Category: News

THE issue of mental health should be higher on the political agenda, a prominent Clare-based social worker has said.

Paul Guckian also praised community groups for stepping in to plug the gap in the mental health services created by cutbacks in public service spending over the past five years.

Mr Guckian, who is the Principal Social Worker with Clare Mental Health Services, was speaking at the ‘No Man Is An Island’ conference in Ennis on Saturday.

In a talk on men’s mental health, Mr Guckian outlined the sign and symptoms associated with depression.

“At the severe end of depression, people can have serious thoughts of suicide, worthlessness, thinking life would be better for me or my family and friends if I committed suicide. That’s not uncommon. A lot of people would have that ideation but it is a warning sign and it is not uncommon.”

He called on politicians to bring the issue of mental health higher up he political agenda.

He said, “The other interesting thing about suicide, and I think this is important for a county like Clare, is that in Ireland, suicidal activity and suicides are a rural phenomenon. It’s much higher instance than in urban areas.

“These are the sorts of issues that are going to have be addressed by everybody in society. I see some of the candidates for the local elections in this room today and there are other people engaged in politics. But it is important this is put on the political agenda,” he added.

Mr Guckian praised the role played by community groups, such as the Ennis Men’s Shed, for the role they have played in assisting people af- fected by depression.

He said, “There are a huge number of community support groups and they really have stepped into the breach in this country since the crash, since the cutbacks in statutory and public services so we have groups like the Men’s Shed movement to help out.

“Unfortunately in the North West area of Clare, there are no social workers in those primary care teams again due to resource issues. For councillors in Clare, maybe that’s an issue they [politicians] could raise on the canvass to have properly funded primary health services,” he added.

THE importance of mental and physical health will be discussed at Ireland’s first Men’s Shed Conference, which takes place in Ennis at the weekend.

‘No man is an island’ is the theme of the conference, which takes place at Treacys West County on April 25 and 26.

The Ennis Men’s Shed was established in Hermitage last year to “enhance or maintain the wellbeing of the participating men”.

Around 20 people regularly attend the shed, which is open three times a week. The shed contains a workshop and offers men a chance to openly discuss issues that maybe affecting them.

The conference will hear from a number of speakers including wellknown West Clare GP, Dr Billy O’Connell and Tom McEvoy, Clare Director of the suicide awareness organisation, Pieta House.

It is hoped the conference will show how the Men’s Shed movement can be used as a tool to enhance men’s mental and physical wellbeing.

Facilitator Frank McNamara explained, “The whole idea of the conference is to get the word out there that it’s okay to be not okay. It’s okay for men to be not okay. The whole ethos of the Men’s Shed movement is to get men to talk. What we’ve decided is to put it out there that it’s okay to be depressed. Its ok to feel wanted and feel needed. Its ok to have mental health issues.”

He continued, “We’re trying to put this stuff out on the table and say it’s okay to talk about it. The whole idea of the conference is men’s mental and physical health; that it’s okay to be not okay. We’re envisioning that guys will take from it what they want. They might not want to put up their hand and ask a question. They might want to ask a question privately or they may gain the information through the speakers. At least they have the information and they can do something with it.

“It’s a risky thing to do because you could actually turn a lot of men away from it. We were all told as kids, if you fell and hurt your knee or whatever, ‘get up be a man, stop crying, be a man’. We’re trying to put it out there that men have feelings too!” he said.

The conference will also see the launch of the Ennis Women’s Shed, which is the first of it’s kind in the Northern Hemisphere.

Folk singer Mary Coughlan will officially launch the Ennis Women’s Shed.

The Ennis Men’s Shed Conference takes place at the West County Hotel in Ennis on April 25 and 26. For further information contact Frank McNamara, facilitator at Ennis Men’s Shed on 085 2119118.

GARDAÍ in Ennis are investigating the attempted mugging of a 58-yearold woman of her handbag in broad daylight.

The incident occurred across from Steele’s Terrace at around 11.55am on Monday, April 13, when an attempt was made to rob a handbag from the woman as she walked on the footpath near Ennis Courthouse.

The woman was approached from behind by a man who knocked her to the ground and then attempted to steal her handbag. The victim bravely fought off her attacker and managed to hold onto her bag.

The incident only lasted for a few minutes with the man fleeing from the scene initially in the direction of the town centre.

The woman, who lives in the En- nis area, reported the incident to the gardaí and gave a full description of her attacker.

