Month: August 2008

A NORTH Clare business has just won two “food Oscars” for it’s selec- tion of smoked salmon. Birgitta Hed- in-Curtin of the Burren Smokehouse in Lisdoonvarna, returned from Lon- don last week with two gold prizes from the prestigious Great Taste Award 2008.

The awards, which are known as the “food Oscars” were presented to the smokehouse for its Hot Smoked Irish Organic Salmon with Honey and Dill and Superior Farmed Smoked Irish Salmon products.

“We are delighted with this award. Winning a Great Taste Award rec- ognizes the craft and dedication that goes into making superb food and drink,” said Birgitta.

“We only use the finest of salmon from the west coast of Ireland. When you start with a quality product all you have to do is to enhance it with our slow oak smoking and low salt content.

“The honey, lemon and dill mari- nade is very complimentary to the organic salmon adding a fresh herb and natural zangy flavours.”

Besides the recognition of your

peers, winning a Great Taste Award is recognised as one of the most powerful tools to help grow business in the speciality food sector.

In just three weeks last September, the excitement created by the 2007 results increased sales to the tune of €640,000 in 524 guild members’ stores.

Founded in 1989, the Burren Smokehouse is a family business run in Lisdoonvarna by Peter and Bir- gitta Curtin.

CLARE is in the top one third of county’s benefiting from CLAR funding for non-national roads.

The local authority will receive a total of €376,399.43 for improve- ments to the county’s road infra- Seu llelauh ica

The CLAR programme is a target- ed investment programme for rural areas that suffered more than a 35 per cent drop in population between Por: tierce ee

Under its 208 programme a sum of €3 million each is being provided by the Department of Transport and the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs for works to local secondary and tertiary roads in these specially designated areas.

Minister of State Tony Killeen said that Clare County Council’s alloca- tion was determined by the county’s percentage of the total population in CLAR areas.

“The grant allocation will enable the local authority to fund local sec- ondary and tertiary roads projects. The council may also use the funds to replace, widen or strengthen bridges on local secondary and local tertiary roads, subject to the prior approval of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government,’ he said.

“The funding announcement is concrete proof that the Government is determined to revitalise declining rural areas. Significant progress has been made in recent years in terms of improving national infrastructure.”

BUSINESSES are moving out of the Parnell Street area because of problems with parking, it has been claimed.

As one business re-located to the another part of the town this week, traders are saying that the shop was forced to relocate because of the dif- ficulties with parking caused by the work going on to secure the area against flooding.

CEO of Ennis Chamber of Com- merce, Triona McInerney said that traders are “struggling to cope espe- cially if they are in the type of busi- ness which requires people to carry things in and out of a premises. They need to have a car nearby in that case.”

McInerney said there is “huge pres- sure on parking. People are trying to

manage. There wasn’t a lot of park- ing in the area to begin with and the work that is going on has exaccer- bated the situation.”

She added, “It’s temporary and we have to live with it, but looking at having this situation continue for another year is not good.”

McInerney said that while some business people will re-locate rather than try to struggle on with the situa- tion, others who were already feeling the pinch have closed.

“T can think of six businesses who have closed up shop in the Parnell Street area in the last three months,’ she admitted.

“Some of them were having dif- ficulty already and in some cases, a drop-off in customers because of the parking difficulties may have been the straw that broke the camel’s back”.

NORTH Clare is going Nordic this weekend with the arrival of the Finn- ish Ambassador Seppo Kauppila to Ballyvaughan on Saturday.

Ambassador Kauppila will be the guest of honour at the Burren Col- lege of Art to launch “Due North’, the first ever exhibition of Finnish and Swedish art to take place in the west of Ireland.

‘Due North’ is the fifth in the an- nual series of exhibitions to take place at the Burren College of Art in Ballyvaughan. The exhibition, which will be curated by Jan Kaila, will fea- ture some of Scandinavia’s foremost photographic artists and open to the public from Sunday, August 10.

It will feature the very best of Finn- ish and Swedish artists including Pekka and Lea Kantonen, who look at the favourite places of a group of

indigenous teenagers; Pertti Keka- rainen who explores the concepts of space and memory through pho- tography; Johanna Lecklin who will show a three-screen video-work and Jan Svenungsson will presents a se- ries of chimneys pictured over the last 25 years.

The exhibition also has a local fla- vour including Heli Rekula who will show a number of large-scale photo- graphs based on the Irish landscape; Sami van Ingen who will show a vid- eo in which he and his grandmother return to the place where her father lived during the filming of Man of Aran and and Martina Cleary, Head of Photography at Burren College.

The exhibition runs until August 26 and has been put together with the support of the Finnish Arts Council, the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki, the Finnish Institute in London and Clare County Council.

ENNIS firemen claimed yesterday that lives lost in the River Fergus could have been saved if they had proper training and equipment to Lau COMO MUR MLSE oe

A spokesman also revealed that firefighters have to perform their du- ties without the most basic of equip- ment — a defibrillator for victims suf- fering cardiac arrest.

