Category: News

THERE are 551 people on the waiting list for housing in Shannon, 200 of who are in receipt of rent supplement. The figures have led to the problem being described as “epidemic”.

More than half of those waiting are single adults (261 of those on the list are categorised as ‘one adult’). 73 of the applicants are one adult and one child; 31 are one adult and two children; 12 are one adult and three children, while one applicant has four children and another has five dependents.

The figures show that 44 of those on the waiting list are couples without children, while 107 have children – ranging from one child to six children. The remaining applicants consist of three or four adults.

Those were the figures delivered to Shannon Town councillors at their monthly meeting last week, in response to a query from Sinn Féin Councillor Cathy McCafferty.

The meeting was told that of the 551 applicants on the list, 468 have been approved for housing for more than one year, while 378 have been approved and are waiting for more than two years.

Councillors heard that Clare County Council has provided 12 properties in the town under the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS), while it has acquired one property through the Social Leasing Scheme.

“The estimate for 2012 is likely to reflect the result of the review currently underway. It is not possible to provide an estimate for 2013 and 2014,” stated Shannon Town Man- ager Bernadette Kinsella, in a reply to the motion.

“The council is not in any discussions with any voluntary housing association with a view to building in Shannon. A meeting with all voluntary housing groups operating in the county is planned for early in the new year,” she added.

In response, Cllr McCafferty said she realised “with horror” that “practically 25 per cent of the waiting list [in the county] is in this town alone”.

“There must be 40 or 50 people chasing the three or four that are available at the moment,” she said.

Referring to the length of time people are waiting to be housed, she asked, “When do you envisage that they will be housed? I’d like to see a more positive answer.”

Independent councillor Gerry Flynn said, “It is worrying. Housing problems in Shannon are at epidemic proportions… There is going to be no housing going into Shannon in the future.”

Independent councillor Patricia McCarthy said, “There is no doubt we have a serious housing problem in Shannon. We have a shortage of houses. We don’t want a situation where we are going back to three or more generations living together. That was the 50s, the 40s, the 30s.”

Ms Kinsella then told the meeting, “The figures reflect a high number on the list in Shannon. Shannon is the largest town in the county outside of Ennis.”

She said that a review is ongoing and a truer picture will be available by the end of the year.

“There will be a reduction because people have left,” she said.

AFTER SITTING on the bench at Ennis District Court for more than 10 years, Judge Joseph Mangan’s final day in court was filled with good wishes, with a bit of luck for the very last defendant who came before him.

The judge’s farewell speeches were timed for 2.30pm but ran a little late as the final cases were being heard. As the courtroom began to fill up with wellwishers – mainly members of the legal profession, the probation service, current and former colleagues and gardaí – after lunchtime, Judge Mangan quipped, “I see a lot of familiar faces in the court. I think I may have to disqualify myself from a lot of it.”

Moments later, he let the last defendant before him off the hook. It was a road traffic matter and the judge told the accused, “You are the equivalent of the one millionth purchaser of the Volkswagen Beetle. Go and sin no more.”

Earlier in the day, during one of the judge’s last cases to hear, a solicitor suggested a lenient penalty for his client, given the occasion.

During a hearing into a public order charge, solicitor Stephen Nicholas suggested that his client be given the chance to contribute to the court poor box “given the day that’s in it”. Judge Mangan replied, “I thought you were going to say given the day that’s in it, a contribution to myself.”

He agreed to the request and dismissed the charge under the Probation Act on condition that € 100 be paid to the poor box and this was done immediately.

A REVELATION that the county dog warden has had to call on gardaí for support while working in Shannon has created shock waves in the town.

The issue was discussed by Shannon town councillors last week after the county’s dog warden Frankie Coote told The Clare People that the issue of dog control in Shannon was the worst in the county and that he has been forced to contend with severe abuse from dog owners.

A motion was tabled by Fine Gael Councillor Vincent Coleman who said that the issue of stray dogs was causing problems in the town.

In response, the council stated that the dog warden has issued a number of fines where he came across complaints relating to repeat offenders.

“Clare County Council has a contract with the ISPCA under Section 15 of the Control of Dogs Act, 1996, to carry out the council’s functions under that Act. The council has been in contact with the ISPCA dog warden who has reported that over the last six months there has been dog control issues in Shannon and he has spent much of his time in the Shannon area.

“On many of his visits he has had to bring the gardaí with him to intervene in some of the complaints. He has also issued a number of fines, where he came across complaints which were repeat offenders. The dog warden will continue to visit Shannon on a regular basis,” stated the council’s response.

In reply, Cllr Coleman said he was satisfied with this and said he appreciated that the staff in the dog control section were understrength. “They are trying their best,” he said.

