The Clare People Archive

CLARE County Council should have no problem finding workers for the new Cliffs of Moher Project following a massive turnout at last week’s recruitment evening, which saw an average of three people in attendance for every position.

Over 300 people attended the recruitment open evening held in Ennistymon last week. The €31.5 million project is expected to yield some 100 jobs in the coming months as construction work nears completion.

“We are delighted that there is so much interest and enthusiasm in the local community for this fantastic venture,” said Katherine Webster, Director of the Cliffs of Moher New Visitor Experience. We had prepared 200 information packs to distribute, but so many people attended that we had to go back three times during the evening to make more copies.”

The closing date for a number of positions including Ranger, Customer Service Agent, Maintenance Operative and Office Administration is next Thursday (October 12).

“The Cliffs of Moher New Visitor Experience project has given a very significant boost to the local area and it is good to see longterm permanent employment being provided at the site,” said Flan Garvey, Mayor of Clare. “I have every confidence that the project will continue to make valuable contributions to the local economy in the years ahead.”

The council expects more than one million people will visit the Cliffs in 2007.

CLARE County Council yesterday confirmed that the number of applicants seeking to busk at the Cliffs of Moher when the new €31.5 million visitor centre becomes operational next year has been ‘lower than expected’.

The date for applications to the council’s busking licence scheme closed last Friday, attracting 16 applications.

“The council will this week commence a process of assessing the 16 applications. A decision in relation to the holding of auditions will be made once this process is complete,” said Ger Dollard, project leader for the council’s ‘Cliffs of Moher New Visitor Experience’.

“The aim of any such auditions would be to ensure that there is a certain musical standard set for all who wish to busk at the Cliffs of Moher and that applicants have a wide enough repertoire so as not to be too repetitive.

“From an initial review of the applications, there appears to be a wide range of musical styles and instruments represented, respecting the best traditions of busking at the Cliffs of Moher.”

Mr Dollard added that the council’s main objective in initiating the process was to ensure that busking activity met the standards being set by the new visitor experience project, which is now nearing completion.

“Whilst the number of applications is somewhat less than expected, I think that the extensive media coverage of the issue has clearly brought home to people the necessity for an improved standard and that the previous approach is no longer acceptable,” he said.

The Cliffs of Moher Busking Licence Scheme is similar to that adopted by London Underground Limited in 2003.

Under the terms of the scheme, music played must reflect the culture and traditions of the Cliffs of Moher.

Musicians who successfully obtain a licence will be permitted to busk during visitor centre opening hours.

The council has also determined that sound amplification will not be permitted and musicians will not be permitted to sell CDs or other merchandise outside the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Centre building.

However, arrangements can be entered into for the sale of such products in the Visitor Centre.

Busking pitches will be allocated to licensed buskers for a specific period during each day and will be rotated to ensure that all licensed buskers have the opportunity to play at each location.

Exact arrangements for rostering, time slots, rotation system and general operational arrangements will be the subject of discussion.

A CLARE woman made history last week by becoming the first ever female to compete in one of the main events at the National Ploughing Championships in Carlow.

Not only did Sinead Corbett – from Newmarket-on-Fergus – compete, she also turned a few heads by finishing in fourth place in the Under21 Competition, leaving many lads in her wake.

Up until last week, female ploughers have only competed in the Farmerette Category of the championships.

One female did appear in the vintage plough section a number of years ago, but Sinead’s appearance is the first by a female in any of the mainstream competitions.

“It was always open for boys and girls, but this year I just decided to have a go before I am too old for the Under-21 category,” she told The Clare People .

“I had been ploughing at a few different events in the midlands and in Tipperary and, when there wouldn’t be enough girls to run a Farmerette competition, they would put us in with the lads.

“We got the idea from that, got the all-clear from the National Ploughing Association and then just decided to go for it.”

Sinead is currently based in Limerick, where she works as a student nurse.

At 20 years of age, she still has one year remaining in the Under-21 age group.

She has been ploughing since the age of 16, under the tutelage of her father, Frank Corbett.

“I am very proud of her. She had put in a lot of work in preparation all through the winter. She really likes it a lot, I guess it’s in the family,” said Mr Corbett.

