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THE inquest into the death of a young man who died after he was slashed in the throat at an Ennis pub was delayed for over 16 years due to a mix-up, it has emerged.

The inquest into the death of Cork native Robert Lynch (22) at Ennis Coroner’s Court yesterday was told the Coroner was not aware the in- quest had never been held.

Coroner Isobel O’Dea said the in- quest into the young gardener’s death wasn’t held previously as “I wasn’t aware it hadn’t been held until now.”

“The file was completed at very Short notice,’ said the Coroner. She immediately scheduled the inquest, after she was made aware it had not taken place.

In 1992, Christopher Cooney (42) was convicted of the murder of Mr Lynch, at the Banner Arms.

Cooney had an address in Shan- non at the time. His family has since moved to west Clare.

Retired Sergeant Phil Coll told En- nis Coroner’s Court yesterday that he was the sergeant-in-charge at Ennis garda station on February 17, 1991.

He received a call to go to the Ban- ner Arms where there had been a fa- Ye eel) patee

He went to the scene and the body of Robert Lynch had been removed to Ennis General Hospital.

The inquest was told that attempts by medical staff to resuscitate Mr Lynch were unsuccessful.

Retired State Pathologist Dr John Harbison carried out the post mortem examination on Mr Lynch’s body. Dr Harbison is retired and current State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy out- lined the details of the post mortem to the inquest.

She said that Mr Lynch had suffered one “major injury,” a large cut to the front of the neck, which stretched ‘from one side to the other.”

The wound, she said, was “fairly deep” and “cut through muscles.”

“There was no evidence of any oth- er significant injuries to the body,” she said.

Death was due to the inhalation of blood, as a result of an incised wound to the neck, concluded Dr Harbison.

‘He was not in a position to say which direction the weapon was drawn,” said Dr Cassidy.

Ms O’Dea pointed out that a mur- der conviction had been recorded in court, in this case.

‘There is sufficient evidence to es- tablish the deceased met his death by murder” and the jury agreed a ver- dict in accordance with this.

The details surrounding Mr Lynch’s death were brought to light earlier this year when it emerged that Fianna Fail Deputy Tony Killeen’s constitu- ency office made enquiries about the release of Mr Cooney.

Those revelations enraged Mr Lynch’s mother Nora, who criticised Mr Killeen and said the representa- tions caused more heartache for the family. The politician said he was unaware of his office making the representations and he visited Mrs Lynch in Bantry.

Mrs Lynch didn’t attend yesterday’s inquest, but her daughter Bernie was present.

CHILDREN as young as I1 are being dried out after they binge on alcohol, according to the mayor of Clare. Councillor Patricia McCarthy (Ind) made the comment this week, amid a public debate on the dangers of the combination of alcohol and drugs. The scourge of drugs came to prominence again last week after the death of model Katy French (24), af- ter she had taken cocaine. Two young

Waterford men Kevin Doyle (21) and John Grey (23) also died last week, days after they had taken cocaine at a house party in Waterford.

One of Cllr McCarthy’s colleagues on Shannon Town Council said the situation in Waterford happens “on every street corner”.

The debate arose at the town coun- cil on Tuesday night when Cllr Greg Duff (Lab) proposed that the council support the call by the National Youth Council for stiff measures to control

the availability of alcohol.

Councillor Sean Hillery (FF) said the combination of alcohol and drugs isa “lethal cocktail’. He said, “I think it is time the Government stopped the advertising of alcohol in relation to games. We are glorifying alcohol. It is very hard for young people.”

Cllr Patricia McCarthy (Ind) said alcohol has become more easily ac- cessible for people of all ages.

“From 11 up they are going into hospitals to be dried out. Alcohol is

glamourised. It is a dangerous, dan- gerous drug. It is time for the Govern- ment to take control,’ she said.

“With the smoking gone out of public places, people are drinking at home and there are no measurements. You don’t measure the whiskey. You don’t measure the brandy. It is a dan- gerous situation. The Government has been negligent. It should address the situation with the same vigor as it addressed the cigarettes.”

Labour’s Tony McMahon said he

Kor -DUCLOM MOT LMOODN (CUNO MOST hYmolom- lm Ul emr-ks alcohol takes over.

“Children may not be cared for properly in those situations and can lead in places to domestic violence. The danger is children would accept this as Some kind of norm,” he said.

Referring to the association between alcohol and sport among young peo- ple, he said, “Everywhere you go your head is stuck in a cup of alcohol. If you weren’t going to get drunk on it, you would get drowned.”

