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PROPERTY owners across the county are being pursued under leg- islation to curb derelict buildings. Shannon Town Manager Ger Dol- lard has confirmed that owners of 15 such properties in Shannon – mostly houses – are currently being pur-

sued, as are owners in other parts of the county.

According to Mr Dollard the council’s main aim is to bring these properties out of dereliction.

This could be partly achieved by applying a levy of three per cent of the market value, payable by the owner, onto such properties.

“It was never meant to be a rev- enue generating thing,” he said.

Mr Dollard added that it was par- ticularly important to deal with the issue if better results were to be achieved in Tidy Towns competi- tions.

“IT wouldn’t say it 1s a crisis, but there are examples. We are serving

notices, which give people an op- portunity to do something about it.

“They will have plenty of oppor- tunity to sort it out,’ said Mr Dol- lard.

A number of Shannon ‘Town Councillors spoke out on the issue Clerks NM N else NN OTSe

Councillor Geraldine Lambert

(FF) said that, in some instances, the landlords were only interested in collecting rent and not maintaining the property.

Cllr Patricia McCarthy (Ind) said, ‘People should be aware of how se- rious it is.

“Until such time as the council takes action, it will carry on.”

The ICSA held a demonstration outside the British Embassy in Dublin to protest against EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson’s proposed cuts in tariffs at the WTO negotiations scheduled for Hong Kong on Friday.

The protest specifically targeted the UK Embassy because, accord- ing to the ICSA, the UK has used its presidency of the European Union

to stifle debate and analysis on the EU position at important meetings such as the Council of Ministers meetings.

Speaking at the protest ICSA President Malcolm Thompson said, these cuts, which are up to 60 per cent, will make farming unviable for Irish and EU farmers. Peter Mandelson’s proposals threaten to undermine European food security, and are ill-conceived and unwork- able.”

‘He is clearly hell bent on exceed- ing his mandate, is evidently will- ing to sell out agriculture in order to get a deal and he 1s protected from accountability by the blatant UK manipulation of their term of office of the presidency of the EU.”

An ICSA spokesperson said that the organisation is alarmed that the WTO negotiations have been kept off the agenda of all meetings of the Council of Agriculture Munisters since the summer. This, they be-

lieve, is outrageous given the huge importance of the WTO talks.

“What is the point of having a Council of Ministers that ignores the main issues?” he continued. “I can’t understand how they can man- age to have a Farm Council meeting on November 22-24 without actual- ly mentioning the WTO, just weeks before the decision-making WTO meeting in Hong Kong!.”

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-

LAA

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.

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.