Category: News

RESCUE services have appealed to boat owners and people planning water activities to take precautions, after two weekends of boaters getting into difficulties on Lough Derg.

Five people had to be rescued from the lake near Whitegate last weekend and the previous weekend six people had to be taken off a cruiser which was sinking in Killaloe.

With fine weather bringing heavy traffic out on the water, both the Killaloe/Ballina Search and Rescue (KBSR) service and the Lough Derg RNLI have asked people to check their safety equipment and to make sure that boats which have been tied up over winter haven’t suffered damage.

The RNLI lifeboat was called out on Sunday of last weekend to a 24foot motor cruiser which suffered engine failure off shore at Whitegate. Four adults, a child and two dogs were rescued and the cruiser towed to safe harbour.

The previous weekend, members of the Irish Coastgurad, based in Killaloe, rescued six people and a dog from a hire-cruiser that started to sink after being holed in a collision with the bridge in Killaloe.

A spokesman for the KBSR said that anyone taking to the waters after a winter break should check that lifesaving equipment is in full working order.

“Check that inflatable life-vests are working and that fire extinguishers and equipment on boats is working after being put away for winter,” he said.

Boaters are also advised to be sure that they carry fully charged mobile phones in case they need to call for assistance.

Elanor Hooker, spokeswoman for the Lough Derg RNLI, said that boats which have been overwintered should be checked.

“Just looking out at the lake this weekend, it’s obvious that there is a lot of traffic and we would urge people to check that the inlets and outlets of boats haven’t become clogged with debris. Always let someone know where you are going on the lake and what time you intend to be back and a common problem is that boats run out of fuel. People say ‘it’s a lovely day, we’ll go on a bit further’ and then don’t have enough fuel. Make sure you have fuel for the time you’ll be out.”

A CLARE woman is saving the lives of hundreds of Clare dogs each year by rehousing unwanted Clare animals in Wales. Ennis woman Deirdre Ryan set up Rover Rescue in 2008 and has prevented more then 500 Clare dogs from being destroyed over the last three years.

The charity works by taking in stray Clare dogs, giving them a com- plete medical check, and then transporting them to new homes in Wales or elsewhere in the UK. Stray dogs have virtually been eliminated in the UK over the last ten years meaning that there is now a demand for unwanted Irish dogs.

“These dogs are literally on death row and there is no room for them. Frankie [Cooke, Clare Dog Warden] could have 10 lovely dogs brought into him on one evening and he only has five kennels. So if a home can’t be found quickly for them they will have to be put down. Those are the dogs that I prioritise,” said Deirdre.

“I am doing this in my own home – I live in a terraced house and unfortunately I don’t have lots of room so I depend on a number of dog fosterers who take dogs for days at a time when there is too many. I can keep four or five dogs here and after that I am dependent on help from dog fosterers and from Frankie to hold the dogs until they are ready to be shipped over to the UK.”

Rover Rescue gets a lot of help in preparing animals for transport from Second Chance, Clare Animal Welfare, the Clare SPCA and the Clare branch of the ISPCA.

“I am sending them to quality rescue centres in the UK. If it hasn’t been done already, the dogs will be neutered and will have a full health check before they are placed with a family in the UK. The group will also micro-chip all the animals and will conduct a home check to make sure they are being looked after.”

Deirdre works is the Peter Barks Dog Grooming Parlour and is also the founder of Ennis Dog Club. Anyone who wishes to donate money can lodge funds into the Rover Rescue bank account in Ennis at account number 54547426 and sort code 935387.

Anyone who wishes to help or become a dog fosterer can contact Deirdre on 065 6848684.

A MAN who was involved in a spate of crime in West Clare has been handed a 12-month prison spell.

Stephen Bourke (21), of Moyglass, Crusheen, admitted breaking into two mobile homes and stealing property at Rahona Caravan Park, Carrigaholt, in June 2010.

Kilrush District Court heard that a range of electrical items including a television, DVD player, X-Box and several bottles of alcohol were stolen in the break-ins.

