Category: News

FIVE people have appeared in court charged in connection with a public order incident in a Shannon housing estate earlier this year.

Daniel Larkin (21), Jake Egan (20), Shane O’Connor (21), David Aherne (20) and John Cahill (21) are all charged with offences arising out of an incident at Cluian Alainn, Estate Shannon on January 1.

Mr Larkin, with an address at Mount Ivers Sixmilebridge, is charged with violent disorder; Mr Egan, with an address at 53 Aidan Park, Shannon, is charged with violent disorder; Mr O’Connor, with an address at 37 Ballycaseymore, Shannon, is charged with violent disorder; Mr Aherne, with an address at Riverview, Ballysheen, Sixmilebridge, is charged with trespass and provoking a breach of the peace; Mr Cahill, with an ad- dress at 32 Cluian Driochead, Sixmilebridge, is charged with trespass.

All five appeared at Ennis District Court on Wednesday. Inspector Tom Kennedy said directions had not been received from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

He said an extensive file has been prepared in respect of the cases. Judge Aeneas McCarthy adjourned the cases until January 9 for DPP’s directions.

A CLARE elected representative and his wife who registered and paid the controversial household charge before the first deadline, were this week issued with not one but two reminder letters to pay the charge and a late payment fine.

Kilrush town councillor Tom Prendeville (FF) said that he has a receipt to show that he paid the € 100 charge.

Yet despite his compliance with the law he received a letter in the last week stating he was now over due the payment.

His wife also received a similar letter sent to the same address, demanding the “outstanding” charge be paid.

An angered Cllr Prendeville said he was not going to ring the lo-call number highlighted in the letter to advise the Local Government Man- agement Agency (LGMA) of its mistake.

“I paid € 100 for household charge. I paid for services and I’m being denied services because others have not paid,” he said.

Among those who received reminder letters on the household charge were a dead man and a dead woman from West Clare, as well as numerous people that had already paid.

Among the 33,000 letters issued by Clare County Council on behalf of the LGMA a number of them went to people who are deceased.

Councillor Prendeville said one West Clare woman was particularly upset as a reminder letter was sent to her late husband, using a name that he was not known by on any documentation except the register of electors.

The councillor raised concerns that the register was being used as a method of identifying people, a method he described as “illegal”.

A JUDGE has refused jurisdiction of a case involving an alleged assault in Lahinch on New Year’s Eve.

Paul Matthews (21), with an address at Mullagh Road, Miltown Malbay, is charged with assault causing harm at the Claremont Hotel, Main Street, Lahinch on December 12 (2011).

Details of the alleged assault were heard at Ennis District Court on Wednesday. Inspector Tom Kennedy said the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had directed summary disposal of the case.

He said it would be alleged that Mr Matthews punched another man in the face, breaking a bone in his nose. Insp Kennedy said the alleged incident appeared to be “at the higher end” of assault cases. He said the alleged victim had surgery for his injuries. After hearing a summary of the alleged facts, Judge Aeneas McCarthy said he did not deem the case fit to be tried summarily. He refused jurisdiction of the case. He adjourned the case for the service of the book of evidence.

TENS of thousands of mature ash trees will wither and possibly die in Clare in the coming years as the spread of Chalara fraxinea or ash dieback disease to Clare has been deemed inevitable.

The fungal infection, which was discovered in an area of County Galway last week, will have a particularly negative effect on sections of the Burren – where ash is a central part of the natural biodiversity.

Ash plays a key role in the Burren ecosystem and provides shelter for insects and other smaller plants. While the exact effects of the spread of ash dieback to the Burren cannot be guessed, it is thought that they will not have a very negative effect on the Burren’s rare butterfly population or its collection of alpine flowers.

“It is not only likely that it will spread to Clare, at this point it is inevitable. Nobody has been able to stop it before. The spores of the fungus are airborne and are released by the leaves, so they spread very rapidly,” said Sharon Parr of the Burren Farming for Conservation Group.

