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A LOCAL businessman has spoken of the “fright” his family felt after their home was broken into Ennis earlier this month. David Germaine and members of his family were asleep when their home at Brookville on the Lahinch Road was broken into in the early hours of Friday, June 13.

David and his wife Philomena were asleep when the thief walked into their bedroom and stole David’s phone.

“I had left it on the bedside locker. It was literally inches from my head. So whoever did it just came into the room and took it”, recalled David.

The thief also made of with a Samsung Galaxy Tablet 3 and a Sony Viaro Laptop. The loss of the laptop was a particular blow to the family as it contained precious family photographs. David is appealing for the laptop to be returned.

“The computer itself would be fair- ly old. Its pink in colour and a lot of the keys have been melted away..One of my daughters lived in Spain for a number of years and she has a lot of photographs stored on that computer from her time there. They mean an awful lot to her. She was absolutely devastated when she found out it had been stolen. You can replace the computer but you can’t replace what’s on it”, he explained.

David’s daughter Nicole has also issued an appeal through the social networking site, Facebook for the safe return of the laptop.

David, who runs a B&B at Brookville, said the break in left the family shocked.

“It is something that would frighten you. You would be a bit upset by it alright.

“My wife was very rattled by it. When something like this happens, when someone comes into your bedroom, you wonder what would’ve happened if you’d woken up”, he said.

Gardaí in Ennis are investigating the break in. It is though the thief gained access to the house through a downstairs sash window.

David, who also works as fisheries officer, said it took him some time to figure out the home had been broken into.

“I was expecting a call form someone at work. When I woke up I reached for my phone but couldn’t find it.

“So then I reached for my jeans but I couldn’t find them. I looked downstairs and saw them hanging on the banister at the bottom of the stairs”,

“My wife said she found them in the dining room. So I still couldn’t find the phone, so I went to get the laptop or the tablet to use Skype to make the call and I couldn’t find them. So I kind of worked it out then.

“He probably picked up the jeans but they started to rattle because of the belt so he took them downstairs”. Tue24June14

CLARE’S water safety officer has urged people using the county’s beaches to be extra vigilant until full time lifeguards are deployed, starting from this weekend.

The recent warm spell has seen thousands of people visiting Lahinch, Kilkee, Fanore and other popular beaches – with early season bumper crowd reported on many coastal locations.

Clare Council Council will commence it’s full-time, seven day a week, lifeguard service at a number of beaches from this weekend and people are urged to be extra vigilant while swimming on unguarded beaches for the next four days.

Despite the large crowds, there has been no reports of any serious incidents on the county’s beaches over the past two weeks.

Clare’s newly appointed water safety officer, Claire McGrath, has asked that people continue to be extra cautious while swimming on unguarded beaches.

“The lifeguards will be on seven days a week from June 28, they have been on weekends for June and will be on at the weekends for the first two weeks of September,” she said.

“People should swim parallel to the shore, swim where you can stand and don’t head off for a marathon across the bay.

“People should also supervise their children at all times and always have with you. “Never swim alone,” Ms McGrath added.

So far there have been no major incidents on the county’s beaches this Summer.

“The beaches have been busy, when the sun comes out people flock to the water. We have had no major incidents on the beaches so far, thank God. Just the usual minor cuts and bruises but nothing major,” she continued.

“People need to know the locations of the life guards and swim in life-guarded areas, stay within the flagged areas that the lifeguards set out and follow the rules that the lifeguards put in place.”

Clare County Council have also issued advice for people planning to use leisure crafts and boats on Clare waterways in the coming days.

People are advised to check local weather conditions, wear correctly maintained and fitting lifejackets and not to consumed alcohol prior to entering the water.

The appearance of full time lifeguards at the busiest Clare beaches this weekend coincides with the primary school holidays which begin nationally this week.

Despite the various warnings there are still a number of people who are swimming in local lakes and rivers with no supervision, often late in the evening.

The water safety authorities have been very strong in their pleas to young people in particular to think safety first when contemplating swimming in locations that do not have any lifeguard coverage.

AN IRISH singer who took Britain’s Got Talent by storm will be the headline act at the second Switch concert in Ennis next month.

Dubliner Ryan O’Shaughnessy reached the final of the talent show two years ago and is currently working on his debut album.

He will perform at the Switch concert in Ennis on Friday, July 4.

The concert, billed as Ennis’ answer to the hugely popular Other Voices show in Dingle, will take place at St Columba’s Church of Ireland on Bindon Street.

