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CALLS for the resignation of the Bishop of Killaloe, Kieran O’Reilly, have been described as “unfair and unjust” by diocesan spokesperson Fr Brendan Quinlivan, who believes that the diocese “can stand up to” any judicial or Church investigation into the handling of allegations against clergy in the Killaloe Diocese.

This comes after calls from Clare Senator Martin Conway (FG) for the resignations of both the Bishop of Killaloe, Kieran O’Reilly and the Bishop of Galway and Kilfenora, Martin Drennan.

“I think that to call for his resignation is unfair and unjust, he has been in office for less than a year. He has [implemented], and will continue to implement, the child policy in the Diocese of Killaloe as begun by Bishop Willie Walsh,” he told The Clare People .

“Bishop Willie Walsh was very open and reports concerning the conduct in the diocese were published either last year or the year before.

“Bishop O’Reilly has continued on in that way and any statutory body or Church investigation would get access to any files they are looking for.

“We have been fully compliant with both Church and state guidelines [on the handling of allegations against the clergy].”

It also now looks likely that the Diocese of Killaloe will publish the results of an audit into its recent performance with regards to the handling of allegations against priests when the audit is completed later this year.

The audit, being undertaken by the Church’s own child welfare organisation, is due to take place in September.

“We stand ready for the audit of the diocese which will take place later this year. My understanding is that an audit will take place in Killaloe in September and we are ready for that,” continued Fr Quinlivan.

“I am confident that we can stand over our practices and that we can stand up to any investigation from any Church or state body. It is down to each bishop to decide if he wants to publish the results of these audits and I would imagine that Bishop O’Reilly will do so.

“I think it must be remembered that it was just such a report that prompted the Cloyne Report to take place.”

Meanwhile, relations between the Irish government and the vatican reached an all time low yesterday when the vatican recalled its ambassador to Dublin. Papal nuncio, Giuseppe Lenaza, was called back to Rome yesterday after what was described the “excessive reaction” by the Irish government to Cloyne’s Report.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny (FG) received a standing ovation at the McGill Summer School over the weekend following his unprecedented attack on the hierarchy of the church last week.

CALLS for a properly benchmarked judicial investigation into the Church’s dealing of child sex abuse cases involving members of the clergy that took place in Clare have been sounded out this week as the fall-out from the findings of the Cloyne Report gathers momentum.

Fresh from Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s Dáil Éireann broadside against the Vatican, Clare Oireachtas member Martin Conway has told

KIERAN O’REILLY was ordained Bishop of Killaloe on August 29 last, but now, less than a year into his tenure as leader of the diocese that takes in parts of Clare, Tipperary, Offaly, Limerick and Laois, he should tender his resignation to Pope Benedict XVI. That’s the controversial call made this week by Clare Fine Gael senator, Martin Conway, who has told The Clare People that “a complete wipe-out” of the Church hierarchy “is the only way forward” and that Bishop O’Reilly should be one of the casualties.

“It may be seen as being a dramatic call,” said Senator Conway, “particularly in Killaloe, given that Bishop O’Reilly is in situ for less than a year. However, I firmly believe that there has to be a complete clean-out.While there are some in the hierarchy I would have a regard for, like Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, I think what’s needed in the church in Ireland is a change. A complete change.

“People have absolutely no confidence in the hierarchy. There are good guys there and there are people there who are not culpable for what’s happened, but at the same time there has been an institutional failing.

“That has been proved in the Cloyne Report. The Church systematically failed – not just the Irish hierarchy, but the Vatican as well.

“The only way as a practicing Catholic that I can have any confidence going forward is if there is a complete wipeout of the present hierar- chy and new people are appointed to lead the Church going forward. All bishops in all dioceses must go and must be replaced by younger people who are more in tune with how modern Ireland views these things,” continued Senator Conway.

