AN INVESTIGATION into allega- tions of abuse of psychiatric patients at a community residence in Shannon is due to be finalised within weeks.
The investigation was launched by the Health Services Executive (HSE) after a number of written complaints were made, alleging abuse of service users by a staff member at Deilginish Community Residence.
THE mist came down on Lisdoon- varna on Monday afternoon, making visibility something of a problem – maybe it was just as well because this was a dour low-scoring affair served up by two promotion candidates.
There was nothing between the sides before the ball was thrown in – each lumped on five points from five games – maked it six from six after a forgetable encounter that failed the set football pulses racing.
Not the St Breckan’s minded as Michael McGann’s final whistle drew
closer. A Pat Nagle free as the game entered injury time inched St Breck- an’s 1-4 to 1-3 ahead and looked like being the decisive score.
However, Clondegad were not to be denied and grabbed a levelling score to make the long journey home to the shores of the Shannon estuary more palatable, the score coming from the flying boot of full-forward Shane Brennan.
St Breckan’s had had the better of the first half, despite only registering two scores. They were playing with the slight wind advantage and hit the front in the fifth minute thanks to a
point from play by Denis O’Driscoll.
Gary Brennan, who turned out to be the game’s most influential per- former levelled matters in the eighth minute before the game descended into a foul-ridden affair.
At least one of the many did yield a score, albeit it came after a 14 minute lull in the scoring. Full forward Pat Nagle was fouled in the 22nd minute, but picked himself up off the floor and fired the penalty low to Kenneth Breen’s right for a goal. Kenneth Kelly pulled one back for Clondegad in the 24th minute to leave St Breck- an’s 1-1 to 0-2 ahead.
A point from play by Paudge Mc- Mahon edged Clondegad closer sev- en minutes after the resumption but Pat Nagle put St Breckan’s ahead by two once more with a point in the 40th minute.
However, the game turned in Clon- degad’s favour in the 44th minute when Gary Brennan’s long delivery was flicked to the net by Kenneth Kelly on the edge of the square.
Minutes earlier Eoin Griffin had crashed a pile-driver off the upright, but St Breckan’s recovered their composure and pointed frees from Pat Nagle in the 49th and 61st min- utes seemed to tip the scales in their ee aVolene
However, in the third minute of 1n- jury time as Clondegad chased down an equaliser, the ball broke outside the large square from where Shane Brennan first-timed the ball over the bar for the equaliser.
It means that both sides still have everything to play for, Clondegad starting on Wenesday night when they take on St Senan’s Kilkee.
A WEST Clare father could have been admitted to Ennis General Hos- pital instead of been taken over 65 miles to the Mid Western Regional Hospital Limerick the morning he died.
That’s according to the Health Serv- ice Executive, who maintains that Dan McDonnell from Kilkee could have been admitted to Ennis hospital despite the closure of its accident and emergency services at night just 13 days before.
On Sunday, April 19, two weeks ago, the 59-year-old former county
council worker took ill at his home in Kilkee. He was examined by the out-of-hours GP service Shannon- doc, who called an ambulance.
The Kilrush ambulance met with a paramedic en route and the father of three was then transferred to the Limerick hospital.
Just a few miles from the hospi- tal, on the Dock Road in Limerick, Mr McDonnell suffered cardiac ar- rest and was pronounced dead at the Limerick hospital at approximately 6.30am.
The death of the popular Kilkee man was met with anger and concern by hospital lobby groups who main-
tained that had he been admitted to Ennis General Hospital, he may have had a better chance.
The HSE now maintain that Mr McDonnell could have been admit- ted to the Clare hospital, even though A &E was closed for the night.
It claimed that protocols are in place that would have allowed Mr McDonnell to be admitted to the hospital, even though it was after 8pm when the A&E closes.
“Outside of this time, patients can continue to be admitted directly to Ennis General Hospital for both medical and surgical problems if it has been arranged by the patient’s
General Practitioner with the medi- cal or surgical team on call.”
While the HSE maintain that the majority of acute medical conditions can be referred to the hospital by GPS and Shannondoc, GPs say they have not been consulted about the new regime imposed on the county.
