The Clare People Archive

PEOPLE who damage the property of others must pay for it, a judge said yesterday, as he ordered compensa- tion to be paid in a car damage case.

Jim McDonagh (19), of Dun na hInise, Ennis, admitted a charge of criminal damage at Gort Road, En- nis, on October 5 last.

Inspector John Galvin told En- nis District Court that a man called to Ennis Garda Station on October 5 and complained that his jeep had been damaged.

“He was driving along and his jeep was approached by the accused. It is alleged the accused got out with a stick and started breaking windows and damaging the paint work,’ he SrHLOe

He said that the accused admit- ted taking part, in interviews with gardai. The amount of damage caused was €1,920.97.

Defending solicitor Tara Godfrey said that her client had not been fur- nished with details of the amount of the damage until yesterday. “My cli- ent doesn’t have that sort of money in court,” she said. She said there was a background to the case.

“My client was coming along in a car. The injured party made a ges- ture to his own mouth. He was act- ing in a state of heightened emotion. Emotions boiled over,’ she said.

Judge Aeneas McCarthy asked, “Is there some sort of feud going on, be- cause if there is, it’s time the court stepped in before things get out of hand?”

Ms Godfrey replied, “Things seem to have calmed down. It’s hoped that matters will resolve themselves.”

Ms Godfrey said she understood the compensation would be €500 and said her client is on social wel- fare. The judge told her, ““He should have thought of that before he dam- aged somebody’s property.’

The solicitor then asked for an ad-

journment “to accumulate a fraction of the money”. The judge said, “I’m not talking about a fraction. This man (the victim) is out of pocket. Who does he (the accused) expect to pay for this car?

“If people cause damage to other people’s property, they pay for it,” added the judge.

He imposed a six-month detention sentence and suspended it on condi- tion that the cost of the damage be paid within three months.

A 29-YEAR-OLD father of three went back to taking drugs after be- ing warned by gardai that his life was in danger because his name was on a ‘hit list’.

Edward McCarthy, of Cliona Park, Limerick pleaded guilty before Kil- laloe District Court to driving while under the influence of drugs.

Judge Joseph Mangan heard that the drug cannabis had been detected in his sytem after he was stopped by exN Oren

The court heard that Mr McCarthy

had previous convictions, some of which had resulted in his serving a long prison sentence.

His solicitor told the court that Mr McCarthy had “not been tak- ing drugs for a considerable period after he came out of prison. He was advised by gardai that his name was on a ‘hit list’ and that his life was in danger. This put him under a lot of pressure and he started smoking cannabis again.”

Judge Mangan fined Mr McCarthy €1,000 and disqualified him from driving for four years.

A MAN who upturned a table in a garda station, damaging a computer monitor, was sentenced to ten weeks in jail for his outburst.

Gordon Collins of Cahercallamore, Ennis, appeared before the District Court in Killaloe after spending a week in jail for an outburst in the court the previous week.

Collins pleaded guilty to a number of charges including public order of- fences and criminal damage to the computer at Ennis Garda Station and public order charges.

Judge Joseph Mangan heard, gardai were called to Cahecalla Es- tate, where they found the accused “drunk, extremely abusive and threatening and arguing with neigh- bours”’.

Because of his condition, he was arrested and taken into custody but while in the garda station, he over- turned a table in the custody area causing ©200 worth of damage to the computer monitor.

His solicitor told the court that Mr Collins, who has a number of previ- ous convictions, including some for public order offences, had “been in

jail for the last six days and has seen what lies ahead of him if he doesn’t mend his ways’”’.

The solicitor said that Mr Collins has “considerable difficulties. He has been diagnosed with an anti-social behaviour disorder and was pre- scribed medication. Unfortunately he has developed an addiction to those drugs and he sometimes mixes them with alcohol.”

Judge Mangan sentenced him to jail for the criminal damage charge and set bail at his own bond of €600 with an independent surety of 600 in the event of an appeal.

A JUDGE heard that a young wom- an who was found with a quantity of heroin in Killaloe was bringing it to her partner who is a paraplegic.

