Category: News

ONE of the busiest coastal rescue units in the country is set to become a family affair with the wives of two existing volunteers set to join in the coming days.

Confirming the move, Doolin Area Officer with the Irish Coastguard, Mattie Shannon said that the two new members would bring the number in the unit to 22.

Reviewing last year’s activities, Mr Shannon said that the Doolin unit was involved in the recovery of three bodies off the Clare coast last year and 24 call outs. This represented a decrease on the eight bodies recovered and 31 call outs in 2004.

The three bodies recovered were those of the three men, Joe O’Callaghan (34) Michael Doran (31) and Martin Griffin (24), who died after their jeep fell into the sea near Doolin on the October bank holiday weekend.

Last year was the first year in a number of years where no bodies were recovered as a result of people falling off the Cliffs of Moher.

Mr Shannon said that the lower number of call outs last year allowed the unit to carry out more training.

Mr Shannon said that the backbone of the unit were now over 40s: “There is always a need of bringing in new people. The backbone of the unit are 47-48 years old.”

Mr Shannon said that it would take two to three years to train volunteers into their job. The ideal candidate would be someone in their late 20s who was settled in the Doolin area, as the response time to call-outs was vital.

Mr Shannon also stated that he hoped to see progress in the Office of Public Works (OPW) providing a new station for the unit this year.

The existing building used by the unit has no toilet facilities.

THE ESB has lodged an appeal to An Bord Pleanala against a decision by Ennis Town Council to refuse planning permission for an 80 foot mast within the grounds of its Cahercalla More substation in Ennis.

The move by the ESB to appeal will cause concern to Ennis residents. An Bord Pleanala often overturns decisions made by local authorities in relation to telecommunications mast. The planned mast provoked widespread opposition from residents, who expressed concern over the health implications of the mast being so close to a residential area. It would also be in close proximity to Éire Óg GAA club.

The residents claimed: “The proposed development is totally and utterly out of character with any development in the area. The area is zoned commercial and not industrial. Therefore, the erection of the communications mast should not be considered. The proposed structure totally towers over any existing structure in the area.”

The council stated that it refused permission as the proposed development would be visually obtrusive in the area, would materially contravene Environment Policy 5 of the Ennis and Environs Development Plan and would seriously injure the amenities of the area and of property in the vicinity.

However, in their appeal, the ESB states: “The proposed structure is a slim line monopole structure that was specifically designed for use in urban industrial areas. We believe that using this structure the visual impact on the area will be nominal.” A decision is due on the appeal in April.

THE young man who tragically drowned after a kayak overturned in Lough Derg on Sunday had selflessly given the only lifejacket to his girlfriend.

The 26-year-old, who has been named locally as John Buckley from Ballyculhan in Glin, County Limerick, went for a trip on the lake with the 24-year old woman, who is from O’Briensbridge.

Their canoe capsized at around 2.30 in the afternoon and the couple struggled to make land but John was swept away.

The young woman was helped to shore by a man living close to the shoreline who heard her screams.

A rescue service source said that the young woman was suffering from exhaustion and hypothermia but had bravely made her way close to shore when the local man spotted her.

“He heard her and waded in to help her the last part to the shore. She was exhausted and cold but was wearing a life-jacket.

“They had just one life-jacket between them and her boyfriend gave it to her,” the source said.

The alarm was raised by a local person who saw two people in the water near Ogonnelloe, four miles north of Killaloe on the Clare side.

The Killaloe/Ballina Search and Rescue service was called out and they put three teams — a total of almost 20 people — out to help with the search for the missing man.

Divers from the Limerick Search and Rescue unit were also called in, as were Shannon-based coastgurad helicopter and a fixed-wing aircraft from the Garda Air Support Unit.

The diving team was brought in towards evening as fading light made it difficult for rescue boats to see anything in the water.

The divers located the Glin man’s body at Two Mile Gate at around 9.15pm on Sunday night.

Rescuers said the couple had brought the canoe to the lake themselves and were not involved in water-based events which were taking place earlier in the day at the University of Limerick Activity Centre in Two Mile Gate.

Divers brought the body ashore and it was removed to the Mid-Western Regional Hospital, Limerick, where a post-mortem was due to be carried out yesterday.

While the dead man’s name has not been officially released, he has been named locally as John Buckley.

The traumatised young woman was treated for shock and hypothermia.

TWO Ennistymon schools have warned Clare County Council that schoolchildrens’ health will be put at risk if a plan to convert the local Convent of Mercy building into an apartment complex proceeds.

The boards of management of both Scoil Mhuire, Convent of Mercy and the Ennistymon Convent Primary School have told the council if the plan proceeds, it will pose a safety threat to the children attending the schools.

In their objection, Scoil Mhuire’s board members state, “the heavy traffic involved at the construction stage of development and the volume of cars that will service the apartments, when occupied, could pose a serious threat to the safety of our students.”

