Category: News

THE awards evening for this year’s Write a Book initiative, organised by Clare Education Centre and sponsored by O’Mahony’s Bookshop in Ennis, was held at Dromoland Castle on June 7.

Awards of books were presented by Tom Kelly, District Inspector of the Department of Education and Science to children in categories such as junior infants, senior infants and first to sixth class, while all the children who participated received a certificate of achievement from the Clare Education Centre.

Hundreds of children throughout Clare, with the help of their teachers, were involved in the process, which saw them create their own publications.

A huge and varied collection was presented this year on a wide rage of topics and many of the books will end up in school libraries or as cherished items from schooldays.

A total of 2,030 books were published through the project, with close to 185 teachers involved. Many more schools participated nationwide to celebrate child creativity.

A COURT has heard that a west Clare rural community has been left in shock after it emerged that a highly respected man had indecently assaulted a young girl over 30 years ago.

Stephen Hennessy (69), of Shanganagh, Kilkee, admitted indecently assaulting his victim on a number of occasions, between 1968 and 1972. At the time, he was in his 30s and she was aged between 11 and 14.

One of the incidents took place in a parked car and another while he was driving a car.

Garda Marie O’Neill told Ennis Circuit Court that, on one occasion, while the accused was driving, he let his victim change gears and touched her between the legs.

“He was abusing her but, the other side of it, he bought her gifts – sweets, chocolate and a watch,” said Garda O’Neill.

She said the victim, who did not wish to give evidence in court, was devastated by the accused’s actions.

Hennessy, who is not married, has no previous convictions. The court was told he wrote a letter to his victim, apologising for what he did. In that letter, he stated that he would “regret it all his life.”

Judge Carroll Moran asked why there was a delay in the case being brought to court. He was told the injured party made a statement in 2003.

A neighbour of the accused told the court the matter “has come as a shock to the community as he was well respected.”

He described Hennessy as “a very good neighbour,” who was deeply involved in the GAA.

“He was a man I looked up to . . . I still respect him as a man who would never tell a lie,” said the neighbour, who has worked alongside the accused in the RDF.

The accused’s barrister said his client pleaded guilty at the first opportunity and said he had €20,000 compensation in court. However, Counsel for the State, Stephen Coughlan, said the victim was not interested in compensation. The court was told the victim has initiated High Court personal injury proceedings.

Judge Moran said the accused “committed a pretty heinous offence against a very young girl, albeit a long time ago.”

He asked were any other complaints made about the accused and Garda O’Neill said she was not aware of any.

“I am told the injured party doesn’t want compensation. I don’t know how wise that is,” said the judge.

He adjourned sentencing until October.

A MAN who got irate when he saw the dog warden taking his dog away has been convicted of a public order offence.

Niall Considine (40), of Church Drive, Clarecastle, appeared before Ennis District Court, arising out of an incident in Clarecastle in July 2005. He pleaded guilty to engaging in threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour.

Inspector Tom Kennedy said dog warden Frankie Coote was dealing with a matter involving dogs owned by the accused, when he got irate.

“He threatened Mr Coote to let the dog out of the van or he would kill him. He made other threats to Mr Coote, to the extent that he called the guards,” said the inspector.

Defence solicitor Daragh Hassett said his client would “not fully accept” there were words of that nature. He said one of the dogs was owned by the accused and his family and the other dog was owned by the accused’s uncle.

“Mr Considine says there were several dogs loose and two dogs were picked out,” said the solicitor.

He said the accused asked the dog warden not to take the dogs away and admitted he got irate. He said his client had now erected two steel gates at his house, to ensure an incident such as occurred on this occasion wouldn’t happen again.

Mr Coote told the court he had picked up both dogs earlier that day and brought them to the dog pound. The accused’s wife had followed him to the pound and he returned the dogs to her.

Judge Joseph Mangan heard that the accused had a number of previous convictions, including one for larceny. He imposed a fine of €250.

THE promoters of Ireland’s first full-scale retirement village are to spend €120,000 on ensuring the welfare of 30 tiny bats on the site, it emerged yesterday. This represents a spend of, on average, €4,000 on each bat.

Last December, €70 million plans were announced by the Dublinbased Master Group to transform the 18 century Carnelly House near Clarecastle into a retirement village. The project involves the construction of 120 homes of various sizes, 35 apartments and a 64bed retirement home and will accommodate 300 residents.

However, the developers discovered during an investigation of the site that it was a nationally important maternity roost for the rare and protected Lesser Horseshoe Bat.

As a result, Clare County Council asked the developers to put in place mitigation measures to protect the bats.

Managing Director of Master Group, Ray Kelliher confirmed to The Clare People that €120,000 would be spent on protecting the bats on site.

