The Clare People Archive

A MAN who carried out a “vicious assault” on his brother with a hatchet has received a prison sentence.

James McDonagh (38), with an address at bay six Ballymurtagh, Shannon, attacked Michael McDonagh at the rear of their father’s home at the Ballymurtagh halting site on August 31 (2011). Half of Michael McDonagh’s left ear was severed in the assault while the father of four also suffered injuries to his scalp and abdomen. He spent four days in hospital receiving treatment for his injuries.

A jury found James McDonagh guilty of assault causing harm and possession of a hatchet earlier this month.

He was sentenced to five years in prison for assault and three years for possession of the hatchet. The final year of the sentence was suspended. The sentences are to be served on a concurrent basis.

Judge Gerald Keyes said James McDonagh, who has 97 previous convictions, has an “appalling record.”

He added, “Since your conviction on those charges you have not shown any sign of remorse.”

Referring to Michael McDonagh’s victim impact statement, Judge Keyes said the family are in fear of their lives. Judge Keyes added, “The information would suggest that you are a danger to society, to your brother, your family and extended family.”

He noted that James McDonagh had shown signs recently that he is willing to improve his behaviour by completing a relapse prevention programme while in prison

He added, “There is a letter from the Governor of Limerick prison, which I’m told is unusual, that supports the view that at this late stage you have decided to change your ways.”

Judge Keyes also noted Michael McDonagh’s request for any sentence to include some element of rehabilitation for his brother.

He suspended the final year of the sentence on condition that James McDonagh keep the peace for two years and enter a programme under the supervision of the probation and welfare services.

James McDonagh was ordered to not come within 500 yards of the Ballymurtagh halting site and to not approach Michael McDonagh or his family without first getting the permission of gardaí.

Judge Keyes ordered James McDonagh to abstain from the consumption of alcohol and drugs.

He said the fact that the offence had been committed shortly after James McDonagh had been released from prison was an “aggravating factor” in the case.

He added, “The severity of the attack on this man justifies the sentence.” A we e k o f c lo u d a n d b u rst s o f su n sh in e . Th u rsd a y w ill p ro b a b ly b e t h e wo rst d a y. Ne xt we e k lo o ks sim ila r e a rly in t h e we e k, b u t n o h e a t wa ve o n t h e h o rizo n .

LIFE IS returning to normal today for the family of an East Clare farmer who, after becoming trapped in his own slurry tank on Saturday, was rescued without suffering serious injury.

The man, who is in his 40s, was cleaning the slatted house on his farm in Aughrim, just outside Scariff, on Saturday when a manhole cover gave way.

The man fell into the 10-foot-deep slurry tank which, luckily for him, was only half-full at the time. The man was discovered by his mother when she heard him shouting and contacted the emergency services.

Two neighbours were able to res- cue the man before the arrival of the emergency services, lowering a ladder into the pit and allowing the man to climb free. The fire service’s first responders assessed the man in his home and established that he did not require hospitalisation.

According to East Clare farmer and Clare President of the ICMSA, Martin McMahon, it will take the man and his family some time to get over this traumatic experience.

“It is a big shock to the whole community. When you hear about an incident like this, with a man falling into a slurry pit, well my sympathies do go out to the man and his family,” said Martin.

“I am sure they are all overjoyed that he was able to come out of this alive but his confidence will have taken a knock.

“The biggest problem for farm safety in Clare now is farmers work ing on their own. Too many farmers have no choice but to be alone. They could be out of contact with anyone for six or eight hours at a stretch and, no matter how good or how careful you are, something can always go wrong.

“There is always a risk, you can always slip. That’s why it is so important for farmers to keep their mobile phones with them at all time. A lot of farmers in Clare are part-time farmers at the moment, so there may not even be a neighbour in the vicinity to hear you. You could be working three or four miles from the nearest other person, and that is dangerous.”

VICTIMS of clerical child sex abuse or those with knowledge of abuse that has been perpetrated against children in Clare have this week been urged to step forward and alert the relevant authorities of these crimes.

The move that has been signalled as part of a new clerical child sex abuse awareness campaign being mounted by the Diocese of Killaloe throughout the county during the month of May.

This campaign was launched in the past week, just as the Catholic hierarchy was rocked by fresh abuse allegations surrrounding the investigation of notorious paedophile priest, Fr Brendan Smyth, that has left future of Cardinal Sean Brady as primate of all Ireland hanging in the balance.

