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A RESIDENTS association in Shan- non has played a key role in buying a defibrillator for a local primary school.

The Gleann an Oir residents as- sociation raised more than €3,000 and bought the defibrillator for St Conaire’s National School, which is located close to the housing estate.

All of the 40 houses in the estate sold tickets for the worthy cause. Not

only did it raise the money, but the initiative also raised the profile of the local residents group, which was formed last year.

The group had hoped to raise €2,000, but when this was surpassed by 50 per cent, they decided to also donate money to the neo natal unit at the maternity hospital in Limerick.

This was in memory of a young baby from the estate who died.

PRO of the residents group, Michelle Hayes explained the think-

ing behind the idea.

“Our chairman Mike Fleming had been talking to people at the school and they said they wanted to raise money for a defibrillator and that was where the idea came from,” said Ms Hayes.

“This will raise the profile of the residents association in the area,” she added.

“It is important to have a defibrilla- tor. A lot of young children die sud- denly and every school should have a

defibrillator,’ added Ms Hayes.

She said that locals are pleased with the success of the residents as- sociation, since its formation.

“The estate is kept very clean and tidy. It is good to have a residents group, for initiatives like tidy towns and grants which may be available,’ she said.

“It is also good to get to know the neighbours as a lot of the residents are young families,’ Ms Hayes add- ed.

THE first-time house buyer has re- treated to his bunker and is showing no signs of coming back out.

That is the view of leading auc- tioneer, Philip O’Reilly who was responding to the Homebond figures for the first quarter that show a 63 per cent drop in new house starts in Clare on the corresponding period last year.

New house starts in Clare for Janu- ary to the end of March showed that construction on 76 new houses com- menced.

This compares to the first quarter for 2007 where developers com- menced construction on 211 new homes.

Homebound accounts for 75 per cent of new house registrations and O’Reilly said that the Government needs to act in order to entice the in- vestor back into the market.

O’ Reilly remarked that since Octo- ber, there has emerged a new trend of a significant number of houses pre- built around Ennis waiting to be sold off.

This new phenomenon is in con- trast to the situation during the boom

years where a large percentage of houses were sold off from the plans of new estates.

O’Reilly said that the first time buyer is waiting for the market to bottom out. However, he said that he believes that the market may have already bottomed out and that first time buyers will now get very good value.

O’Reilly said that the Government only tinkered with stamp duty, but that stamp duty needs to be removed on houses under 1,200 sq ft.

Director of local building compa- ny, Keco Construction Ltd, Eugene

Keane acknowledged the drop in the number of registered homes for Homebond.

However, he said, “Ennis is still in a strong position. Supply of housing has kept in line with demand over the last number of years which has kept the prices reasonable and below the national average.”

Underlining its confidence in the local housing market, Keco cur- rently has five planning applications in the planning process, totalling 506 houses, in Ennis (317), Crush- een (83) and Newmarket on Fergus (66).

A FIGHT between two brothers end- ed in one fatally stabbing the other, a jury at the Central Criminal Court has heard.

Patrick McDonagh (27) of Bridge Court, Roslevan, Ennis, denied mur- dering his brother Charlie (30), at Bridge Court, on January 28, 2007. He also denied the alternative charge of manslaughter and a further charge of producing a knife in the course of a fight.

In his opening speech, prosecuting counsel Tom McConnell SC told the jury of seven women and five men that, after an evening of drinking, a row between the brothers developed into a “serious, almost gladiatorial fight” that led to a “fratricidal kill- Thea

After a fight involving a knife and a hatchet, Charlie McDonagh received 12 stab wounds including the fatal wound to his stomach.

Anthony Ward said he had been staying with Charlie McDonagh

while his sister, Charlie’s wife, vis- ited her mother in Galway.

They started drinking cans of Guin- ness and Red Bull at around 8.30pm. After about three cans they opened a bottle of vodka.

Mr Ward said that Charlie rang the accused to bring over a bottle of coke for a mixer.

