Category: Uncategorized

A 25-year-old man who served time in jail in connection with a fatal road crash which claimed the life of a Lis- doonvarna man over Six years ago has had his driver’s licence restored.

Barry Richards, of Garrybeg, Loughrask, Ballyvaughan, was con- victed of dangerous driving causing the death of John Donnellan (18), from Slieve Elva, Lisdoonvarna. Mr Donnellan lost his life in an accident on the Kilrush Road in Ennis, on May 18, 2001.

He was killed when the car in

Which he was travelling collided with a parked lorry.

In July 2002, Richards was jailed for two years and banned from driv- ing for 10 years.

Richards’ barrister Lorcan Connol- ly told Ennis Circuit Court last week that his client has served time in jail and on his release, spent some time in the UK. He has since returned to tga t-biree

He said his client is particularly tal- ented in the area of woodwork and depends on others to get “from A to B” and hopes to get a licence to drive Zio) UtSe

‘He lives in a rural area without transport. At the time of the accident he was just 19 and had a full licence,” said Mr Connolly.

“A considerable period of time has elapsed. The incident attracted some notoriety at the time. He hasn’t driv- en since,’ he said.

He said his client had been a “mod- el prisoner” and “utilised his time well” in jail.

Judge Carroll Moran said Richards “has served his penalty. He has been off the road for six-and-a-half years. The State does not object to this ap- plication. He has paid his debt”.

THE Government is set to miss its own deadline in opening the first phase of the Western Rail Corridor between Ennis and Galway.

That is the view of Fine Gael’s Pat Breen who told the Dail that the link is unlikely to be opened before 2009 and not 2008 as originally envis- aged.

Deputy Breen said that when the new rail link is open, “There will be a railway network linking Limerick, Ennis and Galway, three major ur- ban areas and two large cities. This will facilitate many people, not only

morning commuters but third-level students in both cities.”

The Fine Gael deputy, however, was critical of the Government’s pro- vision of transport infrastructure in jabber) BB uote he

He said, “Unfortunately, this Gov- SIM ONDOLS)OLMN OT-omrsloyeDOLO CO) elerOmncseelO)IT-D INO lor velopment. Very little of the money set aside for Transport 21 will go towards rural Ireland, somewhere around one per cent or two per cent of its budget or €30 million.”

Deputy Breen said, “I commute weekly between Clare and Dublin and one would expect to find a dual carriageway at least from Limerick to

Dublin by now. The National Roads Authority, NRA, is widening the road at the Nenagh bypass to make it a dual carriageway. If this had been a few years ago when the Nenagh by- pass was opened taxpayers’ money would have been saved.

“Poor roads will not encourage people to live in rural areas, they will instead move to urban areas. That is part of the problem we face in County Clare. There is a dual car- riageway from Barefield to Limerick but the Ennis bypass which should have opened in 2004 is not yet com- pletely open.

“T welcome that it is partly open and

has eased gridlock in the town. The dual carriageway was opened last January yet two critical link roads, have not been opened at Clareabbey in Clarecastle and on the Tulla road. A link road should have been built on the Tulla road but it isn’t part of the

Eten

“We should have a broad vision when building roads and look to the future. The transport sector is the fastest growing contributor to our national rate of greenhouse gas emis- sions.

“A few years ago there was only one car per house, now most house- holds have two or three cars. Our

infrastructure has unfortunately not kept pace with that development. We all know how slow travel is now be- tween towns. A few years ago I could travel in ten minutes from my house to Ennis, now it takes 15 to 20 min- utes because of the gridlock.

“If we are to take cars off the road it is important to improve public trans- port. According to the 2002 census 62 per cent of people use the car to get to work compared with 45 per cent in 1986.

“The number of people driving their cars to work has increased by 50 per cent in that period. This is a worrying trend.”

THE promoters of a bottling plant for spring water discovered by Cllr PJ Kelly’s “water divining” powers will have to wait a while longer to reap the benefits.

This follows Clare County Coun- cil expressing of “serious concerns” about Clare Spring Water Ltd’s bore well to source the spring water sup- as

In seeking further information on the proposal, the council state that the location of the well may prejudice the future development of lands out- side the control of the developer and

that activity of the adjacent landhold- ing may impact on the water quality of the borehole.

