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A MAN alleged to have wasted Garda time in Ennis last summer has been returned for trial. Bernard Flaherty (37), with an address at 3 Lifford Lodge, Ennis, appeared at Ennis District Court last Wednesday.

It is alleged that on June 24, 2011, at Ennis Garda Station, Flaherty did knowingly make a false statement tending to show that he had information material to Garda enquiries and thereby causing the time of the Gardaí to be wastefully employed. It arose out of a three-week Garda search for a missing man in Ennis last June. The court previously heard that the person died of natural causes.

Sgt Catherine Houlihan told the court that she had served the book of evidence on Flaherty. Insp John Galvin said it was appropriate for this matter to be returned for trail to the next sitting of Ennis Circuit Court. He said the State did not have any objection to bail. Judge Patrick Durcan remanded Flaherty on bail to appear at Ennis Circuit Court in May.

A GOVERNMENT TD has claimed that there is still hope for two Clare schools, which did not make the much-publicized five-year school building plan.

The Government was criticized for failing to include a new school for Sixmilebridge on its building plans.

Deputy Joe Carey (FG) said this week that the school would progress to final planning stages “in anticipa- tion of further funds being available to the Department of Education”, but for now the money for the school is not available.

“I welcome this clarification from the Minister and the job now is for us to continue to work with the school authorities and within Government to make a new school a reality. I have met with Minister Quinn to discuss Sixmilebridge National School and he has indicated to me today that he will meet with school authorities in the near future,” said Deputy Carey.

There is funding available for Quin National School to develop eight new classrooms as announced last November, according to the Fine Gael TD.

There was much concern locally last week when the school was not listed in the Government’s five-year plan.

Last November, the Department of Education and Skills informed school authorities of plans to provide eight additional classrooms at Quin National School in order to cater for current and future capacity needs of the school.

While the school was not part of the recently announced five-year school building plan, Deputy Carey said received assurances from the Department of Education that the school build will go ahead as planned.

“I have worked closely with Quin National School in recent years to ensure the school grows in line with the expected needs of the local area. I want to pay tribute to school principal Anne Fitzpatrick and the Board of Management for their tireless work on this issue,” he said.

“I can confirm that funding is secure for an additional eight classrooms, to allow Quin National School to develop into a 12-classroom school in accordance with the announcement of last November. A statement in response to my representations from the Minister for Education’s office confirms the project will be devolved and the technicalities of this are currently being worked through.”

CLAIMS by a nurse that she was verbally abused in Ennis Garda Station have been described as an “appalling attempt to muddy the waters” by a Judge. Judge Patrick Durcan was speaking at Ennis District Court on Wednesday as he disqualified mother of two Jane O’Leary (55) from driving for a period of four years.

O’Leary, formerly of 10 Main Street, Clarecastle, and now living in Cork, was charged with failing to provide two specimens of breath at Ennis Garda Station on August 2, 2010.

The court heard that on the day in question, the accused was arrested in the Kilrush Road area of Ennis on suspicion of drunk driving. Garda Val McCormack told the court that after stopping O’Leary’s car, he got a “very strong smell of alcohol from her breath”. He said, “She appeared to be very intoxicated and drunk”. Garda Shane O’Connell told the court that he operated the intoxalyser machine at Ennis Garda Station when O’Leary was conveyed there. He said that she twice failed to provide a breath specimen when asked to do so in the doctor’s room of the station.

Solicitor for O’Leary, Tara Godfrey, put it to Garda O’Connell that her client would say that he called her a “dirty c***” as she attempted to provide a breath specimen in the doctor’s room. This was instantly rejected by Garda O’Connell. He said, “I did not say that. I would never say something like that.” Judge Durcan said he was disregarding the accused’s allegation and accepting what Garda O’Connell said. He said, “It is totally not acceptable that this allegation is thrown out in criminal proceedings.”

The court heard that in the 18 months since the accused was arrested, no official complaint was made to any garda authority. O’Leary, a nurse and psychotherapist, told the court that she had been “really upset and anxious” at the time. She said she “felt under pressure” to provide the sample. “He was calling me names under his breath and that upset me greatly, she said. She told the court that when she left the room, she told another garda about the alleged incident. “He said he would put the complaint upstairs. I didn’t follow it up.”

