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SILE de Valera has represented the Clare con- stituency since 1987. Born in Dublin in 1954, Minister de Valera was educated at Loretto Convent, Dublin and UCD, where she quali- fied as a career guidance teacher.

She was first elected to the Dail for the Dub- lin mid-county constituency, in the Fianna Fail landslide general election of 1977. She was the youngest TD elected that year.

In June 1979, she was elected to the Euro- pean Parliament for a five-year term. Later that year, de Valera was one of the Fianna Fail TDs who criticised the policies of Taoiseach,

Jack Lynch in relation to Northern Ireland and was a prominent supporter of Charles Haughey, who succeeded him as Taoiseach in December 19779.

She held her Dail seat until the 1981 Gen- eral Election, when the constituency bounda- ries were redrawn. She sought re-election in the new constituency of Dublin South. This caused tension within the Fianna Fail party locally, as one of the other candidates, Séa- mus Brennan, was a prominent opponent of Haughey. De Valera polled relatively well at that election, but narrowly lost to Niall An- drews. de Valera contested the constituency again at the February 1982 general election,

but she again failed to get elected, seeing her vote drop.

For the following general election in No- vember 1982, she transferred to Clare, where sitting TD, Bill Loughnane (a fellow sup- porter of Haughey), was standing down. Clare was the constituency that her grandfather, Eamon de Valera, had represented from 1917 until 1959. Again, she narrowly failed to get elected, but she remained living in the con- stituency, and in 1987 she was re-elected. She has been re-elected at every election since.

De Valera resigned the party whip from F1- anna Fail in 1993, due to the removal of the stopover at Shannon Airport. In 1994, the

new leader, Bertie Ahern, appointed her to the front bench. In 1997, she became Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands. In 2002, she lost her place at the Cabinet table but became a junior minister. She is currently Minister of State at the Department of Edu- cation & Science, with Special Responsibility for Adult Education, Youth Affairs and Edu- cational Disadvantage.

Last Thursday, Minister de Valera an- nounced her intention to stand down at the end of the current Dail term. She is a niece of Vivion de Valera and 1s a first cousin of the current Minister for Community Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Eamon O Cuiv.

CLARE cattle and sheep farmers were this week warned of a potential outbreak in liver fluke over the winter months. The warning was announced by the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture and Food John Browne after a study into the years weather patterns.

A liver fluke forecasting model, based on rain- fall during spring, summer and early autumn, predicts that the disease will be a big problem this year in cattle and sheep in Clare as-well-as other parts of the west, midwest, northwest and southwest of the country during the winter.

This is due to high rainfall during late summer and early autumn creating suitable conditions for the propagation of the snail intermediate host

and infective stages of the liver fluke.

The study was carried out by the Liver Fluke Advisory Group which is made up of members of the Central Veterinary Laboratory, the De- partment of Agriculture and Rural Development (Northern Ireland), Teagasc, Met Eireann, Phar- maceutical industry and the College of Life Sci- ences, University College Dublin.

The group has advised that farmers in high risk areas, such as Clare, should treat sheep im- mediately. They also advised that young cattle should be dosed right away and again after hous- ing while older cattle need only receive treatment after housing.

The timing of treatment after housing depends on the flukicide product being used. Cattle being kept on pasture for the winter should be treated

immediately and this treatment should be repeat- ed at regular intervals according to veterinary advice.

Minister Browne said that the treatment of dairy cows for liver fluke should be carried out at drying off and not during lactation, and also advised that all bought-in cattle and sheep should be kept isolated and treated for liver fluke before joining the main herd or flock.

The Central Veterinary Laboratory and the Regional Veterinary Laboratories can help vet- erinary practitioners and farmers by testing dung and blood samples for evidence of liver fluke eggs, antibodies and associated liver damage as well as monitoring the efficacy of anthelmintic treatment.

A REGROUPED, reorgan- ised and much more con- fident Fine Gael arrived in Cork at the weekend for its annual conference.

