Category: News

A MAN charged in connection with the alleged discovery of drugs at a house in Spancill Hill is due to make his third court appearance tomorrow.

Krystof Sobolewski (37) is charged with an offence arising from the alleged discovery of cannabis at The Island, Kilvoydan, Spancill Hill on January 21.

It is alleged Mr Sobolewski was in possession of cannabis for purposes of selling it or otherwise supplying it.

Mr Sobolewski, with an address at The Island, Kilvoydan, Spancill Hill, first appeared in court earlier this month.

At the time Garda Dara McLoughlin of Scariff Garda Station gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution.

He said the accused made no reply to charge after caution.

Legal aid was granted to solicitor John Casey.

Mr Casey said he had no questions regarding the arrest, charge and caution of his client.

He told the court he would not be making any bail application on behalf of Mr Sobolewski.

Inspector Tom Kennedy sought to have the accused remanded in custody to appear again at Ennis District Court on January 28.

Mr Casey consented to the application.

Mr Sobolewski was brought before the Ennis court again on Tuesday last.

Inspector Tom Kennedy said the State were seeking to have the accused further remanded in custody to February 5.

He said the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had not yet issued directions as to how the case is to proceed.

“This is a very recent case”, he added.

Judge Aeneas McCarthy remanded the accused to appear again at Ennis District Court tomorrow (February 5). SEPA R AT ELY , a 34-year-old man charged with drugs offences is due before Ennis District Court tomorrow.

Vidas Jaskaukas, who listed an address at Main Street, Mullagh, is charged with possession of a controlled drug, to with, cannabis, for purposes of selling it or otherwise supplying it.

The charge relates to an alleged offence at Main Street, Mullagh on January 23.

Inspector Tom Kennedy told the court the State were seeking to have Mr Jaskauskas further remanded in custody to appear again at Ennis District Court on February 5.

The court heard the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has not yet issued directions on the case. Defence solicitor Siobhan McMahon consented to the adjournment.

Judge Aeneas McCarthy remanded the accused in custody to appear again in court tomorrow, (Tuesday February 4th).

THREE men found guilty of attacking a car while a religious ceremony was underway at Drumcliff graveyard will learn next week if they are go to prison.

Michael Doherty (52), Patrick Doherty (34) and James Galbraith (45) were convicted in December (2013) of criminal damage.

They were ordered by Judge William Early to pay € 7000 compensation to the victim.

Judge Early said if the money was paid, he would recommend a six month suspended sentence for each accused.

Finalisation of the case was adjourned to January 22, 2014 when the court heard that compensation had not yet been paid to the victim.

In December Ennis District Court heard mother of two Kathleen Maughan was visiting her husband’s grave when her Ford Focus car was damaged in a violent incident at Drumcliff cemetery.

Ms Maughan told the court she saw three men armed with slash hooks and hatchets alight from vehicles and attack her car on March 24, 2013.

Ms Maughan, who is from Ennis but now lives in Cork, was one of a group of 20 people attending a blessing of the graves ceremony.

Ms Maughan said, “I’m terrified to come to Ennis.

“I’m terrified to bring my children to see their father’s grave”, she added.

The court heard there was a feud between Traveller families in Clare at the time.

Ms Maughan said she had nothing to do with the dispute, which involved members of her family.

“I wasn’t fighting with them at all. I was terrified”, she explained.

The court heard € 7000 worth of damage was caused to Ms Maughan’s car.

Michael Doherty and Patrick Doherty, both with addresses at St Michael’s Park, Ballymaley, Ennis and James Galbraith, formerly of Lissaniska, Ennis and now living in Bettystown, Meath, all denied the charge of criminal damage.

But after hearing the evidence, Judge William Early said, “I believe the evidence of Ms Maughan.

“I believe she is telling the truth, therefore it must follow that I find them guilty as charged.”

Judge Early said it seemed to be the case that Ms Maughan was a “victim of one of these wretched family feuds that are all too common in the traveler community”.

There was a heated conclusion to the case.

A flurry of insults were fired at Ms Maughan from people sitting in the gallery.

A 41-year-old woman, who was later ordered to pay a contribution to charity after pleading guilty to a public order charge, told Ms Maughan she would “bite her nose off”.

Mr Galbraith told Judge Early he would not pay the victim.

“You can send me to jail, Judge. I won’t give her 10 cents. You can put me in jail now,” he said.

The case came before Judge Patrick Durcan on January 22.

He asked if compensation was available.

Solicitor for Patrick and Michael Doherty, Daragh Hassett, said it was not.

The case was further adjourned to January 28 to fix a date for Judge Early to finalise matters.