“You could try to contain it by burning all the leaves of infected trees but spores are being released before any signs of the disease are detected. So even if you cut an infected tree down you would have to gather up all the leaves produced by that tree and burn them to contain the infection. I just can’t see that happening. Nobody has been successful in containing them to date.”

The spread of this disease is likely to have a major impact on the Burren due to the large number of ash trees in existence there and to the delicate balance which already exists in the Burren ecosystem.

“This is going to be incredibly significant. Ash is one of the major woodland trees in Ireland and when this disease gets into the Burren area, and other areas of well drained ash-friendly soil, it is going to have a major impact,” continued Sharon.

“Ash is the main large tree species in the Burren. You have hazel woodland in some sections of the Burren but as you move east the ash starts to take over and become a much more dominant part of the landscape. There are significant areas of ash woodland in the Burren which could very easily be lost.

“It is thought that some of the non- native ash trees have some sort of immunity to the disease and it won’t effect mountain ash, because mountain ash isn’t really an ash species at all, it is a totally different species of tree.

“This will certainly effect the Burren and the problem at this stage is that we don’t really know how. We don’t know for sure what parts of the biodiversity up there is affected by the ash. We know that a lot of lichens are directly connected to the ash trees and a lot of insects and flowers are able to grow and thrive under an ash canopy, but it is not clear.

“I think the biggest loss will be the visual loss of the ash tree themselves first and then we will just have to wait and see how that affects other parts of the Burren. I don’t see it having a major impact on the rare flowers or butterflies yet – they are more associated with the grassland than woodland parts of the Burren and there should be enough pollinators to keep that going at this stage.

“But there are other species which are directly tied into the ash plants that will suffer. We will just have to wait and see.”

Between 60 and 90 per cent of the ash trees in Denmark are effected by the disease while in Sweden more than 50 per cent of the trees have noticeable damage.

FACT is often more shocking than fiction according to the charity Clare Haven as it calls on book clubs around the county to consisder adding the book “Into the Darkest Corner” by Elizabeth Haynes to their reading list this month.

The Clare charity that supports women who have experienced domestic violence are part of the Mid-West Local Area Network on Violence against Women and the multi-agency fora made up of representatives from statutory, community and voluntary organisations which co-operate to promote a coordinated approach to tackling violence against women in the Mid-West region.

Each year the networks come together for the ’16 Days of Action and Awareness on Violence against Women’ campaign to raise public awareness around issues such as domestic abuse, rape and women’s rights.

The 16 Days is an international campaign which starts on November 25 (UN Day Opposing Violence Against Women) and finishes up on December 10 (Human Rights Day).

This year, as part of the campaign, the Mid-West networks aim to engage people on the issue of domestic violence by encouraging readers and book-clubs to read the book “Into the Darkest Corner”.

The book is a work of fiction which follows the struggles of a woman who becomes trapped in an abusive relationship.

The book has been promoted to local libraries and book-clubs, and discussions have been organised for the book-clubs to meet with local Domestic Abuse services who will critique the book in terms of their experiences of the real-life stories of domestic violence.

The theme for the campaign in the Midwest is “You don’t need a bruise to be abused”.

Using this theme that group hopes to draw attention to the fact that that many women suffer financial, sexual, emotional, psychological, social and verbal abuse – all of which can be as harmful as a physical assault and have serious implications for their mental health and wellbeing.

It is estimated one on five women in Ireland experience domestic violence.

THE LOCAL HSE confirmed this week that it couldn’t fill two essential frontline consultant posts at the Mid Western Regional Hospital Limerick, as a senior HSE official outlined the hospital is short 25 consultants in total.

According to Dr Ciaran Browne, National Lead for Acute Hospital Services and Palliative Care, the hospital has 25 consultant vacancies in areas ranging from Emergency Medicine to Breast Surgery.

It was also revealed that the Clare Mental Health Service was short three general psychiatric consultants, while Ennis General Hospital had a vacancy for an Endocrinology/ Diabetes Mellitus specialist.

