Month: July 2007

THE month of July attracts ex-Pats back to the west Clare peninsula, as a nine-day festival celebrates all that is good about its unique traditions and abuse

Many visitors to the peninsula now plan their holidays around the Loop- head Gathering Festival once the date is set in September. This year is no exception, as thousands of people are expected in the village.

The hard working committee have again embraced their heritage and history with a unique line up of ac- tivities, which includes the opening of yet another part of the remembrance garden and the launching of a book of recipes, old cures, and old household tips.

On Sunday the bishop of Killaloe Dr Willie Walsh will celebrate mass in the famous Church of the Lit-

tle Arc in Kilbaha before the crowd move to the Garden of Remembrance for the unveiling of two new pieces of oqUbholAbuss

The first piece reflects on the “yel- low men” who perished in a ship- wreck approximately 150 years ago and also remembers all who lost their lives at sea.

Entitled the teardrop it was designed by Michael McTigue.

The second pieces is “the flame of freedom” remembering all of those involved in Irelands movement for in- dependence throughout the centuries.

There is little superstition sur- rounding the festival organisers as it all starts on Friday 13 with the John Kelly Traditional concert in Kilbaha Hall at 8pm.

John Kelly was born in 1912 in Rehy and his earliest influence came from his mother and his uncle fiddle player Tom Keane from Kilclogher.

He played music at many local func- tions before moving to Dublin in 1945 where he remained until his death in 1989. He had a shop in Capel Street called the Horseshoe which became a meeting place for many traditional musicians.

He played regularly with his sons in Slattery’s of Capel Street, and accom- panied many well known musicians including the Dubliners.

John Kelly was also an original member of Ceoltoiri Cualann with Sean O Riada and later a member of Ceolt6iri Laghainn with Eamon De Buitleir.

On Friday a number of acts includ- ing John Kelly, Pat Good and Liam Kennedy, John Mc Evoy and Jacinta Peadar Crotty, Peter and Oisin Han- rahan, Deirdre Cotter, the Mc Don- agh Brothers and Marty Marrinan will bring song, music and dance to the stage.

The now traditional cultural parade with the theme “Rolling back the years” will take place on Saturday.

Visitors can also look forward to Currach racing, traditional music, dance and song workshops, music, Mass in the graveyard and many more activities during the festival, which will last until Sunday, July 22.

‘There is something for everyone in this festival all we need are the peo- ple and the weather to enjoy a great week of festivities on the Loophead Peninsula. There is a fishing boat working out of Kilbaha for day trips to keep you busy during the day and Dolphin watching and shore fishing from Ross. You can also take a walk around the famous Loophead Light- house and take in the panoramic view of the Shannon Estuary on one side and the broad Atlantic on the other,’ said Margaret Carey Considine, Sec- retary Loophead Gathering Festival.

that visitors to the west coast must take advice from locals when fishing in the area as they can point out the dangers of particular fishing Sy OTOL ECS

He was speaking as yet another life was lost at the infamous Blue Pool near Doonbeg.

The Moldovan national was washed into the sea while fishing at a notori- ously dangerous location.

Eleven people in total have per- ished there since 1970, all of which were visitors to the area.

Mr diLuici said he could only agree with the water safety officer with Clare County Council Liam Griffin who told people to stay away from the Blue Pool.

The council erected pictorial signs

telling potential fishermen and wom- en to keep away, after a young Latv1- an man was swept out by a wave last September.

Just a week before a young Polish was killed by a freak wave while fishing at Tullig Point.

Mr diLuici said that the weather was good last weekend while the young Moldovan man was fishing but a mist descended very quickly.

A mist or rain makes the rocks at the Blue Pool slippery and impossi- ble to walk on.

All routes to the 140-foot deep Blue Pool have been closed off but the numbers of mackerel that swim by remains a deadly attraction.

Fishing at this area has deadly con- ere LUC Nene

“People do not understand tidal movements and think it is a large lake,” said Mr Luici.

As one of the founding members of the Kilkee Marine and Rescue serv- ice, the Kilkee man spoke to the 350 plus Polish workers at Moneypoint

about the dangers of fishing off the west Clare coast.

His talk was translated in a hope that such tragedies could be avoid- ed.

He asked any visitor to the area or those not familiar with the west Clare coast to get local advice before

going fishing anywhere along the sea board.

He pointed to Dunlicky as one of the few places not susceptible to tides, but even when fishing at this point people should seek advices and tell someone when they expect Kop ccialbese

A GROUP of young people from Ballynacally are making a conscious effort to make new friends in the area and share some interests.

Paddy, Brian and Connie are just three of the people from the area that use the services of the Brother’s of Charity by day and are now hoping to link up with people with similar interests in the evening and at week- ends to explore their hobbies, have a chat or go out for the evening.

