Month: October 2011

THERE are fears that a contentious housing development in Shannon will not be completed for several months. That’s the view of local councillors, in relation to an affordable housing scheme at Cluain Airne.

The 22-unit scheme development got underway in June 2009 and it was initially envisaged that it would be completed within a year. However, it was subsequently halted and the initial contractor’s contract was terminated.

The scheme got underway despite concerns from local residents, who objected to the project. They stated that they did not want the houses built in the area and argued that there was inadequate infrastructure in the area to cope with the new houses.

Residents have also expressed concerns over the closure of the right of way. A new contractor was appointed in July of this year and the council expressed hope at the time that the project would be completed within 16 weeks of its restart.

At a meeting of Shannon Town Council last week, Independent Councillor Patricia McCarthy said it was important that progress reports are provided, given the difficulties experienced by residents.

“I’d prefer if there was a timescale and if works to be completed were listed,” she said.

Independent Councillor Gerry Flynn said, “There have been extreme problems with this particular development. What happened in Cluain Airne is disgraceful. It has been a total shambles. . . Getting information here is like pulling hen’s teeth. It’s not acceptable to me,” he said. “This has been unbelievable. I hope something like it never visits us here in Shannon again,” he said.

He said that unlike council officials, elected representatives have to defend their seats every five years.

“We have to defend our seats every five years. Officials don’t have to defend their seats. They are pretty much like teachers. They have a job for life,” he said.

Fine Gael Councillor Seán McLoughlin said he was interested to hear how much the houses are likely to cost, as several people have enquired in relation to this.

His party colleague, Councillor Mike Fleming said, “It’s nowhere near being finished. We’ll be lucky if it’s finished in two or three years’ time with the rate we are going.”

Labour Councillor Tony McMahon said he believes that the target finish date – of 16 weeks from the resumption – is not likely to be met.

Town Manager Bernadette Kinsella said, “We will try to file as much detail as we can on a monthly basis. We have a contract with the contractor. It is a matter for the contractor to seek an extension of time. We have received no such request.”

THE move towards establishing a new secondary school in Clare where everything will be taught through the medium of Irish has taken a huge step forward this week following the publication of a feasibility study report that was commissioned by Clare VEC.

A copy of the extensive report seen by The Cla re People has revealed that an overwhelming number of respondents to the countywide survey have backed the concept of a standalone Irish secondary school.

Key figures contained in the report show that 88 per cent of the 854 respondents to the survey “agreed or agreed strongly that Irish-medium education should be available at second level”, while 69 per cent of survey participants said that Gaelcholáiste an Chláir would move to its own campus. These are the main findings of the report, which was commissioned by Clare VEC in January when it “appointed an independent external consultant to conduct a survey to assess the demand for second-level education entirely through the medium of Irish in Clare and to inform future planning and options for Gaelcholáiste an Chláir”.

As part of the process participants were asked their views on whether the Gaelcholáiste “should establish independent status and move to its own campus”, or whether the school “should remain as it is, operating within Ennis Community College”.

“There was clear evidence from respondents’ comments that more parents will be encouraged to enroll their children in Gaelcholáiste an Chláir if it can provide full immersion education and establish its own ethos and identity,” the report says.

“In 2006, Limerick VEC established a very successful stand-alone independent Gaelcholáiste. Gael- choláiste Luimnigh began with 30 pupils and now attracts over 100 applications annually and has an intake of 80. This positive experience might either encourage the Department of Education to establish a similar entity in Clare or the view may be taken that the region already has a standalone Gaelcholáiste in Limerick City with the capacity to become a much bigger school,” the report adds.

The move to establish all-Irish secondary education in the county was born in 1993 when Ghaelcholáiste an Chláir opened on the Ennis Community College site. Since then, the school has built up to a full six-year secondary cycle with an annual intake of approximately 30 pupils.

The project was initiated by parents and involved polling parents of potential pupils as well as supporting the Vocational Education Committee and Department of Education to find the way to fund the project.

A CAMPAIGN to secure a potential € 1.2 milion three-year funding boost for music teaching in Clare got underway in Ennis yesterday.

Music teachers and musicians met with members of the Clare Music Partnership in the Old Ground Hotel to offer their input into Clare’s bid for the latest round of funding from the Music Generation Initiative.

Despite making an initial 23 county shortlist, Clare missed out on round one funding from the initiative, which has been made possible through the support of U2 and the Ireland Fund.

Clare VEC is co-ordinating the Clare bid, which is aiming to secure grants of € 200,000 per annum over a three-year period. County Arts Officer Siobhan Mulcahy explained that the Clare Music Partnership would be expected to supply matching funding over the period of the programme. She said that this could lead to € 400,000 being invested in music teaching in the county each year over the next three years.

