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AN ENNIS man taking a High Court case against Clare County Council over a contentious planning decision has secured planning permission for a €7.5 million housing development near Inagh.

Last year, Bernard Madigan in- stituted High Court judicial review proceedings against the council af- ter it refused planning permission to Mr Madigan and Mary Keane for 31 homes outside Inagh in April.

The case has been adjourned a number of times and 1s due back be- fore the High Court next week. The estimated cost to the council of the proceedings is €30,000.

Last April, the council refused the planning application on three erounds: that the proposed develop- ment would be premature due to the existing deficiency in the provision of sewage facilities; that the location of the site on the edge of Inagh failed to integrate and respect the existing character of the surrounding area and the proposal would endanger public safety by reason of traffic hazard.

The pair re-lodged plans for 31 homes on the same site after institut- ing the legal proceedings.

A letter lodged by consultants for

the two, states that the revised ap- plication was submitted following a pre-planning meeting with the coun- cil on July 27, 2006.

The consultants stated: “The scheme has been modified to take into account the council’s recom- mendations.

“This application is being made on consideration of the recent an- nouncement by the Department of the Environment approving the Serv- iced Land Initiative (SLI) for the ex- pansion of the Inagh Main Sewerage Scheme.

“My clients are showing good faith to the area by developing a site with consequential benefit to the townland of Ballyduffbeg where the council operates its central waste facility.”

The lands are zoned for housing and the couple has secured plan- ning permission for eight detached homes, 14 semi-detached homes and nine terraced homes.

The council has granted for the plan having regard to the zoning of the land, the intended use of the pro- posed land, the pattern of develop- ment in the area, concluding that it would not seriously injure the ameni- ties of the area and be in accordance with the proper planning and devel- opment of the area.

THE bilateral agreement on air serv- ices concluded by the Irish Govern- ment with the Canadian Government on April 30 last is the “total sell out” of Shannon Airport according to Fine Gael election candidate, Coun- cillor Madeleine Taylor-Quinn (FG).

CUlr Taylor-Quinn labelled the de- cision “the final act of sabotage on Shannon by Minister Cullen and the Creuse ae

“Not satisfied with undermining Shannon on US routes, Minister Cul- len and his Fianna Fail colleagues quietly concluded an agreement with Laurence Carmon, Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Com- munities, and David Emerson Min- ister for International Trade of the Canadian Government on April 30,” she said.

This agreement replaces the 1947 agreement that made Shannon the gateway into Ireland for Canadian airlines. Now that the Shannon stop- over is gone, flights from Canada can land in any airport in Ireland.

The new agreement has taken ef- fect immediately.

Cllr Taylor-Quinn added that “in- terestingly the new agreement came into place just as the election was called, with no public statements or announcements from the minister. Did he think the people of Clare could be kept in the dark until after the election? Has he any idea of the

damage he 1s doing to the airport and the region?” she asked.

The councillor said that the deal was “unnecessary” and poorly nego- tiated. “There was no push for this at all. The Government has diluted the significance of Shannon as an inter- national airport.”

She accused the Government of “total disregard” in relation to a similar agreement made with US ZNDU EDEL

‘The decision in relation to the US was reckless as well. There was no study on the impact these decisions would have on the economic fallout for the region. Shannon is the only airport which will be adversely af- fected by these deals.”

Cllr Taylor-Quinn expressed con- cern for the morale of airport staff and the wider community as mainte- nance workers are “fearful” for their jobs in the short term.

“While canvassing in the past few days I have met a lot of people who are upset and disturbed at the state of affairs with Shannon Airport. I also spoke to a number of service staff who are concerned about the future. If these flights go directly to Dublin there will be less need for services in Shannon. She added that “there is a complete lack of concern with the potential loss of jobs”.

She urged the people of Clare to take the opportunity on May 24 “to register their disgust with the current Government”.

A FOCAL point for the village of Newmarket-on-Fergus has been erected, in the shape of a piece of sculpture.

Sculptor Michael McTigue was commissioned to assemble a piece of black granite, featuring a statue of a woman – Caitlin of the Weir, who lived in the area in the past – sitting on a wall.

The seven-sided piece, which cost €18,000, represents the seven par- ishes in Newmarket-on-Fergus, with a fountain in the middle. The entire cost of the project is €34,000. It has been made with the name Cora Caitlin, the Irish for Newmarket-on- Fergus, in mind.

Part of the piece of art has been put

in place and the remainder will be in situ by the end of the month. Stand- ing over seven feet tall, it 1s located in the carpark in front of the church.

‘This has been in the pipeline for the best part of a year. When com- pleted, it will feature a fountain and lighting,” said Mr McTigue.

