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A WEST Clare student was honoured along with five more from the county at the National University of Ireland Galway last week for outstanding re- sult in this year’s leaving cert.

St Joseph’s Secondary School Spanish Point paid tribute this week to past pupil Sorcha Curtin who not only secured the maximum 600 points in the state exam but was also awarded a bursary from the Galway University at the Entrance Scholars Socsaleyne

The intelligent teenager is now studying medicine at the college.

School principal Mary Crawford paid tribute to the 17 and a half-year- old and told the Clare people the school was very proud of Sorcha’s achievement.

While attending the Spanishpoint school she opted to study English, Irish, Maths, French, Music and Chemistry.

“As well as a great academic achievement she was a trusted friend and also got on very well with all members of staff in the school,” said

a school’s spokesperson.

“Tt 1s an honour for her and the school that she was one of eighteen to get such a high grade, and we would like to congratulate her,” he said.

A keen musican Sorcha plays the concertina in Michael Mahony’s tra- ditional music group.

She is the daughter of Anne (nee Barry) and Christy Curtin from Clondony Miltown Malbay.

Other Clare students to be hon- oured by NUIG were Ian Broderick from Ennis, who was a past pupil of Rice College and is now studying

Engineering. Finn Krewer, from Tu- ber is also studying engineering and is a past pupil of Gort Community College.

Caoimhe Marie Hanrahan from Corofin is a past pupil of Ard Scoil Naoimhe Mhuire Ennistymon and is now studying Occupational Therapy.

Christine Kelly is also from Tu- ber and is a past pupil of Kinvara Secondary School. Paula Christina Kelly is a past pupil of Rice College Ennis and she was also honoured by NUIG.

TRIBUTES have been paid from across the world to a west Clare woman who raised millions of euros for the poor and sick, and was co- founder of two new missionary rell- gious congregations in Burma.

Mary Doohan, founder of the Lit- tle Way Association was born at The Hand, Coore in 1917 and 1s still re- membered fondly by neighbours.

Mary Burke recalls how Ms Doohan’s mother Hannah was a very religious woman, and it was no sur- prise that three of her children en- tered the religious life.

Mary Doohan far surpassed many in her religious devotion and service of the poor, and was recognised for her work by the Holy See when she was decorated with the “Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice” medal in 1978 and was made a Dame of St Gregory in 1996.

Despite her worldwide recognition Mary never forgot her home and last month was laid to rest in Coore Cem- etery.

Having given so much in life, Mary died without any home, in the care of the Little Sisters of the Poor, Meadow Road, Vauxhall, aged 91 years old.

The late Ms Doohan was the sec- ond child of Timothy and Hannah Doohan. Her brothers John and Michael joined the priesthood and continue to dedicate their lives to the Columbian Missionary in the Philip- pines. Her late sister Philomena be- came a nun.

Mary was also predeceased by her sisters Bernie and Teresa, and her brothers Patrick and Joseph.

She is survived by her sister Cath- erine (Baby) and Fr Michael and Fr John.

Having been educated in Spanish- point she left for London in 1937

where she worked as a clerk. She was a daily mass goer and spent much of her time working with the Legion of Mary. She also promoted devotion to St Therese of Lisieux and

While he was working in the Phil- ippines her brother Fr John wrote to say that the roof of his church had been blown off by a typhoon. Miss Doohan started holding jumble sales and other fundraising events to help her brother’s mission. Soon priests and lay Catholics became involved.

Ms Doohan set up her charitable association, The Little Way Asso- ciation, with missionary Bishop of Anthony Galvin of Miri in Malaysia, who helped her get approval from Cardinal William Godfrey in 1960.

The Little Way Association takes its name from St Thérése’s “little way – which emphasised carrying out the smallest of deeds in a spirit of charity.

The association was the first run from a basement in London’s Victo- ria Street before it moved to a larger office in Red Lion Square, before fi- nally moving to its present headquar- ters in Clapham in 1962.

Ms Doohan, was the lifetime presi- dent of the Little Way when she died in London on August 29, following a stroke.

During Miss Doohan’s lifetime the Little Way Association grew from an informal group of lay people raising money for the Catholic missions to an organised missionary charity with six centres.

