Month: October 2011

HUNDREDS of jobs could be created in Clare over the next decade as an oil and natural gas rush looks set to take place off the county’s west coast.

Providence Resources was last week granted an exploration license for the large Spanish Point South field by the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. This new field amounts to an estimated 1,500 square kilometres off the Clare coast and is more than twice the size of the combined Burren and Spanish Point (north) fields – which Providence are already exploring.

Seismic surveys have confirmed the presence of enough natural gas in the Spanish Point (north) field to meet Irish gas requirement for the next 60 year and should a similar amounts of gas and oil be realised in the Burren and Spanish Point South fields Clare could become Ireland energy capital for the next century.

These explorations could create thousands of jobs in Clare with massive opportunities to supply the fields from Harbour town such as Carrigaholt and Kilrush as well as from the proposed new pier at Doolin.

It could also create massive opportunities along the Shannon Estuary where a deep-water service hub is en- visioned to handle much of the heavy duty transport to and from the fields.

“The Shannon Estuary is one of the few natural resources that we have here in Clare which could really drive economic development and we have to be open to all possibilities as to how that could be developed,” said Clare Senator Martin Conway (FG).

“Anyone who is being shown any interest in developing something along the Shannon Estuary need to be encouraged and indeed the government need to go to these people and find them. These projects are something for a long way down the line and it could take a lot of years for anything to be realised out of them but we have to start somewhere.”

In a similar way to their explorations in the Burren and Spanish Point (north) fields, the new exploration will be a partnership arrangement between Providence and its industry partners Chrysaor and Sosina.

“Providence is delighted to have been awarded such a significant acreage position on the Irish Atlantic Margin as part of the 2011 Round. Our studies completed to date indicate a number of structures with significant potential which will greatly augment our already formidable acreage position offshore Ireland,” said Tony O’Reilly, CEO of Providence last week.

IT WAS a case of third time lucky on Sunday for Kilmaley man Christy Healy who became the person to successfully complete a 10km underwater dive.

Christy completed the swim in Lough Derg in a time of 6 hours, 21 minutes and will find out this week if he has secured a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Christy is aiming to become the first person in the world to complete a 10km underwater swim. Bad weather scuppered Christy’s first attempt at the swim from Doolin Pier in September.

Three weeks ago Christy then re- attempted the mammoth challenge from Doolin but had to pull out due to difficulties on the 9.4 km mark just when his goal was in sight. But the story was not to end there for Christy and the team. “After the set back a few weeks ago, I was determined not to be beaten. I am absolutely thrilled, and relieved, I might add, to have completed what I pledged to all of those who have contributed and supported me throughout,” says Christy

He added, “The entire team were not willing to give up and all the training, organisation and hard work has paid off,” he continues.

A team in excess of 20 people including snorkelers, rescue divers, paramedics, navigators, observers and support personnel descended on the shores of Lough Derg at 7am on Sunday. Once preparations were complete, the flotilla was launched and travelled 15km out into the lake. Christy was deployed into the water where he submerged and did not surface until he received the signal that he had reached his goal exactly 6 hours and 21 minutes later.

The records and evidence collected by the appointed teams will now be submitted to the Guinness World Records Office for confirmation of the achievement in the coming days.

Diving instructor Christy took on the challenge to raise money for the Share A Dream foundation. He was inspired to do after his family was affected by cancer.

In March 2010 Christy and wife Trish’s son Stephen, then aged 17, was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma – a cancer of the lymphoid tissue.

Thankfully, after six months of chemotherapy and a kidney operation, Stephen has been given the all clear.

Shay Kinsella, the founder of Share A Dream Foundation, stated “Christy is a fantastic man to attempt this world record once again in only three weeks. His determination and strength totally identifies with the children we work with who are battling everyday of their lives with illness.”

A GENTLEMAN, an innovator, a friend and a man who has given so much to traditional music and to his adopted home town of Miltown Malbay. Many tributes have been paid to Muiris Ó Rocháin, co-founder of the Willie Clancy Summer School, who passed away last week after a short illness.

Some of the most poignant words came from the man most associated with Muiris, the co-founder of the Willie Clancy Summer School, Harry Hughes. The pair, who met when they were both teaching at St Joseph’s Secondary School in Spanish Point in the late 1960s, were involved in numerous different music and local history projects over the years.

“He is a great loss. From the day I met him until the day he died, there was never a bad word spoken between us. He was a gentleman and a generous man and a man with a great since of humour. He took his work seriously and he took his music seriously but he never took himself too seriously,” Harry told The Cla re People yesterday.

