The Clare People Archive

THE company controlled by former GP, Paschal Carmody, Lyntondell Ltd, which was recently convicted of selling unlicensed medicines, had a positive balance of over €120,000 in its most recent returns to the Companies Office.

At a recent special sitting of Tralee District Court, Mr Carmody, Ballycuggeran, Killaloe, was fined €1,500, ordered to pay €10,000 in costs and expenses and given a 10-month sentence suspended on condition that he be of good behaviour for 12 months.

Lyntondell Ltd pleaded guilty to five summons of selling unlicensed medical supplies. The company was fined €1,000.

And according to accounts returned to the Companies Office last July, Lyntondell had a positive balance of €128,308 to the end of 2003. Mr Carmody, along with Mr Jay Daly, are listed as directors of the company.

Two other companies, Heddonvard Ltd and Tinerana Ltd, with which Mr Carmody has been involved, have not been performing as well. Heddonvard also has a previous conviction for the unauthorised supply of medicines in January 2004, when it was fined €1,000.

Its most recent returns, last June, show that the company had a negative balance of €40,736 to the end of May 2004. The accounts also listed Mr Carmody’s wife, Dr Frieda Keane Carmody, as company secretary.

In relation to Tinerana Ltd, the accounts show that Pascal Carmody served as a director with Dr Keane Carmody in 2002 and 2003, but resigned in 2004, leaving his wife as the sole member of the company.

The company had a negative balance of €100,605 to the end of December 2003 in accounts lodged last July.

Mr Carmody was removed by the Medical Council from the medical register for misconduct in September 2004.

His defence counsel Brian McInerney told Tralee District Court that Mr Carmody “has fallen very considerably from grace. This process took place almost in a fish bowl under the bright lights and glare of the media at every twist and turn”.

Mr McInerney said that the father of five children, aged between 15 and 21, “is virtually unemployed and unemployable. At the age of 58, Mr Carmody wishes to look forward now, not backwards, and to make the best of what is left of the remainder of his life.”

A TRUCK driver who claimed he was unfairly dismissed lost his case after a private detective took pictures of him working on the Ennis bypass.

Thomas Lynch, Marion Estate, Kilkee made a complaint to the Employment Appeals Tribunal against employer Francis Greene, of Lisdeen, Kilkee.

Lynch was employed by Greene driving a Readymix lorry for €500 a week.

On September 25, 2004, Lynch arrived at the Moneypoint quarry for the third time that day to pick up concrete to deliver.

The quarry manager said the order had been cancelled and he could go home for the day.

Greene contacted Lynch later that day by telephone, saying the driver had cost him money.

Lynch claimed that despite telling his boss that the order had been cancelled, Greene was very aggressive towards him and Lynch said that he asked that any money owed to him be paid.

Lynch’s wife received a cheque on his behalf for €700 and his p45 the following week.

He told the tribunal that he had not worked since but when he was shown pictures of himself in the driver’s seat of a digger at the site of the Ennis bypass, Lynch said that he had been testing the machine and had not received any payment for the half-day he spent on the site.

He denied suggestions that he was working at the bypass for his brother and that he had left Green’s employment planning to do so.

In evidence, Green said that he had employed Lynch on a flat wage of €480. He said that Greene did not show up for work on September 1.

Greene said he spoke to Lynch the following day and Lynch said he wanted a wage rise. The figure of €500 a week was agreed.

Lynch took a week’s holidays later that month and two weeks’ wages were made up and paid to him.

The day after the driver returned from holiday, his employer got a call from the manager of the Moneypoint Quarry to tell him that Lynch was planning to leave.

Green told the Tribunal he went to the lorry which Lynch normally drove and saw that all of the employee’s personal belongings were gone from it.

When he contacted him, Greene said that Lynch told him he was “sick of it” and that he hadn’t been paid that week. Greene explained that he had received two weeks’ wages to cover his holiday week but Lynch said he wanted his p45.

The tribunal found that the claimant did not produce sufficient evidence that he had been dismissed.

CLARE’S top planning official has hit back at criticism by the county’s leading architects that the system is not working and needs to be radically overhauled.

