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CLARE County Council has been urged to erect new signs for Clare- castle and Doora on the N18 Ennis bypass despite claims that the pro- posal would cost “thousands”’.

The calls were made yesterday at a meeting of councillors representing the Ennis electoral area.

ClUlr Tommy Brennan (Ind) said the issue of signage had dragged on for 12 months. “No matter what the policy is will you not just stick down afew signs?” asked Cllr Brennan ad- dressing staff of the roads section of Clare County Council.

Councillors were debating a mo- tion put forward by Cllr Paul Mur- phy (FG), requesting an update on signage for Clarecastle and Doora on the Ennis bypass.

In his written response Declan O’Regan, Senior Executive Engineer

(SEE) with the Ennis electoral area Stated,

“IT contacted Mr Paul Moroney, SEE, Ennis bypass, in relation to this motion and he advised me that the last time that this question arose, the National Roads Authority (NRA) did not approve for various reasons.”

Mr. O’Regan continued ‘He also advised me that he was not aware of any recent correspondence from the NRA in relation to this mater and stated that it would cost thousands to change the signs in question at this Sonal

Cllr Murphy said that the lack of signage was an “oversight from day one. Now they are saying it will cost us thousands to do it. Surely we could put down a few signs.”

Cllr Bernard Hanrahan (FF) said that he had been in contact with the NRA and they hadn’t forseen any problem with erecting signage.

“Surely we could just stick up a sign for Clarecastle where the sign for Quin is.”

Cllr Sonny Scanlon said he was aware of instances where business owners in Doora were forced to send staff out to find customers who had taken the wrong exit from the by- er Ae

“They ended up in Crusheen. That man had to send out his own staff to show them the way back down. It’s a lost area the way it is at the moment,” said Cllr Scanlon.

Cllr Brian Meaney (GP) advised that the council consult with the Road Safety Authority before pro- ceeding.

Cllr Brennan added, “Every month we have some motion up about the bypass and this has been going on for the past 12 months. Can we not just stick a few sings down. It isn’t going to cost a fortune.”

CLARE hurling legend and Water- ford senior hurling manager, Davy Fitzgerald has made a fresh bid to kick-start his plans for a €4 million boutique hotel near Newmarket-on- Woeauke

Earlier this year, the Sixmilebri- dge man lodged plans to convert the Bellsfort Inn public house on the link road between Newmarket-on-Fergus to Shannon into a 23-bedroom hotel.

The proposal encountered local op- position and An Taisce stated that because part of the hotel would over- look an adjacent graveyard, it would “impose on the privacy of those

praying at graves’.

However, in September, Clare county council stated that it has a number of serious concerns in rela- tion to the proposal and were not fa- vourably disposed towards planning permission for the project because it represented significant overdevelop- ment of the site.

The council told Mr Fitzgerald to submit revised plans of significantly reduced proportion in terms of size and scale.

Now, in a bid to improve his chanc- es, Mr Fitzgerald has lodged a sub- mission with the Council to rezone the site as part of the new South SEA ier ae

And the council looks set to accept the submission and rezone the lands to have the site included in a new BSUS Cea meek ew

Mr Fitzgerald’s submission states that the 1.12 acre site comprises of a public house and function room which are outside any zoned area or designated settlement cluster in the local area plan and suggests that the proposed extension to the Urlanmore rural settlement cluster is in accord- ance with the proper planning and sustainable development of the re- rea toyl

The South Clare Plan is expected to be adopted by the Council next month.

IT WAS in memory of a Dub, who made Miltown Malbay his adopted home and final resting place, that hundreds gathered in the Bellbridge, Spanish Point at the weekend.

In the singing workshop specifi- cally aimed at encouraging young people to become involved in tradi- tional singing at the Clare Festival of Traditional Music, Tom Munnelly’s spirit over Saw a new generation in- troduced to a part of Irish culture he held so dear.

It was after the world-renowned folk song and folklore collector died last year following a long illness, his friends and family decided to re- introduce the festival to west Clare after an absence of six years.

