Category: News

A BROAD range of curricular experiences are provided at a primary school in East Clare, which has been praised by inspectors from the Department of Education.

A whole school evaluation report carried out at Boher National School, Ballina, Killaloe, was very complimentary of staff at the school.

There are currently 108 pupils in the school, where there are four mainstream classes and a class for pupils with autistic spectrum disorders (ASDs). The evaluation focused on the quality of teaching and learning in English, Irish, Mathematics and Social, Personal, and Health Education (SPHE).

A number of strengths were identified at the school, including the “commitment, enthusiasm and professionalism of the teachers”.

“The principal provides dedicated leadership to the school and ensures that a focus is firmly maintained on teaching, learning and the welfare of pupils. Pupils are provided with a broad range of curricular experiences in a positive and affirming atmosphere,” stated the inspectors’ report.

“The overall standards of attainment, particularly in literacy, are very good. The meaningful inclusion of pupils with special educational needs in the full life of the school is a notable feature of practice,” added the inspectors. “The pupils interact with adults and with their peers in a highly positive fashion. The school enjoys considerable support from the board of management, the parents and the community.”

According to the evaluation, classrooms are well resourced with suitable teaching aids and the buildings and grounds are well maintained. “However, at the pre-inspection meeting, the board referred to the challenges it has experienced in acquiring permanent classrooms.”

The current deployment of staff affords teachers opportunities to gain experience at different class levels and in various settings. “It is advised that this good practice be formalised and agreed at board level,” stated the inspectors.

The quality of classroom planning is regarded as “generally good”, with a clear focus on specific learning objectives described as “good practice”.

The report pointed to a number of recommendations that could be adopted by management at the school. It suggested that the school should review its assessment policy and clarify whole-school approaches in this area.

“The school should review and consolidate the individualised planning process and the school’s policy on autistic spectrum disorders. In managing the school, the board needs to review its practices in regard to decision making and, in particular, its practices around the recording of decisions made,” it added.

NEARLY 1,000 jobs have been lost in the Shannon Free Zone since 2009 – a crisis that was brought sharply into focus once more last Thursday when it was revealed that 100 more jobs could be lost in Sykes Enterprises.

The technology support firm is set to close its Shannon operation a quarter of a century after locating in the Free Zone and only four years after it was one of the fastest growing companies in the mid-west region as its staff numbers soared close to 400.

The impending closure with the loss of the last remaining 100 jobs comes only two months after 75 redundancies were announced when the company lost a major contract with Sony, one of its biggest clients.

Sykes established in the Shannon Free Zone in 1987 and at its peak of operations employed 380 at the facility, which is one of the company’s 80 global centres.

Sykes’ biggest growth phase came in 2006/2007 when it was one of the fastest growing companies in the mid-west region, with the company’s general manager for Europe, Colin Mitchell saying at the announcement of 100 new jobs, “Sykes Shannon has invested several million in equipment; furniture and fittings and leasehold improvement over the past ten years. This expansion, whilst increasing head count, will also provide an additional revenue flow to the Irish economy in terms of employer/employee contributions, and local spend on professional services, telecommunications and general domestic expenditure.”

Now, five years later comes Sykes’ imminent departure from Shannon, with a spokesperson for the company’s headquarters in Florida confirming that it was trying to consolidate its businesses worldwide, and that plants in Shannon and in South Africa would “face closure as a result of that process”.

It’s understood that these two plants have been singled out because of a decline in client demand for their services, which is to provide technical call centre services in a number of European languages.

The latest round of job losses at Sykes, which employs over 50,000 people worldwide, represents the fourth time in the last three years that the company has sought to scale down its Irish operation, with the final downsizing expected to bring about a closure in early 2012, 25 years after the company established in Shannon.

The jobs losses will bring to 955 the number have been lost in since in the last three years. Meanwhile, the latest figures secured by The Clare People reveal that in 2010 there was a net loss of 461 jobs at the Shannon Free Zone, while from a five-year period from 2003 to 2008 there were the figure stood of 250 net job losses.

These contrasting figures hammer home the extent of the hemorrhage of jobs from the county’s flagship industrial base, with the latest round of job cuts coming in the same week as government figures revealed that 15 jobs had been created in the county from the Dell European Globalisation Fund that was established for the region in 2009.

SIGNIFICANT staff turnover has impacted on the teaching of English at St Joseph’s Community College in Kilkee. That is according to an inspection carried out by inspectors from the Department of Education at the school, where enrolment stands at 194.

