Category: News

MEMBERS of the public are being urged to have their say on a proposed footpath for the Quin Bridge.

Concerns have been raised over plans by Clare County Council to install a footpath on Quin Bridge.

Councillors yesterday urged the Council to consider installing a foot- path underneath the bridge rather than on the main road.

Cllr Sonny Scanlan (FG) told the a meeting of councillors in the Ennis East Electoral Area that that he is against the current proposal. He said a footpath would make the bridge too narrow and cause problems for motorists and pedestrians alike.

Cllr Pat Daly (FF) supported the call, saying that the road is “too narrow and dangerous” for a footpath. “The footpath should be underneath the bridge,” he added.

Senior Executive Engineer Eamon O’Dea told the meeting that the part eight planning process finishes on July 15 and all public submissions about the project should be in by that date.

“The manager’s report will be drafted and brought before the coun cillors for their consideration.”

Mr O’Dea said resources will be made available for the project. Ennis town manager Ger Dollard told the meeting that plans to improve pedestrian facilities at the railway bridge on the Quin Road are “tied up with the railway safety commission”.

GARDAÍ across Clare are investigating a string of break-ins over the past week.

A range of property including electrical items, a generator and mobile homes were stolen during the burglaries, while homes were ransacked.

In one incident, at Ballynote West, Kilrush, a house was broken into between 1am and 9am last Monday. A range of goods was stolen including a digital camera, laptop, three mobile phones, and Nintendo DS.

Also in West Clare, a house in Carrigaholt was broken into and a petrol generator was stolen at around 12pm on Saturday.

A farm was targeted in Kilkee on Monday night, as five Freisan heifers with tag numbers were stolen from a field in Newtown. Tents camped in Spanish Point were targeted and personal belongings including hand- bags, mobile phones and money were taken, between 5pm and 6pm last Wednesday.

Machinery that was parked in a quarry at Moveen East, Kilkee, had its windows broken over the weekend.

A house in Cusack View, Ennis, was broken into and ransacked between Tuesday and Friday of last week. A flatscreen television was stolen in a break-in at the Ashford Court Hotel, Ennis, overnight on Wednesday.

A house in O’Briensbridge was searched overnight on Friday, after thieves forced open the front door. However, nothing was taken.

In Clarecastle, a container at Creggaun na hIlla caught fire in what gardaí say are suspicious circumstances, at around 10pm on Friday.

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

A PUBLIC meeting will be held next week to launch a Clare campaign against the introduction of flat-rate water charges before meters are installed.

The meeting is being organised by the newly formed Shannon Green Party branch. Their chairman Gerben Uunk explained why awareness of the water-charge proposals are important.

“We all remember the drastic icy winter; many citizens were left with burst water pipes in Clare and around the country. The Government relentlessly plans to introduce water charges without proper water metering in place in most Irish homes. Households are to be charged € 175, before water meters are installed,” he told The Clare People .

“Shouldn’t people on disability benefit or reliant upon social welfare be exempt from paying water charges? Householders will be forced to pay this flat-rate charge for their water for at least three years. No matter how much water you use, everyone will pay the same flat fee. That is not equitable,” Mr Uunk said.

On the agenda for the meeting which will be held in the Oakwood Arms Hotel in Shannon on Wednesday, July 20, at 7.30pm – will be the reasons why water charges are being introduced, lessons from the international experience of water charges, why it’s important to conserve drinking water, tips to help reduce the amount of water usage at home, an outline of the Green Party position on water charges and an open floor questions and answers session.

Clare TDs and senators are also being invited to the meeting to express their opinion.

THE tragic victim of last week’s house fire was still in mourning for his father, whom he had buried just over a month before he died.

Mike Kennedy, who was born and grew up in Killaloe, lost his life in a housefire in neighbouring Ballina on July 3.

Last Wednesday and Thursday, huge crowds turned out to pay their final respects to the family man and musician.

Mike had buried his father, Timmy, who owned an electrical shop in Killaloe just over a month before his own death.

Mike – known as ‘Caddie’ – was well known for his interest in mu- sic and regularly played the banjo at sessions in Killaloe and Ballina. He also loved fishing and handball and, in his younger days, played under-age hurling for the local SmithO’Brien club.

Friends of the 53-year old said that the community is deeply shocked at his loss. “He was a very happy go lucky kind of person; a lovely man and very interested in music. He played music and he collected CDs and DVDs of well known musicians,” a friend told The Clare People .

Mike is survived by his wife Margaret, sons Kevin, Anthony and Declan, their partners Lisa Grace and Elaine, his mother Eileen, sister Geraldine, mother in law, relatives and friends.

