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AN ENNIS man has been jailed for life after pleading guilty to the mur- der of a man in Dublin last year. Michael Downes (42), of no fixed abode but originally from Mar- ian Avenue, Ennis, pleaded guilty to murdering Finbar Dennehy (50), Seafield Road, Clontarf, Dublin, be- tween September 24 and 26, 2007. Detective Sergeant Paul Slattery told the Central Criminal Court last Tuesday that Downes and Mr Den- nehy, both gay men, were previously PYOre UE NUNIKeLO b Downes had travelled to Dublin on the Sunday before the murder and had arranged to meet Mr Dennehy. They socialised and returned to Mr Dennehy’s apartment that evening. The garda said that Mr Dennehy’s body was found in his apartment the following Wednesday. He was “tied up elaborately on the couch, a plastic bag was tied over his head and there was a pool of blood on the floor be-

side him.”

Mr Dennehy died from strangula- tion and a stab wound to the groin.

Downes was arrested in Dublin that Friday. He told gardai that he had been with Mr Dennehy in his apartment the previous Monday and that “a dispute had arisen in relation to sex.”

Downes got a knife from the kitch- en, returned to the living-room and asked Mr Dennehy for cash. Mr Dennehy pushed him and Downes pushed back. He told gardai that there was a struggle and that there was blood on the floor.

The accused told gardai that he tied up Mr Dennehy on the couch, waited in the apartment that night and stran- gled him the following morning.

THE husband of a woman who died from breast cancer after being given the all clear at Ennis General Hospital has appealed for people to speak to the HIQA investigation, as the number of misdiagnosis claims reaches six.

Karl Henry said that those con- cerned about cancer examinations and misdiagnosis at the Clare hosp1- tal should avail of the investigation by the state’s health service watchdog into the quality and safety of patient care at the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Ennis.

Mr Henry made the appeal as more cases of misdiagnosis come to light. The latest case is a woman from north Clare who died in June last year.

The 50-year-old mother of two had two scans at Ennis General Hospital.

Last month Mr Henry highlighted the case of his late wife Ann Mor1- arty who died despite repeatedly be- ing told she was not ul.

Despite claims that this was an 1so- lated case, the case of 26-year-old Edel Kelly from Kilrush emerged days later. The young mother of two also died despite been given the all clear following a biopsy.

A third case of an unidentified woman emerged last month, while last week the fourth case involv- ing the late Eva Corry (66) came to light.

Mr Henry said that he is also aware of a Kilkee woman who lost her life in 2001, months after she was given the all clear.

‘There were tears running down her husband’s face as he told me. Seven years later, he is still distraught. It would go a long way with him com- ing to terms with his loss if he knew why his wife died.”

Mr Henry said there is a perception that the investigation is only looking into female cancers and breast can- Coe

Referring to mistakes made with his late wife’s blood tests, he said this was not true, as blood tests can be taken for many cancers.

‘This leaves the investigation open to all sorts of cancers,’ he added.

Meanwhile, a Clare man who was wrongly given the all-clear for breast cancer at Galway’s University Col- lege Hospital a number of years ago has now been told he will require surgery.

Following a review of tests carried out at the hospital the man, who does not wished to be identified, received a letter from the hospital explaining

the mistake.

Although rare, breast cancer also affects men. The man in question will now undergo a bilateral mastec- reyeene

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IMPROVED _ pedestrian _ safety measures need to be carried out as ‘‘a matter of urgency” near the Ennis bus and rail station.

The issued has been raised amid growing concerns from_ residents about the lack of pedestrian cross- ings and footpaths in the area.

The areas highlighted are the roundabout at the crossroads of Sta- tion Road, Clonroad and the Quin JWCey:TeMr: Dele ms aome-DUMyc-h yo) ele lexor

Speaking at last Monday’s meeting of Ennis Town council, Councillor Tommy Brennan (Ind) called for pe- destrian crossings to be installed at the roundabout.

He said, “There are an amount of people using the road there, going over to the station and going out the Quin Road. I think that as a matter of urgency, we have to look at provid- ing pedestrian crossing”’.

“It was ok for people to take the lights out from the roundabout but in doing that it seems that we’ve for- gotten that people still need to cross the road there. It’s imperative we put a pedestrian crossing. It wouldn’t make much of a difference with the four roads. There are ways of doing it. One could be put on each of the Key: (eke

Cllr Brennan also commented that serious improvements were needed at the nearby rail bridge.

“If there are two cattle trucks using the road and a woman is pushing a pram, its deadly dangerous. It would be very easy to get pushed up against the wall. There will be someone killed. It’s scandalous”

Town Engineer Tom Tiernan said agreement had been reached with CIE for a walkway to be developed parallel to the main road bridge.

‘We are hoping to have all the work completed there by late spring 2009, in time for the completion of the first phase of the Western Rail Corridor. I agree, it is deadly there’.

