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A SECURITY company director who was handed a three-month jail sentence for assaulting a man has won his appeal against conviction.

At Ennis District Court last September, Kevin Cooper (43), of Loughville, Ennis, was convicted of assaulting Michael Singleton, at The Square, Ennis, on October 23, 2004.

The jail sentence was put on hold, pending the appeal and he won this appeal at Ennis Circuit Court last week.

Mr Cooper — whose company, Avalon Security Ltd, trading as Security Services, Ennis, provides security for various pubs, nightclubs and hotels in Ennis — said he is delighted he won the appeal and says he has gone through “hell” as a result of the court case.

“My whole life has been upside down for 16 months. Everything, my work, has been held up because of this case. I have lost a lot of work because of this,” he said.

He said the closure of a number of pubs in Ennis, coupled with the conviction in court, has caused him immense hardship.

“I have lost 50 per cent of my work. I am going to try and get back some of the work I have lost,” he said.

“I am struggling now to get back business. It came to a point where I thought I would have to close down, because of the court case. It looked like I was going to be gone,” he said.

He said at one stage he had employed up to 40 people, but has let seven people go.

It emerged, in the wake of the District Court case last year, that Ennis Town Council paid Mr Cooper’s security company €100,000, for security-related activities over a five-year period.

At the time, Ennis Mayor, Councillor Frankie Neylon said that council officials and elected representatives would discuss the arrangement entered into with Mr Cooper’s company if his appeal against conviction failed.

He said if the conviction was upheld, it would create difficulties between Mr Cooper’s company and the council, but added he was entitled to due process.

Speaking yesterday, Cllr Neylon said, “The council will be taking a fresh look at it now.”

CLARE Animal Welfare are urging tighter controls on animal traceability in light of the appalling cruelty suffered by an abandoned horse.

The organisation wants domestic animals to be microchipped to make it more difficult for animals to be stolen or abandoned.

The horse, which has been named Eana, is now recovering on a refuge owned by Clare Animal Welfare who have set up the ‘Eana Recovery Appeal’ to encourage people to sponsor a bag of food for Eana.

Current regulations which require all thoroughbreds and animals registered with the Irish Horse Board to be microchipped aren’t widely enforced.

The process of microchipping involves inserting a small microchip under the skin of the animal which can be scanned to determine who the animal is registered to.

Kate Browne says the case of Eana and the gory details of another cruelty case make microchipping essential.

“We have received 11 distress calls about horses since the New Year and, while this horse is in a particularly bad state, the important thing is to ensure that all animals are traceable. We need to see microchipping enforced. There was a case in Kildare last week where greyhounds had their ears chopped off to remove their markings. This is happening all the time.”

She added, “People aren’t scanning animals when they are being sold. Marts and horse fairs should insist that any animal for sale is scanned.”

The full thoroughbred mare had been abandoned in a wooded area near Lough Ea by its careless owner and had been sighted on several occasions by locals before again being spotted by a woman walking in the area over the Easter weekend.

After an exhaustive search, the severely emaciated animal was recovered by Kate Browne.

Such is the extent of the horse’s injuries that it will take up to two years for it to fully recover.

Kate said the animal is making good progress but is in a very distressed state.

”She’s just skin and bone. I’ve taken clumps of mudrash off her and her hair is falling out. She had dislocated her hip. But we have high hopes. She is taking pro-biotics and is eating a low-protein diet.”

A north Clare legal firm has secured planning permission for contentious plans to construct a first floor extension to its property.

The extension, at Chambers & Co., is a replacement for one that the company built without authorisation. They were subsequently refused permission to retain the structure and accepted they must demolish it.

Plans to replace the illegal structure with a smaller extension met with opposition from neighbours, Sean and Carmel Conway, who claimed the extension would have a detrimental effect on them.

But, granting permission, the council stated that the development would not seriously injure the amenities of the area, or of the properties in the vicinity and would be in accordance with the proper planning and sustainable development of the area.

The council stated that by replacing the existing first floor extension with an ‘A’ shaped gable extension, the light to the Conway’s property would not be significantly affected.

