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A GIFTED mathematician who was last week sentenced to more than nine years in an American prison for armed robbery, is believed to be suffering from a mental illness that affects one per cent of the Irish popu- lation.

Niall Clarke from Kilrush was a top student in his final year at Trinity Se NSM Deer WatoremebicmecDeevE WANED ANI became concerned about his men- tal health. He started to get serious panic attacks.

His father Michael told a Maine Federal Court that his mother, Niall’s grandmother, suffered from paranoid schizophrenia.

The distraught father said he felt let down by the health services here for failing to help his son.

Before Niall was arrested for the robbery of Bank of America in Maine in October 2006, his father said that he had taken his son to a GP who, after a 10-minute evaluation, said that he would be all right.

On Tuesday last, Mr Clarke’s de- fence team argued that he had com- mitted the offences “while suffering from a reduced mental capacity”’.

Cork-born psychiatrist Dr Niamh Holohan, who is based in Bangor, Maine, gave evidence that the Kil- rush man had symptoms of schizo- eavne tb eee

She had been working with Ni- all for a year and told the court he had an IQ in the top two per cent in

the world and was “very honest and straightforward in explaining what happened”’.

The psychiatrist explained that Niall said he was driving through Maine when the idea to rob a bank came to him and “crystallised” in such a way as he just had to do it.

“Niall did not understand he had schizophrenia and did not understand the consequences of his actions. He needs therapy,” she said.

According to sources within the Clare mental health service, an aver- age of 45 people in Clare are diag- nosed with schizophrenia every year. The good news is that as many as one third of the population diagnosed with the illness can be completely cured, once treated.

Another third of the population can have “partial remission” but require

medicine for the rest of their lives to prevent the onset of the disease.

Others may require an “environ- ment of care’, whether in the home or institutionalised.

Following Mr Clarke’s sentencing, which is to include medical treat- ment, his father told reporters, “Niall appears to be in remission because he is in an institutionalised environ- ment.” The Kilrush father was in no doubt that had his son received the proper treatment in Ireland, he would not be in a high-security American prison today.

According to Schizophrenia Ire- land, this serious mental illness is characterised by disturbances in a person’s thoughts, perceptions, emo- tions and behaviour. The first onset commonly occurs in adolescence or early adulthood although it can also OLererty am -NkodanbO DB Kon

There are a number of signs and symptoms that are characteristic of schizophrenia. However, the expres- sion of these symptoms varies greatly from one individual to another.

Symptoms are divided into two groups: “active” symptoms that re- flect new or unusual forms of thought and behaviour; and “passive” symp- toms, that reflect a loss of previous feelings and abilities.

MALIGNANT cancers remain by far the most common cause of specified illness and death claims in Clare, ac- cording to the latest analysis of pay- ments made to customers of the Irish Life insurance company last year.

The analysis found that malignant forms of cancer accounted for 48 per cent of Clare death claims while heart-related illness accounted for 21 per cent of death claims in the coun- ty. This was roughly in line with the national rates of 47 per cent and 22 per cent respectively.

Accidental death accounted for 17 per cent of Clare death claims which was over twice the national rate of 8 per cent.

The average age for death claims in Clare was 59 while the average age for specified illness claims was 53 compared with the national averages of 58 and 47.

The average age for death claims in Clare males was 61 while the average for females was 56. The average age for specified illness claims in Clare males was 52 while the average age for female claims was 55.

Commenting on the results of the survey, Martin Duffy, Head of Un- derwriting at Irish Life, said that the company paid out more than €78 million in death and specified illness

claims last year.

“Cancer still remains the greatest single killer in Clare and unfortu- nately the number of cancer-related specified illness claims continues to rise nationally,” he said.

Mr Duffy added that the fact that 16 per cent of accident-related death claims were related to alcohol “re- flects a worrying trend” if this were to continue.

