Category: News

A TEENAGER felt afraid of a “Fagin” type character in Ennis when he committed a number of crimes in the town last year, a court has heard.

The 16 year-old pleaded guilty at Ennis District Court on Wednesday to multiple offences committed be tween July and December 2012.

The teenager was one of two people who stole a car from Castlewood Park, Ennis on July 31 (2012).

On August 31, the teenager was seen by gardaí driving the car.

Inspector Tom Kennedy told the court that gardaí activated lights on the patrol car and indicated for the driver to stop.

Insp Kennedy said the car kept going before flipping and crashing just outside Ennis.

The court heard that the boy was thrown 15 feet from the car. He was transferred to hospital and his injuries later required him to wear a back brace for a period of six months.

The teenager pleaded guilty to trespassing on a farmhouse in Lemenagh, Kilfenora, on October 21 (2012) and theft of items from a house in the Lifford area of Ennis, also in October

He also pleaded guilty to his role in burglaries at houses in Westwood, Ennis, on dates unknown between December 25 and 26 and at Showgrounds View, Ennis, on dates unknown between December 26 and 27.

Defence solicitor John Casey said the boy had started hanging around with a bad crowd and had been in “freefall” when the burglaries occurred.

Mr Casey told the court there is a “Fagin” type figure in the background of some of these offences who his client is afraid of.

He said this person would give young people a lend of money or a “small bit of cannabis”.

Mr Casey explained, “No matter how much you try to pay it back, you can never pay it off. You work for it and you never get out of his debt.”

The court heard the boy had refused to identify the person to gardaí.

Mr Casey said his client is a “likeable young enough young lad”. He added, “Initially he was hanging out with the bad company but now he is the bad company.”

Judge Patrick Durcan said the teenager “gives the impression of being a lovely young lad” who had “fallen into bad, bad ways”.

He added, “I do not see a bad lad. I see a lad who is misled.” However he said a period in detention was required to “break the connection with bad company.”

The boy was remanded in detention for a full assessment.

SUPERVALU Retailers in Clare are calling on the county to get behind this year’s SuperValu TidyTowns competition.

Anthony Robinson, Queally’s SuperValu, Killaloe, Pat Haugh and Gerry Fitzpatrick, Fitzpatrick’s SuperValu, Ennistymon and Paul Queally, Queally’s SuperValu, Kilrush made the call as the competition officially kicked off for 2013. This year is the 22nd year of SuperValu involvement with TidyTowns and the second year of SuperValu’s title sponsorship. Last year there were 34 entries from County Clare with

Ennis winning the title of Ireland’s Tidiest Large Town. Speaking at the launch Martin Kelleher, Managing Director of SuperValu said;

“We are delighted to continue and build on our long term partnership with TidyTowns. Our retailers across the country pride themselves on being at the centre of the communities in which they live and trade. Throughout our 22 year association with TidyTowns, SuperValu has al- ways been passionate about doing everything we can to help our communities shine.

I would like to pay tribute to the hard work and dedication of so many people across the country who have made this one of the longest running and most successful community initiatives in the world. I would encourage people to talk to their local SuperValu retailer or visit tidytowns.ie to find out more and realise the huge rewards in taking an active part in their own community.”

The closing date for receipt of entries for all of this year’s competitions is 23rd May 2013. Entry forms to the SuperValu TidyTowns competition can be obtained from the TidyTowns Unit in the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government – Phone (071-9186744) or by visiting www.tidytowns.ie or www.supervalu.ie For entry to the Special Competitions please download your entry form at www.tidytowns.ie

CAMPAIGNERS against the construction of Ireland’s largest fish farm off the North Clare coast will get a chance to have their concerns heard in public as an oral hearing into the controversial salmon farm is now likely to take place.

The Department of Agriculture is currently deciding whether to allocate a license for the massive fish farm, which could create as many as 500 jobs if it goes ahead. A formal request was made by Galway City Council to the Department of Agriculture last week for a full oral hearing on the matter to take place and it is understood, because of the complex nature of the proposal, this request is likely to be granted.

