Month: September 2011

DETAILS of a major infrastructure project that would see water taken from the River Shannon to supply homes and businesses in the Dublin region have gone on public display.

According to Dublin City Council, the recommended preferred scheme would involve the “abstraction of raw water from northern Lough Derg on the River Shannon and pumping of raw water from Lough Derg to Garryhinch cutaway bog, owned by Bord na Mona, located near Portarlington”.

The report explains that there would be “Large scale storage of raw water within Garryhinch cutaway bog and treatment facilities at the site to produce potable water; Delivery of treated water to a termination reservoir in the Dublin region and onward delivery of treated water from the termination reservoir to Saggart and Peamount service reservoirs.”

If passed by An Bord Pleanála, the plan would see abstraction “from north eastern Lough Derg of up to 410Ml/d of raw water (when Shannon flow conditions permit), pumping in a twin rising main to large raw water storage at Garryhinch, treatment at Garryhinch and treated water transmission to Dublin, mid-east and midlands regions.”

According to the Water Supply Project report, the storage of raw water will secure water supplies “while supporting the development of water- based amenities and environmental parks with knock-on tourism benefits for the midlands as a secondary benefit.”

The report continues, “Proposed eco-tourism facilities at the site are being modelled on similar facilities which were created at Rutland in the UK by Anglian Water where bird watching, angling and water sports have considerably enhanced the economic earning potential of the region.”

Proposed uses for the site at Garryhinch include dingy sailing, kayaking, bird watching, kite surfing and ecology zones. Details of the plan along with a strategic environmental assessment are available at the offices of Clare County Council.

PLANS to pump water from the River Shannon to supply the Dublin region could have “significant impacts” on fish populations, according to Inland Fisheries Ireland.

Dublin City Council has unveiled plans that if passed would result in 410m litres of water a day being taken from the Shannon at Lough Derg during periods of flooding and when conditions are suitable.

In a submission to the council, the fisheries board states that the estimat ed € 500 million project would affect water levels, having an “effect on the lake shore line with fluctuations in water levels which could have significant impacts on spawning success of coarse fish populations”.

The submission continues, “In the fisheries context we still have concerns about the impact on the lake, the fish habitat and fish in particular. An in-depth fish survey of the lake would be required, with particular emphasis on the Irish Pollan.”

The council states, “Modelling results demonstrate abstractions from Lough Derg will not result in changes to current operating lake levels as outlined in the ‘Regulations and Guidelines for Control of the River Shannon’. The proposed abstraction can be off-set by Ardnacrusha generation activities (with ESB approval), which can be modified to compensate for marginal reductions in flows.”

On concerns over the impact on fish habitats, it states, “The proposed abstraction from northern Lough Derg will be managed in conjunction with the availability of external storage at Garryhinch cutaway bog.” The report continues, “The proposed use of external storage (as per recommended Option F2) enables poten tial environmental issues resulting from residence time increases during low flow periods to be minimised/ eliminated (e.g. nutrient flushing and phytoplankton ecology), which have potential knock-on influences up through the trophic levels.”

TRADERS in Ennis are pulling out all stops today in a bid to give the retail trade the kind of boost that can have the domino effect of bringing more people into the county capital to do their shopping.

As part of the ‘Super Tuesday’ initiative that has been pioneered by Cllr Frankie Neylon and Mayor of Ennis, Michael Guilfoyle, traders have come up with a host of promotions in a bid to attract an influx of shoppers to the town.

“It’s a very basic thing,” says the chairman of O’Connell Street Traders, Gearóid Mannion. “It’s an attempt by councillors Neylon and Guilfoyle to do their bit to help the retailers and traders a bit of a boost, to try and generate a bit of excitement and enthusiasm and create a buzz on what might be expected to be a normally quiet enough Tuesday.

“The idea is that business in town would offer something small for free, or a special offer, or a small discount, two for one, or whatever might be. In the case of Tom Mannion Travel, if you buy a holiday, you get free travel insurance,” he added.

“It’s not about giving away big things. There are no flat screen televisions here. It’s something very small to try and generate something that’s brought about by the collective strength of traders themselves.”

