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CLARE’S dark history at the centre of the Magdalene Laundry system was laid bare by the McAleese Report, which was published in February.

The report identified 261 Clare women who spent time as unpaid slaves in these institutes between the 1920s and 1980s – the fifth highest of any county in Ireland.

The real number of Clare women in these asylums was likely to have been far higher, however. No Clare laundries were identified in the report, despite the insistence by many Clare people, including the Kildysart-born former trainee nun Patricia BurkeBrogan, that a laundry operated in Ennis for many decades.

Two decades ago, Ms Burke-Brogan turned whistleblower on the Magdalene system through her acclaimed play ‘Eclipsed’ and in February she claimed that the McAleese Report only scratched the surface of a nationwide problem, where women were subject to slave labour conditions by Church and State.

According to Ms Burke-Brogan, the report failed to “grasp the real horror” of what went on in laundries around the country.

“This report went into what happened in 10 or 11 laundries – there were 42 of them around the country. They were in Galway, they were in Clare, they were everywhere,” she said.

“It softened the story. That’s my main complaint. For someone who hasn’t experienced or seen what was going on in those places. I find it distressing. In some ways what’s in this report makes it worse.” The Clare People also discovered an account given by one woman, who claimed to have been physically apprehended by nuns at St Joseph’s Hospital in Ennis when she was just 15, and brought away to work in a Magdalene Laundry.

This woman’s story was part of a submission by the Justice for Magdalenes Group to the United National Committee Against Torture. The woman, who was not identified in the report, said she had worked as an unpaid maid in the hospital at the time and was targeted by the nuns when she was discovered speaking to a male hospital porter.

“One nun came in this side entrance [of the chapel in St Joseph’s] and she calls out to me. And I could see the other nun coming in the other door. And I felt strange – somehow I felt, something within me, something was going to happen to me,” she said.

“They grabbed me. And they bundled me into this car outside the chapel… I was crying. And I remember them saying to me, ‘you’re going to the Magdalene Laundry’.”

The McAleese Report also detailed the stories of three Clare girls, age 16 and 17, who were ordered to a Magdalene Laundry because their foster parents no longer wanted them. According to the report, this was common at the time as State payment for foster children ended once the child turned 15.

THERE were increased sightings in Ennis during August of a “rogue” fox blamed for killing three dogs in a housing estate in recent weeks.

Authorities issued a warning over the behaviour of the fox amid fears it could attack small children. County dog warden and Clare ISPCA officer Frank Coote said he has received numerous reports of sightings since highlighting the fox attacks last week.

The animal is believed to be moving through land in the Tobertascáin area of the town. Mr Coote said the fox was responsible for attacking and killing the dogs.

“To be honest I didn’t really believe it at first. It’s rare enough for something like this to happen. But I have the evidence of it, these dogs were half eaten. I interviewed the families. I took photos. These dogs were all attacked in properties,” explained Mr Coote.

Though instances of fox attacks against humans are rare, Mr Coote said there is evidence in England that it has happened before.

The long-serving animal welfare officer says this is the first time that he has encountered a “rogue fox” in the Ennis area.

“I’ve met a rogue badger before up in Lees Road when it opened. It was chasing people up and down the path but it had eaten a poison. I’ve seen one rogue fox in Tulla before but never around Ennis,” he said.

Mr Coote said he would be con- cerned that the fox could attack small children. A trap has been laid in the area where the fox is though to travel through. But so far it hasn’t been caught. Mr Coote is liaising with officers from the National Parks and Wildlife Services. He said efforts would continue to trap the fox.

“It has quite bad mange and I was talking to a vet who said he would probably die during the winter anyway. But this fox is a danger and I will stay out there to try and catch it”, Mr Coote added.

IT WAS Clare manager Davy Fitzgerald who memorably told the Troika, Angela Merkel, Mario Draghi and anyone of our European partners who were watching the Clare homecoming celebrations in Ennis on September 29 that “the recession can go to hell”.

Well, come October it was revealed that the recession did just that around All-Ireland time and that the words of Clare’s All-Ireland winning manager were proving prophetic.

Early estimates of the spending power of the Clare public during those heady September days into early October suggested those memorable celebrations were worth € 1m to the local economy alone.

Meanwhile, while players’ attention turned to the club championship in October, it was also time to look forward to the end of year celebrations.

The team holiday destination of Mexico was decided in October, while as part of the fundraising drive for this trip of a lifetime for players and mentors an official team and team calendar were organized dur- ing the month to go on general sale around the county and beyond.

The Clare Hurling Supporters Club asked members of the public to be wary of pirated versions of pictures or calendars on sale, as none of the proceeds of this merchandise would be going to the hurlers’ holiday fund.

