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AN ENNIS man who was caught drink driving while he was banned from the road has been disqualified from driving for six years.

Eddie Kirby (57) of Glenoir, St Senan’s Road, pleaded guilty to two counts of drink driving.

Ennis District Court heard last Thursday that Kirby was banned from driving in a Galway court on January 23, 2007. He was disquali- fied during one of the offences be- fore last week’s court.

Defending solicitor William Cahir told the court that his client under- stood that the Galway case was un- der appeal at the time.

“He accepts now the case wasn’t under appeal, but his belief (at the time) was the cases were under ap- peal,” said the solicitor.

He said he accepted that people who drove while disqualified had prison sentences imposed on occa- sions, but said the circumstances in this case were “unique”’.

‘He is somebody of a delicate men- tal disposition. He has made consid- erable strides and improvements,’ he Sr nLGe

“Mr Kirby’s traditional habit has always been that he would go to town and have two pints and return home. He had consumed alcohol earlier in the day,” he said.

Judge Joseph Mangan said, “That story about him not being aware about being disqualified is a cock- and-bull story.”

He imposed a three-month jail term and banned him from driving for Six years.

He fixed a bond in the event of an appeal.

said the bench warrant had been is- sued almost five years ago, when his A JUDGE has asked why it has taken client was living in Dublin. the State almost five years to execute “It relates to damage to an apart-

a bench warrant for an Ennis man ac- cused of an offence in Dublin.

The query was made by Judge Joseph Mangan, in the case of Liam Griffin (25), of Lisadell, © Cusack Road, Ennis. He was charged with criminal damage in Dublin a number of years ago.

Garda Stephen Dunne told Ennis District Court on Friday that he ar-

ment in which he was the main ten- ant. He fixed it and he thought _ that was the end of it,’ he said.

Judge Joseph Mangan asked why it has taken so long to execute the bench warrant and Inspector John Galvin said he did not know.

He remanded the accused on. bail, on his own bond of €1, to appear again in court in

rested Griffin that morning, on foot Dublin later this week. of a bench warrant issued at Dublin District Court on January 19, 2004.

Defending solicitor John Casey

DR Noel Cawley was last week ap- pointed as the new Chairman of Teagasc by the Minister for Agricul- ture, Fisheries and Food, Brendan Smith TD. Cawley will take over the reins of the Teagasc from Dr Tom O’Dwyer, who has completed two five year terms as chairman.

Cawley was Chief Executive of the Irish Dairy Board until 2006. He also served as Chairman of the Irish Horse Board, and more recently chaired the Government-established Seafood Strategy Review and Imple-

mentation Group.

A native of Sligo, he also served as chairman of the Farmers’ Charter Monitoring Group set up by the De- partment of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and is a Director of One 51 PLC.

“Dr O’Dwyer leaves Teagasc hav- ing set out a clear structure and mis- sion for the organisation for the years ahead most recently with the initia- tion of the Teagasc Research Vision programme and with the launch of the Teagasc Foresight report which identifies the research, innovation and support priorities for the next

quarter century for Ireland’s agri- food sector,” said Minister Smith.

In addition to the appointment of a new chairman, Minister Smith has appointed two other new members to the Teagasc Authority. Padraig Gibbons from Bullaun, Mayneen in County Mayo has been appointed and will be the ICOS nominee on the Teagasc board and Frank O’ Mahony from Ballyorban, Monkstown in County Cork has also been appoint- ed for a five year term to the Teagasc aUULeNOuIAYs

The appointments were welcomed by Clare TD, Tony Killeen. “Dr

Cawley’s wealth of experience will ensure that the excellent work car- ried out by Dr. O’ Dwyer in develop- ing the organisation will be main- tained,’ he said.

“I have every confidence that Dr Cawley will help to drive the devel- Opment of one our most important sectors during the challenging times ahead.’

The Junior Agriculture Munister paid tribute to the outgoing Chair- man saying that he leaves Teagasc having set out a clear structure and mission for the organisation for the years ahead.

