Category: News

NEW bylaws governing behaviour on Clare’s beaches have been ratified by Clare County Council.

At Monday’s monthly meeting of Clare County Council, members elected to adopt the laws which apply to 12 beaches. Under the new laws, patrons will not be allowed to walk dogs on beaches between 11am and 6pm during June, July and August. The laws also impose speed restrictions on jet skis that are being used 300 metres from the shoreline. The new byelaws will serve as an amalgamation of existing guidelines regarding public behaviour on beaches. Enforcement of the laws will be carried out by council officials and in some cases An Garda Síochána.

The bylaws no longer apply to Ballyalla after members decided not to include it as a beach area. Concerns had been expressed by councillors at yesterday’s meeting of the Ennis Area Electoral Committee about the classification of Ballyalla as a beach, following a presentation made by Dara McGuigan, Senior Staff Officer with Environment Section of Clare County Council. Final consideration of the bylaws had been deferred until after the Environment SPC recommended that all electoral area committees be given the chance to examine the representations made by parties.

Councillor Christy Curtin said he supported the bylaws, provided they would be reviewed after a year.

Cllr Joe Carey said there was nothing new in the bylaws and added that “our views aren’t being taken on board and we are becoming too entangled in legislation.”

FOUR men will appear in court next month, charged with assaulting a man at a service station in Liscannor last year. Ennistymon District Court was told that more than 20 witnesses – including 10 gardaí – will give evidence in the case, which is expected to last a number of hours.

Before the court are John McNamara and Martin McNamara, both of Tarmon West, Kilkee, who are charged with assault causing harm, at Liscannor service station, on July 17, 2005. Two others, Joseph Malone and Michael Malone, both of Ballyvislane, Liscannor, are charged with assault, at Liscannor service station, on July 15, 2005.

It’s alleged that the two Malones approached a man at the service station on July 15 and abused him. They allegedly pulled the man’s shirt and punched him.

It is also alleged that the two McNamaras went to the same location on July 17, and headbutted, kicked and punched the same man.

FORMER Taliban member and Corofin asylum seeker, Dawi Roshaun, has been given 15 days to lodge a final appeal with the Department of Justice or he will be deported to Afghanistan, where he claims he faces execution.

Mr Roshaun was among a group of 15 asylum seekers evicted from the Corofin Hostel with just a days notice last September and has been living in Dundalk and Mosney ever since.

In November, his second appeal for refugee status was denied when a representative from the Department of Justice claimed that he was too young to have joined the Taliban in 1997.

“They say that I was too young to be in the Taliban at 18, but they were not there. There were boys of 16 years, or younger. If there was any kind of justice in Afghanistan I would go back there in a minute, but there is none.”

Dawi claims to have joined the Taliban in order to protect his family after the group invaded his home town of Kohistan in 1997.

Following the American-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 it became dangerous for many former Taliban members to live in Afghanistan.

He fled Iran in fear of his life and then on to Ireland where he has been living since 2002.

Mr Roshaun claims to have received personal death threats from a member of the Afghan parliament as-well-as drug dealers in his native town.

“In 1997 I was in charge of an arsenal depot in north of Kabul when two weapons dealers from the Northern Alliance were captured by the Taliban in Kohistan and sent to the Kandahar prison.

“One of them was executed and the other bought his freedom,” said Mr Roshaun.

“Their family believe that I informed on them to the Taliban which is not true. Now the brother of the executed man is a member of parliament and the other man’s brother is a drug dealer and also the Defence Minister in the province of Kapisa.”

In Dundalk, Dawi joined a creative writing group and has a number of works due for publication later this year.

Members of the group have made a number of representations on his behalf including contacting his relatives and members of the Afghan parliament in an effort to prove the danger to his life should he return home.

Dawi has a meeting with the Department of Justice later this month which is his last chance to prevent his deportation to Afghanistan.

COUNTY Coroner, Isobel O’Dea believes that the future of her post, and that of her colleagues nationally, is in doubt as a result of new Government proposals.

The Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell is to establish a coroner service, comprising a chief coroner, deputy chief, number of regional coroners and smaller group of part-time deputies. To date, the service has been made up of county and city coroners operating in mainly part-time roles across the country.

And Ms O’Dea said this week that the proposal to establish a coroners’ service “throws everyone’s future into question”.

However, the Ennis-based solicitor welcomed proposed new powers in the forthcoming legislation. Under the current legislation dating back to the 1960s, coroners’ inquests can hear evidence from only two witnesses and cannot compel witnesses to attend. There are only minimal fines for those who fail to give evidence.

Ms O’Dea admitted that not being able to call more than two medical witnesses “has been an issue in some cases, and I now have to look, in the light of the new bill, at inquests that haven’t been completed”.

In the forthcoming legislation, the Government has accepted a recommendation from the Coroners Review Group that the scope of the inquest should be widened. It is one of a series of measures being included that will result in a major overhaul of the service.

