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SHARON Collins sometimes re- ferred to herself as “Howard’’, her partner’s eldest son told the trial.

Robert Howard told the court that AYES Gro) UT arm er KeMEAVcCeMY alee mONKweElselon PJ for eight years and had looked af- ter him through illnesses.

Paul O’ Higgins SC, for Ms Collins, put it to him that the relationship was unusual.

“It was an unusual relationship. You’ll probably think it’s fair to say it’s unusual to get a letter to say they wouldn’t be getting married and even more unusual that there was a wed- ding reception with invitations sent out,” said Mr O’ Higgins.

Two invitation cards were handed to Mr Howard in the witness box, but he replied, “I don’t remember see- ing these before. I never saw them before.”

Mr O’Higgins said, “Sharon Col-

lins wouldn’t deny this for a moment, she was very keen to get married,’ and Robert Howard accepted this.

Asked how often he would see Ms Collins, the witness said, “When Sharon was around, I’d see her.” Asked did he and his brother social- ise with her he replied, “Yes.”

Referring to the computer at PJ Howard’s house, Mr O’Higgins said that Ms Collins was “effectively leaving an open book for yourself and possibly for your father and for Niall. Not only was that book open from August on, but all these events came to light in late September 2007. If Sharon Collins was responsible for all these events, the Eridium com- puter was sitting in Ballybeg House through all this time.”

Mr Howard replied, “I don’t know. I can’t remember seeing the compu- ter at Ballybeg House.”

Under cross-examination from David Sutton SC, for Essam Eid,

Robert Howard admitted that he and his brother Niall were more active in running the business than their father.

Asked was he proficient in tech- nology, he smiled and replied, “Not very’, but accepted he had sufficient knowledge for the day-to-day run- ning of the business.

Mr Sutton asked Robert Howard whether he found the visit by “Tony” to his home an “unusual event”’.

He replied, “Very weird, very strange.”

Mr Sutton said, “He shook your hand, very strange,’ to which Mr Howard replied, “Very strange al- Toa

The barrister put it to Mr Howard that he didn’t slam the door on the man’s face. He replied, “I wanted to find out what he wanted.”

IT’S official, Ennistymon is now one of a set of triplets after formalising it’s twinned status with the town of Schimatari in Greece last month.

A large delegation from Ennisty- mon including Cllr Flan Garvey (FF) traveled to Greece to sign the twinning pact and meet the Greek locals. Both towns are also twinned with Pozzoleone in Italy, making En- nistymon Clare’s first ever “triplet- ted” town.

‘This trip was really to set the twin- ning in stone.

“We have now completed the tri-

angle between all of the towns,” said Caroline Heuston of the Ennistymon Twinning Association.

‘They are a very hospitable people over there. They organised a number of tours for us – we went to Delphi and Athens – and they organised a formal evening for us with their may- or and their local politicians.”

“There was traditional Greek and Irish dancing taking place and we all had a lot of fun.” Besides the social benefits, this new relationship also promises to be good for business in Ennistymon and north Clare.

‘The idea is that individuals make contact and keep in touch. While

over there we stayed with ten or elev- en different families and built up a network of people over there,’ con- tinued Caroline.

“It’s a very down to earth thing. It’s all about making links between com- munity groups in both places and not just the core group of people involved in the actual twinning.”

“This is something that could have a benefit for the local tourism and the tourism in the area in the future. Now they know where Ennistymon is – before this they probably didn’t know anything about Ireland outside of Dublin and now at least they know where we are.”

MFaW ie LM NOL MUR MO Slo OPM BOSD MBM OILERS and family will know about Clare and may come and visit in the future. So it is something that we could see a very positive outcome from.”

While no return trip has been or- ganised to date, the members of the Ennistymon Twinning Association are keen to have their Greek friends over to north Clare again soon.

“We don’t now yet about how this will evolve in the future but we would be very keen,’ continued Caroline.

“We would certainly like to have them over here in the future and re- turn the hospitality that they showed us while we were over there.”

AS the surprise package of last year’s championship, Corofin were Mohi- canlike in their scalping of big sides on their way to the quarter-finals but there is one major drawback to Corofin’s unprecedented champion- ship run last season. In the Premier- ship, it’s referred to as “second sea- son syndrome’ but in simple terms, the reality is that Corofin had only one campaign to catch opponents unawares because this season, every- one will be cautious of their threat. It’s a factor that manager Ambrose Heagney is only too aware of but he welcomes it as a litmus test of his emerging side.

“We are certainly hoping to build on last year and this will be the test whether last year was a fluke or not. Obviously teams will be more pre- pared for us now. Doora/Barefield will be right eager to play us after last year and will want to reverse that result and the Bridge will be wary of us I’m sure as well.”

