Month: October 2008

ALLEGATIONS of an odour ema- nating from the landfill site in Inagh are too serious to be heard in the dis- trict court – a judge has ruled.

Judge Joseph Mangan declined ju- risdiction in the case of the Environ- mental Protection Agency against Clare County Council.

The council faces two summonses alleging that an odour emanated

from the landfill site between August and November 2007. Solicitor for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Gearodid Williams told En- nistymon District Court last week that the issue was whether the court would accept jurisdiction.

He explained that the case related to odours emanating from the land- fill site in Inagh.

“The council is operating a landfill on foot of a licence from the EPA,’

he said. One of the conditions was that there would not be any odour from the facility.

Mr Williams said the EPA was of the view that the matter be dealt with summarily, in the district court, where fines of up to €3,000 and/or a year in prison could be imposed in the event of a conviction.

“The allegations of odours are on a level that the EPA did not consider sufficiently serious to be tried on in-

dictment (in the circuit court), added the solicitor.

He said the EPA does not have the power to prosecute matters on indict- ment, in the circuit court. If jurisdic- tion were to be declined in the district court, the order would be for the case to be struck out and then referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

“The question is, is this sufficiently Serious for the matter to be tried on indictment? . . . The EPA believes it

is not. If jurisdiction is not accepted, the EPA does not have a role in pros- ecuting it,” said Mr Williams.

However, Judge Joseph Mangan said he was declining jurisdiction. “It is too serious of a nature to come un- der the ambit of the penalties stated,” said the judge. He then struck out the matter.

The matter is now out of the hands of the EPA and will be referred to the DB) ae

SHERRY FitzGerald, Ireland’s larg- est estate agents has announced that the average price of a second-hand property in Ireland fell by 5.9 per cent during the third quarter of 2008. The results for the twelve months to September show a price reduction of 14 per cent.

According to Marian Finnegan, Chief Economist, Sherry FitzGer- ald Group, “The true extent of the market correction is more significant than either figure illustrates. The first evidence of market correction began during the third quarter of

2006. Assuming the market peak occurred in June 2006, this suggests a market correction in Ireland of 16.6 per cent in nominal terms and 26 per cent in real terms over the 27 month period”.

The Cork market recorded price deflation of 4.7 per cent in the quar- ter and 12.7 per cent in the twelve months to September.The results for the Dublin market are even more marked with price reductions of 7.1 per cent in the quarter and 15.7 per cent in the year to September 2008. From a peak in June 2006, the aver- age price of a second-hand property in Dublin has now fallen by 23.4 per

cent in nominal terms or 32.8 percent in real terms.

Marian Finnegan, added, “The lat- est results from the price barometer give a clear picture of the extent of price correction in the second hand market. The price decline originated in the Dublin market during the sum- mer months of 2006 however it was almost twelve months later that the price reductions truly spread to the rest of the country. All areas of the country are now enduring significant price falls with the upper end of the market most affected to date’.

An analysis of the purchaser profile in the year to date reveals that first

time buyers accounted for 38 per cent, compared to 34 per cent during the same period in 2007. Not sur- prisingly investors were less active in the year to date purchasing 10 per cent of the properties traded in the period, compared to 17.6 per cent in the same period in 2007.

The trend of rental inflation which has been a feature of this market dur- ing 2006 and 2007 effectively ended in 2008 with the CPI index of pri- vately owned rents falling by 0.64 per cent in the twelve months to August 2008, compared to an annual average growth of 9.98 per cent in 2007.

Looking to the immediate future,

Ms Finnegan acknowledged that “Activity levels will remain subdued in the coming weeks leading up to the Budget as consumers await the Government’s announcement on October 14th. In the post —budget market other factors should begin to influence consumer sentiment. Not least of which lies in the fact that the combination of the price reductions already present in the market place and the reduction in fixed interest rates in the mortgage market has re- sulted in enhanced affordability in the starter home market with an in- creasing number of properties more affordable to purchase than to rent”’.

THE mist was down in Miltown, but football folk from Liscannor could see as far as the promised land of a county final. Six weeks previously at the same ground when they were beaten by 3-10 to 0-9 by Doonbeg, it was very hard to see it happening.

But, Liscannor’s spirit was willing. Back then and in subsequent games against Lissycasey and Eire Og and in this second crack at mighty Doon- beg. Kieran Considine admitted as much afterwards.

“It came from a bit of honesty,” he revealed. “We asked for fellas to stand up and be counted and they did that. We went a goal down against the run of play today. Doonbeg were cheering and felt they were half way there, but this group of players are

very strong mentally. We’ve been around a very long time.

“People were probably saying that with all the wides in the first half we were back to the Liscannor of old. We got refocused at half-time and tried to work the ball into scoring po- sitions. We got good scores. I think we showed today what we’re capable of. People write us off. We’re a small parish and we have a lot of heart,’ he added.

