The Clare People Archive

Cannabis seizures rise in Clare

A SCHOOL in Shannon has been given the go-ahead to appoint a teacher specifically for autistic chil- dren, just weeks after facilities for children with special needs were curtailed by the Government.

St Senan’s National School is hope- ful that the appointment will take effect in September, after a refur- bishment programme has been com- pleted at the school.

PU ilecteme Nien nM see m-LULWtcyecm-DRom e100 rently on the school’s books. The area, when developed, will cater for up to six children, in a specially-de- signed unit in the school.

Applications will be invited for the post over the coming months and the post will be filled prior to Septem- ber.

“It is great news, in the face of cut- backs. The building is in place. It is really about the refurbishments now, which hopefully will be finished by September. It will be more cosmetic and to ensure the safety of the chil- dren,’ said school principal Sally O’Neill.

Local Fine Gael councillor Tony Mulcahy said he was delighted to hear that the appointment would be pa reNeloe

“Any form of specialist education is critical intervention. The more in- tervention and the earlier the better,”

said Cllr Mulcahy.

This appointment has been given the green light, just weeks after it emerged that a class for children with special needs at St Senan’s National School in Kilrush was to be discon- mbOLECoLO

St Senan’s was the only school in the west Clare peninsula that offered special needs supports.

Last month, INTO representative for Clare, Sean McMahon labelled the announcement by the Education Minister Batt O’Keefe to close 128 special classes for children with mild learning difficulties “a disgrace”.

Reacting to Minster O’Keefe’s comments that many children would integrate easily into mainstream edu- cation, Mr McMahon said, “It is pat- ent nonsense to return these children to classes in which through no fault of their own they couldn’t cope with in the first place. These mainstream classes are themselves now even more over-crowded than they were when the children were withdrawn because of the other recent budget cutbacks, which resulted in signifi- cant increases in class sizes.”

A GROUP of mothers came together in Ennis last week amid the fun and noise of a children’s playground to raise money for the Irish Cancer So- Tan

Around 40 parents and 60 children descended on BarneyS Kidzclub, En- nis for a coffee morning in support of one of the most important dates on the fundraising calendar, Daffodil Day.

The event was held last Thursday, 24 hours before volunteers selling daffodils took to the streets of En- eh

“We wanted to do something for the Irish Cancer Society because cancer is one of those things that af- fects every family,” explained one of the event organisers Clare Hoyne.

She continued, “One of the other

girls, Carmel (McInerney), gets daf- fodils every year. We sold daffodils at the centre and we got great sup- port. I suppose its one of those chari- ties that everyone knows and its one that means a lot to people.”

This is the third time that the group have organised coffee mornings. Clare said that BarneyS was selected this time around to allow as many parents as possible the chance to at- ronten

“We have held other events at other locations but it can be hard for par- ents with young children. With Bar- neyS you could bring the kids along.

Clara said the group has received great support from BarneyS manager Heather Thompson and all the staff at the centre.

“They agreed to donate the total price of admission. So I would espe- cially like to thanks BarneyS Kidz-

club for their fantastic support; since we asked them if we could host Daf- fodil Day in their premises they have been enthusiastic and generous,” she SPE!

Clara added, “It 1s hard to find a suitable venue to hold an event like this. There are not that many venues that would cope with our crowd of noisy toddlers and pre-school chil- dren,” she said.

The event was also well supported by the local business community including: Advanced Chiropractic Clinic, Roslevan Shopping Centre; Liddy’s Costcutter, Roslevan; Little Ones, Parnell Street; Salon Glow, Roslevan; Murphy’s Pharmacy, Ros- levan and The Nursery Store, Rosle- WEF

Daffodil Day is organised and run by the Irish Cancer Society. It is the most popular charity event in Ire-

land.

The funds raised during the event are used in a number of vital areas. As a result of money raised at Daf- fodil Day events in Ennis and around Ireland, around 1,600 families will receive free care from a night nurse this year and 19 oncology liaison nurses in hospitals around the coun- try will be on hand to give practical and emotional assistance to people with cancer.

Last year, the Ennis Daffodil Day committee raised €64,000 for the Irish Cancer Society.