2006 was the first year when malig- nant cancers exceeded heart-related specified illness claims and this pat- tern was maintained in 2007.

The national survey of 392 speci- fied illness claims shows that Irish Life paid out a total of €24.7 million in 2007 — or an average of more than €63,000 per claim

The company paid €54 million in respect of 1,055 death claims nation- ally last year — or an average of just over €51,000 per claim.

The largest single death payment was just over €1 million in respect of a 50-year-old male professional who died of pancreatic cancer while the largest single payment in respect of a female was for €467,000 in respect of a professional who died of breast cancer.

An analysis of National 2007 Death Claims also revealed that alcohol was a contributory factor in 16 per cent of all accident claims.

ENNISTYMON students in have gone horse mad after making history for the town in the Hoofprints show- jumping inter-school challenge.

The craze started at an Irish nation- al schools event in Ballinasloe after a local team was the first ever from Ennistymon to enter. On January 23, students from the CBS Ennistymon and Scoil Mhuire joined together and formed a team to enter the na- tional show-jumping event.

“IT was out doing a hunt and was talking to kids that had been involved in the Hoofprints events before through their schools so I thought

that it would be good to put the idea forward to the students at school,” said CBS teacher Aisling Haugh.

In this competition there is usu- ally divisions or groups that separate beginners, such as the Ennistymon team, from teams that have entered in the event previously.

Due to this year being the first year it was held in the Creagh Equestrian Center in Ballinasloe it was made into one group which made it diffi- cult for all the novice groups to do well. “Next year I believe that the team will do better as every year will be more experience for the stu- dents therefore they will be getting better every time they go,” said CBS

teacher Aisling Haugh.

“Currently there are second to fifth years involved and it is open to all years aS we hope to have as many available as possible next year.”

The people involved in the event from the CBS Ennistymon were Brendan Collins fifth year and Ca- thal McMahon second year while the people involved from the Scoil Mhuire were Aoife Haugh and Jean Kelleher both from fourth year.

“The pupils performed well con- sidering it was their first time in the event and also had fun, so it was a good day over all,’ commented the teacher on the day as a whole.

The pupils enjoyed the day they de-

cided to stay longer and do the indi- vidual class ride in the end.

Participation from both schools was a good point in itself as it shows the ability of the two schools to work together. The group intends to hold a sponsored ride in the coming school terms for team fundraising.

“This year there is a lot of interest so I though of fundraising for cloth- ing for the team next year,” said Ais- ling Haugh.

“IT see good potential for the schools teams in the future if this interest continues in the events.”

The schools team is participating in upcoming events in Kilkenny, Wick- low and Claregalway.

FARMING representative and poli- ticians have welcome the changes to the Forest Environment Protec- tion Scheme (FEPS) announced last week, hailing them as a major oppor- tunity for Clare farmers.

Speaking following the announce- ment, newly-elected IFA Farm For- estry Committee Chairman, Pat Hennessy, welcomed the changes.

“The new package includes land- owners now being able to receive a FEPS premium of €200 for each hectare of woodland planted, regard- less of farm size, and will encourage larger farmers to plant,” he said.

“The scheme has also been made

more attractive for farmers with small holdings as the minimum planted area allowed has now been reduced from eight to five hectares for farmers with less than 30 hec- eho

Meanwhile, Clare TD Tony Killeen has also welcomed the announce- ment, saying it will be of benefit for both small and large Clare farmers.

“This is a major development in the forestry schemes and it should be particularly suitable for farmers in Clare. It is good news for both small and larger REPS farmers with en- hanced incentives in all categories.”

“Clare farmers that plant eight hectares or more will now receive a FEPS premium of €200 for each hec-

tare of woodland planted, regardless of farm size. For owners of farms of 30 hectares and less, the minimum plantation size has been reduced to five hectares.