The seven parishes represented in the piece are Kilnasoolagh, Clon- loghan, Bunratty, Fenloe, Kilconry, Drumline and Kilmaleery.

The project was funded by Obair in Newmarket-on-Fergus. Buddy Mc- Mahon, who was involved in the or- ganisation of the project, is delighted with its success.

“The aim was to get a focal point for Newmarket-on-Fergus and to give a little bit of history to the local people. It should be looking good for

the tidy towns,” he said.

Local resident John O’Brien has researched each of the seven areas represented in the sculpture. He has written a short piece of history on each one and his inscriptions will be cut into stone.

‘The most important of the ancient parishes would be Bunratty. There was a medieval town there in 1200 or 1300, run by the Normans. The Nor- mans introduced a lot of reform and organised the church into a parish system. Bunratty would have been one of the first parishes formed,’ said Mr O’Brien.

He said that Fenloe (Tuaim Fionnloch) would be another of the more important parishes, histori- cally.

‘“Fenloe originated in a monastic

site. Reputedly, it was a big school or college in the 700s/800s. Most of the ruins of Fenloe church collapsed about three months ago,” he said.

He said the exact history of Caitlin is unknown, but various theories have been mentioned locally.

“It is believed she lived in the vi- cinity of a crossing place where two streams flowed through the village, but we don’t know. That is folk his- tory, which has been passed down orally. Common folklore would have placed her in the early Christian times,” added Mr O’Brien.

A REPORT published last week has highlighted the importance of local community action in responding to the challenges of social exclusion in today’s fast-changing rural Ireland.

The report, entitled “Making a Dif- ference: Social Inclusion in a Chang- ing Rural Ireland’, was published by Pobal and suggests that success- fully promoting social inclusion in rural Ireland will require engaging in joined-up thinking, in policy and planning as well as in implementa- tion.

As part of the National Develop- ment Plan, Pobal manages a number

of Government programmes that Support communities and commu- nity initiatives across Ireland.

“While rural areas have shared in the boom, they continue to experi- ence many deficits in economic and social infrastructure,” said ‘Tony Crooks, CEO of Pobal. “They are also facing new challenges, with the continuing decline in agriculture, new forms of social exclusion and a more diverse society,” he continued. “Community-based initiatives play an essential role in the promotion of social inclusion, complementing the work of statutory agencies.”

These community-based pro- grammes include the Rural Transport

Programme, the Rural Social Scheme, the National Childcare Investment Programme 2006-2010, the Peace and Interreg programmes in the border counties, the Dormant Accounts Fund and the Local Development Social In- clusion Programme, which funds the local partnership companies.

“Many forms of social exclusion are complex and hard to address. Bottom-up approaches that are driv- en by community organisations allow the involvement of disadvantaged groups in the design and delivery of initiatives, and enable initiatives to reach the most socially excluded individuals and the most remote ar- eas, he continued.

The report states that more joined- up thinking is needed, at both national and local levels, if we are to address social exclusion in rural Ireland to- day, “Greater coordination between service providers, whether statutory, community-based or both, is needed in both planning and implementa- tion”, and says that coordination can help ensure that a full range of sup- ports is available to individuals and groups in need of assistance.

The report presents the key mes- sages from a conference, organised by Pobal, which brought together 220 participants, including policy makers as well as beneficiaries of the Pobal managed programmes.

, by Martin Luther Stites He pleaded “not guilty” at the out- set, after the charge of murder was put to him and also indicated his guilty plea to six other charges. Each day, as he was led in to the courtroom, the book protruded from his pocket. That book remained on the bench in front of him during the were During the majority of the evidence in the case, Kelly looked straight ahead. On the third day of the trial, he turned to the left and gave his full attention as videotapes showing his

interviews by gardai were played to elem LUD MYA

As his barrister Brendan Grehan asked the jury to return a verdict of guilty of manslaughter and not mur- der, he looked straight ahead at him.

He also gazed at the trial judge, Mr Justice Paul Carney, as he presented the charge to the jury and recapped the evidence, occasionally rubbing his face with his hand.

He listened intently throughout the trial and did not show any facial expressions as prosecuting counsel Tom O’Connell described the killing as “meticulously planned, ruthlessly executed and followed by a cover- eee Kelly also showed no major ex- pression of emotion as conflicting evidence of his mental state were presented to the jury. The prosecu-

tion argued that he was not suffering from a mental disorder when he mur- dered his victim, while the defence argued he was and that this dimin- ished his responsibility.

Kelly’s lack of visible emotion throughout the trial continued as the verdict was read out.