In a letter to the architects, Clare County Council’s Acting Director of Service for Planning, Liam Conneally, stated that the contents of their letter prior to Christmas “undermines the working trust” that existed between the architects and the council’s planning department.

The architects had written, “We are totally frustrated by lack of consistency, poor management structure, lack of productive dialogue, poor communication and absence of a rational coherent, consistent and common-sense approach to planning within the council.”

They told Mr Conneally that they see little point in holding any further Agents Liaison Group meetings with the department “until there has been a significant and tangible overhaul of the present system which, in our view, is clearly not working.”

Now, Mr Conneally has responded, “I am disappointed at the negative tone and content of the letter. The planning service provided by the council is of a high standard and the commitment of staff to serving the public is beyond question.

“While extensive negative aspects of the ALG concept and planning service are opined, no constructive solution is put forward.

“I think your letter indicates a fundamental misunderstanding of the role of the council as planning authority and its function to act as an independent assessor of proposals for development.”

He continued, “The council fully recognises that there is scope for improvement and continuously works towards creating a better situation. The content and circulation of your correspondence has, I feel, undermined the working trust that I thought existed between the ALG members and the Planning Department of Clare County Council.

“The only way to get work done in a constructive manner is to address the concerns of the group through the group forum itself. Unfortunately, the group as it existed became an isolated planning clinic where the individual concerns of the small group of agents in attendance were the main focus for discussion.

“I believe that the ALG idea and concept is good and that, subject to a mature common-sense approach, wider buy-in by the county’s agents and to the preparation of an agreed protocol for the group, it can have a future.

“What we need to work towards is a situation whereby the group is representative of all those engaged in the planning process and where both sides recognise that each has a major role to play.”

Mr Conneally said that he is happy to arrange a meeting of the ALG “early in the New Year to see how matters can be constructively addressed”.

A 14-YEAR drought in Clonlara has ended as work began on giving the East Clare area a proper water supply.

More than 100 families in the area have waited since 1991 to get a reliable supply and have had to resort to flushing their toilets with water from the garden pond or water left over from cooking.

The supply was so bad that the emergency fire service tender had to be bought in on a regular basis so that families could wash, cook and clean their homes.

And schoolchildren in the area regularly got unexpected holidays are they were sent home because of a shortage of water in the school.

Local woman Carmel Hayes said that she has lived in Clonlara for 22 years “and I can’t remember a weekend that we had running water. It was amazing to be able to have a shower on New Year’s Day”, she said.

Another local woman, Phyllis Sheehan, said that she could “not put on the washing machine, have a wash or make the dinner when I came in from work. These are simple things that most people take for granted but we couldn’t.”

According to Clare County Council, the problems in the area were caused by low pressure.

Work to make the drought history began two weeks ago but locals will still face some dry times ahead, with warnings that the supply may be disrupted while the job is ongoing.

THE trial of an Ennistymon man accused of murdering his sister at their family home will not now go ahead this month, as had been scheduled.

Patrick O’Dwyer (20), of Shrohill, Ennistymon, is charged with murdering his 17-year-old sister Marguerite, a Leaving Certificate student, on November 29, 2004.

The date of January 24 had been set aside for the trial, last October, but The Clare People has learned it will not now go-ahead for a number of months, until a medical report on the accused has been completed.

“It is being put back. The defence’s legal team has requested this as they are waiting for a medical report and the State won’t object,” said a garda source.

It is not yet known if the trial will now go-ahead in Ennis, or elsewhere. That decision will rest with Mr Justice Paul Carney, who fixes dates for murder trials.

Mr O’Dwyer was sent forward for trial to the Central Criminal Court last year.

When he appeared there initially, Mr Justice Carney said he was anxious that the case should go ahead as early as possible, in an effort to provide closure for the O’Dwyer family.

The case was then put in for mention when the Central Criminal Court sat in Ennis last June.

On that occasion the court was told there were complex matters in the case and an adjournment was requested.

This was granted and the case was then put back until July in Dublin, for mention.

In July, the case was put back until October, for a date to be fixed and January 24 next – when the Central Criminal Court will sit in Ennis – was fixed for the trial to go ahead.