It was under the stewardship of the late Mr Munnelly the festival origi-

nally ran in Ennistymon for 13 years and for a further two years in the Belbridge Hotel in Spanish Point.

Shortly after Tom passed away in August 2007, friends and fam- ily started work on relaunching the festival, in what they felt was a fit- ting tribute to his life and work. The singing workshop for younger people was the brainchild of Roisin White, the chairperson of the festival, as a fitting tribute to Tom.

“Getting young people involved in traditional singing is a very difficult task, as our culture has changed so much in the past 50 years, but Tom always took enormous pleasure in inviting young singers down to En- nistymon to take part in the week- Xe F

‘He understood that younger peo- ple could be intimidated by the close-knit community of ‘estab-

lished’ singers, particularly if they didn’t know anyone involved in the world of traditional singing.

“The Singing Workshop for Young People is our way of recognis- ing Tom’s work in that area, and of continuing his work of encouraging young singers,” said Annette Mun- nelly, Secretary, Féile Amhranaio- chta an Chlair.

The Dublin native who made Mil- town Malbay his home for almost 30 years was laid to rest in Ballard Coilatoa

The 63-year-old folklorist, recog- nised for compiling the most com- prehensive collection of traditional folk songs in Ireland, had numerous credits to his name.

Mr Munnelly was prominent in the Dublin folk scene of his youth, and found his niche as a collector of songs through his work with Univer-

sity College Dublin’s Irish folklore department.

It was his passion for recording and collecting traditional songs that brought him to Clare in 1978, where he set up home.

The adopted Clare man soon be- came involved in the local art and festivals.

Not only was he chairman of the Clare Festival of Traditional Singing he played a strong role in bringing the Willie Clancy Summer School to prominence, and was a founder and chairman of the Lahinch Folklore School.

He received an honorary doctorate from NUIG.

Mr Munnelly served on the Arts council from February 1986 to De- cember 1988 and was a board mem- ber of the Irish Traditional Musical Archive.

PJ HOWARD appealed to the judge not to send Sharon Collins to jail and he refuted allegations made against him during the course of the trial.

The 59-year-old staunchly defended his partner and said he will not give up on her. He pleaded for leniency for the woman he described as ‘car- ing, loving and decent’.

In a victim impact statement deliv- ered to the court yesterday, he said he would have no hesitation in liv- ing with her again and said she was one of the nicest people he was lucky enough to have met.

He started by addressing the alle- gations made against him during the trial, in a letter emailed by Collins to

the Gerry Ryan show on RTE 2FM. In that letter, only part of which was retrieved, Collins had claimed he used prostitutes and transvestites and had encouraged her to engage in strange sex. For the first time yester- day, he publicly rejected those alle- gations.

“I would like to take this opportu- nity to refute the allegations made against me in the court case and I wish to deny any and all of those al- legations.

‘IT have never seen nor was I told by gardai about an email that was supposedly sent to the Gerry Ryan Show,” he stated.

He then spoke of his relationship with, and devotion to, Collins.

“IT have known Sharon Collins for

approximately nine years. During that time she had made a good home for us all and we were extremely happy together and got on very well. Sharon has a positive outlook on life and she was very loving and giving of her time to our extended families. Sharon always kept an even keel and I have never known her to do any- thing drastic over those years. She is a very straightforward and honest person and if she wanted anything She would ask,” he said.

“Sharon is, in my opinion, one of the nicest people you could ever have been fortunate to know. She is a car- ing, loving and decent lady,” said PJ Howard.

He said the whole event has been emotional and stressful for him per-

sonally. “I will not give up on Sharon and would have no hesitation what- soever in living with her again,” he added.

Reading from his statement, the multi-millionaire asked Mr Justice Roderick Murphy to consider Shar- on’s redeeming qualities and asked him to be lenient in imposing sen- tence.

“IT am asking the court not to im- pose a custodial sentence as I do not believe that Sharon poses any threat to my sons.

