The Clare People Archive

THE body of a man has been recov- ered from the River Fergus in Ennis.

Although not formally identified last night (Monday), it is believed the remains are those of a 3l-year-old Polish father of one missing since he went for a swim in the swollen river last Wednesday night.

The body was spotted floating in the river shortly before 4 o’clock yesterday (Monday) by a passerby at Abbey Street car park.

Przemyslaw Jablonski, who worked as a cook in Ennis, had been attend- ing a house party with a group of friends at Springfield Orchard in the town when he left the apartment with a number of friends.

He reportedly entered the River Fergus at the rear of the complex and was attempting to swim across to the other side when he was washed downstream in the strong current.

After the body was spotted in the river yesterday and the sighting was reported to gardai, officers went to the scene and observed it as it was taken downriver with the current. After travelling a further 500 metres, Gardai and Clare Civil Defence per- sonnel were able to safely secure the body before taking it ashore.

After being pronounced dead at the scene, the man’s body was first removed to Ennis General Hospital where formal identification was due to take place last night.

The body was then expected to be

transported to the Mid Western Re- gional Hospital in Limerick where a post mortem examination 1s expected to be carried today (Tuesday).

As soon as Mr Jablonski was re- ported missing last Wednesday, a massive search and rescue opera- tion was launched. Ennis fire serv- ice, Clare Civil Defence, gardai, the Doolin unit of the Irish Coastguard and the Shannon based Coastguard helicopter searched the river and bank until darkness fell before call- ing off the operation for the night.

The search continued since then and also involved Limerick Search and Rescue, Burren Sub Aqua unit and the Garda Water Unit. Poor weather conditions, treacherous river currents and almost zero underwa-

ter visibility seriously hampered the search at times.

Tragically, Mr Jablonski entered only yards from a sign which read: “No Entry – Deep Water – Do Not Swim” in a fatal act of bravado for his pals. Mr Jablonski is a separated father of one who worked as a cook at The Grove Bar and Restaurant in Roslevan in Ennis. His former partner and child are in Poland and while Mr Jablonski had no family in Ireland, gardai have kept them in- formed of developments through an interpreter.

THE land at the centre of a bitter east Clare family dispute remains unsold more than a year after a court case over ownership of the property which is valued at €1.4 million.

However, Limerick auctioneer, John de Courcy who is handling the sale of the 66 acres near Tulla, said he had turned down a number of of- fers and is talking to a number of interested parties. Last year the land was put up for sale at public auction and Mr de Courcy said the failure to sell was due to “the current climate”.

The lands at Larraroe and Rannagh are being sold in five lots and include two ruins and an old house.

The sale was allowed proceed after Judge Harvey Kenny ordered Marie

O’ Halloran to vacate the land after a case taken by her sister-in law, Jose- phine Barry (72).

Mrs O’Halloran told Ennis Circuit Court that her late husband, Stanley O’ Halloran reached a deal in the late 1970s with the owner of the farm, his late brother, Michael, to buy the land for £65,000. She said Stanley paid different sums of cash over the years to Michael, who was a bachelor farmer.

However, it was admitted that there was no record of the agreement and Mrs O’Halloran had no record of cheques paid to Michael due to the time that had elapsed.

Josephine Barry dismissed the monies paid by Stanley O’ Halloran to Michael as ‘pocket money’ and said she had no knowledge of the alleged

deal to sell the farm to Stanley.

Mrs Barry’s sister, Ida Rohan told the court: “If there was a deal, it wouldn’t hold water.”

Counsel for Mrs Barry said Michael O’Halloran died aged 64 in May 2004 without a will and his farm was divided between his two sisters, Mrs Barry and Ida Rohan and Stanley O’ Halloran. Stanley died four months later aged 68 and his share passed to his wife, Marie O’Halloran.

Judge Kenny granted possession of the lands to Mrs Barry, an injunc- tion against Mrs O’Halloran from re-entering the lands, damages of €30,000 with a permanent stay if there was compliance with the order and costs to Mrs Barry.

After the Judge’s decision in Au- gust, a sign was erected on a pole at

the land stating “The O’Hallorans have been evicted from these lands despite several attempts to settle. The O’Halloran family now intends to purchase the lands at auction.”

Solicitors for Marie O’Halloran subsequently wrote to Mrs Barry’s solicitors stating that the signs had been removed and that she would not carry out any acts to frustrate the sale of the land.

Another incident occurred on Sep- tember 24 involving Mrs O’Halloran’s son, Daniel; Mrs Barry’s husband, Michael and her sister, Ida Rohan.

