Month: February 2008

KILRUSH area councillors have agreed that holiday home owners in Clare should pay for the water sup- as At last night’s (Monday) meeting of the council, Cllr Madeleine Taylor Quinn (FG) said that holiday homes were a commercial interest and as such the owners should have to pay for the water supplied to them.

Under Government policy, all non- domestic water must be paid for but local authorities, such as Clare Coun- ty Council, cannot charge domestic users for their water supply.

As many as 3,092 non-domestic water users in the Kilrush area have been identified but this does not in- clude holiday home schemes.

“People who are trying to make a living in the county are being charged and those making money from the county are not contributing at all,’ said the former TD.

Supporting Clir Taylor Quinn, Cllr Patrick Keane (FF) said, “There is a lot of revenue that can be collected.”

The 3,092 non-domestic water cus- tomers identified by the council in the Kilrush Electoral area includes all non-domestic customers on group schemes supplied with public water.

According to Derek Troy, Execu- tive Engineer with Clare County Council, “The process of surveying, compiling lists of works and meter installation is currently ongoing and the total number of customers may change due to additional connections being made or non-domestic connec- tions being removed.

“This project should be complete over the next number of months.”

Revenue that may accrue from non- domestic connections will depend on total usage. However, current rates are €1.10 per cubic metre for water supply, €2.08 per cubic metre for the consolidated supply (water and

sewerage connections), and a fixed charge of €1.45 per customer,’ he said. Installation of the meters will cost €145.

It was argued at Clare County Council level that the installation of such metre should be borne by cen- tral government.

The cost, however, will have to be paid by the customer. Clare County Council must also find €80 million to upgrade the county’s treatment plants, to maintain water schemes, and to monitor them if it is to reach the targets set in the first report on the Provision and Quality of Drink- ing Water in Ireland, 2006 – 2007.

FAMILIES in Inagh and Gort are returning to their homes this week following a month of intensive flood- ing which trapped a number of peo- ple in their homes for days at a time throughout January.

Pressure 1s mounting on local au- thorities in both Clare and Galway to tackle problem areas such as Drum- cullaun in Inagh and Tierneevan on the outskirts of Gort.

Rising waters cut off two families of Mullins’ in Drumcullaun at vari- ous times throughout January. The area was flooded for a total of 10 days throughout January, with mem-

bers of the Mullins family trapped either inside their home or away from their home for days at a time.

“If they are stuck outside of the house when the flood comes, they have to go and stay with relations or friends, but if they are inside the house when it floods, they’re trapped there, end of story,” said Inagh-based County Councillor Flan Garvey (FP).

“They have just returned to their homes but who knows when the next flood will come. Besides the incon- venience to the families, what if there was an emergency? There would be no way of reaching them.

“They can be trapped there for

three or four days at a time.”

Clare County Council has agreed to examine the situation but warned that a solution to the flooding could be both time-consuming and expen- sive.

“It is an expensive thing but as far as lam concerned the Mullins family are entitled to access to their homes the same as any other family. They pay their taxes the same as anyone else. A solution has to be found,” continued Cllr Garvey.

Meanwhile, Galway County Coun- cil are examining the possibility of opening a relief road to facilitate lo- cal people in the townland of Tiern- eevan near Gort who were marooned

as aresult of the recent flooding.

According to former Fianna Fail councillor, Michael ‘Stroke’ Fahy (IND), a relief road is available to allow families affected by the flood- ing to access Gort, but this cannot be done until insurance issues are sorted out between the landowner and Gal- way County Council.

Cllr Fahy returned to active service for Galway County Council in De- cember after spending seven months in prison after he was found guilty of misappropriating council funds and attempted theft last May in Galway Circuit Criminal Court.

Cllr Fahy (56) is the longest serving member of Galway County Council.

after the meeting, former wa- ter scheme chairman Martin Knox accused Clare County Council of

being disingenuous in offering to help the committee solve the prob- lems which have now arisen with the scheme.

“It 1s hardly necessary for Clare County Council to state that they are not involved in the day-to-day run- ning of the scheme but it needs to be said that they had significant input into the design of the plant.

