Category: News

A MAN CHARGED with failing to appear before a court has been refused bail.

Martin Blunnie (23), of Beech Park, John Paul Estate, Kilrush, is charged with stealing a bottle of Yazoo at Mace, Henry Street, Kilrush, on November 15 last.

Mr Blunnie is accused of stealing two bottles of Yazoo on November 18 last.

He is also accused of failing to ap- pear in court last month.

Garda Donal Corkery told Ennis District Court on Friday that he arrested the accused at Beech Park, Kilrush, the previous day.

The garda told the court that he was objecting to bail and sought to remand the defendant in custody to appear again in court later this week.

Free legal aid was granted to the accused.

Judge Angela Ní Chondúin remanded the accused in custody to appear again in court later this week.

THE long wait finally ended for 10 Clare people who were granted Irish citizenship on Friday. The group were among a crowd of over 600 people who attended a citizenship ceremony in Cork.

The ceremony was organised by the Department of Justice and Equality and saw people from 77 different countries granted citizenship. Attendees took an oath of fidelity to the nation and received their certificate of naturalisation.

Husband and wife Leonardo Gonzalez and Aymara Ruiz were among the delighted group of people to be named as Ireland’s newest citizens. The Cuban natives, who have lived in Ennis for the past four years, say they are happy that the wait for citizenship is finally over.

“It was a great day for us,” said Aymara yesterday. Leonardo said the granting of Irish citizenship made him feel proud. “Today I am a free man” he said.

The Clare group comprised people mainly from Cuban, Chinese, Somali and Sudanese backgrounds, explained Orla Ni Eili, coordinator of the Clare Immigrant Support Centre. She said, “It’s a new feature that was brought in by Alan Shatter (Minister for Justice) to give the process of citizenship a bit more value, make it a bit more of an event.”

Ms Ni Eili explained that applicants must wait for a minimum of three years before receiving citizenship. However she said that, in some cases, people are waiting up to nine or 10 years.

“Some of the people from Clare who were in Cork on Saturday were waiting five years. There is a big backlog of applicant cases,” she added.

THE TOWN rate in Shannon will not change next year and remains at € 2.11 for the third successive year. That is according to the Town Manager, Bernadette Kinsella, in her annual draft budget which was presented to the local town council last week.

Expenditure in Shannon is projected to drop by € 4, 500 next year – from € 149, 500 to € 145,000. Income will increase from € 39, 500 to € 41,000 in 2012, according to estimates.

The amount of money spent in a number of areas will reduce next year, including office expenses and advertising; light, heat and power; travel and subsistence; audit fees; training and the town twinning programme with Guingamp in France.

The one area where spending is poised to increase is the community scheme which is estimated to increase from € 35,000 to € 36, 500 next year.

Recoupment of the community scheme is also expected to increase, from € 21,000 to € 22, 500.

“This scheme has been very positively received in the town and has done much to tackle the problem of litter throughout the area,” said the Manager.

In her report to the council, Ms Kinsella stated that the draft budget has been prepared “in a continuing difficult economic climate”.

“This is reflected in a reduction of funds available from Clare County Council and the maintenance of commercial rates at 2010 levels in recognition of the demands being placed on the business community,” she stated.

The level of demand “does not, for the second successive year, necessitate an increase in the town rate,” she added.

General office and operational expenses have been reduced by € 1,000, which has been done “on the basis of cutbacks under all of these cost headings and will require strict monitoring and review to ensure expenditure remains within budget provisions”.

The council’s annual budget meet- ing was told that a draft Shannon Town and Environs Local Area Plan is currently in preparation to cover the period 2012 – 2018. This will replace the existing Shannon component of the South Clare Local Area Plan 2009 – 2015.

The integrated plan will be in place next year and will form the basis for a high level strategy that will promote the opportunities available within Shannon, the airport lands, the free zone and Westpark, according to the council. An extensive consultation process will get underway in the coming weeks.

A 17-YEAR-OLD girl who got involved in “very bad company” in Ennistymon has been told by a judge that she is “on a very slippery slope”.

The girl pleaded guilty to entering the Old Convent, Deerpark, Ennistymon, as a trespasser, on October 28, 2010.