Two of these centres are based in India and the other four are in places of pilgrimage in Lourdes, Knock, Fatima and Walsingham.

GREED, deceit, callousness, dishon- esty, arrogance and manipulation were at the centre of Sharon Collins’ desires to have the Howards mur- dered.

The divorced mother-of-two had known PJ Howard to see since she was an innocent young girl grow- ing up in the town of Ennis. PJ was a wealthy businessman and she was an ambitious young girl.

Tragically, her ultimate ambitions ran too deep and inspired her to piece together a devious and cunning plan to have PJ murdered. Collins (45) enjoyed good times with PJ Howard – a lavish lifestyle, a loving partner and secure employment. But she was overcome by greed and she wanted everything – PJ’s millions. She had grown up in a modest background in Ennis and having tasted the high life, she wanted more.

She believed she was invincible and was of the view that the uncanny way in which she operated her plan would not backfire. Before going online and searching for an assassin, Collins had compiled a list of targets. PJ was target number one, but that was not the end of it. She believed that she

would not be able to get her hands on PJ’s wealth unless his sons Rob- ert (29) and Niall (25) were also out of the equation. A fourth target was also considered but this was not pro- ceeded with.

With her plan hatched, she coolly went online and sought to hire a hit- man. She came upon the ‘hitman- forhire’ website and went about her eevee

She set up the email address lyingeyes98@yahoo.ie for the pur- pose of hiring a hitman. The email address in itself has much relevance to her relationship with PJ Howard – they became an item in 1998; that was also the year his partner died; while the ‘lying eyes’ song by The Eagles was penned about a rich old man falling for a beautiful young woman before she cheated on him.

Collins was brazen and this was highlighted by the fact that some of the emails to ‘hitman’ were sent from a computer in the Downes and Howard office, where PJ had em- ployed her as a part-time secretary.

Over dozens of emails, Collins described in detail to ‘hitman’ the background as to why she wanted to wipe out the Howards. She wanted to inherit PJ’s money and she was intent

on doing this. The level of detail con- tained in the emails was remarkable. They indicated her deep desire to en- sure her plan was carried out.

In those emails, she coldly dis- cussed methods of killing the Howards – the possibility that Robert and Niall would die in an accident or be poisoned and PJ would be thrown from his 14th floor apartment in Spain in an apparent ‘suicide’ were mentioned.

Her intent was clear when she sent a down payment of €15,000 via FedEx in Shannon to the home of the man she was hiring.

‘Hitman’ was ordered to ensure the computers from the Downes and Howard office disappeared, so that incriminating evidence would not be available, if her actions were ever 1n- vestigated.

However, for all her devious plan- ning, Collins did not anticipate that ‘hitman’ would make the move to contact one of the targets, which ulti- mately led to her plan backfiring. Es- sam Eid (53) could not contact her on the evening of September 26, 2006, and instead decided to ring Robert Howard and attempt to buy out the contract. The web had become entan- gled and while gardai were not aware

of her involvement at this stage, as the story unravelled, Collins’ name aslo exer

She was arrested in February 2007 and questioned. She maintained her innocence and concocted a story about being set up due to her associa- tion with a mysterious American au- thor called Maria Marconi. In three detailed letters to the DPP – written in March, April and May 2007 – she pleaded that she not be charged, sug- gesting that if charges were brought it would have an adverse effect on her family and on PJ Howard.

But a huge volume of evidence had been collected. Gardai had got their hands on the computers at the cen- tre of the case and crucial email evi- dence had been uncovered. Collins was in the spotlight. Within weeks of her third letter to the DPP, she was charged. Yet, when the case came to trial, she maintained her innocent plea.

In the witness box, Collins denied profusely that she had been involved in a plot to kill the Howards and said that PJ had been very good to her. Put under pressure to name who may have set her up, she refused to do so. She was also reluctant to be drawn on allegations she had made about PJ

Howard, in a letter to the Gerry Ryan show on RTE 2FM in April 2006. In the letter, she had claimed that her partner had used prostitutes and transvestites and had encouraged her to take part in strange sex.