“I think he has left a tremendous legacy behind him – not just in traditional music but in a number of fields. When we started the school, there was nothing really like it in traditional music. When you think about it, how many festivals there are around the county now?”

Tributes were also paid by John Lynch, head of the Kilfenora Céilí Band, who said that the Willie Clancy Summer School was a great boost to traditional music in Ireland.

“He will be sorely missed. When himself and Harry [Hughes] set up the Willie Clancy Summer School, there was nothing like it in Ireland. They were way ahead of their time,” said John.

“When the Willie Clancy Summer School got going, traditional music in Ireland was way different from how it is today. I was 17 years old when the first Willie Clancy week took place and at that stage there weren’t a lot of people playing traditional music. Both Muiris and Harry are so well respected by everyone in the traditional community and they did so much to help that tradition.

“He will be sorely missed by everyone in traditional music and, on behalf of the Kilfenora Céilí Band, I would like to extend my deepest condolences to his family.”

Alongside his many great musical achievements, Muiris can also take the credit for helping to save his adopted home in Miltown Malbay. The Willie Clancy Summer School raises an estimated € 6 million for the west Clare economy each year.

“Muiris was a man of great foresight and vision and that was a key part of the success of the school. No matter how much the school grew though, he always kept the common touch, he was always down to earth and interested in what was going on on the ground,” said Cllr Michael Hillery (FF).

“The Willie Clancy Summer School has been a huge boost to Miltown over the decades — not just to Miltown but to all the neighbouring towns as well. There are a number of businesses in town that wouldn’t have survived had it not been for the Willie Clancy Summer School.

“He will be missed by everyone in the town and we would all like to extend our sympathies to his wife Una, his daughter Maura and his son Seamus.”

CLARE VEC would face competition from other bodies for the patronage of a new Irish secondary school if approval were granted for a new site, a meeting has heard.

CEO, George O’Callaghan was speaking last week at a discussion on the findings of a survey for the public’s preference for the future of Gaelcholáiste an Chláir.

A new building has been approved for Ennis Community College and Mr O’Callaghan was questioned if the new extension would affect a proposal to develop a new standalone Irish secondary school in Ennis.

Gaelcholáiste an Chláir currently operates within the campus of Ennis Community College.

Parents’ representative Maolíosa Ní Chléirigh asked if the VEC is continuing to push for an independ- ent Gaelcholáiste.

Ms Ní Chléirigh said the Gaelcholáiste does not have enough classrooms to cater for student numbers.

Mr O’Callaghan said the VEC had previously indicated that it is in favour of a standalone school. He said the new building would bring “enormous relief” to the current problems at the Ennis Community College campus. “The extension may offer some form of relief and be the basis for future developments,” he said.

However, Mr O’Callaghan explained that a school must have an enrolment of 400 students before the department will approve a new standalone building. He told the meeting that a “health warning” would have to be attached to any application for a new greenfield site. He explained that if the department approved a new site, patronage of the school would be open to competition.

A DECISION to retain a VEC suboffice in Ennis will be determined by the outcome of “local discussions”, a meeting has heard.

The Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairi Quinn, has outlined proposals to amalgamate Clare VEC with Limerick City and Limerick County VECs.

The new entity would be known as a Local Education and Training Board (LETB).

CEO George O’Callaghan told the October meeting of Clare VEC that while the new LETB will require a headquarters, “there will be local discussions” that will determine the location of any potential sub office.

“You must have a designated headquarters and after that it is a matter of discussions,” he added.

Mr O’Callaghan said that from next August third-level grants would be administered by Dublin City LETB. He said that while Clare VEC will continue to deal with existing applications for a three to four years, it would not accept new applications.

Responsibility for school transport will be transferred to Bus Eireann in January, he said.

Clare TD and Fine Gael Deputy, Pat Breen has called for the retention of a sub office in Ennis.

Deputy Breen has argued that the proposal would be cost-neutral because the Department of Education and Skills owns the building in Ennis.

Mr O’Callaghan also told the meeting that the department had also published the heads of a Bill outlining the proposed new legal structure of new VEC entities. He said the Bill proposed changes to the make up of vocational education committees.

He explained that while county councils will be represented on the new committees, the Bill contains no provision for town councils.

Mr O’Callaghan said that three local authorities – Limerick City Council, Limerick County Council and Clare County Council – would be represented on the new LETB.

Cllr Peter Considine (FF) proposed that the Irish Vocational Education Association (IVEA) “strongly reject” the proposal.

