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A KILRUSH man found guilty of illegally dumping household waste will have to pay out € 1,030, following a hearing at Kilrush District Court on Tuesday.

Clare County Council brought the case against Flan Burke, Apartment 2, Vandeleur Street, Kilrush who was found guilty of littering contrary to section 3(1) of Litter Pollution Act 1997 and Section 24 (1) of the Lit- ter Pollution Act 1997 as Amended Section 58. In evidence litter warden Conor Leyden said that the council received a complaint on July 2, 2013 stating that there was litter on the side of the road at Dunneill, Kilimer.

On investigating the complaint he found an ESB bill with Mr Burke’s name among the rubbish.

A fine was sent to Mr Burke by registered post.

He was also told he could appeal the fine in writing, the court was told, but this did not happen.

Reminder letters were again sent on July 29 and August 6, 2013 and finally a court summons was issued on December 31.

Mr Leyden described the road as a “quiet road with no residential houses, with mostly agricultural lands.”

Describing Mr Burke’s actions as “contemptible” Judge Patrick Durcan fined him € 750 and ordered him to pay costs of € 280.

He added that he was taking into account that the defendant in the case had no previous convictions.

A COUSIN of former Republic of Ireland soccer star Steve Finnan has pleaded guilty to drug dealing arising from the discovery of an amount of prescription drugs in Quin last year.

Father of two, Sean Finnan (22), appeared before Ennis District Court on Thursday charged with possession of a controlled drug for sale or supply at his former address at 21 The Park, Quin, on January 7, 2013.

Inspector Tom Kennedy told the court gardaí found 250 xanax tablets and dealing paraphernalia including a ‘tick list’ when they executed a search warrant on the property.

The court heard Mr Finnan has 57 previous convictions mainly for drugs, public order and burglary offences.

Defence solicitor Shiofra Hassett told Judge Patrick Durcan her client is currently in prison.

She said Mr Finnan received a suspended sentence at Limerick District Court earlier this month but asked for the sentence to be activated because he feared for his life outside prison.

The court heard Mr Finnan received 25 pellet wounds outside his home in Limerick city in December.

Ms Hassett said her client had been forced to leave his home and sleep rough because he could not secure alternative accommodation.

“He had serious concerns for the safety of his family and that is why he left home”, she explained.

The court heard Mr Finnan is currently being held in protective custody because of threats against his life.

Ms Hassett asked the court not to add to her client’s current term of imprisonment.

Judge Patrick Durcan noted the risk of Mr Finnan re-offending is high.

However, noting the danger to Mr Finnan’s life, his family circumstances and current sentence, Judge Durcan said he wanted to make an order that reflected the seriousness of the charge and offered the accused some hope.

He imposed sentences totaling six months but suspended them on condition Mr Finnan enter into a bond to be law abiding. Mr Finnan is due for release in August. A CA S E where it is alleged a serious public order disturbance took place at a busy shopping centre in Ennis last year may be heard in the Circuit Court, a court has heard. OnWednesday, Inspector TomKennedy said the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has not yet directed in the case. He said a book of evidence may be required for the matter. Insp Kennedy was referring to an alleged incident at Tesco’s Ennis on December 18, 2013. Four people are facing charges arising from the alleged incident. Anne Delaney (45), with an address at Waterpark Heights, Ennis, is charged with engaging in threatening, insulting or abusive behaviour with intent to provoke a breach of the peace. James Delaney (26), with an address Gordon Drive, Cloughleigh, Ennis is also charged with engaging in threatening, insulting or abusive behaviour with intent to provoke a breach of the peace. James Keenan (40), with an address at 30 Childer’s Road, Cloughleigh, Ennis and a teenager are both charged with public order offences arising fromthe alleged incident at Tesco’s, Francis Street, Ennis on December 18. The cases were adjourned to March 12 for DPP’s directions. A MA N charged with having drugs allegedly worth €13,000 for sale or supply in Doora has been sent forward for trial to the Circuit Criminal Court. Keith Loftus (21), with an address at Noughaval, Doora, appeared before Ennis District Court on Wednesday. He is charged with possession of cannabis for purposes of sale or supply at Noughaval, Doora on August 6. He is also charged with unlawful possession at the same address and date. He is further charged with possession of cannabis and amphetamine for sale or supply when the aggregate market value of the controlled drugs amounted to €13,000 or more. Garda Irene O’Flynn gave evidence of serving the book of evidence on the accused. Inspector TomKennedy said the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had consented to the accused being returned for trial to the next sittings of the Circuit Criminal Court, on bail as set. Legal aid was approved for solicitor Daragh Hassett, one junior counsel and one senior counsel. Judge Patrick Durcan delivered the alibi warning and made the order returning the accused for trial. A MA N has appeared in court charged in connection with an incident of alleged dangerous driving in Scariff almost two years ago. DeclanWard (20), with an address at Derrynameal, Feakle, is charged driving a vehicle in a dangerous manner, which created a substantial risk of death or serious harmat Market Square, Scariff on March 13, 2012. He is further with handling stolen property, 10 cans of cider and the use of the vehicle without the owner’s consent. The court heard Mr Ward made no response to any of the charges after caution. Legal aid was approved for solicitor Daragh Hassett. Mr Hassett said he would not be making an application for bail at this point. Mr Ward was remanded in custody to appear again at Ennis District Court on February 19.