The proposed fish farm, which will be located a number of miles off the Fanore coast, has divided opinions since it was first proposed in November of last year.

Indeed, the farm has even led to government agencies going to war, with Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) who proposed the farm, going toe to toe with Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) who oppose it.

Both organisation have submitted a large amount of technical data on the possible effects that the farm could have on the wild fish in the area and the nearby spawning rivers. Both sets of expert data contradict on a number of key points – most significantly on the amount of water pollution that the farm will create and the damage that sea lice will cause to native stocks.

More than 2,000 anglers and en- vironmentalists took protest against a proposed organic fish farm last month.

BIM claim that the fish farm would be a major employment boost in the North Clare area and could create as many as 500 local jobs. These claims have been contested by organisation such as IFI, who say that the likely number of jobs created will be closer to 40.

CLARE is celebrate Youth Work Ireland in style from next Saturday with a series of events around the county that will showcase the activities of the Clare Youth Service.

Details of the activities in the county for the week-long celebration of youth affairs in the county from April 20 to 28 have been revealed, with the Clare Youth Service staging a host of different events throughout the county providing an opportunity for people of all ages to participate, get involved and ‘Be part of it’.

These events include a Youth Space Music and Film Event that will take place at Clare Youth Services headquarters on Carmody Street. A spokesperson for the youth service said this event is “aimed at volunteers and youth leaders who are interested in starting film-making projects with young people”.

Meanwhile, over 40 years of youth services in Clare will be reeled in at the West County Hotel on Satur- day, April 27, when it plays host to a ‘Youth Club Leaders Reunion’, in conjunction with a photography exhibition that will showcase the history of the Clare Youth Service and the people involved in youth affairs in the county dating back to the early 1970s.

“In addition to the events we are holding two open mornings and inviting people to call in and visit, to meet with staff and to see some of the work Clare Youth Service are doing around the county,” the youth service spokesperson revealed.

“The Junction Youth and Community Building, Cloughleigh Road, will be open from 9am to 1pm on Thursday, April 25, for people to call in, visit the building and have a cup of tea. On the same morning Clare FM will be broadcasting their show live from The Junction.

“Carmody Street is open from 10.30am to 1pm on Friday, April 26, and again encouraging people to call in meet staff and get a feel for some of the work the service does,” the spokesperson added.

GARDAÍ have admitted they are seriously concerned by a recent rise in burglaries amid fears that criminal gangs from other counties are targeting Clare.

It follows a garda appeal for information following a spate of burglaries in Ennis last week. Four homes were broken into between the hours of 8.10am and and 7pm on Tuesday April 9.

Between 11.30am and 3.15pm a house in Westfields was broken into by forcing open the front door. A gold chain office for Chartered Accountants Midwest Society was stolen. A house in Toberteascain was ransacked when the front door was forced open between noon and 4pm.

Passports, bankcards and cash were stolen between 10.30am and 4pm from a house in College Park when the rear window was forced open.

Between 8.10am and and 7pm a house in College Green was entered when glass on a side door was broken. Cash and coins in a bottle along with the contents of small safe and jewelry were stolen.

Superintendent Derek Smart of Ennis Garda Station said the burglaries are under investigation and has appealed for anyone who may have seen anything suspicious in the areas to contact gardaí.

Supt Smart said, “We haven’t ruled anything in or out at this stage because the investigations are very active in respect to it. But there is a strong possibility of them being connected. With a certain amount of burglaries, we have travelling criminals from all over the country that are targeting the road network. Whether or not the ones on Tuesday are connected with that, we’re not that firm yet. They could be or if it’s something more local to us. There are a still a lot of enquiries to be finished in respect of that aspect of it. We would certainly believe that we have been targeted by travelling criminals in some of the burglaries that have been committed.”

There were 364 house break-ins in Clare last year though burglaries have fallen by 31 per cent in the county over the past five years.

