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AN ENNIS man who held an elderly woman and a 23-year-old girl at knifepoint before rob- bing them, in separate incidents, did so because he was on heroin, Ennis Circuit Court has been told. Robbie Nestor (25), with an address at Tulla Road, Ennis, and formerly of Hermitage, Ennis, pleaded guilty to two charges of robbery in En- nis in September 2004.

Det Gda Jarlath Fahy told the court that a 75-

year-old woman was sitting in her car in the car- park of the VEC building in Ennis, on Septem- ber 16 when she was approached by the accused. He produced a knife and said he wanted her bag. She handed it over and he left the scene with the bag and its contents, which included €600.

Ten days later, the accused was buying match- es in Liddy’s Gala in Ennis. He held a knife to the 23-year-old shop assistant and held her by the shirt, before getting away with more than €500 in cash.

When asked about the circumstances which led to the robberies, Dt Gda Fahy replied, “the fact that he was on drugs.” He said Nestor has 21 previous convictions.

Defending barrister Mark Nicholas said his client’s real problem is his addiction to drugs.

“If he takes drugs, that seems to be it. He gets into trouble and commits crime,’ replied the garda.

“TI think this was hardly the work of a pre- planned criminal brain,” said the barrister.

Judge Carroll Moran pointed out that Gda Fahy had been extremely fair to the accused.

‘This was a despicable crime, particularly tar- geting a 75-year-old lady,” said the judge.

“Garda Fahy is of the view, if this man stays off the drugs he will not get into trouble. Let’s put it to the test,” he added.

He said he would adjourn the case for 12 months and will impose a three or four year sentence then. He may consider suspending the sentence, he said.

THE families of the two men missing following last Monday’s tragedy are said to be “furious and very upset” that the men were named in the me- dia “without their consent or any consideration for what they are going through.”

“The families of these two men are going through hell and the coverage of the story and the insensitive and unsubstantiated speculation published by certain elements of the media at such a heart breaking time 1s not helping the situ-

ation any bit,’ according to a close relative of one the men.

“T understand that the media has a job to do, but it also has a responsibility to handle any sto- ry with the sensitivity is deserves. In this case, certain organisations named the two missing men without the permission of the families. You cannot imagine what these families were going through and then they read in the papers or hear on the radio the names of their loved ones,” said the family spokesman.

‘There has to be a humanness to all of this. It

is not easy for the families involved. I can only speak for the family to which I am closest and they are furious and very upset by the media cov- erage on a local and national level. I have been in touch with the garda Superintendent in Ennisty- mon who has been extremely helpful and under- standing,’ the family spokesman added.

It is known that the father of one of the miss- ing men is seriously ill and was not immediately told of the tragedy while the family of the other man has already been bereaved by the loss of his father at a young age.

HAND hygiene in the accident and emergency department of Ennis General Hospital is one of the poor- est in the country, and the worst in the Mid-West Region, at 32 per one

According to the first national au- dit of hygiene practices in the coun- try’s hospitals, published in the past week, the Mid-Western Regional Hospital, Ennis, has a 100 per cent cleanliness rate when handling and disposing of linen from ICU. This unit was rated the cleanest area of the hospital and described as hav- ing a “fair” standard of cleanliness.

Ennis was also found to have a “good” method of disposing of and handling sharp objects, with a rate of 89 per cent.

However, the remaining areas of the hospital were regarded as hav- ing “poor” hygiene, with A&E re- cording the lowest standard at 62 per cent.

Hand hygiene at the hospital was found to be worryingly “poor” in all areas except ICU, which record- ed an 86 per cent cleanliness rate. Hand hygiene in the surgical and medical wards was only rated at 59 per cent.

The handling and disposal of de-

partmental waste was also low at 57 per cent, while disposal of waste from the ICU recorded a low 47 per cent. The 88-bed hospital was also recorded in the audit as having 94 beds.

While in-house cleaners cater for the hygiene needs of Ennis, the au- dit insisted that whether cleaning

was carried out in-house or con- tracted was no guarantee of good or bad hygiene.

The national audit was conducted over July and August 2005, and vis- its by auditors were random and un- announced.

Hospitals were given an overall score, indicating a good (85 per cent

or above), fair (76 per cent to 84 per cent) or poor (75 per cent or below) standard. Accordingly, nine per cent of hospitals visited received a good rating, 43 per cent were rated as fair and 48 per cent were consid- ered poor.