The idea for a ‘Super Tuesday’ was first floated by Cllr Neylon at a meeting of Ennis Town Council in July, and since then the former town mayor has spearheaded its implementation along with current mayor, Cllr Michael Guilfoyle.

“The response we have got to the idea has been great,” says Cllr Neylon. “We sent fliers around and the feedback we got was that this was something businesses wanted to do to try and bring more people into the town.

“The idea is that instead of making a profit for the day that they might make a customer. It’s to have a special day. They can do whatever they want. It’s left totally to themselves to do what they want. We want each trader to have their own Super Tuesday – they can do what ever kind of promotion they want with their business,” he adds. “One of the better aspects about the whole thing is that every business is not doing the same thing. It has been embraced by the business community in the town and the good thing about this that it could become an annual thing.

“It’s trying to create the incentive for people to come into the town to shop and then try and keep them coming back,” he adds.

THREE local companies will be rewarded for their ingenuity this Thursday with the first ever Innovation in the Community Awards. The awards, which are being organised by Gort solicitor and cleric abuse campaigner Eileen McMahon, aim to recognise local businesses who use the natural resources available in the west of Ireland to good effect.

The identity of the three shortlisted business are as yet unknown but they are drawn from more than a dozen local companies in Clare and South Galway.

“One of my interests in dealing with people who suffered from trauma. When I set up my complementary health business, I tried to source products from Ireland and the local areas and there wasn’t really anything around. I had to import everything from the UK. I think we should be using more of our resources and trying to creat things which are based locally. That is what sparked the idea,” said Eileen. “I was interest in any ideas from the community. Whether someone is a cleaner or the head of a million pound company, there is no telling where the good ideas will come from. Often times it is people in the front line of a business, people who are dealing with a problem on a daily basis, are the people who are able to find a good way of getting around that problem.”

The awards night will take place at the Lady Gregory Hotel in Gort this Wednesday from 7pm. The guest speakers on the night will include Bobby Kerr from the Dragon’s Den, Eileen herself and Richard Griffin, who is a specialist in power generation. “The idea of the competition is to get people to think. For them to look around their area and think how they could survive if they couldn’t get something from outside their area,” continued Eileen.

“The idea is to help local people who have good ideas to be able to take that idea forward. A lot of companies are coming into Ireland and setting up, and that is fine but I think we need to look more about creating something for ourselves.”

Winners of the competition will be announced on the night. For information or to book a table for the finals night call 091 632426.

WEST Clare tourism has received a huge shot in the arm this week thanks to the decision by Shannon Development to keep the its tourist office in Kilrush open for a month longer than previous years.

The move by the state agency to keep the tourist office that located on Frances Street in town comes on the back of what was a good tourist season in West Clare and the expectation that this strong showing can continued for the month of September.

Shannon Development, which has responsibility for operating tourist centres in Kilrush, Kilkee and Ennis, confirmed that extended opening hours had been put in pace in at the Kilrush centre “to meet a demand that’s out there for the service”.

And, The Clare People can reveal that the success of the Loophead Lighthouse initiative has been the main driving force for ensuring that tourism in the West Clare catchment area has been boosted in 2011.

“The Kilrush Tourist Information Office was due to close at the beginning of September but with the phenomenal success of the Loop Head Lighthouse in attracting visitors to the area we have decided to extend the opening until the end of September,” revealed Siobhan King, Shannon Development Tourism Officer for the county.

“We are doing this to facilitate additional visitors who are being drawn to the area. To-date almost 15,000 visitors have been attracted to this wonderful heritage site and we intend to do all we can to maximise on this.”

The tourist office was to close last Wednesday, August 31, but will now remain open for seven days a week on the back of the success of the Loophead initiative. It’s opening hours are 10am to 1pm and 2pm to 6pm from Monday to Saturday and from 10am to 2pm on Sundays.

Meanwhile, the Shannon Development operated tourist centre in Kilkee has closed after a three-month season. It re-opened on June 1 last and operated from 9.30am to 5.30pm from Tuesday to Saturday of each week, despite fears locally that there would be reduced opening hours which would eventually lead to its permanent closure.

