Month: October 2011

A NEW venue for the monthly Killaloe court sittings has not yet been secured, after the hotel which had hosted it for the past year went into receivership.

The Kincora Hotel closed during the summer and as a result the monthly court sittings for September and October moved back to Ennis Courthouse.

At the time the move was described as a “temporary measure” for September and October courts. However, The Clare People has learned that the November and December sittings will also take place in Ennis, as a new premises in Killaloe has not yet been identified. It is hoped that the sittings from January onwards will move back to East Clare. “Killaloe will sit in Ennis on a temporary basis while we look for an alternative venue. We are looking at options,” said a spokesperson for the Courts Service. “In the short-term we are hopeful of securing a venue. We are hopeful that a temporary venue will be available in Killaloe in January,” added the spokesperson.

“We are committed to staying there in the short to medium term, provided we can get accommodation,” he said.

The district court sittings moved to the Kincora Hotel last September, after months of searching for a venue by the Courts Service.

It came after it emerged that The Lakeside Hotel – where the court had sat for a number of years – would not be an option in the long-term.

The old courthouse in Killaloe is in a state of disrepair and funding is not available to renovate it.

Members of the legal profession in Clare have expressed hope that the court will sit in Killaloe in the future and say that a permanent move to Ennis is not desirable. Gardaí in East Clare are of a similar view as it is more manageable from a resources point of view.

In recent years, several courthouses across the county closed and the court sittings moved to more centralised venues. Among those to close

RESIDENTS of Cappahard have expressed disappointment over the amount of money allocated to the area under Ennis Town Council’s Priming Grants scheme.

Eleven housing estates comprising 264 houses are located in Cappahard on the Tulla Road. The area was initially given € 300 to help cover grass cutting and maintenance costs under the latest round of priming grants announced in September.

Angela Coll, a spokesperson for residents, explained that € 600 will now be allocated to the area. However, Ms Coll explained that residents feel this allocation is unfair as peo- ple living in Cappahard have spent € 3,000 on maintenance,

She explained, “In June of 2011, Whitepark Developments Ltd., the developers of several estates within the townland of Cappahard, went into liquidation leaving the residents of the estates to fend for themselves with regard to the grass cutting and general maintenance of the estate until Ennis Town Council take over the development on some future date.”

She continued, “In June, the residents met to discuss the situation and decided to collect a sum of € 25 per household to assist us in covering the cost of the grass cutting and weed control for the summer of 2011. We also applied for eight separate amen- ity/priming grants for the various areas in the estate.”

Ms Coll stated, “To date, the residents in Cappahard have spent in excess of € 3,000 on maintenance of the estate and we feel strongly that we should not be discriminated against.”

In a submission to the council, the residents offer a comparison between the award of priming grants to estates in Tobertascáin and Cappahard. It states, “These three estates have received separate priming grants from Ennis Town Council over the past number of years and it is our belief that they do not differ substantially in any way from the estates on the Tulla Road which we represent.”

Residents have appealed to local councillors to support their calls for greater funding. In a letter, Ms Coll states, “It would seem unjust that so many estates with such a large number of houses would be granted only one payment for maintenance of a large amount of green and landscaped areas when other estates with as few as 10 houses are successfully applying for and being granted equal amounts for a considerably smaller acreage.”

In a report issued in September, the council stated that the payment of grants is subject to submission by the residents associations of receipts. According to the report, the maximum grant payable is € 300, based on expenditure of € 600.

CONCERNS have been expressed over the condition of the Tullyvarraga Hill Wood in Shannon.

Independent councillor Patricia McCarthy raised the issue at a meeting of Shannon Town Council last week, asking what planned maintenance programme is in place for the wood.

In response to her motion, Councillor McCarthy was told that the majority of trees are in good condi- tion, having been replanted in recent years.

“Some maintenance works are required in order to keep the pathways clear of vegetation and it is intended to carry out these works shortly. It is proposed to incorporate this area into the Shannon Green Area Maintenance Contract for 2012,” stated a written response from Senior Executive Engineer, Eugene O’Shea.

Cllr McCarthy told the meeting, “We had problems with it from the word go.”

She said that 13,500 broadleaf trees were planted. “There hasn’t been any pruning. There doesn’t seem to be any thinning,” she said.

Sinn Féin councillor Cathy McCafferty told the meeting there were “too many shortcuts taken in this particular instance”. She said that a gentleman in a wheelchair could not get past the vegetation and had to go out onto the road.

