Written by Bernie English

A Clare healer, who has been credited with helping cure Riverdance star, Michael Flatley has come under criticism for advice to women not to check their breasts for lumps.
Ennis-based bio-plexus healer, Michael O’Doherty, says in his new book that women shouldn’t look for lumps in their breasts as looking for them and expecting to find them may cause the very illness they fear most.
But his advice has been slammed by cancer specialist, Professor John Crown of St Vincent’s hospital.
Prof Crown - one of the world’s leading specialists in the field - says the healer’s words show he has little understanding of the disease and describes his advice as a slander on the many women who have died from breast cancer.
“He suggests that it is people’s own fault if they get cancer which is not true. I’ve seen too many young mothers who had everything to live for who desperately did not want to die, who did all they could to get better but died. It is, I believe, a slander on their names to suggest that somehow it is their fault because they were thinking the wrong thoughts,” the professor said.
In his book, the healer says that he “cannot figure out the advice constantly churned out that women should regularly check their breasts for lumps. To be honest, I think this advice needs to be re-evaluated.”
Mr O’Doherty said that he told his wife to stop having breast checks for lumps and abnormalities. “Naturally my advice was met with some surprise and anger until I simply explained that if they kept checking for lumps, that that is exactly what they would eventually find.”
He continued that just as people “create our own realities we also create our own problems. If you genuinely believe that you have something and fear that something, then you will create it.”
But the healer adds that he does believe that women should check their breasts to ensure that everything is ok and to tell themselves they will never find a lump.

Written by Emer Connolly

SHARON Collins, who is serving a six-year jail term for conspiring to murder her partner and his two sons, will have her appeal heard later this week at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Dublin.
Collins (46), formerly of Ballybeg House, Kildysart Road, Ennis, was also convicted of soliciting a poker dealer to murder her partner PJ Howard and his two sons Robert and Niall, at the end of an eight-week trial during summer 2008.
The mother-of-two is currently serving her jail term in the women’s section of Mountjoy prison, where she has been for the past 20 months.
At the end of the same trial, Essam Eid (54), a native of Egypt, was found guilty of extortion and handling stolen property.
He was acquitted of burglary at the Howards’ family business in Ennis. Eid was also handed a six-year term and is currently in Limerick prison.
Both lodged appeals to the Court of Criminal Appeal and the three judges - Mr Justice Joseph Finnegan, Mr Justice Declan Budd and Mr Justice Daniel O’Keeffe - will hear the case on Thursday.
The appeal is expected to continue into Friday.
Collins’ legal team will outline the grounds on which they say the conviction should be overturned. Given the complexity of the case, her lawyers - and Eid’s legal team - are expected to present several grounds to the court, which the prosecution will oppose.
The trial heard that Collins set up the email address lyingeyes98@yahoo.ie, through which she hired who she believed was a hitman, in August 2006.
Within a fortnight of the ‘Lying Eyes’ email being set up, a deal was secured with ‘hitman’.
According to the prosecution, she believed that if the Howards were wiped out, she would inherit PJ’s millions.
Both Collins and Eid have always claimed they are innocent. Collins told the high-profiled trial that she had been the victim of a blackmail and that she had been set up after she came into contact, via email, with an author who called herself Maria Marconi.
She claimed that the reason she sent money to a US address was because a blackmailer had requested it. However, the prosecution argued that this was the downpayment to the ‘hitman’ for killing the Howards. The jury agreed and found Collins guilty on all six counts against her.

Written by Andrew Hamilton

Addiction expert calls for mandatory drug tests in Clare secondary schools

CLARE’S leading expert on addiction treatment has called for drug testing to be introduced into the county’s 19 secondary schools.
Treatment manager at the Bushypark Addiction Centre Frank Hunt told The Clare People yesterday that the youth drug problem in Clare has become so bad that schools must “seriously examine testing” students for both drugs and alcohol.
According to Mr Hunt, Clare children as young as 12 years of age are developing addiction problems and he has urged schools principals to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with parents in tackling the issue.
“Not many parents in Clare have had their kids tested [for drugs] and this is something that happens much more in other cultures. It happens in schools in other countries and there are stricter rules in schools. I would raise the question, does testing have to be considered in schools? Could there be a situation where parents and schools could work together to help keep the children away from stuff?” he said.
“I would recommend that schools would now have to seriously examine testing children.”
According to treatment counsellor Ellen O’Neal, it is becoming more difficult for parents to identify if their children are using drugs.
“There are some signs and symptoms but it is not so clear for teenagers. Sometimes the actions of regular teenagers can actually mimic the actions that someone might display if they were using drugs,” she said. “You can look out for a change in behaviour, maybe they start acting different or there is a sudden change in friends, sleeping patterns and eating patterns.”
Despite these claims, one Clare-based secondary school teacher, who asked not to be identified, said schools would find huge opposition if they introduced drug testing for students.
“There would be a big issue in terms of personal freedom and individual rights. Both students and parents would have a problem with this,” she said. “I would think though that it would be very foolish for any community to assume that people cannot easily access drugs, even in the most rural of rural areas.”

