The Clare People Archive

THE new €2.7 million extension to Cahercalla Community Hospital of- ficially opened its doors in Ennis on JDulerne

The development at Cahercalla Community Hospice and Nursing Home will bring the number of beds at the facility to 129, consisting of 103. nursing home/convalescence beds; lO hospice beds, seven set- down hospice beds and nine beds for the day surgery and out-patients clinic.

The facility provides a_ state-of- the-art hospice unit with 10 private rooms, social space looking out onto gardens, a family room which can provide overnight accommodation for relatives of patients and a kitchen.

Ten further beds are being pro- vided for the nursing home and the seven beds, which previously served as hospice beds, are now to be used as step-down hospice beds.

The extension was officially opened by Minister for Older People, Maire Hoctor.

Paying tribute to the dedication of

all volunteers who contributed to the project, Ms Hoctor said the extension could only serve to enhance Caher- calla’s already excellent reputation. She said, “I would like to acknowl- edge the generosity in terms of time and money invested by all those in these fundraising activities. I am deeply impressed by the commit- ment and dedication of all those working here. I congratulate each and every one of you involved in this development. The increased capacity will allow Cahercalla to build on its good name and, most importantly,

enhance its caring role and make a difference to the lives of even more individuals and families.”

Demand for hospice care has been a key feature of the growth of the hospital and its services. In 1999, the number of hospice admissions was 50 and that figure had risen to 70 per year by 2002. To date, over 1,000 people have received hospice care at Cr toerlee

Fr Harry Bohan, Chairman of the Board of Directors said Cahercalla Community Hospital said, “A com- munity 1s looking after its own by

providing within reach services for our ailing and old. The quality of the services here at Cahercalla 1s re- flected in the number of admissions from counties Sligo, Mayo, Kerry, ANIC Me Blo) oo e-v as

Cahercalla is chosen because pa- tients can be treated faster than in their own areas. So the process at Cahercalla is easing the waiting lists pressures on other areas.”

Built by O’Brien’s Builders of Mil- town Malbay, construction started on the extension in November 2006 and was completed in December 2007.

A FATHER-OF-THREE who sold heroin to feed his own habit has been ANU Cere ms Key mcsFcdnlmmneloyeldetcn

Gerard Curtin (27), of Castlerock, Tulla Road, Ennis, pleaded guilty to possession of heroin for sale or sup- Oa

Inspector Tom Kennedy told En- nis District Court the accused’s bed- Sit was searched under warrant, on March 13, 2007.

He said that four bags of heroin – valued at €100 – were recovered from a shoe in his room.

“It was a small amount. He did con- fess he would have sold the drugs in

those packets for €25,” he said.

Defending solicitor William Cahir told the court that Curtin has used heroin since 2005.

‘He showed gardai where he had his heroin, inside his shoe. He told gardai he would smoke it and sell it,” said Mr Cahir.

He said his client sold “a small bit” to feed his own habit.

“He is not using heroin now. He feels he has cured it. He has dealt with his addiction by his own steam. He has managed to clean himself up and come off drugs,” he said.

Judge Joseph Mangan imposed an eight-month jail sentence and fixed a bond in the event of an appeal.

TWO women who invested in a Kil- laloe bed and breakfast business to- gether appeared before the Circuit Court last week to settle a row about entitlements to the house they had shared.

The Ennis Circuit Court heard that plaintiff, Margaret Barnett and respondent, Maureen Ryan began a relationship when they met while working in a Limerick hotel and lat- er, moved in together.

Ms Barnett told the court that she raised a number of mortgages on her home at The Green in Killaloe to help refurbish Ballyheefy House in Killaloe and to pay debts which

arose out of their business there.

Ms Barnett told her legal counsel, Philip Moloney BL, that she had con- tinued to work outside of the bed and breakfast business and had let her house at The Green so that the couple would have an income.

Judge Rory MacCabe heard that Ballyheefy House had been pur- chased by Ms Ryan out of the pro- ceeds of the sale of another house.

Ms Barnett applied to the court for relief because, she said, she had raised money through mortgaging her own home to finance Ballyheefy and she wanted this money back now that the relationship had ended.

