Category: News

ONE of two teenagers accused of involvement in a crime spree in Kilrush last week has claimed he has been threatened in a detention centre.

The 17-year-old said he was threatened in St. Patrick’s Institution, where he was been held in connection with damage to two houses and four cars in the John Paul Estate.

His solicitor asked Ennis District Court last Friday that his client be transferred to another place of detention.

The teenager, who cannot be named because of his age, and his co-accused, John Casey junior (19), of Crawford Street, Kilrush, are both charged with six offences, arising out of alleged incidents, after 2am on April 4.

At Ennistymon District Court last Wednesday, gardaí successfully opposed bail for the pair, because of the “seriousness of the charges”.

Both appeared again at Ennis District Court on Friday, where solicitor, Eugene O’Kelly, detailed the claim made by the 17-year-old.

“We are consenting to a remand, but we are requesting that he not be sent to St. Patrick’s Institution . . . He has been threatened on numerous occasions,” he said.

He told Judge Joseph Mangan that his client had made several complaints to the governor there and he was told to bring it to the attention of the court.

“If there is a problem with St. Patrick’s, I can’t administer St. Patrick’s. If you conceive that your client has problems, you can communicate with the Minister. If that is not satisfactory, you can go to the High Court,” said Judge Joseph Mangan.

He remanded the accused to St. Patrick’s Institution and refused bail for Casey.

In opposing an earlier bail application last Wednesday, Detective Garda Michael McDonagh said John Casey did “not have regard for law and order in Kilrush.”

“I believe Mr Casey is capable of approaching a witness. I have no doubt about that,” he said.

“The injured parties are in a vulnerable state. For their own safety, we would strongly object to Mr Casey getting bail here today,” he added.

Defending solicitor, Tara Godfrey, said her client, who was unemployed and lived with his mother, had “never been convicted of threatening or attempting to tamper with a witness.”

Both accused will appear again in court later in the month.

A CLARE punter has scooped almost €700,000 tipping the top 10 national hunt horses for the season.

Brian Munnelly, a meteorologist at Shannon Airport, placed a €16 bet in the UK ‘totetentofollow competition’ winning €689,000 after the Grand National on Saturday.

Ironically, it was a horse with strong Clare connections and winner of the Grand National, Numbersixvalverde that helped the 60-year old to scoop the prize.

Speaking from his home in Shannon town last night, Mr Munnelly said: “I was leading the competition going into the Grand National and didn’t have any horse running in the race, but the man coming second had backed ‘Hedgehunter’, which of course finished second in the race to Numbersixvalverde.”

If ‘Hedgehunter’ had won the National, Mr Munnelly would have lost out but in the end, he won by one solitary point after leading the competition since Christmas.

The single man said that he intends to use the majority of the winnings to buy a property in Dublin where he has spent most of his life.

Due to retire later this year, the Wexford-born man said: “I have spent 30 to 40 years of my life in Dublin and I’m looking forward to returning there when I retire.”

“I don’t expect any big change to my life. I won’t be going too wild with my winnings and buying big cars or anything like that.”

He said he plans to settle on the northside of Dublin where his parents hail from. “I won’t be too ambitious in the home I will be purchasing.”

Mr Munnelly found out that he had won the competition 20 minutes after the Grand National. He said: “I did not have a horse in the National so I was sweating,” he said.

The champion tipster put his success down to luck and a lifetime of watching horse racing.

“I have been going to Cheltenham for the last 35 years and I watch a lot of racing and I’ve got a lot of knowledge from it, so it’s time it paid off,” he said

Advising would-be punters, Mr Munnelly said: “Do your research and be lucky.”

The ‘totetentofollow’ works in a similar way to fantasy football with contestants picking 10 horses to follow throughout the season.

Each horse picks up points for winning races with bonus points available for winning prestigious races such as the Cheltenham Gold Cup or the Grand National.

Among Mr Munnelly’s successful tips were Irish pair War of Attrition and Brave Inca, winners of the Gold Cup and Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival last month.

CLARE County Council is to lodge an application with the Department of the Marine for up to €2 million in funding to allow it extend Doolin pier and dredge the local harbour.

The council says the works are necessary in order to upgrade the increasingly busy Doolin harbour, where four ferry operators are located in the peak Summer months.

The Department of Community, Gaeltacht and Rural Affairs has already committed to providing substantial funding to the €4 million project, according to County Engineer, Tom Carey.

