Month: February 2012

THE visit of Chinese vice-president, Mr Xi Jingping to Clare on Saturday and Sunday can have huge spin-off effects for the Shannon region in terms of trade and tourism, the chief executive of Shannon Development has claimed this week.

Dr Vincent Cunnane made his comments after being part of the delegation that welcomed Mr Xi to Shannon on Saturday and after playing host to the vice-president and his entourage at a Bunratty Castle banquet.

“Shannon Development has long established links with China dating back to the 1980s.

“We were honoured to be invited to brief the Chinese Vice President during his visit to Ireland,” said Dr Cunnane.

He pointed out that the objective in briefing Mr Xi was to “to create the environment to enhance good relations between Irish and Chinese businesses” and to educate the Chinese delegation “on all aspects of Shannon Development’s regional economic development remit and particularly on activities at Shannon Free Zone”.

“The linkages between Shannon Development and China began in 1980 with the visit of Mr Jiang Zemin, who was then Senior Vice Minister of State Imports and Exports Administration, and later became President of China,” continued Dr Cunnane. “Mr Jiang led a Chinese Govern- ment delegation to Shannon to study the Shannon Free Zone and the Shannon Development ‘model’ of a regional development company. “The knowledge gained by the Chinese delegation was subsequently used by the Chinese authorities in the development of their very successful Special Economic Zones.” “Mr Jiang Zemin’s visit to Shannon was the beginning of a steady stream of visits which saw two Chinese Pre- miers, and many Chinese Government delegations, come to hear the Shannon Development experience, initially focusing on the Shannon Free Zone and Shannon Development itself, but latterly focusing on our work in regional economic development.

“China has a population of over 1.3 billion, which represents 20 per cent of the world’s population.

“The fact that the Chinese Vice President spent almost three days in Ireland is a major boost,” added Dr. Cunnane.

In highlighting the tourism benefits attached to Mr Xi’s stay in Clare, Dr Cunnane said “the visit to Bunratty Castle and indeed the Cliffs of Mo her will have an enormous impact on Ireland’s tourism promotional efforts in China.

“We are delighted to work with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and our Government colleagues to ensure the success of the visit and to raise Ireland’s tourism and business profile in China,” he added.

KILLALOE has received a huge boost in the past week with news that Clare County Council has given the green light for the development of a major sports facilities project for the East Clare town.

Conditional planning permission has been granted to the Ballina/Killaloe Sports and Community Facilities Development Company for a major development that is set to begin later this year, provided there are no hold ups due to any appeal at An Bord Pleanala level.

The alliance between communities in Clare and Tipperary is behind the development of two new full-size playing pitches, an all-weather pitch, floodlit training areas, walking and cycling trails, changing and carparking facilities at a site in Moys, Killaloe.

The planning application for the development was lodged on June 15 last and an original deadline of November 9 last year was set for a final decision date on the proposal.

However, the decision was delayed on foot of a request from the planning authority for further information, which was duly submitted by the applicants on December 22 last.

Planning permission was granted last week, with the final judgment saying that “having regard to the nature and scale of the proposed development, the existing use of the lands that the proposed development would not seriously injure the amenities of the area or of property in the vicinity” and would “accord with the proper planning and sustainable development of the area”.

Commenting on the planning decision, a spokesperson for the Ballina/ Killaloe Sports and Community Facilities Development Company told The Clare People the positive planning decision “is great news for sport and leisure facilities in Killaloe”.

“This is a major development for the Killaloe and Ballina areas and we are looking forward to progressing the project in the next couple of months,” the spokesperson added.

SOCIAL housing needs in Clare is at its highest level on record and almost twice what it was just four years ago according to figures compiled in the Mid-West Regional Authority (MWRA) Factfile, which was published in Ennistymon on Friday.

According to the report, there was 1,383 people in need of social housing in Clare last year. This compares to 796 in 2008, representing a 73.7 per cent jump in just three years.

Indeed the social housing list in the county is more than 400 per cent greater than it was at the end of the last recession in Ireland in 1993.

Despite the need for social housing in Clare, the county also possesses more vacant dwellings than at any other time in the history of the state.

According to the MWRA, there were 11,892 dwellings vacant in the county in 2011.

