Category: News

A JUDGE will rule this week if a young man is guilty of a charge of threatening to kill.

The accused, Darren O’Grady (21), with an address at Church Drive, Clarecastle, pleaded not guilty to the charge, arising out of an incident on June 17, 2005.

He also denies a charge of assault, causing harm, at the Queen’s nightclub on the same date. He has pleaded guilty to a charge of criminal damage to an apartment door, at Parnell Street, Ennis, on June 5, 2005.

Carol O’Doherty told the court yesterday (Monday) she was in the carpark of Ennis Garda Station with a number of people, on June 17, when the accused started shouting abuse at her.

“He said he was going to get us, one way or another. He called me a prostitute and a whore,” she said.

Ms O’Doherty said she had been seeing the accused at one stage. However, in his evidence to the court, the accused said he was going out with someone else and that, while he was “meeting” Ms O’Doherty, it was “just a fling.”

He said he called her names but that he never threatened to “get” her.

Mr O’Grady has also denied assaulting Joe Molloy, at the Queen’s nightclub, in the early hours of June 17.

Mr Molloy told the court the accused struck him with two head butts.

But Mr O’Grady said Mr Molloy grabbed him in a headlock and he hit him to defend himself.

THE much-anticipated Kilrush Autism Unit is in doubt two months before it is due to open.

The specialised unit planned for the grounds of St Senan’s Primary School in the West Clare capital is currently in the planning process. It was hoped that planning would be received for at least temporary accommodation within the next two months.

But Clare TD Pat Breen has warned that the unit in Kilrush looks very doubtful for this September, because there are no qualified personnel available.

“Meanwhile the establishment of an Ennis-based learning centre of excellence for children with autism has still not been sanctioned by the Department (of education),” he said.

The Fine Gael TD also accused Education Minister Mary Hanafin of disregarding children with autism, following her decision to cut home tuition grants for such cases.

Last week The Clare People highlighted the plight of parents of children with autism who struggle to receive essential services for their children, and the added suffering the removal of this service would have on their children.

One family from Carrigaholt told how the service was withdrawn from their eight-year-old child without any warning. Little Isabelle Séquin is now facing primary school without the extra tuition, having already lost her speech therapy.

Speaking in the Dáil on behalf of Minister Hanafin, Junior Minister Tim O’Malley said the newly established National Council for Special Education was working across the country to ensure that new services were put in place where needed.

“The decision to discontinue the home tuition grant was on the basis that the educational needs of these pupils can be best met in their individual schools,” Minister O’Malley added.

Deputy Breen accused the Minister of having an institutional approach to the issue.

“That family has been in contact with me and it is clear that not all the supports can be provided in a school setting. The schools do an excellent job with their limited resources. But they do not have the specialised personnel to cope with a child with autism in the midst of a classroom of 30 children” he said.

The deputy added it was a disgraceful indictment of the Department’s performance that it had spent €11.7 million on legal costs and settlements relating to educational provision for children with special needs in the three years to 2005.

The vast majority of the cases relate to children with autism.

THE trial of five anti-war protesters accused of the criminal damage of an United States Navy aeroplane at Shannon Airport nearly three and a half years ago has begun at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

The five accused are Ciaron O’Reilly (46), an Australian national and Damien Moran (25) both of Rialto Cottages, Rialto, Dublin; Nuin Dunlop (34), a US citizen and counsellor also living at Rialto Cottages, Rialto; Karen Fallon (35), a Scottish marine biologist at the same address; and Deirdre Clancy (36), a copy editor of Alverno Apartments, Clontarf.

They have pleaded not guilty to two counts each of causing damage without lawful excuse to a naval plane, property of the United States Government and to glass door panels, property of Aer Rianta at Shannon Airport, Clare on February 3, 2003.

In opening the case to the jury Mr Conor Devally SC (with Mr Luan O Braonain BL), prosecuting, said that the incident occurred during a time in which there appeared to be a build up of military personnel in the Middle East and Shannon Airport was being used by the US military.

Mr Devally said that the US aircraft was in a hangar owned by Aer Rianta and that a garda was on duty keeping watch. The garda was patrolling the hangar at around 2.45 a.m. when he heard a loud bang as though glass was breaking and then saw five people enter the hangar carrying hammers.

They proceeded to use the hammers on the aeroplane as the garda pleaded with them to stop. Some time later they put down their weapons. Mr Devally said that the accused persons admit they carried out certain acts on the aircraft but will argue that they had a lawful excuse.

