Category: News

AS the fourth anniversary of the murder of Seán Poland looms close, his family is still holding out hope that his killers will be caught.

Mr Poland (39) was shot dead at his home at Blackwater, Ardnacrusha, on New Year’s Eve, 2002, after he answered the door to a group of men. They tied up and attacked his partner, Joanne Lyons, and made off with a sum of cash.

Although a number of people were arrested in connection with the murder, no-one has ever been charged. The investment of major garda resources into the investigation has failed to result in any charges being brought. Mr Poland’s sister Marie Horgan – who lives in Ballyheigue, Kerry, is still hoping that the murder will be solved.

“It does not get any easier, where there is no closure. We are still holding out hope. You couldn’t put closure on it, especially when you see other cases being solved. It is heart-breaking, especially when we knew he was innocent. Seán was a good person,” said Marie.

“We will never get over it. If we could find out who did it and why, it would help in some way,” she added.

She hopes that someone’s conscience will affect them or that someone’s memory into what happened that night will lead to a breakthrough.

“People talk. Someone has to have heard something and we would appeal to people to go to any garda station and let them know,” she said.

She said every killing in Limerick brings her brother’s death back to her. Yesterday’s murder of Noel Crawford (40) at O’Malley Park in Limerick was particularly chilling, given that he was around the same age as Seán.

Seán was a bricklayer by trade and was also a second-hand car dealer. His family originally hailed from Clontuskert in east Galway and Séan grew up just miles away in Portumna. The family moved to the Ardnacrusha area when Seán was very young. His brother Ray lives just 100 yards from where Seán had lived with his partner.

“Seán was a happy-go-lucky fella with a big heart. He would do anything for you. The family was very close always,” said Marie.

While most families are looking forward to New Year’s Eve celebrations, the Poland family will gather in Clontuskert, for Seán’s fourth anniversary mass, and will pray that his killers will be caught.

THE ENNIS student who joined an elite team to represent Ireland at a science competition in Brazil has returned home covered in glory.

Victor Akujobi, a student of Ennis Community College, has brought home the country’s first silver medal from the Junior Science Olympiad.

Victor was picked on the strength of his Junior Certificate grades in Science and Maths to take part in the DCU/Damova Irish Junior Science Olympiad in DCU in November this year. He won a gold medal in this event entitling him to represent Ireland.

“It was a really exciting journey”, said Victor who added that he was “delighted and so are my family and people at school”.

Victor was on a team of six that travelled to Sao Paulo, Brazil for the competition. Fifty-three countries competed at the Olympiad, which ran from December 3 to 12.

The competition consisted of three three-hour exams spanning both the theoretical and experimental aspects of the four science disciplines, biology, chemistry, physics and maths.

On December 12, Victor was announced as one of the silver medalists, the first silver medal that Ireland has won at this event.

The win is a dream come true for the 15-year-old Nigerian, who came to Ireland in January this year to join his parents. “The buzz of pride and excitement in the school is a clear reflection of the immense magnitude of his achievement” one of Victor’s teachers told The Clare People .

After an appeal from a friend of the family through The Clare People , generous sponsors came on board to provide spending money for Victor’s trip.

Victor said that one of the best things about the Olympiad was “making so many new friends from so many different countries and cultures. My email in box is full”.

The Ennis student is hoping for a career that will “include something to do with maths, physics and computers. Those are my three main interests”.

Ennis Community College is no stranger to this type of international glory.

In 2001, one of their students Iris Choi won gold in the IBM/DCU Irish Physics Olympiad. She went on to represent Ireland in Antalya, Turkey in the International Physics Olympiad in June of that year.

Also on the International Wall of Fame for Ennis Community College is James Martin, who won the IBM/DCU Irish Schools Programming 1998 and went on to represent Ireland in Setubal, Portugal in September of that year at the International Olympiad in Informatics.

