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SUNDAY’S road fatalities once again highlighted the number of road deaths occurring in the west Clare area. Tragically, the deaths of Eoin Glynn and Shane Donnellan bring to six the number of people killed in road ac- cidents in Clare since the start of the year. Four of the six deaths occurred on west Clare roads. Add this to the

fact that five of the county’s nine road casualties last year occurred in west Clare and the picture is particularly bleak. Nine road deaths in one area of the county over a 12-month period are far more than should be faced by local CLoyenvenlereple lee

The carnage is spread throughout the area. Communities in Lissycasey, Doonbeg, Kilrush, Kildysart, Killimer and Kilkee have mourned losses due to

road fatalities over the past 12 months.

Ironically, Sunday’s smash came al- most a year to the day since Sean Gal- lagher (71) was killed after he got out of his car at the Boree Log in Lissy- casey. That accident occurred on Mon- day, April 17, 2006.

A young Dublin man, Stephen O’Reilly (24), was killed in Kilkee in the early hours of January 29, while pensioner Tom Haugh (69) died as a

result of an accident in which his car was involved in a collision at Carrow- dotia, Killimer, on March 27.

The roads in west Clare are not alien to particularly harrowing cases of mul- tiple road fatalities. In October 2003, the community of Carrigaholt was forced to come to terms with the deaths of two young girls, Stacey Haugh (16) and Lorna O’Mahony (13). The girls died instantly when the car a young

Galway man was driving crashed into a wall, at Moyarta, on the road between Kilkee and Carrigaholt.

Tragedy on the double also struck in May 2005, when an accident in Quilty claimed the lives of Thomas Pender and David McCarthy (18). The car Mr Jo ele(o um eRO NU AAU OToam OUI Mrs Mats: 00 mm DOME HET e early hours of the morning. Mr Mc- Carthy, of Seafield, Quilty, was a front Seat passenger.

MARGUERITE O’Dwyer was ly- ing on the couch, smiling, when her brother approached her with a ham- mer and repeatedly attacked her.

Patrick O’Dwyer told gardai that the two were watching television on Monday evening, November 29, 2004, when he left the sitting room to go into the kitchen.

“At about 11.30pm, I just remem- bered going out to the kitchen. I took the hammer out of the press. Marguerite was lying on the couch. She was smiling at me. She thought I was messing. I would often be messing with her with a hurley and things. I swung the hammer and hit

her on the head five or six times. I hit her on the chest,” he told gardai. He said his sister wasn’t scream- ing. She was alive. He then got a knife from the kitchen and a Scis- sors from the bathroom and started jabbing her to the ribs and legs. At that stage she was on the ground.

He later went down town, before returning to the house and drinking a half can of beer. He went upstairs and stuck a blade into a vein on his left wrist and hit himself to the head a few times with a hammer.

He brought firelighters upstairs and considered setting fire to the house.

He said he did not realise the sig- nificance of what he had done until

the following day when he touched his sister and her head was cold. He then went to Ennistymon garda sta- BLOyEE

He said he originally got the ham- mer to hit himself as he felt he had made “a fool” out of himself the previous Saturday night, by drink- ing excessively.

The court heard that when the ac- cused arrived at Ennistymon garda station on the afternoon of Novem- ber 30, he showed a garda a cut to his head and mark to his wrist. The garda noted that he had a mark on his nose.

Garda Alan Keane went to O’Dwyer’s home, where he found the young woman’s body in the sit-

ting room.

He said there was a considerable amount of blood on the floor and the woman was lying down, face up.

A white blanket covered her legs and there was no sign of a pulse.

Under cross-examination by the accused’s barrister, Patrick Gage- by, SC, the garda admitted that the scene was “shocking”.

Sergeant Brian Howard told the tri- al that, after the accused arrived at the local garda station, gardai were concerned about his health. He was taken to Ennis General Hospital.

A senior psychiatrist assessed him and concluded he “had not psychiat- ric problems and was not a danger to himself”.

FIVE hundred and fifty workers at Shannon airport have until next Monday to decide whether they wish to accept a voluntary redundancy deal at the airport.

Letters sent out to workers by the Shannon Airport Authority (SAA) stated that the workers had until April 23 to sign “an irrevocable agreement of exit” if they wish to take the redundancy deal.

In order for the €36 million sur-

vival plan to work, the SAA requires 200 workers or more to leave.

Information sessions on pensions and the tax implications for indi- viduals will continue at the airport WDA (e1o).@

Those with 24 or more years of ex- perience who opt to leave the SAA will receive over €100,000 while the 350 workers who remain will receive a payment of €16,000.

The deal is expected to save the SAA €10 million per annum.

In the new revamped Shannon air- port, international retail organisa-

tion HMS Host has secured the con- tract to operate five retail outlets at Shannon.