The objection by Scoil Mhuire is supported by opposition from the school’s parent’s association.

“It is with extreme concern that we have learned of the application,” they state.

The parents point out that the school has a policy that children must walk and not be driven the narrow road to the school.

“The reason is safety. It is therefore inconceivable that this proposed development could be favourably considered, particularly with its inclusion of 30 car-park spaces and the inevitable traffic up and down this totally unsuitable access road that this development will generate…it will have extremely serious implications for the safety of all children attending the school.”

In their objection, the Board of Management of the Convent Primary School stress that “it is wonderful news that the Convent of Mercy – closed for eight years – is to be developed.

“However, we are very concerned about access to the building as it also the entrance to the primary school and this may create health and safety issues.

The application by Tomas Fitzgerald of Banna Developments was made in 2004. Last year the council stated that it had serious concerns that the proposal would exacerbate the traffic problems.

The council told the applicant: “You are strongly advised to investigate the possibility of providing an alternative access where conflict between cars and pedestrians is significantly reduced.”

The developers suggested an alternative access, however at a meeting towards the end of last year, the council’s road engineering staff stated that they would prefer the original access road.

The consultant has since asked for a meeting between the planner, engineer and the applicant to resolve the issue. A decision on the application is expected at the end of the month.

THE number of divorces in Clare has gone up by 40 per cent on last year’s figures.

Figures just finalised by the court service show that there were 111 decrees of divorce issued by the courts. This is in comparison to 79 decrees in the previous 12 months.

All of the applications which came before the court were granted, a spokeswoman for the court’s office confirmed.

The jump in numbers applying for divorce is being reflected in the number of couples who are coming to family law solicitors, a leading practitioner in the field said.

Solicitor Mary Cashin has just returned from a conference in which startling figures were quoted for Britain.

“Research has revealed that almost 50 per cent of marriages there end in divorce,” said Mary.

“We haven’t come to that stage here but in our dealings with clients, we can certainly say that there is a big increase in people seeking divorce.”

Ms Cashin said that once couples meet the criteria of being separated for four out of the previous five years they are opting for divorce.

“Once they meet that criteria, the courts have to give them their decree. And people are opting for that because it is final.”

One company providing divorce services in Clare says that the number of people applying for divorce in Clare is actually much higher than the number of divorces which made it as far as court.

Jim Corbett, Managing Director of Divorce Services in Clare, says that he puts the increase in applications for divorce last year as high as 75 per cent.

Ms Cashin says that she believes that the numbers will continue to increase, with many people opting for the so-called, D.I.Y. divorces offered by non-legal companies.

But while straightforward divorces in which all the issues have been agreed before coming to court may be suitable for this approach, Ms Cashin says she is concerned that some people may be leaving themselves exposed.

“There are far more issues involved than just getting the divorce rubber-stamped. There are issues around property and, very importantly, child access and I would just advise people to be wary.

“When things go wrong, they will end up back in the family law courts and anyone who has been there will tell you it’s not a place you want to have to go back to.”

A MAN who threw a bar stool at a publican in a Clarecastle bar has been handed a suspended six month jail sentence.

Jude Bedford (33), of Fairview Crescent, Garryowen, Limerick, threw the stool at Power’s public house, on November 13.

Ennis district court heard the stool missed the publican, but smashed a glass light shade and a number of glasses.

He then threw a glass at the proprietor, but this hit other glasses.

He has since paid compensation for the damage caused and no-one sustained any injuries.

His solicitor said his client had been in that public house earlier that night and some words were exchanged between himself and the bar owner, who are well known to each other.

“Mr Bedford has indicated to me he will undertake not to go near the bar. In fact, Mr Bedford accepts he should not go near any bar,” said the solicitor, who added that his client “broke out” that night, after attending to a dying relative for the three previous nights.

Judge Aeneas McCarthy imposed a six month jail sentence, and suspended it on condition that the accused be of good behaviour for 12 months.

MEMBERS of Clare County Council claim the county is being financially penalised by central government, as it receives the fifth smallest local government funding in the country, at €14.65 million for 2006.

In a week when the council was once again considering the financial estimates for the year ahead, members said they were given extra responsibility and projects by central government without the financial back up.

Cllr Christy Curtain called on the Minister for the Environment and Local government Dick Roche to provide some of the money the Minister claims the country is “flush with”, and Clare will spend it. “Send it down to us and we will spend it,” said the councillor.

Fine Gael councillor Madeline Taylor Quinn told this month’s adjourned

meeting of the council that the ratepay ers from Clare were paying for money mismanagement at national level.

In a bid to finance the Council’s escalating responsibility it is proposed in this year’s financial estimates, yet to be accepted by the council, to increase rates by 5.5 per cent. This will generate an additional €1.55 million for the Council. Cllr Taylor Quinn told her colleagues “ we are expected to make up the short fall by penalising the rate payers at a time when the government is a wash with money.”