Ms Ryan counter sued, alleging damage and tresspass against Ms

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Judge MacCabe said that Ms Bar- nett could not succeed in her claim, as even allowing for all her evidence of the money she had spent “this was money which had been spent on the LURID AL ehiSiae

Peter Clein BL for Ms Ryan said the counter-claim was withdrawn. The judge said that he would make no order as to costs.

“In a different situation, if people had a personal relationship which broke down, the case would be heard in camera. Matters which would normally have been heard in pri- vate have been vented in public and both parties have suffered because of this,” he said.

TWO members of the Travelling community have appeared in court, A ik-NEKeCO MAINO MBE OL Sseec DUN am Oy: Du On ITcam belo caravans on Ennis Town Council erounds almost six years ago.

The two men, aged 34 and 24, were prosecuted under the Housing Mis-

cellaneous Provisions Act, which was introduced in 2002.

Inspector Tom Kennedy told the court that this case dated back to 2002 and related to the parking of caravans on lands owned by Ennis seam eeiiale

The court heard that both men pleaded guilty to two charges each,

of parking their vans at Drumbig- gle, Ennis, without the consent of the owner of the lands.

Their solicitor said they had no- where else to go.

“My clients didn’t have anywhere to live at the time. They found it dif- ficult to find accommodation,” he Said.

“They were living on the side of the road at the time. They lived as Trav- ellers always had done, on the side of the road,’ he added.

He said that the two men now lived with their families in houses and want to “move on”.

‘Was this in the form of a protest?” Judge Joseph Mangan asked.

The solicitor replied, “No, there was no protest involved.”

Inspector Kennedy said the legisla- tion was brought into effect because of illegal parking.

“This was one of the first cases,’ he said. The judge dismissed the charg- es under the Probation of Offenders aoe

THE actions of aman who broke into a church and beauticians in Sixmile- bridge were fuelled by his addiction to heroin, according to his solicitor.

Michael Desmond (26), of St Munchin’s Street, St Mary’s Park, Limerick, pleaded guilty to enter- ing St Finnachta’s church, Sixmileb- ridge, as a trespasser with intent to commit theft, on May 22, 2007.

He also admitted breaking into a beauty salon in Sixmiulebridge on the same date.

Desmond also pleaded guilty to possession of a knife and two counts of criminal damage.

Inspector Tom Kennedy told En- nis District Court on Friday that at 1.30pm on the date in question the church caretaker found Desmond in the sacristy.

He fled from the church when he saw her and had kicked the door of the sacristy, said the inspector.

“Gardai had a description of Mr Desmond and his accomplice and had a number of a car. Gardai discovered Mr Desmond on the street. At that stage he had broken into a beauty sa- lon,” said Inspector Kennedy.

He said that at the beauty salon, Desmond had tried to force open a door, but did not take anything.

“He was found in possession of a Stanley knife, the type of knife you’d use for cutting carpet,’ he said.

Desmond had 57 previous convic-

tions, the first of which was regis- tered in 1996. They included convic- tions for burglary, criminal damage and motoring offences.

“I can’t say anything really positive about Mr Desmond. He has a des- perately bad record,” said Inspector Kennedy.

Defending solicitor Tara Godfrey said her client was “probably about 13 when he first got into trouble.”

She said that when asked by gardai why he committed the offences, he said, “to try and help my habit, until I get treated.”

She said her client had been free of heroin for the past seven or eight months.

‘He is undergoing urine testing at the moment at Limerick Prison. It’s not impossible to get heroin in Lim- erick Prison, but he is not using it,” she said.

She said when he went into custody last year, he was just seven stone but now weighs 15-and-a-half stone.

‘He is off the heroin. He’s doing his best. Physically he is recovering,” she said.

“It was a day of complete madness, which was fuelled by his heroin ad- diction,’ she added.

Judge Joseph Mangan imposed jail sentences totalling 15 months and fixed a bond in the event of an ap- peal.

AN eight-month jail term has been handed down to a man who lashed out at two cars in Kilkishen, caus- ing more than €3,500 damage in the Reet

Before Tulla District Court was James Delaney (21), of Waterpark Heights, Ennis, charged with damag- ing two cars, on May 20, 2007.

