Category: News

INCREASED financial pressures on struggling families mean that a growing number are unable to pay volountary contributions.

According to a former President of the Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI), Bernie Ruane, some Clare schools are receiving contributions from as few as 20 per cent of students.

Ms Ruane, who teaches at St Patrick’s Comprehensive School in Shannon, says families and schools are both bearing the brunt of cutbacks to the education sector.

She explains, “Some schools ask for € 50 but others ask for sums of of € 200 or € 250. Parents aren’t really able to afford that”.

Ms Ruane adds, “Parents don’t have it and the schools are not getting it in. I know that in some schools there are only 20 per cent of students paying a voluntary contribution. It’s not unwillingness. It’s just that people don’t have it. If schools don’t charge a voluntary contribution they don’t have money for games, photocopying, things like that. There’s no funding given for that other than what the parents give.”

“Schools are doing their best to cope but there are no year heads or anyone for students to talk to if they have financial problems. It’s very disheartening. You can’t keep paring back and you certainly can’t expect parents to fund education.

Ms Ruane urged schools to operate book rental schemes to help ease the burden on famillies. “Books are getting more and more expensive. You’re talking about € 200 to € 300 for books for kids going to second level. Uniforms are another big expense and it’s hard to know what value parents get from the uniform. They are not that hard wearing. Clothes can be bought cheaply but uniforms seem to be more expensive. ”

Ms Ruane continues, “Every school should make a conscious effort to operate a book rental scheme. Then they end up getting all the books for € 100, € 150. The price of books is really prohibitive. You could be talking about paying € 35 for one book. Most students would be doing 10 subjects for their junior cert alone.”

Coláiste Muire in Ennis has introduced Apple iPads for first years and Ms Ruane believes that it is inevitable that technology will replace books in years to come. “It will have to go that way and we will be talking about a paperless learning system. Schools have already gone that way in the sense that most schools are using interactive whiteboards.

“All the colleges are using systems like Moodle, which is a platform where they can put up the notes and student can access that from their own home. It will have to go that way but for it to go that way, we’re going to need very effective, high speed reliable broadband and not every area in Clare has that”.

AN EAST Clare man has won a prestigious scholarship to the worldrenowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) — including a $40,000 (€ 32,000) presidential prize to cover his tuition while he is there.

James Long, who comes from Parteen, is celebrating this week following the news that he has won a scholarship to MIT in Boston, where he will do a masters in Civil Engineering.

MIT is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.

Just four years after completing his Leaving Cert, James has made the leap to MIT, which is regarded as the best university in the world for engineering.

James completed a four-year degree in Civil Engineering at the University of Limerick earlier this year and will study for a Masters in the same subject in MIT.

Despite this, he does admit that Civil Engineering was not always his chosen career part.

“I wouldn’t say I always wanted to do civil engineering, but I always liked maths and science,” he said. “I liked the sound of the UL course because there is a lot of project work, and when I was coming out of the Leaving Cert it was very appealing – you don’t want to be stuck in books all the time.”

As he entered his final year at UL, James decided to explore opportunities for Masters courses in both the US and UK and filled in countless applications.

“I was looking for a new adventure, I wanted to do something different,” said James, who admits to having been “very surprised” when MIT came back to him. Soon after receiving the news that he had been accepted to study at MIT, he received a second unexpected boost with the news that he has been granted the Presidential Scholarship which will cover his tuition fees and living expenses.

As he heads off Stateside, James’s only regret is that he is going to miss his graduation from the University of Limerick.

THE book launched last week, The Ennis Atlas has been hailed as an “impressive monument” to the history of the town.

The book was written by local man Brian O Dálaigh as part of the Royal Irish Academy’s series of historic town’s publications.

It was officially launched at a civic reception in Waterpark House, Ennis on Friday night.

According to Professor Howard Clark, joint Chairman of the Historic Town Atlas Project, the comprehensive level of information provided in the book will provide a “reliable baseline” for future historical studies of Ennis.

He said, “Brian O Dálaigh proved himself to be an energetic researcher. This is an impressive monument to the history of Ennis.”

Prof Clark said the Atlas could not have been completed without the support of Clare County Library Services, Ennis Town Council and staff at the Royal Irish Academy.

He also commented on the high level of interest in the history of Ennis, saying,

“The general interest and pride of the townspeople is evident in this room tonight.”

County Librarian Helen Walsh said the value of the Atlas to the history of Ennis is “substantial.”

Tom Brassil, secretary of the Royal Irish Academy, said the project could not have been brought to realisation without the support of local authorities and library services.

He added, “This kind of local support is crucial to these projects.”

Brian O Dálaigh, who edited the Corporation Book of Ennis, told the launch that he had been first ap- proached to compile the Atlas in 1990 but had been unable to do so due to work commitments.

