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JAMES Lafferty is widely known in ladies football circles in Clare.

A founder member of the county board in 1983, he served as secretary and treasurer in the past and was chairman until resigning a fortnight ago.

He informed the football board of his decision to resign on October 22, citing “personal and business diffi- culties” as his reasons.

Sources in ladies football in Clare have described his work at underage level as “hugely progressive”.

They also said he injected energy and dedication into the game in the county over a period of several years.

He managed the under-16 side which won the All-Ireland ‘B’ title

this year, that is set to receive a Civic Reception from Clare County Coun- cil next Monday.

He also managed the county’s un- der-14 side last year.

A statement issued to

THE book of evidence in the case of two people charged with conspiracy to murder will be ready on Friday, despite a large portion of the docu- ment being accidentally deleted from a computer in the State solicitor’s of- fice in Ennis.

Essam Eid, a native of Egypt with an address in Nevada, US, is charged with conspiring along with Sha- ron Collins (44) of Ballybeg House, Kildysart Road, Ennis, to murder Ennis brothers Robert and Niall Howard in 2006.

Mr Eid is also facing four fur- ther charges including demanding €100,000 from Ennis businessman PJ Howard to cancel a contract on the lives of Mr Howard and his two Sons.

He is also charged with burglary at

Westgate Business Park, Ennis, and handling stolen computers at Bal- laghboy, Doora and the Two Mile Inn Hotel, Limerick in September pau eToys

At Ennis District Court last Fri- day week, State Solicitor for Clare, Martin Linnane said a large portion of the book of evidence in the case had been lost on a computer in his office.

In court last Friday, Mr Linnane sought to clarify media reports that the material was lost as a result of the technical problem with the compu- ter. He stated that it had been deleted from the computer in error.

Mr Linnane also told Judge Joseph Mangan that there are 152 witnesses in the book of evidence and more may be added. He said he would have the book by next Friday.

Defending solicitor for Mr Eid, John Casey, however asked Judge Joseph Mangan to mark the matter peremptory against the State if the Book is not available on Friday. The Judge declined to do so.

Mr Eid was remanded in custody until later this week, while Ms Col- lins was released on continuing bail until the same date.

A MAN charged in connection with an alleged arson attack on an Ennis home last month has been remanded in custody with consent to bail.

Stephen McGuire (29) of Pine Grove, Ennis, is accused of commit- ting arson, in that he did without law- ful excuse damage by fire a house, on October 18.

At Ennis District Court on Friday he was granted bail. However he was not in a position at the time to provide the €1,000 cash lodgment sought by the court, along with his own surety of €1,000 and an independent surety of €10,000.

Inspector Michael Gallagher told the court that the State was object- ing to bail given the seriousness of the charge.

Inspector Gallagher said however, if the court was considering bail the State would be seeking ‘substantial bail’ and ‘strict conditions’ which were outlined to the court.

These include staying away from the Pine Grove Estate in Ennis, stay- ing away from two named individu- als; living at an address in Clarecas- tle, signing on daily at Ennis Garda Station and observing a strict cur- one

Defending solicitor Tara Godfrey said that her client was not in a po- sition to produce the €1,000 cash surety sought by the court. She said she would require time to discuss the cash bail.

Judge Joseph Mangan remanded the accused in custody with consent to bail to appear in court again this Neto) .e

THE badly decomposed body of a 19-year-old student which washed ashore at Fanore on April 4, 2004, had a very high blood alcohol level, Ennis Coroner’s Court heard last ete

Alan Duffy from Kilmovee, Bal- laghadreen in County Mayo went missing following a night out in Gal- way City on March 22, 2004.

The court heard that the first year NUI Galway student attended a house party on the evening he disap-

eer NKslem According to witness Clare O’Halloran, Mr Duffy travelled

with a group to the GPO nightclub before she spotted him on a walkway underneath the Salmon Weir Bridge just before 3am.

“He was walking down a metal walkway and he seemed really

drunk. I phoned the guards then, it was about 2.50am,’ she said.

After an extensive two week search involving gardai, coastguard and members of the public, the body was discovered by local man, James Callinan, on Fanore beach on April 4, 2004.

Mr Duffy’s brother, Brendan, travelled to Clare but was unable to identify the body because of its con- dition.

The body was identified using den- tal records following an autopsy. The court heard that the autopsy found a number of lacerations on the body as well as bruising to the head and body. It also showed a blood alcohol level of 170mg and found no traces of narcotics.

The court heard doctor’s evidence that Mr Duffy’s injuries were con- sistent with drowning and the only injury that could have been inflicted

before death was a small bruise on the left upper arm.

Giving her verdict, County Clare Coroner, Isobel O’Dea, ruled out suicide.

“TI am satisfied that there was no severe antimortem injury. I am satis- fied that there was no third part in- volvement and there was no evidence of suicide. We don’t know what hap- pened so I am going to give an open verdict,’ he said.