They later went to Patrick’s house, Where they continued drinking. Patrick’s wife Donna joined them. Some time later that night, a row developed between the brothers, in

Patrick’s house.

Mr Ward said that Charlie McDon- agh had a volatile temper and had once bitten his ear. He said Charlie left to move his van and he went back to Charlie’s house and locked Watomelereye

A few minutes later Patrick arrived and started banging on the front door and shouting. Mr Ward said he was “frightened, terrified’, so when Patrick disappeared round the side of the building, he ran across the road to arelation’s house.

Patrick meanwhile started breaking the windows of Charlie’s house. The gardai and an ambulance were called and Patrick was taken to hospital for treatment to his injuries.

Some time later Charlie returned and saw the damage to his house. He attacked Patrick’s car, which was parked on the street outside his Olen en

Mr Ward said a neighbour, Ms Cara Moylan, came out and brought them into her house for a cup of tea and a glass of wine.

THE gymnastics club in Shannon has been basking in glory after one of its members won a medal at a prestigious international event.

12-year-old Becky O’Donnell won a bronze medal, after she came third in the Coimbre Open in Portugal.

Becky, who is one of the top eight tumblers in Ireland, was selected to participate in the event in the wake of a string of impressive performances in Clare and the wider Munster area, over the past year.

She was delighted to come third in the Coimbre Open, where she fought off stiff competition from more than 10 other entrants, in the under-13

category.

This follows on from her success last year, when she competed in Lithuania and was placed in the top ten in a world cup event in Poland.

Her coach Elaine Ryan said Becky deserved the honours and everyone in the club was thrilled for her.

“She has been building up, with good performances in past competi- tions,’ said Ms Ryan.

“This is the first international med- al the club has every got. We are very proud,” she added.

Becky travels from her home in Kildysart for training at the Shan- non club and hopes are high that her fine achievements will encourage her club colleagues.

“There are 80 members in the club and hopefully this will encourage the others,” said Ms Ryan.

The club has been busy over the past few months and after being without a permanent home, it has re- cently secured a new base.

It is currently located at the Stone- hall Business Park, but will move to a permanent home near Newmarket- on-Fergus later this month.

“We are delighted with this. There is a great backing from the parents,” said Ms Ryan.

“Children travel from all over to the club, from as far as Gort and from Raheen in Limerick, three to four times a week,” she added.

While Becky is still absorbing her

latest success, she is already plan- ning her next trip and is hopeful that she will be selected for future inter- nationals which are due to take place throughout the year.

Her ultimate aim promises to be a huge challenge, which she is ready to tackle. “She will be hoping to go to the world championships in 2009,” said her coach. No doubt she will do her best to ensure qualification for this event.

AN investment of €lb in Money- point power station announced by the ESB is expected to significantly reduce the carbon dioxide being real- ised into the west Clare atmosphere, as well as proving a vote of confi- dence in the station’s future.

Plans for the local power station for 2025 will see the electricity supply board attempt to build a so-called “clean coal” generating plant.

Clean coal is basically coal that has had the carbon dioxide extracted from it, thus preventing it from pol-

luting the atmosphere.

The ESB are facing one major diffi- culty in the west Clare element of its national €22 billion, 12-year invest- ment programme.

Commencement of the work on the clean coal-fired generating plant in Moneypoint is dependent on one major factor – that is, one has yet to be invented.

The ESB admit that no-one has yet arrived at a workable system of do- ing this, or of storing gas instead of releasing it into the atmosphere.

The ESB 1s confident, however, that such a solution will be found as huge

resources are being invested on re- search and development.

Meanwhile, Munister for State, Tony Killeen (FF) received confir- mation from the ESB that it is not going to adopt a proposal to build a gas-fired generating plant.

“The ESB’s announcement has consequences not only for environ- ment but for the local economy,” he said.

“For almost 30 years, Moneypoint has acted as one of the largest em- ployers in west Clare and has played a major part in the development of vibrant communities in the area.

“This announcement by the ESB that it is planning to invest in a clean coal-fired generating plant by 2025 will ensure the station’s viability.”