A 24-YEAR-old west Clare man sustained a horrific injury after being stabbed in the eye, while attending a Christmas party on St Stephen’s night.

Gardai say the injured man was approached at a house party – which was taking place in an apartment block close to the town centre – and stabbed with what is believed to have been a fork.

A number of people who were also attending the party were interviewed, as part of the investigation into the incident.

A foreign national in his 20s, who was in the apartment at the time, was arrested by gardai and detained at Ennis garda station under Section Four of the Criminal Justice Act.

He was subsequently released without charge and a file is being sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

“The injured man received a very serious facial injury. We are not looking for anybody else in relation to this matter,” said a garda spokesman.

Meanwhile Ennis gardai received an allegation of a sexual assault in the toilets of The Grove public house in Roslevan on St Stephen’s night.

However it was not followed up by the alleged injured party.

“A female alleged she was sexually assaulted in the toilet area but todate a formal complaint has not been forthcoming,” said a garda spokesman.

Separately, a foreign national in his 40s will appear in court later this week, charged with theft, arising out of an incident in Ennis town centre shortly before midnight on New Year’s Eve.

The man was arrested on Parnell Street at 11.25pm, after he was stopped by gardai who were travelling in an unmarked patrol car.

He is accused of stealing a ladie’s handbag from a licensed premises in town.

Meanwhile, gardai are investigating an incident in which two panes of glass were broken at The Clare People offices on St Stephen’s night.

The glass was smashed on the Turnpike road entrance to the premises. However entry was not gained to the building.

Ennis gardai are appealing for information and can be contacted on (065) 6848100.

DRIVERS in urban areas, over the age of 30, accounted for the majority of drink driving arrests in Clare during the Christmas road safety campaign, The Clare People learned.

So far during the campaign, which will conclude on Sunday, 31 people have been arrested for drink driving, 10 of which were during the past week.

While this figure is a reduction on the same five-week period last year, the overall figure for the year shows a 10 per cent increase in the number of people arrested for drink driving in the Clare garda division.

283 drivers were arrested for drink driving during the whole of last year, compared with 257 during 2004.

And while warnings on drink driving does appear to be hitting home in rural parts of the county, the same cannot be said in urban parts.

The head of the Clare garda division traffic bureau Inspector Kevin Moynihan said while the checkpoints were “evenly spread” throughout the division, the majority of the arrests during the Christmas campaign were in Ennis and Shannon.

“The arrests during the campaign so far have mainly been urban. “There have been very few arrests in rural areas. Possibly people are paying attention more in rural areas. has don’t seem to be listening,” he said. “There is more public transing more. Most people arrested were

“Younger people seem to be listenport in urban areas but people just over 30 and all will face court in the new year”.

Meanwhile the number of drivers issued with fixed charge notices for speeding decreased by 21 during the first four weeks of the six-week Christmas campaign, when compared with the corresponding period during 2004.

During the same period, 62 drivers were issued with notices for failing to wear seatbelts, a decrease of 15 on the same month in 2004.

However year-on-year, there was a significant increase in the number of drivers caught speeding or failing to wear their seatbelts.

There was extra enforcement during the year while an additional five personnel are expected to be appointed to the traffic corps in the division this year, as part of government plans to increase the national traffic corps from 563 to 805 nationally.

Inspector Moynihan said that overall, the road safety campaign over Christmas was a success. While there were a number of minor accidents, there were no major crashes.

“It certainly has been a success. Thankfully there were no fatalities and no serious injury accidents. There were a number of minor accidents and these were down to road conditions,” he said.

A total of 12 people were killed in road crashes in the Clare garda division during 2005, compared with 11 during 2004.

CHAIRPERSON of the Clare Tourism Council, Paddy Maher, has criticised the work of Tourism Ireland, the agency whose job it is to promote Ireland to foreign markets.

Speaking after the announcement of a 5 per cent increase in the amount of foreign tourists entering Ireland, Mr Maher, who is also the manager of the Burren Centre in Kilfenora, accused Tourism Ireland of neglecting its role in the west of Ireland.