Selector Pat Murphy touched on this same spirit and the fact that they were written off before the champi- onship started and before this game. “There were four teams left in the competition before today and we were still 10 to 1 to win the champi- onship. That drove on the boys.

““T think they were on about a wed- ding in Doonbeg and they wanted

the county final brought forward. I was sitting below at a meeting in Ennis when I heard about it. I came back and told the lads that all they were talking about in Doonbeg was the wedding and that everyone was saying that we wouldn’t be involved in the county final, that we were in- terfering with a wedding. They gave their answer to that out there.”

And they hope to provide more an- swers in the county final. “We a have a few weeks now to get the injuries right, put our heads back down again. There’s more in us. We’ve improved with every game and we can improve again,’ said Kieran Considine.

No one doubts him.

SECONDS after the final whis- tle sounds, Tommy Curtin springs from the dugout and is enveloped in a small ocean of Liscannor bod- ies. Between the thick mist that has cloaked the field and the celebrations going on around him, he’s difficult to pinpoint but suddenly he shuffles off to the side of the festive group where you catch him and ask for two min- utes of his time.

Face beaming, he says he’ll give you ten.

You ask him was he concerned in that extraordinary second-half when it looked like Doonbeg had sucked the momentum from Liscannor.

He pauses for a minute, gathers his breath and tells you that yes, there’s no point saying other otherwise, he was anxi0us.

“I’d have to say I was worried al- right. They got the goal, they went ahead then by two points, got it up to three and there wasn’t a whole load of time left.

“But deep down I still had faith. At half-time, I knew we hadn’t got go- ing. We’d only kicked a couple of points and I sat the lads down and said that we hadn’t brought the inten- sity that a semi-final of a champion- ship deserved. It was put up to them that they had to come back out and improve.”

That they did. The vigour and force they applied for 25 minutes after the break was almost tangible. They scavenged for breaks, closed space and defended from the front but most of all, they didn’t once show any signs of panic.

Even after Doonbeg shook the net, Liscannor held their nerve and be- lieved that the football they played to bring them into contention would allow them breast the finishing tape ahead of Doonbeg.

Though Doonbeg continued to push every central Liscannor attack out wide towards the sidelines, Lis- cannor, contrary to the belief before the game, kicked well in front of the posts to claw back the deficit and

spring the win.

“We looked on the second-half as the time to step up. We said, look, were in a decent position to go back out and face the elements. In the group game, it was a different

situation at half-time and maybe we showed some complacency that day.

“That wasn’t going to happen here. We said we’d leave everything we had on the fields and in fairness to these lads, that’s exactly what they did.”

As he travelled to Miltown in the early afternoon rain of Saturday, Cur- tin’s confidence was rising. It wasn’t an arrogance or conceit, just a sense of contentment that the work logged since the summer began would tip the balance.

‘“We’ve put in an amount of train- ing and I just felt wed step it up today. So I did feel a certain con- fidence and that’s nothing against Doonbeg. They’re a fantastic side as they showed, but I had faith in these lads. We’ve had a couple of lads out injured and they were in the mind of the 15 lads who started as well.

“It’s an amazing feeling to get toa county final. It’s such a small parish, it must be one of the smallest foot- balling parishes in the country and it’s great for everybody involved to have that crack at the title.

“But look. We’ve still won nothing. We’re back to basics again in a couple of days, back training and we’re go- ing to be focused on the final. That’s the one we’ve got to get over now.”

One mountain scaled, another peak in the distance. With Curtin ready for this final ascent, Liscannor should have the energy and enthusiasm to reach the top.

through the Freedom Of Information Act show that one of the options considered by the Elec-

toral Boundary Committee was to increase the Scarriff area to a five Seater.

This would have been achieved by adding the areas of Clareabbey, Doo- ra, Quin, Clooney, Spancilhil and Kiltraghtis from the Ennis area and transferring Killuran and Carrow- baun to the Killaloe electoral area.

Under this arrangement, Ennis and Ennistymon would have lost a seat

each and Killaloe would have gained VORorcoe Meelilanelee

However, the Committee opted to abolish the Scarriff area as its terms of reference ‘no longer permit three seater electoral areas save in very ex- ceptional circumstances’. It has now been merged into the Killaloe area with the Shannon electoral area also gaining a Seat.

Ennis has been divided into two

separate areas and increased the number of seats by two with Kilrush and Ennistymon losing out.

The committee decided that split- ting the town offered the best solu- tion as it “respects the reality that Ennis continues to be a strong focal point for its hinterland to the east and west”.

One of two Fianna Fail councillors in the Scariff area, Cllr Pat Hayes

said he didn’t wish to focus on the ‘what if?’ scenario and preferred to concentrate on the reality of Scarriff now being included in the Killaloe electoral area.

