Category: Uncategorized

A UNIQUE collaboration between the Irish Museum of Modern Art and the Iniscealtra Festival of the Arts based in Mountshannon will have people aged seven to seventy getting out the paint and brushes.

While youngsters and older people alike are enjoying the experience of producing their own art, one resident in Raheen, Paddy Gleeson, was cel- ebrating a very special birthday this week.

Art by Alice Maher and Paula Rego is on loan to Scariff Library as part of the festival.

More than 100 local school chil- CUCU MM AU MM ATS [Mn NeCoMy Col loimB DOMES KOEI OSS and then use the art room at Raheen to produce their own works, based on what they have seen.

Later in the day, more visitors to Raheen will have the opportunity to see the exhibition and can also pro- duce their own work.

All of the artwork will be later put on exhibit in Scariff library. The exhibitions will also be open to the public.

The art on loan from the Irish Mu- seum of Modern Art’s collection by internationally renowned artists Al- ice Maher and Paula Rego explores the world of childhood stories and memories, nursery rhymes and fairy

tales, in keeping with this year’s fes- tival theme of ‘Myths and Legends’. School children and Raheen Day Care Centre visitors will be led by artists Terry O’Farrell and Nicola Henley in producing their own mas-

terpieces.

“The IMMA has been co-operating with us for 14 years in loaning art during the festival and it’s an impor- tant part of the event because other- wise, a lot of people would never get

the chance to see these works. Not many people would travel to Dublin just to see them,” said Nicola.

The art event 1s supported by the Department of Education and Sci- ence.

Meanwhile, friends and staff at Raheen were helping Paddy Glee- son celebrate his 105th birthday on Wednesday.

Described as a great historian and storyteller, Paddy is “very spry and with it”, staff say.

A full time resident in Raheen in recent months, Paddy was living in a sheltered housing scheme until then.

“He had lots of friends coming in to congratulate him. He’s a great man for telling stories and people love to hear him,” a staff member at the hos- pital said.

To mark the day, Paddy got his fifth presidential medal, an accolade presented to people who reach their 100th birthday and more.

‘“He’s got quite a collection now,” a friend said.

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.

AN EAST Clare man who lost his life in a motorbike accident less than three months ago has been remem- bered at a special Mass in memory of several bikers who have lost their lives in tragic circumstances.

Michael McInerney (35) died when his motorcycle collided with a ditch near Clarecastle, on February 28 last. He is understood to have lost control of the motorcycle before it hit WeTomenIKOee

The father-of-one had been travel- ling towards Kildysart at the time of the crash. A native of Caher, he lived in the Cahercalla area of Ennis.

He had a passion for motorcycles and was a member of the Banner Motorcycle Club in Ennis.

In his memory, the club was keen that he be remembered at the an- nual “Gone but not forgotten’ Bik- ers’ Mass in County Fermanagh on Friday night. Dozens of others who were killed in motorcycle accidents over the years were also remembered and candles were lit in their memo- iu oe

Mr McInerney was the chairman of the Banner Motorcycle Club for three years and won the title of Club Member Of The Year last year.

According to Paschal Shanahan of the Banner Motorcycle Club, Mr MclInerney’s death was a huge loss.

“He was a total gentleman. On the day he died, he was helping someone to fix a bike. He was gone to get a manual. He was a real character and will be sorely missed,’ he said.

“At his funeral, there were bliz- zard-like conditions and there were 180 bikes. It was a reflection of him. He was very, very popular,” he said.

A number of people from the club

travelled to Fermanagh for the me- morial Mass and the club has pledged to travel again next year.

The Bikers’ Mass has been run- ning every year since 2002. All of the coordinators have had relatives or friends killed on motorbikes and they were keen to ensure those peo- ple were remembered. Up to 1,000

bikers gather every year to support those families and to remember the bikers who have been killed in tragic circumstances.

FU CAE eRe Neen om Neher

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.”

The Clare senior footballers’ championship countdown came into sharper focus at the weekend when Limerick emerged as their Munster semi-final opponents after surviv- ing a second half rally from Tipper- ary in Semple Stadium on Sunday. Having avoided Kerry and Cork in the Munster championship draw this year, this appears to be Clare’s best Opportunity in a number of years to reach a Munster senior final and that encouraging draw was heightened on Sunday as Limerick’s win ensured their semi-final meeting will take place in Cusack Park the first week of June, with a high possibility of the game being played on Saturday evening June 6.

Clare and Limerick last met in the 2006 Munster championship when the Shannonsiders edged home by 2-5 to 0-8 in the Gaelic Grounds. In- cidentally, Co-manager of Clare that day was Kerryman Donie Buckley who is now part of Limerick’s back- room team under manager Mickey Ned O’Sullivan.

Meanwhile, the Clare hurling team also stepped up their Munster championship preparations last week ahead of their semi-final meeting with either Cork or Tipperary, when they played three challenge matches in five days against Antrim, Offaly and Waterford as the new look Cork squad under Denis Walsh trained at the Clarecastle facilities on Satur- day.

THE baby of local authorities in Clare, Shannon Town Council is just 27 years old.

As Ireland’s only created town and the second largest town in the coun- ty, Shannon received town status on January 1, 1982 when Minister for the Environment Peter Barry signed Shannon Town Commission into be- ing.

Prior to its statutory status, a group called Shannon Alliance represented the concerns of the residents of the fledgling town in negotiations with Shannon Development and Clare County Council.

This Alliance group was made up of two representatives from political parties including Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, Labour and Sinn Féin. These representatives were nominated by their respective political parties.

On December 19, 1980 26 house- holders signed an application to have statutory town commission status granted to the town.

