Category: News

THE events of the Clare branch of Birdwatch Ireland have been chronicled in another calendar, the proceeds of which will raise funds for the group’s activities organized each year.

The Clare branch of Birdwatch Ireland is a registered charity, with the 2012 calendar being the third production that they have published over the past three years.

“Funds raised go towards the maintenance of our www.clarebirdwatching.com website and the annual running of our branch,” spokesperson and wildlife expert, photographer and filmmaker John Murphy has revealed.

“During the year we run free out- ings on a monthly basis throughout the county so that the general public and Birdwatch Ireland members can come along to see the wonderful birds and nature that the county has to offer,” he added.

The calendars are available from many shops in Ennis including the Ennis Bookshop, Jimmy Brohans, the Paperchase, all the pet shops,

McLougney’s in Shannon and many other small outlets throughout the county.

It can be purchased directly from Tom Lynch or John Murphy, details on our website and are priced at € 8, with a limited amount of copies remaining.

UNOFFICIAL REPORTS from the Beckman Coulter manufacturing plant in East Clare have indicated that the plant, and the majority of its 180 strong workforce, is likely to survive the company’s restructuring programme.

An announcement has been expected concerning the future of the plant for more than two months since vice presidents Pamela Miller and Charles Pittman visited the O’Callaghan’s Mills plants in early October.

The company now operates two manufacturing plants in the west of Ireland with the Beckman Coulter top brass expected to close either the East Clare plant or its sister facility in Galway City and roll operations into one location.

Workers at both factories have been warned to expect an announcement at some stage this week but no formal time or date for an announcement has been identified. The company currently employs 180 people in East Clare with more than 200 people employed in its Galway facility.

SIPTU are currently engaged with ongoing negotiations with the company and unofficial indications are suggesting that it will be good news for the East Clare facility.

“It is looking positive at the moment but we must stress that we have heard nothing official from the company at this stage,” said local Cllr Joe Cooney (FG).

“This would be a huge boost for the area if the factory remains in East Clare, especially when you consider the 70 or so jobs that have been lost at FINSA over the last 12 months. It would be a massive blow for the area of something happened to this facility as well after what has been a really tough year.”

The East Clare facility was formally operated by Olympus Diagnostics until it was purchased by Beckman Coulter in 2009. Beckman Coulter was in turn purchased by US medical giant, the Danaher Corporation, earlier this year and it is this latest buy-out which has brought about the stand-off between the Galway and East Clare factories.

The two facilities, which have both retained the Beckman Coulter name, develop and manufacture products used in complex biomedical testing. While Beckman leases the facility in Galway, the company owns the site in East Clare, which has also been upgraded in recent years.

This is thought to be one of the key factors which may swing the decision in favour of the Clare factory.

ONLOOKERS in Ennis were stunned on Friday afternoon last when a vicious melee broke out in the Turnpike area of the town.

The violent incident saw a van crash into three parked cars, one of which contained a four year-old child, before the occupants of another van emerged to smash windows and attack two men with shovels.

“I thought someone would be killed,” an eyewitness told The Clare People. “One van drove the other off the road, damaging cars and moving them eight or ten feet up on the footpath,” he said.

Miraculously the four year-old child was not hurt in the incident, despite the car he was in being hit by the van.“They then got out of their van and attacked the fellas in the van they run off the road. They had shov- els and smashed the windows in with the shovels. They then tried to hit the men in the van with the end of the shovels.

“It was frightening to watch. It’s a miracle no-one was seriously injured, especially the child.

“The men with the shovels took off quickly and the gardaí were here in minutes,” he explained.

Gardaí were conducting door-todoor enquiries in Ennis on Friday after the incident, which occurred around lunchtime outside Yvonne’s takeaway and Ladbrookes bookmakers.

The road was closed for a brief period. Gardaí are appealing for witnesses with any information to come forward. A garda spokesman explained;

“The driver of one of the vans was involved in an altercation on the Kilrush Road a short time earlier outside the Social Welfare offices.”