Confirming that he will be putting his name forward for the local elec- tions, he said it was important there was a high turnout in rural areas in order for local councillors to be re- NDA oLe

FINE Gael in Clare proposes to dou- ble its membership of the county’s two urban councils.

The party met on Friday night in Ennis and in Kilrush last night to nominate its candidates for the re- spective town councils in the up coming local election.

It has nominated four candidates for Ennis Town Council including the two outgoing councillors Mary Coote-Ryan and Johnny Flynn.

No stranger to local elections – Tony Mulqueen’s name will also be on the ballot paper, as will new kid on the block Rodger Fox.

Nominations for the selection proc- ess closed on September 19 at 6pm and on Friday night all four got the seal of approval at the convention meeting chaired by Limerick Coun- ty Councillor and former director of elections in Limerick East Leo Walsh.

Described as a woman of “integrity and honour” Mary Coote-Ryan was the first to be nominated by Michael

Carey and seconded by Suzanne Mangan.

In her acceptance speech the only woman to have served as mayor of Ennis maintained that her Fine Gael pedigree could be traced back to the blue shirts.

She told delegates that she was still passionate about politics and her door is always open to anyone who wishes to call.

The other three nominees were all part of the remaining proposing 1D KOLen Ice

Sitting councillor Johnny Flynn was proposed by Tony Mulqueen who described him as a family man with great knowledge on health is- sues. The former chief of the Limer- ick Fire Service had fire in his belly as he spoke of how he believes that public services should be audited externally and he had serious issues with how the town, county and coun- try has been run.

“T think the health services and (the political element of) the local authorities are not being managed properly,’ said Cllr Flynn.

His nomination was seconded by his other running mate Rodger Fox who he in turn nominated as a candi- date. Praising Mr Fox as an extraor- dinary administrator, Cllr Flynn said he also worked hard volunteering for different groups. Best known as the chairman of the Ennis Community Games last year, Rodger is a native of

Barrack Street Ennis and worked in two well known local businesses – Bredin’s and Shannahan’s. He was seconded by Earl Mulqueen, who explained that as Rodger had chil- dren in both primary and secondary school he was more than aware of the issue of class sizes and school ac- commodation in the town.

Accepting the nomination the new candidate said he was well aware of issues surrounding the elderly, edu- cation, water and the hospital.

Earl Mulqueen nominated his brother Tony as the fourth candidate. He told delegates that Tony lived in the town all his life and was aware of its difficulties.

Seconding the nomination Johnny Flynn described Tony as a man of “integrity and honour.” In accepting the nominee Tony outlined his ambi- tion for the town council.

‘“W hat we hope to achieve next year is to double the membership of the Fine Gael on Ennis Town Council.”

Fine Gael in Kilrush will be hop- ing to do the same as last night the party nominated outgoing councillor businesswoman Marian McMahon Jones and newcomer farmer Liam Williams.

All candidates will now have to be ratified by head office before going on the ballot paper on June next.

FINE Gael in Ennis has vowed to remove what it has described as the Fianna Fail and independent strong- hold over Ennis Town Council.

As the members begin the prepara- tion process for the 2009 local elec- tions, the fighting talk has already ererca sue e

“There is lot of negativity out there for the Government and I am con- vinced we can do well,’ Fine Gael TD Pat Breen told delegates at the Ennis Town Council convention.

“It is a different situation to four years ago. 2009 will be a very differ- ent election and fought very different by the different parties. It is 1mpor- tant for all concerned to get out there

and knock on doors,” he added.

‘People will use this as a mid-term review of the Government and vote against the Government,” said the Clare TD.

Ennis Town Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) also believed that the Fianna Fail and independent strong hold needed to be changed. “Local government should be the opposite to central govern-

ment to force central government to work more effectively,” he said.

Fine Gael member Earl Mulqueen said, “Next year the people of Ennis will get the first chance in five years to say how Ennis town has been run and how it will be run. We need to elect a councillor that will shout stop if the council proposes something that is to the detriment of the town

and the people of the town.”

The consensus of many at the top table was that four seats were not be- yond possibility following the party’s success two years ago.

Chairman Limerick County Coun- cillor Leo Walsh (FG) said he be- lieved that Fine Gael had a “great chance” of securing four of the nine seats in next year’s local election.

local election.

Last week the Soldiers of Destiny elected Gerry Reidy to secretary of the Comhairle Dail Cheantar, re- placing Martin O’Loughlin who now works for newly elected TD Timmy Dooley.

Patrick Maloney was elected chair-

man and in his absence Michael McTigue got the unenviable task of PRO.

While the officals are firmly in place, speculation is mounting as to who is going forward to one of the hardest elections facing the party.

Ennis Chamber of Commerce CEO Rita McInerney is one of the new faces being suggested for Ennis Town Council. In a chamber that cur- rently has just one woman, the Doon- beg native could double the female gender if elected.

