Category: Uncategorized

CLARE County Council may be fac- ing the prospect of jobs cuts and cut- back in services due to the slowdown in the local economy.

That’s the view of Clare Green Party councillor Brian Meaney who was speaking yesterday after figures from the Department of the Environ- ment confirm a continuing downturn in the Clare construction sector.

“The slowdown in housing will have an exponential impact on coun- cil finances and with a significant de- crease in applications, there could be rationalisation of council services,” he said.

Cllr Meaney pointed out that there was a Significant deficit in the De- partment of the Environment budget at present and he speculated this would have a major impact on coun- cil finances.

‘The situation is going to get a lot worse before it gets better,” he said.

The Department of the Environ- ment housing figures confirm yester- day that new house registrations for the first five months has dropped by 83 per cent on the corresponding pe- riod in 2007.

In figures published by the Depart- ment of the Environment yesterday, they show that there was only 10 new house registrations for the month of

May and this compares to 129 new house registrations for the same month in Clare last year.

The new house registrations for the first five months of 2008 show that 89 new homes have been registered in Clare and this compares to 527 new house registrations for the cor- responding period last year, a drop of 83 per cent.

Separate figures in relation to house completions also confirm a downturn

in the local housing sector.

According to Department of the Environment figures, the number of new house completions for the month of May in 2007 has dropped from 188 to 99 for May of this year, a drop of 47 per cent.

The figures for the first five months of this year show that the number of house completions had dropped by 36 per cent going down from 748 to 474 house completions.

THE recent CO2 emissions/motor tax changes brought good news for many diesel models, but bad news for some top of the range petrol models.

Subaru’s new Tribeca is in the lat- ter category. This massive SUV with a 3.6 litre engine, saw its price rise from €69,250 to €75,995 on July Ist. At present only a petrol model 1s available in Ireland.

The Tribeca, which takes its name from an area in the Manhattan dis- trict of New York City, was first in- troduced in 2006. Built on Subaru’s Legacy platform this latest model is a fine comfortable motor. The main changes are to the front and rear styl- ing. But it couldn’t have come to Ire- land at a worse time now that we are going green.

In hindsight this motor would prob- ably have sold better when the Celtic Tiger was at its peak. However, we

still have thousands of millionaires living in this island of ours and you just never know what way the market will work. But I’m told that rich peo- ple also like bargains.

Externally it looks like a regular SUV and has a tidy look to it. But I have never seen such a beautiful in- ternal design. There are no corners in the front section of the car as the dash literally blends into the doors and you get an amazing wrap-around effect. There is plenty of glass and a sun-roof which helps to give the car a really bright feeling.

As usual with these massive SUVs you might need a small step ladder to climb on board. But when you get inside the cabin the view of the road and indeed the fields are fantastic. And with the massive power that a 3.6 engine brings, you certainly will feel like a ‘king of the road.’

When reversing a rear-view cam- era 1s activated and you get colourful guiding lines on the display screen on the dash. A nice idea, one I first experienced in the Nissan Primera.

The Tribeca can seat five adults and at least two small children in a cute little third seat at the back. In real- ity most buyers will probably leave down the third row and use that space for storage. I don’t think the Irish birth rate is going up, but the extra seat would be ideal for trans- porting young boys or girls to sports events. Buy two Tribecas and you would have enough space for a soc- cer team and a few subs.

To try and save petrol you could

use the cruise control or to take your mind off the petrol bill, play some relaxing CDs by using the futuristic- looking display on the dash.

The five-gear automatic gear box is a bit lazy, but if you prefer you can also change gears manually. I didn’t get an opportunity to bring the Tribeca off road, but with all-wheel drive it should be able to handle any

terrain.

It’s a gorgeous motor and I took it to Cork for the Munster football fi- nal. Maybe I should have detoured via Carlow and visited that lucky newsagent where they sell so many winning lottery tickets. That’s the only way I, or most other Irish people are going to be able to afford to buy a Tribeca.

Under the new C02 emissions rules the Tribeca comes in at the top of the range *G’ section, which means a whopping €2,000 road tax per an- num. I really enjoyed my time in the Tribeca, but unfortunately it’s very thirsty and very expensive.

