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A MAN who had a screwdriver in- side his hoodie told gardai he did not know it was there, a court has heard.

Mark Mounsey (26), of Gordon Drive, Ennis, denied a charge of pos- session of an article.

Garda Barry O’Grady told Ennis District Court that he was on patrol at Cloughleigh Road, Ennis, on Au- gust 31 last.

He observed a silver car with three men in it. The accused, he said, was sitting in the back seat and appeared

nervous.

He said he searched him at Ennis Garda Station and found a screw- driver inside the hoodie top he was wearing.

“He said he didn’t know it was there,” said the garda.

Defending solicitor Daragh Hassett said his client lives across the road from where he met the garda.

He said he met two friends outside the local shop and sat into the back of the car. Mr Hassett said his cli- ent was searched at Cloughleigh and not at the garda station. However the

garda said this was not the case.

The solicitor said this incident hap- pened at 1.05pm, in daylight hours. Mr Mounsey told the court he had the screwdriver in his top “because I was changing a lock on my bedroom door.”

Mr Hassett submitted to the court that there was “nothing untoward” in relation to the possession of the screwdriver.

‘The reasonable doubt in this case must lie with the defence,’ he said.

Judge Leo Malone dismissed the charge.

AN elected member of Clare County Council has challenged members of the media to spend a week with him to see his workload.

Cllr Martin Lafferty (Ind) made the call at last night’s meeting of the local authority after hearing that a journalist had made a request under the Freedom of Information Act ask- ing for details of councillors’ attend- ance at meetings.

“If any journalist wants to spend a week with me and see what the real workload is for a local politician, they are welcome to do it,” he said.

He was speaking on a motion from Cllr Christy Curtin (Ind) asking for details of how many meetings had been convened of the various com- mittees of the council in the last three years.

Cllr Martin Conway (FG) said “nobody is in this job for the money. TDs in this country earn seven times as much as councillors do and they have secretaries to write letters for them and don’t even have to worry about phone expenses.”

Cllr PJ Kelly (FF) said that the call on councillors’ time was “not just a matter of meetings but also a mat- ter of how many times the doorbell rings. If all the hours were calculated out, we are well below the minimum eon

Cllr Pascal Fitzgerald (Labour) asked whether there was not some measure the councillors could take

to help two council colleagues who have been unable to attend meetings because of a year of ill-health. Mayor of Clare, Cllr Madeleine Taylor-Quinn (FG) said the system which penalises councillors for non- attendance, in their salaries and in their pension entitlements, was “very inequitable. If Senators become ill during a term in office, they are not penalised. This is an issue I feel must be addressed by the county council

with the Minister.”

County Manager Alec Fleming said he agreed that councillors sala- ries were less than adequate.

“The salary is based on a notional 20 hours work a week and I know that this is not the case and every councillor works longer than that,” said Mr Fleming.

A HAUL of more than two kilos of cocaine hidden in an aircraft at Shannon Airport last week were not destined for the local market, accord- ing to gardai.

The seizure of 2.2 kilos of the drug, worth €158,000, was made during a routine search of an aircraft late last Monday night.

The drugs had been concealed in an overhead lighting unit on the plane. The Boeing 767 had made the jour- ney from the Carribean to Amster- dam, prior to travelling to Shannon

for maintenance.

Sources say they believe the drugs were destined for the Dutch market, but the aircraft is understood to have departed Amsterdam earlier than an- ticipated. As a result, those behind the transportation of them did not get the opportunity to pick them up and this resulted in the drugs being brought to Shannon.

The drugs were discovered by the airport’s drugs dog, Shadow, during a routine search of the aircraft.

During a similar search, over a kilo of cocaine was discovered in a concealed area in an overhead locker

during maintenance of another air- craft at Shannon 12 months ago.

As part of the investigation into the discovery of the drugs last week, gardai are attempting to track down the history of the aircraft over a number of weeks prior to the discov- ery.

“While we have an open mind as to the destination of these drugs, I would suspect we weren’t the prima- ry destination,’ said a garda source.

“This method of transporting drugs is unusual, but people are always looking at ways of transporting drugs around the world,” he added.

