Tag Archives: Deputy Cathal Crowe

GARDAÍ are investigating an allegation that the signature of Deputy Cathal Crowe was forged and fraudulently used to make a complaint to the Council about a local business. The Fianna Fáil TD branded the incident, in which a letter with his name was forged and sent to Clare County Council’s planning enforcement section, as “cowardly”. The fake document made a number of allegations that a named business was in breach of planning controls. It also falsely suggested that Deputy Crowe had received a number of complaints and called on the authority to conduct an investigation. “This is a cowardly act by somebody with a grudge,” Deputy Crowe told The Champion. “I’m 17 years in politics and have never seen anything like it. Whoever is behind this should have had the gumption to use their own name and go through the channels properly. “This forgery is something that could have had major fall-out for the business named.” The Meelick man outlined …

A Clare Deputy has called for action to clear the backlog of passport applications after new figures revealed 1,000  local people are on a waiting list. New information provided to Fianna Fáil spokesperson on Tourism and Aviation and TD for Clare, Cathal Crowe, show that there is a backlog of 1,000 passport applications in Clare. Out of the overall total, 900 are for renewals with 100 first time applications. Deputy Crowe commented, “The challenge of clearing this backlog will be significant and I hope it can be addressed soon. While obviously the fundamental reason for having a passport is that of international travel, it is not of huge importance right now, nonetheless it is essential that we resume normal service as soon as possible. “The target for vaccination against Covid-19 is for 80 percent of adults to have at least had one jab by the end of June. Similar targets exist across Europe. If these are achieved, it is likely …

A CLARE TD has hit out at “do-gooders,” who claim people have the right to keep horses, regardless of their capacity to give them adequate care. Deputy Cathal Crowe made his remarks at a recent meeting of the Joint Policing Committee (JPC), where he disputed social media claims that people have a cultural right to horse ownership. “There was a situation where a horse died in the south of Clare in the last 14 days,” he said. “That horse was not being cared for in accordance with the Animal Health and Welfare Act or the Control of Horses Act.” Citing his own personal experience, Deputy Crowe disputed the belief that people should be allowed to keep horses, if that is their culture. “You can say it’s a culture to keep horses,” he said, “but I don’t agree. My grandparents had horses. My father didn’t, because he hadn’t the space. He didn’t think he had the God-given right to keep horses.” …

ALCOHOL and drug use in the home have been blamed, in part, for what Clare’s Garda Chief Superintendent has described as “a very significant increase” in breaches of court orders in cases of domestic abuse. Outlining crime figures for January to March at the meeting of the Joint Policing Committee (JPC), Chief Superintendent Seán Colleran noted a 43% rise in the breaches of barring orders, safety orders and protection orders issued by the courts to protect victims and families. The rise, from 21 breaches in the first quarter of last year to 30 to date in 2021, is in sharp contrast to a general drop across most crime categories during the pandemic. The chief superintendent also outlined an increase of 10% in the number of domestic disputes where no offence was disclosed. These rose from 92 incidents between January and March of last year to 101 in the same period in 2021. Concerns about domestic abuse during the pandemic were …

CLARE’S Garda chief has promised a “proactive” approach to an illegal encampment at the Station Yard in Sixmilebridge. The matter was raised at this week’s meeting of the Joint Policing Committee (JPC) by Councillor PJ Ryan. The Independent representative said there was considerable concern because those involved had turned down an offer of Council accommodation, and were refusing to move on until they are provided with housing at an alternative location of their choice. Deputy Cathal Crowe expressed his annoyance at the situation, saying it threatened the integrity of the social housing system. “At this stage, they are absolutely taking the mick,” he said. “They have obviously travelled from somewhere, during Covid, and despite the travel restrictions. They now say they can’t travel back to the UK, because of Covid, and that the Council has to house them as a solution. “It is important to say that Travellers have the right to housing. Everyone respects that. However, there are a …

PATIENTS are being discharged from a new 60-bed block unit at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) without adequate planning for step down supports, a local deputy has claimed. Deputy Cathal Crowe is calling on the HSE to ensure that an official discharge co-ordinator is put in place for the new 60-bed block. At present, the role is not filled for the €19.5 million modular unit at UHL, which began taking patients in late 2020 and hospital management have no plans to appoint a new person to this post. “I have been raising the issue of a lack of a discharge co-ordinator for this block both in the Oireachtas Health Committee and with Colette Cowan, CEO of the UL Hospitals’ Group,” said Deputy Crowe. “Several families of patients and workers in the system have been in contact with me highlighting the fact that where a patient is being discharged, there’s very little in terms of stepdown planning for having supports in place …

CONCERN has been expressed about the lack of information being provided to Clare postmasters about the exact amount they will be paid, if a new alliance with Bank of Ireland is agreed and implemented. Kildysart native, Tom O’Callaghan of Independent Postmasters’ Group said it looked as if postmasters are being offered a relatively small payment to complete all Bank Of Ireland branch services in post offices. Mr O’Callaghan said a community banking model would be more sustainable, providing funding for small and medium enterprises and localcommunities. The provision of banking though the Post Office Network will require initial investment. National Treasury Management Agency has more than €23 Billion in deposits, which could be incentivised for investment to public banking. He stressed new measures are needed to safeguard the the post office network in Clare and prevent further closures. His concern comes after another setback for the Broadford Action Group’s efforts to reverse the closure of the local post office, which …

RYANAIR has agreed to a refund for a school group from St Joseph’s in Tulla, whose planned Transition Year tour to Barcelona last April had to be called off because of the pandemic. While the airline insists that it was prepared, at all stages, to return the money which the students had paid through an operator called Saffron Travel, a dispute had arisen as to how the refund was to be made. The seat-pricing policy operated by Ryanair means that individual refunds – the method preferred by the airline – would have resulted in some students getting far less money back than the €200 each of them had paid. After intensive efforts on the part of Oireachtas members Deputy Cathal Crowe and Senator Timmy Dooley, a solution has been agreed. The total flight fare of €17,500 will now be paid to the school who will make an equal refund to each of the 80 affected students. “This has been allowed …