Month: November 2011

GARDAÍ are warning people parking outside schools that cars are being targeted by thieves, after two areas were targeted last week.

Last Monday, a car parked outside Barefield National School was broken into at around 3.10pm. A handbag was stolen from the car. The following day, a car parked outside Kilmur ry National School, Sixmilebridge, was targeted at around 7pm. Property was taken from the car, while another car parked outside the courthouse in Sixmilebridge was broken into around the same time.

A car parked outside a house in Fernhill on the Gor t Road in Ennis was broken into overnight on Thursday and a laptop and sat. nav. were stolen. In another incident in Ennis, three tyres were slashed on a car parked at Carmody Street, between 1am and 12 noon on Friday.

Four burglaries in the east Clare area over the past week are being investigated by gardaí. In one incident, a small quantity of cash was taken from a house in Bodyke, overnight on Wednesday. A house on the Tulla Road in Kilkishen was broken into at around 9pm on Friday. The owner of the house heard a noise and saw a flashlight, before noticing people going out a window.

A house in O’Callaghan’s Mills was broken into between 2.30pm and 10pm on Friday, after the back door was forced open. Bedrooms were ransacked but nothing was stolen.

Gold jewellery was stolen during a break-in at Mount Ivers, Sixmilebridge, between 11pm and midnight on Friday.

Cars were stolen in Ennistymon and Ballina, Killaloe, in the past week. One car – a Nissan Primera – was stolen at Church Street, Ennistymon, overnight on Saturday, while the other – a Toyota Yaris was taken from Ivy Grove, Ballina, overnight last Tuesday.

In Kilrush, a Connemara pony was stolen from a stable at Shragh, overnight on Friday, while property was stolen from stables at Kilkee Road, Kilrush, on the same night. The property included two riding saddles, reins and bridles.

Meanwhile, gardaí are continuing to investigate the seizure of € 60,000 worth of cannabis resin in a car in Ballina, Killaloe, last Monday. As par t of a planned operation, a car was stopped and searched. Two people from the Killaloe area – one in his early 30s and the other in his late 30s – were ar rested, before being released without charge the following day.

“That is the biggest one this year in the east Clare area. It is significant,” said a senior garda spokesman.

Anyone with information on any of these crimes should contact Ennis Garda Station on 065 6848100 or their local Garda station.

THE DAYS of teaching in prefabs in Quin may be coming to an end, after the local primary school got the green light for an eight-classroom extension.

Management at Scoil na Mainistreach has been notified that the school will be extended, with the project likely to be completed in 2013.

The news that the eight rooms and ancillary accommodation are to be added comes after years of campaigning by management, after the existing building became too small for the growing school population.

Currently there are 259 students in the school and this is expected to rise to more than 300 over the next five years as projected enrolments will rise further, based on numbers of births locally.

There are nine classrooms in the school, four of which are prefabs. There are nine mainstream teachers, along with three learning support staff.

School principal Anne Fitzpatrick said management was “delighted” to receive the letter from the Department of Education, outlining the go ahead for the project.

“We have no clarification at present on how the grant will operate. We are basking in the delight on something that has been going on for so many years. We have been campaigning for a long time,” she said.

It was initially proposed in 2001 that the school should be extended, given increasing enrolments.

Between 2005 and 2009, enrolments increased by more than 70 per cent and according to the census figures for this year, the population has increased by almost 40 per cent over the past five years.

“The projections are it will continue to grow over the next four to five years,” said Ms Fitzpatrick. “Enrolments are coming in at 40 each year. Baptisms are coming in at 40 each year. Three of the classrooms are totally unsuitable. They are inadequate in size,” she said.

Last year, two new classrooms were built on and while this was welcome, overall, it was not sufficient to cater for the numbers of pupils.

“In 2009, the board made a decision there would be no more temporary accommodation on site. We had been arguing for a long time that tempo- rary accommodation is not a cost effective solution,” said the principal.

“They expect it to be in place in 2013. We would be anxious to move ahead as quickly as possible to move on site for 2013. It is an absolute necessity. Even though we were slightly surprised, we are delighted that the department sees the absolutely necessity for this,” she said.

“There is gong to be a lot of hard work. The board (of management) has been outstanding, led by Daragh Hassett. We would like to give him credit for that. We have put a lot of hard work into this,” she said.

NO VENUE in Clare has been granted permission to host civil partnerships between same-sex couples despite a number of civil marriages between heterosexual couples having already taken place in the county.

North Clare lesbian couple Bernadette Kenny and Heidi Hummel became Clare’s first same-sex civil partnership earlier this year but were prevented from hosting a ceremony in Clare because they were told that it would take more than two years for a officer to be free to come to Clare to perform the ceremony.

