Month: September 2005

THERE will be no more used farm plastic collected by the Irish Farm Film Plastic Group (IFFPG) in Clare this year if funding isn’t made available to the organisation 1m- mediately according to the General Manager of the plastic scheme, Sean Campbell.

Mr Campbell was in Clare last week and met with representative of Clare IFA in an attempt to re- solve the situation. According to Mr Campbell the IFFPG has already exceeded it contractual obligation by 4,000 tonnes of plastic this year and if it continues to collect it will go out of business.

The problem, according to Mr Campbell, is plastic that is being sold to farmers illegally and no levy is being collected on that plastic.

“Roughly about 18,000 tonnes of plastic was bought in Ireland this year and out of that a levy was paid on only 15,000,” said Mr Campbell. “It is being imported illegally and we are taking a double hit, we are not receiving the levy on the plastic but we still have to dispose of it.”

The Chairman of the Clare IFA Seamus Murphy has described the current situation of plastic collection in Clare as ‘alarming’ and ‘unsatis- factory.’

“The collection has been unsatis- factory and it’s a big blow that it has stopped altogether,’ said Mr Mur- phy. “IFA members in the county have plastic still on their farms for up to three years and while paying the levy on the plastic, it is not ac-

ceptable that this plastic is not col- lected yet.”

The IFFPG has collected in ex- cess of 12,500 tonnes of plastic this year even though, according to Mr Campbell, they are only required to collect 8,500 by the Government. Collection stopped nationwide at the end of August leaving farmers in many counties left with uncollected jo E-NLB (en

Clare was one of the worst coun- ties hit with roughly have of the

counties plastic left uncollected. The worst hit counties are Wexford and Roscommon where little or no plastic has been collected and Gal- way where approximately two thirds of all plastic remains on the land. Mr Campbell told the Clare Peo- ple that they will be approaching the Departments of Agriculture and the Environment with a view to receiv- ing a grant to cover the cost of col- lecting the remaining plastic. Fail- ing that he said that they well have to

look at the possibility of increasing the levy or introducing some sort of direct payment from the farmers on top of the levy.

Seamus Murphy said that he will be raising the issue with Oireach- tas members in the county over the coming days and hopes that some solution can be found for this prob- lem so that the farm plastic collec- tion service will be up and running as soon as possible.

NEW RYANAIR flights, due to launch from Shannon this Autumn have been cleared for lift-off, amid fears that an industrial dispute could ground re eN ee

If a dispute that is currently in progress at Boeing, runs into Novem- ber, it could hamper Ryanair plans to launch new routes, chief executive, Michael O’Leary has warned.

The airline is currently phasing out its fleet of older aircraft and is due to stop using the old fleet and take de- livery of new planes in the next two TpeKeyels ete

But the retirement of three of the old- er planes has already been delayed by

the Boeing action, which has been go- ing on since the start of the month. The last strike at Boeing lasted 69 days.

At the airline’s annual general meet- ing in Dublin, O’Leary said that Rya- nair could stay on schedule for the launch of new routes, if the action continued into October. But he warned that new routes could be in trouble should the dispute drag on.

A spokesman for Shannon Airport said today that the new routes, due to launch in Shannon in October and No- vember, were expected to go ahead.

A new daily flight to Bristol is to Start in October, while two new routes, serving Nantes three times a week and Malaga twice a week, are to com- mence in November.

“The difficulty will be the knock-on effect of delays in getting all the new planes, so the routes which could be affected are those due to launch from January on… As far as the new Shan- non routes are concerned, we expect they will go ahead without any prob- ance

Meanwhile, the Ryanair boss has re- vealed that they are in talks with Shan- non, Kerry, Derry and Knock about the possibility of connecting flight to Dublin. O’Leary said he cannot say for certain when the next domestic route might be opened.

“It will be whenever the airports come up with a competitive package. That could be October or that could be October two years from now.”

CLARE County Council is to take a number of companies to court for their failure to comply with enforcement notices aimed at removing large advertising signs along the main Limer- ick-Ennis road.

The initiative by the council’s Planning De- partment follows an anti-litter offensive during the summer by the local authority’s Environ- ment Section to rid the county of unauthorised signs put up by auctioneers and other busi- nesses.

In the move by the planning section, Acting

Director of Service, Liam Conneally has in- structed County Solicitor, Michael Houlihan to institute legal proceedings against five separate companies: Supermacs Ltd, Abbar Ltd, the Raddisson Hotel, Sign It and Print It Co Ltd and the Clarion Hotel.