The council states: “Please address these concerns and this should in- clude a revised site layout to indicate the location of the borehole relative to the landholding boundary.

“This should also include, if nec- essary, proposals to ensure that no inappropriate development is con- ducted on lands inside the 60metre radius, to include letter of consent from other landowners affected, if necessary.”

The water source was discovered by Cllr Kelly and a twisted metal coat

hanger and is it expected to produce a €4 million windfall for the village of Lissycasey, it emerged yesterday. The water diviner councillor dis- covered “three major top quality wa- ter springs” in the High Street area 6km from Lissycasey Clare Spring Water Ltd has since lodged plans with Clare County Council for a €4 million bottling plant to bottle the spring water. Along with the €4 million capital outlay, the plant will generate be- tween €1.2 million to €1.5 million per annum in the local economy. Cllr Kelly explains that his ‘water divining’ is carried out through hold-

ing a twisted metal coat hangar in his hands.

He said: “People laugh at it, but 1s 100% successful at finding subter- ranean activity. It gives you a lot of satisfaction when finding new water springs.

Cllr Kelly said that he discovered his talent accidentally 40 years ago when he took a pair of tongs in his hands and he jumped with the shock. Cllr Kelly said: “When searching for water springs, I get positive and negative signals.”

Cllr Kelly’s talent extends to be- ing able to locate injuries in animals such as horses and dogs.

A JUDGE has warned that taxi driv- ers are entitled to protection, as he jailed a man who robbed a taxi driv- er at knifepoint, for two years. Frank Hassett (21), of Clancy Park, Ennis, pleaded guilty to the offence, at Ennis Circuit Court last week. The court was told that the taxi driver had a float of €405 with him

as he started work on May 26 last.

He received a call to go to an ad- dress on the Kilrush Road in Ennis. He went to that address and picked up a passenger. He asked to go to Kilrush and said his friend would pay when he got there.

The taxi driver didn’t agree to this. A number of locations were also mentioned and the taxi ended up in Drumbiggle. There, Hassett jumped

on top of the driver and held a knife to his throat and stole the €405.

The incident was not reported to gardai until five days later. When interviewed, Hassett told gardai he wanted to pay off drug dealers to whom he owed money. He was ad- dicted to cocaine at the time.

The taxi driver told the court he “tried to talk him down, that I was only after starting working, that I

hadn’t any money.” He said he didn’t go to work for a couple of days after the incident, but later returned. Defence barrister Lorcan Connolly said his client was “in a grave situa- tion” at the time and was fearful. Hassett has several previous con- victions but Mr Connolly said this was “the first time he has been in- volved in an incident where there was a threat of violence involved.”

Judge Carroll Moran said the of- fence was “a pretty nasty thing to do. Taxi men are entitled to protec- tion. They are exposed occasionally to danger and they must expect the courts to protect them.

“In these circumstances I can’t avoid my duty and impose a prison sentence,’ he said. He imposed a three-year jail term and suspended one year.

A YOUNG branch of the national charity, St Vincent de Paul, has been set up in St Caimin’s Community School in Shannon.

The interest in the initiative in the school has been fantastic and its co- ordinators believe the group will be around for a very long time to come.

The key thing about this group, Youth St Vincent de Paul, is that it is the local community that will ben- efit, through the work of enthusiastic youngsters.

School chaplain Cora Guinnane, who is co-ordinating the initiative, said the idea came about after stu-

dents showed an interest in carrying out charity work.

Two senior students, Ashley Mason and Caitriona Lynch, went to Lour- des in June and they wanted to con- tinue with charity work, when they ued AUD U NLerOm aCe) eatss

“I suggested to them about setting up a junior conference with St Vin- cent de Paul. I put it out to the whole school,” said Ms Guinnane.

A number of meetings were set up, with a view to setting up the group and the reaction was phenomenal.

‘There was a huge response. There were 40 people at the first meeting. Out of that, we decided to set up a committee and we elected officers.

We wanted a good mix between jun- ior and senior students,” she said.

Ms Guinnane and another teacher Mary Ryan facilitated the initial meetings and various students were given key roles on the new commit- oren

A number of key initiatives form a central part of the work being under- taken by the group.

