Category: News

TWENTY jobs are to be created in Shannon between now and the end of next January through the launch of a new company which manufactures, installs and maintains small domestic wind-turbines for homes, small businesses and farms.

The Eco-Eir company has just been set up by the O’Mara family in Shannon who have been operating the Force Advanced Technology Solutions manufacturing company in Shannon for the last 20 year.

The company aims to generate between 15 and 20 jobs in the Shannon area over the next four months by employing people directly and by indirect employment through local suppliers.

“Force has been doing a lot of work in the renewable energy over the last few years so I stepped back and saw that there was a gap in the market – especially in the wind energy sector,” said Steve O’Mara, Managing Director of Eco-Eir.

“The product has been designed by us, 99 per cent of it has been manufactured by us and all 100 per cent of it has been built or manufactured in Ireland. We do have some competitors in the market but it is mostly in the very small domestic sector or for very large wind-farms. We are going for something in between. It is not some flimsy thing that you can bolt onto the side of your house, this is a well manufactured top-of-the-range product. And that is why we give a full 10 year warranty with every generator.”

Depending on the prevailing wind of a particular site, Steve estimated that his product could supply all the electricity needed for most small businesses or farms and leave most domestic users and new contributors of electricity a product which they can sell back to the ESB.

“The average figure for a family of four people is 5,480 units of electricity per year – that is for an average family with all the usual utilities. Based on the average wind speed in Ireland which is 6 metres per second, we will be able to generate 10,000 units per year. Which is almost twice what the average family will need,” continued Steve.

“If you are an ESB customer you can then sell that electricity back to the grid. So instead of you getting a bill from the ESB each month they will send you out a cheque once a year.”

The windmills are small enough to be exempt from planning permission and Eco-Eir will do a free site survey to determines the average wind speed and average electricity generation capacity of a particular area. To find out more about the company visit www.eco-eir.com.

A 19-YEAR-OLD who launched a “completely unwarranted and uncalled for” attack on a man who he overheard talking about him has been warned that he may face three years in jail.

Karl Haugh, of Marian Estate, Carrigaholt Road, Kilkee, pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to Darren Clarke and also admitted assaulting Denis O’Connell, in Kilkee on August 7, 2010.

Detective Garda Oliver Downes told Ennis Circuit Court yesterday that the defendant was refused take away drink in a pub in Kilkee on the night in question.

“Denis O’Connell was working in the premises and Darren Clarke was a customer,” said the garda.

He said that Mr Clarke and Mr O’Connell left the premises in the early hours of the morning.

As Mr Clarke made his way home he was attacked as he approached the entrance to a housing estate.

“A blue car pulled up and the accused jumped out. The accused caught Mr Clarke and punched him to the back of the head and then punched him a few times to the head and chest,” said the garda.

The court heard that Mr Clarke fell to the ground and was punched again as he tried to get up. “The accused grabbed him in an arm lock. He was choking as a result,” said the garda.

“Denis O’Connell came to his assistance. He received two punches to the face,” he added. Mr Clarke sus- tained a number of injuries including a graze to the forehead, small cuts to the lips and a shoulder injury. He was out of work for a month, due to the attack. Mr O’Connell sustained a swollen jaw and black eye.

Gda Downes said that Haugh “is well known to us in Kilrush and Kilkee. He has 24 previous convictions”. Asked about the motive for the assaults, the garda told Judge Carroll Moran, “The accused alleges he overheard Darren Clarke call him a scumbag in the pub and that was the reason for him to go after him. This hasn’t been verified.”

Defence Counsel Pat Whyms, BL, said that Mr Clarke did concede that he was talking about the defendant, but hadn’t realised that he was listening to him. “There is a discrepancy in relation to what was said,” he said.

The court heard that Mr Clarke did not wish to give evidence to the court.

Mr Whyms told the court that his client was involved in a serious car accident eight years ago and has been on disability since the age of 18. He said that his client wished to publicly apologise for what Counsel described as a “completely unwarranted and uncalled for” incident. He said that his client took umbrage as a result of “this perceived slight and not at the refusal of the drink as such”.

Mr Whyms said that his client was on his way home from his night out at the time and was “not pursuing Mr Clarke”.

“However it was completely unjustifiable to assault Mr Clarke in the way he did. Thankfully Mr Clarke was not seriously injured,” said Mr Whyms.

