Month: February 2010

A GRANDMOTHER picking up her grandchildren from school was one of the latest casualties on the coun- ty’s damaged roads.

Barbara Robinson was driving from Tullybrack Cross to Shragh when her car hit a large pothole, bounced off the road on to the ditch, and rolled over.

The car was a write-off, and Mrs Robinson escaped with minor inju- ries, some aches and a harsh realisa- tion of what could have been.

The frightened grandmother was left terrified but with a sense of relief that she was on her way to the school and that the children were not in the

ore

This accident has highlighted for many people the dangers of roads with uneven surfaces and hidden potholes.

John Robinson – Barbara’s husband – is one of a number of local people annoyed by the state of the roads.

“T usually go to pick up the chil- dren, but I was busy this day and asked Barbara to go,’ he said. ““When one of the neighbours came and said my wife was in an accident, I went down and saw the car. I was horror- struck.”

Local woman Nicola diLuici said that the road in question was danger- ous long before the freezing weather, although the sub-zero temperatures

did exasperate the problem.

The young mother of two said roads between ‘Tullybrack and Shragh and between Shragh and Monmore had buckled under the extra traffic endured during the laying of water pipes in Doonbeg late last spring. These roads were used as a detour for traffic during this time.

‘I drive this road six times a day to pick the children up from school. It is used by people working in Kilrush and the Doonbeg Golf Club, going to and from school and to Kilrush on business,” she said.

“The council did one section of re- surfacing after the waterworks and this is still perfect even after the frost, but they just filled the potholes

in the rest of the road and they have all risen again. We also have a prob- lem with subsidence,’ she said.

“I don’t feel we should have to pay road tax and then be expected to drive these roads. The west has been forgotten on all accounts,’ she added.

Ms diLuici said she is frustrated to hear from the council continuously that there is not enough money to do the road.

SHANNON’S Senior Citizen’s Club is celebrating its 30th birthday this year by urging some not-so-senior people to get involved.

The group meets socially to organ- ise outings, art classes, swimming and offers various clinics as well as a dinner and meals on wheels serv- ice.

“We have great craic and it’s a great social outlet,” said Club PRO, Pauline Cronin.

Pauline explained that the club would love the see new members joining as well as some new volun-

teers to help out.

“We have our regular members but we would love to see some new, younger faces. We want to be sure there are people who will step up and help organise the club and take part after the older members step down.”

The club has it’s own premises at 9 Purcell Park and dinners are served there twice a week. Volunteers also bring hot dinners out to people who can’t make it to the club.

“We could do with new members and helpers. Members should be over sixty and you have to be a member for six months to take up a post on the committee so we’d love to see

people joining this end of the year,” said Pauline.

Volunteers to help serve and wrap dinners can be any age.

The club had its annual dinner dance at the weekend and now be- gins a year of fun, with walks in the Burren and outings to Galway, Knock and other destinations.

Members also arrange transport for trips into Limerick to socialise with the senior citizens club there and the club there comes out to Clare.

Members can also avail of the serv- ices of a chiropodists and a physio- therapist, both of whom have regular clinics in the clubhouse.

The newly elected committee from last week’s AGM are Kay Cosgrave, Chairperson; Tess Barry, Secretary; Treasurer, Mary Farrell and PRO, Pauline Cronin.

The chairperson thanked the outgo- ing chair, Loui Byrne for all his work of the last three years. The commit- tee also thanked the Health Service Executive for their support along with Frances Kelly who provided teams for the meals on wheels, Mar- garet McDonnell, the kitchen staff and all the volunteers. ““We’d be lost without them,’ Said Pauline.

Anyone interested in joining can contact Pauline on 061 472518.

THE €1 million cost of refurbishing a community centre, described as “one of the best” in Clare, means En- nis Town Council is unlikely to take over the running of the building, a meeting has heard.

The future of the CYMS Commtu- nity Hall in Ennis was discussed at the February meeting of Ennis Town Council, following a motion submit- ted by Mayor of Ennis, Clir Frankie Neylon (Ind).