Minister Eamon O’ Cuiv’s department could provide up to €2 million for the scheme, if matching funds are found. Mr Carey said the remaining shortfall was too much for the council to bridge, so it would apply instead to the Department of the Marine.

Mr Carey said that the council had been unsuccessful in the past in persuading Marine to provide the funding, because the department’s main focus lay with fishing harbours.

But, Mr Carey said that the council would be stressing the importance of the facilities at Doolin to the local fishing industry.

“We are hoping that the department will revisit their earlier decision,” said Mr Carey.

Mr Carey said that the council had already spent €120,000 on a geo-technical survey to see how the safety problems identified in transferring passengers from the pier to the ferry boats, at medium and low tides, could be addressed.

He said that progress had also been made on plans to progress visitor facilities for passengers at Doolin. He said these would cost in excess of €1 million.

In addition, some improvements had been made to plans unveiled eighteen months ago to establish a terminal for all companies operating out of Doolin.

“We are continuing to work on the plan and have had some fresh thoughts which have improved the proposals.

“We now hope to show these proposals to the people on whose lands we hope to locate the building. The Office of Public Works (OPW) has also entered the fray with their plans to build a station for the local coastguard unit, so there is a good bit happening in the background.”

Mattie Shannon of the Doolin Community Harbour Co-op welcomed the council’s initiative.

“Unfortunately, the Council has been refused by the Department of the Marine before, but now there are six fishing licenses that could operate out of Doolin. This issues needs to be pushed more.”

MUCH needed shower and toilet facilities should be in place in Lahinch by the beginning of the 2007 tourist season according to local Fine Gael Councillor, Martin Conway.

The town has been lacking in toilet facilities for the last number of years and plans are in the pipeline to construct shower facilities along with new toilets on the promenade, in a area believed to be close to the Seaworld building.

These plans are in response to the growing number of surfers who come to the village each week. With the numbers travelling to Lahinch to surf each week currently estimated to be in the region of 300 people, it has become big business and the town where three surf schools and a surf shop ow operate.

The toilet and showers facilities will not only allow bathers and surfers to wash after the water but it will also allow surfers to clean their equipment after surfing and protect it from the expensive damage that can be incurred from the salt water.

“Surfing is now big business for county Clare with thousands of people coming from all over the country to surf in Lahinch, winter and summer. Lahinch is benefiting enormously from surfers who come 52 weeks of the year,” said Cllr Conway.

“In the region of €90,000 was collected in car parking charges alone last year and a significant amount of this revenue was generated from surfers. It is shameful to think that they cannot even have a cold shower after coming out of the water.”

The news has also been welcomed by Tom Buckley, owner of the Lahinch Surf Shop.

“We have been looking for facilities like these for year,” said Mr Buckley. “Every time a politician came knocking on the door during an election we mentioned it but noone seemed to take any notice.

“It is about time that Clare County Council start to put some of the money that is raised from parking along the promenade back into the town.”

Cllr Conway has also expressed his hope that the facilities will be delivered sooner rather then later and also commented that shower facilities are needed in other beaches such as Spanish Point and Fanore.

“More and more local people from the parish and from all over county Clare are surfing on a regular basis and it is embarrassing that no showers are available,” concluded Cllr Conway.

THE Minister for Transport, Martin Cullen, has rejected the findings of a recent IBEC survey that the “Open Skies” aviation deal could result in companies exiting Clare and the Mid-West region.

He said he could see no reason why companies in the mid-west would be forced to relocate as a result of the new regime.

“The additional access to the US, as well as the increased numbers of US tourists into Ireland, will greatly benefit Irish tourism, aviation and business links generally in all parts of the country,” he said, in response to a Dáil question from Clare TD James Breen (Ind).

Minister Cullen rejected a further call from Deputy Breen to carry out an economic impact study into Open Skies.

In a survey published by the employers group last month, one in five companies based in the Mid-West said they would consider exiting Ireland, if there was a substantial reduction in flights arising from the forthcoming Open Skies arrangement.

Open Skies is due to commence in November, with the ratio of Dublin/ Shannon flights to the US, changing from 1:1 to 3:1 in favour of Dublin before an outright Open Skies regime starts in April 2008.

According to the IBEC report, the 30 per cent drop will cost the tourist sector along the west of Ireland €75 million each year and result in a 10 per cent drop in airport revenue.