“When their help was required at the design stage, it was counter-pro- ductive. The process was designed to fail,” he said.

“The plant was designed around a ridiculously low baseline demand of 180 cubic metres a day when the quantity should have been much greater. To future-proof the plant,

our baseline demand estimate was 360 cubic metres a day. The Depart- ment of the Environment, the client’s representative and the county coun- cil ignored our contributions.” ‘Domestic users on the scheme pay for water. This is inequitable as do- mestic users in towns and city areas do not. Even if the plant could deliver the volumes required, the contractor will put a surcharge on every litre consumed above a limit of 288,000 litres a day,’ Mr Knox explained. ‘“Killone group water scheme is run by volunteers and has been run by volunteers for the past 30 years. The Department of the Environment funded the current project under a design, build and operate process.

‘The cost of the project to the tax- payer was almost €900,000 and the Killone group water scheme contrib- uted almost €60,000 in addition to the cost of the site. The executive committee took legal advice and, as a result, refused to sign the contract. We correctly predicted that the vol- umes would be inadequate.

“We eventually signed the contract under duress following a threat from the county council to withdraw fund- ing,” he said.

Calling on the council to clarify the nature of the “help” now being of- fered, Mr Knox said the plant needs further capital expenditure and a new contract to meet the requirements of the community for the next 20 years.

THOUSANDS of Clare farmers have been urged to vote yes on the upcoming Lisbon treaty with IFA President, Padraig Walsh, throwing his lot behind the Government on the TEstS1 OC oe

With as many as 10,000 IFA mem- bers in Clare, the organisations back-

ing for the so-called reform treaty could be one of the main determin- ing factors on how Clare votes.

“IT think that Europe needs to change – European institutions need to change and streamline themselves, become more efficient and respond more rapidly to the realities of the world today,’ he said.

“I think that is one of the things that

will come from the treaty. Obviously there are a lot of people reading into the treaty things that are not there. I would urge people to vote on the treaty for the treaty itself rather than using it as a way of sending a mes- sage to Government.”

According to Walsh, the needs of farmers are best served by a close re- lationship with the rest of Europe.

“Compared to any other country, Ireland participation at the heart of Europe is more important to the economy,” he said.

“The IFA’s interest and the inter- ests of Irish farmers are best served by being at the heart of Europe rather than being on the fringes. At our na- tional AGM last week we had Com- missioner Fisher Boel, who is the Ag-

ricultural Commissioner responsible for farming right across Europe.

‘For two hours she sat and took questions from representatives from Irish farmers from all over the coun- try. It just shows that we can have a major influence on European policy at that level and that our influences are best served by being on the inside rather than on the fringes.”

DOMESTIC violence incidents in Clare have increased substantially over the past two years – and gardai say much of it is linked to alcohol.

143 incidents of domestic violence were reported to gardai in Clare in 2006 and this figure increased sub- stantially last year.

This is a massive rise on the fig- ure of 90 incidents in 2005 and re- flects an overall national trend in this area.

The head of the Clare Garda Divi- sion said gardai are worried about the WKOIIXOD

“We are concerned about the rise. domestic violence is one of our ma- jor concerns and the traumatic effect

it has on individuals and on society as a whole,” said Chief Superintend- ent, Gerry Mahon.

He said that alcohol is a prevalent factor in domestic abuse.

“Certainly alcohol is an issue. We are finding that alcohol is an issue in many of those incidents. Drugs is a factor, but not an overriding factor. Alcohol would be the main factor,” he said.

“There are so many factors in it. Relationships and outside factors like work and other social stresses play a role,” he added.

He said people are more willing to report incidents of domestic violence now than they were in the past.

“We are taking a very proactive stance on domestic violence. Every

garda has received training on do- mestic violence,” he said.

“It 1s one of the priorities for the gardai going forward in 2008,” he Cre HLGm

A spokeswoman for Clare Haven, which provides support to female victims of domestic abuse, said the marked increase was no surprise.

‘There has been a huge increase in the number of helpline calls and new visits, while our outreach centres in Shannon, Scariff, Ennistymon and Kilrush have been extra busy,” said PR co-ordinator Eileen Murphy.

