The Clare People Archive

GARDAÍ are hoping that after eight years, there may still be some information which can help them solve a brutal Clare murder.

Relatives of the late Sean Poland are mourning the eighth anniversary of his death. They are also appealing for anyone with information about the car-dealer’s death to come forward.

Gardaí are hoping that the time of year may jog someone’s memory of the New Year’s Eve eight years ago when Mr Poland was shot at his home.

The 39-year-old was shot dead during an armed raid at his home in Blackwater on New Year’s Eve 2002. Several arrests have been made in connection with his killing but noone has ever been charged. Mr Poland’s partner Joanne Lyons, 42, was tied up by the killers, who arrived at the house just minutes after the couple returned home from a night out. It is thought a deal made by Mr Poland in a city centre pub earlier that night may have been linked to his killing. The gang also escaped with about € 1,000 in cash from Mr Poland’s home. The attack shocked the country and sparked calls for greater control of firearms. It is believed criminals from the city were responsible for the murder and more than 20 people have been arrested to date by gardaí investigating the killing,

In 2004, gardaí in Limerick had arrested nine people in connection with the murder of the 39-year-old man.

The seven men and two women were arrested in early-morning raids across Limerick city. They were questioned and released without charge.

The previous year, two men and a woman were arrested but also released without charge.

Sean’s sister, Marie Horgan says that they are still hoping for a breakthrough in the investigation especially with the establishment of a dedicated cold case unit to look into old crimes.

The family make the appeal on each anniversary and last year, Sean’s brother Ray appealed for anyone with information about the killing to come forward.

“I know for a fact that somebody knows something. I would appeal to them to come forward with that information because we still don’t know who did it or the reasons why,” he said.

“Sean was an innocent man and. He was only 39 years of age and he should still be alive today. Some people deserve it, but he didn’t, and, really, there has been no closure for us,” he added.

Ray said that Poland this time of year was particularly difficult for him and his family.

“It is tough and the pain is still there. A lot of other cases seem to have been solved in the meantime but we haven’t got any answers. There doesn’t seem to have been any movement at all,” he said.

A Garda spokesperson confirmed that the murder investigation remained open, but said there had been no significant developments over the past 12 months.

“If anyone has information they can contact us in confidence,” he said.

Anyone with information about the murder pf Mr Poland can contact Henry Street Garda Station at 061 212400 or the Garda confidential line at 1800 666111.

SET for further success in 2011 are local food heroes and exporters, The Burren Smokehouse.

The Clare artisan smoking business is about to add top-end British store, Fortnum and Mason to the list of people who will be stocking their products.

Owner, Brigitta Hedin-Curtin is upbeat about the coming year and confident of cracking new markets for her excellent artisan product.

“We’re currently working with Fortnum and Mason to provide them with our products under their brand which is great for us because their brand is in demand in the high-end of the market,” she told The Clare People .

The Smokehouse is also about to launch a new multi-lingual website and will be concentrating on mailorder business in the coming year.

The website gives the company a very lucrative route to market and gives it an added presence on the international food stage.

Brigitta is off to the organic fair in Nuremberg this month and will be showcasing their organic range at this, one of the biggest food gatherings in Europe.

“Organic is a very important market and we are also workng with Bord Bia, who are marketing strongly in the US. We have a small presence in the US but we have some new leads that we are following up on.”

Having just recently got Kosher status, the Smokehouse now plans to exploit this as a major selling point in the US and particularly in the high-end delis and restaurants of New York.

There are leads and possibilities which we are following, including the Arabic market, which is a big market,” said Brigitta.

The Smokehouse, which is based in Lisdoonvarna, opened in 1989 and employs 17 people with a turnover of € 1.3 million.

The artisan smokehouse produces a premium quality, organic product range which are 100 per cent Irish and smoked using a closely guarded recipe

There are more than 50 products now on the market, including Hot Smoked Irish Organic Salmon with Honey, Lemon and Dill, Whiskey and Fennel and Lemon and Pepper. The Smokehouse also smokes trout, mackeral and a whole rang fish.

