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A MAN who threw a bar stool at a publican in a Clarecastle bar has been handed a suspended six month jail sentence.

Jude Bedford (33), of Fairview Crescent, Garryowen, Limerick, threw the stool at Power’s public house, on November 13.

Ennis district court heard the stool missed the publican, but smashed a glass light shade and a number of glasses.

He then threw a glass at the proprietor, but this hit other glasses.

He has since paid compensation for the damage caused and no-one sustained any injuries.

His solicitor said his client had been in that public house earlier that night and some words were exchanged between himself and the bar owner, who are well known to each other.

“Mr Bedford has indicated to me he will undertake not to go near the bar. In fact, Mr Bedford accepts he should not go near any bar,” said the solicitor, who added that his client “broke out” that night, after attending to a dying relative for the three previous nights.

Judge Aeneas McCarthy imposed a six month jail sentence, and suspended it on condition that the accused be of good behaviour for 12 months.

TWO young motorists who raced each other on the dual carriageway between Clare and Limerick, at up to 110 miles per hour, did not realise they had passed out an unmarked garda car.

Before Shannon District Court were Tony Guerin (23), of Ballahadigue, Listowel, and Thomas Dillane (22), of Kilconlea, Abbeyfeale, who were both convicted of dangerous driving, at Moyhill, Cratloe, on November 16, 2005.

Sergeant Dermot O’Connor told the court he was travelling in an unmarked patrol car when he saw two cars travelling in excess of the speed limit, on the Limerick-bound lane.

Both cars completed an overtake on the inside lane, before being stopped by gardaí at Moyhill, Cratloe.

“It was obvious when they overtook the unmarked garda car, they didn’t twig it was an unmarked garda car. There was a bit of a race going on,” said Sgt O’Connor.

Defending solicitor Rachel Dobson said that what happened was “of the utmost stupidity and could have had much more dire consequences” not only for the accused men, but also for other road users.

Guerin, she said, was a butcher in Listowel and as part of his work, travelled throughout parts of Limerick and Kerry. Dillane was an assistant manager in a supermarket in Newcastle and helped to care for a member of his family.

Judge Aeneas McCarthy fined each €1,250, but said that given that there were special reasons, he would not impose a disqualification.

IN THE early part of the 20th century a book entitled An Angler’s Paradise was published that charted the immense quality of fishing and scenic beauty that was to be found on the River Fergus system in Clare.

So taken was the writer with the Fergus that he wrote the book in code and disguised any actual locations in order to keep the area secret from fellow fishing enthusiasts.

The book was reissued last year and it coincided with a new initiative aimed at restoring the River Fergus System to its former glory and developing it as a major tourism resource for the county.

At the heart of this planned renewal of the river is the work of the Ennis and District Anglers Association who for the past four years have undertaken the massive project of rehabilitating the fishery, improving access to the waterways and working with local landowners.

According to a study carried out by the Fishery Board in the 1970s Inchiquin Lake was the most densely stocked in Ireland, but fishing returns in the lakes and rivers of the Fergus system have steadily declined.

John Weir, Chairman of the EDAA, said that five years ago the group decided to take action to ensure the river didn’t fall into permanent disrepair.

“The club got together five or six years ago and we said, ‘right, it’s time we do something about this’,” he says.

“And ever since then we have been working away at trying to get it back to its former glory.

“Not only just for fishing but for the town, the local ecology and the tourism potential, the whole lot really.

“It is funny that the book comes out now – it sort of coincides with the rebirth of the EDAA.”

Over the past four years the EDAA have examined the reasons behind the decline in fish stocks and water quality and received a grant from the Heritage Council to hire two fishery scientists to undertake a comprehensive survey of the system.

The scientists found evidence of serious habitat degradation, nitrate and phosphate levels had dramatically increased while spawning grounds had become choked by weeds.

The findings formed the basis of the EDAA’s ten year development to restore the Fergus plan and allowed the club to successfully pursue additional funding from the Heritage Council.

Some of the measures that have been implemented so far included the erection of vortex weirs, bankside pruning and the placement of random boulders.

As a result fish stocks in the Fergus have returned to their highest levels since the seventies and Mr Weir believes that further development of the Fergus will see it become a vital part of Clare’s tourism industry.

“We formulated a five year development plan that involved applying for Leader funding. That funding was more based towards attracting tourism by building more riverwalks.

“It is very much orientated towards tourism. The plan has been done under the advice of the Shannon Regional Fishery Board and Lower Shannon Trout and Coarse Fisheries Development Societies who are coming on board and advising us,” he adds.