Annmarie Delahunty (22) of Hen- nessy Avenue in Killeely, Limerick, pleaded guilty to possession of €25 worth of heroin in Killaloe on April 23 of this year.

Her solicitor told Killaloe District Court that Ms Delahunty was “un-

der pressure from her former partner and the father of her child to get the drugs for him. Her partner unfortu- nately became paralysed from the waist down and by his own admis- sion 1s a heroin addict. She got this ‘fix’ and was giving it to him.”

The court heard that Delahunty has a number of previous convictions, in- cluding public order and road traffic offences. Judge Joseph Mangan or- dered that she do 100 hours commu- nity service if she proves suitable.

A MOTHER and son have pleaded guilty to drug-related charges, arising out of a drugs seizure in Corofin.

Fiona Keane (38) and Stephen Keane (19), of Main Street, Corofin, admitted possession of cannabis in Corofin on November 20, 2008.

Stephen Keane was also convicted of possession of drugs for the pur- pose of sale or supply. Ennis District Court heard that neither had any pre- vious convictions.

Defending solicitor John Casey said that Fiona Keane is a mother- of-four who has lived in Corofin for many years.

“This was an unfortunate incident. It has caused her an amount of dis- Keron OomncT= BLO

Referring to Stephen Keane, the solicitor said, “He will say he would gather money and buy drugs from somebody further up the ladder. He would have it and deal it out to his friends. He never made any money out of it.”

He said his client was an apprentice carpenter, but the business he was working with folded. He then went back to school. “Living in a small village, something like that is going to have an impact on him. This is a very serious conviction for this man

to have against him. was fined €100. The case of her son “It was between him and his was adjourned for two months for friends. He was not out on the street preparation of a probation report. corner selling drugs,” he said. Fiona Keane, who told the court she runs a launderette in Corofin,

A MAN has been convicted of pub- lic order in what a court heard was a volatile and hot-tempered atmos- phere during the Matchmaking Fes- tival in Lisdoonvarna.

Fergal Neylon, of Laghtagoona, Corofin, was convicted of engaging in threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour on September 27, 2008.

Evidence in the case was heard last month and Judge Joseph Mangan ad- journed ruling. In court last week, he convicted the accused and imposed a two-month jail term. This was sus- pended on condition that he enter a bond to keep the peace.

The court heard that several people

were involved in a row in the early hours of the morning.

Gardai gave evidence of the ac- cused being highly intoxicated, high- ly agitated and acting in a threaten- ing manner to others. However, the defence disputed this.

Detective Superintendent Gabriel O’Gara told the court the situation was “very tense. It was very vola- tile. A large number of males present were all very intoxicated.”

He said from his observations, Mr Neylon’s intention “appeared to be to breach the peace and also to entice others to get involved. . .He remind- ed me of a person you would see out on a Saturday night, highly intox1- cated, shirt off, chest out, blood all

over him. This was the man who was going to solve everyone’s problems.”

The accused told the court that he had not consumed a lot of alcohol that night. He said that after he left the Hydro hotel, he had been struck and knocked to the ground, where he had been kicked and beaten.

“I was obviously agitated and prob- ably concussed from being kicked. I had no top on because it had been pulled off me while I was on the ground being beaten,’ he said.

“I was agitated with the guards for being arrested, because I was the victim of an assault, but I was not ag- gressive, he added. He denied that he was highly intoxicated.

THE contest for the highly sought after Clare vacancy on the GAA’s influential Central Council commit- tee is set to boil down to a two-horse race between two former members of the Munster Counc1l.

TRICK-OR-TREAT. A phrase that aptly summed up Whitegate’s Hal- loween adventure on Saturday as they followed the well worn path of Clooney/Quin, Clonlara and Broad- ford into the latter stages of the pro- visional intermediate championship.

The trick for Whitegate was mani- fold, beginning with the Munster Council’s decision to take the game out of Whitegate to the enclosed con- fines of neighbours Scariff, a venue that has been a veritable graveyard for the club over the past two years. It also refers to the county’s unwel- come tradition of only leaving a week between the county final and the Munster campaign, insufficient time really to prepare for such an im- portant competition.

