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LAST Thursday was a busy day for the ICMSA in Clare as two separate elections were held in the Falls Hotel in Ennistymon.

In the North Clare area Richard Devereaux of Ennistymon was elected as chairman while Mau- rice Harvey, also of Ennistymon, was elected as secretary and as a National Council member.

Martin McMahon of Broadford was also re- elected as the County Executive Chairman with Padraig Haugh of Moyasta securing the position of secretary. Interestingly, the Vice-Chair of the County Executive will be held jointly by Thomas Shannon of Lissycasey, Richard Devereaux, and Mark Clune of Feakle.

The President of ICMSA, Pat O’Rourke, ad- dressed the meeting and covered three main top- ics in his presentation. He began by criticising

the readiness of some co-ops to cut milk price for short-term considerations.

In this regard, he singled out for his particular criticism, the position adopted by Glanbia who had cut the price paid to their suppliers by 4 cents and had planned to cut it by 10 or 11 cents. Mr O’Rourke also pointed out that this decision com- pletely ignored the underlying strength of dairy markets, with returns from SMP and Casein re- NeNDNem OM asnbU Tee

‘Farmers are very tired of being the first to feel the heat whenever a co-op was faced with even the most transient of commercial challenges,” said Mr O’Rourke.

The issue of animal medication was also open for discussion and Mr O’Rourke said that the IC- MSA had met representatives of the dairy co-ops in Abbeyleix just over a week ago and all were agreed that the new rules on animal medicines,

insofar as they related to dairy farming, should be tied into the Dairy Herd Certificate.

The dairy co-ops also agreed that prescrip- tions for intramammaries should last for one year rather than the six months that the Minister for Agriculture, Mary Coughlan, has proposed. This would link the operation on mastitis control programmes at co-op level directly to the Dairy Herd Certificate.

‘At present all dairy farmers must submit dairy herd certificates annually and the linking of new rules on prescription and the Dairy Herd Certifi- cate would have many benefits and would consid- erably reduce the amount of paper work and costs involved,’ continued Mr O’ Rourke.

Mr O’Rourke concluded by calling for the Irish Government to exercise a veto on any attempt by Commissioner Mandelson to coddle British ex- porters at the expense of Europe’s farmers.

CLEAN drinking water must be supplied to the residents of En- nis in the event of another boil notice being issued.

That was the call being made last night by members of Ennis Town Council who are seeking a guarantee from the County Man- ager that more will be done for the residents in the event of an- other boil notice being imposed on the water supply for Ennis and its surrounding environs.

“It is so serious at this stage that a guarantee should be sought” said Mayor Frankie Neylon at Monday’s meeting. Cllr Neylon went on to add that providing a suitable solution can be arrived at, a temporary water filtration system should be installed while the town waits for a new €13 million water treatment facil- ity due to be constructed in two years time.

The Council was debating the issue following a motion tabled by Councilors Donal O’Beara (GP) and Johnny Flynn (FG),

calling for the continuing un- acceptable quality of Ennis drinking water be declared an emergency and that the County Manager use his available pow- ers. “The supply is unsuitable for the weakest in our society, that is children and the elderly, while others can take their chances if they want, is the approach sug- gested by the Council. This is totally unacceptable” said Cllr O’Beara.

Also present at Monday’s meet- ing were members of the newly- formed Campaign Committee who were protesting outside En- nis Town Council about the poor quality of the water supply. The committee was formed after a public meeting was held in En- nis on November 2 to discuss the contamination of the Ennis wa- ter supply. It is composed of lo- cal political representatives and members of the public.

Town Engineer Tom Tiernan said that the council was cur- rently reviewing a number of proposals concerning temporary water filtration systems for the town’s water supply. He said that the Council is treating the prob- lem very urgently but that any solution must be appropriate for the Ennis supply.

Mr. Tiernan stated that the er- ratic nature of supply in Ennis imposes extra complications on any solution and that there very few examples of successful 1m- plementation of temporary wa- ter filtration systems around the world. He revealed one of the proposals before the Council is a Russian system that has yet to be used outside the country and that any proposed project would cost between €600,000 and €1m.

YOUNG people are being turned away from farming by an obsession with regulations and a lack of opportunity to expand the farming business warned IFA presidential can- didate, Padraig Walshe, last Nelo

Speaking at the launch of his election campaign, Pad- raig Walshe said Irish farm- ing is at risk of going into terminal decline, with dev- astating consequences for rural Ireland, unless radical changes are made in the way the industry is regulated and managed.

Mr Walshe said that farm- ers are being smothered with anti-competitive controls and regulations and with archaic

systems of trading. The presi- dential candidate warned that the EU authorities standards on food trade issues and the obsession with regulations are scientifically unjustified and are crippling the competitive- ness of farming in Ireland.

Mr Walshe also commented on what he called the archaic practices in the Irish meat in- dustry, describing it as ‘remi- niscent of the tangling days of 50 years ago’.

“A system where farmers do not know what price they will get for animals from one day to the next would not be tolerated in any other sector of the economy,” he conclud- ed. “The meat industry must come into the modern era and treat farmers as professional business people.”

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-

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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.

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.