Category: News

FAMILLIES of Clare people affected by addiction are increasingly seeking help from one of the midwest’s largest addiction treatment centres.

The Ennis-based Bushypark residential treatment centre has increased the level of services on offer to families to meet a growing demand for their provision.

“There are a number of people trying to access assessments or residential treatment programmes or our outreach services,” explained Mar- garet Nash, manager of Bushypark Treatment Centre.

“There has been an increase in service required for family members affected [by drug alcohol abuse, gambling]. We have a new family support services running, additional ones in Ennis and Limerick.

Ms Nash said it has been an “extremely busy year” for the centre, which provides around the clock addiction treatment and outreach services to people in the mid-west, Galway and Kerry.

“We have developed a number of new services during the year. We’ve set up an outreach project in conjunc- tion with other services in Kilrush for clients in the West Clare are that need to access service in relation to alcohol or drugs,” she added.

Ms Nash was speaking ahead of a major fundraiser in aid of Bushypark. The third annual Bushypark Golf Classic takes place in Ennis Golf Club on Saturday, August 30.

This event is an important fundraiser for the centre. Teams of four are € 120 or € 30 for individuals.

The event can also be supported through tee or green sponsorship. Further information is available from 065 6840944.

Ms Nash said the centre is grate- ful for the support it has received throughout the years.

“We’ve had a lot of loyal supporters throughout the years: People who are grateful; people who have accessed our services. Money has got scarce but people’s goodwill is still good to us. People are delighted with the services we offer them,” she said.

BushyPark Addiction Treatment Centre was founded in 1991 by Clarecare with funding and assistance from the Mid-Western Health Board.

It provides services at 16 locations throughout the country. Ms Nash said a growing number of people are coming forward to seek help with addiction.

“There are more people coming forward in relation to dealing with addiction which is good. I think people are more likely to confront issues. Hopefully the stigma has been reduced. It’s not broken but its reduced. People are starting to come forward. There is a link between mental health and addiction and people are beginning to deal with both issues, which is great,” she said. “We’re finding it a very mixed age. There is no upper limit. That’s good too, that people haven’t decided at 65, ‘I’m too old to deal with this’.”

LAST week’s opening of a new state-of-the-art rescue centre at Doolin brings to an end almost 20 years of campaigning for proper facilities for the volunteers of the Doolin Unit of the Irish Coast Guard.

For decades, the local volunteers have been forced to work in cramped conditioned and store valuable rescue materials in their own homes because of a lack of space at the old rescue centre. The old station could only accommodate one of the Doolin Unit’s rescue boats and was prone to flooding during the winter months.

Funding for a new station was originally announced by the Department of the Marine and the Office of Public Works (OPW) in the late 1990s but was only forthcoming in recent years. The defects of the old station came to the attention of the public in November of 2005 when a lengthy search operation was undertaken for three Clare men, who tragically lost their lives in the area.

Speaking yesterday, Mattie Shannon of the Doolin Unit said he never doubted that the new state of the art centre would be built.

“We knew that the day would come sometime – but God only knows when. We had been campaigning for it [the new centre] for more than 20 years now. I remember Liam Kirwan [former Director of the Irish Coast Guard] said to me 20 years ago that if we got a location that they’d build the new station,” he said. “It is a great addition and it definitely going to lift the spirits of the unit. It’s a great centre for people to come and see as well. We will try and have people there on Sundays and at the weekend. If people see the doors open then they are more than welcome to come in and have a look around.” Mattie also appealed to the public not to park in front of the new centre as doing so will block the launch of the rescue boats. “We have one issue at the moment and that is parking and I’d like to appeal to the public on that. We need space across the road from the centre to be able to launch the boats. We need the full width of the road in front of the centre for about 25 metres either side of the gate. It may look awful to see that place empty and people struggling to park cars on top of each other but we need it if we have to launch the boat,” he said. “We might only have to launch once a week or once a month but we need [that space] when we have to launch. We know that new parking arrangement are coming from next year and we would urge people to keep the space clear in the mean time. Vehicles will have to be towed away if they are parked in the way. I don’t think anyone would intentionally park in front of the lifeguard station but if someone wasn’t thinking they could obstruct a rescue.”

AS MANY as 11 children under 14 years old were killed or seriously injured on Clare roads during the six years between 2006 and 2012.

New research from the Road Safety Authority (RSA) has revealed that one child was killed and 10 children were seriously injured on the county roads during this period.

The report was published by the RSA along with Electric Ireland as children and teenagers from all over the country prepare to go back to school.

For the fifth year running the two organisations will distribute 85, 500 high visibility vests to every child starting school this year.

The vests will be included in the RSA’s ‘Back to School’ road safety packs which will be sent to primary schools nationwide over the coming months.

The RSA is urging parents, guardians and teachers to make road safety a priority as 13 children under the age of 14 have died in the first eight months of this year on Irish roads.