IT MAY not be the all out lifting of restrictions that farms had sought, but the farming organisations have given a measured welcome to the an- nouncement last week that the age limit for BSE testing was being risen once again.

The decision was welcomed by the ICSA, who had earlier last week branded the 30 month threshold for BSE testing a “scandalous rip-off”.

Following the announcement by Minister for Agriculture, Brendan Smith, that the EU Commission had agreed to raise the minimum age for

BSE testing from 30 months to 48 months, ICSA president Malcolm Thompson pointed out that BSE test- ing was still costing Irish farmers €20 million per annum.

“T welcome the news that the EU Commissioner for Public Health, Androulla Vassiliou has recognised the sense of what ICSA has been say- ing for some time,” he said.

“Over 8 million tests were car- ried out in Europe last year, some $25,000 of which were carried out in Ireland, and the incredibly low number of cases found show that this was a complete and utter waste of farmers’ money. So far in 2008, we

have just 12 cases of BSE, and these cases are easily dealt without having recourse to the compulsory testing of over 800,000 animals.

“Older cows will continue to be checked, and it is our belief that this will become unnecessary over the next few years.”

The decision was welcomed by IFA National Livestock Commit- tee Chairman, Michael Doran, who said that it would remove prime cat- tle from the testing requirement and abolish the unnecessary ۩20 per head costs. The decision was also welcomed by Clare TD and Minister of State at the Department of Agri-

culture, Tony Killeen, who said that an increase of the minimum age for testing to 48 months would deliver significant savings to farmers.

“The current testing requirements are unjustified when one considers the significant progress made in re- ducing the incidence of the disease in Ireland, from a high of 333 cases in 2003 to 25 last year and 12 to date in 2008,” he said.

“Tam confident, based on the reduc- tion in the disease in Ireland and the extensive controls in place, that Ire- land’s application will be approved and that the new testing regime may even be in place from early 2009.”

THE recent re-emergence of blue- tongue in the UK poses a serious threat to the livestock and sheep in- dustry in this country according to Macra na Feirme.

Chairman of Macra’s Agricultural Affairs committee, Eddie O’ Donnell, also last week called on all imports of animals for breeding or slaughter from the UK to be suspended on a voluntary basis.

“The Department of Agriculture must also be particular vigilant in terms of implementing the necessary

bio security measures to preserve our Bluetongue free status including extra bio security measures for cargo at ports,” he said.

“Protecting our all-Ireland blue- tongue free status is critical, we must take a very stringent approach when it comes to implementing control measures in relation to Bluetongue, otherwise Irish herds would be prone to sickness, infertility, distress and even animal deaths in some cases from the Bluetongue disease as well as the massive economic loss and implications for Irelands export sta- nthe

O’Donnell said results of a recent survey carried out by Macra indi- cated that young farmers believe there’s a lot to be done in reassuring the Agri sector that the government is doing enough to keep Bluetongue out of Ireland.

“In the unfortunate event of an outbreak, vaccination would be re- quired,” continued O’Donnell. “A farmer administered vaccination scheme would be the most effective means of quickly and effectively protecting Ireland’s sheep and live- stock from the disease.

‘“Farmer’s professionally adminis-

ter vaccines to their animals routinely to prevent illness and Mr. O’ Donnell believes that farmers must be given the choice to administer the vaccine themselves or through their veteri- nary surgeon.

“Many EU countries have a vet- erinary administered vaccination scheme; however, their Governments are co-funding the administration of the vaccine.

“In the absence of Irish Govern- ment funding, farmers who are the professionals in animal husbandry must be in a position to administer the vaccine.”

EXCITEMENT is reaching fever point as thousands of Clare farm- ers make their way to the National Ploughing Championships which open in Kilkenny today. Millions of euro 1s expected to be spent in Kil- kenny over the next few days as the largest farming event in Ireland this years takes place.

An estimated 200,000 people are expected to converge the champion- ships which will this year play host to 19 All Ireland ploughing finals over the course of the three days.

Besides the competitions on the field, the championships will also

feature hundreds of stalls drawn from every corner of country life.