As Kelly murdered his victim, his dress sense resembled that of a young man, notably the presence of a baseball cap. One witness who saw him standing near Liam Moloney’s taxi immediately prior to the killing told gardai she believed he was in his BOs

His demeanour during the trial, dressed in a suit, shirt and tie, were more akin to a man in his 50s.

In the body of the courtroom, the family of Liam Moloney sat togeth- er.

Liam’s brothers Fintan and Derry, three of his sons — David, Peter and Shane — and his former wife Eileen listened to the horrific details of how he met his death. Each family mem- ber attended part of the trial, while Fintan, who delivered a harrowing victim impact statement at the end of the trial, did not miss a minute of the evidence.

Fintan and Derry sat behind the media and could have been mistaken for journalists, such was their regular note-taking throughout the trial.

Each morning, the Moloney fam- ily converged outside Courtroom Number One in the Round Hall of the Four Courts. They supported each other, in contrast to the accused who cut a sad, lonely figure, with no family support in evidence.

THE artistic imagination of 11 young children in Shannon has been recognised by the local Duchas na Sionna branch.

The group organised an art com- petition for primary schools, in con- junction with Seachtain na Gaeilge. 11 of the entrants were lucky to be chosen as the winners and were pre- sented with €20 book tokens, at a function at the Sean Lemass library in Shannon last week.

The theme of the competition was ‘logainmneacha’, (placenames) and the children were given the oppor-

tunity to describe their view of this topic, in art-form.

Greg Duff, who is involved with Duchas na Sionna, said the subject was particularly suitable in Shan- LO) eF

“Shannon would be unique, with the placenames. All of the new pla- cenames are up around Shannon, as Gaeilge. There would be a link to some history going back and we are trying to get the children to go back in history,” said Mr Duff.

Another member of Duchas na Sionna, Labhras O Donnghaile said the Irish language was the main idea behind the decision to run the

competition.

“It was all to do with the language and seanfhocail. The standard was excellent,” said Mr O Donnghaile.

Four schools were represented among the winners. St Tola’s win- ners were Rystis Chihunovas and Eric Mac Mathuna. The Gaelscoil’s winners were Hannah Nic Taidhg and Michelle Nic Amhlai. Ben- jamin O Maolchaithaigh and Lisa Ni Ailpin represented St Senan’s. St Conaire’s had five winners. They were Iskra Marvoka, Prionsias O Maol Dhomhnaigh, Frederika Ve- salenakova, Janella Leedasico and Aichah Ahmed.

Duchas na Sionna was set up a year and a half ago. It is a commu- nity-based local heritage commit- tee, made up of representatives of eroups such as The Shannon Ar- chaeological and Historical Soci- ety, Birdwatch Ireland, The County Clare Biodiversity Group and Club na Sionna, among others.

Since its establishment, members of Duchas na Sionna have carried out a major survey of archaeolog!- cal and historical sites in the area of Shannon town and its environs. This project is continuing and will take some time to bring to full frui- tion.

CLARE farmers have nothing to fear from the Green Party in Gov- ernment. This was the message from Green Party leader, Trevor Sargent, who was in Clare on Thursday meet- ing Clare farming leaders.

Speaking in Ennis, Deputy Sar- gent said that Greens in Government would be good for farming and rural communities with CAP and GATT reforms creating a real danger of massive job losses in the future.

‘This happened under the watch of those parties that demonise Green Party policy clearly without actually reading it,’ said Cllr Brian Meaney,

the Green Party General Election candidate in Clare.

“Finding a convenient scapegoat for the present and previous govern- ment parties’ failures detracts atten- tion from their own failings.”

The Greens have placed emphasis on the importance of enhancing the flexibility and diversity of agricul- ture and sustaining the family farm and the importance of safeguard- ing the land for future generations and encouraging young people into evweeperee

SU tom Orcctorme- toilet Meese MO KealeNe ise farming by creating opportunities for fuel crops, green waste manage- ment and a new local focus on food

supply.

The Green Party claim that they will lobby for changes in the World Trade Organisation to protect do- mestic agriculture from being under- cut by imports that are not subject to the same quality, health and envi- ronmental standards and streamline the payment of money under grant schemes so that farmers do not have to pay all the costs up front before being refunded 40 per cent by the Department of Agriculture at a later stage, which often necessitates ex- pensive bridging loans.

They have also listed creating re- search strategies to maximise the economic value of agricultural pro-

duce through value-added food prod- ucts as well as the promotion of a clean green image of Ireland abroad, creating a ‘green Ireland’ brand for food products.