Detective Garda John Duffy told Mr Devally that he took photographs of the scene following the incident and found hammers, wire cutters, a mallet and items which made up part of a shrine.

He agreed that slogans such as “the war ends here”, “put a stop to war”, “death port” and “pit stop for death”, were engraved in the handles of the hammers.

Det Gda Duffy also agreed with Mr Brendan Nix SC, defending Fallon, that a plastic blow up hammer with “hammered by the Irish” written on it was found in the hangar.

The hearing is scheduled to last for over two weeks and continues before Judge Miriam Reynolds and a jury of seven women and five men.

THE population of Inagh looks set to double in the next ten years, with a €1million sewerage system upgrade opening the door for the construction of some 150 new houses.

The funding, which was announced last week by Environment Minister Dick Roche, will see his department foot the bill for 40 per cent of the cost of upgrading the existing sewage system.

A number of private and commercial developments have been held up in the area in the last number of years, because of the lack of capacity in the current system.

“It is a fantastic development,” said the newly elected Mayor of Clare, Inagh Councilor, Flan Garvey (FF).

“Houses were being held up in places that have been zoned. €945,000 is a lot of money for a small place like Inagh.

“It is a perfect place for people to come and live because of its proximity to Ennis as well as places like Ennistymon and Lahinch.”

The 2002 census listed the population of the Inagh/Ballyea area at just 617 people, but this new development could see that figure rise dramatically in a relatively short space of time.

“There will be a big increase very quickly as people have been waiting to build for some time,” continued Mr Garvey. “People are ready to go.”

The upgrading works will increase the capacity of the existing wastewater treatment plant in the village and provide sewers to service new residential development. It’s envisaged the scheme will open up 35 acres of land for the development of 146 new houses.

The Minister said that the scheme was very important for the area, as it would provide for Inagh’s development needs for the foreseeable future.

“In particular, by opening up 35 acres of land for 146 new houses, it will allow home ownership in their own locality to become much more accessible and affordable to the local community,” said Minister Roche.

“We will be asking Clare County Council to complete the detailed design work as soon as possible.”

The sewage system currently in operation in Inagh was put in place in 1995 and has been operating at maximum capacity for the last two years.

Kilrush’s newly appointed mayor received a baptism of fire on his first evening in the chair.

The first town council meeting chaired by new mayor Stephen O’Gorman (FF) on Thursday last went out of control, as councillors argued among themselves about the traffic management plan, which was not even on the agenda.

At a debate on changing standing orders, Councillor Tom Prendeville (FF) proposed that the monthly meeting be changed from 7pm to 4pm on the second Thursday of every month.

Cllr Marian McMahon-Jones (FG) said the time was not convenient for her and proposed that the meeting be rescheduled for 9am.

The Fine Gael councillor said she felt the time discriminated against her as she would not be able to attend and this was non-democratic. She asked that the councillors reach a consensus on the time. Cllr Prendeville told the councillor however, “when you put your name on a ballot paper you have to be available. It is not non-democratic. We went through a sham with you and Deirdre (Cllr Culligan, Ind) on traffic bylaws. You and Deirdre couldn’t recollect voting to bring parking from 50c to €1.

“When you earn your consensus spurs you will get it,” a visible angry Cllr Prendeville said.

The issue of traffic by-laws, which have already been passed by the council, filtered through the order of business debate with Cllr McMahon- Jones asking the mayor “not to allow the badgering like I received here today.”

“There is a certain document on how to treat fellow councillors. Can I suggest we read it?”

“You treated us as fools,” Cllr Prendeville retorted.

As the council moved on to discussing traffic issues for a local school, the traffic management issue continued to raise its head.

“If that proposal had been included in the by-laws would you have voted for the by-laws?” Cllr Prendeville asked Cllr McMahon Jones, when she proposed the traffic plan for the school. When it was suggested that the issue be discussed by a council subcommittee Tom Prenderville said, “Personally I would find it hard to work with you in REMS (the subcommittee) again Marian.”

Other councillors asked that the meeting stay on course, but the heated debate continued. Cllr Liam O’ Looney (FF) asked the mayor to be stronger with some of the speakers.

A GROUP of 50 very special mums of sick and disabled children converged on the mid-west last week for a relaxing break away organised by the Share a Dream Foundation.

The group included women who lost their children through serious illness and others with children, suffering from chronic and severe illnesses such as leukaemia, muscular dystrophy.

They came to the area from Dublin, Waterford, Cork, Galway, Limerick County, Laois, Wicklow, Wexford, Westmeath, Longford, Roscommon, Monaghan, Tyrone and Down.