Describing the allegation as “reprehensible”, Insp John Galvin said, “I feel this allegation was brought up to muddy the waters and to cast aspersions on the character of a guard.” Insp Galvin told the court there was “overwhelming evidence” heard that O’Leary failed to produce a breath specimen.

Judge Durcan said, “A most appalling and serious allegation was made in the privilege of this court.” He said he was satisfied that the accused was guilty. He continued, “I regard this as the most appalling attempt to muddy the waters and to bring into question the character of a garda.” Judge Durcan added, “I am totally satisfied that all gardaí conducted themselves properly in the matter of this case.”

Ms Godfrey said her client had gone through a difficult separation and her life had “fallen apart” at the time. She said O’Leary had not realised that she could make an official complaint.

Judge Durcan said this was not believable as O’Leary was a “highly trained and qualified person”. He said only for the accused’s personal circumstances, he would have imposed a fourmonth prison sentence. He disqualified her from driving for four years and imposed a fine of € 1,500. Recognances were fixed in the event of an appeal.

A CLARE man is among 20 people to have made a complaint or query to the Data Protection Commission- er over requests on the household charge’s website for additional personal information. James Fahy, who paid the € 100 tax, wrote to the Department of the Environment saying he had no problem paying the tax, but objected to handing over his PPS number, telephone number and email address to an anonymous body that “does not even have an address”. The Household Charge Operations unit had told him they could not set up his account “due to insufficient information”, namely the lack of a PPS number. The household charge website asks for a PPS number and also for email and telephone numbers to provide annual reminders or “to notify property owners of potential liability for household charges”. While Mr Fahy had issues with providing personal information but was willing to pay the tax, more Clare people are refusing to make the € 100 payment before the March 31 deadline. A group based in West Clare took its campaign against the household charge to three of the county’s St Patrick’s Day parades at the weekend. The Enough Campaign’s West Clare branch manned “information desks” at the Kilkee and Kilrush parades on Saturday, while they handed out leaflets at Sunday’s Doonbeg parade. Karen McCormack of the group objecting to the household charge said the information desks were very busy. “The only negative response we got at the parade was from people thinking we were handing out information on how to pay the tax. Once these people realised we were objecting to the payment, they were fine,” she said. “This is a stealth tax and we know it is not paying for any local amenities, but to pay back bondholders. They (the Government) have already cut € 170 million for local government funds.”

ONLY seven on-the-spot fines were issued to Clare anglers in 2011, despite reports of a major fish-poaching problem developing in the county.

According to new statistics obtained from Inland Fisheries Ireland, a total of 3,342 man-hours of river and lake searches were conducted by the organisation last year.

These searches resulted in just seven fines, meaning that each fine took, on average, 477 hours of searching to be identified.

This is despite reports of an increase of poaching taking place on some of Clare’s salmon and trout rivers. According to Dr Ciaran Byrne, CEO of Inland Fisheries Ireland, West Clare has become a hot-spot for poaching during the summer months and the organisation has to draft in enforcement staff from other areas to combat the problem.

Anecdotal reports suggest that illegal angling is taking place on five Clare rivers which has been closed to legal fishing since 2007, to allow stocks of fish to recover.

Conservation measures were introduced on the Inagh, Annageeragh, Doonbeg, Aughyvacheen and Skivileen Rivers in 2007, following historically low stock levels in previous years.

Indeed, in the six years between 2001 and 2007, only 78 fish of 40cm or larger were caught on the rivers – or just more than 2.5 fish per river, per year.

“Protection of salmon and sea trout in West Clare has always, and continues to be, a major focus for staff in the lower Shannon area of Inland Fisheries Ireland and, while staff do encounter larger-scale episodes of illegal fishing, they do also come across individual anglers who are illegally fishing for salmon,” said Dr Byrne.

“During the summer months, staff work in teams and are frequently drafted from other areas to West Clare to assist officers with surveillance work, both on the Clare coastline for illegal drift net fishing, and inshore for illegal salmon fishing.”