Mandatory inquests are to be extended to cover all deaths in State custody, in certain care institutions and private nursing homes. The inquests can be ordered by the chief coroner or the Attorney General, under the provisions of the bill.

The coroner will be given powers of custody of the body and the right to inspect and take possession of documents.

In line with a Labour Party private bill, which was approved by the Dail and Seanad last month, the legislation will abolish the restriction on the number of medical witnesses at an inquest and stiffen the penalties for reluctant or non-co-operative jurors and witnesses.

Ms O’Dea also said that the level of coroner’s work has increased dramatically, with the oncall nature of the workload being a factor.

“The number of inquests may not be increasing, but there is additional work around the inquests,” she said.

THIRTY-EIGHT people were arrested for drink driving in the Clare garda division during the six-week Christmas Enforcement Campaign, which concluded at midnight on Sunday.

This represents an increase of eight per cent, when compared with last year’s campaign. Significantly, there were more arrests for the offence – 11 – in the week after Christmas than during any other week of the campaign. Overall there were 10 per cent more arrests made for drink driving during 2005 than 2004.

The head of the Clare garda division traffic corps Inspector Kevin Moynihan said, “We are disappointed it is up. The trend up to last week had been positive. People didn’t pay as much attention in the last week as they had in the previous five weeks.”

There were 57 speeding detections during the past week, which brings to 310 the number for the campaign. This is a 19 per cent increase on last year.

There were 12 fixed notices issued for seatbelts last week, which brings the total for the six weeks to 88. This is a decrease of 93.

Meanwhile gardai are advising motorists to take care, after icy patches resulted in a number of road crashes over the weekend, including a collision between a bus and car, on the Ennis side of Crusheen on Monday morning. One woman sustained minor injuries in the accident.

“There is a lot of rain forecast for the week and visibility will be reduced. The advice is to leave greater distance between yourself and the car in front. Don’t drive through a flood unless you know its depth,” said Inspector Moynihan.

AS THE Council of Europe supports calls for greater transparency on the US use of Shannon Airport, peace activists have hit out at the government’s failure to carry out an investigation on the matter.

The Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights Alvaro GilRobles said he supports calls by the Irish Human Rights Commission (IHRC) for greater transparency on the use of Shannon, and the possible transportation of prisoners through.

The IHRC has, in the past, said the government had a positive obligation to ensure prisoners were not being illegally transported.

Peace activist Ed Horgan said he supports calls for investigations to be carried out. Mr Horgan, along with other peace activists, have met with the Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs, and have detailed reports to the Minister for Justice, the Council of Europe, the UN Commission for Human Rights and the European Parliament.

“We have outlined that Ireland is in breach of the UN Convention on Torture. We are pleased the matter is getting attention, but it is belated and it has taken three years, during which many people have been tortured,” said Mr Horgan.

He said however the increased number of troops passing through Shannon – more than 330,000 during last year – is, in some respects, more important than the torture issue.

“Virtually all of the troops going to the Middle East are going through Shannon. That is inexplicable. Ireland was a neutral country. Other European countries have said ‘no.’ The number of troops passing through Shannon is doubling each year,” he added.

Meanwhile Fianna Fáil MEP Eoin Ryan’s criticism of the US for its lack of transparency over the use of Shannon has been described as his party colleague Clare Deputy Tony Killeen as “interesting”.

“It isn’t clear to me on what basis he doubts the veracity of Condoleeza Rice’s undertakings to Dermot Ahern,” said the Junior Minister.

“I have always said if people have evidence of prisoners being transported through the airport, they should come forward. I certainly don’t have the resources to check out these flights. The down side of it is the day you decide to do such checks, you are effectively calling a friendly government a liar,” added Deputy Killeen.

Commenting on the increased number of troops passing through Shannon, he said, “I’m not so sure how the numbers impact on the principal. If you are opposed to troops passing through, surely you are as much opposed to 1,000 as 100,000.”

UNION officials and members of the Dublin Airport Authority were remaining tight-lipped last night following a day of negotiations on the redundancy package offered to workers in Shannon.

More than 500 employees have been given until the middle of next month to accept a voluntary redundancy package worth over €110,000 to employees with long service.

The aim of the redundancy offer is to reduce the workforce at Shannon to 280.

Staff have been told that the redundancies are essential for the survival of the airport, which made a profit of €3 million last year.

The DAA has warned however that the airport faces a loss of €137 million over the next 10 years, unless these measures are taken.

The company also wants to close down its catering division and to outsource jobs in a number of divisions.

Union representatives have said they will not accept outsourcing.

THE Peace Camp at Shannon, which was set up over the weekend, passed off without incident.

Peace campaigners gathered to mark the third anniversary of the Camp, which was set up to protest at US military planes being allowed to refuel at Shannon. The gathering came as pressure on the Government from opposition deputies and anti-war groups mounted, to order searches of US-Government chartered planes, to check they were not carrying prisoners bound for torture.