Before last season, a tendency to pigeonhole Corofin as a one-man team based on county senior Gerry Quinn, rather overlooked their true potential as a team. It was one of the factors that caused such an upset against Clarecastle and St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield. After last year, that shortsightedness has been rectified

and Corofin can boast seven county players between the minor, under 21 and senior grades, something which Heagney feels has given his squad immense experience ahead of this year’s championship.

“There is a great bunch of young lads in the squad this year. I had three of them training with the county sen- ior panel [Gerry Quinn, Darragh Clancy and Darragh Shannon], two with the county under 21 team [Mar- tin Tierney and Neil Killeen] and two in the county minor squad [Kevin Heagney and Luke O’Loughlin]. So that is seven lads who are getting inter-county experience and that is wonderful really. And that would be a new enough scenario for Corofin.”

A major factor in Corofin’s eventual exit to Crusheen in the quarter-finals was fatigue. As one of only four sen- ior dual clubs in the championship, a number of Corofin players were made to pay for their duality by be- ing forced to play for ten successive

weekends between the hurling and football championships. But rather than dwelling on it as a disadvantage, Heagney is positive about Corofin’s success in both codes.

“For some of the players, the Crusheen game was a bridge too far in terms of tiredness and energy after so many weekends of action but that is something we have to live with and something which is going to always be there. We are a dual club and we will always be a dual club but we have a great relationship with the football management. Seamus Clancy and myself meet regularly to talk about training schedules and iron out any difficulties or problems arising with dual players.”

When referring to the draw, Heag- ney feels that in many ways this year’s group mirrors last year’s. Corofin are drawn with St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield once again but Sixmulebridge are replacing Clare- castle as the second prominent team

in the group while all the others are on a similar even keel but he 1s under no illusion as to the enormity of the task of qualifying for the latter stages for a second successive year.

‘We have a good bunch of lads and I’m expecting to at least make the quarter-finals. It is going to be a huge undertaking for us but I think they are capable of doing it. Our main problem really is that we are can either blow hot or cold. If we get it right and when their gander is up, we are a match for any team, there is no doubt about it. They amazed me last year with their ability and our goal 1s to get back to that game we lost last year. That’s my main aim, to redeem that game back again but it will take a huge effort from everyone.”

THE number of gardai employed in the Clare Garda Division last year dropped, according to latest figures provided by the Department of Jus- nes

Last night, Fine Gael TD Joe Carey said it was disappointing that the Clare division had shown a drop in strength at a time of continuing pop- ulation growth.

The figures supplied to the Clare deputy by Justice Minister, Dermot Ahern show that the numbers em- ployed in Clare last year dropped from 318 at the start of the year to 314 to year end.

Additional gardai have been em- ployed in Clare since the start of this year. However, the drop in personnel last year compared unfavourably to neighbouring counties.

Garda numbers in Limerick in- creased from 532 to 593, while the numbers in ‘Tipperary increased from 338 to 361.

The strength of Garda divisions in Galway East and Galway West also increased. Louth-Meath was the only other Garda division to see a drop in numbers.

Minister Ahern said that as with any large organisation personnel strengths of individual divisions,

districts and stations may fluctuate due to promotions, retirements and WETS CECE

Deputy Carey said it was disap- pointing that Clare lost four gardai in the past year, particularly at a time of continuing population growth. The simple fact is that Garda numbers should not be declining.

“A well staffed, resourced and bet- ter equipped Garda force 1s essential. We’re very fortunate in this country to have such as well-respected and professional Garda force.

“The gardai in Clare work extreme- ly hard, but they need more col- leagues on the ground just as much as the citizens of Clare also need to see more gardai on the streets.

“Community policing is also an in- tegral part of the policing responsi- bilities of gardai, enabling the force to assert its moral authority in a spirit of co-operation and inclusion. It is also a key factor in building vital partnerships at community level.

“Co-operative policing is the way forward and for that to work at a local level, there needs to be the numbers of community police on the ground to implement this policy effectively. In Clare, this is simply not the case and the good work being done by community gardai is undermined by a lack of numbers,” he said.

CLARE played well on Sunday but there must have been moments when Mike McNamara felt a twitch of panic.

Even as Clare blitzed Waterford in the second half and McNamara watched impassively, some doubts must have surfaced.

Clare, after all, hadn’t won a game in Munster in five years. This was uncharted territory. Waterford may have lacked the usual rapier thrust but John Mullane was swatting over points for fun. Was McNamara wor- ried? Even just a little bit?