“She got the full backing from everyone at the NPA and the response that she got from the people up there was brilliant.

“The Farmerettes are usually shoved into some corner at the Ploughing Championships, but I think that this might be the start of something good for lady ploughers.”

Other Clare ploughers to perform well at the National Ploughing Championships included John White, Gerard Frost (Jnr), John J Donnellan and Gerard Harmon. More than 60,000 farmers descended on Tullow in Carlow for each day of the National and World Ploughing Championships.

A great display by 17-year-old Scot Andrew Mitchell saw him take first place in the conventional section of the World Championships, while Simon Witty from England took the crown in the reversible category for the second year running.

A PRIEST with strong Clare connections has been accused of stealing millions of dollars in offerings and gifts from a parish in the US.

Monsignor John Skehan (79) from Kilkenny – who owns a cottage near the Cliffs of Moher – is one of two Catholic priests in Florida, accused of stealing $8.6 million (€7 million) from parishioners over a 42-year period.

It is alleged that Fr Skehan, along with Fr Francis Guinan from Offaly, spent the money on luxuries, including holiday homes, travel and gambling.

The alleged irregularities first became apparent when Fr Guinan took over from his friend in 2003 and the church conducted a routine audit.

Two years later, a parishioner wrote an anonymous letter to the district attorney, urging him to get involved in the case.

Fr Skehan was arrested last Wednesday night as he flew into Palm Beach airport, from Ireland. A warrant has been issued for the arrest of his longtime friend, Fr Guinan.

Police carrying out the investigation say the two men acted as “professional money launderers” who took money from the collection plate and set up a network of slush-fund bank accounts to which only they had access.

They say that Fr Skehan used laundered money to buy a cottage close to the Cliffs of Moher, along with a pub in his native Kilkenny.

The allegations have shocked Fr Skehan’s parishioners, where he has been highly regarded.

CLARE novelist, Edna O’Brien said this week that it was “hell” to write her controversial book centred on the triple murder by Brendan O’Donnell 12 years ago.

Ms O’Brien’s novel on the tragedy, ‘In the Forest’, was published four years ago. But promoting her new novel this week, the Tuamgraney native said that she didn’t write “’In the Forest’ to get into trouble or to offend”.

The 2002 novel centred on O’Donnell murdering Imelda Riney, her son, Liam and Fr Joe Walshe in 1994. The book was dedicated to their memories.

The east Clare woman – who first became engulfed in controversy with the publication of her first novel, ‘The Country Girls’ – said that ‘In The Forest’ “was a story as much about Ireland and Ireland’s psychology and pathology and secrecy and hypocrisy and tragedy and I could pick about seven more words, but they are not necessary, as well as about those four protagonists, Imelda Riney, little boy Liam, Fr Joe and Brendan O’Donnell”.

O’Brien said, “I was accused of badgering people and knocking on doors. I couldn’t knock on doors because I’ll tell you why. I had to go into the forest myself because the four people who died were dead.

“It was hell to write and the outbursts and the very unfair and vicious outbursts were do to with fear, the fear and the shame and the annoyance of unearthing something that people would rather leave a closed book, in fact not a book, a closed everything.”

She added, “What I felt was that ‘In The Forest’ was a forest near to where I come from and, as I said at that time, if the forest was in Leitrim, Armagh or in Kerry, I could not have written that story.”

Living in London for a number of years, Ms O’Brien said, “A little distance whets the obsession. I come to Ireland a lot. I am very lucky. I am a voluntary exile.

“I am not banished and I am made feel welcome and very lucky when I go home now and (meet) my nephew Michael Blake. Everyone is fine to me.”

Ms O’Brien said, in an RTÉ interview, that County Clare “is my landscape”.

She said, “It is so important to me. Hedgerows, gateways, sound of wind, sound of rain, cows, everything is as much character in my books as the characters themselves.”

HUMAN bones which were discovered during the excavation of a site in Sixmilebridge are understood to have been there for more than 100 years.

The bones, believed to be those of a young man, were discovered while development work was being carried out on the old woollen mill in the village last Thursday.

The building, which was the old water-driven woollen mill in the early 1900s, had been run down for several years and was latterly used as a store.

A dwelling house was situated next door to the mill and it is believed the bones were found beneath the ground floor in the house.