“Connecting People” is a_ pilot scheme that will run in Ballynacally by the users of the service and their families, while being supported by the Brothers of Charity.

It does not require anyone to com- mit time to the project, but just to remember these young people when

they are going for a run or to a show and perhaps ask them along.

‘This 1s so that these young people don’t have to go places to do things,” said Brothers of Charity worker, Kevin Delaney.

It is hoped instead that these young active people can get involved with their own community.

Connie is a keen swimmer and loves working on computers. Among her other interests are singing, danc- ing and bowling and the stylish young woman has also strutted her stuff on the catwalks at local fashion shows.

Brian is a runner, anxious to get back into training. A farmer, who loves working in the bog, he also loves bowling, swimming and going out to eat.

Paddy is the DJ in the group and

loves country and western music. He also plays soccer, goes bowling and enjoys go carting.

Like most people their age they en- joy a night out and a bit of craic, a chat and a cup of coffee.

The families who will be support- ing this project said that they are not looking for a major commitment; they just want it to become a natural progression.

“Up to now they have been totally dependent on their families, and families don’t necessarily have the same interests,’ said Mr Delaney.

“We saw a gap for people in their own community,” he said.

He said that in rural areas it is often harder for people to meet up and it is hoped that this movement run by the families will transcend any of those difficulties.

“Families are hoping to create a forum for naturally linking brothers, sisters, sons and daughters with dis- abilities with people and activities in their own community. There are cur- rently three families involved in this but it looks like more will be joining in,’ he said.

A public meeting will be held on Thursday at 8.30pm in the Ballyna- cally Community Centre to discuss ideas with those interested.

TWO local heroes who have raised thousands for cancer have been nominated for the People of the Year awards

Ballyea man Tony Griffin was nominated alongside Clare 250 Mile Cycle founder John Dunne as one of Ennis Town Council’s nominees for We Comre Nise 8K 6 he

The 2006 hurling all-star last week completed an epic and often arduous 7000km cycle across Canada.

Griffin completed the Irish leg of his journey when he cycled first from Dublin to Athlone and then back to Ennis last Sunday.

Thousands lined O’Connell Street in Ennis town centre on the day to welcome Griffin home.

Through his endeavours with the Tony Griffin foundation, the 26- year-old hopes to raise one million for the Irish Cancer Society, Ovarian Cancer Canada and the Lance Arm- strong Foundation.

He reflected last week on the amaz- ing level of support he had received from the general public.

“The people were absolutely bril- liant. The response we got from strangers was amazing. It was just very heart warming to have com- plete strangers coming up to you, it would leave you with a new outlook on life”.

Griffin’s fellow nominee for the People of the Year is another cyclist.

John Dunne founded the Clare 250 Mile Cycle in 1979 and it has since grown into one of the largest charity event is in the country. The two-day event which takes place in June regu-

larly attracts over 100 participants. Money raised from the event goes towards helping cancer sufferers and the area of cancer research. In recent years some of the funding has been

allocated towards the construction of a dedicated Clare 250 cancer centre in Ballygriffey Ruan.

Both Griffin and Dunne were put forward for the award at the July monthly meeting of Ennis Town Council.

Independent councillor Frankie Neylon said both men deserved rec- ognition for their immense fundrais- ing efforts.

“IT recommend we put forward Tony Griffin and John Dunne. They have done tremendous work and fundrais- ing and I think they would be worthy recipients’.

The People of the Year awards provide an unique opportunity for the Irish public on both sides of the border to honour outstanding con- tributions by individuals to life on the island. This includes those peo- ple that have raised money for vital services for people with disabilities, older people, carers and other mar- ginalized groups.

Awards are given in many diverse categories to a mixture of high pro- file figures and the unsung heroes of local communities.

This year’s awards will be held on September 8 in the City West Hotel, Dublin and will be televised live on 0 SaF

FAMILIES living in Ivy Hill have described how reckless drivers are causing havoc on roads around the estate.

Resident’s representatives told the July meeting of Ennis Town Council they fear a serious accident is just a matter of time.

Dangerous driving and the width of the roads in the estate were indenti- fied as the main reasons for the high levels of speeding occuring in the estate.

One mother spoke of the worry she felt every time she heard a screech of brakes on the road.

‘You wake up to hear brakes screeching. We are afraid something is going to happen. We don’t want to have to wait for a serious accident to happen before anything is done”’.

The group called on the council to install traffic calming measures to combat the problem. They claimed speed ramps and or traffic islands are the only effective methods to stop speeding drivers.

One resident, Jenny, explained that drivers treat the area like a main road. “There is a very long corner and very long stretch and drivers are coming in here and treating it as a main road. We’re here to say that it is only a small percentage of drivers

that drive badly but there are a lot of young children playing on the road and something needs to be done”.

