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A LIMERICK man said he caused noise and disturbance in Ennis Courthouse yesterday because he only got potato wedges and chicken nuggets for lunch instead of a snack box.

Eddie O’Sullivan (25) was in custody awaiting sentence for stealing money and a bus pass from a disabled man in Ennis last August.

Shouting and banging could be heard from the cell area below the courtroom where Circuit Criminal Court sat on Monday.

When Mr O’Sullivan was called for arraignment a prison officer told Judge Carroll Moran that Mr O’Sullivan was naked. Judge Moran asked that the accused be brought into the courtroom to inform him how he intended to plead to the charge.

Mr O’Sullivan subsequently appeared wearing just boxer shorts and a pair of socks. “I know I’m not dressed appropriately, I’m sorry,” Mr O’Sullivan told Judge Moran.

Mr O’Sullivan, with addresses at Parkview Apartments, Limerick and, John Street Limerick, pleaded guilty to theft of wallet, cash, bank cards and bus pass from a 50-year-old partially paralysed man at Newbridge Road, Ennis, on August 31, 2013.

Mr O’Sullivan represented himself having dismissed his legal team last week. Judge Moran told Mr O’Sullivan his case would be dealt with later in the day.

“Put on some clothes Mr O’Sullivan, you’ll feel more comfortable,” he said.

Mr O’Sullivan reappeared in court some hours later wearing a white striped hoodie; black t-shirt, jeans and runners.

Garda Cyril Paige of Ennis Garda Station said the victim, who walks with the aid of a walking stick, had stopped to rest near the Club Bridge. He said Mr O’Sullivan approached the man, distracted him and stole the items.

A passing motorist witnessed the theft. Gardaí were alerted and Mr O’Sullivan was arrested at the nearby Ennis Swimming Pool.

The court heard the accused has 121 previous convictions. Prosecuting counsel Stephen Coughlan told the court Mr O’Sullivan was on bail when he committed the offence.

Mr O’Sullivan told Judge Moran he had suffered the loss of a number of family members including the recent death in Limerick of his aunt.

Asked by Judge Moran why he had made such a racket earlier in the day, Mr O’Sullivan said he had received wedges and three chicken nuggets while other people in custody got snack boxes. He pleaded with Judge Moran not to impose a consecutive prison sentence. Noting that the accused will spend the next 18 months in prison serving another sentence, Judge Moran adjourned the case to September for a probation and psychiatric report.

A TEAM from Coláiste Muire secondary school in Ennis has been named the Young Social Innovators of the Year for 2014.

They scooped the top prize at the prestigious competition for their project – ‘Beware of IT’, which aims to educate young people about the increasing dangers associated with internet usage.

It was one of over 400 youth-led social innovation projects undertaken this year in over 200 second level schools and youth organisations throughout Ireland.

Sr Stanislaus Kennedy, Co-Founder, Young Social Innovators, and Anne O’Leary, CEO Vodafone Ireland, presented the winning team with their award at a special ceremony in Dublin following the 13th Young Social Innovators Annual Showcase, which was supported by the Vodafone Ireland Foundation.

The prize for the Coláiste Muire included € 1,500 to develop their project.

The Young Social Innovators Showcase and Awards were attended by over 4,500 young people. Congratulating the team from Coláiste Muire and all the participants in this year’s YSI Social Innovation Programme, Sr Stan said “Today we’ve witnessed thousands of young people who are completely engaged in society and prepared to play an active role in resolving some of our most pressing social issues. Social innovation champions youth led, experiential learning. It’s ‘hands on’ active citizenship. Civic engagement should always be a core part of youth development and education. It’s learning for life and work but fundamentally it is learning about how you connect to the people around you.”

Over 6,000 young people partici- pated in Young Social Innovators’ project-based Social Innovation Action programme this year undertaking projects aimed at finding and implementing solutions to the social issues that concern them.

THE Lisdoonvarna Spa Well has been reopened for the first time in nearly four years, with members of the public now free to enter the historic premises and take some of its famous mineral waters.

The well, officially re-opened last week, will be staffed by paid employees from Monday to Friday with members of the newly reconstituted board of Lisdoonvarna Fáilte volunteers to staff the premises at the weekends.

The famous mineral water already helps to attract around 10,000 German tourists to the Spa town each year and it is hoped that the reopening of the Spa Well could increase that number dramatically.

A fund was also launched last week to begin raising the estimated € 1.3 million needed to redevelop and reopen the famous sulfur baths, which once made Lisdoonvarna one of Europe’s premier spa destinations.

These changes follow a change in the management structure of Lisdoonvarna Fáilte in January with a large number of new people taking up positions on the board of management.

A public meeting will take place in Lisdoonvarna this Wednesday, when members of pubic are invited to hear updates on the recent progress of Lisdoonvarna Fáilte and comment on the future direction of the company.

