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SERIOUS questions have been raised over plans by Doolin couple, John and Helen Browne to develop a vistor centre at the Pol an I[on- ain cave which contains one of the world’s largest free hanging stalac- tites.

This follows an appeal to An Bord Pleanala from An Taisce, the Pol an Jonain Action Group and the owners of the rival Ailwee Cave over Clare County Council’s decision to grant planning permission for the visitor centre at Pol an Jonain.

In his appeal, An Taisce’s Herit-

age Officer, Ian Lumley said that the applicants have failed to justify the development and the council did not evaluate the application in an inte- grated manner by properly evaluat- ing cumulative impact.

‘Even if the water pollution issues were deemed to be resolved, there is a multiplicity of impacts including traffic generation and physical and visual impact of the proposed struc- tures and parking area.

“The fundamental difficulty of this application is that it completely un- dermines the entire basis on which the previous permission was granted which is that there would be no direct

visitor access of facilities to the site, the visitors being directed through a mini bus service via Doolin.

Mr Lumley states that the appli- cants failed to demonstrate that the park ‘n’ ride from Doolin was not workable.

In its appeal, the Pol an Ionain Action Group asks how could the planning authority which rejected a proposal on four very strong points of planning regulation in 2008 now grant full permission for a similar proposal one year later?”’

“We appeal to Bord Pleanala to try and understand the element of injustice we have had to endure as

participants in the planning proc- ess. While we regard the granting of permission in 2005 as a tragedy, we recognise the conditions laid down by Bord Pleanala limited impacts.”

The action group ask that the ap- peals board uphold the appeal and that all the reasons for refusal of permission in 2008 be upheld; all of our points of our objection to the council are soundly reasoned based on planning regulation and prec- edent and that An Bord Pleanala should uphold its own conditions of permission granted in 2005.

A decision on the appeal is expect- ed later this year.

A POLISH man accused of punching another man in the face has had the charge dismissed after his legal team argued there was an issue with iden- WUAYAU Item OslomeL UU Toy U LE

Polish native Cezary Pachucy (27), of Bri na Sionna, Shannon, was accused of assaulting Cristian Du- mitrescu, in Shannon last year.

Mr Dumitrescu told Ennis District Court that he was walking towards his apartment in Shannon at 9.40pm on April 20, 2008. He said he saw two men and they were “zig zagging. I didn’t know if they were drunk or having fun. Their behaviour looked suspicious to me.”

‘“T couldn’t avoid them really. It was too late. One of them, who was a tall guy, he basically threw his fist into

my nose without any reason. He also said a bad word,” he said.

He said he was afraid that he would be further assaulted and continued on to his apartment, before reporting the matter at Shannon Garda Station. He said that he was brought by gardai to the town centre and he spotted the two men in Supermac’s. “I indicated to gardai these were the guys. Only one of them assaulted me,’ he said.

However defence solicitor Tara Godfrey said that her client denies hitting Mr Dumitrescu. She said the complainant took part in an “infor- mal identity parade” and never point- ed out the defendant to gardai.

He replied, “I pointed out exactly to the guy who hit me.”

Garda Gary Farrell told the court that Mr Dumitrescu had a red mark on his face when he arrived at the

garda station that evening. “I decided to take Cristian with me to find these males and identify them,” he said.

Ms Godfrey told the court that the garda had no notes in his notebook of the accused being pointed out by the complainant. She said there was a doubt in the case. “We are not say- ing this man wasn’t attacked. We are saying my client didn’t attack him,” she said.

Judge Joseph Mangan said the court has to be extremely cautious. “That is one of the cornerstones of crimi- nal law. There have been, in the past, extraordinary miscarriages of justice in relation to mis-identification. The evidence is too vague to identify the defendant positively,’ he said.

He said he was left with a doubt, “not the strongest doubt I’ve ever had, but I have to dismiss.”