On Tuesday, the case was adjourned to February 11 when Judge Early will pass sentence.

All three accused were remanded on continuing bail.

CLARE parents are being urged to know who their children are friendly with online in order to reduce the potential for cyber bullying.

Leading forensic psychologist Dr Maureen Griffin says Facebook pages and other social media accounts can often be used by bullies to access information about young people.

“The huge difficulty with this is that it happens outside of schools. It happens in the evening at home, on phones, online and then it seeps back into school,” she said.

Dr Griffin was speaking in St Flannan’s College in Ennis on Wednesday night at an event organised by the parents association.

In a wide ranging lecture on social media and cyber-bullying, Dr Griffin, the founder for Internet Safety for Schools Ireland, said the most common form of bullying she has come across “are girls who will not bully individually but together in a group they bully”.

“The huge difficulty with this is that it happens outside of schools. It happens in the evening at home, on phones, online and then it seeps back into school.”

Dr Griffin, who lectures in the areas of mental health and crime, sexual offenders, online internet solicitation, says anonymous bullying can have an enormous impact on the victim.

She said, “They feel suspicious of everybody and because of that they become isolated not only online but also in the real world.”

Dr Griffin urged parents to know who their children are friends with online.

She highlighted the risks associ- ated with befriending anonymous Facebook accounts.

She recalled visiting an all girls school in Ireland where over 400 students had befriended an account set up in the name of a local road.

“The account was set up by a guy who lived in a different county, had previously served time in prison for sexual offences against adults. He did not contact them (students), did not send them nasty messages, he did not follow them in real life. He simply started collecting their pictures, pictures from teenage discos, pictures from girl’s sleepovers, pictures that were printed out and posted and edited onto other websites,” she said.

St Flannan’s teacher Pat Lynch echoed concerns expressed by Dr Griffin, urging parents to carefully monitor their children’s use of technology and the internet.

Mr Lynch told the meeting he had encountered instances of bullying in every of the 30 years he has spent teaching.

Mr Lynch, who teaches computer class to first year students, said the rise in cyber bullying is a “reason to be concerned”.

“Cyber bullying nearly always crosses over to physical bullying,” he added.

Mr Lynch warned of the dangers of allowing children unrestricted access to the internet in their own bedrooms. He said prolonged exposure to technology can affect student’s concentration, attitude and studies.

A WELL-KNOWN family business in Ennis was targeted by criminals on two occasions over the weekend.

Thieves stole a number of items after breaking into Guerin’s Shop in the Cornmarket area of the town in the early hours of Friday morning at last.

The burglary occurred sometime between 6pm on Thursday, January 30, and 7.30am on Friday, January 31.

It is thought an axe or other heavy implement was used to smash a hole in the front door.

A number of Gael Linn one euro lottery tickets, an amount of various brand cigarettes were all that was taken.

Temporary repairs were carried out on the door but the premises was again targeted just two nights later.

Between 3am and 6am on Monday, morning another attempt was made to gain entry to the shop by trying to force open the front door.

No entry was gained and nothing was stolen on this occasion.

A crow bar may have been used to prize loose a board covering the damage from the previous break in. It is thought the perpetrators may have been watching the shop in the days leading up the burglary.

It is believed they are from the Ennis area. Investigating gardaí are studying CCTV footage of the area and are following a definite line of inquiry.

They are urging anyone who may have seen anything on the nights in question to contact them at Ennis Garda Station.

Guerin’s has operated as a familyrun grocery shop in the Cornmarket area of the town since 1968/69.

It re-opened six years ago and has previously been the target of breakins.

Shop owner Clodagh Guerin said the latest incidents had a big impact on the family.

“It’s not just the financial cost of the damage caused and the things that were stolen, it’s the psychological cost also.

“You’re wondering is this going to happen again?” she said.

The building is the location for ‘The Stone Outside Dan Murphy’s Door’ – a well-known Clare.

GAY and lesbian people in Clare are seven times more likely to attempt suicide compared to heterosexual people in the county. That is according to Gay Switchboard Ireland, who believe that young lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) people in Clare are more likely to suffer from depression, consider self harm or ever even suicide.

A total of 27 calls from Clare were logged by the Gay Switchboard last year. The real number of Clare people using the service is likely to be much higher however, as only a fraction of callers give a county of origin.

According to Eddie McGuinness, organiser of The Outing gay and lesbian matchmaking festival which took place in Lisdoonvarna this year, more openness around LGBT issues is still needed to reverse this trend, especially in rural areas.