At local level the EDAA have produced a workbook based on the Fergus that has been distributed to schools in the Ennis area in order to educate children about the importance of the river.

It is now hoped that the scheme will be rolled out in a more general format to schools throughout the county.

Funding as always is a major issue and having received Leader funding from the Heritage Council the club must now raise matching funds of €25,000.

As part of the fundraising drive the club are organising a flytying night on January 26 in the One Mile Inn where there will be a cover charge of €10. All are welcome.

There are also plans to organise a boat raffle while new and existing members are invited to attend the EDAA AGM which takes place on January 31.

Mr Weir is hoping that the EDAA campaign will continue to be a success and that greater public awareness will lead to the continued revival of an “angler’s paradise.”

“On of the main aims of the club is to promote the environment and to educate people about the potential of the river and what it does for County Clare and for people not to abuse it or to use it as a dumping ground.”

A 20-YEAR-OLD man who heard allegations that his sister had been subjected to lurid comments, carried out a “frenzied attack” on a jeep outside the home of the alleged aggressor.

Michael Vaughan, of Toormore, Ruan, was accused of causing more than €1,500 criminal damage to a jeep in Newmarket-on-Fergus, on May 1, 2005.

In a related incident, his sister Geraldine Sherlock (30) and another woman, Olivia Cullinan (24), both with addresses at Kilnasoolagh Park, Newmarket-on-Fergus, pleaded guilty to assault, at Ennis Road, Newmarket, on the same date.

Garda Des McAuley told Ennis District Court that a man in his 30s made lurid remarks to the two women in a bar, to which they took offence.

Some time later, as he was walking home, the two women assaulted this man, with “a combination of kicks and fists.” Ms Sherlock took off her shoe and hit him in the face, after he called her a name. The man’s cousin then came along and he, too, was assaulted by the women.

The two women then went to Ms Sherlock’s home, where they met her brother Michael Vaughan. After he was told about the earlier incident, he went to the home of the man who allegedly made the comment, and damaged a jeep, which was parked in the driveway.

According to the garda, the owner of the jeep – the father of the man who allegedly made the comment – had nothing to do with the earlier incident. The total damage caused was €1,625. Gda McAuley said Mr Vaughan’s involvement was “premeditated”.

Defending solicitor Tara Godfrey said Ms Sherlock, a separated mother-of-two, accepted she should never have acted the way she did, and said Ms Cullinan, a single mother, was trying to protect Ms Sherlock. She said Mr Vaughan was extremely upset about what he heard from his sister and her friend. The solicitor said Mr Vaughan had €600 in court, which was paid over, as part of the compensation.

Judge Aeneas McCarthy said, “Clearly they (the women) were subjected to some form of provocation.” He dismissed the charges against both, under the Probation of Offenders Act.

He said Mr Vaughan got involved in something that “was effectively none of his business.” He adjourned his case for a month, to allow him to pay the remaining compensation.

A NORTH Clare-based legal firm faces the prospect of having to demolish an extension to offices it built without planning permission.

Clare County Council has refused planning permission to Chambers & Co to retain an extension to its offices on Parliament Street, Ennistymon.

Already, the council has served a Warning Letter on the firm after finding that the extension was built without planning in Ennistymon’s Architectural Conservation Area (ACA).

In response, the company lodged plans to retain the development. However, the plan provoked opposition from the company’s neighbours on Parliament Street, Sean and Carmel Conway.

In their objection, the Conways told the council, “This extension has had a very serious and detrimental effect on our home, our privacy and our natural light.

“This illegal development by Chambers & Co solicitors has resulted in the virtual loss of light to a substantial part of the upstairs of our house.

“Prior, we benefited from sunlight for much of the morning and early afternoon. Now, we have virtually no daylight and do not benefit from sunlight. The structure built is not appropriate or suitable for Ennistymon, a town that has a wealth of history and tradition.

“This development is built with no consideration whatsoever to the obvious effect it was going to have on our home.”

The council opted to refuse planning permission following a recommendation by the council’s conservation officer, Risteard Ua Cronin, who stated that the development will set an unwelcome precedent in the town.

Mr Ua Cronin was also critical of the visual design and materials of the structure.

In its decision, the council ruled that the proposed development, by reason of scale and location in close proximity to the side boundaries of the site and to private gardens and windows of neighbours, would lead to overshadowing of these properties and loss of light.

