Month: June 2011

THE headquarters of Clare County Council has been put forward as the new home for former President Eamon de Valera’s recently restored 1947 Dodge Plymouth.

The Dodge served as the state car for first, President Sean T Ó Ceallaigh and then de Valera.

The car had been stored at the de Valera Library in Ennis since 1998 until it was damaged by floods in 2009.

It was transported to a workshop in Sixmilebridge where it was fully restored.

The project was overseen by vintage car enthusiast and independent member of Clare County Council, PJ Ryan.

Yesterday, the Mayor of Clare, Cllr Christy Curtin (Ind), paid tribute to Cllr Ryan’s work.

He told the adjourned June meeting of Clare County Council that Cllr Ryan had restored the car at a 40th of the normal cost.

He said Cllr Ryan had done the county a “unique honour” by restoring the car, a comment that prompted councillors to deliver a round of applause.

Cllr Brian Meaney (GP) said there had been a number of important vehicles in the ownership of Clare County Council that could benefit from Cllr Ryan’s expertise.

He told the meeting that a 1930s fire tender is located in the Ennis Fire Station. Cllr Meaney asked if Cllr Ryan “could take a look at it”.

Cllr Patricia McCarthy (Ind) suggested that the car be located in the foyer of Clare County Council or in a proposed new library building.

Cllr Gerry Flynn (Ind) objected, saying that the car should remain at its present location in the de Valera Library. He said the Council could not afford to waste resources in finding a new home for a vintage car.

Cllr Meaney said the car could be threatened by floods if it remained at the library. Cllr Curtin said the Council would prepare a report on the cost of re-locating the car.

In a motion submitted to the meeting, Cllr Curtin requested that the “manager inform the Council of the arrangements for the re-location of the Motor Taxation Office and the restored De Valera’s car within Áras Contae an Chláir.”

The meeting heard that the Motor Tax Office will be re-located to the Council’s main offices on New Road within the year.

THE number of families seeking help from Clare Haven for the first time has doubled, compared with last year, according to the group which provides support to female victims of domestic abuse and their families.

81 families presented to the outreach clinics – which run in Ennis, Ennistymon, Scariff, Kilrush and Killaloe – for the first time during the first five months of the year, which is double the figure for the same period last year. Financial stress is a contributing factor in the increase.

Yet, despite the increase in demand, Clare Haven is forced to contend with funding cuts.

Up to the end of May, 60 families attended the refuge operated by Clare Haven in Ennis. Among those who attended were 104 children. Those figures are on a par with last year’s. 136 families stayed at the refuge during the whole of 2010. However, the demand for the outreach clinics has soared.

The increase in numbers of victims coming forward has led to some of them being referred on to centres in Limerick and Galway – to ensure they have places to stay and are not left waiting.

Services Manager with Clare Haven Denise Dunne said the service is stretched.

“The refuge is full the whole time and has been for the past two years. We have seen a bigger increase in the number of new families coming to the outreach service. This year alone we have had 81 new clients to the outreach service. That’s a huge amount in five months. We had about 40 last year so the figures have doubled,” she said.

“The total number of support visits to the end of May was 482. Every time someone comes to our outreach clinics, we have a support visit with them and do safety planning, outline their options and provide emotional support,” said Ms Dunne.

“A lot of people coming to us we refer on to St Vincent de Paul and MABS (the Money and Budgeting Advice Service),” she said.

She said that an increased level of public awareness and the media highlighting the services has played a role in more victims of domestic abuse coming forward.

“This year we have been cut [in funding] again. We have been cut every year since 2008, with a cut of between two and three per cent this year on top of previous cuts. We are striving to maintain the same service. Our service is very, very stretched at the moment. We have cut the ancillary services like talks to schools. We have put a volunteer programme in place for the past two years for things like fundarising and accompaniments which is a great help,” she said.

ENNIS’ bid to host the 2012 Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann was formally lodged with Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireannn on Friday, with the working group behind the submission confident that the submission to bring the traditional music festival back to Clare after an interval of 35 years will be successful.

Securing the Fleadh for the first time since 1977 would be worth an estimated € 30 million to the county capital – a financial windfall that has seen a coalition of forces emerge behind the Ennis bid.

“We are supremely confident that we would make a great job of hosting Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in 2012,” the chairman of the Fleadh Cheoil Working Group, Micheál Ó Riabhaigh told The Clare People this week.