A MAN who sustained injury while working as a security officer with Dunnes Stores in Ennis seven years ago has been awarded almost €40,000 in damages.

John Tynan (49), of Main Street, Clarecastle, took a civil case against Dunnes Stores Ltd, Molesworth Street, Dublin, arising out of an incident while he worked with the company.

Pat Quinn, BL for Mr Tynan, told Ennis Circuit Civil Court that his cli- ent was employed as a security officer at Dunnes Stores Limited in Ennis on April 21, 2002.

He said he suffered a personal injury while at work. This arose when he con- fronted a suspected shoplifter outside the Dunnes Stores shop. The suspected shoplifter was driving a white Nissan car at the time. He opened the door of the car and then drove the car forward. Mr Tynan, who was hanging on to the door of the car, was trapped between the door and the wing of the vehicle.

‘He was thrown to the ground. He thinks that as the vehicle fled the scene, it may have impacted with his leg,” said Mr Quinn.

He told the court his client sustained multiple soft tissue injuries and has ongoing pain to his right knee.

“The plaintiff’s case is his personal injuries were caused by negligence on behalf of Dunnes Stores on two erounds. He was working alone. He had no back-up, no assistance. He wasn’t provided with any adequate training or instructions. He had been essentially employed as a keyman, opening doors and working on alarms

and shortly before this, as a mobile plain-clothes store detective,” said Mr Quinn. “The system in place should have allowed for confrontation against the driver outside Dunnes Stores and not some distance hence, as was the case,” he said.

Mr Tynan told the court he started working in Dunnes Stores in 1999. He worked there as a keyman, three days a week.

He said he started working as a store detective four or five weeks before the incident at the centre of the proceed- ings. While as a store detective, he continued to work as a keyman.

Asked what training and instruc- tions he had received for the job as Store detective, he said, ““None.” He said he took all instructions from the then store security manager, John erento

Mr Tynan was the only store detec- tive on duty on the date of the incident, Sunday, April 21, 2002, and said only a very small number of staff worked on Sundays, due to budgetary reasons. At around lpm, a man walked into the menswear section of the shop. “He was looking around, mainly at the staff rather than the goods. He looked at clothing. I felt he might take the cloth- ing. He left the area and came down past where I was. He went to the mall area. A few minutes later he came back in through the shop,” he said.

He told the court the man returned to the men’s department, took two items of clothing and removed their tags. Mr Tynan was in the camera room at the time. He said he left there and went out to the carpark and followed the man. He did not think the man had a

car, until he saw him taking a key out of his pocket and opening the door of a car. Mr Tynan asked the man to re- turn to the store. He said the car sud- denly moved forward and gradually picked up more speed. He was near the driver’s door and said he knew he was going to fall. He fell to the ground, but managed to get himself up and contacted gardai. He sustained scratches and tears to the back of his hand. He received hospital treatment and 12 sessions of physiotherapy as a result of the incident.

“I thought I was doing the right thing,’ he said.

He continued to work at Dunnes Stores for 18 months after this had happened, but never worked as a store detective after the incident. “I wouldn’t do it again,” he said.

Asked what training he had been given in relation to pursuing suspect- ed shoplifters, he said, “None. The only thing we were told was to make sure a person had left a premises, in case there was an accusation of a false arrest, and then bring them back in.”

Murray Johnson, BL, for Dunnes Stores, asked Mr Tynan had he car- ried out an arrest previously. He re- plied that he had only carried out one unassisted arrest prior to this incident. Under cross-examination, Mr Tynan said, “I never actually realised he was going to drive off.”

Mr Tynan told the court he believed the suspected thief would have been stopped at the door, 1f another store detective was on duty with him.

Security consultant John Walsh told the court that he believed Mr Tynan attempted the arrest “thinking he was

a good employee, protecting his em- ployer’s stock.”

Mr Walsh, who has carried out work for Dunnes Stores in the 1970s and 1980s, said, “My view is that arrest should never have been attempted, for a number of reasons. One, that he was on his own. It could have been a dangerous situation. Two, there was no evidence available, had there been an arrest.

“T believe if there was a second per- son there, that arrest could have been made outside the door,” he said.

John Feeney, who was the store se- curity manager at the time, told the court that a general induction course was available for staff at Dunnes Stores, “but it wouldn’t have concen- trated on security in particular.”