Elsewhere, GAMA Construction has spent in excess of €100,000 on a bat-house along the route of the Ennis bypass. Businessman Austin Delaney secured planning permission for a bat-house in conjunction with plans to redevelop Ballykilty Manor as a hotel.

The Lesser Horseshoe Bat can be found across northern Europe and Africa and is listed as a vulnerable species as they have become extinct in much of their former range.

“A lot of time has been spent on how we will address the bats issue and the care taken reflects the attention to detail in the overall project which I believe is unequalled inIreland and the UK,” said Mr Kelliher

He said that a storyboard would be put in place for residents and visitors to explain the background to bats at the site.

The spend on the bats will include the refurbishment of the coachhouse at Carnelly and the putting in place of a ‘fly-over’.

The fly-over – which may consist of netting – will be constructed to ensure that the bats can commute up and over the new road without danger of collision with traffic. Lighting and temporary netting is to be also put in place to guide them along the commuting route. It is proposed to dedicate the coachhouse entirely as a maternity roost for the bats, creating a new dormer style home.

HOUSE building in the county has increased over the past 12 months, despite the reduction in planning permissions granted by Clare County Council.

But the 11.4 per cent reduction in planning permissions granted in the first three months of this year could lead to a significant drop in the number of houses being built over the coming years.

Figures revealed by the Central Statistics Office last week showed a marked decrease in the number of units granted planning permission in the past year.

During the first three months of this year 575 units were granted full planning compared to 716 during the same period last year.

Construction Industry Federation (CIF) Housing Executive Kevin Flavin told The Clare People that the 12-month figure showed a more significant reduction in planning permissions granted and a larger increase in the numbers of projects started.

The CIF executive pointed to a 19.7 per cent decrease in the number of planning permission granted between the 12-month period ending March 2005 and the same period ending March 2006.

Meanwhile, there was an estimated 27.8 per cent increase in building between the first five months of this year and the same period last year.

“Things are going very strong at this very moment in time, as in other parts of the country,” said Mr Flavin.

Commenting of the figure Clare County Councillor PJ Kelly said he felt they did not give a clear indication of building in the country as the figures did not account for withdrawn planning permissions.

He told The Clare People that the figures would not give a true reflection until the number of planning permissions applied for was compared to the number granted.

He said it was also his belief that the majority of refusals were in rural areas and for one off houses.

“It has been so difficult to get planning permission in rural areas,” he said.

Last year there were 2,487 planning applications with approximately 800 of those from rural areas according to the councillor.

Meanwhile, house prices in county Clare continue to experience huge growth increasing by 253 per cent over the last decade, according to a special edition of the permanent TSB House Price Index.

Compiled in association with the ESRI, the index shows that the average cost of a house in county Clare in 1996 was just €69,330. Ten years later the average cost had increased to €244,415.

Nationally house prices have increased even more – by 270 per cent over the past ten years.

CLARE Gardaí are encouraging informers to spill the beans on drug dealers operating in Clare, amid a dramatic increase in the amount of drugs being seized.

Thirty nine drug seizures were made in the Clare Garda Division over the past two-and-ahalf weeks, and 45 people were arrested.

In one of the hauls, two men – aged 32 and 27 – were arrested after cannabis resin with a street value of €3,000 was found after their car was stopped and searched on the Limerick road in Ennis, shortly after 8pm on Saturday.

In another incident, a 16-year-old boy was found in possession of cannabis resin, valued at €1,500 and 20g of speed, on Abbey Street, Ennis, in the early hours of Saturday morning. A subsequent search of a house recovered more speed and cannabis resin, which gardaí say was intended for sale.

Last Tuesday night, a man in his 40s was arrested after up to 60 cannabis plants were found at the rear of a house near Crusheen.

Gardaí say the vast majority of drugs being supplied in Clare come from Limerick.

Superintendent John Kerin said an assortment of drugs has been seized. “We are talking about every kind of drug – ecstacy, cannabis resin, heroin and cocaine. The number of seizures is extraordinarily high. We are putting a lot of resources into this. We are asking people who know who is providing these drugs to come forward,” he said.

GARDAÍ investigating claims that a woman was raped in a west Clare village last weekend have questioned a local man.

A 26-year-old woman, who is from the UK, and who was visiting Clare for the weekend, alleged to gardaí that she was raped in the bedroom in which she was staying.

She alleged that a man in his 30s went into the bedroom in the early hours of the morning and attacked her.

The allegations followed an evening’s socialising in the west Clare village. The young woman travelled to Ireland on Saturday evening, to stay with friends. According to the complainant, she met a number of people, including the young man who she later made the complaint about. The woman was staying at a friend’s house, and a number of people went back there, after they had socialised in a licensed premises.

