Month: July 2012

OFFICIAL funding for the arts in Clare has been slashed this year by almost 25 per cent leaving many small festivals and large institutions fighting for their survival.

Figures obtained from the Irish Arts Council reveal that the total amount of funding for projects in Clare fell from € 481,000 in 2011 to just € 362,000 this year – a drop of 24.7 per cent.

This latest drop comes after a series of funding cuts in recent years and is having a serious financial impact on the arts in the county.

Some of the worst hit areas include Glór, the Willie Clancy Summer School and the Clare County Council Arts Office – each of which saw major funding cuts this year.

Funding for Glór fell from € 112, 500 last year to just € 90,000 this year while the Clare County Council saw a total, year-on-year cut of almost 27 per cent with Arts Council funding dropping from € 102, 500 to € 75,000. The Willie Clancy Summer School, which last week generated millions for the local tourist industry in West Clare, saw its annual Arts Council funding cut from € 100,000 in 2011 to just € 80,000 for 2012.

Smaller local festivals have also been hit hard with the total allocated through the Small Arts Festivals Scheme dropping from € 69,000 last year to € 45,000 this year while the annual allocation to Liscannor publishing house, Salmon Poetry, fell from € 50,000 to € 42,000 this year.

Reacting to the funding announcements, Clare arts officer Siobhan Mulcahy said that Clare artists and festival organisers are resilient and would survive the funding cuts.

“These cuts represent the difficult situation artists and arts organisations find themselves in. Many of these organisations and festivals rely on Arts Council of Ireland support to keep going, but their successes over the years show that they are resilient and creative in the face of such adversity,” she told The Clare People .

“Clare County Council contin- ues to support the arts in Clare and views the arts as a key component of cultural life in the county and as a resource to be supported for the benefit of all.”

Besides the overall cuts to certain funding streams, a number of Arts Council schemes have been discontinued. Clare projects received no funding through the Deis Scheme or the Project Award scheme in 2012 but the was a one gain – with € 8,000 more coming to the county through the Bursary Scheme in 2012.

A spokesperson for the Arts Council declined to comment on the cuts but government funding for every section of the arts has been hit badly since the beginning of the recession in 2007.

AN ENNIS businessman has been given until tomorrow to devise a schedule of works to address fire safety concerns at an apartment block in Ennis.

Details of the case brought against Oliver Moylan were heard at Ennis District Court on Friday.

Mr Moylan, owner of the Ennis Cash Company, was brought to court by Clare County Fire and Rescue Services after failing to comply with a fire notice issued on January 23.

The notice was issued to rectify deficiencies at a 10-room apartment building owned by Mr Moylan on O’Connell Street, Ennis.

Ger Fallon, Assistant Chief Fire Officer, told the court that an inspec tion of the premises was carried out on January 16 (2012).

He explained that the apartments are located on the top two floors of a four storey building on O’Connell Street.

He said that two of the apartments were occupied at the time of the inspection.

The court heard that as of last week, none of the apartments are oc- cupied.

Mr Fallon said the inspection highlighted a number of deficiencies including inadequate means of escape and the placing of cooking facilities adjacent to doors.

Mr Fallon told the court that individual apartments were not fitted with fire alarms while there was no central fire alarm for the apartment block.

He said that both systems are required under fire safety regulations.

Mr Fallon said there was also an issue with items being stored on the stairs. Judge Durcan questioned Mr Fallon a number of times on the precise location of the items.

Mr Fallon said furniture had been left in an area on the ground floor near the stairs. Judge Durcan said he was “not impressed” by Mr Fallon’s evidence in respect of this issue.

Mr Moylan, with an address at Golf Links Road, Ennis was given two months to rectify the outstanding issues.

However the court heard that most of the work had not been carried out when the premises was re-inspected on April 16.

Under cross-examination from so- licitor Marian Petty, Mr Fallon accepted that the building was a concrete structure and that the stairway was not blocked.

Mr Fallon said that the area of the stairs must be free of any flammable material.

Ms Petty said the property is now vacant and that an engineer and architect hired by Mr Moylan have entered negotiations with the fire services.

Judge Durcan adjourned the matter until July 18. He ordered Mr Moylan to agree a schedule of works with the fire services.

A JUDGE has declined jurisdiction in the case of a man accused of breaking into an apartment block in Shannon last month.

