Category: News

FIFTY years on from Che Guevara’s visit to Kilkee, the artist who met him in the West Clare town and drew the iconic image that’s known around the world is handing copyright back to the revolutionary’s family.

Jim Fitzpatrick, who gave the keynote address to the inaugural Che do Bheatha festival in Kilkee over the weekend has told The Clare People that “copyright for the image belongs to the Guevara family”.

In February, Fitzpatrick first revealed his intention to launch a legal bid to finally secure copyright of his image of Che Guevara, that was in- spired by a chance meeting the artist had with the father of the Cuban revolution in Kilkee.

“I disliked the commercial use, that’s why I have taken the copyright back,” Fitzpatrick revealed. “I never sought royalites for it. It is not about commercial usage, it is about remembering someone who was executed very brutally and who was a prisoner of war at the time,” he added.

“Che’s flight was grounded in Shannon and his driver brought him on a trip to the sea and he came into Marine Hotel where I was working,” revealed Fitzpatrick of his famous encounter.

“After getting a copy of Korda’s photograph of Che I created my own image of Che for Dublin-based magazine Scene . It was a call to arms – it was pretty violent. It was like Pearse’s speech about the blood and wine of the battlefields. I was so frustrated that I sent it to different magazines, but I couldn’t give it away. Publishers didn’t want to know. I made the image copyright free for the simple reason that I wanted it promulgated as worldwide as possible because I felt this man had a message.”

The Che do Bheatha festival celebrating Guevara’s visit to Kilkee in 1961 was launched by Cuban ambassador to Ireland, Teresita Trujillo on Friday, while festival organiser Tom Byrne secured a replica of the 1939 Norton 500cc motorbike that Guevara travelled across South America on in the early 1950s and inspired his book The Motorcycle Diar ies .

The ambassador stayed overnight in Kilkee on Friday, appropriately in Room 2 of the Strand Hotel, where Guevara stayed in 1961, while she also viewed and signed the guestbook that Guevara an his entourage signed 50 years ago.

“The festival was a brilliant success,” said Tom Byrne. “It was different and great for Kilkee to remember Che, with large images of him all over town and on one of the seawalls as well. It was unique,” he added.

AN ENNIS psychotherapist whose recovery from a brain injury was aided by her work on the Feldankrais Method says the therapy is now providing support to children and adults with disabilities in Clare.

Bernadette Kenny, co-ordinator of Tara Healing Arts Centre (Ennis), is one of the practitioners in Ireland of the Feldankrais method. The centre opened last year and provides a range of movement based therapies and counselling to children and adults.

The Feldankrais method uses movement and function as a gentle non-invasive aid in learning to learn. Bernadette explained that new research and neuro-science has validated the 60-year-old method, which has its own research in the USA, UK and Germany. “My work is scientifically based. It’s just not fully out there yet,” she said.

According to Bernadette the Feldankrais method benefits children and adults with special needs through improvements in walking, language and cognitive development as well as behaviour.

Bernadette has worked in the area of psychotherapy and counselling for 30 years and holds a four-year qualification in the Feldankrais Method. Originally from Ennis, she previously worked in youth services in London. She also spent two years working in Dublin at St Michael’s House, an organisation that provides community-based services to people with intellectual disabilities.

She is currently completing masters at the University of Limerick in Feldankrais and Dance therapy and how they can support learning of children with special needs.

Bernadette had reason to turn to the Feldankrais Method. Four years ago when she suffered an angioma (brain injury). She lost her speech and stability but by applying the lessons she had learned throughout her career, Bernadette made a full recovery.

She recalled, “It helped moderate and kept brain working and learning.”

According to Bernadette interest in her work as increased among parents who have been hit by the withdrawal of State supports for children with disabilities. She said her ultimate aim is to establish Tara Healing Arts as a non-profit organisation. “Everyone has the right to treatment.”

Bernadette will hold a talk about the Feldankrais Method at the Auburn Lodge, Ennis, on Friday, October 21, at 8pm.