The Clarion Hotel was given until May 26 to remove unauthorised signs in the townland of Cratloe and refund to the Council the expenses incurred by the Planning Authority in the in- vestigation, detection and issue of Enforcement Proceedings.

The Radisson was given until August 10 to remove a sign from the townland of Meelick

and restore the site to its original condition and also refund the costs of the investigation by the Council. A Limerick company, Abbar Ltd was given until April 6 to remove a sign at Meel- ick, restore the site to its original condition and again refund all costs to the council. Su- permacs was given a deadline of the April 8 to remove the sign, but failed to do so, resulting in the council’s instituting the legal proceedings.

The Sign It, Print & Sign Co Ltd of Ballysi- mon Rd, Limerick was also given a deadline of complying with an enforcement notice by July 25 to remove a sign at Meelick, but failed to elonrer

A spokesman for the Council this week con- firmed that a court date had not yet been set and said that the signs had not been taken down when the sites were recently inspected for the purpose of legal proceedings.

Any individual or company found guilty of not complying with an Enforcement Notice is liable to a fine of €1,900 on summary convic- tion in the district court. If after such a convic- tion, the individual or company continues the use of the alleged offence, they would be guilty of a further offence and lable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding €508 for each day on which the offence is continued.

CLARE County Council has come under fire over its demand that a 5,000 year old bog oak tree, that forms part of a sculpture, be cut by one metre in order that it can be part of a Loop Head Memorial.

The demand by the Council’s Planning De- partment was this week described as “imprac- tical and crazy” by Kilballyowen Development Associataion Chairman, John Bonfil.

The Association has lodged plans for the proposal and is refusing the Council’s request to reduce the height of the tree that forms part of a Diarmuid and Grainne sculpture to three metres.

In a letter to the Council, the sculptor of the piece, rural-rights campaigner, Jim Connolly said: “The overall height of the sculpture and base which was conceived as a single artwork cannot be interfered with or reduced. This should not be a planning issue as the height is of a natural tree, albeit one that was dug up from a West Clare bog and is approximately 5,000 years old. The tree itself represents an intrinsic part of West Clare history and culture.

“The tree can’t be reduced. I have never heard the likes of it in my life. I hope the Coun- cil accept the sense of what I had to say.”

The tree, which is to be complimented by two three-quarter size bronze figures of Diarmuid

and Grainne, forms part of a twin-memorial dedicated to the memory of five West Clare men who lost their lives just off Loop Head in 1862 and reflecting ties with West Clare.

The men were all pilots who helped navigate ships up the Shannon estuary in the 19th cen- elas

The Council put the plan on hold because of concerns over the height of the proposed struc- ehKeny

In the initial documents lodged with the Council, no mention was made by the appli- cants of the age of the tree that formed part of the Diarmuid and Grainne display, which was initially on show at Shannon airport.

In May, the applicants lodged a photomon- tage of the memorial, stating that the Diarmuid and Grainne display was five metres. In Au- gust, they said it was now four metres high and are were refusing to go any lower.

Mr Bonfil said this week: “We are confident that the proposed memorial will get planning permission. It is a positive for the community. The only thing holding up the project at the moment is the planning. We have received €20,000 for the two memorials through Lead- er and also a contribution from the Foynes Har- bour Authority. We hope to unveil the memo- rials at the 3rd annual Loop Head Gathering Festival next July.

said that he has used the route from the Ballina side every day for years and has “never experienced anything like the

delays since those lights went in. You have to wait for traffic to turn every which way be- fore you can go straight ahead across the bridge. That means waiting for up to four changes of the lights and they’re all long waits. You can be there for ten minutes or more, I’ve 1p beetsre mn | a

Local Councillor, Tony O’Brien has heard many com- plaints concerning the delays which the lights — turned on just two weeks ago — are caus- ing.

Having raised questions with the council’s roads depart- ment, he was told that they are

tackling teething problems.

The councillor and chair- man of the community coun- cil was told that expert traf- fic management consultants, Traffic Management Solutions Ltd, have been brought in the monitor how the lights are working and pin down snags.

The company is currently looking at how the operation is going and will report back to the county council’s traffic management officials.

“We’ll see what they have to say, but I want whatever needs doing to be done to solve these delays, even if that means switching the lights off,” said Clir O’Brien.

OVER 40 delegates from eve- ry County and City Enterprise Board in Ireland flocked to La- hinch this week for the eigth annual Association of Assist- ant CEO’s and Business Advi- sors Conference.