The accused also admitted damaging a car on O’Curry Street, Kilkee, on June 4, 2010.

Garda Ken O’Day told the court that two alloy wheels and spotlights were taken from a car which was parked on O’Curry Street, Kilkee, on the evening in question.

He said that they were later recovered.

“Later the same night, two mobile homes were broken into at a caravan park,” said Gda O’Day.

He said that most of the items were later recovered, except for some of the alcohol.

The court heard that the accused had 80 previous convictions.

Defence solicitor Eugene O’Kelly told the court that his client’s parents had a caravan in the area, but they have been “put out of the caravan park because of the trouble their son has caused”.

He said the accused “has had considerable difficulties with the law over the years. A lot of that has been aligned to addiction and to drink”.

He said that a number of others were in his company on the weekend in question.

“He was not able to resist the promptings of the others to cause trouble,” he said.

Judge Joseph Mangan imposed two six-month jail terms and fixed a bond in the event of an appeal.

GARDAÍ have expressed concerns that an ongoing dispute in Kilrush will escalate.

The comments were made by the head of policing in West Clare, during a court sitting in Kilrush.

Three people are charged under the Public Order Act, arising out of an incident in Kilrush on St Patrick’s Day.

Claire Clancy (45), of Ballynote West, Kilrush; Clare O’Sullivan (23), of O’Gorman Street, Kilrush, and Oliver Dullaghan (19), of Willow Green, John Paul Estate, Kilrush, are all charged with engaging in threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour, at Market Square, Kilrush, on March 17 last.

At Kilrush District Court on Wednesday, Superintendent Gerry Wall said there was an ongoing issue and he was concerned it would escalate.

“The two parties are abusive to each other verbally and are threatening each other. It has history. It’s an ongoing issue.

“I am concerned at the level of the verbals. I have a strong view that these verbals are getting stronger,” said Supt Wall.

He said the allegations concerned “loose talk of a personal nature to each other”.

Judge Joseph Mangan refused free legal aid in the cases of the three accused and adjourned the case for two months.

The court was told that the two females are on one side and the male is on the other.

Supt Wall applied for a bail condition to be attached – that the separate parties stay away from each other.

This was granted by the judge.

ONE Clare home has been broken into each day so far in 2011, according to figures released at yesterday’s meeting of Clare’s Joint Policing Committee.

The figures, which represent the first three months of 2011, show that the crime rate in the county is generally lower than for the first three months of 2010.

The largest increases were seen in the area of assaults causing harm, which increased by 21 per cent, and non-violent thefts, which showed a 19 per cent increase.

The number of burglaries in the county is marginally on the 2010 levels, with 90 break-ins taking place in January, February and March – or roughly one each day.

The number of sexual offences was down by 19 per cent year on year from 21 in the first three months of 2010 to 17 so far this year. However, according to Clare’s Chief Superintendent, John Kerin, the majority of sexual offences reported to Clare gardaí so far this year relate to his- toric rather than current incidents.

Ten of the 17 offences reported so far this year relate to incidents from the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s, with the oldest case dating back to 1964.

The increase in non-violent thefts has been put down to a market increase in thefts involving scrap metal and heating oil from both commercial and residential premises.

“There has been no let up on the problem. It has not been decreased but there has been no let up and there have been a number before the court,” said the Chief Superintendent.

“The price of copper has trebled in the past few years. There are now gangs at this [stealing metal for scrap] in Ireland.

“We have made recommendations that legislation is looked at to force scrap dealers to record details of the person who sold the copper to them and the registration of their car. This has happened in other countries and we think that the invoking of new legislation is the only way to tackle this.”

The issue of home heating oil theft was raised by Cllr Pascal Fitzger- ald (Lab) who said that a number of houses in his area have been targeted in recent weeks.

“The theft of home heating oil has been a problem but a lot of the home heating oil being taken from houses is not being taken by trucks.

“In one incident here in Ennis, we had two lads with five-gallon drums on them,” said Chief Superintendent Kerin.

“People need to be more alert and need to put locks on their tanks they are hitting tanks at random all over the county.”

