The Clare People Archive

TWO former members of the Mid-Western Health Board were appointed to the new Regional Health Forum, West yesterday, less than two years after the board was disbanded to make way for the Health Service Executive.

Fianna Fail Councillors Pat Daly and Bill Chambers, who have five and 20 years respectively on the former board, were nominated to the new forum by their party peers, while Green Party member Brian Meaney was also appointed with the support of the Independent candidates and Labour’s Pascal Fitzgerald.

Fine Gael proposed the fourth and final Clare member Cllr Joe Coney to the new health forum, which will be one of just four in the country.

Clare County Council will make up 10 per cent of the Western health forum, which spans counties from Donegal to North Tipperary and Limerick.

Each city and county council will be allocated a number of representatives based on its population. The aim of the forum is to allow councillors make representations to the Health Service Executive on the range and operation of health and personal social services in their area.

The first annual meeting of the forum must take place no later than four weeks after the appointment of the final member to that forum.

The Health Service is required to arrange the first meeting of the forum and provide ongoing administrative support.

A MAN with 27 previous convictions, who stole a mobile phone from a woman’s handbag in a pub in Lahinch, has been jailed for six months.

Father-of-two Thomas McDonagh (37), of 3 Dún na hInse, Claureen, Ennis, was also jailed for one month for engaging in threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour, at a Lahinch nightclub.

Sgt Mick Gallery told Ennis District Court a woman was approached by the accused and another individual at the Spinnaker bar in Lahinch on July 10, 2004. At around 1am she noticed her mobile phone was gone.

On the same night the accused went to a disco and was refused entry. He tried to force his way in past the door staff continuously for 30 minutes.

Inspector Tom Kennedy said the accused has 27 previous convictions, mostly for motoring-related matters, while there was a conviction for assault, criminal damage, larceny and public order, in the 1990s.

Defending solicitor Tara Godfrey said in the past five years, her client has not come to the attention of gardai, for assault, theft or public order offences. Ms Godfrey said her client does not recall taking the mobile phone and walking out with it, although he does accept he had it.

She asked Judge Joseph Mangan to give her client the opportunity to continue to build his life.

Judge Mangan imposed a six month sentence for the theft charge and a one month sentence for public order. He fixed recognisances in the event of an appeal.

CLARE FM’s profits have dropped by almost a fifth, partly because of rising staff costs, according to figures recently supplied to the Companies Office.

To the end of 2004, Clare FM secured a profit of €92,000, which was €21,000, or 18.5 per cent, down on 2003. Turnover increased during the period, to €1,505,000, but so did costs. The figures also show that the station secured €1.505 million in advertising revenue in 2004, up on the 2003 figure. Staff numbers increased by one to 34, and costs by 11 per cent, from €660,000 to €734,000. The station’s managing director, Liam O’Shea was appointed to the Board during 2004 and has the second largest number of shares held by a member (20,365). The board member with the highest number of shares is Michael Evans, with 30,000.

Clare FM’s drop in profits coincided with a drop in market share and listenership in 2004. Figures published in August of that year show that listenership had dropped 7 per cent. However, the most recent figures show that market share increased by 5 per cent. And the station’s long-term future is secure after it obtained a 10-year licence from the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) in 2002. Clare FM – which started broadcasting in 1989 – was sole applicant for the continuation of the licence.

Meanwhile, the station yesterday launched a new opt-out service for south-east Clare, Clare FM 2, in a bid to secure more listeners. This involves the return of Ger Sweeney to present an afternoon country music show, initially for three hours per day.

Commenting on the new service, Clare FM’s Managing Director Liam O’Shea said: “this is hugely exciting for us as a company. We have always wanted to provide diversity of programming for our listeners and with our new state of the art Studio in Shannon we now have that opportunity.

“Our listeners in the South East of the county will be the first to experience this diversity, although any of our listeners in other parts of the county who can pick-up 95.9Mhz on their radios will also be able to tune in.”

CLARE County Council voted against the advice of the County Manager in excluding a controversial pier from the record of protected structures (RPS) last night.

Members voted 16 to 14, with Cllr Joe Carey abstaining, to exclude Ininishmurry Pier, Cahercon from the (RPS).

Long time campaigner for the conservation of the pier, PRO for Cairde Chill an Disirt Ltd, Terence Corry said he was disappointed with the outcome of the council vote, but vowed to “keep up the struggle”.

“The pier has been eroded over years and that has been acknowledged in the manager’s report,” he told The Clare People .

“We need to have it (the pier) as a protected structure.”

The West Clare pier, which is owned by Clare County Council but leased by CW Shipping, has been at the centre of a number of local controversies over the years.

In February 2005 the council included the pier in the Record of Protected Structures. CW Shipping challenged this decision to the High Court and the issue went before the public last September.

The issue captured the attention of the whole community, with 145 submissions on the issues received by the council.

Those in favour of including the pier on the list of protected structures argued that the pier was a unique part of the maritime history of the area, and asked that it be “restored” to its original state. Those who are not in favour of changing the status of the pier believe the inclusion could risk the future of development and employment in the area.

