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A BAG, containing €2,800 worth of drugs, was thrown from a car into the river while gardai were in pursuit, a CLoLtD am Nor DKC MoI KOKerh Ys Michael McMahon (22), of Plunkett Drive, Kilkishen, and Keith Ryan (20), of Orchard Drive, Clarecastle, admitted possession of drugs for sale or supply on August 28, 2008. Inspector John Galvin told En- nis District Court yesterday that members of the divisional drugs unit in Clare were on patrol on the Quin Road in Ennis on the date in question. SW eleavaeelelateeeme. car parked beside a soccer pitch. TRAE Tete hom OD’s Michael McMa- hon and Keith Ryan was the passenger. The car pulled away and travelled in the opposite direc- tion to the gardai. He said that Ryan threw a brown carrier bag out of the car and into the river. Gardai pursued the car for a distance of five kilome- tres. During some of this time, the vehicle was driven dangerously. The bag was taken from the river

and it was found to contain cannabis herb, valued at €2,803.

The court heard that McMahon had a small number of previous convic- tions, while Ryan had none.

Defending solicitor Daragh Has- sett said that both men are unem- ployed plumbers. He said that they went overseas on holidays together in the summer and during the holi- day, Michael McMahon’s brother

drowned. He said _ that the two accused “intend to stay trouble-free for the rest of their lives”. Judge Aeneas McCarthy im- posed a nine- month jail term on McMahon and suspended this OVNMCCey NCD LALOveMmNer-NE he be of good be- haviour for two years. He said he was taking the mitigating —cir- cumstances into consideration. He adjourned Ryan’s case for two months and directed that a probation report be carried out on him.

Bredin’s rebuild gets go-ahead

A SCHOOL principal arrived at work in Ennis to find what she thought was a dead woman lying in a foetal position at the entrance to one of the prefabs.

The dramatic evidence was heard at Ennis District Court yesterday, which was told that the young wom- an was naked from the waist down, was semi-conscious and was cov- ered in flour, while a classroom had been thrashed.

The 18-year-old woman, from En- nis, remembered very little about what had happened, having drank vodka that night. Her solicitor said yesterday she could have died from hypothermia.

Arising out of the incident, she was charged with burglary, but after hearing the evidence, Judge Aeneas McCarthy dismissed the charge.

The acting principal of Clough- leigh National School, Fiona Power, told the court that she arrived at school shortly before 8.30am on No- vember 28, 2008 – the morning after what she described as the coldest night of the year.

She said she noticed that the door of one of the prefabs was opened and she saw “what looked like a bundle of clothing lying on the floor. As I got closer I realised it was a person lying on the ground. I was afraid first of all that she was dead.”

She said she touched the woman and when she heard her mutter, she realised that she was alive.

“She was only partially clothed. She was lying on the bare concrete and a mixture of flour and liquid was emptied all over the floor. She looked as if she had been rolling on the floor. Her hair was matted,” she said. There were a couple of bottles

in the vicinity, including a vodka bottle, she said.

“It was a freezing cold morning,” she said. Ms Power and another teacher brought the young woman inside and tried to warm her. She was taken by ambulance to hospital.

Ms Power said the room had been thrashed, there was writing all over the walls and tables and the “floor was an absolute disgrace. Books had been thrown all over the place and filing cabinets had been opened.” She said the prefab had been locked the previous evening.

Under cross-examination by de- fence solicitor Tara Godfrey, Ms Power said that the young woman was drenched to the skin and was not wearing any clothes from the waist down. “Her feet were on the jamb of the doors,” she said.

Garda Jason Lardner recalled be- ing called to the school that morn-

ing. He said he tried to speak to her, but she was unresponsive and ap- peared semi-conscious.

‘Her eyes were open but she was unable to speak to me. There was flour on her face and black marker on her forehead,’ he said.

He explained that the door to the prefab had been forced open. Tables and chairs were thrown all over the place, while writing on the walls had sexual references. He said the wom- an told gardai she had been drinking the day before. She went to an apart- ment on the Mill Road at around midnight and had vodka, but did not remember much after that, until she woke up in hospital.

Ms Godfrey asked the garda, “Am I the only one concerned about her … naked from the waist down and with sexual references on the wall?” Garda Lardner replied, “My imme- diate concern was for her safety that

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Ms Godfrey submitted to the court, ‘In the case of burglary against my client, the threshold hasn’t been reached.”