The calls were made as Ennis Town Council prepares a report of the draft Ennis Traffic Management Plan 2008.

According to the council, after the report has been considered by mem- bers, the draft plan will then go on public display and a public consul- tation process will be undertaken. Submissions received by the coun- cil will be considered by the elected members. The formal adoption of the plan with or without amendments will take place after consideration of submissions and following consulta- tion with the gardai.

ClUlr Johnny Flynn (FG) said he was very disappointed that ESB work practices had led to a delay in the completion of pedestrian cross- ings at locations in Ennis.

“They are urgently needed,” he Cr AKOR

A QUARTER of a century of the John Fennel School of Dancing has produced thousands of new dancers, hundreds of medals and 26 shows sold out to national audiences.

All this from a 19-year-old who 25 years ago cycled throughout the west Clare peninsula teaching dancing in small schools.

Now children from all over Clare come to the Cooraclare Community Centre to practice for sell out shows and extra performances to celebrate the school’s silver anniversary, as the west Clare phenomena that is Hell for Leather.

Founder John Fennell maintains the success of the venture is down to hard work, support of parents and the dedication of the children.

The Cooraclare man learned to dance from the couple he credits with bringing step dancing to west Clare – Eugene and Pat Phillips.

“Everything that has branched off since 1s a protégé of them,” he said.

From a family of eight his mother was determined to get half of the family dancing and John hasn’t stopped since.

As he reached the senior classes with the Phillips, John began teach- ing the junior dancers.

From there he began preparing dancers for competition in his own Ce) b iter

At just 19 he was invited to teach step dancing in some small west Clare schools.

“*T often left at half eight in the morn- ing and cycled to Kilbaha to do aclass and then on to Doonaha. I would cy- cle to Doonbeg for an evening class and then on to Cooraclare for an older class. The legs would be nearly gone of me,’ he smiled, and well he should, as it was through dancing he first met his wife.

From these early classes, teaching Irish dancing and step dancing, he

successfully saw his pupils win 38 Munster titles, 35 All-Irelands and six internationals.

Despite this success he believed the future was not in figure dancing and pulled all dancers from competition to concentrate on set dancing.

He was told this would not work but the Cooraclare man thought dif- Keone

“Then I began to think why pick eight dancers and put them into an All-Ireland and leave the others. Pri- mary kids were also leaving dancing when they left school so I thought I’d organise classes for teens.

“Each area then had a class, and I choreographed a piece for each area. For a joke I got them all together in Cooraclare so they could all dance.”

It was at that show that Pat Lineen pointed out to John he had “the mak- ings of a good show”. So with two new pieces added, Hell for Leather was launched in Glor in September Aves

Of the 193 dancers to take to the stage that fateful night, 17 remain with John today.

“They are all teaching with me and passing on the trade to the begin- ners,” he said.

This core group are also instru- mental in getting the new Hell for Leather show to Glor on October 29 and 30, and ready again for a special OS iekientenee es

This time around it is 176 five to 13 year olds that will entertain audi- Neen

“It not only keeps them fit but they also have 170 friends they wouldn’t otherwise have. They have learned how to dress themselves, how to get ready for a show, how to hang up their uniforms, respect for others and punctuality,” said John of his newest stars.

VISITORS have different concerns and priorities about their holiday experience in the mid-west than the tourism authorities have, the results of a survey being published today will show.

Conclusions from a summer season survey of nearly 5,500 visitors to the mid-west will be unveiled to mem- bers of the Tourism Learning Net- work at their seminar today.

Advance indications from the sur- vey showed that issues which have concerned the tourism authorities, including pricing and the propor- tion of non-nationals involved in the hospitality industry – did not come out as the top concerns with visitors. Instead tourists said that the warm hospitality from nationals and non nationals was one of the big pluses and there was also general satisfac- tion with food, quality standards, preparation, service and price.

Criticisms which were raised in the survey included hygiene, standards of cleanliness in toilets and grubby or shabby conditions in some accom- modation. Access for disabled peo- ple was also an issue raised by both able-bodied and disabled visitors and information on what’s available to visitors and how to get there was

also an issue with a significant level of dissatisfaction with both promo- tional material and signage.

Ranking as the most extensive in- dependent survey ever carried out in a single region, the exercise was the main 2008 project undertaken by members of the Tourism Learn- ing Network, the Failte Ireland ini- tiative which has been running since 2006. “As a do-it-yourself approach to market research which will be of immediate value, the survey fits in exactly with the aims of the Tourism Learning Network of bringing the development and promotion of lo- cal tourism down to local level” says Tourism Learning Network Director in the Mid-west, Padraig Cleary of May Day Management Consultants.