At the time of Mr McDonnell’s death, the HSE said it “was satisfied all appropriate care was provided for him by the advanced paramedic team and the ambulance personnel Orme lint
It is continuing with “a clinical re- view of circumstances surrounding his case”.
SHANNON Gaels were pointless going into this Monday afternoon encounter – an hour’s football later and they were clinging to the hope of a Houdini-like escape from a relega- tion that seemed inevitable.
All thanks to this convincing eight- point victory over an Eire Og team that were lamentable on the day – the concession of three second half goals putting them back into the relegation mire with only one game remaining.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this for the Townies. Fresh from their morale boosting win over St Joseph’s Miltown the previous Saturday week they were confidently expected to turn over a Gaels team had had lost their opening five games.
Not to be thanks to a second half in which the Josie O’Shea managed side outscored their opponents by 3-3 to O-3 to turn a one-point deficit into a convincing eight point win.
There was nothing between them in the first half – early on they swapped point for point, with Brian Fitzpatrick and Stephen Hickey finding the range for the Townes, while Brian O’Shea, David Neylon, John Paul O’ Neill and Michael O’Donoghue were on the mark for the Gaels.
It was Eire Og who carved out an interval lead though, thanks to David Russell’s goal in the 24th minute. Russell burst forward with convic- tion from midfield and drove the ball beyond Michael O’Shea in the Gaels goal.
However, it was the Gaels’ goals
that turned this game on its head. The first came three minutes into the second half when David Neylon pun- ished poor Eire Og defending when rifling past Shane O’Connell – the Gaels never looked back while Eire
Og slowly capitulated to the fourth defeat from six outings.
Neylon struck again in the 45th minute, this time field a long delivery from Noel Kennedy, before turning and thumping an unstoppable drive
past the hapless O’Connell, while the final nail was driven into the Town- ies’ coffin with eight minutes to go when John Paul O’Neill intercepted a ball coming out of the Eire Og de- fence and put Declan Power through
for another soft goal.
All the Townies could muster in the second half were three points, a situation that puts them on the brink of dropping out of Cusack Cup foot- ball for the first time since being promoted to the top flight of league football in the county thanks to their Banner Cup final success, ironically over Shannon Gaels way back in Kildysart in 1993.
With high flying Doonbeg com- ing to Eire Og for the final round of the Cusack Cup in three weeks time, these are tough times for football in the county capital.
CLARE County Council has grant- ed planning permission for a visitor centre at the Pol an Jonain cave in Doolin.
Currently, there are no facilities on site and visitors are bussed to view the cave, which contains one of the largest free-hanging stalactites in the world. The plan involves the con- struction of a small visitor centre, along with a car-park for 30 cars and two bus bays.
Helen Browne, who 1s co-owner of the cave, said that the attraction was not viable without a visitor centre and the park ‘n’ ride system was not viable into the future.
“We’re delighted. We deserve the same chance as everyone else. We can’t compete with one hand tied be- hind our back.”
Ms Browne said that there is no reason why the planning permis- sion should be appealed to An Bord Pleanala, adding that she hopes con- struction work will commence in the aIbAebeeeen
The council gave the go-ahead for the scheme in spite of opposition from An Taisce, Ailwee Caves, the Pol an Jonain Action Group and the Speleo- logical Union of Ireland (SUI).
The council gave the plan the green
light after employing a geologist, Dr Maria McNamara of the Burren Ge- opark Project to examine the plan- ning application.
In her report, Dr McNamara said it was difficult to envisage a scenario in which the proposed development works — which include construct of foundations to a depth of only 60cm — would impact negatively upon the physical stability of the great stalac- WIR
The county council planning re- port pointed out that the precedent of visitor centres being developed at tourism sites in the north Clare area included the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Centre, the Michael Cusack Centre, the Ailwee Caves and the Cahercon- nell Stone Fort.
The report also stated that the pro- posal “would add to the range of tourism attractions in north Clare thus adding significantly to the local economy ’.
The council gave the plan the go- ahead after concluding that it would not seriously injure the visual ameni- ties, landscape character and ecolog- ical and geological value of the area.
