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A KILKEE man who is serving a 12- year sentence for aggravated sexual assault was yesterday handed a five- year-term for sexually assaulting a woman in Ennis.

Brian Mulvihill (30), of Lislana- han, Kilkee, admitted the offence, relating to an incident at a flat in En- nis, in January 2005. He also admit- ted sexually assaulting a woman in Tralee in November 2004.

Both incidents and the aggravated

sexual assault occurred within a five-month spell when Mulvihill was “gripped” by drink.

During that time, Mulvihill’s “life crashed around him. His old friend drink let him down and led him on a merry dance,” said his barrister Mark Nicholas.

The 12-year term, imposed at the Central Criminal Court last April for the assault on a 20-year-old student in a caravan in west Clare in August 2004, is currently under appeal.

Referring to the Ennis incident,

Garda Val McCormack told En- nis Circuit Court that Mulvihill had been drinking with the injured party for several hours. They both later re- turned to her apartment.

She went to bed and “as she knew him, she allowed him to sleep on the bed outside the covers, fully clothed,” said the garda.

She fell asleep and when she woke up, he was sexually assaulting her.

When she shouted and attempted to push him off, he started pulling her hair. She attempted to strike him

with a bedside lamp and flee the apartment, but had difficulty escap- ing. He asked her to promise not to the tell the gardai. She agreed, in an effort to get away from him. The young woman was later treated at a sexual assault treatment unit.

Mr Nicholas said his client “went on a downward spiral over the five months and was out of control on olen om

Judge Carroll Moran said Mulvi- hill was invited to stay at the young woman’s house, but “he abused the

invitation and took liberties of a fair- ly intrusive nature.”

He noted that a psychiatric report on Mulvihill didn’t question the ex- istence of sexual deviance which, he said, had to be a factor.

“It can’t all be down to drink and mood swings,’ he said.

He said he must impose a prison sentence and jailed him for five erase

“What he did was dreadful but there has to be some element of pro- portionality,’ he said.

WITH early indications showing that the price of beef has started to improve, the farming organisations have been keeping the pressure on the factories in a hope to maintain the positive trend.

Fears have been raised in recent week that there could be a massive exodus from beef farming, and in particular winter finishers in Ireland if consistent price improvement is not witnessed in 2008.

Speaking last week, the Chairman of ICMSA’s Beef & Cattle Commit- tee, Martin McMahon, repeated his

warning to factories that they will fall victim to “their own short-term view’ of the industry unless the re- cent firming-up of prices is contin- UerOmr Ree meee loesIiclee

“Beef finishers are looking at a situation now where they see strong demand and a tight supply, they know that a substantial increase in prices should be in the pipeline and they are left — once again — wonder- ing why the factories seem bent on keeping the prices as low as possi- ble to the point where beef finishers will simply drop out of the trade with dire consequences for the factories themselves next year’, said the Clare

le Dusnoe

“In the context of the substantial kill at the end of 2007 and the ad- ditional and very welcome curbs on Brazilian beef, it 1s perfectly clear that there will be a shortage of cat- tle supplies this spring and that the meat processors would want to start reflecting that reality for the sake of ensuring a continued supply going forward.

“The people who finished cattle in spring 2007 and who suffered finan- cially as a result will not be able to take two successive years in which their costs outweighed any benefits.

“If the processors take the short-

term view again, they may inflict fatal damage to their own industry. Prices must keep rising and they must do so immediately.”

Last week, they revealed that the price paid by factories to farmers has actually decreased in the last 17.

According to new figures seen by

A MAN who was suffering from de- lusions and believed he was being fol- lowed stole two cars and tried to take another, in three different towns, all in the space of a few hours.

Timmy Casey (30), of 3 Clonlong, Southill, Limerick, stole cars in Shannon and Ennistymon, and tried to take another in Lahinch, on May 29, 2006.

Ennis Circuit Court heard yester- day that Casey, who has 59 previous convictions, stole an Audi from the forecourt of a garage in Shannon, at 9.30am.

He had called to Shannon and

Roxboro garda stations that morn- ing and said he felt he was being fol- lowed in what was described in court as “a cry for help.”

He drove from Shannon to Corofin, Where he attempted to buy petrol. The alarm was raised after a petrol attendant in Corofin became suspi- cious when Casey was unable to find the petrol tank in the car.

He then drove to Ennistymon where he ran out of petrol and parked up that car.

He then stole another car in En- nistymon, where he told the owner he had a gun and demanded the keys.