At Ennis District Court on Wednesday, Judge Patrick Durcan referred a case involving Derek Quaid (23) back to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

The court had heard that the DPP had directed summary disposal of the matter.

It is alleged that Mr Quaid, who gave an address at 218 O’Malley Park, South Hill, Limerick City, trespassed at flat at Kincora Apartments, Shannon in such a manner that was likely to cause fear in another person. The alleged offence is alleged to have occurred in Shannon on June 27.

A woman was in the apartment at the time of the break in, the court heard.

Solicitor Jenny Fitzgibbon requested that the court consider jurisdiction of the case.

Inspector Tom Kennedy outlined a summary of the alleged facts.

He said a woman was in the apartment when she heard someone banging and kicking on the door.

The woman rang the building caretaker and the gardaí.

The court heard that gardaí found Mr Quaid going through drawers in a bedroom of the apartment. The accused was subsequently arrested by gardaí at the scene, the court was told.

Judge Patrick Durcan declined jurisdiction. He granted an extension of time for the service of the book of evidence.

He remanded the accused on continuing bail to appear again at Ennis District Court on September 12.

He also consented to a request to have Mr Quaid’s bail conditions amended to allow him to visit his solicitor’s office in Shannon.

Judge Durcan ruled that the accused could visit the office as long as he has in his possession an official letter of appointment.

A MAN with an address in Crusheen has been charged with having what gardaí have described as ‘large quantities’ of heroin and cannabis for sale or supply at two different locations is due back again in court later this month.

Simon Bracken (45), with an address at Cappamore, Crusheen, appeared at Ennis District Court on Wednesday.

It is alleged that Mr Bracken had diamorphine for purposes of sale or supply at Cappamore, Crusheen on June 1 (2012).

Mr Bracken faces another charge of having cannabis for sale or supply at Ardrahan, Galway on June 13.

The court previously heard that the cannabis seized by gardaí was estimated to be worth € 20,000.

Inspector Tom Kennedy told the court that the State are awaiting directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

He said quite a “sizeable” amount of drugs had been seized and that the case “might attract another charge.”

Solicitor Tara Godfrey said she intended to make a bail application on behalf of her client.

The court heard that Mr Bracken had previously been remanded in custody with consent to bail in relation to the cannabis charges.

Inspector Kennedy said the State would consent to bail on the heroin charges.

He sought a further adjournment in the case for DPP’s directions.

Ms Godfrey said that her client could not achieve bail at this time on the current terms.

She added, “I am concerned that DPP’s directions have taken some time.”

Judge Patrick Durcan remanded the accused in custody with consent to bail to appear again on July 25. Judge Durcan added that given Mr Bracken’s continued “incarceration”, he was concerned that DPP’s directions had not yet issued.

In response, Insp Kennedy said, “Mr Bracken is in custody having been caught in possession of a large quantity of drugs on two separate oc casions within a week.”

A MAN who has pleaded guilty to harassing his former partner sent her a text message stating her new boyfriend would be “breathing through a tube” when he finished with him, a court has heard.

Ray Clune (37), with an address at Breafa West, Lissycasey, pleaded guilty to harassment and to contravening a safety order at a named Ennis address on dates between January 20 (2012) and February 4 (2012).

Details of the offences were heard at Ennis District Court on Wednesday.

Inspector Tom Kennedy said that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had directed summary disposal of the matters.

After hearing an outline of the facts of the case, Judge Patrick Durcan accepted jurisdiction.

Solicitor John Casey told the court that his client would be entering a plea of guilty.

Inspector Kennedy told the court that a woman made a complaint to gardaí after receiving a number of phone calls and text messages of a threatening nature.

He said the woman’s phone received 30 missed calls on January 21 and a further eight missed calls on February 4.

He said the woman had not answered the phone calls.

Insp Kennedy said the calls were followed by text messages containing remarks about her new partner.

Insp Kennedy told the court that the messages included threats that the man “would be breathing out of a tube” and “would end up in a body bag.”

Approximately 20 text messages were sent in total to the woman’s phone, the court heard.

Insp Kennedy said that Mr Clune was completely “cooperative and apologetic” when met by gardaí.

“No new complaints about the accused have been made,” he added.

Mr Casey handed in a doctor’s report explaining that his client suffers from depression.

He said at the time the offences were committed, Mr Clune “was drinking very heavily, 24/7, and this sparked something in him.”

