Category: News

TOMMY Hayes has been at the forefront of traditional lrish music for more than three decades, and now the popular percussionist is leading the way in music therapy.

The founding member of Stockton’s Wing is not only working in the field of music therapy but he is also a special guest lecturer at the MA Music Therapy Programme in the Irish World Academy University of Limerick.

This is the first programme of its kind in Ireland and the only degree in the country leading to a professional qualification in music therapy.

Now the Clare composer and musician is working almost full time as a music therapist in carious settings including medical and educational.

He works as a freelance music therapist with a number of clients on a private basis and has extensive experience of working in the areas of autism, mental health, physical disability and adolescence and has a particular interest in guided imagery and music practice.

Tommy also supervises trainee therapists in the Limerick and Clare areas.

He qualified as a

music therapist in

2002 having com

pleted the MA Mu

sic Therapy pro

gramme.

Qualified music

therapists use the

unique character

istics of music in

musical interaction

to support people

who have additional

needs because of

medical, psychologi

cal, physical or emo

tional issues.

The course requires

a high level of music

skill on entry.

Experience in paid or volunteer work with people who have a disability or experience some sort of social disadvantage/exclusion is required.

A KILRUSH man in “dire need of help” to fight a heroin addiction has had his case adjourned until April.

Grave concern was expressed for the health of Anthony Sweeney (20) at Ennis Circuit Criminal Court on Friday.

Mr Sweeney was in court having pleaded guilty to a charge of burglary at Dysart, Kilrush on June 26 (2012).

The court heard that the accused and another man were seen searching a car outside a house in a rural are of West Clare.

The court heard a set of keys had been taken from the house.

The offenders fled on bikes to a wooded area after being disturbed and the gardaí were called.

Mr Sweeney, with an address at 13 Wood Road, Kilrush, was subsequently arrested and made admissions to gardaí.

Detective Garda Donal Corkery of Kilrush Garda Station gave evidence in the case.

The court heard Det Corkery has taken an active interest in the welfare of Mr Sweeney by regularly liaising with the Sweeney family.

He said the accused suffers from a chronic addiction to heroin. Det Corkery told the court he had “grave concerns” for the health and wellbeing of Mr Sweeney due to his drug addiction.

He said he would consent to an adjournment of the case on the basis that Mr Sweeney was remanded in custody.

Det Corkery said, “I believe he is in dire need of help in terms of his drug addiction and he won’t get it himself.”

The court heard Mr Sweeney’s family have been left “very, very drained” by the impact of drug abuse.

Counsel for Mr Sweeney, Mark Nicholas BL, told the court that heroin abuse is an “awful course to be afflicted with.”

Judge Gerard Keyes remarked that this was the third case that day he had dealt with where a lack of residential treatment places for drug users had emerged as an issue in sentencing.

Mr Nicholas said, “They (addicts) are a voiceless people who cannot march on the Dáil Éireann (to be heard).”

Judge Keyes said greater availability of drug treatment and rehabilitation facilities would save money for the State in the long term.

Judge Keyes said that if Mr Sweeney went back on the streets without access to appropriate services, “the chances of re-offending because of drug use would be high.”

Judge Keyes said that irrespective of there being no violence involved, he regarded Mr Sweeney’s offence as a serious one.

“People are entitled to reside safe in bed at night,” he added.

Sentencing was adjourned until April 16, pending involvement from the Probation Services. Mr Sweeney was remanded in custody.

IF A large lump of whale vomit found on the beach at Lahinch is authenticated by whale experts, the seaside town could end up attracting a whole new type of tourist.

Because if there is whale vomit on “them thar beaches”, it could be worth more than gold dust to those who find it, as Alan Davey from Ennis is hoping.

The 38-year-old found what he believes is the rare whale ambergris on the beach while getting a surfing lesson from his friend, Brian Miller from Cratloe.

The Ennis man became aware of the value of the waste product of the sperm whale’s digestive system when one found in the UK recently made headlines after it was sold for £100,000 sterling. It is estimated that the 20cm-diameter ambergris found by Alan could make between € 10,000 and € 50,000.

Ambergris is used mostly in highend perfumes, and its rarity adds to its value. Since discovering the “floating gold”, so-called because it can float for years in the sea before being discovered, Alan and Brian have been making national headlines and taking to the national airwaves.

In order to protect their potential loot, they have now left it with a mutual friend for safekeeping until an expert can confirm whether or not it is the coveted whale bile.

