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THE CEO of Ennis Chamber of Commerce has expressed concern that the installation of CCTV is not likely to be put in place in the town until early 2007.

Rita McInerney says the Chamber was led to believe that it would be put in place by the end of next year, but the Jus- tice Minister Michael McDowell has now indi- cated that there will be a further delay.

“We keep _ getting promised and we would be disappointed if it was put back to 2007. This must be the fourth oc- casion it was put back,” said Ms McInerney.

She said the issue of CCTV is a high prior- ity on the Chamber’s

agenda.

“We see it aS a pre- ULE TOA (OMB OO CerKIIDKoMEEA Ke just want to be proac- tive. Let’s get the CCTV before we have a huge problem with crime. There is a slight prob- lem of public disorder. We need to stamp that out and CCTV 1s a huge CK ere MUNM NNR USteTROR

“Windows do get bro- ken, but this could es- calate to more serious types of crime, includ- ing burglary,’ said Ms McInerney.

The need for CCTV in the town was also raised at this month’s meeting of Ennis Town Council.

Councilor Tom Glynn (FF) stated that CCTV was urgently needed to serve aS a deterrent to anti-social behavior in the town.

“If there was more CCTV it would certain- ly help to bring these culprits to justice.” Cllr Glynn who is a teach- er in Ennis National School was speaking after a number of cars were found burned out in the car park adjoining the school.

Meanwhile the De- partment of Justice has confirmed that one En- nis community group has applied from the department’s new part- funded CCTV scheme in the coming year.

Community groups had to raise at least 15% of the funding while the remainder could be sought from public bod- loa

In total, 32 groups ap- plied for funding for the schemes nationwide.

THE ‘Taoiseach has this week LoysVebuenlo(eMmBn I MER, SUL ONOTcammOer-l Mmm als continuation of acute care at the Mid West Regional Hospital En- nis “remains a Government com- mitment”’.

His strongest indication to date that Ennis’s 24-hour accident and emergency service will remain Open came in a letter to the chair- man of the Ennis General Hos- pital Development Committee (EGHDC), Peadar McNamara.

A member of the EGHDC de- scribed the letter as “political soothing noises.”

The letter stated, “…. capital investment of €20 million indi- cates the Government commit- ment to keeping a fully function- ing Accident and Emergency Department in Ennis.

“It is not just in the capital side that we have made clear our commitment to Ennis A and E. Dedicated Emergency Care phy- sicians have also been employed providing round-the-clock med1i- cal cover to Ennis A& E. A & E Consultants sessions have been introduced from July 2005.

“Eight nursing staff have been upgraded to CNMI Level at En- nis and clerical staffing at the Ennis A & E Reception has also been extended.

‘There has also been structural reconfiguration of the A & E de- partment carried out to improve patient flow; this included a new reception area.

‘T would hope that our commit- ment to acute care is clear from our investment thus far, and the continuation of this acute care remains a Government commit- ment,’ Mr Ahern continued.

‘T would also take this opportu- nity to reiterate any commitment to continued planned investment in Ennis General Hospital’s serv- ices with a programme of new hospital facilities, new consultant posts and consultant led services, and new paramedic services.”

The PRO for the EGHDC said yesterday “we can have all the political soothing noises, but we have to hear that the para- graph (referring to A & E) in the Hanley Report will not be imple- mented.”

‘There are three people in this

trinity, the Minister for Health, the Taoiseach and _ Professor Drumm. We now want to get a meeting with Professor (Brendan) Drumm, CEO of the Health Serv- ice Executive,’ he said.

The spokesperson for the lobby group also expressed annoyance that a journalist had been leaked the letter, dated October 6, be- fore the intended recipient had received it.

He called into question the Government’s “way of doing business,” describing the leak as appalling.

ORGANISERS of the Ceifin Conference 2005 are hoping that the event AUN Mab Komr NU CNSne mms el ommD Dene portance of community in the modern world.

The conference is en- titled ‘filling the vacu- vse

It will explore how people have become disconnected from so- ciety and related issues including the role of the family, the economy, spirituality and the role of the community.

It is being organized by the Shannon based SS Oo isces

A wide range of speakers from across the social spectrum will appear at the event, which takes place in the West County Hotel, En- nis next month.

These include Presi- dent Mary McAleese, who will host a talk called ‘Counting on

Community’.