Two further national audits are due to be carried out in 2006.

THE final of the Tote A2 sweepstake was the main source of attraction at the Galway track over the weekend.

Slick Leo, owned by the ever popular Tommie Gallagher of Cooraclare, came out on top here having three and a quar- ter lengths to spare as they crossed the line. Tommie will be delighted with this win as the dog had shown good form in recent weeks. The West Clare owner has nursed the dog back to top form and collected prize money of €1,000 with a run of 29.01 seconds. This was the fastest time on Friday nights card.

Kengelvin Pilot owned by Martin McDermott of Kilrush had got Clare owners off to a tonic start winning the first race in a time of 30.40. Tiermana Hill owned by Noel Moroney and Pat O’Connor of Ennis will take his place in the semi-final of the Connacht All Backs A3 Sweepstake this coming weekend.

Carhue Dazzler owned by Ann Carey of Cooraclare obliged at the first time of asking with a time of 18.64 seconds. Tom Flanagan of Ennistymon kept up his good run of form with two winners over the weekend.

Dromoher Wood will go to traps

next Thursday in the A6 Galwegians stake semi-final in a repeat perform- ance should be good enough to secure a place in the final. Tom’s second win- ner was Mythical Ash who came home ahead of the pack to win the first race on Saturday night.

Slattery’s Up, who knows his way around Galway, took race nine for on- wer Michael Mulqueen of Kilrush. Distance is proving to be no problem for Ennis boys Fiachra Hennessy and Noel Coote with Drimeen Rumble. He followed up his recent success with an- other in Shelbourne Park last week.

HEALTH services in the Mid-West have de- scribed the “poor” hygiene findings in the re- gion’s hospitals as “a wake-up call” for every- body working in the hospital service.

In the first ever national acute hospitals hy- giene audit, undertaken by Desford Consultan- cy Limited on behalf of the National Hospitals Office, the Mid-Western Regional Hospital, Ennis, received a rating of 68 per cent, with the Mid-Western Regional Hospital, Limerick, re- TORY Data On Ooo) 81m

The HSE Mid-West region said it fully ac- cepted the findings of the report and would immediately intensify efforts to make hospital staff of all grades more hygiene-conscious.

Among the audit’s suggestions to combat hygiene problems are training of staff in hand hygiene, basic cleaning techniques and the use

of cleaning chemicals and dilution rates.

Patient groups across the country have been calling for stricter hygiene regulations in hos- pitals for over a year in an attempt to control the antibiotic resident MRSA virus, which is rampant in hospitals.

Acute Hospitals network manager for the Mid-West, Mr John O’Brien, said, “We have to put our hands up and say that the results are disappointing and, clearly, we are going to have KoMClOMoloiiKompeMAUIAUD use

“On the positive side, Croom and St John’s received a ‘fair’ rating and Ennis, Nenagh and the Regional Maternity, while being classed as ‘poor’, were close to achieving ‘fair’ rat- ings. Our objective now is to ensure that all our acute hospitals are categorised as ‘good’ next time out.”

He continued, “We have to acknowledge, however, that the performance of the Mid-

Western Regional Hospital, Dooradoyle, was particularly disappointing, and that action must be taken to remedy the deficiencies identified by the auditor, particularly in surgical, medical and ICU. I will be taking immediate steps to prepare an action plan to address the findings of the audit.”

Dr Nuala O’Connell, consultant microbiol- ogist at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital, Limerick said, “Considering the amount of ex- penditure in terms of resources and effort, the results give no room for complacency. We have to go back to the drawing board over the next few weeks and get everybody on board so we can do better.

‘Hygiene is the business of every single per- son working in our hospitals and it is also the business of patients and the public. All of us must work together to achieve a behavioural and cultural shift.”

THE Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) has complained to the Department of Transport over the “aggressive campaign” being pursued to persuade over 500 workers at Shannon Air- port to accept redundancy.

The workforce at Shannon have until Wednes- day of next week to express interest in a redun- dancy package being put forward by the Dub- lin Airport Authority’s Director for Change, John Horgan. In a “survival plan”, Mr Horgan warned that Shannon’s underlying financial sit- uation is untenable, forecasting that the airport will have accumulated losses of €137 million by 2014 if immediate action is not taken.