The company already serves 70 airports around the world, including Cork airport.

The arrival of HMS Host into Shan- non also increases the chances of Shannon having the first Starbucks coffee shop 1n county Clare.

A Starbucks operating under li- cense from HMS Host opened in Cork airport last year. Most of the Irish outlets of the popular Ameri- can coffee chain are in Dublin.

HMS Host has already advertised for senior managerial positions in- cluding Business Controller, Finan- cial Administrator, Food and Bev- erage Manager and is hoping to be trading in Shannon airport this com- ing summer.

The deal for a restructured Shan- non earlier this month secured the overwhelming endorsement of the unions at the airport where 84% of SIPTU voted in favour of the plan.

Talks on the deal commenced al- most two years ago and the slow progress has prevented the Shannon

Airport Authority (SAA) from lodg- ing a business plan with Government in order to become an independent entity.

In January, workers at Shannon overwhelmingly voted down a pre- vious survival plan valued at €34 million.

However, marathon negotiations under the auspices of the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) last month at the airport resulted in the SAA agreeing to provide an addi- tional €2 million to a revised sur- ane Nm) E- bee

SK YCOURT management has decid- ed to defer planned parking charges, which had been expected to be re- introduced in July.

The announcement is the latest move on the ongoing twist into pay parking. Barriers were placed at the entrance to the surface carpark last year. Following representations by local traders – who argued that they were an inconvenience to shoppers – these barriers were removed last Oc- tober. SkyCourt management pointed out at the time that parking for the first two hours would continue to be free of charge, until July 1.

However, SkyCourt has now stated that parking charges for the first two hours has been deferred and Sky- Court is working on significant plans which will improve shopping choice ANNO MIE DUCA

“Until such time as these develop- ments are advanced further, we have decided to defer the introduction of the planned parking charges on July Ist,’ said SkyCourt Manager, Pat ea

The existing pay-and-display system will continue to operate. The first two hours are free, in both the surface and multi-storey car parks. Customers who park for longer than two hours will continue to be liable for a charge

of <1 per hour. Meanwhile, SkyCourt has _§an- nounced that three new businesses will open at the shopping mall. Two of the three are restaurants and the third is a traditional Chinese medi- cine shop, Herbmedic, which has just opened its doors. The restaurants are Apache pizza and the Royal Dorbar Indian restau- rant. Apache will open in mid-May, and will employ eight people, while the Indian restaurant will open in June, also with a staff of eight. Mr Kelly said that the shopping cen- tre is currently engaged in negotia- tions regarding other shops and out- lets and he expects a number of other significant announcements shortly. The franchisee of Apache is Paki- stan-born Jimmy Ajmal who came to Ireland in [997 to study at the Shan- non School of Hotel Management. When he graduated in 2001, he joined the hotel industry and worked for five years with the Lynch Hotel Group at Breatfy House Hotel in Castlebar and the West County Hotel in Ennis. The 50-seat Royal Dorbar restau- rant will specialise in Indian ethnic foods. Director Anowar Haq Iqbal already operates a very successful sister restaurant at the Cornmarket in Limerick. It will be located upstairs between Supermacs and Shannon Gahan

THE issue of diminished respon- sibility 1s a central part of the case and it will be up to the jury to decide if Patrick O’Dwyer suffered from a mental disorder when he killed his sister, according to the prosecution. Outlining the facts of the case, sen- ior counsel for the prosecution, John Edwards told the jury of six men and six women that Marguerite O’ Dwyer was a 17-year-old Leaving Certifi- cate student at the Convent of Mercy, Ennistymon, and her brother Patrick was a 19-year-old apprentice butcher

in the town.

The two were staying on their own in the family home at Shrohill, En- nistymon, on November 29, 2004.

Their sister Louise was in Galway — where she was a university student — and their parents were on a week- long holiday in Gran Canaria.

Mr Edwards said that at 2.40pm on November 30, Patrick O’ Dwyer walked into Ennistymon garda sta- tion and said he had killed his sister.

Mr Edwards said gardai went to the O’Dwyer home and found a body in the sitting room.

State Pathologist Dr Marie Cas-

sidy carried out a post-mortem ex- amination on the deceased’s body and found she died from blunt force trauma to the head, as a result of six blows.

“This type of injury would cause rapid death and it was irrecoverable,” he said.

He said Marguerite had sustained at least 90 stab wounds to the head, trunk, legs and body. Many of the wounds were sustained after the young girl had been immobilised and possibly dead.

Mr Edwards said the accused ad- mitted causing the injuries from

which his sister died.