Joe Sheehan of Na Cosantoirí Síochána, the group which organised Saturday’s evening vigil, said that it was important to mark the third anniversary of the camp being set up.

“Before we were doing this sort of work, the government used to say that there was nothing happening at Shannon. Then, when they were confronted with the evidence, they had to say that there were some troops coming through and that they carried some arms. Then they had to admit that military cargo flights were coming through. Now you have Condoleezza Rice giving the Irish government so-called assurances that extraordinary rendition is not taking place here,” Sheehan said.

The vigil was held on the approach road to the airport and organisers screened Margaretta Darcy’s award winning film, Big Plane Small Axe, documenting the trials of Mary Kelly, who attacked a US cargo plane in the airfield at Shannon in February 2003.

The group also planted a tree in remembrance of one of the founding peace campers, Emma O’Carroll who passed away recently.

THE chief executive of Shannon Development said yesterday that “hundreds of jobs” are to be announced for the Shannon Free Zone over the next number of weeks.

Announcing that there is a “significant pipeline” of jobs for the Free Zone, Mr Kevin Thompstone said, “We have had a good year, particularly in relation to the Free Zone, in expanding existing projects and landing new players.”

He declined to state how many jobs have been approved, stating only that it involves hundreds. However, the company’s end-of-year statement, published yesterday, found that last year there was a net loss of 289 jobs in the Free Zone.

But overall results in the Shannon region in relation to Shannon Developmen-assisted companies shows a net gain of 50 jobs, giving a total of 19,818 in the region.

1,795 new jobs were created in Shannon Development-assisted companies in the region in 2004. In relation to the Free Zone, 739 jobs were lost, while 450 were created.

Under the company’s new mandate, which has yet to be implemented and is being opposed by unions at the company, Shannon Development will no longer operate its core enterprise functions as they are being transferred to the IDA and Enterprise Ireland.

Shannon Development’s chairman, Liam McElligott, said there was an inordinate amount of pressure on the company due to the uncertainty over the company’s future. Asked about ongoing tensions between the Board and staff over the future role of the company, Mr McElligott said, “I am quite confident now that there is alignment in our thinking.

“75 per cent of economic activity in this country happens in the greater Dublin area and Shannon Development now has the mandate to create a counterpoint to that with a written mandate, which we have never had before. We are very happy that our mandate dovetails with Government policy. There is a sense within the company that we’re moving on. Over the next five years, Shannon Development will invest €100 million in the Shannon Region and leverage an amount in excess of that.”

Asked will the Shannon Region lose out now that the company no longer has a role in promoting the Free Zone, Mr McElligott said, “It shouldn’t.”

Mr Thompstone admitted that there will be “significant” job losses to the company as a result of the new mandate, but declined to state how many. However, the company’s accounts for 2004 show that 75 personnel were engaged in industrial development.

Mr Thompstone said that the company has already reduced its workforce by 25 per cent over the past three to four years from 200 to 150, cutting staff costs from €18€17 million to €13-€12 million.

Shannon Development operated a loss of €1.6 million at the end of 2004 and Mr Thompstone stated that the company operated a deficit last year, with the final accounts not yet complete. On its tourism function, Mr Thompstone said that 625,000 attended visitor attractions and evening entertainments operated by Shannon Heritage which is level with the company’s 2004 performance.

MORE than 300 homes in Clare were burgled last year, which is on a par with the figure for 2004.

The homes of three out of every 1,000 people living in the county were raided last year, which is a decrease on four homes out of every 1,000, back in 2002. While east Clare was plagued by a spate of burglaries towards the end of last year, gardaí say breakins were not confined to any one area.

According to the Crime Prevention Officer in Clare, Sgt Gerry Barry, 45 per cent of all burglaries happen by forcing doors or windows open, while the remainder occur after intruders gain access through open windows or doors.

“In the majority of cases, cash or jewellery is stolen, while small electrical items, including mini disc players, are taken,” said Sgt Barry. “A number of firearms are being stolen. You should have a firearms cabinet to secure property.”

A lot of burglaries take place during the day when people are at work.

“People must be more security conscious. A lot of gangs are travelling around by day and they can spot places where they target. There have been a lot of burglaries in east Clare lately, but it is happening all over the place. Three per 1,000 of the population might sound a lot but it is not massive. However, a lot can be avoided. If you have an alarm system, make sure it is turned on,” he said.

The Crime Prevention Officer is warning people to take necessary steps, in an effort to keep burglars away from their premises or homes.

“You shouldn’t keep cash in the home. Expensive jewellery should be photographed and keep a copy of the picture. Burglars watch out for signs like milk not being taken in and keys being left on flower pots, or on the porch.

“If you leave your curtains drawn, it is known that no-one is at home. If people see the curtains are open and no lights are on, they know that no-one is at home,” he said.

Tools contained in garden sheds should be locked up, as all too often they are used to break into homes.

“Power tools are a favourite and they should be marked properly. They are used to commit crime, both here and elsewhere,” said Sgt Barry.