In 2013, six children lost their lives, meaning the number of child casualties so far this year has already exceeded the total number of child deaths in 2013.

Six of the children who died on our roads this year were pedestrians, six were car passengers and one was a quad bike user.

A report on child casualties between 1997-2012 found that one in three of the child fatalities in this period were not wearing seatbelts or a child restraint.

This report showed that 44 per cent of children who were killed in the 15year period were pedestrians and 42 per cent of children who were killed or seriously injured were passengers in a car.

According to the RSA the peak time for children to be killed on roads is late afternoon/early evening, between 4pm and 5.59pm and during the summer months of April to August.

Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Paschal Donohoe encouraged parents and teachers to renew their commitment to educating young road users about road safety.

“The increase in child casualties on our roads this year is incredibly worrying, after many years of seeing year-on-year decreases.

“Attitudes to road safety are formed at a young age and we would urge parents and teachers to continue to prioritise teaching our youngest and most vulnerable road-users how to stay safe on the roads.” Monica GALLAGHER(née nee McTague) , Cappahard Cott age, Tulla Road, Ennis. Peacefully at her home. Monica. Laid to rest in Drumcliffe Cemetery. Donations if desired to the National Breast Cancer Research Institute Galway or the Samaritans. May she rest in peace. James J PEARSE , Cappakee, O’Briensbridge. Peacefully at Millbrae Nursing Home Newport. Funeral Mass in Bridgetown today(Tuesday) at 12 noon withburialafterwardsin the church grounds. May he rest in peace.

THE construction of a new rescue centre at Doolin will help save lives by improving response times by the Doolin Unit of the Irish Coast Guard.

The centre, which was built at a cost of € 1.8 million, is large enough for all materials owned by the coastguard to be stored in one place, which will cut response times in emergency situations.

The new building, which will become fully operational this week, was due to be officially opened in October of this year but it is now understood that an opening ceremony will not take place until March of 2015.

“This will make it much more ef- ficient for us, all the equipment is in the one place so when the team comes there will be no searching around for equipment or anything everyone knows where it will be. It will take a few days to straighten it out and get everything in place but at the same time it will all now be in the one building and that’s what is important,” said Mattie Shannon of the Doolin Unit of the Irish Coast Guard.

“It will make us faster, especially for boat launches and emergency situations. Then as well when they [the volunteers] come back there will be more comfort. There will be changing rooms and bathrooms and showers and a proper area to wash down the boat.

“All the volunteers have been in over the past week, they have been transporting equipment from the various places that we store it, and there is still more to be done. The volunteers are working away, fitting out different systems like the wifi and things like that. We are still waiting for the communication aerial to be erected for the VHF radios and the paging system, they are going in this week. At that stage we will be fully operational.

“We are delighted to be moved in. We launched our first boat from the new centre last week and we have launched three times already. It’s a fantastic place and it’s going well.”

PLANNING permission for a further development of facilities at the Ennistymon Community Hospital has been lodged with Clare County Council, with hopes high that construction work could get underway before the end of the year.

The hospital, which serves as a facility for older people from the North Clare area, has been threatened with closure on three separate occasion over the last 10 years with the facility staying open and then growing as a result of heroic fundraising by the Friends of Ennistymon Hospital.

Construction work on phase one of the hospital’s redevelopment is almost finished with a grand opening due to take place in the next month. Planning permission for phase two of the development was lodged last week and involves the construction of a single story extension which will include eight ensuite, bedrooms as well as a new sitting area.

The hospital, which is located on the site of the old Ennistymon Workhouse, is a listed building – a fact which was taken into account in the planning permission.

The projects was put forward by Friends of Ennistymon Hospital, who have raised in excess of € 3 million for the hospital over the past 30 years.

“This is phase two of our five-year plan that we are into now and we are hopeful that planning permission can be secured as quickly as possible,” said Tomsie Sullivan of the Friends of Ennistymon Hospital.

“We decided from the beginning that we were going to take this in phases and make sure that the hospital was going to remain open before we spent large amounts of money donated by the local people. The hospital has been threaten with closure on a number of occasion in recent years.

“This second phase will include the provision of eight single rooms and the fundraising for this is already underway. We will be outlining our fundraising plans for 2015 when we officially unveil the completed phase two in the coming weeks. We estimate that we have raised in excess of € 3 million for the hospital since the Friends of Ennistymon Hospital started its work back in 1984.”

Phase three of the development will see a major upgrade of the existing rooms and facilities at the facility to bring them up to the standard of the new constructions.

THE people of Doolin have heralded the beginning of a new era following the opening of a new sea rescue centre in the village last week.

The € 1.8 million facility, which became operation last week but will not be officially opened for a number of months, has been the subject of intense local campaigning over the last 20 year.