The matter was raised at Ennis Cir- cuit Court last October when Daniel and Conor O’ Halloran undertook not to obstruct the sale of the land and a court order was granted to this ef- ee

SUSU See r-Wcclmmcchlbul hmm OKOecmmselomm belie Lufthansa group of companies show they have recovered from an indus- trial dispute at Shannon Aerospace to record a 57 per cent increase in pre-tax profits last year.

Profits for the Irish operation rose from $11 million in 2006 to $24 million last year while turnover in- creased by 38 per cent from $242 million to $335 million.

According to a statement accom-

panying the accounts, the airline in- dustry experienced a buoyant year in 2007, which saw the profits in most of the group’s segments increase.

“Industrial relation problems, which marred the results of Shannon Aerospace Ltd in 2006 were resolved in the second quarter of 2007 and the company operated profitably for the remainder of the year.

‘The group continued to experience strong competitive cost conditions in 2007, but there were significant con- tracts won in both the aircraft and

engine related business segments in 2007.

“The aircraft industry tends to be cyclical in nature and the board con- siders this to be the principal risk to the group’s operations and its cus- tomer base. The directors consider that quality of service to customers, turnaround times, cost control and production volume as key perform- AW Nom OSE RUD Rohe

No dividend was proposed or paid by the directors during 2007.

The statement added, “The empha-

sis of the group is to keep the compa- ny focused of the changing require- ments of an increasingly competitive market and of its customers.”

Previous accounts show that the in- dustrial dispute at Shannon cost the group $9 million.

Cost of sales increased from $201 million in 2006 to $272 million in 2007 and operating profit increased from $10 million to $28 million.

The company is in a healthy state with accumulated profits going up from $85 million to $116 million.

Fixed assets account for $383 mil- lion, while shareholders’ equity 1s valued at $249 million.

Underlining the importance of the company’s operations to the local economy, the accounts show that it employs 1,245 people — down slight- ly on the 1,258 it employed in 2006.

921 are employed in production, 308 in administration and 16 in Phe

The group’s payroll costs for 2007 were $88 million — up $10 million on the costs in 2006.

A DECISION by An Bord Pleandala not to confer voluntary status on the University of Limerick (UL) has cost the university over £150,000.

This follows the board over-ruling its inspector’s recommendation to exempt UL from paying a €154,000 development contribution to Clare county council for an extention to the university campus.

Earlier this year, UL secured plan- ning permission for its Irish World Academy of Music and Dance build-

ing at Garraun, Clonlara.

As part of the decision, the council ordered UL to pay €304,000 in de- velopment contributions.

The university appealed the deci- sion and argued that the development scheme was not been properly ap- plied; that UL was registered under a charity trust; that the development was not for profit or gain and would be a major contributor to the social and educational life of the campus and area.

The university claimed that its vol- untary body status was accepted by

the Revenue Commissioners and the centre would be used by the people of Clare and Limerick as well as by students.

The university also argued that it was dependent on voluntary dona- tions and the demand for €154,000 would impede the viability of the project and contradict the spirit and letter of the scheme by imposing commercial levies on a non-com- mercial voluntary work.

The council argued that it was not a voluntary development as it would provide courses for which fees would

be paid and was a commercial enter- prise by a private body.

The Council also argued that con- certs and exhibitions would be held at the venue and these would gen- erate revenue through ticket sales. In addition, the development would connect to existing public water and sewerage schemes.

In his report, the Board inspector found that the term “voluntary ogan- isation” was not defined in the Plan- ning and Development Act, 2000, but that UL came within this remit and a full exemption should apply.

The inspector also ruled that UL should be exempt from contributing a further €150,000 in special contri- bution towards the upgrading of the local road network.

The board stated that it did not ac- cept UL came within the scope of the exemptions for voluntary organi- sations and the terms of the scheme had been properly applied.

The board ordered the removal of the demand for the special contribu- tion as UL had already contributed €500,000 to serve a related develop- ment at the UL campus in Clare.

THE loss of Ronnie Drew is being felt sharply in every corner of the island this morning. There are few who will feel this loss keener than friend and long time collaborator Mike Hanrahan.

The Ennis musician and former member of Stockton’s Wing has be- come almost synonymous with Drew over the last decade.

‘For me there was only one Ronnie Drew and what I learned from him as an entertainer is one thing but to know him as a friend is a totally dif- ferent ball-game,” said Mike.