“The Victorian pump-house is reopened so people can go in and take the water. People come from all over the world to take the water and now people can come in for free and take the waters,” said Paddy Dunne of Lisdoonvarna Fáilte.

“The wells themselves is a longer term project. We launched the Spa Wells Restoration Fund on Monday and that went great. We raised € 1,500 in a few hours. We have a long way to go. Hopefully if we can raise a good amount the Government might be able to come in with matching funding.

A public meeting will take place this Wednesday, May 14, at the Pavillion Theatre from 8pm.

“The meeting is about updating members of the community about the developments and to share ideas about how things might proceed in the future,” continued Paddy.

“We want to keep this process as open and transparent as possible and to involve as many people as possible. We are still looking for people with a background in tourism or finances to get involved with the board of management.”

THE number of people signing on the live register in Clare fell to it lowest level in more than five years last month, with just 8,739 people signing-on across the county.

Indeed, if the current year-on-year trend remains the same, the number of people signing on in Clare will return to its all time lowest level, as seen at the height of the Celtic Tiger in 2007, in just six years.

The figure for April, which have just been released by the Central Statistic Office (CSO), represent a market decrease both on the figures for March of this year and when compared to April of 2013.

The revival seems to be concentrated on Ennis, with the rate of decrease in the county town outstripping all other areas of the county.

The CSO figures represent a yearon-year decrease of 8.3 per cent, from 9,533 in April of 2013 to 8,739 last month. Should this trend continue, the number of people signing on the live register will drop to levels similar to those recorded at the height of Celtic Tiger by April of 2020.

The current number of people signing on the live register is the lowest monthly figure since January of 2009, when 8,484 people were singing on.

The regional breakdown of these figures indicted that Ennis has been driving the recovery in recent month. Between January of 2009 and last month, Ennis is the only area to record a drop, of just 0.2 per cent.

When these two months are compared on a regional basis, Ennistymon shows an increase of 57 people or 4.2 per cent; Kilrush show an increase of 100 people or 8.5 per cent; and Tulla shows an increase of 110 people, or 9.9 per cent.

While it is still unclear how must of this reduction has been driven by job growth and how much has been driven by emigration and Government back-to-work schemes, it is though that a resurgence in tourism industry in Clare is helping to drive employment.

Figures released by Shannon Airport yesterday reveal a year-on-year 140 per cent increase in passenger numbers flying to Shannon from continental Europe. These figures represent the airports largest year-on-year increase in more than a decade.

THREE people endured a terrifying ordeal when their car was set upon by an armed gang of teenagers in Ennis earlier this month.

Gardaí are investigating the incident, which occurred on Friday, May 2, in the Showgrounds Road area of Ennis.

Gardaí were called to the scene af- ter receiving a call of a violent disturbance at Showground’s Court on Drumbiggle Court.

The incident is thought to have occurred sometime between 11pm and midnight on the date in question.

It is believed a car parked in the area was set upon by a gang of around seven or eight teenagers.

Bottles of beer were taken from the boot of the car. The driver of the car is also believed to have been struck in the face with a bottle. The keys of the car along with a small sum of cash were also taken. The Clare People understands that one of the young males suspected of being involved in the attack was carrying a kitchen knife.

The three males who were in the car at the time were said to be “terrified” during the ordeal. One Garda source described the attack on the car and it’s occupants as “vicious”.

Gardaí have launched an investigation into the matter. At least one teenager has been arrested and questioned in relation to the incident. He was subsequently released without charge. It is thought that all those suspected of being involved are under the age of 18.

Investigations into the matter are continuing and a file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

Mary CARROLL (née Cronin)
, 72 Rossbracken, Shannon. Laid to rest in St Mary’s Church Grounds, Rathkeale. May she rest in peace.

Bernadette (Etta) JONES (née Mc
Namara)

A JUDGE has asked gardaí to investigate further if a comment on the social media site Facebook or an assault was the reason behind a violent altercation at a house in Ennis last year.

Three men used weapons in the row that occurred at 57 Cahercalla Estate, Kilrush Road, Ennis on March 16 last. Two of those men – Darren Long (28) and Blaine Kearse (25) – appeared before Ennis Circuit Criminal Court for sentencing on Friday.

In March, they pleaded guilty to offences arising from the incident at Cahercalla.

Both men pleaded guilty to a charge of assault causing harm to Jamie Greene (21), who is not charged with any offence.

Mr Kearse, with an address at Ard Aóibhinn, Lissane Road, Clarecastle, pleaded guilty to the production of a hurley during the course of a dispute contrary to the firearms and offensive weapons act. He also admits damaging the front door window of a house. Mr Long, with an address at Castleview, Tiermaclane, pleaded guilty to the production of a crutch and a tyre iron during the course of a dispute. He also admits criminal damage to a door window. Detective Garda Gary Stack of Ennis Garda Station told the court the pair went to Cahercalla to confront Mr Greene at his home.