Cllr Neylon’s motion called on the council to state whether or not they intended to accept the offer of the CYMS Community Hall, Chapel Lane, Ennis, made to them by the Bishop of Killaloe, Dr Willie Walsh.

Cllr Neylon told the meeting that he believed the council should take over a building he said was “owned” by the people of Ennis. Highlighting the

building’s town centre location, Cllr Neylon described it as “one of the best facilities in the county”.

Responding to Cllr Neylon’s mo- tion, Town Clerk, Eddie Power stated, “As you are aware, Bishop William Walsh met with the council in relation to the Ennis Community Centre. Consultations subsequently took place between officials of the council and representatives of the Diocese in 2008. The members were subsequently briefed on these dis- cussions. The building is used for a multiplicity of purposes involving a number of different tenants.

“The council is not in a position having regard to the availability of finance to assume responsibility, for the management, maintenance or the future development of this building. It is understood that the refurbish- ment of the building would require significant capital investment in the

order of €1 million, which is not cur- rently available to the council.”

Cllr Paul O’Shea (Lab) supported the proposed takeover of the build- ing. He said, “You couldn’t ask for a better location. The youth centre has been running a very successful youth OF Nem ORONO MNS Koma

Cllr O’Shea also requested that the council provide a full report on the costs associated with running the building.

Cllr Tommy Brennan (Ind) said the council should not take over the building unless it is assured of “va- cant possession”.

“T don’t believe that we could run it given the way finances are at the moment. There are three or four dif- ferent organisations using it at the moment. We were told in the meet- ing with the bishop that we couldn’t get vacant possession,” he said.

Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) agreed

that the council would first have to be ensured vacant possession of the building before it could take owner- ship. He said money collected from development levies could be used for refurbishment. Cllr Flynn later pro- posed that the council purchase the building.

Town Manager, Ger Dollard told the meeting that it was costing the Diocese of Killaloe an estimated €150,000 a year to staff and run the building. “It’s not just a simple mat- ter of taking over the building. There are a number of complex issues as- sociated with it.”

Cllr Peter Considine (FF) warned that members should be “wary of what you wish for’, stating that itis a lot more expensive to repair a listed building than a standard one.

The proposal to purchase the build- ing was later withdrawn, pending a full report on costs.

THE decision to keep the €10 travel tax after the announcement of the Finance Bill has been branded as “short sighted”.

Reacting to the publication of the Finance Bill 2010, Fine Gael’s Deputy Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs and Clare TD Pat Breen has slammed what he terms “the short sighted decision not to axe the €10 air travel tax”.

“This air travel tax is depressing our tourism and aviation industries. It is a disaster, especially for Shan- non Airport where the airport is set to lose several European and UK destinations. Ryanair are on the brink of transferring several of their sun routes to Cork Airport and the franchise agreement which Aer Lin- gus has signed with Aer Arann will see that airline open up several new short-haul routes from both Cork and Dublin. Iam also expecting the year- end passenger figures for Shannon Airport for 2009 to show a signifi- cant decline,” he said.

Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has been a vocal critic of the tax, citing its introduction as one of his reasons for decamping aircraft to other cheaper cost-base destinations in Europe.

This week, O’Leary produced fig- ures revealed by Europe’s airline monitor, showing traffic into Ireland down by 18 per cent, while in Den- mark and Spain, where charges were reduced, traffic grew by seven and

two per cent respectively.

The criticism comes as the region’s tourism concerns prepare to hear what Shannon Development, Failte Ireland and Tourism Ireland have planned for the region for the com- ing year.

The three bodies will brief tourism concerns on their plans on Thursday morning at a special conference in the Radisson Blu hotel.

“Much of the economy in Clare is

dependent on the tourism industry and with the trend in unemployment on the rise again in the county – up four per cent for January 2010, from 10,404 at the end of December 2009 to 10,818 at the end of January 2010 – this tax is affecting our competi- tiveness,” the Fine Gael spokesman renee

SOME of the world’s leading edu- cation experts will speak at a major conference announced for Ennis in May.

