Category: Uncategorized

THE countdown is well and truly underway for the biggest farming event so far this year as FarmFest and BioEnergy ‘08 threatens to enve- lope Athenry in County Galway this week.

An estimated 40,000 farmers are expected to invade Teagasc’s 30 hec- tare Mellow’s Campus on Friday, with the highlight for many likely to be Ireland’s first ever BioEnergy ex- hibition.

More than 400 exhibitors will showcase all aspects of Ireland’s ever changing countryside in a spectrum of attractive tented villages and ex- hibition spaces. The BioEnergy ex- hibition is being presented jointly by Teagasc, Coford and Sustainable En-

ergy Ireland (SEI) and will feature a tented village and outdoor exhibition space where displays, from biomass stove and boiler and equipment and fuel suppliers, will be central.

Bioenergy experts will also set up workshops and give practical dem- onstrations and field excursions to visitors.

Bioenergy and wood based fuels have a key role to play in finding workable and cost effective solutions to fossil fuel dependency in Ireland and so FarmFest & BioEnergy ‘08 will be of interest to land owners, home owners, businesses, forestry managers professionals and entre- preneurs alike who want to find out more about bioenergy crops and the emerging forest fuel market.

With Biomass having the potential

to meet up to 10 per cent of our en- ergy needs by 2010, to redirect hun- dreds of millions of euro to the Irish economy, create over 4,000 new jobs and assist in rural development by providing new markets in the farm- ing and forestry sectors, the BioEn- ergy Village at FarmFest & BioEn- ergy ‘08 promises to be a focal point for visitors.

“Equally important to the finan- cial benefits are the environmental benefits of developing Ireland’s vast bioenergy resources as they will also contribute to meeting national and international renewable targets, cli- mate change mitigation policies and waste policies which is good news for everyone,’ said Nuala Ni Fhlatharta of Teagasc.

As well as the BioEnergy Exhibi-

tion, Farmfest & BioEnergy °08 will see a variety of tented villages and Open-space exhibits on dairy, cattle, sheep and tillage enterprises and en- vironmental and sustainability.

A forestry village will also be set up where exhibitors will be on hand along with the forestry development unit to show visitors how forestry can be used as a land use option, how to improve genetic source and timber quality and there will also be live demonstrations of forestry harvest- ing and chipping all day long.

ENNIS has been named the cleanest town in Ireland in the latest survey by the Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) league.

Ennis has traditionally fared poorly in the survey. Last year Ennis fin- ished in 31st position. However, En- nis outperformed 55 other towns and cities surveyed in Ireland to achieve a status of ‘clean to European norms’.

Mayor of Ennis Tommy Brennan said, “We’re obviously delighted with the result, we are the cleanest town in Ireland having been castigated for so long by IBAL in the past.

“It just goes to show the benefits of partnership between Ennis Town Council, the tidy towns committee,

IBAL and other organisations. We’ve got to the top and hopefully we can stay there.”

Mr Brennan also paid tribute to the staff of Ennis Town Council.

“It’s a great boost for the entire town and for tourism in Ennis. A lot of credit must go to the cleaning crews of Ennis Town Council and especial- ly to Brendan Keogh and everyone working in the gardening section of the council. They have done terrific work, this year and every year, with such a small staff.”

In a statement, An Taisce said the result was a very positive develop- ment for Ennis.

“Ennis has seen huge all around improvements on previous IBAL anti-litter surveys and all of the sites

surveyed were ‘clean to European norms’. This is very positive for En- nis at this time of the year, as the tourist season beings to come upon us. Hopefully, the high standard can be sustained throughout the year. It wasn’t just the lack of litter, which set Ennis apart, but the way in which the environments are managed, eg planting, bins, benches. Credit is cer- tainly due to all responsible for this huge effort.

“While Killarney and Ennis can also claim excellent performances, the good news does not extend to all tourist centres,’ said IBAL Chair- man Dr Tom Cavanagh. “The cities of Limerick, Kilkenny and especial- ly Cork have slipped backwards, as has Galway to a lesser extent.”

TERESA Engle participated in an alleged plot to kill three Ennis busi- nessmen because she was controlled by her partner Essam Eid, she told the trial last Thursday.

She made the claim during cross- examination by Mr Eid’s barrister David Sutton, who put it to her that she was a “criminal and a fraudster. Do you agree with me?” She said, “No, I do not.”