As the newly-appointed Chief Su- perintendent in Clare, Kevin Dono- hoe, has pledged to consider increas- ing resources across the Clare garda division to tackle the drugs issue, gardai say they will continue to take on drug traffickers.

“We are actively seeking to police drug trafficking and drug traffickers, regardless of what destinations drugs are for,” said the source.

‘All we can do is promise that we will keep the activities of drug traf- fickers in mind. They will be pur- sued actively and they have to realise this,’ he added.

THE process of the voluntary shed- ding of 35 per cent of the Aer Lin- gus jobs at Shannon is to begin after SIPTU members in the airline voted to accept the new plan hammered out between the union and the airline.

SIPTU members at Aer Lingus voted by almost 80 per cent to accept the alternative cost savings plan to outsourcing more than 1,300 jobs at the national air line.

A union spokesman said that the turnout for the vote was “80 per cent delivering a clear overall majority in favour of the proposals”.

“Tt is now a matter for the company to evaluate the options each individ- ual has made under the alternative cost savings plan to see if it provides a viable option,” National Industrial Secretary Gerry McCormack said after the conclusion of the ballot. Staff members had just over one day to notify the company of their pre- ferred options.

“We welcome the ballot result as the first step towards preventing the outsourcing of more than 1,300 jobs and securing the long term viability of Aer Lingus,’ McCormack added.

The company needs seven per cent of staff in Cork and Dublin and 35 per cent of staff in Shannon to leave if the plan is to be a success.

It also needs half of the remaining staff to migrate onto the new terms and conditions provided to achieve the cost savings necessary.

Explaining the next step in the

process, McCormack said: “SIPTU will also be analysing and evaluating the savings achieved when our mem- bers make their returns to Aer Lin- gus management on their preferred options.

“In doing this we will have the ex- pert assistance of Eugene McMahon of Mazars, who played an invaluable

role in the process of identifying al- ternative savings to the original out- sourcing strategy proposed by man- eNxey nao

REVELERS at this weekends Doo- lin Christmas Market will have the opportunity to get a stress relieving back rub while enjoying their Christ- mas shopping.

This Saturday and Sunday the Russell Centre will be the location for the first ever Christmas market held in the village. The market is a continuation of the successful sum- mer market and crafts fair and will feature the largest collection of food and goods ever to be displayed in the centre.

‘The summer market was very suc- cessful this year – the vendors loved

it and the community loved it – and as well as that everyone involved really loves Christmas. I think it’s natural for people who love making things and cooking things to really love Christmas. There 1s so much of this going on that doesn’t happen at any other time of the years,” said or- ganiser Toby Sachsenmaier.

“This years it seem like the perfect time to show that Christmas isn’t just about buying more and more things. Christmas is about community, about neighbours and things like recipes which have been handed down over the generations.

“The whole focus of the Christmas market will be to get back to these

old fashioned values. We love the idea of offering people something that is home made at a reasonable price.”

The market will include a wide va- riety of Christmas foods, including a special vegan Christmas cake, a wide range of local crafts including leatherwork, cards, willow baskets, pottery and glass art.

“All the food that is available will be very specially designed for Christ- mas. We have many of the crafts people from the summer who are coming back again but we also have a lot of people who will be new to the market and have produce which is specially designed for Christmas,”

continued Toby.

“The other thing that will be really different from the summer market is the atmosphere. We will be going all out to create a real Christmas feeling around the place. It will actually be the biggest market that we have had so far, we will be using every single part of the hall.

“We will also have someone doing ten minute, distressing shoulder mas- saging for people to really get them into the relaxing, Christmas spirit.”

The Doolin Christmas Market and Craft Fair will take place this Satur- day and Sunday, December 13 and 14, [lam to 7pm at the Russell Com- munity Centre in Doolin.

THE involvement of local people will be key if the work of the new- ly launched Burren Trust is to be a success. The trust was officially launched by botanist David Bellamy on Thursday, and the world famous botanist stressed the importance of the involvement of local people. Trust organiser and founder of Bur- renBeo, Brendan Dunford said that membership of the trust is open to all and that each member will be given a say into how the organisation is man-

aged.

