Category: News

THE rate of burglaries in the Clare Garda Division increased last year, but there was a drop in the number of assaults, sexual offences and public order incidents, according to latest crime figures.

Statistics obtained from the Department of Justice show that overall, reported crime has dropped by 16 per cent in Clare since 2003.

Some, 530 headline offences were committed last year, compared with 1,651 in 2004. The figure for 2003 was 1,820.

Chief Superintendent Liam Quinn said the reduction over the past two years was “significant.”

“While you have reductions in crime over two years, 2003 was a bit of a high, with 1,820 offences,” he said.

“There have been across-the-board reductions in assaults and sexual offences. Certainly here in Ennis, the trend has been downwards in relation to public order,” he added.

“Burglary will always be a concern. We have had a number of incidents of arson and stabbings in Kilrush, which have largely been brought under control, as a result of operations in that area,” he said.

Approximately one-third of all headline crimes are detected in Clare every year, which is along the lines of the national average.

Clare TD James Breen (Ind) has expressed concerned at the increased availability of drugs in Clare.

He said a lack of hobbies for young people was at the root of the problem.

“The temptation to experiment is great. In Shannon, for instance, there is no cinema and no disco and Kilrush is the same way.

“If we are to address the problem, we have to put the facilities in place for young people.

“Young people have nothing, no pastimes.

“They are standing idly by corners with nothing to do,” he said.

He said ecstasy and cannabis resin were widely available and that young people as young as six, should be educated on the dangers of drugs.

“The gardaí are under-resourced. The sooner the Minister for Justice gives the extra resources to deal with drugs, the better,” he said.

FUNDING for public patients attending the radiotherapy unit at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital is being delayed, partly because of Department of Health guidelines, according to a senior health manager.

The clinical practice guidelines adopted by the department were highlighted as problematic for the satellite radiotherapy service, by John O’Brien, Hospital Network Manager for the Mid West Region.

The Health Service Executive Mid West has already applied for the €2 million funding necessary to run the Mid-Western Radiation Oncology centre every year.

“We have got some funding for cancer services, but we feel this service should be funded separately,” said Mr O’Brien, former assistant CEO of the health board.

The satellite unit on the grounds of the hospital in Dooradoyle, Limerick is currently treating 140 public and private patients from Clare, Limerick and Tipperary.

Patient referrals to the consultant radiation oncologist in the unit arise through the twiceweekly new patient clinics, or for in-patients at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital.

More than 1,600 treatments have been delivered by the on-site multi-disciplinary team of specialists in radiation oncology medicine, since it opened last October. There is now one linear accelerator at full service with capacity for a second.

Mr O’Brien told last Tuesday’s meeting of the Regional Health Forum West that the Department of Health now wanted to bring that second line on stream.

BISHOP Willie Walsh said this week that people were in denial about child sex abuse being a society-wide issue.

“Blaming the church on the issue of child sex abuse is partly to avoid the fact that this is a serious societal issue,” said Dr Walsh, in an interview with The Clare People .

He said that he had argued previously that the issue of child sex abuse was a societal issue, “but nobody wants to hear that.”

“Society is very much in denial over the issue of sex abuse. I am wary about saying this, because it may be in some way be interpreted as a denial on my part. That is the difficulty saying this.

“It is an uncomfortable issue to face up to, as it is easy for someone to convince themselves that it is someone else’s problem.”

Dr Walsh said that “people are entitled to criticise the Church on the issue.”

He also responded to concerns raised recently by a senior Clare cleric, Canon Caimin O’Carroll, over the church guidelines requiring priests to step aside when an allegation was made against him.

“I believe that we need to listen to the fears expressed by priests while at the same time to ensure that children are not put at risk.

“It is an important issue between bishops and priests and I have discussed the issue with priests in the diocese.

“The issue of trust between bishops and priests is very important and I am prepared to listen to the views of priests.

“It is always necessary to strike a balance between the rights of natural justice both to the person that makes the allegation and the natural rights against whom the allegation is made.