She added “There are signs up there to say children are playing, but they aren’t making any difference. Coming home from school can be an absolute nightmare with the amount of cars”.

Another resident Kay, described how she had observed a speeding car hit a lampost and spin into a green area before driving away.

She said “There is serious potential there for something to happen up near the hill. People say that speed bumbs cause damage to cars but if you are a serious driver you will drive sensibly

and look after your car”’.

Green party councillor Donal O’Bearra said the problem was widespread in many residential areas around the town.

“It’s a problem that’s going to hap- pen more frequently in many areas in the town especially when you have a lot of people who are driving on the other side of the road. When speed comes into then, it creates a far more dangerous problem”.

Mayor of Ennis, Tommy Brennan told the delegation from Ivy Hill that the council would examine the issue more closely once they had been briefed by Town Engineer Tom Tiernan.

THE early impact of the phased in- troduction of the Open Skies avia- tion deal is being felt at Shannon Airport where transatlantic traffic has dropped by 5 per cent to date this year.

In figures for the first six months of 2007 released yesterday, the Shannon Airport Authority (SAA) confirmed that transatlantic traffic had dropped 5 per cent to 325,000.

This follows American Airlines withdrawing its dedicated Boston Tos mats een

Airport Director, Martin Moroney said: “We are pleased that Aer Lin-

gus, Continental Airlines, Delta A1r- lines and US Airways have commit- ted to Shannon for next winter and summer.”

However, the overall figures for Shannon remains very positive with the six month traffic report showing an increase of 9 per cent in interna- tional terminal traffic.

A record 1.4 million people trav- elled to and from international desti- nations since January | this year.

A statement from the SAA states: ‘Record traffic figures were recorded for the month of June also. Interna- tional terminal traffic numbers rose by 12 per cent when compared to the same time period last year.”

Mr Moroney said, “Our key focus in the coming months will be to en- sure that with significant reductions in our cost structure Shannon will become a viable, self sustaining busi- ness, with capacity and efficiency to grow its airline network in the inter- ests of the region.

We will continue to compete ag- gressively with all the other airports and consolidate our position as Ire- land’s second largest airport.”

Mr Moroney added, “We are pleased with the strong perform- ance of our traffic to date and the outlook for the remainder of the year looks positive. Passenger throughput for the month of June alone is well

ahead of expectation with short haul and transatlantic services increasing by I5 per cent and 4 per cent respec- tively.

The statement continued: “In the six-month period to the end of June the short haul European and UK scheduled network has grown by 16 per cent to over | million passen- ae

“This strong growth is mainly at- tributed to the development of new routes by Ryanair and ongoing de- velopments by Aer Lingus and Cen- Wee DAY eNO nSace

“On charters, over 100,000 passen- gers traveled from Shannon to sun CLA a a reLu (eye hone

THE Government’s economic and tourism plan for Shannon Airport in- cludes a series of wide ranging pro- posals for the development of infra- structure, tourism product, tourism promotion and institutional reform.

Junior Minister, Pat “The Cope’ Gallagher, told the Dail that the plan will be considered by the Govern- ment in the coming weeks and sub- ject to approval, will be published as soon as possible.

“The report and its recommenda- tions have been examined by the relevant departments in the prepa-

ration of the proposed tourism and economic development plan for the Shannon catchment area,’ he said.

Minister Gallagher added that there was “considerable overlap between the proposals and existing initiatives that are underway or planned”.

The minister also welcomed the input to this process by the liaison eroup established by the mid-west Regional Authority which also in- cludes Clare County Council, Shan- non Development, the Shannon Air- port Authority, SIGNAL and IBEC.

In his contribution, Limerick East TD Kieran O’Donnell said: “Open Skies is effectively now in place for

Shannon. A transitional period was Supposed to operate from October 2006 to April 2008 but flights can be stacked and averaged over the pe- riod, three for one.”

He added that airlines are using Open Skies for Shannon Airport has “grave implications”.

“Three airlines are about to pull out from Shannon Airport. American Airlines, which flies year round to Chicago, will be gone from October. Air Canada, which flies year round to Toronto, will cease operations on August 10. Delta, which flies to At- lanta…will be gone from this win- oa

He added that this is a serious is- sue for the “six new hotels in Limer- ick, one of which 1s down 2,000 bed nights for 2008 because of uncer- tainty around future flights”.

He asked the minister of state to confirm that “CIE International Tours is redirecting all of its US business to Dublin because of that same uncer- tainty with disastrous consequences for the region in 2008 and 2009”.

“The Government has neglected the mid-west region to date. I want to know when the plan will be imple- mented, how much will be spent and who will implement it,” he said.