‘When Children Learn Differently’ – aconference on teaching and learn- ing resources for difficult times, will take place at Glor from May I- 2.

Speakers already confirmed for the event include Paul Cooper, a pro- fessor of education and chartered psychologist who has developed re- search and teaching interests, along with a list of over 100 publications (including 14 authored and edited books); Suzanne Horgan, founder and director of Eating Disorders Ire- land; Dr Terry Lynch who will speak on understanding, responding to and preventing self-harm, suicidal intent and suicide in young people; and Rosemarie Mason who will give a lecture entitled ‘Understanding the many different ways children learn – an overview of the HANDLE (Holis- tic Approach to Neuro Development and Learning Efficiency) Approach’. The event is being organised by the recently formed Irish Conferences.

Born out of Orchid Book Distribu-

tors, Irish Conferences was set up with a view to organising and host- ing top-quality conferences and seminars in Ennis.

Organiser Ian Smulders said the conference will look at the area of special needs education “in the broadest possible sense”’.

“This will mean everything from the whole area of emotional educa- tion to spotting suicidal tendencies in teenagers,’ explained Jan.

Other speakers confirmed for the conference include representatives from the Blue Box Creative Learn- ing Centre, Limerick; Carmel Tier- ney, a nurse and midwife and neuro developmental therapist; and Cliona O’Rourke, Assistant Dog Trainer, for Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind.

The conference will be made up of a series of lectures and workshops. Workshops are specifically aimed at teachers.

Tickets can be purchased for individ- ual lectures and workshops. For tick- ets visit www.irishconferences.com, Creer Be contact@irishconferences. com or telephone 065 6842862. Tickets can also be purchased at the The Crow’s Feather on Woodquay, Spay AvEse

The Labour Court has thrown out complaints made by a group of east- ern European workers that they were discriminated against by well-known Clare engineering firm, Clare Civil Engineering Ltd.

The Labour Court threw out the complaints by general labourers: Lat- ivans, Vladislavs Arbuzovs, Valerijs Myjasojedovs, Sergejs Plonkins and Croat, Igor Ostojic after finding that they failed to establish the primary facts and accordingly their claim must fall at the first hurdle.

The Labour Court official dealing with the case, Caroline Jenkinson concluded that: “Documentary evi- dence reviewed by the court further showed that in some cases the com-

plainants enjoyed superior rates of pay in comparison to some of their Irish counterparts. The court there- fore cannot draw a conclusion that discrimination on grounds of race occurred in this case.”

According to the report, the claims of discriminatory dismissal by Mr. Arbuzovs, Mr. Plonkins and Mr Ostojic were withdrawn at the hear- ing of the appeal before the Labour Court on December | last, while the claim by Mr Ostojic that he suffered victimisation and a _ victimisatory dismissal was also withdrawn at that hearing.

However, the complainants’ case that each suffered discriminatory treatment on account of their race contrary to the Employment Equal- ity Act on foot of non-implementa-

tion of the Registered Employment Agreement (REA) for the Construc- tion Industry proceeded.

Counsel for the company denied the allegations of discrimination against all four complainants.

She informed the court that the company was a small family owned business with no dedicated human resources representative. She submit- ted that both Irish and non-national employees were all treated the same. At the time of the complainants’ employment they employed approxi- mately 50 staff, about 10 per cent of whom were foreign nationals.

The company submitted “that they did not issue any staff with contracts of employment and the terms and conditions of employment of all staff were dealt with in the same way.

Therefore, not issuing contracts to the complainants and not employing them in accordance with the REA and other legislation could not be seen to be discriminatory”.

She submitted that all employees were treated the same way in rela- tion to pay. Their pay was negotiated when they started on an individual net basis and was dependent on their experience.

In the report of the Labour Court officer, Caroline Jenkinson said: ‘In relation to the more specific dis- crimination claim that their race was a factor in the non-implementation of the REA, the evidence adduced at the hearing was that all workers, Whether of Irish origin or non-Irish origin, were treated in the same man- ner.”