Ms Mulcahy said the funding would be used to augment and compliment music teaching in Clare. Dr Helen Phelan of the University of Limerick told the meeting that the € 7m commitment from the initiative represented “one of the largest trenches of money to be ever invested in music education in Ireland”.

Dr Phelan said music teachers and providers would be asked to identify gaps and barriers in the area of music education. She explained that the programme is aimed at enhancing the existing network of music provision in Clare. She said that funding would be handed out over the course of four rounds. “We need to be in this for the long term so we need to be strategic about how we develop it,” she added. Guitar teacher Paul O’Donoghue said that there is no direct link from primary school through secondary school to third level education for children studying music. He said that music teaching in schools shouldn’t “zone in” on just traditional music. Concern was expressed over the availability of matching funding.

Dr Sean Conlan, Clare VEC Education Officer, said local authorities in Clare and groups such as RAPID and LEADER had previously committed to providing funds. He said the programme had received “fairly serious promises from senior people” that the Department of Education would continue to fund the project when U2’s commitment comes to an end.

COURT FACILITIES in Clare have been “a total mess”, with the exception of Ennis and Kilrush, according to retiring Judge Joseph Mangan.

The Judge made the statement in his first interview since stepping down from the bench at Ennis District Court on Friday.

He told The Clare People that Killaloe court – which currently sits in Ennis – should be reopened and that courts should also return to Ennistymon (they currently sit in Kilrush). Over the years, while on the bench, the judge repeatedly hit out at conditions in various courtrooms across the county, due to the cold conditions and poor acoustics.

“One would have to say in Ennis facilities are perfectly satisfactory. One could say the same about Kilrush. Gort isn’t bad. After that, the facilities that we have had in this district were a total mess,” he said.

“When the District Court was set up at the foundation of the State, it was intended to be an accessible court. It’s the only court that most people see.

“When I first came to the district, I would have wanted to keep every venue open, but unfortunately the reality is there are no votes in courthouses. There are no votes to be got out of making courthouses an issue.

“When a court venue is closed, you will from time to time observe a local representative publicly shedding tears over the fact. Ask any one of them if they every put their head inside a court in the 30 years before the closure to observe the conditions in which work had been done. I believe that any society that allows justice to be administered in such appalling conditions has very little respect for itself as a nation,” he said.

“In retrospect, I think it was right to close a number of the outlying courts (in Clare) because of the conditions in which they had to function and the lack of realistic expectation of anything being done about them in the foreseeable future.

“I don’t believe it would be right to close any of the existing ones, including Killaloe and Athenry. Killaloe is temporarily closed and I know there is a wish on the part of the Courts Service to close it permanently. In fact, the expense caused to the guards by closing Killaloe would probably double the saving made by the courts service by closing it,” he said.

MANAGEMENT at SkyCourt in Shannon say they are disappointed that one of its anchor tenants closed its doors “out of the blue” last week, after just six months in operation.

Discount store Buy Lo opened in March with the creation of seven jobs. After enjoying brisk trade in the initial weeks, business subsequently declined, which led to the decision to close last Tuesday.

The manager of SkyCourt, Pat Kelly, told The Clare People that the decision came “out of the blue” and said he was in “complete shock” at the announcement.

“We are very disappointed with it because we put a lot of effort into getting Buy Lo into Shannon,” he said. “I was extremely disappointed to hear of their decision. It has come as a great shock not just to myself but to all the traders in the centre.”

He said that despite difficult times in the retail sector, he is hopeful that the unit can be filled.

“We have been on to a number of operators. It is early days yet. We would be hopeful of getting somebody,” he said.

He said that the number of customers shopping at SkyCourt has fallen by about five per cent this year, but the spend is “down a good bit”.

“We are going to be doing our best to get another operator. It’s a fine store, fully kitted out. We did a lot of work in the unit before they moved in,” said Mr Kelly. The work includ- ed the provision of a new entrance and additional parking at the back.

“The fact that we have Dunnes and Lidl doing very similar to what Buy Lo were doing, maybe there was too much of a crossover,” said Mr Kelly.

“Ideally we are looking for something in the clothes line. We would love to get a replacement for it. We need to check the market and see who is looking to expand,” he added.

In a statement, BuyLo said it regretted that it had to make the decision to close.

BuyLo Store Manager, Sean Leo said the decision has been taken for commercial reasons. “We very much regret today’s decision which is a very difficult one for all of us working here at BuyLo in Shannon,” said Mr Leo, on Tuesday.

“The retail industry is being exposed to particularly challenging trading conditions at present and, unfortunately, our store has fallen victim to these difficulties. I would like to take this opportunity to pay special tribute to our seven staff members who have all worked extremely hard since the store opened earlier this year,” he added.

