Month: October 2007

YOUNG people in Shannon are be- ing presented with an opportunity to help other young people, through a volunteer programme at the local youth club.

The Shannon Youth Office is en- couraging young people, aged 18 and over, to sign up to a volunteer programme.

The youth office is running four main projects, for youngsters aged between 13 and 25, and the organ- isers need adult volunteers to get in- volved.

The SkyView youth club, which is based at Rineanna View, is one

of the projects which runs weekly. Volunteers would help plan and run the club’s activities, between 7pm and 9pm every Thursday night, dur- ing the school term. One additional hour-long planning meeting also takes place every month. The club is Open to secondary school students aged between 12 and 16.

Drumgeely Youth Club, which is based at St Senan’s School, is look- ing for volunteers, every Monday night, between 7pm and 9pm. The club is open to secondary school stu- dents from the area.

The Shannon Music Project is also on the hunt for local adult volunteers who have a keen interest in music. A

committee of young people meets every Tuesday from 5pm to 6pm, to plan and organise music events, workshops and performances for young people aged between 15 and 25.

The project is particularly interest- ed in recruiting volunteers who have specific talents in drums, song writ- ing, sound engineering or guitar.

The other project which is run by the Youth office is the Kick Back Café. The café, which is based in Rineanna View, 1s looking for volun- teers to fill two-hour shifts at week- Teh

The café is open to all young peo- ple aged between 16 and 21 in Shan-

non on Fridays from 5pm and 10pm and Saturdays from 4pm to 9pm.

The basic role is interacting with young people in a café style setting, serving refreshments and sandwich- es and supervising members over a two-hour period. Shannon Youth Worker Cathal Dillon is encouraging new volunteers to come forward.

“Volunteering in local clubs and projects can be very rewarding. Itis a brilliant way to meet new people and use your skills as part of a team for the benefit of young people in your community,” he said.

A full range of volunteer supports and leadership training is available. For information, phone 061 364318.

THE increasing population in New- market-on-Fergus is reflected in the erowing number of clubs and organi- sations set up in the village.

Several new housing estates have been built in the area, three of which have just been completed over the past year. These homes are occupied by a mixture of locals, people from outside the area and visitor from overseas.

With this in mind, local community eroup, Obair gathered local groups together, for a community day last Sunday.

Among the groups in the area in- clude Meals-on-Wheels, the Going Strong club, Women’s group, Com-

munity Games, soccer, GAA, Agri- culture society, the Scouts, Tradaree Bridge Club and handball and bas- ketball clubs.

The aim of the event was to provide information on the clubs and to pro- mote the work they are undertaking, whilst encouraging residents to get involved in the local community. It coincided with National Volunteer Day and each group was invited to provide informative displays of their AYOLU AALS (oie

Organiser Aisling Halpin of Obair said the idea was centered around in- clusion for everybody.

“A lot of new people are coming into the area. Some are foreign na- tionals, while others have moved from locations like Shannon and

Ennis. We held a volunteer day last January. A lot of the clubs in the area found it very beneficial. The hadn’t known what other clubs were in the area. We decided then we would have a similar event in September,” said Ms Halpin.

“There is a lot going on, but new people wouldn’t know what is hap- pening. People can meet new friends and get to know local people in the community, through the clubs,” she added.

Obair now plans to compile a bro- chure, featuring information on all of the local clubs in the area, which will make them easily accessible.

Sunday also saw the defibrillator for the local community being launched. The success of this is dependent on

the community’s involvement.

Fifteen locals have got involved in this and others are being asked to put their names in.

“A committee got together and talked about getting a defibrillator for the area. There was a need for it and Obair sponsored it. There are 15 on the committee and they have been doing training so that they can give assistance,’ said Ms Halpin.

“We will need between 30 and 40 people, so that someone can be on call 24/7,” she added.

THE viability of new sewerage schemes in Doolin and Spanish Point, as well as upgrades to schemes in Ennistymon, Miltown, Liscannor, Ballyvaughan and Corofin, has been cast in serious doubt following rev- elations of a €23 million shortfall in funding for the projects.

Some €16 million in Government funding for the schemes was an- nounced by Minister for State, Tony Killeen (FF) last month, but it has subsequently emerged that this will cover less than half of the total ex- penditure required.

In the case of Doolin, €652,000 has

been earmarked for a new sewage system leaving a shortfall of almost €5.5 million which must be raised by the local people for the project to go ahead.