Some students visit the sick in Car- rigoran, Newmarket-on-Fergus and St Joseph’s Hospital, Ennis.

A Christmas party, for the senior citizens in the town, will be held in St Caimin’s on December 14. This will be organised by the Leaving Certificate Applied class, who will

organise the food and decorations for the event.

Other students are planning to help out with the annual Christmas col- lection in Shannon, while others are interested in helping assemble ham- pers in the school, for Christmas.

“Every student will be asked to con- tribute at least one food item. That is the plan, in the run-up to Christmas,” said Ms Guinnane.

“The reaction has been fantastic, wi th so many young students keen to get involved. There is good mix between boys and girls. The students have to learn to give something back to so- ciety and it is great to be involved in charity,” said Ms Guinnane.

A REMARKABLY low level of convictions are being recorded by juries in the Circuit Criminal Court in Clare, with less than a quarter of jury trials resulting in convictions this year.

Just three juries convicted defend- ants in the 13 criminal trials that took place in the Circuit Court during this year. Seven of the trials resulted in acquittals – a combination of jury de- cisions and directions by judges. In two of the trials, the juries could not decide and were advised to returned “disagreed” verdicts.

Of the three convictions, just one individual was forced to spend a pe- riod of more than one week behind bars. One Ennis individual, who was found not guilty of assault causing harm but was convicted by a jury of the lesser charge of assault, was jailed for six months.

In a criminal damage case, a Kil- rush man who was found guilty and was remanded in custody for one week. An 18-month jail term, sus- pended, was later imposed.

In the other case where a conviction was recorded, a two-year suspended term was imposed after a defendant was convicted of making thousands of nuisance phonecalls to the Garda emergency line.

However, there have been several

guilty pleas entered in the Circuit Court and many of those have had tough sentences imposed.

The recent trials in the Circuit Court resulted in juries returning two “not guilty” verdicts – one in- volved a charge of manslaughter and the other indecent assault charges – while a jury failed to reach a verdict in the case of a young Kilrush man

who was accused of assault causing harm. That young man was found not guilty by the jury of stealing a mo- bile phone.

Of the seven trials that took place during the June sittings, three de- fendants were acquitted, three were convicted and one jury was unde- cided.

During the court sessions last Feb- ruary, two young men from Kilrush were acquitted of assault, while an- other man, accused of dangerous driving causing death, was also ac- quitted. In another case, of allega- tions of indecent assault, the jury was discharged by the judge, follow- ing legal argument.

The trend follows on from last year, when several acquittals were recorded, during the Circuit Court sittings in the county. Two assault cases, along with cases of danger- ous driving causing death, threat to kill and threatening an individual all concluded with acquittals.

Ennis solicitor John Casey said it is difficult for a conviction to be re- fey xelere

“It is not an easy thing to get a con- viction before any jury, because of the legal intricacies, but every case has to be looked at on its own mer- its,’ said Mr Casey.

AN Ennis man, who is currently serving a four-year jail term in Lim- erick Prison has been charged with having a mobile phone in his cell.

Mark McCarthy (22), with an ad- dress in Ennis, was jailed at Ennis Circuit Court in April 2006 for a burglary offence in Ennis.

Last Tuesday he appeared before Limerick District Court accused of having a mobile phone and a sim card without the permission of the Governor. It is alleged the items were seized on June 24 last, during a

search of McCarthy’s cell by prison eee

Inspector Gerry MacNamara said directions had not been received from the Director of Public Prosecutions and he asked for a brief adjournment. Judge Tom O’Donnell agreed but said if the directions were not avail- able from the DPP on the next date he would strike the case out.

The Irish Prison Service says there were 210 mobile phones seized at Limerick Prison between October 2006 and October 2007, although most of the seizures have not led to prosecutions.

THE people of Stonehall and sur- rounding areas are being asked to help, financially, with the extension of the local primary school.

An additional classroom, games hall, office, learning support room and cloakroom have been built onto the school, which was constructed in 1901.

There were four classrooms, but

the additional room was needed, so that the increasing pupil numbers could be afforded adequate space. There are currently 106 pupils on the school roll, along with a teaching staff of eight.

In an effort to cover the costs of the project, the school is currently fund- raising with a “Buy a Brick’ project to help put the finishing touches to the extension of the building.

