Category: News

KILRUSH Town Council is expected to have a new member at its monthly meeting on February 12, as Fianna Fáil hosts a convention to select a candidate to replace the late Cllr Stephen O’Gorman on Sunday evening.

Two names have already gone forward to be considered at the convention, to be held in the Haven Arms, Kilrush.

Former town councillor Christy O’Malley is to return to contest the seat, as will university student Em- met Greaney.

Mr O’Malley, a former garda sergeant, previously served on the council until he lost his seat in the 2009 local elections.

The former chairman of the council also served as chairman of the Kilrush Special Olympics Committee when Kilrush Town hosted the Georgia Republic in 2003.

A member of the local Cumann, Mr Greaney is new to elected politics.

He is currently a postgraduate law student at the National University College Galway, and he signed up as a member of Ógra Fianna Fáil locally at just 14 years old and be- came very active in the party when he went to college.

It is possible that more candidates will enter the race before Sunday but, if not, members of the party locally will have to decide who they feel is best to take up a position on the town council between the two nominees.

Cllr O’Gorman passed away in December, leaving a vacant seat in the council chamber.

His party members are now required to fill that position, and next week either Mr O’Malley or Mr Greaney are likely to be seconded on to the council for its last ever term.

THE HSE has moved to reassure Clare mothers to be that it has improved hygiene standards at the region’s maternity hospital following an unannounced HIQA report last November. The report, published last week, pointed to areas that could be improved upon in the Mid Western Regional Maternity, Limerick, including the management of waste. The health care watchdog was also concerned that the level of compliance with hand hygiene practices in the hospital posed a risk to patients. It added however that, “During the course of the monitoring assessment, the authority did not identify any im- mediate serious risks to the health and welfare of patients receiving care in the areas assessed at Mid Western Regional Maternity Hospital.” In a statement, the hospital said it acknowledged significant improvement in the area of hygiene was required and it was fully committed to ensuring that it achieve the necessary improvement. “Despite much emphasis on hand hygiene in our hospital, we are disappointed that we were observed to have suboptimal levels of hand hygiene compliance on the day in question (November 7). “Since the audit, much work has been ongoing in this area,” a spokesperson said. Since the audit, all staff trained in the delivery of hand hygiene training have had refresher and update training and an updated training plan is also in place for 2013. “This enhanced training will be further strengthened in February when it is planned to ‘blitz’ hand hygiene compliance throughout the hospital,” added the spokesperson. “A technical assessment of all our clinical handwash sinks is being undertaken with a view to prioritising non-compliant sinks for immediate replacement.” Senior Midwifery Management are also said to be approaching hand hygiene with a new vigour from the perspective of patient advocacy with a hand hygiene culture shift also expected among clinicians at all levels. Tue05February13

TAOISEACH Enda Kenny and Minister for the Environment and Local Government Phil Hogan are not wanted in Ennis to officially launch the groundbreaking ‘Ennis Town Hub Framework’ document that has been drafted by Ennis Town Council in conjunction with the University of Limerick.

This move was heralded at the monthly meeting of Ennis Town Council on Monday when the fourtime Mayor of Ennis, Cllr Michael Guilfoyle, railed against giving the Taoiseach and his frontline minister a platform in the county town, while at the same time they’re putting legislation through the Dáil to disband town councils.

“I can honestly say that to have a Taoiseach down here, who tells his own TDs what way to think and what way to vote, troubles me,” said Cllr Michael Guilfoyle in rallying support against have the Taoiseach launch the Ennis Town Council blueprint.

“To have a Taoiseach down here, who to me doesn’t have his finger on the pulse, is wrong. To bring down the Taoiseach and to hear him take the credit – a Taoiseach that’s trying to put us out and not give a voice for the people of the country and this town, I’d be against this motion. I’d support this motion if you take out the Taoiseach and the Minister for the Environment,” he added.

Cllr Guilfoyle was supported by Cllr Paul O’Shea (Ind) and Cllr Tommy Brennan (Ind), who proposed that the Mayor of Ennis launch the plan at a date later this month.

“It was commissioned by Ennis Town Council and it was paid for by Ennis Town Council and the mayor should launch it,” said Cllr Brennan.

Following the intervention of the Mayor of Ennis, Cllr Peter Considine, who said he “didn’t wish to insult the office of Taoiseach”, it was agreed that both the Taoiseach and Minister for the Environment would be invited to attend the launch, but not to perform at the launch which is being timed to coincide with the 400th year anniversary of the formation of the borough of Ennis.

