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FIVE people have appeared in court, charged in connection with incidents involving three Traveller families in Ennis last week.

They were charged arising out of alleged offences on three days last week and all five were remanded in custody, after gardai objected to ey nUe

Michael Maughan (23), of Stone Court, Ennis, is charged with dam- aging a woman’s car at Dun na hIn- ise, Ennis, last Wednesday, May 14.

Patrick Molloy (18), of Gordon Drive, Cloughleigh, Ennis, is facing five charges. He is accused of dam- aging five cars last week – one at Dun

na hInise and four at Shalee Drive, J SyayAbEse

Christopher Mongans (22) and Thomas Mongans (20) of Shalee Drive, Ennis, and Michael Mongans (27), of Bridge View, Roslevan, are accused of having a machete with a sharply pointed blade, at Sandfield Road, Ennis, last Thursday.

The court was told that in reply to charge after caution, Mr Maughan replied, “I’m an innocent man.”

Inspector John Galvin told the court that there were a number of de- fendants “all related to the same set of circumstances. [ll be opposing bail in relation to all of them.”

He said he was opposing bail on the erounds that “gardai are very fearful

of the outcome of this feud. We have people working all week on this.”

‘We fear people themselves or in- nocent parties will get seriously in- jured,” said Inspector Galvin.

Mr Maughan’s solicitor William Cahir said his client would abide by strict bail conditions, if granted bail. He said the case will be fully con- tested.

Bail was refused after a woman claimed in court that Mr Maughan got out of a car at Dun na hInse last Wednesday with a “bell hook and a plank of wood in his hand” and went over to her car. Mr Cahir told the court that was “a fabrication’, his cli- ent “wasn’t anywhere near the area’.

Mr Cahir, who also represented

Patrick Molloy, said all of the charg- es would be fully contested. “It will be a particularly strong defence,” he Sr nLG

Solicitor Ted McCarthy, who rep- resented the Mongans, said he was applying for bail for all three.

Garda Jason Lardner then told the court that an incident occurred on the Sandfield Road area of Ennis the previous day.

‘A number of people got out of a car and went to attack another per- son,” he said. He said the people got back into the car, which the gardai searched. We found pieces of wood in the car,’ said the garda. He said that Christopher, Thomas and Michael Mongans were in the car.

Inspector Galvin said that inves- tigations were ongoing and further charges were likely.

‘Public safety is the reason we are objecting to bail,” he said.

Mr McCarthy said the charges will be contested and said his clients would undertake to abide by any conditions the court would have in mind.

However, Judge Mangan refused bail. “I have had an opportunity to- day to get a feel for the atmosphere surrounding these matters. What I’ve observed is a cause for concern,” he said. He said he was refusing bail, based on the gravity of the charges, the strength of the evidence and the concerns expressed by the State.

A RECENT visit by ten students from St John Bosco Community College in Kildysart to visit their exchange part- ners from the Ferdinand-Von-Miller Realschule in Furstenfeldbruck near Munich in Southern Germany, from April 15 to 22, proved to be an out- SIPAVILONDARSMSLELCLOCoR ISR

The aim of the visit was primarily to improve the linguistic skills of the Irish pupils who have been study-

ing German for two to three years, but also to experience first hand the sights and culture of Bavaria.

The students were accompanied by their German teacher Josephine Ryan and the school principal Mar- ion Coughlan-Flynn.

For seven days the second and third year students lived with their Ger- man exchange families and attended classes at the school in Furstenfeld- bruck. They also took part in a va- riety of activities, which included a

day trip to the spectacular castles of Neuschwanstein and Linderhof built by King Ludwig II, and a tour of the pretty little village of Oberammer- gau, which has become famous for its passion plays.

The Irish students also found time to explore the city of Munich, re- nowned for its imposing town hall, olympic stadium, markets, festivals and its friendly provincial atmos- phere.

Additionally the famous Kaufinger

Strasse proved to be a popular spot in which to engage 1n some retail thera- py. A further outstanding item on the programme was an official reception in the Landesrat in Furstenbruck held by the mayor and council members in honour of the Irish students.