MEMBERS of the Travelling com- munity who claim they were dis- criminated against in pubs in Ennis have taken a case “to assert their rights as normal citizens of Ireland to entry to licensed premises,’ accord- ing to their solicitor.

A total of nine cases are being taken against four public houses, under the Equal Status Act, at Ennis District Court. The Travellers claim that they were discriminated against in that they were refused service because they were members of the Travelling community and are seek- ing redress. A ruling on the case will be delivered next month, after Judge Joseph Mangan heard evidence over three days in court.

James Keenan, of 30 Childers Road, Ennis, is taking four cases – against Knox’s, Tom Steele’s, The Li- brary Bar and O’Halloran’s Bar. His cousin John Mongan, of 1 Drumbig- gle Road, Ennis, is taking three cases – against Tom Steele’s, The Library Bar and O’Halloran’s Bar, relating to incidents on November 8 last year.

Their wives, Theresa Keenan and Anne Marie Mongan, are taking one

case each against O’Halloran’s Bar. However, the pubs deny the allega- tions and are contesting the claims being made by the Travellers.

Previously in court, staff from three of the pubs gave evidence and refuted the allegations. Last week, staff from O’Halloran’s bar gave evidence. Liam McCannon said he was working in the bar that evening. He said that Mr Keenan was served by another member of staff. How- ever, when Mr Mongan ordered four drinks from him, he refused to serve him. Asked why he refused to serve him, he replied, ““Because he caused trouble in the bar before. It would have been roughly four years ago.”

He said on that occasion, Mr Mon- gan and others became “boisterous and loud” and Mr Mongan knocked over a table of glasses with his hands. He said he was “100 per cent” certain it was the same Mr Mongan who is taking the case against his bar.

The owner of the bar, Michael O’Halloran, told the court that Trav- ellers are served on his premises. “We have ‘Travellers every week- end, even last weekend. Anybody is served once people sit down and behave themselves and don’t misbe-

have,’ he said.

Making submissions on_ behalf of the Travellers, solicitor Andrew Darcy said his clients “are not here before the court solely for the redress of compensation. They wish to as- sert their rights as normal citizens of Ireland to entry to licensed premises. They have been subjected on numer- ous occasions to refusals in licensed premises in Ennis. They decided on this occasion to take a stance. They like to be treated as normal, equal people as they should be entitled,’ |aTemcy- HOR

He said that James Keenan was re- fused in Knox’s bar “because he is a member of the Travelling commu- nity.” He denied an assertion by staff at Knox’s that Mr Keenan had caused trouble there previously.

He said that Mr Keenan and Mr Mongan then went to Tom Steele’s bar, where “they were discriminated against again.” They then went to The Library Bar where they were not served “without good reason and jus- tification.”

He said that the two men and their wives then went to O’Halloran’s Bar where they were again refused ClenNece

However, Stephen Nicholas, solici- tor for Knox’s Bar, pointed out that the premises “do not discriminate against members of the Travelling community.” He said that a garda who was called to the pub that night recognised several members of the Travelling community drinking there. “The only people who are re- fused drink are those who are drunk or those barred previously. Of course, the underage are not served either,” he said. He said that Mr Keenan had caused trouble there previously and that was the reason he was not served on November 8.

John Rynne, solicitor for Tom Steele’s bar, said, ““To say they were not served because they are mem- bers of the Travelling community is an outrageous allegation. There are Travellers served in that bar every day of the week.” He said the family- run premises was strictly operated. ‘Any customer is entitled to a drink and if they are behaving themselves they will get it,” he said.

Daragh Hassett, solicitor for The Library Bar, told the court, “There are reputations at stake on both sides. There is money at stake. These cases Nom lorelelmpesleyelea’A

‘James Keenan and John Mongan played the system beautifully. They called gardai to each pub. They have told you it’s about taking stands. Most certainly it’s about money. If they wanted to take a stand, they would have gone down to the garda station the following day,” he said.

‘Both their wives submitted claims to Gerry Quinn (The Library Bar), but they were subsequently with- drawn because they couldn’t get their story right. If there’s anybody who concocted stories here it’s the plain- tiffs, from the beginning, middle and end,” he said.

