The trial of a Clare man accused of raping and sexually abusing a teenage boy who he used to give money to has collapsed today (Tuesday) following a legal issue. The 70- year-old accused, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had pleaded not guilty to three counts of anal rape and two counts of sexual assault of the youth at various locations in the county between 1999 and 2000. The jury at the Central Criminal Court in Dublinwas told during the opening prosecution speech that the man admitted to gardaí that he touched the then 14 year old’s penis on one occasion but claimed that nothing else happened. He told gardaí during interview that he used to give the boy money for food because he felt sorry for him. The alleged victim gave evidence that he was raped repeatedly in the man’s car on various occasions and that he was sexually abused in his house. The jury was discharged …

Clare’s All-Ireland winning captain from 1995 and 1997, Anthony Daly is to head up the Limerick underage hurling academy. Daly also managed Clare before taking on a similar role with Dublin, whom he led to National League and Leinster titles, after many years in the wilderness The announcement, this week, means that the Limerick underage hurling and football academies will, in 2015, be managed by two people who have played a huge part in the success enjoyed by Clare hurling. Back in October, Paul Kinnerk, coach to the Clare senior and under 21 All-Ireland winning hurlers of recent years, was appointed to take charge of the Limerick underage football academy. Kinnerk, a member of the Monaleen club in Limerick, has played all grades of football for the Shannonsiders. Since Daly stepped down after six seasons in charge of Dublin hurlers, there has been much speculation as to what team he would manage next. He was strongly linked with a move to …

The Minister for Health, Leo Varadkar has pledged to step up efforts to bring about a reduction in the number of drug-related deaths. He was speaking as the 2012 figures from the National Drug-Related Deaths Index have just been published, the last full year for which data is available. It shows a small decline in the overall number of drug-related deaths, and the number of deaths in which heroin was involved also continues to decline. “Drug-related deaths still remain at an unacceptable level, and every death is a tragedy in its own right. We need to continue our efforts to reduce the number of such deaths. “The HSE Service Plan for 2015 includes an additional €2.1m for measures under the National Drugs Strategy targeting vulnerable problem drug users. These measures include enhanced provision for residential detoxification and rehabilitation facilities, and the mainstreaming of needle exchange facilities outside the Dublin area,” the Health Minister said. This funding will also support a …

Minister of State for Tourism, Michael Ring has announced the provision of an additional €850,000 for Fáilte Ireland, much of which will be invested in developing the web presence of the Wild Atlantic Way and Dublin. The funding is part of the Supplementary Estimate for the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, which was recently announced by Minister Paschal Donohoe. “The provision of €850,000 to Fáilte Ireland as part of the Supplementary Estimate will be used to support IT investments, including promoting the Wild Atlantic Way and Dublin. This will ensure that marketing and social media aspects of promotion can be prioritised so that the message about Ireland’s attractiveness is delivered loud and clear. This will allow us to continue to build on the strong growth we have seen in tourism in 2014.” The Government has already provided €8 million in funding for the Wild Atlantic Way this year to establish discovery points and enhance signage as well as other …

THE parish of Dysart and Ruan is appealing for sites for use as graveyards, as the existing cemeteries in both villages fill up. Parish priest, Fr Pat O’Neill, said new burial grounds are needed and is calling on people to make land available for them. He said that people can still be buried in family graves but that there are very few new plots available. “I think there is only another grave or two in the graveyard in Ruan, so if there are a few new graves required shortly, we could be in trouble,” he said. Fr O’Neill stated that suitable sites are needed quickly. “Going to Kyle or Drumcliffe, or Corofin is not acceptable. People should be able to be buried in their own place. One of the things I would say is that any old graveyard is not an archaeological site. They are living places. They are for the living and for the dead and I don’t think …

A Clare man has gone on trial accused of raping and sexually abusing a teenage boy who he used to give money to. The 70- year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has pleaded not guilty to three counts of anal rape and two counts of sexual assault of the youth at various locations in the county between 1999 and 2000. The jury at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin on Monday heard the man admitted to gardaí that he touched the then 14 year old’s penis on one occasion but claimed that nothing else happened. He told gardaí during interview that he used to give the boy money for food because he felt sorry for him. Opening the trial, prosecuting counsel, Dominic McGinn, SC, said that the accused allegedly took the boy for drives in his car to places where the abuse took place. He said the man and boy worked out a “signal system”. If the accused …

KILSHANNY-based Canadian, Kim Hood  has been shortlisted for The Bookseller’s inaugural Young Adult Book Prize for her debut novel, Finding A Voice. The competition was open to writers in Britain and Ireland and the winner of the £2,000 prize will be announced in March. “Basically, it’s a story about friendship. A girl, who is 13, is basically a caregiver for her mother, who suffers from mental illness. Life isn’t going so great for her, between home and school where she kind of has the reputation of being ‘the weird kid with the weird mother’. She volunteers in the special education wing and she meets a character called Chris, who has cerebal palsey and cannot talk. It’s basically about how they both develop a voice through their friendship,” Kim said of the book. Writing for young people comes quite easily to her, she says, while her own teens, difficult as they were, have given her a useful insight. “When I started …

A very merry Christmas, with an anticipated 15% increase in passenger numbers from 12 months ago, kicked off at Shannon Airport at the weekend, as 2,000 children and parents got to meet Santa in the skies. In an initiative to thank the public for its support over what has been a year of strong growth, as well as raise some much needed funds for two local charities, Shannon Airport, in partnership with Ryanair, made Christmas come early for the excited children as 12 flights took the skies over Saturday and Sunday. Among those getting to savour this special moment were special needs children from the Clare Crusaders Clinic, St Gabriel’s School in Limerick and Mirmear Autism Unit in Tipperary. Demand for the ‘free flights’, the booking fee for which goes to charity, was so high that they booked out in all of 12 minutes, when they went up for grabs two weeks ago. The airport is readying itself for its …