The number of vacant dwellings has increase by 21.3 per cent in the five years between 2006 and 2011. With Clare’s overall housing stock rising from 48,834 in 2006 to 55,826 in 2011 this means that one in every five houses in Clare are currently vacant.

Indeed, according to the report, Clare has one of the highest rates of vacant houses in Ireland with only six counties having a higher vacancy rate.

The MWRA includes Clare County Council, Limerick City and County Councils and South Tipperary County Council.

The factfile highlighted a number of issues, including maintaining employment and improving competitiveness as key steps forward for the mid-west region.

The report recommends a “sustainably increase” of the population in Shannon, as a gateway town and Ennis, as a hub town, in the immediate future.

“Population growth is crucial for attracting employment and improving infrastructure in the region. In order to maintain a high net disposable income level, the mid-west must continue to create highly skilled employment in areas such as ICT and med-technologies to counterbalance the high level of educational attainment in the region,” said a spokesperson.

“Reducing unemployment levels and preventing out migration are crucial to the region’s competitiveness and economy going forward. Key employment sectors require Governmental stimulus reshaping, particularly in the public sector.”

The report also calls for the completion of the Atlantic gateway corridor linking the M18 at Gort to the M6 Galway to Dublin motorway.

COUNTY councillors from Limerick City, Limerick County and Tipperary may look to have a position on the board of the Shannon Airport Authority (SAA) if it is decoupled from the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) later this year.

With details of the Booz Report into the future of Shannon Airport yet to be officially made public, it is widely expected that some Clare organisations will be given a role to play in planning the future of the airport.

Last year, Clare County Council made a submission to the Booz Re port suggesting a role for the local authority on the board of the future Shannon Airport Authority.

Given the central role that the airport has in future plans for the region, as set out in the Mid West Regional Authority Factfile which was published in Ennistymon last Friday, it is also now likely that representatives from Limerick and Tipperary may also look for a place on the board.

“Shannon Airport is the single most important piece of transport infrastructure that we have in this region. Everyone has a stake in it and everyone, whether they be from Limerick, Clare or Tipperary, would be concerned about the declining passenger numbers,” said Limerick City Councillor, Joe Leddin (LAB).

“There are challenges there but there are opportunities as well. If the motorway to Galway was completed, you would have a motorway linking Shannon to Galway and, with the subsidies ended for Galway Airport, I think that people in that area will consider using Shannon instead of Dublin or Galway airports.

“I wouldn’t get too hung up on who should or should not be on the new board, the Minister for Transport will decide that. My focus as chairman of the Mid West Regional Authority is to take a more macro approach to this because the airport does affect the entire region.

“I say, put the best calibre of people on that board and let them drive it. It is about driving the airport for the region and, as long as that is the approach taken by the new board, I don’t care who will sit on it.

“I also believe that it must be separated from the DAA debt-free. For any new board to go in there and take that airport by the scruff of the neck, ad drive it both in terms of domestic traffic and tourism and trade, they need to go into this debt-free. It has to be written off or at least written down.”

EAST Clare farmers and landowners, whose land will be subject to Compulsory Purchase Orders to facilitate the construction of the longawaited Killaloe Bypass, received letters from Clare County Council last week informing them which parts of their land will be affected.

The Killaloe Bypass has been identified as a Strategic Infrastructure Development, which means that planning for the development does not need to go through the local planning process with Clare County Council but instead go straight to An Bord Pleanála. Clare County Council last week lodged two documents with An Bord Pleanála, in relation to the Compulsory Purchase Orders and the Environment Impact Statement for the project.

“Any submission made to An Bord Pleanála will be very carefully considered. Ultimately, it is Clare County Council’s objective to achieve development of a high-quality road scheme in a manner that will address any concerns they may have as effectively as possible,” said Barry Keating from the Transportation Sector of Clare County Council.

“It will not be possible for Clare County Council or Roughan and O’Donovan, Consulting Engineers, to engage with the public in respect of this project during the course of the presently ongoing formal public consultation process. This is to ensure that everyone affected by the project is treated equitably and to protect the integrity of the process.”

The public consultation process finishes on March 30 of this year after which time An Bord Pleanála will make the final judgement on the future development of the bypass.

