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A BURNING candle in the sitting room of a house may have caused the death of a 53-year-old man in a house fire over the weekend.

Michael Kennedy died after a fire broke out at a newly-renovated singlestorey home on the Grange Road in Ballina in the early hours of Sunday.

Two other people – Mr Kennedy’s wife and a friend – who were also in the house at the time, escaped from another room. However, Mr Kennedy became trapped in the sitting room.

He was pronounced dead at the scene and his body was taken to Limerick Regional Hospital for a post mortem examination, which was carried out by Deputy State Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis.

The fire broke out after 2am. The scene was preserved and a Garda technical examination took place on Sunday.

“The fire started in the sitting room in the house. The sitting room was very badly damaged,” said Inspector John O’Sullivan of Killaloe Garda Station, who is heading up the enquiry into the tragic accident.

He said the two women who escaped from the house were “badly shaken” but fortunately did not receive serious burn injuries. Gardaí have taken statements from the ladies, in an effort to determine the exact cause of the fire.

A CLARE woman made history at the weekend when she was one half of the first two-person Irish relay team to swim the English Channel.

Maighread McMahon (33), who is from Kilmaley, and swim partner Lynsey Dunne battled fatigue, motion sickness, jellyfish stings and darkness to complete the swim from England to France in 13 hours and 53 minutes.

Accompanied by a pilot boat, the pair set off from the English coast at 9am on Friday morning. Alternating two-hour shifts in the water, the journey was eventually completed at 11.40pm when Dublin-born Sligo resident Lynsey climbed out of the water in France.

A jubilant Maighread told The Clare People yesterday that she was delighted to have been part of the record-breaking challenge. She said, “It was a long day but a good day.”

In crossing the channel, Maighread and Lynsey raised € 10,000 for the Irish Cancer Society. Most crosschannel swims are attempted in groups of six or as solo efforts. However, Maighread and Lynsey are believed to be the first Irish two-person team to complete the swim.

A former student of Killable National School and Coláiste Muire secondary school in Ennis, Maighread started training for the challenge last April.

She said, “I had been doing a lot of triathlons and swimming would have been my best event. So I said to Lynsey, would you be interested in swimming the channel?”

Training involved swimming six days a week in the seas around Ireland. Mairead, a quality manager with Diageo, explained, “It’s hard work when you are working as well. You have to do a lot of ‘carbing up’ to put on weight so you don’t get hypothermia.”

The rules of the challenge meant that Maighread and Lynsey could only be in the water for a maximum of two hours at a time.

Conditions may have been warm and relatively calm but the pair did have to contend with jellyfish.

Maighread said, “I got a few jelly- fish stings across the face. Some of them were really quite painful. But I thought, there’s no way a jellyfish is going to get the better of me.”

Despite temperatures hitting 29 degrees, Maighread had to stay well wrapped up while she was on the boat to keep her body temperature high. On board, she also had to fight the effects of motion sickness. However, the most dangerous part of the journey came right at the very end.

She said, “The tide changed and it was dark so you couldn’t see what was above or around you.”

Maighread is still in England, taking a well-deserved break. Now living in Carlow, she intends to take part in swimming events in Ireland and hasn’t ruled out the possibility of attempting a solo cross-channel swim. “I need to have a think about it. But after doing it, it would be fantastic to do it solo.”

NEW casual trading byelaws aimed at improving the operation of the Ennis market were last night adopted by members of Ennis Town Council after councillors voted unanimously to remove plans for a controversial tow away system.

As part of the byelaws, the Council had proposed introducing a system that would have seen cars parked in market trading bays on trading days, towed away.

That, along with plans to limit the sale of Christmas trees to the Cornmarket area of the town, were strongly opposed by all elected representatives present at yesterday’s Council meeting.

Despite sparking confusion, another proposal to prevent the further reduction of parking spaces in favour of trading bays in Guaranakilla, as set out in the byelaws, did make the final draft, despite criticisms from Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG).

Councillors Flynn, Paul O’Shea (Lab) and Frankie Neylon (Ind) proposed that the byelaws be passed subject to three conditions.

Members voted unanimously to re- move the tow away system and the restriction of the sale of Christmas trees from the byelaws.

However, following a warning from town manager Ger Dollard that a proposal to designate a section of Guaranakilla strictly for parking would have “serious implications” for trading in the market, a majority of councillors present voted 4-3 against the amendment.

Cllr Flynn said he was against the further reduction of parking in the interests of ratepayers in the area. Town clerk Eddie Power said effective byelaws were needed to manage the market in the interests of safety and of traders who pay to operate in the area.

Mr Dollard told the meeting that signs warning that cars may be towed away could still be put up in the market. He said the penalty would not be part of the byelaws, adding that Gardaí could still decide to tow cars away if they are found to be impeding trading.

Cllr Flynn described the tow away system as using a “sledgehammer to crack a nutshell”. Cllr Neylon said the proposal could cost affected car owners € 200 to remedy.