 

Seeking Help

The long arm of addiction reaches far beyond the addict themselves. Andrew Hamilton talks to Ennis counsellor Ellen O’Neal and Treatment Manager at the Bushypark Addiction Centre, Frank Hunt, about the price that countless Clare families are forced to pay.

 COUNTLESS families are torn asunder by the scourge of addiction. Whether through alcohol or drug abuse, each year scores of Clare families simply unravel under the weight and pressure of one of Ireland’s greatest illnesses.
While many people look at addiction as an addicts-only problem, one for the addict themselves to solve, according to Ellen O’Neal of the Bushypark Treatment Centre, addiction is more and more being seen as a family problem.
“This is a family disease. It is not just about the addicted person, it affects all members of the family in a very negative way. There is usually a lot of guilt. Families will often think that it is their fault, that they are doing something wrong which is making the other person drink or use drugs. There is also a lot of embarrassment,” she said.
“It leads to a huge amount of isolation as communication is slowly eroded in the family. They don’t talk about it, they don’t talk to each other. There are three rules that most of these families have - don’t talk, don’t trust and don’t feel.
“The family then, often unbeknown to themselves, can actually collude with the addict from avoiding reality. They jump in and cover for the alcoholic or addict, which is what we call enabling. They might take over some responsibilities to cover for the persons drinking or drug taking. It is allowing the drinker or drug addict not to fulfill their own commitments.”
According to the treatment manager at the centre, Frank Hunt, the impact of the illness on an addict’s family can be devastating.
“There are parents who are now prisoners in their own home. This is particularly evident in single-parent families with teenage children. They can’t go anywhere they are so afraid. They stay home to watch and see what is going to happen,” he said.
“You see in addiction that a lot of people end up giving up their own lives for the addict. They are so into controlling and watching the person that they don’t pay any attention to their own life. They spend all their time hiding booze, taking away the car keys...everyone’s emphasis is on the addiction.
“It will happen in some families where an older child has become an addict that the family will then get very tight on the younger children in the family, and stop them from living a normal life and making their own mistakes.
“A child in their teenage years should be able to make a mistake and for it to be okay. But if there is a problem with one child in the family, it can lead to this being removed from family life.”
According to both Ellen and Frank, the first step in tackling the problem for a family must be to begin to talk about it.
“First and foremost, the family has to recognise that everyone has a problem, which is very difficult for most families. It’s easy for people to think that the addict is the one with the problem - fix him or her and everything will be all right. But they need to recognise that it is affecting everybody,” said Ellen.
“They have to learn how to care for themselves. They need to learn to live their life and not focus everything on the addicted person. If a parent is worried about something, they should not be left alone with it. They need to talk to a doctor or an addiction councillor, learn all that they can know about the problem and their role in at and then they might be in a position to get involved. The whole family needs help to take care of themselves and not just the addicted person.”
Some Clare addicts and families are deterred from discussing problems because of the fear and stigma associated with ‘hard’ drugs.
“A problem shared is a problem halved. There are people out there who live in isolation and think that they are the only person who this is happening to. If they could bring themselves to a meeting, then they will realise that this isn’t just a problem with them. You can imagine the benefit that comes from that sort of realisation,” continued Frank.
“When they don’t talk about it and they feel like they are totally alone, then they never get the help that they need. Imagine the stress that parents put on themselves. We think that parents are the people who can sort things out, but this is something that they themselves cannot stop - you cannot stop another person from drinking if they want to do it.
“There is a huge amount of fear out there with the hard drugs, the likes of heroin and ecstacy. Kids don’t want their parents to know that they could possibly have a problem with these and the parents don’t really want to look at the situation, so it doesn’t get dealt  with.
“I have seen parents only find out that their child is using when they arrive here in the treatment centre. There is absolute shock in the room when that happens. It’s fear, and fear is a great enemy of recovery. People need to get talking about this, people need to get in touch with professionals as early as they can if they suspect something. Because children do start using at 12, 13 and 14 years of age - and there are a lot of people out there who wouldn’t believe it.”