However, in a letter to the Department’s As- sistant Secretary, John Murphy, from ICTU’s Industrial Officer, Liam Berney, Mr Horgan is accused of “pursuing an aggressive campaign which seeks to pressurise workers into accept- ing redundancy, while at the same time out- sourcing most of the work currently being done by direct employees of Shannon Airport.

“T cannot overstate the difficulties his actions have caused for the unions at Shannon and the wider union movement. Similarities have been drawn between the actions of Mr Horgan on behalf of a state-owned company and that of Irish Ferries management.

“There can be little doubt that his actions fly in the face of commitments given to Congress

by Government generally, by the Taoiseach in particular and the understanding reached as part of Sustaining Progress in relation to Pub- lic Enterprise.”

The letter continued, “It beholds the DAA to refocus negotiations and seek, in partner- ship with employees and their representatives, agreed restructuring. At an early stage, it was made clear to Mr Horgan that while the unions would be willing to have constructive dialogue on the cost base at Shannon, this was predicat- ed on the completion of a detailed analysis of the financial position, within the context that outsourcing of work was not an option.

“The financial position of Shannon is almost complete and the unions will be ready shortly

to engage in dialogue about any cost inefficien- cies. Concern was expressed during the course of the meeting about the future of the bilateral agreement with the United States. There is no doubt that this has provided a strong source of income for Shannon which in turn has sustained employment in the airport and Mid-West, and contributed to balanced regional development.

“While we note your frank assessment of the progress of negotiations between the European Commission and the US and the bilateral dis- cussions between Ireland and the US, careful consideration needs to be given of the possible grave implications for Shannon which may arise if the current arrangements cease, particularly in planning for the future of the airport.”

THREE young men who assaulted a man after he refused to give one of them a ciga- rette, have been remanded in custody for a week at Ennis Circuit Court.

Ryan Haran (21), of Lahinch Road, En- nistymon; David King (20), Doora, Ennis and Noel Mullane (23), of Ardnaculla, En- nistymon; each pleaded guilty to a number of offences, arising out of an incident at Teach Ceol, Deerpark, Ennistymon, on June 13, 2004.

Sgt Michael Gallery told the court the in-

jured party Sean O’Flaherty (33), was stand- ing at O’Brien’s Corner in the early hours of the morning, when he was approached by Noel Mullane. He was asked for a cigarette and he obliged but when asked for a second cigarette he refused. He was punched in the nose.

Some time later, as he walked up Church Street, he was grabbed by a number of men and brought to the grounds of Teach Ceol. He was kicked, thrown on the ground and punched. His shirt was ripped open and his trousers was cut. The hairs on his chest were singed by a cigarette lighter, he was cut on

the face and leg and was called names.

His pockets were searched and his wallet, which contained money, a bank card and credit card, was stolen.

The three accused men were seen around this time by a garda in a boisterous mood and under the influence of some form of in- toxicant.

There was evidence of loose gravel and loose change on the ground, where the in- cident occurred.

The injured party suffered trauma and shock but has since recovered and has moved to another county.

The court was told the three were unem- ployed at the time of this incident.

Judge Carroll Moran said he would ad- journ the case for a week and remanded the three in custody.

‘This is a very bad assault committed by three people very badly out of control. I know they pleaded guilty .. . but they in- flicted appalling injuries. He [the injured party] was kicked, thrown on the ground and kicked in the ribs.

“It’s about as bad as you’d get and it seems there was no motive,’ said Judge Moran.

AN EAST Clare woman suffering from the chronic fatigue syndrome ME has suffered a major setback in preventing her house being demol- ished.

An Bord Pleanala has refused permission to Denise Mitchell of Aughinish, Ogonnelloe to retain the demountable house she erected without planning permission.

Clare County Council has served enforcement proceedings on Ms Mitchell, and the local authority can now request her to restore the site to

its original condition.

Ms Mitchell did not inform the council of her medical condition, but in a supporting letter to An Bord Pleanala, Dr Genevieve McGuire of the Scariff Medical Centre said, “This lady is suffering from myal- gic enphelopathy/chronic fatigue syndrome.

‘She tells me that she is hyper- sensitive to all forms of chemical pollution and, for this reason, has chosen to live in the relatively clean atmosphere of Aughinish, Ogonel- loe, Co. Clare.”

The board inspector “reluctantly”

recommended that planning permis- sion be refused. He stated that there was “no argument that the proposed development is obtrusive or impact- ing negatively on amenities. I con- sider it to be benign in impact with regard to the visual amenities of the area’.