As part of what the diocese has called “the importance of safeguarding children”, those who have suffered abuse in Clare have been urged to alert the Garda Siochána, the Health Services Executive or the Killaloe Diocese directly.

Throughout Clare those “concerned that someone you know is at risk in relation to a child safeguarding concern, or you wish to raise a matter from the past” have been told to come forward immediately.

“If you have grounds for concern about the welfare of a child you must act immediately to the statutory authorities and/or diocesan designated persons as soon as possible,” the Diocese of Killaloe has said.

“The designated persons will liaise with the statutory authorities – the Gardai the HSE and also the Bishop and the National Board for safeguarding children,” the diocese has added.

Since 2003, over € 2m has been paid out to victims of clerical child sex abuse in the Diocese of Killaloe. Money given victims are labelled as ‘Special Payments’ in the annual diocesan accounts published every year.

CLARE County Council yesterday put itself forward to play a major role in the steering group which will implement the separation of Shannon Airport from the Dublin Airport Authority.

County Manager, Tom Coughlan, yesterday outlined the local authority’s plan for influencing the restructuring the management of the airport, but said that the steering group must be established immediately if it going to succeed.

Speaking at yesterday’s May meeting of Clare County Council, Mr Coughlan put forward a timeline for change to take place at the airport saying that the steering group should be up and running, and making reports to government before the end of the year.

“The steering group must be established immediately and must include representatives from the local authorities,” said Mr Coughlan.

“The terms of reference of the steering group must be concise and a clear time line must be set, within the current year, for the reporting of the steering group, for decisions by government, for legislative change and for the implementation of Government decisions.

“The steering group must focus on achieving an increase in passen- ger traffic and a mechanism must be identified to achieve this objective in the short, medium and long term.”

The county manager also poised a number of questions that needed to be clarified before the proposed reorganising of Shannon Airport can be completed. These include some uncertainty about the workers at Shannon Airport, will the airport remain an “international” airport or will it be re-designated as a regional airport and will Clare County Council have a role to plan in the plans being drawn up by organisations such as the IDA and Fáilte Ireland.

DESPITE having its Government funding cut by more than nine million euro last year, Clare County Council ended the year with a deficit of just € 47,000.

Total Government funding received by Clare County Council during 2011 was € 66.8M, compared to € 78.2m in 2010.

The council’s financial department said it achieved considerable savings through a reduction in operating costs such as payroll and has some additional income generated under the Non Principal Private Residence (NPPR) scheme.

A significant reduction in staffing levels saved the council € 1.26 million in salaries, wages and pension costs.

The pay roll cost for 2011 was € 40.9 million, compared to € 42.2 million incurred the previous year.

Reduced call outs to the emergency services also had an impact on council savings.

Not surprisingly there was an in- crease in uncollected rates at the end of 2011 over the previous year yet the total cash intake had also increased by 10 per cent to € 34.5 million.

The council also managed to reduce its long-term loans by € 6.6 million.

Head of Finance Niall Barrett noted that the 2011 financial year was a difficult one that required the council to make expenditure savings in order to negate both the impact of a significant reduction in Government funding, and other income reductions.

“Taking into consideration the fiscal challenges faced by the Coun- cil, this result is welcomed and has arisen from effective budget management of both expenditure and income throughout the organisation,” he added.

“The key factors that influenced the financial performance of the council included an increased level of vacant properties impacting Commercial Rates and a general increase in irrecoverable charges due to the impact of the economic climate, NPPR income, payroll savings, the severe cold weather and resulting damage to water mains, the deferral of the am- ortization of unfunded capital balances relating to the Central Waste Management Facility at Ballyduffbeg; and critical maintenance and security issues at Traveller Accommodation sites,” he said.

“While the overall result is almost break-even and can be considered to be positive in the context, cognisance must be taken of the fact that this situation is only arrived at by virtue of the corrective actions taken by the council in reducing its expenditure in line with available funding in 2011,” added Mr. Barrett.

SHANNON Airport will become “a carcass” if a new management structure for the airport is not fully operational before international airlines decide their 2013 route schedule this August.

The airport could also become the victim of “asset stripping” by the Dublin Airport Authority, with the loss of Aer Rianta International and the possible loss of the Shannon slots at Heathrow Airport, should the government’s stake in Aer Lingus be sold.