Cllr Considine, a member of Ennis Town Council, said VECs had always represented urban and rural communities.

TWO Clare secondary schools received a significant boost last week with the news that the Department of Education and Science has approved building extensions in Ennis and Killaloe.

Clare VEC will receive grant funding to carry out the works at Ennis Community College and St Anne’s Community College, Killaloe.

Making the announcement on Thursday, Clare VEC CEO, George O’Callaghan said the new facilities are needed to cope with a projected increased in the number of students attending both schools. He said a Department of Education report had predicted that enrolment at Ennis Community College would rise to 740 students in the near future, while enrolment at St Anne’s is expected to increase to 750.

There are currently 500 students enrolled at Ennis Community College. Clare VEC will receive a devolved grant for the projects – a 2813sq/m extension in Ennis and a 1800sq/m extension in Killaloe.

There will be two separate tendering processes for each school while Mr O’Callaghan added that the process of seeking planning permission for both projects would begin “immediately”. He said, “They [the de- partment] have indicated that they want people walking in the doors by 2014.” Mr O’Callaghan said preliminary discussions had already taken place with the department. He said the department had indicated a preference for a new standalone building at Ennis Community College. He said the building would also alleviate pressure on Gaelcholáiste an Chláir, an Aonad that currently operates within Ennis Community College.

Mr O’Callaghan was speaking at the October meeting of Clare VEC where he said it would be “remiss” of the committee not to accept the funding. Committee member Michael Corley proposed that the VEC accept the department’s offer. Seconding the motion, committee chairman Cllr Tommy Brennan (Ind) welcomed the annoucement. He said an extension for St Anne’s is “long overdue”.

A GOVERNMENT-backed steering group to create an international hub for humanitarian aid at Shannon Airport will be put in place in the coming weeks. The Clare People understands that Labour’s Junior Minister for Foreign Affairs, Jan O’Sullivan, will appoint the top-level steering group in the coming weeks to push the creation of the international aid hub, which will act as a logistic base for aid organisation responding to major aid crisis’s around the world.

The hub is expected to create a number of jobs in the Shannon area and also work as a cornerstone for creating larger logistics-based operations in Shannon. The aid hub was a large part of the election manifesto of Clare TD Michael McNamara, who has made contact with a number of people at the United Nations in relation to the development.

“This is part of the Clare County Development Plan and I understand that Jan O’Sullivan is in the process of setting up a steering group involving all the main state operators and Clare County Council,” he said.

It is, however, unclear what form the humanitarian aid hub will take should it be granted the go ahead. Earlier this year, the Atlantic Way group officially registered the not-for-profit company ‘Global Aid Shannon’

The company was launched after a year of behind-the-scenes negotiations between Atlantic Way and a partner organisation in Jacksonville in Florida. However, it is unclear whether this private company will be used or whether a government agency will take the lead in delivering the proposed aid hub.

“If we can get the humanitarian aid hub up and running in Shannon, that will be very positive news. There is a company proposed to do that but there is no certainty that it will be a private company that will do it,” continued McNamara.

“While there is a lot of land around Shannon in private ownership, there is also a lot of land owned by Shannon Development and no decision has been made yet as to whether it would be a private company or whether existing state assets could be utilised for this. Ultimately, this has to be government driven, but whether there can be some sort of public/private partnership or not, I have an open mind.”

A PLAN to offer free flights from Shannon Airport at certain times of the year may not be completely grounded, despite comments from the Department of Transport over the weekend that the project is a nonstarter.

West Clare councillor Gabriel Keating (FG), who proposed the ambitious new scheme, says that he has no doubt that something will come out of the proposal. The Kilrush councillor yesterday put out the call to Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary, saying that the deal could be an ideal fit for Shannon and the low fares airline. The idea involved making some flights between Shannon Airport and some UK airports free between March 19 and April 16, and September 17 and October 15, each year to promote visitors to Clare and the beginning and end of the tourist season. The promotion would also act as a major marketing opportunity for Shannon Airport and the airline involved in offering the free flights.

“We have been doing the same thing with our marketing budget for years now and the time has come for us to think outside of the box and that is what this idea is all about,” said Cllr Keating.

“If people came and they stayed for four nights in Clare what impact would that have on the local tourism market? It would be a massive boost both for the county and for Shannon Airport.

“I have no doubt that someone like Michael O’Leary would see the potential in an idea like this. You have to spend money to make money and we have been spending our marketing budget sending people to promote Shannon to every corner of the world but I think there is an option to spend it in a different way.

