Category: News

THE results of a post mortem on a body found close to the Cliffs of Moher are expected later this morning, Tuesday July 8. The body, which was identified last night as missing Galway man Adrian Folan, was transported to the Mid West Regional Hospital in Limerick yesterday afternoon, with a State Pathologist, Professor Marie Cassidy, set to conduct an examination late last night. The body was discovered in a quarry at Shingaunagh North, just off the R478 Liscannor to Cliffs of Moher road, close to the Liscannor Community Sports Field. The area around the quarry was initially sealed off early yesterday morning as part of an investigation into the disappearance of Mr Folan. Yesterday afternoon Gardaí also sealed off a house in the Carraroe area of Galway as part of their investigate into the disappearance of Adrian Folan. The 41-year-old man was last seen in Athlone town on the night of July 3, and gardaí are investigating whether he may have been killed as part of a alcohol-fuelled row. A man has been arrested in connection with his disappearance and he is currently being held at Mill Street Garda Station in Galway. The detained man, who is also in his forties, was arrested in Galway and detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act. Up until his disappearance, Mr Folan had been studying in Athone IT and was last seen alive in Athlone town last Thursday night. Mr Folan had remained in Athlone after the college year had finished to work on an end-of-year project with some of his classmates.

A MOTHER of two has warned people to be on the look out for bogus tradesmen who were operating in the West Clare area at the weekend.

The men removed a number of roof tiles from the home of Ruth Gilhool and her family.

The roof of the family’s home near Ballyncally was damaged following storms earlier this year. The family had been saving to get the roof repaired when two men in a blue Ford Transit van called to the house on Friday.

The men offered to fix the damage for € 350. Ruth said she accepted the offer as it sounded like a good price and she was desperate to have the roof fixed.

She said rain had already fallen into one of the bedrooms. Ruth was at home on her own Friday when the men called. Her nine-year-old son, who is moderately autistic, was last year diagnosed with a rare form of sarcoma cancer. Ruth’s husband was away with the couple’s son on a trip to Barrettstown – a specially designed camp in Kildare that provides therapeutic care for seriously ill children.

Ruth said that after examining the roof, the men told her further work was required. They said they needed to purchase materials worth € 300 from the Dock Road, Limerick.

The man said they would take € 300 for materials now and the additional € 350 required for the work could be paid over the following week.

Ruth paid the money, which she had originally intended using to tax her car.

When the men returned on Saturday, they told Ruth the cost of completing the work had jumped to € 3,250. When Ruth and her husband protested, the man said he would ring his boss. After making a phonecall, he said he could do the job for € 1,650.

The man said he needed € 1,000 upfront for materials. After Ruth asked for identification and a business card, the man said another van in the area had all the documents.

Ruth said the van left and did not return. It was after inspecting the roof she noticed some of the tiles were missing. “I was afraid to be in the house if they came back. I was afraid to be on my own. I locked my- self in the house.”

Ruth contacted the gardaí about the incident and published photos of her house and van and details of the encounter on Facebook.

Since then, friends have rallied around and offered to help with repairs.

“People have been so wonderful. I had a really heavy heart after this happened after I’d let people do this to our house and exposing us to dan- ger. But after seeing the kindness of people in Clare, my heart had lifted so much,” she said.

There have also been reports of a similar van calling to homes of elderly people in the Ballynacally and Lissycasey area.

ENNIS is facing a housing crisis over the next two years with the cost of family homes set to double – and with little or no development in the pipelines. The average cost of a three bedroom semi-detached house in Clare has risen by 30 per cent over the past 12 month – with Ennis, Shannon and Sixmilebridge driving the increases.

Indeed, according to figures compiled by the Real Estate Alliance (REA), the average cost of a three bedroom semi-detached house in Clare has risen by more then 13 per cent so far this year. With little or no construction of new developments in Ennis over the past four years, and few major developments at the planning stages, the current trend looks set to increase in the medium term.

According to Ennis auctioneer and REA Clare spokesperson, Liam Browne, the price increase is being driven by certain house types in certain areas – while prices in many parts of the county remain flat.

