Category: News

A JUDGE will rule next month if a young Shannon man is guilty of assault.

Before Ennis District Court was Mark Delaney (18), of Rossbracken, Shannon, arising out of an incident in March 2005.

Witness Thomas O’Connell (20) said the accused asked him for a cigarette, outside Supermac’s, in the early hours of the morning, and he said, “No.”

He said the accused headbutted him and hit him into the stomach.

Defending solicitor Caitriona Carmody said, “My client will say nobody assaulted you at all. You could have fallen over and not remembered it,” she added.

Garda Fiona Coleman said Mr O’Connell arrived at Shannon garda station in the early hours of March 20, and said he had been assaulted by the accused.

“He was in a very disorientated state. He had a cut to the upper bridge of the nose and was bleeding heavily,” she said.

The accused told the court he saw Mr O’Connell staggering around the place outside Supermac’s.

He said Mr O’Connell “came up to me. He walked very close to me. I thought he was going to hit me. I pushed him away and his glasses fell off.”

Ms Carmody applied for the charge to be dismissed. She said there were “several conflicts” between the evidence Mr O’Connell gave in court, to that contained in his statement to gardaí.

Judge Joseph Mangan adjourned a ruling on the assault charge until next month.

GAA President, Nicky Brennan, will make his first official visit to Clare since assuming the reigns of power on Friday, when he turns the sod on the €1million Michael Cusack Project.

The project is being spearheaded by the Michael Cusack Development Company and will see the restoration of the Cusack family cottage in Carron and the construction of a visitor centre and exhibition space.

The centenary of the death of the founder of the GAA occurs later in the year. The key objective of the voluntary company behind this venture is to honour Cusack with a project that commemorates his achievements. Friday’s event takes place at the cottage at 11.45am.

Clare GAA board chairman Michael McDonagh said “the Cusack Project has now been cut loose from the mother ship and we’ll see where it comes in.

“There is no question, but Michael McDonagh had to take a lot of credit for what has happened with the Cusack project,” said secretary Pat Fitzgerald.

It is hoped to have the project completed in time for the centenary of Cusack’s death, which falls on November 28.

Cusack’s cottage was first renovated in 1984, but has fallen into disrepair in recent years.

HE might be a horse of a different colour, but Zippy’s young riders, Mia Scanlan and her sister Farrah, reckon he’s in a class of his own.

He won’t be there, but if he were to put in an appearance at the Spancilhill horse fair — which starts this Friday — Zippy would surely have dealers thinking they were having nightmares. The very idea is enough to make a horse laugh.

The girls were getting aquainted with the 16-month old zebra at their farm at Gurtmagee, Killaloe.

Family friend and horse breeder, Johnny Cross, earned his stripes by breaking the mount, after being told it was impossible to do.

Having bought him from a dealer in Holland a few weeks ago, Johnny says he won’t be racing Zippy just yet — even though he has go-faster stripes!

ALMOST 60 per cent of Clare farmers cannot make ends meet through their farms, a new survey has revealed.

The survey, which was released today, also revealed that 40 per cent of farmers in the county plan on making major changes to their farms following the introduction of the Single Farm Payment.

The survey, which is entitled , was commissioned by the Agriculture and Rural Development Group of the Clare County Development Board and funded under the Clare LEADER Programme, by Rural Resource Development and by Teagasc.

“The lack of future development plans for farms, coupled with the ongoing decline in the actual number of farmers, is a serious issue for the future viability of farming in the county,” said Doirin Graham, Chairperson of the Agriculture and Rural Development Group.

“The enterprise culture on farms seems to have been stifled, possibly due to the lack of opportunities available under the quota/premium led production era.”

The survey, conducted by Broadmore Research, also revealed that 56 per cent of farming households had at least one other source of income besides the farm. There was a high dependence on construction and driving jobs. The main difficulty stated was time pressure affecting the running of the part-time farm.

“The most alarming finding is that 77 per cent of farmers intend to spend some, or all of their Single Farm Payment, on day-to-day farm costs,” said Pat Bogue of Broadmore Research.

“These farmers will spend an average of 70 per cent of the payment on running the farm. It is costing them money to produce, which is not only inefficient, but unsustainable.”

Those farmers who are forced to take off-farm jobs face hours in commuting time each week, with the majority of jobs centered along the Ennis-Shannon-Limerick axis. Some 59 per cent said they were satisfied following the introduction of the Single Farm Payment, even though only one-in-ten believed that they would be better off following the decoupling of payments.

“We are particularly concerned about the large proportion of the Single Farm Payment being used to support production, even though payments are now decoupled from production, and the level of dependence on off-farm income sources,” continued Ms Graham.

The survey found that half of the farmers were in receipt of a Single Farm Payment of less than €5,000.