“It is a shocking statistic but it is the reality and we have to face up to that. I think families, individuals and friends need to get better at talking about issues like this – not just about your sexuality but all the different things that can get at a person,” he said.

Thousands of LGBT flocked to Lisdoonvarna last September for the first Outing festival – which was part of the traditional Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival.

According to Eddie, events like that can prompt discussion – especially in more rural areas where open lesbian and gay couples are less common.

“I think it was a great event and something that has already had a di- rect impact.

“We received a letter after the festival from a mother who had actually read about The Outing in The Clare People . She read the story to her family and told them that ‘Clare has come of age’. She used those words,” continued Eddie.

“Two weeks later her son came out to that mother and told her that he was gay. And it was the Outing and the coverage of it that made that possible. That is a success right there.”

Gay Switchboard Ireland is open seven days a week on 01 8721055.

CLARE County Council is considering installing security cameras at a graveyard near Ennis to combat mounting problems with crime and anti-social behaviour.

It follows a spate of incidents at Drumcliff graveyard in recent months. There have been a number of thefts from cars parked at the cemetery.

There have been reports of antisocial and intimidating behaviour by large groups attending the graveyard.

The area has also been the scene of violent incidents between feuding members of the Traveller community.

In a separate incident last November, Gardaí investigated a complaint of damage to a baby’s grave.

Ennis woman Christine Quinn discovered damage to the grave of her late son Patrick.

“I was devastated when I saw what happened and so was my husband, absolutely devastated. It breaks my heart. Who would do such a thing?”

At the time, the mother of three called on the council to install cameras in the area to prevent future in- cidents.

The January meeting of Ennis Town Council heard allegations of aggressive and intimidating behaviour by people visiting Drumcliff.

Cllr Mary Howard told the meeting she witnessed a group of people “drinking and being aggressive” in Drumcliff on Christmas day.

Clare County Council has confirmedit is considering installing CCVT near the cemetery.

The issues at Drumcliff were raised yesterday at the February meeting of Ennis Town Council.

In a motion, Cllr Mary Howard (FG) called on the local authority to look at the feasibility of placing CCTV at Drumcliff graveyard.

Cllr Howard said that while a number of thefts have been reported from vehicles at Drumcliff, a high number have gone unreported.

“You often meet people up there (Drumcliff ) who are upset because a window was smashed or something has been stolen from a car,” she said.

She said she feels CCTV is the only way to address the problems. Cllr Brian Meaney (FF) said Drumcliff had been the location of violent incidents between feuding Traveller families while graves had been dam- aged in other incidents.

“It’s a pity but I think we have to put it [CCTV] in,” he added.

Administrative officer Betty Devanny confirmed Clare County Council is examining the feasibility of temporary installation of CCTV at specific locations at Drumcliff cemetery.

“This is necessary to combat the ongoing issues in relation to theft from vehicles in the car park, antisocial behaviour and illegal dumping”, she added.

Public lighting is also being considered in the car park area of Drumcliff.

A YOUNG Kilbaha couple were forced to flee their home with their six-month-old baby as their house was flooded by waves from the Atlantic.

The West Clare village was once again engulfed by a storm and high tides, just weeks after a similar force of nature did € 3.4 million worth of damage.

Two houses and two homes were flooded in the village at the weekend, in a storm described as “more dramatic” than the previous one.

This time homes did not escape the flooding, with the water reaching above the bay window in one house.

Two days later and the local people are still suffering as a consequence of the weather.

Local woman Ailish Connolly explained that it will take sometime for things to return to normal.

Roads remain impassable and concerns have been expressed that emergency vehicles would have difficulty reaching the communities of Kilbaha, Ross and Fodra.

Water continues to run off the land into Fodra Bay, which in turn is flooding the local roads.

“Kilbaha is effectively an island. The only way to get through the village is with a four by four,” said Ms Connolly.

“The Ross road is out and even worse than before.”

Even the work carried out by Clare County Council during the last storm has been washed away.

This interim work included backs of rocks and interlocking concrete boulders.

While the playground survived the worst of the storm this time, the memorial to the Five Pilots was completely destroyed.

“There is so much more damage done this time. The last time it was directed at one area but now it is spaced out,” she said.

A COASTAL Management Report dating back to 1989 made recommendations for reinforcement works and protection works along the coast of Clare, that still have not been implemented 25 years on.

Three members of Clare County Council – Cllr Oliver Garry, Cllr Christy Curtin and Cllr Johnny Flynn – are to attend next week’s meeting of Clare County Council armed with the document hoping to make the case that the people of West Clare cannot wait another 25 years for such work.

