The Clare People Archive

PEOPLE will be hurt if immediate action isn’t taken to tackle a number of incidents of sea erosion along the north Clare coast.

That was the message which emerged from yesterday’s meeting of the local area authority in Ennisty- mon where a number of non-related incidents of dangerous erosion were mentioned.

Ennistymon Cllr Martin Conway (FG), said that it was only a matter of time before a serious injury took place on the Lahinch Promenade be- cause of years of erosion have caused a protective railing to become dan-

gerously brittle.

“The bars in Lahinch are ready to collapse at any time. Someone is going to be hurt out there sooner or later if something is not done. It is re- ally very dangerous at the moment,” Sr HK6 Os Dba oye a ch VA

“I know that there are major works set to take place in Lahinch later this year and early next year, but this situ- ation needs to be tackled now before something happens.”

Fears have been raised that a sec- tion of railing, which runs from the O’Looney’s Pub at the foot of the prom in a southerly direction, in un- stable and could break or collapse.

The area is used by many local

young people and tourists for skate- boarding and and as a walkway.

“IT went walking along the prome- nade on Saturday and three different sets of people met me and mentioned the problem of the railing to me,” continued Cllr Conway.

“IT think that the bars should be re- placed with a solid block wall which would be safer and easier to main- eb

Meanwhile, Cllr Richard Nagle (FF), called for action to be taken to prevent a stretch of the R-478 road near Liscannor from being washed away due to coastal erosion.

“I appreciate that the local author- ity needs to get money from the De-

partment of the Marine but there is a piece on this road where the coastal erosion 1s coming right on to the road and it need something as a matter of urgency,’ said Cllr Nagle.

Responding to the request, Senior Engineer, Donie Buckley said that Clare County Council had made nine submissions to the Department of the Marine for funding in cases where coastal erosion were becom- ing a major but none had been suc- cessful.

These submission for coastal pro- tection totalled €1.885 million, and included a requested allocation of €375,000 for works on the R478 road.

A WOMAN who picked up a kitchen knife after she refused to leave an Ennis apartment has been jailed for emaelereidetcy

Caitriona O’Shea (25), of O’ Malley Park, Southill, Limerick, was con- victed of producing a black-handled knife with serrated edges, in the course of a dispute, on August 12

last.

Inspector Tom Kennedy said that an incident arose in an apartment at O’Halloran’s Lane, Ennis.

“In the course of the dispute she produced a knife,” he said.

Defending solicitor | Eugene O’Kelly said the accused was a guest in the apartment when the in- cident arose.

“She tells me when she was 12,

she was orphaned. Her father was stabbed to death. Her mother was knocked down by a car,’ said Mr O’ Kelly.

“She went to this house to seek help. The occupants contacted gardai because she refused to leave. She picked up a kitchen knife,” he said.

He said the accused subsequently threw herself into the River Fergus and was rescued by gardai.

He said his client was a “very trou- bled young lady.”

The accused has a string of previ- ous convictions, including for theft PNOOMeubesuber-Dmer-Dast-texor

Judge Joseph Mangan imposed a nine-month jail term, for the knife of- fence and an additional four months for failing to appear in court.

He fixed a bond in the event of an appeal.

A MAN whois accused of raping and threatening to kill a woman in west Clare earlier this month is to apply for bail in the High Court next week.

The 42-year-old accused is facing eight charges arising out of an inci- dent at a house in west Clare, on Sep- tember 9 last.

He is accused of three counts of rape, possession of a shotgun, false imprisonment and threat to kill, as- sault causing harm and burglary.

When he initially appeared in court earlier this month, bail was refused and he has been in custody since then. On that occasion, the court was told the DPP has directed that the case be dealt with on indictment.

At Lisdoonvarna district court last Wednesday, his solicitor Eugene O’Kelly said he intends to apply for bail in the High Court.

“We have not been in a position to agree conditions to allow him get bail. We will apply to the High

Court,” said Mr Kelly. Superintendent Gabriel O’Gara sought to remand the accused in cus- tody until later this month. The case was adjourned until a later date, when the accused will re- appear in court.

GARDAI have expressed concern that “more and more” people are found in possession of implements – after a man claimed he found a knife and picked it up as he thought it would “come in handy” in his toolbox.

Dublin native Ben Sheehy (20), of Clancy Park, Ennis, was convicted of possession of a knife at Dalcassian Park, Ennis, at 2.30am on August 22 last.

Garda Dominic Regan told En- nis district court on Friday that the accused was seen stumbling from side to side on the street anda knife – used for cutting paper – was found on him.

Defending solicitor Tara Godfrey said her client – an apprentice aircraft mechanic – found the knife.

“He thought it would come in handy. He was going to put it in his toolbox,” she said.

