Europe-wide search for Emer murder suspect

Written by Andrew Hamilton

AFTER more than five years of waiting, the main suspect in the case of murdered Clare woman Emer O’Loughlin was officially named by police services yesterday.
Interpol have released a Europe-wide arrest warrant for John Griffin, the man suspected of murdering the 23-year-old Ennistymon woman in a caravan on the Clare/Galway border on April of 2005.
Mr Griffin, who may also be known as Fozzy, John B Griffin or John McDermott, is believed to currently live in the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain or the Netherlands.
He is described as being five feet, 11 inches in height, with blue eyes, brown hair and is 43 years of age.
Speaking to The Clare People yesterday, Emer’s sister Pam, who is now based in the UK, said it was a fantastic development.
For more than four years, Pam has been running an online campaign to bring her sister’s killer to justice. Garda investigations into the murder had stalled until the case was reopened by the Garda Cold Case Unit late last year. A murder investigation was launched following the exhumation of Emer’s body in May of this year.
“This is a fantastic development in the case and will hopefully lead to an arrest very soon,” Pam told The Clare People yesterday.
Pam yesterday furthered her online campaign by asking people to use an image of the Interpol arrest warrant, including the photo of John Griffin, as their profile picture on Facebook for a day, as a way of helping the warrant get circulated around Europe.
Mr Griffin, who went missing two weeks after the body was found, has still not been traced by gardaí but he is currently believed to be living in the UK, while there was a reported sighting of him in Germany late last year.
Ms O’Loughlin was a full-time art student at the Galway and Mayo Institute of Technology and had been granted admission to the National College for Art and Design (NCAD) when she died.
Anyone with information should contact fugitive@interpol.int or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

28 Clare businesses gone bust

Written by Claire Gallagher

AS many as 28 businesses in Clare went bust during the first six months of this year.
According to insolvencyjournal.ie, February and May were particularly difficult for companies in Clare with six businesses in each month unable to honour their debts.
The month of June showed a halving of the number declared insolvent in Clare, however, with just three businesses making the list.
The county compares favourably to the neighbouring county of Galway, where 49 companies were declared insolvent between January 2010 and June of the same year.
In Limerick, which includes the largest city in the mid west, 27 businesses were declared insolvent during this period, one less than in Clare.
Clare had the second highest insolvency figures in Munster, surpassed only by Cork with 67 companies declared insolvent.
Nationally insolvencies for the first six months of the year increased by 27 per cent compared to last year.
In total 792 insolvencies were recorded, a number that surpasses the complete figure for 2008.
Companies operating in the domestic market were particularly badly affected in the first six months of the year. Construction, services, hospitality and retail - traditionally domestic sectors - accounted for almost three quarters of all insolvencies with one in three failures occurring in the construction industry.
Export-led sectors, such as manufacturing, wholesale and transport sectors are doing much better than expected however.
Not all of the companies that were declared insolvent entered liquidation, however, with some still trading while in receivership or examinership.
Commenting on the statistics, Tom Kavanagh, a partner in Kavanagh Fennell said, “Based on this trend, it is probable that there will be close to 1,800 insolvencies this year and if the figure for personal asset receiverships is included, insolvencies are likely to be over 2,000 for the year.” “While the domestic sectors are still struggling, export-led sectors such as manufacturing, wholesale and transport are holding up well, accounting for just 13 per cent of failures,” said Mr  Kavanagh.
Dublin continues to account for the majority of failures, with 322 insolvencies for the year-to-date - 40 per cent of the national total. Whilst, Carlow recorded the lowest number of insolvencies in the first six months of the year with only two companies going bust in the county.
One of the most surprising figures to emerge from the latest statistics is that insolvencies in the motor sector remained static this year, despite the introduction of the car scrappage scheme in December’s budget. Although sales of new cars increased by 41 per cent in the first five months of 2010 22 insolvencies were recorded in the first half of 2010, the same as last year.

