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NORTH Clare businessman Marcus White will fly to Moscow next month to sign a deal that could bring tens of thousands of new visitors to Clare, through Shannon Airport, this year.

White and his father, James White, met with the head of Russian company Pegus Tours in Asia last week and have arranged a second meeting in the Russian capital for April 8 when, it is hoped, contracts can be signed.

Pegus Tours are one of the world’s largest tour operators and currently bring more than 100,000 Russian tourist on package holidays to Thailand each year. It is hoped that this contract could open the door for tens of thousands of Russians to visit Lisdoonvarna each year on wellness holiday tours.

An estimated € 5 million was generated in North Clare last year as a result of the 6,000 German tourists who visited Lisdoonvarna as part of the Whites’ seven-day wellness trip to Clare operated with Trend Tours. It was confirmed last week that 16,000 German tourists had already booked to come to Ireland with Trend Tours for 2012, with a large portion of them coming to North Clare.

“We met a major tour operator in Asia last week and he already brings several hundred thousand Russians into Thailand each winter for sun holidays. We met the owner personally and we have another meeting for April 8 when, hopefully, we can sign contracts to bring Russians into Shannon or Dublin Airport,” said Marcus.

“Russia and China are the markets to go after at the moment. We always go after bulk business and, if we can get this Russian charter into Shannon Airport, then I think that everyone in the area will be very happy.

“This is something that we are do- ing completely off our own bat, without the help of any state agencies. We got the Germans in ourselves, myself and my father, and we now want to get the Russians into North Clare and to go after China after that. This has been done with absolutely no help from anyone else.

“If this starts off, we hope that everyone involved in the tourism business will come in and get behind it.”

James White, who is a former Fine Gael TD for Donegal, will meet with the Minister for Tourism, Jimmy Deenihan (FG), in the coming weeks to discuss speeding up the visa system for Russians visiting Ireland.

THE Clare branch of Legalise Cannabis in Ireland (CLCI) has vowed to continue to fight for the decriminalisation of the use of medicinal cannabis following the withdrawal of a case against one of the group’s key members last week.

The case, which was taken against one of the founding members of CLCI, Kevin Clohessy, was withdrawn last week because of a technical issue involving the search warrant used by Gardaí in the case. Mr Clohessy suffers from Osteoarthritis, which is a progressive condition that effects his shoulders, hips and knees.

“It is very painful for him to move, and he has reduced flexibility in certain areas. This is a progressive condition so it is going to continue to get worse as he gets older. Cannabis is an anti-inflammatory; it also provides pain relief and is a muscle relaxant.

“When he can smoke, all of his body frees up and he can flex his wrists and his shoulders in ways that he just couldn’t before,” said Niamh O’Brien, founder of CLCI.

“There is a chemical tablet for cannabis about to come on the market in the coming weeks. We can’t understand why it is okay for some pharmaceutical company to grow it, put it in a pill and sell it to people for a massive profit, and it is not okay for us to grow this natural plant for ourselves.”

According to Clare LCI, the decriminalisation of cannabis will help stop people with genuine medical conditions from coming into contact with criminals and help stop the drugs trade in Ireland.

Medicinal cannabis has been legalised in a number of European countries to date, including Spain and Portugal as well as a number of US states.

“We don’t want to be involved in criminality, we don’t want to go down any dark alleyways and be involved with unsavoury people. We want to know what we are smoking. We are being responsible, we know that this stuff works and all we want to do is to be able to treat ourselves in the best way possible,” continued Niamh.

“What we need is more education and information about this issue. The Clare organisation is still going strong but it is hard to get people actively involved.

“People are still afraid of what might happen if they speak up. We really do want to reach more older people in Clare. They are the people who are most likely to get a benefit from this.”

EAST Clare could soon become Ireland’s destination of choice for canoe and kayak trails following new proposal to first map, and then open up the scores of rivers and lakes in the area to tourists.

North Clare canoe enthusiast and businessman, Fergus Brogan, is currently at an advanced stage of negotiations with LEADER and the Clare LDC and, all going well, a canoe trail could be up and running in area before this summer.

“There was a book published last year, the first major list of canoe trails in Ireland, and there was not one trail at all in Clare. That got me thinking. It is crazy that a place like Clare, that has so much water, has no real canoe infrastructure. There is 30 lakes within a 10 mile radius of Peppers Pub in Feakle – 30 lakes and not one of them has ever seen a canoe,” said Fergus. “That is just one area. This is a major major resource that is not being tapped at the moment. I would estimate that there must be more than hundreds of lakes in East Clare alone – along the path of the Scariff River. I am going to be the first person to paddle the full length of the Scariff River.