The inspectors found that teaching was “generally good and learning ranged from adequate to good in the lessons observed” during the inspection in May of this year.

“High expectations are promoted by the placement of students into mixed-ability classes in first and second year and by the organisation of co-curricular activities to develop students’ subject-specific skills and interests,” stated the report.

“Due to a number of factors, significant staff turnover has and continues to be an issue in the English department, impacting on subject department planning and implementation and on the learning of some junior cycle students,” noted the inspectors.

The report found that a good quality of teaching was observed in lessons, which was facilitated by teacher preparation, knowledge of the subject, well-managed lessons and good rapport with students.

It recommended that lessons should incorporate greater emphasis on sharing learning outcomes with students at the outset and on organising more varied active learning opportunities.

“A greater range of resources should be used to enhance learning, including graphic organisers, audio recordings, and props. No ICT was used in classes because of the absence of fixed equipment and of the reported unreliability of satellite coverage for the school. Senior management is working with Co Clare Vocational Education Committee (VEC) to overcome these deficiencies,” stated the inspectors. “Homework was being set and monitored and some good written feedback being given in the sample of copies reviewed. The valuable practice of sharing criteria for the assessment of substantial pieces of writing with senior cycle students should be extended to junior cycle students.”

A number of recommendations were suggested by the inspectors. These include that a base room for English be established and that timetable provision for first and fourth year English should be increased and allocated lessons should be spread over the maximum possible number of days per week.

“Existing termly schemes of work should be reshaped after discussions are held on the key learning outcomes and skills to be developed in each year of study. New assessment practices that link to those agreed learning outcomes should also be established,” added the report.

THE ELDERLY living in isolated parts of the county are being warned that a scam is in operation, after a woman in her 80s was targeted in North Clare.

The woman, who lives in the Kilfenora area, was visited by a group of men last week. They looked for scrap and when she told them that none was available, they offered to take away rubbish, at a cost of € 10 for two bags. They took bags of rubbish and offered a receipt. The rubbish was later found dumped in Waterford. Gardaí are warning that the actions are not legitimate and say that gangs are taking rubbish and dumping it illegally on the side of the road or on lands. Personal documents found in the rubbish establish that this has taken place.

“It is a scam. People should not give rubbish to unauthorised people. They tend to target country houses. It could be a once-off but we want to alert people,” said the Crime Prevention Officer in the Clare Garda Division, Sergeant Joe Downey.

“It’s just an excuse for them to legitimise their presence. They could be surveying the house for a further crime,” he added.

Meanwhile, gardaí are investigating an incident in which a gate on lands at Monmore, Kilrush, was cut into three pieces, over the weekend. The incident happened between 4.30pm on Saturday and 11am on Sunday.

The theft of a van from an address at Bealcragga, Connolly, is being investigated by gardaí in Ennis. The white Toyota Hiace was stolen between 10am on Saturday and 10am on Sunday.

Gardaí across the county are investigating a number of burglaries over the past week.

In one incident, four drums of cable were stolen from the Eircom building on Drumbiggle Road in Ennis, between 6pm last Tuesday and 8am the following morning. The premises was broken into possibly through the boundary railings of Ennis National School.

In Clarecastle, a house on the Lissane Road was targeted when thieves gained entry through the back door between 3am and 8am last Monday. Both the house and a car parked outside were targeted. A ladies handbag, which contained a small sum of money, was taken from the home, while a radio sat nav, car mats, an iPod and Oakley sunglasses were taken from the car.

Anyone with information on any of those crimes should contact their local garda station or Ennis Garda Station on 065 6848100.

A € 450,000 property in Mountshannon looks set to be the first property in Clare to be transferred to the Land Aggregation Scheme – the so called NAMA for local authorities. Mountshannon House was purchased by the Respond! housing agency with the support of Clare County Council in 2004.

The building, which had been earmarked as social accommodation for the elderly, has lain dormant for the past seven years and

COROFIN is celebrating today following an historic victory at the All Ireland One Act Play Finals which took place in Glór over the weekend. The Corofin Drama Society has emerged as one of Ireland’s foremost amateur dramatics group over the last decade – with this victory coming hot on the hells of the Three Act National Championship in 2008 and the first success in the one act play finals in 1993.

Sunday’s victory was the first time that any Clare drama group has ever picked up a national title on home soil – something which made the victory even sweeter for director Eileen Lahiff.

“I am delighted with the victory, absolutely thrilled. When we started this show, one of our main aims was to do our best to reach the All Ireland final. We knew that it was going to be in Ennis this year and we all said that it would be fantastic to take part in the All Ireland final in Glór,” said Eileen.

