Category: News

A NORTH Clare man who glassed another man in the face has been warned he will face 12 months behind bars if he gets into trouble over the next two years.

Before Ennis Circuit Court was Michael Neylon (36), with addresses at Parliament Street, Ennistymon and Ardnaculla, Ennistymon, who pleaded guilty to assaulting a man in his 40s from north Clare, thereby causing him harm, at Cagney’s pub, Parliament Street, Ennistymon, on March 17, 2005.

Garda Louise Casey told Ennis Circuit Court that the injured party went to Ennistymon Garda Station on March 19, and said he had been assaulted by the accused two days earlier.

She said the injured party suffered facial injuries, but did not have any lasting marks on him as a result of the assault and pointed out that the accused fully co-operated with gardaí.

She said the accused, a single man who lived with his mother, had a “chronic” alcohol problem. She said, “I think this was a wake-up call for him.”

She said the accused was hospitalised three days after the offence, having taken an overdose.

Defending barrister, Lorcan Connolly, said his client had not drank for almost a year prior to St Patrick’s Day last year and he broke out on that day.

He accepted that the photographs in court of the accused’s injuries were “particularly distasteful” but said there were no long-term effects for the injured party.

Judge Carroll Moran said the photographs of the injured party were “unsightly.”

“The complainant told gardaí he was hit with a glass. He [Neylon] could have done serious damage. There is no belittling the seriousness of this matter,” he said.

The judge said he was taking into account the guilty plea. Commending the Garda evidence the judge said, “Gadra Louise Casey has been extremely fair to you. I hope you appreciate that she has effectively spoken up for you.”

He imposed a 12 month jail term, suspended for two years and bound the accused to the peace for two years. He warned, “I intend to impose 12 months if he does get into trouble.”

AN Bord Pleanala has refused planning permission for a hotel in Lahinch after concern was expressed that the proposal would lead to an escalation of the unsocial behaviour that has been on the increase in the area in recent times.

Last August, Clare County Council granted planning permission to William Stackpoole, to demolish an existing cottage on Lahinch’s Main Street and replace it with a 16 bedroom hotel, including a bar and restaurant.

However, the plan was put on hold after Donal and Pat Kenny of Kenny’s Woollen Mills appealed the council’s decision to An Bord Pleanala, stating that in the adjacent access lane to the proposed hotel, there were problems of unsocial behaviour following discos.

The appeal stated: “They fear that the provision of this additional covered area and further closing in the laneway between the two buildings, will provide an additional shelter for people to congregate following discos and result in an escalation of the unsocial behaviour, which has been on the increase in this area in recent times.”

The Kennys expressed concern that the building, as proposed, was a four storey structure and its scale and massing was out of character with the remainder of the buildings on the streetscape. They also claimed that the proposed development would result in a loss of privacy.

An Bord Pleanala’s inspector in the case found that the proposal would seriously injure the amenities of, and devalue, property in the vicinity by reason of overlooking neighbouring property to the north. The Inspector also recommended that planning be refused because of excessive site coverage. It was considered the proposal would constitute an overdevelopment of a restricted urban site and would be contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area.

The board upheld the recommendation.

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern has said he is satisfied that none of the prisoners in Guantanamo Bay came through Shannon Airport on rendition flights.

His remarks came as senators of his party blocked moves to have a Seanad inquiry into claims that the US was using Shannon Airport for the illegal transport of prisoners.

Speaking to reporters at the Ógra Fianna Fáil conference in Ennis at the weekend, the Taoiseach said that he has been told categorically that “nobody in Guantanamo Bay came through Shannon.”

And he added that the Irish position had “always been that people in Guantanamo Bay should be given their full human rights.”

A provisional committee had been set up in the Seanad under the Cathaoirleach, Fianna Fail’s Mary O’Rourke, to investigate allegations concerning prisoners being transported for torture.

But when it came to moving a resolution which would see the committee get acceptance from the full Seanad, Fianna Fáil senators objected at their weekly meeting. This led to Senator O’Rourke to drop the proposal.

Senator David Norris (Ind) said that the people “are entitled to know why it (the committee of inquiry) has been shut down, especially in view of the performance of this grey little Government that seems so intimidated by the United States authorities.”