Fine Gael councillor Mike Fleming said that the town is aiming to progress in the national Tidy Towns competitions. Yet, Tullyvarraga Wood was causing headaches. “The town is trying to win with our Tidy Towns competitions, but there is a job only half done,” he said.

Labour councillor Tony McMahon said, “I’d like to know what is the situation around the planned maintenance and the future plans for upgrading and maintenance.

“There has been a whole cloudy history around it. I’d like to see that area maintained in a specific and measured way,” he said.

A REVELATION that the county dog warden has had to call on gardaí for support while working in Shannon has created shock waves in the town.

The issue was discussed by Shannon town councillors last week after the county’s dog warden Frankie Coote told The Clare People that the issue of dog control in Shannon was the worst in the county and that he has been forced to contend with severe abuse from dog owners.

A motion was tabled by Fine Gael Councillor Vincent Coleman who said that the issue of stray dogs was causing problems in the town.

In response, the council stated that the dog warden has issued a number of fines where he came across complaints relating to repeat offenders.

“Clare County Council has a contract with the ISPCA under Section 15 of the Control of Dogs Act, 1996, to carry out the council’s functions under that Act. The council has been in contact with the ISPCA dog warden who has reported that over the last six months there has been dog control issues in Shannon and he has spent much of his time in the Shannon area.

“On many of his visits he has had to bring the gardaí with him to intervene in some of the complaints. He has also issued a number of fines, where he came across complaints which were repeat offenders. The dog warden will continue to visit Shannon on a regular basis,” stated the council’s response.

In reply, Cllr Coleman said he was satisfied with this and said he appreciated that the staff in the dog control section were understrength. “They are trying their best,” he said.

Independent councillor Gerry Flynn suggested that Mr Coote be invited to meet with councillors. “He has to get the assistance of gardaí. This is not on. The abuse he is getting, he cannot tolerate it. I suggest we bring him in and do what we can to help that man,” he said.

Labour councillor Tony McMahon said the abuse suffered by the dog warden is “not acceptable”. He said that several people walk their dogs without leads and they are not controlled. “It’s dangerous. There is a severe penalty that people should be aware of,” he said.

Fine Gael councillor Seán McLoughlin said he was “disturbed to see that report in the paper”.

“Some type of awareness has to be made to the owners that they have a responsibility,” he said.

THERE are 551 people on the waiting list for housing in Shannon, 200 of who are in receipt of rent supplement. The figures have led to the problem being described as “epidemic”.

More than half of those waiting are single adults (261 of those on the list are categorised as ‘one adult’). 73 of the applicants are one adult and one child; 31 are one adult and two children; 12 are one adult and three children, while one applicant has four children and another has five dependents.

The figures show that 44 of those on the waiting list are couples without children, while 107 have children – ranging from one child to six children. The remaining applicants consist of three or four adults.

Those were the figures delivered to Shannon Town councillors at their monthly meeting last week, in response to a query from Sinn Féin Councillor Cathy McCafferty.

The meeting was told that of the 551 applicants on the list, 468 have been approved for housing for more than one year, while 378 have been approved and are waiting for more than two years.

Councillors heard that Clare County Council has provided 12 properties in the town under the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS), while it has acquired one property through the Social Leasing Scheme.

“The estimate for 2012 is likely to reflect the result of the review currently underway. It is not possible to provide an estimate for 2013 and 2014,” stated Shannon Town Man- ager Bernadette Kinsella, in a reply to the motion.

“The council is not in any discussions with any voluntary housing association with a view to building in Shannon. A meeting with all voluntary housing groups operating in the county is planned for early in the new year,” she added.

In response, Cllr McCafferty said she realised “with horror” that “practically 25 per cent of the waiting list [in the county] is in this town alone”.

“There must be 40 or 50 people chasing the three or four that are available at the moment,” she said.

Referring to the length of time people are waiting to be housed, she asked, “When do you envisage that they will be housed? I’d like to see a more positive answer.”

Independent councillor Gerry Flynn said, “It is worrying. Housing problems in Shannon are at epidemic proportions… There is going to be no housing going into Shannon in the future.”

Independent councillor Patricia McCarthy said, “There is no doubt we have a serious housing problem in Shannon. We have a shortage of houses. We don’t want a situation where we are going back to three or more generations living together. That was the 50s, the 40s, the 30s.”