The verdict and views of visitors will be delivered to the seminar at the Kilmurry Lodge Hotel, Limerick today. In addition to the regional pic- ture to be painted, the survey results have also been packaged for each of the individual operators who partici- Joye Kerem

While the survey will be provid- ing guidelines on the strengths and shortcomings of visitor attractions, accommodation, dining and related visitor services, the seminar has been structured to provide practical guid- ance relevant to the survey findings.

Dr Schranz said he was a permanent

radiologist assigned to Portiuncula General Hospital and Roscommon County Hospital at the time.

‘I was only requested to report, on an urgent basis, … by the manager of Ennis General Hospital … (on) a number of casualty and GP films which had been outstanding for four to five weeks, some of which (not Ms Moriarty’s) were labelled as “ur- gent”,” the letter read.

Dr Schranz said he was sure of the date of the incident as it was his 40th birthday and he had to cancel plans since the situation “with outstand- ing x-ray reporting in Ennis was de- scribed to me as critical.

“On the day, I found the x-ray of Ms Moriarty was a single film amongst a pile in one of the offices. The request form simply said “fever” with no mention of the patient’s past history of breast carcinoma and extensive left breast reconstruction.”

“This radiograph was dated June 11, but the first time I saw this radio- graph was in July.”

He went on to say the way Ms Mo- riarty was positioned for the x-ray was technically limiting.

The consultant radiologist said that he dictated his report onto a tape and Sam Lm Comma gop batee

“IT was not asked to cross-check

the final typed report before it was sent out. I have no way of veritfy- ing whether what was typed into the report was what I actually said on Fe olen

“My report said that the x-ray was grossly abnormal with a large shad- ow seen in the left lung,” he said.

There was no reference to this in an internal investigation into Ms Mor1i- arty’s case, or if this report was re- layed to the physician’s team.

In his letter, Dr Schranz said there was no mention in the hospital re- port of a chest x-ray performed, or an investigation performed prior to her discharge from St James’ when

she was given the all clear in April, two months before she presented in Ennis with a fever. At the very least, these should have include an ultra- sound exam and CT scan. If these were clear then it is highly improba- ble that such a large metastatic lesion would have formed in a six week pe- riod between April and June 11.”

Dr Schranz also told the Minister that he was not informed of the inci- dent or the inquiry into it until it was over. “I fail to understand why I was never interviewed with regards to this inquiry, since I could have shed a lot of light into what actually hap- pened,’ he said.

THEY maybe one of Ireland’s big- gest employers, but Intel Ireland isn’t too big for a bit of DIY at one local primary school.

Staff from Intel’s factory in Shan- non dropped by Ennis National School on Thursday to help out with a bit of maintenance work.

The school is undergoing a bit of a make over, and as part of Intel’s serv- ice in the community scheme staff were only too happy to help out.

Staff from the electronics firm and parents rolled up their sleeves and got out their paintbrushes and lad- ders for two days last week. David

Casey, Chairperson of the Board of Management at Ennis National, said the school was delighted to receive the support of Intel.

“They do a lot of community schemes and have put an awful lot back into the community in Ireland. We were delighted when we heard they wanted to come along and help out on the day. We do this sort of thing every year, just painting, a few repairs here and there, cutting the hedges things like that. So we are de- lighted to have them here. It’s great that they would come to the school and work with us on this.”

Intel Ireland has two facilities in Ireland located in Leixlip and Shan-

nee

Intel Shannon with more than 160 employees hosts both the Shannon Development Center and the Shan- non Business Center. The Shannon Development Center is the Euro- pean research and development arm of Intel’s Digital Enterprise Group (DEG). The site hosts a number of divisions focusing on server chipset, security and communication silicon and software design.

The Shannon Business Center pro- vides business, technical and mar- keting support for European custom- ers and field sales. Shannon is the European base for the embedded businesses of DEG and home to the

technical marketing and business de- velopment teams.

According to the IDA, the Intel Ire- land operation employs 5,000 people CUT ererW hYamr- NaC Mm DOOD usLOlN AAD UI MRC) ITcaN Ooo te ing, technical and operational activi- Woe

PARENTS in- Knockerra have warned the council that lives will be lost 1f the speed limit outside the lo- cal national school is not reduced.

Three years after the parents as- sociation in St Senan’s National School, Knockerra, first started to lobby Clare County Council to ob- tain a temporary speed limit restric- tion, parents are maintaining nothing has been done.

‘A reduced speed limit just during certain times, is not a lot to ask,” said one parent.

As far back as 2005 the senior staff officer in transport and infrastructure at Clare County Council responded, ‘A 50 kilometres per hour speed lim- it in this location would be contrary to the general advice contained in the Department of Transport guide- lines for speed limits and, in practice would be unenforceable.”

In May 2006, the local Garda su- perintendent said he would have no objection to reducing the speed limit in Knockerra village from 80 km/ph to 50 km/ph. The senior engineer in Clare County Council responded to the parents association saying, “It is

likely that such a special speed limit will be introduced in the vicinity of Knockerra School and this will op- erate for appropriate periods during school hours.”