They have also given a commit- ment to fund the Irish Seed Savers Association in Scariff, ensure Ire- land becomes a GM-free zone and ban farming of cloned animals, pro- vide more direct sale from farmer to consumer through farmers’ mar- kets, require planning authorities to designate “market spaces’ within all towns, reduce the dependence on chemical inputs by the majority of farmers and support sustainable farming by favouring small farms.

HE REACHED into a brown Dunnes Stores bag and considered what he was going to do. His hand touched a hatchet, he pulled it out of the bag and swung his plan into action. There was no going back and within min- utes Liam Moloney would lie dead, having been butchered by a man he thought he knew.

Anthony Kelly told gardai that a plan to kill Liam Moloney a week earlier did not materialise. However, there was going to be no hesitation on February 11, 2005.

He swung the axe and inflicted 17 blows on his victim’s head, before slashing his throat with a_ knife, at Port House, close to Ruan.

Kelly said there were voices in his head which directed him to kill the WEG ene Melu ioe

“IT could feel this thing building up inside me. I never felt like this before in my life. I felt possessed, I think is the word. Looking back, it was something like it,” he said.

Uncontrollable feelings of anger and rage had built up inside him

over the previous weeks. He believed Liam Moloney was racist. Kelly was married to a woman from Paraguay and he said he took exception to some comments made by Mr Molo- ney. However this assertion about racism was disputed in evidence by two former colleagues of the former Aer Lingus employee.

Kelly told gardai that he believed his victim stored cash in his apart- ment in Ennis. Mr Moloney had re- tired from Aer Lingus in Shannon in January 2002 and had received a severance package of €71,000.

Immediately after the killing, Kelly went to Mr Moloney’s apartment and stole between €500 and €600. He then drove to Shannon and picked up a teenage boy – as arranged – and drove to his home in Waterville, Kerry. The following day he got the unsuspecting young boy to assist him to destroy the evidence.

RESIDENTS in Shannon are be- ing asked to get involved in a major clean-up of the town.

The local Tidy Towns committee has just put together a plan for the year and is optimistic that everybody will play a role in keeping the town Ore

Its members are particularly ap- pealing for people to take control of the litter problem, which has cost the town vital points in the national Tidy Towns competition in recent years.

Adjudication for the Tidy Towns competition will take place twice during the summer and hopes are high that Shannon will improve on last year’s success.

Chairperson of the Tidy Towns committee Tess Barry said every person in the town has an important role to play.

“We are asking the residents to clean their own areas. The residents associations are wonderful and they get behind the Tidy Towns. Every- body has a role to play,” she said.

‘However, we have a big litter problem. We are trying to address it at the moment. We are very wor- ried about the cans and bottles being thrown around the park areas. Peo- ple are littering indiscriminately. It is quite bad. If people would just put them into bags and pick them up, we would be delighted with that,” she Cr HTOR

She said that the committee is de-

lighted to hear that additional money has been made available for the up- keep of footpaths, along with the provision of lighting in the town, this year.

The imminent opening of the re- cycling plant – in Smithstown – this summer is also being welcomed.

“The residents are eagerly await- ing this. Hopefully we will have the sculpture at the town centre rounda- bout shortly. It will compliment the area,’ said Ms Barry.

Shannon Town Council has in- creased the resources for cleaning the town. Under a FAS scheme, a cleaner was available for 15 hours last year and this has been doubled to 30 hours this year.

“She is doing a wonderful job,”

said Ms Barry.

Staff at McDonald’s restaurant also helped out with a clean-up last Neto) ©

Owner of McDonald’s, Kieran Mc- Dermott said he takes every opportu- nity to support the local community.

‘When we were approached by the Tidy Towns committee for support, we were delighted to assist and came up with a novel approach of provid- ing staff and expertise, rather than money. We paid our staff members to assist in the weeding and prepara- tion of flower beds around Shannon. The feedback from the Tidy Towns committee has been so positive that we have decided to expand the initia- tive for 2008 and also to make this an annual event,” said Mr McDermott.

KILRUSH estates are to get new stone-carved placename plaques where there are developments with- out name plaques.

The news was delivered to a meet- ing of Kilrush Town Council last week by marketing and development officer, Siobhan Garvey as part of her report on activities to improve the en- virons of the town. The stones would compliment the many activities and hard work being undertaken by the Tidy Towns supporters, she said.

Among the steps which the town council would be taking to support the Tidy Towns efforts this year was continued support of the town clean- up, which takes place this year on May 26, from 10am to noon. The town council will provide gloves, bags and skips for the effort.

“This year, we’re going for gold in the tidy towns,” said Ms Garvey.

The town council, in co-operation with the Tidy Towns committee and the chamber of commerce, 1s also producing a 10-step guide to con- serving this summer.