MIKE O’Connell said he went mad when work dried up a few years ago. A Limerick man who now lives in Ennis, Mike previously spent 12 years in the Army before working with Pan-American airlines.

When that ended, Mike worked briefly as a taxi driver before that too dried up. “I used detest going up to sign on. It used to break my heart. I’d have avoided it if I could have,” he recalls.

Salvation came in the form of an invitation to attend the Adult Education Centre where Mike enrolled in a two-year community care course.

He hasn’t looked back. “I’ve always dealt with people in my other jobs so I decided to go for community care and I’m glad I did because it opened my eyes to a lot of things that are changing,” he says.

“The ambition for everyone here is to get a job but even if you don’t, you learn so much.”

Like her classmate, mother of four Margaret O’Riordan had been out of education for 40 years before enrolling in adult education.

“I always had this feeling that I lost out a bit on education because I got married so young,” explains Margaret. “I felt I always would like to go back to education. I always had that in my head.”

Margaret, who previously worked in Spec Savers and Dunnes Stores and volunteered with local community groups, admits she found the prospect of returning to the classroom a daunting one.

“I was worried, really worried that I wouldn’t be able to keep up. I’d been 40 years out of education and I though, God, how am I going to learn all this? But step by step, we did it,” she says.

Both Margaret and Mike say their experiences of adult education have been hugely positive. “They have a saying here, education but not as you know it,” says Mike.

“It gives you confidence and builds up your self-esteem,” agrees Margaret.

For anyone unsure or anxious about returning to education, Margaret has a simple message – just go for it.

Mike says, “Do your day. Treat it like a job. After the first two weeks which are helter skelter, it will calm down. Give it the two weeks and then you get into a routine. I could never go back to sitting at home wondering what am I going to do all day.

“I’m sure there are people at home out of work who are mad to do something with their lives. This is the place to start it,” he adds.

SHANNON-based mining company Mincon could be set to double in size over the next two or three years – with the prospect of more jobs coming on stream in looking increasingly possibly. That is according to Mincon’s “house brokers” Davy Stockbrokers, who in a letter to potential investors last week described the Clare company as ‘outperform’ and said it was primed for expansion.

“It has grown rapidly in recent years, while generating returns of over 20 per cent,” the Davy note said. “[The company is] a pure play on the structurally less volatile global consumable rock-drilling products industry.”

Earlier this year, the company’s two biggest shareholders gave employees € 1.2 million from their own private funds to reward them for their hard work over the years.

Company founder Paddy Purcell and Kevin Barry initiated the employee recognition plan, which excluded all members of senior management.

The money was paid to Mincon’s 140 eligible employees across the group and was based on years of service with a payment of € 1,000 per staff member per year of service.

The Shannon-based rock drilling engineering company was founded in 1977 and listed on the Dublin and London stock exchanges late last year. Many of the company’s Shannon-based employees have been there for a number of decades.

“It is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the Mincon Group employees that it has grown from its origins in Shannon into the interna- tional business it is today, with operations in Europe, Africa, the Americas and Australasia and with its securities quoted on the ESM and AIM,” said Paddy Purcell at the time that the payment was announced.

