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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.”

A VERDICT of accidental death has been returned in the case of a man who died following a road traffic ac- cident on N18 dual carriageway near Portdrine, last year.

The Coroner’s Court in Ennis heard last Wednesday how 69-year-old Michael O’Donoghue died after he was struck by a car across the road from Setright’s Tavern on November 27, 2007.

Mr O’Donoghue had just been dropped off by bus at the road and was on his way to visit his son. He was struck by a car travelling on the N18 towards Shannon.

Mr O’Donoghue was pronounced

dead at the scene by a doctor trav- elling in a passing ambulance. Mr O’Donoghue lived at 120 Hyde Road, Limerick.

Directing the jury, County Corner Isobel O’Dea said that in view of the medical evidence, the only appro- priate verdict was one of accidental death. The jury returned a verdict of accidental death.

Ms O’Dea_ described Mr O’Donoghue’s death as a “sad and tragic end to a Sunday evening out for a couple of pints”.

Mr O’Donoghue had been out with his friend Vincent Kinsella for a few drinks in Limerick before the acci- dent occurred.

In his deposition, Mr Kinsella told

the court that Michael was in “good form” on the night in question and that he departed the bus at Setraight’s at around 7.45pm.

Patrick O’Gorman, who had been in Setright’s Tavern, left the pub at 7.40pm and saw a car stopped in the fast lane of the Shannon side of the dual carriageway. He told the court that he “saw a young man on his mo- bile phone in a panicked state and a woman get out of the car. They start- ed shouting and screaming and said something about hitting a man.”

Mr O’Gorman alerted the emer- gency services and along with others in the pub, helped set up a safety pe- rimeter around the scene of the ac- cident.

Garda Batt Duggan who was called to the scene noted, “extensive dam- age to the front of the car, the wind- screen was smashed and the road was wet because it had rained earlier on in the evening”.

Mr Duggan interviewed the driver of the car and conducted a breatha- lyzer test, which she passed.

Dr Peter Faul told the court that the cause of death was shock due to sec- ondary injuries consistent with being involved in a road traffic accident.

Ms O’Dea expressed her sympa- thies to Mr O’Donoghue’s family and praised the efforts of those who helped at the scene. Inspector John Galvin also expressed his sympathies to the family of Mr O’Donoghue.

TRADERS in Parnell Street have warned of a return to the “bad old days” of derelict buildings if meas- ures aren’t taken to arrest decline in the area.

A delegation representing traders in the area told yesterday’s meeting of Ennis Town Council that declin- ing commercial activity and the loss of parking spaces has resulted in as many as 13 businesses closing in re- Lorna eeKeyels ety

Architechtural consultant Michael

Leahy said businesses were under pressure to survive.

‘This is a major problem for Parnell Street. There are a lot of vacant prop- erties in the area,’ said Mr Leahy.

‘We don’t have to go back too long, just ten years ago, to a time when it was all derelict buildings in Parnell Street. Businesses are finding it very difficult.”

Work on the upper section of the €26 million Ennis flood relief scheme has led to the loss of some 26 spaces in the Parnell Street car park.

Mr Leahy, speaking on behalf of

traders, said privately owned sites such as Western Garages could be used to alleviate the problem.

Fianna Fail councillor Tom Glynn confirmed that around 40 spaces would be available during the sum- mer months for staff working in Par- nell Street, providing a permit system was put in place.

Ennis Town Council has agreed to open 30 parking spaces in Waterpark House on Saturdays.

The council has also allowed per- mit holders in Parnell Street to utilise long-term parking spaces in other

parts of Ennis while work continues in Parnell Street.

Independent councillor Frankie Neylon and Councillor Glynn led calls for the temporary re-location of the taxi rank from Parnell Street to Bindon Street.

‘Taxis could be facilitated in Bind- on Street. I know the executive has some problems with that but those problems, I feel, could be over- come.”

Town clerk and acting town man- ager Eddie Power said re-location would be the wrong option.

AN Ennis man’s mission to climb some of Ireland’s highest peaks has raised over €7/7,000 for cancer re- search.

Jim McMahon from Ennis along with Chris Whythcombe, living in Tulla but originally from Kerry un- dertook the The reeks challenge in Kerry.

This challenge took place in mAT and consisted of climbing the 10 peaks in the McGillycuddy Reeks in County Kerry.

The purpose of the climb was to raise funds for The Friend’s of St.Luke’s Hospital for cancer cure,

control and care.

The climb raised €7,700 and the cheque for same was presented to a representative of St.Luke’s in Ennis on last Friday.

At the presentation the climbers thanked all those who contributed to the fund and paid special thanks to Jacko McMahon who organised two major fundraising events, a soc- cer match and a motor bike night. Thanks was expressed to Avenue United FC, Wheels within Wheels Motorbike project and Clare Adult Education Centre for assisting with these events.

The two me also helped organised a series of other events in prepartion

for the challenge such as the Wheels Within Wheels motorbike project.

The event included information on bike building, racing, grass track rac- ing and motorcross racing. Speakers at the event included Keith Meere, a local successful motorbike racer, Clinton Tully, chairman of the Shan- nonside Offroad Club, who spoke on motorcross and grasstrack, and Pas- cal Shanahan explained the process of bike building.

The Friends of St Luke’s Hospital was established to raise funds to en- hance the care, comfort and manage- ment of cancer patients at St Luke’s Hospital, Dublin. 27 years later the hospital has a vibrant network of

supports all over Ireland. St Lukes depend entirely on the goodwill of the people of Ireland who work tire- lessly to raise funds for the hospital. To date over €25million has been raised. The goals remain the same and that is to generate the funds to ensure that St Luke’s Hospital con- tinues to be a warm, friendly, com- fortable and well-equipped facility for patients to undergo treatment in achieving a cure for their cancer.

Mr McMahon said he was delight- ed to be able raise money for such a worthy cause. “It was tough alright, but worth it in the end. It was great to be able to help out St Lukes, which does fantastic work for people”.