She said the accused could have died from hypothermia that night, given the cold.

“There’s an awful lot more doubt and fear in my mind that something else could have happened,” she said.

Judge Aeneas McCarthy said, “I have serious concerns about what happened this girl. She was cov- ered in flour and was naked from the waist down and there was graf- fit: with sexual connotations on the walls.”

He said he was not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt and dismissed the charge.

‘Her semi-conscious state that morning also causes me concern,” he said.

that he believes the measure is “short term gain but to- tally counter productive”.

The renowned Jim Power, Chief Economist with Friend’s First was speaking in advance of his presenta- tion at “Dynamic Regions – Future

Directions in Regional Develop- ment’, which was organised by Shan- non Development to mark its 50th

anniversary. Describing the tax as a “totally counterproductive measure’ he

warned that the “tourism product in Ireland is already under pressure. Getting people to come to Ireland in the current economy is already dif- ficult.”

He said he is in “100 per cent agree- ment with Michael O’Leary about the long-term damage this will do. This tax is a short term measure with

long-term consequences.”

Speaking as workers from the pub- lic and private sector converged on cities around the country for a na- tional day of protest last Friday, Pow- er said the public service employees and unions will have to face facts and “will have to get their heads out of the sand. We have allowed the cost base in this country to get totally out of control over the past decade and that has to be brought down. Any- thing else would be disastrous for the jaUinel none

And he added that with high unem-

ployment in the mid-west, proper uti- lisation of the Task Force appointed by the Tanaiste, Shannon Develop- ment and other agencies is “vital”.

Speaking at the event in Limerick’s Thomond Park Conference Centre, Power said, “Continued ongoing in- vestment in access – by that I mean transport infrastructure such as ports, airport, rail and road, 1s criti- cal for the mid-west economy.

“Also critical for the region and Ireland generally will be a competti- tively priced power supply, without this economic and commercial activ-

ity will be in jeopardy. Broadband infrastructure will be another key business and economic enabler. Ac- cess to high speed broadband is an essential “must have’ on every inves- tors shopping list.

“A highly skilled flexible workforce iS a prerequisite to many FDI compa- nies in their search for a new base. If any of these basic requirements are missing or weak in a region, then it puts that area at a huge disadvantage. This is why it is vital to continue to invest in these key economic driv- ne

COUNCILLORS are calling for a full road safety audit to be carried out at each primary and post-prima- ry school in the Ennis area.

At yesterday’s meeting of council- lors in the Ennis East electoral area, Councillor Johnny Flynn initially called on the council to carry out a road safety audit of all schools in En- nis East.

Cllr Flynn told the meeting that an audit was necessary as there had been a “significant” number of traffic accidents at schools in Ennis.

In response, Senior Executive En- gineer, Eamon O’Dea said that the council did not have the resources to carry out the audit.

Mr O’Dea added that there had been significant investment in road signage and road markings.

He stated, “The council would be obliged to look at this proposal on a countywide basis and it would not be possible to have it carried out within our resources. There has been con- siderable investment by the council into road signage and road markings

in the vicinity of schools and the em- ployment of school wardens at many of the national schools.”

He added, “The council is willing to discuss any issues that may exist on an individual basis with the relevant

school authorities and this is usually carried out in the pre-planning phase when schools are seeking permission for improvement works.”

Cllr Flynn said he was disappoint- ed with the council’s response. “I’m

disappointed that we are not looking at this a bit more. I think we could take Ennis East as a trial area. The number of accidents and incidents outside schools is significant.”

Cllr Flynn added, “There is a sig- nificant need for this. Ennis East would become a pilot area.”

ClUlr Tommy Brennan (Ind) said he would support the motion if it was amended to include all schools in the Ennis area and not just those in En- nis East.

Clir Flynn agreed to amend his mo- tion to include all schools in Ennis.

Cllr Flynn had initially proposed that Clare County Council carry out a road safety audit at each primary and post-primary school in the Ennis East in terms of adequacy of vehicu- lar set down/collection, facilities for cyclists/pedestrians (including cross- ings), school warden needs/requests, public lighting, speed limits, effec- tiveness of signage, school bus facili- ties, etc, and make recommendations for planned phased improvements if required.