VOLUNTEERISM in Clare is at an all time high as unemployed people in the county offer their skill for free to worthy organisations in the county.

Figures released from by the CAO last week reveal that the numbers signing on in the county rose by almost 200 last month – the first monthly increase since the Live Register hit its all time high in the county in January.

The news that there were 10,400 signing on in the county in June is disappointing as it comes after four months of straight drops in the the Live Register figure in the county.

The chairperson of the the Clare Citizen Information Service, Paul Woulfe, said that while there is no sign in the number of unemployed dropping, there are now many schemes to help them when they do find themselves out of work.

“We are seeing more and more people coming into us – people are still being let go and the trend is not changing at all at the moment. But there are a lot of schemes there to help people and the information about them is changing all the time. We would advice anyone who becomes unemployed to come into the office to see us or to look at any of our websites to see what their options are,” he said.

“The big thing for people when they lose their job is dealing with the immediate financial issues. A lot of people have mortgages and other expenditures so they have to change their budget a lot. If there is serious debt there or if they are finding that they are running into debt then we can refer them onto MABS who can help them with that.

“We do help by advising people on how they can fill their time in a good way. They might be interested in doing some voluntary work so we would be sending them onto the Clare Volunteer Centre who could assess their skills.

“People have more time on their hands than they are used to so we would be encouraging people to look at their options for upskilling and pointing them towards the VEC or other organisations. Or we could send them to the Adult Guidance Service if they want to get back as a mature student or to a jobs facilitator at the social welfare office if someone has an idea and wants to go out on their own. So we can look at the various options and then advise them where they can go and get more information and support that can help them.”

For help from the Citizen Information Service check out losingyourjob. ie or call into the Clare Citizen Information Services offices on Bank Place in Ennis.

A NEW group which aims to fight for the right of the unemployed and marginalized in Clare will be officially formed in the coming week. The group, which is a collection of employed and unemployed volunteers, is currently working under the name ‘Hope for the Marginalized’ but is aiming to host an AGM before the end of July and officially launch the group.

The first aim of the group will be to lobby for practical and inexpensive changes to education, social welfare and local business strategies which they feel could have a massive effect on the lives of young unemployed people.

“We have found that we can work towards and very workable ideas that we could lobby the Government to introduce changes which will make our country a better place to live in,” said Ennis woman Paula McNamara of Hope for the Marginalized.

“At the moment the unemployment crisis is so massive, especially in this part of the county, so our first aim to work in that area but after that we would hope to broaden out our work to other parts of the community who are marginalized.

“The group isn’t just people who are unemployed – it is a wide cross section of people in Clare. If anyone who has any ideas that they think might help the situation then we’d love to hear from them.

“We are at a crossroads now, we have to make a choice about how we want this country to be. Do we want it to be focused about bailing out the banks and forget about the weak and vulnerable or should we think about this in a different, more sensible way.”

Some of the ideas put forward by the group include targeted training in universities, colleges, VECs and FÁS, which would see a greater focus on offering courses in areas where there is a realistic prospect of a job.

The group is also looking for all people on social welfare to be given a single case worker to oversee every aspect of the case, from benefits to retraining opportunities and is calling for a greater emphasis to be put on alternative local opportunities for creating jobs.

“We know that the country is broke – that is why we are not calling for big schemes, we are looking at practical solutions which could help drag us out of this situation,” continued Paula.

Anyone who wants to be involved in Hope for the Marginalized can contact Paula on hopeforthemarginal ized@gmail.com.

THE new First Citizen of Clare has told his fellow councillors and local government chiefs that cutting rates is key to kick-starting a resurgence in the county’s economic fortunes.

Mayor of Clare Pat Hayes has said that tackling the rates problem within the county will be a priority during his year in office, even if it means introducing cut-backs in other areas of Clare County Council’s yearly budget.

“The rates issue is critical,” Mayor Hayes told The Clare People . “A lot of businesses in Clare are struggling to survive. They have cut every other cost, but when you take the rates, from commercial rates to sewerage and water charges, it is a huge burden on ordinary businesses.

“The small businesses across the county are the ones that are going to get us out the trouble we’re in. They’re the ones that are going to provide employment. Clare County Council needs to recognise this.

“If cutting rates means we have to cut services, they we have to look at that. It we don’t do something, our rates base is going to fall. And with new charges that are put in place by the government, it’s important that the funding from these charges filter back into local government immediately.

“In the next few months, prior to any budget, I want all councillors in Clare to have a real look at what we can do to make this council leaner – it is important to look how we do all our business in the sake of finances. If we don’t continue to make strides in that, our rates base is going to fall. It is a key thing for me as mayor of Clare,” he added.

