Category: News

SPECIAL deals done between governments and individual TDs have been blamed for the slow pace of reform to mental health services in Ireland.

Minister of State for Health, Kathleen Lynch told a meeting in Ennis last week that it was “scandalous” that people would cut deals to the detriment of vital services just to keep a government in power.

Ms Lynch said, “I think governments were too reliant on single TDs in different constituencies.”

The Labour TD for Cork North Central, whose areas of responsibility include mental health, told the meeting that implementation of mental health reforms contained in the 2006 ‘Vision for Change’ document was often impeded during previous administrations “because votes were too tight”.

Ms Lynch was the guest speaker at a forum on mental health held in the Old Ground Hotel in Ennis last Tuesday.

Ms Lynch told the Clare meeting that she had received the most recent report from the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).

She said that while annual detailed records are available for all young people accessing CAMHS, such records are not available in adult mental health services.

Ms Lynch described this lack of detailed information as a “scandal.”

The meeting heard that there are currently 60 CAMHS teams working in Ireland, 39 less than the target outlined in Vision for Change.

Ms Lynch said that € 35 million had been ringfenced in this year’s budget for mental health services.

She said that an additional 19 CAMHS posts had been allocated for this year.

Ms Lynch told the meeting that mental health had always been the “Cinderella” of the health services but that increased awareness “will take it out of the shadows”.

LAHINCH surfer Ollie O’Flaherty has been shortlisted for one of the biggest prizes in world surfing for riding a massive wave in Sligo last month.

Ollie, who is a member of the West Coast Surf Club, has been nominated along with four other surfers for the Biggest Wave category of the Billabong XXL 2012 contest.

The competition, which carries a top prize of $15,000, recognises the surfers who tackle the biggest waves in world surfing, including Aileen’s Wave under the Cliffs of Moher, Riley’s Wave near Kilkee and the Mullaghmore Head wave where Ollie qualified for the competition.

“The wave was probably 50 foot, so it was a big wave. You can’t paddle into a wave that big so you need someone on a jet-ski to tow you, you hold onto a rope and get whipped into the wave that way,” he said last week.

“It is dangerous enough but we have done a lot of training and put in a lot of time on much smaller waves. Myself and my tow-mate, Peter Conway, have put in a lot of time on this to get everything right.

“Being on the wave is like slow motion. Everything kind of stops and you try not to fall off. You hold on for the ride as long as you can. The ride is surprisingly short – it might only last 15 or 20 seconds on a wave that short but the sheer intensity of it, you could be buzzing for a week or two after it.

“Coming off the wave can be pretty violent but a lot of training goes on behind the scenes. I spend a lot of time training so I don’t drown. You have to have a healthy body and healthy mind. You hit the water hard but you wear impact vests, to stop you breaking any ribs or anything like that. And once you’re under, you could be under for anything up to 20 or 30 seconds. If a another wave is coming, it could be longer that that.”

Ollie is up against Devon-based surfer Andrew Cotton, Garrett McNamara, Basque surfer Axi Muniain and Australian surfer Damien ‘Taco’ Warr for the competition.

HOLIDAY homes in Lahinch and Doonbeg could be sold for as little as € 50,000 each, according to Allsop Space, the British-headquartered estate agents that will have four properties from the county up for grabs at its latest auction of distressed properties.

Details of the Clare properties were revealed this week, with houses in Ennistymon and Crusheen also included in the auction of 106 lots from throughout the country that will take place in the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin on May 3 next.

In the catalogue for the auction, a four-bedroomed bungalow on Station Road in Lahinch has been given a reserve price of just € 50,000. The property, which is just a couple of minutes’ walk from the centre of the village, also comes with planning permission granted by Clare County Council in December 2010 to demolish the house and build three townhouses in its place.

The Doonbeg property is a semidetached, four-bedroomed house in Dun na Mara on the White Strand Road, which has a reserve of € 45,000, while the Ennistymon property is a two-bedroomed apartment with a reserve price of € 80,000. The final Clare property is a four-bedroomed house in Crusheen that has a reserve price of € 75,000.

In 2011, Allsop held four sales of distressed properties, with the lowest price for any property in the country being in Clare when a site in Cloughleigh with planning permission for a shop unit and two apartments was sold for € 11,000.

CONMEN impersonating members of the Gardaí have stolen hundreds of euro from vulnerable pensioners in North Clare after a spate of door-todoor scams over the past two weeks.

Gardaí in Ennistymon have issued a warning to local people after a number of elderly Ennistymon residents, all of whom were living on their own, were taken in by confidence tricksters.

One of the victims, well known 90year-old local publican Nan Aherne, lost € 350 in the scam – € 300 of which she had with her at the time to pay for her home help service.

In a separate incident, a woman in her 80s living on the Ennis Road in Ennistymon, lost € 1,000 to the criminals. Gardaí in Ennistymon are investigating both incidents but would not say as yet whether they believed the two incidents to be connected.

In both cases a man came to the house and claimed to be a plaincloths member of the Gardaí conducting routine house calls.