TWO budding west Clare writers did the county proud at last week’s National INTO/EBS Handwriting Competition, winning one category and coming third in another. Caitrio- na O’Gorman and Ciara Quinlivan, both from Kilmihil National School, each collected awards at the national prize giving ceremony which took place on April 25 at the EBS Head Office in Dublin.
Each girl was presented with a certificate and a specially commis- sioned medal to mark their achieve- ment. Caitriona, took the first prize in the category for third and fourth class students while Ciara took third
place in the category for first and second class students.
The competition involved submit- ting a sample of handwriting on the theme of family. Each entrant was allowed to write a piece of prose or a poem about their own family. The children were not judged on the con- tent of the writing but solely on their handwriting skills.
Caitriona and Ciara both had to qualify through the County Clare element of the National INTO/EBS Handwriting Competition before they made it as far as the national finals.
There was an extra surprise for C1- ara at the ceremony when she won a special prize draw which includes a
trip for her whole family to Disney- land.
The National Handwriting Com- petition is organised each years to encourage young children to develop their handwriting by rewarding ex- cellence in penmanship. The Irish National Teachers Organisation or- ganise the national event, which has been growing in size greatly over the last number of years.
Indeed, this year’s competition had one of the largest entries ever with representative from more than 1,200 schools taking part.
The INTO extended their thanks to all the children who took part in the competition and to their teachers for organising the event in their schools.
“We also thank the INTO Hand- writing Co-ordinators for all their hard work in co-ordinating this event,’ said an INTO spokesperson.
“We realise the enormous work- load involved and appreciate your time and dedication to making this competition a great success.”
A CAREER spanning more than 30 years will draw to a close later this summer when the principal of St Caimin’s Community School in Shannon will retire.
Mary Hanley has taught at the school since it opened in September 1985, having previously taught in Dublin. She will step back from St Caimin’s, having ensured it earned an excellent reputation over the years, both in terms of academia and in sporting circles. Ms Hanley at- tributes this to a combination of the dedication of her 62 staff, along with the huge interest shown by parents and students alike in education.
“We have past pupils who have done every course in universities all over the world, including medicine, dentistry, teaching, engineering, ac- counting, business or worked in vari- ous trades,” she said.
‘We have a very broad curriculum, which I hope will continue into the future, despite the cutbacks. We are not able to run the transition year this year because of cutbacks. Nor- mally we would have 24 in the class but only eight opted for it this year so we couldn’t afford to do it. Hopefully it will be back again next year,’ said the Shannon native.
St Caimin’s has achieved honours in various sports over the years and given her huge interest in sport, Ms Hanley was thrilled with this. Three achievements in particular stand out
– winning the Senior B Munster hurl- ing tittle in 1999; achieving honours in the under-15A competition in 2007 and reaching the Harty Cup final this year. Those successes were particu- larly sweet as her sons Eoghan and Colm were involved; initially as players and later as mentors. Alan Cunningham also played a key role in training the teams. Much success has also been earned in camogie and
athletics at the school. Academically, St Caimin’s has won several awards over the years and its students have gone on to earn achievements at regional and nation- al levels. One memory stands out, in terms of academic achievements. “On August 15 every year, seeing the Leaving Certificate results coming out and seeing students getting what they want after all the hard work,”
she said.
When St Caimin’s opened, there were just 112 students and she has overseen its expansion over the years. Currently there are 700 students at- tending the school. This in itself presents its own dilemma.
“We can’t take any more than 700 because of the size of the building. For the past six or seven years, there has been a waiting list every year. This could be 50 or 60. It’s the one thing I find very difficult to do, to turn away any child that wants to come to St Caimin’s. We have an ad- mission policy and we stick to that,” she said.
Priority is given to children who have brothers and sisters 1n the school ANNO UMNO SKM: DKCMINDD ERY OF: GonE NE BEE ley lo after that requirement is met, chil- dren who are the first in the family then get priority.
Looking to the future, she plans to involve herself in many challenges.