IN ECHOING the famous words of WT Cosgrave at the opening of the Shannon Scheme in 1929 when he said “our most famous river will harnessed to the service of the nation”, Clare County Manager Tom Coughlan has said that the Shannon Estuary has a key part to play in Ireland’s economic recovery.

He made his comments this week when announcing the commencement of public consultation on an innovative new Strategic Plan for the Shannon Estuary.

“This is a very exciting initiative for the Shannon Estuary and for the counties of Clare, Limerick and Ker ry as for the first time we are developing a single Strategic Plan for the whole Shannon Estuary including the lands immediately adjacent to the estuary,” Mr Coughlan said.

“It will identify the nature and location of future development on the estuary and allow us harness its potential to a greater degree. I would encourage interested parties to make a submission,” the county manager, who is chairman of the steering group overseeing the plan, added.

The Shannon Estuary is the largest estuary in Ireland with some 500km2 of navigable water running from Kerry Head and Loop Head as far as Limerick City.

The estuary with its sheltered character is Ireland’s premier deepwater port, routinely catering for ships up to 200,000 deadweight tonnage, with key ports at Limerick and Foynes. The estuary supports a variety of economic uses but is also rich in natural resources, wildlife and ecosystems.

“The aim of the Strategic Integrated Framework Plan (SIFP) is to identify the nature and location of future development, economic growth and employment that can be sustainably accommodated within the Shannon Estuary,” said senior Clare County Council planner Gordon Daly.

“Such developments may include, but are not limited to: port functions, shipment, aquaculture/mariculture, fisheries, tourism, leisure, industry, energy generation, fuel storage, aviation, transportation and agriculture,” he added.

However, as the estuary is home to a number of environmentally sensitive sites, Mr Daly has cautioned that new blueprint for the estuary “will also aspire to achieving a careful balance between promoting development, and protection and conservation of this natural resource”.

The strategy is being funded by the local authorities in addition to Shannon Foynes Port Company and Shannon Development. Shannon Foynes Port Company is responsible for all maritime activities and port management on the estuary and is currently in the process of preparing a master plan for the Port of Foynes and Limerick Docks which will input into the preparation of the SIFP.

In addition to the local authori- ties and Shannon Development and Shannon Foynes Port Company the steering group comprises of representatives from the Mid West Regional Authority, Department of Environment, Community and Local Government, Shannon Airport, Clare/Limerick Energy Agency, OPW, National Parks & Wildlife Service, National Monuments Service, OPW, Shannon River Basin District Project, Marine Institute and the Environmental Protection Agency.

A Public Notice has been published to encourage stakeholders, interested parties and the general public to get involved and to bring forward proposals and ideas which will help shape the production of the SIFP.

CLARE has emerged as the county to lose out in a government costcutting plan that has seen Minister for Education Ruáiri Quinn implement a radical restructuring of the Vocational Education Committees around the country.

On Tuesday, Minister Quinn announced that the county’s VEC headquarters at Station Road in Ennis is to close as part of merger of VECs in Clare, Limerick City and County.

As part of this new blueprint for the administration of vocational education around the country, which was first mooted by the Fianna Fáil/ Greens coalition, Limerick City has been chosen as the new headquarters for the mid-west.

The slashing cuts across the sector are being achieved through the amalgamation of existing VECs bringing the total number from 33 to 16.

Hopes were high a sub-office of the VEC would be maintained in the county capital, but Minister Quinn has confirmed that this would not be the case.

This decision has been made, despite local Fine Gael TD Pat Breen claiming that “the retention of a sub-office in Ennis would be costneutral because the Department of Education owns the building in Ennis”.

Concluding he said that “County Clare always seems to be the poor relation when decisions on regional services are being made. We have already lost our accident and emergency service and our Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food office to Limerick and now we are about to lose our VEC office.”

Minister of State Ciaran Cannon, said that “the main purpose of the VEC rationalisation is to bring about greater efficiencies” and in that regard he said that “the optimum headquarters location for the new merged VEC is within the greater city of Limerick area”.

However, Minister Cannon agreed that in the short-term a sub-office in Ennis will be maintained in order to facilitate an “orderly merger”.

TRADERS’ representatives have welcomed plans by Ennis Town Council to make safe the derelict McParlands building on Parnell Street.

Last week, Town Manager Ger Dollard revealed that the council intends to demolish and reconstruct a section of the building, which is deemed unsafe. Scaffolding was erected around the building two years ago. McParlands is home to a rare 16th century triple diamond Jacobean chimney and is believed to have been the oldest home in Ennis.

In a report on the matter, Mr Dollard said the council has been “extremely concerned regarding the McParlands property. He said works undertaken to date by the council had been done to render the building safe. He said, “It is clear however that the building has been deteriorating and the shortterm measures put in place do not render the structure safe on a long term basis.”

He added, “The council has taken detailed professional advice and inputs have also been made by the National Monuments Service regarding the conservation of the property.”