Independent councillor Gerry Flynn suggested that Mr Coote be invited to meet with councillors. “He has to get the assistance of gardaí. This is not on. The abuse he is getting, he cannot tolerate it. I suggest we bring him in and do what we can to help that man,” he said.

Labour councillor Tony McMahon said the abuse suffered by the dog warden is “not acceptable”. He said that several people walk their dogs without leads and they are not controlled. “It’s dangerous. There is a severe penalty that people should be aware of,” he said.

Fine Gael councillor Seán McLoughlin said he was “disturbed to see that report in the paper”.

“Some type of awareness has to be made to the owners that they have a responsibility,” he said.

LIKE a hare that escaped the greyhounds is how Judge Joseph Mangan has this week described his retirement.

In his first interview since his retirement, the 66-year-old told The Clare People that his “initial feeling is like the hare that has got to escape before the grounds come. I am relieved to get to the finish line before I got the sack.”

“I’ve been on the bench for 27 years. It’s a long time to spend at it. I think I have worked very hard. I have had enough. I’m of retirement age. I could have retired last year if I wanted to. The job isn’t getting any easier. The volume of work has increased enormously,” he said.

“I’d feel very cheated if I didn’t get to enjoy a few years of retirement,” he said.

He said that he gave informal notice of his intention to retire at the end of July but the President of the District Court asked him to reconsider and defer his final decision until September.

“I did so and I gave formal notice of retirement in the first or second week of September,” he said.

During his time as a District Court Judge, he has always aimed to remain objective and remain detached, something that was not always possible. “The judge’s mind is a clinical mind… By and large you don’t bring it home with you and the same ap- plies to prejudices. You don’t bring it on to the bench with you. When you are on the bench you are more concerned with implementing the law in a just way, if you can, than you are about implementing an agenda. It’s not the function of a judge to be a crusader,” he said.

“Maybe it’s selfish of me but I was always more concerned about whether I had done the job properly than I was about the sadness of the story.

“You just couldn’t survive in this game if you reacted to every sad story the same as some sentimental person who always brings a handkerchief to the cinema.

“There was one young man I knew who came before me for quite a serious charge. It was not going to be dealt with in the District Court so there was no reason for me to disqualify myself from the case. I had met him when he was a child. He was one of the most mannerly little kids I met.

“When he came before me I found that hard to take. Most people who came before me were for a speeding summons or a bald tyre. They are not hanging offences. There is no problem about that,” he said.

After travelling the country as a moveable judge for more than 17 years, he was appointed to District Number 12 – which covers Clare and parts of Galway – in 2001. He has seen plenty of changes over the years.

“My coming here [to Ennis] coin- cided with the take-off of the Celtic Tiger. Whatever changes I saw it is difficult to discern whether they were caused by the advent of the Celtic Tiger or whether they were specific to this district. Certainly public order cases increased in the district around that time. I think the answer is probably a combination of both [the introduction of the Public Order Act and the Celtic Tiger],” he said.

“I think there has been a very noticeable decline in public order cases in the last three to four years, pre- sumably because a lot of young people have left the country. In relation to drugs, the drugs squad locally are very alert to what’s going on. One thing that has to be a cause for great concern is that when people had a lot of money the tendency was to use softer and safer drugs. Now that money is scarce, we are seeing more of the harder drugs,” he said.

He has seen the family law courts becoming busier in recent years, but said, “Just because the volume of family law cases has increased in the courts, doesn’t mean there has been an exacerbation in family law problems. There were always family law problems but in the past there was greater tendency for people to suffer in silence.”

Over the years, he has had to disqualify himself from hearing cases, due to his acquaintance with defendants.

“That was very simple. In a parking court I would have no problem dealing with my grandmother because she would be one of 50 people who are all dealt with in a similar way. In a family court if you have the slightest acquaintance with a person you don’t touch the case.

“Other cases are in between. Sometimes I would disqualify myself. Sometimes I would deal with the case,” he said.

“What no judge appreciates is being ambushed in court, observing a defendant in court flanked by one or two mutual acquaintances lest that the judge might not know who the defendant was, the acquaintances often being pillars of the community,” he added.

“There are occasions when somebody will try to bully the court. Sometimes fire must be met with fire,” he said.

Throughout his career, several of his rulings have been overturned by a higher court. “It’s just another person’s opinion.

“That person is entitled to his or her opinion as I am entitled to mine. I have my day’s work to do. If there is an appeal, the case becomes somebody else’s problem,” he said.

“I never worried about giving decisions in criminal cases. If I had a doubt I would dismiss the case. The law states you must have a reasonable doubt. I have to confess I never quite knew the difference between a doubt and a reasonable doubt,” he said.

“I never worried unduly about wronging the State in a criminal matter because the price we pay for a half civilized legal system is that 1,000 guilty men must walk free to ensure that we don’t convict the innocent man.

