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AN additional 20 charges have been brought as part of an investigation into the discovery of a haul of sever- al thousand euro worth of jewellery, which was stolen from several homes in Ennis late last year.

The jewellery was discovered in November, after a major investiga- tion, “Operation Ennis’, was set up to tackle the spiralling rate of daytime burglaries in Ennis.

An Iranian national, Ali Reza Ve- layati, was charged in November with entering three houses – at Ard na Greine; Dun na R1, Tobartaoscain; and Ard Aoibhinn, Limerick Road, Ennis – as a trespasser and stealing aia oes

SU sloma eT Comey Mm NaloMn (AW o) UJ a’amr-NE (orees edly taken from the house at Dun na Ri was €1,950, while €500 worth of jewellery was allegedly taken from the house at Ard Aoibhinn.

Velayati (40), of Avondale, Kilrush Road, Ennis, was also charged with handling stolen jewellery, at Oakwood Drive, Ennis, on November 8 last.

He re-appeared in court last Friday where the court heard he had been charged with another 20 alleged of-

fences, the previous day.

He is charged with 19 counts of theft of jewellery or cash from houses on various dates between September 19 and November 8 last.

The total amount of jewellery list- ed on the charge sheets 1s €48,050,

along with 5,000 dollars.

The homes are in various parts of Ennis, including Clon Road, Shan- non Park, St Senan’s Road, Elm Park, Glensheen, Cahercalla Estate, Tulla Road, Tobartaoscaoin, College Grove, College Green, Abbey Court,

Victoria Court, Oakpark, Bramble Lane, Glenina and Inis Carraig.

He is also charged with handling €50,150 worth of stolen jewellery and €8,500 cash, at his home on No- (ole mC Ee

Garda Cyril Page told Ennis Dis-

trict Court that the accused did not make any reply to 10 of the charges after caution.

Sergeant John Cunningham told the court that in reply to the other 10 charges, the accused said, “I will talk to my lawyer.”

Inspector John Galvin told the court that the new charges will form part of a book of evidence which is due to be served next month.

Defending solicitor Daragh Hassett said his client had been “deprived of his liberty” for two months and was led to believe he would be facing up to 50 charges, when, in fact, he is now facing 24 charges.

Inspector Galvin said he under- stood the book of evidence would be ready for the next date. “This is the final chapter. These are the final charges,” he said.

Judge Joseph Mangan heard that the accused is currently on bail and said he would not mark it peremptory against the State.

IT was a comfortable victory in the end for champions Rock Rovers, but the thin line between victory and defeat was graphically illustrated in this full-blooded Sunday morning cup tie.

Rock, in their first defence of the title they won so sensationally in the County Grounds last May when beat- ing cup specialists Bunratty, were a goal down at half-time courtesy of Danny Scanlan’s brilliant finish in the 13th minute.

Throw in the fact that the Manus defence was in an uncompromising mood in that first half, snapping at the heels of their more vaunted op- ponents and not yielding an inch, let alone a clear-cut chance at goal.

But most of all throw in the fact that three minutes into the sec- ond half opportunity knocked for Michael Geraghty to put Manus into the dreamland of being 2-0 up on the cup champions and on the road to the last 16.

Geraghty was one-on-one with Rock keeper Leonard Keane — it looked easier to score than miss, but the latter prevailed when Geraghty blasted the ball wide from just inside the area.

Manus would have been full value for a 2-0 lead — they had dominated the first 35 minutes of the first half, forced six corners, controlling the midfield exchanges thanks to they physicality and looking dangerous up front thanks to Danny Scanlan.

His goal had class written all over it as he controlled Seanie Travers’

free with his left, dragged it onto his right foot and then hammered a low drive beyond Leonard Keane from

six yards. Ironically, Rock’s equaliser that came 40 seconds after Geraghty’s

miss was nearly a carbon copy of Manus’ opener. Greg Howard and Dean Gardiner worked the ball down

the right — Gardiner found Ashley Glynn on the edge of the six-yard box he controlled the ball with his left and then drove home the equaliser.

Rock were in the ascendancy from there on — they had the edge in fit- ness, but the game looked like going into extra-time until substitute Ro- nan Arthur struck for the lead goal with two minutes remaining.

