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PERMANENT drinking-up time is on the cards for many ‘locals’, with 43 pubs in Clare closing in just one year. And that number is expected to quadruple over the next few years, vintners have warned.

A Clare Vintners’ Federation representative says the future looks grim for the small pubs which have traditionally been an intrinsic part of many communities.

National figures show that 597 pubs closed nationwide between 2004 and 2005, 43 of these in Clare.

Clare Vinters’ Association spokesman, Michael McNamara from Scariff, said that this number “is just the tip of the iceberg. In the next few years, we are expecting that number to quadruple.”

And small rural pubs are being worst hit. The Scariff publican said, “Go into any rural village and you’ll see family names over pubs that are closed.”

The Vintners Federation are predicting that, of the 5,800 pubs outside Dublin, there will be just 3,000 left in five to seven years time.

Rising charges, increasing taxation, lack of public transport to avoid a drink-driving prosecution and the smoking ban are all contributing to the downfall of the local pub, the vintners say.

“Local authorities seem to pluck new charges out of the sky and we haven’t been allowed under law to provide any kind of comfort outside for our smoking customers,” McNamara said.

“People come to the pub to sit and chat — now they have to go outside and, on top of that, stand in the cold and rain.”

Heavy taxation is making the Irish pub a dearer place to drink, he added.

“If you go to the Canaries, you can buy a bottle of Jameson for €12 — here, the tax alone on a bottle is that much.”

And McNamara warned that the decline of the pub will change the fabric of rural society.

“Pubs have been in the forefront in the tourism trade and the pub has been the focus for everything from community meetings to games of cards. That’s all changing,” he said.

ENNIS General Hospital’s consultants and the county’s GPs and psychiatrists are to present a united front on Health Service Executive (HSE) proposals to review acute services at Ennis General and in the Mid-West.

Arising from a meeting last week in Ennis amongst the three groups, Ennis Hospital consultant, John O’Dea confirmed to The Clare People yesterday that the three are to make a joint submission to the external review of the acute hospital services in Ennis.

He said, “Everyone is concerned that the issues that we raised two years ago have not been addressed, including the real safety issues at the hospital. The GPs and psychiatrists shared our frustration and there is no confidence that the many promises made for the future development of the hospital are going to happen.”

Dr O’Dea said that the three groups would produce a joint submission “as it was decided that the only way we can influence the future development of the hospital is in a joint, cohesive submission”.

West-clare based GP, Dr Tom Nolan said, “The ultimate decision on Ennis General Hospital is a political one. Professor Brendan Drumm said that the Hanly Report is the only show in town, but alternatives have been put forward by the consultants at Ennis General and the Bradley report.

“We don’t know what else Prof Drumm needs and we view with some suspicion the use to which this new independent review will be put. Is it a means of getting the politicians off the hook, that it might be a get out of jail report for the politicians?”

Dr O’Dea said that the attendance at the meeting was very good and that the GPs support the notion of Ennis remaining as a general rather than becoming a local hospital as defined in the Hanly report.

A MAJOR conference to take the pulse of the Irish Health Care system will take place in Ennis next week

The three day conference entitled “Who Owns Irish Health Care” will be held at the Auburn Lodge from May 18 – 20. It is being organised by members of the Ennis General Hospital Committee to examine issues surrounding the public and private control of the Irish Health Services.

One of the main topics up for discussion will be the growing effect private hospitals are having on the public healthcare system, and who are the people and organisations charged with providing health services in Ireland.

According to organisers the conference will examine whether the emergence of a “for profit” health sector will enhance or threaten the public health system

A wide range of speakers from across a range of disciplines and professions are expected to attend. These include Christine O’Malley, Chair of the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) and Dr James Sheehan, Director of the Galway and Blackrock Clinics. Dr Willie Walsh, Bishop of the Diocese of Killaloe is also expected to attend.

Peadar McNamara, Chairman of the Ennis General Hospital Committee says the conference will provide an essential overview of the state of the Irish Health sector.

“We are seeking an objective view on what contribution the public and private services should be making to the health of the nation. The purpose of this conference is to open debate and to hear the voices of all those concerned. It is vital that those involved in planning services should be engaged in this debate. In particular local authority members from all over the country are invited to attend. This will be a very valuable opportunity to discuss the changing role of local politicians in health care planning.