The council ruled that the proposal would therefore seriously ignore the residential amenities of adjacent properties and be contrary to the proper planning and development of the area.

The council also pointed out that the proposed development was located within an ACA, where it was council policy to conserve the character and appearance of the area.

The council stated that the proposal would seriously injure the visual amenities of the area.

It is now open to Chambers & Co to appeal the council’s decision to An Bord Pleanála.

THE number of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests made to Clare County Council dropped by 18 per cent last year, while the council’s refusal rate increased by 19 per cent in the same period.

Comprehensive statistics provided by the council’s Freedom of Information Unit reveal that since its inception, the council has received 522 requests during the eight-year operation of the legislation. However, over the past five years, the number of requests has almost halved, from the high of 97 in 2001 to 55 last year – a drop of 43 per cent. The council’s refusal rate has fluctuated over the past five years with the average, over the eight-year operation of the scheme, at 32 per cent.

The figures show that of the 38 decisions made, grants were made in 12 decisions, nine were part-granted, while 17 were refused. Over the eight years, the council department which has been the subject of most FOI requests has been Planning, receiving 23 per cent.

Environment received 19.5 per cent, and Housing 15 per cent. Forty-five appeals were made internally against decisions to refuse or part-refuse.

At this month’s adjourned council meeting, the decision to refuse details of bonus payments to the County Manager and Directors of Service prompted Cllr Tom Prendeville (FF) to claim that there was a creeping culture of secrecy in the public sector.

FAILTE Ireland has pledged to spend €9 million this year to try to get more tourists to come to the Midwest region and to spend longer here once they arrive.

The cash injection comes as figures were released which show that overseas visitors spend less and stay for shorter times than visitors to any of the country’s other six tourism regions.

Failte Ireland research shows that overseas visitors spend €261 on average.

This is in comparison to the south-west, where the average visitor spends €413 and the west where the spend is €368.

And while visitors to the Midwest stay an average 3.7 nights, visitors to the west stick around for 5.3 nights and spend an average of six nights when they visit the south-west.

The money will be used for marketing, business supports, training and backing Shannon Development. Now management consultants,Mayday have been engaged by Failte Ireland to set up a network of workshops for people in the tourism industry.

The workshops are to start straight away and participants in the courses are promised they will improve their business performance, get greater visibility in the marketplace, increase their productivity, achieve higher standards and better customer value and greatly increase confidence in their management skills.

MEMBERS of the Ennis General Hospital Development Committee are to meet with members of the HSE this Thursday, just a week after the group nailed questions about the future of the hospital to the door of the organisation’s regional head quarters in Limerick.

The sheet contained questions for the HSE’s chief executive Brendan Drumm, who the group say has refused to meet them despite numerous requests.

A spokesperson for the lobby group told The Clare People that the group met with the Minister for Health and the Taoiseach and got clarification on the hospital’s future from them.

“The third person we need to find out from is Professor Drumm, and not get half assurances from a more junior employee,” he said.

“We have made it as simple as possible for him, as we drafted a form with simple yes or no answers and sent it to him by registered post.”

When the HSE Chief forwarded the letter to be dealt with by another staff member, the group nailed the form to the HSE doors in Limerick.

In response to the protest the HSE said, “The group knows the score perfectly well. They met the hospital network manager in October and then cancelled a further meeting.

“As far as the HSE is concerned, the door is open if they wish to meet us again. The decision is theirs.”

The hospital group accused the HSE of spinning the truth. The group admitted that it cancelled the meeting but argued that it was scheduled for the national day of protest and some of its members including its chairperson, long-time trade unionist Peadar McNamara, had to attend the protest.

While the members of the Ennis General Hospital Development committee were nailing their questions to the door, there were nine people waiting to be admitted to the hospital through its accident and emergency unit, the largest in the Mid West Region.

The following day, the number had decreased to three according to the HSE. The number waiting in St John’s Hospital Limerick was four, which decreased to two, and the Mid Western Regional Hospital Limerick reported four people waiting in A and E, which was also reduced to two the following day.

ENNIS has a new rival when it comes to commemorating Fianna Fáil founding father and colossus of 20th century Irish life, Eamon de Valera.

The People’s Park in Ennis will soon have competition when it comes to remembering de Valera’s contribution to world affairs. And this competition comes from outside Ireland, thanks to the decision by the Indian government to name a new road after de Valera in New Delhi.

The announcement to honour the former Taoiseach and president in this way was made during Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern’s four-day trade mission to India last week.

