Category: News

CLARE Local Development Company (CLDC) are appealing to members of the public to join them on a protest rally which takes place in Dublin tomorrow, July 9.

The protest has been organised in an effort to prevent the administration of the LEADER scheme from being taken from CLDC, which is due to happen in January of 2015.

According to Doreen Graham, CEO of CLDC, the LEADER Programme in Clare has become a model for other programmes and has urged the Minister for the Environment, Phil Hogan (FG), to reconsider the change.

“This is the most successful LEADER model in all of Europe and it is community led. We don’t think that taking this out of the hand of the community and putting it in the hands of the state is a good move. It is retrograde step and it will dismantle something that has been working really well for years,” she said.

“LEADER has become a key part of the rural development of Clare over the years. A huge amount of relationships and expertise has been built up between the LEADER group and rural communities all over the county. It has worked really well in Clare and the county would be regarded, at national level, as one of the most successful LEADER counties.

“This is not broken. Most believe believe that this system is not broken and should not be dismantle. We have seen so many Clare communities coming from a situation where there was little or no development to a situation where they are delivering important projects for their areas. That is what this project has done.”

Anyone wishing to take part in the CLDC Dublin protest is asked to contact CLDC on 065 6866800 or email info@cldc.ie for further information.

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.

ILLEGAL hunters, using high powered rifles capable of firing bullets for more than a quarter of a mile, could pose a serious risk to public health.

Gardaí in East Clare are investigating an incident in which a horse was shot dead on private property near Whitegate earlier this month.

The animal, an Irish Draft Yearling, was shot at night with a high pow- ered gun, with the bullet travelling so fast that it passed clean through the animal. The owners believe that their horse was shot accidentally by hunters at night, who were in the area shooting deer.

With deer shooting season over until the autumn, local landowner Geraldine Jones believes her animal was killed by ‘lampers’ or hunter operating at night using flashlight.

“There has been incidents here before of cattle being shot. There are houses in the area but there is also deer, and when there is deer there are hunters. We’re out of pocket [because of the shooting] but that isn’t the point really, we have more horses down there and we don’t want to go down there and find them shot – or worse still, see someone walking on the road get shot, she told The Clare People .

“These weapons are very powerful and some people just seem to shoot and not worry about where [the bullet] is going to end up. I’m not antihunting or anything like that, but they [high powered rifles] should not be in the hands of careless people.

“The animal was shot on the [Sunday, June 15] evening or later that night – we can’t pinpoint the exact time. He was our animal but to others he was only a horse. We don’t think that it suffered.

“There was no marks on the ground where the animal might have scratched if it was in pain, but it looks like it was dead before it hit the ground.

“It is distressing. I go down there now and if I see one of them [the horses] lying down I automatically think that they are dead.

“The worst we thought would happen was the horses getting frightened and maybe breaking out onto the road. We never expected to find one with a bullet in it.”

Clare dog warden Frankie Coote says that the rifles used by some of these hunters are very powerful.

“It has happened but not at this time of year. These are people who are lamping and shooting deer out of season.

“A bullet shot from one of those rifles could travel up to a quarter of a mile and kill whatever it meets.

“They are so powerful that the bullet will keep travelling until it hits a target. We have had similar cases in this area in the past and it is a real problem,” he said.

Margaret (Olive) CULLINAN (née
Tuohy) , 77Turnpike Road, Ennis. Funeral Mass Tuesday, July 1, at 11amat Ennis Cathedral, followed by private cremation. Family flowers only, donations if desired to Milford Hospice, Limerick. May she rest in peace.

Kevin MALONE
, 3 Aiden Park, Shannon. Late of Burnham, Dingle Co Kerry. Funeral Mass onTuesday at 12 noon at St John and Paul’s Church, Shannon. Burial afterwards in Lemenagh Cemetery. May he rest in peace.

John (Jack) MCINERNEY
, Scart, Kilkishen. Laid to rest in Clonlea Cemetery. May he rest in peace.

Aine FITZGERALD (née Fennell)
, Renton, Washington, USA, and formerly of Henry Street, Kilrush. Laid to rest in All Saints Cemetery, Shanakyle. May she rest in peace.

Robert GODZISZ
, 15 Ard Caoin Gort Road, Ennis. Laid to rest in Cork. May he rest in peace.

Denis JONES
, Clonloum, O’Callaghans Mills. Peacefully at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital. Laid to rest in Clonlea cemetery. May he rest in peace.

John (Johnny) MALONE
, Clareview, Ballybeg, Ennis. Peacefully at the Galway Clinic. Laid to rest in Clareabbey. Donations, if desired, to Slainte an Clair. May he rest in peace.

Derek (Dobber) O’BRIEN
, Rivendell, Pass Road, Meelick. Peacefully at his residence. Laid to rest in Ballycannon Cemetery, Meelick. Donations, if desired to the Oncology Department, of Limerick University Hospital. May he rest in peace.

Patrick (Pa) O’SHAUGHNESSY
, Knockdonagh, Kilmore. Laid to rest inTruagh Cemetery. May he rest in peace.

Patrick BUCKLEY
, 126Tradaree Court, Shannon. Laid to rest in Illaunamanagh Cemetery. May he rest in peace.

Sister Baptiste CASEY
, Kilkenny/Ruan. Late of Rinneen, Ruan. Laid to rest in Foulkstown Cemetery, Kilkenny. May she rest in peace.

Mary DONNELLY (née Burke)
, Kilmacduane, Cooraclare. Laid to rest in Kilmacduane cemetry. Donations if desired to Milford Hospice. May she rest in peace.