“I know that the English tourists would absolute love to come to East Clare and go canoeing with their family. I am talking about an area between the M18 and the River Shannon – this is an area which at the moment has very little tourism and something like this could really get it going.”

Fergus is hoping to begin by developing between 10 and 20 recognised canoe routes in East Clare. This would require mapping the routes as well as collecting some valuable information for the canoeists such as the distance and time needed for each route, a details description of the routes and any points of interest or facilities along the way.

“I have been talking to LEADER and they do seem keen about the idea. The beauty about this is that with a very reasonable amount of investment you could have a product in place and ready to go very quickly,” continued Fergus.

“You don’t need signpost or things like you might need for a walking trail. It would be very very each to get this off the ground.”

CLARE County Council will only step up to take over the running of Shannon Airport if the Government stumps up enough money for ambitious plans to finally give the airport its freedom from Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) control.

And, the financial package for a local authority takeover in conjunction with Shannon Development would have to include diverting Aer Rianta International profits away from greedy hands of the DAA and straight into Shannon’s coffers, where the inspiration for ARI originated in the first place.

That was the resounding message sent out to Minister for Transport, Leo Varadkar, on Monday during a specially convened meeting of Clare County Council’s Special Policy Committee on Enterprise and Tourism.

“We need to fund the airport going forward if we are to get involved,” said SPC chairman Richard Nagle. “We are not in a position to come up with large-scale funding for Shannon – money that the airport requires. Funding, that’s the kernel of the issue,” he added.

“The Government owes Shannon,” said local hotelier, John Madden, who addressed the SPC meeting. “I would like to see Clare County Council and Shannon Development involved in the ownership, provided we get back Aer Rianta International,” he added.

“Until the financial data is made available and it’s made clear to local stakeholders what they’re being asked to take, I don’t think formal decisions can be made on this report,” said Director of Service, Ger Dollard.

“The financials at the end of the day have to add up for local stakeholders taking on a liability when they can’t fund that liability,” he added.

In putting the future of Shannon firmly back in the Government’s court, SPC chairman Cllr Nagle highlighted the pivotal role Shannon has to play in terms of balanced regional development.

“We have a spatial strategy. There is supposed to be balanced regional economic development. Shannon Airport is an international airport servicing the west of Ireland,” he said. “It is an integral and essential part of the infrastructure. If we are to have any form of rebalancing in terms of economic growth and development,” he added.

ORGANISERS say there was a high turnout at a protest against new Government taxes and charges in Ennis on Saturday.

An estimated crowd of 200 people attended a protest march, according to the Campaign Against Household and Water Taxes (CAHWT).

The rally was organised as part of a national day of protest. Recent meetings held around Clare have highlighted growing public opposition to the new charges

CAHWT organiser Chris Quinn explained, “Protest marches were planned to go off all over the country at 2pm, which is why we planned the same start time.

“It was initially my idea to gather at the O’Connell monument and go from there, with the organising committee assembling earlier to pass out a few leaflets and pass out protest posters/placards. Just before 2pm, I got a phone call from the Limerick organisers wishing us well and letting me know they had roughly 450 at their march.”

He added, “My colleague Pamela Rochford first addressed those assembled, followed by Brian O’Coillin as the rest of us distributed the 70 or so placards we had.

“As more people gathered, we were asked to briefly delay our start time as more people were making their way to join us. Finally, we felt we could delay no longer, and set off from our start point at 2.15pm. We had, by my estimation, more than 200 with us at this stage, of all ages. As we headed up O’Connell Street, more joined our march.”

Chris explained, “After swinging through the Market Square and then up Parnell Street, we returned to our start point. I, along with the others at the head of the march, began to place our posters around the plinth, and others followed suit. By my estimation, we had at least 325 to 350 likeminded people with us.”

Chris believes the protest spirit is alive and well in Clare. He hopes that Saturday’s march can be the spark to organise other protest movements around the county.

He added, “I thanked all the marchers and asked for a round of applause for themselves, which was thunderous. Any and all people that wanted to volunteer were invited to present themselves to us so we can begin to organise in as many areas of the county as possible.”

A MAN is due to appear in court again today in connection with a seizure of drugs near Ennis last week.

Trevor Gargan (31) with an address at 179 Cregayn Street, Belfast, Antrim, Bt6 8NI, was brought before Ennis District Court on Friday.

