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AN ENNIS based dentist has said his safety and that of his family’s has been “diminished” since a man threatened to kill him almost two years ago.

The doctor outlined his concerns in a victim impact statement read out by Garda Michelle Holian at Ennis Circuit Criminal Court last week.

Earlier this month, Eoin Hannan (41) was found guilty by a jury of making the threat against the dentist at his practice in Merchant’s Square, Ennis on May 11, 2012.

Mr Hannan, with addresses at Kilrush Road, Ennis and Shear Street, Kilmallock, Ennis was also found guilty of two counts of engaging in threatening, abusive and or insulting behaviour with intent to provoke a breach of the peace.

The jury acquitted the accused of making a threat to burn down the dentist’s practice. Mr Hannan had denied all charges, which arose from visits he made to the surgery on May 10 and May 11, 2012.

Mr Hannan denied making the threats to the dentist. He said, “I told him ‘I am a bullet’ and I left as fast a bullet.” He also said: “I told him to take his drills and get off my island.” Mr Hannan appeared before Ennis Circuit Criminal Court on Tuesday fort sentencing. In the victim impact statement, the dentist said his general well-being and safety has been diminished and compromised since the threat.

He said he has increased security meaures as his dental practice. He said he no longer feels comfortable walking the streets of Ennis on his own because “the threat on my life still stands.” He thanked his family, friends and gardaí for the support he has received.

Defence Counsel Michael Collins told the court his client still “vigorously protests his innocence”.

The court heard Mr Hannan, who suffers from a form of bi-polar disorder, has previous convictions for robbery, public order offences and possession of knives and other articles.

“I am not a criminal. I do not regard myself as insane in any way”, he added. Judge Gerald Keys adjourned finalisation of sentencing to April 24. Mr Hannan was remanded in custody.

THE Minister for Health James Reilly has said that there will be a new Maternity Hospital on the grounds of the University Hospital Limerick, Dooradoyle, in four years.

The Minister for Health said the relocation is earmarked for completion in 2018.

The first public meeting of the new mid-west hospitals group board, outlined that one of its key objective was to secure capital for a new maternity unit on the Dooradoyle campus.

There was no confirmation as to the timing of the project forthcoming at the meeting last month.

The minister has given a four-year projection for the hospital and Clare TD Joe Carey (FG) believes that is a realistic and feasible timeline.

“The Minister for Health has confirmed the co-location plan is underway and that the hope is for it to be completed by 2018,” he said.

“It has been accepted and recognised by the HSE and Government that the University Maternity Hospital in Limerick, needs to move to a modern purpose-built unit on the grounds of the University Hospital, Limerick.

“Co-location of maternity hospitals with adult acute services is the optimal solution for the provision of hospital-based maternity services, as it can provide access to the full range of medical and surgical specialties and clinical support services in sufficient volume and complexity to provide added value,” he said.

“I am pleased that work is on-going to develop a brief for the co-location of both facilities and would hope this will progress swiftly and efficiently.”

CLARE County Council will contribute € 5,000 towards a feasibility study for the development of Doonbeg Pier.

Doonbeg Community Development and the Doonbeg Fisherman’s Association have spend years working on plans to develop the community-owned pier and have come up against issues relating to changes in planning legislation.

Previously the group had been told these planning changes and the inability of the council to pay for a € 40,000 EPA meant their plans of developing tourism and the fishing industry could go no further.

This week there was renewed hope as the council said it would contribute to a feasibility project to see if the project is viable.

Tommy Commerford, PRO of the Doonbeg Fisherman’s Association, said the group is hopeful that the report will be favourable and that Clare County Council will make an application to Europe for the necessary funding to make the pier accessible at high and low tide.

The Doonbeg Pier was constructed in 1995, and was later extended by 35 metres. Hundred thousand euro plans were then drawn up that would ex- tend the capacity of the pier to allow boats to moor at high and low tide.

The Minister for Agriculture provided € 525,000 to the project in 2008 but this cannot be allocated until full planning permission is granted.

The developed pier would create extra jobs by stimulating the promotion of sea angling, leisure trips to view the cliff scenery off Doonbeg and help promote Doonbeg as an angling centre, said Mr Commerford.

He said it would also provide access to the proposed wave energy farm at Killard.

Clare Labour TD Michael McNamara said, “Doonbeg has a small pier which is inadequate and because it is tidal; people can only access the pier at certain tides. The community is doing everything to develop tourism. Doonbeg is on the coast, so sea angling would be a normal extension of its tourism product.

“There is money available from the department to develop piers but only when the project has passed the stages of planning and Environmental Impact statements.

“The decision by Clare County Council to grant aid a feasibility study is evidence of good faith and illustrates a willingness to work with the Doonbeg community in achieving the desired upgrade.”

A BUS company that aims to make Ennis one of the country’s tourism capitals says it intends to double its workforce in the town over the next 12 months. Dublin Coach commenced its daily Dublin to Ennis service in December 2013.