Some government funding was re-

ceived, but local assistance is also required, in order that the project can be completed.

The parents committee has raised some money and are still looking for more funds. The building work started during the summer and it is hoped that the final works will be completed within the next month.

Teacher Helen O’Brien is appealing to past pupils to help out, as the wider community will benefit as a result.

“The government funding is not ad- equate so we are asking for the help of past pupils to buy a brick. If they do, they would be helping with the kitting out of the school,” she said.

The bricks cost €50 each and con- tributions can be made to the account at AIB, Town Centre, Shannon. Ac- count Number: 06585022. Sort Code: ee te yo

Contributions can also be sent to the school.

YOUNG Clare farmers must be giv- en priority treatment if an increase in the quota is announced next year.

That is according to Catherine Buckley, Macra na Feirme’s national president, who said last week that should the EU Commission decide to increase quotas on a once-off basis in 2008 then the increased percent- age must be targeted at new entrants and young farmers in order to benefit the industry.

Buckley said that a small once-off increase in EU milk quota would leave Irish farmers worse off over the longer term relative to getting no increase in quota as outlined in the FAPRI Ireland Partnership analysis

of quota expansion.

The leader of the young farmers’ organisation pointed out that an in- significant increase in quota for all dairy farmers across the board would not benefit the industry.

“Instead, 1f we are to attract young people into the industry, we need to provide young farmers with milk quo- ta access. We have a poor age profile with only eight per cent of our farm- ers under the age of 35,” she said.

“The targeting of increased quota to new and recent entrants is vital in order to allow those farmers who are the future of the dairy industry to rapidly expand their businesses in the years ahead and to prepare for an environment without milk quotas,” she said.

“Dairy farming is a very labour- intensive and tying occupation and young people must see the prospect of proper rewards for their time if they are to commit themselves to the sector.”

Buckley said additional quota tar- geted at new entrants and young farmers would be purely ‘a license to produce’, rather than an asset, and the quota should be allocated nation- ally and completely separately from the milk quota exchange.

Meanwhile, Alltech and Macra na Ferime have, for the second year in succession, joined forces to run a na- tional silage competition in order to encourage the highest standards of silage making amongst young farm- ae

Over 400 samples have now been taken across 20 regions in the coun- try and the national final of the com- petition, followed by an awards cere- mony will take place on December 3 in Alltech’s European headquarters in Dunboyne, County Meath.

The overall national competition winner will enjoy an educational trip for two people to the United States in 2008 to visit a chosen farm enterprise, and 26 county winners and runners-up will each receive an Alltech product vouchers valued at €200, €100 and €50.

On the day there will also be a farm walk and an information seminar. For more information, contact John Graham in Macra national office on Ol 4268910.

A MAN who admitted possession of drugs at his home for the purpose of sale or supply has been jailed for two years.

Kenneth Daly (36), of Oakwood Drive, Ennis, pleaded guilty to pos- session of cocaine and cannabis res- in, for the purpose of sale or supply.

He also admitted possession of co-

caine, cannabis and cannabis resin, at his home, on November 19, 2005.

Garda Paul Crowley told Ennis Circuit Court that the accused told gardai, “Everything I have is in this drawer,’ referring to a drawer in the vanity unit of his bedroom.

Gardai then found white powder in a plastic bag, a brown substance and dried green leaves in the drawer.

Garda Crowley said that analysis

showed the white powder was co- caine, the brown substance was can- nabis resin and the dried green leaves contained herbal cannabis.

The street value of the drugs seized amounted to over €2,500, said the garda, while €6,170 in cash was found in Daly’s jacket pockets.

Daly told gardai he got a loan from the credit union, for work purposes, a few days earlier.

Defence barrister Pat Whyms pointed out that the analysis showed the powder was found to contain co- caine, “so we don’t know the value of the cocaine”.

He said his client “sought to sup- plement his income by trading in cannabis and cocaine. He was not a big operator.

“He was simply trying to fund himself and fund his own addiction

FL) Lnsmad

Judge Carroll Moran said, “It is very unusual to get a loan from the credit union and be walking around with that amount of money in your pocket.”

“You would have to be living on another planet not to realise that so- ciety regards the dealing of drugs as very serious,’ he said and imposed a two-year jail term.