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THE number of people signing on the live register in Clare has dropped to its lowest level in more than three years – but it is emigration and not job creation which is credited for the drop.

According to new information from the Central Statistics Office (CSO), a total of 9,674 people signed on the live register in the county in September. This is the lowest number on the live register since May of 2009, and represents a month-on-month drop of more that five per cent.

While some of this drop can be attributed to students returning to third-level education, emigration is considered to be the main driving force behind the record low.

According to Rita McInerney, CEO of the Ennis Chamber of Commerce, job creation has been flat in the county in recent months, with some sectors making gains while other sectors are being forced to let people go.

“It is slow at the moment and it is very different from one sector to the next. The retail sector is certainly having a difficult time of it but hopefully that will change coming up to Christmas,” she said.

“Export businesses in the county are doing well and that is good news, they employ a lot of people, but if we are to see some new job creation, we really need people to get back to spending again.

“Emigration is certainly a big factor in all of this. It is one of the unavoidable outcomes of a recession. It is about people looking at their options and deciding what is best for them and their family, whether that be going back to education or emigration.”

The numbers signing on in Clare last month were 300 down on the September 2011 figures and 500 down on the same month in 2010.

SECTIONS of the ceiling of one of Clare’s largest shopping centres fell in following heavy rain during the week. The incident occurred at Dunne Stores in Ennis on Tuesday when water poured onto the busy shop floor shortly before 1pm.

Sections of the ceiling have been removed for repairs. One eyewitness said, “It was like a waterfall. It was unreal the amount of water that fell.” It followed a series of exceptionally heavy showers that drowned the county capital. Parts of Parnell Street suffered flooding, with the water at one stage rising above the level of the footpath.

Local businessman Alfonso D’Auria said people in the area were shocked by the amount of rainfall. He said, “Now, in fairness to the (Ennis Town) council, they have done a bit of work on the drains. They cleared away a lot of the leaves, which made a huge difference. But the amount of rain that fell that day was incredible. I don’t know if it was just a freak thing but it looked bad for the street, the amount of water that was just sitting there. The amount of people using the footpath who got drowned wet there was just ridiculous.”

Mr D’Auria said the problem was compounded by rubbish being dumped in the area. He explained, “We have people dumping big black bags of rubbish in the lanes every week. Every week there is rubbish being dumped. I’ve had to put locks on my bin. There is only one bin on Parnell Street.”

Ennis Town Council has said that the tender process has started for phase two of the Ennis Flood Relief Scheme. Phase one of the scheme is credited with preventing floods in large areas of the town centre during November 2009.

Last week’s council meeting heard that residents in the Tulla Road and other areas along phase two of the scheme have encountered difficulties securing house insurance because their homes in a flood risk area. Town Engineer Eamon O’Dea encouraged people to contact the Council. He said the Council would request the Office of Public Works (OPW) to write to insurance companies. Mr O’Dea said that once complete, the scheme would alleviate flooding in the area.

Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) called for the OPW to provide a blanket certificate for residents in the area.

SHANNON anti-war protester, Margaretta D’Arcy, had planned to scatter the ashes of Booker Prize-shortlisted playwright John Arden on the runway at Shannon Airport on Sunday, but was prevented in doing so.

Seventy-eight-year-old Darcy, who has protested at Shannon Airport on a regular basis since the beginning of the war in Afghanistan more than 10 years ago, managed to scale the fence at Shannon Airport on Sunday with fellow protester Niall Farrell.

The protest was undertaken to highlight to use of unmanned drone attack craft in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The pair managed to occupy the runway at Shannon Airport for 15 minutes before they were apprehended by security.

Ms D’Arcy was the long-time partner of the late John Arden, who passed away earlier this year. The pair were regular visitors to Shannon and recently performed a play about the Ralahine Commune, a co-opera- tive society founded in Newmarketon-Fergus in 1831.

In a statement released to the media, Dette McLoughlin, of the Galway Alliance Against War, said Shannon Airport had been used for special extraordinary rendition flights.

“Over the past 11 years, Shannon Airport has been transformed into a US military base, literally into a Warport. Millions of armed US troops, millions of tonnes of weaponry travel freely through Shannon, including the killer drones that daily rain down terror and death on the peoples of Afghanistan and Paki stan,” she said.

“Shannon Airport has been an integral part of the CIA’s illegal “extraordinary rendition” programme. It is known that the kidnappers and torturers of a number of victims of the CIA have travelled unhindered through our country. This makes consecutive Irish governments guilty of colluding in torture as well as mass murder.”