FIFTH Avenue may have been covered in green white and gold this St Patrick’s Day, but the mayor of Clare was determined to have saffron and blue on show as he led a delegation to promote business in the county.

Mayor, Cllr Pat Hayes (FF) led the 150-strong Clare contingent in this year’s New York St Patrick’s Day Parade with more than two million people lining the streets and US broadcaster NBC beaming live images across the United States of the Clare contingent.

The TV station’s commentators spoke of Clare’s tourist attractions, including the Cliffs of Moher.

The New York visit also featured a number of one-to-one meetings with key business and tourism representatives aimed at showcasing County Clare’s attractiveness as an investment location. Over 120 key business leaders in the United States attended a networking event in New York aimed at showcasing Clare’s attractiveness as an investment location.

Organised by Clare County Council and hosted by the Consul General of Ireland in New York, the event was attended by senior representatives and CEO’s of leading American companies, including Novartis, Horizon Medical Group, Abbott, OCO Global, Jana Foods and Medicomp.

The financial sector was strongly represented with the managing director of Credit Suisse and a senior analyst with JP Morgan attending. Clay Constantinou, a US Ambassador during former President Bill Clinton’s second term of office, also attended the event.

Mayor Hayes said the event provided Clare County Council with a rare opportunity to make a presentation to some of the key business and tourism players in the United States.

“The evening allowed for one-toone interaction with representatives of leading companies in the US. Specially prepared promotional material on the airport, Shannon Estuary and the renewable energy sector were distributed. This material was prepared with the support and assistance of companies in the Shannon region.”

The Clare delegation also attended meetings with Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, CIE Tours International and Tourism Ireland.

BRITAIN’S newest GAA club is looking for Clare footballers who are emigrating to London this year to join the growing list of Banner players at Éire Óg in London.

The club, which was founded last year, has become a haven for the Banner abroad, with Ballyvaughan man Martin Nilan now in service as club chairman and assistant manag- er while Kilnaboy man Paul Maher is coaching the team this year.

Éire Óg London will this year field a Junior B team but they are hoping that an influx of Clare talent may help them to gain promotion.

“The club was just set up last year and it is going very well so far. We train in Finsbury up in North London and we will be fielding a Junior B team once the competitions get started over here in two weeks time,” said Martin Nilan.

“There are a lot of jobs going in London at the moment so we are seeing lots of lads from Clare coming over. We are trying to catch them and to let them know that there is a club for them over here.

“We get people from all over Ireland joining up to the club – there are lads from Sligo, lads from Dublin, everywhere – but there is a big Clare focus to the club.

“We have been really getting going over the last 12 months. We have been training for a few weeks now and we think we are ahead of most of the clubs in the area.”

With the Olympics coming up this summer, London has become the destination of choice for many Clare people leaving Ireland to work.

“There has been a big influx of Irish people over the last 12 months so the club teams are getting more and more competitive. Once people arrive, there is a rush to sign them up to a club and, once they are signed, it is very difficult to move. We like to let people come and have a look around, and to train with us before they commit to anything.

“I’ve been here 28 years now and Paul has been here for 10. There’s never been so much interest in playing football in London as there is now.”

Anyone interesting in becoming part of the Banner brigade at Éire Óg London can contact Martin on 07541374766 or email him on mjnilan@hotmail.co.uk.

THE MAYOR of Kilrush has threatened to get a brush and can of white paint and draw road marks on a road that has being dubbed “Bombay Junction” locally.

Mayor Ian Lynch (FG) was told that it would be a serious traffic violation to interfere with the road markings at Limekill Junction (sic) on the entrance on the town.

Cllr Paul Moroney (Ind) said it would be a shameful for the council, if something wasn’t done about the busy junction.

The councillor, who is also a volunteer member of the fire service, said the fire brigade has already been called to a serious accident at the cross roads where the occupants of the car had to be cut from their vehicles.

Another man told Cllr Moroney that he got knocked off his bike at this junction.

“It would be a shame if this council got this done two days after someone is killed,” he said.

“We have discussed this for two years. Let us do something about this now. Shame on us.”

Cllr Liam Williams (FG) said at nine in the morning when children are going to school it is a very seriously dangerous junction.