Turning his attention to the Galway diocese, which takes in vast tracks of his political base in north Clare, Senator Conway said the handling of sex abuses cases again highlighted the urgency for Bishop Martin Dreannan to resign.

“I have absolutely no confidence whatsoever in Bishop Drennan,” he said. “My confidence in Bishop Drennan has been eroded a long, long time ago. He is there against the wishes of the vast majority of people in the Galway diocese. He does not in anyway reflect the mood of genuine Catholics within the Galway diocese.

“I, as a public representative in the second instance, but in the first instance as a practicing Catholic, have absolutely zero faith in him whatsover. The best thing he could do in the interests of the people, in the interests of the Church and in the interests of the genuine people who are in the Church for the proper reasons, is resign.

“The Church has to look people in the eye and say that everyone who has been involved in the Church at hierarchical level is gone and we are starting again. It’s the only way forward,” he added.

CLARE small businesses and sole traders are jumping at a chance to get their services and products on the web for next to nothing.

A course in getting a business website up and running, which the Clare County Enterprise Board intended to run for one session, has exploded in popularity with the board having had to put on eight courses and counting.

The course, sponsored by Google, web hosts Black Knight and the Enterprise Boards gets a business or any self-employed person online with their own website in just three hours of intensive work. And it costs just € 25, a fraction of the amount that a struggling business would normally have to shell out.

The scheme was set up in the wake of a study which showed that only about half of small Irish businesses have their own websites. And the chance to have a presence online is proving far more popular in Clare than in other counties involved in the nationwde scheme, according to CCEB business advisor, Lucy Reidy.

“It has really taken off. We thought we might have had interest from seven or eight small businesses or individuals but instead we’ve had 80 sign up so far and requests for places on the course are still coming in, and that’s without even adverstising it,” Lucy told The Clare People .

“From our contact with other Enterprise Boards who are running the scheme, the takeup elsewhere isn’t anything like we’ve seen in Clare.”

The course involves three hours of intensive tuition and work with train- ers. The instructors contact course particpants in advance to have them gather up pictures, prepare descriptions of the business and any other relevant information which might be needed for the site.

“After the three-hour course, people go home with their website up and running and enough tuition to make changes to it themselves. The course is open to all professionals, whether they are in retail engineering, solicitors, catering, all fields. The only restriction is that to have a ‘.ie’ site you have to be a registered company, but people don’t have to be registered to have a ‘.eu’ or ‘.com’ site,” Lucy explained.

She added that the CCEB will continue to provide the courses for “as long as people want to do them and all partcipants have to pay is the € 25 to cover things like hiring costs.”

The next course is being run on August 31 and there are still some places available.

Anyone interested can apply online through the Enterprise Board’s website or ring for information on 065 6841922.

THERE has been a positive response to a new countywide volunteer discount card with 160 Clare businesses so far signing up to support the scheme.

The Clare Volunteer Centre launched their volunteer discount card in January 2011 with the support of the Ennis Chamber of Commerce, Clare County Council, Ennis Town Council and the Clare Local Development Company.

The card has been created to allow volunteers access to a range of discounts and special offers from businesses around the county for 2011, The European Year of the Volunteer. 160 businesses around Clare are taking part in the scheme with 2,000 cards being issued so far.

Businesses who are involved are listed on the booklet accompanying the card and also on the website.

The Clare Volunteer Centre launched the scheme in partnership with Clare businesses in order to recognize the work of the county’s voluntary sector.

Last year, 256 people registered with the centre, an increase of 25 per cent from 2009, bringing the total number of volunteers registered at the centre to 496.

Sharon Meaney, CVC Development Co-ordinator, explained. “Acknowledging volunteers is just one method among many for businesses to become involved in their communities. Community involvement benefits not only the local community but can boost business itself.”

She continued, “The discount amount is at the discretion of the business with most giving 10 per cent. Kilrush, in particular, have seen an immense positive reaction to the card. It is seen to be building a great relationship between the community and businesses.”

