Category: News

GARDAÍ HAVE submitted a file for the DPP in connection wit h an att ack on a baby in Shannon in which a burn mark, broken l imbs and multiple br uising were sustained.

Last mont h, a 10-mont h-old baby boy was taken to hospital with serious injuries, including two broken arms – one of which was broken in three places – and a broken leg. He had also sustained br uising to several par ts of his body.

A Garda investigation swung into action and two people were questioned as par t of t he enqui r y. Gardaí then prepared a file on the matter and t his has been sent to the DPP, who wi ll decide whether charges are to be brought in relation to the case.

The Healt h Service Executive is also investigating the mat ter. Last mont h, an emergency care order was t aken out by the HSE in the distr ict cour t in relation to the baby boy.

MAYOR of Clare Cllr Christy Curtin (Ind) is to pick up the bill for his mayoral trip to New York this St Patrick’s Day.

The mayor’s council expenses usually cover the official trip by Clare’s first citizen to the Big Apple, but this year the man from Miltown Malbay said he would be covering his own costs.

“I will be paying for it myself. I think it is only right and fitting,” he told The Clare People .

Each year the mayor of the day travels to America to promote Clare from both a tourism and enterprise point of view.

The first citizen also takes part in the St Patrick’s Day parade.

“The purpose is to promote Clare and meet with the diaspora,” said Cllr Curtin.

“I will be there to show that Clare is a county worth coming back to, especially for anyone with entrepreneurial and enterprise skills,” he added.

The agenda for the visit to New York by Cllr Curtin has yet to be finalised but it is expected he will be there for March 17.

Meanwhile the mayor of Kilrush has been invited to New York to promote the town and area for the first time ever.

No decision has been made yet as to whether the current mayor Cllr Liam Williams (FG) will travel.

Ennis Town Council will not be represented at the annual St Patrick’s Day in New York, after councillors declined an invitation to attend the event at this month’s meeting.

Mayor of Ennis Cllr Tommy Brennan (Ind) turned down the invitation, saying the mayor’s place on St Patrick’s Day should be in Ennis.

Members of the Ennis/Phoenix twinning delegation will be in Arizona however for St Patrick’s Day.

Cllr Brian Meaney (GP); Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) and Cllr Michael Guilfoyle (Ind), who as deputy mayor represented Ennis at last year’s parade in New York all turned down proposals that they should attend the parade in the Big Apple in place of the mayor.

It is not known if Shannon Town Council is to send a representative abroad this St Patrick’s Day at time of press.

SINCE moving to Ennis in the early ‘70s he hasn’t missed an election count – he won’t miss the action of February 26 either, even if his beloved Fianna Fáil are in grave danger of being usurped from poll position in Clare General Election politics. Once a soldier, always a soldier, who doesn’t dessert his post and all that.

Frank Conway has seen it all, from being in the Ard Fheis audience the famous RDS day when Paddy Hillery told the world that they “can have Kevin Boland, but you can’t have Fianna Fáil” to facing down Charles Haughey when on the National Executive and voting against the expulsion order of Des O’Malley from the party.

“Elections are great,” he says, “because they’re a bit of a blood sport and from Council to General Elections I’ve experienced a fair few,” he adds, rolling back the years to when this love affair with the machinations of politics took hold.

“I was living in Shannon,” recalls Frank “and my friend Paddy Monaghan ran for Fianna Fáil in the 1967 local elections. Paddy was a character and he was chairman the Community Association and somehow talked his way into getting an audience with Lyndon Johnson. He called himself the Mayor of Shannon – this was way before there was Town Commission in Shannon – and it worked and he met Johnson in the Rose Garden in White House.

“We ran a unique campaign, printing leaflets saying ‘Shannon Needs Representation’. We were ahead of our time really and I was Paddy’s advisor – his Henry Kissinger. I remember we went up to Ennis to an election rally and Frank Collins, who was secretary of the Comhairle Dáil Ceanntair introduced Paddy by saying ‘now we have good Galway man Paddy Monaghan’. We were fecked after that.

“And at the convention a delegate from Sixmilebridge said ‘that Monaghan from Shannon is not a true Fianna Fáil man, I saw him reading The Ir ish Independent ’. After the election count we were going back to Shannon through Clarecastle and we threw the election leaflets out the window. I can still see them fluttering in the wind.”