A GROUP illegally parking beside a graveyard in East Clare were described as “disgraceful” at yesterday’s Joint Policing Committee meeting at the offices of Clare County Council.

According to one East Clare councillor, a group of three illegally parked caravans have been causing distress and embarrassment to local people wishing to access the grave- yard.

“I know at the moment in one village in East Clare there are three caravans parked illegally outside a graveyard who are causing a great disturbance,” said Cllr Joe Cooney (FG).

“It is embarrassing for people using this graveyard and it is also embarrassing for the local people who have people using their backyard as a toilet. Can anything be done to move these people on or what can we do to resolve this situation?”

The matter was raised as part of a discussion on issues related to 24hour parking in a number of Clare venues throughout the summer.

Addressing the meeting, a Clare Garda spokesperson said that the local gardaí can issue on-the-spot fines for all parking offences but stressed that the force does not “target any particular groups”.

In response to a question about large-scale illegal parking and fes- tivals and events in North and West Clare, Clare chief superintendent John Kerin said that the local force did not have the storage facilities or manpower to impound 60 or 70 caravans at the same time.

He said that the legislation as it currently stands is difficult and stressed that the same rules must apply to holiday-makers who park illegally as to serial parking offenders.

“This legislation is not the easiest in the world to enforce. If the illegal parking is taking place on private property, we must get a statement from the landowner saying that it is preventing them from using their property and then give 48 hours for them to remove themselves from the location,” he said.

“The issue of nomads travelling around the county during the summer is a different entity. We do try and enforce the legislation that is there but it is not always easy legislation to enforce.”

APPROACHES will be made to local landowners to see if there is land available to provide a new car park for Killaloe. Angry traders from the lower end of the town attended a meeting last week to demand action on the complete lack of parking for clients, business owners and staff.

The council painted double yellow lines at the bottom of the town late last year to improve traffic flow. But the move left local traders in Royal Parade and Abbey Street with just two set-down spaces for cars.

Business people say the parking ban has had a huge impact on custom and footfall in that part of town.

Business owners have also now learned that the council plans to pedestrianise John’s Lane – which cars are using as a rat run to the traffic lights – and to address parking and safety issues at the boy’s national school. Car-poolers who meet Between The Waters and leave their cars there while commuting to Limerick and Ennis make it difficut to find any parking at the bottom of the town during the day.

TD’s from Clare and Tipperary North who attended the meeting indicated that it is very unlikely that any capital will be made available from the Government’s coffers to provide a car park.

The meeting heard that it was previously suggested that Dean’s Field, which is currently owned by the Church of Ireland, might be a suitable site. This would provide room for about 150 cars.

Officials agreed that they would approach local landowners to see if there is any land available to lease or buy before grappling with the thorny question of funding.

Former councillor, Tony O’Brien, said that the difficulty is that parking is badly needed but road traffic considerations also come into it.

“People want to be able to park and to have parking for their customers at that end of the town but there needs to be a short-term and a long-term solution,” he told The Clare People .

Another meeting will be called when the council engineers have found out what is available.

LONG waiting times for marriage counselling and the lack of a dedicate Clare Family Mediation Service centre is hampering Clare married couples from getting the help they need to save their marriages.

That is according to the Clare Citizen Information Centre (CIC) who believe that Clare marriages are being pushed to the brink of collapse unnecessarily as a result of delays in getting help.

The centre, which this week reported a marked increase in the number of marriage related enquiries over the past seven months, believes that more funding needs to be made available to end waiting lists and cre- ate a branch of the Family Mediation Service in Clare.

“We would be anxious for there to be an end in the waiting times for couples who are looking for counselling. People are waiting longer than they should be and that is not good for a couple whose marriage is in difficulty,” said Paul Woulfe of the Clare Citizens Information Service.

“The services that exist are doing an excellent job but we need to extend the services to Clare and work to end these waiting lists.”

At present any Clare married couples who wish to use the Family Mediation Service must travel to either Limerick or Galway to access free counselling.

