Category: News

THE Bishop of Inis Cathaigh (Scattery Island) and Auxiliary Bishop of Brooklyn in New York Most Reverend Frank J. Caggiano has apologised to the people of Kilrush for pulling out of plans to celebrate Mass on the monastic island at the 11th hour.

The bishop was forced to change his plans to celebrate the Mass last weekend due to financial constraints, both in his own budget and the budget of the local authority in Clare.

The bishop, who holds the ancient title of Bishop of Scattery Island since his ordination in August 2006, accepted an invitation from Kilrush Town Council and the local committee Comóradh Sheanáin Naofa to celebrate the annual Mass on the year of the Gathering.

In July his secretary wrote to Kilrush Town Council asking if the bishop would be reimbursed for his travel expenses.

The council members agreed that they did not have the funds to cover the costs, and did not usually cover any costs of visiting dignitaries to the town.

The bishop then contacted the town clerk John Corry just weeks before the Mass expressing his regret that he could not visit Kilrush due to budgetary issues.

“In the reply that I received from Most Rev Caggianos office regarding his visit to Ireland it appears that the cost of the trip to Kilrush appeared to be the problem,” Mr Corry told The Clare People .

“His offices indicated that because of the limited travel funds in their budget, they determined that it was not feasible for the Bishop to travel to Ireland for the Mass. They estimated the cost of this trip at $1,800 and with the bishop previously scheduled to participate in the Youth 2000 Summer Festival in mid-August, an additional cost like this would off-set their expenses.

“They expressed their sincerest apologies for the short notice and change in plans,” said Mr Corry.

Chairperson of Comóradh Sheanáin Naofa Cllr Tom Prendeville (FF), who first proposed the invitation to the council, said the group were disappointed that the bishop could not attend the special Mass.

Had he been able to make the trip he would have been the first Bishop of Scattery in living memory to visit the sixth century settlement.

“I understand why the county could not afford the bill, especially at such times of constraint. Maybe he might be able to come in the future.”

Cllr Prendeville said that other than the disappointment of not having Bishop Caggiano in attendance, the Mass and weekend of visits to the island was a huge success.

A DISTRESSED mother has told how she relied on the kindness of strangers who were themselves at the mercy of the health services, as she waited more than three hours to have her two-year-old daughter’s head injury assessed.

The long wait at the University Hospital Limerick’s Emergency Department (ED) began at 6.45pm on Tuesday.

The little girl had received a bang to the head earlier that evening after a gate swung back on her. The family travelled to the only hospital in the region permitted to take injured children under the age of five to have the head injury examined and treated.

After a long wait to see a nurse, the worried mother was less than satisfied when she was “asked how it happened, my name, my contact number and advised there were two people ahead of us and it would be approximately an hour before she would be seen”.

The little toddler was then sent back out to the waiting room with her wound open and uncovered.

“At 9.30pm, 2.45 hours later, I approached the reception desk at AandE and pleaded with the lady that she be reviewed as she was a child with a head injury. There were tears in my eyes by now,” said the upset mother.

“The lady behind the desk seemed surprised that she wasn’t reviewed and said she is a child who should be given priority,” she said, adding that she told her to go through to a room inside in the emergency department.

“I met a nurse there and I advised her that the lady in reception suggested I bring her in …. There was only one other patient in there at the time but the nurse advised I would have to leave and wait outside.”

Eventually more than three hours later she was called through to ED.

“During this time I stood with my child in my arms and tried to console her as much as I could. An elderly man on a stretcher bed actually got up and let her lie down on his bed for a few minutes so she could try and get comfortable. After a few minutes I felt bad for the man and moved her. Another woman gave me a chair.”

“When she was eventually called by the doctor at approximately 10pm she was extremely upset as she was tired, exhausted and sore. She got upset on entering the [examination] room and I tried to calm her down, she ran out and I followed her, as she was scared of what was going on. As I left the doctor shouted after me ‘you answer my questions and the nurse will go after her’. I kept walking after my daughter but I could hear a nurse saying to him the child needs her mother.

“I eventually calmed her down, with the help of a lovely woman who gave her some chocolate from her hand bag. The doctor approached us and asked if she was okay now and I advised yes – she understands what will happen, to which he replied, good I will see another patient and I will be back. I could not believe this, neither could patients or people in the area that witnessed it. My daughter is two and a half years old, had been waiting in a strange place for over three hours for a doctor and she got scared. She is only a child. I find it absolutely unacceptable that my daughter had to wait over three hours for a doctor to assess her head injury,” said her tired mother.

She paid tribute to the other patients who helped her through the ordeal stating “They were people who cared more about me than the nurses and doctors.”

