The Clare People Archive

AN “EXCEPTIONALLY violent” Lithuanian man kicked and punched two gardai repeatedly as they tried to arrest him. Daryus Simkauskas (35), of 5 Aidan Park, Shannon, was convicted of assaulting two gardai and committing two public order offences, on October 2.

Gda Pat Broderick told Ennis Dis- trict Court he received a report of a domestic dispute at the home of

the accused. He went to the scene, where he saw five people. The part- ner of the accused, a woman in her thirties, had severe bruising to her right hand and said the accused had inflicted the wound. The accused had a lot of drink taken, became ag- gressive and started shouting.

‘IT asked him to leave the house. He did leave, but very reluctantly,’ said Gda Broderick.

Mr Simkauskas was then directed to leave the area, but tried to get in

the back gate. As Gda Broderick and Gda Conor McKeon were ar- resting him, a struggle ensued.

“He got away from me,” Gda Bro- derick said. “He took off his jacket, put up his hands and started throw- ing punches at both of us as we tried to affect his arrest. Fortunately, none of his blows landed. All three of us ended up on the ground”.

Gda Broderick was kicked to the back of the head and Gda McKeon kicked into the stomach. The ac-

cused was held down on the grass and handcuffed, but continued to kick out. Other gardai then arrived and it took five of them to put the accused into the personnel carrier.

‘He was exceptionally violent and it was a frightening situation to be in,’ said Gda Broderick.

Defending solicitor Caitriona Carmody said her client accepts his behaviour was completely un- acceptable. He moved to Ireland in October 2004 and currently works

at Shannon Aerospace.

Judge Leo Malone said the ac- cused’s behaviour was “outrageous’”’. He imposed a one-month sentence for the assault on Gda Broderick and suspended it on condition Mr Siumkauskas keeps the peace for two years. He remanded the accused on bail to appear again in January, to ascertain if he is suitable for com- munity service. Judge Malone im- posed fines totalling €450 for the two public order offences.

OVER €300,000 has been spent on storing an obsolete mast once proposed for Loop Head.

Throughout the 1990s, the Cross Loran C Action Group in west Clare staved off Gov- ernment efforts to erect the 720 ft Loran C mast. And in response to a Dail question, the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Noel Dempsey confirmed that it has cost €326,000 to store the mast over the past five years on the outskirts of Paris.

A spokesman for the Loran C group said this week, “Action should have been taken a number of years ago by the Government to dispose of the mast rather than continue to pay these storage costs.

“The reasons now being put forward by the Department as to why Loran C will not be go- ing ahead are the same reasons put forward by the Action Group ten years ago, the primary one being that no one would use the system. The Government knew this, yet persisted with the project at huge cost”.

Green Party councillor, Brian Meaney said, “This is an appalling squandering of money and further evidence of the Government’s lack of care in spending taxpayer’s money.”

Minister Dempsey confirmed that the mast will not be erected on Loop Head or any other Irish location: “Ireland, along with Norway, the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany, has denounced the North West Europe and North Atlantic Loran C System – NELS – Agree- ment. Denunciation takes legal effect from December 31, 2005”’.

The mast, consisting of an antenna and transmitter, cost €1.9 million and was pur- chased by France and the Netherlands as per an international agreement. The Irish Govern- ment purchased 137 acres at Loop Head, cost-

ing €479,000, for the project, though €13,530 has been recouped in grazing rights over the past three years.

Since 1992, when plans for the mast were first announced, the proposal became ensnared in the planning and legal process due to strong opposition from the Cross Loran C Action Group on health and environmental grounds. Minister Dempsey confirmed that the project has cost €561,000 in legal and planning fees.

The development received the go-ahead from An Bord Pleanala in 1994. However, plans were frustrated by the action group af- ter High Court and Supreme Court victories in 1995 and 1996. In April 1998, the Supreme Court finally paved the way for construction of the mast. The Government agreed that special legislation would have to go before the Oire- achtas, but never moved to enact such legisla- tion. Ownership of the mast was transferred to France in April this year, with the agreement of the Netherlands.

