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TODAY (Tuesday) is the fifth day that six families remain isolated from the rest of the county, as part of the Loop Head Peninsula has been rendered an island.

The storm on Friday morning saw the small rural area of Kilcredaun segregated from the rest of West Clare as water gushed in from Rhinevilla. An estimated 300 acres of land is currently under seawater.

The area famed for its lighthouse and Irish school could remain dis- connected for some time with the people marooned on the “island” still unsure as to when the waters will recede enough to let them access the rest of the county.

Pat Gavin, the postmaster in Carrigaholt Post Office, is one of the people unable to leave the area and as a result the local post office must remain closed.

“God knows when we will get off here,” he told The Clare People .

The West Clare man had been able to get to the village of Carrigaholt for a brief while on Friday with the assistance of a neighbour with a trac- tor.

Sunday night and Monday’s waves however have now washed away that road and any access to the six families.

“We are an island surrounded by the sea,” said Mr Gavin.

“We are left cut off. You can imagine no fuel, no food. Except my neighbour coming up on Friday to bring me out of here for half a day to open the post office [we could not have left]. We are a good community. The post office was flooded on Friday and all the community turned up to clean it. We’ll come back bigger and better than ever,” he said.

However while Mr Gavin is marooned on the island with his neighbours, the post office in Carrigaholt flooded again yesterday morning (Monday).

“I don’t know what we will do when we get out, I am not sure what state it will be in.”

He explained that the homes still have electricity and he feels lucky that his freezer has food for now.

He in angered however that political promises made by the present Government to carry out work along the peninsula were not carried out.

IT IS estimated that almost one third of Clare babies are delivered by caesarean section.

According to a Health Service Executive (HSE) survey of the country’s 19 maternity units, the c-section rate at Galway and Limerick maternity hospitals is almost twice that recommended by the World Health Organisation.

At the Regional (UCHG) Maternity Hospital Galway as many as 29.56 per cent of deliveries were by caesarean section in 2011, and 27.43 per cent of births at Limerick Maternity Hospital.

The WHO recommends that the nation birth rate by caesarean section should be no higher than 15 per cent. The highest caesarean birth rate was in St Luke’s Hospital, Kil- kenny, at 38 per cent, almost double of that in Sligo General Hospital at 19.3 per cent.

As well as showing a wide regional variation in caesarean section deliveries, the survey released under the Freedom of Information Act, also revealed that Limerick Maternity Hospital had the lowest breast-feeding rate in the country.

The 2011 figures show that 32.5 per cent of babies at the Limerick hospital were exclusively breast fed on discharge. Just 38.6 per cent were combined fed – bottle and breast.

In Galway the figure for mothers exclusively breast feeding on discharge was at 39.8 per cent, with the majority of mothers – 59 per cent – opting to combine feed their new borns.

Limerick hospital had a higher rate of non-instrumental deliveries in 2011 at 55.98 per cent compared to Galway at 52.92 per cent.

AT AROUND 6.30am on Friday morning John O’Connor grabbed his two children and ran upstairs to safety.

It was pitch dark, so all the young family knew for certain was that there was water waist high in their home.

The former Kilmurry Ibrickane footballer’s family were terrified, and unsure himself what had just happened, he called his next door neighbour Danny McCarthy.

It was only then that Danny realised that the sea had engulfed the homes along the coast road at Tromoroe Castle, Seafield. He waded through the water, which was now waist high on a man, and towards the next-door house. The whole of the downstairs of the house, which had just been fitted with a new extension, was under water.

“We didn’t know was the sea still coming because we were up to our waist because it was dark. It was frightening. It was terrifying for the children,” said Mr McCarthy.

“John, his wife and the children were up stairs and that is what saved them. This really, really was seri- ous.”

The men called the Kilkee Coast Guard, who brought a raft in the front door and took the children to safety.

“Since then I can’t sleep or nothing,” said a very upset Mr O’Connor, who has still not been able to return home as the sea continued to break on the back of his house, his gardens and the nearby field he had transformed into a football pitch for his children gone.

“The kids keep asking when will they go back into their house, I don’t know will we ever be able to go back in,” he added, the enormity of the situation hitting home.

Danny and his partner and daughter were also evacuated, and he remains hopeful the sand bags will safe some of the rooms from the flooding.

He praised the work of the Kilkee Coast Guard.

“They were here in half an hour. They gave us confidence and a sense of security,” he said.

The local community of Kilmurry Ibrickane has also rallied around offering sheltered to those displaced with the natural disaster.

IT WAS unhappy beginning to the New Year for one Crusheen business when it was the target of a burglary last week.

Thieves failed to remove an ATM from the Mace Supermarket but damage was caused to the premises during the incident, which occurred between 2am and 6.30am on Friday, January 3.

Gardaí explained that the culprits firstly broke into the warehouse and they tried to gain access to the supermarket but failed and they then went and tried the roof but failed again.

Eventually they breached a sidewall and gained entry. They tried to remove the ATM machine but failed and then fled the scene.

Gardaí have issued descriptions of three individuals they believe were involved in the burglary.