“The conference 1s pretty unique to Clare.

“It will highlight the importance and good work done by people giving up their time to volunteer in the com- munity.

“Volunteering is also important for your spir- it,’ said Susan Ward of the Ceifin Centre.

Other speakers in- clude Dennis Bradley, Vice-Chairman of the Northern Ireland Polic- ing Board, Pat Duffy, Chief Executive’ of Sports Coach UK and Marie Murray, Director of Psychology at St Vin- cent’s Hospital.

Dr Murray, who also has extensive experi- ence working in the me- dia, will speak on the second day of the con- ference about the prob- lems of suicide in young males called ‘Prophets or Profit; who fills the eTeLULbN OO ee

CHARGES against a 27-year-old an- tiques restorer who had been accused of involvement in two hit and run acci- dents have been dismissed.

Keith Russell, of 30 Cahercalla Heights, Ennis, denied he was the driver of a van involved in two accidents, dur- ing which €7,000 damage was caused to four cars, on June 12, 2004.

Taxi driver Michael O’Connor told Ennis District Court he was driving along the Clare Road towards Captain Mac’s cross at around 2am and stopped AMA eCoM DECAL RODW OSLO mK SLOD

He said a van came along behind him and crashed into the back of his car, be- fore driving off.

He said “Clare Van Hire” was writ- ten on the van and he took down the registration number. The driver was a young man in his early 20s with sandy hair but he could not be certain as to his identity.

It was alleged in court that the van then took a sharp bend, hit two parked cars outside a house in Gallows Hull, and continued on to the home of the ac- cused, where it was found parked in the CTU AoANe WA

Garda Mark Murphy went to the scene

of the accident and noticed a trail of lig- uid on the road, which he followed.

The trail turned right into Cahercalla Heights and stopped at the home of the accused. Gda Murphy said a white van was parked in the accused’s driveway, bearing the same logo and registration identified by the taxi driver.

He said a young man came running out of the house. “I asked him who was driving the van. He said, ‘I was driv- ing. No-one else in the house’,” said the garda. He said the accused was drunk and was unsteady on his feet.

When cautioned, the accused then strenuously denied driving the van.

Results of an intoxylser test taken by the accused showed there was 75 micro- grams of alcohol per 100 mls of breath.

He had the van on loan from Clare Van Hire and said he had full use it.

According to the owner of the van, the accused was ‘the only person to have access to it’, said gardai.

Defending solicitor Eugene O’Kelly applied for direction on a number of points including that the State’s case was built on circumstantial evidence.

Judge Mangan said “I have to hold with the defence. If the State wants to seek judicial review, it is a matter for the SIF Kone

ENNIS fire-fighters have been forced to call in Garda protection after being pelt- ed with missiles by children as young as te

Gardai are escorting fire crews, when responding to alarms in the Cloughleigh area of the town.

Last week, a fire-fighter was struck on the head by a missile during a response to a hoax call.

The incident was the latest in a series where fire-fighters were subjected to at- tack by a group of teenagers and children in Cloughleigh. Crews now don their helmets and visors to protect themselves when entering the area.

Chief Fire Officer Adrian Kelly con- firmed this week that Garda escorts were being requested to accompany fire units to Cloughleigh, where it was suspected

that the calls to the station might be hoax.

Mr Kelly said that a fire unit received a Garda escort to the Cloughleigh area last AYA”LerebaTehsre FWA

Mr Kelly said, “I can’t tolerate a situ- ation where the fire-fighters are the tar- gets for young people throwing objects at them.”

Mr Kelly confirmed that already this year, the fire service had received 21 ma- licious calls and 17 nuisance calls from the Cloughleigh area.

A fire-fighter said this week, “You name it, rocks, bricks and bottles have been thrown at us and we can’t risk go- ing into the area anymore without a Fer Menieesa mn 4 blot MA WLoM oon AVM toler Roms Ker] hoax call. There are kids as young as 10 and 11 throwing the stones.”

The fire-fighter added, “The problem has been there for a while, but has been

particularly bad over the past 12 months. We can’t risk any injury now, it has got KeXO mo) 6 (0) t

Supt John Kerin of Ennis Garda Sta- tion warned that gardai would be able to accompany fire units to Cloughleigh only in very exceptional circumstances.