The new plant, if and when it goes ahead, 1s likely to produce 700 mega- watts of electricity, making it the big- gest producer in the State in today’s etsy

According to industry calcula- tions, that is enough power to supply 700,000 average households.

Work started on the Moneypoint project back in 1979. The station each year consumes two million Kevebate ey mrerey- 0B

THE brother-in-law of Charlie and Patrick McDonagh told the jury he was ashamed of the fact that he had not been able to prevent the death when he intervened in the fight.

“I risked my own life because I went into the middle of them but it was for nothing because I didn’t save him (Charlie),”’ said James O’ Loughlin.

Mr O’Loughlin said he and his wife Ann Marie tried to persuade Patrick to stay away from Bridge Court after he had received hospital treatment for injuries received in an earlier argument with Charlie.

Patrick insisted on going home to his wife and three children.

Back at home, Mr O’Loughlin said he tried to calm Patrick down, telling him everything could be sorted out with his brother in the morning.

He said that Charlie went out onto the street, naked from the waist up and waving a knife.

Mr O’Loughlin said Charlie ap- peared to be very drunk and was waving the knife around very slow- M4 He agreed that he had told gardai

Charlie was shouting, “Come out, come out Paddy Pudding” and that he had said this nickname was a “term of argument”. Patrick fetched a hatchet and went outside to his broth- er, despite attempts to stop him.

Mr O’Loughlin said there were “more thumps being thrown than us- ing the weapons”.

He said that after a few minutes he and his wife managed to disarm the two men and they were pulled apart. Mr O’ Loughlin dragged Char- lie back towards his house with the help of another man, Anthony Ward, Charlie’s wife’s brother.

Patrick had found the knife, thrown away during the fight, and ran at Strabo

He stabbed him 12 times in the stomach. Charlie died in hospital a Seem BDA CoM C-lKo)

Mr O’Loughlin said that there was some bad feeling within the McDon- agh family.

“They couldn’t believe he went so far on his brother. They were dis- gusted. You wouldn’t do that to an elephant,” he said.

A GROSS profit of more than €3,000 was generated through the St Patrick’s Day parade in Shannon, according to preliminary figures. The event generated an income of €5,658.99, while expenditure came to €2,671.80, a meeting of Shannon Town Council heard last week. Stressing that these figures are not the final amounts, the chief organ- iser of the parade, Councillor Greg Duff paid tribute to the efforts put in by those who participated in the

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He pointed out, however, that the parade may have to meet at a bigger venue other than the Wolfe Tones GAA clubhouse in future years, giv- en the huge turnout this year.

Fianna Fail councillor Geraldine Lambert said she believed that the parade should receive more support from the community.

“We still aren’t getting the support from the clubs and organisations that we should get. It costs very little for clubs to turn out in their colours. This parade is not for the town coun-

cil. It’s for the people of the town,” she said.

She added that traffic management was an issue this year.

“While the GAA itself is a fine as- sembly point, traffic management would have to be looked at,” said Cllr Lambert.

Councillor Mike McKee (Inde- pendent) suggested that the parade would assemble at St Senan’s rugby club, where there would be more space for the huge crowds taking part every year.

Councillor Sean Hillery (FF) said

the parade was “the most important community exercise in Shannon in the 12 months. It’s our heritage and it’s our childrens’ heritage.”

“TI think all the clubs should be rep- resented, even one or two of them, with the names of their clubs,” said Cllr Hillery.

Labour Councillor Tony McMahon added that industries in the town should play a more prominent role in the parade.

“If we keep having the same few floats each year, the thing can get a bit stale,’ he said.

THE Health and Safety Authority is investigating an explosion and fire at Dromoland Castle, which has left one workman seriously injured and

another with minor injuries.

The two were working with a gas burner last Friday, sealing a window in the hotel, when there was an ex- plosion.

It is understood that a small gas

cylinder exploded, which promptly led to the fire breaking out.

One of the men – a 60-year-old from Lisdoonvarna – was engulfed in the flames and suffered 40 degree burns to several parts of his body.