MEMBERS of an interfaith group from Clare were honoured to be included on the President of Ireland’s diary in recent weeks.

President Mary McAleese hosted a garden party for various groups from around the country and the interfaith group from the mid-west was included on her schedule.

Members of the Mid-West Interfaith Network hail from Ennis, Shannon, Sixmilebridge, Broadford and Limerick.

The group was set up a year ago and consists of all religions including Catholic, Hindu, Sikh, Jewish, Baha’i and Zoroasterian. The members meet regularly and take part in meditation, prayer vigils and organise general meetings.

One of the members, Trish FallonBarry from Shannon, said the interest in the group has been significant and the meetings focus on positivity.

“It was set up by Alan Hillard, a Catholic priest from Ennis and Abed Aldaka, the integration officer with Doras Luimní. They were talking about the desirability of setting up an interfaith group. It would be very close to my heart. I believe all the religions are one,” said Ms FallonBarry, who is a member of the Baha’i group in Shannon.

“We have a core group. We meet up and broaden it out when we can, with meditation evenings, and we will go on a walk soon,” she said.

“It is faith based. It is very positive and peaceful. We share what we have in common and foster an understanding,” she said.

“We have more to celebrate together than we do separately. There is such a positive atmosphere at our gatherings,” she added.

Among those who visited Áras an Uachtaráin were Bart Gruzalski from Sixmilebridge, Alan Hillard from Ennis, Gurmukh from Sixmilebridge and Trish, who lives in Shannon. “We wrote to the President and she included us. She is so positive and supportive of us,” said Trish.

YOUTH depression and suicide are reaching epidemic proportions in parts of County Clare, where the effects of the recession are forcing many young people deeper and deeper into isolation.

These effects are being made worse in rural parts of the county where the breakdown of old community structures and a change in traditional attitudes during the Celtic Tiger years has created a situation where young people may not have anywhere to turn.

One west Clare councillor and therapist has described the rise of youth isolation as “alarming” and warned that rural communities may no longer be strong enoughto help young people, even if those young people ask for it. According to Kilrush-based therapist Michelle Bradley, the local community structures which existed during previous recessions are no longer in place.

“In the older days, people used to go out even when they didn’t have any money. That has changed now – money seems to be the main focus and people seem to have lost the ability to connect to people without spending money,” she told The Clare People .

“The whole focus for younger people now is the money that is no longer there. It can make people very uncomfortable when they go to meet their peers. They don’t want to say that they have no work or no money. There was a much better sense of community back then.

“At this stage, I’m not even sure how supportive the community might be. Everyone has pulled back and is minding themselves. We could be sending them [isolated people] out to a community that is just not there anymore.”

Ms Bradley, who has personally known three local people who have taken their own lives in recent year, says that much of the problem is as a result of people not being able to express themselves.

“It is a huge problem here. It is to do with the isolation and not being able to express for themselves what is going on or not being involved in any group which could offer support,” she continued.

“People are trying not to spend money and not going out but in reality they are actually doing themselves harm. It is quite alarming really and is something that is just not being spoken about. I would say everyone would know at least one person who is in this situation. I can see it myself and I can see the effects it is having on people.”

A 28-YEAR-OLD man has been charged with raping a female in Ennis.

The accused, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is accused of two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault of a 28-year-old female at an address in Ennis, on January 14 last.

Garda Hilda Moloney told Ennis District Court on Friday that she met the accused that morning and charged him with three alleged offences.

She told Judge Joseph Mangan that the accused did not reply to charge after caution.

Defence solicitor Siobhán McMahon applied for free legal aid for her client and sought bail.

Inspector Tom Kennedy said that gardaí were not objecting to bail, on an independent surety of € 5,000 along with the defendant’s own bail of € 2,000; none of which was to be lodged.

Bail conditions were imposed, including that the accused does not contact the alleged injured party or any witnesses in the case. He was also ordered to provide an address to the State.

Judge Joseph Mangan adjourned the case until September, for preparation of the Book of Evidence.

CLARE County Council has been asked to provide information on an investigation into a fire that destroyed a house in the Ballymaley Traveller accommodation scheme last week.

At a meeting of councillors in the Ennis west electoral area, Cllr Brian Meaney (GP) called on the council to provide an update on “what inves tigations are taking place and where the occupants have gone”.

A house at the site was burned out at around 4.30pm on Saturday, July 2. Gardaí are investigating the circumstances of the fire. The damage to a unit of Clare County Council’s Traveller accommodation stock follows incidents which took place in the Ennis area last year.