However, even in defeat Conway’s interest was ignited. There were his 20 years on the National Executive, being a founder member of the Sean Lemass Cumann in Shannon that survives to this day, out on the canvas with Sylvie Barrett, Brendan Daly, Dr Bill Loughnane and Tony Killeen.

“I remember Conor Cruise O’Brien saying that Dr Bill was ‘a bogoak Irishman’. Dr Bill responded by saying ‘you can tell Conor Cruise I’m a proud bogoak Irishman’. Dr Bill was great, he was always a winner.

“Sylvie Barrett was a winner too and the night he was selected to stand for the Dáil is one of my outstanding memories. There was never a night like it. It was in the Queen’s Hotel and it went on until the early hours.

“Kevin Boland chaired the meeting and Frank Aiken was there too. With 15 candidates it became known as the ‘Night of the Long Count’. Boland ordered the door locked until the count was over. It was like the conclave in Rome, but some of the delegates had contacts out in the bar and bottle of stout were being handed in. In the end it came down between Sylvie and Jack Daly. I knew Sylvie from his days collecting rates in Kildysart and he got the three votes from the Sean Lemass Cumann, from myself, Rory Lynch and Peter Ryan. There was never an election like it. It changed history.

“I had great time for Slyvie. I remember he was drafted in by either Charlie Haughey or Jack Lynch to try and sort out a row in north Kerry between rival Fianna Fáil factions the Tom McEllistrim faction and the Kit Ahern faction.

“We went down to Tralee. It was like a peace summit and we came away thinking that peace had broken out. We had a good drink for on the way home and were delighted with ourselves, only to hear a few days later that the peace didn’t last long and they were at war with each other again. Such in politics.”

BUSINESSES around Clare are acknowledging the county’s volountary sector with the launch yesterday of the volounteer discount card.

The initiative, which is jointly supported by the Clare Volounteer Centre, Ennis Town Council, Clare County Council, Ennis chamber and the Clare Local Development Company, is aimed at recognising the work of all volounteers in Clare.

The volounteers discount card enables volounteers to access a range of discounts and special offers from over 120 businesses across Clare in 2011 – the European Year of the Volounteer.

The scheme is the first of its kind in the country and, according to Sharon Meaney, Development Co-ordinator with the Clare Volounteer Centre, it is hoped that Clare can be showcased as county who recognises and acknowledges the valuable contribution that all volounteers bring.

Sharon said, “You are inspired everyday by people’s stories of volounteering. Volounteers do make a difference. It’s important to say thanks. Without volounteers, the fabric if Irish life would be dull.”

Melissa Healy is a volounteer with Special Olympics Ireland and the Brothers of Charity. She urged people to volounteer, describing it as a worthwhile experience.

“When it came to the games [Special Olympics] and it all came together, the joy your work brings to the athletes and their famillies make it all worthwhile. I knew straight away it was something I was going to stay involved in.”

Melissa is a student on a community care course who started volounteering for Special Olympics Ireland last year for the summer games.

Asked what advice would she offer to anyone thinking of volounteering, she said, “I would definitely tell them to do it. You get a great feeling of self worth from taking time out of your day to help people who maybe would not receive help if it wasn’t for volounteers.”

The Clare Volunteer Centre is part of the national network of volunteer centres, supported by Volunteer Centres Ireland. The Clare Volunteer Centre opened its doors in Ennis in 2008.

Last year 256 people registered with the centre, an increase of 25 per cent from 2009, bringing the total number of volounteers registered at the centre to 496.

HOSPITALS like Ennis General Hospital will always be an election issue. This was one of the many statements by Fianna Fáil leader Michéal Martin during his visit to the county town. What the former Minister for Health failed to realise or at least mention was that the issues around the hospital are the same before every election, the same issues that five years on from the last set of promises still have not been resolved. This time around a colonoscopy unit has been promised for the hospital that will be part of a pilot cancer-screening programme. That coupled with a € 15 million extension should give people some hope of a healthy service, but experience leaves everyone with doubts. Before the 2007 General Election the extension promised was an almost € 50 million development. All forms of promises were given about the future of the hospital, including the commitment from former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern that the county hospital would not be downgraded. Five years prior to that, Independent candidate James Breen was elected to the Dáil when fears for the hospital’s future first surfaced. Nine years on and Breen is back in the ring, supported by the chairman of the hospital committee hoping to secure the seat he lost in 2007. Since he first entered the Dáil, the hospital has lost its 24-hour accident and emergency service as well as some acute services. There are still more acute services to be centralised to the Mid Western Regional Hospital Limerick and the people are meeting again ahead of the election to raise concerns and the issue is back on the table. When he came to Ennis, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny gave his party’s commitment that the reconfiguration of hospital services in the mid-west would cease until such time better replacement services were in place. “As I move around the country I am being asked by so many hospitals, can you restore facilities that have been taken away here and my honest an- swer is I can’t.” He said however services as they are in Ennis General Hospital would be retained until such time something better was proposed. Deputy Martin was more supportive of HSE policy. “Health is complex. We have to pull together in my view the critical mass of professional people and sufficient volume of patients to make sure we get best practice. I believe in that. I am not going to pretend to people that I don’t. I am not going to be dishonest with people and say we can do everything on every hospital site. There has been a bit of dishonesty on that debate along the way.”

