Category: Uncategorized

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.

THE clocks turned back in Kilmaley last week when residents of the local day care centre provided a hands on CCeaeyerieeclmCOembeMOlUlAKcsmpeeteD operon

Using an authentic butter churn the residents of Kilmaley Day Care Cen- tre relived an age-old practice much to the delight of students from Kil- maley National School.

The demonstration was organised by Clare Museum as part of its out- reach work in communities across the county.

According to Mr. John Rattigan, Curator, Clare Museum, “I brought a handling collection from the museum

to the daycare centre and tried to en- courage people to bring in artefacts from their own homes. Over the next couple of weeks we found that we had amassed most of the equipment needed to make homemade butter in the traditional way, and we decided to give it a go.”

He continued, “Most of the mater1- al is probably less than 50 years old, and I was told that the glass churn represented the height of fashion in 1950s Ireland.

Somebody else brought in the but- ter pats for shaping the butter and, more importantly, all brought in the knowledge of how to make butter.”

Clare Museum’s outreach pro-

gramme has been well received around the county since its concep- tion in early 2005.

During 2005 ands 2006, the clients of Ennistymon Hospital and Daycare Centre and Raheen Hospital and Daycare Centre were invited to take part in a reminiscence project called Preserving the Past for the Future.

Participants were invited to bring in family heirlooms, or objects that represented the lives or achievements of either themselves or their relatives, and to recall memories associated A Leem Ne ToOen

“None of the children present at the demonstration realised that but- ter was once made at home by their

erandparent’s generation’, explained Mary Ita Griffin, Manager of the Kilmaley Day Care Centre.

Ms. Griffin stated, ““The fascination of watching cream turn to golden but- ter proved to be an enjoyable learning experience for kids and adults alike. I would like to express my gratitude to Clare Museum, the children of Kilmaley National School and, most of all, everyone who attends Kilma- ley Day Care Centre for their enthu- siasm.”’

TWO aircraft confirmed to be in- volved in prisoner rendition activities by the CIA in reports published by the European Parliament, the Coun- cil of Europe and Amnesty Interna- tional, continue to use Shannon Aiur- port to refuel but are still not being searched by gardai.

The Gulfstream IV jets, registra- tion numbers N4/5LC and N478GS, owned at the time by Centurion Avi- ation Services, a shelf company for

the CIA, have been identified by the EU’s “Temporary Committee on the alleged use of European countries by the CIA for the transport and illegal detention of prisoners” published in November 2006.

N478GS landed at Shannon on July 26 andN475LC refuelled at the air- port in the early hours of October 30. A formal request for the airplane to be searched by gardai was made on the night by well known anti-war campaigner Edward Horgan from Limerick. Mr Horgan, a retired Irish

Army Commandant, was aware that the plane was due in Shannon and was there when it arrived.

His request to have the plane searched was refused and he made a formal complaint and two days later, received a letter from An Garda Sio- chana stating that “the gardai will not be taking any action on the informa- tion contained in your statement.”

Ata recent conference in Ennis, Mr Horgan asked guest speaker Kath- leen O’ Toole, the head of the Garda Siochana Inspectorate, whether

she would investigate the failure of gardai to prevent the use of Shannon for torture.

Stating that she had no personal or professional knowledge of the situa- tion at Shannon, Ms O’ Toole said that OS DENA OComDOOUUOUKI (cs mmc(oco wm OLE Li-DOhVAES Ro) f| time to assign us to look at anything throughout the country involving garda practices then of course we will do that.”

Centurion Aviation Services was also named in an Amnesty Interna- tional report on rendition last year

and the registered owner of both aircraft 1s now listed as L-3 IS LLC, Great Falls, Montana.

According to the European Parlia- ment report, “Aircraft N478GS and N475LC belong to the company Cen- turion Aviation Services. This compa- ny is relevant, within the framework of CIA flights, as a beneficiary of the so-called “landing permits” in the US military bases all over the world. The Civil Aircraft Landing Permit (CALP) authorizes aircraft to land on US military bases worldwide.”

UP TO 500 elderly people from east and south east Clare are to lose their local HSE centre that provides serv- ices such as home help, physiother- apy and other aids for independent living.

Staff at the care and case manage- ment provision centre in Raheen who had 500 east Clare people on their database are now being centralised to Ennis.

Clare Fine Gael TD Joe Carey has written to the HSE General Manager in Ennis expressing his concern at the withdrawal of direct care and case management provision from the residents.

“Care and case management is vital in allowing many elderly resi- dents receive the home help and care they require. The plan to centralise services in Ennis will mean that resi- dents in east Clare will have longer journeys to travel for assessment and consultation appointments,’ he said.

“This project has been running suc- cessfully in Raheen for many years,” said Deputy Carey.

Care and case management is in- volved in many areas of home assist- ance from arranging physiotherapy sessions, assessing clients for home help, providing aids for independent living and organising respite in day-

care centres.

‘This scheme has provided eld- erly people with invaluable resources since its inception in 2001,’ said Deputy Carey.

“It is not acceptable that elderly people will now be asked to travel to Ennis for these services. Trans- port will be a major issue for many of these elderly residents. In my view

the system wasn’t broken, so why is there a need to fix it?”

“What we have here is another ex- ample of the HSE using the current recruitment freeze to rush needless changes through the backdoor of our health service. Front line patients will be most affected.”

A ROW is brewing over the post of- fice field after wildlife experts be- came the latest group to express con- cern over plans for the site.

The Clare Regional Game Council has expressed its opposition to plans to build a new state of the art public library in the centre of Ennis. Ac- cording to the Council, any develop- ment at the site would have a negative impact on the abundance of wildlife inhabiting it.