Then county manager Joe Boland, on the bequest of the then Environ- ment Minister Ray McSharry, con- vened a public meeting of the elec- torate of Shannon on April 10, 1981. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the implications of Shannon being granted town status and to out- line the proposed boundaries of the OD e0r

The boundaries excluded the air- port, the Industrial Estate and Smith- stown Industrial Service Area. Fol- lowing numerous and _ protracted negotiations, the Smithstown In-

dustrial Service Area was included within the proposed Shannon Town boundaries.

A poll for the consent of the elec- torate of Shannon to have town sta- tus conferred on the town was held on October 21, 1981. The majority favoured the application.

Shannon’s first town clerk Tomas MacCormaic was appointed on March 4, 1982 to a position he re- tains to this day. Just one week af- ter Mr MacCormaic was employed the first election for Shannon Town Sree OMI eRe lor

There were 26 candidates in that first election and of the nine elected just one remains a member of the council today — Cllr Patricia McCa- MN OWs

While some things have remained constant for the local authority in Shannon there have also been sig- nificant changes, not least its change from Shannon Town Commission to Shannon Town Council under the Mere eounilolmatae

Within the last year changes have also been made that will have a major affect on the upcoming town council elections. On January 1, 1,000 more people became part of the electorate as the boundary was extended from 1,105 hectares to 1,274 hectares.

As well as implications for the elec- tions and increased election quota, the extended town area will also have a huge affect on the local budget.

Last year, in its application to have the boundary extended, Shannon Town Council, supported by Clare County Council, stated that the ex- tension to the existing town was logi- cal given that the residents of the area strongly identified with the town.

The extension means that approxi- mately 350 residential homes and 20 commercial businesses are now add- ed to the town as the boundary has

been extended to include Ballycasey -ViCemoy-Varseeleumectea 0p

Despite its extension Shannon Town Council still does not have the same powers as Ennis and Kilrush town councils.

Among the powers still retained by Clare County Council is that of plan-

ning and planning decisions.

For those involved in the ever in- creasing and developing town coun- cil it is hoped that this change 1s soon on the horizon.

that the last five he spent in the council were the tough- est yet.

“There is a big load after being taken off my shoulders. I never put down such a fives years as I did in the last five especially. If you knew the things that were going on under- neath,” he said.

So with the support and encourage- ment of his family, Jack has bowed out of local politics, which has changed significantly over five dec- AYalehe

“When I started first we had the town clerk James Clancy, we had Michael Harney – his assistant, we had Michael Miniter, rent and rate collector and we had Paddy Tubridy the engineer and that was the total staff in that Town Hall when I went 10

“They did everything and much more. There were house rates at the time and the rate collector had to collect all that in every house in the town.

‘There are 23 down there now – not saying that I have anything against anyone that has a job, that has noth- ing to do with it – the only differ- ence I see down there is what I got, is the tax office. But only a couple came over for that, I don’t know what the rest of them are doing in Clare County Council. I mean if there is that many of them here how many of them are in Ennis. Well anyway that is just a comparison of then and now,’ he said.

“And another big difference I no- ticed, is that when the manager of the day Joe Boland attended every meet- ing for every month for the five years we were there.

“And the comparison with the last manager when he was here, not say- ing anything against him now, three times I saw him – when he was elect- ed, he came to a function and when he resigned. Three times in the five years, Joe Boland, 55 times,” said the outgoing councillor.

“Oh this is a hot one for me, I hate this one – the executive function in

planning,’ he added, visibly an- noyed.

“Tt (planning) drives me mad that it goes out in our name, the result comes back in our name and it is not discussed with us. We don’t discuss it, at that time we use to get a note every month of all applications for planning. I haven’t seen one, I don’t know, in five years or so. My point here is we have more local knowl- edge.”

Jack Fennell followed his father into Kilrush Town Council, but not in party politics.

“My father was a Fianna Fail councillor before me, and they were saying go for Fianna Fail but they wouldn’t take us (Jack and William O’Looney). We knocked two of their fellas out,’ he recalled with a smile.

Cllr Fennell also joined the Pro- gressive Democrats for a short time, as the party tried to convince him to run for the county council election.

“The PDs wanted me to go with them. I joined them for a while, and I didn’t like it. They steered away from what Mr O’Malley intended them to looms Imo elem BDO tlomee

Among his many achievements Jack lists the work on the 150th cel- ebrations for St Senan’s Church, the twinning with Plouzane, and his chairmanship of the Shannon Har- bour Authority.

“IT was chairman of the harbour authority here for 12 years and they have let that slide away because no one seems to have interest in it any- more.

“Limerick authorities are claiming jurisdiction over the whole thing.

“When Moneypoint came I kicked up a row and asked Clare County Council or someone to back us here. Limerick came down and claimed the dues and they are getting millions out of our side of the county. And our roads are being torn asunder with the lorries taking the ash away from it, and all that money is going down to Limerick that should be coming into County Clare. The only one of the county councillors that backed me at the time was Christy Curtin – he was an Independent above in Miltown.

“The rest of them never thought about what was happening except around their own thing, they never looked down the River Shannon to see and we lost it. I had no one to back me at the time,’ he added.

Cllr Fennell also feels strongly about the expenses paid to council- Kevase

“I cannot see any reason why any- one should get a bonus. It is a vol- untary job for the good of the area you live in, and I cannot see why rate

payers money is used to pay bonuses for the mayor and deputy mayor,” he said.

“It is very easy spending somebody else’s money.”

“Then this travelling to conferenc- es – I proposed to suspend it for two

years while times are bad, but I got no backing,” he said.