“You scammed your way out of it by either telling lies or saying noth- ing and you successfully got off scot- free. .. Star witness for the prosecu- tion,’ said Mr Sutton.

‘“That’s not true. I gave my state- ment and agreed to testify here with- out immunity and against the advice

of my attorney who told me not to speak here,’ said Ms Engle.

Mr Sutton asked her did she have access to the ‘hitmanforhire’ website and she said she did.

“Only a fool of the highest order would think it was a serious website,” said Mr Sutton, to which she replied, ‘“That’s why I was so amazed when she sent the money.”

“You had a mug. You had someone who was stupid enough to log onto the website and someone who was stupid enough to send on the money,” said Mr Sutton.

She replied, “I couldn’t believe it.”

Mr Sutton said, “This piece of non- sense was a plot to kill?” she replied, ‘“That’s what it was.”

‘The reason you are saying that is because you are trying to do your-

self a favour in America, where you have pleaded guilty through another shakedown. You are dressing this up as a plot to kill for your own conven- ience and your own advantage,’ said Mr Sutton.

“No, that was what it was,’ replied WeCom Ua LB OTE

“You never intended to do any of this. There was no plan. Ms Engle, you are an incompetent criminal, yes or no?” said Mr Sutton.

“I was merely participating to the extent that I was controlled by Es- sam,’ said Ms Engle.

“Mr Eid was not involved in the plot to kill,” said Mr Sutton.

Ms Engle replied, “That’s ridicu- etna

“Ridiculous is the word because everything you have said to the jury

and the trial is ridiculous,” concluded Mr Sutton.

Os iYeCSmea Keer cc eebbit-lelOsMOnO seme) erste ron Collins barrister Paul O’ Higgins SC, Ms Engel said she was “under Essam’s direction”.

“IT agreed to give evidence here without the immunity and against the advice of my own attorney,’ she renee

Mr O’Higgins asked her why her sentencing hearing for extortion in the US had been adjourned. She said she had sought this, in order to spend DDONCoM UALR MOC MB E-TOONE AYA

“Can I suggest to you it was ad- journed because you hadn’t given evidence in this case?” he asked. She denied this.

“Aren’t you at the mercy of the US authorities as to what evidence you

give here?” asked Mr O’Higgins, but she also denied this.

“What else have you agreed to do? Have you agreed, for example, to act in an undercover capacity for the US attorney’s office and to tap phones and that kind of thing, if required to do so?” asked the barrister.

She replied, “Yes I did that.”

“You have referred repeatedly to Sharon as though you somehow knew Sharon Collins, the defendant in this case. Have you ever met Sharon Col- lins at all?” asked Mr O’ Higgins.

She replied, “No, I have not, at all.”

“All you are doing, far from telling the truth, 1s seeking to advance your position in the proceedings in the US,” said Mr O’Higgins, to which she replied, “That’s absolutely not true.”

MONTHS of good work and dili- gence by the students of a Shannon primary school have proved fruit- ful, as they have won their very first eau Tm IETS

St Aidan’s National School has been awarded a green flag, following months of preparation and anticipa- tion, during which waste and litter levels were reduced significantly.

Last week, the school raised its

green flag at a special ceremony which was organised by the insti- gator of the project, Brenda Clarke, while class teacher Patrice Hayes also played a key role in the project.

Every student at the school was involved in the project and all the efforts were rewarded with an out- door school concert which included contributions in song, dance, poetry and acting from the various classes. Many of the compositions were orig- inal and had a green theme.

And in keeping with the theme the school went green for the day with the children encouraged to wear green for the special occasion.

The seeds for the project were sown last October, when the 278 pupils at the school planted a bulb each in the school garden.

A proposal, compiled by the sixth class pupils in October, stated, “It would be an honour, not only for the school, but for us pupils, to be known as the eight classes who helped St

Aidan’s receive their first green flag. It would make us all very proud. To see St Conaire’s and St Tola’s win the green flag for the fifth or sixth time makes us fade into the background but no, not this year. The pupils and teachers are very determined. We have to make a number of sacrifices but when we get that green flag it will be worth it.”

The determination paid off and the students and staff savoured the happy atmosphere last week.

COULD the greatest farmer in all of Ireland be living right here in Clare? If you think you have the agricultural skills necessary to prove that you are the top farmer then your chance to prove yourself has finally arrived.