The man, who showed a form of ID, was invited onto the premises and discussed a number of security issues with the women.

In both cases, the women handed over a sum of money to the conman – who claimed he would take it back to the Ennistymon Garda Station to determine if the money was counterfeit. The money was not returned.

Gardaí in Ennistymon confirmed yesterday that they are not currently carrying out any door-to-door callouts in the Ennistymon area. According to one local resident, the con man who had visited Nan Aherne was very convincing.

DETAILS of two new teaching and coordinator appointments in Ennis and Scariff have been announced by Clare Vocational Education Committee (VEC).

John Cooke has been appointed Principal of Ennis Community College.

John is a native of Thurles and a graduate of Trinity College Dublin and is currently Principal of Scoil Phobail Mhic Dara in the Galway Gaelteacht.

John replaces outgoing principal, Matt Power. A spokesperson for Clare VEC thanked Mr Power for his decades of service to education in Clare. “We thank Matt most sincerely for the energy, enthusiasm, commitment and long and dedicated service, not only to Ennis Community College but also as a Senior Manager with County Clare VEC. We wish Matt every contentment and happiness in his retirement.”

Vivienne Hogan has been appointed Deputy Principal Ennis Community College.

Vivienne is a graduate of University of Limerick, currently teaches in Ennis Community College and has acted on two occasions as Duty Principal.

Vivienne replaces outgoing Deputy Principal Angela Mc Namara, who has been appointed Principal in Scariff Community College.

Ms McNamara is replacing Sean Daly as principal of Scariff Community College

Meanwhile, Triona Lynch has been appointed coordinator of the Scariff VTOS Programme and will take up this new role effective from September l, 2012.

Originally from Corrovorrin, Ennis, Ms Lynch now lives in Maurice’s Mills with her husband and family.

A spokesperson explained that the appointment is in line with an agreement with the Department of Education and Skills and Unions in relation to the redeployment of Directors of Traveller Training Centres

Triona replaces the outgoing coordinator, Brian Crossan, who has been appointed Deputy Principal in Scariff Community College.

Mr Crossan replaces retiring deputy principal John O’Donovan. Mr Crossan is a former director of St. Joseph’s Training Centre, Ennis.

A spokesperson for Clare VEC wished both Triona and Brian every success in their new roles.

A MAN has appeared in court charged in connection with an alleged burglary at a pub in Kilmaley earlier this year.

Jamie Brohan (29), with an address at 142 Hermitage, Ennis, is charged with entering the Kilmaley Inn as a trespasser and committing an arrestable offence, to wit, theft of a Samsung cash register valued at € 1, 200.

Inspector Tom Kennedy outlined details of the alleged offence at Ennis District Court on Wednesday.

He told the court that it would be alleged that Mr Brohan committed a burglary at the Kilmaley Inn on Februray 13, taking a cash register that contained € 15.

Insp Kennedy said that it would be further alleged that the accused was then found in possession of the cash register in the Hermitage area of Ennis on February 16.

He said Mr Brohan was subsequently arrested and charged.

He told the court that the cash register was valued at € 1,200. He said that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had directed summary disposal of the case.

Judge Patrick Durcan said that he was “reluctantly” accepting jurisdiction, noting that “burglary matters are very serious matters.”

Mr Brohan elected to have the case dealt with in the district court. His solicitor Daragh Hassett told the court that he would be writing to the State seeking disclosure. Judge Durcan remanded the accused to appear again at Ennis District Court on April 25.

CLARE’S reputation for producing talented young musicians has been further enhanced after two local primary schools were selected for the final of the € 10,000 Walton’s Music in Schools Competition. Both Knockanean National School and Holy Family Senior Primary School in Ennis have been shortlisted alongside four other schools from around Ireland.

Students from both schools will perform at the competition’s final in the National Concert Hall in Dublin on Monday, April 16. The annual Waltons Music for Schools Competition is a national event and a celebration of music in Irish schools. The competition awards a total of € 10,000 worth of vouchers for musical instruments, accessories or technology from Waltons Music, to be divided among six winning primary and post-primary schools, including two first prizes of € 3,000 vouchers.

Both Holy Family and Knockanean had to submit a recording of a piece of music based around the theme of ‘Why Music?’ They will face competition from schools from Tipperary and Cork in the competition final.

Music is alive and well in both schools. In addition to a 120-strong choir and an 80-strong chamber choir, tuition in several instruments and a newly introduced violin-teaching programme, Holy Family Senior Primary School has taken a highly creative approach to developing music in the school. These include a daily listening programme in which children speak through their PA system and announce a featured ‘composer of the week’ and a ‘mobile singing squad’ of children who visit each class to help teach new songs. The school would use the prize to get a range of instruments and replace their keyboard. Their entry is ‘One Small Voice’ from Sesame Street, performed by the 80strong Holy Family Chamber Choir.