“2007 certainly was a busy year for Clare Haven,” she added.

A HUNGARIAN student who came to Clare to spend the summer with relatives died after he fell from a height during a visit to the Cliffs of Moher.

Tibor Bardos (19) went missing while on a day trip with his aunt and uncle, last June.

Karoly Torok told Ennis Coroner’s Court last Wednesday that Mr Bar- dos – who was his wife’s nephew – was staying at his house in Kilrush

last summer.

He had visited Ireland to work, for the summer period. One June 23, they decided to visit the Cliffs of Moher. They first went to the interpretative centre and then took photographs at the tower.

They arrived at the end of the safe walking area and Tibor wanted to walk further to take photographs. A short time later, they were in contact with him, via phone, and arranged to meet.

“He agreed to meet us in 20 min-

utes,” said Mr Torok.

However, when he did not appear, Mr ‘Torok’s wife tried to phone Mr Bardos, but only got his voicemail.

They eventually went back to their car, but were not “really worried” as they thought he had met someone or was reading a book, as he was inter- ested in history.

However, as time passed, they be- came very worried. Later that night, gardai made them aware that Tibor’s body had been recovered.

Tom Doherty was working as a

ranger at the cliffs that day. He took part in a search for Mr Bardos. It got underway at 9.32pm and a body was spotted just six minutes later in the water at Johnston’s Quarry. The body was taken from the water and taken to the pier at Doolin.

Pathologist Dr Peter Fawl carried out an autopsy on the deceased’s body, at Limerick Regional Hospi- ae

He said Mr Bardos received a lac- eration to the forehead. Death was due to multiple injuries, including

Skull fracture, consistent with the de- ceased having fallen from a height.

Coroner Isobel O’Dea said “one can only presume it was an accident. There was nothing to indicate he was suffering from depression”.

‘There was no direct evidence as to what happened. I’m absolutely satis- fied there was no suspicion of foul play,” she said, and recorded an open verdict.

“T can only imagine how difficult it must be for Mr Bardos’ family, to be so far away,’ added Ms O’Dea.

A RETIRED New York City fireman lost his life after he fell from a cliff while out walking just yards from his holiday home in Quilty.

Ennis Coroner’s Court heard last week that Pat Lusterring (80) had been staying in his holiday home at Seafield, Quilty, last October.

Local woman Margaret Downes

recalled seeing Mr Lusterring, at around 7pm on October 9.

She said he had been out walking, as he normally did. That was the last reported sighting of him.

She later heard that his body had been found on rocks at the base of a cliff.

Garda Ian Kelly said gardai re- ceived a call that the body of a man had been found at the base of a

cliff, across from the Star of the Sea Church in Quilty.

He said he saw an elderly man ly- ing on the rocks. He had suffered the fall, opposite his holiday home.

The drop of the cliff measured 30 feet, said the garda.

Pathologist Dr Peter Fawl said he carried out an autopsy on Mr Luster- ring’s body, on October 11, 2007. He said the base of his skull had been

fractured.

“Death, in my opinion, was due to acute head injuries, include a frac- tured skull, consistent with the de- ceased having fallen from a height,” said Dr Fawl.

Coroner Isobel O’Dea said Mr Lus- terring had suffered a “very sad end.

“He was well-known and liked in the neighbourhood. It is one of these very sad cases where we don’t have

exact evidence as to what happened Mr Lusterring. We can presume he was out for a walk and fell,’ she SP ALOe

“T am quite satisfied there was no suspicion of suicide,” said the Coro- ner.

She said she could not record an ‘accidental’ verdict, aS no-one saw what happened and recorded an open verdict.

ALL-IRELAND winning Clare hurler Niall Gilligan has challenged a Clare County Council ruling that all the homes in a €7 million hous- ing development he plans for Kilkee be used for permanent occupation only.

Last month, the council gave the Sixmilebridge man planning permis- sion for 27 homes at Dough, Kilkee, on condition that each home would be the principle place of residence for the owners.

He was also told to omit two houses from the application.