‘The last time I got worried was 1963 or four, I think, when I was sent off to boarding school,” said McNa- mara afterwards, standing, coinci- dentally enough, underneath a fire “EbweeP

Don’t worry be happy lads, seemed to be the message. And why not. Be- side McNamara, the Clare dressing room glowed with a sense of achieve- ment and with good cause. Clare won by nine points. They scored two goals. The new lads, particularly Mark Flaherty looked comfortable. More importantly for McNamara though, the win went some way to restoring Clare’s reputation in Mun- Nis

He said, “We’ll we’ve prepared for this the same as an All-Ireland final. We had to come out of the hole we were in. Clare hurling was slipping in a bad way. Even our supporters were deserting us in droves. We had to put in a big performance. We trained for this like it was an All-Ireland final because we felt we had to. It would be interesting to know whether there is anymore in us or not, but that’s for another day.”

McNamara was un-sparing in his assessment of Clare’s recent out- ings in Munster. Clare, he said, had reached a point of no return making a win on Sunday essential.

‘“We’ve been close to a disgrace in Munster for a long number of years now. For those of us, who came up in the old school, the old way, Mun- ster was our goal and our ambition and our pride and our honour. We’re proud to be part of a Munster tradi- tion of hurling and we have to put our

best foot forward today. We couldn’t let 1t go down the line any further.”

By the time they had clocked off, Clare’s forwards had put in a solid 70 minutes of hard work. McNamara was pleased.

“It’s the key to success, work rate. If you have a forward line that aren’t working then you can’t win matches, particularly big matches. We spoke a lot about the lost cause and the one ball that they didn’t contest; it may or may not change the whole course of the game. We spoke about it now for a month. Every ball was vital to those lads today and every ball had to be won and that’s they way we saw

it. That’s the way we approached it and as you saw they did it right until the very end.”

The goals, McNamara acknowl- edged were hugely important and perhaps a little surprising.

“Funny enough we haven’t been scoring them, even in training we were missing goals. It was a pleasant surprise that we could get the goals and the goals came today.”

Asked to consider the challenge of Limerick, McNamara’s thoughts drifted back to 1996 and Clare’s de- feat at the hands of their neighbours in the semi-final of the Munster Championship.

“Of course there is always a bite in a Limerick/Clare match. We can go back, was it 12 years ago, here on that famous day, that we might be able to get a bit of revenge. Who knows, who knows.”

About an hour later, on the Coon- agh roundabout, a proud looking Ollie Baker could be seen riding shotgun in the team bus, shaking his fist defiantly, as Clare headed home. Who knows indeed?

ENNIS businessman PJ Howard found it difficult to understand why €100,000 had been demanded from his son to cancel contracts on his life and those of this two sons.

SCM Ke) (eM tomOUrU MOOT dsCNMONKIO eG est son Robert phoned him in Spain to notify him of the situation, he told him not to pay up.

“T found it very hard to understand. I told him to notify the guards and not to pay a thing,” he said.

Prosecutor Tom O’Connell asked the witness when was the first time he heard of Maria Marconi, who Ms Collins has claimed was tutoring her to become a novelist. He replied, “I

heard it from Sharon maybe a day or two after the office was broken helenae

“I was on the phone to Robert (about the break-in). Sharon prob- ably overheard me. She told me she had something to tell me. She said she’d answered a pop-up on the com- puter. She said she had contact with Maria Marconi over the past eight or nine months. She thought it might have something to do with the break- in,’ said Mr Howard.

He said that Ms Collins told him the contact was frequent and via Heer nee

“She said Maria Marconi had come to Ireland that year (2006) and she met her in the office. They were in

the office together for about three- quarters of an hour to an hour,” he said.

“During that time they spoke and Maria Marconi made use of the of- fice computer at the reception desk and that they then left after about three-quarters of an hour to an hour. She took her for a drive to Lahinch and Kilkee and around Ennis as well,” he said.

He said Ms Collins told him that they visited “our house and also that she used a computer there”’.

He said he had never heard of Ms Marconi previously and had never met her.

He said that his own email, pj@downesandhoward.com, did not

require a password.

Mr O’Connell read out de- tails of an email sent’ to leonard @ proxymarriages.com from an eircom email address in PJ Howard’s name in 2005.

The email stated, “We have tried several times over the past couple of weeks to ring you, but the calls were diverted to an answering machine. Sharon left a message over a week ago and again last night. I have to be honest, I am very worried and get- ting more sceptical as each day goes laa

However PJ Howard told the court he did not send that email. He said that an eircom email address had been set up in his name, but he did

not think he ever used it.

Mr Howard told the court that there was a Safe in his apartment in Spain and Ms Collins was aware of the combination.