THE concluding stages have been reached at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court in the trial of a Clare man for allegedly sexually abusing two of his daughters.

The 36-year-old accused has plead- ed not guilty to 11 counts of sexual

assault on two of his daughters on dates between September 2001 and December 2004 in a County Tipper- ary town. It 1s day-13 of the trial. Prosecuting counsel, Ms Una Ni Raifeartaigh BL, said in her closing address that the case in relation to one of the girls would have collapsed in view of her not giving direct evi-

dence of being abused.

Ms Ni Raifeartaigh, however, said the prosecution invited the five wom- en and seven men the jury to find the accused guilty of these charges aris- ing out of what the girl told a child psychiatrist in several interviews which were videotaped and shown in court.

She noted that in these interviews the child had clearly indicated under no pressure at all that she had been interfered with on many occasions Wa iomrlenoe

This was the first instance since its enactment that section 16 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006 was used to admit a video recording of such

an interview as direct evidence in a CHueneveerNmeurue

Garda Lorraine Fahy gave evidence of observing all the interviews seen by the jury and that what was shown in court was an accurate record of what happened at them.

The trial continues before Judge Desmond Hogan.

CLARE County Council has ex- pressed “a number of very serious concerns” over plans for a €25 mil- lion housing development in south east Clare.

Earlier this year, Greenband Invest- ments lodged plans with the council for a 103 housing development ex- tension to what is already in place at Westbury, Athlunkard near the Clare-Limerick border.

The proposal has attracted a large number of objections from local

residents and now the council has re- sponded to the residents’ concerns.

In a request for a large raft of new information on the plan, the coun- cil has requested that revised plans be submitted, but, in a move that will disappoint local residents, has pointed out that the density of the development is not high enough and that additional homes will need to be included.

However, the council has also re- quested that the developers submit an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) as part of the further informa-

tion required.

In its request, the council states that it “has a number of very serious concerns in relation to the proposed development and it not favourably disposed to the development as pro- posed.

‘The concerns of the council relate to the design and layout of the devel- opment as proposed, the lack of mix of housing types and design, the ef- fect the proposed development will have on traffic safety at this location, the residential amenities of existing residents and the lack of provision of

community facilities and open spac- es in the existing Westbury estate.”

The council goes on: “The con- cerns arise in particular to the lack of community facilities to provide for the number of existing and proposed OM CAUDDANSAc MAUI ODEO MOO CoMon ie: Nome

The council has ordered a revised layout providing for a better sense of place and revised housing designs incorporating a “much better’ mix of housing types and styles.

“You are advised that due to the scale and nature of existing permit- ted development within the West-

bury estate, no further large scale de- velopment can be permitted without the submission of a master plan to provide for the comprehensive devel- opment of the entire Westbury estate to provide for appropriate land uses, including residential uses, public Open spaces, community facilities, services and road layouts.”

The developers have also been told to submit a Traffic Impact Statement (TIS).

A decision from the council on the development is not now expected un- til sometime next year.

SHANNON-based industrial dia- mond manufacturing company Ele- ment Six Ltd increased the size of its business last year by almost 20 per Cone

According to accounts filed to the Companies Office, the company — whose principal activity is the manufacture and sale of industrial diamonds — also returned to profit last year after recording a loss of $9 million in 2005.

The accounts show that Element Six recorded a profit before tax in 2006 of $2 million. The company — formerly de Beers — increased its turnover from $279 million to $331 million in 2006.

According to the accounts the com- pany had a gross profit of $160 mil- lion up on the $131 million in 2005.

During 2006, the company an- nounced 75 job losses as part of a restructuring programme with two- thirds of the redundancies coming from support staff, and the balance coming from production operations.

The accounts show that the numbers employed at the facility at the end of 2006 was 580 — up from the 567 em- ployed at the end of 2005. Staff costs in 2006 came to $43 million. How-

ever, sales and administrative costs have significantly increased.

The costs of sales increased from $123 million to $147 million and administrative costs went up 67 per cent from $74 million to $124 mil- |bTeyee

The company paid a dividend of $89 million in 2004, however, no dividend was paid last year.

The company supplies products all over the world and the markets main- ly served with industrial diamond and related products are the United States of America, China, Japan and all countries within the European Union.

The statement accompanying the accounts show that “currently the company is investing in continuing research and development into new products and technologies and it is hoped to increase market share and profitability in the foreseeable fu- ture.

“Taking into account Element Six’s long and established history in the manufacture of industrial diamonds, it is expected that the company will at least retain its market share in the foreseeable future.”

The company has no major devel- opments planned for the manufactur- ing side of the business.

THE majority of the 200 Polish workers at the centre of an indus- trial row at the ESB power station at Moneypoint are to remain employed elo Kon

The Poles will continue to work on the mult-million euro environmental changes being made at the plant.