Among the upbeat group were hundreds of members from Clare, who are now looking to a second Dail seat in the constituency. In the af- termath of the de Valera re- tirement, the Fine Gael Party

was hoping to maximise its Ennis vote.

During the conference, party members and follow- ers cheered as their leader promised free GP services to under fives, €650 million in pre-school care and the es- tablishment of a new “super food authority”.

In a clear message to possi- ble coalition partners Labour, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny was adamant there would be

no increase in personal, cor- poration or capital taxes.

In what could be construed as a hand of friendship to an- other possible coalition part- ner, the party’s environment spokesperson said vehicles using energy-efficient fuels would be charged a lower Fede

Despite such suggestions, a possible alliance with the Green Party divided del- er ene

Controversy also arose when the party leader spelt out his vision for reform in the teaching of Irish.

The Mayo man controver- sially proposed to end com- pulsory Irish education for Leaving Cert students.

‘‘As one who speaks Irish, I believe we must acknowl- edge that our language is in trouble. Even though our young people receive, on average, 1,500 hours of

education in Irish, many are leaving school without any reasonable command of the language.

“Despite the fact that they teach Irish all through their schooling, only three out of 10 students of Irish attempt the honours paper in the Leaving Certificate. Worse still, thousands of them don’t even turn up for the exam every year,’ said Deputy oath

Kit carried a golf club to the altar, to symbolise the dead man’s love of the game, and his brother, Mark presented a fishing rod “to remind us of the days Mick went in search of the ‘big haul’ which never came home,” said Fr Carey.

A friend and former apprentice brought a hammer to symbolise Mike’s trade as a master carpenter.

‘Mike was a man who took pride in his work, his friendships and his love. He took three months off at the end of last year to get the house which he and Kit were building off

the ground,” said Fr Carey.

He added that Mike’s sister Anne- Marie had revealed that her brother had gone back to studying Irish.

The 31-year-old’s brother, Mark told a packed church that his family wanted to “thank the coastguard, the gardai and everyone who took part in the search for their profes- sionalism and sensitivity.”

There was another huge gather- ing on Sunday at St Peter and Paul’s church, for the funeral Mass of Joe

O’Callaghan from Tulla. He was the final victim of the Bank Holiday ac- cident in which the three men were drowned after the jeep in which they were travelling went over the cliffs at Doolin.

The 34-year-old Tulla man is survived by his parents, Sean and Phyllis, his sister, Arda McMahon, brothers, Denis and Michael and his girlfriend, Louise as well as ex- KoILeereME-DOODU Aa DELeMsRUCOILO KD

Celebrating the Mass, Fr Martin

O’Brien, said that from “the first shock, despair and feelings of help- lessness at the news of this unthink- able accident, it is quite extraordi- nary, the tidal wave of love, support prayer and sheer goodness that has been called forth from this commu- nity and beyond.”

Among those he paid tribute to were “the truly people on the Doo- lin search and Rescue teams, the gardai for their professionalism and the volunteers,” who helped search or support those involved in the ere DKO OF

Fr O’Brien said that Joe had “a happy-go-lucky attitude that led him to New York, Holland, to Eng- land and home again.

‘He was equally at home on the farm, in the mart, serving behind the bar, in Windsor Castle or Bar- retstown Castle or mixing with friends in downtown Tulla.”

A 61-YEAR-old former cub scouts leader who indecently assaulted two young brothers in the early 1970s in Kilrush has been remanded in custody for four weeks.

Thomas Waters, of Moore Street, Kilrush – an employee of ESB at Moneypoint – pleaded guilty to 20 counts of indecently assaulting one of his victims between 1970 and 1975. He also admit- ted 12 counts of indecent assaulting another victim between 1970 and 1972 and one count of buggery, in 1970.

One of the victims – who are now both in their forties – was just eight or nine which the abuse started. The complaints were made to gardai in ree

Psychiatrist Dr Patrick O’Byrne told Ennis Circuit Court has treated Waters for over 20

years, after the accused visited him voluntarily. “There were little holes in his superego which would allow him to think he was doing young people a favour and wouldn’t see anything very wrong in it,’ said Dr O’Byrne.