“I’m following in the footsteps of former councillors from East Clare who served in the chair,” Cllr Hayes told fellow councillors at the Clare County Council AGM last Thursday. “Sean Brady from 1932 to ’69, Johnny Moloney from 1984 to ’85 and Colm Wiley from 1993 to ’95. They were Fianna Fáil men as well and it was great honour to follow people like that,” he added.

“We have great hope right across this county. We as a council have been putting in place policies to lead this county forward. You can see that in the County Development Plan in the Clare Tourism Forum.

“What’s good about Clare is its people, its culture and its sharing capacity to help each other. We need to celebrate the good things of Clare and come out with a positive attitude of celebrating that. We need to do that on a monthly basis. Every month we should look at an aspect of our county and celebrate that.”

47-year-old Mr Hayes is the fifth Fianna Fáil mayor of Clare since the title was created in 2001 and the 20th chair of the county council from the party from the Fianna Fáil benches.

A TOTAL of 11,892 dwellings in Clare are currently not being lived in, a figure which equates to over a fifth of the entire housing stock in the county.

The figure was made public with the release of prelimenary Census 2011 findings which recorded the number of vacant residences, while at the same time revealing a rise in the population of the county by some 5.5 per cent.

There are now 116,885 people living in the county, only the second time in 110 years that the county’s population has broken the 110,000 barrier.

The Census figures reveal that the number of new housing stock in Clare increased by 14 per cent in between the 2006 and 2011 censuses, which means that Clare house builds ran ahead of the national average of 13.3 per cent.

However, the breakdown of these figures have also revealed that this in housing numbers has contributed to a sharper increase in the number of vacant dwellings around the county.

The vacancy rate in Clare is now running at nearly 22 per cent, eight points higher than the national average of 14.7 per cent, with the western seaboard being the worst part of the county affected.

A map of the county produced by the CSO shows that vacancy rates in west and north Clare are now running at over 25 per cent, startling figures that back up claims made to The Clare People by a number of Census enumerators from their experiences on the ground back in April.

Only seven other counties have higher rates of vacant housing than Clare, the reason being traced back to the building boom that saw a proliferation of holiday homes during the Celtic Tiger years and the special seaside resort status given to Kilkee and Lahinch by the Rainbow Coalition in the 1990s.

A GOOD Samaritan who slowed down when he saw what he believed to be a late night traffic accident was robbed for his trouble near Ardnacrusha recently. The driver saw a car across the road and a man limping towards the front of the car. There were two other men lying on the grass at the side of the road.

As he slowed down the ‘injured men’ got up and attacked the driver of the car, forcing him to open his door, threatened him with a knife and robbed him of € 400. He was saved possible further injury and loss when an oncoming car prompted the thieves to make their getaway. Gardaí are appealing for potential witnesses or anyone who may have seen the thieves on the morning of June 25th at Carmody’s Cross.

CLARE’S newest sporting heroes will return to Shannon, Sixmilebridge and to Inagh later this evening for a homecoming which should rival anything seen in the county for the last decade. Double Special Olympic silver medal winner, Ciara O’Loughlin, and silver medal winner Michael Neville will touch down in Dublin with the rest of the Irish team just before 1pm today.

Ciara won the silver medal in the shot putt and the 4×100 metre relay while Michael, from Sixmilebridge, was part of Ireland silver medal winning soccer team.

“We’re just so proud,” Ciara’s father Malachy told The Clare People

ICARUS will not be swooping down to settle in Clarecastle despite a late bid to have the well known piece of sculpture moved to a new home.

In a motion submitted to yesterday’s meeting of Ennis Town Council, Cllr Mary Howard (FG) called on the Council to “consider relocating the Icarus sculpture to the centre of the Clareabbey roundabout”.

Cllr Howard told the meeting that the statue would be a “lovely gateway” to Ennis if it was moved to Clareabbey.

Mayor of Ennis, Cllr Michael Guilfoyle (Ind) said he would like to see the 11-tonne statue brought back to the centre of Ennis rather than Clarecastle.

Cllr Paul O’Shea (Lab) called for a vote on the matter, urging the Council to install the statue at the Clareabbey roundabout.

However, in his response, town clerk Eddie Power stated that a site on the N85 western relief road had been chosen as a new location. He explained that design work on a new base for the statue had already started at the Rocky Road roundabout. He told the meeting that € 20,000 has already been committed to the project.

Town manager Ger Dollard said the Council was involved in three major sculpture projects – the Information Age Sculpture at Clon Road; Icarus and its replacement piece in the Market – a sculpture of two farmers and a cow.

He said it was “too late in the day” for a new location for Icarus. “The horse has already bolted in that re- spect,” he added.

The Icarus statue was designed by the renowned Irish sculptor John Behan. It was gifted to Ennis Town Council by the former Shannonbased company Guinness Peat Aviation in 1990 to mark the town’s 750 year anniversary.

Behan titled his work Daedalus though it became known locally as Icarus.

The sculpture had occupied a place on the roundabout at the heart of the market area of the town prior to its removal in December 2006.