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AS THE waters begin to recede along the Clare coast, the focus now turns inland with council engineers monitoring extremely high water levels on a number of the county’s rivers, including the Fergus.

Clare County Council yesterday warned people in Ennis and along the lower Shannon area to be extremely vigilant and take all necessary precautions, with heavy rain likely to swell rivers further in the coming days.

According to rainfall figures recorded at Shannon Airport, the county has already received almost a quarter (194.6mm) of the total rain that fell on the 12 months of 2013. A further 3 inches of rain, or 76mm, is expected to fall in the county over the next seven days.

Senior engineer Tom Tiernan said yesterday that newly constructed flood defenses in Ennis have worked well to date, but warned that the expected rainfall is likely to test these defenses to their limits.

People living in sections of Ennis where flood defenses have not yet been complete have been asked to be particularly vigilant in the com- ing days.

“The pressure on coastal areas is starting to lessen – we’re not out of the woods yet but the tides are starting to drop back. There has been a lot of rainfall and more on the way so there is a real possibility of local flooding in certain areas,” said Mr Tiernan yesterday.

“The Fergus is our main focus at the moment. The new defenses that were built have worked, and that is very significant. But all of the flood relief works have not yet been completed and we would ask that people in flood prone areas would remain vigilant.”

Council engineers are continuously monitoring river levels in the Fergus and in a number of at-risk rivers across the county.

Contingency arrangements are in place to increase pumping capacity in certain areas and a number of emergency flood alleviation measures are also in place.

CLARE parents are being urged to know who their children are friendly with online in order to reduce the potential for cyber bullying.

Leading forensic psychologist Dr Maureen Griffin says Facebook pages and other social media accounts can often be used by bullies to access information about young people.

“The huge difficulty with this is that it happens outside of schools. It happens in the evening at home, on phones, online and then it seeps back into school,” she said.

Dr Griffin was speaking in St Flannan’s College in Ennis on Wednesday night at an event organised by the parents association.

In a wide ranging lecture on social media and cyber-bullying, Dr Griffin, the founder for Internet Safety for Schools Ireland, said the most common form of bullying she has come across “are girls who will not bully individually but together in a group they bully”.

“The huge difficulty with this is that it happens outside of schools. It happens in the evening at home, on phones, online and then it seeps back into school.”

Dr Griffin, who lectures in the areas of mental health and crime, sexual offenders, online internet solicitation, says anonymous bullying can have an enormous impact on the victim.

She said, “They feel suspicious of everybody and because of that they become isolated not only online but also in the real world.”

Dr Griffin urged parents to know who their children are friends with online.

She highlighted the risks associ- ated with befriending anonymous Facebook accounts.

She recalled visiting an all girls school in Ireland where over 400 students had befriended an account set up in the name of a local road.

“The account was set up by a guy who lived in a different county, had previously served time in prison for sexual offences against adults. He did not contact them (students), did not send them nasty messages, he did not follow them in real life. He simply started collecting their pictures, pictures from teenage discos, pictures from girl’s sleepovers, pictures that were printed out and posted and edited onto other websites,” she said.

St Flannan’s teacher Pat Lynch echoed concerns expressed by Dr Griffin, urging parents to carefully monitor their children’s use of technology and the internet.

Mr Lynch told the meeting he had encountered instances of bullying in every of the 30 years he has spent teaching.

Mr Lynch, who teaches computer class to first year students, said the rise in cyber bullying is a “reason to be concerned”.

“Cyber bullying nearly always crosses over to physical bullying,” he added.

Mr Lynch warned of the dangers of allowing children unrestricted access to the internet in their own bedrooms. He said prolonged exposure to technology can affect student’s concentration, attitude and studies.

FORMER mayor of Kilrush Ian Lynch has pitted himself against his Kilrush Town Council Fine Gael colleague Cllr Marian McMahon Jones, as he declared himself an Independent candidate this week.

The former Fine Gael man, who failed to make it through the party’s convention, said he felt compelled to run by his strong desire to serve the community.

Cllr Lynch was first elected as a public representative in 2009 when he was voted onto Kilrush Town Council.

Even then he considered running for the county council but as advised to build his profile and experience in the town council first.