The conference, which was being held in Clare for the second time, began in the La- hinch Golf and Leisure Hotel on Wednesday morning and lasted for two days. The pur- pose of the high level meeting was to compare and contrast the different strategies used by the Enterprise Boards from all over the country and to swap ideas and experiences.

The main issue dealt with at the conference was the role of the Central Support Unit

for County Enterprise Boards. The Central Support Unit, which has responsibility for all the Enterprise Boards, has been up to the present time un- der the control of the Depart- ment of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.

However, under the new ar- rangements discussed in Lahi- nch this Central Support Unit will now be managed by En- terprise Ireland.

“It is a fairly significant move,’ said Lucy Reidy, Busi- ness Advisor for the Clare County Enterprise Board. “It is going to bring change to the Enterprise boards but at the moment we don’t know exactly how. The decision was taken by the Government in an effort to streamline the work of the agencies.”

Aside from the Central Sup- port Unit the delegates also discussed the importance of design excellence in Irish busi- ness. Mr Sean McNulty, Presi- dent of the Institute of Design- ers in Ireland, spoke about the importance of design for entre- preneurs and outlined the com- petitive gain for entrepreneurs who use creativity in design.

Life long learning was also on the discussion table with Mr Dermot Coughlan, Director of the Centre for Lifelong Learn- ing and Outreach with the Uni- versity of Limerick, speaking to the delegates.

“It was successful and a lot of good ideas came from it,” continued Ms Reidy. “I think that the ideas swapped here will help the micro enterprise sector in the future.”

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The castle, which was built in 1306 by the O’Connor family, has developed a number of deep cracks over the last few years which now Web usrelKo) /MMOOCoMECIE-1OyEDIA MOJO Os loMIINUECOr neko

Dough Castle lies between the seventh and eight hole of the La- hinch Castle Golf Course and has been the subject of a major archi- tectural investigation in recent weeks.

Secretary Manager of the club, Alan Reardon, is currently await- ing the results of the investigation before action can be taken to rein- force the castle.

“We are looking into the situation

at the moment,” said Mr Reardon.

‘There are some cracks that have been developing over the years and we are investigating what is the best way to deal with them. It’s not in danger of falling down too soon.”

The investigation will also at- tempt to uncover as much informa- tion as possible about the castle’s long and proud history.

“We are trying to find out as much as we can about the castle and see if it is a protected struc- ture,’ continued Mr Reardon.

“At that point we can see what kind of grants are available to help fund the work.”

While it is impossible to say for sure the castles current state of dis- repair is blamed by many on the sandy foundations on which it is built.

Sections of the building have col-

lapsed at various times during the nineteenth century and at present only one wall remains fully intact.

Dough Castle was originally founded by the O’Connors at the beginning of the fourteenth cen- elas

Its original name was ‘Dumhach Ui Chonchtir’ which translates roughly as O’Connor’s Sandbank.

The O’Connors were ousted from the castle by the O’Brien family in the time of Elizabeth the first of England.

The current castle dates back to the sixteenth century when it was the property of Sir Donal O’Brien and his family.

The castle was save from dem- olition by ‘Commissioners for overthrowing and demolishing castles in Connacht and Clare’ by a Cromwellian officer named Colo- nel Stubber in 1654.

LADY Gregory will be hon- oured once again this week- end as the Autumn Gather- ing takes place at the Lady Gregory Hotel and Coole Park in Gort.

The gathering, which is in its eleventh year, will include a host of lectures, plays, cul- tural and social events to highlight Lady Gregory’s contribution to the [Irish Lit- eV AYA CAREY

The weekend will be of- ficially launched in_ the Lady Gregory Hotel at 6pm on Friday evening by Ben Kennedy, the great-grandson of Lady Gregory and Ronnie O’Gorman.

This will be followed by the launch of an Italian translation of Lady Grego- ry’s stories for children ed- ited by Dr Rosangela Barone and Melita Catald1.

Saturday will be domi- nated by a series of lectures in Coole Park chaired by Ki- Cie-NO Nye esre KYA

The lectures will cover topics including mythology, shrines and the supernatural and will feature professors Gearoid MacEoin, Miranda Aldhouse-Green and Patri- cia Lysaght.

SW rlemeeldetoubetcmalemeleneey tec pleted on Sunday by a trip to Thoor Ballylee for the pres- entation of a series of poems about Thoor Ballylee by Pe- ter O’Shaughnessy.