“T ask the court to consider how a prison sentence would affect her mother, her two sons and myself,’ he said.

Oe Witwer TRO.CecOnOMMcsKen IRIN MSIRE ation for me and the prospect of Sha-

ron being in prison for a long time 1s adding to this stress,” he said.

He said he did not accept a submis- sion from the State at a bail hearing – after his partner was charged last year – that he was in fear of his life.

“IT am not in any way in fear of Sharon. I have always made this per- fectly clear to the gardai that I was never in fear of Sharon either before and again after the guilty verdict,’ he CrHOe

He said that while his sons Robert and Niall had been asked for victim impact statements by the gardai, he was not.

“At no stage was that courtesy ex- tended to me even though they have my telephone numbers and I am im- mediately contactable,” he said.

SHARON Collins was a wonderful mother to her two sons, who have both been badly affected by the high-profiled case, according to her former husband.

Noel Collins took to the witness stand to give a character reference for the mother of his two sons.

He explained how they had got married in 1983, when Collins was just 19.

They had two sons together, Gary

(25) and David (22), but the marriage did not work out and they separated in 1989. They were annulled two years later.

He said that they endured a tough few years together.

“The eighties was a tough time for

most people, albeit something similar that is happening now. There was a recession. Things evolved over time. It didn’t work out. We got separated,’ said Noel Collins.

He said that while she was granted custody of their sons, she never re-

stricted his access to them. “I could have had access any time I wanted,’ he said.

“Sharon always has been a great mother to the boys, very supportive. She put the boys first,” he said.

He said that both sons have been mentally and physically affected by the event and both have now moved to live with him in Dublin. David had to take a very tough decision to leave his job in Ennis to move to Dublin during the summer.

“It has had a massive effect on my- self and on Sharon’s mother. She’s a shadow of her former self. She’s on God knows how much medication. She used to be the life and soul. She used to love to dance. She doesn’t go out any more,” he said.

Written character references were handed in to the court from the Bishop of Killaloe Dr Willie Walsh, the Mayor of Ennis Councillor Pe- ter Considine, the deputy governor of Mountjoy women’s prison — who described her as a model prisoner — along with fromer friends of Collins.

Bishop Walsh said that while he did not want to interfere with the crimi- nal justice system, he did not believe that a lengthy prison sentence would be in line with the common good or would serve restorative justice.

He described Collins as an open, truthful and caring person and he was unable to make sense of the enormous event that had happened.

SHARON Collins told her psycholo- gist she did not commit the offences of which she was convicted, during a meeting with him just weeks ago.

Clinical psychologist Brian Glan- ville carried out a pscyhometric eval- uation of Sharon Collins’ personal- ity, having met her on September 4 and 22 last, at the women’s prison in Mountjoy.

He concluded that her personality

style appeared to be that of a passive, detached but dependent personality.

He said that she suffers from high levels of anxiety and depression and will find her prison term particularly difficult.

‘A personality like that is likely to find themselves in conflict,” he said. He said this type of personality would have a strong need for emotional sup- port, but would feel swamped in re- lationships.

He said that Collins had high levels

of anxiety and depression.

“She would have particular difficul- ties with lengthy prison sentences. She is going to find herself in a situa- tion where she would have very little in common with the other inmates,” he noted.

He said that Collins was of the view that she had been subjected to unwel- come media attention and felt under “adverse media pressure”.

He said she was particularly con- cerned that a conversation she had

with PJ Howard, during a visit to her at Mountjoy jail, had been leaked to the media.

He said she may become more withdrawn and isolated, in the sur- roundings of the prison. “That could have quite serious consequences for her,” he said.

Una Ni Raifeartaigh, BL for the prosecution, asked him did Collins suffer from any psychiatric illness and he said she did not.

Mr Glanville said Collins had ex-

pressed concerns for her sons but when asked had she expressed simi- lar concern for her mother, he said he did not recall for sure.

Asked had she been concerned about the Howards, he said, “I don’t have any recollection about that.”