A DISTRICT court judge has dismissed an objection to the renewal of a licence for a pub in Ballinruan, after hearing from a garda that the premises is well run and has never generated a complaint.

Bernard Hassett, of Burrenview, Ballinruan, Crusheen, objected to the renewal of the licence of Hassett’s bar in Ballinruan.

Garda Declan Keavey, who is based in Crusheen, told the court that he has never had any complaints relating to the premises, which he described as well run.

“It is a typical rural pub. It is the social network of the local community. . . It is the centre of the community,” he said.

He said that the pub is located in a tiny village. “If you blinked you would miss it. There’s a church, a pub and a community centre,” he explained.

The age profile of those who frequent the pub is over 40, he said.

“I have never had any incident. I have never been called to the pub,” said the garda.

“The publican has never been convicted of any incident. There has never been a drink driving incident or traffic accident as a result of people leaving the pub,” he said.

Gda Keavey said there is never any anti-social behaviour in the village.

The publican, Paddy Hassett told the court that he bought the premises in 2003 and he and his wife run it. He said that the customers are mainly an “older crowd” consisting of locals, as the younger people from the area go to Ennis and Gort at night-time.

He said he opens the pub at around 8.30pm or 9pm every night and closes at 1am and there is Irish music at weekends.

During the weekday nights, there are generally just up to eight people in the pub and this increases to between 30 and 40 at weekends.

It was put to him that according to Bernard Hassett, people left the pub at 3.50am one morning and that a car was damaged. The publican denied this. He told the court that when Bernard Hassett moved to the Ballinruan area, there were no difficulties with him.

“He has gone to court with two friends of mine. That’s why he is hitting at me,” said the publican.

Bernard Hassett told the court that people left the pub one morning at 3.50am “and created anti-social behaviour”.

He said that his objection was based on CCTV footage. However, Judge Aeneas McCarthy told him that the footage was 20 hours in length, “predominantly a camera pointing at an empty road”.

“I am not looking at 20 hours of CCTV camera pointing at an empty road. It’s your business to edit it,” said the judge.

He dismissed the case. “I’m granting the licence,” said the judge.

TEACHERS may have to be hired on a temporary basis to cope with retirements from Clare schools, a meeting has heard.

It has been predicted that a high number teachers will take early retirement in February.

According to the Association of Secondary School Teachers in Ireland (ASTI),

“Under the terms of the Croke Park Agreement, teachers who retire before February 29, 2012, will have their pension and lump sum calculated on ‘pre-cut’ salary – the salary they were earning before the pay cut imposed in January 2010.”

Clare VEC is waiting to see how many teachers take up the option in order to assess the impact on Clare schools.

At the December meeting of Clare VEC, Fianna Fáíl councillor, Peter Considine asked what contingency plans are in place to cope with teacher retirements.

“Hopefully there will be no disruption to students,” he added.

CEO George O’Callaghan told the meeting that teachers could be hired in a temporary capacity to take classes until the end of term.

Mr O’Callaghan said there should be no problems filling posts given the high level of unemployment in the country.

He said the VEC would examine the situation more closely in February.

Concern was also expressed over the impact of cuts to career guidance services announced in this month’s Budget.

Under the new system schools will have to provide the guidance service from within their general teacher allocation.

Mr O’Callaghan said the VEC would study the implications of the decision when to it receives its teacher allocation quota from the Department of Education and Skills in February.

“However he told the meeting that for schools in Clare and around the country, the cut “effectively means a de facto increase in the pupil teacher ratio”.

Mr O’Callaghan said the decision would have a varying impact on various schools, adding it would have “an upward impact on the pupil teacher ratio”.

In response to questions from Cllr Cathal Crowe (FF), Mr O’Callaghan pointed out that pupil teacher ratios would not increase at ‘disadvantaged’ or DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) schools around the county.

A 16-year-old Ennistymon girl who was struck by lightning in her home is fighting to be out of hospital for Christmas. Sixteen-year-old Aisling O’Connell was using a hairdryer in her home in Clonomera, just a mile outside Ennistymon when she was struck by lighting on Thursday, December 16.