ENNIS based politician Paul O’Shea is heading for Baghdad to take up a humanitarian mission with the Unit- ed Nations.

Mr. O’Shea, who is standing as a Labour party candidate for next year’s local elections in Ennis, de- parted for Jordan on Sunday.

He will travel to Iraq this week to work on a humanitarian mission with UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund. Mr O’Shea, who is a member of the Department of For- eigen Affairs, Rapid Response Corps is to be the first Irish aid worker to be deployed with UNICEF. Mr O’Shea will spend six months working in the region.

The Rapid Response Corp is part

of an additional initiative designed to respond to emergencies. There are currently 10 Irish members deployed in Ethiopia, Kenya, Darfur, Demo- cratic Republic of Congo, Nepal, Burma, Sri Lanka and Iraq.

There are an additional 50 people with specific skills on the register who are trained to respond to emer- gencies who are ready to be deployed within 72 hours.

Mr O’Shea will work as part of the child protection unit aimed at reach- ing out of school children, youth, working children, street children and other vulnerable children. Working with Iraq ministries in Baghdad and Erbil as well as non governmental organisations and local partners, the project aims to get children back into to educational programmes.

In co-ordination with a rehabili- tation team, UNICEF will provide necessary school equipment, teach- ing materials, health and hygiene kits. Mr. O’Shea completed a two week security awareness training programme organised by defence forces at the United Nations Training School at the Curragh.

The programme included a naviga- tion and radio communication, 4×4 driving, hostage taking, land mine clearance and first aid.

Despite working in politically un- stable regions, Mr O’Shea admits Baghdad will be a totally new ex- perience. He said, “This will be my first mission to the middle east, hav- ing worked in Africa and South East Asia for a number of years. I expect it will be very different culturally”.

The situation in Iraq has calmed somewhat in recent months though Mr O’Shea and other members of the UNICEF mission will receive armed escort when traveling around the oltielsa’s

Mr O’Shea said the training he re- ceived in the Curragh was first class and but is hoping he won’t have to put all of his new skills into practice.

“It was very good and pretty inten- sive. We were given courses in four wheel drive, communications, sat nav even hostage taking. Obviously I’m hoping not to encounter any situ- ation like that. But definitely, it will be an interesting experience”.

Mr O’Shea also recently worked in Kosovo as the Irish long term elec- tion observer with the council of Eu- rope.

A BIZARRE Ennis conspiracy to murder trial, which has heard refer- ences to a hitman website, swingers clubs, prostitutes, transvestites and a fake marriage certificate is expected to conclude today.

The jury in the trial of Sharon Col- lins (45) and Essam Eid (52), who deny conspiring to murder her part- ner PJ Howard and his sons Robert and Niall in 2006, will resume delib- erations this morning. The jury was sent to a hotel for the night after de- liberating for over three-and-a-half hours yesterday, as the trial entered its eighth week.

Ms Collins, of Ballybeg House, Kildysart Road, Ennis, has also pleaded not guilty to soliciting Mr Eid to kill the three businessmen.

IT was an important question and it was met by silence. Who could have had a motive to set Sharon Collins NiO Nem OLLOmOr-buetleent

Una Ni Raifeartaigh, BL for the prosecution, put it to Ms Collins, ‘You ve been hinting . ..Who has the motive to set you up?”

Ms Collins paused for a few sec- onds. Ms Ni Raifeartaigh waited. The response did arrive.

“IT have been brought down to the garda station. I’ve been questioned at length. I’ve been charged with crimes I certainly didn’t commit and would never commit. I’ve been put into prison. You couldn’t imagine the affect it’s having on my life. I’m not going to accuse anybody of anything when I don’t know,” she stated.

Ms Ni Raifeartaigh asked her could it have been PJ Howard, to which she replied, “No.”

“Who is left? Aren’t you suggesting it was one of the Howards?” asked COIN

“Well the guards said to me only a limited number of people have ac- cess to the office,” replied Ms Col- lins, to which Counsel quickly said, “The Howard boys. Why would the Howards set you up?”

Ms Collins replied, “You’d have to ask them that.”

Ms Ni Ratfeartaigh said _ the Howards wouldn’t make money out of Ms Collins as they had more than she. The witness accepted that the Howard brothers were “sitting on a big pile of money.”