Asked why the Government withdrew from the agreement governing Loran C, a Depart- ment spokesman said: “NELS failed to inter- est the EU in using Loran-C as an augmen- tation system to Galileo, aimed at reducing dependence on GPS. The project has also been hampered by the failure to mass-produce a low cost receiver.

“This placed the whole future of Loran C in doubt and all work on an Irish mast was suspended. A review of Ireland’s marine radio navigation policy was undertaken in Decem- ber 2002. This showed no overwhelming sup- port for Loran C among maritime users. Fol- lowing a Government decision in September 2004, Ireland denounced the agreement”.

He added that future use of the land will be decided upon after a six month winding up ere lorem

THE drive along the Clare coastline from The Cliffs of Moher to Bally- vaughan recently featured in the Sun- day Times top ten scenic drives in the world — little wonder then that prop- erty capitalising on the views along this dramatic stretch achieve top dol- lar prices.

Brand new on the market this week

is a detached house at Fanore, stand- ing on an elevated half-acre site. The uninterrupted views of the Aran Is- lands, Galway Bay and the stunning mountain scenery in Connemara can all be savoured from its ground floor reception rooms.

Priced at €600,000, the property is on the books with Open Door Prop- erties Ennistymon and selling agent Aine Hussey 1s expecting strong in-

terest from the holiday home market in this property.

The beauty of this house is that it isn’t remote, as it’s only a walk to the amenities at Fanore village. The developer is currently adding the fi- nal touches to the house, which will be finished to a top quality, turnkey standard. It will be sold with a mod- ern fitted kitchen including appli- ances, while the reception rooms will

have high quality wooden floors, and the family bathroom and the ensuite bathrooms will all be fully tiled.

The accommodation comprises four double bedrooms, all of which are en- suite. A very large open plan kitchen cum dining and living room, and a tasteful conservatory with cathedral style windows. There is also a utility room and a guest WC.

Aine Hussey expects strong interest

in the property not only from within the county but also from potential buyers in Dublin, Galway and Limer- ick. “It will appeal to those who want a holiday home close to a beach, with unbeatable views and importantly a new house, fully finished to a high standard, so they don’t have any of the hassle normally associated with house building themselves.

For full details contact 065 707283.

AN EAST Clare woman suffering from the chronic fatigue syndrome ME has suffered a major setback in preventing her house being demol- ished.

An Bord Pleanala has refused permission to Denise Mitchell of Aughinish, Ogonnelloe to retain the demountable house she erected without planning permission.

Clare County Council has served enforcement proceedings on Ms Mitchell, and the local authority can now request her to restore the site to

its original condition.

Ms Mitchell did not inform the council of her medical condition, but in a supporting letter to An Bord Pleanala, Dr Genevieve McGuire of the Scariff Medical Centre said, “This lady is suffering from myal- gic enphelopathy/chronic fatigue syndrome.

‘She tells me that she is hyper- sensitive to all forms of chemical pollution and, for this reason, has chosen to live in the relatively clean atmosphere of Aughinish, Ogonel- loe, Co. Clare.”

The board inspector “reluctantly”

recommended that planning permis- sion be refused. He stated that there was “no argument that the proposed development is obtrusive or impact- ing negatively on amenities. I con- sider it to be benign in impact with regard to the visual amenities of the area’.

However, the board ruled that the site of the proposed development was located in the vulnerable lake shore environs of Lough Derg, in an area identified in the Clare County Development Plan 2005 as under pressure from urban generated de- velopment.

“Tt is the policy of the planning authority, as set out in the Develop- ment Plan, to limit new residential development in this rural area to serve the permanent housing needs of local rural persons,” the inspec- tor continued.