THE Burren Connect Project and Burrenbeo have launched an educa- tion programme aimed at opening up the Burren Region’s vast and varied heritage to primary school students.

The Eco-Beo education programme will be delivered between next Janu- ary and June to eight national schools in North Clare and South Galway, offering over 200 primary school students and their teachers a unique insight into the Burren’s world fa- mous karst landscape.

The primary schools participating in the 2008 programme are Kinvara,

Kilnaboy, New Quay, Corofin, Kil- fenora, Doorus, Kilshanny and ‘Tub- ber with additional funding being sought to extend the course to other Burren schools in 2008 and 2009.

The launch of the programme took place at The Michael Cusack Centre in Carron, where course tutors, spon- sors and participating teachers came together to finalise details.

It was announced that over the 10- week duration of the course, par- ticipants would learn about various aspects of the Burren – its animals, plants, monuments, landscape and culture – through a series of colour- ful classoom presentations.

This will be followed by weekly quizzes, e-newsletters and assign- ments.

Professional course tutors, all of whom are experts in their individual areas, will deliver each module. Stu- dents will be taken on a Burren field trip, where they will have the oppor- tunity to put their new found knowl- edge to the test.

Eimer McCarthy of the Burren Connect Project said that the theme of the Eco-Beo education programme would be ‘My Burren Heritage’ to increase awareness and appreciation of the heritage of the Burren among the children who live in this special

place.

The Eco-Beo concept was original- ly developed by Burrenbeo, which introduced the programme to six Burren schools in 2004.

The Burren Connect Project, for- merly known as the ‘Environmental Protection of the Burren through Visitor Management Initiative’, is funded by the Failte Ireland Devel- opment Fund, Clare County Coun- cil, Shannon Development, National Parks and Wildlife Service and Bur- renbeo and is working to link com- munities, environment and tourism to conserve the Burren.

Carol Gleeson, Project Manager,

explained, “The key aim of the project is to ensure the sustainable use of the Burren as a tourism des- tination, through a co-ordinated ap- proach to visitor management and environmental protection.”

The Burren Connect Project is presently progressing a number of other initiatives, including a series of traffic management plans, and driv- ing, cycling and walking routes.

The project is implementing con- servation programmes at Poulnab- rone Dolmen and Fanore beach, as well as exploring the potential for the development of eco-tourism in the Burren.

has learned.

Last night’s meeting of Clare County Council also heard that three neighbouring families have been trapped inside their house because of rising waters over the weekend.

Responding to motion on the condi- tions of bog roads put forward by Cllr Colm Wiley (FF), Cllr Joe Cooney

(FG) challenged the local authority to set up an emergency response unit to deal with the stranded east Clare families.

“One family left their home in east Clare to go shopping last Friday and still haven’t returned to their house. I think an emergency plan needs to be put in place this evening for these families. There are three families trapped in their house and one family trapped outside of their house since then,” said Cllr Cooney.

The issue wasn’t dealt with at the meeting as it wasn’t on the agenda.

Meanwhile, in a separate motion, Cllr Wiley called for an explanation from the local authority as to whether rural roads are being built too small or trucks being built too large.

‘We have lorries on the road at the moment that are so long that they are not able to turn on the road without going all over the place. I am con- vinced that the lorry companies are ignoring the regulations on the road and making their lorries too big,” SFG ON UDMA Eo

“All I want to know is are the lorries too big or has Clare County Council

made the roads too small.”

Cllr Wiley’s motion was supported by Brian Meaney (GP).

“I rarely find myself in agreement with Cllr Wiley but there is certainly some merit in what Cllr Wiley is say- ing on this issue. It is true that lorry size has increased.

“IT know myself from driving on the roads around Clare that the white line is something that you can drive on and over. The solution would be to bring as many goods as possible by rail or improving roads for trans- porting.”

RATES will be increased by three per cent in Shannon next year, to meet a projected increase 1n expendi- ture by the town council.

Total expenditure is expected to rise from €137,715 to €165,500 next year, according to the draft budget presented to town councillors by Town Manager, Ger Dollard last week. The single biggest increase in spending will be for the community scheme.

This initiative incurred costs of €14,500 this year and this will rise to €35,000 in 2008. Under the com- munity scheme, a focus is placed on litter removal and the general envi- ronment in the town.

Funding for civic receptions will drop from €5,200 to €3,200. The figure for this year was elevated on a “one-off”, due to Shannon celebrat- ing its 25th birthday, said the man- ager.

The mayor’s award, for which €700 was presented to a charity last year, will not feature in 2008.

