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MARY Shannon’s decision to go public last week and her call for mandatory sentences for rapists re- kindled memories for several other rape victims.

One Clare rape victim recalled horrific memories of her own or- deal, at the hands of her former partner.

The woman, who is from west Clare and who wished to retain her anonymity, said she was repeat- edly raped over a period of a long number of years but was too afraid to take a case against her attacker.

After going through prolonged pain for several years, she eventu- ally left him, five years ago.

“If he wasn’t raping me, he was beating me. I would refuse to have sex with him but he would force himself on me. I would get a belt anyway. I would lie to the doctor about my injuries.

‘“T reported it to gardai, but I didn’t go any further with it, because I felt I was the one that was in the wrong. I have been feeling guilty all my life,’ she said.

Not only was she afraid to make a statement to gardai, but she was also in fear of telling her family

what she was going through.

“IT was afraid to make a statement in case I hurt his feelings. He had a hold over me. It was up to me to walk away but I couldn’t,” she said.

She eventually managed to tear herself away and she fled.

“It was very hard to walk away from it. He cut my breasts and that was the end of it,” she said.

She attended counselling at the Rape Crisis Centre, but believes the psychological effects of her ordeal will remain with her forever.

She said that Mary Shannon’s de- cision to go public has inspired con- fidence in her and, in hindsight, she

regrets not pressing charges against her attacker.

“T regret not going ahead with it. I always get angry when I hear some- thing like this (Mary Shannon’s case). I have come a long way, but you have to get help,” she said.

“My advice to other women would be to report incidents like this… fast. You never forget. You start drinking or using drugs to dull the pain. It works for a while, but then you become addicted and you are worse. The biggest thing I felt was anger and I would feel angry again when something like this happens again,” she said.

THE cool dudes from Mullagh know what is good for them.

Everyday during the month of March they are eating their greens and devouring their fruit as part of Bord Bia’s Food Dudes programme.

The programme, launched by Mary Coughlan, Minister for Agriculture and Food and Mary Hanafin, Minis- ter for Education and Science aims to permanently increase consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables among primary school children both in the school and at home.

Mullagh National School is just one of 50 schools nationwide selected to take part in the programme.

This programme, which was devel- oped by the University of Wales, has delivered effective and long-lasting

results across the primary age range, regardless of gender, school size, and geographic and socio-economic fac- tors.

It is ultimately designed to enable children enjoy healthy diets, and to create a healthy eating culture within schools.

Two of the teaching staff, Mrs Connie Sexton and Ms Brid Keane, of Mullagh National School have attended Department of Education in-service in relation to the delivery of this programme and are currently overseeing its implementation in the school.

The pupils enjoy fruit and vegeta- bles on a daily basis as well as talks and videos explaining the benefits of fruit and vegetables within a healthy hte

More than 30,000 children will

participate in the programme over a three-year period.

The implementation of this pro- gramme was one of the recommen- dations in the recent report from the National Obesity Task Force.

Speaking about the programme in Mullagh National School, Minister Coughlan said, “The results of the National Children’s Food Survey 2005 tell us that currently in Ireland, some one in five children are over- weight or obese. It is therefore impor- tant that we encourage our children to eat healthily and fruit and vegeta- bles are key in that regard. The Food Dudes programme is designed to encourage children to develop a lik- ing for fruit and vegetables through repeated tasting and to maintain this behavioural change over time.”

School principal Séan McMahon

welcomed the initiative.

“Food Dudes is proving to be pop- ular with both parents and children. It has been successful in increasing consumption of fruit and vegetables among children in Mullagh. I see it as a central element of the schools approach to promoting a healthy en- vironment and seeking to instill in pupils a health conscious approach to diet, which will stay with them throughout their lives.

Mar a deir an seanfhocail “Is fearr an slainte na na tainte,” he said.

that they “join with the community in offering support to

Mary Shannon during this traumatic time, for her and her family”’.

The statement continued that those involved in the organisation felt that the three-year suspended sentence served on her perpetrator “was nel- ther fair nor consistent with other rape sentences. This man pleaded not guilty to rape, thus forcing Mary to give evidence of her experience. He was found guilty by a jury, yet the fact remains his crime goes unpun- ished”.

The statement said that it is “ex- tremely difficult for women to come forward and report rape or domestic abuse. It is worrying that the outcome of this trial will discourage women

from disclosing rape and abuse, thus leaving them in a potentially danger- ous situation and undoing all of the good work and practices that many agencies in this country have striven hard to achieve”.

The Clare Haven statement added that they “commend Mary on her courage to waive her anonymity and in her determination to challenge the system, and we offer her our full sup- port now and in the future”.

Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for the Rape Crisis Centre in Limerick said they were “horrified” at the sen- tence.

She said there was a “huge swell of phone calls from women after the

sentence and every one of them ex- pressed support for Mary. The other thing that most of them said was that if they were raped, what would be the point in reporting it?”

The centre recently ran a major me- dia campaign under the title of “An- other Silent Night”, urging victims of rape and sex abuse to speak out, report the crime and seek help.

“Tt is so difficult to convince wom- en to report rape, it’s so hard to get a rape case as far as court, and then When you do get a conviction, the rapist gets a suspended sentence. It’s sending out the message to perpetra- tors that it’s fine – go ahead and do it. After all, what will they do to you?”

DOONBEG Community Develop- ment Ltd has added its voice to the objections against the proposed clo- sure of aright of way on to the White Strand.

In its letter to the council, chair- man John Smith, said it was decided to object to the proposed closure fol- lowing a meeting of the development company on March I.

He said the company objected to the “proposed closure of the public road to Murray’s (Carrig’s) gate and the consequent extinguishment of the public vehicular and pedestrians

right of way to the beach from the said gate which has been obstructed by a boundary wall”.

“We would remind the council that it was this company which proposed the golf development in the first place and supported it through planning on the understanding that right of way to the beach would be honoured,’ he wrote.

‘We have always been of the opin- ion that a tunnel capable of taking an ambulance was the best solution to this particular problem,” the letter eyeTebaLeCeem

“We welcome the long overdue provision of a car park.”

Doonbeg man Murt McInerney has also written to the council with a similar objection.

In his letter he said the proposal to provide a car park was welcome, and agreed with the development compa- ny that a tunnel under the fairway ca- pable of taking an ambulance should be provided.

Meanwhile Cree man James Mc- Nulty has written to all council members asking that they object to the proposal.

The proposal in question is for a 120-metre portion of the public right of way on a local road, from where the existing roadway turns to give

access to Doonbeg beach to the point where it enters the private driveway.

Any extinguishment of a right of way is the reserved function of the council and can only be changed by the council members.

Kilrush’s county councillors have already unanimously proposed to defer any consideration of the pro- posed extinguishment of a public right of way at Doonbeg pending the outcome of a judicial review.

The councillors also agreed to move their March meeting from the Doonbeg Golf Club to Lissycasey, for fear of a perceived conflict of in- terests.

THE Farm Relief Services has this week announced a major addition to their service team in East Clare with the arrival of Dutch born hoof care operator Roland Dross.

Mr Dross, who now lives in Bod- yke, brings with him a state of the art hoof care crush with is believed to be the only one of its kind in Ireland.

Born in Holland, Dross perfected his trade in Denmark before return- ing to Ireland recently with his Irish wife and four children. He will most- ly cover the East Clare area.

Roland comes from a long line of dairy farmers in the Drenthe region of Holland, his father has a Holstein Friesian herd of 110 cows and a poul- try farm of around 14,000 chickens, so farming has always been a way of life for him.

After agricultural college, he traveled to Canada to broaden his knowledge and gain dairy manage- ment experience. He then travelled to New Zealand to round off his dairy experience before meeting his Irish wife in Holland in 1994.

In 1997 he moved to Denmark Where he bought a dairy farm of

70 Holstein Friesian cows and 120 acres. Over the next 9 years, he suc- cessfully managed, modernised and expanded the farm to 360 acres and a milking herd of 165 Jerseys.

He switched to a computerised feeding system using transponders on the herd and built a new dairy and free stall in 2002. He also carried out the entire hoof trimming on his herd, using his own crush and found this enjoyable and interesting and an area in which he would like to spe- cialise.

Late last year however, he sold the farm following a family decision to

return to Ireland and pursue a future in hoof care. The next three months were spent gaining intensive hoof trimming experience with a Dutch expert Gerwin Cnossen in Germany and Denmark.

Roland will now work for the Farm Relief Service and he will mainly be based in east Clare as well as in parts of Galway, Limerick and North Tip- oe Nae

To view a video of his unique cattle crush check out www.klovbeskaeren. dk/sider/main_video.htm or for more details contact Liam O’ Rourke, Farm Services Manager at 063 90666.

PLANS are underway for a west Clare community facility to provide offices and working space for the many voluntary organisations in the area.

Joe Saunders, who carried out the feasibility study for such a facil- ity, told Kilrush Town Council that there are more than 100 community groups registered in Kilrush and a further 60 to 70 groups in the wider west Clare area.