Chairman of the Clare Hurling Supporters Club PJ Kelly told The Clare People that the fundraising for the player’s holiday fund would be stepped in October and continue for the rest of the year.

“Of course the players and man- agement deserve a holiday for all their incredible achievements and the sacrifices they made this year,” he said.

“We would ask the Clare public to get behind the team as we try to raise money for that trip. With this in mind we will be making an official team photograph with the Liam McCarthy Cup available for sale shortly. It will sit perfectly beside the pictures of the 1995 and 1997 All-Ireland winning squads,” said Kelly, a former treasurer of the Clare County Board and father of All-Ireland winning goalkeeper Patrick Kelly.

NEWS of a major data security breach in Ennis travelled around the world in November after it was revealed that a cyber attack had taken place on the Station Road-based company LoyaltyBuild.

The Data Protection Commissioner said the credit card details of over 500,000 people across Europe may have been compromised by the data breach at Loyaltybuild.

The company was sold in 2008 by businessmen Dominic Considine, Domhnal Slattery and Sean Lyne for € 25 million to American company, Affinion.

Suspicion about a possible breach emerged on Friday, October 25, and a team of “expert forensic investigators” was appointed to determine what had happened.

On Wednesday, October 30, it emerged that a breach may have occurred and it contacted the Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) on November 1.

An inspection team from the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner has also confirmed that the names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses of around 1.12 million clients were also taken.

Billy Hawkes said his office has now made contact with colleagues across Europe to inform them of the security breach.

Loyaltybuild runs special offers and incentive schemes for major retailers, utilities and service providers in Ireland, the UK, Scandinavia and Switzerland.

The ODPC said an inspection team has confirmed that the full card details of over 376,000 customers were taken.

Of this figure, over 70,000 were SuperValu customers and over 8,000 were AXA Leisure Break customers.

The details of another 150,000 clients were also potentially compromised. It said initial indications are that the breaches were the result of an “external criminal act”.

Managing director Peter Steenstrup has said he is deeply sorry for what is described as a major security breach at the company.

He urged customers to check their bank account statements and report any suspicious activity.

Mr Steenstrup said Loyaltybuild takes data security very seriously and the company is working to ensure that this will never happen again.

The Data Protection Commissioner said the criminals who breached security have all the information they need in order to use the payment cards.

LoyaltyBuild stated that the system breach was discovered last month, and that they have been working around the clock with their security experts to get to the bottom of matter.

“From the moment we first detected a suspected security breach on Friday, October 25, we immediately engaged the services of an expert forensics security team and have worked tirelessly to try to rectify this situation,” they noted.

“The DPC and the Gardaí will be kept informed of any further developments.”

AN ALLEGATION that planning has gone wrong because of the role that politicians play in the process was levelled in October, with the charge coming a former chief planning officer with Clare County Council.

Brendan McGrath, a consultant planner with Clare County Council, said that clientelism has become endemic in the Irish planning system and has come to supersede the public good as a planning consideration.

In his new book, ‘Landscape and Society in Contemporary Ireland’, Mr McGrath conceded that “something has gone wrong” in the Irish planning system, which he argues does not serve the common good.

“The political system functions to support individual landowners. Clientelism gets in the way of consideration that are more supportive of the broader community. It [political interference in planning] is an obstacle to the common good, which is what the planning system should be about,” he said.

“Even at a very local level clientelism is not helpful. The decisions are not made with the landscape in mind, instead decision are made because of who owns what land. That is not about the wider best interests.

McGrath argues that it is not individual politician who are to blame for this process but rather the planning system, which allows for rampant clientelism.

“It’s not as though politicians are looking to make lots of money on these things [planning decisions], but it is putting personal interests before decisions that effect more people,” he said. “If things were being run properly, if there was no clientelism, the real planning arguments would hold sway rather than these local influences that get in the way.

“Councillors have a duty to the people that they represent, so if someone comes to them an says they want something zoned X, Y or Z, then the councillor is quite entitled to take that on board.

“When these type of considerations override the way that decisions are made then it is contrary to proper planning and development. That is the order of the day in local government where zoning decisions are made.

“Even with simple planning application, when the decision lies with the county manager. But even in these situations representations are made to managers and to their offices. And on occasion these representations can be given excessive weight.”

Brendan McGrath’s book, ‘Landscape and Society in Contemporary Ireland’, was published in the first week of October by Cork University Press.

THE long-running saga of Blake’s Corner in Ennistymon look an unexpected twist in May when a vigilante painter struck at Clare’s most dangerous traffic junction, with a zebra crossing being painted at the notorious Blake’s Corner in Ennistymon.

The zebra crossing was painted in the early hours Tuesday morning, May 21, on the Lahinch side of dangerous junction. The identity of the vigilante painter is unknown, but some local people have started using the new zebra crossing.