“When the lights went up you had Ronnie the stage man but when the lights went out the gig was over. I knew him as a person, as a dear loved friend and as a family man. It might sound mad but stardom didn’t sit very well with Ronnie – he didn’t buy into it. He understood that he had to show up at openings and get his picture in the paper but he didn’t let that take over.

“IT knew him as a person, and as an individual he was a simple dignified man, very caring and understanding.

‘For me I can easily separate Ron- nie the entertainer and Ronnie the man, and I’d be proud to know either 0) md oles 00 ae

Hanrahan and Drew’s first offi-

cial collaboration came in the 1997 production of the hugely successful stage show ‘Ronnie I Hardly New Ya’. The pair have worked together on countless other projects over the last decade.

“He was a very dignified man and we all wondered if going public on his illness was the right thing to do. But I think he used the TV to come to terms with his own mortality and his own sickness,’ continued Mike.

“In doing that I think he has touched thousands of people who have been affected by cancer. I will forever hold him in such esteem for that.

“He had great courage to tell the story in the way he did, when the Late Late was hammering down the door to try and get him to tell the Story.

“When he eventually told the story he did it in his own way. He gave people so much hope, the amount of emails that we received after that from sufferers of cancer was unbe- lievable. It was beautiful.

“By dealing with his own illness he was able to help people deal with their own situation. That was Ron- nie’s way all through his life.”

THE people of Clare have been in- vited to get their hands dirty and take part in areal life Time Team style ex- cavation in north Clare next week.

The Caherconnell Stone Fort in Carron will be the venue for an open week long excavation, with members of the public being given the oppor- tunity to work side by side with ex- perts.

The excavation will be co-ordinat- ed by Dr Michelle Comber of NUI, Galway and archaeologist Graham Hull of Crusheen company TUAS.

This is the second in a series of open excavations at the Caherconnell fort, which is widely believed to be one of the most archeological signifi- cant findings in the area.

Last year excavation revealed the stone fort in Caherconnell was in- habited for centuries later than it had been previously thought, meaning that the traditional Gaelic way of life existed in the Burren for hundreds of years after the Anglo-Norman inva- sion.

This year’s excavation will focus on a souterrain or underground passage which has been recently discovered at the fort. It is believed that the pas- sageway may have been used as a means of escape or even as a primi- tive refrigerator by the locals, but there is no way of knowing for sure without excavation.

“Tt’s actually very exciting. There is something there, some form of Souterrain, but until we excavate we won’t be able to find out exactly

what,” said Graham Hull of TUAS Ireland Ltd.

“There are a number of different things that the souterrain could have been used for. We don’t know all the answers and digging helps us to put together the pieces of the puzzle.

“Volunteers are very welcome. We will give all the basic training need- ed on site. As well as that people can come up and look at the work and someone will be there to speak with them and explain what is going on.”

The fort, which is owned and oper- ated by the Davoren family, has been

described in academic studies as “a perfect fort” as it is twice the size of the standard cashels and is possibly Ireland’s best preserved stone forts.

The dig will take place from August 24 to 31 and anyone interested in tak- ing part should call 087 9693189.

A KILRUSH man who claimed that he had been dismissed by a Kilmihil construction company was instead made redundant, an Employment Appeals Tribunal found.

Tony Killeen, Shragh, Kilrush, took a case against LM Keating, Kilmihil, after he was let go from the company in April 2007. He gave evidence that he began working for the respond- ent as a teleporter driver in August 2003. His first construction site was in Kilmihil, but he also worked on other sites as a general labourer. He drove a dumper and did a lot of snag- ging on other sites, he said.

Construction work continued to be carried out on other sites after he was dismissed and he was not offered employment on these sites. The tel- eporter that he operated continued to be operated by other employees after

he was dismissed, he claimed.

A construction director with the re- spondent company told the tribunal it has a total workforce of approxi- mately 90 employees of which 30 are employed in construction.

The witness gave evidence that the claimant was employed as a teleport- er driver and it is the policy of the company to assign teleporter drivers to a specific teleporter, to develop expertise and to foster good practice TparcNDel Red at-b Aeon

Construction work finished in Kilmihil in April 2007 and the claimant was made redundant as no vacancies existed on that site or any other site for a teleporter driver.

The tribunal made a majority deci- sion that the claimant was dismissed by reason of redundancy and said it was “satisfied that a genuine redun- dancy situation existed and he was fairly selected for redundancy”.

A MAN who put off-licence staff in fear by his antics when he was drink- ing 1s “a nice, polite man” when so- ber a judge heard yesterday.