Any funds generated by the conference will go towards the work of the Ennis General Hospital Development Committee and all are welcome to attend.

FIANNA Fáil Senator Brendan Daly has attacked what he has described as the “red tape” holding up the €30 million development plan for Ennis General Hospital.

The senator told a Seanad debate on the issue that there had been “a merry-go-round of discussions for the past two years with hospital, departmental and executive officials. The people of Clare want to see the hospital’s development begin as soon as possible,” he said.

Last week, Senator Daly appeared alongside the chairman of the Ennis General Hospital Development Committee, Peadar McNamara, at the May meeting of Kilrush Town Council to highlight the issue.

Four months previously, Senator Daly dismissed as a “publicity gimmick”, a move by the Hospital Development Committee to nail eight questions to the door of Health Service Executive (HSE) offices in Limerick, on the future of the A and E in Ennis.

In the Seanad last week, Senator Daly said it was over a year since a high-powered delegation, which included Clare politicians representatives of the Ennis General Hospital development committee, attended a meeting with the Tánaiste in Dublin, to emphasise how important it was to press ahead with the hospital’s development. But the deficiencies continued at the hospital, including security.

“In recent times, there has been an escalation in the aggressive attitude of patients at its accident and emergency department. They attend the department in an aggressive mood brought about through the over-indulgence in alcohol and, sometimes, drugs,” he said.

“The hospital has had to employ security personnel to keep law and order there at the weekends. On several occasions, the gardaí have had to be called to restore law and order in the department.

“This is unacceptable. No member can expect nursing and medical personnel to put up with such behaviour. Any solution to deal with this will be welcomed,” he added.

STUDENTS who don’t mind getting down and dirty will be able to clean up this summer, with 700 temporary jobs on offer. Tipperary-based Ryan’s Cleaning Event Specialists, one of Ireland’s largest cleaning company’s are set to employ a staggering 700 temporary staff, mostly students during for the peak season from May to October.

Ryan’s hold the waste management responsibility for Ireland’s largest events, including music festivals and concerts, sporting events, exhibitions and private functions. The Oxegen Festival, Galway Races, Slane Castle and Electric Picnic are on their clean-up list this summer.

With the rise in concern for waste management in Ireland bringing business rolling in, Ryan’s Cleaning Event Specialists have also secured events in the UK, including the V Festival.

MD, Pat Ryan, said, “The summer period is our peak season. We expect to exceed our previous year’s employment levels this year. Our work suits students in Clare as it coincides with their college break.”

Ryan’s are responsible for the maintenance of each particular venue before, during and after each event.

Call 0504 51083 or email ryanscleanup@eircom.net for further information.

A MAJOR search of the Cratloe Woods was carried out on Sunday evening, after an eight-year-old boy went missing while out walking with his family.

The boy, from Limerick city, was out walking with his mother and brother, when he became separated from them at around 6pm.

The alarm was immediately raised by the boy’s distraught mother and gardaí were called in from Shannon, Sixmilebridge and Ennis, while the Garda Dog Unit was deployed from Henry Street in Limerick.

The Shannon-based Irish Coastguard helicopter was brought to the scene and the searched continued for over two-and-a-half hours. There was huge relief when the boy went to a house some distance from where he disappeared, after he managed to make his way out of the woods.

The householder had seen the helicopter in the distance and telephoned gardaí. The boy was then reunited with his family, shortly before 9pm.

Dozens of local people assisted in the search, along with 20 gardai from the various stations.

Shannon gardaí co-ordinated the operation. Sergeant Dermot O’Connor said everyone was relieved it turned out to be a success.

“Thankfully it was a success story and the boy was located uninjured. When we became aware that he had been separated from his family, we immediately commenced a search of the woods. We consulted with the last people who had seen the boy,” said Sgt O’Connor.

“We became concerned due to the terrain in the area and as darkness loomed, we deemed it necessary to call in the assistance of the Garda Dog Unit and the Air Support helicopter,” he added.

He paid tribute to the assistance provided by the Coastguard helicopter and the local people who offered assistance in the search.

“The main thing was to get in the support services,” he said.

A KILMIHIL publican who sexually assaulted a woman in her twenties in the toilets of his pub has been jailed for two years.

John Carey (52), a separated father-of-four, of Church Street, Kilmihil, was found guilty by a jury at the end of a two-day trial, at Ennis Circuit Court last week. He had denied two charges of sexual assault, one in March or April, 2001, and the other in May of that year.