In a media interview this week, Fianna Fáil Senator Timmy Dooley, said that Clare Fianna Fáil councillors were also opposed to any new inquiry.

“A group of Fianna Fáil councillors met and decided that they were not in favour of the establishment of this committee. That was in line with the TDs’ and Senators’ thinking. There are already two committees investigating these accusations and I don’t see how a third investigation would unearth any further facts.”

Senator Dooley added that for Ireland to give approval to the Seanad committee “would be seen at this time as a hostile act.”

Earlier in the week, an angry Senator Norris rubbished claims that jobs would be lost and US companies would pull out of Clare if any inquiry was set up into the US chartered flights.

“US companies are concerned with profits. They are not influenced by transient political issues. We will not lose jobs,” he said.

He added that he personally had “very warm feelings for the US people, but not for this criminal administration.”

The Government has shortly to answer questions about the flights through Shannon from both the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.

CLARE County Council’s planners are currently running on empty and are constantly hassled by councillors who sit at their desks questioning them night and day.

That is the personal view of Senior Executive Planner, Graham Webb, who indicated that council management needed to re-evaluate the time given over to councillors by planners.

Leaving the council this week after more than five years service with the local authority, Mr Webb said that the council’s Planning Department “is totally under-resourced.”

“A lot of the issues that arose recently on the quality of service from the Planning Department is because the planners are running on empty.

“They’re effectively trying just to live with the basics of dealing with the planning applications on time. Any added service that they can offer is effectively coming out of their own pockets, so to speak.

“That is a situation where you are going to have a high turnover of planners, because it is far more attractive to work in a well-resourced planning authority or planning consultancy.”

Mr Webb said that currently the council had 18 planners with 15 working in development control and three in forward planning.

“At any one time, allowing for leave, you have 10 planners and there are more demands through changes in procedures. Unfortunately, they are not left alone to get on with it.

“They are constantly hassled by councillors who sit at their desks and question them night and day about this, that and the other, so most of them don’t start work until 5pm each evening when the door shuts and it is then that they can get their head down and they need to work through to 7pm and 8pm just to get the work done.”

Planners don’t get paid overtime. Mr Webb said that the reforms under better local government were “seen as the solution to everything, but in fact it was only the baseline to address the issues.

“I wouldn’t point the finger necessarily at management but there is a lack of awareness at management at what they are expecting of planning staff and we try to drive it home at every opportunity.

“But the willingness to allow access to planners by members, a willingness to give members just what they want in terms of their own particular projects they have running at the time – it is all placing demands on the same planners, time and time again.”

CLARE County Council has spent €30,250 on translating three statutory development plans into Irish – and not sold a single copy.

The spend was this week described as “a wanton waste of taxpayer’s money” by Councillor Brian Meaney (GP).

However, Irish language enthusiast, Cllr Tom Prendeville (FF) said: “It is right and proper that the council translate these documents into Irish. The €30,250 spent on the translation doesn’t matter a whit as an economic price should not be placed on celebrating our Irish language and culture.”

Arising from the coming into law of the Official Languages Act, the council is bound by law to translate all published documents into Irish.

Cllr Meaney said: “This outcome is very poor for the promotion of Irish and money could be spent on Irish in a much more positive and proactive way.

“There is something of a joke factor entering into this with the massive spend on the documents and not one copy sold.

“This is taking place as a result of a whim of Minister Eamon O’Cuiv and is very counterproductive towards the promotion of Irish.

“If this return occurred in the private sector, it wouldn’t be tolerated. There are community groups across the county crying out for money and what could they do with €30,250?

“The Ministerial diktat by Minister O’Cuiv has been accompanied by no additional funding and the council has to fund the translation of these plans from their own resources.

“This part of the Official Languages Act needed to be overhauled as this wasteful spend is being repeated across the country.”

However, Cllr Prendeville said: “The Council is obliged under the provisions of the Official Languages Act to translate these documents. It is most important that this work is carried out, otherwise the Council would found to be in breach.”