“I am so pleased with all of the actors who took part in the show – they did absolutely brilliantly and did a great job for us.”

The winning show was a comedy called ‘What’s For Pudding’ and featured Sandra Cox as Mary, Peter Daffy as Jack, Kevin Glynn as Ted, Maria McCahill as Maureen and Pat O’Reilly as Denis. The show is also one of the first comedies to win the All Ireland Final in the last number of years. “It is very difficult to do a fast paced comedy and to do it right. Timing is absolutely everything and everything needs to be done exactly right every night to make the show work prop- erly,” continued Eileen.

THE closure of Carrigaholt Garda Station was last night described as “another nail in the coffin” of rural Clare.

The Justice Minister announced yesterday that 31 Garda stations nationwide – including Carrigaholt in West Clare – will be closed next year, due to widespread cutbacks.

There had been fears for the future of more than a dozen Garda stations across the county amid substantial numbers of reti rements allied to budget cutbacks.

While residents in many rural areas will be relieved that their local barracks will remain open, the news was met with anger in Carrigaholt.

Garda Charlie Killeen, who had been stationed in Carrigaholt, retired last week, and while there were concerns that the station would close, there were some hopes that he would be replaced.

“Everything is being cut,” said Luke Aston of the Car rigaholt Development Association.

“It is an awful disappointment to see it happening. We are 25 minutes from the nearest full-time station in Kilrush, while it is 45 minutes from the furthest point on the Loop to Kilrush,” he added.

“All you are left with now in the village is the doctor and post office. Most of the young lads have left for Australia. Sixty people from the Peninsula have left for Australia in the past year,” said Mr Aston.

“Taking services in one area and trying to generate them in another doesn’t make much sense at all,” he added.

Local businessman Mark Carmo dy said this is further evidence that the people of West Clare are being forgotten.

“There was speculation leading up to it. There were r umours,” he said.

“Everything is being pared back this far into the peninsula. We are being forgotten about,” said Mr Carmody.

“We are wondering why [this has happened], especially with all the burglaries and robberies going on around the country,” he said.

Up to the 1980s there had been two gardaí based in Car rigaholt and this since reduced to one. A dwelling house is attached to the Garda station.

Local county councillor Gabriel Keating (Fine Gael) said, “The loss of the local Garda station is another nail in the coffin of this par t of r ural Ireland.

“How much more can rural Ireland take? We have lost our creamery, the A & E has gone to Limerick and Clare VEC is going to Limerick. All we had left in many par ts of rural Ireland was the GAA, schools, church and the local garda. Now the farda has gone and schools are under threat,” added Cllr Keating.

Carrigaholt does not have a community alert scheme, many of which have been set up in rural parts in recent months in reaction to concerns over rural crime. There is one in nearby Doonaha.

HE’S LIVED the jet set lifestyle of a Hollywood star and now a family reunion in Ennis could be the next port of call for George Clooney.

Last week the world famous actor announced plans for a motorbike trip around Ireland in April. The Ocea ns 11 star is keen to re-connect with his Irish roots, which some believe, could stretch all the way back to the Banner County.

Clooney’s father’s great, great grandfather, Nicholas Clooney, hailed from Kilkenny. His grandmother’s maiden name was Guilfoyle, a surname common in Clare. Clooney’s decision to visit Ireland has prompted the Mayor of Ennis, Michael Guilfoyle, to invite the Oscar winning actor to the Clare capital. Councillor Guilfoyle, who shares a name with Clooney’s great grandfather – Michael T Guilfoyle believes the actor could be persuaded to come to Ennis.

He explains, “I just thought that given that George Clooney is coming to Ireland next year, it would be good to invite him to the town. The fact that his grandmother’s name was Guilfoyle, I want to invite him to Ennis to meet the other Guilfoyles.”

Clooney has not revealed the places he will visit when he comes to Ireland next spring but Cllr Guilfoyle says the lure of some of Clare’s world famous tourist attractions may tempt him to visit the county.

“He probably will be going to the Cliffs of Moher. I’m trying to make contact with his agent but I haven’t been able to do so yet,” says the independent councillor.

The potential arrival of George Clooney would be another boost to Ennis following Muhammad Ali’s memorable “homecoming” to the town in September 2009. Thousands packed the streets for the visit of the former world-boxing champion whose ancestors are thought to have come from the Turnpike area of the town.

Cllr Guilfoyle believes the visit of another high profile figure like Clooney would generate a similar feel-good factor around the town. “It would be huge for us to get him over to Ennis,” he says.