As the council re-count the cost of coastal damage following the storm on St Bridget’s Day, February 1, the council members are to call for emergency funding to be released by Central Government immediately.

The people of the west coast have also lost patience with central Government and are demanding immediate action, as well as a long-term strategy.

Publican and Community Activist in Doonbeg Tommy Commerford told The Clare People , “Emergency flooding must mean emergency flooding. We don’t need any more ministers running around telling us we have a problem.”

The people living along the west coast and the Shannon estuary are well aware of the problems they are facing following another weekend of high winds and high tides.

“The emergency funding must be released straight away especially for vulnerable areas,” said Mr Commer- ford.

“There should be no consultants required. This is a job that common sense can repair.”

Agreeing with Mr Commerford, Ailish Connolly from Kilbaha said a plan must then be made to address coastal erosion.

“There needs to be a coastal strategy at national level. Now is a time for action,” she said.

AS THE waters begin to recede along the Clare coast, the focus now turns inland with council engineers monitoring extremely high water levels on a number of the county’s rivers, including the Fergus.

Clare County Council yesterday warned people in Ennis and along the lower Shannon area to be extremely vigilant and take all necessary precautions, with heavy rain likely to swell rivers further in the coming days.

According to rainfall figures recorded at Shannon Airport, the county has already received almost a quarter (194.6mm) of the total rain that fell on the 12 months of 2013. A further 3 inches of rain, or 76mm, is expected to fall in the county over the next seven days.

Senior engineer Tom Tiernan said yesterday that newly constructed flood defenses in Ennis have worked well to date, but warned that the expected rainfall is likely to test these defenses to their limits.

People living in sections of Ennis where flood defenses have not yet been complete have been asked to be particularly vigilant in the com- ing days.

“The pressure on coastal areas is starting to lessen – we’re not out of the woods yet but the tides are starting to drop back. There has been a lot of rainfall and more on the way so there is a real possibility of local flooding in certain areas,” said Mr Tiernan yesterday.

“The Fergus is our main focus at the moment. The new defenses that were built have worked, and that is very significant. But all of the flood relief works have not yet been completed and we would ask that people in flood prone areas would remain vigilant.”

Council engineers are continuously monitoring river levels in the Fergus and in a number of at-risk rivers across the county.

Contingency arrangements are in place to increase pumping capacity in certain areas and a number of emergency flood alleviation measures are also in place.

WAITING times are down in all the University Limerick Hospitals, including Ennis and Limerick, but people are still waiting months for routine procedures.

That was the message from the first public meeting of the new hospitals group board, who also heard that while the hospital group had once again run millions of euros over budget, the over run was significantly lower than previous years.

Chief Executive of UL Hospitals Ann Doherty told the meeting that the hospital group had met govern- ment targets in 2013 and was now aiming to be ranked in the top three Irish hospitals by 2018.

According to the figures presented the longest any patient had to wait for a routine out-patient appointment was one year, a figure acceptable to Government targets.

No patient was waiting more than eight months for scheduled in-patient or day case procedures and no child was waiting more than eight months for a scheduled in-patient of day case procedure. According to the figures released all routine and urgent colonoscopy targets were also met.

Waiting times in the regions only 24-hour emergency department re- mains an issue however.

In December 58.4 per cent of patients were seen in under six hours. However 25 per cent of patients still hadn’t been treated within nine hours of arrival at A&E.

The group had however a financial over run of € 10.119 million which is 4.1 per cent of its annual budget allocation.

Ms Doherty said that the over run, or what she described as a financial challenge, at the beginning of 2013 was € 21.7 million or 9.1 per cent.

“The sizeable improvement in financial performance is noteworthy and is attributed to a number of factors such as additional budget alloca- tion, generation of additional income and the formation of sub committees to monitor, approve and provide visibility and accountability at every organisational level over all areas of spend.”

Launching its three-year strategic plan for the hospital group, Ms Doherty also outlined the plans for this year.

A ten-bed Intensive Care Unit is to be completed as well as an eight-bed High Dependency Unit.

She said that plans are also in place to maximise the use of bed capacity across the hospitals in Clare, Limerick and North Tipperary, and to recruit additional neonatal and obstet- ric consultants.

Plans for 2014 amongst others include more beds for the main hospital in Dooradoyle, Limerick, the opening of a temporary interim paediatric emergency department and continued capital investment.

The new Parkinson’s, stroke, breast and dermatology building, which is being developed with the voluntary sector is ear marked for 2015.

Other works including the new much needed Emergency Department for Limerick is expected to be completed in 2016.

A key objective for the board is to secure capital for a new maternity unit on the Dooradoyle campus.