RTÉ reject eco-village news complaint

Written by Gordon Deegan

The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland has dismissed a complaint by Kilbaha-based Jim Connolly over an RTE news item on an eco-village in North Tipperary.
In the complaint lodged by Mr Connolly, on behalf of the Irish Rural Dwellers Association (IRDA), hit out at the news presenter, Sharon Ní Bheoláin introducing a news item on Cloughjordan Eco Village when she stated “...it is estimated there will be an eco-village in every county in Ireland, providing a cost effective alternative to once off, rural housing”.
In the news item construction manager of the eco-village, Liam Ryan said, “This is the way forward – in the next 10 years, I can tell you now, every county in Ireland will have an eco-village because this is the replacement for the one-off houses that we currently have all over the countryside.  We have to address that problem and we have to put people in sustainable communities and that is what we are proving here”.
Mr Connolly states that RTÉ made no attempt at a balanced analysis of the eco-village project itself in terms of its sustainability claims. He stated that this lack of balance was reprehensible leading perhaps to people making serious errors of judgement in their lives.
He asked why did Liam Ryan and RTÉ feel it necessary to mount an onslaught on the 1.5 million rural dwellers that live in the countryside?
Mr Connolly claimed: “Ireland is full of unfinished housing estates causing permanent grief and hardship to the few unfortunates who bought houses in them.  The Cloughjordan Eco-Village has all the potential of being yet another one. The only difference is the green tinge and quite ridiculously unfounded claims of sustainability.”
In its response, RTE stated that it completely rejects Mr Connolly’s allegations.
It stated: “This was a short report on a new initiative in sustainable housing. It was not an attack on rural housing. What was being reported on was an example of rural housing where homes are clustered together, thereby contributing to creating communities, where the cost of provision of services such as sewage, water, electricity, etc is more cost effective than single dwellings built at a distance from their neighbours...In RTÉ’s view this was a report which was editorially fully justified and was in the public interest to be broadcast.
RTÉ continues: “His complaint seems to erroneously place at loggerheads two groups of people, both of whom share the desire not to live in cities and to remain close to the rhythm of rural life. 
“RTÉ believes there are no grounds to uphold Mr. Connolly’s complaint. There was no anti-rural housing propaganda or attempts at social engineering.  What was broadcast was a short simple report on the first families to move into a new form of environmentally friendly housing in Cloughjordan.”
In its findings, the BAI committee found “that it would not be reasonable to infer that the content at any time amounted to an attack on rural dwellers as submitted by the complainant”.
It stated: “The Committee was of the opinion that the report dealt with the story of the eco-village and its residents in a fair and objective manner.  There was no evidence of editorial bias and/or unfairness in this report.  There was insufficient substance to the issues as raised by the complainant evident in the broadcast.  The complaint was rejected with regard to fairness, objectivity and impartiality in current affairs.”