THE long-running industrial dispute at the Cliffs of Moher Visitors Centre came to an end last Thursday when the Cliffs of Moher Limited announced it had come to an agreement with its SIPTU employees.

The agreement brings to an end more than five years of unrest at the North Clare tourist attraction, which has seen strike action being taken on two occasions, including in 2011 when a visit to the Cliffs by Ireland soccer manager, Giovanni Trapattoni, was cancelled because of a picket on the site.

The dispute centred on the terms and conditions of the SIPTU employees on the site, who have been seeking to have their terms of employment made equal to local authority workers.

The Cliffs of Moher is an independent limited company, owned by Clare County Council.

“This positive development now allows the company and its employees to fully focus our combined efforts on delivering a world-class visitor experience in what is a very important year for tourism,” said Katherine Webster, General Manager at the Cliffs of Moher Centre.

“I am particularly pleased that the proposals now being implemented allow us to retain our full staff complement which, at the peak season in 2012, stood at 56 employees.”

Director of Services at Clare County Council and Director of Cliffs of Moher Centre Ltd, Ger Dollard said he was delighted that the situation had been resolved.

“Our most recent conciliation conference in December 2012, which was facilitated by the Labour Relations Commission, ended without a resolution despite a fair and constructive formal offer being made to SIPTU on behalf of its members. The union negotiators rejected this offer,” he said.

“The company in mid-January advised the Labour Court that it proposed, in any event, to proceed with the implementation of the offer from Friday, February 1.

“The company received notification from SIPTU that the offer had now been accepted by the members. The company is delighted that the arrangements now being implemented take account of the financial circumstances of the business as verified by independent financial consultants appointed under the auspices of the Labour Court,” he added.

A FORMER judo instructor yesterday received a two-year sentence after pleading guilty to six counts of indecent assault. Thomas Waters (68), with an address at Moore Street, Kilrush, pleaded guilty to the offences at Ennis Circuit Criminal Court.

The charges related to offences committed between April 1979 and March 1981. The court heard that Waters assaulted the boy, who was a member of his judo club in Ennis.

The abuse started when the boy was aged nine and consisted of the accused masturbating the victim and digitally penetrating his anus.

Sergeant Catriona Houlihan, who led the investigation of the case, told the court that the boy was also as saulted and shown pornographic material during an orienteering trip to Cratloe Wood.

The court heard that after the boy asked Thomas Waters to stop, he told him he would if the boy got his younger brother to take his place.

The victim made a full statement of complaint to gardaí in July 2011. Reading from a Victim Impact Statement, the man told the court that he was seduced by the image of Waters as a “strong and powerful man”. He added, “To me, he was the equivalent of Bruce Lee.”

The man said the abuse had a negative impact on his education and that he was prescribed anti-depressant medication at an early age. He told the court that he had “deep feelings of guilt and shame” for denying to his parents that Thomas Waters abused him.

The man said he suffers from posttraumatic stress disorder and finds it difficult to be in group situations. He said he would like to re-enter education but had been unable to do so.

He said, “This is a life sentence which I began as a child.” The man told the court that he did not want an apology as it would only be “insulting”. He thanked the Ennis Rape Crisis Centre, SHINE and the gardaí for the support they had given him.

Counsel for Waters, Mark Nicholas BL, told the court that the victim had been subject to a “series of outrageous activity which rightfully outrage people and rob people of their childhood.”

He urged the court to consider the accused’s behaviour in the intervening years and his guilty plea. Mr Waters is currently serving a four-year sentence for indecent assault.

Judge Carroll Moran said the accused’s guilty plea is important as it is an acknowledgement of wrongdoing and avoids imposing additional trauma on the victim. He said the fact that the nature of the abuse was of a continuous nature was “very serious”.

He imposed a two-year sentence, concurrent on all counts, to be served consecutively on the expiration of the sentence now being served. Tue05February13

A CARPENTER caught with drugs valued at € 356,000 near Barefield last year turned to crime to pay off debts to financial institutions and drug dealers, a court has heard.

Trevor Gargan (31) with an address at 179 Cregayn Street, Belfast, Antrim, is beginning a jail term after being convicted at Ennis Circuit Criminal Court yesterday.

He had pleaded guilty to possessing cannabis which had a market value that exceeded € 13,000 at Ballymaconna, Barefield on February 22 (2012). He also pleaded guilty to having cannabis resin for purposes of sale or supply on the same date and at the same location.