Ms Ni Raifeartaigh asked had Col- lins expressed remorse for her ac- tions.

He replied, “I understand she says she didn’t commit the offences. It doesn’t arise.”

THE trial relating to the accident that claimed the life of father-of-four Howard Flannery was “a case of tragedy heaped upon tragedy” with a lot of emotion, according to the state prosecutor.

In his closing speech to the jury, Stephen Coughlan, BL, said the 1s- sue was “what caused the accused to veer off the road onto the hard shoul- der and onto the grass and strike Mr wtlioa wae

“There was nothing remarkable about his driving, until he began to

veer off the road. Dangerous driving is caused by negligence. If you are satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the accused drove dangerously, you must convict. If you decide he didn’t, you must acquit. Simple as that,’ he said.

“Nobody gets into a motor car intending to kill anybody, be it a motorist, a pedestrian or a cyclist, but dangerous driving is caused by negligence,” he told the jury of eight women and four men.

He said that Michael Dillon had put in a long, strenuous, 22-hour day the day before the accident and was tired.

He noted that medical examinations carried out on the accused after the accident concluded that the accident was “an unexplained event.”

‘The State is asking you to draw an inference that this unexplained event was caused by the fatigue which the accused was labouring under,’ he said. He said that Mr Dillon had been a tired driver and was slow to react.

However, in his closing speech last Thursday, Anthony Sammon, SC, for Michael Dillon, said the State’s in- ference that fatigue had been a factor was “slightly over-egging the pud- ding.” He said at no stage had it been

put to the accused by gardai that he had fallen asleep.

“Tt has been conjured up during this case. It wasn’t even told to you in the Opening (speech to the jury). The word ‘sleep’ wasn’t even mentioned in the opening,” he said.

“This is a difficult case because of the horror of a decent man, Mr Flannery, losing his life. The horrific consequences of that on his family, colossal. The pressures on my client and his family, colossal,” he said.

“Confronted by the emotional cliff face that hangs it all, you must not lose sight or develop any blindness

because of emotion,’ he urged the jury.

Judge Gerard Griffin told the jury it was important to note that the first mention of fatigue in the pros- ecution’s case had been during the cross-examination of Mr Dillon by Mr Coughlan. “It will be a matter for you which of the prosecution evi- dence you regard,’ the judge told the ury.

He told the jury if they found that the driving was careless rather than dangerous, it was open to them to find the accused guilty of careless driving.

MICHAEL Dillon told the trial that he felt ‘fine’ driving on the day of the accident and rejected suggestions that he had fallen asleep at the wheel.

The father-of-two, a fitter based in Connemara, had travelled to Port- magee in Kerry the day before the accident to join his colleagues from Galway Scuba Diving Club.

He had got up at 5am and left his Inverin home at 5.30am to drive to Portmagee. He arrived there at

9.30am and did two dives off Val- entia that day. He later went out for dinner and had four or five pints of Heineken. He said he remained in the pub until around lam and then went back to a house that was rented by some members of the sub aqua club.

There, he was handed a bottle of beer but only drank a mouthful and fell asleep. He was awakened at 2.30am and went to the hostel where he was staying. He went to bed and slept until 9am when a phone call from his wife woke him. He went

back to sleep until 10am and af- ter getting up, he was between two minds whether to stay in Kerry for another day.

He eventually decided to drive home and left at around llam. He said he got a headache about 40 minutes into the drive and pulled over and took paracetamol and a drink. He contin- ued on with his journey and said the headache went away, but said he did not remember anything after passing Bunratty. “Nothing, ‘til after the ac- cident,” he told the court.

He said after the accident, he re- membered “sitting in the jeep. The windscreen was broken and the bon- net was on the windscreen.” He said he had no memory of seeing the two cyclists and had no memory of his jeep veering off and leaving the dual OF NU UTE

He said he learned that Mr Flan- nery had died when he arrived at his Inverin home later that evening.