William Cahir, —_—s representing O’Halloran’s Bar, said the premises was well-run and well established and said, “A publican has a right to protect his premises, a right to refuse people who have misbehaved on the premises on previous occasions. Mr O’Halloran dealt with the matter as expeditiously as possible in consid- eration of the gardai and the public.”

ST FLANNAN’S College, Ennis and St Joseph’s Secondary School, Tulla have been part of a groundbreak- ing educational programme which brings teenagers and retired people together in the classroom.

The programme, which has been successfully operating for the past ten years, originated from NUI Gal- way’s Adult and Continuing Educa- tion Office and is the first of its kind in Ireland and Europe.

Through weekly art, music, drama and creative writing workshops, the Living Scenes programme allows teenagers and older adults to learn together, share experiences and build bonds of mutual respect and under- standing.

A strong emphasis is placed on the holistic development of the partici- pants, promoting equality, personal development and confidence build- ing in both the younger and older adults.

The innovative programme was first piloted in Galway City’s Presen- tation Secondary School in 1999, and quickly became established in as part of its transition year. Living Scenes has since developed and expanded through partnerships between NUI Galway and secondary schools from Galway, Cork and Mayo.

In the course of its ten year history, the programme has been instrumen- tal in cultivating a strong relation- ship between the university and schools, older and younger adults, and has a key objective of promoting the school as a focal point for com- munity regeneration.

NUI Galway’s Dr Mary Surlis is the Living Scenes programme di-

rector, and has been involved since its inception. She maintains that at a time when there is a serious ero- sion of social fabric in Irish society, Living Scenes aims to respond to the growing need for communication and trust in both the school and in the local community.

“What we are trying to do is to regenerate relationships both in

schools and communities and, per- haps more importantly, between our older and our younger generations,’ she explained.

Extensive research has been carried out by Dr Surlis on Living Scenes to evaluate the project in a develop- mental curricular capacity and to identify its contribution in an overall educational context.

Dr Surlis says, “The findings of this research have implications for policy makers, as well as school and com- munity groups.”

ONE of north Clare’s longest serv- ing schools is now also one of the county’s best equipped following the opening of a new €500,000 exten- sion at Kilnamona National School.

The Bishop of Killaloe, Willie Walsh, officially ushered in a new era for the school alongside parents, teachers, pupils and invited guests in Kilnamona last Friday.

The school, which has been educat- ing local children for more than 120 years, has seen a significant growth in numbers over the last number of years.

“Part of the role of the school Board of Management is to plan for the needs that the school will have going into the future and that is something the previous boards of management did between 2003 and 2007,” said Tony Barrett, Chairperson of the Board of Management.

“We saw that we had a growing school population, we had come back up from a three-teacher school to a five-teacher school. With that in mind we realised that the school building and educational facilities we had weren’t big enough for the erowth projected for the school.”

The extension includes an extra classroom, a resource teaching room, a special needs room, an IT room and extra administrative space. The work was completed by Pat Carmody Gros male noysmaneeem seer

“We really did need something that would bring the school into the 21st century. The school in Kilnamona has been there since 1889, so it’s a very old school,’ continued Tony.

“There are two aspects to any school. This extension has revolu- tionised one aspect, which is the physical school itself. But the second more important aspect is the teachers and teaching quality at the school. You don’t need to have a very mod- ern building to do that well and we have an excellent staff in Kilnamona under the principal, Sean Crowe.

“We were also very careful not to destroy any of the old school and to maintain its original architectural

style – we took great care to marry the new extension onto the older building and the new and the old now sit very comfortably together. “There are so many people who helped to make this possible. First of all the former Board of Management of the school who had the foresight to see that this would be needed, the parents of the parish have also been very supportive of the application, we would also like to thank the De- partment of Education for granting

the funding, the Oireachtas members at the time who supported our appli- cation for funding, our architect Ed- die Grace, Pat Carmody Construc- tion and the Parish of Kilnamona who actually gave us the land that we needed to build this extension on.”

