Tag Archives: appeal

SHOCKING television images of the migrant crisis in Calais has spurred one Clare woman into dramatic action. A conversation at the end of last week between Inagh’s Róisín Ní Gháirbhith and a friend of hers in Cork about the situation at the French port has now turned into a national humanitarian aid convoy involving two trucks, 10 vans, two camper vans, six cars and 40 volunteers. Desperate migrants from North Africa and the Middle East have been travelling to Calais in an effort to enter the UK. Some have attempted to walk the 31-mile Channel Tunnel, while others try to stow away on trucks using the Eurotunnel or on ships travelling from the port. Others try to climb aboard the Eurostar train. Now Calais is home to large, poorly-equipped camps and an estimated 3,000 migrants, mainly men and boys, many of whom paid large sums to people smugglers to get there. “I was watching all this on television and reading …

A discount supermarket should not be built in a North Clare town because part of the proposed site may have been used as a children’s burial ground, objectors to the project have claimed. Aldi Stores Ireland Ltd was granted permission by Clare County Council last month to demolish Ennistymon Mart and build a single-storey discount foodstore on the site. Now, the Save Ennistymon Mart Committee has submitted an affidavit, sworn by one of its members, to An Bord Pleanála claiming a woman who had lived in the town “had arranged for a priest to bless a part of the Fair Green below Doherty’s gate under which…the bodies of small children had been buried”. “These were unbaptised children whom the Catholic Church did not allow to be buried inside the grounds of the church and graveyard, which is nearby,” the affidavit from local farmer Tom Clair states. The group has opposed the closure and sale of Ennistymon Mart since it was …

DESPITE numerous local objections, Aldi Stores Ireland Ltd have been granted planning permission for the demolition of existing buildings at Ennistymon mart and the construction of a new discount foodstore, including off-licence, with a gross floor area of 1,590m2. Clare County Council granted their application subject to 21 conditions. These include a requirement that the development only operates between 9am and 8pm between Monday and Saturday and only between 10am and 7pm on Sundays and public holidays. There is also a requirement that there be no deliveries between 11am and 7am. The decision will be appealed to An Bord Pleanála, Pat O’Donoghue, chairman of the Save Ennistymon Mart Committee, confirmed on Wednesday. “We have decided to appeal and we have applied for an open forum because it’s much bigger than a farmers’ mart issue, there’s a lot of local residents quite unhappy with the location. There’s a lot of people who are employed in the town who are concerned about …

Mid West Simon has launched an emergency food appeal after it emerged that some families in Ennis and Kilrush were struggling to put food on the table. The charity told The Clare Champion that they “urgently need support in order to maintain our vital food banks in Ennis and Kilrush for families under severe financial pressure”. Mid West Simon general manager, Jackie Bonfield, said people who cannot pay for food are sometimes too embarrassed to ask for help. “It is difficult to understand how food poverty can be experienced by families or individuals in Clare but the facts are so clear. People are suffering behind closed doors and are often too ashamed to ask for help. Low incomes, high rents, high mortgage payments and increasing utility bills are forcing people to choose between food and bills,” she revealed. The most recent CSO statistics indicate that over 15% of the population is at risk of poverty, with more than 8% living …

THE High Court has quashed a decision to dismiss a detective garda, who had admitted breaching garda rules concerning the handling of informants. However, Mr Justice Iseult O’Malley said internal disciplinary proceedings against Limerick-based Detective Garda Brian Culbert from Sixmilebridge should be reheard by a garda board of inquiry established to investigate allegations he had committed serious breaches of discipline regulations. The High Court heard that Culbert had been involved in the investigation of extremely serious crime in the Limerick area. As part of his work, Detective Culbert acted as a handler for an informant. During the course of his work, it was alleged the detective breached garda rules as to how informants are handled. The detective was ordered by his superiors to stop. However, in what was a complex situation, he ignored those orders. As a result, Detective Culbert was charged with breaching garda disciplinary rules and an internal garda board of inquiry was set up to investigate the …

Clare hurler Brendan Bugler has lost his appeal against a two-match ban imposed by the Central Hearings Committee, following his sending-off against Dublin in the league. The Whitegate hurler was shown a straight red card by Cork’s Cathal McAllister following an off-the-ball incident in the first-half. He was subsequently given a two-match ban, as he had been previously shown a red card inside the last 12 months. The appeal was heard by the Central Appeals Committee last evening. “Having heard and considered all submissions and evidence of witnesses on behalf of the appellant and the decision-maker, the CAC upheld the decision of the CHC and rejected the appeal”, according to a statement issued by Croke Park. The decision is a further blow to Clare’s hopes of retaining Division 1 status for next season, as he will now miss Sunday’s relegation play-off with Kilkenny. By Seamus Hayes    

GARDAI in Killaloe are appealing for witnesses to a road traffic accident in which two drivers were injured, one seriously. The two-car crash occurred last Friday afternoon at 3pm at Two-Mile-Gate, on the Killaloe to Scariff road. Units of the fire brigade from Scariff and Killaloe attended the scene along with ambulances from Killaloe and Limerick City. The seriously injured female driver was stabilised at the scene before removed to University Hospital Limerick for treatment. Gardai in Killaloe are continuing with their investigations into the accident and have appealed for witnesses to contact them on 061-620540.

AN emergency meeting of the Clare Ladies Football County Board, held on Tuesday evening, unanimously backed the recently elected county board in their plans to appeal Munster Council’s Appeals Committee decision to uphold outgoing chairman, Davy Browne’s appeal to them. At the county convention in December, Bernie Regan comprehensively ousted Browne from the chairperson’s role. The Doonbeg man was also beaten in his efforts to be elected as county minor manager. He subsequently appealed the way in which the annual convention was technically conducted to a Munster Council Appeals Committee. They ruled in his favour last Friday but that does not mean the former chairman is automatically returned. “Munster Council are aware that until this process is finished, the existing board remains in position. From everyone’s point of view, Bernie Regan is the chairperson,” recently elected county board secretary, Paul McKenna, told The Clare Champion. This week’s emergency meeting was attended by 39 delegates. The meeting voted, 31 votes to …