TWO men charged with assault causing harm to the late teacher and county final footballer, Brian Casey (26) were further remanded in cus- tody last Friday.

The Lissycasey man died in hos- pital two days after an incident at O’Connell Square in Ennis on St Stephen’s night.

Harry Dinan (29) of 10 Waterpark Heights, Ennis and his nephew, Kevin Dinan (22) of 3 Clarehill, Clarecas- tle are charged with the assault of Mr Casey at O’Connell Square in En- nis on December 26-27 contrary to Section 3 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act.

The two were initially charged on December 28 and were yesterday making their fifth appearance in court.

At Ennis District Court on Friday, Insp John Galvin sought a remand in custody for a further four weeks due to the complexity of the inves- tigation.

Insp Galvin said that the file has been submitted to the state solicitor’s officer for the preparation of a Book of Evidence.

Solicitor for the two, Tara God-

frey said that the remand in custody should be for two weeks “as the real- ity is that we are on the first stage of a very long procedure’”’.

Requesting that the remand be for two weeks, Ms Godfrey said, “I ac- knowledge that it 1s a very sensitive matter.”

However, State Solicitor Martin Linnane told the court that the Book of Evidence “won’t be ready in two weeks”.

Insp Galvin said that a further four weeks is required and Ms Godfrey consented on condition that an accu- rate clarification of where the case 1s at is provided on the adjourned date.

Judge Joseph Mangan remanded the two in custody to re-appear be- fore Ennis District Court on March a

Mr Casey was buried on New Year’s Day in his home village of Lissycasey. He is survived by his parents, Martin and Eileen, sisters Martina and Aileen, brother Niall and girlfriend, Cecila.

FUNDING has been made available for a study to see whether it’s pos- sible to prevent future flooding on the Limerick-Galway railway line at Ballycar and other locations. Recent flooding at the location closed the line for more than 70 days. Members of Clare County Council were told last night that the funding has been made available by the Department of Transport and a team of experts will be brought on- board to see what can be done.

A representative of the rail com- pany came to the council’s monthly meeting to fill elected representa- tives in on what efforts are being made to deal with the situation.

He said that the committee of various experts will look at the fre- quency of the flooding, the likely solutions and the cost of any such solutions.

“T have to say that cost will be a considerable factor in a decision on what will be done,” he told the meeting.

Councillors welcomed the fact that

a study is being put in place.

Cllr Pat McMahon (FF) said he hoped the report would not be an- other which would gather dust.

“What locals have said to me is that at least part relief could be gained by re-opening the channel that runs through Newmarket and Sixmilebridge. That would not be an expensive solution.”

Cllr Brian Meaney (GP) welcomed the funding of the study saying, “I appreciate that we may find this 1s a once-in-20-years event but the de- velopment of the line represents an

investment of €156 million so fur- ther investment at Ballycar is surely warranted to protect that.”

Cllr Patricia McCarthy (Ind) asked if there was “any reason that the OPW and other agencies should not be contributing to the cost of solv- barca mab swam

Cllr John Crowe (FG) said that lo- cal knowledge should be brought to bear on the study and Cllr Pat Daly (FF) said that “if the railway line between Dublin and Kildare was wet, it would be sorted out within 24 hours. This problem must be

solved.”

The issue of the rail link between Limerick and Galway – which is due to open next month – was also raised and Cllr Meaney asked whether it was correct that the journey will take two hours?

The Irish Rail representative con- firmed that would be the case and added that there are six stops to serv- ice various stations along the way.

“Tf you got into your car and went on to the motorway, obeying all the rules, you wouldn’t do it much quicker,” he said.

THE Government has been accused of “blackguarding” the Doolin Unit of the Irish Coastguard by misleading them as well as elected officials about the ring-fencing of funding for a new coastguard facility in north Clare. This follows the revelation that more than €1.5 million promised by government for the development of the rescue centre is not ring-fenced, and the Irish Coastguard will have to make a case for the money to the Department of the Marine.