The former ZRE Katowicz employ- ees voted unanimously to accept the settlement terms of their dispute with the ESB, its main contractor Lentjes and the subcontractor ZRE Katowicz (Ireland) Construction Limited.

The Polish subcontractor left the workers, all members of the Tech- nical Engineering and _ Electrical Union, with up to six weeks pay in arrears. It has now gone into liquida- tion.

All of the workers involved have now been offered jobs with the main contractor, Lentjes, at the Money- point site or with other contractors on site including the UK based com- pany AMEC which 1s taking over the ZRE contract.

Lentjes has made arrangements to make hardship payments worth about 50 per cent of the total due to the workers this week.

The State Insolvency Fund is to provide separate payments arising out of the inability of ZRE Katow- icz (Ireland) Construction Limited to meet its liabilities to the workers.

TEEU General Secretary Desig- nate Eamon Devoy said, “There are jobs available for all of our members who want them in Ireland and we ex- pect the uptake to be very high.

“We have also secured jobs with

ZRE Katowicz in Poland for those who wish to return home but most of our members are expected to take up the Irish offers.

‘Thanks to the steadfastness of our Polish members, the solidarity of our other members in the ESB power station at Moneypoint, who were ready to act in their support and the assistance of the Labour Relations Commission, we have managed to achieve a happy ending to a dispute that could have ended very differ- ently,” he said.

“T have no doubt that if these work- ers had not been in a trade union they would have received no arrears, pen- sion contributions or other payments to which they are legally entitled.”

The workers had all been employed on the €384 million environmental retro-fit at Moneypoint.

PLANS for a €10 million retail de- velopment for Miltown Malbay has come under fire.

Currently, Clare County Council is adjudicating a planning application by John Jones to construct a super- market, seven retail units, offices, 18 apartments and 148 car-parking Spaces on the Ennis Road leading into the village.

In the first two to three years of operation the venture is expected to create 100 jobs. However, business interests in the village have railed against the proposal.

Patrick Boland, who is the owner of five retail units on the Ennistymon Road has told the council in an ob- jection that “the scale of the project is so large that it threatens the exist- ing business ecology of the town”’.

He stated, “This development would constitute a new town cen- tre. It is on the scale and design of a modern shopping centre suitable for a large town or city but is not com- patible with a village.

“It is on the outskirts of the town, on a mainly residential street and would cause the centre of business and trade to shift away from the main Street.

‘The attraction to tourists of a bus- tling village with traditional shop fronts and small individually owned businesses would be lost.

“Currently, the shops in Miltown are owned and run by different families. Historically, this pattern of ownership and trade has sustained the economic and community life of small villages and towns in Ireland. This development threatens that d1- versity of ownership.”

Donnan Meade of the Mace Shop on the Main Street claims that the proposal “could take the soul out of the village with nothing left on the main street but closed businesses and properties. This is in nobody’s inter- est”.

Claiming that the proposal could herald the death-knell of new busi- nesses along Main Street, Mr Meade said, “I understand that there would be a short-term benefit to the com- munity during the construction of the proposal but over the course of time, it will have a negative impact on the community at large.

He added: “I am not against devel- opment, but the sheer scale of this particular one is daunting and I feel that Miltown could regret such a de- velopment over the medium to long term.”

A decision is due later this month.

CLARE county football cranks back into gear tonight (Tuesday) with the first training session of the new sea- son, a full two months ahead of last season’s return.

It’s the third manager in as many years for the footballers and while the exact make-up of the league squad won’t be known for a number of weeks, some new additions are likely to be included when the panel is pared down.

The early start brings renewed

Structure, a direction that has been welcomed by players involved under recent appointment Frank Doherty. “Players have had a rough enough time of it over the past couple of sea- sons, maybe they lost their way at times and we decided to get together to bring some guidance back,” said Doherty. “I want to get to know play- ers and know what they’re about. Put faces to names. There’s no point in starting out for the season a couple of weeks after Christmas and maybe a fortnight to go before a McGrath Cup game. The bottom line is that

we want to get belief back in Clare football that’s been missing for the past while.”

With the addition of Kilkenny to the footballers league group, it means the spring will be action filled and if Clare can put together a decent McGrath Cup run, close to a dozen hours of competitive football could be played before the championship Torta DENSE

“It’s important to get some work under the belt at this stage,” adds Doherty. “All going well, the core fitness will increase and the lads

will be able to play at a high tempo throughout the league.”

Some dovetailing for those involved in the Under 21s is also expected.

“In all, I’m hoping for 28 to 30 lads at the first training. Some will be in- volved in Under 21 training and I’d expect a lot to be involved with us as well. On top of that, we have lads involved with Sigerson who won’t be available immediately and there isn’t any issue there. We want the entire panel to know what the game plan is and what’s expected in terms of physical condition.”