Defending barrister Mark Nicholas said his client has acknowledged what he did was wrong and is filled with remorse. He said he attended counselling, before any complaints were made.

He pointed out that a report from the Grenada Institute for sex offenders stated that Waters now presents a low to moderate risk of offending. Mr Nicholas said Waters had assembled €60,000 for his victims, which he said was not a measure of compensation but a measure of his contrition.

Judge Carroll Moran said the case was a very difficult one, where the accused abused his posi- tion of trust.

“The facts of the case are very sordid and very

unpleasant. The accused was in a position of trust. He misused his position and betrayed the trust,” said the judge.

Pointing out that in one instance, the abuse took place twice a week over a three-year pe- riod, the judge said, “This was an appalling way to mistreat two boys. Of course it had a most detrimental scar on their childhood and on their development.

‘There was no show of remorse or apology un- til very late in the proceedings and he now comes into court with a substantial sum of money, but it is very late in the day.”

The judge pointed out that he took the guilty plea into account and accepted Waters’ entire savings were being used to meet the case.

Adjourning sentence until December 13 next, the judge said he needs time to consider whether the accused should face a custodial sentence.

MORE than 3,500 Clare school children are struggling for attention in classes of up to 34 pupils.

Hard-pressed teachers are also strug- gling to cater for a further 3,000 pupils in classes of up to 29 pupils according to INTO Executive Representative for Clare, Declan Kelleher.

Teachers, parents and management groups are now to take part in one of the biggest school demonstrations in the county on Monday next at 8 pm in the West County Hotel to highlight con- cerns over class sizes.

As well as over crowding the educa- tion partners are also concerned about “multi classes” in small schools. Ban- She National School, near Kilkee is a two teacher with 52 pupils and eight classes. Under current Department of Education legislation they will have to wait until next year for the third teacher, as legislation says they require.

There are many other small schools in the county in a similar situation, said Mr Kelleher.

Last March the INTO and a number of schools from the county met with local politicians in Ballyea National School to highlight their concerns with over crowded class rooms.

This time round hundreds of parents and teachers from affected schools are expected at the meeting. Elected rep- resentative from Clare have also been UO Aloe b

“The meeting will highlight the unac- ceptable number of pupils per primary school class as well as the failure of the government to make any moves to implement the promised reductions in class size contained in their programme for Government. Inputs to the meeting will be made by the national Parent’s Council Primary, Primary School Man- agement and the INTO,” said Mr Kel- leher.

A RUAN publican in his late fifties, who was beaten repeatedly with his walking stick in a frenzied random at- tack, has told how he feared he would be beaten to a pulp.

Michael Moloney was giving evi- dence in the case of Fergus Casey (23), of Ruan, who pleaded guilty to assault- ing the publican and also assaulting Donal Brohan, in Ruan on September 7, 2004.

Gda Brian O’Donnell said Mr Molo- ney was going for a walk, shortly after closing his pub, when he heard a noise.

He went to see where the noise came from and saw the accused, Fergus Ca- Seas

Casey took his stick from him and struck him up to 30 times. Some of the blows were to the head and he was still being beaten while he bled.

Fr Pat O’Neill went to the assistance of the man being beaten as did another man, Donal Brohan, who was hit with a rock to the head.

The accused said to the publican: “you think that you own the village,” the court heard.

“There was no obvious cause to it. It was a frenzied attack that happened when he was out waking his dog,” said Gda O’Donnell.

Casey’s barrister said his client was involved in two altercations with Mr Moloney prior to this incident, but Gda O’Donnell said he had no knowledge of that.

Casey, who has four previous convic-

tions, including two for burglary and one for assault causing harm, took his victim by surprise.

“I know Fergus Casey since he was a child and I wouldn’t expect he would do this,” said Mr Moloney, adding that the accused was in his pub earlier that night.