O’Shaughnessy, who learned guitar by watching footage of Eric Clapton, is the headline act that features up and coming bands from Clare, Limerick and Galway.

In 2012 he signed a record deal with Sony records. Sean Griffin says the Ennis Music Project, who run Switch, are delighted to have secured O’Shaughnessy for their second show. “One of the lads had done a bit of work with him in a studio before.

“We were looking for someone to play for the show. He asked Ryan and he said he’d be happy to do it which is great for us”, he explains. O’Shaughnessy is joined on the bill be Juhn Echo – a three-piece band whose members come from Clare, Limerick and Galway.

The trad folk band will launch their debut EP in Cruises bar in Ennis on Wednesday.

Also performing on the night will be local instrumental outfit, The Guy Montag. Switch is the brainchild of the Ennis Music Project. Committee members Shane Killowry, Robin Fitzpatrick, Sam Lavery, David Naughton and Sean Griffin wanted to try something different – present live music in a alcohol free setting.

A Clare Youth Service initiative, Switch aims to showcase old and new music talent from all over Ireland in unexpected locations around Clare.

The group of volunteers involved promise a “unique live music experience” and is aimed at 18 – 25 yr olds in the Clare area.

Further concert details are available on the Ennis Music Project Facebook page.

SWIMMERS and surfers have been warned to watch out for dangerous currents on Lahinch beach as thousands of tonnes of sand have banked up on the beach in recent weeks.

Lahinch was turned into a virtual rock beach in January and February following a spate of unprecedented storm which literally stripped the beach of all its sand. A large amount of this sand has slowly been washed ashore by the tides over the past three months – but this returning sand has created some potential hazards for beach users.

People are being urged to consult with the lifeguards or local surf school operators before entering the water in Lahinch.

“The sand levels are pretty much back to what they were but the way it has landed is very different – so there are a few current that people would not be aware of. Because of this it is very important that people who are coming to swim or surf in Lahinch have a chat with the lifeguards or the surf schools to find out how things have changed,” said Ben Bennett of Ben’s Surf Clinic.

“There are some unusual currents there and they will change over the summer. The currents will continue to change and to reduce as the summer goes on and we would expect them to be gone completely by the end of the summer. There will always be some current on a surf beach, the problem with these currents is that people wont be expecting them.”

According to Ben, all the tourism related businesses in Lahinch are open and ready for business, but numbers are a little down on recent years as many people believe the beach in not accessible due to the storm damage.

“Lahinch has recovered well. The beach is almost back to normal and all the businesses are open so things are going well. We need to get the word out to people – we have had a lot of people ringing us up who think that we got wiped out by the storm and that we’re not here anymore, so we need to get the word out that Lahinch is open for business,” continued Ben.

“We’re a bit down on this time of year. It is hard to tell because the sun has been great but there has been no surf. So we’ve had a lot of day trippers down to the beach but not as many surfers as normal.”

HUNDREDS of Clare people may be buried in a series of unmarked graves located close to Cree village in West Clare. Local historian, Batt Crowley, has been investigating a small site close to the Cree River for a number of months and now believes it be the site of an unofficial burial ground.

While no headstones or grave markers are visible at the site, the ground works and layout are similar to those seen in children’s graveyards in the 18th and 19th centuries. Mr Crowley has also discovered a map from the 1840’s in which the area is described as the Kilroe burial ground.

There is currently no way on knowing who was buried at the site but Mr Crowley believes that the site may have been used for unbaptised, stillborn and murdered children, “unchurched” mothers, beggars or people who took their own life. It is also possible that Kilroe may have been the site of a mass grave used during the famine or during the outbreak of plagues.

“I heard about this place when I was a child. I knew about it but I would say that most of the people who have heard about it are probably dead now,” said Batt. “You can see ridges at the site where the graves would have been. These are consistent with other graves of this type. I know from the people I spoke to when I was a child, that this is a burial ground. It all the markings of one. This whole area around here would have been filled with houses as one stage but things have changed over the years. Who knows who could be buried there.

“These people are human beings like you and me. They probably suffered more then any of us. No one can say that they don’t have relatives inside in it, we just don’t know. We are all survivors of the famine.” Mr Crowley is hoping to have a special mass said at the site in the weeks ahead but there is currently no plan to exhume any bodies that might be buried at the site for reburial in consecrated grounds.