TANAISTE Mary Couglan has ad- mitted that the money is not there to implement all of the recommen- dations made by the Mid-West Task Force which was set up in the wake of massive job losses at Dell.

The Task Force was appointed by the Tanaiste herself after Dell an- nounced it was moving all of its manufacturing process to Poland, taking 2,000 wagepackets directly out of the economy and causing fur- ther job-losses in companies depend- ant on feeding the Dell plant.

After his interim report to Govern- ment, Denis Brosnan, Chairman of

the Task Force, said that any further work done by him and the Task Force would be a “waste of time’ unless the recommendations published four months ago are implemented.

Among those recommendations were that the Government should tackle costs in Ireland, to accelerate the regeneration programme in Lim- erick and to improve back to educa- tion allowance schemes.

Speaking before taking the mike at the Shannon Development ‘Dynamic Regions – Directions in Regional De- velopment’ conference last Friday the Tanaiste and Minister for Enter- prise said that while a lot of the rec- ommendations which have a national

context are being addressed, she stressed that “it has to be said that we don’t have the financial wherewithal to implement every recommendation that there is.”

But she promised that she and her government colleagues “will be bringing together two or three items that need to be addressed here in the context of the Task Force here to see if we can find the financial where- withal in next year’s budget to allow that to happen.”

The Tanaiste was speaking to the conference as Government employ- ees took to the streets to protest at proposed cuts in pay and revised work practices.

The Tanaiste told the conference that a “seismic change in attitude” is need in the public sector.

Citing the example of Shannon De- velopment “who did their own reor- ganisation without a word about it” she said that if public sector employ- ees are not prepared to co-operate to get the balance right “then Govern- ment will have to make a decision… everyone will have to take a reduc- tion in their standard of living. Many people in the private sector have done this in order to keep their jobs.

“A lot of people in the private sec- tor have lost their jobs and it is part of my portfolio to try and get those people back to work again and attract

more jobs to this country and support entrepreneurship,” the Tanaiste con- tinued.

Speaking to the conference itself, she said “I believe regional devel- Opment is now more important than ever. To be more competitive and innovative, we need more regional actions on the ground to devise so- lutions to help us on the road to na- tional recovery.

“IT believe the time for strong re- gional development is now. Mobilis- ing the contribution of each region to national competitiveness is at forefront of what we do. Strong re- gions will help us grow and sustain a strong national economy.”

IT is still unclear what power, if any, Clare’s four TDs have to influence the decisions made by Clare County Soiele

Following a lively debate at last night’s meeting of the local author- ity, the exact power the TDs have to influence the allocation of housing remains a mystery.

This follows a motion put forward by Cllr Brian Meaney (Green Party), asking for a list of all TDs who have

representatives on behalf of mem- bers of the public to Clare County Sonia

“I’m not happy with the reply. I re- quested a list of the names of TDs and I have not been given that list. I wanted to see what influence, if any, a member of the Dail can have on the allocation of houses. I want it clearly stated whether a TD does not have a role to play in the allocation of houses.

“It must be stated clearly what role a TD has in this, what weight is given

to a representation made by them. I have been contacted by people who have said that they were successful in representatives because they con- tacted their TD.”

This motion was supported by Cllr Patricia McCarthy (Ind) who said it wrong of TDs to tell the public that they have powers in such instances if WeTeaVare (oyna

“It is wrong for elected represented to misrepresent the situation and say that they can have influence. Or if they are having an influence then we

need to know about it,’ she said it.

The role of the TD’s in local issues was defended by Cllr Cathal Crowe coy)

“T think that it is a quirk in the Irish system that elected members from all levels have a very close level of contact with the local community,” he said.

“If a representative wants to make representatives on behalf of people then I can’t see any harm in it.”

A spokesperson from Clare County Council said that all representative

from TDs are acknowledged and a TD would be given advice on the current status of the application.

“It is prehistoric and inconceivable that we elect people to legislate and they end up as social workers,” said OW rite

‘They are more interested in watch- ing their backs and deceiving the electorate,” he said.

“I don’t believe that they have any more influence on this matter than a Shetland dog but they are putting it around that they have.”

THE curtain came down last night on the 15th annual Ennis Trad Fes- tival. A performance by the Alan Kelly Quartet rounded off the festi- val, which organisers are hailing as AME CLentoe

Committee member Kevin Finu- cane said the four-day festival drew big crowds.