The potentially precious substance is securely wrapped in a cotton bag as directed by Alan’s online research.

The Jersey native has said that while he is trying not to get too excited about the possible value of his find, the money will come in handy.

He has also promised to split any profits with his friend and surf teacher Brian.

THE mystery artists who spraypainted a large mural on the side of the Cliffs of Moher have been identified as members of a Paris-based art collective known as the Dirty EST.

A short film, depicting two people journeying through Ireland on a graffiti rampage, was released last Wednesday evening on file-sharing website Vimeo.

The video depicts one male and one female graffiti artist, named as Dirty Edoir and Mama respectively, as they journeyed from Dublin to Galway and onto Clare, completing graffiti along the way.

The video depicts a mural being completed by Dirty Edoir at an unidentified derelict site in Dublin, as well as on a railway bridge in Galway.

The largest section of the video, however, shows the couple travelling from Galway to the Cliffs of Moher where Dirty Edoir can be seen completing the controversial mural.

The video closes with a shot of the pair looking out over the Atlantic Ocean from the Lahinch Promenade.

After going live late on Wednesday evening, the video received a slew of negative comments through social media about the graffiti on the Cliffs of Moher.

The video was removed from the Vimeo website early on Thursday morning.

A number of attempts to contact members of the Dirty EST collective have failed. Indeed, the Paris-based group have taken both their Facebook and Vimeo accounts off-line over the weekend.

It now appears that the pair may have also entered the derelict Corrib Great Southern Hotel in Galway City during their rampage across Ireland.

The Cliffs of Moher also appeared on a French blog operated by Dirty Edoir and Mama, before it was removed over the weekend.

The blog, which is located at mexplo.blogspot.ie, also includes a series of pictures taken from inside the hotel. The images, which were posted by ‘Mama’ depict the interior of the hotel, including the emptied swimming pool and several images of rooms in a state of disrepair.

The hotel, which is located beside the Galway Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT), is owned by Barrett’s Property Holdings, but has been empty for some time. GMIT had reportedly been interested in turning the former hotel into a cookery school but no firm plans have been announced to date.

Meanwhile, Limerick cleaners from Premier Industrial Cleaning and Maintenance successfully removed the graffiti from the Cliffs of Moher, in what has been dubbed as “comando cleaning”.

The group worked in harnasses above the 600-feet-high cliff for more then eight hours until the offending mural was removed.

“It is a shame that such vandalism has taken place on one of Ireland’s most famous tourist attractions. Severe penalties should be handed out through the courts for such actions. Onlookers who watched us from a distance were shocked that someone had taken such a risk to vandalise such a spot of beauty,” said Billy Marshall of the company.

“In my 21 years in business, this was the most daunting task we have had to carry out.”

THE establishment of a new neighbourhood watch scheme for the Hermitage area of Ennis will be discussed at a meeting in the town next Monday.

The meeting, which will be attended by crime prevention officer Sgt Joe Downey, will take place at the Junction, Cloughleigh Road, at 7pm.

All residents in the Hermitage area are invited to attend.

Local councillor Tony Mulqueen (FG) said the meeting is aimed at tapping into the strong sense of community spirit that exists in Hermitage. He said residents are taking a proactive approach to any issues around crime that might arise in the area.

He said, “There have been a couple of break ins in the area. Hermitage is not unique in that respect; there have been break ins at houses in other parts of the town as well. The one thing that does exist in the area is a strong community of friends and neighbours. Some of the families in Hermitage have been living in the area for 40 or 50 years so it makes it easier to set up a Neighbourhood Watch Scheme than say in an area where you have a lot of rented houses.”

He added, “It also gives the Guards a means of liaising with the community on issues that arise. There hasn’t been any serious escalation of crime. Instead of reacting its about taking steps before it gets out of control.” Cllr Mulqueen said all resident are welcome to attend.

Cllr Michael Guilfoyle (Ind) welcomed the scheme, saying it had been a success in the Turnpike.

FOURTEEN people will be employed after car firm Renault announced details of a new dealership in Ennis.

The Gort Road based Hogan Motors in Ennis will run the new Renault dealership.

The well-known car dealer has been in the business for over 37 years. Dealer principal Paul Hogan and his wife Mary will run the dealership which will employ 14 people. Renault Ireland’s latest dealership will retail Renault passenger and commercial vehicles and facilitate Renault after sales and servicing, and will service Clare and neighbouring counties.

