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THE long-running industrial dispute at the Cliffs of Moher Visitors Centre came to an end last Thursday when the Cliffs of Moher Limited announced it had come to an agreement with its SIPTU employees.

The agreement brings to an end more than five years of unrest at the North Clare tourist attraction, which has seen strike action being taken on two occasions, including in 2011 when a visit to the Cliffs by Ireland soccer manager, Giovanni Trapattoni, was cancelled because of a picket on the site.

The dispute centred on the terms and conditions of the SIPTU employees on the site, who have been seeking to have their terms of employment made equal to local authority workers.

The Cliffs of Moher is an independent limited company, owned by Clare County Council.

“This positive development now allows the company and its employees to fully focus our combined efforts on delivering a world-class visitor experience in what is a very important year for tourism,” said Katherine Webster, General Manager at the Cliffs of Moher Centre.

“I am particularly pleased that the proposals now being implemented allow us to retain our full staff complement which, at the peak season in 2012, stood at 56 employees.”

Director of Services at Clare County Council and Director of Cliffs of Moher Centre Ltd, Ger Dollard said he was delighted that the situation had been resolved.

“Our most recent conciliation conference in December 2012, which was facilitated by the Labour Relations Commission, ended without a resolution despite a fair and constructive formal offer being made to SIPTU on behalf of its members. The union negotiators rejected this offer,” he said.

“The company in mid-January advised the Labour Court that it proposed, in any event, to proceed with the implementation of the offer from Friday, February 1.

“The company received notification from SIPTU that the offer had now been accepted by the members. The company is delighted that the arrangements now being implemented take account of the financial circumstances of the business as verified by independent financial consultants appointed under the auspices of the Labour Court,” he added.

THE world’s most powerful figures in the field of climate change, including special advisor to Barack Obama Professor Daniel Schrag, will gather in Ballyvaughan later this month for a top-level meeting on the future of the worlds climate.

The Climate Gathering is a closed meeting of experts and government advisors and also includes Head of the European Climate Commissioner, Peter Vis, advisor to the French President Francois Hollande, Marie- Hélène Aubert as well as former president of Ireland, Mary Robinson.

The meeting will take place at the Burren College of Art between February 14 and 17 and is part of a new approach being taken to the development of the college, entitled ‘A Burren Call’. The Burren Calls is a new project which hopes to establish Ballyvaughan as a centre for new ideas and creative thinking on complex local and international issues.

The project started last year with the formation of a community thinktank to tackle local issues in North Clare and the Climate Gathering is its most ambitious event to date. The hope is that the unique atmosphere of the Burren coupled with the creative atmosphere of the college itself will help create at atmosphere for creative thinking and invention.

The Climate Gathering is being convened by Green Part leader Eamon Ryan.

“We were told we would never get the right people to furthest West Clare, in the middle of deep midwinter, but they are now coming. They are doing so because they share our conviction that Ireland could be at the cutting edge of thinking on cli- mate change and because it is just the place to advance creative thinking on the issue,” he said.

“They are coming because what we have to offer is different. Rather than seven-star hype and over-thetop security they will receive the sort of genuine Irish hospitality that sets up a safe space for dialogue. The fact that such talks will take place in a beautiful landscape may help us address the key question as to how we can inspire people with the belief that a transformational leap to a cleaner economy is both possible and preferable.”

A CARPENTER caught with drugs valued at € 356,000 near Barefield last year turned to crime to pay off debts to financial institutions and drug dealers, a court has heard.

Trevor Gargan (31) with an address at 179 Cregayn Street, Belfast, Antrim, is beginning a jail term after being convicted at Ennis Circuit Criminal Court yesterday.

He had pleaded guilty to possessing cannabis which had a market value that exceeded € 13,000 at Ballymaconna, Barefield on February 22 (2012). He also pleaded guilty to having cannabis resin for purposes of sale or supply on the same date and at the same location.

The court heard that the cannabis found in Mr Gargan’s car was valued at € 325, 522. Cannabis resin valued at € 29,000 was also discovered in the car, the court heard.

The court heard that Mr Gargan told gardaí that he was transporting the drugs to pay off debts of between € 1.2 million and € 1.3 million owed to a financial institution.

A family friend told the court that Mr Gargan borrowed money to invest in property development in South Kildare in 2005. The court heard Mr Gargan moved to Northern Ireland to declare himself bankrupt.

