Category: News

AHEAD of a walk aimed at promoting greater awareness of suicide, an Ennis-based businessman has spoken openly of his brother’s death from suicide.

‘Darkness into Light’, a walk organised by Pieta House, will take place in Ennis on May 7. The 5km walk will start at 4.30am and follow a route through a forest trail in Lees Road sports and amenity park.

Pieta House provides therapy and counselling services at five centres around Ireland, including Mungret, Limerick.

Speaking at the walk’s launch in Ennis last Tuesday Joan Freeman CEO of Pieta House, explained, “It starts at half four in Lees Road and just as you are coming over the finish line the dawn is breaking. It’s a really symbolic walk which symbolises what we do at Pieta House which is bringing people from darkness into light.”

Tom McEvoy, a coordinator for Pieta House in Clare, became involved with the organisation after the death of his brother Adrian (28) in 2007. Mr McEvoy, his wife and three children moved to Ennis in 2002.

Tom explained that the family were in the process of building a house in Roslevan when Adrian moved home from Australia.

He said, “He’s a very talented joiner, carpenter. Ultimately I asked him would he mind joining me for the build process. He was delighted to take part in that.”

In July 2007, Tom and his family left Ennis for a diving holiday of Inishbofin, County Mayo. “We left a list for Adrian to work away with it on our new house, which we hadn’t moved into at the time. He ended up wanting to stay there and do the work and we were delighted with that. I texted him a few times during the week and didn’t get a reply which wasn’t really unusual,” he said.

When the family returned home, Tom was still unable to make contact with his brother.

“I went to see a match on the telly with my brother-in-law. The Dubs were playing at the time. I got a call from my wife that she had had a visit from An Garda Síochana to say that they were after finding a person and she wanted me to come home.

“I went and identified him and said how sorry I was that this had happened to him and that ultimately we wanted the best of him.”

Tom said that what happened to his brother is typical of many suicides. “We have numerous experiences like that in our community of young people showing an outward sign that they are okay and everything’s fine but ultimately they are in bits and they are in a very dark place,” he added.

Tom said that until the country learns to face the trauma of suicide, “we’re going to end up in the same boat this time next year and so on and so forth”.

AN 18-year-old woman involved in what gardaí described as a “nasty assault” at Ennis courthouse last year has been told by a judge to stay out of trouble.

Rosanne Joyce (18) with an address at Dún na hInse, Ennis, appeared at a sitting of Ennis District Court on Wednesday on charges of assault and shoplifting.

Inspector Tom Kennedy told the court that the assault had occurred just outside the courtroom when the defendant attacked a woman who had just given evidence against her brother.

Inspector Kennedy said Gardaí were forced to intervene, adding, “It was quite a nasty incident.”

Solicitor for the accused, Tara Godfrey said her client was very young and impressionable and had reacted to an allegation about her family.

Referring to the charge of shoplifting, Ms Godfrey said her client had been in the company of two other people at Dunnes Stores when clothes to the value of € 46 were taken.

Ms Godfrey said her client had pleaded guilty to shoplifting and that the probation services had previously highlighted the difficulties facing her client and her family.

The court was told that the woman had a number of previous convictions, including several for theft.

Judge Timothy Lucey said that the woman “seems full of good intentions but the facts contradict this”.

Responding to Judge Lucey’s question about whether she understood that she faced going to jail if she continued her current pattern of behaviour, the woman replied “yeah”.

Judge Lucey said he was enforcing the probation act “primarily because of her age”.

He told the woman that she was “starting with a clean slate” and advised her to stay out of trouble.

THE Doonbeg Drama Group secured a massive seven nominations at this weekend’s All Ireland Drama Finals in Wexford but sadly were unable to bring any awards home to the Banner County.

Their production of the comedy ‘Say Cheese’ attracted 600 people to the Wexford Opera House and was described by the organisers as the audiences’ favourite. To gain seven nomination was a triumph for the group – considering that comedies rarely feature in the All Ireland Final and receive very few nominations and overall awards.

“The crowds loved it – they said that it was the only laugh that they had all week long. We managed to attract 600 people into the Opera House to watch the show which was second highest number for any show throughout the All Ireland,” said John Igoe of the Doonbeg Drama Group.