DETAILS have been announced of a concert in aid of the District Day Care Centre, Clarecastle.

Acclaimed singer Sean Keane and his band will perform at the Church of Ss Peter and Paul, Clarecastle on July 19.

The concert is being organised by the Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann, Clarecastle in association with the District Day Care Centre.

The District Day Care Centre in Clarecastle opened in August 1999 following six years of planning, fun- draising and consultation. It was a proud day for the committee to see the first neighbours and friends avail of the new facilities.

The centre caters for 250 people per week and covers a 10-mile radius from Clarecastle. Transportation 1s arranged by minibus. The facility is usually offered one day per week to each person but some may avail of it more often in special circumstances.

Facilities provided at the centre include nursing care, classes and a wide range of social activities.

A meeting held at the centre last Monday highlighted shortfalls in funding for a new state of art and ful- ly complete dementia day care unit.

Chents and staff appealed for the HSE to make funding available for the project.

Maureen Keohane, who has been attending the centre for the past seven years, said, “This is a wonderful fa-

cility. I don’t know how I could man- age without it. Everything is under one roof. The staff are superb, you couldn’t praise them highly enough. I don’t know what Id do if it didn’t exist.”

The unit is designed to facilitate 25 people per day with mild/moderate elentenlete

The services anticipated in the new unit will offer up to dementia suffer- ers more specialised care in an en- vironment that is purpose built for their needs.

Management at the centre say that the new unit will also free up spaces in the existing day care centre which has a waiting list of 40.

The Health Services Executive, mid western region meets the day-to-day

running costs of the centre.

The existing services are operated by agreement between District Day Care Centre Ltd – a voluntary or- ganisation – and the Health Services Executive. The decision to develop the centre by providing a purpose built dementia unit was approved by the HSE.

Galway singer Sean Keane is ap- pearing as part of the bill announced for the 13th annual Céili at the Cross- roads Festival in Clarecastle.

This year’s festival again features performances by a host of local mu- sicians as well as workshops in set dancing and sean nos singing.

The festival concludes on July 26 with a céili at Kerins Cross with mu- sic from the Four Courts Céili Band.

Ennis Anna Prior-itises Galway

It could have been last chance saloon

for these two but when the dust set- tled — and it took a while following a stormy enough few minutes after the final whistle in an incident that included a red card for Tulla’s Eanna Torpey — both had somehow man- aged to keep their season alive.

It was a free from distance, executed by the accurate Alan Duggan, close to three minutes into injury time that sealed the draw and it was the free that was at the heart of the debate afterwards. Torpey himself was pre- viously adjudged to have fouled the ball, which led to Duggan’s free and subsequent point.

Into the last quarter of the game, the specatacle improved and it looked at times like Tulla might just sneak away with the points. Padraic McKeogh had goaled for the Mills in the 42nd minute, following a pass from Fergus Donovan that left Dug- gan one on one with Philip Brennan. When his shot rattled the net, it gave the Mills and four-point lead but it was Tulla who managed to react the stronger.

They replied with six unanswered points in the space of five minutes — two frees from Andy Quinn and points from Brian Lynch, Aidan Lynch and Kieran Brennan.

Now, Tulla were hurling with pur-

pose and intensity, qualities they had lacked up to that point of the game. When Andy Quinn blasted over an- other free eight minutes from time, Tulla led by two and the Mills had only scored twice in the sceond half. Then Conor Cooney — who had been substituted with an injury only to re- turn with a few minutes left and in a

more advanced position — fired over a point for the Mills.

Time wasn’t on their side but they stuck to their task. They pushed for- ward with every opportunity and eventually they did get the break- through with that late, late free from Duggan.

And to be fair, they deserved to get

something out of the game. When they slipped ahead before the break, thanks to two fine points from Fer- gus Donovan, they had set them- selves up to battle hard in the second half. That McKeogh goal arrived at just the right time but they failed to follow through and steer themselves to victory.