“In this case the FEPS payment will be €150 per hectare. The FEPS premium 1s payable in addition to the existing Afforestation Scheme grants and premium available meaning that a farmer planting eight hectares could, for the duration of FEPS, earn an annual tax-free forestry premium of up to €6,000 without affecting his/her Single Payment.”

The FEPS Scheme was introduced on a pilot basis in early 2007 to pro- vide a new option for farmers look- ing at forestry. FEPS offered an ad-

ditional premium, to the existing LOO per cent planting grant and yearly premium payments available under the Afforestation Scheme, of up to €200 per hectare for five years de- pending on farm size.

The scheme was targeted at partici- pants in REPS and was designed to encourage farmers to establish and maintain high nature-value forestry through a number of different meas- ures, particularly in the area of en- hanced bio-diversity and water qual- ity protection.

All forestry payments are tax-free, providing less than 50 per cent of a farm is planted, will not affect a farmer’s single payment entitle- ments.

CLARE planning agents and archi- tects have been accused of profiteer- ing by drawing up plans for one off rural houses that have no chance of receiving planning permission.

The accusation came at last night meeting of Clare County Council Where Councillor Martin Lafferty (Ind) called on Clare people seek- ing planning to ensure that their sites fulfil basic planning requirements before they engage the services of an

architect.

“It has come to my notice that when a person decides to go building a house they go straight to an agent be- fore they do anything else,” said Cllr Poua

“In a lot of these cases some of the agents don’t tell them about the four basic issues in one off rural planning. Sight distance, percolation and de- sign and designation of the land.

“I find that a lot of people go to agents, get them to draw up plans and then they are told by the architects to

go to their local councillor to sort it out for them.

“If people who are out there look- ing to build a house, before they go for plans they should ask a few sim- ple questions.

‘They are going to the agents and architects and they are happy to take their money. Some agents are just drawing up their plans, collecting up their money and walking away.”

Cllr Curtin asked that a simple document be drawn up in which the basic conditions of planning in rural

areas be explained for any perspec- tive builders.

The motion was seconded for Cllr Pat Keane (FF) who said there was ‘a major problem” with the current system and joined in the calls for a single document to be produced which would aid people seeking to build in a rural area.

‘This document should outline all of the criteria that 1s required to pass these tests and it should be written in as simple a language as is possible,” he said.

A THIRST for entertainment and a place where they can meet their peers, the transition year students of St Anne’s Community College, Killaloe have been brewing an idea which could see the start of a youth oF Nom bee stomcedwate

The transition year students have been researching the café for the Young Social Innovators Project.

The project, was founded by Sr Sta- nislaus Kennedy and Rachel Collier. The philosophy is that young people pursue a social issue they are con- cerned about and come up with re- sponses and actions to it. Becoming socially aware young citizens and making a real difference to people’s lives is one of the main aims of the

Ke) em

The students have got moving to realise their vision for a place where young people in the area can meet and socialise in an alcohol and drug-free environment. For the past number of months the students have conducted a survey of their peers to establish the need for a Youth Café.

The overwhelming response was that there is a huge need for the fa- cility in the twin towns of Ballina- Killaloe.

WW aTem AU Cele olicmreD acm eri e-lO UL OUD OTSAM BD IT. @s with the Garda Siochana, Clare Youth Services, North Tipperary VEC., County Clare VEC, the Fam- ily Resource Centre Killaloe, Aware West of Ireland and the Health Serv- ice Executive.

They will now be looking to their

local politicians for support in secur- ing a venue and funding to see their project to completion.

‘The students have been very dedi- cated to this project. They’ve done the research and made all the contacts as well as visiting other youth cafes,” said teacher, Brendan O’Brien.

“There is still the question of a venue and what they are looking into now is starting small, maybe with something in the school.”

To create awareness around the project the students attended a Young Social Innovators speak-out forum in the Ardilaun Hotel in Galway City and gave a two-minute presentation to an audience of more than 400 oth- er students as well as politicians and invited guests.