Mr Casey added, “He knows that she has moved on and he has moved on and he accepts it.”

“He apologises unreservedly. She did not deserve this. She did nothing”, he said.

Mr Casey said his client had lost his job and had recently found it difficult to get meaningful employment. Mr Clune has no previous convictions.

Judge Durcan acknowledged that Mr Clune had experienced a number of difficulties in his personal life. However, he said that the accused had breached a court order and had harassed his former partner.

He remanded Mr Clune on continuing bail to appear again on November 7 for finalisation of sentence. He granted the State liberty to re-enter the matter at 24-hour notice. He said if Mr Clune’s good behavior continues, then the matter will be disposed

A JUDGE has said he will refuse installment orders sought by Ulster Bank until it gets its “house in order.”

Judge Patrick Durcan has been refusing to grant the applications in light of recent problems at the bank, which have caused massive disruptions to customers.

Banks can seek an installment order from the court to compel debtors to pay a fixed amount each month.

Ulster Bank sought two such orders at Ennis District Court on Friday. However, Judge Durcan informed the solicitor acting on behalf of the Bank that he would “not be granting any installment orders until they get their house in order.”

He said the recent problems experienced by the bank had caused “huge inconvenience to the people of Ireland”.

Judge Durcan adjourned both cases to December 14. IT problems have affected hundreds of thousands of Ulster Bank’s customers for almost one month. A technical problem dur- ing a software upgrade at its parent company RBS disrupted electronic transactions and created a massive backlog processing payments.

In a statement yesterday, the Bank said, “All of our systems are running as normal this morning in the timeframes we would expect and normal service has now been restored for the majority of our customers.”

The statement continues, “Given the scale of the incident, the clean up continues and a small percentage of outstanding transactions are being processed over the next couple of days.

“There is no doubt that there will be reconciliations to some customer accounts that also need to take place over the coming days and weeks. However, for the majority of customers it is now business as usual”.

Judge Durcan was also critical of the level of information provided by Banks on debtors when seeking installment orders.

Referring to an order sought by the Bank of Ireland, Judge Durcan said, “The behaviour of the banks is nothing short of scandalous.”

DESPITE predictions of a wash out, Ennis is after having a bumper weekend. The inclement weather of the last week did not dampen the spirits of visitors to the county town for the Street Festival, Senior Inter-county Hurling Championship game and general tourist activities.

It is not yet known the exact net financial worth of the busy July weekend, but local estimates put it at hundreds of thousands of euro, with the more optimistic suggesting up to € 1 million.

The county spirit as well as the local economy got a boost after the two days of activities topped by a Clare win against Dublin.

President of the Ennis Chamber of Commerce Brian O’Neill described it all “as the best weekend of the year”.

All accommodation was booked out on Saturday night as the Dublin hurling team discovered when they searched for a bed for the night shortly after 10pm.

Mr O’Neill, who owns the popular Rowan Tree restaurant and hostel, said that he had a lot of the Dublin hurling fans staying with him, and although there was no room at his inn when the team called, he was sure they were accommodated elsewhere.

As many as 2,000 Dubliners are understood to have stayed in Ennis on Saturday night to enjoy the party atmosphere, despite their disappointment.

The fallout of the Volvo Ocean Race in Galway saw more bed occupied.

Mr O’Neill explained that Ennis accommodated a lot of the overflow from the Ocean Race, as many people opted to stay in Ennis and travel to Galway for the different events.

Many also stayed around the town’s street festival, which brought life to the town on Sunday according to the chamber president.

He also paid tribute to what is proving one of the biggest tourist attractions in the town this year – Ennis Abbey.

“Since Ennis Abbey re-opened it is driving a lot more tourists into the town centre and keeping them there. It is free of charge but benefiting the local economy as people stay around to buy a bottle of water, a sandwich, cup of coffee or another gift,” said the business man.

“The attitude and atmosphere is so much better when people are seen around the town,” he added.

THE team behind the Ballyvaughan Bay Hop have vowed to restart the commuter ferry service as soon as possible, despite the cancellation of the last three days of sailing during its week-long trial.

The service was halted on the morning of Thursday, June 31, with “unforeseen circumstances” on behalf of the chartered boat operator cited as the reason.

All sailings for Friday and Satur- day, July 1 and 2, were completely booked out, with more than 70 per cent of seats on the June 31 sailing also booked.