Garda Michael Mulryan told the court that when he arrived on the

scene, a row was in progress, involv- ing two men and two women.

He said two cars which were near- by had been damaged. The owners approached the garda and told them that Delaney was the culprit.

He said that the accused was intox1- cated and had his shirt off.

The owner of one of the cars, Tommy Bentley, told the court he heard commotion outside his house. He looked out and saw a row taking je e-leror

He said that more than €3,000 damage had been done to his car.

He said his two young children were also looking out the window and saw the incident.

Ms Godfrey apologised to Mr Bentley on behalf of her client. He replied, “I know that but this car is after costing me €3,000.”

Denise Marsh, whose car was also damaged by Delaney, said she looked out the window of her home and saw the accused “circling the cars.

He was pounding on my car. He kicked out with his legs.” €240 dam- age was caused to her car.

The court was told that the total damage to the cars amounted to €3,561.54. Ms Godfrey said her cli- ent “had something of a blow-out.”

Judge Joseph Mangan jailed De- laney for eight months and fixed a bond in the event of an appeal.

He was unable to meet the recog- nisances of €2,000 and was taken to prison.

A MOTORIST who drove at a speed of 183kph on the dual carriageway between Ennis and Limerick has been convicted of careless driving.

Daniel McAuliffe (28), of Clontem- ple, Ballingarry, Limerick, was con- victed of the offence, relating to an incident at Carrigoran, Newmarket- on-Fergus, on November 16, 2007.

Garda Shane Kavanagh told Ennis District Court that he was operating a speed checkpoint at 11.20am.

He said that McAuliffe was driving a red Honda Accord at 183kph in a

100kph zone, on the dual carriage- way on the N18.

The garda activated the blue lights and siren and pursued the vehicle.

‘He was on the outside lane. The car broke heavily and drove into the left lane. There was a large volume of traffic on the road at the time,” he Sr HKOe

Some four kilometres down the road, the garda caught up with the Honda.

‘He pulled in immediately when he saw us. I showed him the speed on the speed gun.

‘He was shocked. He said he genu-

inely didn’t realise he was doing that speed. He said something about the speedometer not working properly,” said the garda.

The accused was initially charged with dangerous driving, but sought to have this reduced to careless driv- ing.

Judge Joseph Mangan asked, “Was the manoeuvre he executed while pulling in dangerous?” and the garda said it was.

Defending solicitor Siobhan Mc- Mahon asked the garda did any of the other cars veer or brake and he replied that they didn’t.

“I’d ask you to consider a plea to careless driving as it didn’t affect the other cars on the road,” said the so- licitor to the judge.

Judge Mangan said he was not ac- cepting a plea to the lesser charge, but he later did accept it.

Ms McMahon said her client, who had no previous convictions, said the incident “was a moment of mad- ehSiiae

‘“He’s not one of your typical boy racer young people who don’t pay any heed to the road traffic laws,” she said. Judge Joseph Mangan fined him €1,500.

CLARE County Council intends to construct bypasses valued at a com- bined €32 million for the towns of Ennistymon and Kilrush.

Work will commence on the €20 million Ennistymon bypass and the €12 million Kilrush bypass in 2010, according to a council document out- lining its roads programme over the next four years.

The council will fund €100,000 towards the Ennistymon scheme to upgrade the infrastructure to link to the proposed bypass.

“No other sources of funding iden- tified as yet,’ the document states.

The council is to contribute €100,000 towards the Kilrush

project. In the document officials point out that €500,000 has been received from the ESB, but no other sources of funding have been identi- fied yet.

In recent years, Ennistymon has en- countered traffic grid-lock at week- ends due to tourism traffic visiting Lahinch, Liscannor, the Cliffs of Moher and Doolin.

The west Clare town of Kilrush has also encountered a large increase in traffic with construction work being carried out on the €400 million ret- rofit project at Moneypoint.

The council expects work on the €15 million Killaloe bypass to com- mence this year.

‘An indicative line for the Killaloe bypass is contained in the east Clare

local area plan. This project is classed as anon-national strategic route to be funded by the Department of the En- vironment,’ an accompanying state- ment confirms.