The national policy on youth recre-

ation “Teenspace’ advocates such in1- tiatives. By April 3 next the students will know if their project has been selected to be displayed with hun- dreds of others in the RDS Dublin as part of the Young Social Innova- tors Showcase. The Showcase, which takes place in May, is a national event where hundreds of young peo- ple meet and discuss issues of social concern with each other and with the decision-makers and people whose lives they wish to improve.

THE Competition Authority has been called upon to investigate claims of a ‘closed shop’ that prohibits over 400 Clare taxi and hackney drivers from operating out of Shannon Airport.

Bye-laws dating back 14 years en- sure that there is no conventional taxi rank at Shannon Airport and, instead, passengers seeking a taxi must hire a hackney cab based at Shannon.

Despite the massive growth in pas- senger numbers at Shannon Airport

in recent years, where last year 3.6 million people travelled through it, only 34 hackney cabs operate out of the airport.

Yesterday, the Shannon Aijrport Authority (SAA) declined to say how many new licences have been issued in recent years, stating only that the numbers have increased ‘slightly’.

Since the deregulation of the taxi business in November 2000, the number of licences has increased four-fold to 467 in Clare.

However, Shannon Airport remains a ‘closed shop’ and Deputy Dooley

said yesterday, “The taxi business at Shannon shouldn’t remain closed to others. It is anti-competitive and should be opened up to everyone.”

In his letter to the chairman of the Competition Authority, William Prasifka, Deputy Dooley said, “I am very concerned that since de-regu- lation of the taxi service, the num- bers of all public service vehicles in Clare has increased from 177 in November 2000 to 467 in December of 2007.

‘Based on these figures, I see no ar- gument to have this practice in place

at Shannon Airport.”

Deputy Dooley has also written to the Chief Executive of the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA), Declan Collier, and the Director of the Shan- non Airport Authority (SAA), Mar- tin Moroney.

He wrote, “I am concerned that the services provided are not in keeping with competition law or indeed in keeping with the spirit of de-regula- tion in the taxi sector.”

Deputy Dooley has also written to the Commissioner for Taxi Regula- tion, Kathleen Doyle, on the issue.

In response, a spokesman for Shan- non Airport said, “Shannon Airport complies with all applicable legisla- tion governing taxis and other small public service vehicles.

‘The current arrangement at Shan- non as operated is applied under leg- islation 1.e. S.I. 425 of 1994 (Airport Bye Laws).

“Since the establishment of the Taxi Regulator, we have been in reg- ular communication with them and they have outlined their satisfaction that the current operation adequately meets the needs of our passengers.”

ONE is every nine Clare rental prop- erties inspected by Clare County Council was found to be in breach of the Private Rented Dwelling Regula- tions, it was revealed at last night’s meeting of the local authority.

A further 25 rental properties were found to have “serious faults” by the Clare Fire Authority, with legal ac- tion being taking against a total of six landlords who failed to resolve potential fire hazards when warned by Clare County Council.

Only 434 rented properties were registered with the Clare County Council last year. Of these, 53 were

found to be in breach of the Rented Dwelling Regulations.

According to Fine Gael council- lor Joe Arkins, many Clare people on low incomes are afraid to report poor housing conditions to the local authority. The Ruan native claimed that there is a double standard of rents in Clare.

“There is a problem with the qual- ity and choice of rental accommo- dation in this county. In relation to apartments, we have two main types. Those for the well-heeled people who are moving onwards and up- wards and those for people on the breadline who live in places where they will take rent allowance,” said

CiUlr Arkins.

“This is another case where the de- partment is calling the tune but it 1s not prepared to pay the piper. We just do not have the money to carry out these inspections to a satisfactory standard.

‘The people who are not complain- ing about their apartments are those on the lower echelons of society, peo- ple who have a fear of losing their tenancy. We need to get the fund- ing so we can really put the wind up these landlords.”