Without the training, firemen have- to stay six metres back from the riv- er’s edge in a river rescue operation.

“If we see someone in the river in trouble and want to go rescue that person, we are told “if ye go into the river, ye are fired”.

The spokesman said that on aver- age, Ennis firefighters received five river rescue call-outs each year.

“We need this training, especially with the amount of river rescues we are having. If we were allowed into the water, a lot more people could have been saved. That is a fact.

“We can have a boat in the water in six minutes and in that time you have a fair good chance of saving people.”

The fire service’s shortcomings were exposed in the recent rescue at- tempts for young Martin McDonagh who drowned in the River Fergus last month.

“We carried out CPR on him for 20 minutes because we had no defibril-

lator. A defibrillator was essential WN Komee

The fireman said that itis not known if having a defibrillator would have saved young Martin’s life as it is not known how long he was in the river before being taken from the water.

He said fire service management had a wrong set of priorites where it spent €100,000 on training and equipment for a chemical incident where there has been only two call- outs over the past two years.

Clare Fire Chief, Adrian Kelly said they hadn’t refused funding for a de- fibrillator or river rescue training.

‘The level of equipment, fire appli- ances and training provided is on a par with the best in the country.

“The HSE ambulance service pro- vide advanced first aid, including de- fibrillators and we have been in talks with the HSE regarding how call-out arrangements could complement their services while still maintaining our primary function of providing fire cover.

“All firefighters have received water awareness training, mainly for their own Safety but it also included tech- niques in river rescue. We are there to assist the gardai who are responsible for co-ordinating any such rescues, and the coastguard who are highly trained in water rescue. Equipment, including flotation devices and throw bags, were also purchased for this purpose.

AN AMBITIOUS €30 million plan to double the size of Kilmihil has been dramatically scaled back in re- sponse to local concerns.

Last September, Kilmihil Con- struction Ltd lodged plans for 150 residential units, 15 commercial units and a two-storey 50-bed nurs- ing home.

Gerry Johnson of Kilmihil Con- struction said at the time that those choosing to live in Kilmihil would be “halfway to Heaven” being 15 min- utes from a host of beautiful beaches and only 20 minutes from Ennis.

However, the plan comes against the background of the village hav- ing little or no growth in population in recent years with the 2006 census showing that the village’s population increased by just two in four years from 576 to 578 — during the 1996 census period, the village suffered a drop in population of 62.

Kilmihil Community Develop- ment Ltd expressed concerns over the plan and arising from the local opposition, the council asked the de- velopers to submit revised plans.

The company has now scaled back the number of houses from 147 homes to 100 — a drop of almost one third.

The original plan also included 14 commercial units and the revised plan comprises of eight shop units, a supermarket, a warehouse, a tutorial centre, a créche and two offices.

SW slemeveyenl or henmereniconeKmsst-lm leew Kom vised design prepared in response to the further information request fully satisfies the guidance contained in the Urban Design Manual circulated by the Dept of the Environment.

In a fresh objection against the plan, Patrick J O’Connell and Ange- la O’Connell state, “We have grave concerns with a proposal of this type and stature which is not in keeping with a rural traditional village like

Kilmihil as it would overdevelop this area far too quickly.

They add, “We see this occurring in our larger towns and we have no desire to see it occur here. Currently we have a further 80 homes with planning permission for construction and we see that as being more than adequate.”

They add: “It is an accepted fact that the sewerage treatment plant is currently at full capacity and the do- mestic water supply is another con- cern. This proposed development will lead to total chaos.”

A decision is due on the applica- tion later this year.

THE daughter of well-known musi- cian Pecker Dunne is making head- lines of her own this week as she represents the Banner County in an international beauty and personality eel e

West Clare beauty Sarah Dunne will spend a busy week promot- ing the county in the Maiden of the Mourne competition, and hopes to follow in the footsteps of last year’s Clare Maiden who won the competi- tion outright.

The 19-year-old from Kilimer has just completed a business course in Kilrush Community School and has received two scholarships for Irish Music in the University of Limerick.

Not surprising her hobbies include singing and playing musical instru- ments.

Sarah also works part time in Kel- ly’s Bar and Restaurant in Kilrush and plans to go to college next year.

Her beauty and talent ensured her the Clare Maiden crown at the Miss Clare competition this year.

On Saturday she travelled to War- renpoint with her mother Madeleine and sister also called Madeleine.

The talented young Clare woman will spend this week on numerous official duties including a visit to Parliament Buildings in Stormount.

She will also enjoy a trip through the Mourne Mountains, boat trips and other activities organised by the festival committee and local businesses, as well as visiting local

shops, shopping centres and the local council offices.

The highlight of the week-long fes- tival will take place in the Whistle- down Hotel on Saturday, with a se- lection of this year’s winner.

Last year west Clare woman Grainne Larkin was crowned “Maid- en of the Mourne”.

The 22-year-old Kilkee woman saw off competition from as far afield as America, Northern Ireland and Rus- sia to secure the title for the Banner County.

When the young Kilkee woman hands over the crown on Saturday night to this year’s winner the people of Kilimer will be hoping that it is to another west Clare woman.