CHARLES Haughey’s rise to the top of Fianna Fáil was 13 years in the building. He had designs on leadership in ’66. These weren’t completed until ’79 and Clare’s contribution to it cannot be underestimated.

It was Dr Bill Loughnane who fired the first shots of a battle that eventually saw Haughey replace Jack Lynch as Fianna Fáil leader and Taoiseach.

“The trouble with the Fianna Fáil party originated with the formation of a cabinet advisory group which completely ignored the ordinary TDs, who are in constant touch with the people in towns and rural areas of the country,” said Loughnane on July 27, 1979.

“These people were mostly theorists with no practical experience of the ordinary TD’s situation. The rural TDs were never asked about it until the Ard Fheis, when he had to withdraw it and show his incompetence,” he added.

Loughnane also called for Neil Blaney’s return to Fianna Fáil. It was seen as a direct pitch of support for the leadership ambitions of Haughey, something Dr. Bill further embellished when saying “there is compatibility between Blaney and Haughey, while there is no compatibility between Blaney and Lynch”.

Then came Deputy Síle de Valera’s attack at the Liam Lynch Commemoration on September 9 in Fermoy, when she openly criticised the Taoiseach’s policy on Northern Ireland.

“If our political leaders are not seen to be furthering our republican aspirations through constitutional means, the idealistic young members of our community will become disillusioned and discontented with politicians, and far more important, they will lose heart in the political and constitutional process and turn to violence to achieve their aims, which the politicians, in their eyes, have ceased to further,” she said.

“As a young person whose one wish is to further the task, which such young men as Liam Lynch had set before us, I look upon our party and particularly our leader to demonstrate his republicanism and bring these beliefs to fruition in our people,” added Deputy de Valera..

This outburst caused a sensation within Fianna Fáil ranks, even if it was thought that many members of the parliamentary party shared her views and her direct challenge to the Taoiseach. That challenge had its day on December 5th that year, when Jack Lynch resigned as Taoiseach and party leader to be replaced by Haughey.

IRELAND’S nuclear watchdog says one in five homes in Ennis has high radon levels and equivalent to those facing workers in Sellafield.

The Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (RPII) says the convictions secured against three Ennis companies last week will encourage it to take other cases, if necessary.

The Clare People has learned that over the past 16 years, 1,634 homes in Clare have been measured for radon levels. 14.9 per cent of those have shown levels higher than the recommended safe level. 137 schools in the county have also been measured during this time, 17 per cent of which have exceeded the recommended safe level. RPII spokesman David Fenton said people in the areas above the recommended level “are experiencing levels comparable to workers at a nuclear station.”

Radon, the gas which is linked to 200 lung cancer deaths each year, is particularly high in Ennis, along with Tralee, he said. This was one of the reasons those towns were targeted by the RPII.

“One in five houses in Ennis have problems with radon. While there is no legislation governing radon in homes, awareness is important,” he said. Mr Fenton also expressed satisfaction that convictions were secured against three Ennis companies in the District Court last week.

The court proceedings arose after the companies failed to comply with directions issued by the RPII. Thirty companies in total were picked at random in May 2004 and issued with directions. The failure of the three to follow the directions, resulted in the court action.

“We are pleased with the outcome of the court case. There may well be other cases in Ennis. We won’t hesitate to prosecute companies who don’t comply with directions,” he said. He also stressed that when tests were carried out on the premises of the companies that were prosecuted, radon levels low and staff were not at risk. The RPII is encouraging householders to carry out their own radon tests. For details: 1800 300 600.

THE largest increase in malaria cases in the country has been reported in Munster with cases of the deadly disease doubling in a year.

Between 2004 and 2005, recorded cases of the condition increased by 60 per cent, countrywide. But, in Munster, the increase exceeded 100 per cent.

Last year, eleven cases were recorded in Munster, leading the Medical Director of the Tropical Medical Bureau Ireland, Dr Graham Fry, to express concern at the prevalence of the disease, in the region.

The travel medicine expert said, “already in the first 20 weeks of this year, there have been 36 cases of malaria notified nationally. Based on current trends, this is likely to climb to 100 cases or more this year.”

In addition, 75 per cent of travellers leaving Ireland to countries with a known malaria risk had not packed malaria tablets.

“It is worrying that so many travellers visiting malaria areas are either ignorant of the risks, or are content to put their lives in danger,” he said.

A survey conducted among those travelling from Dublin Airport to malaria areas also found that among the reasons given for not taking tablets were that respondents did not see the need to take tablets when there was nothing wrong with them.

MIKE McTIGUE was never afraid to say he was a Charlie Haughey man. He arose and followed Charlie many years ago and his admiration stayed true, through thick and thin.