He told the trial he had several medical examinations carried out in the aftermath of the accident, in

an effort to ascertain what had hap- pened to him, but no explanation emerged. He said he did not drive for 10 months after the accident and did not dive until April of this year.

Under —_cross-examination _—_—by Stephen Coughlan, for the prosecu- tion, Mr Dillon said he felt “fine” while in Kerry. Asked could he have fallen asleep while driving, he said, “No. I felt comfortable driving.” He denied that his jeep had left the road as a result of falling asleep. “I didn’t feel tired or anything,” he said.

he felt it necessary to have his feelings known when he took part in the teachers and parent’s protest against budget cuts in education.

‘For me it is very clear cut. I am a teacher and at the cold face of it, and long after this has died down as a political issue, for me and other teachers and more importantly the children will be paying the price for months and maybe even years to come,’ said Cllr Crowe.

He said as far as he was concerned there was no conflict of interest in his stance.

“T think it is healthy that I should go out. [ am a Fianna Fail man and wish to stay a Fianna Fail man, but I was elected by the people of this area and this does not sit well with them and it does not sit well with me,’ he

added.

While his own school won’t be af- fected directly by the cuts this year the east Clare councillor has not ruled out crippling affects in the fu- neh ker

‘Down the road new appointments could be affected and class sizes,’ he Cr AKOR

“I think the Government and Fian- na Fail need to rethink this. In mak- ing the necessary cuts you should not touch the young or the elderly.

“We have a very low betting tax and by increasing it by a few more per cent it could net another €100 million.”

Like many more in the profession the young teacher said he has spent his Own money on providing essen- tial materials for the classroom.

‘“T have spent close to €2,500 of my own money to put things in my class room.

“IT bought my own projector and I am out of pocket and I took out a broadband contract that I use for the classroom. This is something that should be in every classroom,” he said. “I am not alone in this. We (teachers) put up with a lot and say very little, but at a time like this we cannot stay quiet anymore,’ said the outspoken councillor.

ALMOST 70 per cent of créches in Clare failed to comply with HSE regulations. That is according to a survey of inspection reports from the county’s créches and schools car- ried out between October 2006 to October 2007 and released under the Freedom of Information Act.

According to the pre-school inspec- tion reports into facilities that ca- tered for 10 or more children, 69 out of the 101 inspected in Clare were in breach of the HSE’s criteria.

Of those, which did not comply with the inspector’s criteria, as many as 33, or almost a third, were record- ed as having minor or very minor

breaches of the regulations. Another 32 had no breaches at all.

Among the most common breaches outlined was the child-adult ratio exceeding the 10:1 limit, bound- ary fencing or doors broken, lack of space for children to move about in and un-nutritious food.

At the Knocklisheen Accommo- dation Centre the inspector found a long list of issues including the need for more space and staff, and a lim- ited range of toys available

The report also recorded that there was no nappy bags or disposable gloves for the staff, no snacks pro- vided to the children in the morn- ing session and sleeping babies were at risk of being hit by falling toys.

There were no toys or equipment in the outdoor area.

The Department of Justice said however that the number of children in this pre-school in the reception centre for asylum seekers had been adjusted to meet the HSE guidelines.

Additional toys and equipment are now in place and a stock of depos- able gloves and nappy bags are avail- able to staff. It said healthy snacks it said were available, and the outdoor play area, which was under construc- tion at the time of the inspection is now complete.

The inspector also out lined con- cerns relating to the prefabricated building in which the Little Rascals Playgroup in St Conaire’s National

School in Shannon was situated. That prefab has since been replaced however and the HSE are said to be happy with the new facility.

In Maghera Gardens Créche the in- spector found that nappies were be- ing changed in both toilets including staff toilets. The creche said that one of the toilets is now designated for staff only, and the other is the chil- dren and changing nappies only.

The Inspector found that the stage area in the Community Centre in Kil- rush was not suitable for the Stepping Stones Playgroup. The playgroup has applied however for funding to fix the concertina doors leading to the stage which they claim provide plenty of room for the children.