The summer signing from Newmar- ket Celtic latched onto Barry Woods’ free and beat Blaise Talty from six yards. The icing was applied two minutes later when Shane Daniels’ free from midfield was headed home by Rowan Eade.

Rock could be on another cup run, but the 3-1 defeat definitely didn’t done Manus justice.

A MOTORIST who panicked when he saw gardai drove through a set of traffic lights and overtook cars on a continuous white line.

Brian Murphy (27), of Rineanna View, Shannon, pleaded guilty to careless driving arising out of an in- cident at Smithstown, Shannon, on October 30 last.

Inspector Tom Kennedy told Shan- non District Court that the accused drove through a set of traffic lights in

Shannon and failed to yield.

He said that Murphy, who was driving a motorbike, overtook cars on a continuous white line.

He accepted that while he overtook the cars, he hadn’t inconvenienced anyone.

Murphy also pleaded guilty to a public order charge arising out of a late-night incident at Shannon Town Centre on November 15 last.

Inspector Kennedy told the court the accused hassled security staff “‘to the effect if they laid a hand on him

he would kill them.”

Referring to the driving offence, defending solicitor Eamonn Dillon said his client had taken the mo- torbike out for a spin and panicked when he saw the gardai.

The solicitor said that his client was remorseful and apologetic for his ac- tions on November 15. He said his client had not been out for some time prior to that night and unfortunately had consumed too much alcohol.

Judge Joseph Mangan imposed fines totalling €500.

COROFIN Harps secured a place in the third round of the Clare Cup with a victory that was in no way as easy as the final score line suggests.

Turnpike Rovers, to an extent, were authors of their own misfortune giv- ing away two own goals before suc- cumbing to two sharply taken Noel Mullane goals. Mullane’s pair of late strikes summed up the major dif- ference between the sides on Sun- day; Corofin made the most of their chances; Turnpike blew theirs.

In an open and exciting encounter at Lees Road, Harps took the lead after 14 minutes before Pike equalised.

The remainder of the first half flared out in a series of wasted goal chances, with both sides equally cul- pable.

Pike’s profligacy was to prove the costher. After Andy Hayes inadvert-

edly became the second Pike player to put through his own net in the 58th minute, Corofin went for the kill.

The Harps line-up had a familiar look to it with one exception as cen- tre forward Gavin Dinan stepped in as emergency goalkeeper. Dinan ac- quitted himself well. The highlight undoubtedly being his 76th minute penalty save from James Ferns.

It was Dinan’s opposite number, Marty Whelan who was first to be tested with the Turnpike goalie get- ting down smartly to stop Mullane in the 4th minute.

Pike’s best chance of the opening quarter arrived in the 10th minute When Thomas Cronin’s shot was cleared of the line. Corofin took the lead soon after. John Keane whipped a low cross from the right that came of Eric Hayes and into the net.

Pike were level by the 20th minute. Donnacha Hassett’s cross from the

left was touched on by Cronin to the unmarked Stephen Burns at the back post. Cool as you like, Burns curled a low shot past Dinan to make it 1-1. Both sides had opportunities to take the lead before the break.

Cronin missed a glorious chance when he chipped inches wide in the 39th minute before Mullane and Ja- son Tierney combined for Keane to blast over from ten yards on half mnealee

Harps regained the lead shortly af- ter when Brian Halipn’s fizzed low free kick clipped Andy Hayes and trickled to the net.

Corofin’s lead was almost wiped out minutes later when Andy Hayes touched Cronin’s drive over the bar.

Mullane put daylight between the sides when he swept home in the Sede maenselbicon

Two minutes later Mullane bur- ied Corofin’s fourth goal and with it

Turnpike’s chances. Dinan kept out Fern’s penalty as the champions of 2005 and 2006 advance into familiar territory.

The Harps could be on the move ey lerem an leyue

CREE man Dan Kelly has had plenty to celebrate in the last few months.

As well as the arrival of his second child just four months ago, he has also been presented with the inaugu- ral Massey Ferguson “Technician of the Year’ award.

Not content with beating off stiff competition here in Ireland, he then went on to represent the country in the

UK and won the overall competition.

The competition was open to all en- gineers working in Massey Ferguson dealerships in the UK and Ireland, regardless of age or experience, and despite working in the area for just two years, Dan proved to be top of aVismeee De alse

Achieving this high accolade was not easy as it required long out-of- hours work and weeks of training in the UK, away from his wife Mary

and children Aishling (20 months) and James (20 weeks).