“Tt is considered that the applicant does not come within the housing need criteria of the planning author- AA

The appeals board also ruled that “the proposed development would endanger public safety by reason of traffic hazard, because access to the site 1s by way of a poorly surfaced,

substandard, narrow lane, which is unsuitable to serve additional hous- ing development”.

Councillor Brian Meaney (GP) said this week that he was disap- pointed for Ms Mitchell, but added, “The law is the law and changes should be made to the planning acts to deal with situations like this, though that would prove quite dif- Cove

“Enforcement has been generally haphazard and because you have a medical condition shouldn’t grant you a licence to breach planning Wise

THE Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) has complained to the Department of Transport over the “aggressive campaign” being pursued to persuade over 500 workers at Shannon Air- port to accept redundancy.

The workforce at Shannon have until Wednes- day of next week to express interest in a redun- dancy package being put forward by the Dub- lin Airport Authority’s Director for Change, John Horgan. In a “survival plan”, Mr Horgan warned that Shannon’s underlying financial sit- uation is untenable, forecasting that the airport will have accumulated losses of €137 million by 2014 if immediate action is not taken.

However, in a letter to the Department’s As- sistant Secretary, John Murphy, from ICTU’s Industrial Officer, Liam Berney, Mr Horgan is accused of “pursuing an aggressive campaign which seeks to pressurise workers into accept- ing redundancy, while at the same time out- sourcing most of the work currently being done by direct employees of Shannon Airport.

“T cannot overstate the difficulties his actions have caused for the unions at Shannon and the wider union movement. Similarities have been drawn between the actions of Mr Horgan on behalf of a state-owned company and that of Irish Ferries management.

“There can be little doubt that his actions fly in the face of commitments given to Congress

by Government generally, by the Taoiseach in particular and the understanding reached as part of Sustaining Progress in relation to Pub- lic Enterprise.”

The letter continued, “It beholds the DAA to refocus negotiations and seek, in partner- ship with employees and their representatives, agreed restructuring. At an early stage, it was made clear to Mr Horgan that while the unions would be willing to have constructive dialogue on the cost base at Shannon, this was predicat- ed on the completion of a detailed analysis of the financial position, within the context that outsourcing of work was not an option.

“The financial position of Shannon is almost complete and the unions will be ready shortly

to engage in dialogue about any cost inefficien- cies. Concern was expressed during the course of the meeting about the future of the bilateral agreement with the United States. There is no doubt that this has provided a strong source of income for Shannon which in turn has sustained employment in the airport and Mid-West, and contributed to balanced regional development.

“While we note your frank assessment of the progress of negotiations between the European Commission and the US and the bilateral dis- cussions between Ireland and the US, careful consideration needs to be given of the possible grave implications for Shannon which may arise if the current arrangements cease, particularly in planning for the future of the airport.”

THE final of the Tote A2 sweepstake was the main source of attraction at the Galway track over the weekend.

Slick Leo, owned by the ever popular Tommie Gallagher of Cooraclare, came out on top here having three and a quar- ter lengths to spare as they crossed the line. Tommie will be delighted with this win as the dog had shown good form in recent weeks. The West Clare owner has nursed the dog back to top form and collected prize money of €1,000 with a run of 29.01 seconds. This was the fastest time on Friday nights card.

Kengelvin Pilot owned by Martin McDermott of Kilrush had got Clare owners off to a tonic start winning the first race in a time of 30.40. Tiermana Hill owned by Noel Moroney and Pat O’Connor of Ennis will take his place in the semi-final of the Connacht All Backs A3 Sweepstake this coming weekend.

Carhue Dazzler owned by Ann Carey of Cooraclare obliged at the first time of asking with a time of 18.64 seconds. Tom Flanagan of Ennistymon kept up his good run of form with two winners over the weekend.

Dromoher Wood will go to traps

next Thursday in the A6 Galwegians stake semi-final in a repeat perform- ance should be good enough to secure a place in the final. Tom’s second win- ner was Mythical Ash who came home ahead of the pack to win the first race on Saturday night.