A Garda spokesman said two people were arrested, then released without charge. A file has been sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

IT’S the end of an era in Ennis after well-known businessman Jimmy Brohan retired after 49 years in business. Jimmy has decided to step away from his hardware business on Parnell Street. The premises will be taken over by new Clare owners. Family, friends and a large group of traders gathered in O’Halloran’s Bar last Thursday for a presentation to mark Jimmy’s 49 years in business. A native of Ruan, Jimmy started out at John Roughan’s store just off O’Connell Square in 1963. He worked there for 20 years before leasing and eventually buying the premises in the mid-1980s. An incident in the year 2000 damaged the building and forced the relocation of Brohan’s to Parnell Street. In an interview with the paper last year, Jimmy spoke about the skills needed to run a successful business. He said, “One secret is that you have to be nice to people. If you’re nice to people and treat them right, they will come back to you. We have people coming to us since I started and now their family are coming (to us). Only for them we wouldn’t be here. “We do a good town trade but we get a good country trade as well. We get them from other counties too. A few years ago, you’d have people from Cork on the way to Knock, busloads, they would always call to me on the way back.” A family-run business, Brohan’s is known for having a wide collection of stock. Jimmy said, “People still come to me with the old spraying cans, copper spraying cans that the farmers would use. They weren’t made for 30 years or more but I still have bits and pieces for those. That’s just one item. There would be lots of other bits and pieces that people come to us looking for. I don’t care how old it is, I love to have it.”

A LARGE dog, which savagely attacked a number of other dogs in Shannon last week, was apprehended while playing outside with 12 young children.

The dog, which was a German Shepherd/ Husky cross-breed, went on a bloody rampage last Wednesday, before it was captured by Clare dog warden, Frankie Coote.

According to Frankie, Shannon has become a major blackspot for dangerous dogs and he appealed for pet-owners to take care of their pets properly.

“A lady was walking a small Yorkshire Terrier on a lead. She had just come out of her gate when a German Shepherd/ Husky cross-breed grabbed her dog by the neck and, in one snap, killed it. She was terrorised by the incident, understandably” said Mr Coote.

“I was on my way down to this incident when I received another call from the gardaí to say that another dog had been attacked. I found the dog in a housing estate running around with 12 or 14 very young children.

“I was able to capture the dog and, luckily enough, he had not attacked any young persons at that time. He was desperate to meet any small dogs and he would have killed anyone that he came across.”

The owner of the dog has been located and the owner has given permission for the dog to be put down.

“This a big issue with large dogs in Clare. If a small pet dog goes a bit wild, it can be controlled, but these [big] dogs could do serious damage. That dog in Shannon could kill another dog with one bite – that could just as easily have been a child,” continued Mr Coote.

“Shannon has become the blackspot in Clare when it comes to dangerous dogs. It really has. I’ve had major problems in other areas in the past – in Ennis and Kilrush and other areas – but Shannon really is a big problem and it is showing no sign of getting better just yet.

“People need to realise just what their dogs are capable of doing.”

A LOCAL campaign to amalgamate Ennistymon’s three secondary schools has been resurrected, with a number of meetings taking place between the schools and local representatives in recent months.

A meeting involving representatives from the three schools – Scoil Mhuire, the Ennistymon CBS and the Ennistymon Vocational School – and a number of Clare politicians took place in Ennistymon last Monday, October 1. The meeting was attended by Fine Gael TD’s Pat Breen and Joe Carey and it is hoped that the renewed local campaign could help kick-start the project on a national level. The Clare People understands that the project is currently stalled by a complex legal issue involving the site designated for the new school. Until this issue has been resolved at a national level, progress on the school cannot be made.

A campaign to amalgamate the town’s three secondary schools has been ongoing for more than two decades.

It was announced more than ten years ago that a new school build- ing was to be built on a patch of land close to the current Scoil Mhuire building. Despite this announcement, construction work never began on the project.

The campaign to bring about the school amalgamation restarted in earnest earlier this year with a meeting between representatives of the schools before the summer break. This was followed by last week’s meeting and a third meeting is now planned for November of this year.

Responding to a parliamentary questions from Ennistymon Senator Martin Conway (FG) earlier this year, the Minister for Education, Ruairí Quinn (Lab), confirmed that the Government still planned to go ahead with the amalgamation – once any outstanding issues with the site have been resolved.

The three schools in Ennistymon currently have around 600 students between them.

Campaigners for the school amalgamation believe that educational facilities could be offered at a higher standard if the three schools pooled their resources into one large school. Students in the senior cycle also walk between the three schools as some classes are already being shared between the schools.

A MAN has been sentenced in 11 months in prison for a theft and criminal damage offences committed in Gort last month.

Brendan Sherlock (19), with an address at 41 Dromard, Lahinch Road, Ennis received the sentence at Ennis District Court on Wednesday.

Mr Sherlock pleaded guilty to the theft of a laptop and a quantity of cash from an apartment on Station Road, Gort on dates unknown between August 28 and 29.

Garda John Keating told the court that Mr Sherlock may have been invited into the premises. He said the laptop had not yet been recovered.