Indeed, Specsavers in Ennis will join forces with the Road Safety Au- thority for the Specsavers Focus on Driving Campaign which will take place at the championships.

Last year, Specsavers screened more than 1000 people’s vision at the National Ploughing Champion- ships, in one of Ireland’s largest-ever eyecare studies and they hope to do even better this year.

‘‘As autumn looms and the evenings become darker, it is more important than ever to ensure that your eye- sight isn’t putting you or other road users 1n jeopardy,’ said the director

of Specsavers in Ennis, Mayleen van der Merwe.

“By joining forces with the RSA, we aim to educate drivers on the im- portance of eyesight.”

Meanwhile, Macra na Feirme has announced a packed programme of activity for this year event. Apart from showcasing all the best the or- ganisation has to offer, with details of upcoming Macra projects, events and travel opportunities for mem- bers, Macra will host a number of key activities which will undoubt- edly prove popular with the crowds attending this year.

These include competitions with the Gleneagle Hotel, programmes

to promote farm safety and an inter- county and company bucking bronco eee

The FBD young farmer of the year will also be on site along with Kil- kenny Macra members who will be present on the stand to recruit new members to local Macra clubs in the area.

Galway Macra will be on hand to provide details of the upcoming Na- tional Conference (Rally) in Salthill in October.

Macra na Feirme’s national presi- dent, Catherine Buckley, will also be on site over the three days to meet and speak with visitors to the Macra display area.

AN ENNIS worker who, it was claimed, tried to under cut the com- pany which employed him has been awarded a total of €4,600 for unfair dismissal by the Employment Ap- peals Tribunal.

Thomas Moroney, of 75 Inis Ealga, Shannon took a case against I-Homes Limited, Quin Road, Business Park, Ennis after they fired him, claiming he was dong nixers for their custom- ers, undercutting them to get the business in the process

Moroney denied the claims and

said that he had never been given a chance to properly defend himself against the allegations before being dismissed on October 9 2007.

The tribunal heard evidence from the company, which carries out in- Stallation of home automation, that they had trained Moroney.

The company became aware that Moroney was carrying out private work in what they said was direct competition.

He was given two verbal warnings and in October 2007 as a result of a tracking system which was installed on all company vehicles, Moroney’s

jeep was tracked to a number of lo- cations which placed him in areas where he should not have been dur- ing the course of his work. He was dismissed for gross misconduct on October 9, 2007.

Moroney said in evidence that he had never been made aware of the seriousness of the accusations and had variously been told he should not have the company vehicle in sight if he was doing work outside his com- pany business and that is was not ac- ceptable to use the jeep while work- ing on Sundays.

He denied ever working in competi-

tion with his employers and said that he was not informed of his right to have representation at the final meet- ing at which he was dismissed.

The tribunal found that Moroney had not been made aware of the grav- ity of the accusations and given a fair chance to explain himself and that a witness who claimed he had heard him underprice jobs had never raised this with the company until two days before the hearing.

The tribunal made an award of €3,000 for unfair dismissal and €1,600, two weeks wages under minimum notice regulations.

SHARON Shannon is only one of the many musicians who credit retired Toonagh schoolteacher Frank Custy for inspiring her passion for music.

“It’s thanks to Frank Custy that we got a great love of music. We used to be just mad for music” she comments in the first of a six part TG4 series featuring some of Ireland’s finest tra- Cia CeyereUmeNlUKT(ervIhe

The September 28 ‘Sé mo Laoch programme celebrates Frank Custy’s many musical achievements, and his invaluable contribution to the future of Clare’s traditional music.

Featuring contributions from musi- cians Sharon Shannon, Ian O Cathain, Siobhan Peoples, members of the Di- seart Ceili Band, as well as Frank’s son, Tola Custy and his daughter,

Mary Custy, the programme looks at the huge influence banjo player and teacher Frank has had on genera- tions of young Clare musicians and how, through his work as a teacher, he generated and passed on a love of music to hundreds of young players.

Fiddle player Siobhan Peoples re- calls: “He taught us how to be con- fident individuals, to be able to go places, and take our music or singing or sport with us and to have no fear of being good at something.”