“It is always important to find the right balance and ensure that children are not put at risk.”

Asked was the church striking the balance, Dr Walsh said, “I hope that that is the intention.”

Dr Walsh said that the priests were worried that, in other professions, there was a requirement to make the complaint in writing, which was not required if an allegation was made against a priest.

“All these issues can be resolved by sitting down with the priests and talking in an open and honest way and by reassuring them that they will be treated in a just fashion,” he said.

AN AMBITIOUS new proposal that would see over €4 million spent on upgrading broadband facilities in Ennis has been submitted by Clare County Council to the Department of Communications, Maritime and Natural Resources.

Councillors in the Ennis electoral area were informed at last week’s area meeting that a detailed submission aimed at addressing the shortfall in high speed Internet within the town had been forwarded to the department.

A total of 15.2km of fibre optic cable would be laid in Ennis under the proposal.

Government funding would account for 90

cent of the cost with both Clare County Coun cil and Shannon Development providing a further 5 per cent each.

Broadband technology would be installed in Ennis under the Department’s Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) scheme, which proposes the laying of “carrier neutral” fibre optic cable, where previously access to fibre optic technology was exclusive to the company that had installed it.

Councillor Joe Carey (FG) said he was astounded that Ennis had not been prioritised for Broadband access given its status as an information age town. He also stated that there were several blackspots around the Ennis area where broadband was unavailable.

“It is impossible to access broadband in Clarecastle. We are in limbo, it is a problem. It’s hard to fathom that Ennis hasn’t been prioritised and now we have top go with our begging bowl to the Government”

Councillor Brian Meaney (GP) said that many consumers found existing broadband suppliers too expensive and said that the problem could be traced back to the privatisation of Eircom.

THE Bishop of Killaloe, Dr Willie Walsh, has publicly apologised for the delay in improving classroom conditions at three Ennis primary schools.

Conditions at Ennis National School, Scoil Chríost Rí and Ennis CBS have been criticised for a number of years, for overcrowding and a chronic lack of suitable facilities.

Speaking at a Confirmation Mass at Ennis Cathedral on Saturday, Dr Walsh said teachers were working in school buildings that were “not appropriate for these times.”

Both Ennis National and Scoil Chríost Rí are to move to new buildings, while work is to be carried out on the existing CBS building on New Road, Ennis.

Ennis National School’s relocation to a site at Ashline, Ennis, is dependant on rezoning, while a site for Scoil Chríost Rí has been earmarked on the Lahinch Road, but has yet to be finalised.

He told The Clare People that he felt partly responsible for the delays.

“While some progress is being made towards providing new buildings, I expressed regret to the teachers, parents and pupils for any responsibility I may have had for the delay.

“I feel that I was responsible for some of that delay, partly because I made a commitment which I was unable to deliver on in relation to one site (near St Flannan’s College) a number of years ago,” he said.

“I accept as patron of the schools that part of my responsibility is to try to work towards having all school buildings up to a reasonable standard.

“I certainly have been most eager to have new schools. I am sensitive to the difficult conditions under which the teachers have to work,” said Dr Walsh.

“I would be hoping the site matters would be cleared up within the next couple of months,” he said.

He said the apology was made in the context of thanking the teachers for their good work.

“I felt it was appropriate for me to acknowledge the fact that I didn’t do as well as I should have done.”

Meanwhile, the rezoning issue central to Ennis National School’s relocation will come before both Clare County Council and Ennis Town Council next month.

A statement from the sub-committee of the Board of Management of Ennis National School issued to The Clare People said, “The Department of Education has been in contact with the Killaloe Diocesan Office, expressing their wish to progress the new building as soon as a site becomes available.”

AN Ennis man has told of the flight of fear he endured, while sitting next to an enraged passenger trying to break a window on their plane.

Seán Morgan (30) was flying from Warsaw to Shannon with his Polish wife Ewa and two-yearold son Leon, when drunk Szezepan Drzewiecki went into a blind rage.