“He was in a frenzied mood. It was very frightening.

“From that day to this, I get night- mares. Only for Fr O’Neill I wouldn’t be here.

‘He would have beaten me to a pulp.”

When the accused’s barrister apolo- gised to Mr Moloney, he replied, “‘apol- ogies aren’t much good to me if I was found dead in Ruan, part of the stats. This man needs to get help.”

Casey’s sister told the court he has en- dured considerable difficulties through- out his life.

‘Fergus needs help. It’s been a con- tinuous cry for help,” said his sister, who accepted that Mr Moloney could have been killed.

Judge Carroll Moran said, “Mr Molo- ney got a dreadful hiding and whether or not there was something behind it, there was certainly no need for it.

“It was a cowardly, mean thing to do … nasty.”

He said a lengthy prison sentence might go nowhere towards solving the accused’s problems.

He adjourned the case for a year to see how he behaves and said he would not rule out a prison term of three to four years.

THE family and friends of Martin Griffin celebrated a life full of wit and personal- ity at his funeral in Ennis on SY TAI Ker NYA

Martin’s father John Joe, brothers Michael, Denis and sisters Maureen and Mairead, along with mem- bers of his extended family and friends, attended the funeral, which took place at the St Peter and Paul’s Ca- thedral.

The body of Martin (24) was recovered on the shore- line near Doolin last Tues- day after the Suzuki Vitara in which it is thought he had slept plunged into the sea. Chief celebrant, Fr Gerry Carey told mourners that “accidents such as this leave us numb and in many ways, speechless.” Fr Carey said that Martin had “a face full of light” and that he had enriched the lives of all those who had known him. He added that Martin was an extremely talented car- penter His “wood turning had become legendary and his father John Joe, spoke a

lot about that in the past few days.” Fr Carey also recalled how Martin was always los- ing pencils while at work and told how his friends and workmates commented “with his big bushy head of hair he probably lost half of them behind his ear. His brother, Michael had to keep a constant supply of pencils on hand.”

Mourners also heard of Martin’s devotion to his family and in particular his younger brother Denis.

Fr Carey recalled how Martin had arrived late into town one night after work and pleaded with a shop- keeper to stay open so that he might buy his brother and godson, Denis a birth- day present. In a poignant tribute to the memory of his brother Denis laid the present, a baseball cap, on the altar.

After the funeral Mar- tin’s friends fondly recalled his personality and love for Tate

“TI remember one time when he called down while we were at college. He was looking for a place to stay

and he stayed with us for a few days. For dinner he used to eat ten of everything whether it was sausages, eggs or toast. He was a great man and a great friend.” Earlier in the week a fam- ily friend spoke of the dev- astating impact Martin’s on his family. “When their

mother Ann died six years ago, the family was devas- tated and John Joe made a great job of rearing the family. Martin was just 18 then and Denis was just 4. The entire family lives at home. They cannot believe that the eldest, Martin, has now died. Himself and his

brother Michael were due to go to Australia later this year. Martin had a brilliant pair of hands and anything he put his mind to, he would do it. He lived his life to the full. If we was working he was working and if he was out, he would have a great time,’ he said.

PRESIDENT of Ireland Mary McAleese will visit Clare today (Tuesday), where she will address three functions in Ennis and one in Newmarket-on-Fergus.

Mrs McAleese’s first port of call will be at Glor at llam, where she will address Ennis parish “Trid- uum celebrating community” on the theme of “Young people — the hope of our tomorrows.”

The triduum of prayer and cele- bration will honour everybody who

contributes to a sense of belong- ing and community. The President will address Leaving Certificate students in Ennis and meet young people from primary schools at a liturgy at Ennis Cathedral.

She will then deliver the keynote address at the eighth Céifin confer- ence, “Filling the vacuum,” at the West County Hotel at 2.15pm.