She did not suffer any serious injuries but it is said to have been left badly shaken by the ordeal. She told gardaí the man came up behind and attempted to grab her handbag.

Gardaí Ennis are investigating the incident and are studying CCTV of the area where the attempted robbery occurred.

A TEENAGER who offloaded a stolen guitar to a pawnshop in Limerick has been told keep his bib clean or face a lengthy prison sentence.

Judge Patrick Durcan issued the warning to Karl Haugh at Ennis District Court on Wednesday.

He told the 18 year old he was facing length prison spell if got into any more trouble before July.

Mr Haugh, with an address at Oakwood Drive, Watery Road, Ennis, pleaded guilty to handling a stolen Navarro electric guitar at Oakwood Drive, Ennis on November 16, 2013.

Inspector Tom Kennedy told the court the guitar valued at € 750 was stolen from a car parked outside a home in Oakwood Drive.

The court heard the guitar was tendered for € 120 by Mr Haugh at a Cash Express outlet in Limerick City.

The court heard Mr Haugh only received € 20 from the sale.

Insp Kennedy said Mr Haugh denied the theft of the guitar but admitted tendering it for cash.

He told the court the offence was committed while Mr Haugh was subject to a 12-month probation bond.

Defence solicitor John Casey said his client was part of a gang in Ennis. Mr Casey said gardaí accepted Mr Haugh was a “minor operative”.

Mr Casey told the court his client had nothing to do with stealing the guitar but was the “idiot” who walked in front of the Cash Express security cameras holding the stolen item.

He said Mr Haugh has since broken away from the group.

Mr Haugh told Judge Durcan he went into the shop because he was the only one in the group who had a passport.

He said he had written a letter of apology to the guitar owner. “I keep putting myself in bad situations”, he added.

The Judge said that given the offence was committed while Mr Haugh was on probation; it was his view the accused deserved a custodial sentence.

Mr Casey said his client’s behaviour may have been driven by an “element of fear of other parties”.

He told the court that if Mr Haugh goes to prison he would lose his place on a Youthreach education programme.

Judge Durcan adjourned the case for a brief period, saying he had a six-month prison sentence in mind.

When the case resumed, Mr Casey told Judge Durcan the adjournment had left Mr Haugh “sweaty”.

“He is very, very uncomfortable”, he added.

Judge Durcan said he was willing to adjourn sentencing to July 2 when Mr Haugh has completed the Youthreach programme.

He told the teenager if he committed any more offences, he would be off for a “lengthy spell”.

“You keep your bib clean sonny”, added Judge Durcan.

A DECISION on the construction of Clare’s first ever crematorium in Clarecastle could yet be months away, and will likely rest on the validity of a similar application made to construct a crematorium in Shannon in 2007.

Planners at Clare County Council have written to Fenloe Properties Ltd, the company behind the the proposed Clarecastle crematorium, looking for further information about 21 separate issues which have arisen on the back of their December 2013 planning application.

An Taisce have also made two separate representations to the planners regarding the crematorium – with both letters highlighting the need to clarify the validity of the 2007 planning application before permission for a second crematorium in the area can be granted.

This comes in the wake of a legal letter sent by Fenloe Properties Ltd to Clare County Council last October, regarding plans by the local authority to sell land in Shannon to an unnamed developer for the creation of a crematorium.

While the local authority had already approved an extension of planning for the Shannon crematorium, Fenloe objected to the proposed sale of the land itself.

It is as yet unclear if this development could yet go ahead – which raises the possibility of two crematoriums being built within 19 kilome- tres of each other.

The Clarecastle application has also prompted a number of objections from local residents – with four separate representation being made to Clare County Council.

Councillors Pat Daly (FF) and Tom McNamara (FF) have both applied to make representation in relation to the application.

In her representations, local Taisce officer Anny Wise, raised concerns about the prospect of rival Clare crematoriums.

“Foremost there should be certainty that the Shannon Crematorium has become out of date and is no longer relevant.

“There is a market for a crematorium in the area as we have several hundred Indian individuals living in this area.

“There would no be enough for two so the Shannon [proposal] must be confirmed as not viable before going ahead with this one,” she said in a letter to council planner earlier this month.

Senior planing staff officer with Clare County Council, Siobhan O’Reilly, wrote to Fenloe Properties Ltd earlier this month with a number of questions regarding the proposed development.

These questions included information about the type of furnace planned, the possibility of harmful emissions and other environmental issues.