The court heard that the cannabis found in Mr Gargan’s car was valued at € 325, 522. Cannabis resin valued at € 29,000 was also discovered in the car, the court heard.

The court heard that Mr Gargan told gardaí that he was transporting the drugs to pay off debts of between € 1.2 million and € 1.3 million owed to a financial institution.

A family friend told the court that Mr Gargan borrowed money to invest in property development in South Kildare in 2005. The court heard Mr Gargan moved to Northern Ireland to declare himself bankrupt.

A native of Maynooth, Mr Gargan also told gardaí that he owed € 18,000 to drug dealers and that he would have received € 500 for transporting the drugs.

Detective Garda Seamus McMahon told the court Mr Gargan told gardaí that he feared his family’s life were in danger.

“He told us, ‘I owe dangerous people € 18,000. I can’t say more than that.” Mr Gargan has no previous convictions. Counsel for Mr Gargan, David Sutton SC, told the court, that the accused became involved in drug dealing when his life came under threat.

He added, “This is a desperate man engaged in a desperate offence”

Mr Sutton described his client’s predicament as one of the “sad flotsam of the Celtic Tiger. This is a desperate man.”

Judge Carroll Moran noted Mr Gargan’s previous good character. He said that while the extent of the accused’s involvement was unclear, he was dealing in illicit contraband.

He described the value of the drugs as “colossal”. He imposed a four-year sentence, concurrent on both counts.

FORMER Clare psychiatric nurse and chairman of the HSE West Forum Committee Tom McNamara has raised concerns that the psychiatric nurse specialising in assessing patients out of hours is often redeployed due to staffing issues in other areas of the mid west region’s hospitals.

The liaison mental health nurse is appointed in the area’s three hospitals, including Ennis, to assess people presenting with mental health issues between 4pm and 3am and at weekends.

Cllr McNamara said that these ex- perienced nurses are also familiar with the case of many patients of the mental health service who may call out of hours, and this experience plays a vital role.

“The crisis nurse [liaison nurse] would know some patents straight away and would be able to access them there and then. If the nurse is not available an ambulance may have to be sent out unnecessarily to bring the patient in,” he said.

“The system works well when the nurse is there. He or she then puts the information into the system, and the day hospital the patient attends knows the following morning that there had been an issue the night before,” he said.

“At a time when suicide is so prevalent it is disappointing that the HSE is taking out crisis nurses to fill in vacancies within the system.”

The former nurse said that while he was disappointed that the “crisis nurse” was often moved on to the hospital floor leaving the position vacant, he encouraged anyone concerned about their mental health to ring the hospitals or Shannondoc if it is out of hours, as there is still help available through the psychiatric services.

“I would encourage people to call and that there is help out there and there is a way out of it [feeling of depression],” he added.

OVER € 31,000 was donated through the Court Services in Clare last year to local groups in the community, healthcare and volountary sector. The funds were handed out to 28 groups as part of the 2012 court poorbox payout.

Instead of imposing a conviction, a district court judge can order that the defendant donate a sum to a charity nominated by the judge.

The St Vincent de Paul and Bushypark treatment centre were among the main beneficiaries of poorbox orders made by Judge Patrick Du- rcan last year. The SVP in Ennis and Kilrush received payments of € 5,000 and € 3,000 respectively.

The St Vincent de Paul operates 14 teams throughout the county, providing support and assistance to harpressed individuals and families. SVP’s ‘Carefully Chosen Fashions’ shop is located at 84, Parnell St. Ennis. The Clare SVP administrative office is located overhead the shop.

The shop is staffed by volunteers and provides training for FÁS and Community Employment (CE) scheme participants.

BushyPark Treatment Centre for people addicted to alcohol, drugs and gambling received € 2,000

The Ennis office of Rape Crisis Midwest and TLC 4 Cystic Fibrosis each received € 1000.