“It is most important that the views and concerns of all landowners in relation to the proposed road scheme are submitted in writing to An Bord Pleanála in the manner outlined in the correspondence they would have received recently by the specified closing date,” continued Mr Keating.

“Each individual landowner and occupier affected by the scheme received a letter and a map and schedule dated Monday, February 6, indicating the portion of their land and property associated with the aforementioned CPO.”

Further correspondence clarifying Clare County Council’s role during the current statutory public consultation process was issued on Tuesday, February 14.

Information on the Killaloe Bypass, including the Environmental Impact Statement and Natural Impact Statement, are currently available to to be viewed at www.clarecoco.ie.

CLARE VEC has been urged to write to Minster for Education and Skills to highlight concerns expressed over admissions policies in Limerick schools.

The February meeting of Clare VEC heard claims that children living in south east Clare had been refused admission to several schools in Limerick City.

Cllr Cathal Crowe (FF), a teacher at Parteen National School described any decision by a school to turn down an application as an “awful crush to the confidence of the student”. He said parents were concerned at the policies.

Cllr Crowe told the meeting that south east Clare is not serviced directly by a secondary school with many students going to schools in Killaloe, Shannon or Limerick.

He said it had been brought to his attention that Gaelcholáiste Luimní had turned down applications from young people in south east Clare. He called on the Clare VEC CEO, George O’Callaghan, to write to Gaelcholáiste Luimní, highlighting these concerns.

Cllr Crowe said the letter should be sent to the Gaelcholáiste as it is under the patronage of another VEC (Limerick City).

Mr O’Callaghan said the VEC had no authority to intervene in the ad- missions policies of schools in Limerick.

He said that while a letter could be written to “register” the committee’s concerns, it would be unfair to single out one school. He suggested that a letter be sent to patrons of all schools in Limerick City.

Cllr Peter Considine (FF) said school admissions are also an issue in Ennis. He told the meeting that the admission policies in place at Rice College and St Flannan’s College meant many students are not being accepted there.

Cllr Crowe claimed that the is aware of some Limerick schools where admissions are based on names being drawn randomly from a drum, something he described “as a very crude process”.

Cllr Crowe continued, “This has caused a lot of hurt. These are people living in our county and I’d like a letter to go the Minister outlining these concerns.”

AN ENNIS woman accompanied her six-year-old daughter to a Valentine’s Day audience with pop superstar Justin Bieber last week.

Aileen Roberts Routh, who is originally from the Kilrush Road area of Ennis, is the mother of Avalanna Routh, the young cancer suffered who last week captured global media attention when she met Bieber in Manhattan.

Avalanna, who suffers from AT/ RT, a rare and aggressive form of brain cancer, saw her dreams come true as she played board games and ate cakes with the pop idol.

The once in a lifetime opportunity came about after Avalanna’s sister and her babysitter started an online appeal to have the Boston girl meet the teen singer.

Thousands of people around the world responded to the campaign via social network sites Facebook and Twitter.

The teen singer later wrote on Twitter: “That was one of the best things i have ever done. she was AWESOME! Feeling really inspired now!’ before adding: ‘#MrsBieber really inspired me.”

Another tweet from Bieber to his 17 million followers read: ‘Best part of my day’.

Avalanna’s dream was realised thanks to help from the Jimmy Fund, a charity that has helped children fight cancer for more than 60 years.

Her meeting with Bieber garnered huge public attention in America with family appearing on the popular Today Show .

“It was wonderful, just another fun moment,” said Aileen of Avalanna’s meeting with the singer.

Avalanna was diagnosed with AT/ RT when she was nine months old. AT/RT typically affects the brain, but the tumors can occur on the spine and elsewhere in the central nervous system.

She has received treatment at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. The average survival time from diagnosis is approximately 12 months, according to America’s National Cancer Institute. As a result of an intense, multipronged therapy regimen, developed by doctors and other researchers at the Dana-Farber/Children’s Hospital Cancer Center, a few young children have been cured, while others, including Avalanna, have been given a better shot at long-term survival.

Speaking to American media, Ms Roberts Routh, who has lived in America for the past 10 years, said her daughter has fought a brave battle against cancer. She said, “She’s beaten all the odds. It’s a very aggressive, rare disease, and she’s been in treatment for five and a half years.”

