Category: Uncategorized

Arrests after break-ins

HIGH noon in the intermediate ver- sion of the “Group of Death’ as Kil- lanena began the campaign in positive fashion to take an early lead in the pool. It wasn’t exactly a performance that will send the rest of the cham- pionship into a frenzy but in such a competitive group, securing victory by whatever means necessary is the most important aspect that Killanena will take from this game.

Bogged down for the first 35 min- utes of this tie, Killanena finally came to life to brush aside Sixmilebridge’s challenge, hitting seven points in the remainder as the Bridge faded under the energy sapping sun.

With both centre-backs Enda Col- lins and Stiofan Fitzpatrick domi- nating throughout, it was only when Mark Flaherty was switched from corner-forward to centre-forward that Killanena found that extra gear and that was essentially the differ- ence as the Bridge had no such tar- getman in their front six.

This was a far different Bridge team from the one that had beaten Killanena at the same stage of last year’s championship on their way to contesting the intermediate decider, with only half the side still remain- ing. Instead, the Bridge’s second string had to rely on a new crop of young players to lead the way and along with the experience of Stiofan Fitzpatrick, David O’Meara, Keith Walker, Kevin Phelan, Christy Grif- fin, Declan Murphy, Joe and Mike O’Halloran and Tommy Liddy, they certainly matched Killanena for al- most forty minutes.

The scrapiness of the game suited the Bridge better and while Killanena hit 14 wides over the hour, the Bridge just kept plugging away before their challenge eventually faded.

The opening half went blow for blow, with the sides level on five oc- casions by the 24th minute before Killanena finally found some leeway with a three point unanswered burst through Alan McNamara, Mikey Noone and Liam McNamara to lead

by 0-8 to 0-6 at the break.

Incidentally, that first half was also noted for the surprising lapse in freetaking with Mark Flaherty and Tommy Liddy’s normally unerring accuracy from placed balls suffering under the midday sun.

Killanena almost caught the Bridge napping immediately after the re- start when Ronan Flaherty raided down the left flank before handpass- ing to Liam McNamara but his shot for goal to thunder off the crossbar to frustrate Killanena further. Two more wides followed for the north Clare side and the Bridge took ad- vantage of that lapse to level up the game for the sixth time by the 35th minute through Tommy Liddy and a great score from Ronan Mullane.

That was to be their last real say in the game as they opted to go for goals when picking off points would have been much more beneficial and once Killanena switched county sen- ior Flaherty out to the forty, they be- gan to regain control. Two Flaherty frees and an Alan McNamara point

in a four minute spell began the surge and while Liddy again con- verted a free in the 43rd to put just two between the sides, it was to be their final score of the game.

Instead, Killanena piled on the pressure and while the wides contin- ued to hamper them, their constant shooting eventually yielded further points from Fintan McNamara, Mark Flaherty and a superb long range ef- fort from Enda Collins to give them a five point cushion.

Sixmilebridge should have grabbed a lifeline when Declan Murphy picked out Joe O’ Halloran unmarked at the back post with five minutes remaining but the corner-forward struck his shot into the ground and Killanena cleared the danger, finally cementing the win with a Liam Mc- Namara 64th minute point.

Not only was it a great start to the championship for Killanena but as the sides were due to play in the Clare Cup this weekend, the game also doubled up as a league and championship game, with the victory

putting Killanena on top of both ta- bles.

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.

Life of Caher motorcyclist remembered at special mass

COUNTY Clare’s top prosecut- ing barrister, Stephen Coughlan BL earned almost €200,000 in fees to prosecute cases on behalf of the State last year.

New figures released by the Dti- rector of Public Prosecutions (DPP) show that Mr Coughlan last year received €195,475. The amount re- ceived by Mr Coughlan appeared in the top ten amounts paid out by the DPP to barristers in 2008.

The payout – inclusive of VAT – to

Mr Coughlan follows the DPP pay- ing him €164,980 to prosecute cases on behalf of the DPP at Ennis and Kilrush Circuit Courts in 2007 and €130,030 paid to prosecute cases in 2006.

The 18 per cent increase in fees se- cured by Mr Coughlan last year can be attributed to the role he played in the State’s prosecution team in the trial of former Killaloe doctor, Pas- chal Carmody for deception.

Over five weeks last summer, Mr Coughlan acted as junior counsel in this case over five weeks.

Mr Coughlan’s senior colleague in that case, Denis Vaughan Buckley SC received the fourth highest amount of any barrister in the country last year when he earned €264,791.

The monies received by Mr Cough- lan were part of €13 million paid out to senior and junior counsel last year by the DPP for the prosecution of cases in the criminal courts across the country.

The vast number of cases that Mr Coughlan would deal with would be pleas of guilt by the defendant.

The figures released by the DPP

also show that the prosecution team in the ‘Lying Eyes’ conspiracy to murder trial feature prominently on the list.

Ennis woman, Sharon Collins and Las Vegas poker player, Essam Eid were both jailed after the eight week long trial and the figures show that the lead prosecutor in the case, Tom O’Connell SC received €294,511 in fees to prosecute cases while his colleague in the trial, while his col- league, Una Ni Raifeartaigh BL re- ceived €170,528 in fees last year from the DPP.