THE University of Limerick president, who extended the growing centre of education into Clare, has retired on health grounds. Professor Roger GH Downer decided to stand down as president and vice-chancellor last week following an 18-month battle with serious illness.

Under the forward-thinking professor’s leadership the university acquired 125 acres of land in Co Clare to allow expansion of the campus across the River Shannon. Building projects include the magnificent University Arena, MSSI Building, Millstream research complex, a bridge across the Shannon and three student villages. Prof Downer has also been credited with establishing the Office of the Dean of Teaching and Learning, which has introduced major initiatives in teaching, and learning.

During his presidency undergraduate student numbers increased substantially and he initiated the development of new programmes in various fields. He has also led the campaign to bring a graduate medical school to UL. In particular he focused on creating a researchintensive institution and achieved substantial increases in research income, research output, post-graduate student numbers, patent applications and spin-off companies.

Professor Downer nurtured relationships with local communities and was a champion of access programmes in socially disadvantaged areas of Limerick, established the access campus in Southill and arranged the building of the first crèche on a university campus in Ireland. Although he will stand down as president the professor will continue to undertake academic and related activities on behalf of the university until August, 2008, the date on which his tenure as President would have ended.

CLARE County Council is to proceed with plans to develop a further four permanent Traveller halting sites in Ennis and Liscannor this year. The sites will accommodate 20 families and the estimated cost is €6 million.

Last week the council announced that, after almost a decade, all Clare Travellers have been accommodated and there are no longer any Travellers living without water or sanitation on the roadside.

However, arising from new Traveller family formations and the need to accommodate those living in temporary emergency accommodation, the council has identified an accommodation need for 88 families, with 64 in immediate need.

According to an update provided to members of the Special Policy Committee (SPC), the council has identified sites at the Tulla Rd, Kilrush Rd and Ashline in Ennis and Laghcloon, Liscannor.

The update states, “Every effort will be made in 2006 to progress the construction of the permanent traveller accommodation sites as identified in the programme as a matter of urgency.”

Last year, the new Traveller Accommodation Programme was thrown into disarray after the council withdrew its Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) for its original site earmarked for the Kilrush Rd.

County manager, Alec Fleming made the rare move after councillors voiced their opposition to the CPO on the lands at Kilmorane on the outskirts of Ennis. In pursuing the CPO, the council had placed in jeopardy two €250,000 homes currently being built for two elderly settled couples on the site.

Outlining the progress on the plan, the council’s acting director for housing, Josephine Cotter-Coughlan said, “In recent weeks, five Traveller families have been allocated standard local authority housing by Ennis Town Council and they will be taking up accommodation in the coming weeks.

“One further family has accepted accommodation from a voluntary body in the Ennis area and will also be taking up residency in the coming weeks. Clare County Council are currently advancing plans for a number of Group Housing Schemes in the Ennis and Ennistymon areas.

“Sites have been identified and discussions are taking place with the landowners involved. Permanent accommodation must be provided for the families living in the temporary emergency sites.

“There are also a number of families living in private rented or sharing with family members that must be accommodated in the current programme.

“There will also be new families formed in the coming years and their accommodation needs must be met,” she said.

THE Irish Refugee Council (IRC) this week stated that asylum seekers cannot avail of local housing, and sounded a warning over the use of language on the issue.

Last week, Ennis’s Town Mayor, Frankie Neylon said that “there is no way in the world” that council housing should be provided pro rata to the town’s asylum seeker population.

Cllr Neylon (Ind) made his comment in response to figures showing that 40 per cent of the applicants on the council’s housing list are asylum seekers and refugees.

The council has since clarified that the number (282) referred to “foreign nationals” – this would include a sizeable proportion of refugees.

A spokeswoman said: “Nine foreign national families have been appointed to houses in the new council’s housing estate in Roslevan and four were appointed in 2005.

“All of the 282 qualified for housing. However, subsequent allocation of a house to a tenant depends on the level of need and availability of appropriate suitable accommodation. Policy on access to housing accommodation in relation to foreign nationals is determined at national level.

“The council does not determine such policy in this regard.”

The figures show that the numbers of foreign nationals on the housing list has increased by 90% in the past three years. In 2003, there were 148 foreign nationals on the 590-strong list.