Safety first for tunnel test

Written by Tom McCullagh

The Limerick Tunnel, which is scheduled to open to motorists on July 16, was filled with smoke from the burning vehicles during the simulated exercise designed to test the Emergency Services Inter Agency response to a major incident in the tunnel. The three principal emergency response agencies were the Local Authorities, the Health Services Executive and An Garda Síochána. The drill also tested the Tunnel Operator’s response to the incident and verifies that the tunnel life safety systems work correctly.
The emergency drill is required under the new European Tunnel Safety Directive which was adopted into Irish law in May 2006. The success of the emergency drill paves the way for the Limerick Tunnel to be opened later in the month.
Tom King, General Manager for DirectRoute, stated, “Preparation of the emergency drill started as far back as October 2006 when the first Tunnel Design and Safety Consultation Group (TDSCG) meeting was held, bringing together members of the emergency services and other project stakeholders.”
Mr King added, “Dedicated in-tunnel training started in September 2009 when 25 fire fighters received training in Switzerland. A total of eight tunnel training modules were then conducted in the Limerick Tunnel to train 150 fire fighters, the Ambulance Services and An Garda Síochána. The emergency drill is the culmination of all the dedicated training and effort put in by the emergency services and the great success achieved is testimony to their commitment and professionalism.”
John Gillard, the Tunnel Safety Officer for DirectRoute, with a lifetimes experience in tunnel operations across the UK and Europe stated, “This is the best emergency drill I have ever witnessed in my career to date. The Tunnel Control Systems are excellent and the automation systems control interface is the best I have ever seen. Eoghan O Sullivan, the tunnel Duty Officer, was very professional and cool under pressure and did an excellent job.”
At a wash-up meeting held at the South Court Hotel after the drill, Mr Geoff Burt, NRA Tunnel Operations Manager, commented that this was the best emergency drill he had witnessed and that the planning and execution of the drill was a credit to all involved.
Carmel Kirby, Chief Fire Officer LCC and lead coordinator for the drill, commented that she was very pleased with the success of the drill and that a lot of valuable lessons were learned by everyone on the day.
An Garda Síochána Inspector Seamus Ruane commented “I am very pleased with the response given by our organisation and feel that the simulation was a very worth while exercise. The tunnel systems and facilities provided for such an emergency are impressive and worked very well under the DirectRoute tunnel management team.”

Ex Clare FM DJ showed ‘no proof’

Written by Bernie English

A FORMER Clare FM broadcaster was refused the right to take proceedings against an Ennis solicitor after a Labour Court ruling went against him.
Former Clare FM DJ, Tommy Kelly was in court last week for a motion asking the court to strike out a case against Clare FM solicitor, Brian McMahon.
Mr Kelly was claiming for the loss of €152,000. He claimed that an email from Mr McMahon had prompted the Labour Court to rule against him after an offer of exgratia payment from Clare FM.
Judge Rory McCabe heard the application by affidavit presented to the court on Mr McMahon’s behalf by Mr Patrick Wyms BL.
The judge was told that there was a letter from the Labour court saying they had received no such email from the solicitor.
Mr Wyms told the court that there was a history to the matter and that Mr Kelly had worked for Clare FM until 2000.
He said that he had failed in his claim against Clare FM in the past and that he had given a court undertaking not to speak publicly about his grievance with the radio station. Despite this, the affidavit said, Mr. Kelly had run for the local elections and used posters in breach of this undertaking.
Mr Kelly argued that his suit against the solicitor was valid as he believed the email had put doubt in the mind of the Labour Court before it had come to a decision.
“There has been no other such case of the Labour court holding against a person after an offer of ex-gratia payment was made,” he told the Ennis Circuit Court.
Judge McCabe held that Mr Kelly had no case in relation to Mr McMahon as he had produced “no proof” in the matter.

Prince proceedings begin

Written by Andrew Hamilton

THE whistle-blower responsible for helping to expose the bullying which led to the tragic death of Fanore teenager Phoebe Prince in America earlier this year has begun legal proceedings against the South Hadley High School where the bullying took place.
Local businessman Darby O’Brien, along with two other local parents, is to sue the town and the school committee over accusations it broke the law by voting to extend the school superintendent’s contract in a secret meeting earlier this year.
Mr O’Brien told The Clare People earlier this year that his life had been threatened on a number of occasions since he brought media attention to the death of the Fanore teenager.
“It’s trying to hold those officials responsible. We’re not letting up. We’re not going away,” Mr O’Brien said last week.
He is alleging that the school committee violated Massachusetts’ ‘Open Meeting Law’ when it voted in an executive session on February 24 last and gave controversial Superintendent Gus A. Sayer a two-year contract extension.
Phoebe Prince committed suicide at her home in South Hadley after undergoing more than three months of intensive bullying from her fellow students. Six students have been charged with a variety of offenses following her death, which has sparked a series of tough anti-bullying laws to be introduced in a number of US states.
Lawyers representing three of the six students charged in association with the death of Ms Prince had pre-trial conferences last week. The conferences were in relation to Sean Mulveyhill, 17, Kayla Narey, 17, and Austin Renaud, 18 who have each been charged as adults.
Trials are not expected to begin in earnest until the autumn.
Meanwhile, South Hadley’s new anti-bullying committee last week voted unanimously to approve the school’s new anti-bullying policy.
The policy is contained in a 62-page report compiled by the town’s Anti-Bullying Task Force and contains suggestions for programmes and administrative procedures to help the school system deal with the problem of bullying.