In May, two houses in the Ashline halting site on the Kilrush Road were burnt in an arson attack. One of the houses was extensively damaged, while the other was also damaged by the fire. In February (2010), houses at the Beechpark Traveller accommodation site were also badly damaged in an arson attack.

At the time, Clare County Council was forced to spend € 51,000 on repairs, while a further € 2,800 a week was spent on security arrangements at the site. Traveller families moved away from the site, which was built at a cost of two million euros.

A RELIGIOUS group will spend a week going door-to-door in north Clare this month to raise awareness of a special event being organised to tackle depression in the county, and to inform local people about the Ennis Evangelical Church and spread the teachings of the Gospel.

From July 25 to 29, four volunteers hope to visit as many homes as possible in a five- to 10-mile radius of Lisdoonvarna to highlight a free ‘Coping with Depression’ event.

The event is being coordinated locally by Lisdoonvarna man Phil Pain, who is a member of the Ennis Evangelical Church and whose son suffered from depression.

The Ennis Evangelical Church has been in operation in Clare for more than 34 years and teaches an orthodox Christian faith with an emphasis on the teachings in the Bible.

“The four people will base themselves in Lisdoonvarna and cover as much of the area as they can. They will knock on doors and ask if they can share the word of the gospel with the people inside or if no-one is there they will leave some material about the church and about the depression event,” Phil Pain told The Clare People yesterday.

“Depression is a real issue now in Ireland, especially in rural Ireland. When things aren’t going so well, when the economy is suffering, people feel trapped and lose homes. Suicide is unfortunately a frequent recourse for people in this position.”

Dr Steve Critchlow will be the main speaker at the free ‘Coping with Depression’ event which takes place at the Pavillion Theatre in Lisdoonvarna on Friday, July 29 from 7.45pm. The evening is aimed both at people who are suffering from depression and also at their families and loved ones.

Mr Pain said, “When I heard that my son might have been suffering from depression, I was totally taken by surprise. We were alerted to it when he started acting irrationally – he had quite a good job but he stopped going to work.

“When it came out that he was suffering from depression, I had no idea what I could do. I had never experienced anything like it myself so I could not empathise.”

“My son knew that something was going wrong but he couldn’t talk to us about it. He had felt ashamed to talk to us. That must have been awful, feeling like he could not turn to anyone. I felt totally useless when I heard. I was his dad, I had spent my life helping him but for this I felt that there was nothing that I could do.

“I found that one of the key things was just to be there and to listen just to be there for when they want to open up.”

THE first march aimed at legalising cannabis ever to take place in Clare is scheduled to go ahead in Ennis on Wednesday, August 10.

The march, which is being organised by Bunratty woman Niamh O’Brien, will include a “peaceful protest” and march in the county town followed by an information session at a venue in Ennis yet to be confirmed.

Ms O’Brien, who operated her own business in Ennis, suffers from a painful and debilitating bent spine and uses medicinal cannabis to treat the pain. The use of medicinal cannabis is legal in many states in America as well as in a number of EU countries but is currently treated no differently from the use on recreational cannabis in Ireland.

The Clare branch of the Legalisation of Cannabis in Ireland organisation is encouraging people who have doubts about the movement to come to the meeting and voice their concerns.

“I am hoping to have a little peaceful protest march through Ennis to a place where we can have a meeting and a proper questions and answers session. I would hope that concerned parents, drugs councillors, politicians, nurses and doctors would come along to that. I am hoping to get a large group of people in to talk about this, especially people who are seeing people abusing drugs each day at the side of the street,” Niamh told The Clare People yesterday.

“This is an opportunity to question the Government on the current laws because we feel they are not working. I think it is more important that the people who don’t agree with us come along. It’s about opening up a dialogue and education. We want to show people that prohibition just doesn’t work and has always made things worse.”

One of the main speakers on the day will be Irish American Vincent Lavery, who was the personal secretary to assassinated US presidential candidate Robert Kennedy and a pro-legalisation campaigner.

“This is the first time that something like this will happen in Clare so I think it will be an important day for Clare people to come out and let their opinion on this matter be heard. We are still waiting to confirm the day of the march 100 per cent but when we do we will let people know,” continued Niamh.

Cannabis has been proved to have medicinal benefits as an anti-inflammatory, as a pain relief, to combat depression and anxiety, to promote appetite and to help people who have Alzheimer’s disease, MS and Parkinsons. The Facebook page of LCI, Clare now has just under 1,000 people following it.