The HSE locally had not explained why there were vacancies in the Clare Mental Health Services or at the local hospital, at time of press. It also disagreed with the number of vacancies for consultants at the Limerick Hospital, admitting that there were currently six vacancies, six more filled by locums and two positions it is unable to fill despite advertising.

“At present there are six vacancies for consultants in the Mid Western Regional Hospital Limerick. These posts are for the following specialties, Radiology, Medicine, Cardiology and Oral Maxillofacial Surgery. Successful candidates have been selected for these posts and their appointments are going through the various stages of the recruitment process,” the spokesperson said.

“Seven posts have been filled permanently and these are in the area of Emergency Medicine, Geriatric Medicine, Otolaryngology, Microbiology, Rheumatology and Obstetrics and Gynecology. A further six posts in Anesthetics, Urology, Radiology have been filled by Locums and are due to be filled by permanent incumbents after the completion of the recruitment process for these posts.

“Despite advertisement, two posts in Histopathology have not been filled permanently and these are currently filled by Locums,” he said.

Histopathology is the microscopic study of diseased tissue, and is an important tool of anatomical pathology since diagnosis of cancer and other diseases usually requires histopathological examination of samples.

“Over the past five years there have been major advances in the region in the provision of consultant services in rheumatology, neurology and dermatology,” he spokesperson said.

In his reply Dr Browne said vacancies arise from time to time in different specialities due to a number of reasons including the moratorium on recruitment and the difficulty in recruiting consultants in different specialties.

THE annual Éamon De Valera Commemoration in Clare will take place this Sunday at the People’s Park in Ennis at 1pm.

At 12pm there will be a mass at Ennis Cathedral in memory of deceased members of Fianna Fáil in Clare. After mass, Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin TD will lay a wreath at the De Valera Monument before delivering an oration.

Clare Fianna Fáil TD, Timmy Dooley, who is part of the organising committee, said the commemoration is always a very important date on the calendar and it gives an opportunity for members of Fianna Fáil in Clare to remember party colleagues who have passed away.

“The legacy of Éamon De Valera in Clare, Ireland and throughout the world has been well documented but it must not be forgotten that he served the Clare constituency with distinction for nearly 40 years. Sun- day is an opportunity for the people of Clare to remember the impact De Valera had.

“This Sunday will also be a chance for people to commemorate all the deceased members of Fianna Fáil in Clare,” said Deputy Dooley.

Following the event on Sunday there will be lunch afterwards in the Old Ground Hotel, Ennis. All are welcome.

BORD Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) have rejected claims that a planned € 50 million fish farm off the North Clare coast is a “disaster in the making.”

The board has identified an area of Galway Bay as a site for a proposed deep-sea organic fish farm. The venture could create a total of 500 direct and indirect jobs, according to BIM.

According to BIM, the project will create 350 jobs directly through the operation and maintenance of the farm and a further 150 jobs through support industries locally. BIM are about to open a period of public consultation in relation to the development and will send a final application for a license to government after that.

BIM are applying for a production license and, if successful, would hold that on behalf of the taxpayer and find a suitable commercial investor.

Details of the project were heard at a meeting yesterday of Clare County Council’s Strategic Policy Committee (SPC) for Community, Enterprise, Tourism and Emergency Services.

Donal Maguire, Director of Agriculture Development Services with BIM, told the meeting that the project would require an investment of € 50 million. He said the capital budget for fish cages and ships would be close to € 27 million.

He said the site would have no impact on beaches in North Clare, Galway and the Aran Islands.

Mr Maguire, who is originally from Kilkee, said aquaculture can live side by side with tourism.

He added, “We think it’s an exciting project and it could make a lot of employment in Clare and Galway. It will not create an environmental impact.”

Mr Maguire admitted BIM have received a mixed response, saying some residents on the Aran Islands have concerns while others see it as source of year round employment.

He added, “We could see fish being put to sea in 2014, all going incredibly well.” The project did come in for criticism from one SPC member.

Patsy Perill, who represents the Environment and Conservation Sector said BIM are completely underestimating the risks to the environment posed by the proposed fish farm.

