Category: News

AN EGYPTIAN man has appeared in court, charged with the extortion of €100,000 from an Ennis businessman last week.

Essam Eid (50), with an address in Cairo, Egypt, is also charged with the theft of a laptop and desktop computer, at Westgate Business Park, Ennis and with handling stolen property, on dates last week.

It is alleged he demanded €100,000 from a businessman, at Ballaghboy, Doora, last Tuesday, September 26. His solicitor Tara Godfrey applied for free legal aid. Inspector Michael Gallagher said the accused’s circumstances would have to be checked out, as he lived outside the jurisdiction.

Judge Joseph Mangan pointed out that the accused had an average weekly income of €1,000.

Mr Godfrey said, “While he would earn that when he is working, he is currently on holiday. They only have €200 and don’t have means to pay a solicitor.”

Judge Mangan said, “I see also he has a mortgage, which means he has a property,” and deferred the legal aid application.

Ms Godfrey said she was applying for bail, and that her client had no previous convictions either in Egypt or the US.

Inspector Gallagher said he was objecting to bail and sought a remand in custody for a fortnight. Judge Mangan agreed.

Gardaí say that a 43-year-old American woman arrested in connection with the same investigation was released without charge.

The time is right for a winter election. That is according to Clare’s Independent TD James Breen who believes the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern should go to the country in light of the Mahon Tribunal revelations.

“There is only one way to clear the air and that is an early general election,” he said.

But not all politicians are keen to embrace the crisp winter air on the hustings.Just North Clare’s Cllr Michael Kelly (FF) shared the outspoken TD’s view that the Taoiseach should call the election soon. Cllr Kelly told a reporter from The Clare Peopl e that there were people in the Fianna Fáil organisation who thought that Mr Ahern should go to the polls early, and that not to do so would be seen as a sign of weakness.

He described the money in question as “ peanuts” in the context of an economy and said Taoiseach which have “performed so well”.

In a survey carried out by reporters from The Clare People among 14 of the15 Fianna Fáil county councillors (Cllr Colm Wiley could not be contacted), just Cllr Tony O’Brien was unsure if now was a good time to call an election – the remaining 12 concluded it was definitely not a good time. The Fianna Fáil members of the council agreed unanimously however that the Taoiseach should not resign his position, a view that was shared by the Oireachtas members, with the exception of Deputy Pat Breen (FG) who had some reservations until after today’s long anticipated Dáil session.

Whether the council members would have accepted the “loan” or “gift” was not as clear.

Ten of the 14 councillors polled said they would not, but four said they did not know. Cllr Bernard Hanrahan (FF) qualified the answer by saying, “ if you found yourself in a bad situation and you had friends who could help you out, you might accept the money, but only on the condition that they would take back the money when you could repay it.”

Just three of the councillors surveyed believed that the events of the previous fortnight had tarnished the Taoiseach’s reputation.

Meanwhile the people of Clare had their say on the issue through the new Website for The Clare People. In this week’s Web-poll, almost 70 per cent of people said that they were not satisfied with the Taoiseach’s answers to date. Just over a fifth were satisfied,. Ten per cent were not bothered.

A DEADLINE has been imposed on a developer to erect fencing along a stretch of river, after Ennis Town Council bowed to the concerns of local residents.

The council will today (Tuesday) erect a dangerous place notice in the Aughanteeroe Housing estate.

The council has moved after residents expressed strong fears concerning the ease of access to the River Fergus, which runs directly behind the Gort Road housing estate.

The area, which is prone to heavy flooding, is easily accessed by children living in the area and residents have long campaigned to have suitable fencing erected.

There were also concerns over a green area fronting on to a section of the Corrovorrin river, near the entrance to Aughanteeroe.

“We are absolutely delighted the safety notice will be issued. It’s not only the Fergus but the river near Cois Na hAbhana is very deep and fast and is particularly dangerous at the moment,” Geraldine Sullivan, secretary for the Aughanteeroe residents association said.

Under the terms of the notice, Kamer Construction must erect fencing within a set deadline, typically seven or fourteen days. Otherwise the council will use the money from a bond held over from the developer to cover the cost of the work.

The issue was raised at yesterday’s monthly meeting of Ennis Town Council where members called for immediate action to be taken.