While unable to travel due to ill- ness, musician Pecker will also have his fingers crossed for his daughter.

Regarded by many as the last of the “Travelling musicians” the 76-year old is best known for his banjo play- ing although he is also considered “a fine fiddle player” and singer.

ALMOST 40 per cent of objections lodged nationally against special des- ignation areas for the protected bird, the Hen Harrier, have been lodged in County Clare.

In a Dail response, the Minister for the Environment, John Gormley stated that across the country 804 objections against Special Protec- tion Area (SPA) designation have been received by his department in relation to six areas with 744 being declared valid.

Minister Gormley confirmed that in relation to plans to designate an SPA in the Slieve Aughty mountains on north-east Clare, his department has received a total of 238 objec- tions.

Speaking in relation to all the ob- jections received, Minister Gormley said, “Approximately three-quarters of these relate to requests to have land removed from the SPA, with the remainder requesting land to be included.”

Only the Stacks’ to Mullagha- reirk mountains in west County Lim- erick have received more objections at 340.

The largest SPA is the Slieve Aughty mountains and involves the designation of 61,000 hectares where the National Parks and Wildlife Serv- ice (NWPS) believe that 24 pairs of Hen Harrier are present or 17% of the overall Hen Harrier population in Ireland of 130-150 pairs.

The NPWS describe the Slieve Aughty site as one of the top two sites in the country for the species and states “that the main threat to the long-term survival of Hen Har- riers within the site is further affor- estation, which would reduce and

fragment the area of foraging habitat, resulting in possible reductions in breeding density and productivity”.

Minister Gormley said that there is a two-stage process for assessing objections.

The first stage 1s an internal scien- tific review of the area under objec- tion. Following completion of this stage, objectors dissatisfied with the outcome may have their case referred to an independent Appeals Advisory Board.

He added, “Ienvisage that the internal review stage of all objec- tions will be completed by end Sep- tember 2008. The timeframe for the second stage review will depend on the number of cases that are re- ferred to the appeals.”

Earlier this year, the Director of the NWPS, Ms Oonagh Buckley tried to allay landowners by stating that the designation would not affect plans for one-off housing in the area and Cllr Pat Hayes (FF) said, “The east Clare area is already experiencing no growth in population and there have been worries that the restriction would further stymie growth.”

THE number of cases prosecuted in the Circuit Court in Ennis in 2006 fell significantly, according to figures released by the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Twenty-eight cases were dealt with in 2006, which is a decrease on 41 in 2005. It is a further drop on the figure of 49 in 2004.

2006 recorded a remarkably low rate of convictions by juries in the county – just two juries decided to

convict. This was a huge drop on 12 convictions in 2005, while there was just one conviction recorded in 2004.

Of the cases that went to trial in 2006, three defendants were ac- quitted by juries. The figure was four in 2005 and two in 2004.

The high rate of guilty pleas en- tered in the Circuit Court in Ennis continued in 2006, with 23 defend- ants entering pleas. This was on a par with the figure for the previous year – 24 – and a significant drop of

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The figures contained in the DPP’s annual report show that 89 per cent of cases finalised in 2006 resulted in convictions. The figure was 88 percent in 2005 and 86 per cent the previous year. This high figure took into account the high rate of guilty pleas entered, prior Komnur-e

Meanwhile, 44 complaints were made against gardai in the Clare Division in 2006, which was a sig- nificant rise on the figure for 2005,

when 31 complaints were made. Previously the highest figure was 43, in 2003.

That’s according to the Garda Complaints Board annual report, which was published last week. It also showed that up to May 8, 2007, seven complaints were made against gardai in Clare.

The complaints board ceased to accept new complaints on that date. The Garda Ombudsman Commis- sion took over that role, when it was Set up.

CLARE people are adapting to the recession by looking for deals on in- ternet shopping sites, a new survey has revealed.

The county has topped an All-Ire- land survey of internet shoppers in terms of the amount of computer software, health and beauty products and hi-fi equipment bought using the eBay website.

According to the Head of Products at eBay Ireland, Eamonn Galvin, the recent downturn in the economy has led to many Clare people turning to the website in search of a good deal.

“It is very interesting to see how well Clare has done – I’m not sure of the reasons for it, maybe it’s to do with Ennis and the good connectivity but certainly Clare People are amaz- ingly active on eBay,” he said.

“One of the big difference between e-bay in Clare and markets like

America is that the people in Clare seems to use it more to buy every day items that they could easily get in the local shops. In America it’s a lot about collectibles – we do have good sales on them in Clare but we also have great sales on mainstream items like clothes and accessories, computers, home electronics.

‘We did a price survey on a number of products from mainstream retail- ers and eBay and some prices are up to 72 per cent cheaper on eBay, with the average being about 42 per cent cheaper on e-bay. With the current economic climate people are going online more and looking for bar- eT eae

Clare shoppers also came second behind Wexford in the amount of home furnishing bought per head of population which the county came third in both the amount of books and computers bought using the eBay website.