Slattery’s Up, who knows his way around Galway, took race nine for on- wer Michael Mulqueen of Kilrush. Distance is proving to be no problem for Ennis boys Fiachra Hennessy and Noel Coote with Drimeen Rumble. He followed up his recent success with an- other in Shelbourne Park last week.

THE families of the two men missing following last Monday’s tragedy are said to be “furious and very upset” that the men were named in the me- dia “without their consent or any consideration for what they are going through.”

“The families of these two men are going through hell and the coverage of the story and the insensitive and unsubstantiated speculation published by certain elements of the media at such a heart breaking time 1s not helping the situ-

ation any bit,’ according to a close relative of one the men.

“T understand that the media has a job to do, but it also has a responsibility to handle any sto- ry with the sensitivity is deserves. In this case, certain organisations named the two missing men without the permission of the families. You cannot imagine what these families were going through and then they read in the papers or hear on the radio the names of their loved ones,” said the family spokesman.

‘There has to be a humanness to all of this. It

is not easy for the families involved. I can only speak for the family to which I am closest and they are furious and very upset by the media cov- erage on a local and national level. I have been in touch with the garda Superintendent in Ennisty- mon who has been extremely helpful and under- standing,’ the family spokesman added.

It is known that the father of one of the miss- ing men is seriously ill and was not immediately told of the tragedy while the family of the other man has already been bereaved by the loss of his father at a young age.

THE search close to Doolin which kicked off eight days ago has involved several local search and rescue personnel, supported by various oth- er trained rescue personnel and civilians.

What initially appeared to be a body floating in the water early last Monday has turned out to be a deeper, horrific tragedy, which involved an intensive search operation.

Twenty members of Doolin coast guard have engaged in searches every day, amid difficult and rough conditions at sea, which have ham- pered the search.

Ten members of Kilkee Rescue have also as- sisted, while naval divers and members of the garda water unit have travelled to the north Clare coast. In addition up to 100 people joined in the search over the weekend, including the families of the missing men, and those out searching were divided up into groups of up to 20 people.

The body of Martin Griffin (25) from Ennis was found at Tra Leathan, Doonagore, Doolin, early on Tuesday morning.

The search for the other two bodies and the green Suzuki Vitara in which the three men were travelling continued throughout the week.

It intensified on Friday when the Irish navy sent sonar equipment by helicopter to the Inis Oirr on the Aran Islands and this was put on the Aran lifeboat, which travelled to Doolin and was used to search the sea.

On that day, further debris, including the van’s spare tyre was located.

The weekend’s searches were largely confined to the shoreline, as conditions at sea were par- ticularly rough. In the early hours of Sunday morning, further debris, including a steering column, the ignition keys, car seat, bumper, dashboard and pedals were washed up, six miles from the scene of the accident, near Kinvara, on the Clare/Galway border.

During the course of the search, shoes have been washed up, which are believed to belong to the remaining missing man.

The second body was recovered just after high tide at 8.30am on Monday, by members of Doo- lin coast guard, close to where Griffin’s body and substantial parts of the car were recovered.

Supt Eamon Dolan, who is heading the in- vestigation, said three people in particular had substantial information, relevant to the enquiry. The three, two men and a woman, walked in the area close to where the van was parked shortly after 9.30am on Monday. As they passed back

45 minutes later the van was gone and gardai believe it went over the cliffs around this time.

“It has been a tragic week for all the families concerned. The search will continue, in order to locate the other missing person. We will con- tinue to focus around the same area where the bodies and most of the debris has been washed up,” said Supt Dolan, at time of going to press.

‘We are satisfied the parts of the van recov- ered are from the van in which the three men were travelling,” he said.

Doolin coastguard co-ordinator Mattie Shan- non has this advice for those involved in the search – “People would want to be fit enough and have some idea where they are walking and wear proper clothing and footwear. It is im- portant to follow the orders of the team leader. Everyone is responsible for their own safety,’ he said.

