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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.

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.

JAILED peace activist Margaretta D’Arcy may serve the remainder of her sentence in Mountjoy, a court has heard.

The 79-year-old writer was arrested and brought to Limerick women’s prison earlier this month after failing to sign a court bond forbidding her from entering areas of Shannon Airport unauthorised to the public.

Ms D’Arcy, of St Bridget’s Place, Woodquay, Galway and her co-accused Niall Farrell (60), of Ballynacloghy, Maree, Galway, were convicted last month of interfering with the proper use of Shannon Airport by going onto the main jet runway with- out permission.

The pair held a peaceful protest on the main jet runway of Shannon Airport on October 7, 2012.

They denied the charge but were convicted and each given a three month prison sentence. The term was suspended on condition both enter a bond to be of good behaviour and refrain from entering areas of Shannon Airport that are unauthorized to the public.

Ms D’Arcy’s refusal to sign the bond led to the activation of the sentence. Ms D’Arcy and Mr Farrell were before Ennis District Court again on Wednesday.

They are accused of interfering with the proper use of Shannon Airport by going on the runway without permission on September 1, 2013.

The alleged offence is contrary to the Air Navigation and Transport Act.

Both accused deny the charge. Their cases were before the court to fix a date for hearing.

Inspector Tom Kennedy sought to have amendments inserted in the charge sheets for both accused. In response to questions from Judge Patrick Durcan, Insp Kennedy said he had not served notice of his application to the accused.

Ms D’Arcy is representing herself. Mr Farrell told the court he had asked Insp Kennedy to send all disclosure to his solicitors in Belfast.

Insp Kennedy said he was aware Mr Farrell had instructed solicitors in the matter but had not received any correspondence from them. He said papers would be sent to Mr Farrell’s legal representatives.

Judge Durcan directed the State supply all discovery to the accused. He also ordered the State to serve notice of the application to amend the charge sheet to Ms D’Arcy He adjourned both cases to February 13 when preliminary matters will be dealt with.

Ms D’Arcy urged Judge Durcan to strike out the charge. “It would save a lot of time if you threw this case out”, she said.

Mr Farrell later told the court there is a “likelihood” his “fellow peace dissident” would be transferred to the women’s unit in Mountjoy prison.

ENNIS District Court was disrupted for periods last week after a man suspected of recording court proceedings was taken into custody.

The disturbances occurred as jailed peace activist Margaretta D’Arcy (79) appeared in court charged with interfering with the proper use of Shannon Airport by going on the runway without permission in September 2013.

The veteran anti-war campaigner and playwright was arrested and brought to Limerick women’s prison earlier this month after failing to sign a court bond forbidding her from entering areas of Shannon Airport unauthorised to the public.

Dozens of supporters were present in Ennis Courthouse for her brief appearance on Wednesday.

At the conclusion of Ms D’Arcy’s hearing, four supporters were escorted from the courtroom. Some had attempted to hold up posters.

Mayo woman, Maura Harrington, a member of the Shell to Sea protest group, shouted, “Free Shannon Airport from the US military.” Gardaí immediately removed Ms Harrington from court.

Minutes later, Judge Patrick Durcan said it had been brought to his atten- tion that an individual had attempted to record proceedings in court. He asked gardaí to take appropriate steps to deal with the matter.

Sgt Paul Slattery, of Ennis Garda Station, later gave evidence that he had been told a man attempted to record court proceedings with his phone. Sgt Slattery said that when approached, the man told gardaí he was checking emails.

He said the man would not give his full name to gardaí. Judge Durcan directed the gardaí to ascertain man’s identity. He was later identified as Naoise Ó Mongáin, Maura Harrington’s husband.

Judge Durcan later ordered that Ms Harrington and Mr Ó Mongáin to be taken down to the cells. He said those responsible for the disturbances had shown “total disrespect to other citizens”. “It’s becoming impossible here”, added Judge Durcan.

Later, when a number of people were not present in court when their cases were called, Judge Durcan said, “There has been so much disturbance in court today that a number of people have left the courtroom out of fear.”

Inspector Tom Kennedy said, “I’ve never been in a court where there was so much disruption in one day.”

After 3.30pm, Judge Durcan ordered that the couple be brought up separately to court.

Judge Durcan told Mr Ó Mongáin that he did disrupt proceedings earlier, but that he was free to go.

Judge Durcan said gardaí could investigate if Mr O’Mongain’s phone was used to record the court. However he asked that this be carried out as quickly as possible as Mr Ó Mongáin was entitled to have his phone.

He then told Ms Harrington her time in custody “fairly balances out what occurred earlier”. He told Ms Harrington he appreciated she was coming to the aid of her husband in court.

Judge Durcan said: “I regard the matter as terminated.”

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.”

HUNDREDS of farmers in the Burren could be in line for a € 20 million boost if the Department of Agriculture decide to fully fund the rollout of the Burren Farming for Conservation Project (BFCP).

The programme, which is funded until the end of 2014, was mentioned in the draft publication of the Rural Development Programme (RDP), which had just been published. According to the report, a total of € 5 million will be allocated each year to fund the BFCP and other such programmes between 2015 and 2020.

The Carron-based programme currently supports essential environmental developments on more than 100 farms in the Burren. The group and the Burren IFA have been campaigning for the full rollout of the scheme to the entire Burren National Park, a move that would cost an estimated € 5 million.

The BFCP is a pioneering project in the world of environmentallyfriendly farming, and it is not clear which organisation could compete with it for a share of the € 5 million.