The court heard that Mr Sherlock also admitted breaking the window of a car parked on George’s Street, Gort on September 5. € 200 worth of damage was caused to the car.

The court heard that the accused stole alcohol from Aldi on September 6. Mr Sherlock has a number of previous convictions.

Solicitor Elaine Murphy told the court that her client comes from a large family in Ennis. She said Mr Sherlock’s mother had passed away after giving birth in 2008.

Ms Murphy said her client had been addicted to drink and drugs and had committed the offences to “feed his habit.” She said Mr Sherlock apologised for his behaviour and had cooperated with gardaí. Garda Keating said Mr Sherlock’s problems purely stemmed from drink and drugs.

Judge Durcan said he was considering remanding Mr Sherlock for six weeks in order for him to address his addiction problems. He said the court must be seen to act otherwise the gardaí in Gort would be inundated with complaints from “goodie, goodie” organisations such as the Chamber of Commerce. The court heard that the Mr Sherlock would be a suitable candidate to engage with the Probation services.

After consulting with her client, Ms Murphy told the court that Mr Sherlock did not wish meet with the Probation services.

She said, “My client wishes to have sentence dealt with today.”

He imposed sentences totaling 11 months. Judge Durcan said; “I am sorry that your client adopted the position he adopted and I hope it was for genuine reasons.”

AN ILLEGAL dump, discovered in a turlough in the North Burren, has the potential to seriously pollute public and private water schemes in the Gort and Kinvara areas.

That is according to Senator Lorraine Higgins (LAB), who also described the illegal dump at Caherglassaun Lake as being a “significant” operation.

The cost of cleaning up the estimated two tonnes of rubbish which have been discovered in the waterway could also run into the tens of thousands.

The rubbish is understood to be mostly household waste, and has the potential to cause significant impact to the turlough and its surround plant and animal life. The waterway is renowned for it fish and is also a top quality natural habitat of plants and animals.

“When I was first contacted on the matter, I went to the site and it was clear this was an illegal operation of some significance,” said Senator Higgins.

“It would be a place which would have special amenity value in the area certainly, and perhaps recreational as well. More disturbing again is that if there was run-off from it, it might enter the water supply and could make people in the areas of Gort and Kinvara sick.

“I would urge people in the constituency that if anyone arrives at their door and offers to dispose of household waste for a fee that seems below market price, or any price for that matter, they are fully entitled to find out if that person has a permit to dispose of the rubbish. If they do not have a permit, I would urge people not to use them because it is the householder that will be liable for prosecution,” said Senator Higgins.

Caherglassaun Turlough is located about six kilometres to the west of Gort, just outside of the Coole Nature Reserve and 5km south-east of Kinvara. Caherglassaun is both a lake and a turlough, with a permanent lake at its centre and a large surrounding area which floods at areas of heavy rain.

AN Ennis man has been sentenced to five months in prison for what a judge described as an “absolutely reprehensible and appalling” assault in a bookmakers earlier this year.

A 59 year old man was spat at and kicked in an Ennis bookmakers on March 5 (2012).

Sean Moroney (41), with an address at 31 Dalcassian Park had pleaded guilty to assault, intoxication and provoking a breach of the peace.

The matter came before Ennis District Court on Wedneday for sentence.

Inspector John Galvin told the court that Mr Moroney entered the premises at 2.45pm on the day in question. The court heard that he spat at a customer and attempted to kick him.

Gardai escorted Mr Moroney from the premises. Insp Galvin said the accused was in a highly intoxicated state. The court heard that Mr Mo- roney has a number of previous convictions for public order offences and assault.

Solicitor Tara Godfrey said her client, a father of one, has had significant difficulties with alcohol.

She said the victim in the case had made a remark about her client’s father on the day in question.

Ms Godfrey said, “He apologises to the injured party but he said something that was quite cruel.

She urged the court to consider or- dering Mr Moroney to engage with the Probation services.

Judge Patrick Durcan said the accused had a record that was “unsavory in the extreme”.

He said he “absolutely abhors” assaults that involve spitting, saying there is an added element of insult in that type of assault.

Judge Durcan added, “They are not manly assaults. They are cowardly assaults.”

He described the incident in the bookmakers as “absolutely reprehensible and appalling.” He said he had to balance the accused’s guilty plea, his “battle with the demon drink” against the nature of the assault.

Judge Durcan sentenced Mr Moroney to four months in prison for the assault.

He imposed another month for provoking a breach of the peace. Recognances were fixed in the event of an appeal. Judge Durcan said it was time for Mr Moroney to “wake up.”

FIGURES from the Department of Justice show that Ennis solicitor Tara Godfrey was the highest earner from criminal legal aid cases in the county for the second year in a row. The Ennis solicitor earned € 144,434 last year with solicitor Darragh Hassett second on € 96,092.