The council’s Director for Planning, Bernadette Kinsella confirmed that in compliance with legal requirements, the council made the spend on the translation of the County Development Plan 2005, the North Clare Local Area Plan 2005 and the East Clare Local Area Plan 2005.

“Five copies of each of these plans were printed in Irish. To date, no copy has been sold to the general public in Irish. Approximately 200 copies of the English versions have been purchased. The cost of meeting its requirements under the Official Languages Act has to be met from the annual revenue budget of the council.”

IT IS not planners that Fianna Fáil councillors should be venting their frustration over one-off housing – it should be the Government.

That is the message from Graham Webb, who as Senior Executive Planner, was the top council official behind the drafting of the various Council Development Plans over the past five years that included the contentious “locals only” policy.

“These are frustrations in relation to policy, the councillors can’t be seen to be attacking their own party in public and it’s their own party that are bringing in these policies,” said Mr Webb

Councillors can’t explain away the policies, “because they are not policies with Clare in mind and that frustration has to be vented somewhere and so what better way than to throw it at the local planner,” he said.

Speaking in a personal capacity, Mr Webb said, “It’s inevitable. Planning is a political job, so when the politicians aren’t getting their way and they need to lash out, the most political person they lash out is the planner. It happens across the world, it is not unique to Clare.

“The councillors have a lot of angst, because they are out there day-in day-out, meeting people who are chewing their ear off because x, y and z can’t get planning for a house on their homeland for various reasons. Most of the time the land isn’t good enough and some of the time, (it’s for) policy reasons.”

On the call by councillors to ease restrictions on building one-off housing, Mr Webb said, “They’re entitled to call for it, but it is short-term gain for long term pain.

“It undermines the ability to build up the very settlements that we are trying to convince the Government that we need resources for and that we need infrastructure for.”

Mr Webb said that calls to change the council’s rural housing policy in the County Development Plan “doesn’t fundamentally alter the basic plan, the basic plan is a hugely successful document, it is one small part of it – rural housing – four pages out of a 70-page document.

“The rest of that 70 pages is what we rely upon for the economic development of the county, so if we have one particular row over four pages, so be it, it is not going to stop the world.”

THE owners of the Clare Lodge in Ennis have received over €4.4 million in State funds to accommodate asylum seekers at its centre over the past six years, new figures reveal.

The figures show that in all, over €16 million has been spent on accommodating asylum seekers at three separate centres in Clare during the past six years.

In response to a Dáil question on the issue, the Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, confirmed that the Clare Lodge on Ennis’s Carmody Street had received €4.44 million in accommodating asylum seekers since April 2000, while the owners of the Scariff Court Hotel have received €2.723 million since October 2001.

The figures provided also show that it has cost €8.8 million to operate the Government-run asylum seeker centre, Knockalisheen since October 2001.

The Clare Lodge currently has capacity for 65 asylum seekers. There is capacity for 74 at the Scariff Court Hotel, while Knockalisheen has currently 232 occupants with the centre accommodating 1,542 to date.

Knockalisheen was the State’s first purpose built accommodation for asylum seekers The average weekly occupancy in 2004 was 243 and in 2005 it was 247.63.

Costs at Knockalisheen in 2003 amounted to €2,308,476; in 2004 the figure was €2,403,166 and in 2005 it was €1,891,173. To date, in 2006, the costs are €182,270.

The large sums received by the operators of the privately-run centres are in contrast to the small amounts received by the occupants for day-to-day living expenses.

The asylum seekers receive €19.10 per week for incidental expenses – a figure that has not increased since 2000.

Orla Ní Éilí of the Ennis branch of the Irish Refugee Council yesterday called for an increase in the amount received by the asylum seekers.

“Occupants of these centres are isolated, bored and confused and I know of one case where a person has been in direct provision in Clare for the past three years.

Ms Ní Éilí cited another recent incident where an asylum seeker, living in direct provision, opted not to purchase a pair of shoes when told of the €5 cost in an Ennis charity shop.

THE Minister for Enterprise and Employment and unions seem polls apart on the future role of Shannon Development in the Shannon Free Zone this weekend, despite months of talks.

SIPTU remains hopeful that it can convince Minister Michéal Martin to do a u-turn on his decision to take from Shannon Development, responsibility for foreign investment in the Shannon Free Zone and give it to the IDA.