There are 15 organisations in total with their own staff, needing premis- oe

To date there are eight buildings hosting community groups in Kil- Murs ee

The consultant said that as the town changed and grew there was a need for a place where civil marriages could be performed.

Outlining the gravity of the situ- ation he said the Gardai in Kilrush have nowhere to address the local public outside the cells in the sta- tion.

Meanwhile artists have to exhibit their work in inadequate facilities or move outside the area.

He said that as the voluntary sec- tor is becoming more professional it needs proper facilities.

“A hotel conference centre would meet some of the needs but a lot of eroups would like to be with like minded groups,” he said.

In his report Mr Saunders con-

cluded that the current community and training services accommoda- tion base in Kilrush and west Clare is considered generally unsuited to the task of serving the sector over the next decade.

“Already organisations with a sig- nificant remit and serving large num- bers are finding the available accom- modation to be an impediment to maintaining and developing services to their target groups. In addition, newer organisations are coming on stream as the not-for-profit and train- ing sectors grow in size nationally,’ he said.

Mr Saunders said that a communi- ty facility would probably have core tenants that would have contracts of service agreement the would provide

funding for ongoing rental charges.

“The capital element of the project will need to be provided through lo- cal and national exchequer routes,” he said.

“Ownership structure and ongoing management will require negotiation between core tenants and relevant stakeholders.”

Town Manager Bernadette Kinsella said west Clare was suffering due to a lack of integrated facilities.

She said that Mr Saunders report confirmed the view that there was a deficit in this area.

“Now we will go back to the eroups, look at what a facility would look like, who would fund it, and audit where it might be located,” Ms Kinsella said.

OXFAM Ireland is calling on gar- deners all around Clare to get in- volved in their annual Spring grow for Africa scheme. OxfamGarden is aimed at getting experienced garden- ers and enthusiastic amateurs alike involved in raising plants, as well as funds to help some of the worlds poorest people.

The charity organisation are invit- ing people to get involved by simply buying a four back of seed from any of their Oxfam shops nationwide of from www.oxfamireland.org

“I consider it an honour to be asked to be involved with the Oxfamgarden Grow for Africa campaign,’ gar- dening guru Dermot O’Neill at the launch in Dublin last week.

“You don’t need to be an expert to get involved. By growing the Oxfam Ireland range of seeds you are con- tributing to a worthwhile and valu- able cause while at the same time reaping the pleasures and joy of erowing plants too.”

Oxfam are also calling on more experienced gardeners to volunteer to become OxfamGarden expert or to donate old tool to your local shop.

The charity are also hoping to get school, resource centres and commu- nity groups involved in the project.

“We hope Dermot’s support for Oxfamgarden will encourage other gardeners to get out their trowels and Grow for Africa,’ said Peter Tomlin- son, Oxfam Ireland business devel- opment manager.

‘The beauty of this scheme is that everyone involved wins. Customers love the plants, growers get a real sense of achievement from seeing their handiwork sold in our shops and, of course, we raise funds for Oxfam Ireland’s vital work.”

Oxfam is committed to ending poverty and suffering in developing countries. They promote understand- ing of the causes of these injustices, and campaign for a world where every man, woman, and child can live free from hunger, poverty, and oppression.

Although the work in most coun- ties in the world their current focus in on Tanzania, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Malawi, Uganda, Sudan, Chad, South Africa and Ethiopia.

Seeds can be bought at any Oxfam shop for just €1.50 while seed mats are also available from €5.25.

KILRUSH Town Council have be- gun work on a new blueprint for the erowing town.

This month its town councillors agreed to move forward a new town plan to draft stage.

A report was presented to the members in February outlining the out come of the pre-draft pubic con- sultation process for their considera- soe

The councillors then took part in a workshop to discuss the report fully prior to giving any direction to the manager in relation to the drafting of the plan.

The workshop focussed on discus- sion of the issues raised by the writ- ten submissions and observations made by the public.

The council adopted the manag- er’s recommendations subject to six amendments.

Fifty submissions were received from the public for the draft cover- ing wide spectra of social, commer- cial and economic development.

Formally proposing the prepara- tion of the draft proposal Cllr Tom Prenderville (FF) said the new de- velopment plan encapsulates the council’s vision of where the west Clare capital will be in 2013.

“Kilrush is most fortunate in hav-

ing an infrastructure capable of sustaining a population of 10,000. Recent residential, retail and com- mercial development undertaken in the urban area have been undertaken in this knowledge and has placed the town in a most advantageous position in attracting inward invest- ment,” he said.

‘This council rejoices in the record number of submissions received to date in the KTDP review process. It indicates a welcome interest by po- tential investors and developers in the native place.