Mr Quinn put it to him that the sys- tem in place in the store at the time of the incident appeared to be “half-haz- ard’. Mr Feeney replied that there had been a “tight budget”.

Judge O’Donohoe asked the witness should Mr Tynan have been left on his own. He replied, “I felt he shouldn’t have been left on his own.”

Security expert Pat Guiney, who is employed by Dunnes Stores, told the court that since last year, security staff must go through induction.

Referring to the incident at the cen- tre of the case, he said, “If he was the only security in the store that day, he would have access to walkie talkies.”

He said that Mr Tynan “didn’t have to go out to the carpark”. Judge O’Donohoe then put it to him, “I think this gentleman was trying to do his best.”

Mr Guiney replied, “Dunnes Stores

would not condone a security man- ager walking out to a carpark, trying to effect an arrest, without notifying a member of staff.”

Mr Quinn then asked the witness how would Mr Tynan have known that and he replied, “It’s common sense.”

Judge O’Donohoe said that the se- curity operation at Dunnes Stores at the time “sounded, to my mind, very careless and very short-sighted. This man could have been further injured. He could have lost his life.”

‘“‘He was exposed to this. He had no back-up. I’m quite satisfied on a negligence basis, Dunnes Stores were grossly in default. There was one se- curity officer trying to monitor and at the same time to apprehend,” said the judge. “Common sense says Dunnes Stores were trying to do matters on a shoe-string. They failed in their duty to their employee,” he said.

“Mr Tynan was a very good em- ployee and was told not to apprehend somebody until he got outside the premises. He wasn’t trained properly. Had adequate security been in place, this would have prevented the very se- rious potential of injury,” he said.

“Tt appears the plaintiff had a shock- ing experience. Along with the inju- ries, he had a very bad shock. It was probably beyond his belief that any- thing like this could have happened,” he said.

He awarded damages against Dunnes Stores. “I propose to award him the full jurisdiction of the circuit court – €38,092.14 – including special damages,” he said.

PEOPLE from County Clare are being asked to carry a donor card, which will be freely available from Saturday all over the county.

Organ Donor Awareness Week 2009 will take place from Saturday, March 28 until Saturday, April 4. The awareness campaign is organ- ised by the Irish Kidney Association and supported by the Irish Donor Network.

Chief Executive of the Irish Kidney Association, Mark Murphy predicted

that 2009 will see a record number of kidney transplants, but cautioned that there is a need for many more deceased organ donors before levels of heart, lung and liver transplanta- tion can increase.

Mr Murphy’s prediction for a record number of kidney transplants in 2009 is based on sustaining or increas- ing the current levels of deceased donors together with the successful new Living Transplant Programme at Beaumont Hospital, where there were 10 living transplants in 2008, and projections for 2009 are that up

to 30 living kidney transplants will take place.

Thanks to the generosity of 81 de- ceased donors and their family’s con- sent for donation, 210 organs were transplanted in Ireland in 2008.

In 2007, there were 88 deceased donors which was three less than in pau eter

There are currently over 600 people in Ireland awaiting life-saving trans- plant operations. Almost 2,400 peo- ple in Ireland are enjoying extended life as a result of receiving organ transplants.

A total of 85 people are currently receiving life-saving haemodialysis treatment in an over-stretched unit in the Mid Western Regional Hospital, Limerick.

This unit is catering for 20 people from Clare, 18 from Tipperary and 44 from Limerick city and county. A further 16 patients must travel to the Wellstone clinic in Galway while work begins on a new Satellite unit on the Dock Road in Limerick. Seven of these patients are from Clare.

Most recent research shows that in two years, the need for dialysis in

the mid-west has increased by 41 per cent.

Information factfiles which accom- pany organ donor cards can be ob- tained (free of charge) from the Irish Kidney Association and are available nationwide from pharmacies, GP surgeries and Citizen Information Offices.

Organ Donor Cards can also be ob- tained by phoning the Irish Kidney Association LoCall 1890 543639 or Freetext the word DONOR to 50050. Alternatively, visit the website at www.ika.le.

A FUNDRAISING initative to help a new service developed by the Brothers of Charity is a walk in the park – or in the Burren, to be more sepecific.