“Even with the system we have, innocent people still get convicted,” he said.

“Wronging an individual is another matter and that troubles me as I’m sure it troubles all my colleagues. One would especially want to get it right in a family case. It’s not always easy,” he added.

CONCERNS have been expressed over the condition of the Tullyvarraga Hill Wood in Shannon.

Independent councillor Patricia McCarthy raised the issue at a meeting of Shannon Town Council last week, asking what planned maintenance programme is in place for the wood.

In response to her motion, Councillor McCarthy was told that the majority of trees are in good condi- tion, having been replanted in recent years.

“Some maintenance works are required in order to keep the pathways clear of vegetation and it is intended to carry out these works shortly. It is proposed to incorporate this area into the Shannon Green Area Maintenance Contract for 2012,” stated a written response from Senior Executive Engineer, Eugene O’Shea.

Cllr McCarthy told the meeting, “We had problems with it from the word go.”

She said that 13,500 broadleaf trees were planted. “There hasn’t been any pruning. There doesn’t seem to be any thinning,” she said.

Sinn Féin councillor Cathy McCafferty told the meeting there were “too many shortcuts taken in this particular instance”. She said that a gentleman in a wheelchair could not get past the vegetation and had to go out onto the road.

Fine Gael councillor Mike Fleming said that the town is aiming to progress in the national Tidy Towns competitions. Yet, Tullyvarraga Wood was causing headaches. “The town is trying to win with our Tidy Towns competitions, but there is a job only half done,” he said.

Labour councillor Tony McMahon said, “I’d like to know what is the situation around the planned maintenance and the future plans for upgrading and maintenance.

“There has been a whole cloudy history around it. I’d like to see that area maintained in a specific and measured way,” he said.

A NEW report has described the standard of teaching and learning at Cranny National School as being of a very high standard. The whole school evaluation by the Inspector for the Department of Education and Skills focused on the quality of teaching and learning in English, Irish, mathematics and drama.

Published last week, the report found that, “Throughout the school, very effective differentiation strategies are used. Accordingly, lessons are very well matched to pupils’ levels of ability.”

Apart from the high standard of teaching, the report states, “A positive atmosphere pervades the school.

“Pupils are very well behaved and they engage in all activities diligently and with enthusiasm.”

According to the report, “The classrooms are well-maintained and provide stimulating and supportive learning environments. An abundance of helpful materials relating to many aspects of the curriculum is displayed.”

The report also makes a number of recommendations. It states, “The Board of Management is advised to assume a more pro-active role in school self-evaluation and in overseeing the quality of teaching and learning in the school and the standards achieved by pupils.”

The Board was also advised to compile and distribute and annual report on the operation of the school “as a means of enhancing communication with the general parent body”.

The report also recommends greater emphasis on drama.

According to the report, “The Board of Management of the school was given an opportunity to com ment on the findings and recommendations of the report; the board chose to accept the report without response.”

Cranny National School currently caters for 26 pupils and has two mainstream class teachers.

At the time of the evaluation, there were no pupils enrolled in first class or in fourth class.

The report stated, “The principal provides dedicated leadership to the school.

“She is committed to instigating improvements in teaching and learning through the use of a range of appropriate approaches and initiatives in each class.”

It continued, “She ensures that the school is well-resourced and that organisational and curriculum plans are implemented consistently.”

The report states that pupils “approach their learning with diligence”.

RESIDENTS of Cappahard have expressed disappointment over the amount of money allocated to the area under Ennis Town Council’s Priming Grants scheme.

Eleven housing estates comprising 264 houses are located in Cappahard on the Tulla Road. The area was initially given € 300 to help cover grass cutting and maintenance costs under the latest round of priming grants announced in September.

Angela Coll, a spokesperson for residents, explained that € 600 will now be allocated to the area. However, Ms Coll explained that residents feel this allocation is unfair as peo- ple living in Cappahard have spent € 3,000 on maintenance,

She explained, “In June of 2011, Whitepark Developments Ltd., the developers of several estates within the townland of Cappahard, went into liquidation leaving the residents of the estates to fend for themselves with regard to the grass cutting and general maintenance of the estate until Ennis Town Council take over the development on some future date.”

She continued, “In June, the residents met to discuss the situation and decided to collect a sum of € 25 per household to assist us in covering the cost of the grass cutting and weed control for the summer of 2011. We also applied for eight separate amen- ity/priming grants for the various areas in the estate.”

Ms Coll stated, “To date, the residents in Cappahard have spent in excess of € 3,000 on maintenance of the estate and we feel strongly that we should not be discriminated against.”

In a submission to the council, the residents offer a comparison between the award of priming grants to estates in Tobertascáin and Cappahard. It states, “These three estates have received separate priming grants from Ennis Town Council over the past number of years and it is our belief that they do not differ substantially in any way from the estates on the Tulla Road which we represent.”