Last night the county manager told the council, in front of a packed public gallery, “on balance the pier should be included in the Record of Protected Structures.”

In his report to the council the manager said the inclusion of the pier in the RPS would not “place undue constraints upon the incorporation of the structure into the future economic development of the site or general area.”

Kildysart County Councillor Oliver Garry (FG) proposed the pier be listed.

The ensuing debate became quiet heated amid allegations of two documents contradicting each other on the same issue being on file in the council’s offices.

County Manager Alex Fleming said as far as he was aware, the allegations made by Cllr Tom Prenderville (FF) referred to an employee that worked in a private capacity for an individual as far back as 1999 before any development plan.

Mayor Pat Keane adjourned proceedings for 10 minutes to allow Cllr Prenderville show the documents and/ or explain his comments to other councillors. When the council returned it voted to reject Cllr Garry’s proposal after some more debate.

The public gallery was as divided as the council, with some members of the public leaving disappointed, while others said simply “smiles all round, smiles all round”.

GARDAI investigating a robbery of a shop in Shannon last week have recovered a safe which was stolen in the raid, in the Silvermines in north Tipperary.

The Mace shop in Ballycasey was targeted by raiders between 11pm last Monday night and 6am on Tuesday morning. €13,000 in cash, contained in a safe, and a substantial quantity of cigarettes were stolen in the incident.

After gaining entry to the premises, the intruders disabled the alarm system.

Shannon gardai were investigating the possibility that phone lines in the area were cut by the raiders, while they were disabling the alarm system. It’s believed they removed a manhole cover and cut underground cables.

Several homes and businesses in the area were left without phone lines for a number of hours following the raid.

A garda spokesman confirmed to The Clare People that garda enquiries into the raid are ongoing.

“The safe that was stolen has been found in the Silvermines in Tipperary, and contained some paperwork. However, none of the money was recovered,” said the spokesman.

This latest robbery follows raids on two shops in Shannon late last year.

The Londis store in Delacey Park was targeted by a man armed with a gun, who escaped with more than €600 in cash, while a shop in Aidan Park was also robbed.

Gardai cannot say, at this stage, if the robberies are linked. Shannon gardai are continuing to appeal for information and can be contacted on (061) 361212.

THE chief executive of Shannon Development said yesterday that “hundreds of jobs” are to be announced for the Shannon Free Zone over the next number of weeks.

Announcing that there is a “significant pipeline” of jobs for the Free Zone, Mr Kevin Thompstone said, “We have had a good year, particularly in relation to the Free Zone, in expanding existing projects and landing new players.”

He declined to state how many jobs have been approved, stating only that it involves hundreds. However, the company’s end-of-year statement, published yesterday, found that last year there was a net loss of 289 jobs in the Free Zone.

But overall results in the Shannon region in relation to Shannon Developmen-assisted companies shows a net gain of 50 jobs, giving a total of 19,818 in the region.

1,795 new jobs were created in Shannon Development-assisted companies in the region in 2004. In relation to the Free Zone, 739 jobs were lost, while 450 were created.

Under the company’s new mandate, which has yet to be implemented and is being opposed by unions at the company, Shannon Development will no longer operate its core enterprise functions as they are being transferred to the IDA and Enterprise Ireland.

Shannon Development’s chairman, Liam McElligott, said there was an inordinate amount of pressure on the company due to the uncertainty over the company’s future. Asked about ongoing tensions between the Board and staff over the future role of the company, Mr McElligott said, “I am quite confident now that there is alignment in our thinking.

“75 per cent of economic activity in this country happens in the greater Dublin area and Shannon Development now has the mandate to create a counterpoint to that with a written mandate, which we have never had before. We are very happy that our mandate dovetails with Government policy. There is a sense within the company that we’re moving on. Over the next five years, Shannon Development will invest €100 million in the Shannon Region and leverage an amount in excess of that.”

Asked will the Shannon Region lose out now that the company no longer has a role in promoting the Free Zone, Mr McElligott said, “It shouldn’t.”

Mr Thompstone admitted that there will be “significant” job losses to the company as a result of the new mandate, but declined to state how many. However, the company’s accounts for 2004 show that 75 personnel were engaged in industrial development.

Mr Thompstone said that the company has already reduced its workforce by 25 per cent over the past three to four years from 200 to 150, cutting staff costs from €18€17 million to €13-€12 million.

Shannon Development operated a loss of €1.6 million at the end of 2004 and Mr Thompstone stated that the company operated a deficit last year, with the final accounts not yet complete. On its tourism function, Mr Thompstone said that 625,000 attended visitor attractions and evening entertainments operated by Shannon Heritage which is level with the company’s 2004 performance.

UNION officials and members of the Dublin Airport Authority were remaining tight-lipped last night following a day of negotiations on the redundancy package offered to workers in Shannon.

More than 500 employees have been given until the middle of next month to accept a voluntary redundancy package worth over €110,000 to employees with long service.

The aim of the redundancy offer is to reduce the workforce at Shannon to 280.

Staff have been told that the redundancies are essential for the survival of the airport, which made a profit of €3 million last year.