A spokesperson for SIPTU told The Clare People that the unions would continue, “to try to dispel him” of his intent to give responsibility to the IDA.

“We have come to the end of a process of discussion with senior civil servants and hope to meet again with the Minister shortly,” the spokesperson said.

Defending the record of the IDA, the Minister said progress has been made with the unions and he hoped he could bring the matter to a conclusion shortly.

“The performance in the last two years in foreign direct investment has been good. I have been on a number of trade missions with the IDA and the pipe line is good.

“87,000 jobs were created in Ireland last year, quite a number of those were created in Clare as well, and unfortunately people keep looking for the big story about a particular factory coming in.

“But the bottom line is the vast majority of the jobs are created in the fours and the fives in small to medium sized enterprises across the country, some in the indigenous economy some from foreign direct investment.”

He said that his “ultimate objective” was to create additional jobs in Clare and Limerick.

“We have concentrated as well on embedding existing major companies in the region in Ireland against global competition.

“So, for example, with Dell and others, we have been constantly working with companies of that quality to add different functions to their existing functions and to maintain and secure the very substantial employment that is created in this region as a result of those kind of investments.

“Now there are issues around industrial policy and planning in terms of the Mid West and I have made a number of moves in that direction. If we can move ahead with the changes that we’ve suggested, working with everybody together, we can actually add to the number of jobs that we create from foreign direct investment in the region.”

A SHANNON man has issued civil proceedings against a local company after being forced from his home because of concerns over his health.

At Ennis Circuit Court last week, Schwarz Pharma was fined €110,000 and ordered to pay €42,359 in costs, after pleading guilty to 11 seperate breaches of its Integrated Pollution Control (IPC) licence in 2004.

At the outset of the case, Judge Carroll Moran told the court that he had received a letter from a man, but had not read its contents.

The letter was passed to counsel for Schwarz Pharma, John Gibbons SC, and he confirmed that Mr Moroney had issued civil proceedings against the company.

Judge Moran said that he could not be influenced by the letter as he had not read its contents.

Mr Moroney was in court and confirmed to The Clare People that the letter sent to Judge Moran was his.

He declined to comment on the civil proceedings but it is understood the proceedings are in the early stages of a case with the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB).

He said: “In the letter, I outlined the history of our difficulties in Shannon with Schwarz Pharma.”

Mr Moroney, his wife, Marie and teenage daughter, Eimear moved out of their Shannon home in January 2003 to live with relatives. They now live in Lissycasey.

Mr Moroney said: “Our Shannon home has been on the market for 18 months, but we can’t sell it and will maybe have to sell the site for development.

“The house in Lissycasey cost €273,000. I had cleared the debt on our Shannon home but now we are in debt again.”

Of the Circuit Court case against Schwarz Pharma, Mr Moroney said: “I listened to the side effects listed out in court by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) inspector, on being exposed to various chemicals and we were looking at each other in court, because they were similar to the complaints we were making to the EPA for the past three years, though I know it is circumstantial.

“I certainly feel that the EPA needs to keep monitoring the facility. It cannot walk away and believe that the job is done.

“The company has spent a lot of money. We have to put our faith in the EPA. They are our environmental police.”

GARDAÍ say they are not treating as suspicious the death of a Lithuanian man, whose body was found at his home in Ennis on Saturday afternoon.

The 37-year-old man’s body was discovered by his landlord at around 2 o’clock.

He was fully clothed and was found slumped at the end of the bed at the house he rented at Linnane’s Terrace, on the Kilrush Road.

He had lived there alone.

A post-mortem examination was carried out on the body at the Mid Western Regional Hospital, Limerick yesterday. While the results would not be finalised for some time, Ennis Superintendent John Kerin said detectives had concluded that there were no grounds to suggest foul play.

“We do not believe this was suspicious. He may have been there for two or three days.”

Gardaí are satisfied they have positively identified the man.

They are liaising with the Lithuanian Embassy and Interpol, in an effort to get in contact with his family.

He had arrived in Ireland from the US and worked in a hotel in Ennis for a short period last year.