Category: News

A 22 YEAR-old man who used a catapult to break car windows in Newmarket on Fergus earlier this year has been ordered to personally apologise to the injured parties.

Joe Conroy smashed car windows in the Island View, Ennis Road and Glen an Aifreann areas of Newmarket on May 19, Ennis District Court heard on Wednesday. Inspector Tom Kennedy told the court that the accused used a catapult and marbles to cause € 705 worth of damage to three cars.

The court heard Mr Conroy had not paid compensation to the owners. Mr Conroy, with an address at The Island, Cratloe, pleaded guilty to three charges of criminal damage.

Defence solicitor Jenny Fitzgibbon told the court that her client had been under “severe pressure” in his personal life at the time the offences were committed. She said Mr Conroy acted “very stupidly” on the day.

“He didn’t hold back. He admitted his culpability. He admitted his stupidity”, she added. The court heard Mr Conroy worked as a metal fabricator after leaving school. Judge Patrick Durcan said his first priority was for Mr Conroy to pay compensation and show remorse.

“There will be a conviction in this matter but the issue is whether there will be a prison sentence,” he added.

Adjourning the case to January 8 (2014) for review, Judge Durcan said he expected Mr Conroy to have half of the compensation paid to the car owners by that date.

“I also want to be satisfied that he makes contact, personally, with the three injured parties”, he added.

PRISON sentences have been handed down to two men found driving around Ennis earlier this year with weapons including a claw hammer and a golf club.

Gardaí discovered the items along with a shovel handle and mop handle with a metal head after they were thrown from a car in Clancy Park on May 1 (2013).

At Ennis District Court on Thursday, Darren Maughan (21) and Kildare man Dermot O’Brien (25) pleaded guilty to possession of implements, contrary to the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act.

Passing sentence, Judge Patrick Durcan said too often in the past 18 months he has dealt with cases where people believe they can “go around the county in a marauding fashion.”

“There is no room in our society for people who go around in mechanically propelled vehicles with implements of potential death and destruction”, he added.

Garda Stephen Dunne of Ennis Garda Station told the court that he observed a car driving in suspicious manner in the Cloughleigh area of Ennis on May 1.

He said gardaí followed the car to Clancy Park where they observed a claw hammer, mop handle, shovel handle and golf club being thrown from the vehicle.

The accused were arrested. The court heard Mr Maughan, with an address at Stonecourt, Drumbiggle, Ennis has 45 previous convictions, mainly arising from alcohol related incidents.

Defence solicitor William Cahir said Mr O’Brien is not from Ennis. “It would be unusual for him to be involved in something like this,” he added.

Mr Cahir told the court the men had not given a reason for having the weapons. “My clients fully accept these are items they should not have had”, he added.

Judge Durcan said the fact that no explanation had been offered was “very much against the defendants”.

He sentenced Mr Maughan to a total of seven months in prison and disqualified him from holding a driver’s license for a year.

Mr O’Brien, with an address at Brayton Park, Kilcock, Kildare and now living Ennis, received a suspended three-month sentence. He was also ordered to complete 100 hours of community service in lieu of another three-month sentence.

The father of two was disqualified from holding a driver’s license for a year. The disqualification was postponed until January 1, 2014.

CLARE County Council has been urged to consider offering a Ryanair style ‘priority queue’ system at its Motor Tax offices as a means of raising revenue.

Cllr Brian Meaney (FF) told yesterday’s council meeting that some customers would be willing to pay a small charge in order to secure priority in the queue.

He said waiting times can be as long as 20 minutes in the office at the council’s headquarters on New Road.

Cllr Meaney said the council is about to embark on the process of preparing a budget and should consider new ways of raising revenue. “Maybe it is time we look at taking the budget airlines approach,” he explained.

Cllr Meaney further suggested that the council look at securing sponsorship for some of its flagship facilities.

He added, “I think the skate park in Lees Road would be an appropriate location for sponsorship from skate companies.”

Cllr Meaney was speaking after submitting a motion to the October meeting of Clare County Council.