Blake’s Corner has been the site of ongoing difficulty for Clare County Council, who have had to shelf long-awaited plans to create a new traffic flow system at the junction. Local group, Saving Ennistymon Heritage, opposed the new junction on the ground that two listed building, known as Blake’s and Linnane’s, would have to be demolished as part of the joint National Roads Authority (NRA)/Clare County Council project.

The process has been stalled for the last two years as Clare County Council have been unable to secure funding from the NRA to complete an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed development.

More than two million people use the tiny junction every year to access the Cliffs of Moher and Lahinch beach. Council engineer Tony Neville yesterday describe the vigilante action as a “dig” against the council.

“We have to take it out. It is emulsion so white spirits won’t take it out. We are scrubbing it at the moment,” he said.

“It is a bit of a dig. We have to condemn it and to note that is dangerous. People are using it and it is causing confusion. If anyone has information we would urge them to contact the gardaí.”

Local councillor Joe Arkins (FG) said that the action was a direct prompt from the local community, aimed at the council.

“The community are prompting us to take on certain works here. We have a real problem there [Blake’s Corner] and the sooner we can apply outselves to solving this the better,” he said.

In an official statement yesterday Clare County Council urged local people to forward any information on the new crossing to the Gardaí. “We will be removing the zebra crossing as soon as possible. If any member of the general public is aware of the identity of the person or persons who did this, they should report it to the Ennistymon Area Office or directly to the gardaí. Unauthorised surface markings can cause confusion for road users and can be hazardous for both pedestrians and motorists,” said senior engineer Tom Tiernan.

CLARE’S six TDs and senators declared a variety of commercial interests to the Dáil in 2012, including eight rental properties, two farms and a trip to France paid for by the Alternative Iranian Government in Exile.

North Clare senator Martin Conway (FG) listed a trip to an international conference in Paris, paid for by the Iranian group, in the official list of interests submitted to the Dáil for 2012.

The conference, which cost € 395 between hotels and flights, was attended by former Taoiseach John Bruton (FG) as well as members of former US president John F Kennedy’s family.

“It was an informative and important event but it didn’t cost the Irish taxpayers, high up or low down, for me to attend,” Senator Conway told The Clare People yesterday.

“We stayed in extremely basic accommodation. We flew in on Friday night, spent all day Saturday at the conference, and flew home early on Sunday. So it certainly wasn’t a holiday.”

Senator Conway also declared his interests in Conway’s Shop in Ennistymon, in addition to four rental properties in Quin, Tobertascain in Ennis, Woodview in Ennistymon and Ard Donagh in Ennistymon as well as his family home in Ennistymon. Fellow senator Tony Mulcahy (FG) lists two rental properties in Shannon and a property for sale in Bal- lycasey among his commercial interests. Senator Mulcahy also listed his business property in Smithstown Industrial Estate in Shannon and his directorship of Clare School Meals and Catering Ltd among his assets. Senator Mulcahy also amended his declaration in November of this year to include statutory gratuity payment received from his time as a member of Shannon Town Council and Clare County Council. Fianna Fáil TD Timmy Dooley listed two rental properties in Dublin among his declared interests. The properties are located in Charlotte Quay in Dublin 4 and Moyville in Rathfarnham. Deputy Dooley did not list any Clare properties among his interests. East Clare Deputy Michael McNamara (Lab) declared income from occupation as a barrister at law and from his farm in Tuamgraney amongst his declared interests. Deputy Pat Breen (FG) listed the income from his farm in Lisduff, Ballynacally amongst his assets while Deputy Joe Carey (FG) listed no commercial or property interests besides his family home at “the Land” in Clarecastle.

A BALLYVAUGHAN grandmother who says she was ‘butchered’ by doctors when giving birth to her first son in 1965, is appealing to the Health Service Executive (HSE) to locate records of the birth, The Clare People reported in May.

Elizabeth “Ellen” Moore says that she has wanted to die on a number of occasions over the past 48 years following her symphysiotomy, which has left her in near constant pain and completely incontinent.

This procedure, which involved breaking a woman’s pelvic bone during labour, was conducted without her knowledge or permission in September of 1965. Mrs Moore has recently obtained all her medical records from the HSE under Freedom of Information, but records of the birth of her first son and the controvertial symphysiotomy have been lost. Ellen, who has five grown up children now living in Shannon and East Clare, says she wants the records so she can finally explain to her children why their mother was the way she was.

“My family are so supportive, they always have been. Sometimes I just curl up on the bed and hope that the pain will go away. It is difficult, [but] I had to get up every morning. I had five children, I had to keep going,” she said.

“There were times when I wanted to die, I wanted to get into bed and never get out of it, after I’d had an accident down the town or something.

“Nobody can give me back the years of my life. I should have had a good life, I should have been able to go places and do things but I’ve been tied to pain. I think if I felt sorry for myself, I’d start to crack up.

