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WELL-KNOWN priest, Fr Harry Bohan, has added his voice to concerns over Church rules requiring priests to be removed from their ministry when a sex abuse allegation is made against them.

“There is a danger of over-correctness on the issue. The discussion has begun and it is vital that the discussion does take place,” he said.

“It is a cliché to say that a person is innocent until proven guilty, but the bottom line is that children have to be protected.”

“It is a cruel business in every way for all. It is a huge issue and I am delighted that the bishops have taken it on,” said Fr Bohan, who is the Director for Pastoral Planning in the diocese.

Fr Bohan said that morale amongst priests in the diocese was “quite good and a lot of that must go down to the leadership provided by the Willie Walsh as bishop.”

He said he didn’t know what the solution was to the Church rule requiring accused priests step aside.

Last week, another senior Clare cleric, Canon Caimin O’Carroll asked whether it was fair that a priest would be removed and have to wait in limbo for years before any decision was made on an allegation.

Canon O’Carroll’s move to air his concerns came against the background of two priests in Clare parishes being asked to stand aside in the past six months, as a result of allegations being made against them.

Canon O’Carroll said that his views were shared by others in the local clergy. “There would be a lot of sympathy and feeling for the priests that have been asked to step aside from other priests,” he said.

WOMEN are largely unaware that they can claim tax relief for being on the pill.

Oral contraception is just one in a variety of expenditures that women can claim relief on. While this relief would fall under the ‘Medical Relief’ section, it is becoming increasingly clear that more and more people are missing out on some extra income every year.

Taxback.com point out that every year thousands of PAYE workers fail to claim relief on a whole variety of expenses that they may qualify for.

It is estimated that there is over one billion euros left in unclaimed taxes in the Exchequers bank account with last years figure alone standing at over €300 million.

PAYE workers are entitled to make a claim going back four years so anyone who has not already done so can lodge a claim for any year going back to 2002.

“We find that people are generally not up to speed on all the various reliefs and allowances they may qualify for which is why they THE Institute of Guidance Counsellors is celebrating the establishment of a new branch to represent members working in County Clare.

Guidance counsellors in Clare work in all second level schools and in various adult guidance settings. Given the growing complexity of the problems that guidance counsellors have to deal with in their work it is very important that they have a locally based structure to provide in-service and mutual support. Guidance counsellors deal with personal, social, educational and career development issues in the lives of their clients, be they young people and adults in educational settings or adults in the would tend to come to a company like ourselves,” said Taxback.com’s Irish Marketing Manager, Colm Murphy.

Murphy also points out that an estimated 70 per cent of the workforce is due some form of refund. “This could be a Trade Union member claiming €60/ €40 (2005) in respect of their annual trade union subscriptions or a student making a claim for Tuition Fees that were paid by themselves or on their behalf by a parent or qualifying relative. It could also be your average PAYE worker making a rent relief claim. The list could go on and on.”

Taxback.com, an Irish based company founded in 1996 is the market leader in organising income tax refunds form Ireland, USA, Australia, Canada, Japan, Luxembourg, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Austria, Gibraltar and Guernsey. It assists both resident and non-resident long-term and transient workers and specialises in International Tax Treaties, income and expenses relating to dual homes, share income, foreign rental income and much more. community.

The President of the Institute in Ireland Brian Mooney attended the official launch of the Clare branch. Brian stated that he was very pleased to have been able to respond to the needs of the members in Clare, particularly so, given that his wife was a Clare woman, they had a home in Lahinch, which gave him a great love for the county and its people. He said that having a local branch based in Ennis Education Centre, would enable guidance counsellors in Clare to build on the expertise that each one of them individually had, as they worked together for the good of the people of Clare.

DISTRICT Court Judge Joseph Mangan has said he may refuse to sit in Ennistymon after September, because of the poor heat and bad acoustics of the building where the court normally sits.

The judge made the comments at this month’s district court, at the Teach Ceol premises (which is owned by Comhaltas), where it has sat for more than 10 years.

A spokesperson for the district court offices in Clare said the judge “couldn’t hear anything and he was frozen” during the March sitting.

“He will not sit in Ennistymon after the annual licensing court this year. He will do the September court, but not after that. The facilities are not suitable there,” added the spokesperson.

The spokesperson added that it was up to the Court Services, nationally, to find a suitable place to hold the monthly court sittings.

“Ennistymon is very important, as it is the main court area for north Clare and the people of the town like to see a court there,” added the spokesperson.

The Court Service will seek out a suitable building and failing that, the hearings could move to Ennis courthouse. Prior to sitting at Teach Ceol, the courts were held at the local credit union building and the community centre in the town.