One suspect was wearing a shiny jacket with the word “jeep” in yellow writing on the back; he also wore a blue hoody. Another suspect was wearing a grey jacket and a black hoody. Gardaí say the business was damaged in the incident.

The supermarket is open for business but owner Brian Clark said this is not the first time the shop has been targeted by thieves.

Mr Clark said that while nothing was stolen damage was caused to a wall. “It’s intimidating really,” he said of the break-in.

“It’s not nice. You have to go into your office in the early hours of the morning and get down on your hands and knees and clean up this mess,” added Mr Clark.

Separately, gardaí in Ennis are investigating the theft of equipment from a service that provides psychological supports to Clare schools.

The break-in at the National Educational Psychological (NEPS) building on Francis Street occurred between 10.25pm and 10.30pm on Saturday, December 28, 2013.

Three youths seen acting suspiciously in the multi-storey car park at Dunnes Stores fled when they saw gardaí. A check of the area where they ran from found computer equipment in a shopping trolley, which had been stolen earlier.

The NEPS supports the personal, social and educational development of all children through the application of psychological theory and practice in education.

The service is organised on a regional basis with psychologists being assigned to a group of schools.

A MAN has been charged after he was stopped by gardaí in an area of East Clare in possession of a fuel siphon pump.

It is alleged that Ennis man James Connors (33) had the pump for the purposes of theft, Ennis District Court heard on Friday.

Mr Connors, with an address at Achabaille, Lahinch Road, Ennis, was stopped by gardaí in an area of O’Callaghan’s Mills on November 26, 2013. The offence he is charged with states that when not at his resi- dence, Mr Connors had in his possession an article – to wit – a siphoning pump and equipment with intention that it be used in the course of or in connection with a theft.

Mr Connors denies having the pump for purpose of theft. During the course of a bail hearing, Mr Connors told the court he uses the pump in his work scrapping cars.

“The pump was my own and not used for any crime,” he said.

Garda Darren McLoughlin of Scariff Garda Station gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution. He told the court he arrested the accused at his home on January 2, 2014. The father of six was later charged and made no reply to charge after caution, the court heard.

Inspector Tom Kennedy said the State would consent to bail on condition Mr Connors abide by a curfew between 9pm and 7am.

Insp Kennedy said the State does not accept Mr Connors’ reason for having the pump.

Defence solicitor Tara Godfrey said her client objected to the curfew condition. Ms Godfrey said her client intends to contest the case. She said a curfew would be “excessively punitive” given the length of time it would take for her client’s case to be heard. She said it was open to the State to re-enter the case if Mr Connors came to Garda attention.

Insp Kennedy said the curfew was a “reasonable request”.

Judge Aingeal Ni Chonduin granted bail on condition the accused observe a curfew between midnight and 7am.

Insp Kennedy said the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had directed summary disposal of the case, meaning it will be heard in the District Court.

Mr Connors was remanded on bail to appear at Killaloe District Court on January 7, 2014.

THE number of people using the Western Rail Corridor which connects Ennis to both Limerick and Galway continues to drop.

Despite a number of initiatives designed to increase passenger numbers on the route, new figures show that fewer than 200,000 people used the route in the first 11 months of 2013.

Figures for the route, which was reopened at a cost € 106 million in 2010, show that only 197,780 line passenger journeys took place on the line between the beginning of January 2013 and December 1. This compares with almost 250,000 over the same period in 2012.

It is hoped that the introduction of online booking on the rail service will provide a significant boost to passengers in 2014. Nearly two years after the issue of online booking was first raised with the Iarnrod Eireann, online booking was introduce on the line last month.

Passenger numbers on the route have been growing on commuter routes such as Ennis/Limerick and Athenry/Galway in recent years and it is hoped that online booking may also help to promote business from Ennis, Sixmilebridge and Gort.

“We know this is something which our customers and the wider community have been anxious to see provided for some time,” said a spokesperson from Iarnród Éireann.

“Our fares from € 5.99 each way for adults and € 2.99 each way for children are extremely competitive, giving big savings to families at a time of year when every cent counts.”

UP TO 14 homes approximately two miles south of Quilty were evacuated during the early hours of Friday morning, as the sea engulfed their homes.

Families living in the coastline houses, some less than 10 years old, broke down yesterday (Monday), as they recalled how they may never again be able to return home so severe is the damage.

Older members of the Tromoroe Castle, Seafield, community whose homes were also flooded in the storm are reportedly terrified of going home again, as a section of land mass has been taken by the unforgiving sea.

This makes the properties very vulnerable according to construction worker Danny McCarthy who was one of the people evacuated.

“The water has gone into the houses and they are afraid of their lives that the sea will break and the ocean will go into them now. We are vulnerable now because the body on the land is gone, it is pulled out to sea and we are open,” he told The Clare People .

“We didn’t expect it,” he said add- ing that the majority of the homes were occupied at the time of the storm.

Debris from the sea continued to float around the rooms of some houses as neither the wind or the sea was ready to relent. There was a great sadness and anger in the community who felt that their plight had been overlooked over the past few days.

“Do you know the saddest thing about it? It felt like we were on our own. No publicity or anything, or no highlights at the amount of destruction created here,” he said.