On returning to school in Kildysart the Irish students had three days to readjust to school life prior to the re- turn visit of the German students to Ireland.

SUN AeerhRodouoNecemlUh IBDN in St John Bosco Community Col- lege and thus were able to engage in an interesting discussion with their Irish counterparts on the merits and disadvantages of both educational systems. The Irish students found the early starting time of school in Germany, 7.50am, difficult to adjust to during their visit to Realschule. However, the Germans advocated in- troducing lpm as a finishing time for school in Kildysart in line with the GCC eeer ema AKoeee

During their visit, the Germans were introduced to the tourist sights of County Clare and enjoyed trips to the Cliffs of Moher visitor centre, the Ailwee Caves and engaged in a surfing lesson at Lahinch. A day trip to Bunratty Castle and Folkpark, as well as subsequent shopping sprees in Ennis, Kilrush and Limerick also proved popular. A farewell party, at- tended by the host families, was held in the school in Kildysart to mark the end of a successful exchange ven- ture, which both schools hope will go from strength to strength and will become an annual event in the school calendar.

MEMORIES of times and music past have been brought back to life in anew CD marking both the Clare Festival of Traditional Singing and the life of Tom Munnelly.

The festival, which took place each year from 1990 to 2002 in En- nistymon’s Teach Ceoil, drew vocal- ists from all over the world to north Clare. The festival was organised by folklorist and song collector, Tom Munnelly, who had the foresight to record the festival performances as they happened.

Munnelly was in the process of compiling a CD of the festivals when he passed away last year. His task was carried on by brother in law, Gerry O’Reilly culminating in the CD launch last Saturday.

“This thing really has been pro- duced to honour my husband, be- cause he was the one who ran that festival. He was involved right from the very beginning and they have dedicated the CD to his memory,’ said Annette Munnelly

‘He wanted to take the best from each years concert and make them into a CD. He was in the process of

finishing this off when he got ill and died last year. What you have on the CD is 17 singers from all over the country and abroad. It’s men and women, but they are traditional sing- ers. There 1s one man, Stan Scott, who sang traditional Bengali singing on the CD. There is a great collection of music in it.”

The CD includes some of the best singers of traditional song in Ireland and beyond, such as Roisin Elsafty from Connemara, the late Con Gre- aney of Limerick and Nonie Lynch from Mullagh. Many of the sing- ers who appear on the CD attended

it’s official launch in Spanish Point on Saturday night. “It’s very nostal- gic. It’s a really marvellous CD. My brother and a man from Cork called Pat Ahern, who took on finishing the CD. They have done a great job of bringing the whole thing together,’ CLoyNLDOLOC ere MPa W NTO CeLA Ko

“The CD is available from vari- ous shops in Dublin but it will also be available from the Kilfarboy So- ciety and from local outlets around the county. We will also try and get them into the music shops in Ennis and in all the usual outlets of tradi- tional music.”

THE Lisbon treaty debate looks set to generate a number of political cas- ualties before it 1s settled, with Gal- way TD and former minister, Frank J Sr-V eToys DOM Maem ED UDO TCA DDELoM I STIMWV ole) .@

On Thursday, the President of IC- MSA, Jackie Cahill, lashed back at comments made by Fahey, in which the deputy said that farmers would be “foolhardy” to consider voting against the Lisbon Treaty in light of the monies they had received since EU accession.

“Deputy Fahey would serve us all better if he refrained from this kind of brazen condescension and tried

instead deploying a bit of reason and logic,” he said.

‘The idea that the EU or the EEC simply poured money into farmers’ pockets for the fun of it is both ab- surd and factually incorrect and it displays an ignorance of the real situ- ation that has bedevilled all attempts to get farmers to look at the Lisbon Treaty in its own right.

“We will not be emotionally black- mailed into any course of action that amounts to economic suicide. We will expect someone to set out the case for or against the Treaty based on cool calculation of our sector’s and our nation’s interest.

“The Taoiseach should now seize

the opportunity to clarify the posi- tion and set out the Irish Govern- ment’s approach to current and fu- ture farming policy. This applies to both EU and Irish policies and it most definitely includes the current WTO negotiations.”