A SENIOR Garda said yesterday that Clare Gardaí are to target a number of individuals based in Clare in cooperation with the Criminal Assets Bureau in the new year.

Acting Chief Superintendent John Kerin said that Gardaí are to focus their attention on half a dozen individuals or so who show wealth with no apparent means of income and this will be done in co-operation with CAB.

However, he said that there was an absence of gun-related crime in Clare in 2006, with no murders taking place, compared to two in 2005.

“Is that down to good policing or just good fortune? Thankfully, we don’t have the criminal elements that they have in Limerick.

“But is it only a matter of time before some of them start moving out here to escape Limerick and set up house here and certainly if they did, that would be a problem for us.”

Acting Chief Supt Kerin said that there were no armed robberies in Clare last year and while that was most unusual he hoped it would continue.

He said that the number of serious assaults this year was on a par with last year while minor assaults were down by 11 per cent.

To date this year, there have been 1,000 arrests for public order in Clare.

“Ennis is the main centre for public order offences, but I would still say it is not as bad it used to be.

“The Gardaí are a lot stricter, make arrests quicker, intervene earlier and we are putting more people on the streets. Even with that, there have been some nasty enough incidents during the year.

“I am reasonably happy and of course I would prefer if some of the assaults didn’t happen, but the lads throughout the county are on top of the public order situation”

He said that drink-driving arrests were up 72 per cent on last year – an increase of 197 to 469 to date this year.

“Last year, we had twelve fatalities on Clare’s roads and this year is it seven. That is a drop of 40 per cent but we are working off small figures. Seven is a relatively low figure and we want to keep it as low as possible,” he said.

CLARE householders could send 2011 tonnes of valuable recyclable material to landfill this Christmas, according to Clare County Council who are anxious to divert used packaging to its recycling centres at Lisdeen, Scariff, Ennis and Ballyduff – where everything from plastic and aluminium to cardboard and glass can be recycled.

According to council statistics, this year’s Christmas binge will see Clare householders consume

508,110 bottles of wine; 1.4 million cans and 406,488 bottles of beer; 745,228 cans of soft drinks and 101,622 boxes of sweets as well as 101,622 rolls of wrapping paper.

Over 711 tonnes of cardboard and paper from gift boxes, selection boxes and packaged foods will be disposed of in the county.

In total, it is estimated that each Clare household could produce an average of over 59 Kilos of used packaging waste that could be recycled this Christmas.

The Council is calling on all householders to reduce, reuse, recycle and compost this festive season.

The Lisdeen Recycling Centre will be closed from December 24 to 26 and from December 31 to January 1. Alternate opening hours are December 22 (10.15am to 4.15pm); December 23 (9am to 3pm); December 27 – 29 (10.15am to 4.15pm); December 30 (9am to 3pm) and January 2 (10.15am to 4.15pm).

The Scariff Reycling Centre will be closed from December 24 to 27 and from December 31 to January 1. Alternate opening hours are December 22 (2pm to 8pm); December 23 (12pm to 6pm); December 28 (2pm to 6pm); December 29 (2pm to 8pm); December 30 (12pm to 6pm) and January 2 (2pm to 6pm).

The Ennis Recycling Centre will be closed from December 23 to 27 and from December 31 to January 1. Alternate opening hours are December 22 (12pm to 4pm); December 28 (12pm to 8pm); December 29 (12pm to 6pm);

December 30 (9am to 5pm) and January 2 (10am to 5pm).

The central waste management facility at Ballyduff will be closed from December 24 to 26 and from December 31 to January 1. Alternate opening hours are December 23 (9am to 1pm for commercial customers and 9am to 3pm for public civic amenity site); December 27 to 29 (usual opening hours); December 30 (9am to 1pm for commercial customers and 9am to 3pm for public civic amenity site) and January 2 (usual opening hours).

THE significant increase in burglaries and theft in Clare this year is partly attributed to the growing number of people taking heroin.