Twenty five companies surveyed agreed that a substantial reduction in US services at Shannon “could trigger decisions to relocate the company from Ireland.

“A serious reduction in connectivity could, in the medium to long-term, affect future investment, with knockon implications for employment and the sustainability of facilities in the west,” the report states.

The Shannon Airport Authority (SAA) is anticipating a 30% drop from the existing 700,000 passengers on transatlantic routes.

Management of one of the largest companies in the Shannon Free Zone, US owned Avocent International employing 150 people, warned that access problems on US routes would effect future commitments to Irish operations.

BANKING competition in Ennis has moved up a notch with the official opening today of the Bank of Scotland.

And while the move received a warm welcome from the Chamber of Commerce’s, its Executive Officer, Rita McInerney has called for more support through the planning process to ensure that retailers are encouraged into Ennis to balance big chains like the banks.

Ennis is the 11th branch to open of the 46 branch network that the Bank of Scotland intends to achieve over the next year. This will be the first

completely new retail banking net work in more than a century.

The new bank will operate longer than usual opening hours, starting at 9am Monday to Saturday and staying open until 5pm on weekdays and noon on Saturday. Ms Chrissy Quinn, Head of Retail Banking at Bank of Scotland said the banks is “delighted to officially open the Ennis branch” and she thanked the Mayor of Ennis, Cllr Frankie Neylon, for agreeing to perform the official opening.

Rita McInerney said that the Chamber “welcomes the opening of the bank. It shows confidence in the economy of Ennis as a regional town.”

But Ms McInerney expressed the Chamber’s concern “that a good balance between retail and services be kept. The bank is in a good location, as it is close to existing banks, but we would be concerned that more retail businesses be encouraged to come in and keep the town centre alive.”

The Chamber’s CEO said that the organisation would like to see greater assistance given to prospective retail businesses at the planning stage.

“We need good pre-planning meetings, with proper note taken of what is discussed and agreed. Retailers thinking of investing in Ennis need to know what restrictions might apply in terms of things like site and architecture. We need to keep the balance between services, chains and individual retailers,” she said.

The Ennis branch is managed by Ciara Flynn, who is joined by Diarmuid Kelly, Mortgage Advisor and staff Claire Keane, Suzi McMahon, Mary Gilmore and Pauline Casey. Head of Retail Banking at the Bank of Scotland, Chrissy Quinn, said that customers “will see and experience a real difference.”

MORE than 200 women in Clare are estimated to have opted for elective Caesarean sections last year.

According to the Tánaiste and Minister for Health Mary Harney, 44.8 per cent of Caesarean sections performed in the country’s public hospitals in 2005 were elective.

The Minister was responding to a question by Clare Deputy James Breen (Ind).

She informed him that a new collating system, allowing separate classification of elective and emergency sections, was not available before 2005.

Last month The Clare People revealed that 27 Clare women who gave birth in the National University Hospital Galway, opted for an elective Caesarean section.

One in three Clare women giving birth in the Regional Maternity Hospital, Limerick also had a caesarean section. But it is unknown exactly how many were classified as emergency and how many were elective.

According to the Perinatal Statistics for 2002, the Caesarean section rate in Irish hospitals increased by 72 per cent in less than a decade. In 2005, 30 percent of births in the Regional Maternity Hospital, Limerick were be c-section.

KILLALOE was a community in shock at the weekend as local people absorbed the news that one of the town’s most popular residents had died. Publican, Tom Elliffe, lost his fight for life after a serious operation last week.

Tom was well-known locally as a businessman and a very active community worker, who got involved in organising and promoting the town’s festivals and community organisations. Tom – who was just 62 years old – was the manager of Brendan Grace’s Bar, and it was he who sold the pub to the Dublin comedian in 2002. His partner, Lorraine Cantillion, told how Tom remained actively interested and involved in the business, which they bought together in 1990 and which is currently undergoing refurbishment.

“Even though it was not Richardson’s any more, he was so looking forward to seeing the renovations done,” she said.

A native of Tullamore, Tom worked for many years in Irish Steel and as a barman in Cork.

Another of his passions was darts. Tom was Chairman of the Irish National Darts Organisation. He and Lorainne had a business together supplying dart boards, darts and other equipment to pubs.

The Killlaoe publican was closely involved with the community council and the organising committees for the Brian Ború Festival and the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.