The company employs in excess of 100 people nationwide, with 27 of those jobs in Ennis.

Owner John O’Sullivan says the rolling out of new tourism products will see the company hiring more staff in 2014. “As of today we have 27 based in Ennis and we see that as growing significantly over the next 12 months. The tourism products haven’t kicked in yet and we expect that to double,” he explained. Mr O’Sullivan told The Clare People

THE main road to the Loop Head Peninsula, which was closed for almost six weeks following severe storms, reopened on Friday afternoon.

Clare County Council completed extensive works to rebuild and repair over 100 metres of the regional road and coastal wall along Kilbaha Bay.

The reopening of the road was welcomed by the Mayor of Clare, Councillor Joe Arkins, who said, “The temporary reconstruction works were necessary to re-establish connectivity in Kilbaha and the wider Loop Head Peninsula, and are a timely boost for the upcoming tourist season. Recent weeks have already seen the launch of the Wild Atlantic Way with a number of Discovery points along that route situated in the greater Loop Head area.”

Works undertaken by council staff include the positioning of over 3,000 tonnes of rock armour along the sea- front, 1,200 square meters of surfacing works, and the pouring of over 200 cubic metres of concrete.

Siobhan Garvey, Marketing and Development Officer for West Clare said, “There is no doubt that visitors planning a trip to Loop Head Lighthouse and the Bridges of Ross on the Loop Head Peninsula will appreciate the improved coastal protection works, car parking facilities and increased safety infrastructure that has now been put in place at these locations.”

“The improvement works completed today add to a number of tourism infrastructural projects that were completed at both these locations along with the West End in Kilkee late in 2013. The speed at which these works were completed and the continued investments made in the Loop Head area reflects the Council’s commitment to tourism and to continually building the tourism product in the rural parts of County Clare,” she added.

A VOLUNTARY housing association has submitted plans to the HSE and the Department of Health showing it can give round the clock care to older people in a community setting, for one fifth of the cost of long-stay nursing home care.

The innovative proposal put forward by the Kilmaley Voluntary Housing Association outlines how for € 250,000 per annum from the Government, the voluntary organisation could provide 24-hour care and security to older people in its 24 housing units.

This would also move the service in Kilmaley from independent living to assisted living as the current residents get older and require more help.

The housing complex, which was set up in 2000, will open 12 more units next month bringing the number of homes in the community up to 24.

The latest plan sent to the HSE, Department of Health and the Fair Deal Review Committee proposes to increase support for residents of Kilmaley Voluntary Housing Com plex so that they can remain in their homes as long as possible.

Kilmaley Voluntary Housing Association director Tom McNamara said that the complex would then be able to provide around the clock security; assistance and care to the residents as long as they can are mobile.

The business plan shows this can be achieved if each residence pays € 75 in rent every week, which will cover all electricity, heating and other costs, and the HSE pays the required staff. The extra staffing cost would come to € 250, 579, along with the € 150,000 costs already covered for the day-care centre.

The business plan claims that a similar service at Cahercalla Nursing Home would cost € 1.2 million, € 1.3 million at St Joseph’s Hospital, and € 1.1 million in Páirc Na Coille Nursing Home.

The benefits would not just be monetary, said Mr McNamara who is also a member of Clare County Council, but would allow older people to have their own home while also having security and assistance as required.

“All we are looking for is the staff costs. We have the infrastructure and we have the expertise to run it on a voluntary capacity,” he said. “We want people to grow old in as normal a way as possible and to be secure and safe as they do,” he added.

BALLYVAUGHAN grandmother Ellen Moore is preparing to share the story of her mistreatment at the hands of the state with the United Nations Committee Against Torture.

Mrs Moore was given a symphysiotomy without her knowledge or consent while giving birth to her first son in September of 1965. She has been living with near constant pain for the past 50 year since the procedure, which she describes as like “being butchered”.

She will be in Dublin today to officially launch a complaints on behalf of Survivors of Symphysiotomy (SoS) to United Nations Committee Against Torture (UNCAT) and United Nations Human Rights Committee. The SoS group, who represent more than 95 per cent of the women who were given symphysiotomy in Irish hospitals, say that they are going to the United Nations as the Government continue to ignore their de- mands.

“We are getting absolutely nowhere with the Government so I we don’t really have any choice but to take this step,” said Ellen yesterday.

“We are meeting tomorrow morning to vote on whether to go to the UN, but I believe that that vote is a foregone conclusion at this stage. The details are not 100 per cent clear but someone from the group will go to Geneva later this week. I signed a legal letter last week to say that I am happy that the details of my case go forward to the United Nations and I would be more than happy to Geneva and tell them my story.”