That car was later seen speeding around Lahinch and Ennistymon.

“It was weaving in and out of traf- fic. There were school children on the road at the time,’ said Gda Alan Keane.

Shortly after 12 noon, he crashed that car into a BMW at Dough, La- hinch, where he tried to take another car and assaulted its owner.

He tried to pull the driver, a mid- dle-aged woman, out of the car, but she managed to hold on to her keys. He was arrested as he sat in the driv- er’s seat of that car.

Garda Keane said that he was “very incoherent and didn’t know what he was saying, at the time.

While he was sober, he was “defi- nitely under the influence of drugs”

and was “suffering from delusions,” said the garda.

Casey’s barrister said the incident “verged on a rampage on the roads.” She said her client could offer €3,000 in compensation.

Judge Carroll Moran accepted the money and directed that it goes to one of the victims.

“What would concern me now is that there would be any repetition of Wek

“It is important that he keep taking his medication, but how do you po- lice that,” said the judge.

He imposed a two-year jail term, suspended on condition that he co- operate with his doctors.

THE tragic Whitegate man whose body was found in the Shannon after a 32-day search was laid to rest on Sunday.

Teams of experts and volunteers had combed the area around Lough Derg, Killaloe and Ballina when James Burke from Ballinruan disap- peared after a night out with friends.

He was last seen near the bridge in Killaloe on Sunday, December 9, just after 10pm. He was heading for The Anchor Bar after an evening’s socialising in the town with friends, but never showed up in the bar.

Last Friday, a local man walking his dog spotted the body in the water north of the bridge in Killaloe a little after 9.30am.

A garda spokesman said the dis- covery was made at the rear of the li- brary, on the Scariff side of the town. The spot is not far from where James was last seen.

Gardai called in the local coast guard unit to help recover the re- mains which were taken from the lake to the Mid-West Regional Hos- pital in Limerick where a post-mor- tem and official identification were carried out.

Silom DENese Maye ame:Bicre Ma J eles pMmE-De eto didn’t show up for work or contact his parents.

Before Christmas, his mother, Peggy, made an appeal for help with finding her son.

“James was a very keen angler and he would have known not to go near the water when it was so high. He was a very happy lad with not a worry in the world. He phoned me earlier that night to say he would be home shortly.”

A widescale search of land and wa- ter was launched, including dives of the main River Shannon when the Ardnacrusha Power Station turbines were turned off.

The building site where the 23- year-old worked closed down and his workmates from Muggivan’s build- ers joined in the search.

A spokesman for the gardai said that they do not suspect any foul play. It’s thought James may have slipped and fallen into the water.

At one stage, neighbours called on the help of a psychic to try to locate AF Weatene

It’s not clear whether the body was obscured and missed in the initial searches or whether extremely high, fast-moving water in the area made it difficult to see.

THE threat of bird flu has once again reared its ugly head over the island of Ireland with the confirmation of a number of cases of avian influenza in the UK last week.

Despite a number of outbreaks across the water, Ireland has man- aged to stay completely bird flu-free since it first began to threat European farms almost two years ago.

The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food have called on all poultry producers to maintain vigi- lance and report any suspected cases as soon as possible.

The department’s National Disease Control Centre (NDCC) Manage- ment Committee met last Thursday

to discuss the confirmation of the presence of high pathogenic H5N1 avian “flu in three dead wild mute swans in the Dorset area of Eng- land.

The committee was briefed on the most recent information available from the Department of the Environ- ment, Food and Rural Affairs (DE- FRA) in Britain and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Develop- ment (DARD) in Northern Ireland.

According to officials from the Department of Agriculture, constant contact between experts in Dublin and their colleagues in Belfast, Lon- don and Brussels has been ongoing since the outbreak was confirmed.

On Thursday morning the British authorities put in place the required

EU control measures; which include a Wild Bird Control Area and Moni- toring Area, within which bird keep- ers are required to house birds or otherwise isolate them from contact A100 MM AUC mayb KCK

“The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has taking ex- pert ornithological advice from the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and BirdWatch Ireland on current migratory patterns between Britain and Ireland,’ said a spokes- person from the Department of Ag- riculture.

“The most recent information available is that there is currently lit- tle migration and that the migratory pattern is stable and, as such, the risk to Ireland remains low.

“Department of Agriculture offi- cials have advised Minister Cough- lan of the current situation and will be monitoring developments in Dor- set carefully in the coming days.”

Meanwhile, the IFA National Poul- try Committee Chairman Ned Mor- rissey has also called on poultry growers here to maintain the highest levels of vigilance.

