The Clare People Archive

THE Senior Citizens Club in Shan- non has paid tribute to one of its founding members Tom Moore, who passed away last week following a SeCOVM MOND Note

Mr Moore died a year and a week after the death of his wife Ann, who was laid to rest in December 2006.

Originally from Limerick, Tom moved to Shannon several years ago

and lived in Finian Park.

He worked at the knitwear com- pany Lanaknit for many years and Since his retirement, he became in- volved in various community groups in the area.

Tom immersed his life in Shannon and played a key role in several com- mittees and groups in the town for several years.

He was involved with the Legion of Mary and Pioneers in the town.

He was also on the parish commit- tee when churches and schools were built, several years ago. His love of and interest in the community spirit never left him and he became a famil- iar figure in the local community.

Tess Barry, who set up the Senior Citizens Club with Tom and a number of others in 19779, said his loss will be felt by everyone in Shannon.

“We really miss him. He looked after our money for many years. He

kept us on the straight and narrow,’ said PRO of the Senior Citizens Club, Tess Barry.

‘Tom was a great organiser and was very well liked. If he did something, he did it well.

‘His heart was in the right place. Since he retired he put his heart into the club,” she added.

Mr Moore was buried at Illauna- managh cemetery in Shannon last JDulee ne

THE sentence imposed on Adam Keane for raping Mary Shannon at a house in Ennis two-and-a-half years ago has been increased to 10 years, three of which are suspended.

Keane (26), of Barnageeha, Daragh was found guilty of rape at the Cen- tral Criminal Court in Dublin last February, arising out of an incident on May 30, 2005.

His three year suspended sentence was appealed by the State to the

three-judge Court of Criminal Ap- eer

The Court of Appeal ruled this week that the sentence imposed by the Central Criminal Court was “unduly lenient, even when all the migitating factors are taken into account”.

In imposing sentence last March, Mr Justice Paul Carney referred to a previous case. However the Court of Appeal said his “preoccupation” with the previous decision “distracted him from the essential particularities of this case”.

“The trial judge made no reference in his sentencing decision to the 1m- pact which the crime had on the vic- tim and her family life, nor did he ap- pear to attach sufficient weight to the place and circumstances in which the rape was committed.”

“This court 1s satisfied, having re- gard to the circumstances of the case, the particular circumstances of the respondent, that the well established principle that a custodial sentence should be imposed for the offence of rape ought to have been followed,

there being no facts or circumstances in the case which could justify the exceptional and rare departure from that principle. Accordingly, in i1m- posing a suspended sentence in this instance, the learned trial judge erred in principle,’ stated the 28-page re- port, published on Wednesday.

The judges ruled the fact that Keane had taken alcohol and drugs on the night in question and could not re- member what had happened did not “absolve him from criminal responsi- bility as the jury correctly concluded

HOM Us DURYos Ken elma

The Court of Appeal said it decided to suspend the final three years of the ten-year term.

“With a view to encouraging the re- habilitation of this young man and in all the circumstances of the case, the court will suspend three years of that term of imprisonment on his under- taking to enter into a bond to keep the peace,” it stated.

He will be subject to post-release Supervision for one year and will be placed on the sex offenders register.

DRINK driving, speeding and seat- belt use will be the central focus of the Garda drink driving campaign this Christmas, as ongoing efforts to cut road deaths continue.

The numbers of gardai deployed to the Clare Garda Division traffic corps doubled during the year as part of a nationwide campaign to crack down on road offences.

An increased emphasis is being placed on catching road offenders during the festive season.

Twelve people have been killed on the county’s roads this year. Eleven of those were in the Clare Garda Division while the other road death occurred close to Setright’s bar in Cratloe, on the Clare/Limerick Garda divisional border last month. Last year nine people died. Up to last Monday 525 people were arrested on suspicion of drink driving in Clare since the start of the year, which is a huge increase on the figure for 2006.

The head of the Clare Garda Di- vision traffic corps, Inspector John Galvin, said every effort would be made to ensure drivers abided by the law.

“We are putting considerable re- sources in road traffic. The main causes of fatal accidents are speed, drink driving and not wearing seat

belts,’ he said.

Several motorists have been caught for drink driving the morning after socialising. Gardai are reiterating the dangers of driving in the hours after drinking alcohol.

‘People have to realise when they are out socialising it takes several hours for alcohol to leave the sys- tem,’ said Inspector Galvin.

“Our main focus is to keep deaths down. We would prefer if no-one was arrested for drink driving,” he said.

“The drink driving figures are dras- tically up for the whole year. How- ever in the last number of weeks the figures are down on a weekly basis. We hope people are getting the mes- sage. Drink is a major contributory factor to deaths on the roads while there is also legislation on drug driv- ing as this also carries a disqualifica- tion,’ added Inspector Galvin.