One of north Clare’s most senior solicitors, Michael Petty, said the conditions were “not satisfactory. It is like Siberia up there.”

“It is a beautiful old building but is not suitable as a venue at all. The administration of justice is a serious business, but the Department of Justice can’t provide a suitable venue for us. I have been saying this for a long time, I agree with Judge Mangan and I am surprised he did not move before.

“We don’t want the court to be taken out of the town. Lisdoonvarna and Miltown Malbay are also both frightful. You can’t talk to your clients which is run-of-the-mill in the district court. That is not good enough,” said Mr Petty.

If an alternative venue is not found prior to October, the court may well have to move to Ennis, which means gardaí and legal practitioners will have to travel there for the hearings.

Ennistymon Superintendent Eamon Dolan said the regional manager from the Court Services had visited Ennistymon, with a view to finding an alternative venue.

“This is a matter for the Court Services. It will have to be looked at by them,” said Supt Dolan.

SOURCES close to Fianna Fáil believe that the Clare General Election convention will follow a process whereby only one of three places on the ticket will be up for contest.

Through the “district convention”, Minister of State Tony Killeen would automatically be placed on the ticket as the only North Clare candidate for the party.

Senator Brendan Daly would also be automatically selected as the only representative for the Soldiers of Destiny in the West of the county.

This would leave the two remaining candidates to battle it out for the third place on the Fianna Fáil ticket in Clare.

A similar process was followed at the Longford West Meath Convention and the Cork North West convention.

The new date of the Clare convention, April 3, was announced this week.

Senator Timmy Dooley and Councillor Pat Hayes are both considered as East Clare candidates, despite Senator Dooley opening an Ennis constituency office last month.

Cllr Hayes was the last of the four candidates to indicate his intention to run for the party in next year’s election.

The man for Maghera put forward his name last December, just weeks before the initial date for the county convention.

The announced retirement from politics after the next election of Minister of State, Síle de Valera, in November, meant Fianna Fáil headquarters had to rethink the date of the selection process in Clare.

According to Fianna Fáil sources in Dublin, a search to find a suitable replacement candidate from the Ennis area proved fruitless and the April 3 date was set.

A spokesperson for Fianna Fáil told The Clare People that while the form the convention would take would not be decided until nearer the convention date, the Fianna Fail rule book allowed for “district conventions” and it was not unusual to hold them. The convention will take place in the Auburn Lodge Hotel at 7.30pm.

Meanwhile, the Fine Gael selection convention is expected before the party’s Ard Fheis in May.

Five Fine Gael candidates were pre-selected for the contest last October.

Sitting Fine Gael TD, Pat Breen along with councillors Joe Carey, John Crowe, Tony Mulcahy and Madeleine Taylor-Quinn will be vying for a position on the blue team’s ticket in 2007.

Early indications from party sources suggest that the historical two candidates will be put on the balloting paper, one less than in 2002.

KILRUSH said goodbye to its most senior citizen last week.

Just 24 days shy of her 104th birthday, Mai McMahon passed away in her home, having contracted the winter vomiting bug 25 hours earlier.

The mother of nine, grandmother of 27 and great-grandmother of 28, lived an active life right to the end, even though her walking had declined in the last year.

The secret to the long life of Kilrush’s oldest citizen included an annual visit to Knock up until the age of 100, taking a trip to America at the age of 99 and keeping an active interest in politics and current affairs.

Born Mai Googan in Tullycrine in 1902, she was the second oldest of nine children. She married Patrick McMahon in 1925 at the age of 23 and moved to Kilmurry McMahon. There she reared her nine children, eight of whom survived their long-living mother.

During her many decades in Kilmurry McMahon, Mai ran a small shop two doors down from the church while helping her husband run the family farm.

The hard-working West Clare woman buried her husband, Patrick, 34 years ago, at the age of 72.

Just a few years later, she moved to Vandeleur Street in Kilrush to live with her daughter.

Living in Kilrush, Mai went to Mass every day and the devout woman made an annual trip to the shrine in Knock up to her centenary year.

A keen knitter and talented at crocheting, Mai also kept abreast of current affairs, reading the newspapers every day and keeping up to date with the news right up to the end of her 104 years.

The active pensioner baked bread until she was 100 years old, and is one of the few people ever to say they collected the old age pension with all of their children.

Mai’s son Martin died just over a year ago and she also buried one grandchild, Mary McMahon, in her lifetime.

While her family were expecting Mai to pass away, it still came as a shock to them in the end.

“It was a shock but not a surprise,” said her granddaughter Marian McMahon Jones.