Walkers are asked to help raise funds for Home Share Clare by tak- ing part in a six- or nine-kilometre sponsored walk from Flaggy Shore, Newquay on Sunday next.

Registration for the event is at 12pm.

Sponsorship cards are _ avail- able from Patricia O’Meara on 0876680081 or those taking part can make donations on the day.

By spending the extra hour this weekend on the walk, participants are supporting Home Share Clare, a service developed by the Brothers of Charity.

The service offers respite and holi- day breaks to children and adults with an intellectual disability. The uniqueness of this service is that it is provided by families in their own

home as opposed to residential res- pite group homes. The family takes a child or adult with a learning disabil- ity into their own home for a short period of time.

The child/adult will enjoy a break or a holiday in a homely atmosphere and their parents and siblings will have a break from their full-time or Nu patea Ke) lon

Home Sharers get the opportunity to learn more about disability while caring and sharing in their own teva ston

Home Share families are assessed and supported by Home Share Clare. Each child or adult is matched care- fully to the caregivers and strong relationships can develop. Home Share Clare has successfully placed a number of adults and children with JeTeOb UB Cone

This service is open to anyone with a learning disability. It is hoped that families who offer to Home Share can do this for overnight stays, week- ends, short breaks or a weeks holi- days.

Interested people from a wide range of backgrounds can apply and Home Sharers can be single, married, older, younger working or retired. Formal qualifications are not necessary but it is desirable to have qualities such as common sense, warmth, patience and flexibility. An allowance is paid to families who participate in Home Share Clare.

Home Share Clare receives no stat- utory funding. It is totally reliant on charitable donations, which are man- aged by the Clare Federation of Vol-

THE parents of Roman Vysochan, the Ukrainian teenager who was al- legedly stabbed to death in Corbally last year, were present in Limerick District Court yesterday where two people were charged with the murder of their son.

The 16-year-old was found dead at the entrance of Carraig Midhe on the night of May 10, 2008 after suc- cumbing to his injuries allegedly in- flicted at a house in the estate.

John O’Loughlin, 20, with address- es at Cecil Street and Carraig Midhe, and a 17-year-old boy, who cannot be identified, were charged with the murder of the teenager. The pair are also accused of assaulting another 16-year-old boy on the same date.

Detective Garda Enda Haugh from

Mayorstone Garda Station gave evi- dence of arresting Mr O’Loughlin at an address at Cecil Street at 7.50am yesterday morning. Det Garda Haugh told the court that the accused gave no reply to the charge when cau- tioned at Mayorstone Garda Station.

The 20-year-old was granted legal aid and John Devane was assigned his defence solicitor.

Detective Garda Kieran Crowley gave evidence of arresting the 17- year-old boy at 8.l5am at Bishop Street. The teenager also made no reply to the charge after caution.

He was also granted legal aid and Ted McCarthy was assigned his de- fence solicitor.

Judge Aeneas McCarthy remanded the pair in custody to appear before the court again this Thursday, March 26.

TRADING stalls at the Matchmak- ing Festival in Lisdoonvarna could be a thing of the past as Clare Coun- ty Council is preparing to severely curtail casual trading licences issued in the area this year and are to ex- amine a complete ban on traders in the square.

Following a proposal put forward at yesterday’s north Clare area meet- ing of Clare County Council, the lo-

cal authority is to arrange a meeting with local business people and the Gardai to discuss how to limit li- oiler

Speaking on the proposal, Cllr Ri- chard Nagle (FF), said that a number of tourists visiting Lisdoonvarna have had to leave their hotels in the middle of the night because of noise and disruption coming from the trad- ase

“The business community of the town need to be consulted on this.

There is a lot of noise and distur- bances from the traders and this is giving a very bad impression of Lis- doonvarna,” he said.

“T would propose that only a few licences should be given out and no licences be given in the area of the square. I know that visitors were so disturbed by the noise that they said that they would not come back to the town and demanded their money back for their accommodation.

“A meeting must take place with

the business people in Lisdoonvarna but it is important that the Gardai are at that meeting. In the past the Gardai have said that they are not in a position to move the people who are causing a nuisance on but under the new by-laws that does not seem to be the case.

