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THE Western Development Com- mission’s, (WDC) investment arm, the WDC Investment Fund, invested €6.2 million in 17 projects during 2007.

Since it was set up, the investment fund has made investments totalling €27/m.

Gillian Buckley, WDC CEO, said, “The size of the WDC Investment Fund’s continuing investments 1s ev1- dence of the excellent stock of com- mercially viable projects in the west- ern region. The 2006 census shows the region has been able to attract an adaptable and educated workforce as evidenced by a population increase in line with the national average,” she said.

“There is a high demand for a fund of our kind that is the only source of venture funds specifically available

for enterprises in the western region. Through the fund we are success- fully filling the ‘funding gap’, allow- ing projects to get off the ground, erow more quickly and bring them to a stage where it is in a position to attract funding from the private sec- tor.”

WDC investment fund recipients during the past year include FMC Tech Ltd, based in Shannon, which has developed the Crystal System, which provides electrical utilities with the ability to locate, measure and predict faults on overhead me- dium-voltage power lines.

A YOUNG man who joined in a high-speed car race on the outskirts of Ennis, amid poor driving condi- tions, was pursued by a garda who was travelling in an unmarked pa- trol car.

Cathal Vaughan (19), originally from Kilkee and with an address in Middlesex, UK, was convicted of dangerous driving and with crossing a continuous white line, at Kilmo- rane, Ennis, on December 29 last.

Sergeant Mattie Molyneaux told

Ennis District Court that he was on duty in an unmarked patrol car at Darragh.

He noticed a car passing by “at very high speed.” As he went to pur- sue it, another car passed by, also at speed.

Sergeant Molyneaux said he 1m- mediately got the impression that the two cars were racing.

He pursued them at a speed of up to 180 kilometres per hour, but “made very little impression on them”.

He said at Kilmorane, the two cars passed a line of vehicles. Another

car, a golf – driven by the accused – pulled out from that line and fol- lowed the two cars.

Other cars were overtaken on con- tinuous white lines, he said.

Sgt Molyneaux said the two cars which had been racing veered onto the bypass, via the roundabout near O’Sullivan and Hansbury garage.

The other car, being driving by the defendant, continued on towards Cahercalla, where he was arrested.

The garda said that traffic was heavy at the time and road surface was wet. “Conditions were not great

for driving,’ he added.

Sgt Molyneaux accepted that the accused was not involved in the in1- tial race, but that he joined in.

Defending solicitor Joe Moloney said his client “cannot explain” why he followed the two cars. He said there was “no oncoming tralf- fic when he (Vaughan) overtook the vehicles.”

The garda said the accused “did co-operate. I cannot fault him for his behaviour after I stopped him, but it was the problems that led up to it.

“I didn’t get to stop the other two defendants.

“IT wasn’t in a position to radio for help,’ said Sgt Molyneaux.

The solicitor said his client has been working in the UK for a number of months and needs his driver’s licence for work.

‘There was no accident, there was no collision. He put his hands up im- mediately,’ said Mr Moloney.

Judge Joseph Mangan fined Vaughan €4,000 but did not ban him from driving, citing work exi1- gencies as the reason.

HELP is out there is the central message in a new song co-written by Ennis man Gerry Malone.

‘Clouds and Whispers’ was writ- ten by Gerry and Mattie Slattery and released as a charity single shortly before Christmas to benefit the Clare Living Links charity.

The two men are also members of the One and All group, established last year with the aim of promoting fellowship and helping those in soci- ety who find themselves in difficult situations.

All proceeds raised from the sale of Clouds and Whispers will also go

towards Clare Living Links. For five years the Living Links organisation has offered a suicide outreach sup- port service to families and individu- als in Clare who have been bereaved by suicide.

There are currently 10 fully trained volunteers staffing the service in the county.

In addition to healing programmes, volunteers respond to approaches made by a bereaved family or in- dividuals and can arrange to meet them inside or outside their homes or wherever the bereaved person feels most comfortable. All meetings are conducted in strict confidence. Gerry said he was moved to write the song

to address the tragic frequency of suicide in Ireland.

“There is an awful lot of despair and loneliness in society and suicide, sadly, seems to have become all too common in Ireland. It is an emotional song and acknowledges the fact that there are people in need of emotional support.”