That’s the view of Acting Chief Superintendent John Kerin who said that the growing number of people using heroin and cocaine in Clare was a particular source of concern.

He confirmed that arrests for people selling drugs this year is up to 46 from 26 last year – an increase of 77 per cent.

Supt Kerin said that people don’t appreciate what a drug-related conviction will do to their prospects of securing a visa for the US or Australia or securing a job in the public sector.

“We believe that if we control our drugs trade, we control our crime and if we don’t control it, more and more young people become involved in it.”

He also expressed concern that that younger offenders are getting involved in public order incidents where there is a lack of respect for anyone in authority. He cited an incident last weekend in Ennis when Gardaí gave chase to two youths and, when they came back, found their patrol car had been broken into although they were only gone two minutes.

“We got one person and the other is being interviewed today. There is that kind of breakdown with young people and the biggest problem would be drink – and drugs – related.”

Giving a commitment for larger numbers of Gardaí policing rural areas, he said that if they got additional resources, they would be deployed to rural areas where people want to see more Gardaí.

Supt Kerin said that additional Garda resources have been assigned to Lahinch, Miltown Malbay, Sixmilebridge and Tulla.

MONEYPOINT, the country’s biggest producer of greenhouse gases, could be a candidate for technology which would allow the pollution to be buried.

The Clare power station is belching more poisons into the air than any other industrial source in the country, a recent report revealed.

But Carbon Capture – a technology which will be up and running in less than ten years – would enable the ESB to grab carbon dioxide and bury it before it can get into the atmosphere and do damage.

Figures published by the European Pollutant Emission Register show that Moneypoint tops the list for highest emissions of a number of environmentally damaging chemicals.

The coal-burning station near Kilrush is the greatest source of carbon dioxide emissions. Data from the Environmental Protection Agency shows that between 2003 and 2005 Moneypoint emitted 16.8m tons of carbon dioxide.

It also featured as the leading source of arsenic and its compounds along with five other chemical pollutants.

But as it produces 14 per cent of the country’s energy, closing the coal-burning station down is not an option.

Moneypoint is currently undergoing a €360 million makeover designed to reduce emissions, mainly of sulphuric and nitrous oxides, which will extend it’s life by 15 years.

A spokesman for the ESB said that it would “look at any new technology aimed at reducing emissions”, but added that the carbon capture technology is so new that there has been no chance as yet for energy bosses to study it.

Harry Audas, general manager of the International Energy Agency(IEA) greenhouse research and development programme, said that Carbon Capture is viable.

“It could be demonstrated technically viable within the next five to ten years but there’s still no commercial incentives, so it’s up to the politicians to get the commercial incentives in place.”

The IEA is the organisation which advises governments in developed nations on energy policy.

A breakthrough which would enable power generators to capture and bury carbon dioxide – the main greenhouse gas, widely blamed for heating the planet – would be a technological leap towards greener energy production which would be worth millions.

Also featuring in the list for certain chemical pollutant emissions were the neighbouring, the Tarbert County Limerick ESB plant and Aughinish Alumina.

THE developer of the €50 million plus Kilrush Marina Project is expected to be announced in mid-January, following the postponement of a meeting of interested parties until then.

It is believed the preferred bidder for the development of a hotel, apartments and commercial units on the marina is awaiting final approval from Departments of Finance, and Enterprise, Trade and Employment.

In summer 2005, Shannon Development received 11 expressions of interest for the development of the prime site around the Kilrush Marina. The number was then whittled down to three and eventually one.

Kilrush Town Council voted to rezone areas of the town in December last year to include further commercial development at the marina.

It is believed the development will be phased over five to seven years with each phase signed over to the developer only on completion. Promises have been made that the marina will continue in its present form, with plans to extend it by 100 berths up to 220.

The boat yard may have to be relocated towards the lock gates, however.