“We are also confident that we have made a very strong case to bring the Fleadh to Ennis, the best case that we could have made. Everything that we have done in making the submission was based on the premise that we would have the Fleadh coming to Ennis. That’s not to pre-judge the deliberations of the Ard Comhairle of Comhaltas either,” Mr Ó Raib- haigh added.

The Ennis bid to host the 2012 Fleadh, was launched in April when the local committee that draws together the local branch of Clare Comhaltas, Clare County Council, Clare GAA, Ennis Town Council and Shannon Development met with Comhaltas Ceoiltóirí Éireann chiefs.

Ennis is one of three competing towns to host the 2012 Fleadh – the others are Cavan, which in August will host the festival for the second successive year, and Sligo, which last hosted the event in 1991.

The Fleadh proposal has identified 25 venues in Ennis that would facilitate the 2012 event, catering for up to 200,000 music lovers from across the world, with new Clare County Council headquarters on New Road designated as the hub of operations. Ennis previously hosted Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in 1956 and 1977.

“The big work was identifying suitable venues and getting support from the hoteliers, vintners and local authorities in Clare,” revealed Mr Ó Raibhaigh.

“We are happy that everyone in Clare is very supportive of the application and everything has been done,” he added.

AN BORD Pleanála has given the go-ahead for the development of a 26-bedroom nursing home to be built in Tulla that will be able to cater for up to 30 patients.

The planning appeals authority handed down its judgement last week, bringing to an end a process started in December 2009 when John and Ted Nugent originally submitted plans to Clare County Council to develop the nursing home facility in the East Clare town.

The decision to give the project the go-head comes even though an inspector’s report said the development would be contrary to proper planning.

“I consider that the location of a 26-bedroom nursing home together with 8 no. assisted living complex units, ancillary facilities and associated site development works on this site would be contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area,” said Planning Inspector Patricia Young.

However, in making the order granting permission for the project, An Bord Pleanála said “in deciding not to accept the inspector’s recommendation to refuse permission, the board considered that a nursing home at this location would not contravene materially the development plan, having regard to its location and connectivity to the settlement of Tulla and to the pattern of existing and permitted development in the immediate vicinity.”

There were a number of objections to the original nursing home application, with Noreen Hickey from Cork saying “the proposed devel opment contravenes the new HIQA standards with are underpinned by legislation” and that it is “outside the existing town zoned area which contravenes the planning regulations of Tulla”.

Conditional permission for the development was granted by Clare County Council planners last December, with Director of Service Nora Kaye saying that “the proposed development would not seriously injure the amenities of the area or of property in the vicinity, would not be prejudicial to public health and would otherwise accord with proper planning and sustainable development of the area”.

ROCHE Ireland have applied for planning permission to construct a new three-storey building at the company’s plant in Clarecastle.

According to documents lodged with Clare County Council, the pharmaceutical company is seeking to construct a new three-storey building and ancillary works for the purpose of milling an Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) at the facility.

A single-storey extension to an existing Nitrogen generation utility building, relocation of nitrogen tanks, a pipe rack, a solvent sump and pumping station and ancillary site works are also proposed within this application.

The proposed three-storey milling building is to be attached to an existing warehouse facility. This will necessitate the relocation of an existing smoking shelter, and the relocation of existing fire escape doors from the warehouse. The application consists of modifications to an establishment within the meaning of the European Communities (Control of major accident hazards involving dangerous substances) Regulations 2006.

The proposed location of the milling building is on a green space ap- proximately 16m wide, between an existing warehouse and an existing site access road to the west of the Roche site.

The plant is located in the vicinity of two Natura 2000 sites – lower river Shannon Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and river Shannon and river Fergus estuaries. According to a Natura Impact Statement, prepared by Biosphere Environmental Services on behalf of Roche, “there will be no significant noise / vibration impacts resulting from the proposed building” and “there will be no emissions arising from the extension to the PSA (nitrogen plant) building which is being extended for the purposes of additional storage”.

The Clarecastle manufacturing facility was established in 1974 as Syntex Ireland. In 1994, Syntex Ireland became part of the pharmaceutical division of the Roche group when Roche acquired the Syntex Corporation. Currently Roche Ireland employs in excess of 240 people.

