Month: January 2011

THE MAIN road between Ennistymon and Lahinch came within an inch of being closed over the Christmas period, it was revealed at yesterday’s North Clare Area meeting of Clare County Council.

The road, which carries an estimated 20,000 cars per week during the winter months, was severely damaged as a result of the pre-Christmas cold snap, with local authority crews forced to conduct daily emergency repairs on the road.

Despite these efforts, a large number of minor accidents were reported on the road during the Christmas period.

Responding to a motion put forward by Cllr Richard Nagle (FF) at yesterday’s meeting in Ennistymon, council engineer Stephen Lahiffe said that the road “was in danger of being closed” over the Christmas period.

This section of the N67 is one of the main routes in north Clare and is also a major tourism artery, carrying more than € 1 million visitors to the Burren each year.

Clare County Council yesterday confirmed that a new contractor has been hired to strengthen and tar the road with works expected to get underway in five weeks. This follows difficulty in engaging a contractor before Christmas, with one chosen contractor going into liquidation and a second being unable to raise a bond for the project.

“The money is still there and work will start in the next five weeks and that is good news. I would hope that when the work is completed that we will have a state of the art road between Ennistymon and Lahinch,” said Cllr Nagle.

“I have been inundated with complains about the state of the road over the last few weeks. That there had to be daily works carried the road just to keep it open shows how bad it was.”

Seconding the motion, local councillor Martin Conway (FG), said that the road should have been prioritised long ago.

“This is the main connnectivity route to the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren. Even at off peak we are talking about 20,000 cars per week and much more in the summer,” he said.

“This is one of the most used stretches of road in the county. Really and truly it should have been prioritiesed long ago. I would like to commend the council for the work they have done to keep it open. It is just such a pity that so many small acident had to take place on the road over the last while.”

TWO Fianna Fáil councillors yesterday blamed the former Minister for the Environment and Green Party leader, John Gormley, for the failure of many rural sewage schemes in Clare to gain funded over the past two year.

Commenting on a motion in relation to the Miltown Malbay wastewater treatment plant put forward by Cllr Michael Hillary (FF) at yesterday’s North Clare Area Meeting, Cllr Richard Nagle and Michael Kelly claimed that a combination of red-tape and a bias in favour of Dublin projects, resulted in a number of Clare projects not going ahead over the past few years.

“I would hope that when we have a new Minister for the Environment, that the first thing that is done is to simplify the process of applying for a treatment plant,” said Cllr Nagle.

“Over the last number of years the system has been so bureaucratic that we did not do very well in the number of projects which got funding. It seems that the priority was given to larger development in places in the surrounds of Dublin. We were definitely the poor relation. The last thing that we need is that there remains so much bureaucracy that it continues to bogs down the whole process.”

According to Cllr Michael Kelly, the proposed redevelopment of the Miltown Malbay sewage system and a number of other projects would have received funding had it not been from red-tape from the Department of the Environment.

“We are now in the unhappy situation where sewerage systems would have been put through by now had it not been for the bureaucracy of the Department of the Environment,” he said.

“This was not the fault of Clare County County, it was a bureaucracy land mine,” Cllr Kelly concluded.

This debate was sparked off by a motion from Cllr Michael Hillery, who is worried that the Miltown Malbay wastewater treatment system will not be granted an EPA licence for 2011.

“We have been looking for a proper sewerage system in Miltown Malbay for many years but with the financial situation at the moment that wont be happening for awhile. However, the system in Miltown does need to be upgraded if it is to get a EPA licence,” said Cllr Hillery.

“The sewerage system there was built in the 1940’s and is not suitable to deal with the increase in population which has taken place over the last few years.”

A NORTH Clare road, which was severely damaged during the construction of a water scheme more than two years ago, was described as nothing mote than a “cow path” at yesterday’s North Clare Area meeting of Clare County Council.

The road, which is located in the Dromoher/Crossard area of north Clare, was down for inclusion in the annual roadwork’s programme in 2010 but was dropped due to lack of funding.