The motion states, “Can this council consider developing innovative, alternative income sources given the challenging financial position facing Clare County Council. For example could this council allow advertising in or on property in its control or publications it produces? Are local authorities prohibited from generating funds in this manner?”

Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) supported the proposal. “There is a need for us to be creative and innovative to close the shortfall in what it is we want to do as a council and what we can afford to do,” he said.

Cllr Patricia McCarthy (Ind) said it would be better for the council to wait to see the shape of the new Local Government Bill before making any financial decisions.

“We need to know what our scope will be to raise extra funding,” she explained.

Cllr Meaney said he accepted Cllr McCarthy’s comments but warned the council is already being hit by funding cutbacks.

He said he had been informed the money allocated to the council for the control of horses had already been severely cut.

“This is something we need to plan for in the event of further cuts,” he added.

THERE have been calls for more to be done to improve public lighting in estates around Clare amid growing concerns over an increase in burglaries.

Members of Clare County Council yesterday urged the local authority to intervene to repair lights in estates that have yet to be taken in charge.

It followed a motion tabled by Fine Gael councillor Joe Cooney. Cllr Cooney called on the council to “repair public lights in estates where the developer no longer exists and where the council have not taken in charge those estates throughout the county in the interests of safety and given increase in burglaries”.

Cllr Cooney told the meeting inadequate public lighting is a major worry for residents.

“There is concern out there. We are aware that anti-social behaviour is going on in some of these estates,” he said.

Supporting the motion, Cllr Pascal Fitzgerald (Lab) said the problem of bad lighting had existed for many years in Clare. He said many homeowners paid the household charge but had been left with inadequate services.

Cllr Michael Kelly (FF) said problems in estates were not the fault of residents.

“We have to provide lighting to those people in those areas,” the councillor said.

Cllr John Crowe (FG) said many of the lights could be repaired for as little as € 80. He said many people are “living in fear” because of the rise in burglaries in rural areas. “It’s an absolute scandal that we can’t afford to pay for these lights,” he added.

Cllr Tom McNamara (FF) told the meeting that residents of older estates also deserved to have adequate public lighting in their areas.

“We have estates in this town [Ennis] where the electricity was never connected to the lights and they are not on. They are also entitled to proper public lighting,” he said.

Director of Service Gerard Dollard said the council hopes to take 13 estates in charge this year.

He told the meeting that money to repair roads and lights in estates comes out of the council’s roadwork’s budget.

He said the council made a detailed submission on the taking in charge of estates to the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government but had not yet received a response.

IT HAS finally been decided that the Kilrush Famine Memorial is to become part of the streetscape of Francis Street, but the town engineer will determine its exact location.

After much deliberation, Kilrush Town Council decided that the street where the 2013 National Famine Commemoration was held is to be the permanent home of the monument unveiled during the ceremony in May.

The local authority received just one response to a public consultation on the issues.

Groups and organisations involved with the commemoration had a number of suggestions however as to where in the town it should be located. Early suggestions that the Old Shanakyle Cemetery, where victims of the Great Irish Famine lay in a mass grave, would be the ideal location was ruled out.

Mayor of Kilrush Cllr Paul Moroney (Ind) said that the Kilrush and District Historical Society, the organisation that bid for the National Commemoration to be held in the heritage town, had indicated they would like the monument to be placed outside the town hall in the town square.

The mayor suggested relocating the dolphin sculpture in the square and placing the monument there.

At Thursday night’s meeting of the council, Cllr Marian McMahon Jones (FG) said that the dolphin could not be moved as it was part of a dolphin trail.

Town manager Ann Haugh explained that the two locations being considered were either side of the town hall or at two locations on Francis Street.

Cllr Mairead O’Brien (Ind) who was mayor during the commemoration told the meeting that the Famine Commemoration Committee agreed that Francis Street, outside Noel Ryan’s would be the preferred location.

“Ultimately we could put a bench there and a floral display and people could take time to sit at it,” she said.

As CCTV is proposed for that location, the council was unsure whether this would mean the monument may have to be placed elsewhere.

A location outside the Bank of Ireland on Francis Street was then proposed as another possible site.