He said that his client had brought € 1,870 to court and was prepared to raise further compensation to bring the total to € 5,000. He said that the accused is selling his car and is hopeful of raising € 2,000 from this, which will go towards the compensation. “I think that is a reasonable offer on the basis of injuries sustained by Mr Clarke,” he said.

Judge Moran said, “It seems to me he is facing the possibility of three years in prison. Let’s see if he can sell the car in three weeks.”

He adjourned the case until November. “I’m not making any promises at all. This is a serious gratuitous attack,” said the judge.

YOUNG people are being encouraged to take part in a programme of events that has been launched at a new youth and community building in Ennis.

Clare Youth Service has announced a series of programmes to run at ‘The Junction’ on Cloughleigh Road.

Youth worker Jean Tierney explained that the activities are aimed at young people aged 15-18 years and will run at the building over the next few months.

A money bank programme will offer advice on setting up a community grants scheme, while young people can also learn life skills and participate in genealogy projects.

The centre is also open for teenagers every Tuesday and Friday from 4-6pm to drop in and meet their friends, access the internet, and listen to music.

Ms Tierney said that ‘fit out’ work on the building’s kitchen and computer room has recently been completed. “We have a few groups up and running. There are community groups running meetings during the day,” she said.

She explained that Clare Youth Service are aiming to increase use of the building over the coming months. Ms Tierney said that a number of different groups and organisations have rented space at the building to run classes.

For more details or to sign up to any of the programmes, call into The Junction or contact Jean Tierney on 065 6845356 or 086-1568560. Alternatively, check out The Junction Ennis on Facebook.

The Junction, which was constructed on land owned by Ennis Town Council, features a youth café/dropin centre and will be used as a base from which youth services and programmes to targeted groups will be delivered. The project costs amounted to € 645,000, of which € 357,000 was allocated to the council under the Social and Community Facilities Capital Scheme 2006. The balance of the capital expenditure was provided from the council’s own resources. The council was the contracting authority for the construction of the building and has leased the completed building to Clare Youth Service.

Set up in 1969, Clare Youth Service today provides direct services to over 3,000 young people aged 12-25 years around the county.

A 20-YEAR-OLD’s chronic alcohol problem and misuse of cannabis are at the root of his bad record, a court has been told.

The comments from a barrister came in the case of a defendant who pleaded guilty to burglary last year.

Ian Murrihy (20), of Lisdoonvarna Road, Kilfenora, was charged with burglary of a house in Ardnaculla, Ennistymon, on June 25, 2010. A mobile phone was stolen during the break-in.

Ennis Circuit Court heard yesterday that a man was woken up from his sleep by noise coming from a front room of his home.

Garda Christopher Healy told the court that the offence was committed at 4am. The accused was arrested some six hours later. He said that the stolen mobile phone was never recovered and that another man involved in the incident has since died.

The court heard that the accused had several previous convictions.

Defence Counsel Emer Carey, BL, said that her client, who was inebriated at the time, went into the house via a side door that was open. “They let themselves in,” she said, adding that her client’s recollection of the incident was “sketchy”.

She said that her client had been “a chronic alcoholic” and has abused cannabis in the past. She said that her client has had a difficult background and lived rough at one point.

“The majority of his previous convictions relate to his chronic alcohol problem and his misuse of cannabis,” she said.

Ms Carey said that her client became a father for the first time in August, but has not yet seen his child as he has been in custody since July.

Judge Carroll Moran said he was taking the accused’s poor background into consideration. However he said there were aggravating factors in the case: the accused’s “very bad record” – including 10 previous convictions for theft and one for burglary – and the fact that this was “an invasion of somebody’s home in the middle of the night when they are asleep”.

He said he had to impose a prison sentence and jailed the accused for four years, the last year of which was suspended.

He backdated the sentence to July 26 last, when the accused went into custody.

AN ESTIMATED 1,200 ESB customers were affected by a power outage, which struck parts of Ennis last week.

The outage occurred at 3.10pm on Thursday and supply was restored to all customers by 4pm. In a statement an ESB spokeswoman explained that the outage occurred when a landowner was cutting a tree on property in Guarus and it fell across an ESB line.

She stated, “An outage occurred at approximately 3.10pm yesterday (Oct 13). ESB Network crews were dispatched. A private landowner was cutting a tree on his own property in Gaurus and it inadvertently fell across an ESB medium voltage line in the area.”

The areas affected were Our Lady’s Hospital and the Gaurus Court Estate and Gaurus Bridge areas.