Speaking on a motion put forward on yesterday’s meeting, Cllr Joe Arkins (FG) urged the road to be included as a priority for the 2011 programme.

“It’s almost not a road anymore, it’s a cow path. Just because these people live in rural Ireland, they pay their road tax, it doesn’t mean that they are not entitled to a half decent road to go to work and to the shops on.

“If there is to be any road works budget this year, we need the message going forward to have this road dealt with. We had an understanding before that roads which were withdrawn in 2009 were on the programme for 2010. I think the same situation should be used for this road, which was withdrawn because of lack of funding in 2010.”

A CLARE-based freight and transport service provider, Eoin Gavin Transport, has won a prestigious industry award at the third annual TPN Awards. The awards are designed to reward excellence and to raise the standards and public perception of the freight and logistics industry in Ireland. TPN (The Pallet Network) members from around the country voted in the awards, judging their peers on their performance in categories such as customer service and contribution to the national network.

Mairead Barrett, a longstanding employee, was awarded the TPN Outstanding Contribution Award 2010 for the depot. The award recognises excellent service for the customer and business and contribution to the overall success of TPN. Eoin Gavin, Managing Director, said, “We were delighted to hear that Mairead achieved such an award for the company, particularly in this difficult economic climate. The team have worked incredibly hard over the last year and it is great to be recognised by peers in the industry and within The Pallet Network. These awards demonstrate how the transport and logistics industry has radically changed the way it operates and reflects the forward thinking of transport, logistics and freight companies like Eoin Gavin Transport.”

Operating from a purpose-built 5,000 square foot warehouse in Bunratty, Eoin Gavin Transport currently employs over 15 staff with a fleet of 13 trucks. Via the TPN network, the company provides domestic overnight delivery to the 32 counties and 48-hour delivery to the UK, as well as international express deliveries. TPN is the only network in Ireland or the UK that has achieved ISO9001:2000 accreditation for all depots across the country and was also recently awarded the internationally recognised standard for Quality Management Systems, ISO9001:2008.

LIKE all high profile races, the runners and riders are announced well in advance but punters can’t be sure that injury won’t remove a contender or that a new contestant won’t be added before the starting lineout is complete.

It is with the same trepidation that The Clare People looks at the participants in the upcoming General Election, also keeping in mind that a week is no longer considered a long time in politics – it is now an eternity.

With the political ground changing every minute the affect on the riders and the daily change in the odds is huge.

With just weeks until polling day, time is running out for Fine Gael however to add a fourth candidate to the ticket if it decides to change its current strategy.

With just three candidates now in the race it will more than likely be hoping for two seats, with the third candidate used as a vote sweeper.

While many have questioned the geographical positioning of its candidates so far, the party should be confident of retaining two seats; the question seems to be which of the two candidates are likely to take those seats?

Fianna Fáil in Clare has come out fighting, and despite its dishevelled appearance two weeks ago, it is better organised than many constituencies that still have to hold their conventions.

Geographically its candidates are well placed, but while for now Dr John Hillery has north-west Clare to himself, Deputy Timmy Dooley could feel the pressure in the east.

Not only is he the sole face of the current administration in Clare, he must also contend with neighbouring candidate – Labour’s Michael McNamara.

Mr McNamara is untested on general election ground, but fared well in the European Election in Clare as the only Clare candidate.

The Green Party in Clare has not really been a serious challenger when it came to the last counts in general elections in Clare and it is unlikely this will change this time around, with the party likely to pay the price for being the small party in a very unpopular coalition.

The Independents are also on stand by to run the favourites off the field with former TD James Breen (Ind) the most likely to spring a surprise and come home in the first four places.

IMPROVING the quality of healthcare to the people of Clare will be a priority for the Labour Party if they return to government for the first time in 14 years, with party leader Eamon Gilmore telling

SHANNON Airport would be allowed to prosper under a Labour government, but party leader Eamon Gilmore has given mixed messages to the Clare electorate on whether the former hub of the aviation world would be given its independence from the Dublin Airport Authority and fly as a stand alone airport.