“Fourteen houses have been affect- ed. Half of my land is gone,” said Mr McCarthy.

Half of the wall at the three and a half year old council water pumping system has also been eroded.

It will take thousands and perhaps millions to repair the physical damage the community maintain, but it will take much more than that to repair the psyche of a community now exposed to the whims of the sea.

Questions have also been raised regarding plans to reinforce the coastline as far back as 2011, if they had been carried out, would the damage have been so severe.

A CLARE musician says she is excited to be joining some of the giants of Irish music on their United States tour next month.

Tara Breen will play alongside The Chieftains on their North American tour.

The talented fiddle player will perform with the legendary band on their four-week coast to coast tour. The former Rice College student was offered the invitation to play by Chieftains founding member Paddy Moloney.

“I play with this Galician piper, Carlos Nunez and Paddy was saying to him they were looking to do something new and he was asking him did he know any fiddle players,” explains Tara.

“So Paddy came along to one of the gigs and I thought we were just playing with him. Nobody gave me a heads up that it was almost a rehearsal! So I got the invitation after that. It’s great.”

Tara has already played with the band, performing alongside them at a concert in the University of Limerick in November.

The four-week US tour from February 16 and March 18 will take in gigs in California and a St Patrick’s Day concert in New York.

“They’re lovely people and it’s brilliant to be get the opportunity to play alongside them. It should be a good trip. I’ve been to America before but this going to be a lot bigger,” she says.

The invitation caps a busy year for Tara, who teaches music in schools as part of the Comhaltas outreach programme.

She also appeared on TG4’s ‘Geantraí’ Christmas Day special

Tara’s multi-instrumentalist talents came to the fore at the age of 13 when, in one year, she won the All-Ireland U-15 Fiddle, U-15 Fiddle slow airs, U-15 Flute, U-15 Flute slow airs.

In 2006 Tara won the coveted ‘Fiddler of Dooney’ competition, and in 2009 she added the Michael Coleman Fiddle Competition to her list of accolades.

She is a former student of University of College Cork. In 2010 she was selected to join Ciorras, a group put together by music legend Donal Lunny.

SHANNON Airport became the unlikely battleground for the Soviet Union and America in 1983 as the Irish Government yielded to pressure from America to ban Aeroflot civilian flight from landing at the airport.

Records released last week under the 30-year-rule show that then US president Ronald Reagan sent a direct request to Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald (FG) to ban Aeroflot stopovers in Shannon.

The blanket ban was ordered after the Soviet Union shot down Korean Air Line Flight 007 on September 1, 1983, near Sakhalin island in the Sea of Japan after it strayed into Russian air space.

All 269 passengers and crew, including US congressman Larry McDonald, were killed in the attack. In a strongly-worded two-page letter, Mr Reagan tried to rally international opposition to the Soviets and called for co-operation and support among friends.

“The Soviet action represents a challenge to the international com- munity. It would be a tragedy if we do not collectively respond in a resolute and clear manner to this action,” he wrote.

According to reports, the world was on the verge of a nuclear World War Three after a Russian army early warning missile detection system gave a false alarm that the US had launched a strike.

Mr FitzGerald confirmed Aeroflot would be banned from Shannon on September 16, 1983, 10 days before the fault in the Oko missile detection system in Moscow.

Irish and US officials had already had private talks on the issue and considered a ban should initially be 60-90 days or until “the Soviet Union responds to our very real concerns”.

Dr FitzGerald wrote a four-page letter back to Mr Reagan to confirm that Aeroflot would not be allowed to pick up or set down passengers at Shannon Airport on flights destined for Moscow.

He also said the Government had deferred a decision on an application by Aeroflot for landing rights at Shannon for flights coming and going from Lima in Peru and Havana in Cuba.

A LUCKY young surfer has a miracle escape on Thursday evening after getting into difficulty in the waters off Lahinch, just as the storm began to hit.

The Doolin Unit of the Irish Coast Guard and the Irish Coast Guard Helicopter were tasked to investigate a report of someone in the water just after 5pm on Thursday evening. A search of the bay and shoreline revealed nothing and no surfers was reported missing as the storm began to touch ground after 6pm.

However, minutes after the search was stood down, a surfer was washed ashore on the promenade. The surfer was treated at the scene by coast guard and transported to hospital where he was treated for hypothermia.

“The sea washed him on the promenade and he was able to climb up the last bit himself. It was a pure miracle. He was very very lucky, his stars were certainly out that night,” said Matty Shannon of the Doolin Unit of the Irish Coast Guard.

“He had a few bumps and bruises but, considering what he come through, he was very very lucky.”

The Doolin Unit of the Irish Coast Guard responded to a large number of emergencies over the storm weekend. They assisted local fire services on Friday morning to help evacuate people from Lahinch. They also help the Irish Coast Guard with a number of evacuations in the Quilty area on Friday afternoon.

According to Matty, it is very rare to get two such powerful storms one after another.

“In 1991 we had a similar storm to this and before that there was something similar back in ‘63. I suppose every 20 or 30 years we get a storm like this, but not two of them in a row like we’ve just had,” he said.