Tulla didn’t win a championship title two years back without picking up some knowledge on the way and they eked out their own lead impres- sively but with two games left to play for both sides, they’Il know equally well that a full 60 minutes will be re- quired from here on in.

TO be fair, this game was as good as over as early as the 20th minute. That’s because the treble winning champions from 2008 were already leading by 2-4 to O-1 at that stage.

Despite the fact that the game was switched from Quilty to Kilrush, the home side hadn’t managed to really trouble Kilmurry Ibrickane in the OC) eNrca Nee

As it was, the first score of the game came from the boot of Thomas O’Connor who blasted a 25-yard bel- ter into the roof of the Kilrush net. It was exactly the start that Kilrush, who were fighting for their Cusack Cup status, didn’t want.

From there, Kilmurry dominated and controlled the game. Johnny Daly secured their second goal just after the quarter way point and all of a sudden, a huge gap had appeared between the sides.

Ten minutes from the break, Kil- murry were ahead on the scoreline

of 2-4 to 0-1 and nine-points adrift, Kilrush were staring into relegation

AeA The groundwork was laid for Kil-

murry in their half-back line where Enda Coughlan and Shane Hickey — who contributed three points be- tween them — foraged forward at every opportunity. This put pressure on the Kilrush defence, a pressure that they ultimately struggled to cope e180

At midfield, Ian McInerney was well in control and further up the field the Kilmurry half-forward line were also working well.

On the restart — by which time Kil- murry had raced into a 2-6 to 0-2 lead — Kilrush did enjoy a ten minute spell of dominance but to be fair, this had as much to do with the fact that Kilmurry Ibrickane took their foot off the gas.

Throughout the second half, Kil- murry never allowed themselves to become threatened on the scoreboard and though they managed only five points, it was the same total Kilrush could manage over the entire hour.

In the end, it was a battle between first and last and as such, was reflect-

ed on the scoreboard. Kilmurry re- main unbeaten at the top of the table. Kilrush drop to the Garry Cup.

CLARE County Council have de- fended the amount of money spent on the new Lahinch Lifeguard Centre, saying that the state of the art facil- ity will be looked upon as value for money by future generations.

The centre, which was officially opened last Friday by Mayor of Clare, Cllr Madeleine Taylor Quinn (FG), cost the local authority €340,000, almost €110,000 more than the con- tracted price signed with the devel- oper in March of 2008.

The overrun is believed to have come about as a result of the cost of creating a suitable ESB connection to a sub-station at the far end of the Lahinch promenade, the installa- tion of a speaker system for public announcements and the addition of CCTV cameras at the station.

The increased cost of the facility was criticised by a number of local politicians with north Clare council- lor Martin Conway (FG) calling for a full breakdown of the costings of the facility to be produced by Clare County Council.

“We are getting fantastic value for money with this facility and I think that this facility will be a blueprint that other councils will follow when the overall financial situation 1m- proves,’ said Liam Griffin, Water Safety Officer with Clare County Council.

‘There is a huge investment in fa- cilities like fire stations around the country and I think that centres like

the one here in Lahinch will become more common. There is no putting a cost on human life and I think that in 30 or 40 years from now people will look back on this investment and see that we got good value for money. The new centre was constructed by Ballinasloe based contractor Mota Engil Ireland Construction Ltd and features an observation room, an external viewing deck, a wet room, medical and first aid facilities, a toi- let, store room, shower room and an

external shower. It is being described by the builders as Ireland’s largest lifeguard centre.

“It’s a fantastic facility, it’s the first of it’s kind anywhere in the country,” continued Mr Griffin.

“Tt will allow the lifeguards to do their job using the best facilities and will be a comfortable place for anyone who will need to use it or be treated in the first aid centre. The lifeguards do a very professional and very important job. This centre has a

fantastic overview of the entire beach and an excellent PA system for crowd control situations.”