“No, it’s not about being independent,” Gilmore told The Clare People on Thursday after a visit to Shannon to launch the campaign of local Labour Party candidate, Michael McNamara. “It’s about government policy on Shannon Airport.

“The Labour Party is hugely committed to the development of Shannon Airport. It is the one of the most important pieces of public infrastructure that Ireland have – a piece of public infrastructure that has been neglected by the government and neglected by Fianna Fáil.

“The first thing I did as leader of the Labour Party in 2007 was come to Shannon, because it was the very week that the announcement that Shannon-Heathrow flights were stopping and that’s why I came back to Shannon – to show Labour’s commitment to Shannon and its development.

“Shannon Airport will be able to compete with Dublin or anywhere else. That’s the policy of Labour – that will be the policy of Labour in government. Shannon needs to be able to function independently to compete with other airports and grow,” he added.

However, Mr Gilmore has stressed that Shannon being able to “function independently” doesn’t mean a change to the status which means that the DAA effectively calls the shots. “The institutional arrangements are of secondary importance,” he said in pouring cold water over any prospect that Shannon would be freed from the constraints and strictures of the DAA. “The priority is that we grow the business.

“What we believe to be more important is that we develop the business of Shannon Airport. In this country we spend far too much time looking at what structure in this and that, and who is on the board.

“The Labour Party policy in relation to Shannon is to grow the airport. The policy for Shannon Airport will be decided by government through the Minister for Transport and a Labour minister will be committed to developing Shannon,” Deputy Gilmore said.

“The Labour Party is hugely committed to the development of Shannon Airport. We need to be getting more value from Shannon Airport. Shannon Airport and the business around Shannon Airport has huge potential for growth and the Labour Party in government is committed to that.

“I believe we should be using Shannon much more inventively, to attract employment in the area to the area. We will be proactive about Shannon.

“We want a strong Shannon Airport. You have an airport of international standard in the mid west – an airport not being utilised to its maximum potential. We have to increase passenger numbers at Shannon – Labour are committed to that.

Deputy Gilmore continued, “When you have an airport – an airport with Shannon’s facilities, you have the possibility of developing other businesses around the airport. You have to maximise flight potential in and out of Shannon, but you also have to look at ways in which business can grow around the airport and in which you can use the airport to grow additional business.

“The critical thing as regards Shannon is that its business is grown – that’s the bottom line. That’s where the problem has been with Shannon. That’s what Labour is committed to. The infrastructure is there around the airport.

“The roads are there, the industrial base is there, the university (UL) is there. I come from the west of Ireland and Shannon was always the airport for the people of the west of Ireland and Labour are committed to ensuring that is so again,” Mr Gilmore added.

A FORMER first citizen of Clare, who stood for Labour in three general elections but left the party over a quarter of a century ago, has pledged her allegiance to the cause once more as the local organisation bids to return a TD for the county for the first time in 19 years.

Former mayor of Clare Patricia McCarthy has embraced the Labour Party campaign, actively joining in the canvassing campaign of Michael McNamara that was officially launched by party leader Eamon Gilmore on a visit to the county last Thursday.

And, the current mayor of Clare, Cllr Christy Curtin, another former Labour Party member, hasn’t ruled out the possibility of backing Mr McNamara’s campaign. Mayor Curtin revealed that “the jury is out on who I will be backing – I will wait to see that the policies are to see if I backed the Labour candidate”.

“This is the first time I have endorsed a Labour Party candidate since I resigned from the party in 1985,” McCarthy told The Clare People . “I haven’t canvassed for any candidate in the 26 years since then, other than Mary Robinson’s presidential campaign in 1990.

“I’m doing it because I like the candidate. I’m doing it because I admire his stand on issues. I admire his ap- proach to issues – he’s young and he’s energetic and he’s committed to County Clare. The Labour Party policies are attractive and I like what I’ve seen of them. We need a fair and just society and the Labour Party and Michael McNamara in Clare holds those views – those views that I hold,” she added.

Cllr McCarthy, who stood for Labour in the 1977, 1981 and February 1982 General Elections outlined her commitment to the Labour campaign after party leader Eamon Gilmore said that “the big thing with this campaign is that Michael McNamara has the support of the extended Labour family election in Clare”.