“T will miss it, but I will keep my- self occupied. I was president of the Association of Principals and Vice- Principals of community and com- prehensive schools (1996 – 7) and I was a founder member of the Na- tional Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD) in 2002. Being involved in those organisa- tions kept me on top of all changes in education. I will continue to help with the national association,” she said.
A SOLICITOR representing six men charged in connection with a feud between two families in Ennis has claimed the arrest of his clients was “politically motivated”.
However, he later apologised for his remarks, after the local superintend- ent strongly objected.
Defence solicitor Charles Foley de- scribed the incidents as a “so-called feud”, to which Supt Scanlan replied, “This so-called feud is a feud.”
Supt Scanlan said he had attended an emergency meeting of Ennis Town Council last Wednesday in relation to ongoing violence in the area.
Mr Foley then asked the Supt were the arrests “politically motivated.” Supt Scanlan replied, “That is outra- geous. I have no political motivation to come here today.”
Mr Foley said it was a “remark- able coincidence” that the incident
had taken place on March 28, but no arrests were made until last Wednes- day, “a day in which you are to have a meeting with Ennis UDC. That’s the very reason and that’s the reason you are objecting to bail today.”
Supt Scanlan replied, “I’d object to that type of cross-examination and I’d ask it be withdrawn. It should not be tolerated.”
Judge Leo Malone then said, “Mr Foley, the Supt has outlined specific reasons. . . I’m disregarding the al- legation that it was politically moti- vated.”
Mr Foley later apologised for the remarks. “I apologise to him if I offended him by suggesting it was politically motivated. It obviously wasn’t,” he said.
ALCOHOL-FUELLED incidents after a birthday party at a pub in Shannon were reminiscent of scenes from the Wild West, according to a judge, who imposed fines totalling more than €2,500 and jailed one of those involved.
Arising out of the early morning incident, six people, originally from Limerick — including two women and a teenage boy — faced several charges. Between them, they pleaded guilty to 14 charges, on September 21, 2008. Several other charges were withdrawn by the State.
In handing down the sentences, Judge Leo Malone said, “It’s lucky the incident ended as it did without serious harm or injury to those peo- ple or the gardai. It could have had very serious consequences.”
Noel O’Callaghan (48), of Fergus
Road, Shannon, admitted a charge of criminal damage and public order; Stephen Kelly (27), of Slaney Park, Shannon, admitted obstructing a garda and public order; and
Martin O’Callaghan (20), of Fergus Road, Shannon, admitted producing a shovel in a threatening manner and public order.
Lesley O’Callaghan (21), of Fergus Road, Shannon, admitted obstruct- ing a garda and public order;
Melita Galvin (18), of Shanabooley Road, Ballynanty, Limerick, admit- ted obstructing a garda and public order; while a 17-year-old youth, who cannot be named because of his age, admitted obstructing a garda and public order.
Sergeant Kevin O’Hagan told En- nis District Court that there was unruly behaviour outside the Cross- roads pub in Drumgeely. One of the accused, Stephen Kelly, was verbally
abusive to gardai at the scene and resisted arrest. A short time later, as he walked out the front door of his house, Kelly again shouted at gardai. He was arrested and while he did not resist arrest on this occasion, a number of others interfered. The ju- venile jumped on top of the gardai and swung out of them. The juvenile was then arrested and he became aggressive to gardai. Melita Galvin also swung out of a garda, while he was trying to put Stephen Kelly into a patrol car. Several gardai arrived on the scene and the incident eventu- ally calmed down.
A short time later, Noel O’Callaghan began to shout and showed gardai blood on his hands, having smashed six glasses in the pub earlier. As he was being arrested, a number of others pulled at gardai. One of the accused, Martin O’Callaghan, ap- peared from his house with a long-
handed shovel in his hand. “He was swinging the shovel over his head, shouting to gardai “Come and get me’. He was stripped to the waist,’ said the garda. He said that Lesley O’Callaghan managed to calm him down.
While the incident was diffused within 20 minutes, “gardai main- tained a presence in the area all the night, in case there was a recurrence. It was totally alcohol-fuelled. Some incident happened in the premises. When people were arrested it seemed to escalate more,’ said Sgt O’ Hagan.