Whether councillors agree to allow the 5.5 percent rate increase, described by Cllr Martin Lafferty as exorbitant, will be decided at a special budget meeting of the council next Monday.

PAYMENTS totalling €170,000 made to senior county council staff, including planners, were legal, above board and part of a national plan.

But elected council members have sharply criticised the manager for not saying where the money came from.

At a meeting of the council last night, Cllr Tom Prendeville called on the manager to reveal who the payments were made to and state where the money for them came from.

Cllr Prendeville said he was not satisfied with the explanation that the payments were part of a national bonus scheme, paid to professional grades and performance related.

“Are we going back to the dark ages where a culture of secrecy prevails?” he asked.

“This is public money being spent and we have a right to know whether the money was paid out of our budget, if it was, how was the criteria for payment met and what programme suffered because of it?”

Cllr Patricia McCarthy said that the bonus scheme was to be welcomed. “We are losing planners all the time.

“They work all hours and Saturdays and Sundays to clear the work load and there is no overtime or other incentive.”

Cllr Colm Wiley said that the current planners were working overtime to “solve the problems left by some of those who have moved on.”

County Manager, Alec Fleming said that 15 planners were paid a bonus of €7,500 each and bonuses were also paid to himself and a number of other senior officials.

The scheme is identical to schemes operating in every other local authority, he said. “We have a rule that says if a decision on an application is not made within eight weeks, it goes by default and without any conditions so we had to ask the planners to work extra time because of that.

“There was no other option.”

He added that a Government committee decides on whether managers and senior executives have met the criteria for their bonuses.

A ruling had already been made by the information Officer that further details of the scheme could not be the subject of a Freedom Of Information request.

THE WORDS of the famous song ‘Summer in Dublin’ were uttered during a district court case, after a judge was told that a garda stuck his head through the trees and saw a young man smoking a joint in the town park in Shannon.

Defence solicitor Stephen Nicholas made the reference in the case of Edward Dooney (26), of Cluain Airne, Shannon, charged with possession of cannabis, at Shannon town park, on July 15, 2005.

The court heard the accused was found in possession of one joint.

Mr Nicholas said his client is in good employment and has been in a relationship for the past eight years.

He said when he was younger, he used to take cannabis. On the date of the offence he had met a friend who gave him a joint.

As he lay on the grass on the fine summer’s day smoking, a garda “stuck his head through the trees and caught him,” said the solicitor and this prompted the reference to Bagatelle.

“I remember that summer in Dublin and the Liffey stank like hell…is the song that springs to mind, but I am not going to sing it,” said Mr Nicholas.

Judge Joseph Mangan adjourned the case for two months, to allow for a professional report re drug and alcohol abuse to be carried out.

A YOUNG Clare businessman, who legitimately imported a car from England to sell to a client here, has been left out of pocket by up to €23,000, after it subsequently transpired that the vehicle had been stolen in England, leaving a judge with no choice but to return it to an English insurance company.

Twenty-four year old Derek Considine, who runs a car dealership business in Miltown Malbay since he was 17, was told by Judge Geoffrey Browne at Miltown Malbay District Court that his “hands were tied” and could not return the car to him although he had “done nothing wrong.”

Gardaí had pursed the matter under the Police Property Act to have the Audi A4 car returned to its rightful owner after discovering that it had been stolen in West Yorkshire in 2004. Mr Considine was seeking to have the car returned to him while an agent for the insurance company Norwich Union claimed that his client was the rightful owner. Mr Considine told the court that he had purchased the car in England after seeing it advertised in Autotrader magazine.

“I checked with the police and everyone else and I was told that the car was not stolen, had not been crashed previously and was not subject to a hire-purchase agreement,” he said in evidence.

“I had done all the things that were necessary and the car checked out perfect. I paid £8,500 (Stg), brought it home and paid the duties to Revenue.”

Mr Considine later sold the car to his brother-in-law but it later transpired that the car had been stolen. Gardaí visited Mr Considine and inspected the vehicle and later seized it for further examination. Gardaí discovered that another chassis number plate had been placed over the original.

Also contesting ownership of the car was the general manager of an English-based company, given responsibility for recovering vehicles for insurers Norwich Union. Mr John Armstrong of Norman Marshall confirmed that the car had been stolen in England in 2004 and that Norwich Union had paid out £10,395 to the owner for the loss on September 21, 2004.

Judge Geoffrey Browne accepted that Mr Considine had acted in good faith and had “done nothing wrong”, but added, “what can I do? I would return the car to you if I could, but you are not entitled to it. I am sorry, Mr Considine, my hands are tied.”

Judge Browne granted the garda application and ruled that the car should be handed over to Norman Marshall.