Marian is a member of Kilrush Town Council, and this month’s meeting of the council was postponed as a mark of respect to Kilrush’s eldest citizen.

A UNION has claimed that 66 Polish contracted workers at Moneypoint power station have been paid well below the minimum wage.

The ESB confirmed that an internal audit had shown up a problem with workers’s sub-contractor, ZRE Zatowice.

At a news conference, the union said the workers received €5.20 per hour. The welders and fitters were working on the €200m retrofit operation underway at Moneypoint.

A spokesman for the ESB has said an internal audit by the company on wages had shown irregularities.

“This ESB investigation concluded with the signing of a memorandum of understanding involving this subcontractor and the relevant main contractor, following an acknowledgement that there had been breaches of agreed wage rates,” he said.

“This Memorandum of Understanding commits the contractor to rectifying this situation. Implementation of the terms of the Memorandum will be subject to an extensive audit, scheduled to take place before the end of March, he said.”

At all stages, the union TEEU was involved.

Kilrush County Councillor Madeleine Taylor Quinn (FG) has said that it was not sufficient to have an auditing committee set up between contracting parties.

“The onus is on the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment to have an active inspectorate in place that circulate regularly throughout the country to ensure this form of employment does not occur,” she said.

“It is completely unacceptable that any worker would be exploited in Ireland.

“The state needs to be more vigilant,” she added.

Cllr Brian Meaney (GP) is requesting that legal action commence against companies operating not complying with basic of Irish labour legislation of paying the minimum wage.

“A blind eye has been turned to the alleged breaches of Irish labour legislation occurring in Clare. This should not be accepted. The full weight of the law should be applied as Irish subcontract companies are losing out and Irish workers are being displaced.”

The clean-up currently underway at Moneypoint is necessary to allow the station operate past 2008 in order to comply with a licence granted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), requiring that pollution levels be drastically cut at the station, which supplies one quarter of the State’s electricity.

AN 18-year-old man has appeared in court, facing charges arising out of the death of a young Ennis woman in a road accident last year.

Aidan Quilligan, of Cloughoolia, Sixmilebridge, is charged with dangerous driving causing the death of Charelle Howard, at Shanaway Road, Ennis, on July 16, 2005.

Mr Quilligan is also accused of carrying passengers, the number of which exceeded the passenger accomodation of the car.

17-year-old Ms Howard, an only child from Watery Road, Ennis, was a back seat passenger in a Volkswagen Polo car when it was involved in the single vehicle accident.

Inspector Michael Gallagher told Ennis District Court last Friday that the “unfortunate” accident happened at 12.30am, at a time when road conditions were good.

He said the accused was driving the three-door car in which six others were travelling, all of whom were aged 17 or 18. The group was coming from a birthday party, travelling towards Ennis.

“He lost control of the car, hit a kerb and overturned a number of times. A number of the others were injured. The defendant escaped injury,” said Inspector Gallagher.

He said it is alleged that Mr Quilligan was driving “okay” after leaving the house party, and increased speed after a friend’s car overtook him.

“Inexperience caused him to lose control,” said the Inspector. Relating to the speed, he added, “Whether that could be proved is another matter. A lot of that could be speculation, to be fair to the defence; up to that point he was driving slowly.”

He said there was no question of any racing, adding that the car the accused was driving was “overloaded”.

Inspector Gallagher said the accused was a “fine young man, of good character, who has never come to the attention of the gardaí before. He comes from a highly respected family.”

Judge Joseph Mangan was told that the DPP would consent to a summary disposal of the case in the District Court on a guilty plea.

Defending solicitor Rachel Dobson said there was a guilty plea. After hearing the facts, the judge said he would accept jurisdiction.

Ms Dobson requested an adjournment, for preparation of the relevant reports on the matter. The accused will appear again in court in June.

Charelle’s mother was in court while solicitor Tara Godfrey said she was holding a watching brief.

FARMERS living along the route of the proposed Crusheen-Gort bypass are set for a multi-million euro bonanza.

Galway County Council is preparing to compulsory purchase almost 500 acres of land across 103 farms along the route. Construction of the €150m road could start as early as next year.

Clare IFA chairman, Seamus Murphy, said they would be ensuring that its members get as good a price as possible for the land and the disturbance that the road would cause.

He said the IFA would expect that Galway County Council would adhere to the national agreement between the IFA and the Government on the levels of compensation available to landowners. The deal was struck in advance of CPO agreements being made by farmers on the route of the €190 million Ennis by-pass.

As a result of the CPO of 500 acres of land for the Ennis scheme, €22 million was paid to 67 landowners, making instant millionaires out of seven farmers.