The proposed development in the Ennis Post Office field will incor- porate a new Public Library, Head- quarters, Local Studies Centre, per- formance arena, community meeting

facilities and a range of ancillary exhibition areas for Clare County L1- brary and the Clare Arts Office.

Council secretary, Jimmy Allard said the post office field is an impor- tant breeding ground for birds.

He said, “We are objecting to any building or development on any part of the field. We stopped a builder building a hotel there before. That field is a wildlife sanctuary, from there out to Doora. There are a lot of ducks and geese in the area where they want to build that use it to nest”.

One of Ireland’s most successful fishermen, Mr Allard is a three time All-Ireland fly fishing champion and international gold medal winner.

He was the first person to introduce ducks to the River Fergus at the post office field in 1990 and the popu- lation has thrived since. He fears though that construction work would damage the delicate eco-system that has developed in the field.

“The ducks hatch along the area Where they are proposing to build. There will be hatching boxes going in there in the spring. You couldn’t start building there. There are a lot of people in the town that aren’t happy with it. Everyone would like to see a new library in the town, but we feel that there is plenty of space on the present site that could be re-devel- oped”

Mr Allard said the Council is also

planning to call a public meeting to discuss the issue.

Last week Minster of State Tony Killeen announced the appointment of a project design team to explore the development of a three-story 45,000 sq ft library building and arts centre.

However members of the arts com- munity in Ennis have questioned the merit of the project given Ennis al- ready has two major arts and cultural venues in glor and the recently rede- veloped Cois na hAbhna.

Library and Council officials have said the need exists for a new library in Ennis and that re-development of the existing De Valera library site is unfeasible.

BELIEF, structure and organisa- tion were the predominant threads which emerged from the “Together, Raising the Banner’ camogie forum on Saturday. Held in the conference room of the Auburn Lodge Hotel and chaired by Sponsorship and Finance manager of the Camogie Associa- tion, Sinead O’Connor, the five hour seminar was the most ambitious and Open camogie discussion ever to take place in the county and boasted a distinguished and legendary line-up from the GAA and camogie world. First to address the large attend-

ence was secretary of the Clare county board, Pat Fitzgerald who outlined the need for camogie to regularly interact and communicate with all county boards in Clare in order to ensure fixtures can be ar- ranged smoothly. The Sixmiulebri- dge man also stressed that equitable competition was needed along with a firm fixture list and that fairness was a priority when dealing with clubs across the county.

Trust, belief and honesty was Cyril Farrell’s advise to Clare camogie. Speaking openly about his past ex- periences as manager of both the Galway senior hurling team who won two All-Irelands under his leadership as well as the St Raphel’s schools camogie side who captured eight All-Ireland Senior A camogie championship titles, the current RTE pundit entertained the crowd with stories and guidance emphasising the need to find the right blend of tactics suitable for the team in order to pro- duce the best results.

Former All-Ireland winning player and manager Donal O’Grady high- lighted the importance of the role of the coach and manager in manufac- turing successful teams and advised the use of a liason officer to ease the burden placed on current managers in the modern game.

After a break, the forum then switched to the past experiences of currnet players and managers in cam- ogie and GAA. Dual Cork player and director of camogie Mary O’Connor spoke about what ingredients are

necessary to become an inter-county player while also dwelling on her background as a dual inter-county player which is particularly relevant to the current crop of Clare players. Five time All-Ireland winner Emily Hayden compared Tipperary’s rise through the ranks to Clare’s present situation while current All-Ireland winning Wexford manager Stella Sinnott spoke of Wexford’s march to the title this year after several fruit- TASS (ore Dace

Former Clare player Seanie McMa- hon drew upon his experience with the Clare senior hurling team while Catherine O’Loughlin and organiser Deirdre Murphy spoke of Clare cam- ogie’s immediate future and provided suggestions for the progression of the game in Clare.

The closing address was provided by the President of the Camogie As- sociation, Liz Howard who along with summarising the main points of the seminar, highlighted that or- ganisation and belief were key to success and reiterated Seanie McMa- hon’s statement that if the county is to move forward that everything has to take a back seat to the Clare team winning. A fitting end to an original and successful venture and more improtantly, major food for thought ahead of the Clare camogie AGM in mid December.

US TRIPS from North America to Ireland show a drop for the second month in a row, sounding alarm bells for Shannon Airport in the aftermath of Open Skies.

Figures for September show a drop of 8,900 in the number of trips from North American to Ireland. The Au- gust figures showed a drop of 4,100 such trips.

Fine Gael TD, Pat Breen has warned that this fall-off in visitors from North America this September, compared to the same period the pre- vious year, Should sound alarm bells for Government and for Tourism Ire-

land.

“It is not sustainable to have a trend of decreasing trips from the impor- tant North American market,’ he said. *“These individual figures come in the context of slowing growth in the number of overseas visitors to Ireland. Comparing year to date fig- ures, numbers of overseas visitors erew by 2.8 per cent in 2004, by five per cent in 2005 and 11.2 per cent in 2006. But the level of growth has dropped back to 4.1 per cent so far in 2007. This is becoming a trend and one which we must arrest,” he said.

“CSO figures relate to the number of trips only and do not address other industry concerns about declining

length of stay and average spend, as well as the regional imbalance in vis- itor spread. Figures for the summer of 2008 indicate that transatlantic seat sales into Shannon from North America are projected at 355,226 another significant drop. Yet no Gov- ernment initiatives have been put in place and promises and guarantees given have been reneged upon.

“The previous Minister for Trans- port Martin Cullen told us that he had sought and received guarantees that Aer Lingus would deliver 400,000 passengers post Open Skies. Shan- non Airport will be the real loser if yet another Government promise is broken,” he said.