The Smokehouse has won the Good Food Ireland Producer of the Year award in 2009 and Blas na hÉireann Gold Winner in Seafood Products 2009.

WHEN the Ballyvaughan Farmers’ Market reopened back in 2003 it became just the second operating farmers’ market in Clare. Now, in just seven short years, it shares the stage with more then 20 regular markets which take place throughout the county during the summer months with some even carrying on all year round.

The markets are being driven by three main factors; an increased awareness of food miles and the environment; an increased demand for quality “slow” food and an increased interest for local people to grow and make more of the things they need to live their life.

“Markets seem to be popping up all over the country in recent years. There has been a lot of talk over the last decade over the quality of food that we are consuming and this notion of “food miles” seems to be talked about more and more. People have caught onto the idea of being eco-friendly by eating local foods,” said Tracey Kelly of the Ballyvaughan Farmers’ Market.

“We have also become so much better at doing what we need to do. We have learned how to grow better and how to make all kinds of things like cheese and other things which has helped to drive the development of the farmers market movement. People have really bought into the ideas.

“People who come to farmers’ markets are also very very loyal. Even the visitors are loyal in that they will visit farmers’ markets wherever they are on holidays. It doesn’t put them off, in fact they are dying to see what we have in the farmers’ market in Ballyvaughan that they don’t have in their own markets back home. So it’s something that is growing all the time and it looks like the interest both from customers and producers is increasing all the time.”

THE CLARE music scene has needed a hero for a long time. Leaving traditional music entirely to one side, recent years has seen the county struggled to produce a band or artist for other to point to and say, “look at them, they made it, so maybe we can too”.

This is no trivial matter – one only has to think about the amount of north Clare musicians in their mid30s who are playing their songs today because of the success of The Stunning and the real impact that success can have on a scene in brought into full focus.

I think that everyone who loves Clare music hopes that 2011 is a very big year for C!TIES. The Ennis band have promised a lot and, up until now, have delievered everything they’ve promised. The release of their split-single vinyl with Guilty Optics in November is evidence enough of that.

The best thing about C!TIES is that they are that most illusive of melds – a band that is both truly alternative but still has the potential to achieve mainstream success.

“For the first EP, we were in my garage in one of my old houses, and so this time around we had the whole studio. Sean is studying all the sound recording stuff so he was able to pretty much record the whole thing for us,” Sean from C!TIES told The Clare People in an interview last month.

“This is our second paid release. It’s getting pretty heavy at this stage. The last stretch of gigs for Stress, Debt and Chest Pains’ vinyl, was to older crowds than what we are used to playing. We are used to playing in pubs to people roughly our own age – 17, 18, 19, 20 – getting drunk and dancing around the place.

“But we had a more sophisticated type of audience – people were more appreciative of the music as opposed to going mental. And then when we had them coming up afterwards and buying the record, and saying we were great and stuff. It was something else.”

IT promises to be a big year on the railways – the West Clare Railway that is as entrepreneur and enthusiast Jackie Whelan moves further down the track towards his dream of having a commuter and tourist service linking Kilursh and Kilkee for the first time since the famous narrow gauge railway was closed in 1961.

“I want to have the track between Moyasta and Kilkee laid this year,” Whelan told The Clare People as he acknowledged that “2011 is a year when we really want to move our plans forward”.

Yes, the West Clare Railway project that has been Whelan’s dream for well over a decade is set to get on track in a big way over the next 12 months, with the first major step only a matter of weeks away with the publication of the new County Development Plan.

“The Development Plan will give the West Clare Railway the same designated status as the Cliffs of Moher or the Burren,” said Whelan of a move that will put the railway project on track for major development works in 2011.

“It’s been a long journey,” he admitted. “The NRA stopped us from crossing the road at Moyasta Junction and that put us back. I don’t think the NRA have even seen the place and were just working off maps. When you’re dealing with them you’re dealing with faceless people. An Taisce had no problem with it, while the NRA blamed the county council over the speed limit on the road. Now finally we’ll have the speed limit issue sorted out by May.