The Share a Dream Foundation has been making dreams come true for sick and disabled children from all over Ireland for the past 15 years. During this time, they have helped more than 17,000 children.

The group were accommodated in the lap of luxury in the Clare Inn hotel at Dromoland, courtesy of the Lynch hotel group and enjoyed a night of feasting, fun and song at Bunratty Castle, courtesy of Shannon Heritage.

They also visited a folk park and had dinner and music laid on in The Clare Inn.

Founder and Director, Shay Kinsella, said, “It’s really only when you get to know these children and their families that you begin to understand what amazing people they are.

“The children are battling illness and disability with everything they have and then you meet the parents – they are truly amazing.

“For them it is a 24 hour a day, seven day a week, 52 weeks a year commitment and yet they are full of love and good humour.

“And while Share a Dream Foundation does everything we can to make the very special dreams of the children come true, we couldn’t help but see how their parents never had any time out.

“That’s what made us think of organising a special weekend away for these amazing people – and what better place to bring them than to the beautiful mid-west.

“I know they are really going to enjoy the exciting city of Limerick and the lovely countryside of Co Clare,” he said.

“The people of Limerick and Clare are so welcoming and have always been so supportive of the work of the Foundation.”

ENTERPRISE, Trade and Employment Minister, Michael Martin has confirmed he has approved the new corporate plan for Shannon Development.

The move to approve the plan brings a step nearer, the implementation of the contentious new mandate for Shannon Development, which strips the company of its enterprise functions in the Shannon region.

However, apart from the company’s chief executive, Kevin Thompstone, management team and board, no staff member has seen the contents of the corporate plan, because unions are refusing to co-operate with the new mandate, pending the completion of a clarification process around it.

In a Dáil response to Green Party leader, Trevor Sargent on the issue, Minister Martin said: “I have recently approved the Shannon Development Corporate Plan drawn up, at my request, to give effect to the new mandate. My colleague, the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism has also indicated his approval.

“The plan sets out a clear and focused vision on the part of the company for its own future consistent with its mandate. As such it merits the support of all stakeholders in furthering the interests of the region.

“This process has not progressed as quickly as we may have wished, but it is more important to implement changes that all stakeholders can subscribe to rather than impose a unilateral solution that does not fully address the concerns of some of those stakeholders.

“Nevertheless, I expect this process to be brought to a successful conclusion very shortly and that the mandate will be implemented this year. There is no evidence to suggest that the process of engagement that has been undertaken with the staff representatives of the company has, in any way, inhibited investment in the region.

“Under the terms of the new mandate, Shannon Development is being given a more focused regional economic remit that will complement the roles of the national agencies, IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland, in attracting foreign direct investment and developing the indigenous enterprise base in the region.

“The company will also continue to be responsible for providing appropriate property solutions for both indigenous and overseas enterprises throughout the Shannon region and for the management and development of the Shannon Free Zone Industrial Estate.

Speaking to The Clare People , Shannon Development chief executive, Kevin Thompstone, confirmed that staff had not seen the contents of the corporate plan.

However, he said: “There is no big mystery to it. We have not been treating it like a top secret item, I would have openly shared the thinking around it.

“In essence, the gist of the plan is we are saying, Shannon Development is a regional economic company, our job is to make it easy for investors and visitors to imagine a bright future for the region, to exploit the opportunities, eliminate the obstacles to achieve that ambition and to build a hub of development and activity in the west of Ireland.

“In my role as CEO, it is important that we chart out what we are going to be doing over the next few years and I sat down with the senior management team, worked through that, over the past year and set out clear goals for the company.

“The key means to achieve those objectives: focusing on flagship projects, we will use property as a key tool to deliver those projects and we will use our role as a regional tourism authority to develop strategic marketing initiatives.

“That is the strategy, the plan is about fleshing that out by making sure that we have the capital and revenue resources in order to achieve it.”

MORE than a year after hundreds of customers signed up for a new broadband service in County Clare, it has emerged that subscribers will now have to wait until next year for the high-speed connection which they should have had last September.

In June 2005, Smart Telecom enticed customers to sign up for their alternative service, offering special deals including free line rental for life. Smart offered the package for just €35 a month including VAT, undercutting Eircom by almost €50. Smart also told those who signed up that they would have their connection by the following September (2005). Ten months later, the company now says that it could be 2007 before they can finally roll out broadband in Ennis but has not offered any explanation for the delay.

