Category: News

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.

THE mystery of the Arctic Narwhal, who somehow made his way to the coast of County Clare, looks set to remain a mystery after the remains of the stranded mammal were destroyed last week.

A carcass, believed to be that of a Narwhal, was spotted by a member of the public at Clahane near Liscannor on March 25. The Narwhal, which is easily recognisable because of its single, two-metre-long, ivory tusk, is a cold-loving Arctic mammal and rarely ventures further south than sections of Greenland.

Indeed, had the carcass been confirmed as a Narwhal, it would have been the first documented finding of a Narwhal in Ireland.

On hearing of the carcass, the Kilrush-based Irish Whale and Dolphin Group set about confirming the find, but could not locate the animals carcass.

The Narwhal hunt came to an end last Wednesday, when Clare County Council confirmed that they had removed the animal carcass.

In a statement the local authority confirmed that the partial remains of the decomposing mammal were discovered by a member of the pub- lic on a beach near Liscannor and reported to the Ennistymon Area Office on March 27.

“An investigation was immediately carried out by council officials who determined that the mammal had been in situ for at least several weeks. The mammal was found to be in an advanced state of decomposition and, as a result, the identity of the species could not be determined,” said the statement.

“Due to the serious public health concerns surrounding the presence of a rotting carcass in a public amenity area, Clare County Council engaged the services of an animal disposal contractor, licensed by the Department of Agriculture under EU legislation, to remove the carcass.

“The contractor took the decision to immediately render the carcass, due to its advanced decomposed state.”

The Environment section of Clare County Council also noted that they had not been contacted by the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group regarding the matter.

The waters on the Irish Atlantic coast have seen some unusual activity in recent months with a large increase in unexplained whale beachings and the unexplained deaths of a numbers of dolphins.

GROWTH to the middle and eastern part of the county and depopulation in the west and north Clare. These were the two contrasting tales told by the official release of the 2011 Census of Population for Clare by the Central Statistics Office last week.

In the map of the county that’s carried above, the vast tracks of land that are coloured white represent areas where the population has decreased, going against the overall trend in the county that saw population jump by 6,396 over the space of five years to over a 100-year high of 117,196.

The census figures are broken down by electoral district, rather than on a parish to parish basis, the statistics revealing that many parts of west and north Clare are now in the grip of a big population decline.

Tullig on the Loophead peninsula is one of the worst hit in west Clare, with its population declining by 16 per cent in five years.

Cahermurphy in the parish of Kilmihil saw its population decrease by 10.9 per cent, Mullagh’s dropped by 7.4 per cent while up in north Clare, Carran’s population declined by 8.7 per cent.

However, not all parts of the west and north were hit – Doonbeg’s population is on the rise as, with 60 more people living there when compared to the last census, which represents a jump of 8.6 per cent, while nearby Dromellihy in Cooraclare saw its population jump by 10.1 per cent.

The same is true of Clondegad, which enjoyed something a surge in population over five years as a 23.9 per cent increase translating into 124 extra people living there.

The urban area of Kilrush saw its population decline by 4.4 per cent, but it was a different story in Kilrush rural as the population grew by 20.5 per cent.

This growth also took place in Kilmihil, which created headlines recently because of the extent of the emigration from the parish actually experienced a population increase of 8.1 per cent. In north Clare the area of Killaspuglonane increased its population by 20 per cent.

The biggest increase in west or north Clare was experienced in Liscannor, which saw its population increase 282 to 374, which represents 32.7 per cent.

However, it’s further east that the biggest increases in terms of numbers are to be seen.

The Ennis urban area actually saw its population decline by 9.8 per cent, in the Ennis rural electoral area an in the outlying parishes there was a big increase.

Ennis rural increased by 6.5 per cent, while along the western corridor this upward trend was mirrored in many places. Crusheen’s population jumped by 20.1 per cent, Doora by 18.5 per cent, the Newgrove area of Doora-Barefield parish by 32.6 per cent, Newmarket-on-Fergus by 6.1 per cent, Mountievers and Castlecrine in Sixmilebridge by 35.5 per cent and 24.8 per cent respectively, Quin by 38.7 per cent, while the biggest percentage shift in the county occurred in Cappavilla in east Clare with the increase from 674 to 1,038 representing 54 per cent.

A WHEELIE bin was allegedly thrown against the rear window of a Garda patrol car while it was parked in Ennis Garda Station, a court has heard.

The allegation was made at Ennis District Court on Tuesday at the case of Stephen McCann (28)

Mr McCann, with an address at Willbrook, Corofin, is charged with damaging the rear window of a motor vehicle belonging to the Chief Superintendent of An Garda Suíochana, Transport Section contrary to section two of the criminal damage act.

Garda Shane O’Connell gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution. Solicitor for Mr McCann, Tara Godfrey applied for bail on her client’s behalf.

Inspector Tom Kennedy told the Court that the State were objecting to bail.

Garda O’Connell said that something had been thrown at a garda patrol car causing damage to the window and dents to roof.

He alleged that a Garda colleague had observed Mr McCann pick up a wheelie bin and throw it through the rear window of the car.

The court heard that the estimated cost of the damage was between € 500 and € 1500. Judge Patrick Du- rcan granted bail subject to a number of conditions.

He ordered that the accused reside at Willbrook, Corofin; to observe a curfew between the hours of 10pm and 8am and to sign on three times a week at Ennistymon Garda Station. Judge Durcan granted the State liberty to re-enter the matter at 24 hours notice. He remanded Mr McCann on bail to appear at Ennis District Court on April 25.