Category: Uncategorized

THE inquest into the death of a man who was shot seven times in Ard- nacrusha has been adjourned, as the Garda investigation into the death is ongoing.

The inquest into the death of Aidan Kelly (21), College Avenue, Moy- ross, Limerick, opened at the Ennis Coroner’s Court last Wednesday.

The body of the young mechanic

was discovered at Blackwater, Ard- nacrusha on May 10, 2006. State Pa- thologist, Dr Marie Cassidy said the cause of death was gunshot wounds to the head, with gunshot wounds to the trunk a contributory factor.

County Coroner Isobel O’Dea ad- journed the inquest for a year and said she was conscious that a Garda investigation into the death was on- going.

She said that evidence given at the

inquest confirmed that Mr Kelly died at Blackwater, Ardnacrusha. Garda Bernard Casey said he had been called to a shooting incident at Blackwater. At the scene, Garda Ca- sey observed medics attempting to resuscitate a young male.

“I could see it was Aidan Kelly, who was known to me,” he said.

A full-length rifle and Mr Kelly’s car, a Silver Astra, were also noted at the scene by the garda.

The deceased’s father, Liam Kelly Snr identified the body of his son at the scene.

Dr Cassidy said a post mortem had revealed seven gunshot wounds to the head and body of Mr Kelly.

Ms O’Dea extended her sympa- thy to the family and friends of Mr Kah

‘“T hope that in the fullness of time, the gardai will be able to complete their investigation,” she said.

CUSACK Park will remain the headquarters of Clare GAA for the forseeable future after a proposal to rezone land there was blocked by Ennis Town Council.

Meeting last Wednesday to discuss the draft Ennis and Environs De- velopment Plan, councillors voted unanimously against rezoning the town centre site for commercial pur- OO sene

The Aisling Chiosoig Partnership had sought to purchase the ground from the Clare County Board and re- develop it as a commercial centre in return for the construction of a new stadium and adjoining facilities.

The way was left open, however, for future rezoning on the condition that an alternative site be found for

the proposed stadium.

An original site identified on the Quin Road was not considered vi- able because the land hes on a flood enue

The decision came after two days of lengthy discussions between coun- cillors and planners.

Councillors met first on Tuesday evening at a private workshop session to wade through the 124 submissions received on the draft version of the Ennis and Environs Development Plan.

The most high profile of which concerned the proposal to rezone Cusack Park.

Later on Tuesday night, at a special meeting of Ennis Town Council or- ganised to formally pass the Draft Plan, Cllr Frankie Neylon (Ind) said, that, following a vote taken at

the workshop, the decision had been taken not to rezone Cusack Park.

Mayor of Ennis, Cllr Peter Consi- dine (FF), proposed adjourning the meeting, until Wednesday, so equal consideration could be given to other submissions contained in the manag- er’s report.

Councillors were warned _ that agreement on the plan had to be reached before Thursday so notices could appear in local media the fol- lowing week. Cllr Neylon, supported by Cllr Donal O’Bearra (GP) op- posed the adjournment. Cllr Neylon said the process was being rushed because the original timetable had not been adhered to.

A vote of 3-2 prevailed in favour of adjourning the meeting until Wednesday night.

The next night, Wednesday and

following another private workshop, Cllr Neylon proposed that Cusack Park’s status “remain as 1s” until de- velopers identified a suitable site for a new stadium.

Cllr Considine put forward the pro- posal that the draft plan be accepted by the council. It was passed on a unanimous vote.

The decision to halt the process will be seen as a blow by members of the local business community. Ennis Chamber of Commerce had supported the proposal, saying that the development would have signifi- cantly increased commercial activity in Ennis.

According to the Aisling Chiosdig partnership, 1,000 new jobs would have been created on completion of the project and another 500 in con- struction.

PRIMARY schools in Ennis will lose 12 teachers if proposed Budget cuts go ahead as planned, according to provisional figures from Ennis Education Forum.

The forum, which represents pri- mary schools in the Ennis parish, met last week to discuss the cutbacks in education announced in the Budg- A

The most controversial proposal put forward by the Department of Education involves increasing class sizes from 27 pupils per class to 28 pupils per class.