Residents have appealed to local councillors to support their calls for greater funding. In a letter, Ms Coll states, “It would seem unjust that so many estates with such a large number of houses would be granted only one payment for maintenance of a large amount of green and landscaped areas when other estates with as few as 10 houses are successfully applying for and being granted equal amounts for a considerably smaller acreage.”

In a report issued in September, the council stated that the payment of grants is subject to submission by the residents associations of receipts. According to the report, the maximum grant payable is € 300, based on expenditure of € 600.

FRENCH TEACHING lessons at St Anne’s Community College in Killaloe have been described as “well structured” by the Department of Education.

Inspectors visited the school and monitored the teaching of the subject, after which they made various recommendations.

According to the inspectors, the lessons are “well structured and paced” and instructions to students are clear.

There are three French teachers at the school.

It stated that there is a good atmosphere in classes, along with a good classroom management, with students “purposeful” in their work.

“However, in a small number of instances, more time could profitably be spent on preparation for an exercise before the students begin to work on it on their own.

“The modelling of answers or the use of a cloze-type exercise as a preliminary activity would provide support for students and would lead to a more successful learning experience.

“This is of particular importance when dealing with mixed-ability classes.

“Some students may need extra assistance from the teacher while the more able students could be encouraged to work independently by checking their answers against the relevant verb tables in the text book.

“Monitoring students’ progress through checking whether students found an exercise easy or difficult would also help in gauging the effectiveness of an activity,” stated the inspectors’ report, which was published last week.

“Where students are found to be having difficulty with a particular concept or with a key element such as numbers in French, this could form the basis for a concerted effort by all the teachers to address the issue over a period of days or weeks,” added the report.

A number of significant strengths were found during the evaluation. It found that there is a strong com- mitment to the provision of modern foreign languages in the school and the majority of students study a foreign language. The report also noted positively a mentoring scheme that is in place to assist new teachers and the target language is well used by the teachers for classroom communication and for teaching lesson content.

The teaching of grammar is a particular strength at the school, while there is a good emphasis on oral assessment in the senior cycle, according to the report.

A NEW venue for the monthly Killaloe court sittings has not yet been secured, after the hotel which had hosted it for the past year went into receivership.

The Kincora Hotel closed during the summer and as a result the monthly court sittings for September and October moved back to Ennis Courthouse.

At the time the move was described as a “temporary measure” for September and October courts. However, The Clare People has learned that the November and December sittings will also take place in Ennis, as a new premises in Killaloe has not yet been identified. It is hoped that the sittings from January onwards will move back to East Clare. “Killaloe will sit in Ennis on a temporary basis while we look for an alternative venue. We are looking at options,” said a spokesperson for the Courts Service. “In the short-term we are hopeful of securing a venue. We are hopeful that a temporary venue will be available in Killaloe in January,” added the spokesperson.

“We are committed to staying there in the short to medium term, provided we can get accommodation,” he said.

The district court sittings moved to the Kincora Hotel last September, after months of searching for a venue by the Courts Service.

It came after it emerged that The Lakeside Hotel – where the court had sat for a number of years – would not be an option in the long-term.

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

Members of the legal profession in Clare have expressed hope that the court will sit in Killaloe in the future and say that a permanent move to Ennis is not desirable. Gardaí in East Clare are of a similar view as it is more manageable from a resources point of view.

In recent years, several courthouses across the county closed and the court sittings moved to more centralised venues. Among those to close

THE quality of teaching Construction and Wood Technology at St John Bosco Community College in Kildysart has been described as “very good” by Department of Education inspectors.

According to an evaluation carried out, effective learning takes place, while the subject plan represents a very good start on which to base further planning.

The report recommended that “further development of active methodologies should be used to further improve students’ learning”.

“Well structured lessons were conducted at an appropriate pace. Lesson content was presented very competently. Demonstrations of practical skills were of a high standard.

“However, more opportunities should be created for students to participate more actively in their learning. Well structured group work in theory lessons should be used to encourage more collaboration between students who should then be enabled to share with the whole class,” stated the report.

“Learning was effective. Students were interested and fully engaged in classroom activities showing appropriate levels of knowledge and understanding of the subjects. Students approached the subjects with enthusiasm and inquisitiveness and on occasion made contributions that indicated a high level of engagement,” it added.

It recommended that closer supervision should be provided for students who are allowed to use more hazardous machines such as the band saw.

Planning for the lessons observed was described as “very effective” and included the use of a wide range of resources including digital resources and ICT equipment.

“Good use was being made of the overhead projector, notably in a CS theory lesson. While this was effective, it is suggested that the transparencies in use could be scanned for use with the data projector to increase their flexibility as a resource,” added the inspectors.