The council has recently begun to implement a policy that new homes in Kilkee and Lahinch be used as per- manent rather than holiday homes.

Mr Gilligan’s appeal to An Bord Pleanala to have the conditions over- turned states that he is “extremely exasperated with the council deci- sion as he believes that at no time during the course of the application did the density of dwellings on site form part of correspondence.

“It represented a further reduction of his usable land, especially when he had already adhered to the green Space requirements for the develop- ment.

“In relation to the council requiring that the homes be used for permanent

residence, he believes that this cond1- tion should only proportionally rep- resent a percentage of his proposed housing stock and this should be re- flected as part of this condition.

“This would therefore allow for principle places of residence in nu- merous current and future residential zoned locations within the town of On rr

“In this case, by implementing this condition enblock to all dwellings, county council decisions will fur- ther increase the numbers of vacant dwellings in the off-peak season for upcoming developments once the permanent residence housing stock requirements has been fulfilled.”

A local resident opposed to the de- velopment, Ray O’ Halloran, has also lodged an appeal against the coun- cil decision placing a question mark over the entire development.

Along with the Kilkee application, Mr Gilligan also has two separate planning applications for his home village of Sixmilebridge where he is seeking to construct 14 apartments, two shops and a pub.

The council has put these applica- tions on hold after seeking further information from Mr Gilligan.

Mr Gilligan has operated his own auctioneering business in Sixmileb- ridge since 2000.

He continues to play for Clare.

ARTS groups in Clare were among the beneficiaries in the latest round of funding announcements by the Arts Council. Between them, 14 or- ganisations and individuals in Clare have been granted €444,000 by the Arts Council.

In revealing its funding decisions for 2008, the Arts Council has al- located funds of over €62 million to 538 organisations and individuals to date for 2008.

€100,000 has been allocated to Glor in Ennis. A spokesperson for

the Arts Council said the venue “has truly established itself as a centre of excellence for artists, audiences, per- formers and the wider community”.

The annual Willie Clancy sum- mer school was also singled out by the Arts Council. A spokespeson said the “ongoing expansion of the organisation’s student and audience base is a testament to the quality of the programme and the dedication of its staff”.

The Arts Council has again offered funding to Salmon Poetry, a poetry publisher established in 1981. Salm- on Poetry produces work by new and

established Irish poets and, more recently, a select list of international poets.

Salmon celebrated 25 years of pub- lishing in 2006 and published The Salmon Anthology in late 2007. The publisher is based in rural Clare and is led by editor and manager Jessie Lendennie.

The Arts Council offered funding to the Ennis Book Club Festival un- der the Small Festivals Scheme for an exciting programme of events in 2008. The Arts Council has priori- tised readership and reader activities as part of its strategy.

The full recipients are: Arts Office Clare County Council (€115,000); Corofin Traditional Fes- tival (€13,000); Deirdre O’Mahony (€22,000); Doran Piping Tiondl (€4,000); Ennis Book Festival (€3,500); Foram Gaeilge an Chlair (€2,000); Glor (€ 100,000); Inisceal- tra festival of arts (€15,000); Outsid- ers festival (€7,000); Russell Me- morial Weekend (€3,500); Salmon Poetry (€47,000); Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy (€90,000); Summer Music on the Shannon (€19,000); Winter Music Weekend Festival (€3,480)

A YOUNG man was robbed of €40 while he walked to a local shop in Ennis, a court has heard.

Christy Donovan (21), of Clancy

Park, Ennis, pleaded guilty to rob- bing €40 from an 18-year-old youth, at Dalcassian Park, Ennis, on March 18, 2007.

Inspector Michael Gallagher told Ennis District Court on Friday that

the 18-year-old went to the shop for his mother at 5pm. He had €40 in his hand.

He was just a short distance from his home when the defendant and an- other individual approached him.

“The defendant was all friendly at first asking him how he was,” said the inspector.

He said the victim was asked to hand over the money and got a “dig into the ribs”.

He said the youth was “very shak- en” and had known the defendant all his life.

Judge Joseph Mangan imposed a four-month jail term and fixed a bond in the event of an appeal.