Town Engineer Tom Tiernan explained discussions had been held with the Office of Public Works in an effort to expedite work on the Ennis flood relief scheme due to take along the banks of the river.

Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) said residents deserved better and the situation could no longer be ignored.

“It could take up to 18 months for work to begin. The developer has made a lot of money out of that community and should be made to fulfil his responsibilities. This is a very urgent issue we cannot wait until one life is lost”

Cllr Frankie Neylon (Ind,) who had previously raised the issue with the council, asked “are we waiting for someone to get drowned?”

Cllr Mary Coote Ryan (FG) echoed these concerns while Cllr Taiwoo Matthew (Ind) said the council needed to be pro-active in matters of public safety.

LESS than one hundred metres from Richard Harris’s former home in Kilkee, over a thousand people gathered at the weekend to pay homage to the late actor.

At a site adjacent to the Diamond Rock cafe, overlooking the Pollock Holes, the crowd were treated to a song from Hollywood star, Russell Crowe, dedicated to his late friend.

The trailer of an articulated truck was one of the more unusual stages that the Oscar-winning actor had performed on.

Gene Hackman may have sent his regards and Clint Eastwood and Pamela Anderson were sorry that they weren’t able to come to the unveiling of a bronze statue of Harris, but all of that didn’t matter to the people as they heard Crowe recall his first meeting with Harris on the set of Gladiator.

Taking a break from filming in New York to be at Saturday’s event, the New Zealand-born actor said, “Richard told me ‘there is a good night out in you, I think I am going to like you’”.

The two shared a passion for rugby and had agreed, while Harris was ill in hospital, that they would both attend the Ireland vs Australia match in 2002. However, Harris died weeks before the match.

After Harris died, Crowe said that he travelled to Ireland “to pay homage to a friend” by visiting many of Harris’s old haunts.

Explaining how he came to write a song dedicated to Harris, Crowe told the crowd how, when Ireland beat Australia for the first time in 37 years, he believed that Harris was there with the Irish on the day.

Crowe said that, after the match, he was by himself, drinking a pint of Guinness and wrote the verse in memory of his friend. He told the crowd, “It was written on the back of a beer coaster, so it’s very short”.

Backed by local singers, a guitarist and an uileann piper, Crowe sang the “requiem in the idiom of a football song”, with the crowd clapping along to the tune.

Later, Crowe joined with members of the Harris family to unveil the lifesize statue by local sculptor, Seamus Connolly, which depicts Harris playing racquet ball. The Limerick man won a racquet ball competition four times in a row in the west Clare resort where he used to spend much of his summer holidays.

Alluding to an appeal by a local resident against planning permission to erect the status at Wellington Square, event organiser, Manuel di Lucia said, “It is a slight problem, a minor detail.”

Earlier, Jared, one of Richard Harris’s three sons present, told the crowd that they were a living memorial to his father. He said, “When my father died, I was told that life goes on, but I asked ‘why? I want it all to stop, to stop and mark the passing of this great man’ and days like this allow us to make sense of it all.”

Jared said that his father had “a deep, deep affection for Kilkee”. He said, “He loved Kilkee. There was something in his heart for Kilkee. He fell in love with movies in Kilkee by going to the old cinema here.”

Another son, Damien, told the crowd, “My father wasn’t a sentimental man, but he was sentimental about Kilkee”.

Richard’s brother, Billy, said that links between Kilkee and the Harris family went back to 1850 and the resort allowed Richard to express his wild personality to the full.

He added that Richard was the first person to swim unaccompanied across the bay at Kilkee. Billy said, “He adored Kilkee and, during the last five years of his life, we reminisced over Kilkee and the huge part it played in his childhood.”

THE Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) yesterday celeberated the 70th anniversary of the opening of Shannon Aeradio, Ireland’s High Frequency (HF) communications centre at Ballygirreen near Newmarket-on-Fergus and marked the occasion by announcing a €4.5m investment at the facility.

Founded in 1936 to provide long-range communications for the transatlantic flying boat service in Foynes, the centre is responsible for communicating via long distance radio with up to 1,250 transatlantic flights per day.