However, the board ruled that the site of the proposed development was located in the vulnerable lake shore environs of Lough Derg, in an area identified in the Clare County Development Plan 2005 as under pressure from urban generated de- velopment.

“Tt is the policy of the planning authority, as set out in the Develop- ment Plan, to limit new residential development in this rural area to serve the permanent housing needs of local rural persons,” the inspec- tor continued.

“Tt is considered that the applicant does not come within the housing need criteria of the planning author- AA

The appeals board also ruled that “the proposed development would endanger public safety by reason of traffic hazard, because access to the site 1s by way of a poorly surfaced,

substandard, narrow lane, which is unsuitable to serve additional hous- ing development”.

Councillor Brian Meaney (GP) said this week that he was disap- pointed for Ms Mitchell, but added, “The law is the law and changes should be made to the planning acts to deal with situations like this, though that would prove quite dif- Cove

“Enforcement has been generally haphazard and because you have a medical condition shouldn’t grant you a licence to breach planning Wise

A KILLALOE man has lashed out at a situa- tion wherein he would have to make a 30 mile round-trip to drop off sick certs in the the event of a postal strike.

With the strike looming last week, the De- partment of Social and Family Affairs wrote to Tom Clifford, telling him that he would have to drop his sick certs to the nearest department office.

‘“That’s in Limerick — a 30 mile round trip for me’’, said ‘Tom.

While the Killaloe man was stunned to hear that a trip to Limerick City was the only way

he could send his cert in, he was even more shocked to learn that to collect any money, he would have to “go to my nearest welfare of- ficer on the day after I would normally be paid. I’m supposed to be paid on Friday but the wel- fare officer only sits in Killaloe for a couple of hours mid-week”.

And while some recipients of disability ben- efit might be able to have payments made di- rectly into their bank accounts, Tom says this is not an option for him or the many others who have building society accounts.

“Tt can take up to 11 days for money to clear with the building society and the department

won’t pay into credit union accounts,” he said.

“It’s the usual story — a Dublin department thinks nothing exists outside The Pale. There’s no thought about how something like this af- fects people in other areas.”

There were delays following yesterday’s strike action, which went ahead as it was too late to inform Communications Worker Union members that pledges had been given.

The action was taken on foot of the com- pany’s refusal to implement the full terms of Sustaining Progress to the union’s 8,500 mem- leo uce

Having suffered heavy losses for several

years prior to 2004, it pleaded inability to pay the terms of the national agreement.

While workers did get a five per cent increase in January as recommended by independent as- sessors, they have been due to receive a cumu- lative total of more than 13 per cent. Another contentious issue 1s company plans to imple- ment major changes in its operations.

On Sunday night, the national Implementa- tion Body persuaded An Post chief executive, Donal Curtin, to back off from his refusal to have an independent assessment of the cost- ings on which the Labour Court had previously based a peace formula.

THE drive along the Clare coastline from The Cliffs of Moher to Bally- vaughan recently featured in the Sun- day Times top ten scenic drives in the world — little wonder then that prop- erty capitalising on the views along this dramatic stretch achieve top dol- lar prices.

Brand new on the market this week

is a detached house at Fanore, stand- ing on an elevated half-acre site. The uninterrupted views of the Aran Is- lands, Galway Bay and the stunning mountain scenery in Connemara can all be savoured from its ground floor reception rooms.

Priced at €600,000, the property is on the books with Open Door Prop- erties Ennistymon and selling agent Aine Hussey 1s expecting strong in-

terest from the holiday home market in this property.

The beauty of this house is that it isn’t remote, as it’s only a walk to the amenities at Fanore village. The developer is currently adding the fi- nal touches to the house, which will be finished to a top quality, turnkey standard. It will be sold with a mod- ern fitted kitchen including appli- ances, while the reception rooms will

have high quality wooden floors, and the family bathroom and the ensuite bathrooms will all be fully tiled.

The accommodation comprises four double bedrooms, all of which are en- suite. A very large open plan kitchen cum dining and living room, and a tasteful conservatory with cathedral style windows. There is also a utility room and a guest WC.

Aine Hussey expects strong interest

in the property not only from within the county but also from potential buyers in Dublin, Galway and Limer- ick. “It will appeal to those who want a holiday home close to a beach, with unbeatable views and importantly a new house, fully finished to a high standard, so they don’t have any of the hassle normally associated with house building themselves.

For full details contact 065 707283.