The Bushypark Treatment Centre is Clare’s only centre for addiction treatment. They group have organised a new Concerned Person’s Group for anyone who thinks a family member or loved one may be abusing drugs or alcohol, each Tuesday evening, at 7.30pm at the Clarecare Offices in Ennis. For more information on the services, check out www.bushypark.ie.

Written by Gordon Deegan

A SPOKESMAN for the Diocese of Galway stated yesterday that its policy of not permitting its churches to be used as funeral homes has not changed.
This was in response to Licannor parish priest, Fr Denis Crosby, telling parishioners at the weekend that if they want their loved one to repose in the church the night before a funeral, he will not turn them away.
Such a move would be in breach of stated diocesan policy and Fr Crosby said, “We will bring our dead to our church, ‘Teach on Phobal’, ‘Our Father’s House’ where all are welcome.”
It’s the latest twist in a controversy that has been running since last summer when Bishop Martin Drennan moved to end the custom of allowing Liscannor Church to be used as a funeral parlour.
The diocesan spokesman stated that the policy stood that the church should not be used as a funeral home. He declined to respond to the comments made by Fr Crosby to mass-goers on Sunday.
Bishop Drennan has already stated that allowing the Church to be used as a funeral parlour represents a lowering of standards and that there is very little support for it.
A delegation from the parish met with the bishop last Thursday. Ahead of the meeting, the parish – which has no dedicated funeral parlour - wrote Bishop Drennan a letter, accompanied by a petition, urging him to reverse the ban.
In his homily on Sunday, Fr Crosby provided parishioners with an update. “I’m glad to be part of a delegation that spoke to the bishop with clarity, honesty, courage and passion and gave, I believe, a good version of the values of this community. The bottom line from the meeting is that the bishop did not say no.
“We listened carefully to the Bishop’s fears, that there might be a lack of reverence involved in the practice. We gave him assurances that nothing of that nature happened here or would be acceptable here in the future.”
Clare Fianna Fáil TD Timmy Dooley, who has written to Bishop Drennan on the issue, said, “I welcome Fr Crosbie’s assurance that the service would be available to anyone wishing to avail of it. It will provide comfort to many in the parish.”
Cllr Martin Conway (FG) called on Bishop Drennan to make a statement on the issue “in order to clear the air and end the uncertainty”.

Written by Gordon Deegan

THE receiver appointed to take over the affairs of Keco Construction Ltd said that there will be no fire sale of the company’s housing stock or land.
Tom Doheny of the Limerick office of Deloitte was appointed after the company went into receivership last month. Speaking to The Clare People, Mr Doheny said, “There is no intention to have a fire sale. My understanding is that the company’s work was of a very high standard and quality.”
Mr Doheny said that the company has a number of sites which nothing has been built upon, adding that it will be very difficult to dispose of developmental sites quickly.
New documentation from the Companies’ Office confirm that Mr Doheny’s appointment is on behalf of Allied Irish Banks (AIB). The documentation shows that the AIB had a mortgage debenture dated November 13, 2003, between Keco Construction and AIB concerning a first legal charge and a floating charge over all assets of the company. A separate document shows that Anglo-Irish Bank also had a charge on a company asset.
It is believed that the companies trade creditors will be fortunate to secure any monies at the end of the process as AIB and other preferential creditors including the Revenue Commissioners and local authorities must be paid first.
One of the first tasks facing Mr Doheny will be selling off the houses in a completed Keco estate in Roslevan where a large number of homes are empty and remain to be sold.
A study of Keco’s planning applications shows that the company has land interest in Newmarket-on-Fergus, Crusheen, Ballycorey and Ballymaley on Ennis’s Galway Road. At its height during the building boom, the Ennis-based building firm employed 75 people but with the collapse in housing demand, the numbers employed by the firm had dwindled to five.
The company was established by Clare businessmen, Michael Cotter and Eugene Keane in 1998.
In a statement last week confirming the appointment of a receiver, Keco Construction stated, “Every possible avenue has been explored by us and every effort made to avoid this day and we deeply regret any losses that may be incurred by our creditors, sub-contractors and employees.
“The collapse of the housing market, the general decline in the construction industry and the failure of some of our major debtors to meet their commitments means that we can no longer trade.”

