Category: News

HOMEOWNERS in four Clare ghost housing estates remain exempt for the local property tax, due for payment from July.

However those that own or pay the mortgages on houses in 19 other es- tates exempt from last year’s “household charge” are now expected to pay up this new tax.

All properties identified as not liable for the new property tax by Clare County Council for the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government that are in the south and east of the county.

Ard na Deirge, Knockycloraun, Killaloe and Radharc an Locha, Scarriff Road, Mountshannon are two of the four Clare estates named in the list of unfinished housing estates published in the last week.

The remaining two estates are in Sixmilebridge – Chuirt an Droichead, on Main Street and Ard Ratha on the Broadford Road. Last year’s waiver applied in respect of the € 100 Household Charge was applied to 23 ghost estates.

The new list however contains 83 per cent less housing estates and reflects what the department describes as “the significant progress made by local authorities in reducing the number of problem estates.”

Not all householders agree however. Approximately 5,000 households nationally are eligible for an exemption under section 10 of the Finance Local Property Tax Act 2011.

Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan said;

“It is right and proper that households in unfinished developments should be exempt from payment of the Local Property Tax.

“The number of properties eligible for a waiver reflects the progress made in tackling unfinished housing developments, as well as the more objective approach to categorisation applied to the 2012 National Housing Development Survey.”

“I would urge people not to assume that just because they were eligible for a waiver from the household charge they will be eligible for an exemption from the local property tax. The list has changed substantially reflecting the improvements made by local authorities in resolving problems in unfinished housing developments,” he said. Information is available on the Department of Environment and Clare County Council websites.

WAS it a flair, was it a light aircraft, no, it was a meteorite that fell from the West Clare skies on Tuesday afternoon last and resulted in a massive land, air and sea search.

Around midday, a number of callers reported a “red flare” or a “fire ball” on the sky and making its way inland from Cappa towards Kilrush town.

Another caller later reported seeing what they believed to be a light aircraft on fire.

The Kilrush RNLI was one of the rescue services called to the scene of the mystery light and searched the area from Querrin Point to Cappa village.

“The information that was relayed was that people on the coast saw what looked like a small aircraft, which approaching turned into what seemed a ball of flame.

“At this time the same sightings were reported in the Shannon region,” explained Kilrush RNLI PRO Pauline Dunleavy.

The lifeboat was supported in the search by the Shannon helicopter, and crews from the Kilkee and Mallow Coast Guard, who at this time were involved with another incident in Ballybunnion and crossed the waters and joined in the search following the reports.

At about 2.30pm the search was called off as there was no sight of the mystery-flying object.

“After two and a half hours the search was stood down as the Aviation Department stated there were no aircrafts in the region and the conclusion was that it was perhaps a meteorite landing,” explained Ms Dunleavy.

The mysterious meteorite was just the first call out for a buy RNLI that day.

Just before 9.30pm Valentia Coast Guard again paged the lifeboat crew as a member of the public saw flares in the Kilrush area.

“We launched and after an hour we were stood down as there was no evidence along the shore from Cappa to the Moneypoint area.

“The unit of the Kilkee Coast Guard also carried out an intense shore search,” said a busy Ms Dunleavy.

She praised the members of the public that called in both possible emergencies, and urged anyone who does see anything suspicious out on the water to dial 999 without delay.

A NORTH Clare farmer who threatened his brother in a dispute over money has had the charges against him struck out. Last month Gus Howley (56), of Ballytigue, Lisdoonvarna, pleaded guilty to threatening his brother at Larrakea, Kilfenora on November 8, (2012).

He also pleaded guilty to causing € 1500 worth of damage of his brother’s car.

Mr Howley brought a slash hook with him but broke it on the way to a site where his brother Michael was working. Michael Howley was on a scaffold and rang the gardaí because he feared for his life.

Gus Howley had come to the site “in a fit of rage” after money owed to him by his nephew was not repaid. The court previously heard that Gus Howley’s nephew has moved to the United States.

After hearing the case at Ennis District Court last month, Judge Patrick Durcan urged the family to make peace. He adjourned the case pending the outcome of family negotiations.

The case came back before Ennis District Court on Wednesday. The court heard that meetings had taken placed between the brothers.

Asked by Judge Durcan if there was “black smoke or white smoke” arising from the meetings, Ennistymon based Garda, Noel Carroll said, “We have white smoke.”

Garda Carroll told the court that Gus Howley apologized to his brother at a meeting in Ennistymon Garda Station. Michael Howley accepted the apology and the brothers agreed to put the incident behind them, the court heard.