“Looking back this may have been a mistake because since the local elections in 2009 Kilrush Town and the greater hinterland have been without representation at Clare County Council level, and there is no doubt that this has been to the detriment of our town. The voice of the people of Kilrush and surrounds is not been heard, this is evident in decisions where things like road signs placed by the NRA direct people away from our town, in a time when footfall is badly needed,” he said.

Kilrush Town Council will be dissolved at end of this council term, and Cllr Lynch has no option but to put his name forward to contest the Clare County Council Municipal Area of Kilrush if he is to remain a public representative.

The young councillor believes change is needed in the Clare County Council Chamber.

“Change is badly needed, people are sick of seeing the same old same old. It’s time for new blood, new spirit, fight and new passion, some one that is not restricted by what they can say or flight for, someone that has courage to stand up and be heard and has the capacity to get things done, this is what people want, this is what they deserve,” he said.

“Yes, it has been said to me to wait, my time will come, but this is not about Ian Lynch or my career in politics, this is about standing up for what I believe in.”

QUEEN Elizabeth II’s only son-inlaw visited the county last week unbeknownst even to the Clare people he met.

The lesser known of the British Royal Family, Vice-Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence was part of the RNLI Coastal Review Group that visited the Irish Coast Guard Helicopter Head Quarters in Shannon, the RNLI station in Lough Derg and the Kilrush RNLI Life Boat.

The husband of Princess Ann identified himself as Tim Laurence and ingratiated himself by his laid back attitude and his interest in all things nautical.

Pauline Dunleavy from the Kilrush RNLI said the crew found him to be a “really lovely gentleman” and it was only days after he left and with the help of google they worked out his royal connections.

The former British Navy Lieutenant Commander was particularly impressed with the condition of the three-year-old Kilrush lifeboat and the work of mechanic Martin Brew.

Kilrush RNLI were so delighted at getting the green light from the coastal review team to continue work along the West Clare coast, they did not notice the royal visitor.

Tim, the second husband of the queen’s only daughter, was born the son of a London salesman and joined the British Royal Navy as a young man.

He was quickly promoted through the ranks eventually reaching the rank of Lieutenant Commander. In 1986, he was appointed as Equerry to Queen Elizabeth, a post he would occupy for three years.

Equerries to the Queen are most commonly high-ranking military officers who attend to her during public appearances and royal events.

It was during this time he met his future wife, Princess Anne.

THREE men found guilty of attacking a car while a religious ceremony was underway at Drumcliff graveyard will learn next week if they are go to prison.

Michael Doherty (52), Patrick Doherty (34) and James Galbraith (45) were convicted in December (2013) of criminal damage.

They were ordered by Judge William Early to pay € 7000 compensation to the victim.

Judge Early said if the money was paid, he would recommend a six month suspended sentence for each accused.

Finalisation of the case was adjourned to January 22, 2014 when the court heard that compensation had not yet been paid to the victim.

In December Ennis District Court heard mother of two Kathleen Maughan was visiting her husband’s grave when her Ford Focus car was damaged in a violent incident at Drumcliff cemetery.

Ms Maughan told the court she saw three men armed with slash hooks and hatchets alight from vehicles and attack her car on March 24, 2013.

Ms Maughan, who is from Ennis but now lives in Cork, was one of a group of 20 people attending a blessing of the graves ceremony.

Ms Maughan said, “I’m terrified to come to Ennis.

“I’m terrified to bring my children to see their father’s grave”, she added.

The court heard there was a feud between Traveller families in Clare at the time.

Ms Maughan said she had nothing to do with the dispute, which involved members of her family.

“I wasn’t fighting with them at all. I was terrified”, she explained.

The court heard € 7000 worth of damage was caused to Ms Maughan’s car.

Michael Doherty and Patrick Doherty, both with addresses at St Michael’s Park, Ballymaley, Ennis and James Galbraith, formerly of Lissaniska, Ennis and now living in Bettystown, Meath, all denied the charge of criminal damage.

But after hearing the evidence, Judge William Early said, “I believe the evidence of Ms Maughan.

“I believe she is telling the truth, therefore it must follow that I find them guilty as charged.”

Judge Early said it seemed to be the case that Ms Maughan was a “victim of one of these wretched family feuds that are all too common in the traveler community”.

There was a heated conclusion to the case.

A flurry of insults were fired at Ms Maughan from people sitting in the gallery.

A 41-year-old woman, who was later ordered to pay a contribution to charity after pleading guilty to a public order charge, told Ms Maughan she would “bite her nose off”.