“There is also no evidence to suggest that this burial ground was used by religious or other authorities such as the Clare County Nursery in Kilrush, which had a child mortality rate of nearly 50 per cent between 1922 and 1932.

LARGE crowds will gather in Spancilhill at the weekend to celebrate one of the landmark occasions in Irish rural life.

The annual Spancilhill Fair begins on Monday June 23 with horse traders from across the country expected to descend on the fair green.

A busy programme of events is also organised for the days prior to the world famous fair.

Michael Duggan of the local organizing committee says huge numbers of people are again expected to attend this year’s event.

“For the fair, we’d get massive crowds.

“It’s midsummer. You have people planning their year around it. It’s one of those big landmark events in rural life in Ireland”

“The horse trade would not be fantastic anymore but you’re still getting big crowds every year”, he adds.

The festivities kick off on Friday June 20 with a music session in Duggan’s Pub from 9.30pm.

Local historian Joe Queally will lead a walk through Spancilhill area on Saturday.

The walk starts at 6pm from Duggan’s pub and finishes with a singsong afterwards. No charge applies but contributions will be donated to Cahercalla Hospice.

The ‘Eve of Fair Family Fun Day’ on Sunday, June 22 will feature a vin- tage horse drawn carriage, donkey derby, tug of war and lots of other fun activities.

Michael says. “The day before has become a big part of the whole occasion.

“The family day is a good way of introducing a younger generation to Spancilhill and what it’s all about”.

Gardaí will oversee a traffic management plan in the area during the fair. Michael is appealing to those coming to the fair to park in the allotted car parks and keep approach roads to the fair green clear.

The first charter for the historic fair was granted by King Charles over 300 years ago. In the past the fair lasted for a week or more with people coming from all over the world.

In recent times it has evolved into a one-day show and fair where the leading horses in the country are presented.

Buyers from all over Europe are still attending and purchasing horses that have gone onto make their name on the international stage in both the show jumping and pony circles.

In 1913 it was recorded that 4,000 horses were present and a feature of that fair was the purchasing of horses as cavalry horses for the British, Belgian and French armies. 1,175 horses were purchased on that day on behalf of the British army.

THE NEWLY elcted chair of the East Clare Municipal District, Joe Cooney (FG) has admitted that councillors will face a major challenge to meet the need of the people living in the newly redrawn constituency.

Cllr Cooney, who was elected after the first count of last months local election with a massive 2,843 first preference votes, also said that making due with the council’s tight budget for works will not be easy.

“My priority is to try and make sure that people in the new Killaloe district get proper representation on Clare County Council. It is a massive big area – from Clonlara back to New Quay, to Whitegate and up to the Galway border.

“It is not going to be easy to make sure that all areas are well covered and people are property looked after and the right services are there in communities and in villages,” he said.

“It wont be easy but it is important that all areas are looked after.

“With funds limited, as they are at the moment, it is also important that everything is kept to a proper standard.”

While all of the councillors elected in the area are based in the eastern section of the constituency, Cllr Cooney insists that they people of North Clare will be represented.

“They do have councillors. There are six councillors nominated to represent that area.

“I will be representing the people up there [North Clare] and if there are any issues there, I will be there,” he said.

“Unfortunately, it is badly balances, there are six councillors in the east side of the area and none in the north side – but it our jobs to represent those people.

“I definitely see that as my job and I will be doing that for the next five years.”

Cllr Pat Hayes (FF) will serve as Cllr Cooney’s deputy for the next 12 months.

A MAN has appeared in court charged in connection with a string of burglaries at businesses in Ennis in recent weeks.

Brendan Sherlock (21) was brought before a special sitting of Ennis District Court on Saturday morning.

Mr Sherlock, with an address at Dromard, Lahinch Road, Ennis, is charged with six offences allegedly committed between May 31 and June 12.

The charges concern four burglaries and criminal damage and theft offences.

It is alleged on dates unknown between May 31 and June 3, Mr Sherlock entered Delia Keane’s coffee shop on O’Connell Street on as trespasser and stole € 300.

Mr Sherlock is charged with trespass and criminal damage at Mocha Coffee, Arthur’s Row, Ennis on June 5; trespass and theft of € 50 in coins at The Tan Lab, Barrack Street, Ennis on June 11 and trespass and theft of € 70 in coins at D’Barber Shop, Francis Street, Ennis on dates un known between June 10 and June 11.