“We celebrate this new-found op- timism that permeates the local economy. Kilrush, to all intents and

purposes, stands on the threshold of prosperity. Current retail and com- mercial proposals underway give credence to this happy state of affairs in Kilrush,’ said Cllr Prenderville.

‘There is an onus to frame a devel- opment plan that sustains, supports and facilitates an inclusive society. The provision of adequate social ed- ucational, and recreational services must form a core vision in the plan,” he added.

The preparation of the draft propos- als will take 12 weeks to complete.

The resulting Kilrush Town De- velopment Plan will cover the years 2008 to 2013, and it is hoped it will be adopted by October this year.

CLARE County Council has refused planning permission for a housing development in west Clare because it interferes with the defunct west OE Teoma Dea e ha eneler

The planning authority refused outline planning permission to M&S Bond for outline planning permis- sion for 16 homes at Dough, Kilkee.

The council made its ruling after an objection was lodged against the proposal by the West Clare Railway

company and the council’s Conser- vation Officer, Risteard UaCronin.

Mr Ua Cronin said, 1n an internal memo now released with the deci- sion, that “it appears from the draw- ings that it is proposed to construct the homes on the former west Clare DOME RYas DDO Loa

He said, “This appears very inap- propriate as plans are very much advanced to provide a steam railway service between Kilkee and Kilrush which will require this section of the line to be protected for this pur- eNom

Mr UaCronin pointed out that the line was protected through the Clare County Development and the West Orewa ter walle

The planner’s report points out that the “development is located on the line of the old west Clare railway where it is the policy to safeguard the route of the railway and to con- serve and promote it as a transport corridor for public use”’.

It ruled that the plan would be prej- udicial to the proper planning and development of the area.

“The proposed development rep-

resents piecemeal haphazard, dis- orderly development and conflicts with the long-term sustainable and comprehensive development of these lands.”

According to Jackie Whelan of the West Clare Railway Company, “This application would allow for the de- struction of part of the original track bed of the west Clare railway in or- der to provide a road access to the site.

“We have understood that the track bed of the development may take place upon it unless the development

is of a heritage and recreational na- ture, leaving the whole, existing way open to the general public for recrea- tional walking, riding, cycling pur- Leon mel Ken

“Indeed, two citizens have, during the past 12 months, fallen foul of this directive and have been required to replace the track bed that they in- tended to, and partly, destroyed.

“We believe that our plans are in accordance with the council’s inten- tion for the line and that the track bed of the railway should be left alone,” said Mr Whelan.

A NEW project being organised at Mary Immaculate Secondary School in Lisdoonvarna is helping to revo- lutionise the relationship between young people and the rest of the community in North Clare.

The project culminated last week in Promoting Courtesy, Care and Con- sideration week which saw students from the school organising a series of events involving members of the wider community.

One of the main focuses was a post- er, painting and poetry competition which attracted hundreds of entries from primary schools, community groups and individuals from all over north Clare.

The inspiration for this initiative came from a committee set up last

year which included students, teach- ers, parents, community representa- tives as-well-as project leader Mau- reen Droney.

“One of the thing that came from the group was the Courtesy Care and Consideration. It has been going for a number of months now but this week is really the culmination of all of that work,’ said Maureen.

“We all worked together on how we would involved the community with the students and we came up with the poster or painting and poetry com- petitions. We wanted to create an awareness. To try and understand the needs of other people. Consideration is the best way to describe it.”

One of the areas specifically fo- cused on was the relationship be- tween young people and the elderly. The group has forged a connection

with the Stella Maris day care centre in Lisdoonvarna and last Wednes- day and Thursday students from the school entertained the people there with a collection of music and danc- ing.

“It has been wonderful to be in- volved the Stella Maris. I’d say it has been a powerful lift to them, but the children will get a lot back from them as well. They are getting a lot back already some of them, with grand parents in the home. It can have a huge positive effect,” she continued.

In the school itself each class and subject, from Business Studies to Home Economics, has been incorpo- rating the theme of consideration.

One of the more interesting ele- ments of this has seen students write a series of poems which are now be- ing used as the ‘thought for the day’

at the school.

“Each day this week the winning poems have been read out by the stu- dents over the intercom,” continued Maureen. “It has been a really suc- cessful part of the programme. We will also be putting a booklet togeth- er of all the poems.”

On Friday March 30 at 8pm, poet John O’Donohue will give a talk in Mary Immaculate Secondary School. Tickets are €10, €5 OAP, with all money raised going to the Stella Maris Day Care Centre.