The injured party said she went into the bathroom of the pub at around 1am. The accused entered the toilet, put his hand down her top and started feeling her breasts.

She returned to the pub in May 2001 to attend a birthday party. Asked why she went back there after what had happened previously, she said, “I didn’t think he would do it a second time.”

On that occasion she said he followed her into the toilet again, and “started feeling” her.

She said the accused threatened her not to open her mouth. However defence Counsel Micheál Ó Sé said, “This is the first we have heard of that.”

Mr Ó Sé asked the jury why the woman would return to the pub, if something had happened on the first occasion. He said there were “severe gaps and significant inconsistencies” to the allegations.

Sergeant John Ryan told the court the accused was a well-known publican in Kilmihil for a number of years.

He said he no longer runs the pub – which is now closed – and worked as a machine driver on the Ennis bypass.

The court heard details of the victim impact statement. It stated that the victim had spoken about committing suicide and had lost confidence in herself, as a result of Carey’s actions.

She said that Carey was a “powerful man” in his area and she was afraid, while the incidents made her feel sick and would always remain with her.

She said she felt that the accused was “laughing and sniggering” at her, while she gave evidence in the trial. Mr Ó Sé responded by saying, “That is not the impression I had from him.”

The barrister said his client would be known as “a drinking man” who was a “very good customer of his own premises.”

Judge Con Murphy said the accused was “very invasive to this lady.”

He said the offences were committed in the ladies toilets, which was a sanctum for ladies.

“This man was a man of substance in Kilmihil, looking after his children, but now his life and reputation are effectively ruined,” he said.

He jailed him for two years and placed Carey on the sex offenders register for five years.

THE Central Criminal Court in Tralee heard how 35-year-old Joe Greaney, a native of Limerick, implied he would “get” Ennis man Fergal Landy, after an incident in a bar a week before Mr Landy was knifed through the heart.

Greaney of Cahernane Meadows, Killarney, denies the charge of murder but has admitted the manslaughter of his best friend and former colleague between January 24 and 25 at Cahernane Meadows, Killarney.

The court previously heard evidence from Landy’s partner of how she had tried to pull his killer off him while holding their baby in her arms. Rachel Doyle told the court that Landy “looked at me and said, ‘Rachel, he has a knife. He’s after stabbing me.’” Those were his last words to her.

On the night of January 24, 2005, the two men met in the car park outside the apartment of the deceased wielding golf clubs, after the accused texted that he was going to Landy’s apartment. Greaney also carried a wide bladed kitchen knife which has been identified as the weapon which killed Landy.

Witness John Drummond, a chef at the Gleneagle Hotel and a friend of the accused joined Doyle, Landy and Greaney on the night of Sunday, January 16 at the Whitegates pub near the Cahernane Meadows housing estate where all four lived.

When Greaney went to the toilet, Drummond heard Doyle say to Landy “he’s texting me again”.

When he returned from the bathroom, Landy started shouting at Greaney “You’re a f***ing idiot when you’re drunk.”

Landy then punched the accused who fell over.

“Fergal was pointing at him, saying ‘I’ll f***ing kill you,” Drummond said.

On the walk back, Greaney was upset.

“I can’t remember exactly what he said. I’ll get Fergal, or he’ll be sorry for that, something like that,” Drummond told the court.

Evidence was given that Greaney stayed at the scene and tried to help the injured man. “I did it, I stabbed him, I am so sorry, I killed him. I am so sorry. He was my best friend,” he told Garda Brendan Cronin.

In a signed interview with Det Garda Pat Kelleher on January 25, he said he was drunk. He denied setting out to do Mr Landy harm, and only intended to frighten him.

The court also heard that Greaney was on medication for depression at the time of the incident.

The trial before a jury of seven men and five women, presided over by Justice Paul Carney, continues.

THE trial of a man accused of murdering Ennis native Fergal Landy outside his Killarney apartment has heard the deceased received two stab wounds, one of which was through the heart, and proved fatal.

Mr Landy (27), a native of Considine’s Road, Cloughleigh, Ennis, had lived in Killarney for some time prior to his death, in January of last year. He had worked as a chef in the tourist town and had been friends with the accused.