The councillors were responding to news that plans for re-drawing the junction are still not in place.

Clare County Council maintained previously that they did not have time or the staff available to design the junction.

Town engineer Derek Troy then designed a solution for the dangerous junction, which was not approved by the road design team.

Town Manager Nora Kaye told the members of the council that there were a lot of people out on sick leave and as a result a lot of work was on hold.

“We have a bit of an issue at the moment.”

She said the junction, which is a cross roads past Aldi as you enter the town from the Ennis side, was the re sponsibility of the NRA.

“Don’t lose sight of the fact that we do not have money to do it. Strictly speaking it is a primary secondary route and the responsibility of the NRA,” she said.

She said once the road design is complete the project will still not be done.

“We should just get the design done and worry about the money after. We look foolish on this when we can’t even get a white line drawn,” said Mayor Lynch.

Cllr Marian McMahon Jones (FG) asked, “Could we still be here next year and it still not done.”

MUCKROSS Park in Killarney could soon have some serious competition from Kilrush as the council proposes to introduce jaunting cars to Kilrush Wood.

The wood, which surrounds the popular Vandeleur Walled Garden, is also the responsibility of Coillte, and members of the council executive are to meet with the state body to discuss this proposal and a number of other issues.

At the March meeting of the council, Mayor of Kilrush Ian Lynch (FG) asked that “Shannon Development and Coillte in association with Clare County Council to explore the possibility of opening of the Kilrush Wood existing road and track network to the seasonal attraction of jaunting, which would complement the existing attractions of the Vandeleur Walled Gardens and Kilrush’s Historic Trail while also providing tourism revenue to the town.”

He said that there are already old stables on the grounds of the Vandeleur Walled Gardens and the tracks are in place.

Marketing Officer with Kilrush Town Council, Síobhan Garvey said, “The Vandeleur Walled Garden and Kilrush woods remain a top priority when the town council engages in any tourism promotion and in recent years Kilrush Town Council has invested in resurfacing the roadway leading from the main road in through the woods to the car park as week as including it in the Historic Town Trails Walk.”

“In 2011, following consultation with coillte, they developed their walkways further by adding a new marked way and interpretational signs. It is acknowledge that the gardens and woods are almost a hidden treasure in the area and every effort is being made to promote both.”

THE number of frontline civil service staff working in the county has been reduced by hundreds since the Government embargo in 2008.

The exact number is still unclear, but a least 100 more have been lost through the Government’s early retirement scheme, which ended on February 29.

Clare local authorities are suffering the greatest staff reduction, losing almost one fifth of its staffing levels since its peak in 2006.

In June 2006, there were 1,002 employees working for Clare County Council, Kilrush Town Council and Kilkee Town Council.

By March 1 this year, that number had dropped by 197 people to 805.

The council started to reduce its staffing numbers prior to the embargo in 2008, so as to avoid “a slash and burn” once the Government called for the cuts.

From June 2008 to March 1, 2012, Clare’s local authorities lost 159 staff members through retirement, voluntary redundancy and people leaving for other employment.

The councils are attempting to cover the staffing shortage by moving staff between departments and councils.

The number of Gardaí in the county has dropped by at least 41 members in the last 11 months.

At the January meeting of the Joint Policing Committee, Chief Superintendent John Kerins told the members that there will be at least 41 less members on the force in Clare at the end of February this year when compared to the end of March last year.

As a result of the drop in personnel and the ever-tightening Garda budget, Carrigaholt lost its garda station this year, with more stations expected to close in the coming years.

At least 31 primary school teachers have retired from the county’s schools in the last few months, with many more choosing to take their retirement package from the county’s secondary schools.

The number of teachers in the county is expected to be reduced further in September, when the Department of Education increases class sizes.

Last week, the HSE announced that as many as 1,222 people have retired from the HSE West since last September.

The health service area, which includes County Clare, lost 680 people, mostly frontline staff, to the Early Retirement Scheme since the beginning of the year.

In the former Mid Western Health Board area, made up of Clare, Limerick and North Tipperary, almost 300 staff had retired just one week before the cut-off mark of February 29.