The court heard the victim and his younger brother went into the porch when a green Suzuki Jeep, driven by Mr Long pulled up outside.

Det Stack said Mr Greene picked up a hurley as Mr Kearse approached him shouting, “Come out. You picked the wrong people to f*** with”.

Mr Kearse also had a hurley. Both men swung at each other with Mr Kearse breaking the porch door.

Mr Greene received a blow to his arm and suffered a fractured wrist.

Det Stack said that just prior to the altercation, Mr Kearse told Mr Long to go back to the jeep and get a doublebarreled shotgun.

Mr Long came back from the jeep carrying an implement, later shown to be a tyre iron, hidden from Mr Greene’s view. The altercation continued with Mr Greene picking up a hurley and chasing Mr Long and Mr Kearse back to the road. As Mr Kearse attempted to evade Mr Greene, Mr Long got into the jeep and made two attempts to run over Mr Greene, the court heard.

Mr Kearse and Mr Long were later arrested and interviewed by gardaí.

Det Stack said they both alleged Jamie Greene had produced a knife.

Det Stack said CCTV footage from the house tied with Mr Greene’s version of events on the day.

When asked by gardaí about his attempt to run over Mr Greene, Mr Long said, “He was lucky I didn’t run him over”. Det Stack said Mr Long later insinuated that gardaí gave him the wrong medication in an attempt to make him talk and accused gardaí of making up stories about him.

Mr Long told gardaí the visit to Mr Greene’s house was meant as a “scare tactic”. He admitted having the tyre iron. The court heard Mr Kearse told gardaí he should never have gone to the house in the first place.

Mr Kearse told gardaí he may have “clipped” Mr Greene with the hurley. The court heard both accused have no previous convictions.

In his victim impact report, Mr Greene said the attack had a big impact in his life. He said he had to give up his job as a welder because of his injuries. He said his younger brother was afraid to be at home alone for a month after the attack. Asked about the background to the incident, Det Stack said Mr Greene would say he was attacked after he was involved in a violent assault against a friend of both accused.

Det Stack said Mr Kearse and Mr Long would say the argument started over a comment made by Mr Greene on Facebook.

Judge Gerald Keys asked the gardaí to investigate the background to the incident further.

“It seems to me there is more behind this than what the gardaí have revealed to me today”.

He adjourned sentencing to May 7.

THREE of the county’s four town councils will hold their last ever monthly meeting today (Tuesday), with Kilrush bringing down the curtain on this soon to be extinct form of Government on Thursday.

The first authority to call time on its existence will be Ennis Town Council with its afternoon meeting today. Over 172 years of local government history will come to an end when the nine members of the council meet for the final time to discuss town business.

A number of items are up for discussion on the agenda including a planning report on a long awaited roundabout on the Tulla Road neat the Oakeligh Wood housing estate.

Councillors will discuss a right of way issue at the St Michael’s estate. Debate will also focus on a proposed one-way system in the Lifford Road area of town. A report on commercial rates is also due to be presented to councillors. Mayor of Ennis, Cllr Mary Coote Ryan (FG) will preside over the meeting. Later that evening both Shannon and Kilkee Town Council will also meet for the last time.

In Shannon the nine councillors will meet for the last time in the authorities 32-year history at 6.30pm.

While it is business as usual with the agenda, the councillors will also move to ensure the € 111,000 in the council budget is ringfensed for local projects. In Kilkee from 7pm the councillors will meet to hear an address from the mayor Paddy Collins and to view one last time on the finances of the council.

Meanwhile the last ever-monthly town council meeting in the county will be held in Kilrush on Thursday evening in the courthouse.

The nine councillors will show an element of defiance when they table just one joint motion calling “on the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government to establish a commission to bring forward recommendations on meaningful reform of local government at town council level that will eventually lead to the restoration of democratic structures at town council level in the near future.

The councillors previously voted to move the historic meeting from the Town Hall as the first ever Kilrush Town Council meeting was held in the courthouse.

For more than 170 years town councils have worked as the local authority of their town, but as of June 1 that responsibility will fall to Clare County Council and its 28 new councillors.

STUDENTS from St Michael’s Community College Kilmihil brought home gold in two categories in the prestigious eircom Junior Spider Awards.

First year student Jamie Mulqueen won the overall best design category for his site www.greenkilmihil.wix. com/green.

The site focuses of the School’s environmental policies, the work of the students and related projects as the school takes part in the Green Flag initiative.

Jamie has a keen interest and knowledge in both technology and environmental issues.

The judges praised the layout, design and content of the teenager’s site.

Teacher Ruth Morrissey praised the work of the young student.