The knife was produced in court and Judge Joseph Mangan said, “You would need more than that if you were confronting the German army.’ Inspector Tom Kennedy re- plied, “This was 2.30 in the morning. We’re finding people more and more in possession of such articles.

“It’s a very different situation when you are here on a Friday afternoon in a different atmosphere, but finding people with these things at 2.30 in the morning is a very different mat- ome

Judge Mangan jailed Sheehy for a month and suspended it on condition that he keep the peace for one year.

He was also convicted of a public order offence and fined €500.

ALLEGATIONS that an axe, alumi- num paint roller and sweeping brush were produced in a dispute between neighbours were made in court last ete

Before Ennis district court were Al- bert Mounsey (46), of 19 Oakwood Drive, Watery Road, Ennis and Hugh Dunne (56), of 17 Oakwood Drive, who denied assaulting each other last March.

Mr Mounsey pleaded guilty to dam- aging three windows on Mr Dunne’s home, on August 14 last.

Hugh Dunne told the court he had wheelbarrows of sand left over after he had completed his patio and he offered them to his neighbour Albert Mounsey.

“IT asked Albert Mounsey would he take it away. He said he would. He seemed to be on a high. He was shouting. I asked him to stop shout- ing. He shut the door in temper and came out the front door with the han- dle of an aluminum paint roller. As I was going into my house, he hit me on the back with the handle of the Steel roller,’ said Mr Dunne.

He said he saw Mr Mounsey out- side his door, with an axe in his hand, sLeSmrOnoherie

Mr Dunne told the court he had been harassed by Mr Mounsey.

“I was afraid of my life to go near him. I’m still afraid of what he would do. He is unpredictable,’ said Mr Dunne.

Mr Mounsey’s solicitor William Cahir replied, “You can’t expect the court to believe you are scared of your life of him and you are helping him fill a wheelbarrow.”

Mr Cahir said the allegation about the axe was not true.

Mr Mounsey told the court that Hugh Dunne arrived at his house with a yard brush in his hand.

“He stuck the brush into my back and said, “You are nothing but a b****rd and all your family are b****rds’, That put me into a rage and I got an extension pole. I did not touch the man. I did not assault him,” he said.

Mr Dunne’s solicitor Stephen Ni- cholas said to Mr Mounsey, in cross- examination, “You became agitated and you hit him with the roller.’ Mr Mounsey denied this.

Mr Nicholas said, “Since the date of this incident in March, every sin- gle day, you abuse Mr Dunne.”

Mr Mounsey replied, “I don’t abuse him. He abuses me.”

Judge Joseph Mangan dismissed the assault charge against Mr Dunne,

but convicted Mr Mounsey.

The judge asked Mr Mounsey to undertake to stay away from Mr Dunne and he did this.

The judge imposed a one-month jail term, and suspended it on con-

dition that he honour his undertak- ing to stay away from Mr Dunne. He fined him €100 for the criminal damage charge.

A FORMER hotel employee who Stole almost €8,000 from his boss was doing well paying back the money, until he broke out and started drinking.

Last January, Brian McNamara, of Main Street, Whitegate, pleaded culty to stealing €7,/775 from The

Central Hotel, Main Street, Miltown Malbay, between September 5 and September 8, 2005.

He took the money to feed his gam- bling and alcohol addictions and no longer works at the hotel.

The case was adjourned, to allow for compensation to be paid. Lis- doonvarna district court heard last week €3,140 was paid back, but

€4,630 was still outstanding.

Defending solicitor Eugene O’ Kelly said that the accused has been on bail for a year and a half.

During the first 12 months, he had not been drinking.

“Unfortunately six months ago, he went back drinking. He was not using the money he was earning on anything other than drink,” said the

solicitor.

‘For 12 months he was good, but for the last six months he was bad. He was back drinking and no money was paid in compensation,” said Mr O’ Kelly.

He said he was asking for “one final chance on very strict conditions.”

“He knows he will never get that chance again,” he added.

Judge Joseph Mangan said he would grant bail to the accused, on Ley aTe NL aCey shy

He is to sign on daily at a garda sta- tion and reside at a stated address in Galway.

He was remanded in custody with consent to bail, to reappear in court this week.

THIS Wednesday, the Mol an Oige primary school in Ennistymon take their fight for Department of Edu- cation recognition to Dublin where they will engage in a protest as the Dail reconvenes.

Parents and pupils will make the trip to Dublin in a bid to keep the 1s- sue at the front of the mind of Minis- ter for Education, Mary Hanafin.

“We’re simply trying to highlight the plight in terms of our application to open a new multi-denominational primary school in Ennistymon,” ex- plained Mol an Oige spokeswoman, Mary Fahy.

“We intend to give a letter to our Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, to remind him of the public commitment he made to our school during his elec- tion campaign when visiting Kilrush earlier this year.