Speaking at last nights meeting of Clare County Council, Cllr James Breen (IND), accused successive ministers of deceiving both himself and the Doolin Coastguard.

“The minister has blackguarded the people up in Doolin for the last few years and he has no intention of putting forward this development,” he said.

““T raised this matter on a number of occasions when I was in the Dail and I was always happy with the answer I got back. But what has been done’ He has done absolutely nothing.

“It is not good enough for the vol- unteers up there to be operating out of a building which is essentially a cow shed. I am calling on the min- ister to honour what has been prom- ised and make sure that this facility goes ahead soon.”

A deputation from the Office of Public Works (OPW) met with mem- bers of the Doolin Unit of the Irish Coastguard in January to show them a number of proposals for the new facility.

It had been expecting that planning for the facility would be lodged to-

wards the end of last month but no application has yet been submitted to Clare County Council.

Speaking on a motion calling on the Government to clarify its position on funding for the project, Cllr Martin Conway (FG) said that the members of the Doolin Coastguard were not being treated fairly.

“These people are risking their lives to go out there and bring in 30 or 40 bodies a year and they deserve more than what they are getting at the moment,” he said.

For the last number of years, volun-

teers for the Doolin Unit of the Irish Coastguard have been working out of a 150-year-old shed for a number of decades and are forced to store much of their equipment off-site. This could potentially cause delays in emergency situations.

The proposed new centre has been delayed for years as the OPW had difficulty in obtaining a site locally. A source close to the coastguard ad- mitted that it would be “very unlike- ly” that the coastguard could raise enough money to proceed with the project by themselves.

published below.

The former Dublin South TD’s resignation from the Dail yesterday (Monday) was greeted with shock by his close Fine Gael colleague Pat Breen TD who described him as a great loss to politics and the party.

“He was an honourable man, obvi- ously this decision was preying on his mind for some time; and yet he took the time to honour a commitment he had given to me to deliver the key note address at the Kilrush Chamber of Commerce dinner on Friday night last,’ said Deputy Breen.

Mr Lee, who gave no clue of his 1m- pending decision at the chamber din- ner, did, however, signal his unease at his dual role of being a politician and economist.

In pointing to the need for solutions

to the current recession, he said that people were always “giving out” in the Dail.

“IT think, fair enough, that is Irish politics. But we really need to change. We need to work on solutions. These are going to be very difficult solu- tions. Finding the solutions to where we are now is new. It is difficult be- cause we have never been in this situ- ation before,’ he said.

Yesterday the former TD claimed that despite his best efforts, he had virtually no influence in shaping Fine Gael’s economic policies and felt he had no option but to go.

“Being a crowd puller can be a pret- ty hollow thing,’ said the man who addressed 140 people in the Kilrush Golf Club 60 hours earlier.

Deputy Breen last night expressed his sadness at his colleague’s deci- sion.

“T got to know George very well as we both sat along side one another in the Dail Chamber for voting, where we chatted on a daily basis.

“George was driven by passion and his address on Friday night reflected his knowledge of the problems that the Irish economy is facing for the future.

“TI believe that George found it dif- ficult to adjust to his new life in poli-

job from his previous lifestyle as economics correspondent for RTE,”

tics, it is a very difficult and tough he added.

“T respect his decision and I believe that the world of politics and the Fine Gael Party is at a great loss follow- ing his departure and I would like to take this opportunity to wish George and his family every good wish for the future.”

Clare TD Joe Carey said he was equally shocked by Mr Lee’s deci- sion “to resign from politics after such a brief time as an elected mem- ber of Dail Eireann”.

“He had the potential I believe to make a sizeable contribution to po- litical life in Ireland. However, polli- tics 1s a difficult profession requiring persistence and patience. The way the Irish political system works and Operates, no one person can change things overnight. I myself was lucky to have the benefit of cutting my po- litical teeth as a county councillor before being elected to Dail Eireann and that experience greatly helped prepare me for life as a TD. I wish Mr Lee every success in his future career.”