Mr Dollard said the decision to discontinue this was because “it has been diverted to a charity” when it was initially geared towards the community.

“We have increased the contribu- tion to community initiatives so there is no loss to the community,” he said.

The current mayor of the town, Cllr Sean McLoughlin (FG) said he had

agreed to this award being removed during his year-long term as mayor of Shannon.

Looking ahead to 2008, Mr Dol- lard expressed optimism that signifi- cant progress will be made on imple- menting the master plan for the town and the creation of an arts centre.

He also stated that the tidy towns committee will again receive €2,000 in funding from the council, while an increased provision will be pro- vided to cover the costs of the twin- ning initiative between Shannon and Guingamp in France.

The long-awaited recycling centre which was opened during the sum- mer was welcomed by the commu- nity in Shannon.

Mr Dollard said, “It is evident that

there are demands for an increase in the range of services provided at the rerun AYAae

Reacting to the budget outline, Councillor Gerry Flynn (Independ- ent) said, “I had hoped the budget would have been that bit bigger.”

Cllr Sean Hillery (FF) said the council “should be involved in some commercial exercise. We should try and created some means of generat- ing some kind of income.”

Cllr Patricia McCarthy (Independ- ent) pointed out that many young people are unable to build detached homes on individual sites.

“That is something we could be looking at in the future much more actively than we have been doing,’ she said.

SHANNON based US-owned multi- national, Mentor Graphics increased the size of its business last year to $381 million.

However, the company endured a loss of $10.6 million at the end of paul eTes

The Shannon subsidiary — which employs 333 people — is part of Men- tor Graphics Corporation, which was established in 1981 with headquar- ters in Oregon.

Across the world, the company em- ploys 3,500 people and it is a tech- nology leader in electronic design automation, providing products and services used by companies world- wide in the design of the electronic content of their products.

The Shannon arm of the Mentor Graphics is an International Services and Distribution centre for Informa- tion Technology, Order Fulfillment, Finance, Purchasing, Facilities, Con- sulting, Customer Support, Legal and Human Resources for the European,

Middle Eastern and Asian business.

The accounts show that the turno- ver increased from $336 million to $381 million, while the cost of sales increased from $279 million to $313 wave en Ceyer

This resulted in the gross profit increasing from $57 million to $67 million, while the company’s oper- ating expenses increases from $50 million to $67 million.

This resulted in the company’s ‘op- erating profit’ going down from $6 million to $33,000.

The company remains in good fi- nancial health with the company having $26 million in cash in bank.

The accounts also show that there was a drop in the numbers employed at the company in 2006 with num- bers declining from 367 to 333 with 17 less people employed in produc- tion and 17 less in administration.

This resulted in staff costs being re- duced from $33 million to $32 mil- lion. The remuneration for directors during 2006 was $294,000.

According to a statement accom-

panying the accounts, the principal activities of the Mentor Graphics are the research, development and the manufacture of software and the dis- tribution of its software and services throughout the world.

Mentor Graphics (Ireland) localises and distributes software and services in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) and Asia/Pacific mar- oe

“It is the intention of the directors to continue to develop the current ac- tivities of the company.

HOME-owners in County Clare could be forced to cough up money for monthly water charges following a motion put forward at last night’s meeting of the local authority held at Shannon Airport.

As part of a motion put forward by Cllr Gerry Flynn (Ind), calls were made to put in place a system of wa- ter charges in which business rate- payers, farmers and domestic users

paid in accordance to the amount of water used.

“The way that the water services are operating at the moment leave a lot to be desired. I have records of customers who have been billed from Clare County Council for services that they have never used,” said Cllr Gerry Flynn (Ind).

“There is a lot of confusion with this. There are quite a lot of busi- nesses who need water operating in County Clare.

‘The council needs to get its act to- gether on this.

“If a business and domestic homes Operate out of the same water sup- ply, then why shouldn’t the owners be allowed to use their domestic al- lowance first and then be charged as a business for water used beyond dakelmaas

Commenting on the motion, Ruan- based Cllr Joe Arkins (FG) com- mented that if the Government wish- es to continue with free water for

domestic users, that they should pay for it rather than asking the rate-pay- ers of the county to foot the bill.

“I think it is very unfair to ask the business and farming community to fund the provision of water in the en- tire county,” said Cllr Arkins.

“If the Government wants to give free water then so be it, but along with that they have to give us a means of funding it, other than pass- ing on all the burden to the business and farming communities.”

THE Leaving Certificate Applied students in Shannon will get the op- portunity to present their artwork in an exhibition which gets underway tomorrow.