HEALTH Minister James Reilly has pledged to put measures in place tackle the alarming rate of absenteeism in Ennis General Hospital, which has been exposed as the worst in Ireland when it comes to members of staff not turning up for work due to illness or ailments.

The county hospital was exposed as an absenteeism blackspot of at the weekend, when an audit of all hospitals operated under the auspices of the HSE revealed an average daily rate of sick leave of nearly 10 per cent of staff at the Ennis facility.

These alarming scale of these figures exposed the fact that absenteeism levels in Ennis, running at 9.43 per cent is almost double the average for HSE hospitals around the country that stands at 4.85 per cent, while the HSE’s target absenteeism rate is 3.5 per cent.

In Ennis, each day an average of 22 staff are missing from the hospital’s daily workforce of 238, a rate of absenteeism that impacts on the day-to-day operate of the facility, resulting in the HSE having to employ temporary outside staff to cover for sick workers.

And, a breakdown of these has revealed that the rate of absenteeism is worst among general support staff when it’s running at a staggering 18.01 per cent.

“We are putting in place a new initiative around this,” vowed Minister Reilly. “I’m not at liberty to say what it is just yet, in the next couple of weeks I’ll be able to announce it.

When questioned specifically about the situation in Ennis, Minister Reilly said “there has to be reasons behind it and they need to be addressed. There is cause and effect, so let’s look at the causes and then we can deal with the effect.”

The three worst hospital for absenteeism are all in the mid-west region. The Limerick maternity have 7.93 per cent of employees – 25 out of 319 out sick every day, while it’s running at 7.72 per cent in St John’s Hospital in Limerick, which represents 21 out of 280 being absent every day.

“This is clearly a management issue which needs to be addressed,” said HSE chief executive Cathal Magee. “The cost of absenteeism to HSE West is estimated to be in the region of € 60 million annually,” he added.

ENNIS Town Council may be forced to spend € 170,000 to demolish and reconstruct a section of a building believed to be the oldest home in Ennis. Town Manager Ger Dollard said yesterday that work is “urgently” required at the derelict McParlands site at the corner of Chapel Lane and Parnell Street.

Scaffolding and hoarding was erected around McParland’s after initial restoration work carried out in November 2009 revealed the 16thcentury building to be in a “danger- ous condition”.

The building, which is a protected structure, is home to a rare triple diamond Jacobean stone chimney that dates to the period 1580-1650AD.

In response to a motion tabled by Cllr Paul O’Shea (Lab), Mr Dollard said that the “building has been deteriorating and the short term measures put in place do not render the structure safe on a long term basis”.

Mr Dollard said the Council has taken detailed professional advice from the National Monuments Service. He told the meeting that it is clear that the owner of the property “does not have the financial resources to make the building safe”.

He explained that Ennis Town Council under its statutory powers is obliged to make the structure safe.

He continued, “This will involve the demolition of the gable wall and chimney and reconstruction of same. These works will not return the property to a habitable state but will make the building structurally safe.”

Mr Dollard said that a grant of € 85,000 has been secured to partially cover the cost of the works which he estimated could total € 170,000. Councillors expressed concern at the cost of the project.

Cllr Peter Considine (FF) said that while he acknowledged the importance of historical buildings, “there comes a point when you have to spend your money wisely.”

He said the estimated cost of the works represented a “lot of money down the Jacobean chimney”.

Cllr Frankie Neylon (Ind) said there was a serious health and safety issue to be addressed at McParlands. Mayor of Ennis, Cllr Michael Guilfoyle (Ind) expressed concern at spending € 170,000 on a chimney, for which he said there is no tourism benefit.

Mr Dollard admitted that the Council “finds itself in a position that it doesn’t want to be in”. He said the Council might be able to recoup some of the balance of the cost through any future sale of the property or further government grants.

Responding to concerns from Cllr O’Shea that the project will not go out to tender, Mr Dollard said he was happy the project would comply with procurement requirements.

He said the work has to be completed before the end of November in order for the council to avail fully of the € 85,000 grant.

