfriend.

As he mourned his youngest daughter, Emer’s father Johnny said he had been through hell during the past 12 months.

“Emer was a lovely young girl. The man that did this – what sort of man would he have to be, I ask myself?” he said, in a weekend interview.

The young woman had studied art in Galway and just days before she was killed, was overjoyed to learn that she had been accepted into the National College of Art and Design (NCAD) in Dublin.

But Emer didn’t live to realise her lifelong dream. Instead her distraught family and friends have been left to try and come to terms with her brutal killing.

The chief suspect in the case, a Galway man in his 40s, disappeared some time after the murder.

His clothes and some personal belongings were found on the Aran Islands last April. But he hasn’t been seen since.

Detectives continue to suspect that he faked his own suicide by leaving his clothes on Dun Aengus cliff, in an effort to throw the them off the scent.

The team investigating the case have liaised with UK police, amid reports that the suspect was seen there.

A garda close to the investigation said while there was a possibility that the suspect was overseas, there was nothing to prove this.

“There is no evidence that he is dead or alive. The fact that his clothes were found close to the cliff edge suggests he fell over, or threw himself in. However there are suggestions that he is alive and well, living in the UK,” he said.