Orla Ni Eili of the Irish Refugee Council commented, “Asylum seekers do not have the right to council housing. The foreign nationals on the council’s housing list would include people from Europe and the US.

“The Refugee Council is currently seeking clarification from the county council as to what stage someone on the list becomes an Irish citizen.

“Is it when someone gains an Irish passport? It is important that we find this out.”

Ms Ni Eili said that a number of refugees have availed of the council’s Shared Ownership Scheme.

“It is the experience of the Irish Refugee Council (IRC) that when refugees are on the housing list, it is a time for them when they are rebuilding their work and educational lives and wouldn’t be in high economic circumstances,” she said.

“When talking about these issues, it is important that we are very clear on the language we use.

“This is not about being politically correct, but there is a need to be accurate when we are talking about many different groupings of people.”

Separate figures provided by the council show that houses are not being allocated to foreign nationals on a proportional basis.

Last year, the council allocated just four homes to non-nationals out of a total of 46.

THE promoters of a €1.2 million proposal to commemorate GAA founder, Michael Cusack, face a race against time to get in place a new visitor centre, before the 100th anniversary of the Carron man’s death in November.

Michael Cusack Development Co. Ltd., have been granted planning permission to transform Cusack’s cottage in Carron and construct an interpretative centre.

Clare County Council granted permission after An Taisce withdrew its opposition against the proposal, in response to the promoters making alterations to the scheme.

Project leader and chairman of Michael Cusack Development Co Ltd, Martin O’Loghlen, said that he was delighted that planning permission had been secured.

“It is a major hurdle humped. It is all systems go now and we will simply push on with the development,” he said. “November 28 is the centenary of Michael Cusack’s death and that is our target and if we don’t meet that deadline to have all the facilities in place, it won’t be from the lack of trying.”

Mr O’Loghlen said that the restoration of the cottage should be completed by the anniversary.

“We are also putting in place a visitor centre and it may be asking a lot to have that complete, but that is our aim.”

Fundraising for the venture is to continue. To date, the company has raised €750,000. “There is a lot of work to be done and money to be raised,” said Mr O’ Loghlen.

He added that the centre was aiming for between 25,000 and 30,000 visitors to the attraction each year.

“Carron is one of those areas that has not really benefited from tourism in the Burren and I would like to think that this will change with the project we are putting in place. The community has struggled for 30 years to put a project like this in place.”

Mr O’Loghlen said that the centre would also redress Michael Cusack been partially written out of history.

He said that the object of the plan was, “to commemorate and celebrate a dynamic force in Irish society, create a unique and memorable participant experience for all and ensure a project that is distinct, sustainable and viable”.

Chairman of Burren IFA and Carron man, Michael Davoren, said the people of Carron were 100 per cent behind the project. “Michael Cusack is part of the heritage of Carron,” he said.

IT IS inevitable that the format for controlling markets in the county will change.

That is according to a Clare County Council source who said that the current legislation adopted by the county differs from every other local authority in Munster.

The official made the statement in the same week that some smaller towns across Clare lost their 400year-old right to hold a market under the Casual Trading Act introduced in 1995.

Under section 74 of the act any town or village that did not exercise its right to hold a market for more than ten years lost the right. At least four villages in the county are believed to have lost that right as of May 1.

Under the Casual trading act local authorities could decide to issue casual trading licence or allow trading only in designated areas.

All counties in Munster except Clare opted for the latter. As a result Clare County Council currently allows all traders with a casual licence to trade in areas the public have a right to, including public roads.

It is now inevitable, a council official has said, that Clare will impose designated areas for trading.

To add further complication to the trading laws some families have rights to trade in public areas going back hundreds of years.

For example in Ballyvaughan, WM McNamara, during the fourth year of the reign of William IV, was given a licence for a four-day market. It is unlikely, however, that his descendants will be traced to ask if they intend to keep this right.

Private marketing licences not dissimilar to that example are currently the subjects of a court case taken in Bantry, Co Cork.

Court cases are never too far away when trading and associated rights are concerned. As well as the now infamous high court challenge of the Cliffs of Moher traders, Clare County Council also faced a court challenge in Kilkee in 1990.