Ewa and Leon were left in state of panic, while Seán tried to calm Drzewiecki, before he could do serious harm. Drzewiecki had drunk almost a litre of vodka.

The Morgans were returning from a two-week holiday in Poland when mid-air nightmare began.

Sean – who described Drzewiecki as a “time bomb” told The Clare People that the commotion started when they were boarding, but terror erupted during the flight.

Drzewiecki who had never been on a plane previously, first came to Seán’s attention when he spoke to another passenger.

“He was in his face a lot, leaning in on top of him. He then stood up, put on his jacket, took it off again,” he said.

“He started drinking and pounding the man beside him, smacking him on his face and then he went for another guy who was sitting on the inside seat on his row,” he said.

At that stage Seán intervened, and using the best Polish he had acquired, tried to calm Drzewiecki down.

“He settled for a minute, but then started swearing and shouting. Somebody had to take control of it. I told him there were other passengers, mothers and young kids, on the plane,” he said.

“Then, out of nowhere, he just flipped and pushed the seat in front of him, at which stage he started to punch the windows. He completely lost the plot,” he said.

Seán and a number of other passengers restrained him and in the process Drzewiecki sustained a nasty eye injury.

“Between the injury and the alcohol he lay there in a state,” he said.

Seán said while the incident was a hugely distressing for everybody, he would have no fears flying again.

“I felt a bit frightened but felt in control of the situation. It was a nightmare because everyone on the plane was in a serious state of shock and panic. It is the last thing you would expect,” he said.

He said if he did not intervene, Drzewiecki might have assaulted other passengers.

“If I had not taken action, he would have gone loose,” he said.

BISHOP of Killaloe, Dr Willie Walsh, said this week that it was a moral offence to put lives at risk through dangerous driving.

Dr Walsh said there was a serious moral obligation on motorists to drive safely because good driving preserved the sacredness of life.

“There is a lot of discussion on the legal implications of dangerous driving and very often the issue is treated as a civil law matter, whereas it is also a serious moral issue,” he said.

Dr Walsh said that people should admit that driving under the influence of alcohol or dangerous driving was wrong, even if they didn’t get caught.

“People should say to themselves, ‘I have done wrong’ . . . there is a serious moral obligation to sit behind the wheel of a car and drive in a safe manner.”

Dr Walsh said that drink-driving was “endangering human life and therefore it is wrong”.

Dr Walsh said that the church had made a number of statements on the issue of road safety.

But these didn’t receive the same publicity as statements the church would make about sexuality, celibacy of sex abuse.

Dr Walsh added that he had signed up to the Safe Driving Pledge, organised by campaigner Jim Connolly, and it had made his driving safer.

The bishop recently spoke at the dinner of the Safe Driving Pledge conference, describing it as “a resounding success”.

“I am more conscious of not speeding. The vast majority of us would admit that we have broken the speed, but now I find with taking the pledge I am driving with more care”.

Mr Connolly said that there was consensus on a number of issues, including the immediate introduction of driver education into secondary schools, random testing for all drugs, including alcohol, higher Garda visibility, a radical change in driving test procedures and the elimination of test waiting lists.

The conference called for adequate ambulance and helicopter emergency medical services for pre-hospital and inter-hospital transfers.

It heard that government responsibility for road safety must be vested in one Minister.

STIFFER penalties should be imposed on people who commit air rage on board flights, according to pilots’ union IALPA.

IALPA (Irish Airline Pilots’ Association) spokesman Conor Nolan was speaking to The Clare People in the wake of a one month sentence being imposed on a Polish man, for his antics on board a Centralwings flight into Shannon last Friday week.

Szczepan Drzewiecki, drank almost a full litre bottle of vodka, before hitting out at other passengers.

He tried to break the window of the plane, as it flew from Warsaw to Shannon.

The father-of-three, who was travelling to Ireland to start work in the construction industry, pleaded guilty to three offences.