Counsel asked could it be a case that the Howards wanted to get Ms Collins “out of the way” to which she replied that it was possible.

“You are with him for eight years?” asked Counsel, to which the witness replied, “Ten years now.”

She was asked was PJ Howard hu- miliated and replied, “I think if I heard somebody was planning to kill my two sons, I’d get over the humili- ation.”

“T know if I was shown the amount of evidence PJ was shown that some- one was trying to kill his two sons, I wouldn’t let pride get in the way,”

she added.

Counsel put it to the witness that PJ had not appeared in court since he had given evidence in the trial, to which she replied, “Had he a choice, after the humiliation he has been put through?” and said she was referring to the Gerry Ryan letter being read out.

She said that while she would not dispute that she had written the let- ter to the Gerry Ryan show, “I didn’t realise it was sent. It was an anony- mous and private matter.”

Asked was the ‘sexual preferences’ aspect of the letter correct, she said,

“Tt certainly was a topic that PJ and I had discussed.”

“To be quite honest with you, I don’t want to discuss this at all. I don’t see how this relates to murder. .. 1 don’t hate PJ. That kind of thing is a motive to leave somebody, not to kill somebody. I most certainly did not hate PJ,” she stated.

“T think sometimes a person might hate or dislike a quality or an ac- tion. You could love somebody but not necessarily like everything they did,’ she said.

Counsel said, “A package? I’d sug- gest to you the package is his money.”

Ms Collins replied, “Oh God, no.”

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.”

She said the full letter, which ex- plained the full picture, had not been retrieved and said some of if might have been a bit “exaggerated.”

She said she felt PJ Howard had been “harmed in here. I think he very much wanted me to go into the box to give evidence.”

She agreed that PJ Howard had fre- quented transvestites and his desire for her to work as a prostitute was discussed between the two.

“Tt was mentioned. I most certainly didn’t like it. After that it was no longer an issue. It wasn’t mentioned to me again,” she said.

She said that PJ Howard had always told her if their relationship broke up, he would look after her.

“Tf I said to PJ, ‘It’s run its course,’ he would look after me extremely well,” she explained.

“T could have had a home and an in- come if I left PJ. You didn’t ask him that when he was in here. He most certainly would have provided for me with a home and an income,” she said.

Asked did PJ Howard verbally abuse her and throw tantrums, she laughed, “Yes and I might have given a bit myself.”

THE Ennis Tennis and Badmin- ton Club has raised child protection concerns in relation to plans for an apartment complex overlooking the club’s tennis courts.

Already, the voluntary housing group Cluid Housing Association has been refused planning permis- sion for an apartment complex on the grounds of Waterville House on the Mill Road in Ennis. The house is the former home of Fine Gael council- lor Johnny Flynn although he did not

sell the property to Cluid.

Cluid has now lodged revised plans seeking to construct new structures of three and four storeys to accom- modate three one-bedroom apart- ments and 11 two-bedroom apart- ments.

Cluid is also seeking to refurbish Waterville House to accommodate two one-bedroom apartments, and for change of use at ground floor lev- el for an office and a meeting room.

John Neylon and Associates, on behalf of the club, states in relation to its child protection concerns, that

balconies forming part of the devel- opment “may provide a vantage point for any adult who wishes to watch our children playing tennis and this raises very serious concerns in rela- tion to child protection”.

The objection goes on: “We have put in place the highest level of child protection practices that any sporting organisation can have in place.

“But the current design could pro- vide places from which objects could be thrown onto the courts, thrown at our members and at the children as they play. The balconies are near

enough to enable any occupant of the applicant’s development to verbally abuse members and to intimidate members, adults and children alike.

“In short, we object most strongly to the presence of overlooking win- dows and balconies of any descrip- tion on the basis of child safety and child protection. Our children are our most important asset, their safety is Our paramount concern.”

The club has also raised child pro- tection concerns over a new gate to the development providing access to the river walk.

The objection states: “With a large junior membership, the club has rig- orous child protection schemes and this purported access into and across our club grounds is of major concern for all members and visitors: be they male, female or junior vis-a-vis pri- vacy, security and child protection.”

The consultants also say that the proposal fails to demonstrate a need for housing. They refer to what they describe as the council’s requirement in relation to single applicants where they are required to demonstrate such a need.