Ms Kinsella then told the meeting, “The figures reflect a high number on the list in Shannon. Shannon is the largest town in the county outside of Ennis.”

She said that a review is ongoing and a truer picture will be available by the end of the year.

“There will be a reduction because people have left,” she said.

ENNIS Town Council is to engage with local and national coach tour operators to determine the need for additional bus parking locations in Ennis. This follows concerns from local businesses and councillors that Ennis is missing out on potential tourist business because of a lack of adequate bus spaces and facilities in the town centre.

Town Engineer Eamon O’Dea said last week that the council are engaging with local tourism operators and the Coach and Tourism and Transport Council of Ireland (CTTC) “to see what coach parking facilities are required before further expenditure is incurred by the council”.

Mr O’Dea explained, “This is necessary to determine whether additional set-down or parking locations (or both) are required. Bus parking is generally provided in the car parks of the hotels where the coach tourist is staying.

Mr O’Dea was responding to a motion submitted by Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) to the September meeting of Ennis Town Council. Cllr Flynn called for the council to provide (1) drop-off points in town locations; (2) coach parking at Temple Gate carpark previously used for coaches; (3) facilities for coach drivers to maintain, clean up; (4) rest facilities for drivers. He also called on the council to work with other organisations on incentive schemes to increase coachbased tourism.

In his report, Mr O’Dea stated, “Ennis has two bus parking locations at Friars walk car park to the rear of the Museum and three bus parking locations at Glór. There was eight bus parking locations in the Friars Walk car park adjacent to the Dunnes Stores multi storey car park and they were converted into long stay car parking due to issues with caravans in the area. The council intend to provide additional bus parking location to the rear of the Museum in the Friars Walk carpark”.

Mr O’Dea continued, “I understand that the bus drivers clean buses at the end of each day and they generally have the required equipment with them on the buses. There is a reciprocal arrangement between coach companies in the provision of facilities if required”.

Cllr Frankie Neylon (Ind) said space for cleaning buses is a “major requirement” for coach operators. Cllr Flynn said Ennis needs to make more of its town centre. He said O’Connell Street has been listed in the top 60 of the world’s greatest places by the Project for Public Spaces (PPS).

A MAN who was jailed for three years for a drugs offence earlier this year has had another drug charge taken into consideration.

In January of this year, father-ofthree Declan O’Dea (38), of Gort na hAbhna, Tulla Road, Ennis, was jailed, after he was found with more than € 4,000 worth of drugs.

Ennis Circuit Court was told heroin with a street value of € 4,133.40 was seized by gardaí, along with drugs paraphernalia including weighing scales and plastic bags.

At the time, the court was told that the accused had a serious heroin addiction, for which he underwent treatment.

At Ennis District Court on Friday, the accused pleaded guilty to possession of drugs.

His solicitor Daragh Hassett told the court that his client had had a bad drug problem. “He is currently in custody. He is thriving physically and mentally. He’s not enjoying it of course,” said the solicitor.

“He is drug-free,” he added.

Judge Joseph Mangan marked it proved and took it into consideration with the other sentence currently being served.

A MAN WHO obtained building supplies worth more than € 2,000 in the name of another did so to pay off a drug debt, a court has heard.

Detective Garda Jarlath Fahy told the court that he arrested Thomas Ryan (28), of Knockgreana, Old Pallas, Limerick.

He said that the accused obtained goods from Shannonside Building Supplies on the Clon Road in Ennis on the account of a man he knew was building a house. The offence was committed in July 2009.

“He obtained them for himself and pretended they were for the other man. An invoice was sent out to the other man. He knew nothing about it,” said the garda.

He said that while € 695 in compensation was paid, more than € 1,700 was outstanding.

The court was told the accused had several previous convictions.

Defence solicitor John Casey said that his client had a previous conviction for a drugs offence, having been a “small cog in this wheel”.

“This was a pathetic attempt by him to get money and pay off what he owed for drugs. These were serious people,” he said.

“He was in serious debt to serious people and had to come up with money.

“He put nearly € 700 together which he paid over,” said Mr Casey.

The court heard the accused is currently serving an eight-year sentence in prison.

“He will be 31 before he gets out. He has a young family. He is serving a very serious sentence, one of the longest sentences you can get,” said Mr Casey.

He asked that any new sentence run concurrently with the sentence his client is currently serving.