He said producers here have im- plemented extra measures such as the installation of water chlorination systems to ensure the health status of their flocks 1s protected.

“Poultry producers meet the high- est veterinary standards at all times, and are particularly vigilant at the moment to protect the health of their flocks,” he added.

AS OUR year on Pemba Island, Tanzania, draws to a close we look back and marvel at the vast range of places, people, activities and emotions that have filled our lives in 2007. For us, it has been a privilege and the opportunity of a lifetime to live among the people here. They have taught us much.

This year, we learned that poverty sets a lot of limits for people but it doesn’t crush their spirit. Despite the daily struggle to put food on the table, our neighbours greet each other with a big smile every morning and children play happily all day long with a burst ball or the sand on the roadside.

This year, we learned that people of

the Muslim faith are not all terrorists despite their bad press in the West. The most popular greeting on the is- land is ‘Salama’ which means peace.

We have never seen violence on the street or even on the sports field and bad language doesn’t feature here. We have discovered that they are a polite, disciplined, prayerful people and they have much to teach us.

We learned that sport is universal and unites people throughout the world. The Premiership has reached Pemba, with shopfronts sporting such names as Highbury Fashions and Everton Café.

When the young men train for the local soccer club the older men sit for hours watching them and, as they walk home from training in their bare feet, they are escorted by troops

of youngsters who feel privileged to accompany their heroes.

This year, we learned that we are all brothers and sisters on this planet and more alike than different. Whether black or white, rich or poor, educated or uneducated, Muslim or Christian, we all share a common life experience.

Emotionally, we are exactly alike. The same things make us laugh and cry. We love and hate and get angry about the same things. We all worry when our children are sick but there is delight when Man Utd win.

But we have also learned that things are not as simple as they seem and everyone has their own story. Behind the large, open-eyed smile of a hand- some brown child there lie layers of little victories over hunger, poverty,

hardship and failure. We have also learned that a toasted cheese sand- wich can taste good anywhere, it is possible to be understood in Swa- hili with a very small vocabulary and water is a greater necessity than electricity. We have learned that the Irish people are incredibly generous, we still wonder at the magic of email and texts, that a juicy pineapple can put many problems in perspective and friends are a precious gift.

STAFF at Aer Lingus in Shannon have expressed concerns that they are no longer retraining for short- haul flights.

The 169 cabin crew at the airline must take part in a refresher course every year to retain the licence nec- essary to work on short-haul flights.

In recent months, however, staff returning from maternity leave were told that they would not be retrained in short-haul flights this year, just transatlantic.

Sources close to the airline said that since then no other cabin crew have been called for short-haul flight training. A concerned Shan- non worker said that staff have since learnt that a mandate has been issued stating such training will no longer continue in Shannon.

“If a case of lightning striking the plane happens in Shannon again, as it did at the weekend, and the plane is grounded, another crew will have to be brought from Dublin to accom- pany the passengers to Dublin as the new flight will be considered short-

haul.”

The worker said that the training 1s just one extra module with the trans- atlantic retraining and a few extra questions on the annual teat.

If this continues, there will be no staff trained in short-haul flights in Shannon this time next year. Mean- while, talks are continuing at the La- bour Relations Commission, based in Shannon for the first time ever.

While Aer Lingus is looking for 51 redundancies following the removal of the Heathrow slots from Shannon, it is believed that just 20 employees

have applied for the severance deal.

The original cut-off point for ap- plications for the severance deal was this Thursday but that has been ex- tended for three weeks, so staff can consider any recommendations made by the LRC.

Meanwhile, the last Aer Lingus flight to London-Heathrow will leave Shannon on Sunday.

Speaking on Radio One’s

A COMMUNITY group based in Shannon which celebrates its 10th birthday this year is planning to expand its role, so that it can lend a hand to the elderly.

The Shannon Social Economy Maintenance Services Limited cur- rently provides support to a wide va- riety of groups, including the primary schools in the town and surrounding areas, the Shannon tidy towns com- mittee and local GAA clubs.

Among its work includes the provi- sion of a cleaning service, painting, decorating and recycling and general Crue ED nereaenu latory

Last week, it was one of 11 projects

in the county to receive funding un- der the national Community Serv- ices Programme.

The money allocated to the Shan- non group, which is based at St To- la’s National School, will maintain employment for one manager and five full time workers.

Currently 10 people are employed full-time along with a number of part-time staff. Manager Christy Shannon is hoping its remit can be extended.