“As the largest shareholders in the company, Kevin and I wished to take this opportunity to show, in a tangible and meaningful way, our appreciation to the staff for their contribution in bringing Mincon to where it is today and positioning it for the next phase of its development organically and through acquisitions.”

FURTHER evidence that Shannon Airport is on the right flight-path to recovery was released over the weekend with the news that the airport recorded a promising increase in the number of flight movements coming through Shannon in January.

This increase is more impressive when the effects of the recent storms are considered. Shannon Airport itself has been forced to close on a number of occasions in recent weeks and a number of flights destined to arrive at Shannon Airport were also cancelled because of difficulties at other airports.

Shannon Airport recorded an average total of 38 daily movements in January of 2014 compared to the same month in 2013. This amounts to a year-on-year increase of more than 3.2 per cent.

Ireland’s en-route traffic, which means the total flights that pass through Irish airspace but do not land, decreased by 9.2 per cent in January. This decrease has been blamed mostly on the poor weather and, if a similar sized decrease was felt at Shannon Airport, it means that real flights must have shown a sizable increase to off set the effects of the poor weather.

This is in stark contrast to the number of daily movements recorded for January of 2013, which were the lowest recorded at Shannon Airport for more then a decade. These drop, which coincides with the air- port’s first month of independence from the Dublin Airport Authority, represents a 10.7 per cent year-onyear drop on the flight number from January of 2012.

“Continued strong performance in our terminal business is very encouraging. Recent announcements by a number of airlines suggests growth will continue for the remainder of the year,” said Peter Kearney, Director of Air Traffic Operations and Strategy at the Irish Aviation Authority.

SHANNON Airport has stepped up to the mark as a key economic driver for the mid-west region, according to Transport Minister, Leo Varadkar, who has told The Clare People that Donald Trump’s acquisition of Doonbeg Golf Club was made possible by having an international airport on its doorstep.

Speaking in Shannon Minister Varadkar lauded the “the renewed energy and vibrancy” as a new growth phase was announced for airport services that will see a new programme of hangar development come on stream in the next year.

“It is fair to say that recent high profile investments in this region like the Regeneron announcement for Limerick and Donald Trump’s acquisition of and planned investment in Doonbeg would not be happening were it not for Shannon Airport’s presence,” said Minister Varadkar.

His comments came as a new deal was signed for an eight-year lease by Air Contractors, a member of the ASL Aviation group, with the Shannon Group for the remaining hangar space at the airport.

This will be used by Air Contrac- tors for line maintenance on its fleet of Boeing and ATR aircraft, including its Boeing 757 aircrafts which will be flown by Aer Lingus on the new daily Shannon-Boston service launched last week and its six times weekly JFK New York service that commences in March.

The airport currently has 50,700sq meters of space in nine hangars, all of which will be fully occupied following the signing of contracts with Air Contractors.

To meet a current request for near term additional hangar space, the board of the Shannon Group recently agreed to seek planning permission and to tender for the procurement and associated works of a fabric hangar of 4,300sq metres capable of accommodating wide-bodied aircraft.

It is anticipated the new hangar – intended to be the first of a number of new hangars developed at Shannon – will be built and open for business by the end of the year.

“I welcome the board’s progress in relation to hangar capacity and its plans to develop an additional hangar this year,” said Minister Varadkar.

“This is in keeping with the wider plans for growth at Shannon, includ- ing the development of an International Aviation Services Centre here to complement the existing cluster of 40 aviation related businesses operating in Shannon.

“The development of maintenance facilities is one opportunity identified under this plan and this is a very positive first step in that space,” he added.

According to Shannon Group chairperson, Rose Hynes, the airport is “making strong early progress in relation to the wider Shannon project. Our success in achieving full occupancy of our hangar capacity is evidence of this”.

A JUDGE has asked the gardaí to investigate the circumstances in which a second teenager from Ennis was married by a man claiming to be a ‘Bishop’.

At Ennis Children’s Court on Wednesday, Judge Patrick Durcan said, “It is disgraceful that this young man is being duped by someone who parades around pretending to be a Bishop”.

He was speaking after being told by a 17 year old boy he had recently been married by Bishop Michael Cox.

