News

Dan Danaher speaks with Aimee Foley who waived her right to anonymity following her father’s conviction and sentencing for raping and sexually abusing her AN ENNISTYMON woman, who was sexually abused, raped and traumatised by her father for years, is seeking changes in the sentencing regime for people convicted of domestic violence, rape and serious sexual assault. On December 13, Michael O’Donoghue (44) from Ennistymon was sentenced to five years for brutally raping and abusing his only daughter. Setting a headline sentence of 12 years, Mr Justice David Keane reduced it to seven years, taking mitigating factors into account and then suspended the final two years. O’Donoghue, with an address of Colmanstown, Ballinasloe, Co Galway, pleaded guilty to 31 counts of sexually assaulting Aimee Foley, one count of raping her and one count of producing child pornography. In her comprehensive victim impact statement, she described her father as “a monster, a paedophile, an animal”. The Director of Public Prosecutions has …

OVERCROWDING surged again in University Hospital Limerick this week close to record levels following recent calls for an independent inquiry into why this continues to be a problem at the region’s flagship acute hospital. The number of patients on trolleys increased from 63 on Tuesday to 89 on Wednesday after 78 patients were waiting for a bed on Monday, according to the INMO’s Trolley Watch. An Taoiseach Micheál Martin has pledged to ask Health Minister Stephen Donnelly to set up an independent inquiry into chronic overcrowding in University Hospital Limerick (UHL) after two record-breaking days of trolley numbers last week. Surging admissions, which resulted in 97 patients languishing on trolleys in UHL on Tuesday, January 25 and 111 on Wednesday, January 26 have prompted calls for an independent inquiry into overcrowding. Deputy Michael McNamara asked the Taoiseach to commission an official independent inquiry to establish “what is the problem with healthcare in the UHL Hospitals’ Group”. The Taoiseach said there …

IRELAND finds itself in a prime position to be a global leader in climate action, and that position may find its beginning off the coast of Clare, writes Conor Colhessy. That’s according to Councillor Joe Killeen who pointed out the combination of west coast wind and Moneypoint infrastructure that puts Clare in a leading position. The European Union aims to be climate-neutral by 2050, becoming an economy with net-zero greenhouse gases, an objective at the heart of the European Green Deal. In order to substitute the use of fossil fuels, the EU proposes to use its own natural resources instead – the west coast of Ireland records the highest wind speeds in the entire Union. Councillor Killeen told the recent west Clare municipal district meeting: “This isn’t a competition with the east coast of Ireland, but obviously it is. We do have the one huge advantage in that we have a link from Moneypoint to all parts of Ireland for …

EMOTIONS ran high among those gathered at The Height in Ennis on Saturday for a rally to highlight the problem of pyrite in homes across the county. One West Clare homeowner urged everyone to stand up to the discrimination this county faces as it continues to be excluded from the State-backed redress scheme. Addressing the 200-strong gathering Linda O’Callaghan, who lives in Cooraclare, spoke of her anger and frustration. Her home has had extensive testing to prove the presence of defective material in the blocks, after she noticed severe cracks emerging some years ago. “Every single person living in County Clare should be livid with anger,” she said. “This Government is riding roughshod over the people of County Clare. This Government is discriminating against the people of County Clare and all the residents of County Clare, not just those with pyrite in their houses. “My house has pyrite. My house has cracks. My house has been assessed by an IS465-qualified …

MORE than 130 landowners in the Killaloe Municipal District have been contacted and reminded about their obligations to maintain hedges while the season is open until the end of February. The figure was revealed at last week’s meeting of the district committee, on foot of a motion from Councillor Pat Burke. The Whitegate member sought an update after raising the issue previously last November. There was widespread support when Councillor Burke raised the matter and told the meeting that drivers, particularly those in high-sided vehicles, were losing windscreens and wing mirrors on a regular basis.  In a written response to Councillor Burke, Niamh Madden, Senior Executive Engineer, said many landowners had complied with correspondence from the authority, but that a number of them had not.  “Between September 2021 and December 2021, one hundred and thirty five letters have been sent by the Killaloe Municipal District to land owners/occupiers outlining their obligations under under S70 of the Roads Act 1993 and …

MODEL plane enthusiast Michael Kelly whose collection is housed at Shannon Airport, met with Hollywood star John Travolta when he made a recent visit, writes Owen Ryan. Michael’s collection is one of the largest in the world, developed over several decades and it has been housed at Shannon Airport for the last three years, with many passengers stopping to take a look. On Saturday he met with the Pulp Fiction and Saturday Night Fever star at Travolta’s request. “Besides acting, he loves his aviation,” said Michael. “He was coming into Shannon Airport, and I’d be out there with model aviation and he had seen bits and pieces about me on YouTube. He wanted to see the gallery and catch up with me if he possibly could,” Michael told the Champion. “There’s a man working in the airport who was looking after his aircraft. He had a chat with him and he asked if he could possibly go up and see …

CONTROVERSIAL plans to increase the size of the development of a primary healthcare facility have been given approved by An Bord Pleanala. Valley Healthcare Fund Infrastructure Investment Fund ICAV had lodged an appeal after Clare County Council refused permission for the plans at the former Braids site on Station Road. Last year in a split decision, the local authority refused to amend planning permission previously granted for a mixed use development that would increase the floor area from 7,250sqm to 8,008sqm with the provision of an additional floor set back at roof top level. The plans had initially included an additional deck of car parking which was later omitted by the developers. While refusing to allow the increase in size, the local authority gave the go-ahead to other aspects of the application seeking to amend the initial health care facility plans. During the local authority planning process the proposals had been the subject of a number of objections from local …

Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications Eamon Ryan TD will visit Clare next week. On Thursday, February 10, Minister Ryan will attend ‘In conversation on Climate’, a public event for the people of Clare, hosted by Clare Green Party Senator Róisín Garvey. This is a free and public event, beginning at 8.30pm in The Old Ground Hotel. Everyone is welcome to attend and questions will be taken from the audience. On Friday Minister Ryan will give a Climate Action Plan briefing to county councillors in the Council Chamber. In addition, he will join the Gaelscoil Mhíchíl Cíosóg Walking bus, visit public realm in Ennis and a social housing retrofit project and a visit to Shannon and the airport. Senator Garvey said, “It is great that my Green Party colleague Minister Eamon Ryan, the Minister for Climate, is taking the time to speak to Clare councillors on the Climate Action Plan. “In fact, he hopes to attend every council chamber in …