Add in the fact that Whitegate tend to start slowly and this could have been a a real Halloween horrorshow for the east Clare side. Crucially though, through the ever depend-

able George Waterstone, who again scored all of Whitegate’s four first- half points for the second week in succession, the county champions only found themselves two points in arrears at the break at 0-6 to 0-4.

With the wind at their backs, Tip- perary champions Davins_ should have been cruising by half-time but while they were dominant for long periods through centre-back anchor Lee Mackey and the running of William O’Dwyer and Noel Butler, their inability to turn possession into scores repeatedly frustrated them. As did the dogged performances from Whitegate’s John Bugler, Thomas eC) I EiCe Mr TiOMMWF:lKo nice) etee

The treat duly arrived with a storm- ing second-half display from the home side who, in keeping with the festive day, appeared like a side pos- sessed as they threw off the shackles of a below par opening period.

The Davins two point advantage was wiped out after only four minutes when the impressive John Minogue

and a Waterstone free gained parity for their side and from the puck-out, Thomas Holland put Whitegate into the lead for the first time with an in- spirational score from halfway.

Now brimming with confidence, Whitegate proceeded to haunt the Davins with their half-back line of Thomas Holland, Brendan Bugler and Jason Malone again proving to be Whitegate’s strongest line by cut- ting off the South Tipperary side’s supply to their front six.

It forced the Tipperary champions back and allowed Whitegate to lay siege on the opposition goals as Wa- terstone converted another free be- fore Stephen Malone completed the purple patch with a goal in the 37th minute.

It came out of nothing really as Carrick Davins full-back Richard McGrath beat Malone to the ball in the right corner, only to dig his hur- ley into the heavy surface. Malone did the rest by gathering possession and ghosting past the remaining de-

fenders before hammering the ball past goalkeeper Ed McGrath.

Not having scored in the half while conceding an unanswered 1-6, that goal proved to be the death knell for Carrick Davins, who all too easily dropped their heads after that. Mikey Cronin secured their first point in 16 minutes through a free in the 40th minute but by now, Whitegate were rampant and further points from Wa- terstone and captain Patrick Minogue saw them pull 1-10 to 0-7 clear by the turn of the final quarter.

In an effort to regain a foothold in the game, the Davins brought back Shane Butler as a third midfielder but that tactic only played in White- gate’s hands even further as former county senior Thomas Holland now had a free reign in the half-back line to sweep up any danger that Carrick would pose.

An Jan Fahy lineball and another Waterstone effort cancelled out the Davins mini-revolt of two Cronin frees, with the final nail in the Tip-

perary champions’ coffin coming when Lee Mackey blazed a 20 me- tre free over the bar instead of at the intended target before substitute Michael O’Brien finished the scoring for the home side.

A typically spirited fightback en- Sured there were no real scares for the east Clare side on this occasion but the celebration bonfires are still burning strong as Whitegate march on to another home tie for the sem1- jnbOr-N IS

WITH a little over five minutes to go, this game rested on a knife-edge. It shouldn’t have. Just three points separated the two, Smith O’Brien’s ahead on a scoreline of 1-5 to O-5.

A total of 16 minutes had passed with neither side able to register a score. The opening quarter aside, Smith O’Brien’s — beaten finalists in this competition last year after going down in a replay against Ennisty- mon — were by far the fitter and more creative team. By all reckoning, they should have wrapped up the game before their late onslaught arrived. That they didn’t close the door on St Breckan’s meant the north Clare side would always believe they could get back in the game. With 12 minutes gone in the second-half, they al- most did. Tony Shannon had just put them back to within three of Smith O’Brien’s when he almost levelled things up. He latched onto a low ball 15-yards out from goal, kicking from the ground soccer-style and his shot looked destined for the net. Eugene Cusack, in goal for the Killaloe club, made a fantastic save to keep the ball out. It broke to Sean Neville who aimed for goal but his shot slid left and wide. Ten minutes later, Brian Scanlan produced another goal save for Smith O’Brien’s when he blocked what looked like a certain goal for St Breckan’s and Smith O’Brien’s — though running their luck to the max — remained in control.