The youth – who cannot be named for legal reasons and was before the court on a trespass charge – confirmed to Judge Durcan that he paid € 100 to Mr Cox for the marriage and that he met him only once before the wedding.

He told the judge that he and his wife are expecting their first child in August. The legal age for marriage in Ireland is 18.

Judge Durcan said he wanted the issue to be brought to the attention of the State.

Addressing the teenager, Judge Durcan said, “This man is not a Bishop and he is not entitled to marry you.”

He told the boy this could have seri- ous implications for the status of his marriage, the status of his wife and the status of his child his wife is expecting.

Judge Durcan noted this was the second time in recent months he had been informed of a marriage performed by Bishop Cox for an Ennis teenager.

Last November he ordered gardaí to investigate the circumstances of a wedding of another 17 year-old performed by Bishop Cox.

At the time, Judge Durcan was strongly critical of Bishop Cox. He said the fact that the couple had paid money for the service was “appalling” and “brings things to the lowest depths.”

“I want to say loudly and clearly that anyone who masquerades as a clergy man and who takes money from young people and imbues in them a mistaken belief that he has married them, is in my view committing the most serious offence”, added Judge Durcan.

On Wednesday, Inspector Tom Kennedy told the court the case is under investigation.

Judge Durcan said he also wanted the Probation Services to investigate how young people are being “duped” into paying for sham marriage ceremonies.

Probation Officer, Eoin Ryan said the case has been discussed by the service.

Bishop Cox previously attracted controversy when he ordained Sinead O’Connor a priest in 1999 in Lourdes — he is not a bishop of the Roman Catholic Church and is instead a bishop of the Latin Tridentine Church.

WORK has begun on the regional road through Kilbaha, but the good news stops there for the Loop Head residents.

Last week residents protested when Clare County Council insisted that the regional road through the village of Kilbaha must remain closed as it was seriously compromised by the high tides and winds on St Brigid’s Day, February 1.

This weekend the West Clare area branch of Clare County Council has begun work on “interim remedial works” on 120 metres of the sea wall in the village.

Senior area engineer Cyril Feeney said that this work will allow the council to reopen the road, which is its priority. The work is expected to be completed in just over a week.

Meanwhile for residents in Ross Bay life remains difficult, as it is unlikely that money will be available to repair the local road in the near future.

Children going to St Cuan’s National School, Kilbaha, are being driven up to 50 kilometres daily to get them to school and home. For families like the Magners who live just three kilometres from the school, they must take a round trip of more than 16 kilometres just to make class, as the Ross road is impassable since the Christmas high tides and storms.

For Pat Magner the added time taken to get his children to school is among the least of his worries, as 20 per cent of his farm land has been flooded three times in a month.

This prime grazing land will not be useable until late autumn and will take a huge financial investment to put right. The dairy farmer may even be forced to sell some of his herd affecting his livelihood further.

Mr Magner is not alone in his plight as farmers from all over the peninsula are facing another tough year, having already come through a fodder crisis just last spring.

“No one has given us any assistance or help,” said Mr Magner.

Meanwhile in Kilkee Clare County Council has engaged a specialistconsulting engineer to assess the seawall and Strand Line.

When work can begin on the wall however is subject to if and when financial assistance becomes available from Central Government.

The Strand Line from Jimmy’s Hill to Minster’s Place remains closed to traffic but pedestrian access is being maintained via the town side of the street. Council engineers are monitoring the structural stability of the road and seawall on a continual basis.

IN THE 24 hours after news broke that Doonbeg golf club and hotel was to become Trump International Golf Links Ireland, traffic to the Doonbeg website multiplied five times.

Eric Trump said the Trump name brought with it new recognition from people who may not even have heard of the west of Ireland, never mind Doonbeg, and testimony to the interest in the newly-acquired resort and golf course was evident from the online searches.

According to Doonbeg Managing Director Joe Russell the week had been full of bombshells.

“The initial atmosphere was one of surprise that somebody of Donald Trump’s stature, and international recognition decided to take on Doonbeg,” he said

The property and business was just four weeks in receivership when the deal was done.

“When it came on the market I found out it created a certain ripple around the market of ‘my goodness Doonbeg is up for sale, let’s go for it’,” explained Mr Russell.