Mr Galbraith told Judge Early he would not pay the victim.

“You can send me to jail, Judge. I won’t give her 10 cents. You can put me in jail now,” he said.

The case came before Judge Patrick Durcan on January 22.

He asked if compensation was available.

Solicitor for Patrick and Michael Doherty, Daragh Hassett, said it was not.

The case was further adjourned to January 28 to fix a date for Judge Early to finalise matters.

On Tuesday, the case was adjourned to February 11 when Judge Early will pass sentence.

All three accused were remanded on continuing bail.

A KILKEE man was fined € 1,000 for hitting a garda with the wing mirror of his car when he drove off “ at speed”.

Eoin O’Shea, Miltown Road, Kilkee pledged guilty to assaulting Garda Adrian Cosgrove on June 6, 2011 Contrary to Section 2 of the Non Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997 at Kilrush District Court.

The court heard that the garda was out of work for two weeks due to resulting pain to his hip and leg.

Mr O’Shea was also accused of unlawfully impeding Gda Greg Gander in the course of his duty, when he wanted to search his car under Section 23 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977/84.

The court was told that the 28-yearold defendant was parked outside a hotel at Circular Road, Dough, Kilkee just after midnight when Garda Cosgrove asked him for his licence.

The window of the car would only go down a few inches and there was also a dog in the car “and anxieties rose” explained Joe Chambers, solicitor for the defence.

“He handed out the driving licence and NCT showing it had failed,” he added.

The gardaí then asked Mr O’Shea to get out of the car.

Mr Chambers said his client was embarrassed and he panicked.

He asked gardaí to meet him further up the road where they could search his car, but this may have got lost in the moment, according to the solicitor.

Fining the defendant € 1,000, Judge Patrick Durcan said, “ I dislike cases that come before the court that show disregard for the state.”

TWO KILRUSH pubic houses have been ordered to close and the publicans to pay fines for selling spirits on which no duty was paid.

Describing Michael Johnson of Johnson’s Bar, Henry Street, Kilrush as “the worst kind of publican” District Court Judge Patrick Durcan fined him € 4,000 and ordered him to close the pub for seven days from February 4.

“I do not accept he bought these bottles over the counter from someone he did not know and if he did he showed a level of irresponsibility,” he said at the hearing in Klirush on Tuesday.

Mr Johnson had pleaded guilty of having 14 litres of vodka on which appropriate rate of alcohol products tax had not been paid_ Contrary to Section 79 (2) &(7) of Finance Act 2003 as substituted by section 62 of the Finance Act 2005.

In evidence to the court Customs and Excise officer Chris Mulqueen outlined that he called to Johnson’s Bar, on June 20, 2013 and located the bottles of vodka for which no duty had been paid.

He took samples from a bottle of this vodka, tests confirmed that it was under strength and inconsistent with “Smirnoff vodka”. The sample recorded a 33.1 per cent volume as opposed to a 37 per cent volume.

The court heard that Michael Johnson had been running the bar and could not confirm where he got the vodka. He was asked for documents to confirm purchase but did not produce these documents.

Solicitor for the defence Patrick Moylan said his client had paid € 144 for 12 bottles of vodka.

He told the court that if Mr Johnson could identify the seller he would, and that it was not unusual for people to turn up and the pub to sell alcohol.

He said Mr Johnson told him the pub is due to close at the end of February.

Mr Moylan said his client was a good publican and had never been in court before.

Judge Durcan said, “Mr Johnson bought drink from someone he doesn’t know, the quality he knew nothing about and he shelled that out to his customers.”

“In my view, he is the worst kind of publican you can find and not someone who in my view should be authorised to hold a publican’s licence.

“Any publican not knowing the source of alcohol and then dishes it out to their customers – don’t tell the court that he has been a good publican,” he added.

The district court judge said he sympathized with the licensing trade as it was “under extreme pressure.”

He said it was important that customers had faith in their publican however, and it was important that other law-abiding publicans were not put at a disadvantage.

In a separate, but in the words of Michael Linnane, prosecuting for the revenue commissioners, “similar case” the judge fined David Bond of Sheananigans Public House, Frances Street, Kilrush € 2, 500.

He ordered that the public house be closed for two days.