As part of their programme, the FE- TAC students were given seven tasks to carry out, on which they will be assessed at the end of the year. One of these tasks is an art programme, the culmination of which will be on

view at Shannon library for a week, starting tomorrow.

This year’s five students, along with past pupils, will get the opportunity to showcase some of their best works in the exhibition.

The materials used include lino prints, paintings, self portrait paint- ings, small murals and chalk draw- ings. A total of 18 pieces will be hung up in the library, where they will remain for the week.

The participants had 10 hours each

to prepare the exhibition. This in- cluded issuing invitations, putting posters together and organising sponsorship. They organised the event with help from their tutors.

“It is very exciting for the students. They will be interviewed at the end of the project. They have to write a report on it, to include details on things they learned about themselves and about the group in general,’ explained Imelda Greene of Youth- reach.

A number of local businesses have donated spotprizes, which will be raffled on the night.

The Youthreach staff are indebted to those businesses including Tesco, Dunnes Stores, Sean Hillery, Pink, The Gift Box, Art and Craft com- pany and Angel Flowers – for their assistance.

The mayor of Clare, Shannon- based Councillor Patricia McCarthy will officially open the exhibition at 7pm tomorrow (Wednesday).

A NEW Irish eco-friendly retail chain offering printer cartridge re- filling services is set to open in Ennis in January.

Dublin based retail chain Cartridge Green has recently announced am- bitious nationwide expansion plans that includes a new outlet on Abbey Street, Ennis. This store, which will be located beside Enzos Takeaway, is expected to open at end of January and will be run by local business- man, Gerard Kelly and his business partner Jim McAnespie.

Cartridge Green aims to educate their customers to have a positive im- pact on the environment by helping them reuse and recycle their printer cartridges. Local businesses can also benefit from the environmental and cost savings associated with printer cartridge refilling. “We strongly em- phasise the recycling angle and we

will educate our customers about how they can save money doing this” Kelly said. All refilled cartridges are produced in store.

“We use the latest technology to refill each cartridge which ensures a high quality product everytime,’ McAnespie added.

Cartridge Green will also offer competitively priced printing serv- ices as well as stationary and office supplies with over 20,000 products available to order online via www. cartridgegreen.ie or instore.

Cartridge Green has established six stores in Dublin and Tipperary since it launched in September, and will open up to seven more by April 2008 with a further 20 coming online.

has also learned that US Secretary of the Depart- ment of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff, was given a tour of the air- port earlier this month.

“The customs and border protec- tion investment is significant for the continuation of transatlantic serv- ices,’ said Mr Shanahan. “Shannon could be the first airport in Europe to have full US customs and immigra- tion in the airport itself. This means that any airline can fly directly from Shannon to any airport in America, which could make it very attractive for airlines wishing to use low-cost American airports.

‘We are ready to push the button on the pre-clearance situation but there are one or two minor issues to clar- ify. But once they are clarified, then we are ready to begin construction work on this.”

Mr Shanahan also confirmed that a major replacement route will not be in place when the Aer Lingus Shan-

non-Heathrow route finishes next year.

“There will not be a Heathrow serv- ice after January 14. We do and will continue to have flights into London. We are also in talks with a provider about the creation of a route to Lon-

don City Airport.

“Right now, Heathrow is beyond us. But if we can announce connectivity with another major European hub when the Aer Lingus routes pull out, then we will be okay. We have ad- vanced talks with Charles de Gaulle and are talking about other possible hubs also,” continued Mr Shanahan.

“We have been working hard with Aer Lingus to ensure that they main- tain their transatlantic link. We are also looking at introducing a winter season discount scheme to encour- age airlines to maintain their year- round service between Shannon and the US.”

The chairman of the Shannon Air- port Authority also commented that Shannon’s “tatty” image would be tackled once independence from the Dublin Airport Authority had been achieved and a debt-free start-up had been achieved for Shannon.

“There is an infrastructure deficit in Shannon Airport. Once an initial investment has been received, we feel that the airport will be able to self-fund its capital expenditure from then on out,’ he said.

‘We have assumed a debt-free air- port in our business plan which has been given a broad agreement from the Dublin Airport Authority. The time is right for segregation. The time has come for Shannon to be able to make decisions for itself.

‘Under the Shannon Authority, the airport has grown and is now a profit- able airport. It will remain a 100 per cent Government-owned company so terms and conditions for employ- ment will remain.”

The council members supported a motion to support moves from the Shannon Airport Authority to gain full independence from the Dublin Airport Authority.