PROLONGED roadworks on both entrances to Gort are hampering businesses and may cause a number of premises to close in the months ahead. That is the opinion of prominent Gort businessman who claims that the town’s businesses have suffered a triple blow in recent months.

According to Mr Finn, the combination of the town being by-passed, the on-going roadworks and the bad weather over the Christmas period has made life almost impossible for the business community in Gort.

Mr Finn, who is currently trying to sell his furniture business which was heavily damaged in the 2009 flooding, says he can’t see a future for many businesses in the town if the situation is allowed to continue much longer.

“People have stopped coming into the town, the roadworks are having a devastating effect on businesses in the town.

“This has been going on since November and the information I have is that it is not going to be finished until April or May, a lot of the businesses won’t last that long,” he told The Clare People yesterday.

“The business community up here are very frustrated with the situation. We know that the job has to be done but the timing of the works and the speed at which it is being completed is an issue.

“The town of Gort has been hammered over the last few months. First we had the bypass, the the roadworks and then the bad weather conditions, which delayed the road works and made it nearly impossible for anyone to access the town over Christmas. It has been a real double whammy for the town.”

CLARE County Council last night paid homage to unsung heroes and volunteers across the county.

Under an initiative i nt roduced by mayor of Clare Cl l r Chr isty Cur tin (Ind) to mark t he European Year of the Volunteer, volunteer rescue ser vices, musicians who provide enter tainment to the elderly and t he Clare Community Games were all awarded a Civic Recognition Ceremony at Clare County Council Head Quar ters for the first ti me ever.

Ennis Sub Aqua Club, Doolin Unit of the Irish Coast Guard, Kilkee Mar ine Search and Rescue, Bunratt y Search and Rescue, St Caminin’s Search and Rescue, Ki llaloe/ Ball ina Search and Rescue, Lahinch Search and Rescue, Bur- ren Subaqua Club and Clare Civil Defence were al l honoured for thei r volunteer work that sees t hei r members risk t hei r l ives to save others.

A group of local musicians were recognised for givi ng thei r time providing music to the elderly patients at St Joseph’s Hospital in Ennis and “bringi ng a smile to thei r faces”.

The volunteer work is par t of “A Time To Seek” project established by t he county ar t’s officer and suppor ted by the HSE.

Among the musicians honoured were Frank Custy, Paddy Hynes, Chris Droney, Bernard O’Shea, Monica Morgan Kear ney, Kate Purcell and Meadbh Boyd.

Clare Community Games, which is celebrating its 40t h anniversar y, was also awarded for four decades of volunteering.

ACCLAIMED Corofin photographer Kenneth O’Halloran has won a hugely prestigious World Press Photo Award for a photo essay that tells the story of Irish country fairs.

O’Halloran, who works as a freelance photographer around the world, having been a staff photographer of with The Irish Independent for many years, scooped the honour in the annual awards scheme that are recognised as the world’s best showcase of photographic talent from around the globe.

The 42-year-old was placed 3rd in the Portraits – Stories category. It is the third major international accolade for O’Halloran this year who was also recently shortlisted for the Terry O’Neill award.

“It is a great honour to be recognised by World Press Photo,” O’Halloran told The Clare People this week after receiving his latest international recognition.

“I spent over two years travelling all over Ireland to fairs and festivals, and met hundreds of amazing people, all of whom made the collection what it is,” he added.

The photo essay included pictures taken at Spancil Hill Fair, Cahirmee Fair in Cork, and Ballinasloe Horse Fair, in Galway.