“I have no doubt that something will come from this idea. As an elected councillor it is my job to come up with ideas that might help promote the county. Ideas like this will lead to tourists and investment and that leads to jobs.”

A spokesman for the Department of Transport said over the weekend that the government was “unlikely” to support the proposal saying that it might infringe on EU competition law.

WORLDWIDE business consultants Booz & Company have now emerged as major players in shaping Shannon’s future – their findings and recommendations to government will be key to whether a blueprint to semi-privatise the airport for between 15 and 35 years becomes a reality.

This radical plan is contained in the proposal put to government by the Shannon Airport Authority (SAA) in August.

The SAA board, which is chaired by local businessman Brian O’Connell, tabled its vision for the future on foot of a request for submissions by Minister Varadkar on the break-up of the three state- owned airports – Dublin, Shannon and Cork.

The plan sets out in bold terms that going forward, profit is the bottom line for Shannon, with semiprivatisation option put forward as a way of achieving this objective in the changed economic landscape.

“It is not sustainable for any business to continue in a loss-making mode,” said SAA chairman Brian O’Connell after the proposal was submitted to the Department of Transport.

“Every business, including Shannon Airport, must re-configure itself and re-engineer its future in the light of the dramatically changed economic landscape. It is clear that the ways and means we have organised and managed business in the past have to change, to take into account the reality of present and future market challenges.

“As a board, we are very mindful that Shannon Airport is and should continue to be a powerful driver of the current and future economic vitality in the whole west of Ireland region, if it is adequately capitalised and superbly managed.

“We considered a wide range of options which could optimise and maximise the commercial potential of Shannon Airport. We analysed present international trends and examined locations similar to Shannon around the world, which are operating successfully. It is for the Minister to consider the views of the board as submitted and to deliberate thereafter,” added O’Connell, who is also managing director of Westpark Shannon.

In July, the publication of the DAA annual report revealed a 37 per cent decrease in passenger traffic at Shannon during 2010, contributing to losses at the airport of between € 7m and € 10m for the year. The extent of these losses is believed to have scuppered any prospect of a government move to separate Dublin, Shannon and Cork airports.

This is despite the DAA annual report has saying: “following restructuring, Cork Airport Authority and Shannon Airport Authority will act as fully independent and legally autonomous airport authorities for Cork and Shannon airports respectively.”

In 2003, the then Minister for Transport, Seamus Brennan, announced the Government’s intention to restructure State-run airports, with the 2004 State Airports Act proposing that the Dublin Airport Authority would cease to own Shannon and Cork airports.

However, four years later, Minister Brennan’s successor in the transport portfolio, Noel Dempsey, announced the deferral until 2011 of a decision on the restructuring given the very difficult circumstances in the aviation sector.

“It was the unanimous views of the Dublin, Cork and Shannon airport authorities at the time that given the very difficult circumstance for the aviation sector, the climate was not right for separation,” Minister Varadkar has revealed this week.

A TEAM of consultants have been charged with responsibility for deciding whether Shannon Airport’s links with the Dublin Airport Authority should be severed to allow private business take over the dayto-day operation of Clare’s international airport.

The move was heralded by Transport Minister Leo Varadkar on Friday when he announced the beginning of a “study of options” for the future ownership and direction of the airport.

This will be carried out by Booz & Company – a leading global management consulting firm, that helps businesses and governments and has branches in 39 countries worldwide, with its Irish operation headquartered in Dublin.

Booz & Company are to report back to Minister Varadkar by the end of year after “consulting as widely as possible with the stakeholders in Shannon” ahead of a proposal being put to government that will chart a new future for the 75-year-old airport.

“Some months ago I asked the boards of the three authorities (Dublin, Shannon, Cork) for their views again on separation,” Minister Varadkar revealed in launching the new consultation process on the future of the three state airports.

The most radical of the proposals submitted to Minister Varadkar in August is for Shannon to breakaway from the DAA by way of the State entering into a lease agreement with private business for a period of between 15 to 35 years.

“Given the current business environment and the recent trends in the aviation sector I was not surprised to hear back that there was no support for separation, as originally envisaged, that is as three independent State companies.

“However, the present half-way house arrangement, in place since 2004, whereby Cork and Shannon have their own boards but have limited autonomy from the Dublin Airport Authority, cannot continue indefinitely. Nor can the situation continue whereby losses at Cork and Shannon are absorbed by the remaining profitable parts of the DAA Group.

“I have decided therefore to seek wide ranging advice on all possible options for the future ownership and operation of Cork and Shannon Airports, so that I can propose informed recommendations to Government,” added Minister Varadkar.