A native of Maynooth, Mr Gargan also told gardaí that he owed € 18,000 to drug dealers and that he would have received € 500 for transporting the drugs.

Detective Garda Seamus McMahon told the court Mr Gargan told gardaí that he feared his family’s life were in danger.

“He told us, ‘I owe dangerous people € 18,000. I can’t say more than that.” Mr Gargan has no previous convictions. Counsel for Mr Gargan, David Sutton SC, told the court, that the accused became involved in drug dealing when his life came under threat.

He added, “This is a desperate man engaged in a desperate offence”

Mr Sutton described his client’s predicament as one of the “sad flotsam of the Celtic Tiger. This is a desperate man.”

Judge Carroll Moran noted Mr Gargan’s previous good character. He said that while the extent of the accused’s involvement was unclear, he was dealing in illicit contraband.

He described the value of the drugs as “colossal”. He imposed a four-year sentence, concurrent on both counts.

TAOISEACH Enda Kenny and Minister for the Environment and Local Government Phil Hogan are not wanted in Ennis to officially launch the groundbreaking ‘Ennis Town Hub Framework’ document that has been drafted by Ennis Town Council in conjunction with the University of Limerick.

This move was heralded at the monthly meeting of Ennis Town Council on Monday when the fourtime Mayor of Ennis, Cllr Michael Guilfoyle, railed against giving the Taoiseach and his frontline minister a platform in the county town, while at the same time they’re putting legislation through the Dáil to disband town councils.

“I can honestly say that to have a Taoiseach down here, who tells his own TDs what way to think and what way to vote, troubles me,” said Cllr Michael Guilfoyle in rallying support against have the Taoiseach launch the Ennis Town Council blueprint.

“To have a Taoiseach down here, who to me doesn’t have his finger on the pulse, is wrong. To bring down the Taoiseach and to hear him take the credit – a Taoiseach that’s trying to put us out and not give a voice for the people of the country and this town, I’d be against this motion. I’d support this motion if you take out the Taoiseach and the Minister for the Environment,” he added.

Cllr Guilfoyle was supported by Cllr Paul O’Shea (Ind) and Cllr Tommy Brennan (Ind), who proposed that the Mayor of Ennis launch the plan at a date later this month.

“It was commissioned by Ennis Town Council and it was paid for by Ennis Town Council and the mayor should launch it,” said Cllr Brennan.

Following the intervention of the Mayor of Ennis, Cllr Peter Considine, who said he “didn’t wish to insult the office of Taoiseach”, it was agreed that both the Taoiseach and Minister for the Environment would be invited to attend the launch, but not to perform at the launch which is being timed to coincide with the 400th year anniversary of the formation of the borough of Ennis.

A FORMER judo instructor yesterday received a two-year sentence after pleading guilty to six counts of indecent assault. Thomas Waters (68), with an address at Moore Street, Kilrush, pleaded guilty to the offences at Ennis Circuit Criminal Court.

The charges related to offences committed between April 1979 and March 1981. The court heard that Waters assaulted the boy, who was a member of his judo club in Ennis.

The abuse started when the boy was aged nine and consisted of the accused masturbating the victim and digitally penetrating his anus.

Sergeant Catriona Houlihan, who led the investigation of the case, told the court that the boy was also as saulted and shown pornographic material during an orienteering trip to Cratloe Wood.

The court heard that after the boy asked Thomas Waters to stop, he told him he would if the boy got his younger brother to take his place.

The victim made a full statement of complaint to gardaí in July 2011. Reading from a Victim Impact Statement, the man told the court that he was seduced by the image of Waters as a “strong and powerful man”. He added, “To me, he was the equivalent of Bruce Lee.”

The man said the abuse had a negative impact on his education and that he was prescribed anti-depressant medication at an early age. He told the court that he had “deep feelings of guilt and shame” for denying to his parents that Thomas Waters abused him.

The man said he suffers from posttraumatic stress disorder and finds it difficult to be in group situations. He said he would like to re-enter education but had been unable to do so.

He said, “This is a life sentence which I began as a child.” The man told the court that he did not want an apology as it would only be “insulting”. He thanked the Ennis Rape Crisis Centre, SHINE and the gardaí for the support they had given him.

Counsel for Waters, Mark Nicholas BL, told the court that the victim had been subject to a “series of outrageous activity which rightfully outrage people and rob people of their childhood.”