A Garda spokesman said that while no-one was arrested, one man was questioned.

“We have questioned a local man, as part of our investigations and the investigation is continuing,” he said.

“The young woman alleges she was raped and that allegation is being investigated,” added the spokesman.

CLARE County Council yesterday said it had no record of a report from the Ombudsman outlining its handling of the administration of named planning applications in 2002.

According to the summary of a response to a complaint brought by David McNamara to the Ombudsman and seen by The Clare People there were a number of errors on the part of the council in its handling of the administration of two specific planning applications.

In the document the Ombudsman said her examination showed there were a number of errors on the part of the council in its handling of the planning applications P02/590 and P02/591 “including the date stamping documents, the handling of the fees in relation to the applications and in particular the information provided to you on April 9 2002 and April 12 2002.’

“The errors which occurred contributed to your sense of grievance and unfair treatment and to your submission being late,” she told Mr McNamara.

“Your late submission was refused by the council and this refusal resulted in your ineligibility to appeal the council’s decision to An Bord Pleanála.

“In light of this, my office asked the council to review its handling of the matter and to advise my office of the steps it has taken to ensure that the errors which occurred in this case do not re-occur and to state the redress it would propose to offer to you,” the document continued.

The Ombudsman also told the Parteen man that, “The council has outlined its current practices regarding the receipting, stamping and validation of applications and the handling of fees for invalid applications. These have been referred to in some detail above. The systemic issues arising in your complaint have been addressed by the council and it is hoped that the event which occurred in you case will not reoccur.”

A PRIVATE prosecution taken by the father of a young man who was killed in a road accident in west Clare over two years ago has been withdrawn.

The case, taken by Seán Cotter, of Henry Street, Kilrush, against the driver of the car in which his son Gary was travelling when the accident occurred, was withdrawn at Kilrush District Court last Wednesday.

Mr Cotter’s solicitor Eugene O’Kelly said the State had dealt with the prosecution in the case and “accordingly, I’m looking to withdraw, strike out that.”

In May, Mark O’Gorman (22), of Woodfield Drive, Kilrush, was found not guilty at Ennis Circuit Court of dangerous driving causing the death of 20-year-old Gary Cotter, at Moyasta, Kilrush, on April 11, 2004. He pleaded not guilty to the charge and was acquitted by a jury. Mr O’Gorman was driving a silver Ford Focus car from Kilkee to Kilrush when the accident occurred. Mr Cotter was a front seat passenger. The private prosecution taken by Mr Cotter was mentioned at Kilrush District Court last September, but was adjourned, until after the Circuit Court trial.

Meanwhile, an internal Garda enquiry is examining certain aspects of the initial Garda investigation into the death of the 20-year-old, after his parents raised grave concerns. Seán Cotter and his wife Mary say they are unhappy with the way the investigation was handled and say many questions remain unanswered. They complained to the Minister for Justice and an independent Garda investigation was subsequently established. A senior garda from outside the Clare Garda Division was appointed to carry out the enquiry.

THE Department of Education has revoked an autistic girl’s essential after school education without any notice to her family.

Isabelle Séquin, who attends Carrigaholt National School with her twin sister Clara, was denied her home tuition last April without any explanation.

When her parent’s Pat and Daniele inquired about the service that supported their daughter to attend the local school, they were told the practice was being discontinued as she was attending school full time.

Isabelle’s mother said that the two hours tuition every evening was vital for their daughter if she was to continue her education, as it helped her with communication and integration.

This is just one in a series of disappointments for the young family, since Isabelle was first diagnosed with Cerebral Palsey at seven months.

At two and a half she was further diagnosed with autism.

During her pre-school years the little girl was provided with the services necessary to help her learn to communicate.

When she started primary school at five, it was on condition that a specialised team including a senior psychologist, social worker and speech therapist was in place. A special needs assistance was also employed at the primary school.

But in the first 12 months of her primary school education the senior phsychologist moved on to another job. The speech therapist she saw just three times a year, also left the position and neither were replaced.

Since then the little girl has managed with just five hours of remedial teaching a week and after school tuition, which the government have now taken from the little girl.

“It is difficult enough to deal with this situation, with all the stresses and strains, but then you have to battle for every little bit,” said Isabelle’s distraught mother.

“She had more at pre-school. The (national) school is doing the best they can, but there are 15 children in the classroom and four classes. One hour of remedial teaching a day is not adequate,” she said.

“The home assistance was the only service available to progress children with autism. The services in schools have not been replaced, or improved but the Department of Education is removing the one service in place.”

Up to 14 children on the west Clare peninsula have been diagnosed with autism, and Ms Séquin says that the cancelling of the service is affecting the majority of these families.

The Department of Education said it “no longer provides home tuition grants where a child has secured a school placement.”