The full list of recipients and the amounts received are listed below: Glebe House Kilrush (€ 500); Kilkee Marine Rescue (€ 500); Regina House Kilrush (€ 500); Rape Crisis Midwest, Ennis office (€ 1000); Breakthrough Cancer Research, Cork (€ 1000); Tipperary Limerick Clare for Cystic Fibrosis (TLC4CF) (€ 1000); Acquired Brain Injury Ireland (€ 1000); Foroige Youth Scariff (€ 1000); AMEN (€ 500); Aisling Group International (€ 500); Killaloe / Ballina Community and Family Resource Centre (€ 500); Clare Crusaders (€ 500); Clarecare (€ 1000); Bushy Park Treatment Centre (€ 2000); Cahercalla Hospice (€ 2000); The Samaritans (€ 1000); St Vincent de Paul, Ennis (€ 5000); St Vincent de Paul, Kilrush (€ 3000); Poor Clare Sisters, Ennis (€ 1000), Garda Suíochana Benevolent Trust Fund (€ 2000); Solicitors Benevolent Trust Fund (€ 2000); Clare Haven (€ 500); Alzeimher’s Society, Clare Branch (€ 500); Doolin Search and Rescue (€ 500); Killaloe/Ballina Search and Rescue (€ 500); St Joseph’s Training Centre (€ 500); Home Share Clare (€ 500); St Caimins Search and Rescue, Mountshannon (€ 500)

ALMOST four in every 10 children born in Clare are born to unmarried parents.

Figures released for the first quarter of 2012 show that there were 430 children born to Clare mothers in the first three months of last year. Of these parents 292 were born to married women with 138 born to unmarried women.

It is likely however, that many of the Clare children born to unmarried mothers are still raised in two-parent families. According to Central Statistic Office figures, a total of 77 babies born to unmarried Clare mothers over this period register an unmarried father living at the same address.

According to lone parent organisation One Family, a variety of different family structures has now become normal and accepted in Clare. New research carried out by the organisation also shows that the biggest issue arising from lone parenting is financial, and not the development and socialisation of the child.

“One in eight children in Ireland are now in a one-parent family so it is becoming much more normal. I think the real pressure on one parent families is very much an economic pressure,” said Stuart Duffin from One Family.

“From a child development point of view, it doesn’t really have an impact. A single parent can give as much attention to a family as a two-parent family and often times the parent in a one-parent family can even be more focussed on their children than a two-parent family.

“We are also seeing other types of families appearing in Clare. We see a lot more shared parenting relationships where people have split up in a friendly way and they can have a different type of relationship with their children than what we might have seen in the past.”

One Family works to provide information to one-parent families in Clare and also has a lot of information for lone parents, shared parents and lone parents who wish to introduce a new parent into a family situation. For more information visit www.onefamily.ie.

A RESOLUTION to the ongoing dispute over Blake’s Corner in Ennistymon could be more than five years away, following a decision from the National Roads Authority (NRA) not to fund an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed development in its 2013 allocation of funding last week.

Early last year, Clare County Council requested that the NRA allocate money for the completion of an EIS. This followed threats from a local heritage group who said they would appeal the project to An mBord Pleanála if an EIS was not completed.

Following the decision by the NRA not to include the EIS, the funding allocation last week now looks likely that it will be 2014, at the earliest, before funding for the EIS is made available.

Once funding is made available, it will take up to a year for consultants to be selected and a statement to be prepared. This statement will then be referred back to the NRA for approval. Only then can funding be sought to create a new junction in Ennistymon.

The issue came to light at yesterday’s Ennistymon area meeting of Clare County Council when a proposal to construct a pedestrian crossing on the Ennistymon bridge was turned down.

“We are now back in limbo about a pedestrian crossing on the bridge in Ennistymon. It is totally unacceptable that we are going to have to wait for a decision on Blake’s Corner before getting this situation resolved,” said Cllr Richard Nagle (FF).

“We all know, if we are all realistic and tell the the truth, we are not going to get a resolution to Blake’s Corner until 2015 at the very earliest.”

Council engineer, Stephen Lahiffe confirmed that funding for the EIS was not made available by the NRA last week. He also confirmed that senior county engineer Tom Tiernan is to make fresh enquiries to the NRA about securing funding for the EIS. This further delay is likely to add at least another year to progressing work on Blake’s Corner, which could now be more than five years away.

It was also revealed at yesterday’s meeting that local company Data Display, who employ more than 100 people in Ennistymon, have to bring all deliveries to the factory at 4am – because of the junction at Blake’s Corner.

“A woman was hurt at the spot last year and was injured. We are hearing this, day in and day out, from people. The truck drivers going to Data Display have to come at 4am in the morning with their deliveries,” said Cllr Bill Slattery. “Can the brains at Clare County Council not come together and come up with some temporary resolution for this, until the Blake’s Corner issue is resolved?” See page 62 for more from the Ennistymon Area Meeting.