“We are seeing prices increasing in certain houses in certain urban areas, but the increase does not apply across the board. There has been a surge in sales over the past six months and that is definitely having an impact on prices – when houses do come up they are going well,” he said.

“More and more mortgages are being approved, but the houses are not coming on the market. You will see house shortages in the Ennis area over the next year or two, no houses have been built for the past four or five years. This will possibly see house prices continue to rise as there is a lack of supply.”

With the level of planning permis- sion in Clare still at a record low, it looks unlikely that a major increase in house supply can be realised in Ennis in over the next few years.

“Fundamentally it is going to create a shortage of certain kinds of homes in Ennis over the next 18 months or two years. If you go outside the urban areas like Ennis, Shannon and maybe Sixmilebridge – the market is still flat,” continued Liam.

“Any increase in house prices will help those people who are in negative equity, but whether it will get a large number of people out of their situation is not clear.”

A WOMAN has recalled the fright and hurt she felt as a young girl when her primary school teacher allegedly pushed her on a desk and forced his body on top of her.

The woman was giving evidence at the second day of the trial of an 80year-old retired teacher accused of 67 counts of indecent assault.

The man denies all charges, which relate to allegations between 1964 and 1985 at a Clare primary school.

The allegations concern 11 women who say they were assaulted by the man.

On Thursday at Ennis Circuit Criminal Court, the woman recalled an incident she alleges happened in sixth class.

She said the man pushed her on a desk and forced himself on top of her as she faced him.

“He was pushing his whole body weight down on me”, she said.

“My sister shouted stop, you’re going to break my sister’s back”.

The woman told prosecuting counsel Anthony Sammon SC that the incident was “very frightful” and “very hurtful”.

Defence counsel Roderick O’Hanlon SC put it to the woman that the incident at the desk never happened and that her memory is simply an “incorrect recollection”.

Under cross-examination, the woman maintained she had been assaulted by her former teacher.

“We were country children when we were subjected to this behaviour”, she added.

She said the children did not know what sex was but knew their teacher’s behaviour was “horrible” and “wrong”

She said they were “country children in a country school” when they were assaulted by the man.

She said it was a “no win” situation for the children because this was man in “power, all power” who knew their parents.

A 45-year-old woman told the court she recalled that when she was in fifth class, the teacher would sit beside her at her desk and touch her inappropriately.

She also recalled that the man used to admire her clothes.

She said the man used to hold her between his legs as he sat on a high stool at the front of the classroom.

She said she knows now the man was getting aroused.

“He had an erection and it was sticking into my back”.

In cross examination, defence counsel, Mr O’Hanlon SC, put it to the woman that his client never engaged in the type of inappropriate touching as detailed by her.

He told her she was “constructing a narrative” about what happened.

The fifth female complainant to give evidence told the court the former teacher was “very cross” and “very violent”.

She said she remembered one day when the man allegedly pulled one boy from his desk and proceeded to bang his head on every desk.

“I’ll never forget that. It was horrific”, she added.

Prosecuting counsel for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Anthony Sammon SC, put it to the woman that corporal punishment was permitted at the time.

The woman told Mr Sammon she thought the accused’s behaviour was “excessive”.

The woman detailed assaults committed against her by her then teacher. She said they occurred with greater frequency, as she got older in fifth and sixth class.

Defence counsel Roderick O’Hanlon SC put it to the woman, the aggravated assault on the boy never happened.

He said no complaint had been made to the gardaí in respect of that time. The trial before Judge Gerald Keys commenced on Wednesday last and is due to continue today.

A MAJORITY of students in the classroom of a now retired teacher accused of indecently assaulting young school girls would say he was a “good teacher”, a court has heard.

The statement by defence counsel Roderick O’Hanlon SC was put to a woman who alleges the man indecently assaulted her on a weekly basis when she was in fourth, fifth and sixth class.

The woman was giving evidence on the second day of the trial of the 80year-old man who is charged with 67 counts of indecent assault at a Clare primary school between 1964 and 1985. He denies all charges.

The 48 year-old woman told prosecuting counsel Anthony Sammon the accused had “good days and bad days” as a teacher.

She said if the man was having a bad day, “somebody usually got hit really hard”. The woman said she recalled the man sitting down beside her and putting his arm around her.