“As a first year student Jamie was put into the Giga spiders category where he competed against students up to third year. Yet Jamie created a dynamic site full of resources and information,” she said.

The school’s club gaeilge website www.gaeilgegaga.com designed by Kieran Moroney and Micheál Clancy was also among the big winners at the awards winning the Suimoh is Fearr in the Tera Spiders category.

“The website is based on our club “Gaeilge Gaga” which has won many national and regional prizes. Kieran and Micheál are two transition year students in the school. They are both responsible for gaeilge gaga and both have a real passion for the language,” explained Ms Morrissey. “Micheál is responsible for the social media side of the site he regularly tweets and uploads pictures to Instagram. Kieran designed the site and is responsible for updating the site and writing about the various activities we undertake in our club gaeilge. The judges praised the passion and dedication of the students but more than anything else they said that the love for the language was evident from the site.”

A third group from the school also made it as far as the finals in the Dublin Google offices.

Aoife Lynch, Keeva Corry and Aoife Daly designed www.gaeilgelecheile.weebly.com “ – an Irish vocabulary site.

“Technology is the future we need to embrace it. We were thrilled with our victories. As mere novices we felt perhaps it wouldn’t be our year. We had three entries and won two of them. We were delighted to make the shortlist with all three entries. We competed with schools who have been doing web design for years and the standard was the highest ever. The students are a credit to their teachers, their school and their parents,” said Ms Morrisey.

ALCOHOL was a contributory factor in the death of a Polish man run over by a car in Ennis last year, an inquest has heard.

The body of 38-year-old Thomas Nowakowski, was found near a speed bump in Tobertascáin on May 15, 2013. The fast food worker had lived in Ireland with his wife for six years.

The inquest, before a jury, into his death was opened at Clare County Coroner’s Court in Ennis on Tuesday.

Coroner Isobel O’Dea said the inquest would hear from State Pathologist, Professor Marie Cassidy and would be adjourned to May 8 to hear from the remaining witnesses.

Ms O’Dea said the deceased’s family were happy for the inquest to proceed in this manner.

Prof Cassidy said she was requested to attend the scene of the incident on May 16, 2013.

She said she found Mr Nowakowski’s body lying across the road; face up with his head facing towards the centre of the road.

Prof Cassisdy said there was a large pool of blood around the decease’s head. His runners were on the road, the inquest heard.

Mr Nowakowski suffered severe injuries to his trunk, fractures to his pelvis, thighbone, ribs and collarbone. Prof Cassidy said there was also extensive damage to the skull. The most significant trauma occurred internally, she said.

Blood and urine analysis showed a considerably high level of alcohol was present in the deceased’s system.

Prof Cassidy said that Mr Nowakowski’s alcohol levels were 375mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood.

Prof Cassidy said the pattern of injuries were wholly consistent with crush trauma.

She said there was as strong smell of alcohol from the deceased. She said he was considerably intoxicated and “likely to be unsteady on his feet”.

She said she was also satisfied Mr Nowakowski suffered no injuries to suggest he was upright at the time of impact

She said the cause of death was crush injuries to chest and pelvis consistent with a crush under the weight of a car.

Acute alcohol intoxication was given as a contributory factor.

A WELL-KNOWN Ennis family business is the latest to fall victim to the recession, with Guerins Foodstore and Newsagent on the corner of Cornmarket Street closing its doors for the final time on Saturday last.

The constant grocer to the people of the area for more than 60 years, and the supplier of the breakfast roll, scone, sandwich and coffee to workers in recent years, this small corner shop was also a centre of news and chat.

The shop building also occupies a special place in the musical history of the town, as it provided the inspiration for ‘The Stone Outside Dan Murphy’s Door’ – a well-known Clare song written by Feakle man Johnny Paterson.

Owned by Clodagh and John Guerin, Guerin’s was the subject of a spate of break-ins in the last three months.

“This has a huge impact on the business too,” said Ms Guerin, adding that robberies during an already difficult time can be the final nail in the coffin for any business.

She said that they were sad to close the shop, but were left with no other option.

In the last number of years a number of businesses closed or “down sized” in the area, which had a huge impact on trade.

“Eircom is gone, the school has moved out and most of the [town] council staff are gone.

“Those companies that are left have less staff and it all has an impact,” added Ms Guerin, a familiar face behind the counter.

“People also don’t have the money any more. They are bringing their lunch to work, and who can blame them. I really noticed it in the last 18 months, and definitely since September. The property tax has had an awful impact too. People just don’t have money,” she said.

While there was no alternative but to close the doors, Ms Guerin admitted some tears were shed.

“I will miss the craic we had here with the customers, but at the end of the day you have to be realistic about things, when it is not paying you have to go. But I will miss it.”

Guerin’s other store in Ennis is to remain open.