“This is a draft document and nothing has been finalised yet. There is a tentative budget of € 5 million per annum in the report but we don’t have a clear idea where we stand at the moment. We are still in limbo to a certain extent,” said Brendan Dunford of the BRCP.

“All we can do is keep working with the Burren IFA and the National Parks and Wildlife Service to convince people of the merits of the scheme. There is a still a few months to go before the budget for the Rural Development Programme in finalised and all we can do is keep on the pressure until that time.”

The BFCP has been in operation in Clare since 2009, and grew out of the BurrenLife Project, which was Ireland’s first ever programme for conservation farming.

BARBARA Cusack knew nothing about the flood in her home until she stepped on to the floor at 6am on the morning of the flood.

“I was woken by the rescue people who knocked on the door around 6am to see if we were okay. That was the first I saw of it,” she said.

Immediately she feared for her daughter who was just days from giving birth.

“I told her she would have to move out of the house somewhere when I saw all the damage in the area. How would she get to a hospital?” she said.

Since then Charlotte has given birth to a healthy boy Shane Joseph, but now Barbara fears the house is not safe to bring her first grandchild home.

The oil is still not working, she explained, making looking after her husband who is ill all the more difficult.

It is also making it more difficult to dry out the house and get life back to normal.

For three days after the storm, Barbara, like her neighbours, had to contend with no sewerage system, as the water got into the system and the nearby pumping station.

Barbara explained getting on with every day life is difficult as people try to dry out their houses, replace every day white electrical goods and live in fear of the next wave.

THE ban on cutting turf on two east Clare bogs has been lifted following the publication of a new National Peatlands Strategy – but the much contested ban on cutting at the Tullaher Lough and Bog in West Clare still remains.

Restriction turf cutting will now be allowed on a total of 45 bogs, including two in east Clare, which had been deemed to be Natural Heritage Areas by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.

The situation at the Tullaher Lough and Bog in less clear however, as it is classified as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and a bad on turf cutting will remain in force – for the time being at least.

The National Peatlands Strategy also included a biodiversity for the Doonbeg Bog. The bog received poor ranks in term of its Habitat Quality and Ecological Diversity, receiving an D and E grade respectively.

These negative marks could work in local turf cutters favour as the bog could now be seen as a site of lesser ecological importance and less become less important to protect.

The new National Peatlands Strategy plan is pending European approval, but local turf cutting campaigners are hopeful that it may herald the beginning of a u-turn in government policy towards raised bogs and lead to the lifting of restriction at Tullaher.

THE St Stephen’s night storm was responsible for 61 per cent of all of the Christmas callouts for Clare’s Fire and Rescue Service.

As many as 70 of the 115 incidents attended by the emergency services between December 20, 2013, and January 3, 2014, involved falling trees on the night of December 26, at a cost of approximately € 60,000 to the Fire Service.

Meanwhile, non-weather related callouts – 45, were down across the county for a fourth successive year.

The call-out figures for the period were less than those recorded during the corresponding periods in 2010, 2011 and 2012 when the Fire Service was mobilised to 81, 64 and 48 incidents respectively.

This Christmas, six of the callouts related to house fires with a further six call-outs involving chimney fires, while fire-fighters also attended 14 road-based incidents, foor agricultural building fires, three storage building fires and five false alarm.

The busiest station this Christmas was Ennis, attending to 61 of the calls, followed by Shannon who attended 23.

“This was one of the busiest periods experienced by Clare County Fire and Rescue Service since the serious flooding which affected Clare in November 2009,” explained Adrian Kelly, Chief Fire Officer.

“The extremely windy conditions late on St Stephen’s Day and in the early hours of December 27 brought down a lot of trees throughout the county leading to some roads being blocked. Furthermore, other roads were impassable for a time due to flooding brought about by heavy rain. Due to the assistance of members of the public, together with staff from Clare Local Authorities, we were able to deal quickly with these incidents so as to ensure any disruption was minimised,” he said.

A TEENAGER has pleaded guilty to the robbery of a 73-year-old woman in Shannon.

The 16-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, entered the guilty plea after being arraigned at Ennis Circuit Criminal Court yesterday (Monday).

He admits stealing the woman’s handbag, which contained € 40 at the time. The charge relates to an incident at Tullyvarraga, Shannon, in July 2012.

Jurisdiction of the case was declined in the District Court after Judge Patrick Durcan heard details of the robbery.

The court heard woman was walking on the footpath when the accused came up behind her and grabbed the bag.

A Detective Garda gave evidence the victim gave chase but in doing so, fell and broke her pelvis.

A 17-year-old boy has already pleaded guilty to handling stolen property arising out of the same circumstances.

In court yesterday, Counsel for the 16 year old, Elaine Houlihan requested a probation report be prepared in respect of her client.

She said the court was required to seek probation reports where juveniles are concerned.

She said reporting restrictions also applied given her client’s age.

Judge Carol Moran asked if would have to consider the imposition of a prison sentence in respect of the robbery charge.

Counsel for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Stephen Coughlan BL, said, “When you hear the evidence in the case you may consider a prison sentence.”

Counsel for the 17-year-old boy, Pat Whyms said his client was charged with a handling offence.

He said there was no evidence linking the boy to the original robbery.

He said the court would not have to consider a prison sentence in respect of his client.

Judge Moran adjourned the cases for sentence to March 3.

He directed a probation report be prepared in respect of the 16-yearold boy.