NO less than four separate agencies of the State had to painstakingly piece together just who was responsible for throwing 12 carcases – eight horses and four cattle – off a 300ft high clift at Baltard, Doonbeg. The rotting remains were discovered in April 2014, sparking off a lengthy – and no doubt, costly – investigation.

This week, 65-year-old farmer Martin Gerald Foley of Lislanihan, Kilkee, pleaded guilty at Ennis Circuit Court to a single charge of disposing of waste likely to cause environmental pollution at dates unknown between April 2013 and March 2014. He will be sentenced on April 23rd next. DNA tests were conducted on the dead animals in a bid to discover more about them and an oceanographer consulted to determine whether they had been washed ashore or not.