The council tried to move that traders from the market square to the Well Road car park but the court decided to move the traders would be restrict them.

Ennis Town Council and Kilrush Town Council have their own by-aws for trading.

A DEVELOPER must pay €2.3 million to Ennis Town Council in order to proceed with a 236 residential unit in the Lifford area of Ennis.

It is believed that the fee, to be paid by Michael Lynch Ltd, is the highest amount paid to Ennis Town Council over a single development, since the introduction of the council’s developer contribution scheme.

Councillor Brian Meaney (GP) warned that it was inevitable that the costs would be passed onto housebuyers.

But he defended the scheme, which is required under Government legislation aimed at generating additional revenues for public infrastructure, such as water, sewage and amenities.

The development comprises of 128 terraced homes, 44 townhouses and 64 apartments for Drehidnagower, Lifford. The council has granted permission for the proposal with 58 conditions in spite of opposition from the Pine Grove Residents Association and Marie O’Keeffe, on behalf of O’Keeffe oil, whose depot is situated close by.

Cllr Meaney said “it was entirely correct and fair” for Ennis Town Council to levy development contributions on developers.

“The system is transparent. It is regrettable that it has taken this long for a levy scheme to be put in place,” he said. “The levies are needed to ensure that viable communities are put in place and Ennis Town Council needs the funding, in terms of the Ennis Water Supply and other issues. Joined-up thinking is needed to ensure that the monies are spent in the right areas.”

The residents claimed the development did “not harmonise with existing developments”, and would destroy the character of the area.

They also asked that the developer indemnify Pine Grove residents in the event of flooding and damage to their basketball court as a result of the proposed development and any associated work.

Marie O’Keeffe objected on a number of grounds, including the development’s density.

“What has been proposed, however, is the highest density of housing mentioned in the Ennis and Environs Plan as possible for attainment within the urban area based on substantial elements of three-storey developments; terraced housing and the rental-orientated housing to be serviced by substantial areas of communal open space.

“The applicant has departed from the objectives of the plan to such a degree that it is considered that a grant of permission in this case would represent a material contravention of the existing Development Plan,” she said.

THE Irish Whale and Dolphin Group Co-ordinator, Dr Simon Berrow was full of praise for all who helped with the rescue of a stranded whale at Inch beach, when he returned home to Kilrush.

Describing the rescue as a model refloating operation, he said it was “a collective success for everyone involved.”

The three tonne pilot whale was discovered stranded but alive on inch strand, Kerry at 8.30 on Saturday mooring.

Across the estuary in Clare Dr Berrow was listening to Mooney Goes Wild when he got the call.

Crossing from West Clare to Kerry aboard the ferry Simon brought with him the full specialised IWDG “live stranding kit” which included an inflatable whale pontoon.

Kevin Flannery of the Department of the Marine, and Director of Mara Beo, was on the beach and had the situation under control when the Clare based whale and dolphin expert arrived.

“Local NPWS Conservation ranger Paschal Dower and Kevin Flannery had, together with a large number of willing helpers, dug a pool and put blankets and towels over the whale to keep it cool and were pouring water over it,” said an impressed Dr Berrow.

“The water was being ferried up from the distant sea in a bulk carrier on the back of a trailer. Despite the large number of people, estimated to be over 200, the atmosphere was calm but busy.

“Pilot whales usually occur offshore and are good candidates for refloating if stranded on a gently sloping sandy beach such as those found in Dingle bay.

“Thus this whale was deemed suitable to attempt to refloat,” he told The Clare People .

The collective group decided that rather than wait hours for the tide to reach the whale they would attempt to move it down the beach and into the sea.

“We rolled the tarpulin from the pontoon under the whale and secured it around the whale’s tailstock like a sling,” Simon Berrow said.

“We put another sling the under tarpulin under the whale’s head to keep it up. A rope was secured onto the front of the tarpulin and secured to the tow bar of a landrover. Together with around 20 people we managed to slowly pull the tarpulin with the whale on it, down the beach.”

“It worked remarkably well,” said Simon Berrow, “within two slow but controlled pulls we had the whale in the incoming tide”.

The pontoons were then attached and filled with compressed air and the whale slowly pulled into the water.