The planning report states that Roche Ireland is a “manufacturing centre of excellence for the production of active pharmaceutical ingredients destined for conversion to medicines in dosage form at other Roche facilities throughout the world.”

AN POST customers are asked to be on their guard against a new scam email, after Clare businesses were targeted.

The mail contains the subject line “RE: Information TV License #12488340238” and claims to come from service@tvlicence.ie. The email offers a refund of € 58.00 on an overpayment for a TV Licence.

Confirming that they have had complaints from “mostly business customers” a spokeswoman for An Post said that anyone getting the mail should delete it and under no circumstances click on the accompanying link.

“Anyone who provided personal information in response to these hoax emails should contact their bank or credit card company immediately,” she added.

John Halloran, from Westbury, who runs his own web-design company was one of the businesses who received the email.

“It was offering me a refund on my TV licence fee and I smelled a rat straight away because my wife is the one who always looks after renewing the TV licence and the mail cam to my business email. But I might have been drawn into it, at least to a certain point otherwise. I can see how people go along with it, thinking that if it comes from An Post, then it must be genuine. In fact I got a call from a customer of mine asking did I think she should reply and I told her no way. That’s why I contacted you, [ The Clare People ] in case anyone else is fooled.”

It’s understood that a number of businesses were targetted.

“An Post TV Licence never send emails which require customers to send personal information via email or pop-up windows. This was not a particularly sophisticated scam but if these people get even a tiny percentage of the people they contact to cooperate, then they have made money and it costs them nothing to email people,” the spokeswoman said.

She added that customer should also be on the alert about mails which inform customers that they have won a prize.

“These mails are just about legal. If you ring the number, you’ll be on hold at a premium rate for 20 or 30 minutes. If you persist and claim the prize, then there will be something like a book or a magazine. But we have to deliver these letters because they are paid for an mailed legally.”

APPLICATIONS from people in Clare to have broadband provided under the Rural Broadband Scheme are fewer than from other counties across the country, it has been revealed.

In response to a query from The Clare People , a spokesperson for the Rural Broadband Scheme said that just 32 applications applications from areas in County Clare have been received to date, despite the fact that almost every area in the county is eligible to apply.

Only Ennis and a few other pockets in the county are ruled out of the scheme, but few Banner residents have opted to take advantage of it.

“Applications from Clare are definitely less than the national average but there is still some short time left for people to apply,” the spokesperson said.

Pointing out that access to broadband is vital for rural businesses and increasingly becoming a basic tool in homes and schools, the spokesperson said that it’s important that Clare people, who may qualify, get their applications in before the July 29 deadline.

The Rural Broadband Scheme was established to enable a basic broadband service to be provided to individual rural premises, which are not capable of obtaining a broadband service from existing internet service providers. The Scheme was set up in conjunction with the Department of Agriculture as a measure under the Rural Development Plan using funding from the European Agriculture Fund for Rural Development.

This first phase involves inviting and processing applications. In the second phase of the scheme, the department will check with existing internet service providers to see if they are willing to provide a service to the premises concerned. If none of the companies concerned are prepared to offer a service, then the application will progress to the next phase in the scheme in which the department will engage an internet service provider who will offer a basic internet service to applicants. While the department will be paying part of the cost of the infrastructure necessary to provide a service, the applicant will be responsible for paying the costs of the service itself.

It’s expected that the scheme should be completed by the end of 2012 at the latest.

Anyone interested can apply online by visiting the department’s website www.dcenr.ie and following the links for the Rural Broadband Scheme, by downloading an application from the website and sending it in the post or alternatively by calling 01 6782020 or call save the RBS on 1850 678100. The link includes a map of Clare showing the eligible areas.

REMEDIAL works on 17 local authority houses in Scariff have been completed, at a cost of € 850,000.

The Mayor of Clare, Councillor Christy Curtin (Independent), was handed the keys of the 17 units at Connaught Road, Scariff, on Friday, following the completion of the project.

The project contract, which was awarded to Galway construction company Atlantic Developments Limited in October, involved upgrade works to the 17 tenanted properties in the estate. This included insulation, roofing, windows and doors replacement.

The houses are part of a batch of 31 homes which were constructed in the 1970s. The remaining 14 houses have since been purchased.

New heating systems, including high efficiency oil boilers supplemented with solid fuel stoves, have been upgraded to achieve a C1 Building Energy Rating (BER). Solar panels also have been provided on the roofs of four bungalows to achieve a high energy rating.