Good Company Productions are currently producing a new TV show for TG4 called ‘Feirm Factor’, which will be filmed over the next few months and broadcast in Spring Pauley?

The show will see 12 farmers pitted against each other head-to-head in a

series of farming related tasks witha few ‘wider-world’ challenges thrown in for good measure – think Gladiator with wellies on.

The man or woman crowned Ire- land’s best farmer will win Land Rover Discovery worth more than €40,000.

“This series should really prove very popular in the farming commu- nity and we’re hoping to create a lot of interest in the wider community by making the show entertaining and informative and giving it nationwide appeal,” said Evan Chamberlain, Se- ries Producer of Feirm Factor.

“Tt will be filmed in agricultural colleges all over Ireland, so we’ll re- ally be covering a lot of ground re- gionally. It should be great craic.”

The eight part series will be filmed over a number of weekends in Au- tumn of this year so as to minimise the disruption to the farmers.

Organisers are looking for twelve farmers, aged between 18 and 60, who think they have what it takes to show-case the very best of Irish farming today.

The farmers will each be _ put through their paces by three as yet unnamed judges who will decide

who takes home the coveted prize and title of Ireland’s best farmer. The show will be broadcast through Irish but Irish is not essential to take part.

Series producers do say that a ‘cu- pla focal’ would be a bonus for an applicant.

Anyone interested in finding out more or taking part in the event should contact Daithi at Good Com- pany Productions on 087 2387 222 or email feirmfactor@t¢4.1e.

The closing date for applications 1s Spm on Friday July 4. For more in- formation on Feirm Factor check out www.te4.ie/feirmfactor.

THE proposed move by Clare County Council to contravene its own Devel- opment Plan and facilitate an Ennis businessman to build a one-off home in the countryside has prompted someone else to seek similar treat- ment.

Last month, the council signalled its intention to grant planning per- mission to Gerry Danagher to build a home at Ballycullinan by disregard- ing its non-local rule and overturning the County Development Plan.

Now, Mark Rutledge of Whitehall, Dublin 9, is seeking that the coun- cil instigate a similar process to al- low him to build a one-off home on the fringes of the Burren at Roxton, Corofin.

In a submission as part of the ma- terial contravention process for Mr Danagher, Mr Roxton has told the council, “I have no connection, either personally or professionally with Mr DEE toe

“T have taken the opportunity to review the planning file and, on the basis of what I saw, I believe this

application deserves consideration for the granting of planning despite materially contravening the County Development Plan.

“I would like to use this opportu- nity to seek similar consideration for my own planning situation with the council. I believe that remedying my planning situation would materially contravene the County Development Plan 2005-11.

“My wife and I purchased a 10-acre site in Roxton, Corofin in May 1999; the land came with outline planning permission. Full planning permis-

sion was received in November 2003, cognisant of the fact that planning expired at the end of 2003.

‘For a variety of reasons, only the basic site clearance and foundation was accomplished at that time. I was working on regularising my situation with respect to the lapsed planning when I was served with an author- ised development.

‘No further works have been under- taken on the site since that notice. I have not applied for planning permis- sion or retention since because under the terms of the County Development

Plan, my application would be reject- ed due to the fact that I would not be deemed a local rural person or living in the area under pressure at least for 10 years. I am seeking consideration material contravention of the County Development Plan due to the fact that my eligibility for planning changed between the previous and the current county development plan.

“IT would appreciate a response to this letter and the possibility of working out a solution that would provide a satisfactory outcome to all parties.”

THE ingredients used to make the dangerous poison ricin were listed out in court by Essam Eid’s partner.

Teresa Engle told the trial last Thursday that she and Mr Eid man- ufactured the poison using castor beans, acetone and another ingredi- ent. They then put it into a contact lens case and brought it to Ireland in September 2006.

‘“He’d got a recipe from the inter- net,” she said.

She said they made it with “castor beans, acetone and something else. I can’t remember.”

She told the court she did not know where they had acquired the castor beans.

Mr O’Connell put it to her, “You were involved in the manufacture of ricin,’ to which she replied, “Yes.”

Asked who did it with her, she said, id Bhshcy-0 00

““T think we oiled the beans, took the Skins off, blended it with acetone and something else, put it through a filter, dried it out, to become a powder.”

She said they then put it into a con- tact lens case and there was none leftover.

She said the two had put masks and gloves on, while they were making i

She said that Essam carried the contact lens case in his bag, with his own prescription medicines. She said she was not sure how the ricin was going to be used.