2006 also marks the 40th anniversary of the Shanwick agreement. Under this agreement, signed by the Irish and UK governments in 1966, Shannon Aeradio provides HF communications to aircraft on the eastern half of the North Atlantic while Prestwick in Scotland provides air traffic control services to aircraft in the same area.

The occasion also marked the installation of new equipment at Shannon Aeradio worth €4.5 million and the beginning of a new co-operative agreement with the Icelandic Civil Aviation Authority (ICAA). Under this agreement, the IAA and the ICAA will provide a seamless HF communications service across a wider area of the strategic North Atlantic region.

Speaking at the unveiling of a plaque to mark the 70th anniversary, IAA Chairman, Jerry Liston, congratulated past and present staff and said the station’s success was a testament to the enthusiasm and professionalism with which they carry out their work.

Shannon Aeradio is also home to the national AFTN Centre, which delivers data such as airline movements and flight plans to a worldwide network, and also a weather broadcast service heard throughout the world.

Almost 90 per cent of air traffic over the North Atlantic passes through Irish airspace. Shannon Aeradio communicates with the vast majority of these flights every day. This amounts to up to 1,250 flights per 24 hours during the busy summer months. The IAA employs 70 people at Shannon Aeradio.

A COUNTY Clare businessman has made a €26.5 million settlement with the Criminal Assets Bureau – the biggest in the history of the State.

Businessesman Dylan Creaven (32), a native of Newmarket-on-Fergus with an address in Kensington in London, is understood to have handed over €26.5 million (£18 million sterling) to CAB and the ARA (Assets Recovery Agency) in the UK.

He has also handed over a villa in Marbella, Spain and four racehorses including Latino Magic, which won the McDonagh Handicap at the Galway Races last year.

Creaven, the former director of Silicon Technologies, was acquitted in June of last year of an alleged £20 million VAT fraud in the UK.

He had been accused of teaming up with an array of off-the-shelf British companies to defraud the tax man.

The Prosecutors at London’s Crown Court had claimed that Creaven supplied companies with VAT-free computer chips that were then resold with the tax added. It was alleged that instead of passing a percentage to Customs and Excise, the money went to Creaven.

However the Clareman denied two counts of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue between December 2000 and October 2001 and was acquitted following a month-long trial.

The ARA and CAB continued to investigate Creaven and this resulted in the settlement being reached.

Creaven had traded as Silicon Technologies Europe Ltd, which had an office at Ennis Business Centre, Francis Street, Ennis, and turned over €417 million in 2000 to 2001.

A LITHUANIAN man has been told by a judge if he has difficulty understanding in court, he can arrange his own interpreter as the State will not incur any interpretation costs.

Judge Joseph Mangan made the comments in the case of Thomas Salaka, who appeared before Kilrush District Court last Wednesday on public order charges.

Mr Salaka (25), of Orchard Lane, Ennis, was accused of been intoxicated in public and of engaging in threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour, at Henry Street, Kilrush, on August 27 last.

The accused, a chef, pleaded guilty to engaging in threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour and the other charge was withdrawn.

The court heard that as the accused’s friend was been arrested for drunken driving, the accused, who was a passenger in the car, got out and acted in a threatening manner to the garda, waving his fists. He later apologised.

“He was using his own language. I don’t know what it was,” said the garda.

Judge Mangan asked did the accused intend to stay in Ireland and was told that he has lived here for the past two years and planned to stay here.

The accused’s partner was sworn in for another case in court and she translated proceedings for Mr Salaka.

The judge adjourned the case until November and said, “The State is not to incur any interpretation costs. If he has a problem with understanding, he can bring his own interpreter.”

The accused’s solicitor Gearoid Williams said, “Under the Convention of Human Rights, it is an obligation on the State . . . In any case he will bring his own interpreter.”

The judge said if the accused had paid for an interpreter, he would take that into account in imposing any monetary fine. Mr Williams replied, “The interpreter is the mother of his child.”

A spokesman for the Courts Service said €2 million was been spent on providing interpreters for court, in 210 dialects, this year. This is a 15-fold increase since 2000. This is a national figure and figures for Clare were not available, he said.

He said the provision of interpreters for court cases was “daily routine,” but that any decision regarding allocating interpreters to cases rested with judges.