Asked three times were the contents in the letter true, she said, “Some of it was, but a lot of that letter wasn’t true and doesn’t give the full picture. I feel it shouldn’t have been used in here.”

But crucially she showed two con- trasting personalities in the witness box – the jury saw a cool, confident and smiling Collins during one of her two days’ evidence, followed by a tearful and sad Collins the follow- bITae rN

Her arrogance and self-assured at- titude on her first visit to the witness box were replaced by a pale-faced women in considerable difficulty the following day.

The jurors were not convinced by her and decided that she was guilty on all six charges she had faced. Ulti- mately, Sharon Collins must pay the price for her greed, dishonesty and or NOLO LEIS a ehsh

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.

EVERY second level school in Clare will lose at least one teacher, with one school in Ennis losing five, due to Budget 2009 cutbacks.

According to the ASTI every sec- ondary school will be down one teacher come September, resulting in schools losing out in subject variety and choice, and special education needs.

Students’ extra curricular activities and field projects will also be greatly

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Ger O’Donoghue of the ASTI standing committee for Clare, Lim- erick and Nenagh said that the full extent of the loss of teachers is not yet known. All schools will lose and the cuts will “affect some schools more than others”.

Schools with an open _ policy will suffer most according to Mr O’Donoghue, as English language support teachers will be capped at two per school, irrespective of how many pupils in the school need as-

TED Gen

“We have these newcomer students coming to our schools and we pride ourselves in welcoming them to the school,” he said.

“These students are in _ classes where teachers are going to have problems integrating them with the other pupils.”

Initially an English language sup- port teacher was provided for every 14 students in a school. This allowed for a certain amount of withdrawal from class for extra tuition for stu-

dents whose first language is not English.

In the Budget the Government de- cided to cap the number of English language support teachers at two per school.

Mr O’Donoghue also maintains that the broad base of education will be affected by the cuts.

“There are some subjects that a smaller number of pupils opt for. Schools will now be forced to decide whether or not to keep these classes. It may not be possible to separate

pass and honours classes come Sep- tember,” he said.

“Tt will also have a huge affect of extra curricular activities. These form the basis of a rounded educa- WO )s Maen OLomncT-n LOR

Under the terms of the Budget sub- stitute teachers will no longer be available to cover teachers who are involved in school sports or field we 1Oe

‘How are schools going to manage in cases like that?” asked the ASTI rep.

A DOOLIN woman died from hy- pothermia after her wellingtons got Stuck in mud in a field near her home, an inquest has heard.

Ann Doherty (51) was found dead outside her home at Ballyvara, Doo- lin, on December 12, 2006, after she had not been seen since the previous evening.

An inquest into her death heard from her brother John. He said he called to his family home – where Ann lived with another brother – on the evening of December 11.

At around 3.40pm he crossed to

the farmyard and saw Ann walk- ing towards the gate and going into the field. He said he presumed some clothes had fallen off the clothesline and she was going in to the field to retrieve them.

“When I saw her going into the field I presumed she was okay,” he said.

The following morning, his brother Tom telephoned him and asked him if he had seen Ann. He went straight to Ann’s house, where he met his brothers Tom and Martin.

In his deposition to the inquest, Tom Doherty said his brother Mar- tin had telephoned him on the morn- ing of December 12. He said there

was no-one at the house, which was unusual as Ann would normally be WeKer

He said he went to the house and they went into a field nearby and began to search around. There they found Ann’s body near a wall, some distance from the house.

Garda Andrew Monahan told the inquest he went to the Doherty’s home on the morning of December 12. There he met Tom Doherty, with who he was acquainted through his work with Doolin Coastguard.

He said he saw Ann Doherty’s body, part of which had been damaged by wildlife. Assistant State Pathologist

Dr Margaret Bolster carried out a post mortem examination on Ms Do- ates um YaecmoLere AA

She said there were multiple super- ficial injuries to the body, but they had not caused death.

“This is a difficult case,” she said. “It appeared her wellingtons had got stuck in mud. In my view, Ms Do- herty died from hypothermia, after getting stuck in muddy terrain,” she said.