End of the road for pedestrianisation

Written by Bernie English

ENNIS Town Council voted Monday to suspend its trial of pedestrianisation of two streets for a time on Saturdays after a heated meeting which was attended by traders in the town.
The public gallery of the council’s monthly meeting was packed with traders who heard Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) had conducted a survey of businesses affected by the last six weeks of pedestrianisation.
The councilor told the meeting that 75 per cent of businesses which replied to his survey are down on turnover and 65 per cent of those had lost 30 per cent or more on their till receipts.
Almost half of the traders have been forced to shed staff hours, in some cases letting their Saturday staff go, he said.
Many business owners shut up shop to be at the meeting and to make a presentation to the town council members before the monthly agenda was taken up.
Cllr Flynn said that traders had co-operated and supported pedestrianisation but it “just hasn’t worked. We are first and foremost a commercial town, not a civic area,” he told the meeting, proposing a motion that the town council suspend the Saturday pedestrianisation experiment in Abbey Street and O’Connell Street.
His motion was supported by Labour Cllr Paul O’Shea, who said that at a time when unemployment was higher than ever “we cannot afford to allow this to continue if Ennis is losing trade and losing jobs”.
Cllr Brian Meaney (GP) said that he still supports the trial and said that he was concerned that the council’s own staff might not have the right experience to assess the trial and analyse the results.
“This was to be done on a professional basis…we need to come to an informed decision based on information from independent qualified outside consultants.”
Mayor of Ennis Tommy Brennan (Ind) proposed a counter motion that the trial be allowed to continue for the agreed eight weeks. “We said we would give it an eight week trial and I think we should go along with that.”
He said he agreed with Cllr Meaney that a private assessor needs to be brought in. “We need to look at this and if it needs tweaking with signage or whatever then let’s do that, but we said we would have an eight week assesment and I think we should go along with that.”
Town manager Ger Dollard said that the council’s own footfall survey “showed that quite clearly there are people on the street. We’ve had six pedestrianised days to date and on three of those there were festivals.”
There was a cheer from the traders when members voted six to three in favour of Cllr Flynn’s motion to suspend the pedestrianisation.

Hosepipe ban stays in place

Written by Claire Gallagher

CLARE’S water drought is set to continue into the coming week with the water ban to stay in place.
A spokesperson for Clare County Council said it was informed by Met Eireann that the soil moisture deficit levels in Clare are among the lowest in the country.
Even the rain has made no impact on the county’s water levels.
The county, that had one of the highest levels of rainfall just seven months ago and one of its wettest Novembers on record, is now technically in a drought.
The rainfall so far this year is one of the lowest ever, and the rain last week was equally low.
Just 20 millimetres of rainfall was recorded in Ennis last Wednesday.
Clare County Council’s reservoirs and water supplies are now significantly low.
“The rainfall over the last week was insufficient to replenish supplies,” the council spokesperson said.
“The outlook does not indicate significant rainfall so the ban and conservation measures will remain until further notice.”
This remains bad news for those living in Ennis, north Clare and the Tulla and Kiltannon District Electoral Divisions.
Water users in these areas can be fined up to €5,000 if found in breach of the restrictions set down by the local authority under Section 56(16) of the Water Services Act 2007.
The restrictions which will remain in place until at least the end of this month include a complete ban on hosepipe or “similar apparatus” for the purpose of watering a garden, watering recreational parks or sports grounds, either generally or any particular type of such park or ground, irrigating or spraying crops, either generally or any particular type of crop, or washing a mechanically propelled vehicle or a trailer.
Anyone who contravenes this order will according to Clare County Council be committing an offence and is liable on “summary conviction to a fine not exceeding €5,000”.
Alternatively a person may be subject to an ‘on-the-spot’ fine of €125.