Now after a successful season, the local Chamber of Commerce is set to ramp up its campaign to have the tourist office moved from its traditional O’Connell Street home to the newly renovated Sweeney Memorial Library, which is set to re-open in 2012.

CONFIRMATION that the opening of Loophead Lighthouse as a visitor centre has been the story of the 2011 tourism year in Clare was heralded this week with the news that over 17,000 people have paid into the facility in the six weeks since it was opened to the public. The Clare People has learned that the new tourism venture at Clare’s most westerly tip has netted over € 50,000 in revenues since it was opened to the public on July 18 last – a huge surge of numbers and revenues that has prompted the project promoters to keep the facility opened for a further month.

The lighthouse was due to close on Sunday last, September 4, but will now remain open for the rest of the month as tourism in West Clare reaps the benefits of opening of the facility to the public that was two years in the making after it was first suggested by way of a motion to Clare County Council by Loophead councillor Gabriel Keating in July 2009.

The opening of the lighthouse to visitor traffic for the first time in its 117-year history is a pilot project being pioneered by Clare County Council in conjunction with Loophead Tourism, Shannon Development and the Commissioners of Irish lights.

Traffic figures secured by The Clare People this week have revealed that over 17,000 people have paid € 3 a head to visit the tower of the lighthouse helping push revenues past the € 50,000 mark while over 20,000 have grounds of the Commissioners of Irish Lights owned facility.

“We believe this is another major step in enhancing West Clare’s tourism product offering,” said Shannon Development’s tourism officer Siobhan King said this week.

“Our work on the Loop Head Lighthouse project is part of a range of initiatives that we have undertaken this year in West Clare which include new loop walks in Lissycasey and Kilkee, with more proposals in the pipeline. We look forward to welcoming an increased number of visitors to the area,” she added.

THE Tidy Towns Committee in Corofin has seen a massive influx of new members over the past 12 months. These new members, along with a core group of experienced locals, have helped guide the village to an impressive 254 points in this year’s competition.

“We have managed to pack about five years’ work into one year so we are very happy. It’s been a great year, a lot of new people have come on board and that has really helped take it to the next level,” said Marie Nealon of the Corofin Tidy Towns Committee.

“We’ve also had a lot of skilled local professionals, stonemasons and wall builders, who gave their time for free to the Tidy Towns which re- ally helped as well.

“It is great to have the competition to focus on. These results will help us get an idea of what we need to work on for future years. They will give us something to build on and something that we can aim to improve on next year and the year after.”

The Corofin Tidy Towns group meets every Tuesday and Wednesday evening in the car park beside the Corofin Hostel from 7pm. Everyone is welcome.

SHANNON improved by three points in their Tidy Towns scoring this year, much to the delight of the hard-working committee.

A core group of four or five people meet at the town hall every Monday night and focus on keeping the town as clean as possible. Their efforts were rewarded when the results were announced yesterday evening, when 275 points were awarded, compared with 272 last year.

Improvements were made in a number of areas including landscaping, wildlife and natural amenities and litter control, while the residential areas impressed the adjudicators. The overall development approach dropped by one point this year – it moved down from 47 points to 46 out of a maximum of 50.

The PRO of the Tidy Towns committee in the town, Olive Bowen, said the result pleased everybody. “We are delighted. It is very, very hard to get a point. We are thrilled. Seven or eight years ago we were losing points. There was a lot of construction then. To go up three is excellent,” she said. “The focus now is back to work, no celebrating! We love doing it. We have great old banter,” said Olive. “Hail, rain or snow, we will meet at the Town Hall at 7 o’clock every Monday night.”

Among those who help out every week are founding member Tess Barry, her son Fintan, Olive Bowen, Gerry Fogarty and Joe Hogan.

The adjudicators’ report congratu- lated the committee on liaising with the local schools to improve the area. The hotels and restaurants were praised for their various features and colour co-ordination.

“Your committee has undertaken an impressive amount of planting. The flower beds along Bóthar Mór provide a nice splash of colour and impress the visitor on arrival. The town has vast areas of green spaces and parks and these were generally well maintained and presented to a high standard,” noted the adjudicators. “The landscaping presentation at the Town Hall was excellent and set a very high standard. A fine feature of the town is the many well presented Irish name signs,” added the report.