On one occasion, in 2004, he said the safe contained a lot of cash for up to two weeks after a friend had sold a boat. He said there was also a safe on the boat and Ms Collins knew where the key was kept.

Asked how long she would spend in Spain, he replied, “Approximately half or three-quarters of the time I was there.”

Asked did she use internet cafes in Spain, he replied, “She did, yes.” Asked did she use the internet very much, he replied, “She did, yes.”

AFTER months of preparation, the grand opening of the Doolin Satur- day Market and Craft Fair will take place this weekend.

The market, which will take place every Saturday throughout the sum- mer, will run from 10am to 4pm at the Russell Centre in Doolin.

“By combining the produce and foods of a traditional farmers’ mar- ket with the hand-made goods of a craft fair, this market will uniquely appeal to both local consumers,” said organiser Toby Sachsenmaier.

“Local people will benefit from having fresh, locally produced foods on their doorstep on a weekly basis,

and the visitor, who is looking for unique and authentic handcrafted items to take home from their visit to north Clare.”

To celebrate the opening, which takes place this Saturday, June 7, the organisers have decided to host a special American-style barbeque with free samples and special home- made burgers.

Some of the locally produced foods that will be for sale include cheeses, breads, cakes, cookies, chocolates, vegetables, and sauces and chutneys.

The market will also include a va- riety of plants, seedlings, hanging baskets, cut flowers, plant pots and one-off garden furniture.

With more than 20 local produc-

ers attending the craft market, many one-of-a-kind items will be for sale.

Items on display will include pho- tographs of north Clare, pottery, crocheted, hand-knitted, and quilted items, bags and jewellery made of beads, silk and felt, small furniture, handmade chess sets, handmade pens, accessories, natural cosmet- ics, kites, prints, paintings and note or Tce

“The aims of the market and craft fair are to provide a place for local small producers to sell hand-pro- duced goods on a weekly basis,” continued Toby.

“We also want to provide high- quality, reasonably-priced hand-pro- duced goods for the enjoyment of lo-

cal people as well as visitors.”

‘The idea is to promote traditional and hand-made craft locally, provide a source of fresh produce and food products in Doolin, which is not currently served by a supermarket or other major food market,’ added Se)o)’7

“We would also like to encourage community interaction by providing an enjoyable daytime activity in a pleasant atmosphere for local people and visitors alike. Teas, coffees, and baked goods will be available.”

The market committee Toby, Emma Willcox, Michelle de Villiers and Steve Mathieson and can be reached by email at doolinmarket@gmail. onee

LAST year’s Clare Cup final victory over Kilmaley in August should have provided the catalyst for their cham- pionship challenge. Having only played two group games, losing nar- rowly to Clarecastle in the opening round before recording a comprehen- sive victory over Ballyea, at that stage it seemed as if the Clare Cup triumph was the spark St Joseph’s needed to ingite their season and kick on an- other gear in the championship.

However, after much rehabilita- tion since their golden period at the turn of the millenium, perhaps it was too much too soon for the emerging young side. A succession of injuries ravaged their threadbare squad and they were unable to contain a ram- pant Corofin side who outfought them in a tough encounter in Cusack Park. They did manage to win their final game against Inagh but it wasn’t enough to secure a quarter-final place and the disappointment somewhat overshadowed their previous Clare GitiomsteKons

That is not to devalue the Clare Cup as they were proud to win their sixth title, it’s just that St Joseph’s real- ised that the championship is where a team is primarily evaluated and to fall at the first hurdle again, only confirmed that they were not quite ready to step out of their period of transition just yet.

Coinciding with the Clare Cup tri- umph last year was the introduction of trainer Sean Chaplin who was asked to join the St Joseph’s manage- ment through his link with manager Kevin Kennedy in the Clare Inter- mediate set-up. Providing fresh ideas and a new voice, Chaplin set about reviving the side after a disappoint- ing 2006 in which they flirted with relegation. The Clare Cup win last year was a Significant first step on the road to reviving their championship challenge.

“We had a good run in the cup to- wards the end of last year and went on to win it which was a great help but ultimately the championship is where you are going to be judged and while the Clare Cup was nice to

have at the end of the year, not hav- ing come out of the group was by far the disappointing part of the year.

“Now the real judge of how much we have progressed since last year will start in a few weeks time when we Start the championship.”

With a bye in the first round, St Joseph’s won’t commence _ their championship campaign until the last week in June when they face last year’s semi-finalists Sixmilebridge, Chaplin’s native club in round two. As the Chairman of the Sixmileb- ridge Minor Board and having rep- resented the club at all levels, this encounter throws up one of those real conundrums that only sport can provide but while the draw provided mixed emotions for Chaplin, he is totally focused on aiding St Joseph’s championship charge.