Judge Leo Malone said it sounded like “The Wild West.’
The judge said that Noel O’Callaghan was “old enough to have sense.” Defending solicitor John Herbert accepted this, but said he had remained away from the greater part of the fray. He was fined €300. Re- ferring to Martin O’Callaghan, Mr
Herbert said that while he produced a Shovel, he did not make contact with gardai. “There wasn’t any great intent other than bravado,” he said. However, Judge Malone remarked, ‘A shovel could kill you.” Mr Her- bert said, ““While his ire was directed at gardai, he did not leave the gen- eral curtilage of the house.” A three- month jail term and fine of €250 was imposed. “The reason for the sen- tence is I look very seriously on fire- arms offences,” said the judge. Melita Galvin was fined €600. Fines total- ling €800 were imposed on Stephen Kelly, while Lesley O’Callaghan was fined €500.
Mr Herbert said that the juvenile “has been targeted by criminals to do certain things for them because he does not have the wherewithal to make proper decisions.” He was fined €200. The total amount of the fines imposed was €2,650.
THE men charged last week in con- nection with a feud in Ennis deny any involvement in the incident, with one of them telling a court, “I’m a lover, not a fighter.”
Charles Foley, solicitor for the six McDonagh brothers, said his clients were not the instigators of the inci- elem
Jason McDonagh, a father-of-three, told the court he was not involved in a feud. He said he has two sick chil- dren. His wife Anne Marie said, “For Jason, it was the wrong place at the wrong time. He has been dragged into this unnecessarily.”
Edward ‘Ned’ McDonagh told the court, “These people came down uninvited. I never retaliated since
March 28. All that’s been made is al- legations. Whatever had to be done there was defence. We were defend- ing ourselves. There was young kids there.”
Asked why people from Limerick were in his home in March, he said, “We know them from horse fairs. I don’t know them individually.” He said he knew nothing about petrol bombs that were found by gardai at the house.
Michael McDonagh denied any involvement in the incidents. “I’m a lover, not a fighter,’ he proclaimed. However, Inspector Tom Kennedy put it to him that his “flippant atti- tude” in the witness box was an indi- cation of his “entire attitude for this court and for law and order the Su- perintendent fears is going to break
down.” The accused replied, “I’m not a violent person.” Mr Foley said the “flippant” remark was made by his client under pressure.
It was put to Gerard McDonagh that he was hiding in the hot press when gardai went to arrest him. He replied, “I was in the hotpress look- ing for clothes.” Inspector Kennedy said he did not want the court turned into a circus.
The fifth accused, David McDon- agh said, “This is not my feud.”
Joseph McDonagh, who is accused of damaging a car last week, told the court, “We are being victimised.”
He said he has not been involved in any part of the feud. “I have in- tervened in rows, to try and keep the peace in the town,’ he added.
Mr Foley said if granted bail, the
accused men would undertake to stay out of trouble. “This incident occurred effectively on their own doorstep. They were in their moth- er’s house at the time,” he said.
However, Inspector Kennedy said this bail application was _ unprec- edented in terms of the concerns outlined by the State. Relating to the alleged assault, he said, “It’s by any standards a grave assault. One would wonder how this man survived it.”
He said there was a huge risk that someone would be very seriously injured “if not left dead” due to the feud. “There is very good reason why the Supt is so concerned about what’s gone on and what’s likely to go on if these people are admitted to bail,” he said.
Judge Leo Malone refused bail for
Edward ‘Ned’, Michael and Gerard McDonagh. He granted bail for Ja- son and David McDonagh, on strin- gent conditions. He said the reason he was granting bail to Jason was be- cause he has disabled children. The bail conditions include that they re- main away from a number of people and addresses in Ennis; sign on at the garda station and abide by a curfew.
Joseph McDonagh was also grant- ed bail, with stringent conditions at- Ne tere b
Bail, totalling €13,000 (between own and independent sureties), was set for the three men who were grant- ed bail.
“If there is any breach of the bail conditions, bail will be revoked and they won’t get bail again,” said the judge.