“It is so strange that they don’t seem to have the records I want considering all the other records that they gave me. I am still hopeful that they can be found. If I could get my years back, if I could look at these and ask what they were doing. I was butchered, that’s what happened, like a lot of other women.

In April, Ellen and other members of the Survivors of Symphysiotomy (SOS) group received the news they were waiting for. The Government passed a bill which would see some redress provided to the victims of symphysiotomy. It is unclear what form this redress will take and whether the full release of HSE records will be part of the redress process.

IN NOVEMBER a Clare mother pledged to take her case against the Heath Services Executive who took away a medical card from her son to the gates of Dáil Éireann and straight to Taoiseach Enda Kenny.

Noreen Keane from Cratloe outlined for case to The Clare People , saying that she was on the brink of having to stop buying essential medication for her eight-year-old son following the loss of his discretionary medical card.

To highlight her case Ms Keane outlined plans to stage a protest in Dublin – her last ditch attempt to force the HSE to reverse the decision.

Her son Ronan Woodhouse (8) was born with Down Syndrome and suffers from 13 related conditions including acute asthma, a cardiac condition as well as sight and hearing difficulties.

According to Noreen, the cost of medication, therapy and doctor visits for Ronan costs an average of € 2,300 per month. The HSE contacted Noreen last February, informing her that Ronan’s discretionary medical card was to be revoked.

This decision was upheld after an appeal, prompting Noreen to begin a campaign last month to highlight her son’s situation. In the last number of weeks the “Ronan’s Cause” site on Facebook has gained more than 4,000 friends.

Noreen and Ronan also protested outside the Fine Gael Ard Fheis in Limerick in October, at which time Taoiseach, Enda Kenny (FG), committed to meeting her. This meeting has yet to take place.

“They are putting my child’s life at risk by taking away this medical card. I just can’t provide all these services for him so how am I supposed to prioritise things? Should I reduce the medication that he needs or do I stop bringing him to the doctor?” she told The Clare People .

“I’m going to keep fighting for this. I’m tired, I’d be lying if I said otherwise. I am a single mother. But I am going to keep fighting for this. I don’t have any other choice. Should I stop buying oil for the house or should I stop buying his medication? Then if the house is cold he is going to get sick.

“I work full time and I’m being penalised because I work. We are a oneincome family. When the medical card was issued to Ronan eight years ago we were a two-income family so we are much worse off now than when the card was originally issued. So how can they [the HSE] say that the system has not changed?”

MORE than 300 disabled Clare people faced a future of “darkness and isolation” as the axing of the Mobility Allowance and Motorised Transport Grant sentenced them to being prisoners in their own homes.

In March disabled Clare people prepared to wage war against the Department of Health in a last-gasp effort to protect their independence. Campaigners claim that the cuts will prevent Clare people with disabilities from reaching their full potential and lead to isolation, depression and suicide, especially in rural parts of the county.

The Department of Health decided to axe the schemes after Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly repeatedly warned the age limit on the payments was in contravention of equality legislation. It claimed that extending the schemes along with Ms O’Reilly’s recommendations would cost approximately € 170 million per annum.

This claim was disputed by campaigners in Ennis, who said the additional cost of including those over the age of 66 in the scheme would be minute.

The criteria for qualifying for both schemes is currently very strict. Candidates must prove that they were profoundly disabled and undergo a means test in order to be considered. Just 300 of Clare’s 9,000 disabled people currently qualify, meaning that the number of elderly Clare people coming onto the scheme, if it was extended to them, would likely be small, they argued.

“Elderly people would have to prove that they are profoundly disabled and show that their income is so low that they would pass the means test. So, if the existing scheme was extended to older people, there would be a tiny amount of extra people who would qualify,” said Anne Marie Carroll, who qualified for both schemes until she entered full-time employment.

“The legal issue here is a red herring. In my opinion, this is the Government trying to put manners on the Ombudsman because she has been outspoken on a number of issues. We are the fall guys in this, because disabled people are seen as a group who won’t stand up for themselves.”

Disabled people from all over Clare were worried that the loss of the schemes would make them prisoners in their own home.

“If this goes, it means I cannot get out,” said Ennis man Thomas Connole, who is visually impaired. “This allowance will go, and I am worried I am going to be housebound. I will effectively be trapped in my own home.”

According to Tom King, the former chair of Disabled People of Clare (DPOC), disabled Clare people are ready to fight the Government for these allowances. “This takes away the possibility of employment and a social life, but the main thing that it takes way is independence. This is going to leave disabled people isolated, in their homes, alone,” he said.

“There is an appetite on the ground to fight this. People with disabilities are feeling the recession as much as everyone else. We don’t have the money in our pockets to cover this and we are ready for a fight.”