Drivers are also being reminded that the use of mobile phones while driving is forbidden. Handsfree kits or earpieces are mandatory if us- ing mobile phones while behind the wheel.

“It is an offence which carries two penalty points,” he said.

“The traffic corps has increased in size over the past year. This is an indication of the seriousness with which it (the issue) 1s viewed by gardai,’ added Inspector Galvin.

CRITICISM of a sculpture of actor Richard Harris by members of the artistic community has angered its creator, the Kilbaha-based sculptor Jim Connolly.

In an open letter to the mayor of the city, councillor Ger Fahy, the Clare sculptor said his “personal and professional integrity were torn to aT kere ae

Well-known Limerick artist John Shinnors described the statue, de- picting Harris as King Arthur in ‘Camelot’, as “touristy kitsch” and said “it was an opportunity that was lost and thrown away’”’.

The criticism was added to by Clare artist Thomas Delohery who

said, “I think it’s absolutely awful. It’s too small, Richard Harris was six foot three. They should have built it higher.

“His nose is wrong, his grand- daughter said he was so broad she couldn’t put her arms around him. I think everybody 1s afraid to say any- thing about it because the council- lors wanted this for so long,’ added Delohery

Mr Delohery held a series of exhi- bitions of his work on Richard Har- ris depicting different portraits of the actor 1n various settings.

In his letter, Mr Connolly states that Harris was six foot, not six foot three as stated by Thomas Delohery. This has been verified by Noel Har- ris, who said his brother’s height was

six feet and a half an inch at most.

The west Clare sculptor said the statue measures six feet two inches from the soles of Harris’ boots to the top of his head and said the chest measurement of the tunic is 48 inches.

The statue is estimated to have cost €150,000. At the unveiling Mr Con- nolly said he decided to portray Har- ris aS a mature actor.

“When he was at his peak with ‘Camelot’, which was a _ major success, he bought the rights to it and travelled the world with it as a stage show”’.

Another statue of Harris, created by Jim’s son Seamus, stands in Kilkee. It also divided opinion as to where it should be located.

INDUSTRIAL action among the county’s emergency and medical staff has been averted just one week before Christmas.

On Tuesday morning nurses at Ennis General Hospital suspended a planned work to rule less than 12 hours before it was set to start.

Had the action gone ahead the hos- pital would have been without phone cover for eight hours every night, with nurses concentrating solely on patient care.

Following proposals put to the INO by management it was agreed that an additional 63 nursing hours would be provided to the medical wards to maintain safe staffing levels on night Clas

‘An understanding has been reached locally that the appointment of an ad-

ditional nurse at the Emergency De- partment can only be resolved by the HSEEA. The INO will be pursuing this matter further at this level,’ an INO spokesperson said.

An all-out strike by Ennis fire fight- ers was averted at the Ilth hour on Tuesday after agreement was reached between their union representatives and Clare County Council.

Fire-fighters at the county’s largest station had planned to strike at mid- night on Tuesday amid claims that the council breached agreements and refused to agree to the appointment of an arbitrator to resolve long stand- ing issues including staffing levels at the Ennis station.

Fire fighting crews from the Army Corps of Engineers based at the Cur- ragh had been on standby in Limer- ick in case of strike action.

Following discussions between

SIPTU and Clare County Council on Tuesday afternoon, a general meet- ing of fire-fighters took place in En- nis later that night when staff agreed to call off their planned strike.

SIPTU said that the issue of man- ning levels at the station had been addressed by the council and that “an additional resource will be made available from an outlying station.”

Union Branch Organiser ‘Tony Kenny said that both sides agreed to engage the services of a Rights Com- missioner to resolve a dispute over a member of staff who was relieved of duty because he hadn’t passed his truck-driving test.

‘Both sides have also agreed to en- gage the services of advisory service of the LRC to look at industrial rela- tions practices, policies and proce- dures within the fire service in En- nis,’ Mr Kenny added.

REAL pressure will be on Clare County Council to provide and de- liver quality services next year fol- lowing news that the authority will receive less than the national average increase in funding from the Local Government Fund for 2008.

Local authorities were informed this week what they could expect from the fund in 2008.

Clare County Council will receive a 5.13 per cent increase in funding which, although 4.5 per cent more than its final allocation for 2007, is still below the national average in- crease for town councils, county councils and borough councils for 2008. Ennis Town Council will get funding just above the national aver- age.

Mayor of Clare Patricia McCarthy said, “It is extremely disappointing that Clare is not to receive even the

average of 5.4 per cent from the Gov- ernment local government fund for Local Authorities. 5.1 per cent rep- resents a reduction in real terms and fails to match the increased services

and operating costs of the council.