Top marks for Loughnane

Written by Gordon Deegan

DEPARTMENT of Education inspectors have heaped praise on Clare hurling legend and principal of St Aidan’s National School Ger Loughnane for his work at the Shannon school.
According to the latest department inspection report of the 14-teacher school, the double All-Ireland winning manager with Clare “has a very strong, visible presence in the school. He provides decisive, committed leadership and accordingly the school is very effectively managed.”
The report goes on to state that Mr Loughnane “is very supportive of the staff and the school community. Over the course of the evaluation, it was reported by staff that his regular, affirming interaction with pupils has a very positive impact on their academic and social development.”
Mr Loughnane has served in his role since 1982 and in that time the co-ed school has expanded with a new school built in 1987 to educate 267 students today,
The positive report on the school goes on to state: “The principal is ably supported by a deputy principal and four special-duties post holders who engage in a range of duties. Post holders carry out their duties diligently and they work with a sense of camaraderie as a mutually supportive team.
“There is evidence that post holders have provided some purposeful guidance in relation to whole-school curriculum planning and implementation and it is noted that there is readiness to extend this role. Accordingly, the school’s capacity to further improve is good.”
The report also stated that “the principal and in-school management team assume a more active role in relation to curricular leadership and in overseeing the implementation of the school plan from class to class.”
It adds: “In particular, there is a need to ensure that the approaches and methodologies outlined in the whole-school plan are put into practice consistently throughout the school.
“A more specific focus on the use of child-centred teaching methodologies as observed in some classes is also needed. In order to assist teachers to develop as reflective practitioners, it is advised that progress in relation to curricular implementation be evaluated more regularly through review and discussion. Additionally, it is advised that long-term and short-term goals for development in specific aspects of the curriculum be identified and addressed at whole-school level.”

No Clare TDs on Kenny’s front bench

Written by Claire Gallagher

WHEN Enda Kenny announced his front bench on Thursday last there were no Clare TDs in the line up.
Deputy Pat Breen (FG) said he was not disappointed because he was not expecting an appointment.
His colleague Deputy Carey (FG) also claimed he did not expect a promotion, as he was just three years in the Dáil.
Deputy Carey had been one of the first TDs to come out in support of Deputy Kenny, during the leadership challenge led by Richard Bruton.
The Clare TD said he believed that the new front bench, which included Deputy Bruton, represented “a very strong and credible team as we look forward to a general election in less than two years time”.
“There is a good geographic and skills spread among the new team. I particularly want to congratulate Michael Noonan and believe his appointment, as finance spokesperson will benefit the whole of the mid-west when Fine Gael lead the next government.
“From my own personal view, I know there was a lot of speculation in the past fortnight regarding my position, yet it’s worth remembering, I’m only in this job three years and never expected a front line promotion so quick. To be even linked with one was flattering. 
“I’m happy to continue to serve as best I can the people of County Clare and continue with my current brief as juvenile justice spokesperson,” he said.
As well as his brief as deputy spokesperson in justice, Deputy Carey was also appointed Deputy Chief Whip of Fine Gael.
“There’s a lot of work to be done in the years ahead to ensure that this country is put back to work and on a sound financial footing. I intend to play my part fully to ensure that happens,” he said.
Deputy Breen also welcomed the appointment of Limerick Deputy Noonan to the front bench.
The former leader was appointed finance spokesperson.
“It is an appointment that will benefit the mid-west,” said Deputy Breen.
“It is business as usual for me and back to representing the people of Clare as best I can,” he added.
Deputy Breen is to remain as deputy spokesperson on Foreign Affairs.
Fine Gael leader Deputy Kenny said, “Fine Gael is united and focused on the major challenge facing the party and the country.
“The team I have picked provides a mixture of both experience and youth and will lead our party into Government after the next election,” he added.