Donald Trump Jnr, Executive Vice President of the Trump Organisation, had toured the golf courses of Ireland two years ago, and Doonbeg had left a lasting impression.

“It’s the location. It’s the quality of the property. It’s what we have done since we opened, in terms of awards, recognition, hospitality. We have our own selves and our own success to thank to get someone like Donald Trump here,” said Mr Russell.

“On a larger scale it is a huge vote of confidence for Ireland, West Clare, Clare. We got Donald Trump!”

“They are a big company, they have the resources, they have the engine in terms of marketing, there is a structure there as it relates to how one does things.

“It will probably move us out of our current comfort zone in terms of how we do things, but that is to be expected when you join an organisa- tion, when you change an organisation. If you went into a new job you would have to modify your practises and your approach as to how you do things. But they didn’t come here for no reason. They came here to take what’s here and take it to the next level in terms of the amenity development, and they are bringing a lot to the party too in terms of expertise,” said the managing director.

He is not surprised however that Doonbeg is an attractive location.

“It is a very special destination and at least now we have a very good chance. The day you stand still in this business you are dead in the water,” he added, happy that there is potential to develop the tourism business further.

“Everywhere this organisation goes it appears to have an affect. There is an immediate impact. There is an operational impact. For me they expand our facilities again, I don’t have definitive on what they are talking about doing but there will be things put in to grow the business.”

When the golf course opened more than a decade ago, it brought with it the job equivalent of a major international company to a city.

“Something of this magnitude moving into a rural location in Ireland at the time was significant, it was major press, similarly you have a situation where you have Trump Organisation now coming into Doonbeg,” said Mr Russell.

But how will Trump tally with the area.

“How will it fit? Certainly the local community will see itself as responsible for a business being here at all. Many of them have worked with the club from a community perspective,” said Mr Russell adding that community involvement must be retained and built upon.

“It is not the castle on the hill. It is part of the community. If you ever move away from that ethos and you ever become anything other than that I think you are in trouble. 40 per cent of our market is North America, what most of those people want to do is go to the village, they want to drive around and if there is any hostility towards the club that will seek it out.”

“This is a destination now. You look around – Loop Head right up to Kilkee, to Doonbeg right up to the Cliffs of Moher, this is a destination.”

SHANNON Airport’s return of profit and passenger growth in a little over a year since it was granted its independence from the Dublin Airport Authority has been hailed as “very impressive” by the Minister for Transport, Leo Varadakar.

On what as his first visit to the airport since it became an independent entity on December 31, 2012, Minister Varadkar told The Clare People that the upsurge in the fortunes of Clare’s international airport has “certainly validated the Government decision” to let Shannon chart its own future.

“To be brutally honest as minister, I didn’t think the airport would manage a profit in year one, I thought it would take three years for that to happen. That is one of the areas where we are ahead of schedule,” said Minister Varadkar.

“It has been a very impressive first year for Shannon Airport and the performance has certainly validated the Government’s decision to give the airport its independence. The financial position of the airport is very strong and last year was about stabilisation and making a reality of a merger and this year is about growth,” he added.

In its first year full year of independence Shannon reversed five years of successive passenger decline by recording a marginal increase in numbers on 2012 to just over 1.4m passengers.

Chief executive of the Shannon Group, Neil Pakey said the airport is projecting double digit percentage passenger growth this year based mainly on increased Ryanair services and increases services on transatlantic routes.

“During the last six months, we have been successful in securing new capacity and have to make sure the marketing is right and we are hopefully looking at double digit-plus growth,” he said.

“The airport has paid its own way since separation,” confirmed Shannon Group chairperson, Rose Hynes. “We are able to present him [Minister Varadkar] with a really positive report card on the airport’s first year as an independent entity. We have very strong momentum at Shannon, and the passenger growth, in particular, has been hugely satisfying.

Commenting on the return to profit, Minister Varadkar said it means that “the airport is a stronger position to invest and do things. If you are making losses, you are eating into your reserves”.

“Our priority in 2013 was to stabilise the position at the airport, stem the five-year decline in passenger numbers and increase connectivity,” continued Ms Hynes. “We are in passenger growth mode now and this will continue in 2014 and we will continue to make progress in the creation of an international aviation services centre in Shannon,” she added.