Since the episode in the ED the little girl was taken to her GP at the weekend, as the cut was badly infected. She is now on antibiotics for the infection.

THE dolphin human relationship in Clare may have got some bad publicity in recent weeks, but two striped dolphins are back swimming off the west coast of Clare thanks to a group of children.

The young heroes floated the two mammals, who had become beached on Thursday evening at the west end of Kilkee beach, before the emergency services has arrived.

The Kilkee unit of the Irish Coast Guard were dispatched to the beach following reports of the distressed dolphins trapped in shallow waters.

The unit had been on a training exercise nearby at the time.

The call out came at around 7.30pm but the coast guard arrived just in time to see the dolphin swim away, after it was helped out of shallow rock pools.

A spokesperson for the coast guard told The Clare People , “By the time we got there a few local lads had floated the dolphins back out. Apparently it happens regularly enough.”

Members of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group also arrived at the beach shortly after the rescue.

It is believed that there were as many as four dolphins in the area on the night in question.

The striped dolphin is more likely to become beached in shallow waters that the more confident bottlenose dolphin.

Dolphins are social, living in pods of up to a dozen individuals. In places with a high abundance of food, pods can merge temporarily, forming a superpod; such groupings may exceed 1,000 dolphins.

THE number of planning applications received by Clare County Council during the first half of this year was down 25 per cent on the previous year.

The latest edition of the National Housing Construction Index shows that Clare has the fifth highest percentage drop in planning applications this year.

The number of houses that commenced building this year was also slightly down on last year with a drop of four per cent.

A spokesperson for links2plans, the company that issued the figures said, “Even though Clare only has a marginal drop in its commencements this year, the new figures on the significant drop in planning applications suggests that we may expect to see a significant drop in planning commencements in the near future.”

There were 179 housing planning applications lodged with Clare County Council in 2012, and this dropped by 45 to 134 this year.

The number of commencements dropped from 113 to 109.

“Compared to Clare, the outlook is positive for particular pockets around the country which are experiencing an increase in commencements and applications,” said the Managing Director of Link2Plans, Danny O’Shea.

“The Link2Plans team have seen significant changes in activity throughout the country which in part can be explained by the weather conditions in the first few months of 2013. There are however clear signs that the growth in residential construction activity is being felt in Dublin and other counties are still some way back. It will be interesting to see if the dry weather experienced throughout June and July will see the next edition of the index, register an increase in project commencements.”

A UNIQUE horse and pony charity ride will begin in Clare on August 31 in a bid to raise much-needed funds for the Mid West Cancer Foundation.

Established in 2007, the centre is located on the grounds of the University Hospital Limerick and its main aim is to provide holistic care for people from Clare, Limerick and Tipperary with cancer through a wide range of services.

The foundation also supports research being carried out by the Stokes Institute.

All funds raised from the Ennis to Limerick charity ride will enhance the cancer centre’s facilities and will ensure that the best treatment, services and cutting edge technology is available to people with cancer in the mid-west area.

Co-director and credit controller of the event Ennis woman Paula Williams explained, “As parents we got thinking wouldn’t it be a lovely to do something in the mid-west for the people of the mid-west that involves both children and parents.”

The charity ride and drive will not just be going from Ennis to Limerick, but a second group of horses, ponies and riders will also make their way from Adare in Limerick to meet with the Clare group at the Limerick Greyhound Course.

On the day of the event route one leaves from the Showgrounds in Ennis with participants free to do a much or little of the ride as they wish. There will be stops along the way in Quin, Sixmilebridge and the Radison in Meelick for refreshments.

A raffle will be held at the end of the ride and six winners will be picked to lead out the grey hounds running in the 8.30 Mid-western Cancer Foundation Charity Race at the greyhound race.

“All the proceeds from the charity ride and drive, raised by sponsorship cards and collection buckets on the day will go to the Mid-Western Cancer foundation which was which is based at the University of Limerick,” said Ms Williams.

AS THE hurlers of Clare and Limerick prepare to square up against each other this weekend, new evidence has emerged which suggests that an ancient common tribal link exists between the people of two counties.

An excavation of Moneen Cave in Ballyvaughan has provided experts with a fresh insight into life in the West of Ireland in prehistoric times. The significance of the cave was not identified until 2011, when a ancient body as well as a number of ceremonial artefacts were discovered by local cavers.

The cave has been the topic of ongoing research by Dr Marion Dowd of IT Sligo, who has just completed a report including extensive radiocarbon dating and ancient DNA analysis.

She has determined that the cave was a significant religious site during the Bronze Age for a period of 1,000 years between 2,000 BC and 1,000 BC – after which point Moneen Cave inexplicable fell out of use.