‘Marguerite O’Dwyer was hit over the head viciously with a hammer on a number of occasions. Stab wounds were perpetrated on her body with a scissors. There were 90 odd stab wounds. It’s the State’s case that if you hit somebody over the head re- peatedly with a hammer, the natural probable consequences of that is that you are going to kill the person or seriously injure. It’s the State’s case that Patrick O’ Dwyer intended to kill her,’ he said.

“You may hear evidence that will seek to rebut that. It 1s the prosecu- tion’s case that this was murder and nothing else. What is likely to be a central issue in this case 1s whether or not the accused was a person of diminished responsibility. Up until recently, there was no case in Irish law of diminished responsibility. If a defence of diminished responsibil- ity is canvassed, that will be a matter for you to consider. I understand that it will be canvassed. You have to be satisfied that Patrick O’Dwyer com- mitted the act alleged and you have to be satisfied at the time he suffered from a mental disorder.”

“The issue for you is to decide whether this is a crime of murder or a crime of manslaughter,” said Mr Edwards.

A MAJOR new tourism plan for the Shannon Region is to be unveiled later this month. Shannon Develop- ment, the regional tourism authority will unveil its new tourism market- ing plans at a seminar it 1s hosting for members of the Shannon region tour- ism industry.

The seminar will be held at the South Court Hotel, Limerick on Thursday, April 26.

“The performance of the tourism sector 1n 2006 has been good and we want to build on this in 2007 and the coming years and let the industry know our exciting new plans,” said John King, Heritage and Tourism D1- rector, Shannon Development.

Shannon Development is due to an- nounce its detailed 2007-2008 region- al tourism plans at the seminar. The plan will highlight key challenges facing global tourism and how that will impact on the tourism industry in the Shannon region. Part of the pres- entation will involve an overview of the plans for the promotion and devel- opment of the industry by Shannon Development Tourism over the com- ing year.

Shaun Quinn, CEO Failte Ireland and Paul O’ Toole, CEO Tourism Ire- land will also give detailed presenta- tions covering the key activities of both agencies for 2007. In addition to the key note speakers, the main execu- tives from all agencies will be present at the events to discuss specific issues

such as training, international promo- tion, and product development. The seminar is free and open to all. Reg- istration for the event is at 9.00am for a 9.30am start and will continue until lpm.

Commenting on the seminar, John King, Heritage and Tourism Director, Shannon Development, said “Tourism is now the largest indigenous Irish In- dustry, accounting for over €450 mil- lion of direct tourism expenditure in this region alone, and will be central to the future economic development of the west. I would strongly encour- age tourism industry members to at- tend this event to get a full briefing on the activities of the tourism agencies, and use the forum to raise issues spe- cific to their business or sector.”

in Glor from April 23 to 26. This is Wil- liams’ third play and was commis- sioned and originally produced by Galway’s Druid Theatre Company in 1999.

The story is set in a rural post of- fice in west Clare where the old tel- ephone exchange has just been dis- connected.

It tells the story of the postmaster Jim and his wife Katherine, who were enthusiastic amateur ballroom dancers in their youth and their three

children who are now left the fam- ily nest.

The play explores the connections, dreams and love between family members and promises to be a real treat for local audiences.

Bernie Harten, Ennis Players PRO said the group were eager to show- case the work of a local writer.

“It was a play our director Mike Scanlon had read recently and he felt it was something we could do. It’s a really sad story but a nice story at the same time. We decided to do it fora change because we haven’t done that many local authors”.

The Way You Look Tonight is di- rected by Mike Scanlon, who di- rected Ennis Players first ever All- Ireland winning production, Alan Ayckbourn’s Round and Round the

Garden in 1995.

The lead roles of Jim and Kather- ine are played by established per- formers Geraldine Greene and Hugh Gallagher. For Geraldine in _par- ticular, the role of Catherine posed a unique acting challenge, as Bernie explained.

“All plays are different in their own way. This one is quite difficult for Geraldine as her character is an invalid so she can’t move around the stage. In her mind, Catherine keeps remembering her youth when she was ballroom dancer. There are flashbacks back to when Jim and Catherine were young so that was another challenge”’.

The past number of years has been a roller-coaster ride for Ennis Play- ers, having represented Ireland at

the International Festival of Drama in Monaco with Geraldine Greene’s production of

THE issue of farming pensions was back on the discussion table last week as the IFA called on an all-par- ty agreement on pensions for exclud- ed PRSI contributors ahead of the election. Following the publication of the report and recommendations from the Human Rights Commission on State pension eligibility for eld- erly self-employed people, the farm organisation called for an all-party agreement to implement the recom- mendations of the Commission.

“It has been a clearly unfair system

whereby a group of self-employed people were obliged to make PRSI contributions from 1988 onwards, but were ineligible to draw down a pension if they were aged 56 or over when compulsory social insurance was extended to the self-employed,” said IFA President, Padriag Walshe.