“We had a lot of nominations, which was a achievement in itself, but unfortunately we didn’t win any overall awards. To get to the final at all was an achievement but then to go down so well with the audience was great – we were definitely the people’s favourite.

“Very few drama groups will take on a comedy and fewer still will get as far as the All Ireland Final with a comedy. There is a feeling out there that adjudicators don’t really vote for comedies – but the audience certainly do love it.

“But it was great to see people laughing down there this week. We got a great response to the show and that is the main thing.”

Nominated from the Doonbeg Drama Group were Mary J Egan for best actress, Ann-Marie Doyle for best supporting actress and the scholarship award, Helena Keane for best supporting actress, Mark May for best actor, Michael McInerney and Peter Smith for best lighting and the backstage team for the best set award.

This achievement comes just weeks after the Doonbeg Drama Festival celebrated its 50th year entertaining the people of Clare.

A FATHER-OF-TWO, charged with the murder of a woman in North Clare last month, has made his second appearance in court.

Colm Deely (39), of School Road, Ballyvaughan, appeared before Ennistymon District Court, sitting in Kilrush, on Wednesday. He is charged with the murder of Deirdre McCarthy (43), whose body was found on Fanore beach on March 31 last.

She was last seen alive on Sunday, March 27, and was reported missing the following day after she failed to turn up to meet a friend.

Mr Deely was brought before Ennis District Court last Thursday week, charged with murdering Ms McCarthy on March 28 last. He was remanded in custody to reappear in court last Wednesday.

Inspector John Galvin applied to Wednesday’s court to have the accused remanded in custody for a further fortnight. Defence solicitor Gearóid Geraghty did not object. Judge Joseph Mangan granted the application and remanded Mr Deely in custody to appear again in court on April 27.

The court heard previously that when charged, Mr Deely said, “I’m very sorry for what happened”.

The court was told the accused is a part-time Fás worker employed three days a week. Free legal aid was granted at the initial court hearing.

EFFORTS to reintroduce the Golden Eagle into Ireland will be supported by two days of dedicated fundraising at the Burren Birds of Prey Centre in Ballyvaughan later this week.

The fundraising and awareness campaign will take place at the centre, which is located at the Aillwee Caves, with the organisers hoping to raise more than € 3,500 to help fund the ongoing efforts to reintroduce the spectacular bird into Ireland.

The centre is hoping to raise the money to fund the purchase of a satellite pack, which provides much needed data on the movements of the Golden Eagles which have been reintroduced into Ireland.

All money raised will be donated to the Golden Eagle Trust, who will use the satellite pack to monitor the movements of White Tailed Sea Eagles, which they have just reintroduced into the Kerry National Park.

“We were very privileged last year at the centre to welcome one of the released white tails to join our own resident Sea Eagle, Sika, during her flying display,” said Barbara Faulkner of the Aillwee Cave.

“Albeit a coincidence, this is exactly what the aims of the reintroduction programme are and the satellite packs will enhance these aims even further. It is hoped, by raising awareness about the effectiveness of these satellite packs, that we can reach our target over the coming months.”

The two days of activity will take place from noon to 5pm this Thursday and Friday, April 21 and 22. Activities over the two days will include informative talks given on the Golden Eagle Trust Reintroduction Programme and the Raptor Tracking Efforts, while the Irish Hawking Club will be on hand with information on the history of falconry in Ireland.

There will also be a number of activities for children, including face painting, parrot peg and nest box making. There will be two artisan woodland workers in residence to help and guide visitors through the intricacies of woodwork while flying displays will be at 12 noon, 2pm and 4pm.

A JUDGE has described the theft of heating oil from homes and businesses as a “particularly mean crime” and one that is on the rise.

Judge Timothy Lucey made the comments at Ennis District Court last Wednesday where he imposed a three-month suspended sentence on a 19-year-old man.

Stefan Coustrain, with an address at Ashline, Shanaway Road, Ennis, pleaded guilty to his involvement in the taking of € 872 worth of heating oil from a crèche near French Court, Clon Road, on February 14 (2011).