O’Halloran is a son of Eileen and Michael O’Halloran, who run an undertaking business in the town. He is a former pupil of the Christian Brothers in Ennis and is a graduate of the Dun Laoghaire School of Art and Design. As a teenager Kenneth always had an intense interest in photography and began his career by taking pictures of local events around Corofin, including communions and confirmations. He has travelled worldwide for newspapers and international aid organisations and has done some highly accalimed work for Goal and Concern.

In his career to date he has picked up over 10 national photographic awards. His photographs have appeared in major newspapers and magazines worldwide, including Paris Match and Time Magazine.

His website www.kennethohalloran.com is a wonderful showcase of his diverse portfolio, featuring everything from photo essays on his father, to a study of a family dealing with their father’s Alzheimer’s disease.

The award winning picture essay can be viewed on www.kennet hohal lor an.com/ #/ PROJ ECTS/ Fair%20Trade/1.

THE head of the National Roads Authority (NRA) has been challenged to come to Clare and explain his comments that the county’s road network is unsafe and had not been constructed in accordance with NRA guidelines.

Following a motion put forward by Cllr Patricia McCarthy (Ind), Clare County Council is to write to Fred Barry, CEO of the NRA, asking him to identify which roads in Clare he considers to be dangerous and which were not constructed in accordance to guidelines.

This follows comments made by Mr Barry earlier this year in which he appeared to question the quality of roadworks carried out in the county.

“If someone is saying that we are not following guidelines then there is something that should be taken seriously. The issue here is are we following the guidelines or are we not,” said Cllr McCarthy.

“To say that I was surprised and perplexed by the comment of the NRA would be putting it mildly. He should be communicating directly with the council [and not speaking through the media].

“He even goes on to question whether we are following the guidelines with regards to roadworks.

“We follow the guidelines as set out by the department and we only have the funding to complete the roads which are funded by the Department of the Environment.

“We need to know, if he is to make these charge, that he can identified parts of the county where the roads are deficient. We cannot have people using unsafe roads and that [Mr Barry’s comment] is the message that some of our roads are unsafe. It is grand to make statements but you have to back it up with facts.”

Cllr McCarthy motion did not get the unanimous support of the councillors with Cllr Gerry Flynn (Ind) agreeing with Mr Barry, saying that the roads in the county are sub-standard.

“I would not disagree with Mr Barry. I don’t think that he stated untruths. He also says that there was an inadequacy of finding to the council. The council probably do the best they can with the money that they have. But I don’t see anything that he says as being untrue and maybe it is good that they lay it out like that,” said Cllr Flynn.

Commenting on the motion Cllr Michael Kelly (FF) said that “the NRA have been very active in telling us what to do. I think the NRA should be more active in securing the money to let us do it.”

CLARE County Council is bracing itself for further jobs losses in the coming months following the revelation yesterday that the local authority may only be half way through its restructuring programme.

The workforce of Clare County Council has been reduced by around 150 employees over the past two years and according to county manager Tom Coughlan, the local authority may be forced to shed even more jobs in the coming months.

Speaking at last night’s meeting of Clare County Council, Mr Coughlan said that he expects the council to be hit hard by the reduction in public sector numbers promised by some political parties ahead of the General Election.

“There are not all going to be guards and nurses, there is going to be cuts right across the entire public sector. We are looking at severe losses in local authority as well as in the other across the public service,” he said.

Mr Coughlan was commenting on a discussion about the possibility of increasing the numbers employed by the council in roads maintenance. Mr Coughlan said that there was “no point in saying that there is a chance of us increasing our staffing levels” at the current time.

Under the terms of the Croke Park Agreement, wage levels cannot be reduced so any proposed reduction in the overall staffing costs of the local authority would have to come reducing the numbers employed.

“It is a bleak outlook and it looks certain that there will be a further cut in the numbers employed by Clare County Council, as with other areas of the public services,” continued Mr Coughlan.

Speaking on the motion, Cllr Pat Hayes (FF) urged the local authority to take advantage of any national schemes which would allow the local authority to take on unemployed people as part-time council employees without adding to Clare County Council’s wage bill.

“We need to look at different ways of doing things if this is going to be the way it is in the Council,” he said.

“There is going to have to be very much more about working with communities and with the unemployed.”

Speaking on the motion Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) described the jobs cuts in the local authority as “a fundamental attack on the local authority” and “privitisation by stealth”.