The DAA has warned however that the airport faces a loss of €137 million over the next 10 years, unless these measures are taken.

The company also wants to close down its catering division and to outsource jobs in a number of divisions.

Union representatives have said they will not accept outsourcing.

THIRTY-EIGHT people were arrested for drink driving in the Clare garda division during the six-week Christmas Enforcement Campaign, which concluded at midnight on Sunday.

This represents an increase of eight per cent, when compared with last year’s campaign. Significantly, there were more arrests for the offence – 11 – in the week after Christmas than during any other week of the campaign. Overall there were 10 per cent more arrests made for drink driving during 2005 than 2004.

The head of the Clare garda division traffic corps Inspector Kevin Moynihan said, “We are disappointed it is up. The trend up to last week had been positive. People didn’t pay as much attention in the last week as they had in the previous five weeks.”

There were 57 speeding detections during the past week, which brings to 310 the number for the campaign. This is a 19 per cent increase on last year.

There were 12 fixed notices issued for seatbelts last week, which brings the total for the six weeks to 88. This is a decrease of 93.

Meanwhile gardai are advising motorists to take care, after icy patches resulted in a number of road crashes over the weekend, including a collision between a bus and car, on the Ennis side of Crusheen on Monday morning. One woman sustained minor injuries in the accident.

“There is a lot of rain forecast for the week and visibility will be reduced. The advice is to leave greater distance between yourself and the car in front. Don’t drive through a flood unless you know its depth,” said Inspector Moynihan.

COUNTY Coroner, Isobel O’Dea believes that the future of her post, and that of her colleagues nationally, is in doubt as a result of new Government proposals.

The Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell is to establish a coroner service, comprising a chief coroner, deputy chief, number of regional coroners and smaller group of part-time deputies. To date, the service has been made up of county and city coroners operating in mainly part-time roles across the country.

And Ms O’Dea said this week that the proposal to establish a coroners’ service “throws everyone’s future into question”.

However, the Ennis-based solicitor welcomed proposed new powers in the forthcoming legislation. Under the current legislation dating back to the 1960s, coroners’ inquests can hear evidence from only two witnesses and cannot compel witnesses to attend. There are only minimal fines for those who fail to give evidence.

Ms O’Dea admitted that not being able to call more than two medical witnesses “has been an issue in some cases, and I now have to look, in the light of the new bill, at inquests that haven’t been completed”.

In the forthcoming legislation, the Government has accepted a recommendation from the Coroners Review Group that the scope of the inquest should be widened. It is one of a series of measures being included that will result in a major overhaul of the service.

Mandatory inquests are to be extended to cover all deaths in State custody, in certain care institutions and private nursing homes. The inquests can be ordered by the chief coroner or the Attorney General, under the provisions of the bill.

The coroner will be given powers of custody of the body and the right to inspect and take possession of documents.

In line with a Labour Party private bill, which was approved by the Dail and Seanad last month, the legislation will abolish the restriction on the number of medical witnesses at an inquest and stiffen the penalties for reluctant or non-co-operative jurors and witnesses.

Ms O’Dea also said that the level of coroner’s work has increased dramatically, with the oncall nature of the workload being a factor.

“The number of inquests may not be increasing, but there is additional work around the inquests,” she said.

FORMER Taliban member and Corofin asylum seeker, Dawi Roshaun, has been given 15 days to lodge a final appeal with the Department of Justice or he will be deported to Afghanistan, where he claims he faces execution.

Mr Roshaun was among a group of 15 asylum seekers evicted from the Corofin Hostel with just a days notice last September and has been living in Dundalk and Mosney ever since.

In November, his second appeal for refugee status was denied when a representative from the Department of Justice claimed that he was too young to have joined the Taliban in 1997.

“They say that I was too young to be in the Taliban at 18, but they were not there. There were boys of 16 years, or younger. If there was any kind of justice in Afghanistan I would go back there in a minute, but there is none.”

Dawi claims to have joined the Taliban in order to protect his family after the group invaded his home town of Kohistan in 1997.

Following the American-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 it became dangerous for many former Taliban members to live in Afghanistan.

He fled Iran in fear of his life and then on to Ireland where he has been living since 2002.

Mr Roshaun claims to have received personal death threats from a member of the Afghan parliament as-well-as drug dealers in his native town.

“In 1997 I was in charge of an arsenal depot in north of Kabul when two weapons dealers from the Northern Alliance were captured by the Taliban in Kohistan and sent to the Kandahar prison.

“One of them was executed and the other bought his freedom,” said Mr Roshaun.

“Their family believe that I informed on them to the Taliban which is not true. Now the brother of the executed man is a member of parliament and the other man’s brother is a drug dealer and also the Defence Minister in the province of Kapisa.”

In Dundalk, Dawi joined a creative writing group and has a number of works due for publication later this year.

Members of the group have made a number of representations on his behalf including contacting his relatives and members of the Afghan parliament in an effort to prove the danger to his life should he return home.

Dawi has a meeting with the Department of Justice later this month which is his last chance to prevent his deportation to Afghanistan.