“We see this as a first for Ireland, in fact I don’t know of any project exactly like this is existence,’ said Professor Dunford.

“We would see this as broadening out on the work that BurrenBeo has been working on for year. We would like to see this work branching out and involving more and more peo- eter

“We really want the membership to get involved. We had more than 200 people in Ballyvaughan for the launch and everybody was chipping

in and helping out. We need people to come forward with their ideas and drive this project forward.” Professor Bellamy said that the trust could become a model for envi- ronmental protection worldwide. “The happiest day of my life was the day that I got married but to be here to launch his project is the sec- ond happiest. I just could not have said no to coming here,” he said. “This is the best piece of karst landscapes in all of Europe and it is in great danger. It could be loved to death but it could be loved back to

life again.

‘“T have been around the world four times already this year and I believe that what is going on here could be- come a great model for sites all over the world.

“If we brand the Burren we can have farmers who will produce beau- tiful cheese, beautiful beef and beau- tiful lamb.

“We have to choose what we do wisely. The real wisdom here 1s with the local people and fortunately big governments are scared of the people on the ground.”

Bellamy riles green Meaney

AFTER weeks of honing perform- ances, songs and dance routines, the East Clare Musical Society are ready to delight audiences with their latest production. “Some Like It Hot”.

After two years of highly success- ful shows, with ‘God Bless Archie Dean’ and ‘Oaklahoma” the talented troupe is back.

Some Like It Hot, based on the screenplay by Billy Wilder tells the story of two struggling musicians, Joe and Jerry, in 1920’s Chicago. Lady Luck isn’t on their side and when they witness the “Valentine Massacre” involving Spats and his Gang their fate 1s sealed ,unless they get out of town fast. They rush to join a band, however, they have to use all their talents to fit in with “Sweet Sue and her Society Syncopaters” as they head for sunny Miami.

Thinking they’ve landed in heaven, Joe and Jerry soon realise that hiding out at the beach isn’t going to be easy, especially with the irresistible Sugar around. Things just go from bad to worse with hilarious results!

This heartwarming comedy guar- antees to have audiences in stitches.

Jerry 1s played by Shay O’Neill, Joe is played by Paul Conroy, Sugar is played by Sandra O’Farrell, along with a cast of over 30 from East Orie

Tickets are priced at €15 for adults and €8 for under 18’s and are avail- able from Roger’s Centra, Scar- iff, _McKeogh’s Londis, Ballina, MV ‘Touhy’s, Coose, or they can be booked by phoning Doreen on 087 PAN Se leree

The show runs at Scariff Commu- nity Hall from December 11 to 14.

Robin has, in previous years organ- ised fairs in The West County and Buratty, but this was the first time he had something going literally on his doorstep.

The lovely thing about shopping for antiques is that “whether some- one has a tenner to spend or twenty thousand, there’s always something affordable.” said Robin.

And with more than a dozen deal- ers putting out their stalls, there was plenty of fun for bargain hunters and treasure-spotters.

Lovers of contemporary Irish art had a treat at specialist, Louis Walshe of “Treasures’ stall, where there were originals on offer with prices starting at €400. Irish art dealer, Robert De- lahunty was also on hand and with a stall full of “fabulous and fantastical clocks” timepiece dealer, Michael Cunnane kept business ticking over nicely.

For the princely entrance fee of €3.50 bargain hunters were wafted along with steaming mugs of mulled wine and the delights of all things ancient and venerable.

Describing the event as “small but exclusive,’ Robin said it was “nice to have something close to home for people to browse, or buy Christmas presents or add to their collections.”

It was a small event in terms of the Luxury Collection fair in October in the K Club, where the glitteratti gathered to see Boodles diamonds, a €20 million collection of jewels from Sotheby’s or the full range of classic Bentley’s and Harley David- sons.

But good things come in small par- cels and there were plenty of small parcels carried away from the Lake- side that will be treasured as much as any sparkler when they are opened on Christmas morning.

Ronan Judge & Andrew Hamilton