A CLARE man whose job it is to try to spot terrorists trying to board airplanes won his case for unfair dismissal after his employers claimed he missed a day’s work because he was hungover.

Andrew Brislane from Spanish Point was one of four airline security profilers who was drafted in to Shannon to help ICTS, a company which provides anti-terrorist security services for US airlines. The Employment Appeals Tribunal heard that ICTS is subject to security checks by inspectors from the US Government’s Transportation Security Administration.

In August 2004, the company was to undergo one such check but drafted Brislane and a number of others as three of their staff had resigned the previous month. The Tribunal heard that the drafted profilers had met in a hotel bar the night before. A supervisor of ICTS claimed that he had seen Brislane the next morning looking “rough as if he had a lot to drink.”

Brislane’s brother rang to say that he was sick. Four of the profilers failed to come to work and ICS said they had to put a contingency plan in place which resulted in long queues.

Brislane told the tribunal that he became ill and was told by his doctor that he was suffering from a virus and had had a mild heart attack.

The Tribunal ruled that ICTS had failed to carry out a proper investigation into the incident and had dismissed Brislane’s medical certificates.

AN Ennis-based businessman believes he can reduce the HSE’s exorbitant taxi bill by as much as 40 per cent.

It was revealed at the HSE West’s Regional Health Forum Hospitals’ Committee that as much as €677,000 was spent on taxis bringing non-emergency patients in the Mid West to hospital during the first 10 months of this year.

Now Bus Slánte’s Seán O’Shaughnessy says he has proposed a solution to the local HSE that could reduce that bill by more than €270,000.

Bus Slánte currently services the Mid Western Regional Hospital Ennis, St Joseph’s Hospital Ennis, Shannon Health Centre, the Maternity Hospital Limerick and the Mid Western Regional Hospital Limerick three times a day with an open bus service.

The company plan to add the Orthopaedic Hospital in Croom to the service early next year.

The service is open to patients and the general pubic.

Mr O’Shaughnessy explained that many people with disability or mobility difficulties also use the service for going to Limerick as they can access it easily.

He is proposing that the service can be expanded and used by the hospitals in Clare and Limerick for ferrying non-emergency patients to other hospitals in the mid west for tests – a service that is currently costing the taxpayer hundreds of thousands of euros.

The service would be free to those availing of free travel and could cost just €5 per head to others.

Mr O’Shaughnessy has suggested that taxis could be used to bring patients from rural areas to one of the urban centres and Bus Slánte could then pick them up there.

He said taxis are currently bringing people to hospitals for tests and waiting for them while they are treated.

All the while the cost is increasing.

“There will be no inconvenience to the person (with the new service).

“The only change to the current service is that people would have to change on to the bus,” he said.

Bus Slánte currently has one bus in service and another on the way.

Should it be successful in convincing the HSE of the merits of this idea, it plans to add two more to the fleet, and also hopes to secure charity status.

Clare Representative to the HSE Mid West Regional Forum Cllr Brian Meaney (GP) believes that Mr O’Shaughnessy’s proposal could help reduce the spiralling costs to the health services.

CLARE musician, Mike Hanrahan, has resigned his position as chairman of the board of the Irish Music Rights Organisation.

Hanrahan’s was one of two resignations from the Board after a disagreement with other board members. Quitting along with him is vice-chair and music executive, Barbara Galavan.

According to sources, their resignations follow a series of rows over what direction IMRO should take for the future.

Hanrahan has been IMRO’s chairman since 2000 and Galavan has been vice-chair for almost sixteen years.

It is understood that both had had a number of disagreements with other board members in recent months.

The organisation polices copyright and collects royalties from places which play music publicly.

The Clare musician is internationally recognised as a songwriter and a guitarist. He has released a number of solo albums and has played with bands including Tumbleweed and Stockton’s Wing.

As well as producing solo albums, he has been heavily involved in writing and producing for Dubliners singer, Ronnie Drew over the last ten years.