Hogan Motors Renault is open for business and Renault Open Week until March 9. Duncan Minto, Managing Director, Renault Ireland said, “We are delighted to announce that Hogan Motors is on board as our new dealer in County Clare and look forward to working closely with Paul and Mary Hogan. The Hogan family have worked in the motor industry for over three decades so are well served to offer great customer service and assistance.”

Paul Hogan said, “We are delighted to be given the opportunity to represent Renault in County Clare. The Renault range delivers ‘desirability with affordability’ and this, we feel, is exactly what the motoring public are looking for right now. We look forward to welcoming all our customers new and old to our premises on the Gort Road, Ennis, for the Renault open week from March 4 to 9.”

A CLARECASTLE man made international business headlines in America over the past week as his company was head hunted by billion dollar US corporations to supply logistics for them across Europe.

Gerry Kierce, who hails from Clarecastle, is a former student of St Flannan’s College and was part of the Clare minor hurling panel that captured the historic Munster minor title back in 1981.

His company, Euro Route Logistics, which he founded in Dublin in 2003 was just named as a partner to a number of high profile US companies on the back of their innovative research and methods which are delivering 23 per cent savings for their customers.

The news that Euro Route was being selected as logistics partners for a number of US companies was headline news with NBC, CBS and the Wall Street Journal in North America.

Gerry, who started working the freight business in Shannon back in 1981, now oversees a huge operation from his logistics centre in Blanchardstown which employs 18 staff and has an office space of some 75,000 sq ft.

This announcement from the US assures Euro Route Logistics place as a leading player in the competitive business of logistics and, according to Gerry Kierce, is the latest positive development for a company that prides itself on innovation at the cutting edge of the industry.

“We’ve never lost a customer through service and are dedicated to stay years ahead of our time. In fact, the more complex the company’s requirement the better.

“We’re proud to keep our staff long term and assist them to grow as the industry continues to develop and adapt.

“The pride I have for my native county reminds me of when we ran team logistics for a national team. You can’t beat the rush of being part of a well oiled machine that keeps a major organization on its feet,” Gerry told The Clare People this week.

GARDA resources in Clare are stretched to breaking point with Clare Chief Superintendent, John Kerin, warning of “serious implications” if fresh blood is not allowed to flow into the force soon. Garda numbers in Clare have been reduced by 48 over the past two years and, according to Chief Supt Kerin, a number of retirements and career breaks are due to take place in the coming months.

Chief Supt Kerin also warned that he may have to take matters into his own hands and close number of smaller stations later this year because of a lack of manpower. This comes following the release of statistics for 2012 which show that gardaí in Clare have been performing welldespite the cuts.

“Four more members are leaving over the next two months and a number of others are looking at career breaks later this year. There is a rush of gardaí leaving in the months ahead. We have lasted well so far [during the recruitment embargo] but I simply can’t sustain the level or service that we are providing without new members coming in,” he said.

“The areas that will suffer are opening hours in rural stations and charities fundraisers that gardaí currently assist. I hope it doesn’t come to this but I have to be frank. We have done well up to now but there will be a serious implication on services if this situation does not change. If I don’t start getting more manpower, it may not be the Government who makes the decision about closing more stations [in Clare], I may have to do it myself because of a shortage of manpower.”

Speaking at last nights meeting of the Joint Policing Committee (JPC), former Mayor of Clare Pat Hayes (FF), called for an end to the recruitment embargo which has been in force for the last four years. “Maybe you can’t say it because of political reasons, but I can say it. There has to be a lifting of the embargo on recruitment for gardaí,” he said

Meanwhile, Chief Supt Kerin threatened to walk out of last night’s meeting if a motion of no confidence in Justice Minister Alan Shatter (FG) was allowed to be tabled.

The motion was suggested by Cllr Cathal Crowe (FG) but was ruled out-of-order by the chair of the JPC, Cllr Joe Arkins (FG).

As Cllr Crowe debated this ruling with Cllr Arkins, Garda Kerin intervened and threatened to walk out of the meeting if the motion was allowed to go forward.

ENNIS Town Council is to spend € 459,200 on the 2013 roadworks programme.

The programme was presented to councillors at yesterday’s monthly meeting of Ennis Town Council.

In his report, Town Engineer Eamon O’Dea said the council will provide € 120,000 from its own resources towards the maintenance of roads in the town, “which is significantly lower than funding in 2012 of € 175,000”.