The IFA had also words for Deputy Fahey last week when they claimed that he and Minister Eamon O’Cuiv had failed Irish farmers through their comments on the Lisbon Treaty.

“Irish farmers have not received anything more from Europe than other European farmers,’ said IFA Vice President Michael Silke.

“The Government needs to address the grave concerns in rural Ireland

over Mandelson’s sell-out of agricul- ture in the WTO negotiations. The western region would face farm rev- enue losses alone of €400m per year, with 1,500 jobs in food processing on the line and thousands more jobs lost in businesses servicing the agri- food sector.

“The Lisbon Treaty contains the original Treaty of Rome articles 38 — 44 establishing the Common Ag- ricultural Policy including specific commitments to assure the availabil- ity of food supplies, to stabilise mar- kets and to provide a fair standard of living for the agricultural com- munity, but Mandelson has blatantly disregarded these commitments.”

A 30-YEAR-OLD west Clare man has been extradited from the US to face a charge of sexual assault in Clare. The accused, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is accused of sexually assaulting a female in west Clare in 2002.

He was extradited to Ireland last Wednesday and brought before Dub- lin District Court. He was remanded

in custody to appear before Ennis District Court on Friday.

At that court, his solicitor, William Cahir, applied for free legal aid for his client, who he said had been in custody for a number of weeks pend- ing the extradition from the US.

He said he was seeking bail for the accused. However, Inspector John Galvin said he would be opposing ey nOR

Mr Cahir said that a bench warrant

had been issued at Kilrush District Court in 2003. His client has been in the US since then and has received a PALI MOL UKOE

“His family have travelled over and back. His family were not given no- tice a bench warrant was still being pursued,” said the solicitor.

Mr Cahir said his client was will- ing to follow bail conditions that the State would impose.

“It appears the earliest he will face

trial 1s October or November as the June and July circuit court dates have already been fixed,” he said.

Judge Joseph Mangan refused bail and remanded the accused in custody to appear in court later this month.

Outlining his reasons for refusing to grant bail he said, “On grounds that he failed to answer bail in Kil- rush in 2003. The State had to pursue him outside the jurisdiction, and no reason has been given to the court.”

AS MANY as 19 new social and af- fordable houses could be available to Kilrush Town Council if plans for different housing developments in the town go ahead. A total of six

houses have been made available as affordable houses in the west Clare capital during 2007 under part five requirements of planning conditions.

Part five is part of the planning process and is part of the Local Government Planning and Develop-

ment Act 2000. Under this act “no development or any associated works shall take place on foot of this plan- ning permission until an agreement is entered into between the planning authority and the person or persons having sufficient interest in the sub- ject land”.

As many as 445 houses are planned for the town, divided among eight separate developments. A total of 227 of these houses have already got planning permission from the town council with a 218 house develop- ment still awaiting the green light.

“Were these developemnts to pro- ceed, Part five will have to be satis- fied. It is therefore anticipated that further housing units for social and affordable purposes will become available to Kilrush Town Council,’ said town clerk Fiona Mooney.

The town clerk was replying to a question from Kilrush Town Coun- cillor Tom Prendeville (FF) who

asked if the council was satisfying the Affordable Housing Partnership.

“The Minister for Housing, Urban Renewal and Developing Areas, Batt O’Keeffe (now Minister for Educa- tion) published a report of a study commissioned by the Affordable Homes Partnership on increasing affordable housing supply. Inherent in the report was the imperative to increase supply, accelerate delivery, improve access and affordability and deliver value for money for any asso- ciated resources required,” said Cllr Prendevile.

“From a Kilrush Town Council per- spective, the recent AHP report al- lows us the opportunity to take stock of out own situation. A public con- sultation process is underway until the closing date of May 31 and will involve getting the views of the so- cial partners, housing practitioners, financial institutions and the wider public,” he said.

DECADES after falling into disre- pair Lisdoonvarna’s Pavilion Theatre re-opens its doors to the public this weekend. Revamped and expanded, the 300-plus seat theatre and new foyer space will make its comeback as part of this weekend’s Slow Food Fleadh.