These were the main concerns expressed by councillors at a special meeting of Clare County Council on the subject of Shannon Airport yesterday.

Shannon Cllr PJ Ryan (IND) said that a steering group, including a member of Clare County Council, must be put in place immediately with a view to creating a new management structure of the airport as soon as possible.

“Setting up a steering committee is fine but if don’t have any decision made by this steering committee before the end of 2012, Shannon Airport will become a carcass of an airport,” he said.

Cllr Jerry Flynn (FG) warned that this process should not be used as a means to allow the Dublin Airport Authority to strip the assets of Shannon Airport.

“Aer Rianta should not be given away, it is worth € 100 million, and it should not be handed over to the DAA. Nor should the Heathrow slots be lost. This will amount to asset stripping for the airport in Shannon,” he said. “Shannon Airport also saves Dublin Airport around € 25 million a year by allowing all emergency landings to come through Shannon. If it was not for this, they would have to shut down Dublin Airport a number of times each year.”

Chairman of the council’s Transport Special Policy Committee (SPC), Richard Nagle (FF), said that the timescale for establishing the steering committee was critical.

“Concerns have been expressed about the timescale of the proposals. It was highlighted by speaker after speaker [at yesterday’s Transport SPC meeting]. It was felt that any delay would leave the future of the airport in limbo,” he said.

“The concerns of the staff down there need to be address without delay. Time is critical – the steering group needs to be put in place now an need to come up with proposals for the airport.”

Cllr Patricia McCarthy (IND) also warned about the airport being left in limbo.

“What is not acceptable is that we are now entertaining in a period of limbo and we don’t have an idea what s going to happen to Shannon during this period,” said Cllr McCarthy.

“My main concerns stems from the fact that while a decision has been made, there is no indication of how this is going to be achieved and what impact this will have on the staff down there going forward.”

RELATIVES of the three Clare passengers who travelled on the ill-fated voyage of the Titanic visited Clare County Council yesterday to take part in the unveiling of a plaque in their memory.

Twenty-year-old Martin McMahon and 35-year-old Daniel Keane lost their lives when the liner collided with an iceberg on its maiden transatlantic crossing, while 19-year-old Mary Agatha Glynn, from Flagmount, was one of the lucky few to make it to America on the rescue ships.

Speaking last night, the Mayor of Clare, Cllr Pat Hayes (FF), said it was important to mark the Clare people who took part in the only voyage of the world’s most famous ship.

“More than 100 years on, many people remain fascinated by the story of the Titanic. The ship was regarded as the pinnacle of man’s engineering ability, while many of its First Class passengers were drawn from some of the world’s best known and wealthiest families,” he said.

“The ship also was regarded as a microcosm of society at the time, due to its segregated class system and the fact that the majority of those saved emanated from the first-class section of the ship. It is important that Clare County Council recognises Clare’s connections with an event that has captured the public’s imagination for more than a century.

‘In erecting this plaque, we are remembering not only these connections but all of those who tragically lost their lives in the North Atlantic on the morning of April 15, 1912.”

Mary Agatha Glynn was the only Clare person to survive the sinking. She was on her way to start a new life in Washington when the White Star Liner collided with an iceberg.

After being rescued in Life Boat 13 by the Carpathia and taken to New York, the third-class passenger carried on to Washington, where she lived until 1955 when she died at the age of 61.

A farm labourer, Martin McMahon hailed from Cragbrien in Tiermaclane just outside Ennis. Thirty-fiveyear-old Daniel Keane, from Gallows Hill in Cratloe, was a second-class passenger who had planned to travel on to St Louis, Missouri, after arriving in New York City.

KILRUSH TOWN Council has proposed to build an outdoor fitness area in the town.

Cllr Liam O’Looney (FF) suggested that developing the outdoor fitness area for adults in the centre of the town would merge well with the proposed sporting facility proposed for the Cooraclare road.

Town Clerk John Corry agreed the council should look into providing such a public facility.

He said the town council was represented on the Recreation and Sport Strategy Steering Committee, which has prepared a strategy for the development and growth of active recreation and sporting activities in the town.

“Key objectives of this strategy were to actively research all possible available sites and sources of funding for proposed new facilities in order to develop milti use sport and recreational facilities in West Clare and to actively involve local communities in agreeing the facilities to be developed through meaningful public consultation.