Mr Bond pleaded guilty to not paying the appropriate duty on 10 Litres of spirits.

Customs officer John Grehan gave evidence of finding what he described as “counterfeit vodka” in Shenanigan’s Bar on May 31, 2013.

He said Mr Bond “made frank admissions. He told us where he got it and co-operated fully. He has no previous convictions.”

Solicitor for Mr Bond, said his client was “shocked when he discovered the alcohol was not genuine”.

Mr Linnane informed the court that the maximum fine in cases like these was a fine of € 5,000, which could be mitigated to no less than € 2,500. There is also a mandatory closure order in respect of this, which had to be a minimum of two days, but no more than seven days.

MEMBERS of the Doolin Unit of the Irish Coast Guard took part in a marathon seven hour-long recovery operation at the Aill na Searrach cliff, close to the Cliffs of Moher last week.

The recovery saw six members of the Doolin unit abseil and climb down a sheer 80 degree incline on the cliff face before recovering the casualty and hiking almost a kilometre along the cliff front.

The whole operation was completed in very rough weather conditions with the coast guard members com- pleting the last three hours of the recovery in near pitch darkness.

“We were called to attend at Aill na Searrach near O’Brien’s Tower where a person had fallen from the cliffs down to the shore. Six climbers abseiled down the cliff, and carried him down the shore line for about 700 metres,” said Matty Shannon of the Doolin Unit.

“The coast guard helicopter was there at the scene but the casualty was positioned too close to the cliff for them to attempt an airlift. It was one of the more challenging operations that we have undertaken in recent times,” said Matty Shannon of the Doolin Unit of the Irish Coast Guard.

“It wasn’t a sheer drop but they climbed down a drop of about 80 degrees to the foot of the cliff. Between the height of the climb and the wind is a very difficult operation. The ropes get tangled by the wind as we are lowering or hauling so it is very difficult for the climbers as they have the weight of the ropes as they abseil keeping pressure on them.

“The operation was undertaken in blustery condition with heavy showers and strong North Westerly winds.”

No details of the casualty have yet been released.

MYSTERY surrounds how a gun came to be stored in the safe of a West Clare bank.

The colt revolver was discovered in the safe by the former manager of the Bank of Ireland branch in Miltown Malbay, it emerged last week.

The man, who is now retired, handed over the firearm to gardaí after making the surprise discovery.

Technical examinations were sub- sequently carried by experts at the Garda Ballistics Section.

It is thought the gun may have been stored in the Miltown safe for up to 15 years.

It is understood there was no record of how the firearm came to be in the bank safe.

The identity of the colt revolver’s original owner is thought to be unknown.

The presence of the gun was disclosed at Ennis District Court on Wednesday, where it was the subject of a Police Property Application.

Gardaí were seeking a court order to have the firearm destroyed.

Inspector Tom Kennedy told the court the application concerned the discovery of a gun in a bank safe.

He said the gun had been found after many years.

Insp Kennedy said the State were seeking possession of the gun in order to have it destroyed.

Judge Patrick Durcan made the order releasing the firearm to the State for destruction.

CLARE property prices have been hit harder than prices in any other county in Munster with the average asking price for a house in the county now 58.6 per cent below what they were at the height of the Celtic Tiger in 2007.

The prospect of a short-term recovery in the Clare property market also looks remote, as the rate at which the asking prices for Clare properties is also the highest in Munster.

According to new figures obtained from property sales website, Daft. ie, the average year-on-year asking price for a Clare stood at € 128,175, an 11 per cent on 2012 and a drop of almost 60 per cent when compared to the 2006 prices.

One-bedroom apartments in Clare was the worst performing category of any property type in the entire country last year with the average asking dropping to € 45,000, an 18.6 per cent drop on the 2012 average.

Indeed, each section of the property market in Clare recorded a significant drop in average asking prices in 2013. The average price of a two-bedroom terraced in the county now stands at € 57,000 – a 16.1 per cent drop on the previous years prices.

The were similar decreases recorded for three-bedroom semi- detached houses which recorded an 11.1 per cent decrease is asking prices in 2013 and now have an average asking price of € 86,000.

The average price of a detached, five-bedroom house was € 189,000 last year, representing a drop of 15.7 per cent since peak.

The best performing category of house in the county were four-bedroom bungalows, with an average price of € 175,000 representing a drop of just 8.7 per cent last year.