“It seems that everyone who wants to come and park up in the middle of Lisdoonvarna has the right to do it. When there is an idea out there that there is no laws then people will treat

it as such.”

According to James Barry, Senior Staff Officer of the Ennistymon Area Office, new by-laws introduced last year mean that the council and the Gardai now have the power to drasti- cally reduce the number of licences and add a number of conditions to each license.

Despite this however, fortune tell- ers will be allowed to continue in Lisdoonvarna as they do not fall un- der the remit of the new by-laws.

A GROUP of volunteers and home- less people will camp out in Ennis this afternoon and tonight (Tuesday) to highlight the plight of the home- less in the county amid claims that the largest national provider of emer- gency accommodation for homeless men still refuses to recognise them.

Homeless Education Learning Project (HELP) was set up last year by local woman Josephine O’Brien and two others to provide support to the homeless in the town of En- nis. To date, the service has helped a number of Polish men and members of the Travelling community to find accommodation.

Ms O’Brien said yesterday, “It wouldn’t be fair to say that nothing is being done but not enough is being done for the homeless in Ennis or in County Clare. The biggest problem is the bureaucracy and the endless pro- cedures people have to go through to get help. Also, there is a huge lack of information and someone who has nowhere to sleep has no idea who to go to or who to contact.

‘No one wants to know the people we are dealing with, some of whom are foreign nationals. The people we deal with are the real homeless and no one wants to help them. We have been to the homeless forum at Clare County Council but they tell us that for someone to get accommodation they need a PPS number. But for someone to have a PPS number, they

have to have an address. It’s a catch- 22,’ Ms O’ Brien said.

Speaking about today’s planned ac- tion, Ms O’Brien said, “We are go- ing to camp out in the People’s Park near the Courthouse in Ennis today and tonight to raise awareness of the plight of the homeless in the county and the fact that not enough is being done to find places for them. There are about eight people sleeping on the streets in Ennis on any given night, while there are dozens more depending on friends and relatives on a night-to-night basis for some

place to sleep.”

According to Clare County Coun- cil’s Homeless Unit, “At present, emergency B&B accommodation may be provided where the accom- modation needs are immediate, acute and unforeseen. Assistance in sourc- ing private rented accommodation is given through the Homeless Unit.”

A NATIONWIDE carers support group, whose foundation and base is in Ennis, is growing in strength thanks to its hard working staff, ded- icated volunteers and the determina- tion of carers to finally speak out.

Family carers throughout the coun- try who had been overlooked by the Government and society for decades are finding their voice thanks to Car- ing for Carers Ireland.

That strength was in numbers at the organisation’s 18th National Carers Conference and Respite Break at the Gleneagle Hotel, Killarney.

As many as 84 delegates from nine Caring for Carers groups in County Clare were among the 500 family carers who took part in and contrib- uted to the conference.

Training and Development Officer Susan Hogan – who, among her many roles, oversees the nine branches of the organisation in Clare – hailed the conference a success.

The theme of this year’s conference was ‘Sustaining Care in Challenging Serato

Ms Hogan explained that acute disappointment was expressed at the decision by the Minister of Social and Family Affairs not to publish the National Carers Strategy. Caring for Carers had made a submission to the Carers Strategy Consultation Forum, which sought to advocate the enact- ment of a Carer Act, to improve sup- ports and services into the future.

The National Conference, repre- senting the 161,000 family carers in Ireland, called on Minister Hanafin for the immediate publication of the Carers Strategy, pointing out that its implementation need not necessarily mean increased funding in the cur- rent economic climate, but to put ex- isting funding to better use.

‘We believe that the strategy should still be published. A lot of what is in it would not cost a lot, if anything,” said Ms Hogan.

Those taking part in the conference also argued that family carers are the backbone of community care and should be supported in every way possible, not only to maintain their own health and well-being, but also those for whom they care.

Caring for Carers Clare was repre- sented strongly at the weekend con-

ference through its 85 members and the newly elected chairperson.

Chairperson Margaret Scanlon who hails from Cranny, is expected to provide strong leadership for the 4,671 family carers in Clare.

Tributes were paid to the outgoing chairperson, Helen Kelly, who pro- moted the position of family carers in County Clare for the past three ert ae