The oil was recovered by Gardaí at the scene. Garda Ross Garvey told the court that at around 2am on the night in question, Gardaí received a report of two men acting suspiciously in French Court.

He said that when Gardaí arrived, they observed two men hiding in bushes. He added that there was a “very strong smell of kerosene” off the men’s clothes. Gardaí subsequent- ly discovered six five-gallon drums of oil concealed in the bushes. The court also heard that a pipe leading from the tank had been damaged.

Detective Garda Paul Crowley, who examined the tank, told the court that the process of removing the oil “would’ve happened several times”.

The court heard that the accused, who has two previous convictions but none for theft, made a full admission to taking the oil.

Inspector Tom Kennedy explained that the other man involved in the incident had yet to appear before the court.

Solicitor for Mr Coustrain, Tara Godfrey, told the court that her client, a trainee chef, had been led to the location by another man. She said her client had not profited from the incident and that all drums have been recovered.

Ms Godfrey added that the man had received quite a “bad shock” from his run in with the law.

“Having had a brush with the dark side, he doesn’t want to go down that road,” she said.

Judge Lucey said that if oil had been spilled on the ground as it was being taken from the tank, then the defendant could have been liable for thousands of euros worth of damage.

Garda Crowley told the court that there had been “little or no spillage on the ground”. He added that the tank had been filled on the previous Friday.

Referring to the involvement of another man, Judge Lucey said that Mr Coustrain “knows what is going and should be coming cleaner”.

He said the theft of home heating oil is a “particularly mean crime” and one that is on the increase. He said people who commit this type of crime must understand that they face a potential jail sentence for doing so. He added, “This is something that must stop. It is a popular crime.”

He imposed a three-month suspended sentence and ordered Mr Coustrain to pay € 500 in compensation to the injured party.

A COURT has heard concern expressed over the “chronic” levels of absenteeism of two children going to schools in the Ennis area.

One of the children was absent for 69 per cent of the current school term while his brother was absent 68 per cent of the term, Ennis District Court heard on Wednesday.

Their parents appeared in court after a case was brought against them by the National Education Welfare Board. If convicted, the couple faced a fine of € 635 or one month in prison.

The court was told that the parents have been separated since 2001 and that the children live with their mother. Mary Kirsty Dallas, education welfare officer, told the court that notices had been served to the father in January 2011 and to the mother in February 2010.

Ms Dallas said that despite repeated attempts to arrange meetings between the parents and teachers, “I rarely had any response.” Ms Dallas said the difficulties associated with trying to make contact with the mother had been a “hallmark of the case”.

Solicitor for the father told the court that his client started work before his sons were up for school. He said the man worked for a small company that had suffered recent job losses.

He added that in recent months his client had made more of an effort to call to his former partner’s house to get the children up for school.

The court heard that the mother often found it difficult to get the children up for school because they stayed up late playing computer games.

The father told the court that he accepted that his children had developed bad habits and that he would make more of an effort to ensure his children were up in time for school.

The mother told the court that her eldest son did not like going to school because his friend had moved away and he found school boring. The mother added that since the couple were ordered to appear in court, her sons are “scared”. She said she was willing to go on a parenting programme.

Judge Timothy Lucey told the court that the basis of the problem is the relationship between the parents. A problem, he said, was compounded by the fact that the father does not want to lose his job.

He adjourned the case for a year and said that if there wasn’t a “substantial improvement” in the children’s attendance record, the parents would be convicted and fined.

THE number of Clare people suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia is set to double over the next two decades, unless a major medical breakthrough is made in the treatment or prevention of the conditions.

At present, more than 1,400 people in the county suffer from dementia, with hundreds receiving regular assistance from the Clare branch of Alzheimer Ireland.

However, as a result of increasing numbers and diminishing funding, maintaining the high level of support is becoming increasingly difficult.

“The fundraising is massively important to the organisation; we couldn’t survive without it. The HSE are very good to us but there are cutbacks in every area now and it is more and more important that we are able to get funding from other sources,” said Ann Bedder of the Clare branch of Alzheimer Ireland.

“There are a lot of good causes out there. We realise that times are tough for everyone but people are still being very generous.”