She told the court that “Essam had a website, ‘hitmanforhire’. He got an email from Sharon to kill PJ and his two sons, Robert and Niall. They corresponded. She sent a down pay- ment of, like, €15,000. That would have been in August 2006,” she said.

She said the ‘hitman’ website was set up in February or March 2006. Asked by Prosecutor Tom O’Connell did she see any of the emails, she re- plied, “Yes.”

Asked did Mr Eid use any other name, she replied, “Yes, Tony Lu- ciano. That was the name he used with the website.”

“She had called him several times and he had called her back several times,’ she added.

Asked did she hear this woman speak, she replied, “I heard her voice. It was a very strong Irish accent. She spoke very fast. He kept telling her Slow down, so he could understand her accent.”

Asked what was this woman’s email address, the witness replied, “It was ‘lyingeyes’.”

She said that after the money ar- rived at their home in Las Vegas, the

next stage was “Essam getting hold of Ash and going through with it, getting it done.”

Asked how this was to be done, she replied, “Ash was supposed to be poisoning the sons.”

Asked by Mr O’Connell did any- body else contact the hitman website during this time, she said, “Yes, there was another woman. There were sev- eral people who contacted it to look for work.”

Ms Engle told the trial that she and Mr Eid stayed at the Two Mile Inn hotel in Limerick, when they trav- elled to Ireland in September 2006.

‘He had instructions from Sharon that he had to get the hard drive of the computer in the office. The keys (to the office) were under a brick be- hind a house 1n Ennis,” she said.

She said they picked up the keys and then went into the office to get the computer.

“There was an alarm, but we did have the code from Sharon to turn off the alarm,” she said.

She said they got the main compu- ter hard drive, laptop and a bunch of cords from the office and they took those items back to the hotel.

She said that Essam was trying to reach Sharon but “I don’t think he was able to. He was quite furious. Then he decided instead to go to Robert and sell him the contract.”

She said she travelled with him to Robert’s house and she stayed in the car while he went to the door.

NORTH Clare man David Mee is this week making final preparations for an eight week long aid trip to Jed abi byoyeynetere

Later this month David will travel with international aid organisation SERVE to the Filipino capital Ma- nilla before undertaking a number a number of aid missions on different parts of the island.

His work will include working with and teaching poor children, visit- ing hospitals and even working with children who have been imprisoned.

He is one of 14 Irish people who will be travelling to the Philippines this year. The groups leaves on June

29 and will spend a total of eight weeks working on the islands before returning home on August 20.

“We will be spending the first week in the capital Manilla where we will get some introduction into the way of life in the Philippines and a briefing on some of the work in which we will be doing,” said David.

‘Then we will be put in pairs and sent of to different regions to engage in all kinds of projects with the locals. We will spend about three weeks in out first area, then three more weeks in another area before we head back to Manilla for the final week.”

Over the last few months David has undertaken a number of fundraising activities raising more than €2,500

for the poor children in the Philip- obey

“I would really like to make a huge thanks to all those who sponsored me and helped me out when I was getting ready for this, the students in Mary Immaculate College, everyone who helped with the ceili, all those who helped with the raffle and all my NONE As

“The fundraising started with a raffle in Lisdoonvarna which raised €400 but we also had a legwaxing night in Charlie Malone’s Pub in Limerick which raised €500 and we raised €600 from external events. The most money raised came from the ceili in Kilfenora which raised more than €1,500.

“When I get over there I will be teaching children between the ages of 3 and 7, working in disadvan- taged communities, visiting prisons and working as advocates on behalf of the children in those prisons and we will also be visiting hospitals and leporsoriums.”

SERVE is a voluntary group which is a partnership between the Re- demptorists, young Irish adults and communities and agencies in the de- veloping world.

One of the main aims is to fund supports for sustainable development projects and global citizenship pro- grammes. For more check out www. To Mien (e

CLARE County Manager Alec Fleming was told last night to sort out the planning mess in Clare.

Councillor PJ Kelly (FF) made the call as the majority of councillors continued to delay important coun- cil business as part of their stand-off with Mr Fleming.

At the council’s adjourned June meeting, 12 items, including the council’s annual financial statement, the draft annual report, the review of Development Contribution Scheme,

a discussion on the upgrade of the \Eoso rT ele mm (OMe Tele Mm Ike) peKmBus) EIB UETSamLe the Ennis and Environs Plan and County Development Plan, were all deferred.