“The Pavilion Theatre, or the Town Hall as it used to be called, has been here since the 1900s. Over the years, all the big-name theatre companies used to come. All the big names. I know that Eamonn de Valera had a huge rally here at one stage with thousands and thousands of people,’

said Marian O’Callaghan of Lis- doonvarna Failte.

“It was in use up to 1930 and 1940 when it fell into disrepair. A few at- tempts were made to revive it over the years but nothing major hap- pened with it.”

After receiving €1.27 million in funding from then arts minister, Sile de Valera in 2000, big plans were made for the building.

“Work started around September of last year and now it’s just about finished. One of the main purposes of the venue will be as a theatre, the focus will be on the arts first and foremost. We can sit more than 300 people fairly comfortable – we have

a huge stage which has everything that a travelling group could desire,” continued Ms. O’Callaghan.

“We have a special floor so we can have dance and some life music. The Lismorahaun Singers will be using it quite a lot for practice and for re- citals. We have a new entrance and foyer area which can quite easily be used for exhibitions or for smaller musical events and even parties.

“This is going to be an evolving process. We really want to get as much as we can going on here over the next years and develop its usage as much as possible. There is a really strong tradition of arts in the area. We would love to have all the local

groups involved but it will be a com- mercial enterprise and we will be hoping to bring touring groups here from around the country.”

This Sunday, May 25, The Pavilion Theatre will host an evening of sup- per theatre in association with the Meridian Theatre Company and the Slow Food Fleadh.

Tickets, which include drama, food and wine are available from Jordans in Lisdoonvarna at €27 or from 086 2328257.

CLARE FM’s listenership figures have fallen by two percent, the latest JNLR figures reveal.

According to the figures from April 2007 to March 2008, Clare FM had a listenership reach of 40 per cent, which was a decline of two per cent.

The market share, which indicates how long listeners tune in for, 1s also reduced. It dropped marginally by 0.7 per cent, to 37 per cent. The weekly reach figures, of 65 per cent, remained the same. The figures re- leased last week were compared with the figures for January to December 2007.

In terms of listenership, the Ennis- based station is ranked 10th out of 16 local stations around the country. It is behind neighbouring stations Lim- erick’s Live 95 FM (59 per cent) and Tipp FM (44 per cent), but is ahead Galway Bay FM (39 per cent).

Clare FM is ranked eight out of the 16 stations, in relation to mar- ket share. According to the sta- tion’s Chief Executive Officer Liam O’Shea, the latest figures are not an accurate reflection of listenership.

“IT am not disappointed. These are very competitive times. These fig- ures come out every three months. If you compare with the same 12 month period last week, it is not a true reflection of the year. If you compare the two 12-month periods,

it is exactly the same as it was this time last year,” said Mr O’Shea.

He insisted he was not disappointed with the reduction in market share.

“Minus 0.7 per cent is a disappoint- ment? Absolutely not. You are deal- ing with a market place that there 1s a lot of competition,” he said. “We are very happy with our market share. Compared to this time last year, we are two per cent up,’ he said.

“We had a change of programme controller last June. We changed our programming in January. Morning Focus has changed time (from 10am start to Yam start), there 1s a new show from llam to lpm and there is a new double breakfast show. We are happy with how they are going.”

“We are not down, compared to an- ybody else. There’s nobody gaining against us,” he added. “Listenership in county Clare, to any radio station, is one of the lowest in the country.”

He said when he took up his post at the helm of Clare FM ten years ago, the listenership figure was the same as it is now. It did top 60 per cent at one stage, but Mr O’Shea said, “that day is gone.”

The latest listenership figures were published, just weeks after the sale of Clare FM to Radio Kerry appeared to have fallen through. Discussions on the proposed multi-million euro sale had been ongoing for months, but sources in the radio industry now believe the sale will not go-ahead.

A MAN who took almost €8,000 worth of aluminium pallets from outside two businesses in Shannon believed he had the authority to do So, his solicitor told a court.

Patrick McNamara (29), of The Sta- bles, Lickadoon, Ballysheedy, Limer-

ick, admitted stealing 13 aluminium transportation pallets in the Smiths- town area of Shannon. He took eight of them from one premises and five from another, last September.