She said the man would touch her breast area, thigh and inner thigh and genital area. She said all touching took place outside the clothes.

She said on more than one occasion she was brought to the front of the classroom where the man held her between his legs as he sat on a high stool. Under cross-examination from defence counsel Roderick O’Hanlon SC, the woman denied her recollection of the accused as violent man was “incorrect and untrue”.

Counsel put to it to the woman that the man “ran a classroom where the vast majority of students, their recollection is a good teacher”.

“It is an untrue account that you were ever sexually assaulted in this fashion”, he said.

“I was”, the woman replied.

When Mr O’Hanlon put it to the woman that the “atmosphere in the classroom was one of a normal happy classroom”, the woman said this was not true.

The accused, an 80-year-old man who cannot be named for legal reasons, replied not guilty to each of the 67 counts when they were put to him at Ennis Circuit Criminal Court on Tuesday. A jury of seven women and five men has been sworn to hear the trial, which is expected to last between two and three weeks.

A SMALL number of new jobs are set to come in stream in Shannon in the coming months following the decision of American aircraft parts provider Aero-Zone, to set up a European headquarters in Shannon Airport with the creation of a new, Clare based subsidiary.

It is as yet unclear how many jobs will be created directly through the project, but it seen as a very positive long term development for the Airport. Over the last 18 months the Shannon Airport Authority (SAA) has been working to increase the number and type of air services it provides to airlines and this move could help attract more business to the airport.

Based in Arizona, Aero-Zone said it has selected Shannon so it can provide “increased interaction and improved service” for its European clients. It said the decision to set up in Ireland is in line with its strategy of housing inventory at diverse locations.

“Aero-Zone has a large customer base within Europe and the Middle East.

“Having a physical presence in the region means we have an inventory closer to our customers, and allows us to improve what is a leading aircrafton-ground rapid response programme,” said Alfredo Dreyfus, founder and president of Aero-Zone.

The Shannon arm of the company will now be headed up by Sean O’Brien. He will be responsible for establishing a team of inventory specialists in Shannon, as well as supporting clients across Europe.

Established in 1994, the company provides parts for commercial airlines, corporate jet fleets and owner-operators. The company is now looking to procure a building in the Shannon Free Zone to act as its European Headquarters.

A CAMPAIGN to reinstate a permanent A&E service at Ennis General Hospital has been launched.

Kilmaley councillor, Tom McNamara (FF) was elected head of the Regional Health Forum last week, and has made the reclassification of Ennis General Hospital his primary goal for the next 12 month.

The Mid West Region is currently the only HSE region in Ireland not to have a secondary tier, or Model 3, hospital. Model 3 hospitals are designed to act as cover for the main Model 4 hospital in a region, in our case – the Regional Hospital in Limerick.

This campaign goes much further than a motion put forward at Clare County Council last month, which called for the temporary reinstation of A&E Services in Ennis, until construction work on a new facility can be completed in Limerick.

“There needs to be a lot of political pressure to bring this change about. But we’ve seen the evidence in the HIQA report [a damning report on A&E services at Limerick Hospital]. If a service is not being provided properly we have to act on that. Our health service is the most critical service in the country and we need to have a proper one here in Clare,” he said.

“We are the only hospital group in the country with no Model 3 hospital, I would be pushing for a Model 3 Hospital in the mid-west and Ennis is the ideal location for that. This would give us a 24 hour A&E and would give us a surgical service. I will be lobbying hard with the Department of Health and the HSE to put a Model 3 hospital in the mid-west. It is something that needs to be done.

“This would mean a permanent A&E service in Ennis, even when the new building in Limerick comes on stream. The HSE’s own plan means that you need all the different types of hospitals in an area and we have no Model 3 hospital.

“Limerick in our Model 4 hospital but we are missing a Model 3 hospital with a full A&E that can be used as a back up for the Model 4 hospital. At the moment they are saying that the population number are not there. But for the system is to work properly you need to have a Model 3 hospital to be in place.”

RAPE Crisis Midwest says it is “truly humbled” by the public support received since announcing the forced temporarily close of its centre in Ennis.

In May, the centre cited “significant cut-backs” as the reason for closing offices and services in Ennis, Nenagh and Limerick.