On October 31, 2010, she and another individual were involved in an incident in which a car had a front window broken, while the front seat was set on fire.

The court heard the cost of the damage amounted to € 800.

Superintendent Colm O’Sullivan told Ennistymon District Court last Wednesday that the girl went into the convent with a number of other youths “for the purpose of drinking”.

“Somebody in the group lit a fire to warm themselves,” he said.

Judge Aeneas McCarthy said that the Probation report on the accused was “very positive”.

The court heard that girl had a number of previous convictions.

Her solicitor Gearóid Williams said that the girl was aged 16 at the time of some of the offences.

“She used to come to Ennistymon. She mixed in very bad company. She spent time in Oberstown.

Since then there has been a considerable change,” Mr Williams told the court.

“She is now availing of the opportunities she is being given,” said Mr Williams.

He said that the girl has not been in Ennistymon in recent times.

“The difficulty is when she goes to Ennistymon she gets involved in bad company, much older people,” he said.

He said that his client has not been involved in any incidents since August and is now a “completely differ- ent” person.

The girl’s social worker told the court that she has made a “huge improvement” since she spent time in Oberstown.

Judge McCarthy placed the girl on 12 months probation.

“You seem to be making progress,” he told her.

“You are on a very slippery slope at a very young age.

“The court will not be as lenient with you in the future.

“I am taking a chance with you and I hope you take the chance you are getting,” said the judge addressing the teenager.

AN Iranian man now living in Ennis has documented his 12-year struggle as a refugee in a new book launched on Saturday. Hassan Faramarz (42), author of The Flagless Ones , says he is “proud” to have told his story.

He adds, “I really wanted to tell everybody that this is happening to 70 million people. You don’t have to repeat my experience. You can learn from my experience. I wanted to share this is with everybody so people can learn what’s going on in Iran. We should learn from each other.”

Hassan was speaking in the West County Hotel on Saturday at a conference focusing on equality and diversity in Clare.

The book tells the story of the father of four’s upbringing in Iran, the oppression his family suffered at the hands of the Ayatollah Khomeini’s regime and his life as a refugee in India, China and Ireland. Hassan grew up in Iran at a time of political unrest in the late 1970s and ‘80s. Members of his family who opposed the ruling regime were imprisoned and executed.

He recalls, “I was not arrested but being a member of a family whose four brothers are involved in that movement, it’s not easy for you to have a normal life. I didn’t have a normal life. I couldn’t have a normal life.

“I graduated from high school and went to Open University and I learned some English. I married and I also did my military service. But after that I could not get a job, anything. They don’t arrest you but they don’t see you anymore. You are like a shadow in society. Nobody is listening to you. It’s a strange condition.”

Hassan left Iran for Indian in 1996 but found life as a refugee no better than his “shadow” existence at home.

“I spent three years in India as a refugee. In 1998, my wife joined me there. There we had our first son. We spent three years almost in India. The situation was hard. It was horrible. There are thousands of refugees there. You are struggling with your food, your clothing, shelter everything.”

Instead, with the help of a friend, Hassan and his family secured a visa to travel to Canada. However, the family encountered difficulties while travelling through China and ended up spending nine years living in refugee accommodation in Beijing.

The family moved to Ireland in 2008, eventually settling in Ennis. A former journalist and language teacher, Hassan is now studying theology and philosophy at Mary Immaculate College, Limerick. Of his life in Ennis, he says, “It’s great and my children are integrating very well. I have three children, two boys and one girl. Their English is improving very fast. They have already started criticising me, saying ‘Daddy, your English isn’t very good’. They are actually learning very, very fast. I’m very happy here and for Ireland accepting us.”

EAST Clare district court sittings are to return to Killaloe for a trial period of three months.

O’Donovan’s bar and restaurant, Derg Court, Ballina, Killaloe, will host the sittings from January 3.

The court will sit on the first Tuesday of every month and will also sit on extra days – on the six second Tuesdays (January, March, May, July, October and December). It will sit at O’Donovan’s for three months initially, with the option of extending the lease on a monthly basis.