He continued, “The non-national roads grant from the Department of Transport is € 339,000 which is € 78,000 lower than 2012. In Clare County Council’s Grant allocation from the Department of Transport under low cost safety schemes funds have been allocated to the Corrovorrin / Tulla Road junction and traffic light replacement at Captain Mac’s Cross on the Clare Road.”

150 residents have signed a petition to build a roundabout at the entrance to the estates at Oakleigh Wood, Derrymore, Cappahard estates on the Tulla Road.

The group say that measures are needed to cope with increased traffic on the road.

Town manager Ger Dollard said he met yesterday with residents of Oakleigh Woods.

He said it is an objective of Ennis Town Council and Clare County Council to develop a roundabout in the area. He said a detailed design had already been prepared but issues remained regarding land acquisition in the area.

The meeting heard that it could cost upwards of € 250,000 to build the roundabout.

Mr Dollard said funding for the project is an issue and that it would be unfeasible for the council to spend half of its € 459,200 budget for 2013 in one area of Ennis.

Council engineers are due to meet with residents on Thursday.

Town engineer Eamon O’Dea said traffic surveys and preliminary de- sign work has already been carried out for a roundabout at Corrovorrin.

Under the 2013 programme, the council is proposing to upgrade / construct footpaths in Golf Links Road (€ 15,000), Lahinch Road (€ 10,000) and The Crescent / Shannon Park (€ 15,000).

Pedestrian Crossings are proposed for Ashline, Kilrush Road, Frances Street (Tesco / Aldi), Carmody Street at Drumbiggle Road, Clare Road at St Flannan’s College, Clonroadbeg at Eire Óg, Gort Road at Ashfield Park – at a combined cost of € 52,000.

Additional pedestrian barriers are proposed for Rice College / Christian Brothers and Holy Family School at a cost of € 7,200.

The council is to spend € 20,000 on the provision of line marking and € 15,000 on the replacement of road signs in compliance with An Bord Teanga.

In his report, Mr O’Dea stated, “A total of 6600 square metres of road were re-surfaced in 2012 including significant works at Lower Parnell Street, Station Road, Coote’s Cross, Kilrush Road and Lower Market Street carpark. Footpath replacement was carried out at the Crescent and Shannon Park and a new section of footpath provided at Gaurus. The adjustment to the pedestrian crossing at Kelly’s Corner is being completed from 2012 funds.”

THERE have been renewed calls for the development of a purpose-built all-weather soccer pitch in Ennis in light of Clare teams choosing to train and play in Limerick.

The prospect of installing a € 500,000 astro turf soccer pitch in the Lees Road Sports Complex was raised at yesterday’s monthly meeting of Ennis Town Council.

In a motion, Cllr Michael Guilfoyle (Ind) urged the council to look at the “possibility of developing an all- weather full-size soccer pitch in the Lees Road Sports Complex.”

Cllr Guilfoyle, who is involved with second division side Ruan United, told the meeting that no soccer games were played at Lees Road between December 20, 2012 and February 3, 2013.

He said this represented a loss of income to the council.

Cllr Guilfoyle said the grass pitch directly across from the dressing rooms could be converted into an all weather surface.

He said, “There are maybe 10 soccer teams altogether using Lees Road. If we had an all weather pitch, we could have teams playing at night during the week with floodlights.”

The meeting heard that two soccer teams – Turnpike Rovers and Connolly Celtic – recently paid € 150 to play a friendly game on the University of Limerick’s all weather pitch.

The Clare soccer team conducted most of their Oscar Traynor Trophy preparations on pitches in UL and the Limerick Institute of Technology (LIT).

In his reply Town Clerk Leonard Cleary said the council has explored the possibility of developing new all weather facilities at Lees Road.

He stated, “Ennis Town Council has recently researched the cost of developing an all-weather full-size soccer pitch in the Lees Road Sports Complex.

“This research was based on demand from the public and customers for such a facility in the context of ongoing inclement weather. The cost is estimated to be in the excess of € 500,000.

“Due to financial constraints on the council it is not possible to fund this project from our own resources.

“However the council will pur- sue any grant fund available if announced.”

Mr Cleary told the meeting that the council had also contacted the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) regarding the matter.

Cllr Tommy Brennan (Ind) said that while he supported Cllr Guilfoyle’s motion, he would like to see it expanded to include all sports teams.

Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) said that a recent meeting of the Lees Road management committee had heard that it would cost an estimated € 10,000 to upgrade the current all-weather pitch to the required standards.