Despite this however, Management at the Cliffs of Moher have confirmed to The Clare People that a heterosexual American couple were allowed to celebrate a civil marriage at the world famous tourist site in June of this year – just six months after the civil partnership and civil marriage legislation came into effect.

The procedure for having a samesex civil partnership and a heterosexual civil marriage outside of a registry office is the exact same and requires an officer from the Civil Registration Service in Limerick to inspect the venue for health and safety reasons before the go-ahead can be given.

“If we had wanted to use a venue in north Clare or somewhere in the Burren it would have been a two year waiting time – and we were no prepared to wait for that long,” Bernadette Kenny told The Clare People yesterday. “They have a big backlog at the moment but it meant that we had to have our ceremony at the back end of a hospital in Limerick. There is no venue in Clare which is registered for this sort of ceremony.

“It would have been great to do it at the Cliffs of Moher or some other location up in the Burren but it would have taken so much time. There is so much paperwork involved already, especially if one person has already been married and then divorced. So of the rules governing this are very antiquated.”

A spokesperson from the Department of Social Protection has confirmed that no civil partnerships registered in County Clare to date.

“A venue may only be approved at each individual request from a couple. As no civil partnership has been registered to have taken place in County Clare there is no venue approved for County Clare,” said the spokesman. The Clare People contacted the Civil Registration Service in Limerick in relation to this but no response was received at the time of going to press.

ST VINCENT de Paul has appealed to the people of Clare to donate whatever they can in the run-up to Christmas. Donations vary from cash, vouchers, hampers, clothes, toys and non-perishable goods.

Over the coming days, businesses across the county will receive letters from the organisation requesting donations to help cash-strapped families.

The president of St Vincent de Paul in Clare, Cathal Oakes, said that this year, teenagers’ clothing is particularly in demand.

“We are looking for all clothes, particularly teenagers’ clothes. We are finding it quite difficult to get them. Also, if people are dropping in foodstuffs, we prefer non-perishable,” said Cathal. “People are always very generous,” he said.

“Toys are very good but most of the time we prefer to give out vouchers. We give out vouchers all year round. With vouchers, people can buy what they want,” he added.

He said that while people have been very kind and give what they can to the organisation, the amount of goods received is down this year, in the face of increasing demand from those struggling to make ends meet.

“The exact figures on the general collections are down a little bit, but that’s to be expected. People are still amazing. We are still holding our own. The shop is our key source of funding. It is run very, very well,” he said.

In recent years, the organisation has expanded and teams have been set up across the county. Currently there are around 140 volunteers working in Clare, while 45 visitation teams liaise with those who require home visits. Teams also work in the hostel, the shop and work specifically on education.

“We have teams all over the county, including Kilrush, Killaloe, Newmarket, Shannon, Clarecastle and in east Clare. They all operate by fundraising locally, under the umbrella of Clare. It is hard to make money in east Clare and there are a lot of requests there, but the overall Clare area backs each one individually,” said Cathal.

He said that people are looking for assistance for a variety of reasons such as inability to pay bills, car maintenance or to buy clothes and food.

“There is a big increase in the number of people with debt on multiple levels, for example the ESB bill isn’t paid or the mortgage goes into arrears or the car insurance isn’t paid,” said Cathal.

The organisation is renting an extra room for December to store the goods that are donated in the run-up to Christmas. Those wishing to drop in items can do so at the St Vincent de Paul shop on Parnell Street, Ennis.

ALL commercial waste produced in County Clare will have to be hauled outside the county from this Friday following the closure of the Central Waste Management in Inagh.

From this Friday, November 25, the landfill at Ballyduff beg will be closed to all commercial waste, with only waste for recycling and a small amount of domestic landfill waste accepted. This means that commercial producers in Ennis will now face a 145-kilometre round-trip to Gortadroma in south west Limerick or a 180-kilometre round-trip to the Green Star facility in Ballinasloe to properly dispose of their waste.

This move is the result of a decision made by Clare County Council in December of 2010 not to open a fourth cell at the Central Waste Management Facility at Ballyduff beg. The decision was made when projected figures from the council revealed that the landfill centre would become a loss-making venture in the years to come.

The revised figures are a result of the economic slowdown which saw a dramatic drop in the amount of waste being produced by the construction sector – resulting in a large drop in the price paid for disposing of landfill waste.

This dramatic drop in the price received for properly disposing of landfill also means that the Central Waste Management Facility in Bal- lyduff beg will be a loss-making venture for Clare County Council over its entire life-time and not the cashcow that some had described it as.