Detective Garda Seamus McMahon gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution. He told the court that he arrested Gargan in Ennis on Thursday February 23. He said the accused made no reply after caution.

According to court documents, it is alleged that Gargan was in possession of cannabis for the purposes of selling or otherwise supply to another at Ballymaconna, Barefield on Wednesday, February 22.

Gargan is also charged with the unlawful possession of a controlled drug, to wit, cannabis, at Ballymaconna, Barefield on Wednesday February 22. An estimated value of the drugs was not given in court or outlined in court documents. Solicitor John Casey told the court that he had no questions at the moment. An application for legal aid for Gargan was approved.

Judge Aeneas McCarthy remanded the accused to appear again at Ennis District Court on February 28.

Asked by Judge McCarthy if was going to make a bail application, Mr Casey said he was not. Mr Casey explained, “Hopefully we’ll be in a position to make a bail application” at the next court appearance.

CONSERVATION work on a section of what is believed to be Ireland’s oldest house is nearing completion in Ennis. Scaffolding was taken down from Ms Irene Clune’s house (better known as McParlands) last week to reveal the building’s historic triple diamond stone Jacobean chimney for full viewing for the first time in three years.

The building’s triple diamond stone Jacobean chimney has been an icon of medieval Ennis for centuries. The house has undergone necessary structural repair work in recent months. It has been estimated that the works will cost € 170,000 to complete.

Conservation and repair work at the site has revealed that the building’s timber frame interior dates back to the 1500s.

Conservation officer Dick Cronin explained that work on the building’s exterior is almost complete. He said, “We believe it’s the only half-timber frame house left in Ireland. We have to do dendrochronological analysis of the timber. Once it is tested, we will be able to trace it back to the exact year when the tree was cut down.”

Mr Cronin added, “They are doing work on the shopfront which dates back to the 1800s and that is almost finished.”

It has been suggested that the building could be used as a museum but, according to Town Manager, Ger Dollard, the building will be returned to its former use as a home. He explained, “Our priority is to complete the works under the Dangerous Structures legislation and allow Ms Clune go back to her home as soon as possible. There are no other plans for the use of the building other than returning it to its former use as a dwelling.”

During October 2011, the gable and chimney were carefully taken down and stored. The Conservation Contractor, Tom Howard, claims it was “the most dangerous and precarious job I have ever undertaken as a builder but thankfully everything went to plan”.

A DISTRICT court judge has noted the potential risk to consumers posed by buying goods over the internet.

Judge Aeneas McCarthy said consumers “had to be very careful these days”, particularly when making purchases online.

Judge McCarthy was speaking last week as he ordered that a stolen van purchased for close to € 10,000 in good faith by a Newmarket-on-Fergus man be returned to an English-based insurance company.

Judge McCarthy granted a request for a four-week stay to be placed on the order, pending a possible appeal.

At Ennis District Court last Wednesday, Gary Howard, of Drumline Newmarket-on-Fergus, applied to have a 2006 sprinter Mercedes Van, seized by the Gardaí last February, returned to him.

During the case, it was accepted by gardaí and Judge McCarthy that Mr Howard was the bona fide purchaser of the van and had bought the vehicle in good faith, not knowing it was stolen.

Mr Howard, who runs a Shannonbased haulier business, told the court that he bought the van in Tuam, County Galway, in January 2010, after seeing an ad in Done Deal.

Mr Howard told the court that he paid € 7,250 for the van and spent a further € 2,500 on repairs. He ex plained that he obtained a loan from the credit union to fund the purchase.

“I thought I was getting a good deal but I knew I had to put a bit of work into it,” he added.

He said an online check of the van’s history had not shown it was stolen. His solicitor, Daragh Hassett, told the court that his client had also asked the gardaí to check the history of the van. Mr Hassett said, “He rang his local gardaí and the got the two thumbs up. There’s no more this man could have done.”

The court was told that the van had been stolen in the United Kingdom, falsely registered in the Republic of Ireland and subsequently identified as part of Operation Swallow – an investigation involving the gardaí, Police Services of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and Scottish and English Police.

Detective Garda David Magee of the Stolen Car Unit told the court that gardaí had issued a warning for falsely registered vehicles. Insp Tom Kennedy said that while Mr Howard was the “bona fide owner” of the van, this was a case of “buyer beware”.