The council has also included a €2 million relief road for Miltown Mal- er WA

A Start is due to be made this year on the construction of the first phase Or: Ieee) use ColeO Ko) ECoMNKOy:(em DOM oy IDABIE

Shannon Development has provided €800,000 towards the scheme which is to be constructed on the edge of the new Information Age Park.

The second phase of the road, cost- ing €3.2 million, will commence in UGE

Deputy Timmy Dooley TD said that the N85, N67 and N68, which

form part of the national secondary route network, are in need of urgent funding.

“Revenue has been committed for the next two years for inter-urban routes, but I urge the minister to con- sider changing that funding structure when the inter-urban routes have been completed. It could then be put into some of the national secondary routes,’ he said.

“The Ennis to Kilrush road in par- ticular needs a complete upgrade as do the roads running along the west- ern seaboard of County Clare, and the Ennis to north Clare route. Those three significant stretches of national secondary routes require urgent at- tention and the requisite funding,’ he said.

CLARE suporters of Fr Shay Cul- len, a priest whose cause is to save children from becoming sex slaves, contributed €1,600 to a church gate collection held in Kildysart for him last week.

A dinner organised by Sean O’Connor of Bia na Dia in Ennis has added €1,900 to the coffers, with Sean rounding that up to €2,000.

Vera Reynolds, anative of Kildysart, and her brother, John Casey, were so touched by the plight of youngsters helped by the PREDA (People’s Re- covery, Empowerment Development Assistance Foundation) headed by Columbine priest and triple Nobel Peace Prize nominee, Fr Shay Cul- len, that they started the fundraising ball rolling for them in Clare last year.

PREDA works to save and heal abused children and women often trafficked into sex slavery through abject poverty.

Some of the children whom the organisation have helped have been abused after being jailed in adult prisons for stealing to feed them- selves. Others have been sold or snatched for brothels.

Fr Shay came to Clare last week to meet people who are supporters of his work and to talk about PREDA’s

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“Everyone was very generous and he met a lot of people after Mass,” said Vera.

“Cahill’s pub were also very gen- erous. They provided tea and coffee and sandwiches,” she said.

This was the second fundraising dinner which John hosted at Bia na Dia and futher events in the pipeline include a poker classic in Kildysart and a concert in Kilkee.

Anyone who would like to donate money to PREDA can do so through an account in the Ulster Bank, En- nis, account number 00626779, sort code 985680, or send cheques made payable to the Columban Fathers to John Casey, 5 Woodview, Claureen, Ennis. Ideas for fundraising can be passed to Vera at 00441442851204 or verareynolds@aol.com

In May, a concert is planned with Fr Shay, a number of the children he has saved and other performers, in- cluding traditional musicians from OE

The West County Hotel, which is the venue for the concert, are spon- soring accommodation for the priest and his choir.

“The work which Fr Shay does is very important. These vulnerable children look to him for help 1n situ- ations where they are being com- pletely exploited, said Vera.

BAREFIELD youngsters have been learning a thing or two about how their fellow students from far away Aol vector

As part of a series of ongoing ex- changes with the National School for Folklore Arts in Shiroka Laka in the Rhodope mountain region of Bul- garia, students in Barefield National School celebrated the National Day of Bulgaria on March 3.

The school principal, John Burns, welcomed Professors Toshko Zhelev and Sonia Zheleva from the Univer- sity of Limerick who represented the Bulgarian Embassy at the afternoon presentation in the school.

Professor Zhelev took over the class- room to entertain the third and fourth classes and to teach them a little more about life in Bulgaria.The students were then presented with Bulgarian handicrafts known as “martenitzas” specially made for them by their Bul-

garian counterparts.

Barefield pupils, in turn, presented Professor Zhelev with hand made St. Patrick’s Day cards and artwork to be presented to the Bulgarian stu- dents for St. Patrick’s Day.

The school band entertained the visitors with some Irish music and a Bulgarian polka and another group of pupils performed short dramatisa- tions in Irish.

A group of music students under the leadership of teacher Denis Lid- dy will travel to Bulgaria later this month to perform at a number of St. Patrick’s Day events in Sofia.

The group will then travel to the school in Shiroka Laka to take part in a joint St. Patrick’s Day concert with the Bulgarian students.