Other names likely to contest the

Ennis Town Council for Fianna Fail include sitting councillors Peter Con- sidine and Tom Glynn and contend- ers John Guerin and Sean Malone.

Cllr Joe Reidy had expressed an in- terest in contesting Ennis East in the county council elections along side Cllrs Pat Daly and Bernard Hanra- ete

In the second new constituency of Ennis West Cllr Considine is to be joined by Gareth Green son of former councillor Raymond Green. Green was proposed by the Kilna- mona Cumann, which 1s now part of

SHAVeVESMA A Koni

With Cllr Flan Garvey likely to stand down in the reduced constitu- ency of Ennistymon, it is unlikely that any Inagh candidate will be put forward with Kilnamona gone to En- Oh

Instead former councillor Michael Hillary is proposed to run in Ennisty- mon, as the boundary change brings in more of what would be considered his traditional area around Miltown Malbay. Former Chairperson of the Ennistymon Comhairle Cheantair Mary Crawford is also being pro-

posed for the Ennistymon area.

With the Kilrush electoral area, like Ennistymon losing a seat all sitting councillors are likely to be proposed for Fianna Fail.

In Shannon, the town has yet to propose a candidate. Meanwhile Sixmilebridge has nominated former council candidate PJ Ryan and new candidate Pascal Lenihan to contest the newly expanded electoral area.

Sitting Fianna Fail County Coun- cillor Pat McMahon and Robert Frost have been nominated by Newmarket- on-Fergus.

RESIDENTS who were holding a round-the-clock protest outside a house which was bought by the local authority have moved their marquee.

The protest is continuing at the side of the house in Cullinagh estate on the Ballina side of Lough Derg and it is thought that the marquee may have been moved on foot of a request from Gardai as it had previously been on the street in front of the house.

But the protest is still continuing, sources close to the row have re- vealed.

Residents have been protesting since Tipperary County Council bought the private home to accom- modate a family of ten Travellers at a cost of €465,000.

The protesters have claimed the council is acting outside it’s own pol- icy for housing Travellers by spend- ing such a large sum on an unfinished house and they recently went to court in a bid to stop the council signing a tenancy agreement on the property with the O’Reully family.

High Court Judge Mr Peter Justice Charleton ruled against the residents application for a judicial review on the grounds that members of the

Travelling community have the same rights to be housed as anyone else and as much as he himself had. He also rejected the resident’s applica- tion to prevent the council signing a tenancy agreement before a decision in the review could be made by the High Court.

The residents have been taking fur- ther legal advice and are thought to be considering an appeal but asso- ciation chairman, Paddy Collins said they are not in a position to comment on any developments at the mom- ment. ““We will be guided by our le- gal advice and that is all we can say at present,’ he said.

The O’Reilly family, who are at the centre of the row have been living in the lakeside town for nine years in a number of caravans, a short distance from the property in dispute.

Last night, Tony O’Malley, solicitor for the family also declined to com- ment at present.

He said previously that the O’Reilly’s are “very upset. They have been under a lot of pressure because of this. They are a family which has lived here peacefully for many years. They have helped with community events, their children are going to school in the area.”

According to information obtained from the Free Legal Aid Centres (FLAC) in Ennis and Shannon, the numbers of Clare people with em- ployment related queries has sky- rocketed in the last six months, since the recession took hold. In that time period, the level of employment re- lated queries has almost doubled, from 10 per cent of total queries at

the beginning of the year to just un- der 20 per cent now.

According to the Director General of FLAC Noeline Blackwell, these increases indicate that employees are being asked to adopt new work prac- tices and many are examining their rights in the event of forced redun- dancies.

‘In Clare we can see that employ- ment law queries are up quite a bit. We are seeing this in our centres in Ennis, Shannon and indeed all over the country, but also from our phone Service,’ she said.

“The kind of questions that we are hearing are about people being asked to adjust their working hours and

people who are being asked to ad- just their salaries. You get the feeling that people are being asked to be a lot more flexible by employees and a lot of the time to work for less money.

‘People are also being asked to go into new positions, most probably because companies are trying to combine two sections of a company into one. This is anecdotal informa- tion but the numbers increasing at the centres 1s not, we have dates to back up that.”

Since the Free Legal Aid Centres were set up, family law has always been the most popular subject. How- ever, the figures so far this year in- dicate that this trend will be bucked

in 2008, with employment law taking the top spot.

“What most people don’t realise is that while there are some general rights for employees, these right must be applied to their own contracts,” continued Ms Blackwell.

“They are entitled to know the terms of their employment, they are entitled not to be unfairly dismissed and they are entitled to be paid for their work. But beyond that you must look at your own contract of employ- jee lin

The Free Legal Aid Centres in En- nis and Shannon can be contacted 065 6841221 and 061 364704 respec- TON