Rape Crisis Midwest provides a confidential one-to-one counselling service to both male and female survivors of rape and childhood sexual abuse. The service sees approximately 80 clients a week in the entire mid- west.

Between 12 and 14 people a week attend the service at the Tracklands business park in Ennis.

“There is no reasonable prospect of meeting our shortfall, estimated to be in the region of € 120,000 in the entire mid-west. The current fundraising programme in place will not satisfy that shortfall,” explained at the time.

Many of those are adults who suffered sexual abuse as children. The Ennis centre is due to close on a temporary basis in September.

But in its latest newsletter, the service has paid tribute to the support it has received from the public in Clare.

“It has been a busy few months here at the centre. We were truly humbled by the support, publicity and donations we received when we regrettably announced the news of our onemonth temporary closure. Thank you”.

A spokesperson continued, “Once again, we would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to each and every person who got in touch, donated, organised events, and shared the news of our temporary closure. We are truly grateful for your support and generosity.

Rape Crisis Midwest says it is also in the process of starting a new ‘Friends of Rape Crisis’ fundraising campaign to help address the € 120,000 shortfall.

“This campaign is designed for long-term giving. It will enable people to donate to us regularly and automatically without the hassle of having to physically donate every month. If you would like to get involved in the preparations or join our Friends of committee please get in touch.”

Members of Rape Crisis Midwest in Clare are also preparing for the third annual Dainty Daisy competition.

The event will take place at Treacy’s West County Hotel on Saturday, November 1.

CRATLOE Post Office Action Group have been given two weeks to put forward a plan to improve business at the post office or face possible closure.

The group met with senior officials from An Post in East Clare last Friday, in an effort to convince the postal company to retain the local service.

The meeting, which was described as “positive” by Jim Enright of the action group, was also attended by three Clare TDs as well as Mayor of Clare, John Crowe (FG).

The future of Cratloe Post Office came into doubt two week ago when an An Post review of operations found that the post offices was not generating enough income to justify keeping it open.

The Cratloe Post Office Action Group has gathered more than 1,000 signatures locally from people and businesses who are pledging to use the post office more often.

The action group have proposed a five-year trial period with An Post, to allow local people to support their post office and increase usage numbers.

“It was a good worthwhile meeting. We have until Friday week (July 11) to put in our submission on behalf of the action group and we have asked all the local organisation to support the submission. We need to put forward as strong a case as we can,” said Jim Enright.

“We need more business to take place at the post office to make it viable from An Post’s point of view. A lot of people live in the parish but work in Limerick or Shannon and they use the post offices in these towns. We need people to change their habits and support their local post office.

“We asked An Post to give the post office a five-year trial provided there was a concerted effort by the local community.”

The Cratloe Post Office Action Group say they will take to the streets if necessary to protest for the retention of their post office.

“We would protest if that is neces sary – whether to the GPO or wherever. We will do it but hopefully we won’t need to,” said Jim.

“I am hopeful that we might be a five year reprieve.”

The mid-west representative of the Irish Postmasters’ Union, Kildysart native Tom O’Callaghan, has called on the Government to allocate more services to post offices in a bid to maintain their viability in a time of increased pressure.

A CLARE father who “sacrificed the welfare of his children for alcohol” has been given a four year sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court for the neglect and ill treatment of six children.

The eldest victim described how she was ten when she was left to care for her six week old sister. She said the baby slept beside her in a single bed and when she was unable to stop the infant crying during the night the accused hit her in the face.

The now 19-year-old woman also described coming home from school to find the baby alone strapped into a car seat when her parents had gone drinking. She also cared for her other siblings and forged her mother’s sig- nature in shops in order to feed them. The foster parents of some of the children, aged between two and 12 years-old at the time they went into care, said they were unable to use cutlery, were not toilet trained or able to shower or use a toothbrush.

The 54 year-old man pleaded guilty to eight counts of child cruelty against six children on dates between 2001 and 2010. He is the father of the five younger children.

His former partner and mother of all of the children has already received a four year suspended sentence for the same charges.

“In effect the children were rearing themselves without any parental guidance,” noted Judge Mary Ellen Ring.