“A resolution was passed by the elected members of Clare County Council in late 2010 not to develop phase 4 of the facility once phase 3 had been completed,” said Paul Moroney, Senior Engineer with Clare County Council at Ballyduff beg.

“Phase 3 is scheduled to be completed by the end of this week. As a result, and in accordance with the resolution passed by councillors, the landfill will close to commercial customers.

“Small quantities of domestic waste will continue to be accepted from members of the public at the Ballyduff beg facility. The recycling centre will remain operational as normal.”

The Ballyduff beg facility has been a controvertial point for the people of Inagh for a number of years with a number of local residents complaining about smells and vermon activity at the facility.

Clare County Council was sited by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for breaches of its license on a number of occasions in recent years.

The Central Waste Management Facility in Ballyduff beg will remain open to all domestic customers from Tuesday to Friday from 8.30am to 4.30pm and on Saturdays from 8.30am to 1pm.

A NEW outreach centre for rape victims is being opened in Ennis, in response to demand from clients throughout the county.

That’s according to Rape Crisis Midwest, which will officially open its Ennis centre on the Clon Road at 4pm on Friday.

Demand for services in the midwest is significant, with 15 new calls received every week at its Limerick headquarters.

“This is in response to demand. We have delivering a service to the people of Clare since we opened up in the 1980s. We have found that people found the trip to Limerick quite hard, particularly those coming from the west,” said the director of fundraising with the organisation, Verena Tarpey.

The new centre will be operated on a part-time basis, two days a week; counselling services will be available on Mondays and Wednesdays by appointment. “Not only will there be long-term counselling but it will also provide support counselling for the family of a victim of a sexual attack. We also do court accompaniments,” said Ms Tarpey.

The waiting list for clients currently stands at four months, but those in need of immediate assistance are taken as priority.

“I think that more people are coming in looking for help. There is more awareness. There is also more awareness of the fact it is not something to be ashamed of either,” she said.

Fundraising will be crucial to the survival of the Ennis outreach centre. “We are receiving no government funding to pay for the overheads in Ennis such as rent and computer services. We get core funding for our service in Limerick. We made a huge decision to open it (Ennis). It is needed. We are relying on the goodwill of the people of Ennis,” she said.

“We have to stretch our resources. We want to do it to make the service accessible to the people of Clare,” she said.

The organisation is piloting a new education programme for transition year students in a number of schools in the mid-west, including Coláiste Mhuire in Ennis.

“We are piloting it in the mid-west and it is a first for Rape Crisis Midwest,” said Ms Tarpey.

“We felt that a pilot programme such as this would be beneficial to students. It educates them in relation to different aspects of the law of sexual offences and how alcohol can affect people,” she said.

“Students in particular would not necessarily want to avail of long-term counselling but they are aware of the different services that are available in the mid-west,” she added.

A 68-YEAR-OLD north Clare woman who has been working as a carer for 20 years is to be forced to retire at the end of 2011 – because she is too old for the job.

Lahinch native Bridie Kennedy, has written a letter to newly elected President of Ireland Michael D Higgins who, at 70 years of age, would also be forced to retire five years ago if he worked as a carer.

Bridie has been looking after a neighbour who suffers from Alzhe- imer’s Disease for the past four years. Before that she worked in a local nursing home for more than 15 years. She received a letter last month informing her that she would be forced to retire at the end of the year. Bridie is employed by Clarecare and says that organisation has been very supportive of her position.

“I’ve been doing this for 20 years and it is very rewarding work. I wanted to be a nurse since I was a little girl of 18 years, I would have made a really good nurse,” she said.

“I think it is a real shame what is being done. This new rule has just come in and according to it I should have stopped working when I was 65. One of the reason why I went for the interview with Clarecare is that there was no upper age limit. Clarecare have been very good to work for – I don’t know what a lot of people would do without them.

“I work four hours each day with a neighbour of mine. She is just a five minute walk away and I walked up to her house every day last year during the snow and ice. She is a neighbour and I have known her for years. The family are very upset. They have known me for years and year and having a familiar person there is very important – especially with Alzheimers.”

According to Bridie, being forced to retire is going have a negative impact on her social life as well as her financial situation. “I’ve been working for 50 years and now, all of a sudden, I’ll have nothing to get up in the morning for. It’s just not fair. I’ve never been sick in my life and I’m never tired. It isn’t much money but it’s great to have a few extra pounds coming in every month. More than that though it’s about getting out and meeting people. I love older people and the stories that they tell. I tell my grandchild their stories and he thinks I’m making them up. I will miss that.”

The director of Clarecare Fiachra Hensey confirmed yesterday that the official age of retirement for carers with Clarecare is now 65 years old.