Whispers and Clouds was produced by local man Mattie Purcell at his studio in Ennis. “I had the idea for a few years but I was never involved in a project like this before. I thought it would be good to give something back and I thought a CD would be a good idea,” added Gerry.

One and All is a community sup-

port group established by Mattie Slattery in Drogheda in 2006.

“It’s only in the initial stages at the moment in Ennis. There are other branches in Drogheda and Athlone. It mainly involves visiting people who are sick, the elderly and getting in touch with people in difficulty or who can’t help themselves,” said Gerry.

Clouds and Whispers is available in stores in Ennis. For further in- formation on One and All, contact oneanall@oceanfree.net.

A CLAIM by religious order, Sisters of Mercy that a housing development in the seaside resort of Lahinch will be a “concrete jungle” has been re- jected by its developers.

Last year, Brendan O’Doherty, Patrick Montgomery, Paul Mont- gomery and John McInerney lodged plans for 114 residential units, with a number of those holiday homes.

However, in an objection, the Sis- ters of Mercy expressed their opposi- tion to the proposal, describing it as

a concrete jungle.

The development has also attracted opposition from residents and the proprietors of Vaughan Lodge Hotel. It has now been scaled back to 94 units and developers’ planning con- sultants state that the Sisters of Mer- cy claim “is clearly not the case”.

The consultants add: “The propos- als are very carefully designed with careful considerations to the County Clare Rural House Design Guide. The site has been carefully designed in terms of plot widths, building height and material choice.

“The development is predominantly two storey with the only three storey portions located carefully within the development.”

The consultants continue, “The three storey parts are located so as to have no impact upon the residential amenity of existing homes adjacent to the site.

“The fact that local people are find- ing it increasingly difficult to buy houses in their home area 1s an unfor- tunate reality. This scheme provides a wide mix of residence types in an integrated and inclusive scheme.”

Meanwhile, Michael and Maria Vaughan of Vaughan Lodge Hotel have also expressed opposition to the proposal.

“The nature of development in Lahinch over the past 10 years has prevented many locals from fulfill- ing their aspiration to live locally. The transient population of summer house owners creates massive pres- sure on scarce resources for a period of 10 weeks in summer and leaves the village without community for long periods in the winter.

“The result is that it is difficult to

ensure sustainable life in the village as house prices are beyond reach and the developments thus far are not ap- propriate for long term settlement.

“All of the previous developments although they were promoted as ‘permanent’ in terms of planning, have all been built or purchased by short-term seasonable occupiers.

‘We have a real fear that unless the nature of this proposed development is altered, the village will suffer ad- versely.”

A decision is due on the application later this month.

SEVERAL shoplifting charges have been struck out, as the € sign did not appear on the charge sheets.

Frank Hassett (21), of Drumbig- gle Road, Ennis, faced a total of 13 charges, including criminal damage, theft and public order, at Ennis Dis- trict Court on Friday. All charges re- lated to a two-month period last year. However, seven of the charges were struck out, after Judge Joseph Man- gan noted that the € sign was not printed on the charge sheets.

“We now have the euro for about six or seven years. It should be possi- ble for the State to have acclimatised at this stage,” said the judge, dismiss- ing the charges.

Hassett was convicted of the six other charges. He pleaded guilty to breaking into an Ennis home and stealing <€1,900 cash along with small amounts of Sterling and US Dollars, on April 6 last. Some of the money was recovered but €900 was still outstanding. He also admitted breaking a win- dow of another home and stealing two bottles of Buckfast from a licensed premises in Ennis. He also admitted three public order offences. Hassett was jailed for two years at Ennis Circuit Court in November, for robbing a taxi driver at knifepoint. His solicitor Daragh Hassett said his client has had “a very severe ad- diction to alcohol and cocaine in re- cent times. He was in the throes of his addictions at the time of these offences.” Mr Hassett expressed hope that the sentence imposed in the Circuit Court wouldn’t be lengthened. Judge Joseph Mangan said, “I think it’s right to say he was given a lot of chances by this court. We have heard in the past in this court he had diffi- culties in his youth. It appeared at the time (previously) there was no end to the punishment he was prepared to inflict on society in order to get even for what was done to him. Perhaps he realises now he can’t keep taking it out on people who caused him no harm,” added the judge. He imposed two six-month jail terms, to run concurrently with the sentence currently being served.

THE 50th anniversary of the Carmo- dy’s Hotel crash will be marked next week with a special mass in the Ss Peter and Paul Cathedral.