Defence solicitor Jim Finnegan said, “They shook hands and peace has broken out between the brother’s concerned.”

Mr Finnegan said his client had brought € 500 compensation to court. Judge Durcan told Gus Howley that he accepted his word he would pay his brother back for the damage caused. Describing Gus Howley as a “decent man”, Judge Durcan commended the brothers for working out their differences. He struck out the charges against Gus Howley.

He said, “I’m satisfied you won’t offend again.” Judge Durcan also praised the role played by Garda Carroll, saying communities in West and North Clare are “lucky” to have a guard of his quality.

KILKEE is the cheapest place to own a home in all of Ireland, according to the house tax guidelines as set out by Revenue.

According to Revenue’s controvertial new property valuation guide, all properties in Kilkee have an average guide value between € 0 and 100,000 – or the lowest valuation possible.

Revenue’s interactive pricing guide divides Clare into 156 different pricing areas. Each area is giving a specific price guide for apartments, terraced houses, bungalows, semidetached houses and detached houses built either before or after 2000. Kilkee is the only area in Clare, and indeed in Ireland, to receive the lowest possible valuation (between € 0 and € 100,000) in each of the categories.

This guideline valuation would seem at odds with the state of current property prices in the West Clare town. According to the Daft.ie property site, of the 83 properties currently for sale in Kilkee, 55 are on offer at prices in excess of € 100,000.

Indeed, over a quarter of the total stock currently for sale in Kilkee is valued at € 200,000 or more with a large number of properties in the area with valuations close to half a million euro.

The valuation system has come in for much criticism since it went live last week but a revenue spokesperson has stressed that the prices are only a guideline and homeowners must pay what they believe to be the market value of their home.

“The guidance is primarily based on the market value of properties sold since the year 2010 in the area, adjusted for average price movements in the interim,” said a Revenue spokesperson.

“This guidance will be helpful in the majority of cases but there are always properties in an area that differ from the average.

“Self assessment requires property owners to honestly assess the market value of their own property. If a property is smaller or larger than the average for the area, is in a significantly poor state of repair or has exceptional or unique features, these will have to be factored into the assessment.”

While the local prices differ de- pending on the type of property in each area, the Revenue’s valuations have identified a 29 area ‘golden zone’ stretching from the hinterland of Ennis down through South-East Clare and into Limerick where they believe properties are generally worth more. Ennis itself is divided into four areas with the northern quarter, identified as Ennis Urban No.1, generally having a higher value than the other three quarters of the town. Tue19March13

DRIVING disqualification orders have become one of the main strategies employed by gardaí in the effort to prevent crime in Clare.

People convicted in Clare courts are facing the prospect of losing their license if it is found they used a car in the commission of an offence.

Chief Superintendent of the Clare Garda Division, John Kerin said last week that the gardaí are now requesting judges to make disqualification orders on conviction.

However, Mr Kerin warned that many are choosing to ignore the orders. He explained, “In virtually every case we have here in Clare where a person is convicted of a crime and they use a car or a van, the Inspec- tors or Supers that are in court, on the conviction, are asking the judge (to disqualify from holding a license) and the judge is automatically making the disqualification order.

“But I can honestly say as well that most of those people who are disqualified will be driving another car the next night and we’ll have them in court again the next day for driving while disqualified.”

He continued, “That’s happening time and time and time again. It’s not that easy to police. Those orders, they were being ignored for years, but they are now very much part of our everyday work. They are one of our strategies to reduce crime.”

Chief Supt Kerin was speaking at a discussion on crime and policing in Ennis last week. He was responding to comments from Jim Corbett, Chairperson of the Spancil Hill Community Alert.

Mr Corbett said that cars and vans have become “tools of the trade” for offenders committing burglaries in rural area.

He said that automatic disqualifications should be imposed in all cases where people use cars in the commission of burglaries.

Two men who convicted of a burglary in a rural area of Clare were last week were each disqualified from holding a driver’s license for a period of five years.

Judge Patrick Durcan said he was of the view that both defendants used the car as an aid in the commission of a serious offence. Judge Durcan remarked that burglaries have become “all too prevalent in rural Ireland.”

He said home burglaries have the effect of damaging rural Ireland by creating fear and suspicion.

In a separate case, Judge Durcan commented on that the fact that thieves and robbers now required people to store stolen property for them “adds a new dimension” to the crime of burglary in Clare.

Levels of crime have fallen by 33 per cent in Clare over the past five years. Burglaries in Clare are down 163 over the same period.

However, there were 364 break-ins in Clare last year.