Written by Emer Connolly

A JUDGE will rule next month whether a Mullagh man is guilty of assault during a late night incident in Lahinch.
Noel Moroney (23), of Carrowlagan, Mullagh, is charged with assaulting Christopher Collins and also public order, arising out of an incident on Main Street, Lahinch, in the early hours of December 20 last.
However, he pleaded not guilty and after hearing evidence, Judge Joseph Mangan adjourned ruling until next month.
Garda Colm Collins told Ennistymon District Court that he was standing across from the Claremont nightclub at 2.40am when he saw the accused strike another male in the face. He said the other male, later identified as Christopher Collins, fell to the ground.
The garda ran across the street and spoke to Mr Moroney. He said he was highly intoxicated and attempted to run away but was apprehended. Gda Collins said that Mr Moroney was arrested, but was aggressive and had to be restrained.
However, defence solicitor Eugene O’Kelly put it to the garda that his client would say he was approached by Christopher Collins, who went up behind him and grabbed him by the hoodie. The garda replied, “It happened exactly as I said.”
The solicitor said, “After a number of incidents in the nightclub, Mr Collins came up behind Mr Moroney and pulled at his jumper. Mr Moroney put his fist up and swung around to release himself.”
The court heard that Christopher Collins did not make a complaint to gardaí about the matter.
Sergeant Declan O’Keeffe told the court that when the accused attempted to run away he pursued him and apprehended him. “Once I apprehended him, we both fell to the ground,” he said.
Mr O’Kelly put it to the sergeant that his client fell on his front and “you came down on top of him and you handcuffed him.” Sgt O’Keeffe said this was not the case and said the accused “was definitely resisting my presence there.”
Noel Moroney told the court that Christopher Collins approached him twice in the disco and accused him of stealing his drink. Then, on the street, he said he was pulled from behind by the same individual.
He said he rose his hand and swung around to release the grip. “I was only defending myself,” he told the court.
He said he did not speak to Gda Collins and said he panicked and ran when he saw the gardaí approaching him. He said he slipped and fell on his face and denied that he had resisted gardaí.
Mr Moroney told the court he had consumed about nine cans of Bulmers over five hours and was “pretty sober.”
The accused’s sister Cathy Moroney told the court she saw her brother being grabbed from behind and he then swung around. She said the accused did not resist arrest and said he fell before gardaí caught up with him.
Supt Declan Mulcahy asked her was she close to her brother and she said she was. “Would you do anything for your brother?” he asked her. She replied, “Yes.”
However, Mr O’Kelly then put it to her, “Would you perjure yourself in court for your brother?” She replied, “No.”
Mr O’Kelly then submitted to the court that the one person who could have given evidence as to what  happened was Christopher Collins, but he had not been called by the prosecution.
He said there was a doubt in the case and his client was “entitled to the benefit of that doubt.”

Written by Andrew Hamilton

CLARE County Council is to write to the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) asking for them to scrap the singing of Ireland’s Call at all Irish international rugby matches in favour of singing Amhrán na bhFiann at both home and away matches.
At last night’s monthly meeting of Clare County Council, Ireland’s Call was described as a “bastard anthem” and an insult to Irish people.
Currently both Amhrán na bhFiann and Ireland’s Call are sang at home matches, which only Ireland’s Call being sang when the team play away from home.
Ireland’s Call was commissioned by the IRFU in 1995 to reflect that the team represents a 32 county Ireland and not simply the 26 counties of the Irish Republic.
It was written by Phil Coulter and has since been adopted as the anthem of the Irish hockey, cricket, rugby league and A1GP teams.
“Have the IRFU got an inferiority complex towards Amhrán na bhFiann?
“I think that this situation is an insult to the people of Ireland,” said Cllr Pat Daly (FF).
“Various reasons have been put forward for the use of this song. But Irish people who represent the UK in the Olympics have to stand for God Save the Queen, so why shouldn’t people stand for Amhrán na bhFiann.
The motion was also put forward by  Cllr Pat McMahon (FF), who attacked the validity of Ireland’s Call.
“This is a bastard anthem, as far as I know there is no other country in the world where they don’t sing their national anthem,” he said.
“This idea was good in the context of a different time but we have moved on from then. I see the Canadians are now changing their national anthem. I hope that this letter might start a process where we might see our national anthem brought up to date.”
Speaking on the motion, Cllr Martin Conway (FG) said, “We are now in a period of peace thankfully so there is no reason that the IRFU cannot play the national anthem at away matches. I think it would be a sign of us maturing as a nation.”

Written by Emer Connolly

John Kerin took up the post as head of the Clare Garda Division last week. Based at Ennis Garda Station, he takes charge of 370 gardaí and civilian staff across the entire garda division. Having been away from Clare - stationed in Limerick and Kerry - for the past three years, he is looking forward to again being based in his native county. He talks to Emer Connolly.