The council voted to erect the monument on Francis Street and agreed that the town engineer would decide between the two proposed locations on that street.

CLARE County Council could yet take legal action against the consultants who advised the local authority to establish the Central Waste Management Facility at Ballyduff beg in Inagh.

The landfill, which has recently closed for all non-recyclable materials, has proved to be a loss-making venture for the local authority, despite a number of expert reports suggesting that it would generate million annually for the coffers of Clare County Council. Despite the closure of the landfill element of the Central Waste Management Facility, the local authority faces an annual bill for the upkeep of the landfill area for the next 20 years.

Kilnamona councillor James Breen (Ind), yesterday put a motion to Clare County Council, formally requesting that they contact their legal representatives and instruct them to begin legal proceedings.

“We are looking at spending tax payers money and rate payers money – millions for the next 20 years. I am instructing the county manager to contact his legal team and instruct them to begin legal action against the people responsible,” he said.

This motion was formally seconded by Shannon councillor Gerry Flynn (Ind) who did not make any formal comment on the motion.

Clare County Council did not have a formal response to Cllr Breen’s motion prepared – as would be traditional for council meeting, with county manager Tom Coughlan stating that he would respond to the motion at the November meeting.

“I didn’t prepare a response to that motion because I wanted to see if it would be proposed and seconded. To take legal proceedings against that proposal would be complex and expensive. I would like to come back to the motion with a report at the November meeting,” he said.

A number of legal actions have been made concerning the operation of the Ballyduff beg Waste Management Facility in recent years. Most recently the local authority settled an action taken by the environmental Protection Agency (EPA) out of court. In recent weeks the council has decided use the final tranche of the Community Development Fund, which was established to compensate those effected by the landfill, to compensate those living directly beside the facility.

A FACILITY for Kilrush, similar to Lee’s Road in Ennis, will be the “premier project” for Clare County Council this year.

The project planned for the Cooraclare Road in Kilrush is to include pitches, running tracks and astro turf facilities.

The project has been submitted for national sporting grants by Kilrush Town Council previously but with as yet no success.

The town council executive is confident that the project will be successful in securing grant funding this year and has also submitted it for consideration in a new national fund.

Town manager Anne Haugh explained that the county manager had agreed that the Kilrush project would be the primary project on a list seeking funding from the new national scheme – Sport Nation.

The new grant aid system is supported through the Public Bodies and the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, with each department providing one third of the funding up to € 58,124. The remaining third needs to be raised from the local authority’s capital fund.

The council agreed that the first phase of the project to require funding should be the astro turf area.

The town council had previously agreed to set aside € 150,000 of money earmarked for special projects to the proposed Cooraclare Road Sports Development.

A lease for 25 years has also been signed for such the facility on the Cooraclare Road.

SHANNON Chamber of Commerce has received a big boost this week following the news that its chief executive has been appointed to the board of Chambers Ireland.

Helen Downes was ratified in the post at the Chambers Ireland AGM, held in Dublin last Wednesday, with her appointment announced on Friday last by Shannon Chamber president, Kevin Thompstone.

Congratulating Ms Downes on her appointment, Mr Thompstone said, “It’s a great honour for Shannon Chamber via Helen Downes to have input at board level in a national organisation. Helen’s nomination by the Chambers Ireland CEO Forum for a position on the board, and her existing representation as a member of Chambers Ireland Human Resources Policy Council, is both indicative of the high esteem in which she is held within the organisation, and her ability to make a valuable contribution to strategic considerations.

“Membership of Chambers Ireland board gives Shannon Chamber a forum to make representation on behalf of members and to input their views and commentary on national policy issues being considered by Chambers Ireland for presentation to government and key stakeholders. It will ensure that Shannon’s voice is heard at another key national level.”

About Helen Downes: Chief Executive of Shannon Chamber 2008, Helen Downes has spearheaded many new chamber initiatives to promote and encourage business growth and economic development in the Shannon area. These initiatives, which have also led to increased chamber membership, include a number of EU-focused seminars, a chamber HR forum, a CEO forum, a Business Watch scheme, and linkages with national and international business organisations in both the public and private sectors.