TWO Limerick brothers have been fined € 500 each after they were caught illegally attempting to import rhino horns worth almost € 500,000 through Shannon Airport three years ago.

Jeremiah O’Brien and (33) and Michael O’Brien (28) were stopped in Shannon Airport on January 13 (2010) due to their demeanor and the size of their luggage. Ennis District Court heard on Friday that customs officers seized eight rhino horns from the brothers who had returned from Faro, Portugal.

Jeremiah O’Brien, with an address at 22 Roche’s Road, Rathkeale, Limerick, pleaded guilty to the illegal importation of four rhino horns valued at € 231,760.

His brother, Michael O’Brien, also with an address at 22 Roche’s Road, Rathkeale, Limerick, pleaded guilty to the illegal importation of four rhino horns valued at € 260,400.

Denis Twohig of the Revenue Commissioner’s Investigations and Prosecutions Unit told the court that it is an offence to import rhino horns without license.

Evidence of valuation was given by George Mealy of Mealy’s Fine Art Ltd. Mr Mealy, a Castlecomerbased valuer and auctioneer, told the court that at the time the brothers were stopped rhino horn was valued at € 20,000 a kilo. He said the same quantity is now worth € 60,000. Mr Mealy said, “It’s worth more than gold at the moment per ounce.”

Judge Patrick Durcan accepted jurisdiction on the basis that the offence was germane to the breach of the regulations and not the value of the horns.

Defence solicitor John Cussen told the court that the horns were antique, dating from the 1960s, and not from a freshly killed rhino.

He told the court that the trade in rhino horn is fuelled by a “superstition in the Far East” that rhino horn is an “aphrodisiac that enhances sexual performance”.

He said the brothers acquired the horns from a Portuguese antique dealer named Hernandez. He said Mr Hernandez had entrusted the horns to the O’Briens who were to mount them on a board in Rathkeale before returning with them to Portugal.

Mr Cussen said the brothers are antique dealers who travel frequently throughout Europe. He said their circumstances are not good and that their families live in caravan parks in France and Germany. They have no previous convictions.

Mr Cussen said the brothers wished to apologise to the court. The brothers faced a maximum fine of € 1,250 and/or 12 months in prison.

Judge Patrick Durcan said, “In my relatively short time as a judge, this is one of the most interesting and intriguing cases I’ve had to deal with it.”

State solicitor Martin Linnane said, “I’ve never come across a case like this before.”

Judge Durcan said he was satisfied the horns were antique. He said the brothers had made no efforts to conceal the horns and that their actions had not in any way harmed a worldwide campaign aimed at protecting rhinos from poaching. Noting their guilty pleas and good record, Judge Durcan fined each man € 500 with three months to pay.

THE arts community in County Clare will once again be feeling the pinch this year with further cuts in the amount of funding being available by the Arts Council.

Clare County Council’s Arts Office will be the worst hit of the pillar projects with its funding being cut by just under 7 per cent – from € 75,000 to € 70,000. Glór will also be badly hit with an annual funding cut of almost 5 per cent – down from € 90,000 to € 86,000.

The total Arts Council finding for Clare’s four main arts projects – including the council’s Arts Office, Glór, The Willie Clancy Summer School and Salmon Poetry – comes to just € 278,000. This is in stark contrast to neighbouring County Galway, whose main arts projects will receive a staggering € 2.7 million, including € 820,000 for the Druid Theatre Company and € 470,000 for the Galway Arts Festival.

County Clare Arts Officer, Siobhan Mulcahy, says that Clare is holding its own in terms of arts funding and believes that the quality of the artistic community in the Banner is our biggest asset. “Clare has done relatively well with both Salmon Publishing and Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy remaining at the same level of funding as they received last year. This is the context of an overall decline in arts funding from the Arts Council, so to hold their own in the current climate is a sign of their resilience and is an acknowledgement by the Arts Council of the importance of these organisations locally, nationally and internationally,” she said.

“Cuts to Glór and the Arts Office of Clare County Council are indicative of the overall funding cuts applied to local authorities and venues this year. Whilst both continue to provide quality and ongoing services to Clare artists and the people of Clare, such cuts are a significant challenge.

“However, from the point of view of the Arts Office, the greatest resource we have is the number and quality of artists of all disciplines in the county and we consider ourselves fortunate to have such a pool of artists with which to work. It should also be noted that whilst annual funding is down, increased funding has been made available to arts festival and events in the county this year with funding for the Gathering and funding through the Culture Connects Programme of the EU Presidency.”

A SECOND school in the Burren region was broken into last week as criminal activity in the area reaches worrying levels.