The motion was seconded by Cllr Pascal Fitzgerald (Lab) who claimed that many landlords are not even on the council’s register.

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modations out there. There are land- lords there ripping off young single parents, people who don’t have an option but to live in these places. A lot of these landlords are not even on the register,” said.

Commenting on the motion, Cllr Martin Conway compared the cur- rent situation to that of Michael Dav- itt and the land wars.

“We are dealing with a culture of landordism in this country. Land- lords and absentee landlords, the same as Davitt rose up against. Some of what I witnessed in rented accom- modation would absolutely horrify any person. We need to up our game in terms of inspection.”

WHEN Una Kierse decided to send her eldest child to a pre-school play- eroup in Killaloe, she discovered that there wasn’t automatically a place for every child and community facilities were scarce on the ground.

Joss Lowry, Michael Culhane and Michael Glesson all had similar con- cerns and together the four set up the Killaloe Community Development Company with the aim of providing a community creche which would cater for all needs, including pre-

school and after-school care.

That was almost two years ago and this month, the endless filling in of forms and making a case were rewarded when the company was awarded €1.2 million, the maximum that can be awarded under the Na- tional Childcare Investment Fund.

The group worked closely with Clare County Council to apply for the funds through Pobail and Una says they are “just delighted. Now we can start looking at a premises or a site.”

The aim of the development com-

pany is to provide community facili- ties, which will cater for 35 full-time childcare places and 15 after-school je ENerone

“It’s wrong that some children get to go to pre-school and others don’t. The child who doesn’t have that year before going on to primary school is at a disadvantage from the start. If there are any difficulties like ADD, these are often picked up on in pre- school. Without it there 1s a year lost.”

“The new facility is still in the early stages and the company will have to

find a site or premises, get a contrac- tor on board and work through the planning process, but the grant was the start.

“We want to provide services across the board, including school holiday times, which can be very difficulty for working parents. Every child and every parent is entitled to have quali- ty childcare facilities where children can be encouraged and cared for. This is a facility which is very badly needed in Killaloe and now we have the money to get started on provid- ing one,’ said Una.

THE Christian attitude adopted by the family of a young man who lost his life in a road accident a year ago was commended by a judge, at the end of a trial relating to the death.

Judge Rory McCabe paid tribute to the family of Eamon Scully, after they expressed the opinion that they did not want to see a man convicted in connection with the death to go to jail.

James Freeman was acquitted of dangerous driving causing death, but was found guilty of careless driv- ing, arising out of a road accident in which Mr Scully lost his life, one year ago this weekend.

Counsel for the State Stephen Coughlan said Mr Scully’s family did not bear Mr Freeman any “ill will” and had no desire to see him sent to jail.

Mr Freeman’s barrister Michael Collins said the accident was “a low

speed collision, by way of both ve- hicles.” He said his client was genu- NIA U SON uNOROTE

He asked that his clent’s good character be taken into considera- tion, pointing out that he had no pre- vious convictions.

“Vd ask you to take into account the Christian attitude of Mrs Scully and family. The nature of the care- lessness of this case was an error of judgment,” said Mr Collins.

Judge Rory McCabe said the case

was “an enormous tragedy.”

“Life will never be the same for the two families and the two extended JE-VOODU O(c MaN Slomcr-BLOE

“The consequences for the Scully family are enormous. They lost a young man.

“Also for the Freeman family. Mr Freeman will live with this for the rest of his life,’ he said.

“I’m extremely impressed by the at- titude of the family of the deceased. It’s Christian. It’s caring. It recog-

nises the fact there are no winners,” he said.

“IT am not certain in the circum- stances a prison sentence would re- flect the circumstances in this situa- tion,” said the judge.

He fined Mr Freeman €1,000 said he was not imposing a driving ban, because, “I accept what was submit- ted by Mr Collins this was a momen- tary lapse of attention and I really hope it was not his decision to run the stop sign.”