TWO Clare men, who killed 26year-old school teacher Brian Casey after an unprovoked attack on St Stephen’s night two years, ago are facing further time in prison following a successful appeal by the State.

Harry Dinan (31), of Waterpark Heights, Ennis, and his nephew Kevin Dinan (24), of Clarehill, Clarecastle, were jailed for five and four years respectively having pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Brian Casey on O’Connell Square, Ennis, on December 26, 2009.

Following an appeal by the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Court of Criminal Appeal yesterday [Monday] determined that the sentences imposed by Judge Carroll Moran at Ennis Circuit Court 13 months ago were unduly lenient.

Presiding judge Mr Justice Liam McKechnie said that the appeal court wished to extend its deep sympathy to the family of Mr Casey, who was a “totally and utterly innocent” bystander attacked in a “cowardly and reprehensible” manner.

However, the three-judge court deferred imposing new sentences so as to allow each of the accused men time to collate evidence on their conduct in prison.

Ennis Circuit Court heard last year that Harry Dinan, who has 64 previous convictions, was on temporary release from prison at the time of the unlawful killing, while Kevin Dinan, who has 17 previous convictions, was on bail and awaiting sentence having pleaded guilty to a burglary charge.

Mr Casey was looking on at a scuffle with his hands in his pockets when he was caught off guard by a single severe “haymaker” punch inflicted by Harry Dinan at about midnight on St Stephen’s night on O’Connell Square.

The blow from Harry Dinan broke Mr Casey’s jaw in two places and the Lissycasey man hit the ground with the back of his head. He never regained consciousness and died two days later.

Mr Casey fractured his skull on impact with the ground and the court heard that Kevin Dinan then punched Mr Casey repeatedly to the face and head while he lay prostrate on the ground.

Counsel for the State, Deirdre Murphy SC, told the Court of Criminal Appeal that Judge Moran had erred in principle by placing excessive weight on the contention that the attack perpetrated by Harry Dinan was essentially a “one punch case”.

She said that this was not a classic “one punch case”, where a victim dies following some event after the infliction of a single punch or blow, but rather an unprovoked attack on an innocent bystander who was entirely unprotected.

Ms Murphy said that, having regard to concept of a one punch case, Judge Moran correctly identified an appropriate sentence of 10 years for each man, but then proceeded to err and effect a “double counting” exercise by further reducing the sentences imposed on account of this factor.

She said that Judge Moran also erred in law by failing to give his reasons for the differentiation in sentence imposed on each of the ac- cused.

Counsel for Harry Dinan, Isobel Kennedy SC, said that the case was indeed a classic manslaughter case involving one blow, as the medical evidence before the court was that Mr Casey was struck in the face, fell backwards, struck the back of his head and sustained a serious head injury.

She said that rather than beginning with a 10-year sentence, Judge Moran identified a sentence of seven years as an appropriate starting point and was perfectly entitled to reduce this down by a further two years having regard to additional mitigating factors in her client’s favour.

David Sutton SC, for Kevin Dinan, adopted Ms Kennedy’s submission and added that Judge Moran correctly identified his client’s lack of violent history and his youth as differentiating factors between the two accused men when imposing sentence.

Mr Justice McKechnie said the court found that the State’s assertion was correct and that Judge Moran must have considered the concept of a “one punch case” to be a “vital ingredient” when deciding that the appropriate starting point for sentence was 10 years.

He said that, having already considered this factor, it was therefore not permissible to further reduce the sentence from this point and to do so was an exercise of “double counting”.

THE REDUCTION in child benefit for the third and fourth child, allied to cuts in the cold weather allowance, will create huge problems for families in Clare.

Those measures, announced in yesterday’s budget, will spell trouble for those already under pressure, according to St Vincent de Paul in Clare.

Demand for support from the voluntary organisation has surged in the run-up to Christmas as families struggle to make ends meet.

The President of St Vincent de Paul in Clare, Cathal Oakes, said, “The reduction in the childrens’ allowance (child benefit) for the third and fourth child is going to hit families. We would be dealing with quite a few families where there are a number of children. It will put further pressure on them especially coming up to Christmas,” he said.

Mr Oakes said that cuts to the cold weather allowance will affect several elderly people across Clare.

“People who are on State benefit who don’t have specific outgoings are fine but there are a lot of elderly people with a lot of outgoings. They are dependent on small allowances,” said Mr Oakes.

“In rural parts the elderly rely on public transport like taxis. Any cuts will have a huge effect on them,” he added.