A COMPANY is proposing a €10 million development that will incor- porate a third element to a proposed controversial park and ride to the SOM iow

Last week Atlantis Developments Ltd filed for planning permission for 32 retirement homes, a supermarket, three retail units, and créche and tourist hostel at Kilillagh.

The proposal also consists of 44 car parking spaces and 100 car park Spaces as a park and ride facility to serve the world renowned visitor at-

traction.

John D Flanagan of Atlantis Devel- opments Ltd said the development would provide 25 jobs during con- struction and a further 25 full-time and part-time jobs when complete.

The development company estimat- ed that the entire project would take 18 to 24 months to deliver.

The entire project is valued at €8 million to €10 million.

‘The overall proposal has the poten- tial to contribute hugely to the overall development of Doolin and will make the village a better place to live in and visit,” said Mr Flanagan.

“The development will also create considerable employment opportu- nities in Doolin and the north Clare area.”

Atlantis Developments Ltd has previously applied for park and ride facilities at Liscannor and Coogyula, both of which met with some opposi- tion from local people.

“Atlantis Developments Ltd_ last month responded to Clare County Council’s request for further infor- mation having carefully considered submissions made by local residents regarding the proximity of the pro- posed park and ride development at

Coogyulla to the village of Doolin. Atlantis Developments Ltd lodged a separate application for a develop- ment at Killilagh, which also includes a park and ride facility to serve the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Centre,’ said Mr Flanagan.

“Atlantis Developments Ltd has adopted a plan-led approach to devel- oping park and ride facilities to serv- ice the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Cen- tre. This approach is influenced by the North Clare Development Plan, which identifies Coogyulla as a suit- able location for the development of such a park and ride facility.”

ENNIS student Noel Whelan has won the engineering award at the 3rd annual Wood Marketing Awards held in Enfield.

Noel represented Galway/Mayo IT Letterfrack with the project entitled ‘When Ash Meets Cowhide’. His project addresses the current prob- lems faced by hurley makers in the country and it is aimed at finding solutions to ensure that GAA hur- ley manufacturing industry remains in Ireland, tackling the problem of insufficient native ash supplies and high labour costs.

Noel was presented with his award by RTE presenter Duncan Stewart.

Reaching the final represented a ma- jor achievement for Noel given that over 100 projects were entered in the three categories of engineering, ar- chitecture and design by third level students from both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. A sec- ond project presented by a County Clare student made it to this year’s jnbeeeD Ese

Cork IT student Seamus Moroney, from Clogher, O’Callaghan Mills, was short-listed for his project “Mo- ment Connections in Timber con- struction’, in the engineering section. Fifteen Students were drawn for the finals from universities nationwide, including DIT Mountjoy Square Dublin, Bray PLC, Southern Region-

al College Lurgan, Galway Mayo In- stitute of Technology, NUIG, Queens University Belfast, Cork IT, UCD and the University of Ulster Jordan- stown.

Speaking at the awards, Duncan Stewart spoke of the high standard of entries which had been received and thanked the WMF, all the students and their lecturers for their commit- ment to the competition.

“This year’s competition has been incredible. We have seen 15 projects at a very high standard and all the projects here today deserve to be winners,” he said.

The students assembled at the start of the day and set up their presenta- tion stands. Models were created by

all teams and these were backed up by PowerPoint presentations and Al posters and other supporting litera- ture.

The students were interviewed for RTE’s Nationwide during the day with the actual award ceremony tak- ing place at 3.30pm. The WME in- stituted this all-Ireland award to pro- mote the use of wood as a design and building material.

THE widow of a man who died from cancer despite having been treated by a Killaloe doctor told the court she was giving evidence “to prevent anyone else ever being introduced to this treatment”.

Bernadette Gallagher was in the witness box in the case against Pas- chal Carmody (60) of Ballycuggeran, Killaloe, who is charged with obtain- ing €80,172 from six cancer patients and their families by deception be- tween September 2001 and October

PAUL OPA

The patients were treated with pho- todynamic therapy (PDT) at The East Clinic, run by Dr Carmody and Dr Bill Porter.