Initial figures from the Education Forum say as many 12 teaching posts could be at risk, if the proposals are enforced.

Margaret Cooney, Principal of the Holy Family Senior School and Forum member, said the cutbacks would have very serious implications for schools.

“It is very serious, because I think maybe people don’t generally under- stand how much of an impact this is going to have. If you’re short a

teacher, then it’s going to be a case of having to divide three classes into two and it’s the children will suffer as a result.”

Ms Cooney said other issues such as the loss of substitution cover would have major knock on effects.

“If you don’t have a situation where substitute teachers are available to provide cover, what you’re going to find is that classes are being broken up and children are sent in groups of four or five to other classrooms. It’s a very, very Serious situation.”

She added, “I think this figure of 200 teaching posts being lost that the department has provided is a very conservative figure. It’s likely to be much higher. I was totally gob- smacked when I heard that they were going to introduce these cutbacks.”

“There is no evidence to suggest that they will go back on them but I hope that sanity will prevail.

“We had the second highest teach- ers pupil ratio in Europe and now we re on our way to having the high- est. That’s extremely serious and shoud be of great concern,” said Ms Cooney.

A TODDLER died from bronchial pneumonia on board a flight that was forced to make an emergency landing at Shannon Airport earlier this year, an inquest in Ennis has heard. Two-year-old Lemuna Armadan Osman, from Eritrea, fell ill on a

Lufthansa flight between Frankfurt and New York, on April 22 last. She was travelling with her family to be- gin a new life in the US under a re- patriation programme, when she be- came gravely ill and passed away. The inquest into her death was opened at the time and adjourned un- til last week, when details of the post

mortem examination into her death were revealed.

Assistant State Pathologist Dr Mar- garet Bolster told Ennis Coroner’s Court that the cause of death was bronchial pneumonia involving most of one of her lungs. She said the tod- dler had height and weight below nor- mal. She noted that the girl had been

in hospital with a cough, four days before she took the flight to the US. Dr Bolster also said there was evi- dence of female circumcision on the child’s body.

She paid tribute to the “amazing amount” of people who had assisted Lemuna’s family, on arrival at Shan- non in April.

A WIDE-RANGING programme of events will form the central focus of the Coole Park winter programme in Gort this year.

The programme was launched last week and will present an exciting calendar of events for adults and chil- dren alike. Coole Park is an impres- sive educational facility and manage- ment have capitalised on this, in the jeyueseaucheaventse

The programme aims to provide a series of high quality arts and herit- age events to as wide and inclusive local audience as possible, on an internationally renowned site. The events also endeavour to showcase

local-based artists and lectures on local topics.

The Gort Walking Trail is expected to attract much interest on Saturday next. It will consist of a presentation at Coole Park, followed by a walk in Gort, in partnership with Galway East Tourism.

Those keen to trace their origins will have an interest in the series on ‘Tracing your ancestors’ lectures, which will take place at Coole Park every Monday evening in November, between 8pm and 9pm.

A series of storytelling will take place every Thursday evening, start- ing on November 6. A children’s dance workshop will take place on November 9, between 12 noon and

4.30pm, while the Galway Early Music Ensemble will present a lively concert of tunes on Thursday, No- vember 13. The music will be played on Renaissance instruments.

Classical guitarist Rose Maria Robinson will play at Coole Park on Saturday, November 15. Her special guest will be Redmond O’ Toole, who has played at the venue previously.

Electric Bridget will present the drama ‘Waiting for Elvis’ on Thurs- day, November 20. The following day, Friday 21, will present a treat from the local schools as their en- tries in the ‘Beo’ project will be on display.

‘There is a variety of events. There is a good mix of talks, drama and

music,” said Hilda MacLochlainn, who is a supervisor guide for na- tional parks and wildlife services at Coole Park.

“There are a lot of events for chil- dren. We have always tried to include a variety of events, for adults and children and also focus on our educa- tion programme for schools in Clare and Galway,’ she added.

The education programme is par- ticularly popular and gives primary school students the opportunity to pursue indoor and outdoor activities. Through the project, the pupils can appreciate the beauty of Coole Park and its surroundings, while at the same time appreciate the history be- hind the site.

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

NEKO

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.