A GROUP of dedicated Clare parents have achieved the impossible by raising an incredible € 4.2 million in just three years to build a new adult Cystic Fibrosis unit for their children. The sod will be turned later this month on the new facility which will become the first and only facility for people with CF over the age of 16 in the western region.

The facility has been made possible by the TLC4CF group, which is a group of parents from Clare, Tipperary and Limerick, who have worked tirelessly to fill this gap in the services provided by the HSE and provide priceless treatment for their children.

The facility will be built entirely with money raised by TLC4CF and while the HSE has committed to staffing the facility – the parents group now face the challenge of rais- ing the final € 1 million needed to equip the facility.

Over the last three years the group have already raised enough money to employ the region’s first adult consultant for people with CF and then set about tackling the greatest gap in the system – the lack of any real facilities for people with CF once they turn 16.

“TLC is a combined front from parents in the three counties because the services were so bad for adults with CF in this entire region and you are considered an adult at 16 years of age. So we wanted to fight for better services and better conditions for our children,” said Linda Drennan, who has two children living with CF.

“This new facilities are vital for our children. TLC has raised € 1.2 million in the three counties and we have received € 3 million from the JP McManus Pro Am – so the money for the build is there, the fundraising now is about raising the money to equip the building.”

Facilities for adults with CF are currently very poor throughout the country. The achievements made by the TLC4CF group have inspired other groups in other parts of the country to begin projects of their own.

“A massive effort has been put in place by people in Tipperary, Limerick and Clare. We have reached the stage now where we just need to raise € 1 million to finish the project outright. The building will start sometime in October and will take around 18 months – we just need to make sure that the money is there to equip the building once it is finished,” said Marcella Clancy of the TLC4CF. For the full stor y a bout the rema r ka ble a chievements of TLC4CF tur n to page 44 a nd 45.

SEVEN cubic metres of grease were recently removed from a wastewater pumping station in Ennis, a meeting has heard.

The grease had built up over a two-year period at the Francis Street pumping station. Town Engineer Eamon O’Dea revealed the detail at yesterday’s meeting of Ennis Town Council

Mr O’Dea’s comments prompted Cllr Frankie Neylon (Ind) to remark, “Europe has a problem with Greece but Ennis has a problem with grease.”

In a report to councillors, Mr O’Dea stated that “the difficulty with the build up of grease in sewers and pumping stations has increased over the last number of years and has resulted in greater maintenance costs”.

Mr O’Dea was responding to a motion tabled by Cllr Paul O’Shea. Cllr O’Shea had called for an inspection of the sewage system servicing the Fioruisce estate.

Mr O’Dea explained, “Clare Coun- ty Council water services area staff monitor this section of sewer each week and the last occasion that difficulties were encountered was Tuesday, September 6 when the council jetter was unsuccessful in fully clearing the sewer and this was done on Thursday, September 8.”

He added, “The primary problem is the build up of grease in the sewer and this has become a more significant issue over the last 12 to 18 months”.

Mr O’Dea said the Council had delivered an advisory sheet to all busi- nesses involved in the production of food in Ennis in regard to their obligations in disposal of grease, oils and fats into the sewer network.

He said the discharging of oils/ grease from frying utensils directly into the sewer is a “particular concern”.

He said the Gort Road recycling centre has a facility for the collection of household cooking oils.

Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) told the meeting that the grease problems had resulted from people having a “lack of respect for public infrastructure”.

THE family of a young Shannon man who is undergoing treatment in the US for a brain tumour have appealed for assistance to help cover the costs.

34-year-old Keith Gibbons is currently in Texas on clinical trials for the tumour. Keith was initially diagnosed four years ago and after undergoing treatment in Ireland, the tumour disappeared and Keith returned to work.

In May 2008, he got married to his long-time girlfriend Brenda McGuane from Shannon. The couple tied the knot in Las Vegas and anticipated a long, happy future together.

Sadly, however, in March 2010, a routine scan showed that the tumour had returned.

His wife Brenda recalled what happened at that stage.