He started researching the Atlas in 2007, adding that the project had reignited memories of his childhood growing up in Carmody Street.

Mr Ó Dálaigh, whose father worked as a cooper, recalled many of the tradesmen who worked in Ennis at the time including Jack Darcy (forge), Frank Malone (farrier) and Tom Clohessy (stone cutter).

He added, “My research has brought me back into an Ennis that has unfortunately disappeared.”

Mayor of Clare, Cllr Pat Daly (FF), who grew up in Parnell Street, said the Atlas was a “very impressive project” that would help to keep alive memories of “old Ennis.” Mayor of Ennis, Cllr Peter Considine (FF) said the Atlas shows the extent of interest that exists in the history of Ennis.

He added, “It is broad on reach and depth and will be of invaluable assistance to people who plan the town in future.”

Cllr Considine said the Atlas would provide a use reference point for Ennis Town Council, who had recently initiated the Ennis 2020 public consultation visioning process.

THE retention and preservation of old buildings in Ennis must play a role in the future development of the town, according to a leading local historian.

Ennis man Brian Ó Dálaigh, a former director of the Merriman summer school, says too many buildings of historical interest have been lost to demolition in the past.

He was speaking in Ennis on Friday night at the launch of his latest publication, the Ennis Atlas. Published by the Royal Irish Academy, the Atlas traces the urban development of Ennis from 1200 to 1900.

Mr Ó Dálaigh says the future of Ennis can be influenced by the how the town developed in the past.

He said, “From my point of view I think they should try and keep as much of the old character of the town as possible, particularly from a tourist point of view. Now that’s not always possible. But in Ennis I get the impression they have resorted to demolition too quickly in the past. There are other options for old buildings besides demolition. That’s would I would be inclined to say, to keep as much of the character within reason.”

He also welcomed recent renovations to the historic 13th century Ennis Friary.

He says, “I like it. It’s a pity they didn’t roof the chancel as well. I think it needs it because a whole lot of the carved stone has been weathered. It’s a good move in the long term but it means all the stone carvings will be displayed out of context because its been taken out of the chancel and into the nave. But it’s the better of two evils at this stage to keep it out of the weather.”

Mr Ó Dálaigh, a Dublin based school principle, grew up the Carmody Street area of Ennis where his father worked as a cooper. He said he was proud to have written a history of his native town.

The Atlas also explores how the famine devastated the population of the town.

Mr Ó Dálaigh explains, “Ennis grew up until the famine period, 1845-46. At that time it had a population of over 9000 people. It was the largest population recorded for the town under the 1832 boundary. After the famine, there was a collapse practically in the population of the town so between 1845 and 1901 the town lost almost half its population. It fell from just over 9000 to about 5000. The poverty in Ennis was endemic, a very impoverished town.

“Emigration took hold particularly to Australia. With the coming of the railways to Ennis in 1859, it practically emptied the back lanes of the town.”

RURAL communities in Clare are playing their part in preventing crime in their midst, but can’t be expected to do the work of the Garda Siochána who are being forced out of the countryside because of government cutbacks.

That’s the verdict that has been delivered by community leaders in Labasheeda this week as fears grow that garda services that were already cut back following the retirement of local garda, Michael Ryan, two years ago are to set to be scaled down even further.

“There is nothing more important in a rural community than a Garda Station,” community activist Mike Cassidy told The Clare People .

“We play our part in crime prevention and we take our role seriously, but we need the powers to play their part by having a presence on the ground. A garda is a vital part of the community.

“The idea of presence prevents things from happening – the fact that a person is there or the community knows that there’s someone there who can respond quickly,” he added.

Concerns about a further diminution of Garda services in the village have escalated this week on the back of the Crime and Victimisation Survey conducted by the Central Statistics Office.

In Labasheeda, only five offences came to light in 2011 – they were one threat/harassment, two burglary related offences, one drug offence and one case of damage to property.

“In a community like ours, the population has diminished over the years, but we have people here who live a good distance from the next house or the next farm. We’re on the edge of a peninsula and in place like this, I won’t say they’re in danger, but if someone was looking to do something it might be a prime place to do it if there was no garda presence,” said Mr Cassidy.

“We have a lot of older people in the community and I think the security of knowing that somebody is there – even if it’s only for a few hours or a few days – the presence is reasuring, and is prevention for anything that might happen.

“The analogy is with all the speed cameras. The beauty of that is people know that they’re there and it forces them to have the cameras on their mind and makes sure they obey the law.

“The physical presence prevents things from happening, but the prevention doesn’t get into the statistics, but is as real as the actual events themselves. It’s two parts of the process. Everything from Neighbourhood Watch to neighbours being more aware of anything unusual in the community, but we also need that garda presence,” he added.

THE war on crime is being won by the gardaí, or else the numbers of incidents of crime-related activity being reported to the force has decreased dramatically over the last 12 months.