The spokeswoman added, “Approximately, 1,200 customers were affected. Supply was restored to all customers at 4pm.”

It is the second widespread power outage to hit ESB customers in Ennis in the past three months. An estimated 1,500 homes and businesses were affected by two major power outages in Ennis in July. On that occasion the outages occurred as a result of cable faults in the town centre.

Almost 1,000 homes and businesses were hit by the first fault. A second fault occurred in Francis Street later in the day leading to power disruptions for approximately 500 customers. At the time, banks were forced to close in the middle of the day while pubs, shops and restaurants were also affected.

FANS of television’s The Apprentice will be familiar with the new upcoming artist called TBC, who is set to take the Irish music scene by storm. The moniker TBC, or To Be Confirmed, was accidentally used by Team Spirit to describe the first act on a CD to be distributed free with the Irish Daily Mail .

The gaff eventually lost the team the task, which resulted in Yinka being shown the road by Bill Cullen in the boardroom. The Clare People has discovered that the mystery artist who was mistakenly named as TBC was none other than Sixmilebridge singer-songwriter Lou McMahon.

Despite the loss of the task, 100,000 copies of the CD, which features Lou’s song alongside her real name and details, will be distributed across the country in this Saturday’s Irish Daily Mail .

“I am overwhelmed by this, I really didn’t expect to make it onto the CD. I entered by song ‘The River’ into a competition being hosted by the newspaper and, out of the blue, one day I got a call saying that I had been shortlisted. At this point ,I knew noting about The Apprentice, I just made my way to Dublin for some interviews,” said Lou. “I managed to get my track as the lead song of one of the CDs which was great. I was called in by both teams – both wanted the song to be on their CD but I ended up being used on Team Spirit’s CD. Anyone who has seen the show will know that I was mistakenly not told about the photo-shoot for the cover art and was listed on the album sleeve as TBC – or ‘to be confirmed’.

“The Irish Daily Mail thought that calling one of the artists TBC was such a big mistake that they have decided to repackage the whole CD and my name will be included on the CD that people get this weekend – not TBC.”

One hundred thousand copies of the CD featuring Lou will be distributed in this Saturday’s Irish Daily Mail. Lou’s latest single entitled ‘Into the Wind’ will be released in November and all of her music is currently available on i-Tunes.

THE sister of a north Clare priest who died tragically in 2002 when his car rolled off Liscannor Pier says her brother came to her in a dream and told her that he did not commit suicide. All The Michael O’Gradys is a new book set to be published later this year by Crusheen woman Helen O’Grady. The book tells the story of several generations of the O’Grady family, including four family members named Michael who each died in tragic circumstances surrounding water.

The main focus of the book is on the death of popular local priest Fr Michael O’Grady, who died when his car rolled off Liscannor Pier on April 4, 2002. The inquest into his death was held in July of that year and returned a suicide verdict.

This verdict was contested by the family, who described it as being “perverse” and “flying in the face of the evidence”.

After the O’Grady family threatened to instigate a judicial review into the verdict, a second inquest was held in November of that year which overturned the suicide verdict and instead returned an open verdict in the case.

In the book, Fr Michael’s sister Mary describes a visit from her dead brother to her dreams on the night following the tragic accident.

“That night as I prepared for bed, I reflected on the day and I was annoyed with all and sundry. But as usual, I said some prayers. During my sleep, Fr Michael came to me,” said Helen. “Fr Michael, along with a person on either side of him, told me three times in an angry voice,

‘it was an accident’.

After that I never

doubted.”

Fr O’Grady served

in the Killaloe Dio

cese for more than

30 year after he

was first ordained

in 1969. Originally

from Crusheen, he

was Parish Priest

in the neighbour

ing parish of Tubber

when he passed away

at the age of 58.

The then Bishop of

Killaloe, Dr Willie

Walsh, spoke at his

funeral, describing him as a “a man of deep faith and of loyalty to the priesthood”.

The book closes with Helen calling for more understanding and compassion for people of vocation in Ireland. “He was a priest. It was not an easy life; a priest’s life is a demanding one but also a rewarding one. Maybe we lay people should, from now on, think differently about the priests and church in general. Instead we should pray for our priests and nuns,” she said.

A GROUND-BREAKING service developed by the Brothers of Charity in Ennis is to get national exposure this week when the ‘Home Share Clare’ initiative is showcased on RTÉ.

The service that provides short breaks to adults and children with learning disabilities will be featured on this Wednesday’s Nationwide programme.