“For whatever reason, Munister Killeen decided to give the money allocated but did not mention the total cost of the projects or the huge shortfall that will have to be made up while announcing the story to the media,’ said Cllr Martin Lafferty (Ind).

“It is quite obvious that the whole picture was not shown for whatever reason. It totally misrepresented the situation and caused great confusion for the people of Doolin.

“This prompted members of the Doolin Action Group to write to all the public representatives seeking some sort of clarification on the mat- ter.

“It 1s almost impossible to think how we will we able to make up this shortfall. I don’t think that the fund- ing will be lost, but there is no way that we will be able to make up a shortfall of €23 million for these projects. No way.”

Clare County Council has written to the Department of Environment, Heritage and local Government ask- ing for more funding to be made available for the sewerage systems.

Meanwhile, Cllr Lafferty has also

accused the Government of using county councils as scapegoats as part of a process to introduce water charges by stealth.

“Essentially, they are telling us down here in Clare that we have to bring in water metres.

‘These metres will cost €4.25 mil- lion to introduce and they have given Clare County Council no means of doing this,” he told

A ROW over water pressure led to one councillor blowing a valve and storming out of last night’s meeting of Ennis Town Council.

Independent councillor Frankie CAV Cente CesM mm MelommeclercinbercamnemecDemrcDelca my mood, less than 15 minutes after it started, 1n protest at continuing prob- lems with water pressure in areas of Ennis.

Councillor Neylon said he had been raising the issue for the past 12 months and was fed up with the coun- cil’s failure to solve the problem.

The argument between Cllr Neylon and Town Engineer, Tom Tiernan

arose as members discussed the min- utes of the September meeting of En- nis Town Council.

As Town Engineer, Tom Tiernan listed the difficulties with ensuring adequate water pressure in elevated parts of Ennis, Cllr Neylon rose from his chair and declared, “I?ll have to leave this meeting. I’m sick and tired of the bulls**t coming across this table”.

Cllr Neylon said homes in Connolly Villas, St Flannans Terrace and the Tulla Road are regularly affected and he had fielded numerous complaints from people living in those areas.

According to Cllr Neylon, low water pressure in homes and fire hydrants

could result in a serious accident.

“Tam 12 months talking about wa- ter pressure in this town and I am sick and tired of having to bring it up. It is taking up to seven hours to fill tanks in Connolly Villas. There is an ac- cident waiting to happen if someone lights a fire in their home and there is no water in the tank.”

He continued “There was a fire on Station Road last week and luckily it was contained, but we have problems with the fire hydrants. It’s a potential disaster. And this isn’t just a Connol- ly Villas problem, this isn’t a Frankie Neylon problem — it affects Flan- nans Terrace, Tulla Road, Station Road, Mill Road. I’m constantly be-

ing contacted by people. They think I’m a fool. ’m getting embarrassed at this stage”.

Mr Tiernan conceded problems did exist in elevated parts of town. He said, “We are doing everything we can to resolve the problems. The mains in those areas are very old. An awful lot are laid in back gardens and that brings problems in time.”

He added, “Extra resources are be- ing put into finding leaks. The 1m- pression is that we are doing nothing and that is not the case.”

Fine Gael councillor, Johnny Flynn supported Cllr Neylon and said he awaited Mr Tiernan’s report on the matter.

AN BORD Pleanala has refused planning permission for a €15 mil- lion wind farm in west Clare due to the impact the proposal would have on protected birds such as Hen Har- riers and Whooper Swans.

Earlier this year, Clare County Council granted planning permission to a German company, Pro Ventum, to construct a six-turbine windfarm near the west Clare towns of Kilrush and Kilkee. The company already has in place a seven turbine farm in close proximity to the new site – only one of two in operation in Clare.

The application was originally lodged four years ago in May 2003 but it wasn’t until February of this year that the council granted permis- sion after a long delay by the appli- cants in providing new information.

However, the decision was appealed to An Bord Pleanala by chairman of the Moanmore Action Group, Frank Lillis. Mr Lillis claimed that the cu- mulative effect of an enlarged wind- farm operation in such close proxim- ity raised serious health issues and that Birdwatch Ireland stated that there should be a presumption against siting windfarms in or adjacent to sensitive ecological areas including Special Protection Areas (SPAs).

The Inspector’s report cites a De-

partment of the Environment which states dissatisfaction with the ab- sence of any recent bird survey and an analysis of the impact of the adja- cent windfarm upon certain species.