These are the two contrasting scenarios that have emerged out of the publication of a Central Statistics Office report on crime figures in the county that give a detailed breakdown of offences/incidents reported and dealt with at 26 Garda stations around the county.

All because the CSO report carried out by the All-Island Research Observatory has shown that the county’s five primary towns, form the county capital of Ennis outwards to the main towns in West, North, South and East Clare have all shown a dramatic deccrease in the number of cases that were on the Garda books in 2011.

This drop is most pronounced in Ennis, the largest centre of Garda operations in Clare where the numbers of incidents under investigation by the force in 2011 plummetted by 14.4 per cent when compared with the previous year.

This slide has been mirrored in the West Clare capital of Kilrush, the second largest centre of population Shannon, the North Clare capital of Ennistymon and East Clare’s main town Killaloe.

In 2010 there were 2044 different crime related cases on the books of Ennis Garda station, but the drop of 294 to 1750 represents the biggest of any individual station in the county, a figure that has been brought about by a sharp decrease in a number of frontline crime activities such as drugs offences, assaults, weapons cases and burglaries.

There is anecdotal evidence to suggest that the Ennis’ problem drug has significantly increased over the last number of years, with Class A substances like heroin and cocaine freely available in the county capital, but the CSO figures have painted a different picture where drug activity in the town is concerned as it relates to cases that were under investigation by the local gardaí.

Drugs offences in Ennis decreased from 215 in 2010 to 139 in 2011, a trend that was mirrored in Shannon, Ennistymon, Kilrush and Killaloe.

Elsewhere in Ennis, assaults and harrassments dropped from 152 to 120, while burglary and related offences declined to 108 as against 147 for the previous year. Weapons offences in Ennis also saw a sharp decline in the number of incidents, from 46 to 20 over the space of 12 months.

Shannon also experienced a dramatic decline in the numbers of offences, with the statistics again showing up a big drop in the number of drugs related incidents over 12 months, dropping by over 50 per cent from 62 to 28 as overall figures for all crime in the airport town were down by 220 from 754 to 534. Theft related offences, public order issues and damage to property was also down considerably in Shannon.

The overall crime figures for Kilrush saw a drop from 448 to 357, in Killaloe from 317 to 270, while the number of incidents in Ennistymon dropped by just over 50 per cent from 146 to 72.

A NORTH Clare man has been laid to rest almost three years after going missing in the River Lee in Cork.

Brecan Mooney (31) died after falling into the River Lee during heavy floods on November 19, 2009.

It is thought that Mr Mooney was swept into the river by strong winds as he crossed the Christy Ring bridge in the city centre.

Despite an intensive 21-day search conducted by rescue services, family and friends, Mr Mooney’s body was never recovered. Attempts to locate the body were hampered by dangerous water and weather conditions.

An inquest into Mr Mooney’s death returned a verdict of accidental death due to drowning.

In September 2011, Mr Mooney’s family were informed that the remains of a body had been discovered in the Lee.

The length of time the body had been in the water, along with the fact that the vertebrae could support a body of similar weight and height to Mr Mooney’s, indicated that they were the remains of the missing Clare man.

His identity was confirmed when the results of an 11-month series of DNA tests were made known to the family on Wednesday, August 15, the same day as Mr Mooney’s birthday.

Brecan Mooney had been working as a geologist with the Environmental firm White, Young and Greene and had also been studying for a doctorate at University College Cork (UCC).

Friends and former classmates came out to say goodbye to Mr Mooney as the funeral procession passed through Glanquin, Carron and Kilfenora on Saturday.

Mr Mooney was laid to rest at Shanakyle Cemetery in Kilrush.

Brecan’s father, Brian Mooney, said the burial had brought some consolation to the family.

“His teachers were on the road to say goodbye, his friends from national school. He would’ve loved it. He was terribly close to people here.”

Brian Mooney added, “We found the last few days emotionally very draining. It had an almost cathartic effect for me, almost cleansing.”

THE body tasked with dealing with disputes between third parties and landlords arising from allegations of anti-social behaviour says it has not received any complaints regarding rented properties in Clare in the last 18 months.

The Private Rental Tenancies Board (PRTB) received 2,060 applications in 2011, of which only four per cent related to anti-social behaviour.

In a statement yesterday, a spokeswoman said, “It would appear that none of these cases were from rented dwellings in County Clare.”

A spokeswoman explained that the PRTB can investigate allegations of anti-social behaviour within the limits of the act.”

She added, “The PRTB can, as a civil body, award damages against landlords, where such allegations are upheld. In order to take a case, a third party must provide evidence that they have already attempted to resolve the matter directly with the landlord. Allegations of a criminal nature, for instance drug taking, assault etc, should be reported to the Gardaí for investigation and prosecution through the courts.”