The organisation is calling on Clare people to support their national tea day which takes place on Thursday, May 5.

“This is our main fundraiser nationally throughout the year. We ask people to hold tea parties in their own home and their friends and people from the locality come into their house for tea and give a donation,” explained Marissa Butler, chairper- son of the Clare branch of Alzheimer Ireland.

“A tea morning will also take place in St Anthony’s Hall beside the Friary in Ennis on April 30. We will have tea and pastries and face painting for children – it is always a great day.”

The local branch of the Alzheimer Society provides a drop-in centre, day care, a home care service, a support network for the care-givers and an information point for anyone who needs it in Clare.

“We receive around 60 per cent of our overall funding from the HSE so the rest of the work undertaken by the group is dependent on charitable donations,” said Kay Flynn, vice chairperson of the society.

“There is still time for anyone who wants to get involved to put on a tea day themselves or come along to one of the events already organised. All the money raised in Clare stays within the organisation in Clare.”

The Alzheimer’s National Tea Day 2011 takes place across Clare on May 5 with a special tea day event taking place from 10am to 4pm in St Anthony’s Hall in Ennis on April 30. A 10k run will take place in Broad ford on Easter Monday from 2pm.

For more information, contact 065 6868621.

THE new Minister for the Environment, Phil Hogan (FG), is to be tackled my members of Clare County Council on the issue of extending the Limerick boundary into Clare when he visits Clare in the coming days.

This follows recent activity on the part of Limerick County Council who it is feared are attempting to reignite the boundary debate. It had appeared that the question of the Clare/ Limerick border had been shelved after both Fine Gael and Labour gave commitments not to change the counties dividing line in the run up to this year’s General Election.

However, following recent contact between Minister Hogan and the new Mayor of Limerick, Cllr Maria Byrne (FG), it is feared that the possibility of a boundary debate may be put back on the table.

The debate centres around more than 5,000 Clare people who live on the border with Limerick City and County. Under the Brosnan report, commissioned last year, it was recommended that a new super local authority be created by combining Limerick City and County Councils as well as a section of South East Clare.

In a motion put forward by Cllr Pascal Fitzgerald at last night’s meeting of Clare County Council calls were made for Clare to stand up for themselves in relation to the boundary issue.

“Every time there is a new mayor down in Limerick something seems to happen and this comes up again,” he said. “We thought this was all dead and buried but it doesn’t seem to be the case. We need to stand up for ourselves on this issue.”

The motion was support by Shannon Cllr Patricia McCarthy (Ind) who said that Clare County Council needed to be “watchful and vigilant” of the threat posed by Limerick. She also called for an urgent meeting to be arranged between Clare County Council and Minister Hogan.

Speaking on the motion Cllr James Breen (Ind) said that all Labour and Fine Gael councillors should threaten to resign their seats or resign from their parties if the boundary issue is put back on the table.

A 39-YEAR-OLD Ballyvaughan man charged with the murder of Deirdre McCarthy apologised for what had happened when charged and cautioned by gardaí.

Colm Deely, with an address on School Road in Ballyvaughan, was remanded in custody to appear before Ennistymon District Court, sitting in Kilrush, by Judge Joseph Mangan, tomorrow morning, April 13.

Detective Thomas Molloy of Ennistymon Garda Station said the defendant replied, “I’m very sorry for what happened” when he was charged.

The father of two, who wore a navy jumper, navy slacks and a white shirt, sat silently with his eyes lowered during the brief hearing.

An application for legal aid was made by solicitor Gearoid Geraghty on behalf of Mr Deely. He said the defendant was a married man with two young children and was on a part-time FÁS course three days a week.

A number of members of Deirdre McCarthy’s family, as well as relatives of the defendant, sat on either side of the courtroom during the hearing.

The body of Deirdre McCarthy was found at Fanore beach on the morning of March 31, three days after she was reported missing from her home. She was last seen alive on March 27 around 11.30pm, when she returned home after a night socialising with friends in Ballyvaughan.

Her disappearance prompted one of the largest searches undertaken in North Clare in recent time. Family and friends joined with members of the gardaí and the Doolin and Killaloe Units of the Irish Coastguard to begin a painstaking three-day search for missing woman.