The entire site is currently being converted into apartments and a commercial unit.

Gardaí immediately called in experts from the Archaeological Society of Ireland and their initial examinations suggested that the body had been there for more than 100 years.

“We have no idea as to the identity. It is going to be difficult to identify them,” said Superintendent John Kerin.

“We are happy this is not recent and we are happy that there was no foul play, relative to modern Ireland, involved,” he added.

“We will go through old files to see if anyone went missing or was murdered at that time,” he said.

The bones were taken away by the archaeologists, and the work on the building has resumed.

UP TO 180 Clare people might not be alive today had it not been for the success of last year’s Annual Healthy Living Expo at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital Ennis.

Speaking at the launch of this year’s expo Stephen McMahon, Chairman of the Irish Patients Association said the unique event had diagnosed people early and saved lives.

Last year 45 per cent of the people who availed of the free screening had not been to their GP in three years, and the majority of these people were non-medical cardholders.

Two of the people screened were referred to the Accident and Emergency Department immediately for treatment. A further 12 per cent were found to have high blood pressure; another 12 per cent had cholesterol over 6.5, while another 12 per cent had high blood sugar. Half of the people examined were found to be over weight.

Twice as many women as men attended last year so this year, organisers are actively encouraging men in the community to avail of this opportunity to have their heart health checked.

Almost 100 staff, including hospital consultants will volunteer from 10am to 4pm on Saturday, to check peoples’ cholesterol levels, blood pressure, lipids and glucose levels, body mass index, and to carry out eye tests. Those availing of the free service will then get the results of the blood tests within an hour, and will be informed of any difficulties in private. A follow up report will also be sent to their GP where necessary. Healthy living information and children’s entertainment will also be provided.

As well as the free health check, the staff at the hospital will also give a hand hygiene demonstration.

“Staff in the hospital are well aware now of hospital hygiene. The public in general have an awareness of it, but everyone minds a sick relative at some stage during the year or someone in the house is sick. They are never aware of how they should be washing their hands or what the precautions are,” said hospital manager John Doyle.

Mr Doyle said the expo, in its fifth year was a way of linking the hospital back into the county.

“We see ourselves having a role in the whole preventative exercise not just somewhere to go when you’re sick,” he added.

A COUNTY Clare businessman has made a €26.5 million settlement with the Criminal Assets Bureau – the biggest in the history of the State.

Businessesman Dylan Creaven (32), a native of Newmarket-on-Fergus with an address in Kensington in London, is understood to have handed over €26.5 million (£18 million sterling) to CAB and the ARA (Assets Recovery Agency) in the UK.

He has also handed over a villa in Marbella, Spain and four racehorses including Latino Magic, which won the McDonagh Handicap at the Galway Races last year.

Creaven, the former director of Silicon Technologies, was acquitted in June of last year of an alleged £20 million VAT fraud in the UK.

He had been accused of teaming up with an array of off-the-shelf British companies to defraud the tax man.

The Prosecutors at London’s Crown Court had claimed that Creaven supplied companies with VAT-free computer chips that were then resold with the tax added. It was alleged that instead of passing a percentage to Customs and Excise, the money went to Creaven.

However the Clareman denied two counts of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue between December 2000 and October 2001 and was acquitted following a month-long trial.

The ARA and CAB continued to investigate Creaven and this resulted in the settlement being reached.

Creaven had traded as Silicon Technologies Europe Ltd, which had an office at Ennis Business Centre, Francis Street, Ennis, and turned over €417 million in 2000 to 2001.

LESS than one hundred metres from Richard Harris’s former home in Kilkee, over a thousand people gathered at the weekend to pay homage to the late actor.

At a site adjacent to the Diamond Rock cafe, overlooking the Pollock Holes, the crowd were treated to a song from Hollywood star, Russell Crowe, dedicated to his late friend.

The trailer of an articulated truck was one of the more unusual stages that the Oscar-winning actor had performed on.

Gene Hackman may have sent his regards and Clint Eastwood and Pamela Anderson were sorry that they weren’t able to come to the unveiling of a bronze statue of Harris, but all of that didn’t matter to the people as they heard Crowe recall his first meeting with Harris on the set of Gladiator.