Elizabeth “Ellen” Moore says that she has wanted to die on a number of occasions over the years following her symphysiotomy, which has left her in near constant pain and completely incontinent. This procedure, which involved breaking a woman’s pelvic bone during labour, was carried out on an estimated 1,500 Irish women in the 1960 and ‘70s but fewer than 200 of these women are still alive.

THE € 200,000 repair works to the main road to Loop Head are to be completed later this week.

The main Kilbaha road has been closed since February 1, when high tides and a storm eroded two parts of the regional road previously made vulnerable by December and January storms.

Local businessman and farmer Bernie Keating said that the local people are delighted with the temporary works, but there was a lot of frustration locally getting to this point.

“The ESB brought in crews from England and Northern Ireland when we had a storm three weeks ago, and within a week everything was back up and running. There are shortterm contractors and tradesmen in every parish in the county crying out for work. Why weren’t they brought in to help out the council workers? Considering the scale of the damage in the county it would have been impossible for the county council workers to handle it,” he said.

“It is ten weeks this weekend since the first storm and the road has been closed for seven of those ten weeks by the council for health and safety reasons,” he added.

“One other concern, after storm Darwin only one county was declared a national disaster and that was Kilkenny. Isn’t it amazing that the minister is from Kilkenny?”

Local senior engineer Cyril Feeney said that the road should be open by the end of the week.

While a small amount of water came in and beach shingle was forced up on to the road with the tide last Monday, no significant damage was done.

The council has already begun € 200,000 worth or interim repair work on the road which included the installation of rock armour along the coastline, and are now completing a small retainer concrete wall between the rock armour and the road.

The engineer said that it will take months before a more permanent work can begin as the council have to go through tender, procurement and planning process.

“Some might say the € 200,000 interim work is a waste of money given that we have to do a million permanent job, but what is that against the local economy, agriculture and tourism,” said Mr Feeney.

THE M18 will remain closed northbound between Barefield (Junction 14) and Crusheen (Junction 15) until Friday to allow the National Roads Association (NRA) to carry out a safety assessment following a spate of recent accidents.

The northbound carriageway of the motorway between Barefield (Junction 14) and Crusheen (Junction 15) closed yesterday morning and will remain closed until Friday, March 14, to allow for “drainage assessment and improvement works” to take place.

This closure follows months of pressure from Clare County Council, Clare Gardaí and the local media, following a spate of accidents on the road over the Christmas period. The NRA had previously rejected calls for a safety audit to be conducted and speed restrictions to be introduced, but had a change of heart last week, confirming that a safety “engineering assessment” would take place in the coming months.

The move was welcomed yesterday by Cllr Pat Hayes (FF).

“I’m happy that the NRA are finally seeing some sense about this and I hope that the assessment will lead to the problem on the road being rectified,” he said.

The closure will commence at 9am on Monday and run until approximately 2pm on Friday. Traffic will be diverted from the existing M18 Northbound onto the R458 (the old N18) at Junction 14 Barefield and then returning to M18 Northbound at Junction 15.

“During the period June to September 2013, the NRA assumed responsibility for maintenance on the M18. Since this time, routine maintenance works have been undertaken including road sweeping and cleaning of gullies, slot drains and outfalls in addition to other general maintenance activities which assist with rapid drainage of water from the road sur- face,” said an NRA spokesperson.

“In addition, the NRA monitors and assesses the network under its direct control with a view to carrying out any maintenance or remedial works which might be required to improve road drainage and maintain the design capacity of the drainage system. However, the possibility of the occurrence of surface water due to extreme weather events cannot be fully eliminated.”

CLARE County Council has begun an independent investigation into why asbestos material was illegally deposited at nine locations in West Clare and not disposed of properly.

A council spokesperson said there is “no evidence to suggest there are anymore sites”.

The Environmental Protection Agency and the Health and Safety Authority has been informed that the council now plans to remove the hazardous waste from the locations in Kil rush and Kilkee.

“All of the asbestos material investigated to date consists of broken pieces of Asbestos Cement Water main. It is considered that all of this material originated on Clare County Council water services mains replacement and mains repai r works. The material appears to have been deposited over an undetermined number of years up to June 2013,” the spokesperson confirmed.

Asbestos waste material disposal is governed by legal requirements and the requi rements of the HSA and the EPA.

“A specialist asbestos consultant has been engaged by the council to advise the authority on the removal of the materials,” he added.

The removal of the material is to be undertaken in three phases.

Phase one, which is done in accordance with the advice of a specialist asbestos removal consultant involves the removal of pieces of broken asbestos pipe on the surface at all sites.

“This work will commence shortly and will take approximately three to four weeks,” said the spokesperson.

Phase two involves the appointment of a specialist asbestos consultant to develop and car ry out soil testing on the sites to establish the extent of asbestos material which is buried at the sites.

“Phase three will involve the removal of any asbestos material at any of the sites which is buried. The timeline for phase two and three is not known in detail as yet because it is subject to estimating the amount of material in each site,” he explained. The costs associated with car rying out these works are not yet known.