Ms Meaney said, “Volunteers, now more than ever, are the backbone of many communities throughout the county. It is an ideal time, being European Year of the Volunteer, for your business to join with the community and say thank you to the volunteers who work tirelessly, giving their time, skills, experience and energy freely.”

The Clare Volunteer Centre is part of the national network of volunteer centres, supported by Volunteer Centres Ireland.

The Clare Volunteer Centre opened its doors in Ennis in 2008. Businesses interested in taking part in the scheme can contact Ennis Chamber of Commerce.

LIFTING A car off the ground is little more than a dream for most people, but a Sixmilebridge man does it at ease.

37-year-old Tom Cusack is reflecting on his recent powerlifting world title, at his home at Ballylidane, Sixmilebridge, and demonstrates the skills that have propelled him to the top of the world.

Tom, who weighs in at 12 stone and four pounds – which is relatively modest for a powerlifter – lifts up a Volkswagen Golf which is parked in his driveway, before dropping it, all at relative ease. He puts it all down to a combination of his healthy lifestyle and tremendous willpower.

“I like to keep myself fit. You have to be fit and lean in powerlifting,” he says.

“I have great willpower. I never give in. I feel tired sometimes but I don’t give in. You get nothing from being lazy and not getting up off the couch,” he adds.

“When I make up my mind about something, that’s it,” he says.

His recent success did not come about overnight; rather it was through several years of dedication.

“I was always into weights. When I was 11 or 12 years of age, I was fierce strong. At 14 years of age, I was 13 stone. When I was about 17, I saw Gerry O’Connell from Crusheen, who is retired from powerlifting, in the paper. I got his number and got in contact with him,” he says.

“I didn’t play much sport when I was younger. All I liked was weights. I liked the Incredible Hulk. I was always interested in being strong and healthy. Arnold Schwarzenegger was always an inspiration to me,” he says.

“At 10 or 11, I started training by swinging a crowbar. I did it for a half hour in the morning before school and for another half hour in the evening. At the age of 14, I got my first 50 kilo dumbbell set. I was fierce strong. I was doing the weights on my own. I loved building up the strength and doing muscle exercises,” he says.

Over the years, he progressed from enjoying it as a hobby to taking part in competitive events, winning a hand ful of All-Irelands in recent years and a European title last year. The World Drug Free Powerlifting Association was set up about 10 years ago and Tom started taking part in some of their competitions, which culminated in him winning the title in the 82.5 kilo dead weight lift in Chicago last month.

Dedication is at the centre of his efforts and last year Tom set up his own gym on the grounds of his home at Ballylidane, Sixmilebridge, where he trains several times a week. His motivation is immense and he trains by himself.

He also credits his mum Ita with much of his success. “She is a very strong woman. She was my training partner for 10 years,” he says. While weightlifting forms a central part of his training – lifting up to 40 stone in weight on a regular basis – he also runs, clocking up around 13 miles every week.

“I am ambitious in everything that I do. Hopefully I will be world cham- pion when I am 90 years of age. A 65-year-old American came second to me in Chicago. There are lots of people in their 70s and 80s competing and breaking world records,” he says.

But it has not all been plain sailing for Tom. Five years ago he got ME and this set him back in his powerlifting ambitions.

“I got ME at 32. I lost my health. I put on two or three stone weight. I was burnt out. I couldn’t exercise. I used to work about 80 hours a week in my nursery (Hill View Nursery) for five to 10 years. That’s how I burnt myself out. Thankfully I got my health back a year ago and I came back better. Now I just work 40 hours a week and I relax,” he says.

Now that he is back to full fitness and with one world title under his belt, Tom is very much geared towards the future and has his eye on securing another world title in France next year.

“Hopefully I will defend my title next year,” he says.

Long-term plans are also on his mind and he has his sights set on taking part in strongman events next year, which he compares to “lifting a car”.