The announcement by the Courts Service came after a series of temporary measures in relation to a court venue for Killaloe. The court had sat at the Lakeside Hotel for a number of years. It emerged last year that the Lakeside would not be a long-term option. It was then moved to the Kincora Hotel after months of searching for a venue by the Courts Service.

However the Kincora Hotel went into receivership and a decision was then taken to move the September, October, November and December sittings of the court to Ennis Courthouse.

The old courthouse in Killaloe is in a state of disrepair and funding is not available to renovate it.

The Courts Service has said at all times that the aim was to secure a permanent venue for the East Clare court sittings. Court sittings in Tulla and Scarriff are a thing of the past after a decision was taken to move all east Clare cases to Killaloe, a few years ago. Both members of the legal profession and gardaí have said that it would be a bad move to have the east Clare sittings in Ennis in the long-term and say that a permanent move to Ennis isn’t something that should be contemplated.

The decision on the venue for Killaloe comes amid widespread changes to court sittings across the county, which will come into effect in the New Year.

As revealed in The Clare People last month, there are proposals to centralise the service.

Under the changes, there will be specific dates for crime hearings, separate dates for civil hearings and other listed dates for hearings related to traffic offences. Criminal cases will be heard on Wednesdays, while traffic and civil cases will go before the presiding judge on Fridays.

Also, most of the hearings will be centralised to Ennis. While Kilrush cases will continue to be heard in the West Clare town, cases from North Clare are to be moved to Ennis. Shannon cases are already heard in Ennis.

A TWO-MONTH sentence has been handed down to a Shannon man who committed criminal damage in the town earlier this year.

Judge Aeneas McCarthy imposed the sentence on Mark Liddy (19) at a sitting of Shannon District Court on Thursday.

Liddy, with an address at 5 Fergus Drive, Drumgeely, Shannon, was in court to face the potential activation of suspended sentence.

The court heard that Liddy had previously been sentenced at the Circuit Court and his case had been referred back to the District Court to deal with the issue of a suspended sentence.

Liddy had been charged with causing damage to five clear white Georgian double glazed units belonging to Clare County Council at Ballymurtagh, Cross Shannon on March 23.

Solicitor Tara Godfrey said her client had expressed remorse for his actions and was willing to pay compensation for the damage to the double glazing units.

She asked the court not to consider activating the suspended sentence and instead adjourn the matter for 12 months when her client’s sentence had expired.

Judge McCarthy convicted Liddy and sentenced him to two months in prison.

He ordered that the sentence commence on the lawful termination of the sentence he is now serving. Recognances were fixed in the event of an appeal.

CLARE schools are being encouraged to take part in an “innovative” new equality and diversity study, details of which were announced on Saturday.

University of Limerick, Mary Immaculate College and the Clare Intercultural Network are collaborating on research that will examine the attitudes of students towards interculturalism and equality.

Coordinators are hoping to roll out the project in primary and post-primary schools around the county.

Dr Orla McCormack, lecturer in education at UL, explained, “The project is about trying to get the voice of young people and looking at their views on diversity and equality within their school and in the education system.

“We’re doing it at three levels – primary, post-primary and then with pre-service teachers at UL and Mary Immaculate College”.

She continued, “We’re going into schools and we’re conducting a number of workshops. It’s using quite innovative and participatory methods.

“ The young people are given cameras and they are given a set time to go around and get photos in their school of equality and diversity. It’s left quite and quite broad. It’s their interpretation. We’re not saying this is what it means.”

She said, “The next workshop after that they use their 15 images along with lyrics from songs and articles from newspapers to represent a scrapbook of their ideas of diversity and equality.”

The project was launched at a conference in Ennis on Saturday entitled – ‘I’m ok, you’re ok and that’s ok’.

It follows on from previous collaborations between Limerick’s universities and the Clare Intercultural Network. Dr McCormack explained that this is the first time that participatory research of this kind has been undertaken in the area of equality in Clare.

She said, “We’re hoping to start in January and hopefully have all that done in three months. The idea is that this time next year, at this conference again, we can present back the data. Based on findings from that, different directions for the project might evolve.

“We may continue using the same approach but another element may come along as well.”