“The official age of retirement is 65 and that is a fact. I have the utmost sympathy for any carers who are in good health and want to keep working. I really do,” he said.

A NEW initiative is underway in Ennis aimed at raising awareness about the increasing incidents of domestic violence.

The Ennis Access Programme is a Local Training Initiative based in Ennis, which is sponsored by the Clare Local Development Company. Members have created a handmade patchwork quilt using only natural fabrics and recycled materials. The quilt is constructed in the form of patchwork and applique in rainbow colours with a black background.

The learners had taken part in several workshops, which were funded by the HSE, which had highlighted the increasing numbers of women suffering from domestic violence locally, nationally and internationally.

Clare Haven, who provide services to women and children affected by domestic violence, state that 174 women have been murdered in Ireland since 1996. It is estimated that 213,000 (one in five) Irish women suffer severe abuse.

In response to the training received, the learners decided they would like to raise the awareness of the increasing incidents of domestic violence and also raise funds to support the vital service provided by Clare Haven.

The quilt will be on display at the Credit Union Office, Friars Walk, Ennis, and the raffle will take place on the December 16.

Tickets will be available from the Ennis Access Programme Training Centre located on the Clon Road Business Park, Clon Road, Ennis. Proceeds will be donated to Clare Haven Services. Tickets are € 2 for one ticket and € 5 for three tickets. For further information contact Ennis Access Programme at 065 6848466.

AN INTERNATIONAL campaign highlighting domestic violence against women will be marked in Clare over the coming weeks, amid increasing numbers of women seeking help.

As part of the 16 Days campaign opposing domestic violence – which runs from November 25 to December 16 – a candlelit ceremony will be held at the friary in Ennis on Thursday, December 1, at 7.30pm.

Candles will be lit in memory of each victim. Sixteen community leaders – such as a member of a sporting organisation, a garda and a community volunteer – will each bring a candle to the altar representing each of the 16 years since the initiative was established.

“It sends out a really strong message that each of their organisations are opposing violence,” said services manager with Clare Haven, Denise Dunne.

“We are commemorating 174 wom- en who have been murdered in Ireland since 1996 (when figures were first collected). 107 of them were murdered in their homes.

“This year, the theme is communities working together on opposing violence against women, such as gardaí, family resource centres, different community-based organisations and people volunteering with the community,” she said.

“In order for us to help women experiencing domestic abuse, we need community support,” said Ms Dunne.

She said that the Clare Haven refuge for women suffering domestic abuse is “full all of the time”, while the outreach centres across the county are experiencing huge demand.

The initiative will get underway on November 25, which is the UN day opposing violence against women, and will conclude on December 10, which is Human Rights Day.

Meanwhile, the local area networks – of Clare, Limerick and north Tipperary – have set up a website, www. midwestvaw.ie, geared towards those working professionally who may encounter violence against women.

“It is around recognising, responding and referring,” said Ms Dunne.

“If somebody presents in front of you asking for help, how do you ask the questions and respond? It is for professionals, people on the ground who meet people through work such as social workers, gps, teachers or anybody who comes across it. It is a resource for them,” she said.

For further information on the 16 Days initiative, phone 065 6842646.

DETAILS have been unveiled of a proposed € 500, 000 upgrade to the Quin wastewater treatment plant.

The project consists of the upgrading of the existing wastewater treatment plant including the provision of additional underground tanks and associated site works to increase capacity from 740 population equivalent (pe) to 1400 pe at Quin Gardens, Quin.

According to a report prepared by senior planner Gordon Daly, the proposed development will serve the needs of Quin village and its environs into the future.

The report states that Quin village has a projected population target of 789 persons by 2017.

A flood risk assessment states that the “site is designated as being located within flood zone A and B hence this site has been identified as being at risk of flooding”.

The report states that the proposed works will not give rise to increased flooding at the site.

The report states, “It is noted that that the risk of flooding would be from the adjacent River Rine. The wastewater treatment facility is already present and operating within a flood risk area – the same therefore is cur rently at risk of flooding.”

It continues, “The report from water services dated 20/10/11 that the proposed works will not reduce the potential of the site to flood but will, in the event that this occurs by reason of the design of the new plant, reduce the potential of the plant contaminating flood waters. Having regard to the established use of the site as a wastewater treat ment plant and having regard to the works proposed it is considered that the works will not give risk to an increased chance of flooding at the site.”

With regard to the impact on the visual amenities of the area, the report states that the “proposed works will not impact to any significant degree on the visual amenities of the area”.

Local Fine Gael councillor Sonny Scanlan welcomed the project saying it was needed in the area.