“With all the recent media attention on two new multi-denominational schools in the Dublin area, we as a parent group are asking that the Min- ister for Education grant children in rural areas the same right to choice in education.”

Two years ago, the group began an application process to open a multi- denominational school implementing the National School Curriculum us- ing the Steiner model of education.

But because of a lack of commit- ment from the Department of Educa- tion to recognise the school, parents of those attending the school have had to organise educational matters.

“Despite having met all the crite- ria and complied with the process laid out by the Department of Edu- cation and despite having received two positive recommendations from the New Schools Advisory Commit- tee, we still await an answer from the minister.”

Minister for State Tony Killeen says he has been in regular contact with the Minister for Education about the issue.

“T’ve tried to establish exactly what is required of Mol an Ojge for the school to be officially recognised by her department,” he told

THE Samaritans would be better off coming to Lisdoonvarna in October or November rather than during the month of September when there is no loneliness in the Spa town.

That’s the view of matchmaker, Willie Daly who was responding to the Samaritans’ initiative of hav- ing 20 Samaritan volunteers at Lis- doonvarna over the weekend to offer emotional support to those who are ‘unlucky in love’.

Billed as the largest singles event in Europe, the month-long Matchmak- ing Festival is in full swing, with dancing starting every day at llam and continuing deep into the night.

Samaritan volunteers kept a round- the-clock presence in the Square in the north Clare Spa town from Fri- day until 3am Sunday morning.

Explaining the initiative, Samaritan Festival Group Co-ordinator, Teresa Bell explained that some people who attend the festival may have high expectations of finding their match,

only to be left disappointed.

“Coming to the festival in the hope of finding a ‘match’ can often end in disappointment.

“Expectations can be high and if there are other emotional issues in a person’s life prior to coming to Lis- doon, then they can quickly resurface and change the mood very quickly.”

However, matchmaker Willie Daly said that “the Samaritans would be better off coming when the festival is over, as people will then be missing the unique September atmosphere,

rather than when there is no loneli- ness in the town. Hats off to them. I think it is a marvellous idea that the Samaritans are coming to Lisdoon- varna, but here, no one goes home disappointed during the month of September. There is an absence of loneliness here during the month.” Asked if he had made any match- es this year, he said, “I matched up a couple there on the first weekend and the woman got back to me to say that they are already talking about marriage, so that makes my job

easy to do. I believe that the eligible Irish man is an endangered species, because you have all these women coming from overseas, including the European countries, seeking them out and there is not enough of them. As the song goes, ‘Nobody Loves Like An Irish Man’.”

Willie revealed that a number of very wealthy US women are due in Lisdoonvarna “looking for an ordi- nary Irish man, because they hear that Irish men are good lovers and very good characters”.

THE man most closely identified with the €19 million Ennis Informa- tion Age Town prize admitted this week that expectations were built to a level that could never be attained.

Ten years ago today, the country’s newspapers carried photos of TJ Wa- ters and his Task Force celebrating Ennis’s historic win.

Reflecting on the project’s legacy, Mr Waters admitted that the local Task Force built expectations to a level that they could never attain.

Census statistics now show that En- nis has been eclipsed by Shannon in terms of homes that own a PC, while almost half of Ennis homes have no access to the internet.

Assessing the project’s impact, Mr Waters said, “Ennis will always

be remembered as Ennis Informa- tion Age Town and we certainly got international acclaim and we will never see the like of it again. It was important for us at the time.”

He also said that the project should run over three years. The failed pri- vate IT venture that came out of the (LAT) prize was finally wound up in 2005 — eight years after Ennis won the prize.

THE county’s roads have claimed their ninth life this year as a 75-year- old woman was knocked down and killed as she crossed the road at Dar- ragh, outside Ennis, on Sunday.

Mary McGuane died after she was struck by a motorbike about five miles outside Ennis, on the main En- nis/Kilrush road, at around 12 noon.

Emergency services and family members arrived at the scene within minutes but efforts to resuscitate Ms McGuane failed and she died later at Ennis General Hospital.

The driver of the motorcycle, who hails from Ennis and who was travel- ling in the direction of Kilrush, was unhurt in the collision.

Itis believed Mrs McGuane was on

her way to visit neighbours and was crossing the road when the accident Clee u Keren

A widow, she was due to celebrate her 76th birthday next month. Her husband ‘Tom passed away I1 years ago. She is survived by four daugh- ters Chris, Anne, Margaret and Bridget, son Michael, son-in-laws Kieran (McNamara), Michael (Ryan) and David (Bradley) and several grandchildren.

She was born into a farming fam- ily in Darragh and lived there all her Tate

‘“She’s crossing that road since she was a child. The odds are she was going visiting when the accident took place,” a family member told