“De Valera was a good friend of India,” said the Taoiseach in welcoming the announcement. “Addressing the Friends of Freedom for Britain in New York in 1920, he made clear that he saw India and Ireland as having a common cause: ‘Patriots of India’ he told his audience, ‘your cause is identical to ours’.

“Interestingly, in 1947, when the Indian Prime Minister Nehru, expressed his admiration for the Irish Constitution and said that he intended to study it as a model for the Constitution of India, which was then being drafted, de Valera wrote that he felt deeply honoured,” added the Taoiseach.

Meanwhile, the Indian move to honour de Valera doesn’t represent a first. Back in 1935, Indian universities voted the Clare TD into eighth position in a ballot to decide the great men of the age.

He was in exalted company – Albert Einstein was voted number one, while Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini were rated ahead of de Valera in the Indian Inter-University Body organised poll.

ONE of the leading objectors to plans by the Whelan Group to extend its flagship operation is the County Kildare man jailed last week in connection with a sheep protest.

Percy Podger, of French Furze House near the Curragh, Co Kildare was one of a large number of objectors who last week failed to prevent Whelan Limestone Quarries from securing planning permission to extend the company’s quarry operation.

Clare County Council granted planning permission to the quarrying company for the majority of the lands sought for the extension, and the move is expected to safeguard the jobs of the 110 people employed at the site.

However, it has emerged this week that Mr Podger was one of the objectors centrally involved in opposing the Whelan plan.

Mr Podger was jailed last week after refusing to pay €850 his sheep and passing motorists in fines and expenses. are endangered by the failure of

His refusal to pay arises from Kildare County Council to inhis bid to highlight a serious stall a sheep grid near his farm. road safety issue, claiming that However, apart from his disDROMOLAND Castle has claimed that plans by its neighbouring Lynch Group-owned Clare Inn to construct a golf suite hotel are “ill conceived and driven by tax-incentive deadlines and economics rather than sustainable development principles”.

Last month, Clare County Council granted planning to develop a golf suite hotel on the grounds of the Clare Inn, in spite of opposition from the five-star castle hotel at Dromoland.

However, Managing Director of Dromoland Castle, Mark Nolan has now appealed the decision to An Bord Pleanala, throwing the scheme into doubt.

In the appeal lodged on Mr Nolan’s behalf, it stateds: “The area is already well served by accommodation to serve all market niches from the business visitor to the golfer to the family. The Clare Inn annually closes for a number of months of the year due to the lack of demand for the facility. Falling occupancy rates is a feature of the area in recent years.

“The development, if permitted, will have a negative impact on existing established facilities in the area. The development is driven by a tax incentive rather than local need.

“The fact that no market research quantifiying need was submitted to the planning office in making a case for the facility bears this out further, and the applicant reduced the scale of the development without trying to justify need.”

The statement continues, “The proposed development represents yet another ad-hoc development on the overall site of the Clare Inn Hotel. No attempt has been made to integrate this development with existing developments on site.

“The Clare Inn now represents a series of linear and haphazard extensions over time adding to its visual impact, with little attempt to landscape and integrate the development within the exposed landscape.

“The design is not sensitive to the landscape and will, if built, represent a prominent intrusion in the landscape, which necessitates significant landscape interference in terms of reduction in finished floor levels.

“It is clearly evident that pressure has been exerted on the council in reaching a decision in view of pending tax incentive deadlines. In the most recent correspondence to the council, a ‘quick response’ was requested by the agents in view of stringent timetable to which he must operate. Quick decisions do not represent proper planning and sustainable decisions,” the statement concluded.

A decision is due to be made by the appeals board in May of this year. pute with Kildare County Council, Mr Podger was involved in seeking to prevent the Whelan Group expanding its plans at Fountain, Ennis.

The Clare People has learned that Mr Podger was involved in establishing a company aimed at seeking to prevent the Whelan Group from proceeding with its plan.

The Certificate of Incorporation of Cairn Hill Environmental Protection Group Ltd show that the members of the company are made up of local people opposed to the Whelan plan.

However, the document shows that Mr Podger was involved in the processing of the certificate. The document shows that the Kildare man was a witness to the signature of the directors involved in the company. The solicitor involved in establishing the company is Greg Casey, who represented the Rossport Five.

In his objection against the Whelan proposal, Mr Podger claimed that the proposed was contrary to the EU Directive, EU policies and Irish legislation; that the plan was contrary to proper planning and sustainable development and that the proposal was a material contravention of County Development Plan.