Over the past three years Home Share Clare, which is dependent on fundraising and charitable donations has successfully placed over 40 adults with families.

“Families of people with disabilities are telling us that one of the supports that they may need to enable them to continue to care for their family member at home are short breaks,” a spokesperson for the Brothers of Charity revealed.

“Short breaks give them a break from their role as carer and also provide their family member an opportunity to be with others and benefit from new experiences.

“The uniqueness of this initiative is that care is provided for people in family homes and can really be seen as a home away from home. Individuals enjoy the opportunity of developing new relationships and being part of new communities whilst enjoying a short break,” the spokesperson added.

With home-sharing the person seeking the service is carefully matched with a person/family that often have common interests and hobbies. “The family of the person requesting the respite meet and often build up relationships with the home sharers,” the Brothers of Charity spokesperson said.

“Breaks can be planned and crisis can be responded to quicker and more efficiently than more traditional ways of providing respite.

Home-sharing is a two way process in that the families who provide the respite gain hugely from the experience of having a person with an intellectual disability stay in their home. “Sustainable and unique relationships can develop that will last for many years to come.

“Home-sharing is a crucial way to support and expand the informal networks of families and build on capacity and strength of communities.

“Home share families are assessed, trained and supported by Home Share Clare,” the spokesperson concluded.

A FUNDRAISING concert to support four local women who will volunteer at a children’s orphanage in Belarus will take place in Ennis on Friday.

Hazel O’Connor, Karen Dunne, Breda Browne and Bridget Punch will spend a week providing support and assistance at the Gorodische orphanage, which is located two hours from the capital, Minsk.

The group are travelling to Belarus as part of the Burren Chernobyl Project, a north Clare-based group that provides support to victims of the Chernobyl disaster.

The group have organised a number of fundraisers over the past couple of months, the latest of which takes place at All Bar One, Ennis, on Friday night at 9.30pm.

For Ennis woman Hazel, this is her third trip to Belarus. She explained that money raised would go towards helping kids at the orphanage.

She said, “We will be spending a week there, helping out as much as we can. I haven’t been there since 2008. The conditions aren’t so great but because the Burren Chernobyl Project are so involved, they have improved.”

Hazel, who works at Lifford Child- care Créche, added, “The one thing they really need out there are nappies. They don’t have them and, without nappies, the children can’t really learn to walk properly. The Pampers are really important. And having the extra staff is really important as well. They need extra staff to help give the children one-on-one attention and support.”

The group are hoping for good support on Friday night. Gorodishche is home to 220 children and young adults who are aged between four and 25. Gorodishche is a remote village a little over a two-hour drive south west of Minsk. Since the project’s first visit in the late ‘90s, the place has been transformed. A new building which was 13 years under construction has finally been finished and most of the groups have moved in there. The Burren Chernobyl Project has three programmes running annually in Gorodishche.

The Burren Chernobyl Project (BCP) was established in 1993 to help with the child victims of the fallout from the Chernobyl reactor explosion. Many projects have been carried out to assist the children and their families who are enduring the effects of exposure to radiation and the other social and economic problems facing them in Belarus.

CLARE has been held up as a model for how the nationwide Rural Transport Programme can be a lifeblood to a community.

The success story of the Clare Accessible Transport (CAT) initiative that is operated in east Clare was hailed by the junior minister for transport Alan Kelly during a visit to its Feakle base on Wednesday.

“It was a great opportunity to show Minister Kelly the integrated transport model that has been developed in Clare since 2003 as part of the Rural Transport Programme,” a spokesperson for CAT revealed.

“The Minister saw one of CAT’s low floor buses which are essential to the delivery of a fully integrated service. The vehicle design maximises resources, particularly for rural areas by enabling everyone from the same locality to board the bus easily, avoiding the need for different types of buses to serve the same areas.

“CAT’s collaborative approach to investment in the service was emphasised as a means of providing excellent value for money while meeting the transport needs of people living in isolated parts of the county,” the spokesperson added.

The CAT schedule offers responsive and flexibly-routed public transport that is open to everyone. The number of people registering with the service since the first bus went out in 2003 is approaching 4,000, with passengers making up to 4,000 trips per month.

“The dispatchers who operate the travel centre are noticing an increase in bookings to connect with national transport services to Limerick, Cork, Dublin and Galway as well as calls for shopping, work and training. More and more people are calling in to find out about their local bus service and the annual Driver CPC training that CAT provides,” the spokesperson added.