A decision had been expected in February, but will now not likely be made before the end of the year.

A WEST Clare mechanic has received fines totaling € 1500 after pleading guilty to what a Judge described as “the worst and most dangerous case of dangerous driving” he has come across.

Judge Patrick Durcan made the comment as he disqualified Daniel Sexton (22) from holding a driver’s license for four years.

Mr Sexton, with an address at Finnuremore, Mullagh, pleaded guilty to one continuous incident of dangerous driving at Lifford Road, Ballymaley, Dulick Gort Road and Ballycorey near Ennis on January 23, 2014. He also admitted charges of ‘drug driving’ and failing to stop when requested to do so by a garda.

Details of the incident were heard at Ennis District Court on Wednesday. Inspector Tom Kennedy said Garda Brian O’Callaghan was operating a checkpoint at Sandfield, Ennis when Mr Sexton’s car approached. The court heard Mr Sexton performed a u-turn and raced out the Gort Road at a speed of 120 kilometres per hour in a 50 km zone.

Insp Kennedy said Mr Sexton started to overtake cars forcing vehicles traveling in the opposite direction to take evasive action

Mr Sexton’s car reached speeds of 150 km/h before he was eventually halted at the Ballymaley business park, four kilometres from the original checkpoint.

It was subsequently discovered Mr Sexton had cannabis in his system.

Defence solicitor Daragh Hassett told the court his client is a hard working man who had agreed to drive the car for a friend.

He said Mr Sexton smoked a joint at a party the night before and when he saw the gardaí, he panicked.

Mr Hassett said, “He cannot be proud of his behaviour, which was disgraceful”.

“He cannot excuse what he did. It was a moment of madness which he will regret for the rest of his life”, he added.

Mr Hassett asked Judge Durcan to consider a postponement of the disqualification for work related reasons.

Judge Durcan said that in his two years sitting on the bench on Clare this is “the worst and most dangerous case of dangerous driving I have come across”.

Of the accused’s driving on the night, Judge Durcan said, “He was absolutely as high as a kite. He probably thought he had wings instead of wheels”.

Judge Durcan ordered Mr Sexton to complete 120 hours of community service in lieu of three months in prison. He imposed fines totalling € 1500 and disqualified Mr Sexton from holding a driver’s license for four years.

A PROPOSAL to construct nine on-shore windfarms on a site just 2km from Doonbeg village has been overturned.

The plans, which were originally lodged by Clare Coastal Wind Power Limited on February 2 this year, were catapulted into the public spotlight three week later when billionaire American businessman, Donald Trump purchased the nearby Doonbeg Golf Course.

Trump, who has been involved in ongoing disputes with authorities in Scotland over windfarms being built close to his golfing interests, voiced his concerns against he proposed development.

According to Tony Lowes, Director of Friends of the Irish Environment, the billionaire host of The Apprentice television programme was “active” in opposing the development.

“Mr Trump was very active – he called me up and said they were opposed to the windfarm and noticed the work we had done,” said Mr Lowes.

Following the decision to deny planning for the development last week Mr Trump send a tweet to Scot- tish First Minister, Alex Salmond.

“Ireland just ended the bird killing wind farm near my great resort on the Atlantic Ocean. The reason, would hurt tourism!” he tweeted to Mr Salmond.

However, according to planning files associated with the planning permission, the project was halted on a technicality involving getting land owners’ signatures. According to a letter from planners at Clare County Council to Clare Coastal Wind Power, the planning permission was invalidated because the application contained a list of the local landowners whose land would be used for the development – but not each landowners signature, as required.

The Trump Organisation has stated its delight that the plans for the windfarm have been withdrawn.

“We are very pleased that the application has been withdrawn and alongside the local residents we will continue to monitor the situation and if necessary lodge a further objection,” said Executive Vice-president of Trump International, George Sorial.

It is not yet clear whether Clare Coastal Wind Power will re-submit their application in the future.

CONSTRUCTION work on a new € 6 million pier in Doolin will get underway in a matter of days and is expected to be completed by the middle of next year.

Kilmaley-based construction company, L&M Keating, will officially sign contracts with Clare County Council later today, April 22, with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Brendan Howlin (Lab), set to turn the sod on the project at 2.30pm.

A new pier for Doolin has been in the pipelines for more than a decade but the development was subject to an extended planning process following objections by local surfers who felt the pier would damage local waves.