The oldest artefact found on site was a red deer antler mace-head, which has opened the possibility of shared religious belief existing in Clare And Limerick some 4,000 years ago.

“We found evidence of ritual food offerings such as oysters and joints of meat. We also found about 350 sherds of pottery dating to 1,000 BC,” said Dr Dowd.

“The antler mace-head dates to around 2,000 BC. It was probably a ceremonial object and is the most important artefact from the site. We initially thought it was the only antler mace-head in Ireland but just recently we have come across five other examples of this sort of artefact – two from north county Limerick, one from Lough Inchiquin [in Corofin, County Clare] as well as one from Antrim and one from Meath.

“Most of the mace-heads or hammer-heads seem to come from natural places that were sacred in the past – caves, rivers and lakes. We know, for example, that Lough Inchiquin was a significant site in Neolithic and Bronze Age times because significant numbers of stone axes were ritually deposited in it, as well as one of these antler mace-heads.

“Though only six of these objects are known in Ireland, there is a marked concentration in Clare and north Limerick.

“What we are seeing is that there may have been a significance regarding this type of artefact in the religious practices of people in this region; that within their belief system [the Bronze Age people of Clare and north Limerick], this sort of antler mace-head was a recognised ceremonial and religious object.”

Meanwhile, human remains discovered in the cave were identified as those of a teenage boy who lived in the late medieval period, dying in the sixteenth or seventeenth century.

“A find like this is totally unprecedented in a cave context” continued Marion.

“We know that this was a 14 to 16 year old with probable stunted growth. We also know from the bones that the person had a very poor diet and would have suffered from a number of infections.

“Ancient DNA analysis showed that the skeletal remains were those of a boy. What we don’t know, and what we will probably never know for certain, is what caused this child’s death.

“Could he have been a murder victim? I don’t think so, because there is no sign of trauma of the bones. The second possibility is that this was some sort of clandestine burial – someone who didn’t warrant burial in consecrated grounds. I don’t think this is the case either because the body would still have been buried in the Christian east-to-west position.

“The other possibility is that the boy came into the cave and died there. He may have been ill or injured. This is my personal opinion of what happened even though we will never know for sure.”

The excavation was funded by the National Monument Service.

A JURY has returned verdicts of accidental death at the inquests of two men who drowned off the West Clare coast last year.

64-year-old Skipper Michael Galvin and his 35-year-old neighbour Noel Dickinson drowned when their boat, the Lady Eileen, sank off the coast of Quilty last August. Their disappearance sparked a massive search that at one stage involved around 20 boats various search and rescue services.

Inquests into the men’s deaths were held at Clare County Coroner’s Court on Wednesday. They heard that Liz Galvin was the last person to see her husband and Mr Dickinson alive be- fore they left for sea.

In her draft deposition read in court, Ms Galvin stated it was not unusual for the men to spend a long day working at sea.

Martin Kiely of Aughinish Diving Club and James McMahon of Burren Sub Aqua Club told the inquest they found the bodies of the men in the wheelhouse of the Lady Eileen.

The inquest heard that the men had been part of a dive team searching the water off Breaffa South. The bodies of the men, who both lived at Seaview Park, were taken ashore at Seafield Pier, Quilty, on August 14. Death was pronounced by Dr Billy O’Connell.

Both men were fishermen but the inquest heard that Mr Dickinson also worked as a chef. Autopsies were performed at the Mid Western Regional Hospital, Limerick.

Dr Elizabeth Mulcahy told the inquest that blood analysis revealed a negative or zero reading for ethanol in both men.

Dr Mulcahy said that in her opinion, death was due to drowning.

County Coroner Isobel O’Dea suggested to the jury that the appropriate verdict to return was one of either accidental death or death by misadventure.

After declining an offer to retire to consider their decision, the jury returned a unanimous verdict of accidental death with drowning as the cause of death. Ms O’Dea extended her sympathy to both families on the tragic losses of Michael Galvin and Noel Dickinson. She also paid tribute to the rescue services who assisted in the search.

Ms O’Dea noted the findings of the official Marine Casualty Investigation Board (MCIB) report, which found that the Lady Eileen probably encountered wind or wave action on the day it sank. Ms O’Dea noted the weather had been particularly bad at the time.

She said she was conscious that the first anniversary of the men’s death would be marked this week.

Inspector Michael Gallagher expressed sympathy on behalf of the gardaí.

Family members were present in court for the inquests.

ONE OF the Burren’s largest employers may be forced to close for good next month – leaving 16 people out of work.

The Gallery Café says they maybe forced to close for good at the end of the Summer, with owner Sarah Harty blaming a lack of support from the local authorities as the main reason for the closure.