He had to be airlifted to University College Hospital, Galway, where his condition was described as critical. He remains in hospital, where he is still being treated for his serious in- juries.

His colleague, a Kerry native, was also taken to hospital, with minor in- juries.

Both were employees of Michael McNamara builders in Dublin and were working together on the win- elev

The fire service used an aerial plat- form to lift the man from the roof, after he had been treated there.

The incident occurred before noon, as dozens of people were getting ready to attend a wedding. The ho- tel was evacuated. None of the group suffered any injuries and were al- lowed back into the hotel some time Eire

Very little damage was done to the hotel, as the fire did not spread from where it started.

Gardai, along with five fire units and a number of ambulances, attend- ed the scene. Gardai took statements from various witnesses and members of the Scenes of Crime Unit, based in Ennis, also attended the scene of the fire.

Representatives from the Health and Safety Authority also attended the scene and carried out detailed ex- aminations, in an effort to ascertain the cause of the blaze.

A WOMAN who lived beside the McDonaghs in Bridge Court told the trial that Charlie went through the knife rack in her kitchen, some time before his death.

‘He took the first knife out but he said it wasn’t sharp enough. Then he got out another one but he didn’t take WerLmssinelos

“Then he took out another knife and put it up his sleeve,” Cara Moy- lan said.

She could not understand a lot of what the brothers said to each other, but heard Charlie calling his brother ‘Paddy Pudding’.

Patrick said he was in the hospi- tal and Charlie now owed him “ten

grand”.

Charlie asked Patrick was he home and Patrick replied, “Ill see you in two minutes.”

Ms Moylan agreed that she had told gardai, “He told me he was going to cut him (Patrick) up and he told me what he was going to do to him.”

Charlie told her to tell the other neighbours to stay off the road as there was going to be trouble.

Charlie left by the front door, tak- ing off his jacket as he went. Patrick came towards him carrying an axe and the brothers fought.

They were separated by their sis- ter and her husband but, as Charlie walked back to his house, Patrick picked up the discarded knife and ecbaue-lanevbeeF

SOME of Ireland’s top athletes and running enthusiasts will be in Kilnaboy this weekend for the annu- al Michael ‘Sonnie’ Murphy Memo- rial 1O-Mile Open Road Race.

The race, which takes place this Sunday from 2pm, commemorates the life of Sonnie Murphy, the local legend who took part in the two-mile Steeplechase of the 1932 Olympic GF Trslone

This is the 24th running of the event and organisers are expecting another bumper year, after record numbers took part last year.

“It’s the last of the four Munster 10 Mile Spring Classics. There is a prize for anyone who competed in all four events and, at this point, with three events completed, there are 177 still in the running,” said Vincent McCa- rthy of Kilnaboy Athletic Club.

“We get a good mixture of athletes. We would get eight or 10 elite men and five or six elite ladies taking part each year. The rest would come from every different class of runner.”

This year, local athlete Tracy Guil- foyle will be back looking to defend her title. Tracy last year became the first local athlete in the history of the race to win one of the major titles.

“She is training very hard at the mo- ment so she will be hoping to regain the tithe again this year. Last years men’s winner was John Byrne in a time of 54.24. We had 397 finishing the race last year which was the big- gest number ever,” continued Vin- cent. “It is growing away all the time. It grew up to about 200 and it stayed at that for a long time. But since we have been involved with the Munster Spring Classics, it has grown again. The number looks to be going higher again for this year.”

Before the business of the road race, the annual 10km fun walk takes place in Kilnaboy from 1.30pm.

“The fun walk is more relaxed, it’s non-competitive. People come to that and have a nice relaxing time,’ says Vincent. “We have used the race for years to make money for char- ity. We have raised about €15,000 or €20,000 for Cystic Fibrosis over the last number of years. We don’t have a designated charity this year but what- ever profit we have from the race will go to charity.”

The entry fee for the race is €10 and €5 for the walk. Anyone in- terested in learning more about the event or taking part should contact Vincent McCarthy at 065 6837875 or 086 1704471 for details.