Judge Joseph Mangan imposed an eight-month jail sentence, to run consecutively with the sentence currently being served. He suspended four months of this, on condition that compensation be paid.

He fixed a bond in the event of an appeal.

A SMALL number of Traveller families are causing a lot of concern and costing Clare County Council a lot of money, a meeting has heard.

Those were the comments made by County Manager Tom Coughlan at yesterday’s meeting of Clare County Council. Mr Coughlan was speaking after a new report revealed the high cost incurred by the council in providing Traveller accommodation over the past 10 years.

Mr Coughlan told the meeting that a small percentage of families in Clare were behind many of the problems associated with accommodation including, vandalism and intimidation of council staff. Mr Coughlan said Clare County Council had led the field when it came to providing Traveller accommodation.

He said that the last specific piece of Traveller legislation had been introduced 23 years ago. He suggested that it was now time to examine legislation in the area of Traveller accommodation, saying further discussion and debate on the matter would be helpful to local authorities.

Commenting on figures that show that 1,300 complaints have been referred to the Equality Tribunal, Mr Coughlan said that if all cases are heard individually “it will take up a lot of council time and resources”.

Mr Coughlan paid tribute to staff working in the council’s housing section, saying that the job can be “extremely difficult and demoralising”. “There is a limit to the amount of money and staff the council can put into this,” he added. At the meeting, councillors expressed concern at the rising costs of the programme. Cllr Tommy Brennan (Ind) pro- posed that the council stop spending money on Traveller accommodation until such time as new legislation is introduced. “It’s high time they were taught a lesson,” he added. Cllr Joe Arkins (FG) said that while Travellers have rights and entitlements, they also have duties and responsibilities. “But it seems to me that with elements of the Traveller community, it’s all a one way street.” Commenting on the council’s report, which shows that the percentage of rent collected for Traveller accommodation is low, Cllr Arkins said rent should be deducted at source from Social Welfare payments. “There are only so many times you can get two fingers in the face,” he added. Cllr Patricia McCarthy (Ind) said that the figures contained in the report were very “disheartening” given the council’s ongoing commitment to providing Traveller accommodation. Cllr James Breen (Ind) said the gardaí should be invited to speak on incidents of vandalism and arson at Traveller accommodation at the next council meeting.

CLARE County Council has spent € 20 million on Traveller accommodation in Clare over the past 10 years, according to a new report.

The council has invested in 10 group housing schemes and one temporary site in the county that were put in place over three Traveller accommodation programmes since 2000. According to a report prepared by Bernadette Kinsella, Director of Housing, Social and Cultural Services, the capital cost between 2001 and 2011 has been € 20 million.

The report provides a detailed breakdown of all costs associated with Traveller accommodation incurred by the council.

It shows that maintenance costs of Traveller accommodation are “high relative to other accommodation provided by the council”.

Ms Kinsella explains that the council incurred high security costs on the Beechpark group scheme in Ennis, which was the subject of criminal damage and remains the subject of threat and intimidation since 2010.

The report adds, “Efforts to let three refurbished houses in this scheme are ongoing but unsuccessful due to intimidation and threats within the Traveller community. While the council has reported all such incidents to the Gardaí, victim statements have not been lodged with the Gardaí.”

The report states that a total of five units of accommodation have been destroyed by arson attack in the last 22 months (Beechpark, Ashline, Ballymaley). “Tenancy sustainment over time is an ongoing challenge and the turnover of accommodation units is a further driver of maintenance expenditure,” the report adds.

According to the report, “several hundred thousand euro have been incurred in defending these complaints, in addition to an inestimable staffing cost”.

Ms Kinsella states that in 2009 the council instituted judicial review proceedings to prohibit the Equality Tribunal from proceeding with hearings.

She continues, “Approximately 1,300 complaints were referred to the Tribunal by Ms Heather Rosen on behalf of Travellers. As each complaint carries a potential award of damages of € 6,000, the council is exposed to significant potential cost. To date 73 decisions have been issued by the Tribunal and all these cases were dismissed.”

In terms of staff resources the report shows that “five full-time and one part-time staff are deployed to work exclusively on Traveller accommodation issues, the majority of the focus being on resolving and responding to matters in respect of Travellers who have been accommodated by the council”.

It continues, “The council’s capacity to continue to commit this dis-proportionate level of resources, in the context of our overall housing stock of 1, 500 units and of ever diminishing staff resources is seriously limited.”