Shannon Chamber currently has over 250 member-companies drawn from a wide cross-section of business sectors that employ approximately 7, 500 people in the Shannon hinterland. Helen is responsible for representing their interests to key influencers and stakeholders, achieved through voicing membership concerns on issues that affect or impede enterprise development at local, regional and national levels

Ms Downes is also an active member of Chambers Ireland’s Human Resources Policy Council.

A JUDGE has issued a stark warning that more lives will be lost to addiction if drug treatment services in Ireland continue to be under resourced.

Judge Gerard Keys was commenting following the death of Ennis man James Sherlock Jnr earlier this year.

The 24-year-old wheelchair-bound amputee was found unconscious by his brother near the green of the eighth hole of Ennis Golf Club in August. It is thought Mr Sherlock had spent a period of time squatting in the area.

Mr Sherlock, formerly of Childers Road, Ennis, was a heroin addict who lost both his legs as a result of complications arising from his addiction.

He lived rough for a while in an abandoned squat in Ennis and was awaiting sentence for setting fire to the Lakes Nursing Home in Killaloe on August 20, 2010. Judge Keys had adjourned sentencing for the purpose of ascertaining what help Mr Sherlock could get to deal with his drug addiction and what accommodation could be found for him.

“It is with a great degree of sadness that I read in the newspapers the circumstances of the death of James Sherlock,” Judge Keys said at Ennis Circuit Criminal Court on Tuesday.

“He was a troubled young man with huge problems and with little or no adequately-resourced facilities to assist him in dealing with his drug addiction and the medical complications which arose there from. In this court I said this man cannot be abandoned,” added Judge Keys.

He continued, “I am now compelled to say that until the problem of drug addiction in this country is tackled and a sufficient number of properly resourced facilities put in place by the State, there will be more deaths of this kind and our prison population will increase.

“I passionately believe that if a sufficient number of properly-resourced facilities for drug addiction were established it would radically reduce crime levels, reduce our prison population and save lives.”

He conveyed his sympathies to the Sherlock family.

At James Sherlock Jnr’s funeral in Ennis last August, parish priest Fr Tom O’Gorman also spoke of the dangers of drug addiction.

“Drugs led him [Jimmy] down the wrong path and the shackles that they hold on people can lead to death,” Fr O’Gorman told mourners.

LAHINCH is in mourning today following the sad and sudden passing of one of the great figures in Irish surfing, Tom Buckley.

Tom, who along with his wife Rosemary founded of Ireland’s first surf shop in Lahinch in 1989, passed away over the weekend while on a boating holiday in Greece. Along with establishing Ireland’s first surf shop, Tom was a key member of the Lahinch-based West Coast Surf Club and encouraged thousands of young people to take up the sport over the last 25 years.

Known affectionately as ‘the Bear’ or sometimes ‘Buckaroo’, Tom’s first experience of surfing in Lahinch came as a wind-surfer in 1988 when he accidentally caught a wave.

“It was pure fluke that I happened to get everything right. I just happened to arrive in on the surf in Lahinch, in the right direction and at the right part of the wave. It was a great rush. A really great rush and I was hooked. Simple as that,” he told The Clare People in an article published in 2007.

“The sail wasn’t doing anything, it was just pure wave power that was taking me along. To be honest, it was a long, long time afterwards before I managed to get a surf board to do the same thing.

“People started surfing in Lahinch from around 1970. It would have been mostly Limerick people really and the lifeguards were always into surfing. But as for who was the first, I’m not sure. I personally know of at least three people who are completely convinced that they are the first people ever to surf Lahinch.

“In those days, before there were lessons, we had to teach ourselves. We used to watch a lot of videos – that was about all the lessons that we had. We would see someone in a video doing something new, and we’d try it ourselves the next day and probably end up in the water. It was a tough way to learn. We used to just go out there and pray, try this, try that. It was all trial and error.”

Tom is survived by his wife Rosemary and their grown up children Eileesh and Thomas. His remains will be flown home to Ireland later today (Tuesday), or Wednesday with the funeral expected to take place over the weekend.