The Ennis District Court heard that Michael Maughan (34) with address- es at 18 Beechwood, Clarecastle, and 20 Stone Court, Ennis, had 33 previ- ous convictions mostly for theft.

When he appeared before Judge Leo Malone last week, the judge or- dered that he be remanded in custody after hearing he had assualted one member of staff at Dunnes Stores and intimidated another.

He appeared before the court in- toxicated and his solicitor, Tara God- frey, said yesterday that he wished to “sincerely apologise for that”.

Maughan pleaded guilty to charges of stealing drink, cigarettes and gro- ceries on various dates from Dunnes Stores in Ennis.

He also pleaded guilty to assault on a member of Dunnes staff and to public order charges.

Judge Malone heard that some of the items had been recovered but there was €160 worth of vodka and cigarettes not returned to their right-

ful owners.

Ms Godfrey said that her client has a bad problem with drink, which he is hoping to tackle after being ass- esed for a course of detox treatment in Bushy Park.

She said that the tragic death of his brother and the grieving process had not helped the problem.

‘He is seperated and does not have access to his children as his wife now lives in the UK and one of those chil- dren is now in hospital.

“Drink has taken over his life and he has no compunction about steal- ing when he is drinking, even if he knows he will be caught,” she said.

Inspector Michael Gallagher said that the accused “frightened staff at Dunnes when he was drinking. He just walks in behind the counter and takes drink. But when he is sober, he is anice, polite man.”

After Maughan’s brother produced €160 compensation for stolen goods in court, Judge Malone imposed fines totalling €365 on the theft charges and a three month jail sentence for the assault. But he ordered that the jail term not be invoked, provided Maughan commits no offence in the next two years.

A FATHER stole DVDs to sell them so he would have money to treat his teenage daughter during an access visit, a judge was told.

Michael Chapman (37) of 29 Clancy Park, Ennis, pleaded guilty to a number of thefts, including stealing ten DVDs worth €79.90 from Xtra Vision in Ennis.

He also pleaded guilty to taking a digital camera worth €162 from K and K computers, a mobile phone from another premises and a Nike jacket, and three bottles of perfume worth €148.50 from Cassidy’s phar- TaT-Teaye

His solicitor Tara Godfrey told the court that Chapman has two children and considers himself the father of his partner’s three children.

“He has a teenage daughter who does not live with him or her mother but he plays a supportive role in her life. It is poignant that he tells me, he stole the DVDs with the intention of

selling them so he could have a good access visit with that daughter,’ Ms Godfrey said.

She added that Chapman has a drink problem and the crimes are “drink related”.

‘He has previous convictions – the last one was in 2005. That he has not offended since then is quite remark- able for him.”

He sentenced Chapman to four

months for the theft of the camera and four months for the theft of the perfume, to run concurrently. Other charges, including the DVD thefts, were taken into consideration.

The judge set bail for an appeal at Chapman’s own bond of €500 with an independent surety of €1,000.

A JUDGE jailed a man for three months yesterday after hearing that he hit an innocent by-stander around the head because the man hesitated in giving him a second cigarette. ‘He can’t walk down a public street and assault someone and think he can get away with it,’ Judge Leo Malone said after Patrick McCarthy (21) with

an address at 12 Pearse Avenue in Ennis pleaded guilty to assaulting a man at Shannon shopping centre on WE ara

McCarthy also pleaded _ guilty to breach of a barring order and to breach of the Public Order Act.

Inspector Michael Gallagher told Ennis District Court that on May 29, McCarthy approached a man at the Shannon Town Shopping Centre and

asked him for a cigarette.

When the man gave him the ciga- rette “he asked for a second one and when this man hesitated, he hit him twice in the head”.

His solicitor, Tara Godfrey, said her client – who is due to marry in Feb- ruary – has “considerable problems with alcohol”.

The breach of the barring order re- lated to his parents home, but he now

has a good relationship with his par- ents, she said.

“He has taken himself off to live in Galway in an effort to remove him- self from the situation,” his solicitor Sr HKOe

Ms Godfrey added that her client is “aware of the seriousness of the Shannon incident and he is pleading guilty to it”.

Judge Malone imposed two, two-

month jail sentences for breaching the barring order and for the public order offence, in which he was found Gebel @percamar ele elme-beCelselcs mmm cnt: NeMmBD MEO Ele grounds of Ennis National School.

He further imposed three months on the assault charge, ordering that the sentences run concurrently.

The court set bail for an appeal at McCarthy’s own bond of €750 with an independent surety of €1,000.