The Inspector stated, “I have as- sessed the documentation submitted regarding these Annex | species and visited the site, yet consider the detail provided with regard to the impact of the development upon these Annex | species and furthermore, the cumula- tive impact of a 13 turbine wind farm upon these birds to be inadequate.”

The inspector said that an updated bird survey should have been carried out by the applicant. “I consider that insufficient information has been pro- vided to support the applicant’s state- ment that the proposed development would not by itself or cumulatively have an adverse impact upon the mi- eratory path or feeding grounds of these three bird species, identified un- der EU law for protection.”

The inspector warns that the cu- mulative effects of the two turbine developments on the habitat of the hen harrier on the basis of current knowledge and research are not es- tablished. The proposed develop- ment is located on a site identified as being in close proximity to a direct flight path for feeding and roosting sites of species listed for protection in the Birds Directive.

THE Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey has been unable to tell the Dail when the long-anticipated eco- nomic plan in response to Open Skies aviation deal will be published.

This follows a Dail question from Deputy Pat Breen asking whether funding will be made available to the Midwest region following the in- troduction of Open Skies; and if so, when it will be made available and who will have responsibility for the management of the fund

In response, Minister Dempsey said, “My department is currently finalising an Economic and Tourism Development Plan for the Shannon Airport catchment area. The plan has been prepared in consultation with the Department of Finance, the Department of Arts, Sport and Tour- ism, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the De- partment of Communications, En- ergy and Natural Resources.

“The purpose of the plan is to en-

sure that the region is well placed to respond to the challenges and oppor- tunities emerging in the context of full liberalisation of the transatlantic aviation market and the phasing out of the Shannon stop as envisaged under the EU-US Open Skies Agree- ment. I hope to bring the plan to con- clusion shortly.”

The plan, which was launched in July 2006, seeks to achieve a tour-

ism promotional fund of €44 mil- hon from Government funds, a route support fund of €9 million and an independent and financially viable S)at-beveleyembeneleum

Already, the Mid-West Regional Authority has written to Government asking why funding has not been forthcoming.

The phased ending of the Shannon stop-over commenced earlier this year and Shannon has already lost a number of transatlantic services for the next winter.

The agreement stipulates that full Open Skies will commence in April pau eres

The five-year plan aims to secure a 30 per cent share of the direct trans- atlantic market between America and Ireland and to achieve an appro- priate sustainable level of year-round services to main US gateways.

Currently, Shannon has 37 per cent of the Irish transatlantic business.

this week, lives were put at jeopardy due to contfus- ing road markings.

On Sunday, September 16, Laura Burke from Lisdoonvarna was in- volved in an accident at Shop Cross on the R477.

“I was driving my car that morning, having been to mass in Lisdoonvar- na. I had one of my children in the car and one of her friends — they had both been serving Mass that morning,” she said.

“Tl slowed, braked and indicated to

turn right. As I did so, a car pulled out in an overtaking manoeuvre and crashed into the back of my car.”

Despite the existence of warning signs at that section of the R477, the road contains broken white lines, in- dicating that it is safe to overtake.

“Both children were screaming, distressed and traumatised. My daughter’s friend is an asthmatic and it took considerable effort to gain her confidence and calm her down,” she said.

“This is not the only accident of this nature to take place at this junc- tion recently. I don’t think it would be too difficult to replace the broken line with a single solid white line.

“I don’t think there is any time where it is safe to overtake at a cross- road, and my own personal experi- ence bears this out. Needless to say,

it would be distressing for the coun- cil to wait for a fatal accident before they took action.”

Meanwhile, in a separate corre- spondence with

THE Mayor of Clare, Cllr Patricia Mc- Carthy and former Clare hurler, Brian Lohan have re-iterated their opposition to contentious plans to establish a ‘ca- sino-style’ operation in Shannon. Earlier this year, the council re- fused planning permission to John O’Donovan to establish a “sports and leisure emporium’ at Bru Na Sionna, Shannon. After opposition from Cllr McCarthy and Mr Lohan, the coun- cil refused planning permission hav-

ing regard to the nature of the pro- posed development and character of the surrounding area.

The proposal would reduce the attrac- tiveness of the area and would impact negatively on the residential amenities of the adjacent properties which are lo- cated and whose balconies are located within 20 metres of the facility.