“It wouldn’t be viable for Gardai to be on call to provide an escort every time a fire unit is called out to the area in ques- nCoyn a

OW Comp net-larosmmye: pepe) oyKeltrca slam Commo) ULor lic attention by Green party councillor, Brian Meaney at the Council’s Special Policy Committee (SPC) on the Envi- ronment last week.

‘A means has to be found locally to stamp out this behaviour. The imposition of a curfew must be investigated. I un- derstand that fire units stopped putting on their sirens going into the area, but the rock throwing continued,’ he said.

A €5,200 TRIP by Ennis Town Council mem- bers and officials to a famous wine-growing region in the south of France last Summer has run into controversy.

Two councillors say the three day trip by five councillors and three officials to St. Paul de Fenouillet, at the invitation of the local mayor last July, was bad value.

During their time there, the Ennis delega- tion would have been able to visit St Paul de Fenouillet’s famous vineyards. In common with previous trips by the Town Council overseas, this one was accompanied by little or no publicity.

Fine Gael councillor, Johnny Flynn who didn’t go on the trip said this week: ‘I was elected to put in place policies for the town council and monitor the work of the execu- tive.

“The trip would not have assisted me in my duties as a councillor. I don’t think it is rel- evant.

‘The general public has become very cyni- cal over the work of central and local gov- ernment and a trip such as this would make the public even more cynical, where money needs to be spent on local services.”

Cllr Donal O’Bearra (GP) said, “From my experience of overseas trips for the Council, nothing is implemented by the Council that has been viewed abroad.”

Councillor O’Bearra travelled abroad with the council on a number of overseas trips in- cluding Bruges and St. Paul de Fenouillet, but opted not to go on this year’s trip.

“The people of St Paul de Fenouillet have been very, very good to the council and I went there with an open mind before as to the value of the trip. But all the evidence suggests that it 1s just a junket.”

Town Mayor, Frankie Neylon (Ind) said that the twinning arrangement with St Paul de Fenouillet “has provided an amount of benefits for Ennis”.

Ennis Town Clerk, Eddie Power said, “The cost of the trip was €5,200. The Council has a budget of €24,000 for town-twinning and associated expenses.

“The Twinning arrangement continues to be an opportunity to promote Ennis as a place to visit. This is particuarly relevant in the context of additional low cost airlines fly- ing the Shannon to Girona route, as the St. Paul de Fenouillet region is easily accessible through Girona.”

IRISH singer songwriting legend Paddy Ca- sey will be in Ennistymon later this month to play a special charity concert in aid of the towns new Steiner Primary School.

The hugely popular artist will appear in the Falls Hotel on Friday October 21 to per- form a once-off intimate gig.

All proceeds from the event will to to- wards the newly established Mol An Oige Steiner School which opened it’s doors for the first time in September.

The school, which 1s the first of its kind in the area, was set up and continues to run on a completely voluntary basis by local people.

“It promises to be a really great night,” said Roisin who is one of the people respon- sible for setting up the concert.

“We are really delighted to have Paddy play. He is an excellent live act and was voted the best performer at the Oxygen Fes- tival last year.”

‘Paddy has supported REM, Bob Dylan, Alanis Morisette and Katie Melua so we are looking forward to a great night at the Falls, which will be an excellent, intimate venue for someone of his calibre,” she continued.

The Mol An Oige school is located across from the childcare unit in Data Display in Ennistymon.

At present 12 children are enrolled in the school which is taught by Inagh teacher Una Ni Ghairbhith who is a qualified primary school teacher who has two years of experi- ence in using the Steiner method.

The Steiner method is a system of active learning, which is designed to help children learn through a variety of traditional and non-traditional methods.

For example, a maths class in a Steiner school can include rhyme, a variety of dif- ferent games, or even children using the movements of their own bodies to learn.

Playing support to Paddy Casey on the night will be two Clare bands; Bondeko and The Filth.

Bondeko are a eclectic world music band featuring saxophone, drums, guitar, key- boards and powerful male harmonies.

The Filth will bring an element of rock and ska to the concert which will have something to suit everyone’s tastes.

Tickets for the concert cost €20 and are available in Ennis from the Little Silver Mines and Custy’s music shop.

They are also for sale locally in Ennisty- mon at the Sugan chair restaurant, Crosbies craft shop, Unglerts and the Falls Hotel it- self.