Pointing to the potential impact of sea lice and fish waste, Mr Perill said, “I think this is a disaster in the making.” “It’s going to be a wipeout of the wild fish”, he added.

Mr Maguire said studies had shown that sea lice are not the reason for the decline of wild salmon. He said Ireland has among the strictest sea regulations in the world.

“There is an amount of misinformation that isn’t true,” he added.

THE construction of the remaining section of the M18 north of Gort has hit a fresh snag and the National Roads Authority (NRA) are unable to sign contracts for the motorway, despite a preferred contractor being chosen.

It had been hoped that work on the € 530 million project might start early in 2013, but this now seem unlikely unless funding can be found in the coming weeks.

The Government announced in July that works on the motorway were back on track and the Gort to Tuam section was one of the only roads projects signalled to go ahead as part of the national stimulus package.

At the time, the Government announced that the Direct Route consortium had been awarded the contract to build the Public Private Partnership (PPP), but a contract still has not been signed as no Government funding has been put in place.

It had been thought that the Government would source funding from the European Investment Bank for states share of the PPP funding, but this has not happened to date.

It is understood that more than € 150 million has already been spent on the project – with the vast majority of this money spent on the acquisition of lands through compulsory purchase orders.

This is the second time that the Government has been unable to sign contracts with a consortium to complete the M18. In November of 2009, the BAM Balfour Beatty consortium declined to sign the contract for the M18 because they were themselves unable to secure funding for the construction work.

It is understood that the economic situation of Ireland at that time made many European banks unwilling to invest in the project.

The motorway will provide a major boost for the thousands of Clare people who commute to Galway for work and college every day. When built it is also expected to provide a major boost for Shannon Airport, with sections of Galway and Mayo provided with easy access to the airport.

CLARE County Council is not so much wishing for a white as much as a green Christmas this year.

The local authority is urging members of the public to “think green” and spare a thought for the environment in the run-up to Christmas this year.

The council will launch its annual Green Christmas campaign at a special event in Áras Contae an Chláir on Thursday, November 22, during which food and crafts producers will illustrate the importance of purchasing goods locally and the knock-on positive effects for the environment. Talks on upcycling will also demonstrate to members of the public who attend the many benefits by providing new ideas for customised, sustainable Christmas gifts.”

The council’s Environment Section will also host an information stand promoting the importance of upcycling, recycling and waste prevention during the festive period.

The event coincides with European Week for Waste Reduction (EWWR), a European-wide project aimed at promoting sustainable waste reduction actions in Member States.

Mayor of Clare Cllr Pat Daly (FF) said the upcoming event will help to raise awareness about the benefits of supporting local producers for both the economy and the environment.

He said, “By shopping for locallyproduced food or fair trade labels, the people of Clare will be helping the environment by reducing the air miles required in sourcing such products.

“There are also many ways in which the public can help protect the environment in the lead up to, during and after Christmas. Each December and January the council sees a huge increase in activity at its recycling facilities and bring banks, which is testament to the public’s heightened awareness of the importance of protecting the environment around them. “This year, I would appeal to everyone to take heed of the ‘green’ tips being provided by the council to help reduce the amount of waste we produce.”

Pre-Christmas tips from the local authority include buying presents that do not require excessive packaging, wrapping presents with recycled paper, sending festive e-cards to cut down on packaging, supporting local and fair trade producers, recycling shopping bags and composting food waste. Householders are also being urged to recycle all packaging, and take empty bottles and tins to one of Clare’s many bring banks.

According to Joan Tarmey, Clare’s Environmental Awareness Officer, “One of the main objectives of the campaign is to inspire people to add a twist to their Christmas gifts this year by upcycling. Upcycling is the latest trend, and it’s all about being creative and reusing everyday items to make creative and truly original items. We all love customised gifts, so if you’re looking for original gift ideas, drop into the 30 minute upcycling talks starting at 1pm in Aras Contae an Chláir in Ennis. There will be some sample ideas there to inspire you.”