Aisling, who is a keen basketball player and a student at Scoil Mhuire in Ennistymon, remains in hospital in Galway at the moment with burns to her head and neck. She has undergone a number of skin-grafts on the effected areas and is responding well to treatment.

Aisling is a member of the school U-16 basketball team who won the Munster U-16 title over the weekend. Members of the team contacted Aisling in hospital after the historic win.

“Everyone at the school is hoping and praying for a speedy recovery. We would also like to wish her and her family all the best over Christmas,” said a spokesperson from Scoil Mhuire in Ennistymon.

According to one Ennistymon local, Aisling is a brave girl and hoped are high that she will be out of hospital for Christmas.

“What we have heard is that she is doing well and is making a good recovery, she might even be out for Christmas,’ they said.

The last recorded report of a lighting strike in Clare took place in January of 2009

A TAXI driver in Shannon sustained multiple injuries in an assault after a dispute arose over a fare, a court has been told.

Arising out of the incident, Diarmuid Devanney (22) with an address at Cúl Na Gréine, Shannon, pleaded guilty to a charge of assault causing harm. Inspector Tom Kennedy told Shannon District Court on Thursday that the taxi driver was hit from behind with a crutch by the defendant, on February 20 last.

He said that the accused, his younger brother and a friend were in a taxi in Shannon.

He said that they were brought to the town centre and didn’t have the money to pay the fare.

“The taxi driver got out of the taxi and held on to one of them,” he said.

He said that while the taxi driver held on to the accused’s brother, the accused “assaulted him with a crutch”.

He said that the taxi driver sustained several injuries including bruises to the head, hands and arms, cuts to the lips and mouth, while he had a finger broken.

“It was minor enough in the Section 3 (assault causing harm) category,” said Inspector Kennedy.

Defending solicitor Jenny Fitzgibbon said that there was a misunderstanding on the night.

She said that her client’s brother had got out of the taxi to go to the bank machine to get money to pay the fare. “They realised they didn’t have money,” she said.

“There was a bit of a misunder- standing. I’m not sure if it was cultural or language,” she said.

She said that her client’s actions were “reprehensible” and he had “gotten out of control”, adding that he was “very protective” of his younger brother.

She said that her client has “very, very serious health concerns”.

Judge Aeneas McCarthy imposed a fine of € 300.

DESPITE a well-received bid, Clare has missed out on a € 200,000 music teaching windfall.

The Clare Music Education Partnership (MEP) is to meet in the New Year in order to consider making a third bid to the Music Generation a programme co-funded by U2 that aims to provide up to € 7 million to music education initiatives in Ireland.

Members of Clare’s music community met in October to formulate the bid, which was spearheaded by Clare VEC.

A successful bid would have seen € 200,000 invested in the Banner County over three years. Clare Music Partnership would also be expected to provide matching funding in the same period.

Local authorities, Maoin Cheoil an Chláir and the University of Limerick were among the groups who had backed the Clare bid.

In a report to Clare VEC, Dr Sean Conlan Music Education Officer confirmed that the Clare application had been unsuccessful.

He stated, “A second submission to Music Generation on behalf of the Clare Music Education Partnership (MEP) was made in November. Clare VEC was the lead agency. Unfortunately the application was unsuccessful again on this occasion. The Clare MEP application received a score of 71 per cent across the three key evaluative measures, core values, feasibility and value for money.”

Dr Conlan continued, “A further round of applications will be announced in the autumn of 2012. Successful projects will each received a maximum grant allocation of € 200,000 annually over three years. This has to be co-funded at local level and after three years the music education partnership is expected to be in a position to self finance its operation with collaborative funding from the Department of Education and Skills. The Clare MEP will meet early in the New Year to consider its position.

The second round of Music Generation funding was announced last week with partnership’s in Laois, Cork City and Wicklow receiving up to € 1.7 million.

In July 2009, U2 and The Ireland Funds announced a € 7 million donation to support music education programmes.

Music Generation will provide three-year seed funding to establish local services, which will be sustained by Music Education Partnerships on a long-term basis.