“There seems to have been a good crowd around alright; particularly on the Saturday for the Lunasa gig but there seems to have been good crowds around all weekend. We haven’t got an official figure on the numbers yet but in terms of musicians, there was a big turnout. Talking to the pubs where there were sessions on, there seems to have been a lot of people around. It’s a sign that music brings people to the pubs,” he said.

This year’s festival had been in doubt but its future was secured through increased support from En- nis Town Council, local businesses, the Vintner’s Federation and the ar-

rival of Guinness as main festival Sponsor.

““T think the fact that there was doubt about it, more people came along to support it. Between concerts and ses- sions, CD launches and workshops, there was an awful lot going on. The hotels were full. You couldn’t get ac- commodation anywhere so I think that’s a fair indication of the amount of people that were around,’ added Kevin.

The festival kicked off on Thursday night with a performance by Clare band Moher at the Temple Gate Ho- tel. Saturday night saw some of the best traditional bands face off against each other in the West County Hotel for the Ard Ghaisce na mBuionta, or Great Band Challenge.

Trad band Lunasa drew big crowds to the Auburn Lodge for their per- formance, also on Saturday night.

Sunday saw two legends of tradi- tional Irish music, Frankie Gavin and ‘Tony McMahon, take to the stage for a rare joint concert at the Old Ground Hotel.

THE recession has done more for bringing down Clare’s waste moun- tain than all the education and aware- ness programmes together, members of Clare County Council were told last night.

Director of Services, David Timlin, said that the downfall in consumerism has resulted in a drop of 40 per cent in bring-back waste and a further drop of 20 per cent for other waste.

“The recession has done more for or volume of waste overall that any awareness programme or education,’ he told the meeting of the local au- thority.

He was speaking after Fianna Fail councillor, Pat Hayes had tabled a

motion asking what had been the result of the introduction last year of fees for people to use the county’s re- cycling centres.

But Cllr Hayes said that while it appeared that the revenue expected had been achieved from the charges, it was unclear as to what effects they have had on recycling.

‘Some centres seem to be up – oth- ers seem to be down but it’s hard to know from the information if people have used the centres less.

‘For instance, use of our own centre in Scariff is down while some other centres are up but I don’t believe that people from Scariff have switched to using centres in Ennis or elsewhere. I’d like to get a clearer picture.” he Ko) (em aatomanteronneree

THE multi-million euro package to assist Dell employees who lost their jobs earlier this year came a step closer in the last week as the Em- ployment Committee approved the proposal.

Last September the President of the EU Commission José Manuel Barroso announced that the Com- mission had approved an application from Ireland for assistance from the European Globalisation adjustment Fund (EGF).

The grant of €14.8 million would help 2,400 redundant workers in the computer industry in the mid west to find new jobs.

The application however also re- quired the approval of the European Parliament and the Council of the EU.

Last Thursday at a meeting in the European Parliament, the Em- ployment Committee approved the proposal to grant assistance to the former Dell workers.

Member of the Employment Com- mittee and the only Irish member of the EU Globalisation Fund Working Group, Ireland North West MEP- Marian Harkin, said that the work- ing group took the decision to ap- prove the Dell application following a response from the EU Commis- sion to a number of questions posed by the group.

“It is absolutely crucial that former

Dell workers have access to this fund as soon as possible and that nothing further delays the procedure. It is an expression of solidarity and support from the EU to those who lose their jobs through globalisation and at least it gives a ray of hope to those considering their future plans.

“IT have worked hard within the working group to ensure support for the Dell workers and I am very pleased with the progress so far,” said the MEP for the West, includ- ing Clare.

The mid-west application relates in total to 2,840 redundancies in total, of which 2,000 were in Dell Com- puters and 840 in eight of its sup- pliers and downstream producers. Dell represented 1.7 per cent of the total employment in the mid-west region, a region where unemploy- ment before the Dell redundancies was already higher than the national average.

The total estimated cost of the package is almost €©23 million, of which the European Union has been asked to provide EGF assistance of €14.8 million.

There have been 27 applications to the EGF since its creation in late 2006 for a total amount of over €154 million, helping some 33,300 workers.

The Dell application is the first re- lating to computers. The only other Irish application was for Waterford eee