Solicitor John Casey, representing NFU Mutual Insurance, said the company had paid out a £10,000 claim on the van, making them the beneficial owner. Mr Casey added, “They never relinquished ownership, even though it was in the possession of other people.”

Judge McCarthy said evidence had been given that the van was stolen by a professional criminal gang and exported to Ireland. He added, “I have no doubt that Mr Howard is the bona fide purchaser who bought in good faith.”

He said the insurance company had paid out a claim. Ordering that the van be returned to FNU Mutual, Judge McCarthy said, “I have great sympathy with Mr Howard.”

AN Ennis man who stole a handbag containing € 3,000 from a woman as she was shopping has received an 18-month prison sentence. At Ennis District Court last Wednesday, Robbie Nestor (31) was also convicted on other charges of theft and of having heroin for sale or supply.

Nestor, with an address at 142 Hermitage, Ennis, pleaded guilty to eight offences committed between July 2011 and February 2012. Details of the offences were read out in court by Insp Tom Kennedy. He said that Nestor had been seen by gardaí selling a € 25 wrap of heroin to a woman in the Hermitage area of Ennis on Decem ber 1, 2011. The accused admitted selling the drugs, the court heard.

The court heard that Garda Francis Brennan carried out a search of 142 Hermitage on December 2, 2011. Insp Kennedy said 16 wraps of heroin valued at € 480 and € 460 cash were found during the search. He said Nestor admitted to having the drugs for sale or supply. He told gardaí that the money had been obtained from selling drugs.

On July 30, 2011, the court heard, Nestor was seen on CCTV taking a suitcase from a bus parked at En nis bus station. The case, which belonged to a student on her way to Galway, contained a laptop computer valued at € 500 and other items. Insp Kennedy said Nestor, who has 31 previous convictions, admitted the theft and told gardaí that he sold the laptop for € 100.

The court heard that at some time between September 16 and 17, 2011, Nestor took € 50 from an apartment in Barretts Lane, Ennis.

Insp Kennedy told the court that on January 31, 2012, the accused stole a handbag containing a mobile phone and € 100 cash from a woman in Tesco, Ennis. The phone was subsequently recovered. The court heard that the next day Nestor took a handbag containing € 3,830 from a trolley in Dunnes Stores, Ennis. Insp Kennedy described it as “opportunistic crime” and said the money was not recovered.

Solicitor Tara Godfrey said her client has suffered from a “very bad heroin addiction”. Ms Godfrey said her client, a single, unmarried man, had made full admissions regarding all of the offences.

She asked that the court consider adjourning any custodial sentence to allow Nestor receive residential treatment. Judge Aeneas McCarthy said he was not “doing that”. He imposed three separate six-month sentences to be served consecutively. He imposed a further four-month sentence to be served concurrent to the 18-month term. Recognances were fixed in the event of an appeal.

FACELESS landlords from national corporations have emerged as a potential stumbling block to ensuring that some of the biggest vacant building in the heart of Ennis are made available to promoters of the Ennis Access to Space Initiative (EASI).

This warning has been sounded out by a leading estate agent in Ennis, who told last week’s public meeting that launched the new project that appealing to the “civic responsibility” of banking institutions that have left town was key to opening some prime locations to EASI.

“One of the biggest problems that we have is that some of the properties are not occupied by the owners,” said Paddy Darmody, of Sherry Fitzgerald McMahon in Ennis.

“We have three properties in the centre of town – the banks. They’re owned by people who don’t have possession of them. The banks are not trading there anymore but are still the tenants. They can’t get out of the lease that they’re in and can’t sub-let it because the rents are much lower than they were paying in the past.

“The problem with the three biggest properties in the centre of town with the biggest floor areas is that you’re dealing with faceless people and trying to get to people who make the decisions and take the responsibility.

“You might have to appeal to the civic responsibility and duties of national corporations who came into town and set up businesses and then up and left and are leaving us with these vacant properties. How we get to those I don’t know,” added Mr Darmody, who represented the longest standing estate agent in the county at the meeting.

However, while outlining these fears, Mr Darmody also pledged “support any initiative that would enhance our town” and pointed out that “everyone would like to work with such an initiative to get it off the ground”.

“The big thing for us is that our job is to let the property, so that whatever would happen, that it’s important from the owner’s perspective that the property is still clearly available to let.

“We would have properties that belong to local landlords and they are probably the easiest people to deal with as they are here and see the properties and would like to see them maintained and kept. For people not in town it’s as easy for them not to engage, because it’s a case of out of sight, out of mind,” added Mr Darmody.