Joe Greaney (35), a native of Limerick, and with an address at Cahernane Meadows, Muckross Road, Killarney, denies murdering Landy, but admits manslaughter.

Outlining the Prosecution case to the jury at the outset of the trial, Senior Counsel Patrick McCarthy said the accused arrived at the deceased’s house – a short distance away – armed with a knife and a golf club and was “spoiling for a fight.”

“It appears that Mr Greaney contacted Mr Landy a short time before the fatal death,” said Mr McCarthy.

He said the initial contact was through a text message, and this was followed by a telephone conversation between the accused and the deceased.

“The telephone conversation was overheard on speaker phone by Mr Landy’s partner. A number of threats were made by the accused to the deceased,” he said.

Mr McCarthy said the accused had asserted that he was “coming to get” Mr Landy.

“He shouted, ‘Come out. I’m going to kill you’,” said Mr McCarthy.

According to Mr McCarthy, the accused said, ‘You are so dead,’ and ‘Come out you f***** or b******’.”

“We would say he [Greaney] was the aggressor,” said Mr McCarthy.

“The deceased came out of his home with a golf club. It was clear in the light of what was said, the accused was the aggressor. A person faced with a violent attack is entitled to defend himself. He took something with him to defend himself,” he added.

Mr McCarthy said, it’s the Prosecution’s case that, taking into account what was said by phone and text and the accused’s visit to the deceased’s home, the accused presented a “hostile” environment. He said that violence was committed on the deceased before midnight on January 24, but that he was not pronounced dead until after midnight on January 25.

Mr McCarthy said the fatal wound entered the chest cavity sack around the heart and went through to the heart. He said the weapon “has been described as a chef’s knife.” The wound was 12.2 centimetres deep and the knife was more than 29 centimetres long. Mr Landy sustained several other minor knife wounds.

The trial continues this (Tuesday) morning and is due to conclude later this week.

A SENIOR Clare Garda has said he expects the Criminal Assets Bureau to make a significant move on criminal gangs in Clare within the next year.

Speaking at yesterday’s meeting of Clare County Council, where Chief Superintendent of the Clare Garda Division Liam Quinn delivered a comprehensive overview of policing in Clare, Superintendent John Kerin said that he was confident that CAB would deal a major blow to criminal activity in Clare.

Responding to questions concerning the measures in place to deal with criminal activity Mr Kerin said, “Within the next 12 months, there would be very significant movement by the Criminal Assets Bureau” on criminals within Clare, but we need the help of the public and we would be keen to extend our drug education programmes to more schools.”

On the issue of increased resources for the Divisional Drug Squad Superintendent Kerin said that current staffing levels were adequate for the force to operate effectively, but that extra resources would be welcome

Earlier, Clare’s most senior Garda said the introduction of tough new Anti-Social Behaviour Orders would serve as an effective deterrent to crime in the county. Although saying he was reluctant to comment on matters which were still to be enacted into legislation, Chief Superintendent Quinn said that fear in communities and the broad groundswell of support for the measures would be welcomed.

Anti-Social Behaviour Orders form part of the proposed new Criminal Justice Bill which is due to pass before the Houses of Oidreachta later this year.

Responding to queries from Councillor’s requesting his views on a wide variety of policing issues Mr Quinn said if adopted the measures would be useful.

“Normally, in matters to do with policies such as this, we tend to keep our noses out as they can get chopped off. There is fear in communities out there. I have worked in communities where fear is a very real situation and it is terrible. If and when the Minister does enact legislation we will make use of it straight away and there does seem to be a huge public support for it”

When pressed over his views on the formation of the controversial Garda Reserve Association (GRA) Mr Quinn said that in line with recent comments by the Association of Chief Superintendents he was not opposed to the proposal.

“There is a need for more resources. In so far as what the idea might be, I would like to see a Garda presence in every town but unfortunately that is few and far between.”

Cllr Jerry Flynn had earlier expressed his disappointment that Shannon was not to be considered a divisional Garda station while Cllr Bernard Hanrahan (FF) echoed the calls of many councillors that more resources should be provided for isolated rural areas to deal with the growing problem of drug abuse.

Cllr Tom Prendeville (FF) said that more policeman were needed on the street and Councillor Brian Meaney (GP) said drug problems had to be dealt with through cross body initiatives.

Mr Quinn expressed his frustration over the delay in the roll-out of essential CCTV services in Ennis.