Knockanean National School has a vibrant 85-member ‘Music Club’ that takes place once a week. Students participate in the Music Club at no cost, and the only requirement is full attendance of all sessions. Knockanean NS would use the prize to get a digital piano as well as other instruments. Their entry is ‘Unfinished Seasons’, performed by Cnoc An Éin, a 56-strong group of instrumentalists and singers.

To watch videos of both school’s entries log onto www.newschool.ie and follow the links.

CLARE’S connection to one of the most well-known English-language poets of the modern era will be celebrated in a new literary weekend which will take place in Ennistymon next month.

The Dylan Thomas Literary Weekend will mark the Welsh poet’s connection to the Falls Hotel, where his wife Caitlin MacNamara was born and raised. Caitlin was the youngest daughter of Francis MacNamara, who transformed Ennistymon House into the Falls Hotel.

The keynote lecture for the threeday festival will be delivered by Dylan Thomas’ biographer and journalist Andrew Lycett, who will join a host of national and international writers and poets at the festival.

Other contributors include John F. Dean, the founder of Poetry Ireland; the co-founder of the Irish Writers Co-operative Fred Johnson; award- winning Welsh essayist and poet Robert Minhinnick; freelance writer and editor Diarmuid Johnson; poet and painter Jo Slade; fiction writer Claire O’Connor; Crusheen-based folklorist and author Eddie Lenihan; and poet Paul O’Mahony.

The festival, which will run from Friday, May 18, to Sunday, May 20, will feature lectures, poetry recitals, a documentary screening and a history tour outlining Ennistymon’s connections to the Welsh literary legend and other poets, including Brian Merriman.

“This literary weekend focuses not only on Dylan Thomas’ inspiring work, but that of his contemporaries and those who continue to be inspired by him. The festival will enable fans of Dylan Thomas to celebrate his connections with Ennistymon, and to learn more about the man who is known the world over for the passion and love of life he infused in his poetry and prose,” said organiser Joanne Clancy of the Falls Hotel and Spa.

“The Dylan Thomas link with the hotel is that the original Ennistymon House was owned by the MacNamara family. Thomas himself did not live in Ennistymon at any stage but his wife Caitlin did. Her father Francis was the person responsible for transforming the manor house into a commercial property, what we know today as the Falls Hotel and Spa.”

Acclaimed as one of the bestknown and important poets of the twentieth century, Thomas’ most popular works include his play for voices ‘Under Milk Wood’ and his poems ‘And Death Shall Have No Dominion’ and ‘Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night’. He died at the age of just 39 in 1953 but his wife Caitlin survived until 1994.

For more information, visit www. fallshotel.ie.

A CASE of alleged assault on a GAA field in Shannon last year has been brought before Ennis District Court.

Daniel O’Halloran (25) of Liscullane, O’Callaghan’s Mills is charged with assault contrary to section three of the non fatal offences against the person act. The charge relates to an alleged incident at a Clare senior hurling club championship match played at Tullyvarraga, Shannon on May 28 (2011). At Ennis District Court on Wednesday, Inspector John Galvin said that Mr O’Halloran made no reply to charge after caution.

Solicitor for O’Halloran, Patrick Moroney, told the Court that he had written to Shannon Garda Station for full disclosure.

Asked by Judge Patrick Durcan about jurisdiction of the case, Insp Galvin said there “may be a development.”

Judge Durcan remanded Mr O’Halloran on continuing bail to appear again on April 25. Judge Durcan said instructions from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) are required in order to determine jurisdiction of the case.

A NEW broadband service aimed at improving business-to-business connectivity has been launched in Ennis. As a leading mid-west wire- less broadband provider, BBnet, is launching its FibreAir dedicated internet service, which will enable businesses in Ennis to avail of a costeffective, uncontended, fully synchronous, internet connection from 10Mb up to 100Mb. The extension of this high-speed FibreAir service to Ennis comes in the wake of BBnet’s successful introduction of a similar service in Shannon late last year. Business customer demand in Ennis for a quality internet connection that offers greater upload speed at an affordable price led to the extension of the product roll-out. Backhauled onto its existing Tier1 Fibre network at Westpark Business Campus in Shannon, the FibreAir service offers businesses secure internet connections with scalable bandwidths from 10Mb up to 100Mb, a dedicated service to each customer with no sharing of bandwidths, and a fully synchronous service with the same upload and download. The official launch of BBnet’s FibreAir product took place in Ennis last week. The launch, which took place at the Temple Gate Hotel, heard presentations from John Page of DELL Computers and Mark Scanlon, CEO of Sourcedogg.com in Galway. Speaking ahead of the launch, BBnet Managing Director, Barry O’Halloran said, “The provision of competitively priced, high capacity, bandwidth which is totally independent of the incumbent provider’s network and infrastructure, will greatly assist companies that are migrating to cloud computing and that need greater upload speed.” With more and more video conferencing applications and remote connectivity being used within the business setting, to and from headquarters, there is a widespread interest in upgrading to higher-speed services. Using a combination of fibre and the latest wireless technologies, this new service will facilitate the migration to higher capacity services and accelerate the migration from copper-based networks.