“Ttis strange alright. It has only been two or three years since I was on the ‘Bridge senior panel and would have been in the dressing room with all those lads. I have also been involved with most of the younger lads at un- der 21 level so I know them well. At

the same time, I have a job to do and they know I have a job to do and I mean it’s just a matter of getting on with it. On the day, the fact of where I’m from won’t matter. I will be in the St Joseph’s dressing room over that team and we will be preparing to have a right cut at the Bridge and try to get a result out of them 1f at all possible. At the end of the day, it is the 15 or 20 lads on the field that is going to win or lose any game and re- gardless of where I am from or any- thing else, it will have no bearing on the outcome of the game.”

With memories of last year’s dis- appointing championship still vivid, St Joseph’s won’t be taking any side for granted this year. One game at a time is their philosophy. The Crat- loe, Corofin and Tubber games will all be tackled in time. The Bridge 1s all that matters for St Joseph’s at the moment. That is the only realistic method they can apply to finally turn the corner.

AN POST has reassured customers in the Sixmilebridge and Newmar- ket-on-Fergus that the offices there will not close when sorting and de- livery are relocated to a central office uOmey er: beuslOae

An Post has already confirmed plans to move sorting and delivery services to the Central Services Unit (CSU) in Shannon Town, a move to which staff have been opposed. At present, letter and parcel post for Newmarket-on-Fergus and Sixmile- bridge is sorted at the respective post offices and delivered by local staff who will move to Shannon as part of the relocation.

While the move has been deferred on four separate occasions because of staff objections, the matter has been before the Labour Relations Com- mission and is now set to go ahead this year although a final date has not yet been confirmed.

An Post says the change is being made to improve both delivery serv- ice to business and private customers and operational efficiency.

There has been some concern lo- cally about the future of the post of- neeny

While An Post is adamant that the delivery and retail services are sepa-

rate, Sixmilebridge councillor John Crowe (FG) has yet to be convinced that the relocation of sorting services is not the first step in closing his local post office.

“I am very concerned over the planned move. It is another service being taken away from rural Ireland and in our own parish, we have al- ready seen Kilmurry Post Office close. Is Sixmilebridge the next one to be closed?”

He has also expressed concern about whether people, particularly the elderly or those without trans- port, will have to go to Shannon to collect registered post if they are not at home when it is delivered.

At present in many areas, if there is no one to sign for a letter or package when postal staff call, the recipient 1s expected to travel to the nearest sort- ing facility to collect the item.

“What is the position if a person is not at home to accept a parcel or reg- istered letter? Will they have to trav- el to Shannon to collect them? If so, this will have serious consequences especially for the elderly and those without their own transport,’ Coun- cillor Crowe asked.

An Post says that while details have yet to be finalised, they hope people can continue to collect registered mail at their local office.

THE owner and manager of an En- nis business park has appealed a town council decision to approve a proposed three-unit industrial ware- house facility in Ennis.

Last month, Ennis Town Council granted planning permission to John Bonfil to construct the units at the Clonroadmore business park.

In response, Alan Lewis has re- tained planning consultant, Brendan McGrath to lodge the appeal against

the council decision.

In the appeal to An Bord Pleanala, Mr McGrath said Mr Lewis was fun- damentally opposed to the develop- ment because it would undermine the character and operation of the busi- ness park.

“The Clonroadmore business park is being transformed into an urban facility with a distinctive community role. That role is entirely appropriate for this central urban location and should have the support of the local authority. My client accepts that the

site should be developed but wishes to see development that is fully com- patible with the establishing char- acter of the business park and takes account of the fact that there is no suitable access for HGVs.”

Mr McGrath is arguing that the pro- posed development would seriously injure the amenities or depreciate the value of property in the vicinity; would endanger the health or safety of persons occupying or employed in an adjoining structure; or would endan- ger public safety by reason of traffic

hazard or obstruction of road users.

“The proposed development is in accordance with the commercial zoning objective but, in every other respect, 1s contrary to the policy of the development plan.

“The proposed land uses and ac- tivities are inappropriate given the established character of the business park; the proposed access is unsuit- able for the uses proposed and there are related deficiencies in application and assessment procedures.

“This 1s not a typical industrial es-

tate. The majority of occupiers are involved in some form of community activity. The park has a distinctive identity and function and the devel- Opment under consideration would have serious adverse impacts on that identity and function.

“There remains a number of small- scale manufacturing and distribution activities in the park. However, it is intended that the whole of the busi- ness park will be given over to com- munity-type activities.”