Down the years, his sculpting skills also paid tribute to the lost leader of Fianna Fáil. Only last year, he was commissioned to sculpt a limestone plinth for a bold relief of the former Taoiseach down in Dingle. It wasn’t the first time that McTigue’s craft honoured Haughey. When he retired as Taoiseach in early 1992, McTigue was also on hand to mark the occasion.

McTigue was on the national executive at the time. He recalls two meetings as Haughey’s reign was coming to an end.

“Two nights after Sean Doherty made his allegations about phonetapping, he chaired a national executive meeting. People were calling for Charlie’s head – the PDs and the media. But in the meeting. he was calm and said, ‘It’s not the PDs, or the media, it’s the enemy from within’. You could hear a pin drop when he said it. Albert Reynolds and Padraig Flynn were sitting behind him.

“Then he chaired his last meeting in Leinster House, the meeting that ratified Albert Reynolds as Taoiseach. When Charlie’s business was done, he got up, gave a little bow like he always did and walked out. General secretary, Frank Wall, was behind as he always was. There was a sense of history passing that day.”

THREE Ennis businesses have become the first companies convicted of failing to measure the cancer-causing gas, radon, in their workplaces.

Woodstock Golf and Country Club and Shannonside Oil, Clare Road, Ennis, pleaded guilty to the offence, at Ennis District Court last Thursday. The Clare Champion newspaper had entered a plea of guilty, at a previous sitting of the court last December.

The prosecutor, the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (RPII) had sought an adjournment of a case involving a fourth accused, Paddy Power bookmakers. However Judge Joseph Mangan stressed that the case was in for hearing and dismissed it.

Solicitor for the RPII, Harry Mooney told the court the Institute can issue directions to employers to carry out tests for the naturally occurring radioactive gas, radon.

He said companies are given six months to carry out the tests. The companies concerned were directed to carry out the assessments in May 2004, but did not do so within the required timeframe, he said.

“Shortly before the expiry of the six-month limit, a reminder was issued, but the tests were not carried out,” said Mr Mooney.

“The defendants have now carried out the tests. The test results reported back now show that there was no cause for concern,” he added.

The solicitor said Ennis was targeted, because, “statistically, information suggests the town may have radon problems. . . Thankfully tests carried out at these three premises show they have no problems with radon.”

Solicitor Isobel O’Dea, who acted as agent for Shannonside Oil, said the accused understood that Irish Shell, who owns the depot, was responsible for carrying out the tests and that it was an oversight.

Ms O’Dea, who also represented The Clare Champion , said the company’s Managing Director John Galvin regretted the tests weren’t carried out and apologised for the oversight.

Sharon Cahir, representing Woodstock Golf and Country Club, said results carried out on the premises over a six-month period were “very low.” All three had been also accused of failing to submit results, but these summonses were struck out, on application, with no objection from the Prosecutor.

Judge Joseph Mangan imposed fines of €500 on Shannonside Oil and Woodstock Golf and Country Club, and €300 on The Clare Champion . He said he was giving credit to The Clare Champion , for entering a plea, at the initial court hearing in December. All three were ordered to pay €600 costs.

These convictions are the first imposed for this offence in Ireland.

Last month, three businesses in Tralee were ordered to pay into the court poorbox, for failing to carry out tests for radon. Costs in those cases were not allowed and no convictions were imposed.

CLARE writer, Edna O’Brien has been honoured by University College Dublin for her work.

The author of books including The Country Girls and Girl with Green Eyes was awarded a Ulysses Medal, the highest prize UCD can bestow.

The story of The Country Girls is partly based on the author’s own experiences being brought up in a convent.

“The novel is autobiographical insofar as I was born and bred in the west of Ireland, educated at a convent and was full of romantic yearnings, coupled with a sense of outrage,” O’Brien has said.

The Country Girls continued into The Lonely Girl (1962) and Girls in Their Married Bliss (1964).

The Tuamgraney woman has seen her share of controversy during her writing career and, lately, critics have accused her of making money on the back of tragedy.

O’Brien’s novel In the Forest dealt with the murder of Imelda Riney by Brendan O’Donnell and provoked outrage among critics who said that she should not have chosen a tragedy so recent as the basis for her book. between O’Brien and her great inspira-

The Country Girls , her first book, also tion, James Joyce. caused a storm of controversy on its reHe said that, “Like Joyce, she has lived lease in 1960. in exile but never forgot a single thing.

It was banned by the censorship board He is the figure who inspired Caithleen and a copy was burned by the curate in Brady in The Country Girls and he is the her local church. It went on to become a figure to whom Edna O’Brien constantly bestseller. returns.”

Awarding the medal, Professor Declan Accepting the medal, O’Brien said that Kiberd drew a comparison in his citation she was honoured to be the fourth recipient of the award.

“It’s a huge gift and these gifts don’t come often. It means a lot to me.”

Those gathered for the award heard that the author is donating her literary papers to the university.