“And I’ll have the museum finished by the end of the year. I have a batch of railway engines and carriages that you wouldn’t see anywhere in Ireland, while the big thing is laying the track to Kilkee and Kilrush. With the train going in both directions we could bring old age pensioners to Kilkee and Kilrush for free. That’s what I want to do.”

Whelan has spent well over € 500,000 on the project so far, restoring the old Slieve Callan engine, laying tracks and sleepers on nearly three miles of track towards Doonbeg and towards Kilkee.

“We can do this from our own resources,” he revealed. “The only grant we got was from Leader for the engine restoration, while the biggest cost of all has been time. Shannon Development has said that if we could get numbers up to 25,000 a year we’d get grant aid.

“The potential is huge. There is capacity for West Clare to carry 30,000 to 40,000 passengers a year at its ease. There is huge interest in west Clare, because it’s the only railway that has retained its name in the minds of people because of the Percy French song. This year I want to get the track laid to Kilkee and a couple of more years have it going to Kilrush. With grant aid it would be a lot quicker.”

Not that Whelan is afraid to press ahead if the knock on the door bearing grant aid doesn’t come. “A task force has been set up in Clare to create jobs and they’ve never come near me,” he revealed. “This will create jobs,” he added as he looks to 2011 with confidence.

AS GREATER emphasis is placed on the importance of renewable energy, Clarecastle man Eddie Connors is operating at the coalface of a growing industry.

A qualified Woodwork, Technology, Maths, Science, and IT Secondary level teacher, Eddie established Clare’s first ever eco-farm – Imecofarm – at a 100 acre site at Islandmcgrath, Clarecastle.

The farm operates as a centre for renewable energy training courses, a wildlife reserve and destination for family days out and school tours.

With energy bills on the rise, the level of public interest in renewable energy has seen a growth in demand for courses like those on offer at Eddie’s farm.

“This is one of the big reasons we get people from all parts of Ireland. People studying and visiting imecofarm, realise that its not only possible to have reduced heating and electricity bills, but also little or no waste charges, collect your own water, grow food, and be very self sustainable very easily,” Eddie said.

Plans are already underway to increase the number of courses on offer at the farm. Eddie explained, “In 2010 we managed to get started at imecofarm, and over these winter months we are preparing and adding some major projects to imecofarm, for 2011 including an eco library, a huge eco craft area where people can build small projects like birdfeeders, etc, a wheelchair friendly farm trail, a huge wildlife pond, rope bridges indoor children’s pedal go karts, an eco train, and lots more renewable energies to run the whole centre and farm.”

While Eddie admits that “cash flow” is the most difficult part to any emerging business, support from outside agencies has been crucial.

He said, “Clare County Council have been very helpful in advice in all aspects relating to planning per- mission, signage and also many environmental and biodiversity displays here. Paperwork and permissions can be tedious and difficult for every new business, so it’s great to be able to get advice, and help from different bodies. The Clare local Development Company, Leader, have given terrific support and have granted three applications of funding towards the project”.

Volounteers have also played a key role in helping the project get off the ground.

Eddie added, “We have people volunteering to help with our nature projects, gardens, and energy displays, so this has been a massive help to keeping down labour costs, get projects done, and also allows a very special low entry rate for the people of Clare and beyond. Volunteers are also learning about renewables here and receive vouchers, and if looking for work, find that working on projects here shows great initiative, giving better employment prospects”.

He said, “We are also looking at FETAC qualifications to some of the courses here, as well as FÁS registration. Some people are also eligible for funding on our training courses, so this helps those wanting to learn, but without high incomes. Cashflow is always the most difficult part of a new business, but from next Easter on, we are aiming to be busy, and continue to grow each year, with school tours, families, tourists, and training courses here at imecofarm”.