Only 700 tickets are available for the unique event to early booking is a must.

THREE members of the travelling commu- nity who were involved in an altercation out- side Ennis swimming pool, have each been fined €600.

Before Ennis District Court were Chris- topher McDonagh (30), 1 Davit Terrace, Cloughleigh, Ennis; 38-year-old Bernard Mc- Donagh, | Ashline, Ennis; and Christopher Mongan (27), with an address in Clondalkin, Dublin, arising out of an incident on June 26, 2003.

Garda Val McCormack told the court that Bernard and Christopher McDonagh had been in the gym part of the pool when a car,

in which Christopher Mongan was travelling, pulled in to the car park.

“Tt’s alleged the McDonaghs came from the pool, went to their car, took weapons, includ- ing slash hooks and sticks, and went to hit the car in which the Mongans were travelling,” said Gda McCormack.

He said it was alleged by the McDonaghs that the Mongans also had weapons in their car. Gardai searched the pool area, but didn’t find any implements or weapons. He said there were allegations that the accused shout- ed abuse at each other and took their shirts off.

Judge Joseph Mangan imposed a fine of

AN exciting new exhibition of paintings by Christopher Banahan will open this Saturday in the Rus- sell Gallery in New Quay.

The exhibition, which 1s entitled ‘Recent Paintings’, will be opened by the Galway Arts Officer James Harrold and will run until Novem- ber 12.

‘Recent Paintings’ will feature a selection of paintings undertaken from when Banahan first started exhibiting in Ireland about 10 years ago up until the present day and a series of landscape painting influenced by the artists move to the Galway Bay last year.

A recurring theme in his paint- ings is the destructive force that nature can have upon both natural and man-made surfaces.

This can be seen not only in his earlier, Pompei influenced frag- mented frescos, but also in his Iconic Gold leaf Madonna’s and Deities, his contemplative portraits of children and his present Burren inspired ethereal landscapes and flowers.

Indeed his most recent works explore many themes especially relevant in the Burren such as the ways by which natural erosion re- flects the vulnerability and fragil- ity of life.

Christopher Banahan regularly shows at the Hallward Gallery in Dublin and has been extensively exhibiting in galleries throughout the country. Indeed Mr Banahan has taken part in successful exhi- bitions around the world including the Boston University, Irish Insti- tute for European Affairs in Lou- vain and the Academia Britannica in Rome.

Earlier this year he was also se- lected to represent Ireland in the “Contemporary Art From Ireland” exhibition at the European Central Bank in Frankfurt.

His work has also been included in many private and corporate col- lections including Microsoft, AIB, the Arts Council of Ireland, Ball- inglen Foundation Mayo, Con- temporary Art Society of Great Britain and the Office of Public Works in Dublin.

MINISTER for State, Tim O’ Malley told the Dail that he has been informed by the Garda au- thorities that a special operation is in place in Kilrush to assist local Gardai in their efforts to prevent and detect acts of criminality in the locality.

He was responding to a call from Deputy Pat Breen to put in place a strategic plan to deal with the anti- social problems in Kilrush that have people living in fear.

“Resources from throughout the Clare division have been, and will continue to be, utilised in this op- eration. Within the past week, one individual has been charged with four acts of criminal damage to cars in the town and is in custody,” Minister O’Malley told the Fine Gael Deputy.

“The Minister for Justice is fur- ther informed that one additional sergeant and two additional Gardai were recently deployed to Kilrush to augment resources. The present special operation will be continual-

ly reviewed and additional resourc- es will be deployed if the necessity arises,’ he added.

In a Dail speech on the issue, Deputy Pat Breen said that as a re- sult of anti-social behaviour in Kil- rush, “elderly people now fear for their safety and worry about their property, while parents are fearful when their children are out”.

“There has been some success by local Gardai in making arrests on this specific issue but this will not be the end of the matter. This is- sue has been allowed to fester, as

have countless similar ones in oth- er towns and villages, where small groups, usually of juveniles, run riot at night and cause thousands of euro of damage. This must be stopped.”

Calling on the Minister to draw up a strategic plan to tackle the problems in Kilrush, Deputy Breen said that such a plan would use the resources of a special Garda unit to assist local efforts in dealing with the ongoing and escalating acts of vandalism and anti-social behav- iour in Kilrush.