A PROMINENT County Clare solicitor has strongly criticised the decision not to re-open a courthouse in Ennistymon, describing it as “an assault on rural society”.

Eugene O’Kelly, of O’Kelly Moylan Solicitors, said he will have to consider relocating his office from Ennistymon to Ennis, as a result of the decision.

The Courts Service has ruled that from January all north Clare court cases will be heard in Ennis Courthouse. In the past few years, the cases were heard in Kilrush Courthouse, but have now been moved to Ennis as part of plans to centralise the service.

A few years ago, court sittings moved from Ennistymon after the then District Court Judge Joseph Mangan argued that the venue, Teach Ceol, was unsuitable as it was cold and acoustics were poor.

At the time, the Courts Service looked for a new venue in Ennistymon and temporarily moved the hearings to Kilrush.

Mr O’Kelly, whose client base mainly covers West and North Clare, said he understood that North Clare sittings would eventually return to Ennistymon.

“I am dismayed to see it being closed without any consultation. I would see it as an assault on rural society. It is one more step in the continuous erosion of the fabric of rural communities,” he said.

Mr O’Kelly said that in 2008, there were 71 district court sittings in Ennis and this will increase to 120 next year.

“It is not that the workload has increased in Ennis requiring these sittings. Since 2008 Kilkee, Kildysart, Miltown Malbay, Lisdoonvarna, Corofin, Tulla and Scarriff were abolished. When they were abolishing the North Clare ones it was said a very good facility would be developed in Ennistymon,” he said.

“That’s 31 court sittings (Ennistymon and Shannon) simply being abolished. It’s an enormous inconvenience and disruption for people in outlying villages and towns in county Clare. People are being made travel further and further to access basic services.

“The loss of a court from a town takes from the prestige of that town. The whole town suffers,” he said.

He said the decision was “centralisation for the sake of centralisation”.

“I accept that economic times such as we have require savings but these savings shouldn’t be made at the expense of rural communities. Rural society is degraded the more services are centralised,” said Mr O’Kelly.

Two years ago, Mr O’Kelly – whose main base is in Kilrush – opened an office in Ennistymon and says the proposed re-opening of a courthouse in the town was a significant factor in this decision. He said he will now have to reconsider his business options, based on this latest development.

“It is of considerable importance to my practice because we have a large client base around Ennistymon. We will have to look to opening in Ennis,” he said.

He said he fears that further services will be eroded in rural parts. “If the court is gone from Ennistymon, will the next centralisation be the garda districts? Is it going to be reduced to a 9 to 5 district as opposed to a 24-hour station?” he asked.

TWO women found in possession of a petrol bomb in an Ennis pub last year have been placed on probation.

Evelyn McNamara (34) with an address at 19 Ros an Oir, Ennis and Jacinta McNamara (39) with an address at 45 Oak Park, Ennis, both appeared at Ennis District Court on Friday.

Each woman was charged with having in their custody, a petrol bomb, at the Lifford Bar, Newbridge Road, Ennis on May 31 (2010) contrary to Section 4 of the Criminal Damage Act.

Judge Aeneas McCarthy described the possession of a petrol bomb as a “very serious charge”.

In the case of Evelyn McNamara, Judge McCarthy placed her on probation for a period of 12 months, on condition that she attend all appointments as directed by the probation and welfare services.

He said this would include attending a day hospital and AA meetings. He granted the State and the probation and welfare services liberty to re-enter the case if there is non-compliance with the order.

Judge McCarthy said, “She seems to be doing well at the moment and I hope that continues”. In the case of Jacinta McNamara, Judge McCarthy said she too had been charged with possession of a petrol bomb.

Solicitor for Jacinta McNamara, Tara Godfrey, told the court that her client is attending adult education.

She urged Judge McCarthy to take the course of action recommended by the probation services.

Judge McCarthy ordered that Jacinta McNamara be placed on probation for 12 months. He ordered that she attend all appointments as directed by the probation and welfare services. He granted the State and the probation services liberty to re-enter the matter if there is non-compliance.

Judge McCarthy said he made the order with “reservations” but that it had been the recommendation of the probation and welfare services.