“Keith had another surgery in April where the tumour was fully resected once again. Gliadel wafers, a type of chemotherapy, were inserted at the tumour site. We hoped, like we always did, that this would be it and the tumour wouldn’t return. Keith returned to work again but the tumour returned almost straight away so Keith had another surgery in September 2010,” she recalled.

“We learned then that the tumour had been upgraded to the most malignant grade four tumour called Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM). Keith did not go back to work for a long time after this surgery. He also had a seizure and has had a couple since then. Keith had to under go more oral chemotherapy which seemed to help until the course of it finished and the tumour started to get more aggressive and spread to the other side of his brain. He was then put on an IV course of chemotherapy,” she said.

“All the time we were researching other options. We were always being told by doctors that Ireland had everything treatment-wise that was in the US but we didn’t believe that. The chemotherapy was making Keith very tired and took a lot out of him. We knew we had to pursue other options.

“Around March, I found out about a clinic in Houston, Texas, called the Burzynski Clinic which specialises in a treatment that involves a drug called Antioneoplastons. It is genetargeted treatment that has seen very good results on brain tumours. It is not a form of chemotherapy and is non-toxic.

“Dr Burzynski’s treatment is not seen as a fully approved treatment yet even though for years he has being curing people that were told there was nothing more that could be done for them after conventional treatment didn’t work. We sent off all scans and paperwork and after a lot of correspondence over and back we heard that Keith was accepted for treatment at the clinic. We knew we had to go for it,” said Brenda.

The couple travelled to Texas in recent weeks and remain hopeful that the treatment will be a success.

“So here we are in Houston hoping that treatment at the clinic will work out. Treatment is very expensive here as all medical treatment in the US is but we can’t let that stop us. We really hope that one day we can say the treatment has worked and finally one day we may be able to get on with our lives like every other couple in their 30s. Keith so deserves this to happen to him as he is the most amazing man you will ever come across,” said Brenda.

Friends of Keith and Brenda have organised a fundraiser to help cover the costs of the treatment. It will take place at the Mill Bar in Sixmilebridge on Friday night at 8pm. Tickets at a cost of € 10 are available on the door or phone 087 9370395 with donations.

CLAIMS that the cost of parking charges is “crippling” businesses in Ennis have been rejected by the Ennis Town Manager.

Ger Dollard was speaking at a debate on parking at yesterday’s meeting of Ennis Town Council.

The discussion was prompted by a motion tabled by Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) who called on the council to “urgently review public car parking usage” in Ennis.

Mr Dollard said a review of car parking in Ennis commenced in autumn 2010 and resulted in the introduction of the 2011 on-street payand-display and car park byelaws on March 21.

He said the 2008 Ennis Car Parking Study had made a number of recommendations. In a report, Mr Dollard stated that the council had implemented seven short term measures aimed at improving parking in Ennis, including: discouraging long-stay parking within 100m of Abbey Street; re-designation of 39 long-stay spaces in Friars Walk for use as short-stay parking only; and reviewing the use of Bindon Street and the extension of two-hour-maximum stay zone to Market Place and Friars Walk.

Mr Dollard stated that supply currently exceeds demand at the Friars Walk car-park.

Reacting to a comment from Cllr Paul O’Shea (Lab) that “car parking is crippling businesses”, Mr Dollard said, “I wouldn’t accept the suggestion that the price of car parking is crippling business in Ennis”.

Mr Dollard said the debate on parking in Ennis had initially focused on the shortage of spaces but had now shifted to cost.

He said that just three sources of funding are available to local authorities: government funding, commercial rates and parking charges. He added, “If all of your income streams are under pressure, you are limited about what you can do.”

Mayor of Ennis, Cllr Michael Guilfoyle (Ind), dismissed the impact parking charges are having on local businesses. He said that the cost of shopping in Ennis is expensive, adding, “I don’t think Ennis is a cheap place”. Cllr Guilfoyle said the “doom and gloom (in Ennis) is blamed on car parking charges in the town”.

Cllr Flynn said he put forward the motion to stimulate debate on parking. He said businesses are down 50 per cent to 60 per cent on their Saturday trade.