“We are advising people to be careful amid the severe weather conditions and dangerous Seas,’ he added.

Further shoreline searches are planned for today amid forecasted rough seas. It 1s antici- pated that conditions will calm down somewhat tomorrow when Doolin coastguard is expected to again launch its boat, while naval divers will return to engage in the search.

THE family and friends of Martin Griffin celebrated a life full of wit and personal- ity at his funeral in Ennis on SY TAI Ker NYA

Martin’s father John Joe, brothers Michael, Denis and sisters Maureen and Mairead, along with mem- bers of his extended family and friends, attended the funeral, which took place at the St Peter and Paul’s Ca- thedral.

The body of Martin (24) was recovered on the shore- line near Doolin last Tues- day after the Suzuki Vitara in which it is thought he had slept plunged into the sea. Chief celebrant, Fr Gerry Carey told mourners that “accidents such as this leave us numb and in many ways, speechless.” Fr Carey said that Martin had “a face full of light” and that he had enriched the lives of all those who had known him. He added that Martin was an extremely talented car- penter His “wood turning had become legendary and his father John Joe, spoke a

lot about that in the past few days.” Fr Carey also recalled how Martin was always los- ing pencils while at work and told how his friends and workmates commented “with his big bushy head of hair he probably lost half of them behind his ear. His brother, Michael had to keep a constant supply of pencils on hand.”

Mourners also heard of Martin’s devotion to his family and in particular his younger brother Denis.

Fr Carey recalled how Martin had arrived late into town one night after work and pleaded with a shop- keeper to stay open so that he might buy his brother and godson, Denis a birth- day present. In a poignant tribute to the memory of his brother Denis laid the present, a baseball cap, on the altar.

After the funeral Mar- tin’s friends fondly recalled his personality and love for Tate

“TI remember one time when he called down while we were at college. He was looking for a place to stay

and he stayed with us for a few days. For dinner he used to eat ten of everything whether it was sausages, eggs or toast. He was a great man and a great friend.” Earlier in the week a fam- ily friend spoke of the dev- astating impact Martin’s on his family. “When their

mother Ann died six years ago, the family was devas- tated and John Joe made a great job of rearing the family. Martin was just 18 then and Denis was just 4. The entire family lives at home. They cannot believe that the eldest, Martin, has now died. Himself and his

brother Michael were due to go to Australia later this year. Martin had a brilliant pair of hands and anything he put his mind to, he would do it. He lived his life to the full. If we was working he was working and if he was out, he would have a great time,’ he said.

The ICSA held a demonstration outside the British Embassy in Dublin to protest against EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson’s proposed cuts in tariffs at the WTO negotiations scheduled for Hong Kong on Friday.

The protest specifically targeted the UK Embassy because, accord- ing to the ICSA, the UK has used its presidency of the European Union

to stifle debate and analysis on the EU position at important meetings such as the Council of Ministers meetings.

Speaking at the protest ICSA President Malcolm Thompson said, these cuts, which are up to 60 per cent, will make farming unviable for Irish and EU farmers. Peter Mandelson’s proposals threaten to undermine European food security, and are ill-conceived and unwork- able.”

‘He is clearly hell bent on exceed- ing his mandate, is evidently will- ing to sell out agriculture in order to get a deal and he 1s protected from accountability by the blatant UK manipulation of their term of office of the presidency of the EU.”

An ICSA spokesperson said that the organisation is alarmed that the WTO negotiations have been kept off the agenda of all meetings of the Council of Agriculture Munisters since the summer. This, they be-

lieve, is outrageous given the huge importance of the WTO talks.

“What is the point of having a Council of Ministers that ignores the main issues?” he continued. “I can’t understand how they can man- age to have a Farm Council meeting on November 22-24 without actual- ly mentioning the WTO, just weeks before the decision-making WTO meeting in Hong Kong!.”