The weekend comes to close in the traditional way on Sunday afternoon with tea and barn brack at The Lady Gregory Hotel.

Lady Gregory is_ best known for her work with Yeats and Synge in the for- mation of the Irish National Theatre and the Abbey The- atre Company.

A playwright herself, she gained notoriety not just be- cause of her artistic work but also because of her role as a patron for some of Ireland’s best known writers. She died on May 22, 1932 at the age fo) are OF

ENNIS Town Council has given the go-ahead for a commercial development that is expected to further reyuve- nate the Drumbiggle part of eTom Kenai e

Earlier this year, Pat Hans- bury, Alan Collins and Do- nie and John Dillane lodged plans with the Council for a four storey building to con- tain 18 apartments and four retail units, along with an underground car-park to ac- commodate 46 car-parking Sey: eke

Currently, the site is waste- land opposite Ennis town Council’s Drumbiggle head- quarters and was the former site of the rundown Drumbig- gle flats before they were de- molished by the Council.

The Council subsequently sold the property and plans were lodged for the develop- ment earlier this year.

In its decision, the Council ruled that the development would not seriously injure the amenities of adjacent dwell- ings, is acceptable in terms of traffic safety and is in the interests of proper planning and development.

However, the plan has en- countered opposition from residents in the Buttermarket

area of Ennis. In an objection lodged with the Council, the residents claim that “the de- sign of the proposed structure is more appropriate to a city or sea/harbour location than a central location in a medium size town with streetscape of traditional design.”

SU ileaar Uomo t-b bee mm ner:l mmm lets proposal bears no relation- ship to any development in the vicinity with respect to scale or density and the scale of the building is excessive and will be unduly prominent in its setting with respect to all developments in the gen- eral area.”

They also claim that the building detracts from the visual amenity of the Town SEV o eel Cebuetcanysavloe miei Ker Kor@] Coxe CLO MELCLRU KOR

The residents also raise concerns over the impact the development will have on traffic in the area.

They state: “access to the underground car park is off the side road and will result in large volumes of traffic coming up and down Butter- market Street.

“This street is not capa- ble of taking the volumes of traffic that would be gener- ated by the development. The Council should also note that this street is used extensively

by school children walking to the nearby schools. Traffic generated by the development in these circumstances would be a serious traffic hazard.”

The residents also pointed out that the proposal is lo- cated within Ennis’s archi- tectural conservation area (ACA) where new buildings will be permitted where it can be clearly demonstrated that that such developments reflect the character of the area and its streetscape.

In the planner’s report on the case, it is stated: “the development now proposed, contains 18 apartments. The scale and extent of the pro- posal has now been consider- ably reduced from previous applications.

“The majority of the devel- opment now faces Drumbig- gle Rd. Rear return section has been omitted thereby reducing significantly the im- pact of the development on the adjoining cottages.

“The basement holds 46 car-parking spaces. This is not considered to be of such number that it would give rise to traffic hazard.

The council granted plan- ning permission, subject to 39 conditions including that the developers contribute €217,000.

A conference to discuss the future of scouting in Ireland will take place at the West County Hotel in Ennis next weekend. For the first time Scouting Ireland are hosting their annual commission- ers conference outside of Dublin. The two day confer- ence will be attended by 70 delegates including national officers who will attempt to outline how best the organi- sation can go forward.

The popularity of sports such as hurling, football and soccer has seen scout num- bers in Ireland fall consist- ently over the past few years. SUicor-KeReteCONUN A ReKoNIG dren enrolled in the scouts in Ennis along with 25 vol- unteers. The Ennis branch of the scouts opened in 1932 and will celebrate its 75th birthday in two years time.

One of the main topics up for discussion will be an evaluation of the organisa- tions Renewed Approach

Programme (RAP), a new initiative designed to make scouting more appealing in the 21st century. “Through RAP we are trying to make scouting more relevant to today’s society, because lets face it scouting isn’t cool an- ymore outside of the sphere of scouting. We are trying to make it appealing and relevant to a lot of other peo- ple. That would be one of the main challenges facing the scouts in Ireland today,’ said Julie Malone

Provincial Commissioner in the western region for scouting Ireland. To address the issue Scouting Ireland have already redesigned its uniform and released stick- ers and banners to make scouting more visible.

“Scouting isn’t just about hiking and the weekly meet- ing in the hall. There are life skills to be learned that other organisations don’t practice such as safety and first aid. These are important skills that you have for life”