Coroner Isobel O’Dea noted that the cause of death was hypothermia. “It seems most likely that Ann’s wel- lingtons got stuck in some mud and unfortunately she died,’ she said.

ALL roads lead to north Clare at the beginning of the New Year, for the seventh Annual Sponsored Burren Walk, which takes place on Sunday, AVE ha ae

All proceeds for the popular an- nual event, which begins and ends at O’Donoghues Pub in Fanore, go to the Clare branch of The Alzheimer’s Society of Ireland, who provide ex- tensive support to the sufferers and families of the estimated 980 cases affected with the disease in the coun- ty at present.

The event is organised by volun- teers, who first devised the idea in 2002 to aid the rapidly increasing

running costs of the Ennis-based branch.

“We thought of doing a fundraiser for the Clare branch and we decided on walking in the Burren as it is a breathtaking, inspirational place that is one of the main walking sites of Europe, not alone Clare,” explains Jerry Howard, one of the organisers of the walk.

“When you do things like this, they may be tough to organise but at the same time, you are pushing an open door with everybody because alzhe- imer’s and dementia has relevance to most houses and when you ask peo- ple to help you or get involved, they are very generous.

“All the money raised is sent to

the Clare branch. They provide two levels of care through day care and home care and it’s brilliant because normally, money raised goes on ad- ministration costs but they have the administration already set up at their office so everything we raise goes directly into the support of that day care or home care. I can genuinely say of all the things I have ever sup- ported or worked with, they are a re- ally, really great organisation.”

With alzheimer’s having an aston- ishing estimated growth of 9,000 per cent worldwide since 1979, Howard paid tribute to the ongoing voluntary work done by the Alzheimer’s Soci- ety in Ennis.

“People are living longer and it’s

becoming more of an issue. Years ago, there was only one person in a family working and there was one person left at home to mind a parent but now it’s a bigger issue because everybody is working.

“They are doing a great service with scarce resources because an aw- ful lot of the work they do in Ennis is all voluntary and they really are the unsung heroes.”

To get involved in the Burren Walk or find out more about alzheimer’s or the society’s services, contact the Clare branch of the Alzheimer’s So- ciety of Ireland at 065 6868621 or 065 6845835. Alternatively, call into the local office situated at Unit 17, Clonroad Business Park, Ennis.

THE level of personal information required from people applying for planning permission in Clare has been criticised as an “invasion of pri- vacy .

Residential policies contained in the Clare County Development Plan require applicants to prove that he/ she is local.

In that process, applicants are asked to submit bank statements, invoices or other forms of financial records in order, in part, to meet the qualifica- tions.

In one instance, according to one Quin councillor who has criticised the process, an applicant was asked

to provide 12 years of information.

“If policies require this type of detailed personal information then I do not consider them to be proper planning policies,’ said Cllr Sonny Scanlon (FG)

“You have planners looking for bank statements back 10 and 12 years. There is no one keeping bank statements that length of time today. I would like to know of there is any- one in Clare County Council that have bank statements kept this length of time,” he added.

Cllr Scanlon says there have been other instances where inconsistency has been applied to the planning ROS

“There are two planning appli-

cations 50 metres apart – one was granted by one planner and the other was refused by a different planner and both applications were facing forestry with the same surroundings. The planning applicant who was re- fused owned 15 acres of land for 20 years.”

He continued, “A son wanted to build a house on his father’s land which was over 100 acres. This in- cluded a particular piece of wooded land. The planner informed him to clear out of that particular area in the wood where the house would not be seen and he also carried out a per- colation test, which passed. He had spent €6,000 carrying out work and was refused planning permission by

the planner.”

Cllr Scanlon said he was concerned that sensitive financial information maybe contained in planning files. “Tt is an invasion of privacy to have bank statements in a planning appli- cation file. Anyone can come in and see them on file. Revenue keep files for six years only. The council keep files for seven years. Most people today use mobile phone on credit so they don’t have phone bills.”

He has called for the County Man- ager Alec Flemming to comment on this particular aspect of the County Development. Cllr Scanlon (FG) has also called for the requirement of “substantial personal information to be terminated”’.