Next week’s programme features Dubliner Mick O’Connor. Other mu- sicians featured in the new series of ‘Se mo Laoch include Connemara box-player Johnny Connolly, Brian ETCMe OS LUCT IC UUW meme ceeemmauaentcrsate Cork singer Sean O Sé, and Tommy Peoples, who spent much of his life in Clare before moving to Donegal.

HARVEST traditions from over 100 years ago will be brought to life by farm workers at Bunratty Folk Park which hosts a 19th century Harvest Day next Sunday afternoon, Septem- er aPzLe

According to Shannon Heritage chief executive John Ruddle, the event will recreate a cameo from the past and give visitors, especially younger visitors, a chance to enjoy Tere KO aA

In olden days, harvest time cre- ated a sense of urgency, especially before the arrival of the harvesting machinery. At other times of the year, everyone had their own work, the men in the fields, the women in the house and the children at school. Only at harvest time were they all to- gether engaged in the same work.

Visitors to the Folk Park on Sunday next will be given a flavour of rural Irish life over 100 years ago. Vin- tage threshing machines will be used to demonstrate the art of threshing. The Bean a Ti’s will demonstrate bread baking and butter making. The village school master will be greet-

ing children who will hand over the customary sod of turf for the tiny school room fire. Visitors will also be able to experience live horse shoe demonstrations at the forge and a sheaf throwing competition.

Younger visitors to the Folk Park will be encouraged to leave their par- ents in school while they enjoy the atmosphere created by the musicians and strawboys who will be perform- ing around the Folk Park during the afternoon.

All are welcome to enjoy tradition- al storytelling by the resident Sean- achai, and the village policeman in his 19th century uniform will be on site to create an ‘arresting experi- ence’ if the harvest celebrations get out of hand.

A special family ticket will be available for © 34.25 covering ad- mission for two adults and up to four children. Adult admission 1s €15 and the rate for children is €9. Admis- sion for senior citizens is ©9 and the student rate is £10.

The Citizens Information Service will host an information seminar on wills, inheritance and tax at the Temple Gate Hotel Ennis on Monday September 29 at 8pm.

The event which is open to every- one and free of charge will explain the steps to drawing up a will and will also discuss the legal situation where a person dies intestate. There will be a detailed consideration of the tax implications on gifts and in- heritances and the various reliefs and exemptions that are available.

The information evening will also address the rights of spouses and children to the estate of a deceased person and the issue of legal compe- tence in making a will.

Research undertaken by Amarach Research for the Irish Banking Fed- eration (IBF) indicates that only 45% of all adults have made a will; and among those who have not, only 21% intend to do so in the next 12 months. and only one in five intend to make a will in the next 12 months

Paul Woulfe Manager of the Citi- zens Information Service believes that for Irish consumers property- based wealth has made the issue of drawing up wills more urgent than ever because legacies can be conten- tious and having a will simplifies matters for those you leave behind. The costs should not be excessive and can be invaluable when offset by the benefit of exercising personal

planned choice and control in your affairs while also likely reducing tax liabilities.”

‘Everyone who has both property and loved ones should have a will. The reality of the human condition cannot be denied. Do you want your property ultimately to be distributed in accordance with your wishes or a forty-year-old statute? Arrange to see a solicitor today. Make a will. It won’t kill you!” added Paul Wolfe

Catriona O Connor BCL LLM Dip Property Tax with Kerin, Hickman & O Donnell Solicitors will discus the legal formalities to be satisfied when drafting a valid will. She will also consider the limitations on a person’s freedom to dispose of their property as they wish in a will and what happens to a person’s property where they die without having made a will. Also discussed will be the various steps involved in adminis- tering an estate and explain what the role of an executor 1s 1n this process. She will explain the tax implications for beneficiaries of inheriting prop- erty and detail the various reliefs and exemptions that could be availed of in order to minimise any potential tax liability.

For further information on your rights and entitlements you can contact your local Citizens Infor- mation Centre who offer a free and confidential service by phone and to personal callers at any of their of- fices throughout the county Tel : 065 6841221