“I am delighted that construction of this vitally important piece of infrastructure will commence shortly following years of open debate and extensive consultation with users of the pier, as well as the local community,” said Clare County Manager Tom Coughlan.

“The local authority has invested considerable time and resources into ensuring that the Doolin Pier project is one that benefits all users of the existing pier. Once completed, this project will have significant, positive economic and social consequences for the people of North Clare and the wider region.

“For example, the construction phase of the project will create jobs as will the increase in business that will arise as a result of the Pier’s completion.”

The completed pier will be used mainly to facilitate ferry activity between North Clare and the Aran Islands and the Cliffs of Moher during the tourist season while the existing pier will be available to accommodate other activities, both leisure based and otherwise.

The new pier will also ensure that Doolin is accessible in all tidal conditions, which will be of particular benefit to Doolin Search and Rescue as well as the ferry operators.

Senior engineer and Doolin Pier Project Manager, Tom Tiernan paid tribute to the council’s consultants, led initially by Malachy Walsh and Partners, and to Punch Consulting.

“The next stage of the pier project is construction which will get underway almost immediately. We anticipate that the project will be completed around mid 2015,” he said.

BRUCE Springsteen may has robbed the Banner county of a future political leader.

Kilrush local election candidate, Joe Coughlan (Ind), who famously presented The Boss with a giant sized Irish passport during his sold out Thomand Park concerts in July of 2013, has decided to call time on his election campaign, after meeting Springsteen once again in Nashville last week.

Mr Coughlan originally announced his decision to run for a seat on Clare County Council in February of this year. Launching his campaign he said that it was time for him to either “put up or shut up” and said that he was “tired of seeing people running again and again” for election.

However, after being offered the opportunity to meet The Boss in America last week, he has decided to pull the plug on his political career.

“I’ve been in Nashville for a couple of days and I met him [Springsteen] after I saw him in concert last Wednesday. It hit me after I met him over in Nashville, this is the kind of thing that I wouldn’t be able to do if I was elected,” he said yesterday.

“I didn’t ask him about it [the election], but to be honest I didn’t want to run for just for the sake of it. If I was going to be a politician then I wanted to be 100 per cent committed to it.”

Mr Coughlan famously presented Bruce Springsteen with an oversized Irish passport during his concert in Limerick in July of last year. Later that evening, he was invited to share a drink with The Boss in the Basement Bar of the Adare Manor Hotel.

“I think I’ve started to see the reali- ty of what running for election would look like. People here did encourage me to run and if I was a councillor I’d like to be able to make most of the people happy, but the way things are I don’t think I’d be able to do that,” he said. “I have a good life, I have my business. I think it [being a councillor] would have taken up too much of my time.” Mr Coughlan did not rule out the possibility of running for election in the future and said that if the amount of wages paid to county councillors were increased, and he could give up his day job, he would consider running for election in the future.

NEXT year’s INTO conference is to be held in Ennis, providing an economic boost to the county town.

Held during the Easter holidays every year the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) attracts up to 2,000 people for the three-day conference.

This year West Clare man Sean McMahon will take over at the helm and inaugurated as president of the union, and next Easter the annual conference will be held at Treacys West County Hotel, Ennis.

Approximately 850 delegates representing 32,000 primary teachers in the Republic of Ireland and 6,000 teachers in the north will attend.

Spouses, partners and families often travel with the delegates, while more attend for the exhibitions that take place during theses events.

Welcoming the announcement that Ennis will be the location for the 2015 INTO conference, incoming president Mr McMahon said it will not only bring more visitors to Clare for the Easter holidays, but will also be a chance for teachers across the country to see what the county has to offer n terms of tourism.

“We would hope that when they see what is here they would come back with school tours too,” Mr McMahon said.

This year it will be Kilkenny under the microscope as the delegates attend the Lyrath Estate for the event.

A total of 20 delegates from Clare are attending the conference this week.

The conference opened yesterday afternoon Monday and was addressed by the current INTO president, Brendan O’Sullivan.

This morning’s session (Tuesday) will feature an address by the Minister for Education and Skills Ruairi Quinn TD and an address by the Minister for Education in Northern Ireland John O Dowd MLA.

This year’s INTO Congress will be dominated by educational and indus trial relations issues of concern to teachers.

These include pay and conditions of employment, fair taxation, the funding of schools, school leadership, small schools, promotion for teachers, special needs teaching, tackling disadvantage and school patronage.