“The judge runs the court. It is up to the judge to certify if an interpreter is needed. If an interpreter is needed, the Courts Service provides it and covers the cost of this. It is a matter for the judge to decide,” he added.

UP TO 180 Clare people might not be alive today had it not been for the success of last year’s Annual Healthy Living Expo at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital Ennis.

Speaking at the launch of this year’s expo Stephen McMahon, Chairman of the Irish Patients Association said the unique event had diagnosed people early and saved lives.

Last year 45 per cent of the people who availed of the free screening had not been to their GP in three years, and the majority of these people were non-medical cardholders.

Two of the people screened were referred to the Accident and Emergency Department immediately for treatment. A further 12 per cent were found to have high blood pressure; another 12 per cent had cholesterol over 6.5, while another 12 per cent had high blood sugar. Half of the people examined were found to be over weight.

Twice as many women as men attended last year so this year, organisers are actively encouraging men in the community to avail of this opportunity to have their heart health checked.

Almost 100 staff, including hospital consultants will volunteer from 10am to 4pm on Saturday, to check peoples’ cholesterol levels, blood pressure, lipids and glucose levels, body mass index, and to carry out eye tests. Those availing of the free service will then get the results of the blood tests within an hour, and will be informed of any difficulties in private. A follow up report will also be sent to their GP where necessary. Healthy living information and children’s entertainment will also be provided.

As well as the free health check, the staff at the hospital will also give a hand hygiene demonstration.

“Staff in the hospital are well aware now of hospital hygiene. The public in general have an awareness of it, but everyone minds a sick relative at some stage during the year or someone in the house is sick. They are never aware of how they should be washing their hands or what the precautions are,” said hospital manager John Doyle.

Mr Doyle said the expo, in its fifth year was a way of linking the hospital back into the county.

“We see ourselves having a role in the whole preventative exercise not just somewhere to go when you’re sick,” he added.

THE HSE is continuing to monitor the Ennis water supply, even though it has “generally” been within the statutory limits for drinking water since the installation of the temporary filtration system.

According to the HSE West, in order to ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of the system a heavy programme of monitoring and sampling is continuing.

This includes daily monitoring of raw and treated water for general coliform, E Coli, turbidity, colour and chlorine. Weekly monitoring is also carried out for Cryptosporidium.

All samples of treated water were negative for E Coli and Cryptosporidium. The chlorine dosage levels have also been reduced as a consequence of the installation and successful operation of the treatment system. However it was decided not to remove the limited precautionary boil notice just yet, as weather conditions had not varied enough since the installation to adequately test the system.

“Levels of cryptosporidium, clostridium perfringes and giardia tend to occur in the raw water to a much lesser degree in summer early autumn time of year. However, a seasonal escalation of concentration in this regard would be expected from now on,” the HSE said. The health service said it hoped that by the time the next meeting took place, confidence in the supply would be such that it would be possible to completely remove the boil notice.

Meanwhile, a boil notice had been issued for the first time ever in the 30-year history of the Kilmaley-Inagh Group water scheme, following the discovery of a small quantity of E-coli. The scheme caters for 1,800 households and is the largest group water scheme in the country. A new treatment works was due to replace the scheme on June 30 but was delayed. The group water scheme holders were informed that the scheme would “go to production” on the week beginning September 11. Last Thursday, the new system was not in place.

HUMAN bones which were discovered during the excavation of a site in Sixmilebridge are understood to have been there for more than 100 years.

The bones, believed to be those of a young man, were discovered while development work was being carried out on the old woollen mill in the village last Thursday.

The building, which was the old water-driven woollen mill in the early 1900s, had been run down for several years and was latterly used as a store.

A dwelling house was situated next door to the mill and it is believed the bones were found beneath the ground floor in the house.

The entire site is currently being converted into apartments and a commercial unit.

Gardaí immediately called in experts from the Archaeological Society of Ireland and their initial examinations suggested that the body had been there for more than 100 years.

“We have no idea as to the identity. It is going to be difficult to identify them,” said Superintendent John Kerin.

“We are happy this is not recent and we are happy that there was no foul play, relative to modern Ireland, involved,” he added.

“We will go through old files to see if anyone went missing or was murdered at that time,” he said.

The bones were taken away by the archaeologists, and the work on the building has resumed.