“I am going to compete for Ireland’s strongest man. I’m going to demonstrate you don’t have to be a 350 pound man to win it. I’ll demonstrate that a 170 pound man can do it. I can lift cars and carry 40 stone the length of a sports field on my back. I can lift a 200 pound steel log over my head. It’s all strong man events I will be doing after France,” he says.

“What motives me is I am going to demonstrate to the people of Clare how strong I am. I will never work 80 hours a week again. I am now more relaxed about life,” he says.

He believes that further successes will be achieved as long as he mingles his dedication and determination with his healthy lifestyle.

“The key to success is being natural, fit and healthy and having a high protein diet. Every day I eat a tonne of pasta and fish. That’s where I get my strength from. I don’t believe in supplements. I eat fresh fruit and vegetables every day. I drink six pints of water a day. I don’t drink or smoke. It stands to you in old age,” he says.

“If you life a healthy life you can break records at the age of 80. That’s what I will be doing hopefully,” he says.

ALCOHOL and alcohol addiction is playing an increasing role in the suicide rate in County Clare, with a growing number of suicides in the county having some connection to alcohol abuse.

That is according to the Clare spokesperson for the Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) who told The Cla re People yesterday that alcohol is a major contributing factor to many suicides in Clare.

“Alcoholism is a killer disease; even the World Health Organisation (WHO) now recognise it as the third biggest killer on the planet and a lot of those deaths are through suicide,” said the Clare spokesperson for the AA, who asked not to be identified.

“Alcohol is a depressant and, if you drink a lot of it, can become very depressing. That is why a lot of people who become an addict also have suicidal tendencies. The biggest problem with alcoholism is the denial, both from the alcoholic themselves and their friends and families.

“This allows the situation to get worse and worse and worse until eventually it gets too much and suicide or attempted suicide is the way out for some people.”

There are currently 24 AA meetings taking place at different locations throughout Clare every week, evidence that no part of the county is unaffected by alcoholism abuse.

According to Ruth*, a recovering Clare alcoholic who contemplated taking her own life last year, the connection between alcoholic abuse and suicide in Clare is increasing.

“The amount of deaths that I have heard about through [alcohol] overdose and alcohol-related suicides is more than I’ve heard about through illnesses and natural causes. And that is despairing,” says Ruth.

“I have gone to funerals and I have seen how the children of someone who has done that [committed suicide] have reacted. But I can relate to what that person would have felt. I felt like my children would have been better off without me.

“I remember when I was at the Bushypark Treatment Centre, there was a lad in there in his early 20s. When I heard of this young man’s suicide, the thing that I remember most is the look on the counsellors’ faces at Bushypark. It was like they had lost one of their own.”

Anyone who feels that they might have a problem with alcohol can contact the local branch of the AA in confidence on 061 311222. To read about Ruth’s struggle to overcome her alcoholism and the help she found at the Bushypark Treatment Centre, turn to page 29.

TWO young people had a lucky escape on Sunday evening when both ended up in the water in Killaloe.

The Killaloe Coast Guard and the Shannon-based coast guard helicopter were put on high alert after a report that a man in his early twenties was in difficulty in the water south of Killaloe Bridge on Sunday. The young adult was fully clothed and his girlfriend was also in the water, having gone in to try to help him.

When Killaloe Coast Guard arrived at Ballina slip, the two young adults had made their way to safety. The two were taken home and the Killaloe Coast Guard rescue boat ‘Dalton’ returned to base. The Shannon-based coast guard helicopter was also stood down.

The coast guard has had a run of busy weekends as the holiday season gets in full swing and with the August bank holiday promised to be hot, they are expecting large crowds to come to enjoy the lakeside sports and amenities.

A spokesman for the coast guard reminded people planning a weekend of water sports to be responsible and take precautions.

“If you’re taking a boat out, always tell someone where you’re going and when you expect to be back and make sure everyone on board is wearing a lifejacket.”