The information board on flora and fauna near the Wetlands project was also congratulated and was described as “educational”.

“As a rural town, Shannon is rich in natural wildlife, green areas and habitats and perhaps a good way of raising awareness of environmental issues amongst the local community would be for the committee to further liaise with the local schools to encourage local wildlife surveys,” advised the adjudicators.

The committee was congratulated for its efforts on litter control. The residential areas throughout the town were also praised for their good standard of presentation and maintenance. “Your ongoing promotion of estates competitions is a very good initiative and can only have an increased beneficial effect over time,” stated the report.

THE PEOPLE of Bridgetown were over the moon last night after scooping their very first accolade in the national Tidy Towns competition.

Bridgetown won the endeavour award after increasing its score from 254 points last year to 259 this time around. The success was put down to the strong community spirit locally.

The adjudicators visited Bridgetown in June and were very happy with the work done by the small committee in the village which is populated by around 200 people.

Points were increased in a number of categories including landscaping; wildlife and natural amenities; litter control; waste minimisation and also the condition of the residential areas.

Chairperson of the Tidy Towns committee, Mary Duggan said this was the first award during 15 years’ participation in this competition. It comes on foot of the area winning first place in its category in the countywide ‘Clare in Bloom’ competition earlier in the year.

“We are delighted. We didn’t expect anything,” said Ms Duggan. “We have a lovely green area, lovely church grounds and school grounds. They are all top class,” she said.

Mary works closely with Tony Horan, Brid Drew and Aidan Toomey in ensuring the locality looks its best all year round.

“We just kept going with the high standard of what we have been doing over the years. It’s all about commitment really,” she said.

“We focused on grass cutting, keeping the kerbs litter free and painting the creamery,” she said.

The adjudicators were pleased with a number of initiatives undertaken by the local committee and stated that the village green has a “striking appearance”.

“Bridgetown village has an attractive layout radiating out from the old stone bridge on both sides,” the adjudication report noted.

It congratulated the local primary school on securing a green flag. “It was good to see one (Green flag) flying proudly this year. We congratulate all concerned on this achievement,” stated the report.

The Church and adjoining burial grounds were praised, while the Marian Grotto was described as pro- viding a “welcoming atmosphere”.

“The various approach roads are certainly your strength and have a lovely variety of stone walls, hedgerows and mature trees. The Clonboy Estate approach is spectacular and still retains its original formal character. The sloping green at the village centre is a delight and makes an immediate visual impact on the visitor,” stated the adjudicators, in their report.

“Your successful liaison with the local school is heartening and perhaps bodes well for the future,” added the report.

WEST Clare fared well in the national Tidy Towns results announced yesterday, with two of the three gold medals heading there.

Kilrush and Ballynacally – along with Ennis – took gold medals, having recorded impressive results.

Ballynacally recorded the county’s second highest score of 305 points (Ennis earned 307), which was just five points behind the overall national winners Killarney. Kilrush re- ceived 303 points. Kilrush increased their scores from last year by three and improved in the areas of landscaping, litter control and the built environment.

A three-point increase was also handed to Ballynacally, which increased points in the areas of landscaping, the built environment and wildlife and natural amenities.

The adjudicators were pleased with both areas and described Ballynacally as “a lovely rural village still retaining a good quantity of traditional farm buildings”.

“Ballynacally is a charming village retaining its original character and scale while developing a modern style and outlook,” noted the adjudication report.

In Kilrush, the adjudicators noted the improvement in the town, where “new buildings superbly integrated alongside the fine old structures”. St Senan’s Church and the grotto were pointed out, having impressed the adjudicators, who described the town’s work as a “truly wonderful effort”.

“The Vandeleur Walled Gardens are a unique attraction and the resurfacing of the access road here is an impressive project,” noted the adjudication report.

“Kilrush has a large number of incidental open spaces widely dispersed throughout the town and they are presented to a high standard. The production of bedding plants is an admirable scheme. Your plans to develop more sustainable planning augur well for the future,” added the report.