CRACKING down on criminals, targeting drug dealers, tackling anti-social behaviour and focusing on road traffic enforcement will be central to the aims of Clare’s new Chief Superintendent. John Kerin comes into the post familiar with the issues that permeate across the Clare Garda Division, which takes in Ennis, Shannon, Kilrush, Ennistymon, Killaloe and surrounding areas.
Although Clare has one of the lowest percentage rates of crime in Ireland, nevertheless, every single crime needs to be solved. The role of communities is essential in a rural county like Clare and Chief Supt Kerin has pledged to rejuvenate neighbourhood watch and community alert schemes.
The Belharbour native says he is pleased to be back working in Clare and is looking forward to liaising with the communities throughout the county.
“What I can assure the people of Clare is that I am conscious that I am a public servant. I will give the job 100 per cent commitment and I will be honest and fair in my dealings with issues and problems. I am also conscious I will never satisfy the demand of everyone but I will work hard to try to make the county a safer place for people to live in and to provide the best possible policing service,” he said.
“Partnership consultation is vital and I commit to co-operating with joint policing committees, other statutory agencies and local communities, through addressing issues. The community must remain at the core of everything we do.
“I will be looking at revitalising and re-establishing community alert and neighbourhood watch schemes in the coming months. Our greatest ally in detecting and preventing crime are the citizens themselves. 
“What I will be immediately looking at is to proactively target people who commit crime, focus on anti-social behaviour and disorder which impact on the quality of life for people, targeting drug dealing and working at making our roads safer through road traffic enforcement, education and promoting a partnership approach.
“Our primary function is to ensure people feel safe on the streets and in their homes.  This is our core objective. We are not a perfect organisation. We will have our blips and mistakes. We are human, but where we do make mistakes I will ensure we will review what has happened and learn from mistakes to ensure these are not repeated,” he said.
He is urging the public to assist gardaí in their efforts to solve crime. Last week gardaí paid tribute to a woman, whose call to Ennis Garda Station led to a burglar being caught.
“The reality is we can’t have a guard at every corner of the county 24/7 so we are dependent on the public to be alert and to notice strange activity. More and more, particularly in rural Ireland, we have become more susceptible to travelling criminals; travelling from the cities to rural locations where there is a good degree of isolation,” he said.
In recent weeks, dozens of homes across Clare have been broken into and this has prompted concern among home owners. Gardaí have arrested members of four criminal gangs and charges have been brought.
“There was a substantial reduction in burglaries in 2009 in county Clare. Clare is one of the few counties in Ireland that had a reduction in burglaries last year and that is very commendable. Now, we have had an increase in the first two months of this year. In the last two weeks, four different criminal gangs have been arrested,” he said.
A recent spate of knife crime in Shannon led to additional garda resources being deployed there. Chief Supt Kerin has promised that resources will be diverted, where necessary.
“We have x amount of guards and how we utilise them is up to myself and the four superintendents and the inspectors in the division. What we’ve got to do is look at each sub-district individually and if there is a rise in crime in a particular area, we have to divert resources to it.
“We have a lot of divisional resources in Ennis like the divisional crime unit, the divisional drugs unit, the divisional traffic unit and they can be deployed quite easily and quite readily to those situations as they arise. It’s a matter of putting in place an equitable response to whatever is happening in the area. You will find from time to time that resources will be diverted. That’s what we have to do and there is no other way around it,” he admitted.
Similar to other counties, drugs have become more readily available in Clare in recent years. Gardaí are acutely aware of this but are also mindful of the fact that it can take a long time to bring those responsible to court.
“Heroin in particular is a serious concern for us as an organisation. It’s no worse or no better here in Ennis and Clare than it is in other counties. In fact I’d say there are other counties in a far worse situation than we are here. The drugs unit have achieved major successes in the past year.
“A lot of our operations are based around intelligence and a lot of our work in that area is hidden. It can take months and years to bring those responsible for drug dealing to justice. I am satisfied that the lads are on top of the situation here. We need the public to notify us of what is going on and what their concerns are. I’ll be looking at it closely in the coming months to ensure that we continue to respond positively and proactively to it,” he said.
Recent public sector pay cuts were not well received by garda unions, particularly the Garda Representative Association, which represents around 300 members in Clare. Chief Supt Kerin is adamant that the public will not suffer the backlash of discontent brought about by pay cuts.
“I think there is a bit of a misnomer about morale in the guards. People are trying to exaggerate the situation and say there is low morale. The reality is guards, no more than anyone else, took wage reductions and weren’t overly happy with that. But the reality from what I know is that no guard has failed to respond to any call from a member of the public as a result of those cuts. I’m not saying the guards is like the priesthood but any of us that are in An Garda Síochána join it conscious that we are public servants. While we can be disappointed at times with pay cuts, the reality is people get on with it and do the job. I can assure you it will not affect the services to the people of Clare,” he said.