Operator of Doolin Cave, John Browne, yesterday welcomed the new centre – describing the conditions in the old facility as “crazy”.

“It is such a necessary facility, the old situation that the coast guard was forced into was crazy – trying to get a boat down Fishers Street in an emergency,” he said.

“They [the coast guard volunteers] are such an important part of this community. It is important that they have the proper facilities to do their work.”

The new centre was also welcomed by Eugene Garrihy of Doolin2Aran Ferries.

“The facility is of huge importance to the work carried out by those brave men and women. In our ferries, it is a massive comfort to us to know that we have a back-up in the event that anything goes wrong,” he said.

“The coast guard have been waiting for this facility for some time now and any help that this could be for them and their work is very welcome. It brings to mind the great work that people like Mattie Shannon and Thomas Doherty have been doing for years, but also the men that came before them.”

THE merger of Credit Union branches in Clarecastle, Ennis and Lissycasey will see no change in the day-today operation of their local branch, according to Credit Union chairpersons. St Francis Credit Union, Ss Peter and Paul Credit Union and Fergus Credit Union are to amalgamate in a process called a ‘Transfer of Engagements’.

In their addresses to members, the chairpersons of Lissycasey and Clarecastle branches say they are “confident” that the transfer of en- gagements will be an “extremely positive development” for members.

“The enlarged credit union will have offices in Ennis, Lissycasey, Kildysart, Kilmihil, Clarecastle, Tulla and Newmarket on Fergus. Members will see no change in the dayto-day operations of the credit union. Members savings and loan accounts will be unaffected by the transfer,” they state.

Madeleine McCarthy, Chairperson of Fergus Credit Union, Lissycasey, said the board took the decision to amalgamate with branches in Ennis and Clarecastle in the “belief that the interests of all our members will be best served by a combined entity providing enhanced services”.

Kevin Collins, Chairperson of Ss Peter and Paul Credit Unions, Clarecastle, states the board of directors “has been engaged in a process of seeking a credit union to partner to enhance services currently provided by your credit union”.

“I am happy to report to the membership that your credit union has approached St Francis Credit Union Limited, Ennis, to form such an alliance,” Mr Collins explains.

On completion of the Transfer of Engagements, members of Fergus Credit Union and Ss Peter and Paul Credit Union will automatically become members of St Francis Credit Union and will be entitled to avail of the range of services and benefits provided by St Francis Credit Union.

Details of the amalgamation are outlined in a document circulated to members.

In a statement under Section 130 (2) of the Credit Union Act 1997 (as amended), St Francis Credit Union Limited states, no payments to members of the three branches concerned is proposed in connection with the Transfer of Engagements.

The document states that “Staff at St Francis Credit Union Limited, Fergus Credit Union limited and Ss Peter and Paul Credit Union Limited have been fully informed of all aspects of the Transfer of Engagement and are very much involved in the merger process.”

Further details of the merger will be outlined to members at information meetings next month. Meetings will take place at Temple Gate Hotel on September 1 for members of St Francis Credit Union; St Mary’s Hall, Lissycasey, on September 1 for Fergus Credit Union and The Inn at Dromoland on September 1 for members of Ss Peter and Paul Credit Union. All meetings start at 8pm.

THE drinking water ban was finally lifted in Kildysart after four weeks and the people of Corofin and Ruan can once again use the water from their taps following a one-week ban.

Approximately 1,500 people were affected by the water restrictions imposed on July 29, by Clare County Council, acting as agents on behalf of Irish Water.

A further 1,800 were affected when a similar ban was imposed in Corofin town and its environs, Ruan village and the area served by the Killeen Group Water Scheme on August 14.

While the Killeen scheme is still not considered safe, customers are now being provided their water from the Dysart-Toonagh Group Water Scheme and Ennis Public Water Supply Scheme.

On Friday, following consultation with the HSE, the council confirmed the removal of drinking water restrictions that were affecting 3,300 customers in Kildysart, Coolmeen, Corofin and Ruan.

Kildysart Public Water Supply scheme had been advised as a precautionary measure that water on the scheme was not suitable for drinking due to the discolouration of the water caused by increased Manganese levels.

“However, extensive testing of the water provided by the Kildysart Public Water Supply scheme has shown that the water being supplied continues to meet the drinking water standards. All water restrictions have been lifted as a result,” a council spokes- person said.

Likewise water from the Kileen Group Water Scheme was not suitable for drinking due to the presence of an algal bloom in Inchiquin Lake.

“While water quality on the scheme has not improved sufficiently to warrant a lifting of restrictions, Clare County Council has confirmed that customers in the affected area are now being provided with an alternative supply via the Dysart-Toonagh Group Water Scheme and Ennis Public Water Supply Scheme. All water restrictions have been lifted as a result,” a spokesperson said.