“While a limited concession was introduced in 1999 when people with over five years’ contributions were eranted a half pension, the remain- ing group have been excluded.”

“T strongly welcome the recommen- dation of the Human Rights Com- mission that a pension at a reduced

rate should be paid to those elderly people who contributed PRSI on the expectation of receiving a pension but were denied by reason only of their advanced age.

“Farmers make up the single larg- est group of self-employed, and IFA has highlighted this anomaly in eve- ry pre-budget submission in recent years. We have sought a 75 per cent pension for those in the 56-61 age bracket in 1988, and a 50 per cent pension for those aged 61—66 at that nnealee

“Bearing in mind that the group who have received no pension to-

date despite paying PRSI are now 80 years of age or over, I expect that both the Government and the oppo- sition parties will come out quickly in support of the recommendations of the Human Rights Commission to pay a pension at a reduced rate; also I propose that the pension be back- dated at least to 1999 when the half pension was introduced for some of the over 56 category”.

“The Commission’s report 1s very thorough, and a particular acknowl- edgment must go to the elderly Don- egal couple who brought the issue to the Commission.”

ALMOST 100 new jobs have been announced in Shannon with two new companies coming into the Free Zone.

Minister for Labour Affairs, Mr Tony Killeen TD, will today announce the establishment of two new companies at Shannon Free Zone which between them will create 97 new jobs over the next five years.

Supported by Shannon Development, the new companies are White Horse Insurance Ireland Ltd who are bring- ing 52 new jobs and PC Tools Software who will hire 45 new staff.

Making the announcement, Minister Killeen said, “It is a wonderful vote of confidence in Shannon Free Zone that two world class companies have decid- ed to establish bases here. White Horse Insurance Ireland Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of the global MyTravel Group plc, a major player in some of the most active markets for package holidays and other leisure travel serv-

ices, and PC Tools Software, a global leader in innovative software products designed for securing, protecting and maintaining Windows operating sys- oats

Welcoming the two new companies to the Shannon Free Zone, Mr Kevin Thompstone, Chief Executive, Shan- non Development, said: “The two in- vestments announced today represent the further development of two key

Strategic sectors for Shannon Free Zone – Insurance and E-Commerce. We are delighted to welcome White Horse Insurance Ireland Ltd to the Free Zone. They join the growing clus- ter of insurance operations at Shannon, now employing almost 700 people. PC Tools Software will also be a strong addition to the emerging e-commerce sector at Shannon.”

The two new companies were attract- ed to the Shannon Free Zone through the co-operative work of Shannon Development and IDA Ireland. More than 7,200 people are employed in 110 companies there, generating over €3.3 billion in annual sales. Shannon Development is currently preparing a comprehensive master plan for a major regeneration programme at the Free Zone to guarantee its continued com- petitive edge into the future.

FURTHER consultation between residents and Clare County Council will be required before Clarecastle will have its playground.

Residents are again to be consulted in order to identify the most accept- able site for the construction of a playground.

Opposition still exists to two sites – the People’s Park and Church Drive – identified in a surveyors report.

An area to the rear of Madden’s Terrace was also ruled out due its proximity to the river.

The April meeting of councillors in the Ennis Electoral Area also heard no land available either side of a sec-

tion of the N18 bypass.

Describing the exhaustive debate Cllr Peter Considine (FF) said “*“We are smothered with consultation. Ye’re playing out half and flyhalf with this, passing the buck”.

Catherine Early, Clare County Council, outlined to members the concerns of residents.

She said, “We have been told there is no NRA land available near the bypass. Any unused land would be sold back with the first offer going to people who previously owned the land. The north side we have been told is a flood plain, the south side is a water course. Towards the left there is no land available. Regarding the People’s Playground there seems

to be problems regarding access and the height of the adjacent wall. There are issues of safety and public liabil- ity. We were told that there is a cer- tain level of harassment when people VEstoam A bom O)-0 8 Oe

The secluded location of the Park was identified as another safety con- cern. Local councillor Bernard Han- rahan (FF) stated residents would be opposed to siting the playground in a green area near Church Drive.

“That is the only green space in that area. I wouldn’t be in favour of it. It’s used now by kids to play hurl- ing and football. If it that was built up it would lead to people congregat- ing there and noise”’.

Fellow Clarecastle councillor Joe

Carey (FG) suggested the compila- tion of a list of all publicly owned sites in the area.

Councillor Brian Meaney (GP) said, “Church Drive could be progressed through siting and design and good consultation with the neighbour- hood”.

Cllr Peter Considine (FEF) said. ‘There has to be visibility and com- promise. People will always find problems. If the wall is the only problem that is easily got rid of”.

Town Manager Tom Coughlan called for a timetable to be estab- lished and for one of the proposals to be put forward for public consul- tation under the Part VIII planning DEO TE