According to Gwen Ryan of Ballyvaughan Bay Hop, everyone who booked tickets for these days will receive a full refund.

“It was very disappointing that the service was cancelled but, on the up side, the few days we did run the service have indicated a huge demand and interest in this transport option,” said Gwen.

“It has also demonstrated for a lot of people, just how central the harbour is in Galway City. And we have learnt a valuable lesson from the unexpected aborting of the service. The project group will be meeting soon to reflect on the results of the trial service and to plan the next stage in the project.

“I can’t shed any light on what these next steps might be until we have met and decided them but we will certainly have to look at the funding options available to source a cabined passenger rib and we will have to engage Clare County Coun- cil on the possibility of getting a floating pontoon for passengers so that they can disembark comfortably.

“We have a lot of work to do yet before the service is up and running on a permanent basis but our efforts to date have been buoyed by the fantastic reaction and support the trial service received.”

The fastest crossing time recorded during the trial was 27 minutes more than an hour quicker than the average commute time by car of the same journey.

LAST Wednesday’s temporary loss of water supply to parts of Ennis and its surrounds was a result of a burst mains on a main trunk supply from the Drumcliff reservoir.

Clare County Council identified the problem quickly and worked through Wednesday night to ensure supply was fully restored within 24 hours.

During the disruption Ennis General Hospital was without water for a short time but fire services using water tankers ensured that hospital supplies of water were unaffected by the loss of supply.

According to Senior Engineer with Clare County Council Sean Ward, the discovered leak was a serious one.

“On Wednesday morning we observed high flows through our district meter on Sandfield Road, indicating that there was a major leak or burst in that district.

“We shut the district off at 10am, located the burst and started to repair it,” he told The Clare People , adding that very quickly people were in contact with the council to report water issues.

“CCC staff immediately started inspecting the network to locate any other bursts that might account for this loss of pressure.

“With the assistance of the operating contractor’s staff at Drumcliffe water treatment plant, a major leak was found on one of the two trunk supply mains from Drumcliffe reservoir to the town,” Sean said.

To protect the town’s main water supply, the council took the decision to temporarily cut off the main supply route in question.

The burst section of main was exposed by 6pm and repaired by 9.30pm. Ennis area staff then worked during the night and again early the following morning to ensure that supply was getting back to all areas. Mr Ward praised the co-operation of local landowner Pat Tierney, who facilitated the early repair work.

“Clare County Council would like to record its appreciation to Pat Tierney, the owner of the land on which the trunk main burst occurred, for readily facilitating entry to his land to allow the big main to be repaired this greatly assisted the speed of our response,” he added.

THE process of removing illegally parked caravans and other temporary dwellings has become a “huge drain on staff and resources” for Clare County Council, a meeting has heard. Town clerk Leonard Cleary was speaking yesterday after concern was expressed over a recent rise in illegal encampments in Ennis and Clarecastle.

Mr Cleary said that at a time when the council has seen a 20 per cent reduction in staff numbers, local authorities do not have the capacity to devote resources to dealing with illegal encampments. He added, “It’s a huge source of frustration for staff and management.”

Mayor of Clare, Cllr Pat Daly (FF), said illegal encampments had become “too regular” around Ennis.

Mr Cleary was speaking at a meeting of councillors in the Ennis west electoral area. Cllr Tony Mulqueen (FG) had called for immediate action on illegal encampments and for “those responsible to pay all costs from their social welfare if necessary”.

In her reply, Fiona Mooney, Acting Senior Executive Officer, Housing Section, states, “The process for dealing with illegal encampments of temporary dwellings are invoked immediately by personnel.

“This does not amount to an immediate outcome, because the elements of the process necessarily take a minimal amount of time.

“The processes are as efficient as they can be given the inadequacies in the legislative framework available, the requirements of the legislation that can be invoked in each particular case, the available human resources to the council and other statutory agencies, and given the level of non-compliance with notices served.

“There is no mechanism provided for those responsible paying ‘all costs.’

In any case where a temporary dwelling has been removed, there is legislative provision for the owner to have to pay the removal cost, in order to retrieve it,” she added.

At a meeting of the Ennis East Electoral Committee, Cllr Paul Murphy (FG) said that people living in Ennis and Clarecastle have had their “hearts broken” by illegal encampments.

Mr Cleary said new national legislation is required in order to give the local authorities more effective powers.