Other works include general environmental drainage and a new watermain, boundary treatment to all 31 houses, and improvement works to roads, public lighting and footpaths in the estate.

“The improvement to the energy efficiency of these houses in Scariff will make a great difference to the comfort factor for the occupants. I would like to acknowledge the excellent work carried out by the contractor and design team who successfully completed the project on time and within budget,” said Mr Curtin.

The Chairperson of the Council’s Housing Strategic Policy Committee, Cllr Patricia McCarthy (Independent), thanked residents for their “forbearance and co-operation while their homes were being upgraded”.

“Many residents voluntarily relocated for the duration of the works while those who remained in residence co-operated fully with the contractor and tolerated a level of inconvenience. They can now look forward to enjoying an improved quality of life in their upgraded homes,” she said.

The project funding of € 850,000 was provided by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.

A CLARE doctor has discovered a new form of gene therapy which could more than double the survival rate and life expectancy of people who suffer heart attacks.

Ennis man John O’Sullivan has completed a successful clinical trails on pigs and has just been granted a € 1 million budget to roll out clinical trials on humans over the next four years. Pigs were chosen as their hearts bear a close medical resemblance to humans.

Should the human prove as successful as the trials on pigs – his research will be used to manufacture a commercial drug which could save hundreds of thousands of lives every year.

The therapy works by using a substance secreted from adult bone marrow known as IGF1 to help strengthen the inner lining of arteries while also helping to prevent damaged heart cells from dying.

“We delivered a very exact, very low, level of IGF1 to the animal after the heart attack and we looked at how this effected cell death in the heart and heart structure. We found that even at very low doses this substance caused a significant change in the signals being sent off by dying hearts cells half an hour after the heart attack had taken place,” he told The Clare People .

“After 24 hours we noticed a significant reduction in the level of cell death in the heart. We looked again after two months and found a significantly improved heart function and structure.

“This is very encouraging and we have secured a grant to take this forward to human trials which will be starting in a months time.”

John is pioneered his groundbreaking work at the Centre for Research in Vascular Biology in Cork alongside Professor Noel Caplice. They have secured € 1 million to roll out human trial in Cork over the next four years.

“If this is successful this will change everything – it will be taken up everywhere and who knows what will happen,” continued John.

“In our trials, we created heart at- tacks which damaged on average 40 per cent of the heart and the use of the IGF1 reduced the death of cells in the affected areas by a half. On a longer term basis we were able to return heart function pretty much back to normal.”

John, who is from Castlewood Park in Ennis, earlier this year became the first Irish-based researcher to American College of Cardiology Young Investigator Award, while he also won this year’s Outstanding Young Person award by Junior Chamber International Ireland.

THE Banner County’s outstanding contribution to elected politics since the foundation of the state 90 years ago was celebrated at Clare County Council headquarters of Áras an Chláir last Friday.

Public represenatives, past and present, who spanned 70 of those 90 years were present to hear An Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Eamon Gilmore hail the county’s “historic contribution” to politics and a local, national and international level.

Deputy Gilmore made his comments as he unveiled a Roll of Honour chronicling the record of service of every elected member of Clare County Council, Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann since independence.

“This scroll of service clearly identifies the names and the times of service of those who were elected to local and central government doing the past 90 years.

“This is significant because of the historical contribution of County Clare, that public representatives have made in County Clare and elections in County Clare have made, right back to the time of Daniel O’Connell, through the 1917 by-election in East Clare right through all the elections we have had in the history of the State,” said Minister Gilmore. “Clare has produced a disproportionate number of statespeople who have contributed to the life and progress of our country – it’s something that Clare can be immensely proud of.

“Here we have the names of the people who have served County Clare in Dáil Éireann, in Seanad Éireann, in government, on the County Council. It is right that the role they have played and the service they have given to their fellow citizens should be formally recognised,” he added.

“This Roll of Honour underlines the unswerving commitment and loyalty to the democratic principle of public representation by the named individuals during this period of our history,” said Mayor of Clare Christy Curtin. “It’s a permanent record of the public service and duty to the Banner County and will be the inspiration for present and future generations of Clare people to participate and engage fully with the democratic process.”

“This Roll of Honour marks the commitment and dedication of a lot of people, who have not asked what their county can do for them, but for what they can do for their county,” said county manager, Tom Coughlan.