Mrs Gallagher, from Mullingar, told the court that her husband JJ, died from bowel cancer on Septem- loys) ane a0 0a

She claimed that the doctor had said that not only would he hold the cancer at bay, but that he would “de- stroy it”.

Pat Marrinan, SC, for Carmody, put it to Mrs Gallagher that she was

“dragging Dr Carmody into every scenario” because Dr Porter had left the jurisdiction, leaving Dr Carmody as the only one who could be sued.

Mr Marrinan put it to her that Dr Carmody would give evidence deny- ing that he promised to cure or de- stroy her husband’s cancer.

Mrs Gallagher said that she had “nothing to lie about.

“IT am not enjoying this. My hus- band is dead and everyone else who had this treatment”.

She told the court in Ennis that she and her family were “ecstatic” when

they heard about the photodynamic therapy treatment. “I blame myself because I was standing outside it and I didn’t see this treatment was not suitable for JJ”.

Asked why they had not sought the opinion of other cancer experts treat- ing JJ, she said she “had not thought to do it”.

The court also heard evidence from Bernadette and JJ’s sons, who said they were in the room in the East Clinic when Dr Carmody had promised to “destroy” their father’s or ileoe

Tecwyn Gallagher said in evidence that he was in the room with the rest of his family and the two doc- tors when he was asked if he had any questions.

““T asked could they hold the cancer at bay – it’s the one question you want to ask. He said he would not only hold it at bay, he would destroy it.”

Mr Marrinan said his client would say he told the Gallaghers that the PDT treatment was still in its early stages and that it wasn’t a viable op- tion in JJ’s case but that he would re- view the matter after some months.

THE ‘plot’ was laced with deceit, callousness, dishonesty, hatred, ma- nipulation, arrogance and greed, ac- cording to the prosecution.

What appeared incredible and al- most laughable actually contained all of those things, along with a bit of love, said Junior Counsel for the prosecution Una Ni Raifeartaigh, in her closing speech to the jury last Thursday.

“Love degenerating itself and cor- rupting itself into hatred,’ she said.

“This may not be a tragedy about dead bodies. It is a ridiculous plot be- tween two people whose lives should

never have intersected.

“Ms Collins was pouring poison into those emails. This shameful plot has managed to destroy lives. That’s what is tragic,” she said.

She said that PJ Howard’s affection, loyalty and trust was only returned by Sharon Collins’ betrayal, decep- tion and public humiliation.

“Can he ever go back to Ennis?” she asked.

She said that the lives of Robert and Niall Howard were “to be snuffed out because they just got in the way of Ms Collins’ greed.”

Equally tragic, she said, were Ms Collins’ two sons, “who sit there day after day, looking crushed, angry

that these things be said about their mother. She has betrayed her own sons, made them unwitting allies in her own defence.”

She said the hiring was done in a “very cold, very calculated and very businesslike” manner and the detail of the methods discussed was “nau- seating.”

“There was a lot of haggling over the price of these three lives,” she said.

“Inside and outside the courtroom, it may have sounded like the plot of a film or sometimes a cheap thrill- er. One can be reminded of the old saying, “Truth can be stranger than fiction’. Treachery lies in honeyed

words,” said Ms Ni Raifeartaigh.

She said there were “almost farci- cal” events, plots and sub-plots.

“It’s been a very, very long trial, an extraordinary trial, with a lot of evidence over Six or seven weeks. Some of it has been very technical,’ she said.

She said that our true characters are revealed by how we behave in private, when no-one is watching.

“Ms Collins said to me, ‘You are out to get a conviction.’ That’s wrong. Perhaps she has been watch- ing too many American programmes or reading too many American thrill- ers,” she said.

She said that Sharon Collins had

uttered “dark mutterings about be- ing set up” and Counsel urged the jury to take her stories and examine them. “Do they stand up? There are a couple of different ones going on at the same time. Maria Marconi is a complete figment of Sharon Collins’ imagination,’ she said.

She said that while there were “dark hints’, Ms Collins “won’t even come out and accuse the obvious people.”

She concluded her 100-minute speech with two lines from the Ea- gles’ song ‘Lyin’ Eyes: “You can’t hide those lyin’ eyes, and your smile is a thin disguise” and then quoted from Shakespeare, “A man may smile and smile and be a villain.”