An estimated 20 separate business have closed in Gort over the past two years – with many of the market towns traditional employers feeling the effects of the recession.

According to Sarah Harty, proprietor of the Gallery Café on Queen Street, businesses in Gort are being “buried alive” by Galway County Council.

“I have been running a business for eight years in this town, employing up to 16 people.

“In order to reinvent my business I needed to enhance the outside of my property to attract people in.

“After spending thousands each year on council rates, the council rejected my claim to improve the pavement outside which was a myriad of potholes – completely unsightly and near reck- less for any passer-by, due to lack of budget,” she said.

“So I took matters into my own hands and put up an attractive decking. This decking feature was instrumental in attracting people down this formerly little known side street of Gort, spreading business around this side of town.

“I was then asked to remove this by the council as it didn’t comply with their regulations, which I duly accepted.

“However, during the recent hot weather, my restaurant was too uncomfortable to sit inside, so I put tables and chairs outside on the pavement in order to keep my business going, making sure not to obstruct anyone.

“I then received a letter with a summons to court and a fine for doing so. I have now completely hit a wall and am considering closing – this lack of support for small businesses is killing our town, and I can’t afford the fine plus my rates.

“I feel I am getting no support from our local government.” The Clare People contacted Galway County Council in relation to this story but a spokesperson from the local authority declined to comment – saying it was policy not to comment on ongoing enforcement matters.

RATE payers in Ennis are facing an uncertain year in 2014 with the prospect of a split rate – with businesses paying more for the second half of the year than they do in the first six months.

The upcoming merger of Ennis Town Council and Clare County Council means that the Ennis authority will strike a rate for the first six months of the year in December and businesses in Ennis may be forced to pay a different “county” rate for the second hand of the year.

The difference between the rate charged by Ennis Town Council and Clare County Council is one of the highest of any town and county council in the country. If the charge was directly transferred at its current rate it would mean a 10 per cent increase in the charge levied for businesses in Ennis.

“The town council is going to set a rate in Ennis until June of next year and we don’t know what is going to happen in July. There is a huge disparity between the town council rate and the county council rate in Ennis, and the fear is that the new rate will be adjusted upwards. But businesses in Ennis could see a jump of something like 10 per cent next year,” said Rita McInerney, CEO of Ennis Chamber of Commerce.

“Our members could budget for the year on one rate and then come July that rate is no more. That is the fear that a lot of businesses in Ennis have right now.”

Following the news that 16 jobs could be jeopardy at the Gallery Cafe in Gort, Rita called for all local authorities to show more support for local businesses.

“It is difficult in the hospitality and tourism sector at the moment and everyone is looking at every way they cant increase revenue of to cut costs.

“Businesses have looked at all of their expenses – like rent or staff costs and they have been able to make some progress. However, when it comes to rates, it is not something that you can shop around with,” she said.

“That is the most frustrating thing for businesses, as the recession has hit and as things have gotten more difficult, they have been able to work with suppliers and workers – but there has been no reduction in rates.”

SEVEN summer festivals in Clare are receiving € 81,500 in Arts Council funding this year, with the Willie Clancy Summer School Festival receiving the majority of the funding.

The Miltown Malbay festival, which took place from July 6 to July 14, was awarded € 60,000 as part of Arts Council’s provision of € 2.1m in support to over 40 festivals scheduled to take place all over Ireland this summer and early autumn.

The Summer Music on the Shannon, which is currently taking place at different venues throughout the county received € 6,000, while the Feakle International Traditional Music festival which is to begin tomorrow (Wednesday) was awarded € 5,500.

The Crotty Galvin Traditional Music Festival Weekend which will take place in early September and last months Ennis Street Festival received € 3,000 each, while the Music in the Glen and the Willie Keane Memorial Weekend, both to take place in October received € 2,000 each.

The funding was made available to these festivals under yearly grants, with a number also receiving fund ing through the Arts Council’s festivals and events scheme.

Orlaith McBride, Director of the Arts Council, said, “The Arts Council is delighted to be able to fund these very important upcoming festivals. Many of these festivals have be- come household names and this is down to the great work that is being done on the ground and in organisations around the country.”

“In addition, these festivals provide an important economic stimulus for the regions where they are held.

“Each year, thousands of tourists travel not just from across Ireland, but from across the world, to sample the atmosphere and to take part in the excitement that these events generate.

“Despite the vagaries of our summer weather, these festivals give a lift to cities and towns and create many memorable moments for visitors and locals alike.”

“Despite funding for the arts being cut by 30 per cent in the last five years, the Arts Council remains dedicated to maintaining support for the arts and ensuring that events around the country are available for people across Ireland in the months and years ahead,” she added.