Taking a break from filming in New York to be at Saturday’s event, the New Zealand-born actor said, “Richard told me ‘there is a good night out in you, I think I am going to like you’”.

The two shared a passion for rugby and had agreed, while Harris was ill in hospital, that they would both attend the Ireland vs Australia match in 2002. However, Harris died weeks before the match.

After Harris died, Crowe said that he travelled to Ireland “to pay homage to a friend” by visiting many of Harris’s old haunts.

Explaining how he came to write a song dedicated to Harris, Crowe told the crowd how, when Ireland beat Australia for the first time in 37 years, he believed that Harris was there with the Irish on the day.

Crowe said that, after the match, he was by himself, drinking a pint of Guinness and wrote the verse in memory of his friend. He told the crowd, “It was written on the back of a beer coaster, so it’s very short”.

Backed by local singers, a guitarist and an uileann piper, Crowe sang the “requiem in the idiom of a football song”, with the crowd clapping along to the tune.

Later, Crowe joined with members of the Harris family to unveil the lifesize statue by local sculptor, Seamus Connolly, which depicts Harris playing racquet ball. The Limerick man won a racquet ball competition four times in a row in the west Clare resort where he used to spend much of his summer holidays.

Alluding to an appeal by a local resident against planning permission to erect the status at Wellington Square, event organiser, Manuel di Lucia said, “It is a slight problem, a minor detail.”

Earlier, Jared, one of Richard Harris’s three sons present, told the crowd that they were a living memorial to his father. He said, “When my father died, I was told that life goes on, but I asked ‘why? I want it all to stop, to stop and mark the passing of this great man’ and days like this allow us to make sense of it all.”

Jared said that his father had “a deep, deep affection for Kilkee”. He said, “He loved Kilkee. There was something in his heart for Kilkee. He fell in love with movies in Kilkee by going to the old cinema here.”

Another son, Damien, told the crowd, “My father wasn’t a sentimental man, but he was sentimental about Kilkee”.

Richard’s brother, Billy, said that links between Kilkee and the Harris family went back to 1850 and the resort allowed Richard to express his wild personality to the full.

He added that Richard was the first person to swim unaccompanied across the bay at Kilkee. Billy said, “He adored Kilkee and, during the last five years of his life, we reminisced over Kilkee and the huge part it played in his childhood.”

The time is right for a winter election. That is according to Clare’s Independent TD James Breen who believes the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern should go to the country in light of the Mahon Tribunal revelations.

“There is only one way to clear the air and that is an early general election,” he said.

But not all politicians are keen to embrace the crisp winter air on the hustings.Just North Clare’s Cllr Michael Kelly (FF) shared the outspoken TD’s view that the Taoiseach should call the election soon. Cllr Kelly told a reporter from The Clare Peopl e that there were people in the Fianna Fáil organisation who thought that Mr Ahern should go to the polls early, and that not to do so would be seen as a sign of weakness.

He described the money in question as “ peanuts” in the context of an economy and said Taoiseach which have “performed so well”.

In a survey carried out by reporters from The Clare People among 14 of the15 Fianna Fáil county councillors (Cllr Colm Wiley could not be contacted), just Cllr Tony O’Brien was unsure if now was a good time to call an election – the remaining 12 concluded it was definitely not a good time. The Fianna Fáil members of the council agreed unanimously however that the Taoiseach should not resign his position, a view that was shared by the Oireachtas members, with the exception of Deputy Pat Breen (FG) who had some reservations until after today’s long anticipated Dáil session.

Whether the council members would have accepted the “loan” or “gift” was not as clear.

Ten of the 14 councillors polled said they would not, but four said they did not know. Cllr Bernard Hanrahan (FF) qualified the answer by saying, “ if you found yourself in a bad situation and you had friends who could help you out, you might accept the money, but only on the condition that they would take back the money when you could repay it.”

Just three of the councillors surveyed believed that the events of the previous fortnight had tarnished the Taoiseach’s reputation.

Meanwhile the people of Clare had their say on the issue through the new Website for The Clare People. In this week’s Web-poll, almost 70 per cent of people said that they were not satisfied with the Taoiseach’s answers to date. Just over a fifth were satisfied,. Ten per cent were not bothered.