Supt Smart said, “I think we’re probably slightly up on where we were last year with regards to the burglaries. I would have seen an increase in it and that would be very worrying for me in that regard.” Tue16April13

MORE than 20,000 healthy Clare ash trees are currently being planted at various locations around England – in an effort to find a cure for ash dieback disease or chalara fraxinea.

Its is hoped that some of the native Clare tree could contain genetic components that might help them fight the disease or could even make them immune. If this proves successful, the Clare trees could eventually be used to restock much of the ash population in Northern Europe, which has been devastated by the ash dieback in recent years.

The Clare trees, as well as a number from Donegal, are being planted in various locations in the South East and South West of England – where the disease is already well established.

This was revealed in a draft strategy to combat the disease published jointly by the Irish and Northern Irish departments of agriculture yesterday.

The news that Clare trees could provide a possible solution to the ash-dieback crisis is cold comfort for foresters in the county. Two positive finds of the disease have already been identified in the west and east of the county and it is considered likely that more trees in the area are effected.

“We are basically waiting and holding our breath. There is noting else we can do. We are basically doing whatever the forestry services tell us at this point. We are not making any of the decisions, we are just doing what we are told,” said one Clare forester, who asked not to be identified.

“They [forestry services] are sending out letters and contacting foresters. Where the disease is found there is felling, and there is also felling at associated sites. At the moment this is mostly young trees, maybe two or three years old.

“The forestry services are now actively going around and checking sites off their on bat and they had put in place a tractability system to try and identify infected trees.”

There has been some criticism of the measure of the way in which the disease was allowed to enter Ireland. Before the disease was discovered in Ireland, no attempt was made to ban imports of ash saplings from counties where the disease was already present, because it was deemed to be against the EU fair trade rules.

However, now that the disease has reached Ireland, a ban on saplings from these locations has been implemented.

JOBS could be under threat in Lahinch as employers face a marked increase in parking costs in the village, that’s according to locals who may have to pay for parking spaces they currently get for free come January 1st 2014.

A number of local businesses are set to lose access to unlimited car parking spaces at Liscannor Road car park from January of next year following plans to centralise the way parking fines are managed in the county.

Local representatives have accused Clare County Council or of handing out “diktats” to the local business community, by introducing measure that they feel will put employment at risk.

More than 70 free car parking permits have been issued by Clare County Council for the car park in recent years – with some local businesses currently in receipt of as many as seven permits.

The move is being put forward by Clare County Council, who have directed the Ennistymon Area Office to write to every business in Lahinch to inform them of the possible change.

The council is currently streamlining its parking procedure in Ennis, Kilrush and Lahinch in an attempt to save costs by managing all all parking appeals centrally from Ennis.

“The system has worked well up to now and the only reason we are introducing this is to suit other areas. I cannot see that these employers will be able to absorb these extra costs,” said Cll Richard Nagle (FF).

“This is inevitable going to incur increased costs for the people at Lahinch. This never came to us before now, this never came before [a meeting of ] Clare County Council, I feel that this is very heavy handed that is coming to us as a diktat from Ennis.”

At present, local permit holders cannot use car parking facilities at the Lahinch promenade. The proposed change would see local workers forced to use the Miltown Road car park on the southern edge of the town.

“This is a seasonal area, in Ennis the businesses are operating five or six days a week, all year round. The permits should reflect that.

“I take the points of the car park on the Miltown Malbay road, but there will be many days when it’s raining and employees will walk all the way down to work from this car park and the Liscannor Road car park will be totally empty,” said Cllr Joe Arkins (FG).

The proposed change to the parking system in Lahinch will not be brought in until January 1, 2014, at the earliest. Local councillors have asked that their opposition to the change be relayed to the officials at Clare County Council.

A KILRUSH business and almost 50 per cent of the jobs have been saved in an 11th hour plan.

John O’Dwyers Builders Providers and DIY Store in Kilrush will remain open despite an announcement that it was to close its doors at the end of the month with the loss of seven jobs.