A CLARE company has secured two extremely lucrative new outlets for its products, one being Berlin’s answer to Harrods and the other the flagship store and mail-order lists of a top US speciality foodstore, worldwide.

The Burren Smokehouse secured a listing and got their first order this week for a selection of 11 different products with KaDeWe, one of mainland Europe’s largest department store.

The Clare company is now supplying the only Irish food products in the store.

Meanwhile, the final touches are being put to having the company’s products on sale through the mailing list and in the main New York store of a major US speciality food supplier.

“We’re delighted with both of the listings, I can’t say yet who the US supplier is yet, but there are 35,000 customers a week through their store alone and that’s not even taking account of the mail order opportunity. We are hoping to get our first order from them in September,” said Smokehouse founder, Birgitta Hedin-Curtin.

Bord Bia offices in Germany and in Dublin and the Bord Bia / Smurfit Business School Fellowship students in Germany were all involved in getting the Clare fish products on the shelves in Berlin.

“KaDeWe is a historical department store and is in existance for over 100 years. It first opened 1907. Each day up to 180,000 customers from around the world are welcomed in by the 2,000 KaDeWe staff.

Now our products will feature in its world-famous gourmet department on the sixth floor. This is Berlin’s premium department store,” said Birgitta.

Burren Smokehouse attended and exhibited at the the US listing company after they exhibited at the Fancy Food Fair in Washington DC last week. The event showcased 180,000 speciality products, with 2,400 exhibitors, with more than 80 countries represented.

“The wide and varied ethnic diversity of the US means that food culture and taste trends are very dynamic in this, the largest grocery market in the world,” said Birgitta.

Helping the smokhouse products get through the door of the US deli was the Bord Bia New York office headed by Karen Coyle.

The Burren Smokehouse exhibited with their importer and distributor, Food Ireland Inc owned by Irishman Pat Coleman.

“Pat has Clare family connections so it was great to have him with us,” said Birgitta.

It is too early, Birgitta said, to assess what will come of the company’s exposure in the new market, but, she added, the Burren company will be making the most of the opportunity.

HUNDREDS of jobs could to be created in Clare in the coming years as a result of a number of new Irish wave energy projects which are set to come online off the Clare coast in the coming decade.

This follows the granting of a foreshore license for the WestWave Project at Killard Point off the Doonbeg coast last week, which will see a number of companies use the water off the Clare coast as Ireland’s first wave energy power station.

When completed the prototype wave power station will create an estimated 5MW of electricity. According to Andrew Parish, CEO of wave energy company WaveBob, each megawatt of energy created will equate to roughly 15 jobs onshore, with many more during the construction phase.

This mean that the WestWave Project could create as many as 75 Clare jobs before 2015. With commercial production likely to be roughly ten times the size of the WestWave prototype, the number of Clare jobs to be created could quickly into the several hundred. The Clare, Mayo and Kerry coastlines are considered to be three of the top locations for wave energy in the world.

“Clare has a huge potential for wave energy, indeed the west coast of Ireland has one of the largest wave energy capacities in Ireland. Clare is one of the three counties best served with the potential to exploit wave energy. That is not just about the waves, it is also about the coastline, port facilities and the grid connection,” Mr Parish told The Clare People yesterday.

“The official estimates from the European Commission is that there would be 10 to 15 jobs created for every megawatt of capacity added. So you can see that there is a good number of jobs here.

“We would estimate that about half of these jobs would come in the supply side of the operation – the people who are providing servicing, maintenance, transport and boats. That is on an ongoing basis but during construction there are additional contractors who would be brought in work on that,” he added.

The WestWave Project aims to develop the first wave energy project in Ireland by 2015 by generating an initial 5MW of clean renewable electricity. WestWave is a collaborative project being led by ESB in conjunction with a number of wave energy technology partners including Ocean Energy and WaveBob.