“This will place real pressure on the council’s ability to provide and deliver quality services to the pub- lic. Government cannot continue to expect the council to take on more and more responsibility without pro- viding the necessary funds to do so. Further Government departments must meet their obligations and pay for services that the council pays for and provides on their behalf,” the mayor said.

Mayor McCarthy added, “The council is obliged to pay its credi- tors within 30 days or incur interest charges. It’s a pity that Government does not incur the same penalties when it fails to deliver prompt pay- ment for services rendered by the council.”

VERBAL exchanges broke out in a courtroom this week between two west Clare families, after a sentence for buggery was adjourned.

Graham Haugh, 19, of Drumina, Dysart, Ennis, was due to be sentenced at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on Wednesday for buggering a young boy

in 2004.

However two defence witnesses failed to attend and an application for an adjournemnt was made.

Haugh was extradited last August from England where he had joined the British Army under a false name, having failed to appear on bail for sen- tence in November 2005.

In court this week, the victim’s

mother said she couldn’t “see any rea- son why Haugh shouldn’t be sentenced today” because he “has had every chance with psychologists”. She said she wanted the case finalised.

“My son’s life is wrecked. He couldn’t even come to court today to look that scumbag in the eye,” she said.

Haugh’s family and friends turned to the woman with inaudible protests

while she continued to say: “Either he goes down or I go down.”

Some further low-voiced exchanges and stares, including an invitation to fisticuffs, took place and the comment “faggot” was clearly heard when the victim’s family members were ushered out of the courtroom.

Haugh was found guilty by a jury on March 31, 2004 following a 10-day

trial before Judge Yvonne Murphy of buggering and sexually assaulting a young boy three years earlier.

Judge Murphy had placed him under the care of the Probation Services for assessment and adjourned his sentence but issued a bench warrant for his ar- rest after he failed to appear in Novem- ber 2005. The sentence is now due to take place next March.

TWO Slovakian teenagers who bur- gled two houses in Ennis just weeks after arriving in the town have both been sentenced to nine months deten- none

The duo, aged 16 and 17 and who cannot be named because of their ages, burgled one house at Edenvale, Ennis, last August and another in To- bartaoscain.

Detective Garda Brendan Rouine told Ennis District Court this week

that some of the property which was taken from the house in Edenvale had been recovered. However jewellery, valued at €1,500, and $2,000 US dollars had not been recovered.

The court was told that there was no co-operation with gardai in rela- tion to recovering the property which was still outstanding.

Defending solicitor Daragh Hassett said the two would undertake to fly home to Slovakia within days, if the court would agree.

“They would be out of the jurisdic-

tion and out of the concerns of the gardai in this jurisdiction. The pro- posal has gone down somewhat well with the gardai,” said Mr Hassett.

He said one of his clients had spent three weeks in custody and the other has been four weeks in jail and both were “frightened at the thought of go- ing back to prison”.

“Tam applying to release them from custody, pending the flights tickets being produced,’ said the solicitor.

Judge Joseph Mangan said he noted there was no co-operation. He asked

whether either of the accused had previous convictions and was told it would take three months to ascertain this via communication with the Slo- vakian authorities.

The judge said, “This is a very bad system. That might have been fine when we had one person from Slova- kia living in this country. That day is gone.”

Mr Hassett replied, “If previous convictions are not before the court, it should stand before the court as having no convictions. I’d ask you

to treat them as having no previous convictions.”

The judge imposed six-month and three-month detention sentences in St Patrick’s Institution, to run consecu- tively. He fixed a bond in the event of an appeal, on their own bonds of €50 and independent sureties of €4,000, €2,000 of which was to be lodged. He backdated the sentences to the dates they went into custody.

However the accused were unable to take up the bail and were remand- ed in custody.

CONCERNS have been expressed that plans for a new quarry near Ruan will disturb the tranquil environment of patients of a proposed new day- care centre for cancer patients.

A number of locals have expressed opposition to Irish Asphalt’s plan to extract 300,000 tonnes of rock from the quarry site at Ardkearney, Ruan.

In one objection, the EYPO Part- nership of Clonroad, Ennis, points out, “The proximity of the quarry,

with all its associated nuisances, would not provide a tranquil environ- ment for the wellbeing of the patients in the facility.”

It adds, ““We contend that the loss of amenity that will be experienced by all homes in the area far outweighs the granting of the expansion of the CL br Nema

The partnership contends that, “The extraction of 300,000 tonnes of rock from the locality will have damaging effects to agricultural lands to the wider area with noise and vibration

upsetting both to wildlife and farm ZONBOOL-DESE

“If the application is granted, it will significantly lower the value of their investment as there will be ongoing noise and dust pollution, vibrations from blasting, with increased heavy goods vehicle traffic on roads in close proximity.

“The location of this quarry is not suited to the proposed location. This proposed quarry, outside the area that has already been worked, should not be granted due to its location in the

open countryside without the benefit of appropriate zoning.”