He admitted being intoxicated on board the plane, engaging in abusive behaviour on the plane and failing to cease engaging in abusive behaviour, when requested to do so by a crew member, contrary to the Air Navigation and Transport Act, on March 24.

The Inspector, Tom Kennedy, said this case was “above and beyond the circumstances outlined in previous cases.”

The court was told the maximum term that could be imposed – for the offences before the court – was four months.

“Why didn’t he get four? That would be our question. The penalties there should be imposed,” said Mr Nolan.

“There doesn’t seem to be a sufficient deterrent to people to do this [commit air rage],” he said.

He also said “more specific aviation legislation” should be enforced, to address the issue.

“A judge has to deal with an air rage prosecution, as he would some row outside a chipper and it doesn’t necessarily represent the seriousness of it.

“There have been serious prosecutions, but they have not led to air rage convictions per se”.

He said that quite often, alcohol was consumed before boarding an aircraft.

“This needs to be looked at. We want everybody in the chain to be vigilant at all times. It’s an issue that needs to be addressed industrywide,” he said.

This was echoed by Drzewiecki’s solicitor, William Chair, who told the court that while he didn’t wish to excuse his client’s behaviour in any way, that “airline crews should be looking out for signs such as my client displayed.”

Centralwings, which commenced its route between Shannon and Warsaw in November, declined to comment on the incident, despite requests from The Clare People.

THE MONEYPOINT power plant is at the centre of another industrial row today after a subcontractor at the plant tried to send five Polish workers home.

One of the men – a TEEU shop steward – was the “whistle blower” who revealed recently that Polish workers were being paid just €5.20 and hour to work on the €350 million refurbishment programme at the power station.

The men were working for ZRE Katowice, one of the main subcontractors on the Moneypoint site.

They were entitled under the Registered Employment Agreement to be paid €18.97, plus premium rates for overtime.

The company told the men that their contracts of employment were not being renewed.

When the union became aware that the 26-year old shop steward and his four colleagues were to be flown home from Shannon at 5pm yesterday, it intervened.

TEEU Regional Secretary, Pat Guilfoyle said that after successfully intercepting the workers, the union secured a commitment from Lurgi-Lentjes, the main contractor on site, that it would instruct ZRE that the rights of the men to remain in Ireland must be respected. The ZRE workers are to meet today to hold a strike ballot on the company’s actions. The TEEU secretary said that as far as the union was concerned, “this is a straight forward case of victimisation of trade union activists.”

There is also strong support among workers in the power station for the five and TEEU shop stewards are meeting tomorrow to assess the situation. The union has asked for a meeting with ZRE, but the company said the earliest it could meet would be Wednesday.

The ESB said it was dealing with the situation as a matter of urgency.

ENNISTYMON woman Aloma McKay is in the running to become one of the most powerful women in rural Ireland.

She is campaigning to become the president of the Irish Country Woman’s Association.

Mrs McKay, who has been a member of the Ennistymon guild of the ICA since 1992, will be up against Peg McMeel from Dublin and Carmel Dawson from Carlow, when the voting takes place later this month.

Mrs McKay believes that a number of challenges in her life have prepared her for the election campaign and her responsibilities as president, should she be successful.

“It is a difficult and demanding position, but I enjoy a challenge,” said Mrs McKay, who came to live in Clare, in 1989.

“We were only here for six months when my husband died and left me with six young children in a foreign country.

“I am also a team player and I work well with others.”

American by birth, she settled with her family in the Ennistymon area. She hopes to use her cosmopolitan background to help improve the image of the ICA, which has, in some quarters an image of being old fashioned.

“The people who have negative images of the ICA, or who think that it is old fashioned, are usually people who have never been involved in it,” she said.

“We now live in a multicultural country. Ireland is moving with the times and the ICA is moving with it.”

Aloma has held many offices, both locally and nationally in the ICA. She served as secretary of the Ennistymon branch from ‘92-’95, chairman of the National Arts Committee from 2001-2003 and the Federation President between 2000 and 2003.