The offices of Seamount College in Kinvara were broken into on Thursday last, March 14, just over a week after a similar incident took place in nearby New Quay National School in North Clare.

Gardaí car ried out a technical examination of the Seamount College on Friday after the break-in, which is believed to have taken place at some time between 8pm on Thursday evening and 7.30am on Friday morning.

Three offices at Seamount College were broken into and ransacked and a small sum of cash was also taken.

The nearby HSE Medical Centre was also targeted in the raid and it is understood that both incidents are connected. Nothing was taken from the medical centre.

Gardaí from Gort have car ried out door to door enquiries in the area and are asking anyone who might have information about the incident to contact them on 091 636400.

These latest break-ins come just a week after the theft of eleven laptop computers and a number of other pieces of electrical equipment from New Quay National School in North Clare.

The New Quay School break-in took place some time between 10pm on Wednesday night, March 6, and 9am on Thursday March 7.

The thieves gained access to the school’s computer room by forcing open a back window.

Eleven Toshiba laptops were taken along with a white camcorder, two Fuji digital cameras, a black Ni kon camera and a small amount of cash.

There is no evidence that the two school break-ins were connected in any way.

Gardaí in Ennistymon are investigating the New Quay break-in and anyone with information is asked to contact 065 7072180.

CLARE could soon have a direct connection to the British throne following the bizarre revelation that Queen-in-waiting, Kate Middleton, has ancestry in the Banner County.

Middleton’s Clare connections were revealed in the House of Commons last week when a detailed genealogy of the Duchess of Cambridge was presented at an event attended by Taoiseach Enda Kenny (FG) and British Prime Minister David Cameron.

According to the genealogy, Middleton is a blood descendant of Killaloe warrior Brian Boru. The research, which was carried out by Tourism Ireland, reveals that Middleton’s ancestors, the Lupton family from Yorkshire, are descendants of a Fitzmaurice family from Kerry, who are themselves blood descendants of Brian Boru.

This news could prompt a stop in the Banner County for Kate, who is currently five months pregnant, and Prince William during their planned trip to Ireland next year. Buckingham Palace is currently finalising plans for the royal couple to visit Ireland in early 2014 but the exact itinerary for the visit has not yet been decided.

The trip is expected to take place in the first half of next year and has been planned since before Middleton’s pregnancy. The trip had been expected to be focused on the east coast, given Prince William’s time served as a rescue pilot in the Irish Sea, but the Clare connection could prompt organisers to plan a flying visit to Killaloe.

This visit would coincide with the 1,000-year anniversary of Brian Boru’s death, with thousands already expected to descend on Killaloe to mark the man who drove the Vikings from Ireland.

Middleton was in London on Sunday, where she presented shamrocks to the Irish Guards regiment in Hampshire. Should a royal visit to Clare take place, it would mean tens of thousand of extra visitors, as well as the world media, descending on the Banner County.

A TEENAGER allowed stolen property to be stored in his home in Ennis earlier this year because he “risked serious harm” if he refused, a court has heard. Dara Maloney (19), with an address at 32 Morrissey Avenue, Cloughleigh, appeared at Ennis District Court on Wednesday. He pleaded guilty to two charges of handling a stolen Dell laptop and a black Samsung flat screen TV at 32 Morrissey Avenue, Cloughleigh, Ennis on January 23 (2013).

Inspector Tom Kennedy told the court that the items were discovered following a garda search of the house at 8am on the morning in question.

Insp Kennedy said the accused told gardaí that he bought the goods of a man whom he did not identify.

The court heard the laptop was stolen from a house in Kilnamona last December. The television was stolen during a separate house burglary.

Mr Maloney is not charged in connection with the burglaries.

Defence solicitor Daragh Hassett said his client had been pressured into storing the stolen items in his home. Mr Hassett said a person known to the gardaí had taken advantage of his client, warning Mr Maloney he “risked serious harm” if he did not co-operate.

In reply, Insp Kennedy said the accused had been “less than co-operative” in telling guards where the goods came from.

Mr Hassett said his client had not been forthcoming to gardaí because he “feared for his life.”

The court heard the accused had been a good soccer player who obtained his leaving cert and is now hoping to secure work in London.

Judge Patrick Durcan said he appreciated that Mr Maloney had potential. However, he added that anyone who “plays a role in the supply of capacity to thugs” who break into homes is as guilty as they are.

Judge Durcan commented that the fact that thieves and robbers now required storage facilities adds a new dimension to the crime of burglary in Clare. He imposed a three-month sentence on each charge, suspending the sentences for 12 months. Recogances were fixed in the event of an appeal.