Mr Sherlock is further charged with the theft of € 120 from Enzo’s Fast Food on Abbey Street on June 12.

It is also alleged that on June 7 at Taste of the Sea, Market Place, Ennis, Mr Sherlock did without lawful excuse damage a wooden door. It is alleged the cost of the damage is € 50. In court on Saturday, Detective Garda Michael Kelly of Ennis Garda Station gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution in respect of five of the charges.

Garda David Hannon of Ennis Garda Station gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution in respect of the other charge.

The court heard Mr Sherlock made no reply to any of the charges after caution.

Judge Mary Larkin granted legal aid following an application from solicitor John Casey.

Mr Casey said legal aid was appropriate in the case and the State had no objections to his application.

Mr Casey’s application for bail on his client’s behalf was opposed by the State.

Detective Garda John Casey of Ennis Garda Station outlined the objections to bail. The court heard gardaí would say they have strong evidence against Mr Sherlock in respect of the charges.

Mr Casey said his client was born and bred in Ennis and would live with his girlfriend at her home in the town. He said Mr Sherlock was willing to sign on daily at Ennis Garda Station and observe any curfew conditions set down by the court.

Judge Mary Larkin said she would only consider granting bail on the basis of a substantial cash bond from the accused or from an independent surety.

Mr Casey said the money is not available and Mr Sherlock did not have anyone to stand as independent surety for him at the moment.

Judge Larkin refused bail. However she said it was open to Mr Casey to raise the issue of bail again if his client could meet the strict bail terms sought by the court.

Judge Larkin remanded Mr Sherlock in custody to appear again at Ennis District Court on June 18.

THE COST of renting a house in Clare continues to fall, despite anecdotal evidence of a recovery in the property market in the county.

The average monthly rent paid by Clare people in for the first quarter of 2014 was € 513 – a drop of € 4 on the € 517 per month average recorded over the same period last year. These figures represent a 25.2 per cent decrease on the average monthly rent of € 686 which was recorded for Clare in 2008. The report also signals a clear disparity in the cost of renting a domestic property in different parts of Clare.

The least expensive place to rent a home is Kilrush – with an average monthly rent of € 469 per month while Newmarket on Fergus was the most expensive Clare location at € 582 per month. Sixmilebridge comes in at € 576 per month, Shannon at € 573, with Ennis at € 511 and Killaloe at € 544.

These Clare figures are in contrast to the national average where a year on year increase of 3.5 per cent was recorded for the first three months of 2014.

The largest increase was in the apartment sector – where average rents have climbed by 5.6 per cent while the cost of renting a house has increased by 1.6 per cent.

CLARE County Council will spend more on average on road maintenance and business and tourism development than most other counties in Irelan but less, per person, on housing in 2014 than any other county in Munster.

According to figures obtained by from local authority watchdog, Public Policy.ie, Clare County Council will spend just over € 91 per person on housing this year, compared to € 387 per person in Dublin, and the national average which stand at just over € 160.

In contrast to housing however, the local authority will spend more on average on road maintenance and business and tourism development than most other counties in Ireland.

A new analysis of spending trends across all local authorities in Ireland has revealed that Clare County Council will spend a total of € 98.4 million on services in the county this year, or roughly € 840 per person in Clare.

The councils spend on housing for 2014 will amount to just over 10 per cent of its entire budget for services. The lions share of the housing budget will be used to fund rentals accommodation schemes or leasing programmes. This will amount to more than 30 per cent of the housing budget or 3.5 per cent of the overall services budget.

The smallest slice of the housing budget will be spent on the administration of services for the homeless in Clare which will account for approximately 0.4 per cent of the overall housing budget or € 400,000.

Clare is one of highest spending local authorities in Ireland when it comes to development management – which includes, heritage, tourism and the development of the local economy.

Clare will invest near € 95 per Clare person on development management this year – nearly twice the national overage of just € 59.

The lions share of this budget will be spend on tourism development and promotions with more than € 5 million, or 5.1 per cent of the entire budget, earmarked for this area in 2014.

Clare County Council will spend less than the national average on both environmental services and recreational space in 2014. A to tal of € 12.78 million will be spend on environmental services in Clare this years with the largest section of this being on fire services as well ad street cleaning and aftercare for the Central Waste Management Facility at Ballyduff beg.

The majority of the county’s recreation and amenity’s budget will be spent on the library services in 2014 – which will cost almost four per cent of entire services budget.