THE body of a Whitegate man, who had been missing for 32 days, was recovered following a major search operation, an inquest has heard.

23-year-old James Burke went missing after a night out with friends in Killaloe on December 9, 2007.

His body was eventually seen float- ing in the water near the canal bank in Killaloe, on January 11, 2008.

A jury recorded an open verdict at the inquest into Mr Burke’s death.

County Coroner Isobel O’Dea said there was no evidence to indicate that Mr Burke had died as a result of an altercation nor was there any evidence to suggest that he had taken his own life.

State Pathologist Dr Marie Cas- sidy said Mr Burke died as a result of drowning with alcohol intoxication a contributory factor. Tests carried out during the post mortem revealed high levels of alcohol in his blood.

Tests also revealed the deceased had taken cocaine, but not to exces- sive quantities. Dr Cassidy said that

among the items recovered from the deceased’s clothing was a “small packet of white powder”.

Dr Cassidy also told the court she found no evidence to indicate that Mr Burke had been involved in a

struggle or an assault.

Shane Malone, who had _ been drinking with Mr Burke on the day he disappeared, said, “I’d seen no one taking drugs on that day. I’m sure of that.”

Adrian Dooley, a friend of the de- ceased, said he had met Mr Burke in Mountshannon at 1.30pm before the two had gone to Killaloe.

Mr Dooley said they were with a large group of friends and they vis- ited a number of different pubs. He said that most of the group had gone home around 10.30pm but he wasn’t sure what time Mr Burke left. Mr Burke, he said, had wanted to visit another pub, The Anchor. “I tried to ring James, but there was no reply,” said Mr Dooley.

Shane Malone recalled that a bar- man in the Seannachai bar had asked Mr Burke to leave.

Barry Boland told the inquest, ‘James Burke was a lot quieter that night than [’d seen him on other nights in Whitegate and places.” Elaine Burke, the deceased’s cous- in, contacted Gardai on December 10 after Mr Burke failed to return home.

THERE are some questions in life that one never thought of asking, and for a very good reason. No one really wanted to know the answer.

Then there are those questions that one never thought of asking, but once asked stirred a certain amount of cu- riosity and an answer was necessary to avoid sleepless nights.

Such as — how hairy are Fianna Fail TD Timmy Dooley’s legs and does he wax, shave or go au naturel?

Is Fine Gael councillor Joe Arkins really in touch with his feminine side and if so could he make a Christmas cake covered in delicate icing and pretty decorations?

And who in north Clare has a stom- ach strong enough, not just to eat Cllr

Arkin’s cake and have full view of a Clare TDs legs, but to drink a pint glass of raw eggs?

The answers to all of these thought provoking questions and many more will be available in Nagle’s Lounge Bar on November | at 10pm.

The event is not just a social scien- tific experiment but a fundraiser for the Kilfenora Residents Association so that it can put its best foot forward for next year’s tidy estate awards.

Treasurer and acting secretary Margaret Keane said the association has entered the village’s two estates — An Tronach and John Paul Estate — in the competition for the last two years.

This year the association was highly commended for its work and received a nominal prize from Clare

Seria Greltiere

“We are entering again next year and we want to get some shrubberies and rockeries done. We also prom- ised the teenagers goal posts if we raised enough,” she said.

The whole community has got be- hind the event. Deputy Dooley is having his legs waxed on the night, although rumour has it that it may be his chest, and Cllr Arkins is baking a Christmas cake that will be auc- tioned on the night.

Also up for auction on the night are the services of the areas county councillors.

Cllr Martin Lafferty (Ind) is offer- ing a day in the bog; Cllr Richard Nagel (FF) is offering a day saving hay, while Cllr Martin Conway (FG) is also offering his services — which

has yet to be revealed.

Adding to the mystery of the night local matchmaker Willie Daly is also supplying a surprise.

Cheryl and Patrick McCormack are offering afternoon tea for four at “Fr Ted’s house” for auction, while Rick- ie Healy will cook a three-course dinner for two 1n his own home.

Head shaving, moustache shaving and more auctioned prizes will make up the night.

Finger food will also be served and music supplied by the bar.