CONCERNED parents, teachers and community leaders heard last night how budget cuts to education will be detrimental to school communities in Clare.

At a mass meeting held in the West County Hotel, Sean Mc Mahon, Clare executive member of the INTO, called on the Minister for Education and Skills to rethink his education budget cuts particularly to disadvantaged (DEIS) and to small primary schools.

“The budget approach is fundamentally flawed, misguided and will be detrimental to school communities throughout Clare. What is needed is a coherent, long-term and resourced strategy for sustainable schools into the future. Instead what we have are budget proposals aimed at forcibly amalgamating some small schools by cutting teachers.

“The department should wait for the outcomes of a value for money report which it is undertaking. INTO has submitted our views on the importance and benefits of small schools in rural communities. They are very much aware that a programme of amalgamation of approximately 1,000 small rural schools has already taken place in the late ‘60s early ‘70s. The decline of many rural communities was, in fact, blamed on that policy of forced amalgamations or closures,” he said.

“This budget is being used as a blunt instrument to cut frontline services in small schools and disadvantaged schools. The money saved is going from education to feed the massive debt created by greedy bankers and speculators.”

Decisions about small schools in rural communities should be about ensuring the best education for pupils regardless of location. This is a complex matter and many issues need to be considered before embarking on a policy that will see some schools close, the crowd heard.

“We need to look at enrolment patterns and trends, investment in school buildings past and present and respect for language and religious diversity,” said Mr McMahon.

“Primary consideration must be given to the needs of pupils, their parents and the wider community. We also need to come up with alternatives to forced closure and pressurised amalgamations.”

The Minister was called on to deliver the three R’s: reversal of budget cuts to disadvantaged schools; removal of retrospection (basing teacher numbers on the previous year) and realign the additional education support available to the number of pupils in the school rather than the number of class-teachers.

AT LEAST one woman from Clare travels to the UK each week for an abortion according to figures released to The Clare People . In 2010 seventy five women who gave addresses in County Clare attended clinics for pregnancy terminations in the UK, a figure 25 per cent higher than those who sought terminations just two years earlier in 2008, (60).

According to the figures, provided by the Department of Health in the UK, 216 women from the county made the journey to Britain between the years 2008 and 2010 to terminate a pregnancy. The Clare People were only supplied with the number of Clare addresses, not any of the names or addresses of those who used the UK services.

In 2009, the figure was 81. This number then dropped slightly to 75 in 2010, but still shows an increase of 25 per cent on 2008. This figure may be higher, as not all women give their actual address at abortion clin- ics in the UK. As many as 2,012 Irish women did not state their county of residence when seeking a termination between 2008 and 2010. Women from Clare represent 1.6 per cent of the Irish terminations carried out in England in these years.

Abortion numbers for Clare addresses are quite low in comparison to neighbouring Limerick and Galway. Approximately 460 women from Limerick travelled to the UK to seek terminations in the last three years, while Galway women account for 570 Irish terminations. However, these counties have large urban populations while Clare would be considered as a rural county.

According to prices quoted by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, the cost of a termination can range from £525 to £1,660 for a surgical termination during the 19 to 24 week mark. Anyone who may be struggling to cope with an unplanned pregnancy can call Cura in Clare at 065-29905.

THE President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins, has failed to accept an offer made by Clare County Council to host a Civic Reception in his honour, more than three months after the invitation was originally made.

President Higgins, who spent many of his formative years living in Newmarket-on-Fergus, was invited to be honoured by the local authority on November 14 last, but has yet to indicate whether he will be interested in receiving the honour or not.

This apparent snub comes after President Higgins topped the poll in Clare during last Octobers election, receiving 20,828 first-preference votes.

A spokesperson from Clare Coun- ty Council confirmed to The Clare People yesterday that no response, beyond the standard acknowledgment letter for all correspondence, has yet been received from Áras an Uachtarán.

The invitation to the Civic Reception was suggested by former Labour councillor Christy Curtin (IND) who yesterday said that he understand that President Higgins has had a very busy couple of months.

“I am very confident that he will come to Clare. He has been a regular visitor to Clare over the years and has visited the Willie Clancy Week up here in Miltown on a number of occasions,” said Cllr Curtin.