She stated, “Should a third party take a case to the PRTB in respect of these allegations, it should be noted that the tenancy can only be terminated by a landlord serving a valid notice of termination (NoT) on the tenant. The PRTB does not have the power under the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 to order a landlord to serve a NoT or indeed to terminate a tenancy, without the landlord serving a valid NoT.

She continued, “As a quasi-judicial body, the PRTB must operate in a totally impartial manner between disputing parties so cannot offer advice to either party in relation to their dis- pute. However, the board has authorised PRTB management to prioritise cases where there are allegations of serious anti-social behaviour, for instances where there is threat to life or the fabrication of the dwelling.”

A spokesperson for the PRTB said it was “important” for people to take cases against landlords whose tennants consistently engage in anti-social behaviour.

Landlords are required to register properties with the PRTB within one month of tenancy. Failure to do so can result in a court appearance, a € 4,000 fine and/or six months in prison.

IRELAND’S original heritage tree is returning home to Ballyvaughan with an ambitious new project by locals to reintroduce the Ballyvaughan Seedling Apple into the locality.

The Ballyvaughan Apple Tree was one of the first local species of tree identified by Irish Seed Savers more than 20 years ago, when it was classified as Ireland’s first Heritage Tree.

A number of samples of the tree were recovered and propagated by the East Clare-based organisation and have since been planted in several locations all around Ireland.

Despite this, however, the number of Ballyvaughan Apple Trees has dwindled in North Clare.

To coincide with Heritage Week, a group of locals have begun a quest to reintroduce the Ballyvaughan Seedling Apple to Ballyvaughan. A number of trees will be planted at ceremonies at Ballyvaughan Church and Fanore National School this Thursday, and an information evening will take place afterwards at the Burren College of Art.

“There is still a small number of Ballyvaughan Apple Trees in the locality but their numbers are dwindling. There are a number of very old trees, but they are dying out, and there are also three trees at the national school which were planted eight or 10 years ago,” said Conor Fahy, organiser of the tree plant.

“Thanks to the work of the Seedsavers, these trees have now been planted all around Ireland so we want to make sure that the Ballyvaughan Apple Tree survives in the area and that there are more trees here than anywhere else in the country.”

The Ballyvaughan Apple Tree produces a good supply of apples which are ideal for cooking or cider-making. The trees need to be planted alongside other varieties of apple trees to aid in propagation.

The trees were first identified by an American tree expert who was visiting the area in the 1980s and it is still unclear where the first Ballyvaughan Seedling Apple Trees were discovered.

“The exact location of where the original trees were found remains a little controversial among local residents. As they say, time is a great storyteller, and some details have become slightly distorted and exaggerated,” said Clare Biodiversity Officer, Shane Casey.

“A more recent survey of the parish, carried out by the Ballyvaughan Development Committee, has uncovered several orchards, with the poten- tial for many more specimens of the Ballyvaughan Seedling Apple to be discovered, as well as interviews with some of the older members of the community.”

Lynne O’Keeffe-Lascar of Kinvara Sustainable Living and Eoin Keane of Irish Seed Savers will be on hand at the Burren College on Thursday evening to advise local people on how best to look after the trees.

Lynne has recently completed a similar project of mass tree planting in Kinvara, while eight members of the Ballyvaughan community will also attend a course at Irish Seed Savers to train them in apple tree maintenance.

RESCUE services in Kilkee had a busy afternoon on Saturday when two separate serious incidents took place in the village.

A woman in her 60s fell from the pier wall in the village just after 1pm on Saturday afternoon, while three divers also required urgent medical attention at the same time after a suspected case of the bends, also known as Decompression Sickness or Caisson Disease.

The woman, who was walking along Kilkee pier when the incident took place, is understood to have missed a step and fallen more than 10 feet to the rocky base of the pier. Her fall was partly broken by moss and seaweed at the pier base but she still sustained a number of broken bones in the incident as well as injuries to her head.

At the same time, three divers raised the alarm with the emergency services when they reported feeling sick after aborting a dive unexpectedly following a malfunction in their equipment.

Both the Kilkee Unit of the Irish Coast Guard and the Kilkee Marine Rescue Service responded to the incidents, while the HSE ambulance was also diverted to the scene.

The woman was treated at the scene but her injuries were serious enough to require the Shannon-based coast guard helicopter to be scrambled to Kilkee to airlift her to hospital in Galway.

The three divers, who were all members of a Limerick-based subaqua club, had returned to shore and changed out of their equipment when one reported feeling unwell. One of the divers had suffered an equipment malfunction and had been forced to resurface quickly.

For safety reasons, he was accompanied by two other divers while he resurfaced. Divers who are forced to resurface too quickly can suffer from the bends, because of the quick change in water pressure. This can lead to serious injury and even death and cause an embolism or a bleed in the brain.

All four injured parties were airlifted in the same helicopter to University College Hospital in Galway where they were treated for their injuries.