It states “the introduction of speed limits in most such areas, unless they can be strictly enforced is not alone pointless but brings the whole speed limit process into disrepute.”

There are now flashing lights on both approaches to the school but no road markings. “This is a very sorry state of affairs; the gardai are behind the initiative, but the county coun- cil seemingly don’t care. Schools in

other parts of the county have been successful in having the speed limits reduced. In Knockerra, the ball was started three years ago. Does it take a fatality for the council to wake up and see that indecision is putting a generation in danger?” an angry par- nlm (6

This road is used by traffic going to the Killimer ferry and Money- point Generating Station. It has also become a rat run for people who try to shave five minutes off their jour- ney time. Trucks and lorries also pass as parents bring their children to school.

THE proposed outsourcing of cabin crew on Aer Lingus transatlantic flights will not directly affect the number of American tourists who use Shannon Airport, according to a leading tourism spokesman.

This outsourcing, which is part of the massive cost saving plan pro- posed by management last week, would see American based cabin crew employed on the flights with only pilots to be based in Shannon.

According to Lahinch hotelier and local spokesperson for the Irish Ho-

tel federation, Michael Vaughan the proposal may have impacted on the old Aer Lingus model, but will not adversely affect the new low-cost model.

“Aer Lingus has always used the image of being an Irish airline to attract business, especially from America. | think if outsourcing of cabin crew does take place then they really won’t be able to say that any- more,’ he said.

“They have adopted the low cost model and one of the assumptions of this model is that the person re- ally doesn’t mind who brings them to

their destination as long as they can get there for the price they want. In the older model for Aer Lingus this might have been an issue but I’m not sure that if will have an impact Ce) A

Mr Vaughan believes that the worst case scenario for tourism in the re- gion is if no agreement is reached between unions and the airline and a “wind down” of services comes into effect.

“I see this as a HR issue for Aer Lingus. They have to get their cost base right and negotiate with the un- ions. At present we don’t believe that

there is any threat to their transatlan- tic service out of Shannon barring a situation where we cannot come to some agreement. If this is the situa- tion I would assume that there will be some sort of wind down of serv- ices and that would have a damaging effect on the region, there is no doubt about that,’ he continued.

“That said it is quite possible that other airlines would see a possible opportunity in that. I know that Delta and Continental are quite happy with their activity of late and may just see an opportunity for themselves there.

“T am always conscious of the fact

that there are people’s jobs at stake here in Shannon, but in my position I must take a wider view. We have been hostages to fortune in Shannon for so long now. It’s like there has been a sword hanging over us for years now and there is a feeling within the busi- ness community that it is time to get the house in order in Shannon and go forward positively into the future in- stead of going forward with a chip on our shoulder about one thing or the other. In a perverse sort of way this may be a golden opportunity to en- Sure proper services in Shannon for the future.”

CLARE beef farmers will save hun- dreds of euro next year following the decision to introduce the new 48-month rule for BSE testing. The new approach to BSE testing was an- nounced by the Department of Ag- riculture last month but it was last week announced that the new testing regime would be introduced from January 1, 2009.

The news was welcomed by east Clare farmers and Chairperson of the ICMSA Beef and Cattle Com- mittee, Martin McMahon, who says that it will have a major impact on

ie Ve silo ae

“This definite commencement date brings to an end a period of regret- table uncertainty and false starts and we estimate that the savings to farm- ers could be of the order of €8 mil- lion per annum,” he said.

“The new 48-month rule is further concrete evidence that the BSE prob- lem is now firmly in the past and also represents full recognition by the Commission of the excellent system of cattle identification and tractabil- ity which operates in Ireland.

“The new rule removes an unnec- essary cost and irrelevant age cut- off point and provides farmers with

more flexibility regarding the mar- keting of their cattle.”

Speaking on the issue when it was initially announced, Clare TD, Tony Killeen, said that the move would deliver significant savings to farmers who currently pay to have healthy slaughtered animals over 30 months tested for BSE.

“The current testing requirements are unjustified when one considers the significant progress made in re- ducing the incidence of the disease in Ireland, from a high of 333 cases in 2003 to 25 last year and 12 to date in 2008,” he said.

“Tam confident, based on the reduc-

tion in the disease in Ireland and the extensive controls in place, that Ire- land’s application will be approved and that the new testing regime may even be in place from early 2009.

“From the outset of his appoint- ment Minister Brendan Smith has continually identified the increase in the age limit for BSE testing as a priority. One of the first things he did as minister was to write to the EU Commissioner and he has taken every opportunity since to press the Commissioner to increase the age limit, particularly when he had met Commissioner Vassiliou at meetings of the EU Agriculture Council.”