Couples counselling is also avail- able from the Accord Agency in Ennis. According to Accord, it takes the majority of people (54 per cent) more than six months to begin relationship counselling after a serious problem has been identified.

The vast majority of people who attend Accord counselling (more then 70 per cent) have young children aged 11 years or younger, while 73 per cent of those who take part in Accord courses felt that they had gained a deeper understanding of themselves through the experience.

Accord in Ennis can be contacted on 065 6824297 or by e-mail at accord.ennis@eircom.net. The closest Family Mediation Service can be contacted in Limerick on 061 214310.

REPRESENTATIVES of the Ennis Development Forum and Ennis Chamber, met with the Minister for Enterprise Richard Bruton TD at the Temple Gate Hotel in Ennis on Friday.

This meeting was organised by the Fine Gael TDs in Clare, Joe Carey and Pat Breen, in order for the business community to discuss the issues affecting enterprise in the county as well as to highlight the initiatives and ideas from businesses to stimulate the economy and so that County Clare is the first county out of recession.

Minister Bruton was presented with the topics which were discussed by the Business Forum in their first meeting with the recently elected Clare TDs held last month. Under these topics Ennis Chamber CEO Rita Mc Inerney and President John Dillane raised the concerns in relation to the Cost of Doing Business and the Retention/Creation of Jobs and in particular the struggle facing businesses to keep their doors open with many not taking a wage and the need to address theses costs through reviewing of how commercial rates are charged, the reduction of bureaucracy for businesses and the need to support new developments in the county.

Brian O’Neill of the Rowan Tree Hostel commended the Government’s review of the Joint Labour Committees in relation to the hospitality industry and the need to incentivise people to work while Martin White of AAA Taxis promoted the idea of buy-back for taxis, the development of Triangle of Clare Tourism Routes and the need to support Shan- non Airport.

Aoife Madden, Chairperson of Ennis Development Forum, explained the Create the Magic customer service initiative for County Clare in how, thorough workshops and collaboration, a pilot group of businesses are setting about making Clare Ireland’s friendliest town.

Local councillor Johnny Flynn profiled the concept of developing Clare as the Low Carbon County through promoting of the Mid-West Corridor as the centre for renewable energy given the resources that already exist in the county such as connection to the national grid and location for wind / hydro power. Revitalising the construction industry was outlined by Michael Leahy of Leahy Conway Architects through introducing grants and streamlining the planning system.

ENNIS is set to reap a major economic benefit from the All-Ireland and International Irish Dancing Championships, which continue in the town this week.

Figures from organisers of An Comhdail show that in 2009, when the competition was last staged in Ennis, the benefit to the local economy was € 5.2 million.

The figure is based on the total level of direct and indirect expenditure that takes place in Ennis and the wider Shannon region during the duration of the event.

The championships, which run in the West County Hotel until Saturday, have also brought about a welcome boost to the hotel industry, organisers say. The total number of bed nights increased steadily between 2007 and 2009, with 12,123 bed nights being recorded when the championships came to Ennis two years ago.

The championship sees the highest standard of solo and team dancing for ages 10 up to senior level. It is an annual event, which runs every year during Holy Week.

Almost 3,000 solo competitors from all over Ireland, England, Scotland, the USA and Slovakia are expected to take part in the championships. Approximately 8,000 to 10,000 friends, relations, teachers and other Irish dancing enthusiasts will support the competitors during the weeklong event. The level of participation in the event has risen over the past number of years.

According to organisers, the economic benefit that the dancing cham- pionships will bring to Ennis and the Shannon region is enormous, with hotels, restaurants, retail outlets, travel agencies, transport companies and other leisure facilities all benefiting from the huge influx of visitors.

The region won the contract ahead of stiff competition from many other Irish regions, Northern Ireland, Scotland and England.

Events, conference and banqueting coordinator at the West County Hotel, Deborah Coughlan explained, “It is great to see the event coming to Ennis. The fact that the motorway is open and that you have the airport (Shannon) so close by was a really big thing. The airport was key.”

Ms Coughlan added, “It has had a very positive impact. I came through the town on Saturday and it was alive and buzzing.”