Meanwhile, Cllr McCarthy has revealed that while she still holds on to her independent status on Clare County Council and Shannon Town Council, she hasn’t ruled out re-joining the Labour Party on a full-time basis.

“The option of re-joining the party has always been there for me,” she said, “but it’s not something I’m thinking of at the moment. What I’m thinking of is what has been happening to our country and have grown more dismayed, anxious and angry at what has been happening at the way the ordinary people are suffering.”

SINN Féin will not be running any General Election candidate in Clare.

The republican party did not even consider any candidate for the constituency, believing the time was not right to offer a candidate from the party to the people of the county for consideration.

The decision was taken when it emerged the structures were not in place to field a strong candidate, as the party is currently reorganising in Clare.

The decision by head office was met with disappointment in some areas, particularly by supporters of Spancillhill Garage owner Joe Corbett who hoped to be put forward as a candidate.

Sinn Féin last ran a General Election candidate in Clare in May 2007, when then student and Enniswoman Anna Prior represented the party.

Two years later and the then 24year-old stood in the Galway local elections under her married name Anna Marley, having moved to Oranmore.

Ms Prior secured 1,929 first preference votes in the 2007 General Election for Sinn Fein in Clare.

It had been 15 years before this when the party last ran a General Election candidate, when Mike McKee contested the election of 1992.

He received 459 votes and was eliminated in the first count.

Since then, Sinn Féin has had some success in elections in Clare having secured a seat on Shannon Town Council in 2009.

Cllr Cathy McCafferty (SF) was the seventh councillor to be returned on the nine-member council.

Sinn Féin has already selected 16 candidates to contest the General Election in other parts of the country.

It currently has five TDs in the Dáil including Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin, Arthur Morgan, Martin Ferris, Aengus Ó Snodaigh and Pearse Doherty.

EAST Clare councillor Joe Cooney has told The Clare People that he would “give strong consideration” to running in the upcoming General Election, if Fine Gael headquarters sanctioned an 11th hour move to add a fourth candidate to the party’s ticket in the county.

However, moves locally to have Cllr Cooney, who topped the poll in the Killaloe Electoral Area in 2009 with a surplus of over 1,000 votes, could finally be dashed tonight, Tuesday, when Fine Gael election strategists finally reveal their full hand for the Clare constituency.

“At the moment we have three candidates,” Fine Gael Director of Elections, Phil Hogan told The Clare People .

“I don’t see that changing, but we have a meeting this Tuesday night and if a fourth candidate was added the decision would be taken there,” he added.

“I’d give it strong consideration,” said Cllr Cooney when pressed on Dáil ambitions while attending the re-enactment of the 1921 Glenwood Ambush in Kilkishen.

“I got nearly 2,800 votes in the 2009 local election. We have three men in the race at the moment and it’s up to headquarters if they want to add a fourth. If the party came back and said that they were adding that fourth candidate, I would give it consideration.

“At the moment they’re leaving it at three and if it stays like that, that’s the door closed, end of story. It’s totally up to headquarters. We are bound by headquarters and I am hap- py with that. There is a strategy here in Clare, so it’s up to headquarters. Whatever they decide we’ll go with it,” added Cllr Cooney.

“Any decision in relation to a fourth candidate is a matter for the director of elections and his team – they are Frank Flannery, Phil Hogan and Tom Curran,” said Deputy Pat Breen, who has endorsed Cllr Cooney’s credentials as a possible candidate.

“I have no problem whatsoever if they want to add a fourth candidate. I have made that quite clear to the candidates involved. We had four candi- dates in the last elections in 2007 and secured two seats.

“The advantages of running four candidates is that you maximise your vote and you get a big vote. The disadvantage is that you dilute the vote that second preferences may not transfer. It’s a call the National Executive have to make. Whatever decision they make, I’d abide by that.

“At this stage I would hope that the National Executive would confirm if they’re to add a candidate, so we can finalise our team to get ready for an election,” added Deputy Breen.