The tragedy occurred on January 15, 1958 when eight people died af- ter the second floor of the hotel col- lapsed during the course of a heavily attended public auction.

The auction, organised by Limerick auctioneers Louis de Courcy, drew large crowds to the hotel because of Carmody’s close association with po- litical giants like Eamon de Valera.

The accident occurred during the second half of the auction when the doors of the hotel had been closed.

The floor of the Sarsfield Room, Where the auction was being held, collapsed under the sheer weight of

numbers in attendance. Sheer luck prevented further loss of life when a fire that had been blazing in the cor- ner of the room remained unmoved.

Gardai, ambulance crews, fire- men and clergy were on the scene in minutes. Relatives of those trapped inside waited anxiously at the scene and at Ennis General Hospital.

Among those injured was Ennis woman Nancy Murphy. Last week Nancy’s daughter Christina Whelan (née Murphy) recalled, how, as a 13-year-old she heard the disturbing news from a neighbour

“My mother had gone down to the auction. She was looking for sheets, blankets, the practical stuff, and maybe something with a connection to De Valera. She was a big Dev fan. She sent my sister back home to help me with taking the spuds out of the

pot. My father was at the farm on the Inch Road and my three brothers were at school. The young lad from next door came home from school when I was out in the garden and he said ‘did you hear what happened in Carmody’s hotel. It fell down and they are all dead.’ I got an awful fright. I didn’t know what to do, there was no adults in the house.”

Christina’s mother was taken to En- nis General Hospital where she was treated for a deep gash to the leg. She never gave her name to officials, as she didn’t want word of the accident to reach her two daughters living in New York.

When Christina’s father, Bernie enquired about the condition of his wife, he, like many others, was told to first visit the morgue.

“My father went of on a bike to En-

nis Hospital. They lifted nearly every sheet in the morgue. He hadn’t found her by 11 o’clock.

“It was awful day, a terrible day, the worst ever 1n the town,” said Chris- abeee

Among the dead were Ernest de Regge, well known in Ennis as a lo- cal music teacher and choirmaster. His daughter Gislane Kozuh has been invited to attend next Tuesday’s Mass.

The dead were Ernest de Regge (54), Bindon Street, Ennis; ‘Thomas Donnellan (13), Bindon Street, En- nis; James Fitzgibbon (65), Marian Avenue, Ennis; Mrs Bridie Byrne (38), Kilrush; Mrs Josephine Carmo- dy (50), Barefield; Mrs Norah Cond- sidine (60), Corofin; Mrs Michael Coffey (41), Killoo, Clarecastle; Mrs Ellen McNamara (73), Crusheen.

TWO Aer Lingus jets were ground- ed for a short time on Saturday after they were both struck by lightning shortly before they landed at Shan- non Airport.

The Airbus A330-300 aircraft were operating scheduled services be- tween the United States and Ireland when they encountered bad weather about 30 miles west of Shannon.

The planes were struck by light- ning, with both sustaining damage to their nose-cones. Thunder and lightning storms were reported over a wide area of the west coast on Sat- urday morning, as well as inland in many parts of Clare.

The flights were the EI-132 from Boston and the EIJ-110 from New York JFK which landed at Shannon at 5.45am and 6.10am respectively. Neither plane declared an emergen- cy, and it is believed that most pas- sengers were unaware of the strike.

After landing at Shannon, the pas- sengers disembarked normally while the aircraft were taken to the air- line’s own hangar where engineers carried out a detail examination of all electrical systems and a visual inspection of the exteriors.

A small hole was discovered in the nose-cone of one jet, but its electri- cal systems were not damaged.

The hole was repaired before both

planes were allowed continue their journeys. The second jet also sus- tained damage to its nose and some scorching on the fuselage.

As aresult of the incidents, neither aircraft was able to continue onto the Dublin leg of their journey.

An extra aircraft was provided to take passengers from Shannon to Dublin. Others due to travel from Dublin to Boston and New York were flown to Shannon to join their flight at that airport.

Both aircraft were allowed return to service on Saturday evening.

The Boston flight continued its journey at 5.45pm more than four hours behind schedule while the New York service, which was due to depart at 2pm, left Shannon at ope LO} oyeek

Itis widely believed that most large commercial aircraft are struck by lightning at least once a year.