If Cusack and Scanlan’s contribu- tions were crucial then so too were the displays from John Cusack, Kevin McCarthy and, in particular, Shane Byrne. The latter produced a quality display, popping up in all

areas of the field but his distribution remained the key component of the game.

While the focus among those dot- ting the inexcusably unlined “‘side- line” may have been on the former Munster and Ireland rugby interna- tional Anthony Foley — who clocked in a muted enough game at full-for-

ward — the work-rate of Byrne and John Cusack, the power of McCarthy and the agility of Eugene Cusack are what really caught the eye.

As early as the 15th minute Mc- Carthy had Smith O’Brien’s in the driving seat. He goaled after eight minutes and pointed on the quarter hour with another score from An-

thony O’Sullivan — a cousin of the Kerry All-Star Declan O’Sullivan — wedged in between. In total, it gave Smith O’Brien’s a four-point lead. John Stack with three and Eric Mur- rihy were the only names on the St Breckan’s scoresheet by the time the break rolled around.

After those goal opportunities for

St Breckan’s slid by, Smith O’Brien’s re-focused once more.

Trevor Howard kicked his side four ahead with five minutes left and 60 seconds later, Stephen McCarthy — who was influential after coming off the bench early in the game — pro- vided an insurance goal.

Into injury-time but there was more to come. Fittingly, Byrne stepped up for the final two scores. Firstly, a point and two minutes into time add- ed on, a beautifully taken goal.

A ten-point win, deservedly so, and yet another football title wintering in the east of the county.

THE Banner Ladies maintained their firm grip on underage ladies football on Sunday morning as they completed a three-in-a-row of Mi1- nor A titles. While the champions were dogged against the conditions, against a battling Newmarket side it was only in the final quarter that they really upped the ante, scoring 3-5 without reply to put the result beyond any doubt.

On the flip side, it was another cruel blow to Newmarket who along with suffering defeat to the Banner for the second year in succession, also had a sizeable pool of players on the under 16 and minor camogie sides that lost finals in recent weeks.

They battled admirably for three quarters of this tie but needed a goal to really kickstart any meaning- ful challenge against the perennial champions, especially in the first-half when backed by the swirling wind.

After an evenly matched start that saw Niamh O’Dea kick four of the Banner’s opening five points with Newmarket’s replies coming from Niki Kaiser, Zelica Brown and Jenny Kelly, there wasn’t a lot to separate the sides in the breezy conditions. However, the game received it’s first major turning point in the 23rd minute when Sinead O’Keefe’s ball over the top was gathered by Naomi

Carroll to score the only goal of the first-half. That score was to prove the difference for the next 20 minutes as Newmarket tried to regain a foothold in the game. By half-time, Niki Kai- ser and Niamh O’Dea had swapped points to leave the scoreline 1-6 to 0- 4 but on the restart, a resurgent Ban- ner side took up the ascendency after Laura McMahon had cut the deficit to four.

Louise Woods was instrumental in stopping the Newmarket supply and with Shonagh Enright, Niamh O’Dea and Katie Cahill all willing to carry the ball forward at every opportunity, Newmarket had to remain resilient to hold them out. Chloe Morey was strong in defence, Roisin McMahon and Carol Kaiser scrapped for every ball but eventually, the Banner’s re- lentless pressure had to pay off and

after five successive wides, Niamh O’Dea finally got them back on track with a point from 30 metres.

In a brief revolt, Ann Marie Hayes grabbed a wonderful point for New- market but once Catherine Dolan scrambled the Banner’s second goal in the 48th minute to increase the lead to eight, Newmarket’s heads be- gan to drop.

An experienced Banner side took

full advantage when Niamh O’Dea soloed through unchallenged before unleashing her effort to the net and the Munster award winner would tack on a further 1-2 to lead her side to another memorable victory.

Not only that but for captain Lorna Higgins, Katie Cahill, Shonagh En- right, Kathleen O’Keefe, Niamh Ca- hill and Sinead O’Keefe, it was the crowning of a Minor A double in camogie and ladies football, a sig- nificant achievement in an already success filled year.