“Kilrush Town Council had worked towards these objectives by identifying in conjunction with local sporting group, a site on the Cooraclare Road which could be utilised for a multipurpose sports facility including a synthetic playing pitch, grass pitches, cross country running track and dressing rooms,” he said.

“Kilrush Town Council and Clare County Council are presently applying for grant assistance under the 2012 Sports capital Grant Scheme for funding for the first two phases of this development.”

“An out door fitness area could also be considered as a future phase of this development or indeed an alternative site in the town could also be selected.

“It is recommended that the location of any such facilities should be located in an area that will be utilised y the public for recreational purposes for example walking.

“Therefore consultation with the public would be advised,” said the town clerk. The funding of such a fines are would need to be carefully considered and may qualify for assistance under a future application for grant assistance under the Sports Capital Programme.”

Cllr O’Looney suggested that the outdoor fitness area could also be situated adjacent to the playground, so that parents could use it while watching their children play.

AFTER A year of strictly balancing the books, Kilrush Town Council has a surplus fund to support two local projects and pay off an old debt.

According to the council’s Annual Financial Statement, the savings were achieved through cuts in expenditure during the year across most services divisions, strict budgetary controls and prudent financial management. This all resulted in an overall surplus of € 2,165 for the year 2011.

In light of the results, the council agreed to set aside € 40,000 for development works at the proposed Cooraclare Road Sports Development and € 12,000 for the recently adopted shop front grant scheme.

A further € 20,000 is to be used to pay off the terminating contract for the controversial superloo.

Welcoming the outcome of the fiscal report for 2011, Cllr Liam Wil- liams (FG) said that every effort must be made to ensure that the Cooraclare Sports Facility remains top of the town council’s agenda.

“We must make every effort to get grants for the facility. It has to be a priority for this year,” he said.

Cllr Paul Moroney (Ind) agreed that € 20,000 towards riding the town of the superloo was money well spent.

It was not easy for the council’s financial department, led by Colette Costello, to balance the 2011 budget however as the “percentage yields from rates and housing rents are a reflection of the difficult financial situation business and house holds presently find themselves in.”

Town Clerk John Corry told council members, however, that the rate collection “compares favourably to the towns and is the largest collection rate in the county.” He said legal proceedings would be a last resort in an effort to secure money owed from rents and rates, as the council tries to “focus on people who are in difficulty” and try to facilitate tenants.

To date, 76 per cent of commercial rates have been collected, the same amount as 2010, while 90 per cent of rents have been paid, down three per cent on the previous year. There was also a sharp reduction in income relating to Development Contributions in 2011, which according to council officials reflects the current economic climate. The development income for 2011 had fallen to € 3,397 from a high of € 273,096 in 2007.

Mayor of Kilrush, Cllr Ian Lynch (FG) told the members it was a challenge at the beginning of 2011 to work out how the ever-decreasing budget would provide services for the town and its citizens.

Having achieved that with a surplus, the mayor said he hoped that Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government would consider such achievements of town councils as he considers their fate.

IT promises to be an emotional few days for staff and students of St Joseph’s traveller training centre.

The final ever presentation of FETAC level certificates to students takes place at the Auburn Lodge Hotel in Ennis on Friday.

The ceremony represents the end of an era for the centre that first opened in 1974.

The Ennis Traveller Training Centre was the first in the country. It started as part of a Combat Poverty Programme in 1974.

At that time, it was located in the grounds of the Holy Family School, Ennis. In 1982, the centre moved to a new building at the Gort Road industrial estate.

St Joseph’s, which is located in the Gort Road industrial estate, will close as a traveller-only training centre on June 29.

The building will become the first all-purpose skills unit in Ennis.

There are currently around 13 staff working at the centre. Staff will be transferred internally to other VEC schools and centres.

It will be run by Ennis Adult Education Centre, with classes offered in a number of areas including woodwork and hairdressing.

Over 60 people have been invited to Friday’s event, including former directors and board members.

According to Director Tríona Lynch, the ceremony will celebrate the history of the centre.

She said, “It is very emotional. You can see it around the place. The focus this week is on celebration and celebrating the past and looking ahead to the future.”

She added, “One of the traveller men said to me the other day that his parents attended the centre and so did his kids.

“It was part of their lives. The centre has provided nearly four decades of support for travellers.”

Ms Lynch also acknowledged the support of Clare VEC. The ceremony at the Auburn Lodge gets underway at 1pm.