Although passengers and crew may see a flash and hear a loud noise, nothing serious should happen be- cause of the careful lightning pro- tection engineered into aircraft and their sensitive components.

Initially, the lightning will attach to an extremity, such as the nose or wing tip before travelling through the conductive exterior skin and structures of the aircraft and exit off some other extremity, such as the ene

CONDITIONS at Ennistymon Courthouse have been criticised by the district court judge, almost two years after he vowed not to continue to sit there.

During this month’s sitting of the town’s district court last Wednesday, Judge Joseph Mangan concluded the sitting at lunchtime and adjourned several cases, citing the cold in the courtroom as the reason.

He again referred to the poor con- ditions in Ennistymon at a sitting of Ennis District Court two days later.

“I just don’t feel well. That’s thanks to Ennistymon the other day, and I’m sure there are solicitors equally in- disposed,” he said.

In March 2006, Judge Mangan said he would not sit at the Ennistymon court venue after September of that

year, due to the conditions.

The court has sat at the Teach Ceol venue for the past 10 years and acoustics are poor. At the time of the judge’s comments in 2006, the Courts Service set about finding a suitable alternative location, but the issue has not yet been resolved.

A spokesperson for the Courts Service told

EAST Clare virtuoso violinist, Eliz- abeth Cooney, hit the right note when she called in a political promise of

help to scale musical heights.

The 29-year old — one of the bright- est stars in the classical music world — set her heart on a 300-year old vio- rhe

The only problem was the price tag, which read €427,000.

But Elizabeth picked the instru- ment by Venice musical craftsmaster Matteo Goffriller in a London show-

rooms over 14 other violins, some with pice tags of a million Euro.

‘I just loved it the moment I played it. But I had to rack my brians to see what I could do,” Elizabeth told

SHANNON’S 19th Munster Senior Cup win last week against Highfield was not only their eighth in the last nine years but it was also an historic personal milestone for flanker Colm McMahon. For the Ardnacrusha na- tive, it was his tenth Munster Senior Cup medal in twelve years, a re- markable achievement in the modern game but he also feels quite fortunate to have actually reached that tally.

“It’s certainly an achievement to be very pleased with and I was de- lighted to be involved. It’s great to get ten medals and it’s something you never really think about but it just happened. After the event you think ‘Jesus, it’s a fair auld achieve- ment alright’ but I kind of only came out of retirement recently. I finished up playing at the end of last season and I said I would go back to play a bit of seconds and the firsts called me up there when there was a few inju- ries. That’s how I got involved so it was very fortunate that I was playing at all.”

To highlight what an accomplish- ment this actually was, it is interest- ing to note that only two other players have ever achieved this feat before — Jack O’Connor with Garryowen in the late 1800s and early 1900s and Shannon manager Mick Galwey. The significance of this is not lost on the Shannon and ex-Munster player.

“IT am absolutely proud of that fact and no disrespect to Jack O’Connor because his achievements stands for itself as he did it at a time when none

of us can really tell what the game was like. But just to be on a List with Mick Galwey is something to be very proud of.”

Colm won the first of his ten medals

in 1996 as an early replacement for Alan Quinlan in what was his first season with the senior team. He went on to win a total of eight medals that year from the Under 20s up, a unique

feat that has never been matched, but McMahon feels that this win will have little impact on their priorities for the season.

“It won’t really change things too

much. The team would have targeted the Munster Senior Cup and also would hope to go a long way in the All-Ireland League.

“IT suppose it shows that when we play well we can certainly compete in the competition. I wasn’t involved in the semi-final but it was a fantastic win over Cork Con. There was also a very good win over Garryowen in an earlier round so credit to all the guys involved. They did come up against some very good opposition on the way to winning it.”

Although this is McMahon’s 12th Season with Shannon, he 1s still only 31 and while the commitment involved has taken it’s toll on the Clareman, he is not totally ruling out another medal.

“I couldn’t really see myself get- ting an |lth because I would never have thought that I would win 10. As I said, I had decided that because of the commitment involved with the firsts, | wasn’t able to give anymore and I had 11 seasons done with them which I felt was enough. I don’t even know how much I will be involved with them for the rest of the year but I wouldn’t see myself being around next year to have a go at it.

‘Andrew Thompson keeps telling me that he has nine and he is look- ing to match it and even go ahead of the record. So he is telling me that I can’t give up or he is going to pass me out.”