“We are out there trying to present what we have and we are getting very little support from Tourism Ireland,” said Mr Maher. “We find them very weak at filtering out the big tour operators to the rural areas.

“When it come down to the nitty gritty they really have not focused on the product on the west of Ireland at all. The rural areas are just not getting any attention,” he continued. “Everyone wants to get a slice of the cake but we just can’t seem to get our slice.”

Preliminary figures released by Fáilte Ireland indicate that almost 6.7 million people travelled to Ireland from foreign countries in 2005 but that an increasing number were staying in urban centres and the average length of holidays was decreasing.

“We would be of the opinion that the 5 per cent increase has been seen in some parts of the mid west but definitely not in others,” continued Mr Maher. “We have seen a growth of about 3 per cent but most of that has come about as a result of the Ryanair Flights to Shannon Airport.”

Indeed, earlier this year the Burren Centre in Kilfenora joined the cross border promotional group, Heritage Island. This move essentially means that the centre is paying Heritage Island for the promotional work that the government organisation Tourism Ireland should be doing for free.

A 19-YEAR-old man questioned in connection with a serious assault in Shannon town centre has been released without charge.

A 21-year-old man from the Newmarket-on-Fergus area sustained head injuries in an incident at around 4pm last Tuesday. He was detained at the high dependency unit at the Mid Western Regional Hospital, Limerick and is still in hospital.

Shannon gardai reviewed CCTV footage of the incident and interviewed a number of people who were in the area at the time. They then made an arrest early on Thursday. The man arrested was detained at Shannon garda station under Section Four of the Criminal Justice Act on Thursday, before being released without charge that evening.

“A file is being sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions. We are not looking for anybody else in relation to this incident,” said a garda source.

Separately, gardai are following a definite line of enquiry after a 25-year-old man was assaulted in Shannon early on New Year’s day.

The young man, from the Newmarket-on-Fergus area, was assaulted in the face, close to the Shell garage in Ballycasey at 2am. As a result of the blow, he fell to the ground and hit his face off the kerb in the process.

He was taken to the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Limerick and was discharged some time later.

Shannon gardai are also investigating an alleged incident in which a 36-year-old non-national was threatened with a knife on New Year’s Eve.

It is claimed that at around 6pm two men who were travelling on a motorcycle approached the man close to the Oakwood Arms Hotel. He has claimed that one of them threatened him with a knife, before they made way with his laptop and mobile phone.

“We are appealing for anyone who may have seen any suspicious activity in this area at around that time to contact us,” said a garda spokesman.

Shannon gardai can be contacted on (061) 361212.

A MAJOR new survey of the attitudes and future intentions of farmers in County Clare has been launched this week by the Rural Resource Development (RRD). The survey, which will be conducted by Ennis-based company Broadmore Research, will see some 200 farming families in the county being interviewed over the next two months.

Last year heralded a host of dramatic changes to the way that farming is organised in Clare, and indeed in Ireland.

The arrival of the single farm payment, coupled with the fallout from last month’s World Trade Organisation talks, has altered the landscape of Irish farming and left many Clare farmers unsure of their future.

“We welcome the survey, we would welcome anything that might help farmers in Clare,” said the IFA County Chairperson, Seamus Murphy. “The first thing must be to assess where farmers are at after the single payment and WTO as well as all the nitrate regulations that are coming in this year.”

The results of the survey will be used to shape the types of support which will be offered to farmers in Clare over the next five years. While it is anticipated that large amounts of Clare farmers will be forced from the land in the coming year, Mr Murphy has called for farmers to be supported first and retrained for a career off the land second.

“While things may look very negative, it might not be as bad as it looks,” said Mr Murphy. “There will be some need for training but the most important thing is to reinforce the livelihood of farmers in its current position.”

Councillor Pat Hayes, Chairman of Clare County Development Board, has encouraged any farm families contacted to participate in the survey.

“This is an opportunity for farming families in County Clare to state their plans for the future and inform policy-makers of the services they require in the county,” said Councillor Hayes. “Make use of this chance and let us know your views.”

Interviewers will be contacting farming families over the next number of weeks and asking them to complete a questionnaire. The information will be held in strict confidence with no record of names being taken.