In his objection, Philip Comber of Ardkearney, Ruan, claims, “This area 1S a quiet residential part of Clare and there are quite a number of houses within the immediate area of this proposed quarry.

“Tt is my belief that if the proposed quarry was to get permission to go ahead, it would have a significant impact on the quality of life of the residents in the area.”

In their objection, Hugh and Mary

Rice said, “The noise from the crushing and blasting from quarry- ing activities which have taken place to date is unbearable, especially when the prevailing wind is from the south-west and that on regular oc- casions dust covers the windows of their property, trees and plants.”

The Rices’ submission points out that they are “extremely concerned regarding the devaluing of their property as a result of this quarry- ing being allowed to continue and to significantly intensify”.

THE speed at which the linesman ran towards the referee at the final whistle demonstrated how much he realised his colleague was in for a tongue lashing. The Waterford of- ficial seemed to frustrate both sides over the hour but it was the con- troversial penalty decision which caused the most anger amongst the Mills players, management and sup- Oda ay

It was a bewildering decision really as it was very difficult to see what in fact the penalty was for. Eventu- ally the referee signalled that it was a foot block much to the annoyance of the Mills following. Several Mills players vented their frustration to the official at the time but he had to be escorted off the field after the game as the players and management sur- rounded him once more in an effort to get an explanation for his deci- sion.

Afterwards, the Mills players stood in a understandably trance-like state near the tunnel where manager Mike O’Brien voiced his frustration to the waiting media and inevitably referee Tommy O’Sullivan was at the top of his list.

“It was unbelieveable really. At half time, we knew we had a problem with the referee and I said it to him. We had been awarded just four frees to 16 for our opponents but he made light of it. The second half wasn’t too bad but the penalty decision was the worst I’ve seen in all my time involved in the game. From where I stood it wasn’t a penalty. I would give him O out of 10 for his perform- ance there today. At the end of the day he won it for Canovee and that shouldn’t be the case.”

It was testament to the Mills’ per- formance that the Canovee players and management all remarked that the East Clare side deserved some-

thing out of the game. That wasn’t much consolation to Mike O’Brien and his players but he did reserve special praise for his players for a superb hour’s football, arguably their best performance of the year.

“We couldn’t have asked for any- more. They really came at us in the first half. They probably settled faster but we got into the run of it and maybe we got a fortunate score with the goal. But we were unfortu- nate for a second one as well. Was it a square ball? maybe yes maybe no. Some days they are given but it was definitely as much of a goal as the penalty was but that’s the way it goes. We are very, very, very proud of what the lads have done this year and I’ll you, I couldn’t say enough in deoDumE-NZOloue

“We said we weren’t coming down to make up the numbers. We knew that we had a good team, we knew we were fit and were well capable to keep of keeping the game going for as long as it took. The defending was excellent and I think only for the penalty we had it. You can never be sure of winning but we thought we had it.”

The post-match confrontation with the referee was certainly a talking point but as the photographers rushed to take photos of the incident, Clare Champion photographer John Kelly appeared to be struck by one of the Mills players. It was a bizarre and unsavoury incident that happened in the heat of the moment but O’Brien was quick to stress that he didn’t ac- tually witness the event.

‘Well I had words with the referee after the game and I voiced my dis- pleasure with him once again. While I was talking to him, I noticed some- thing happening behind me but I didn’t see what happened. I don’t know what happened.”

Afterwards, Mr Kelly lodged an of- ficial complaint with the Gardai after

his camera was also damaged in the incident. When asked if the photog- raphers were too close to the play- ers, the Mills manager conceeded that they had been a bit too close for comfort.

“Well they were stuck in our face to be honest and there was two pho- tographers in my face straight away when I was having words with the ref. | mean you don’t have to come that close to get a photo. Now saying that, nobody deserves a belt of a fist or an assault if that’s what happened. That’s what I’m told happened but I haven’t seen it. Now if it is true, it shouldn’t have happened and I would apologise on behalf of the club if it did happen.”

It was obvious by his lowered head how much this defeat was eat- ing away at the Mills manager and O’Brien saved his final tirade for referee Tommy O’Sullivan whom he felt cost his side the Munster title by awarding the controversial penalty.

“IT don’t know how anyone could see it as a penalty but that’s the way it goes. Its gone now so we can’t do anything about it. We are county champions and we had a good run in Munster but we would have no problem being beaten by 12 point today if we were beaten fairly. Full credit to Canovee, I have no problem with them whatsoever. They played a good sporting game, they are a good team and I wish them all the very best. But as I say the performance of that ref today was an absolute dis- grace and I don’t care if I am pulled before any disciplinary committee, I will stand by what I am saying. I will take whatever punishment is going because that’s how I feel.”