The 31-year-old took over the fam- ily farm in the past year adding to his PLES ACE AYA

The son of Jim and Ann Kelly, Dan has always been interested in tractors and farmwork.

When he left school, he went to the Athenry Agricultural College, before spending nine years as an apprentice and technician for Aer Atlanta in

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He then worked on the A380 for Airbus UK in the south of France.

Two years ago, he joined the MF dealership at Joseph Whelan Trac- tors. This is the second award for the Kilrush company. In 2005, Joseph Whelan (Jnr) won the European salesperson of the year award.

Dealer principal Joe Whelan praised Dan for his hard work and Yo su teaiea0 slo OL

“His previous experience, com- bined with numerous AGCO Acad- emy training modules, has led to Dan emerging as the top agricultural di- agnostic technician he is today,” he said.

“On top of that, Dan experienced a steep learning curve in the workshop with help from the workshop team, sO we were all overjoyed at having won the inaugural MF “Technician of the Year’ Award and we congratulate Dan on his wonderful achievement.”

Massey Ferguson International was also impressed with the west Clare yrarenee

‘The winner demonstrated an ex- ceptional all-round performance, in terms of hard work, attendance, team-working, appropriate use of technical knowledge and contribu- tion to dealer standards,” explained Jason Burbidge, AGCO’s Training and ‘Technical Assistance Group Manager.

THE husband of a woman murdered by a man who was last week jailed for attempting to abduct a child has said questions must be asked over decisions to grant him bail.

Gerard McGrath (24), was jailed for life last month for murdering Sixmi- lebridge resident Sylvia Roche-Kelly (below), in a Limerick hotel, in De- cember 2007.

At Clonmel Circuit Court last week, McGrath was jailed for 10 years for choking and falsely imprisoning a five-year-old girl who he tried to ab- duct.

McGrath, of Ballywalter, Cashel, County Tipperary, committed this offence in October 2007, just two months before he murdered Ms Ro- che-Kelly.

McGrath had previously assaulted a female taxi driver in April 2007.

MORE than 500 Clare farmers will be hit with interest charges and non- payment penalties following the Government’s decision to default on the payment of the Farm Waste Man- agement Scheme.

Farmers all over the county have taken out bank loans to fund the construction of storage facilities for farm waste following the introduc- tion of tight environmental controls in the 2007 EU nitrate regulations.

However, following the downturn in the public finances the Minister for Agriculture, Brendan Smith, has confirmed that the Government will not be able to fully fund a Govern- ment scheme to help cover the cost of some of the construction work.

These have left many Clare farmers with large bank loans that they can no longer afford to pay. It is feared in some quarters that banks will not be willing to extend more credit to farmers who cannot meet repay- ments.

“We would hope that things don’t get as bad as that. We would hope that any farmer with a decent credit history would be given some backing by the banks on this issue, especially as the banks are to blame for a good part of this situation,’ said Clare IFA Chairman, Michael Lynch.

“We will hope that the Govern-

ment will be able to help out in in- terest and charges from the bank as a result of this. The minister will be meeting with representatives from the bank later this week and the hope is that some sort of arrangement can be reached.”

More than 17,000 farmers through- out the country will be effected by the Governments failure to fully fi- nance this scheme.

IFA National President, Padraig Walshe, accused agricultural minis-

ter of abject failure and of “breaking his word” on the issue.

According to Walshe, Irish farmers who have carried out work have up to €500 million borrowed in bridging finance, which is costing them be- tween €2.5 million and €3.1 million per month.

DESPITE giving up home advan- tage, Tulla United came through a tough third round tie with Shannon Olympic at Lees Road on Sunday

morning. In a hotly contested affair, Tulla physicality saw them through a very spirited challenge from the Shannon side, who will rue not tak- ing the chances that came their way.

Tulla just about shaded an even first

half with Keith Lenihan and Alan Brigdale both failing to capatalise on good openings.

The vital breakthrough came with just over half an hour on the clock. A corner from the right was flicked

on well at the near post by Andy McMahon. Keith Lenihan then got a touch to the ball, which was goal bound when Olympic keeper Kieran McCarthy fisted the ball into his own net.