He urged the court to consider the accused’s behaviour in the intervening years and his guilty plea. Mr Waters is currently serving a four-year sentence for indecent assault.

Judge Carroll Moran said the accused’s guilty plea is important as it is an acknowledgement of wrongdoing and avoids imposing additional trauma on the victim. He said the fact that the nature of the abuse was of a continuous nature was “very serious”.

He imposed a two-year sentence, concurrent on all counts, to be served consecutively on the expiration of the sentence now being served. Tue05February13

PIETA House Mid West is helping children as young as eight and people in their eighties from Clare in the battle against suicide and self harm. Tom McEvoy, Funding and Advocacy Department, with the suicide and self-harm crisis centre in the mid-west area said 659 people were helped by the service in Limerick last year. A further 100 family members were also counselled at the centre. Mr McEvoy said the significant increase in the number of people seeking assistance could be attributed to growing awareness of the organisation, but added that there is also a huge increase in the number of people requiring help. The majority of those needing assistance are young men aged 15 to 26 years old, supporting the statistic that 25 per cent of deaths among this age group is by suicide. Pieta House is targeting this demographic this year through a pilot project with the GAA in Limerick and a Mind Our Men campaign throughout the mid-west. “We are going through a male crisis in the country at the moment. We are particularly interested in reducing male suicide this year,” he said. Mr McEvoy explained that 90 per cent of calls made to Pieta House is by a mother, sister, partner or female friend of a man in crisis. “Women are better talkers and better at spotting issues,” he said. The Pieta employee, based in Ennis, advised however that if someone is calling Pieta House they should do so with the full knowledge of the person they are calling for. “If you think someone is suicidal ask them once the moment is right or you have an opportunity,” he said.

“Often people need to be asked if they are all right or need help,” he added.

“It is all about talking – male to male, male to female,” he said.

The prevention and intervention service continues to fundraise for its life-saving services in the Clare area.

The organisation is currently looking for volunteers to take part in its national bag pack on February 15 and 16 at Tesco in Kilrush and Ennis.

The flagship event – Darkness into Light walk – will take part in Lees Road on May 11.

More than 1,200 people took part in the Clare event last year.

“The community aspect of our ethos is our strength. We are reliant on the community to keep Pieta House open,” explained Mr McEvoy.

Those wishing to volunteer during the fundraisers can contact Tom on 087 2430700 or through tom@pieta. ie.

If you need to contact Pieta House Mid West urgently call 061 484444.

CLARE is losing over 10 times more people to suicide than to road deaths, and those working at the cold face of local mental health services say we are in the midst of a crisis that needs to be addressed urgently.

As many as 23 cases relating to people taking their own lives were listed before the coroners court in Clare last year. Not all cases were certified as suicide, with a number of open verdicts recorded and three of these cases still have to be heard.

Of those deaths, more than half of the deceased were in their 30s and 40s, bucking national trends which point to young men aged 15 to 26 years old as most in danger.

A total of 17 of the cases before the coroners court related to men.

Among the deaths were 13 hangings, four drownings and four deaths at the popular tourist destination the Cliffs of Moher.

Mental health workers in Clare told The Clare People that the recession has had an impact on the mental health crisis, with unemployed men, older isolated people and young men of particular concern.

It is also accepted that the number of people seeking help is on the up, but so too is the number of people dying by suicide.

There were 15,845 calls to the Smaarathans in Clare last year, that is as many as 305 every week.

Tom McEvoy from Pieta Mid West said the number of Clare people seeking assistance from the suicide crisis centre doubled in the last year.

In 2011 358 people were helped by the organisation based in Limerick. As many as 16 per cent of these people were from Clare.

Last year that number had jumped to 659 people, More than 100 of these people seeking urgent help were from Clare.

THE fight against crime in Ennis has seen members of the local town council to give their backing to a proposal that aims to give an amnesty to everyone who hands over “offensive weapons” to the gardaí without fear of prosecution.

The call received the unanimous backing of members of Ennis Town Council on Monday and is now set to be taken to the floor of annual general meeting of the Clare Joint Policing Committee (JPC) that’s set to take place in the coming weeks.

Independent councillor Paul O’Shea, who is also chairman of the Ennis JPC, tabled the motion before the February meeting of the council. He called on the Minister for Justice, Alan Shatter, to introduce a knife amnesty by providing secure bins to be placed at the public reception area of Ennis Garda Station where people could hand in their weapons. Continuing, he said the bins should also be placed in churches, supermarkets, schools and youth clubs.