This conference will address the vacuum in Irish society, amidst a warning that more and more young people are growing up alone in the midst of great economic prosper-

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Organiser Fr Harry Bohan says the Céifin conference aims to chal- lenge leaders from every walk of life to confront the reality around them and take steps to fill the vac- uum. The event will highlight the facts surrounding this challenge and explore possible responses.

The President’s third function will be the official opening of homes for people with intellec- tual disabilities, at the Brothers of Charity Clare Housing Association at Dormer’s Lane on the Gort Road

in Ennis, at 3.30pm.

This initiative will allow every adult with an intellectual disability in the county to have his or her own room, and supports people in living independently in their own commu- nity or location of their choice.

The Housing Association sup- ports adults with an intellectual disability in acquiring good quality housing, and ensures they have full tenants’ rights.

Mrs McAleese’s final function will be the official opening of the Obair family centre in Newmarket-

on-Fergus at 4.30pm. Her visit fol- lows preparation and planning over the years at the facility, which of- fers a wide range of services for the local community.

“It is one of very few centres in the country, owned by the commu- nity,” said Jackie Bonfield, Manag- er of the Local Development Social Inclusion Programme (LDSIP) in Newmarket-on-Fergus.

“The community benefits from everything we do. We are trying to support the community in every area that we work in.”

THE search close to Doolin which kicked off eight days ago has involved several local search and rescue personnel, supported by various oth- er trained rescue personnel and civilians.

What initially appeared to be a body floating in the water early last Monday has turned out to be a deeper, horrific tragedy, which involved an intensive search operation.

Twenty members of Doolin coast guard have engaged in searches every day, amid difficult and rough conditions at sea, which have ham- pered the search.

Ten members of Kilkee Rescue have also as- sisted, while naval divers and members of the garda water unit have travelled to the north Clare coast. In addition up to 100 people joined in the search over the weekend, including the families of the missing men, and those out searching were divided up into groups of up to 20 people.

The body of Martin Griffin (25) from Ennis was found at Tra Leathan, Doonagore, Doolin, early on Tuesday morning.

The search for the other two bodies and the green Suzuki Vitara in which the three men were travelling continued throughout the week.

It intensified on Friday when the Irish navy sent sonar equipment by helicopter to the Inis Oirr on the Aran Islands and this was put on the Aran lifeboat, which travelled to Doolin and was used to search the sea.

On that day, further debris, including the van’s spare tyre was located.

The weekend’s searches were largely confined to the shoreline, as conditions at sea were par- ticularly rough. In the early hours of Sunday morning, further debris, including a steering column, the ignition keys, car seat, bumper, dashboard and pedals were washed up, six miles from the scene of the accident, near Kinvara, on the Clare/Galway border.

During the course of the search, shoes have been washed up, which are believed to belong to the remaining missing man.

The second body was recovered just after high tide at 8.30am on Monday, by members of Doo- lin coast guard, close to where Griffin’s body and substantial parts of the car were recovered.

Supt Eamon Dolan, who is heading the in- vestigation, said three people in particular had substantial information, relevant to the enquiry. The three, two men and a woman, walked in the area close to where the van was parked shortly after 9.30am on Monday. As they passed back

45 minutes later the van was gone and gardai believe it went over the cliffs around this time.

“It has been a tragic week for all the families concerned. The search will continue, in order to locate the other missing person. We will con- tinue to focus around the same area where the bodies and most of the debris has been washed up,” said Supt Dolan, at time of going to press.

‘We are satisfied the parts of the van recov- ered are from the van in which the three men were travelling,” he said.

Doolin coastguard co-ordinator Mattie Shan- non has this advice for those involved in the search – “People would want to be fit enough and have some idea where they are walking and wear proper clothing and footwear. It is im- portant to follow the orders of the team leader. Everyone is responsible for their own safety,’ he said.

“We are advising people to be careful amid the severe weather conditions and dangerous Seas,’ he added.

Further shoreline searches are planned for today amid forecasted rough seas. It 1s antici- pated that conditions will calm down somewhat tomorrow when Doolin coastguard is expected to again launch its boat, while naval divers will return to engage in the search.