Olympic will have been dissap- pointed not to go in at half time on terms with Paul O’Connor shoot- ing wide when one on one with the Neale

Olympic had the better of much of the second half with Ricky Collins making a number of quality saves to keep the Shannon men at bay. The best chance of the half fell to Donnacha Kelly whose header went inches wide.

Best for Tulla were Alan McMahon, Keith Lenihan and Denis Murphy.

THERE is enough oil and gas re- serves off the Clare coast to pay off Ireland’s nation debt several times over and lift the country out of the recession – if the Government can renegotiate contracts with multina- tional exploration companies. According to a report by the Petro- leum Affairs Division of the Depart- ment of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources there is the potential for some 10 billion barrels

of oil to be recovered off the Irish coast, with an estimated 206 million barrels of oil located in the Spanish Point field. Even at current low mar- ket prices the total value of oil at this field would come to more than €1 billion. This is just a small fraction of the overall estimated value at the Spanish Point field however, which has a known reserve of one and a quarter trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

At present exploration at the Span- ish Point field, as well as the neigh-

bouring Burren field, is being man- aged by Providence Resources.

New legislation requires explo- ration companies to pay the Irish Government 40 per cent of their oils and gas finds in Irish waters – how- ever, older fields, such as the Spanish Point, Burren and Corrib finds, only require a payment of 25 per cent.

Fine Gael spokesman for Energy and Natural Resources, Simon Cov- eney said last week that the Govern- ment should renegotiate this deal – while local councillor Martin Con-

way (FG) believes that the Govern- ment should seek even better terms or even go into the exploration busi- ness themselves.

“The least that the Government should get from these resources should be 50 per cent. You have to make projects like this viable for pri- vate companies but I think that we need to get a better deal,” said Cllr Conway.

“In terms of employment we need to maximise everything that we have. I was in Doolin over the weekend and

it was shocking the number of build- ers who are unemployed.

“We need to look at every way that we can think of for generating any jobs, whether they be low-skilled jobs or high-skilled jobs. I think that we need to look at ways that the Gov- ernment could go into partnership with oil companies and exploit the resources of the country together.”

The Spanish Point and Burren fields are located in an area known as the Porcupine Basin – located some 200 km directly off the Clare coast.

NEWMARKET Celtic edged past Bridge Celtic in this all Premier League clash on Sunday afternoon.

One of the stand out ties when the draw for the Clare Cup was made last month, there was always going to be little to choose between reigning league champions Newmarket and their predecessors, Bridge Celtic.

As such, it took a goal of immense quality to settle a tight affair in New- market. Damien O’ Malley produced a superb lob to give Newmarket the lead inside the first ten minutes.

After such an explosive opening and given the calibre of the sides in- volved, you might have been forgiven for anticipating a goal fest. That nev- er materialised.

Despite a better showing in the second half, Bridge struggled to find the spark that has been the hallmark of some of their better displays this season.

Instead they found Newmarket in stubborn mood. When you talk about calibre, it isn’t just confined to those who ply the trade further up the field.

It also refers to the men at the back. For Newmarketet, Mark O’Malley and Colm Treacy were utterly de- pendable in defence. Likewise for Bridge, Pat Murtagh can pleased with his display at centre back.

The omens weren’t too promis- ing for Bridge even before kick off. Without a natural goalkeeper, K1- eran Aherne, normally a defender,

stepped in to fill a problem position on Johnny Flynn’s team.

Within minutes of the start, Aherne was picking the ball out of then net. Though in fairness, there he was little he could have done to prevent Newmarket from taking the lead.

The ball broke on the right hand

side of the Bridge penalty area and found its way to the grateful Darren OVEN

Spotting Aherne ever so slightly off his line, the midfielder’s perfectly judged chip arced over and into the net. It was the perfect start for New- market. The home side went looking

for a second goal and with the pacy Eoin Hayes and Damien O’Malley looking dangerous, it looked a real possibility.

But Bridge stood firm, giving lit- tle away at the back and making it to half time just one goal behind.

Celtic passed the ball a lot better af- ter the break but will be disappointed not to have made more of the posses- sion they enjoyed.

Newmarket were not for moving though Bridge came close to equal- ising when Ger O’Connell’s fiercely struck free kick was well tipped over by Newmarket goalie Trevor O’Donnell.