The Crusheen-Gort scheme, which involves the construction of 22 km of new dual carriageway, will also involve the severance of 845 acres of farmland along the route.

The construction will see the destruction of two habitable houses and is expected to commence towards the end of next year. 2009 is identified as a possible completion date.

According to the Environmental Impact Statement, the new road will lead to a reduction in road injuries on the N18, where ten people died and 126 were injured in traffic accidents between 1989 and 2002.

The EIS states that 14,000 vehicles a day use the route between Crusheen and Gort and the route “fails to cope with the demand of motorists and residents frequently experiencing delays during periods of peak movement.”

The EIS states that a 50 per cent increase on current usage of the road is expected by 2024.

“The continued use of existing N18 by strategic traffic and large number of Heavy Good Vehicles is unsustainable”.

The EIS states that the new road will help reduce traffic on the existing N18 by 84 per cent, while there will be a 68 per cent decrease in traffic congestion in Gort.

Those wishing to object to CPOs, or make observations on the EIS, can do so to An Bord Pleanala by April 10. It is expected that the Board will hold an oral hearing later this year.

A LOCAL community has emerged victorious in its bid to secure the future of the church building.

At Sunday mass at St Mary’s Church on the grounds of the former Our Lady’s psychiatric hospital in Ennis, the congregation applauded as Joe Lillis said that a lease on the church was to be signed with developers for four years and nine months.

Fr Michael McNamara told mass goers, “I am sure that through the power of the people here and the strength of the community, that the lease will be extended when it expires. We are delighted with what has been achieved.”

The deal will also allow developers, Allen Flynn, Martin Fitzgibbon and Paul Talty to commence work on the €20 million hotel, proposed for Our Lady’s.

Over the past 15 months, uncertainty surrounded the future use of the church, following the €5.2 million sale by Clare County Council of the 19th century psychiatric hospital.

The church, built in 1939 to serve the hospital community and the wider Doora-Barefield parish, is located on the grounds of the former hospital. Last year, Duesbury Ltd secured plans for a €20 million, 90-bedroom hotel development on the 14-acre site, only for Cllr Brian Meaney (GP) to appeal the decision to An Bord Pleanala, due to his concerns over the future use of the Church.

Negotiations have been ongoing between the developers and the local community over the past number of months with a price tag of €1.3 million at one stage being put on the Church building.

Cllr Meaney has now withdrawn his appeal after the successful outcome of the negotiations.

He said yesterday, “I am happy for all concerned.

“It is a very positive move and I am satisfied that the best deal has been struck.”

Mr Lillis told massgoers on Sunday of the terms of the deal. He said that the lease would allow the use of the church on Sundays and holidays, together with other agreed times.

He said that the developers reserved the right in the interim period, to explore all other options for the church, while there would be parking facilities provided for Church-goers.

Mr Lillis said, “We believe that the committee formed to negotiate arrived at the best possible available deal.”

Mr Lillis paid tribute to the work of the committee, in particular, John Costelloe and Fr McNamara, and for solicitor, John Casey, who provided his services free of charge.

ALL of Clare’s indigenous traveller families are now being housed in accommodation provided by Clare County Council, after a traveller family decided to move into a council-provided site at Ballymacraven, Ennistymon.

The family decided to move into the contentious site after the council fulfilled its obligations, as set out under an agreement reached by both parties in the High Court last November.

The family had previously objected to moving into the site, which is also occupied by three other families, on the grounds that the sanitation facilities were inadequate and posed a health risk and that the site was too small.

One member of the family had suffered from serious health problems and doctors had advised Clare County Council. The council brought legal proceedings against the family, compelling them to move in to Ballymacraven after they had refused to.

Under the terms of the High Court agreement, the council agreed to expand the area of allocated living space and to provide new living quarters. The council also agreed to install more toilet facilities on the site, when objections were raised over the site’s original sanitation system, which only allowed for three metal container toilet/kitchen/shower units to be used by four family groupings.

Heather Rosen, a friend of the family, said that while they were grateful to the council for upgrading the site, they were sad that were being forced to abandon their traditional way of life. She added that there were still a number of issues that needed to resolved.

“There is a need for signage on the road, as there is still a lot of traffic passing down by the site. The spiked fencing around the site is very dangerous for children playing around there. There is still work to be done,” she said.

A spokesperson for Clare County Council stated that the council had carried out all the work as requested by the High Court agreement and that while the issue of road signage didn’t fall under the terms of the agreement, the council would “look into it”.

“An independent assessment of the site has also been carried out and it was found that all the improvements had been carried out in the right order”.