Garda Paul Coleman told Shannon District Court that the pallets are used to transport cargo in the airline industry. He said the pallets were left

outside the business premises and McNamara had sought permission to take them.

However, while truck drivers – who were on contract to the companies – told him the pallets were a nuisance, he did not have the authority to take possession of them.

He brought the pallets to Limerick

and sold them as scrap. While they were worth almost €8,000 new, he only got €530 from them.

The court was told that while management at both companies did not expect full compensation, they sought some compensation.

Defending solicitor Daragh Hassett said his client had collected pallets from various premises, over a two- year period. “He got the green light from the wrong people,” said the so- licitor.

Garda Coleman accepted that “there certainly wasn’t anything untoward in that he wasn’t coming during the night disguising his vehicle.”

Mr Hassett said his client “very much falls into the reckless category when it comes to the thefts. He was told in both locations they were a nuisance and could be taken.

‘“He’s not a thief by any stretch of the imagination, but accepts he has to plead guilty on the reckless aspect of it,” said Mr Hassett.

Judge Joseph Mangan adjourned the case for a year for the accused to come up with €3,000 in compensa- tion.

PATRICK Bourke Menswear was taking a trip down memory lane this week as it celebrated 80 years in business in Kilrush.

As proprietor Patrick Bourke dressed the manikins in clothes from the 1940s and 1970s for the celebrations, he with his aunt Mary Keatinge (nee Bourke) recalled the family’s long history of business in the west Clare capital.

Mary, whose parents Patrick and Johanna (nee O’Dea), opened the shop just days after they married in Summer 1928, has clear memories of early days in the clothes shop.

Her father who originally came from Miltown Malbay, added the letter “o” to the family name when the business opened, because there was a public house in the town also called Burke’s and the invoices were constantly getting confused.

“She was the business woman though. She minded the money and paid the bills,’ said Mary Keating of her mother whose family had a pub- lic house in the town.

Mary herself worked in the shop at lunchtime or when she was needed, but avoided the job as much as pos- sible.

She remembers fondly the people from the peninsula – especially those from Carrigaholt.

‘When the country people came in, they would come in from Carriga- holt on the bus at nine in the morning and we would have the cellar door off Francis Street open. They would come in and have the breakfast.”

“They were great customers back there. The day they came to town was as good as Christmas,” she said.

It was Mary’s brother, the late Michael, that took over the business and from him his son Patrick learnt the trade when he joined in the early 1970s.

Michael was assisted in the shop in the early years by his sister Marga- ret, who previously served as a nurse in World War II.

Today Patrick oversees the shop in Kilrush and the two in Ennis.

Looking back through old ledgers and receipts last week, Patrick found an old list of suit prices. It took three

days for a suit to be ordered, made in Dublin and collected in Kilrush in the 1950s.

During the rationing the clothes shop sold women’s items and any- thing else available reflecting the DU Oee MOTO (oto TLE

In later years the only clothes for women in the outfitters were habits to be laid out in.

As Patrick looked at the old price of habits, one of the photos fell from the ledger book. It was of the first of- ficial employee – Jose McGrath who worked with Patrick’s (Jnr) grandfa- ther.

The shop is full of memories and especially this week as manikins are dressed in clothes from every era.

As well as styles changing so too did the materials used to make the clothes and sizes.

Suits from the 1940s and 50s were made with the purchaser who was more concerned about practicality than style in mind.

“The material on this was almost bullet proof and the waist very high. There was no central heating so they had to be practical and clothes had

to keep them warm. The tempera- tures have since got warmer and the clothes lighter,” said Patrick pointing to an old suit.

The average size of men’s clothes has also changed. According to Patrick when he first started working in 1974 the average size waist in a confirmation suit was 27 inches. To- day the average is 29 to 30 inches.

‘For a man the average size waist in the seventies was 34 inches now it is 36 moving towards 38. The col- lar size in the 1970s was 15.5 inches now it is 16.5 inches,” he said.

The shop in Kilrush now spans three old buildings. The original shop, the old library purchased in the 1960s and a tearoom bought in by Michael Bourke in 1970s.

The business has also expanded into the county town of Ennis.

Today Patrick Bourke still knows his regular customers; a few were even served by his grandfather.