TOURISM OF an unprecedented level could be the reward for ongoing efforts to gain Geopark Status for the Burren and to make the Cliffs of Moher into one of the new 7 Wonders of the World.

Last month Clare County Council officially submitted an application to the European Geoparks Network (EGN) for the European and Global Geoparks status for the Burren region of north Clare.

The EGN was founded in 2000 to help protect geodiversity, to promote geological heritage among citizens and to support sustainable economic development of regions through the development of geotourism.

If successful, it is hoped that the Burren and Cliffs of Moher Geopark project will provide the region with an identity as a region for sustainable ecotourism that is recognised across Europe.

European Geopark status is a fundamentally non-legislative designation, and as such it holds no influence on planning issues or land manage- ment practices. The proposed European Geopark in north Clare will comprise a network of managed publicly accessible sites, an established network of education and visitor centres, and the newly accredited Burren Ecotourism Network, as well as the existing Shannon Region Trails and National Walking routes.

Meanwhile, the ongoing campaign to make the Cliffs of Moher one of the New 7 Wonders of the World will come to an end in 2011. An estimated one billion people will have voted for their favourite location before the final round voting comes to an end on November 11, 2011.

The campaign to make the Cliffs of Moher one of the New 7 Wonders of the World has been ongoing for more than two years with the landmark tourist attraction already coming through three different stages of voting.

If the cliffs does make the final list it is estimated that the publicity associated with the event alone could being tens or perhaps hundreds of thousands of extra tourists to north Clare in the coming years.

A TEAM of 120 volunteers maintained the Samaritans 24-hour telephone service in Clare throughout the Christmas period.

The Clare branch recorded almost 25,000 calls in 2010 with many calls relating to stresses and strains caused by the recession. Branch director, Gerry Dobbin, said that Christmas could often be very lonely and difficult time for many people.

“Our branch was open over Christmas and we would’ve been fairly flat out. People who have been bereaved over the years and in recent times, the empty chair at the table. It can be a very sad time and a very lonely time because of the pressures out there. You are expected to be happy and merry and all the rest of it and people feel very separated from that”, he said.

He added, “This year there would have been an increase in calls relating to the economic situation and people would have had a lot of financial worries about what might be coming next year. People who have experienced economic hardship in recent times, people worried about paying bills in January. We’d have noticed an increase in that kind of call. And then people, socially, who would be marginalisied, isolated very lonely people. People who may be in broken relationships who are on their own, possibly single parents or people who are parents but the partner has them (the children). People who are separated and there could be issues around that”.

New figures show that between November 2009 and October 2010, Samaritans Ireland responded to 243,000 calls. This represented a six per cent increase on the previous 12 months; an additional 13,000 calls. “A lot of those would have related to economic worries and financial worries. A sizeable number of those calls would have related to the economic situation. People who would be experiencing depression, people depressed at the thought of insecurity, lack of jobs and little chance of employment”, Mr Dobbin explained.

Despite the difficulties posed by dangerous road and weather conditions, volounteers in Clare ensured there was always someone on hand to provide confidential emotional support to people experiencing feel- ings of distress and despair.

Mr Dobbin said everyone associated with the branch had shown great commitment during Christmas and throughout the past 12 months.

He explained, “They are giving up their time. They do their shifts and because of the weather situation we’ve had volounteers who have done over and above to keep the branch open. People who didn’t have to drive long distances would’ve come in when people who are living out in the country maybe would have had difficulties getting in because of the roads. Other people have taken up the duties.

He added, “They’ve given a big commitment. People from diverse backgrounds, but with the common cause to be there and give a listening ear to other people who are not so fortunate. It’s important to talk about the people who give their time. They come in and so generously give their time for other people”

The Samaritans can be contacted at 1850 60 90 90 or by email jo@samaritans.org.

FROM ensuring medical assistance was provided to vulnerable patients to supplying homes around the county with water, it’s been a busy month for the volunteer members of Clare Civil Defence.