Smart continues to blame “unreasonable terms and restrictions imposed by Eircom, including access to its national network” for the delays in its roll-out to new areas.

Eircom has described these claims as “disingenuous” and says, “We have offered broadband to customers in Ennis since spring 2003. Eircom already provides access to our exchange in Ennis to other operators. A number of competitors avail of this access and also offer DSL broadband in Ennis so there is nothing stopping Smart Telecom from offering broadband there.”

According to Smart, “Our roll-out is based around the Government’s

Metropolitan Area Networks pro gramme. The reason the MAN’s came into existence is because Eircom would not offer reasonable terms on its network for national access.”

The government has invested €27m in its MAN’s programme in an effort to address the infrastructure deficit by building high-speed open access networks in 120 towns and cities nationwide, on a phased basis, in association with the local and regional authorities. It has emerged that Ennis is not included in either Phase I or II of the project which means, if Smart Telecom’s roll-out of broadband in Ennis is dependent on MAN’s, the company’s Ennis customers will have to wait until 2007.

According to the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, “We are well aware of the need for MAN’s for some of the larger towns like Ennis. However, the government decision was to target those towns which in 2003 did not have any broadband infrastructure at all. Ennis had DSL at that time.”

THE offer by Shannon Development to fund the Shannon Airport Authority (SAA) by €30 million over the first five years of its operation has been withdrawn, it emerged yesterday.

The move by Shannon Development makes the task for the SAA to produce a viable business plan more difficult. Already, the chair of the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA), Gary McGann has cast serious doubt on the SAA gaining full autonomy.

Last year, in response to moves by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment to transfer the assets base of Shannon Development to the SAA, Shannon Development produced a counter-offer to fund the SAA with €30 million over the first five years of operation.

In announcing the new mandate for Shannon Development last July, Minister Martin noted the offer from Shannon Development.

The business plan is still being drawn up by the SAA. However the move by Shannon Development to shelve its proposed funding of the SAA now leaves a gaping hole in that plan.

Speaking after the publication of Shannon Development’s annual report, chief executive, Kevin Thompstone said: “Any funding issue that may or may or not exist for the airport authority will have to be resolved elsewhere. Funding of that magnitude to be transferred to the SAA is not provided for.

“We wouldn’t be planning any financial contribution to the SAA into the future.”

Mr Thompstone explained: “In early 2005, there was a proposal to transfer the assets base. We put forward an alternative funding model, which we worked out with the SAA and agreed how that would work and the amount involved.

“As it turned out, with the announcement of the new mandate, that proposal was effectively shelved at that point and as I understand it, the SAA is looking at alternative sources of funding.

“Things have moved on from the Shannon Development perspective. In our corporate plan, we have projects and initiatives that we need to deliver around the region that are going to be hungry for capital and funding is earmarked for those projects.

“The best way we can make a contribution to the airport authority is through development of flagship projects for the airport,” he said.

AN POST has further deferred controversial plans to relocate mail sorting services from Sixmilebridge and Newmarket-onFergus post offices to nearby Shannon Town, a move which staff and local politicians are vehemently opposed to.

The company had notified delivery staff at both post offices that they should report for duty in Shannon on February 20 and that they would be operating from that centre in future. That move was later postponed “in the short term” by An Post, without offering any explanation to workers, while a second planned move, which staff were not even informed about, has also been deferred.

An Post now says, “It is expected that this change will be made, in co-operation with our staff, later this year.” Workers claim, however, that they were not notified of the original move. The Communications Workers Union has since become involved and has met with the company but no agreement on a move has been reached.

At present, letter and parcel post for the villages of Newmarket-on-Fergus and Sixmilebridge is sorted on site at the respective post offices. Ten delivery staff are employed between the two offices. Moving them to Shannon would see a doubling of staff at that sorting centre.

Local Councillor John Crowe says he is “totally opposed to any plan which would see a dilution of services in either village. Sixmilebridge and Newmarket are expanding all the time and, if anything, An Post should be upgrading facilities and services here. The population is growing in these areas and what we need are more, not less, services.”

Others have expressed concerns that An Post plans to close the post officers at Sixmilebridge and Newmarket-on-Fergus.

An Post has said that neither post office is at risk of closure.

“Any changes to mail collection and delivery arrangements that may result have no bearing whatsoever on post office operations in those areas,” the company has said.

In a statement this week, An Post confirmed that “in order to improve both our delivery service to business and private customers and our operational efficiency, it is planned to operate delivery services for the Shannon, Newmarket and Sixmilebridge areas out of the Shannon Delivery Services Unit.”