“We are hoping to employ more people and provide a service for the elderly, where we can clean windows and do painting and decorating,’ he Sr AKGe

“We are doing our best to provide

as much employment as possible. Shannon has good employment, but people can find it difficult to get into the psyche of employment,” said Mr SJeEDevOee ;

“Initially we started off with FAS and we now deal with different de- partments. In the early days, we em- ployed people aged 35 and over, who were long-term unemployed. Now the employees don’t have to be on the live register.

“We reskill people and help them to get back to work or to move to bet- ter employment,” said Mr Shannon.

Several staff have worked on the initiative since its inception 10 years ago and during this time have built up a good rapport with the schools

in the area. The organisers collect a minimal fee from each school and organisation it works with.

In addition, the Government fund- ing is crucially important, in order that the group continues to operate for the benefit of the local commu- nity.

“We work hand in hand with the principals and Boards of Manage- ment and staff in the schools and it all works out well,” he said.

Welcoming the announcement of the funding last week, Clare Muin- ister for State Tony Killeen said, ‘These necessary funds importantly recognise the voluntary effort of lo- cal community groups throughout Ireland.”

FEARS that a dispute might ground Aer Lingus flights have been allevi- ated after SIPTU agreed to go along with procedures suggested by the Na- tional Implementation Body (NIB). SIPTU shop stewards agreed to

keep working with Aer Lingus to shave another €10 million off the airline’s budget. Agreement has al- ready been reached on how the air- line can save an initial €10 million, mainly through the introduction of flexible start times and new rosters. The union had threatened stoppages

which would have grounded planes at Shannon and other airports. In a statement SIPTU said it has “agreed to remain within the process estab- lished by the National Implementa- tion Body to find alternative ways of achieving the €20 million savings being sought by Aer Lingus manage-

ment”.

Shop stewards considered the pro- posals made by the NIB on Decem- ber 21 and are “happy it is achieving our objective of identifying alterna- tive savings to the proposed cuts in pay being sought by the company, ’ according to Aer Lingus Branch Or- ganiser, Teresa Brannick.

SIPTU has referred the pay freeze imposed by the company on employ- ees on October | to the Labour Re- lations Commission and the Labour Court. A spokeswoman for the union said this does not interfere with the NIB process.

An Aer Lingus spokeswoman not- ed the outcome of the shop stewards’ meeting and welcomed “their leader- ship in this important process.”

She added that the company is “ful- ly committed to continuing to engage positively with the union”.

The row behind the threatened rollover stoppages centres on union claims that proposed airline meas- ures will cost staff €4,000 a year.

The NIB has recommended that negotiations should be completed by the end of this month. The savings so far have been agreed with ground staff. Further savings will be sought from other workers, including cabin crew, pilots and craft workers.

Rolling stoppages had been threat- ened for dates in mid-November. The NIB, the state’s industrial relations trouble-shooting body, stepped in at the eleventh hour to bring the two sides together.

A PROPOSAL for the adoption of legislation, which will block appli- cations for casinos in Shannon, will be voted on, at a meeting of the local town council tonight.

Under the Gaming and Lotteries Act (1956), applications can be made for casinos. This legislation is cur- rently effective in Shannon, which means that subject to conditions, ca- sinos can, effectively, be set up in the eda 0

However councillors in Shannon

are attempting to rescind this, mean- ing that such applications can no longer be made.

Last year, businessman John O’Donovan lodged plans with Clare County Council for a casino, which he claims will create 12 jobs in Shannon. His application was turned down and is currently under appeal.

Last October, Shannon town coun- cillors voted to start the process to rescind the legislation.

The motion, up for discussion at this month’s meeting of the town council tonight (Tuesday), 1s widely expected

to be passed when voted upon by the nine town councillors.

If it is adopted, it means casinos or gambling clubs cannot be established in Shannon.

Objectors had until December 13 last to lodge objections to the pro- posed change.

Eleven objections have been lodged to Shannon Town Council and these will be considered by councillors as they vote on the issue tonight.

Mr O’Donovan, who hails from Quin, believes that there is a need for a casino in Shannon.

He said he carried out “brief sur- veys” on the hotels in Shannon and found that the occupancy ranges from 500 to 1200 per week.

“A number of guests would spent two to three days there. Unless you enjoy a drink, there is nothing really to do. That is how Shannon came to the forefront of this,’ he said.

He said he was initially “down- hearted” by some of the negative comments associated with his apph- cation, and said he was looking at his proposals as “something positive for Shannon.”