SEAPOINT College in Kinvara is to close in June of 2012 but first year students will be admitted next year, it emerged over the weekend.

After a week of contradictory re- ports concerning the future of the school, the RESCUE Seamount eroup released a statement on behalf of the Seamount Board of Manage- ment on Saturday evening.

“The Board of Management of Seamount College can confirm that the Mercy Trustees have agreed to

accept first year girls at the school in September 2007 on a five year cycle,’ said a spokeswoman from RESCUE.

“The trustees authorised this intake of students on the clear understand- ing that the school will close in June 2012. The students who wish to en- roll in Kinvara this September will not have transition year option avail- able to them. The Board of Manage- ment welcomes this decision by the Trustees.”

The validity of an agreement for the staged closure of Seamount and the

construction on a new school came into serious doubt when an argument erupted between the Sisters of Mercy and the Department of Education last week over the timetable for the school’s closure.

The nuns had agreed to take in first year students next year, but only if the Department of Education guar- anteed a new school would be com- pleted before 2010.

When this commitment was deemed impossible by the depart- ment the entire agreement looked set to collapse.

AN ENNIS couple, who received over €100,000 from a developer in 2004 after withdrawing their objec- tion to a €20 million housing devel- Opment, are now seeking to block a proposal for a retail development on Francis Street in the town.

Vincent and Ann Coffey of Clon Road, Ennis recently lodged the ob- jection against a plan by Galvin Con- struction Ltd to build a retail outlet at Francis Street, adjacent to their own

property.

Three years ago the Coffeys with- drew their objection against a multi- million euro housing scheme at the Quin Road, Doora by Luxury Homes (Galway) Ltd after the company paid them £85,000 (€107,930) and gave them two free sites.

A letter to the board from the Cof- feys stated that at no time did they approach the developers with the in- tention of securing payment of mon- ey, gifts, or consideration of other inducement by any person.

An Bord Pleanala upheld the Cof- feys’ concerns in relation to the Francis Street proposal last year by refusing planning permission to the development. But Galvin Construc- tion has now re-applied to do work at the site.

In their new objection, the Coffeys stated that they “are not opposed to the development of the site provided it’s carried out in an orderly manner and in accordance with the proper planning and sustainable develop- ment of the area”.

They added, “The current planning application involves the development of part of one of the most important sites in Ennis town centre situated at the junction of Francis Street and Clon Road and whilst the site is va- cant, it is deemed suitable for a mix of uses.”

They also said that their property would be devalued by overshadow- ing and loss of amenity and privacy.

The objection emphasised that pro- posals should be of high quality to “protect the amenity of the surround-

ing areas” and “respect the character of the town centre’, according to the local development plan.

In their submission, Galvin Con- struction stated that it had overcome the reason for refusal issued by An Bord Pleanala and the development was now in compliance “in ac- cordance with the proper planning and sustainable development of the area’.

The council has requested further information on the plan and a final decision 1s expected later this year.

THE Ballyduff Beg Liaison Com- mittee are to receive advanced notice of all reports relating to the Central Waste Management Facility in Inagh, it was decided at last night’s meeting of Clare County Council.

This is following the circulation of an independent report on odour

levels at Ballyduff Beg, which was released by Clare County Council to the elected members of the council and the media but not to the liaison Loy nebeeblatoton

“We have had an ongoing problem with odour in the area and most of the community liaison meetings are taken up with discussions on the mat- ter. I was disappointed that a copy of

the report was not there at the last meeting, we are supposed to be mov- ing on this in a spirit of partnership,’ said Clir Joe Arkins (FG).

‘The press had it but the local com- munity did not, that is the issue. If this had been made available to the people of the committee I would have been able to be better informed. Anything that we have that is perti-

nent to the operation of the landfill should be circulated to the laison committee.”

Independent Lisdoonvarna council- lor Martin Lafferty called into ques- tion the same consultant being used by Clare County Council and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to conduct separate environ- mental audits at Ballyduff Beg.

“The same company is coming back after doing our report are now doing another report for the EPA. I’m not saying anything about this com- pany but consultants can often give a report that reflects favorably on the opinions of the people who are pay- INOTSMn alos pe RMN A CoMCT- BOE

‘Tribute has to be paid to the ac- tion committee in Inagh. At the be- ginning they were laughed at about it but a lot of their fears have proved to be true. The committee has to com- plimented on their vigilance.”

Responding to the motion, Sean Ward of Clare County Council said that odour was the one significant issue that still remained with Bal- lyduff Beg. He also revealed that of- ficials from the local authority had recently visited dumps in Laois and Offaly to study how odour was dealt ALAN Neo KoR

It was also confirmed that plans were in place to use the gas produced by the landfill as a potential source of fuel in the future.