Mr Fleming told councillors that items relating to the annual financial statement and the draft annual report must be passed by law by councillors before the end of the month.

In a bid to overcome the impasse, Mr Fleming confirmed to councillors that he would hold a special meeting behind closed doors with councillor representatives after last night’s June

neKere nb eree

“T don’t know what is going on with these shenanigans, but there are far more important things at stake such as the safety on a road like the N67, which the EU has classified as one of the most dangerous roads in Europe,” said Cllr Brian Meaney (GP), express- ing his frustration at the “go-slow”’.

However, councillors opted to defer a discussion on advancing the case for upgrading the routes and a suc- cession of votes were taken on the deferral of items.

In the votes, councillors voted 19 to

three and 20 to two against the items being heard. Clare’s mayor, Cllr Pa- tricia McCarthy (Ind) found herself isolated along with Cllr Meaney.

Cllr Kelly said that a planning ap- plication before the meeting was symptomatic of the malaise in plan- ning in Clare. He accused the mayor of trying to break the councillors protest by putting the various items before the meeting.

Cllr McCarthy said she would like to intervene to help resolve the row but over the past couple of weeks had felt her intervention was not wanted.

AS KERRY manager Pat O’Shea emerged from the dressing rooms to greet the waiting media, his demean- our was not typical of a manager whose side had just won by twelve points in their opening game of the championship. His acute frown ex- hibited all the signs of a manager who was expecting a barrage of criti- cism for his side’s performance and who could blame him for such obvi- ous disappointment?

His Kerry side are ret hot favour- ites to complete a three-in-a-row of All-Irelands, not seen since the days of Pat Spillane, Jack O’Shea and the ‘Bomber’ Liston. The county expects and it is up to Pat O’Shea and his team to deliver and facing Clare in the first round was simply a distrac- tion he could have done without. A

hammering would have given them little preparation for their annual Munster final outing while if Clare had run them close, the purveyors of doom would have descended on O’Shea and his side.

As it was, this game produced a mixture of both scenarios with Ker- ry unable to get into their normal rhythm in the opening period but flexing their muscles significantly in the second half to brush off Clare’s flagging challenge.

There were also the added dis- turbances of captain Paul Galvin’s sending off and his histrionics in it’s aftermath as well as a serious injury to key forward Declan O’Sullivan. Therefore the frown was understand- able as O’Shea dealt with the per- formance first.

“It was probably not a great per- formance by us to be fair. It’s our first

championship match of the year and obviously there was a little bit of a settling-in period in the first half and it took us time to get into the game.

“It was a stop start first half, there were a lot of stoppages in play, there was a lot of time wasting in certain things and there was no fluency in the game. But you have to play every way and thankfully we were in the lead and thankfully we got off to a good start in the second half and closed out the game. Right now we want to try and progress but we also want to work on our performance and after today, we are going to have a lot to work on.”

Assessing O’Sullivan’s knee injury as a ‘worry’, the questions inevitably switched to the major talking point of the game, the sending off of Paul Galvin and understandably, O’Shea was coy with his opinions on the

subject.

“To be fair, I think from our point of view, we will have to look at the incidents that led up to the sending off. Obviously Paul was very frus- trated and I think he felt himself that maybe he was sinned against in that situation. Obviously, I haven’t seen the video so I’m not sure until we have a look at it. I mean the game of football is all about emotion and Paul probably showed a little bit too much emotion there but he obviously felt that he was sinned against in that incident.”

Evaluating the game as a two fold test, O’Shea went on to explain that what he looked for on Sunday was firstly the result but also the perform- ance and in that regard, his side still have a lot to do before the Munster final. But he is in no doubt that the Clare game will benefit his side go-

ing forward.

““T think when you play a first round game against Clare, people will talk about no win situations. You win the game by too much ‘Was it really a test?’, you win the game by a little bit “Will it really stand to you?’. Look, that was a physical game, that was a championship match, there were a lot of big hits going in there and it was a tough game. I’m sure it will stand to us. It’s our first game in the cham- pionship this year and I hope we will come on from it but you know, we will obviously have to learn from what we did today and there is im- provement to be done.”

Improvement seemed to be the re- sounding theme to emerge from both camps on Sunday but with Clare and Kerry at varying ends of the cham- pionship divide, the degrees of that improvement are still worlds apart.