“The amnesty should include offensive weapons such as flick knives, butterfly knives, swords and machetes,” said Cllr O’Shea.

“As late as last October we had an incident outside the Cathedral. Caches of weapons have discovered by gardaí year on year in our town. I think it is quite serious, and this gives people an opportunity to surrender their weapons,” he added

In calling for the amnesty to be introduced, Cllr O’Shea warned that the closure of garda stations in Clare could prompt a surge in people holding weapons to protect their properties and their person.

“With eight garda stations closing in Clare – and I believe there will be further closures – there is huge concern out there about future policing,” he said.

“People are going to be driven to have weapons to protect their properties,” he added.

“There mightn’t be too many weapons brought down to the barracks,” warned Cllr Michael Guilfoyle (Ind). “I’d be inclined to keep a pick-axe to protect my property,” he added.

A PERSON living in Clare is 10 times more likely to die by suicide than on our county roads, yet preventing death by suicide seems to be way down the Government’s list of priorities when it comes to funding.

There is just one resource officer for suicide prevention in the midwest region – looking after three counties including Clare.

This professional with a vast wealth of experience is described by HSE area manager Bernard Gloster as “one of the HSE’s most valuable resources”.

However those dealing with people at risk of suicide on a daily basis say more resources are needed.

Concerns have already been raised that the psychiatric nurse specialising in assessing patients out of hours is often redeployed due to staffing issues in other areas of the mid-west region’s hospitals.

Now Pieta House say that not only should that specialist nurse not be redeployed, but more are needed.

As the recession eats more into public funding, figures suggest that there are also more people at risk of suicide, as life gets significantly more difficult.

The Samaritans in Clare receive more than 40 calls in confidence every day from people in crisis.

The organisation, which receives no Government funding and is manned by up to 100 volunteers in Clare, also met in confidence with 295 people face to face last year.

The newly-appointed director of the local branch said that the numbers of calls have increased significantly since the recession.

“Everyone is different. Some peo- ple are very anxious, distressed, lonely, in financial difficulties or have relationship problems,” she said.

Pieta House – the suicide and selfharm crisis centre – receives just 15 per cent funding from the Government.

Tom McEvoy, Funding and Advocacy Department, for the organisation in the mid-west said that the charity is being strongly supported by the community, an indication of how much the service is needed.

Pieta House is to open four more houses in the coming year, bring- ing the number of houses to nine. However more needs to be done at national level to tackle the issue, according to former psychiatric nurse and member of the HSE West Health Forum Cllr Tom McNamara.

“We are going to have to take it on the same way as we tackled the road deaths.

“There are more people loosing their lives through suicide than ever died through the road deaths,” he said. The councillor said that an organisation similar to the Road Safety Authority needs to me employed to deal with the issue.

THE HSE has moved to reassure Clare mothers to be that it has improved hygiene standards at the region’s maternity hospital following an unannounced HIQA report last November. The report, published last week, pointed to areas that could be improved upon in the Mid Western Regional Maternity, Limerick, including the management of waste. The health care watchdog was also concerned that the level of compliance with hand hygiene practices in the hospital posed a risk to patients. It added however that, “During the course of the monitoring assessment, the authority did not identify any im- mediate serious risks to the health and welfare of patients receiving care in the areas assessed at Mid Western Regional Maternity Hospital.” In a statement, the hospital said it acknowledged significant improvement in the area of hygiene was required and it was fully committed to ensuring that it achieve the necessary improvement. “Despite much emphasis on hand hygiene in our hospital, we are disappointed that we were observed to have suboptimal levels of hand hygiene compliance on the day in question (November 7). “Since the audit, much work has been ongoing in this area,” a spokesperson said. Since the audit, all staff trained in the delivery of hand hygiene training have had refresher and update training and an updated training plan is also in place for 2013. “This enhanced training will be further strengthened in February when it is planned to ‘blitz’ hand hygiene compliance throughout the hospital,” added the spokesperson. “A technical assessment of all our clinical handwash sinks is being undertaken with a view to prioritising non-compliant sinks for immediate replacement.” Senior Midwifery Management are also said to be approaching hand hygiene with a new vigour from the perspective of patient advocacy with a hand hygiene culture shift also expected among clinicians at all levels. Tue05February13