Owner, John O’Dwyer said that thanks to the support of staff and loyal customers the shop will now remain open in a smaller retail unit.

The shop size will be reduced from 7, 500 square feet to 3,000 square feet, and staffing numbers will be reduced to three.

The yard and store will remain the same.

The Kilrush shop will stay open six days a week from 8am to 6pm, closing Sunday.

“We are hoping to stay until things improve and then open the shop back in the main building,” Mr O’Dwyer told The Clare People .

“We reduced the cost of keeping the store here to sustain the business here. We had to get our overheads down,” he said.

Mr O’Dwyer paid tribute to the staff who agreed to “keep the shoulder to the wheel” to keep the shop open.

He said that the four staff who had to be let go were also happy to see the shop remain open, as it gave them hope that the business would improve and expand giving them their jobs back in the future.

“I would also like to thank all the customers for their supportive over the last three weeks [when the closure was announced] and for their good wishes,” said the business owner.

“It is not going to be easy but we are going to give it a go.”

Seven months ago the Ennis store closed due to the down turn in the economy but the Miltown Malbay and now the Kilrush store continue to operate.

A FINAL decision on revised plans for the construction of a long-awaited Crusheen stop on the Western Rail Corridor will be made tomorrow, April 10.

A decision on the development, which includes a new 90-metre platform, a 17-bay car park, a telecom and equipment room and a bicycle shelter, is expected from planners at Clare County Council tomorrow afternoon.

A campaign to create a Crusheen stop on the Western Rail Corridor has been underway for more than a decade.

Government funding of € 1.5 mil- lion was allocated for the development when the Ennis to Galway section of the Western Rail Corridor was reopened on 2010.

Clare County Council previously granted planning permission for a station at Crusheen in June of 2011. However, a fresh application for a revised plan for the station was submitted to Clare County Council in September of last year.

The main difference between the current proposal and the one granted planning permission in 2011 is a reduction in the number of parking spaces sought – which has been reduced from 47 to 17. A platform shelter which was part of the 2011 planning permission is not mentioned in the current planning application.

PEACE has broken out between Clare County Council and home owners in the Ard na Deirge estate in Killaloe – who have agreed to work together to resolve the seven-year impasse at the unfinished estate.

More than 80 local people turned out at a protest at the site last week. A second protest, which was due to take place at the Ennis offices of Clare County Council today, April 9, has been postponed indefinitely.

Three properties in Ard na Deirge were purchased in 2006, before the contractor behind the development went into receivership.

The buildings on the estates are partially completed but services, such as water and sewerage, are not currently operational.

AIB took control of the development, through a receiver, and an investor is currently in the process of completing the purchase of the estate.

Local couple Michelle Burke and William Buck, who have been paying almost € 1,400 a month in mortgage payments for their Ard na Deirge since 2006, organised last Tuesday’s protest in the hope that the bond for the property would be used to complete water and sewage works and allow them to move into their home.

“We were very happy with the meeting with Clare County Council. We are really hoping that they can do something to resolve this situation. The bond is there to cover costs if a developer goes bust and that is what happens here,” she told The Clare People yesterday.

“We can’t be left the way we are. It was an initial meeting [with the council] and they are going to ex- amine what options are available to them. They are not working with us in any kind of formal way but it was a positive meeting.

“Our hope would be that they could draw this bond and use it to complete the sewerage, lights and roads. We would have to completed the property ourselves. It is a bit of light at the end of the tunnel, hopefully. It was a positive meeting and the lines of communication are now open,” she added.

A council spokesperson yesterday confirmed that last week’s meeting had been positive.

“We had a very useful meeting last week with the three house owners involved. The current complex situation was reviewed and a number of different scenarios were discussed,” said the spokesperson.

“While no decisions have been made at this point, the council is willing to uses its good offices to progress matters to a satisfactory solution for all. Towards that end, a number of other meetings have been scheduled with other stakeholders. We will continue to work with the householders involved to aid an overall resolution.”