Cllr Peter Considine requested that a report comparing parking charges in Ennis with 10 other similar sized towns be provided to councilors in advance of their annual budget estimates meeting. Cllr Frankie Neylon (Ind) claimed people are boycotting the Friars Walk car park.

BUSINESSES in Ennis have turned up the heat on local councillors by calling on them to vote against proposed changes in retail policy that could facilitate the development of a new “district centre” on the outskirts of the town.

Dozens of business owners have expressed concern over a proposed variation to the Ennis and Environs Development Plan, which would allow for the development of a new district centre at a site at the junction of Limerick Road and Tobertascáin Road. Planning permission is being sought at the five-hectare site for the development of a major retail centre.

The proposed variation will be voted on by members of Ennis Town Council and Clare County Council.

At a meeting to discuss Ennis Chamber’s submission on the proposed variation, speakers appealed to councillors to vote against including a new district centre in the plan.

The Chairman of the O’Connell Street Traders Association said it was the view of businesses on the town’s main street that it would be “too risky” to allow the proposed development to proceed. Gearoid Mannion told the meeting that the “town centre is practically on its knees”.

He said councillors should do whatever they can to oppose proposed changes in planning policy. Those views were echoed by Noreen Twomey Walsh of the Parnell Street Traders Association.

Another businesswoman Gwen Culligan (County Boutique) said that if councillors in Ennis “really care about the town of Ennis, they should re-think this proposal”.

John O’Connor (O’Connors Bakery) said that Limerick City centre is “dying” because of retail parks. He warned that the same would happen in Ennis if a similar policy were pursued. He said it is incumbent on councillors to oppose the proposed changes.

Councillor Frankie Neylon (Ind) said elected representatives have “no hand, act or part” in planning decisions. He said the planning application at Tobertascáin is separate from the preparation of the Ennis and Environs Development Plan.

Cllr Neylon said there had been numerous objections when Dunnes Stores proposed to set up in the town centre. “It was going to close the centre of Ennis. It did the opposite. It built up,” he said.

In relation to the proposed development at Tobertascáin, Cllr Neylon said it was important to look at the “bigger picture”, adding that Ennis had lost shoppers to shopping developments in Ennistymon, Kilrush, Limerick and Galway. Cllr Neylon said he would welcome job creation in any part of Ennis.

Describing a proposal to develop a large shopping centre at Tobertascáin Road as a “monstrosity”, Cllr Paul O’Shea (Lab) said he would vote against changing the zoning provision at the site.

A DANGEROUS and organised armed criminal gang has been targeting homes in Ennis and East Clare over the past two weeks, resulting in a large increase in the number of recent house break-ins in the county.

The gang, which were described as being not afraid to ‘take on a group of gardaí’, is operating in a co-ordinated fashion across three jurisdictions and are the subject of a major garda investigation.

Speaking at a public meeting of the Joint Policing Committee in Sixmilebridge last night, Clare Garda Chief Superintendent John Kerin said that the gardaí are monitoring the group and soon hope to be able to make a major breakthrough in their investigations.

“We have had an upsurge in burglaries in Ennis and East Clare in the last two weeks and 90 per cent of these burglaries are being undertaken by one criminal gang.

“We know who they are, we know the cars that they are using and there is an extensive investigation taking place across three jurisdictions in relation to this group,” said Chief Supt Kerin.

“They are very serious criminals. They are an organised group of serious criminals and they wont be afraid to take on a group of guards.”

It was also confirmed at last night’s meeting that gardaí in Clare have been in contact with the Armed Response Unit in relation to policing the gang.

Meanwhile, Gardaí have promised that there won’t be a repeat of last Halloween when residents were “trapped in the homes” in parts of Sixmilebridge.

The town was the sight of serious anti-social behaviour last year when a campaign to “Come to Sixmilebridge for a Riot” was started on Facebook.

Supt Kerin committed to increasing garda activity in the town over the Halloween period and to investigating any illegal activity in the Cappa Lodge area.