Describing the proposal as essen- tially a ‘casino’, the council also ruled that the location of the proposed fa- cility outside Shannon would materi- ally contravene the South-East Clare

Development Plan.

The plan states that developments of amusement arcades or similar estab- lishments must be located within or immediately adjacent to town centres. The council concluded, ““The proposed development would therefore be con- trary to the proper planning and sus- tainable development of the area.”

Now Mr O’Donovan has lodged a revised plan and, in response, con- Sultants for Mr Lohan stated, “The only difference between the previous application and the present applica-

tion as far we understand is a differ- ence in the description of the pro- posed use which remains assembling and gambling activities.

‘The proposed new use is incom- patible with the designated office and retail use of this building. It will not create desirable synergies and also it will introduce undesirable congrega- tion of people in the vicinity of our chent’s property and will therefore be damaging to his business and oth- er businesses around.”

In her submission, Cllr McCarthy

said, “The proposed change of use would not be in keeping with the character of the surrounding area. The proposed development would be a source of nuisance and annoyance in a predominantly residential area.”

She added, “The proposed develop- ment would lead to increased noise and disturbance in a predominantly residential area and the proposed de- velopment would lead to increased traffic movements in the area.”

A decision is due on the application later this year.

THE Ennis Special Olympics Net- work are organising a fashion ex- travaganza on Wednesday night, October 10, in the Glor Irish Music Centre, with proceeds distributed among the three Special Olympics Clubs in Ennis.

Shops from Clare and Limerick will use the event to launch their au- tumn/winter fashion collections and entertainment will be provided by Mickey Joe Harte who will perform his new CD, a song composed to commemorate the Special Olympics World Summer Games which open

in China this week.

This year’s games will see 143 Irish athletes participate in eleven com- petitions including two participants from Clare — William Loughnane in gymnastics and Patrick O’Leary in the soccer event. They will be joined by 55 coaches, 200 Irish vol- unteers and approximately 400 fam- TU AAreDeLO ms BU (oAOKS

According to Siobhan Costelloe of the Ennis Special Olympics Network, Supporting the fashion fundraiser will give Clare people the oppor- tunity to help people with a learn- ing disability in their area to benefit physically, socially and emotionally

from being involved in the Special Olympics Programme and to recruit new athletes, currently not involved into the programme.

It promises to be an exciting night and the event will include a wine re- ception.

SUSAN Hogan, a member of the ‘Caring for Carers’ group in En- nis, has become the first recipient of this year’s Vodafone Passion for the World Around Us Awards in Ennis.

Susan has been a family carer for over 34 years. From her own expe- rience, she has become an effective advocate for carers, establishing a link into the services of ‘Caring for Carers’ and statutory-based services that ensure the wellbeing and quality of life for family carers and those for whom they care.

Through her work with ‘Caring for Carers’, Susan has played a key role in a variety of projects including supporting and developing six carers groups throughout County Clare and co-ordinating extensive training pro- grammes for carers.

Susan was also instrumental in organising the successful *Yellow

Ribbon’ fundraising programme. She is very well known in the carers network in west Clare for giving 100 per cent support and commitment to individual carers and carers groups, while being a full-time carer herself.

According to Colm Moylette, Vo- dafone Business Account Manager in Ennis, “Susan’s award is greatly deserved and I’d like to pay tribute to her for her dedication and commit- ment to her lifetime work with carers and carers groups.

Susan is a true local hero and an ex- ample to everyone of how to make a positive contribution to the commu- nity in Ennis.”

His remarks were echoed by Michael Evans, President of Ennis Chamber, who said, “Susan is an ex- tremely worthy winner and we are delighted that she is the first recipient of a Passion for the World Around Us Award in 2007.”

The Passion for the World Around

Us Awards are run by Vodafone in partnership with Ennis Chamber and 17 other chambers nationwide. The awards recognise individuals and businesses who make an effort to improve their local communities and who have been successful in making a positive contribution to the world around them. Susan received a certtf- icate and a specially commissioned, handmade award designed by Irish VGA LGN oma keneberver

At the ceremony, Ennis Chamber also called for nominations for the next round of Passion for the World Around Us Awards. This round will focus on businesses in Ennis and the surrounding areas that have made a valuable contribution to their com- munity.

Nomination forms are available from Ennis Chamber, local Voda- fone stores or via www.vodafone.ie. Entries can also be sent via email, to passionawards.ie@ vodafone.com.