Organisers are hoping for a good response from Clare schools. Dr McCormack said, “We organise everything and I suppose it’s ideal for transition-year students. It’s for workshops we could come in fully prepared and also, if teachers want to engage in it, it could be useful for teachers to gain experience.”

The research coordinators are Dr Orla McCormack, Lecturer Education (UL); Dr Eimear Enright, Lecturer Physical Education (UL); Deirdre O’Rourke, Lecturer Religious Education, Mary Immaculate College; and Maurice Harmon, Lecturer Religious Education, Mary Immaculate College.

A MAN caused € 3200 worth of damage after wandering into a holiday home in a “drunken stupor”, a court has heard.

David Quinn had been on a night out in Killaloe earlier this year when the incident occurred.

A sitting of Killaloe District Court heard that blood stains from a cut sustained by Quinn accounted for most of the damage.

Quinn (32) with an address at Killonan, Ballysimon, Limerick was charged with causing criminal damage at 42 Marine Village, Killaloe.

On Wednesday, Judge Aeneas McCarthy was told that the cost of the damage came to € 3200.

The court heard that Quinn had been attending a wedding in Killaloe. He later became locked out of his hotel room.

Solicitor Daragh Hassett said that his client had taken refuge in a nearby holiday home.

Prior to entering the house, the court heard, Quinn fell and cut himself.

Mr Hassett explained that when Quinn entered the holiday home he spilled blood on the carpet and some of the fixtures. He said his client had been in a “drunken stupor” at the time.

He said the blood stained carpet accounted for most of the cost of the damage.

Mr Hassett said that Quinn could pay compensation and requested that he be given six months to do so. Judge McCarthy ordered that Quinn pay € 3200 in compensation.

Granting him four months to make the payment, Judge McCarthy said that he expected the amount to be paid in full on April 3 (2012).

The judge added that he did not want compensation to be paid in installments.

MEMBERS of Clare’s immigrant community have hit back at claims from a local councillor that non-nationals are responsible for the majority of discrimination in the county.

Independent councillor Frankie Neylon said last week that “about 60 per cent” of discrimination is carried out by non-nationals.

Cllr Neylon was speaking at the December meeting of Ennis Town Council, where members voted against a proposal that would call on the Government to provide mandatory equality training for all local representatives.

However the Clare Intercultural Network have criticised the comments, describing them as “disappointing”. In a statement, CIN Coordinator Alphonse Basogomba said, “When he refers to racism, Councillor Neylon claims 60 pe rcent of racism in Ennis is caused by non-national residents themselves. The CIN would like to make the point that all individuals have a nationality and should be addressed as non-Irish nationals instead of non-national.

“We are also unclear where the figure of 60 per cent came from but if Councillor Neylon believes this is factual and based on researched evidence, this indicates there is a clear and urgent problem which needs to be addressed and he as a public representative should welcome all tools which will enable him and his colleagues to deal with this effectively and efficiently before someone gets seriously hurt or injured.”

He continued, “It would appear that Councillor Neylon not only rejected the training which might assist in developing a strategy for change but did not propose an alternative measure to assist with the stark statistics he has referred to.”

Cllr Neylon said that he had no problem working with people from the 26 different nationalities who live in Ennis. He told last Monday’s meeting that Ennis had always welcomed people of different nationalities.

Mr Basogomba stated, “It is unclear as to why Councillor Neylon believed the training would assist him to deal with only 26 nationalities and not all members of the town, including Irish nationals.

“The Equality Legislation comprises of the Employment Equality Acts 1998 and 2004; the Equal Status Acts 2000 to 2004; the National Disability Authority Act 1999. Is Councillor Neylon suggesting he doesn’t need training in any of the above areas?”

Mr Basogomba stated, “At CIN, we believe it is unfortunate that a vote needed to be taken at all on this motion, as it should be mandatory for public representatives to ensure they are aware and trained in all relevant legislation.

“This training and knowledge are legislative instruments, which assist elected representatives to fully represent their constituents.”

Orla Ni Eilí, coordinator of the Clare Immigrant Support Centre said, “It is disappointing and we hope this is the last time we hear that from our public representatives”.