It has been estimated that the cost of conserving the privately-owned property will cost the council around € 170,000. Mr Dollard said last week that work on the building must be completed by the end of November in order for the council to fully avail of an € 85,000 grant from the Department of the Environment.

Speaking yesterday, Noreen Twomey Walsh of the Parnell Street Trader’s Association said businesses in the area are happy that the issue is finally being resolved. She explained, “We feel as traders that it gives a very un-sightly appearance to the street. We didn’t want to see it [scaffolding] there for that long. We’d be delighted to see it resolved. Any solution will be welcomed. We did know that there was a problem with funding.”

She added, “What concerned us as traders was that when people looked down the street and saw a building site, they wouldn’t come down. It was preventing some people from going down the street.”

Ms Twomey Walsh also acknowledged that the presence of scaffolding on one of the town centre’s main street also represented a serious health and safety issue.

THE lack of capacity at wastewater treatment plants in the Ennis area has been cited by An Bord Pleanála as one of its reasons for refusing planning permission for a proposed 12-unit development in Barefield.

Martin Fitzgibbon (Builders) Ltd had applied for planning permission to develop 12 houses with garages, foul sewer pumping station with associated rising main connection to existing pumping station at Barefield School and ancillary site works, at Carrowdotia, Barefield.

Clare County Council refused permission earlier this year and the matter was appealed to An Bord Pleanála.

In upholding the decision of the Board’s inspector, the Board stated, “Having regard to the lack of capacity of the local authority wastewater treatment plant to adequately treat the wastewater from the proposed development in addition to the existing load on the plant, it is considered that the proposed development would be prejudicial to public health”.

The report adds, “Furthermore, the proposed development would set an undesirable precedent for and lead to demands for the upgrading and uneconomic provision of public services in the area and would be contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area”.

Clare County Council is currently awaiting a decision from An Board Pleanála regarding approval for a proposed upgrade of the Clonroadmore Wastewater Treatment Plant in Ennis.

The Board also ruled that the proposed Barefield development “would constitute an excessive density of suburban-type development in a rural area, which would militate against the preservation of the rural environment, would detract from the rural character of the area, would seriously injure the visual amenities of the area and would, therefore, be contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area”.

The Inspector’s site also cited the provisions of the Ennis and Environs Development Plan 2008-2014, which sets “out and overall strategic settlement strategy for the area”.

The report continues, “Notwithstanding the planning history of the site, and having regard to the nature and scale of the proposed development in a rural area, the provisions of the current development plan for the area, and the said Guidelines, it is considered that the proposed development would constitute a material contravention of the objective of the planning authority, would conflict with national guidelines, would militate against the future ordered development of the village of Barefield and would, therefore, be contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area”.

A SERIES of events for the small business community which is taking place all over the mid-west for the whole month of October, comes to Clare over the following five days.

The small business initiative, which is co-organised by the Clare County Enterprise Board, then travels to Limerick city and county the following week, finishing with events in Kerry for the final week of ‘Enterprise Mid-West.’ Tipperary North is currently hosting five events this week until Friday, October 7.

Pat Falvey, the well-known mountaineer and entrepreneur, is expected to give an uplifting talk to Clare small business owners, helping them to ‘reach for the sky’ at a seminar on Wednesday evening, October 12 at the Woodstock Hotel in Ennis.

On Tuesday, October 11, Stephen Kinsella, the highly respected economist, will be putting the local economy on the agenda, as well as discussing developmental opportunities for local businesses. The Temple Gate Hotel in Ennis is the venue for the free talk, which takes place from 12 noon to 1pm and includes light lunch.

Meanwhile, anyone in business or thinking of setting one up is being invited to attend a free resilience-building workshop at the Bunratty Castle in County Clare on Monday morning (October 10). Therese Ryan is the guest speaker at this event, which runs from 9.30am to 12.30pm and is entitled: ‘Performing to Succeed.’

Free mentoring clinics are taking place at the Vandeleur Walled Gardens in Kilrush, with 50-minute appointments available with experienced business people. The clinic is running from 10am to 5pm on Thursday, October 13.

The programme of events for Clare comes to an end with the launch of a highly significant tourism map of north Clare. ‘Rugged North Clare Ireland As It Once Was’ is the title for this project, which is scheduled to be officially launched at 3pm on Friday, October 14 at The Pavillion in Lisdoonvarna.

Eamonn Kelly, CEO with Clare County Enterprise Board, said, “Research shows that we have more ‘necessity’ entrepreneurs in Ireland now than ever before, due to the increasing numbers of those being made redundant. In fact, three out of every 10 entrepreneurs are now motivated by ‘necessity’ rather than ‘opportunity’, compared with a figure of nearly one in every 17 entrepreneurs back in 2007.”