During December when extreme cold weather caused massive disruption to Clare’s road and water network, as many as 25 Civil Defence volounteers were on duty a day in Clare, in what has been described as a “massive volontary effort”.

“We’ve been out since December 17 and we’ve been out every day since”, explained Liam Griffin, Director of Clare Civil Defence.

He continued, “We’re kind of on standby, waiting for isolated calls. Basically what we have been doing, we’ve been transporting public health nurses around to their patients when the roads were in poor conditions with the ice. We have four wheel drive vehicles so we were doing that. As well as that we were also providing water to houses in our tankers and we were also manning standpipes on the Kilrush and Gort Road during the Christmas period, including Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, St Stephen’s Day. Our people were working throughout the Christmas period and throughout the New Year”.

As freezing weather conditions gripped the county in December, Civil Defence tankers transported thousands of gallons of water to affected areas.

Mr Griffin said demand for the service was as great as it had been during the floods crisis in November 2009.

He said, “When the weather turned bad and the pipes started to freeze were supplying water by tanker or by manning standpipes. It was mostly in the mid-Clare area, from Ennis to Cratloe, up to Crusheen out to Clooney, that sort of area. We were every bit as busy as last year”.

Mr Griffin also hailed the dedication and commitment of volounteers who had given up their time during the Christmas period.

“Most of our volunteers would be young people that are in their 20s and it’s a great sign for the future insofar as these people were so willing to give up their time, particularly over the Christmas holiday period. They were out Christmas Day, St Stephen’s Day, New Year’s Day”. he said.

Mr Griffin added, “That’s a massive volountary effort from these people and it should be very much appreciated. Many of the householders that were affected during the period expressed their gratitude to the people involved”.

UNPRECEDENTED weather brings once-in-a-lifetime challenges for the small army of workers whose job it is to keeps the counties roads open in all conditionals.

While some roads around the county were blocked by snow and ice in the run up to Christmas, most other were kept open to allow the majority of Clare people to prepare for the holiday.

According to county engineer, Tom Tiernan, the run up to Christmas 2010, was the busiest that Clare County Council has ever had to deal with.

“The road workers were as busy as they have ever been in the run up to Christmas but in a very short time after Christmas Day the roads began to sort themselves out when the thaw happened and the integrity of roads returned again. Of course it went from the roads to another difficulty with the water which other people are dealing with at the moment,” said Tom.

“There was a variety of issues to be dealt with on the roads. As was the case all over the country we had to prioritise keeping the main roads around the county open and opera- tional so we had about 600 kilometres of national routes in Clare which we worked on. We also succeeded in keeping most of the regional routes open and operational other than for a few small sections for short periods of time.

“We had one severe snow storm in a region around Kilrush and that had a severe impact on an area down there around the N68. For the first time ever in the county we had to deploy a snow-plough but that worked well and within a number of hours after that snow fall the Kilrush Road was operational once again, once it got a substantial application of salt following the ploughing.”

Despite the best efforts of Clare County Council, Mr Tiernan is still conscious that some people were not able to reach towns and shops in the way they normally would in the run up to Christmas.

“There is no doubt about it, some areas of the network which were off the main road network were not in good condition through some of the cold snap and that made it difficult not just for our staff who had to spend long hours outside of their normal work time dealing with these roads but we were also conscious of the fact that this upset a significant proportion of the population of the county,” continued Tom.

“We are conscious that this effected some people who were not able to go out to do their shopping and it effected business as well as they had the disappointment of not having the benefit of the level of business that they might normally enjoy at that time of year. So there was a heavy responsibility involved in having the road network in as good a condition as possible.

“We had to prioritise keeping the main road network in a good condition as possible we also had to give a lot of attention to keeping the rest of the network in as good a condition as possible.

“We have almost 4,500 kilometres of roads in the county and it was never going to be easy to insure that the work we did was the greatest benefit to the greatest number of people but I think that we succeeded reasonably well in that.

“It is not possible to get everything right for everyone but we had a number of strategies in place and did as well as we could do.”