“He loved animals and children and particularly his boxer dog, Jessie,” said Lorraine.

A saddened Brendan Grace gave the eulogy at the funeral as one of Tom’s closest pals.

“When the pub reopens I know that Tom’s spirit will grace the bar. Here was the captain of the ship,” said Brendan.

Speaking of Tom’s warmth and humour, the comedian told how the very first time he walked into the bar, which was then Richardson’s, “Tom asked was I Brian Ború and would I like to be Brian Ború in the festival.

“I agreed because I liked him as soon as I met him.

“The night I opened the bar in my name, I was making a toast and joked that it was great to find a pub that I couldn’t be thrown out of. Tom curled his lip that way he did and said ‘don’t be too sure about that.’”

Tom is survived by Lorraine, his children, Don, Joe, Pamela, Audrey and Valerie, his 93-year-old mother, Lily, two brothers and six sisters.

CLARE may not have risen up in revolution back in 1916, but 90 years on, public bodies in the county capital of Ennis and in Kilrush are gearing up to remember those who took up arms to strike for Irish freedom.

Wreaths of commemoration will be laid at the 1916 memorials in both towns, while ceremonies are also earmarked for Tuamgraney and the Republican plot in Drumcliffe Cemetery.

Mayor of Ennis, Frankie Neylon (Ind), will perform the honours at the ‘Laochra na Cásca’ plaque on the Club Bridge at 12 noon, while the Ennis Brass Band and the Army Reserve will be present for the occasion.

The commemoration plaque was unveiled for the golden jubilee Easter celebrations in 1966, by the then Bishop of Killaloe, Dr Joseph Rodgers and Clare County Council vicechairman, Michael Considine.

Forty years on, Mayor Neylon says it’s only right that the men of 1916 were remembered.

“These are the men who fought for our country and if we don’t remember the past, we don’t know how to shape our future,” he told The Clare People.

The ceremonies in Kilrush will be more lavish and are timed for 1pm. The commemoration wreath will be laid by Mayor Christy O’Malley (FF) while the guest of honour will be Independent TD James Breen.

“Everything will take place outside the Town Council offices where the plaque to the men of 1916 lies,” Councillor Tom Prendeville (FF) revealed.

“The Proclamation will be read in both Irish and English, while Padraig Pearse’s poem, The Wayfarer, will also be recited.

It’s only right that we are honouring the men of 1916 in this way,” added Councillor Prendeville.

Politicians local to east Clare are expected to be out in force for a wreath laying ceremony in the Republican park in Tuamgraney, which is known as the Garden of Remembrance.

Sinn Féin activists in the county will head for the Republican plot in Drumcliffe for their celebration of the Rising.

It expected that a leading official from the party in the Munster region will be present to perform the wreath laying ceremony and graveside oration.

Meanwhile, the Fleadh Nua which takes place in Ennis in May, will also mark the rising. This will take the form of a musical celebration in Glór on May 26.

“It will tell the story of 1916,” revealed Fleadh Nua chairman, Dónal Ó Loinsigh.

A 14-year-old boy who ran away from a residential centre in Clare five times last week has begged a judge not to send him to a boys’ centre in Dublin.

The boy, from Ennis, had been ordered to stay at the centre, as part of his bail conditions.

He is facing several charges, including burglary and criminal damage to cars.

The court heard last Friday that the boy was arrested in Ennis that day, on foot of a bench warrant. Garda Albert Hardiman said the boy was in breach of a bail condition.

“He continuously leaves the premises without authorisation and goes to Ennis,” he said.

He said the boy ran away five times last week, and disturbed his family when he arrived back in Ennis. Inspector Michael Gallagher said the boy’s mother was unable to control him and a place was available for him in Oberstown in Dublin.

Defending solicitor, Billy Loughnane, said his mother consented to this, but the boy wanted to stay in Clare.

When Judge Joseph Mangan said he was remanding him to Oberstown, the boy burst into tears and begged for one more chance.

“I’m sorry for running away. Can I get one more chance? I beg you so hard. I get down on my two knees and I pray. Please . . . I miss my family as well. It was just too hard to settle in,” he said.

Judge Mangan said to him, “You are making mugs of us.”

The boy then knelt down, saying, “I don’t like being on remand. I swear to God I’ll do everything I’m told to do.”

Judge Joseph Mangan remanded the boy to Oberstown Boys’ Centre, to appear again in court later this month.