“Inchiquin Lake meanwhile, remains closed to the public as is not suitable for recreational purposes. Signage has been erected notifying the public of the ongoing closure at the lake.”

CREDIT Union branches in Clarecastle, Ennis and Lissycasey are to amalgamate under a new arrangement that involves over 31,000 customers.

St Francis Credit Union (Ennis), Ss Peter and Paul Credit Union (Clarecastle) and Fergus Credit Union (Lissycasey) are to join together in process called a ‘Transfer of Engagements’.

The three credit unions have a combined membership of 31,180. The combined assets of the three branches total € 151,484,415 million.

The move is being undertaken “in the spirit of co-operation to enhance efficiency and to work together to manage regulatory requirements”, according to Raymond O’Mahony of St Francis Credit Union.

The chairpersons of all three credit unions say the amalgamtion will have no impact on the day-to-day operations and that offices will be retained in all three areas.

Details of the amalgamation are contained in a document circulated last week to credit union members.

Chairman of St Francis Credit Union, Raymond O’Mahony says the three branches have been engaged in a process of negotiations over the past 18 months.

“All three credit unions have examined the benefits of coming together in the spirit of co-operation to enhance efficiency and to work together to manage regulatory requirements with the main objective of enhancing service provision to valued members at the credit unions,” he said.

“Following a considerable amount of work by the three credit unions, we are joining in what is known as a ‘Transfer of Engagements’. This will, we trust, result in a strong, vibrant credit union with an increased membership.”

Mr O’Mahony says he is “confident that the decision to work together with Fergus Credit Union and Ss Peter and Paul Credit Union will result in a strong credit union that will continue to provide efficient and relevant services to the combined membership. We appreciate the loyalty and support that our members have shown to their Credit Union down the years.”

The Transfer of Engagements document states that it is expected that legal requirements relating to the Transfer of Engagements will be completed in the coming month.

An extract from a meeting of the board on August 18 states that the board of directors of St Francis Credit Union resolved to undertake the transfer of engagements of Ss Peter and Paul Credit Union Limited and Fergus Credit Union Limited in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Credit Union Act 1997 (as amended).

The assets and membership of the three branches is as follows:

St Francis Credit Union, Ennis € 100,858,082 (assets), 20,552 (members); Fergus Credit Union, Lissycasey – € 33,018,876 (assets), 4,760 (members); Ss Peter and Paul Credit Union, Clarecastle – € 17,607,457 (assets), 5,868 (members).

THE Employments Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has found that a council foreman who allegedly threatened to set himself alight in a work van four years ago was unfairly dismissed.

Awarding Joseph Floyd Snr, Lower Main Street, Tulla, € 30,000 for unfair dismissal, the EAT also found that the Clare County Council employee was not given sufficient notice of his dismissal and awarded him just over € 4,000.

Clare County Council can appeal the finding to the Circuit Court.

While the EAT ordered the council to pay Mr Floyd compensation it ruled out his reinstatement.

On May 13, 2010, local gardaí assisted by the armed Garda Emergency Response Unit, and the Fire Service were called to the incident at Feakle during which Mr Floyd had a petrol can and lighter with him in his van, while he protested against the outsourcing of council work to sub-contractors.

In the course of the hearing, the council gave evidence that the fore- man threatened to set himself and council property alight, leading to a lot of concern for his, and others’, safety.

Mr Floyd challenged this later claim in the tribunal.

The tribunal also heard that a letter was given to Mr Floyd during the stand off ass“uring him his job was safe.

Clare County Council official Leonard Cleary said he issued a letter “under duress” and “this formula of words used worked to save a life”.

He added that a union official on site during the “difficult and volatile situation” had seen the letter and was aware of the situation.

The day after the incident Joseph Floyd presented to work at Clare County Council, but was placed on administrative leave “for health and safety reasons and for his own well being”.

Mr Floyd then spoke to the local radio station Clare FM. Later that day Mr Floyd was informed by letter that he was suspended from work and an internal council investigation got underway.

In September 2011, the council told Mr Floyd that he was dismissed after finding him guilty of three charges of gross misconduct.

Mr Floyd appealed the findings and an unfair dismissal hearing as well as a hearing into failure to give minimum notice was heard over four days during dates on June 2013, October 2013, February 2014 and May 2014.

The tribunal satisfied itself that the claimant’s employment ended on 6 September, 2011, when he was dismissed without notice but the tribunal was not satisfied that a dismissal without notice was justified.

“The claimant had more than the 15 years’ service required to seek the maximum minimum notice award of eight weeks’ gross pay,” the three-person tribunal found.

The tribunal also found it unfair that the council found Mr Floyd guilty of serious insubordination, as he had not been charged with that.

“There was a lack of evidence to substantiate the charge of bringing the name of the council into disrepute. The tribunal was not satisfied that this charge was sufficiently proven to warrant dismissal.”