Month: December 2012

TEN KILRUSH citizens were recognised for their work in the community and honoured by Kilrush Town Council through the Cissie Roughan Civic Awards.

The awards scheme began in 1993 and honours the memory of the late Cissie Roughan a former member of Kilrush Town Council and the first woman elected to the council.

This year there was a range of nominees for the civic awards, drawn from a variety of areas including community, sporting and cultural.

One of the awards was presented posthumus to young father Flan Carmody.

Mr Carmody who died in September 2012 dedicated his life and energy to working for the community

He established the west Clare kidney support group in 1999 and raised more than € 250,000, having received a transplant himself in 1998.

Again following his young son’s accident he started to fundraise for the burns unit in Crumlin Hospital and as a Clare County Council employee he took great pride each year in winning the Tidy Towns Award.

Kilrush Care of the Aged were recognised for organizing day trips and a Christmas party for the elderly of the town.

Music teacher Peig Martin received acknowledgement for her great knowledge and passion for Irish Music and organizing a Ceol na Nog for students once a month in Teach Cheoil for students.

The council paid tribute to Margaret Purtill and Peggy Cahill who in 2012 decided to renovate the New Shanakyle Graveyard and set about fundraising € 20,000. They then carried out extensive work.

Matthew Kelly dedicated his time to organising training and trips for the youth of Kilrush to Croke Park and the Aviva Stadium

He also works tirelessly organising fundraising for clubs and trains the U16 Moneypoint A.F.C – all of which was recognised when he received his award.

Anne Hayes organised a Kilrush Music Session Group and travelled to Kilrush twice a week for training, while James McMahon was honoured for his involvement with Comhaltas in Kilrush since the 70s.

He joined the new reformed Inis Cathaigh Branch in 2006 and if very influential among young members.

Fionnuala Walsh swam the English Channel – the first Clare person to do so. This was a featthe council could not ignore as they presented the annual awards.

When Martin Cahill was presented his award it was said he deserved it “as he has over the years become the face of Kilrush and is affectionately know to all as granddad, Martin is loved by all that come across him and his infectious ways, good spirit and heart of gold as well as his ability to sing have been wowing the visiting tourist that come to Kilrush for many a year.”

Former Kilrush Town Councillor Jack Fennell was described as a “true Kilrush man that lives and breathes for his town” when he was presented with his award.

Mayor of Kilrush Mairead O’Brien (Ind) said, “The Cissie Roughan nominations are a way to enable ordinary people to acknowledge friends and neighbours for their good works. We have lots of people doing great things and it’s nice for the Town Council to provide the opportunity for public recognition of the valuable works and activities and involvements.

“The thanks and acknowledgement of the community are due to you all.”

THE small West Clare townland of Kilclogher has strong connections with Newtown in Connecticut, where twenty children and six adult staff members were killed last Friday morning, December 14.

According to sources in America, a large number of Irish emigrants came to live in Newtown in the early 19th century. A large number of these emigrants come from a single parish in West Clare – believed to be Kilc- logher, between Kilbaha and Carrigaholt and the surrounding area.

The Clare emigrants came to Newtown initially to work on the local railroad but settled in the area on tracks of farmland which had been abandoned by previous settlers. Indeed, it is also understood that the majority of the local Clare population settled in the Sandy Hook, where the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings took place on Friday.

It is not yet clear if any of children of teachers killed in the attack had Clare ancestry. One of the murdered teachers, Anne Marie Murphy, is understood to have strong Irish connections but it is not yet clear if her connections date back to West Clare people who settled in the Sandy Hook area. Ms Murphy’s body was discovered in a shielding position around the bodies of a number of her students.

The Irish-American population of the town went from just 5.6 per cent in 1850 to 41.8 per cent in 1890 and 44 per cent by 1900.

Connecticut genealogist, Harlan Jessup, believes that much of these Irish emigrants came from one small area in West Clare. At one point, according to Jessup’s research, the New York Belting and Packing rubber factory in town employed 200 people – 185 of whom were Irish.

Last Friday a lone gunman entered Sandy Hook Elementary School, killing twenty children and six adult before turning the gun on himself. The gunman, who has been identified by authorities as 20-year-old Adam Lanza, had first killed his mother, Nancy Lanza, at their nearby Newtown home.

CLARE County Council meets today to set the county’s budget for the coming year with 1.02 per cent less coming from the Local Government Fund.

The local authority has been allocated € 10.7 million from central government for 2013, just over a percentage less than it was allocated at the beginning of last year.

However during the third quarter of 2012 Central Government reneged on paying out € 247,000 to the Clare council due to a nationwide under payment of the household charge.

The council members agreed to continue with the budget as set out earlier in the year on reassurances from Government TDs that the € 247,000 would be returned. However it has since been announced that the funding lost during the third quarter will not be returned.

It is still unclear if Clare County Council will have to find the money to cover the quarter of a million loss from the 2012 budget in the newly reduced 2013 budget, putting extra pressure of the council coffers.

Since 2008 the council’s allocation from central Government has been reduced by 39 per cent from € 16.48 million to € 10.07 million.

In his introduction to the draft Budget Plan, County Manager Tom Coughlan said, “The preparation of the Draft Budget 2013 has proven to be particularly difficult due to the fact that the scope to achieve operational saving is progressively reducing. Significant savings have been achieved in recent years, and as the cost of service delivery has been “squeezed” during those years, we are approaching a level of serv- ice delivery cost which is difficult to reduce without diminishing the level of service itself. “The underlying objective of this Draft Budget 2013 is the maintenance of existing levels of services while simultaneously reducing the overall expenditure of the council to reflect severe reductions in income.” That is the challenge that faces the council members today – pay for the same services.

THERE was mixed reaction to the Draft Strategic Integrated Framework Plan (SIFP) for the Shannon Estuary, with one experienced local representative saying he was not impressed.

West Clare Councillor PJ Kelly (FF) who has been critical of the lack of development on the north of the estuary compared to the south in the past said the plan “was not an inviting document. It is not a document that would invoke interest for international investors.”

The father of the council chamber said that he has seen five different reports on the Shannon Estuary being published and they were all shelved.

“I have a funny feeling this one will go the same way,” he said.

Cllr Kelly had argued that the area north of the estuary be zoned a “Special Development Zone” to encourage development.

This is not included and he maintains that the number of special areas of conservation without a SDZ would prove off putting to investors.

“We are more sterilised on the Clare side than on the south side by EU regulations,” he added.

“Like previous reports it is aspirational, lacks focus, is too general and far from convincing.”

Launching the report Minister of State for Housing and Planning Jan O’Sullivan, was more positive.

“It represents collaboration and joined up planning at its best and I have no doubt that it will be emerge as an example of best practice for others to replicate,” she said.

Mayor of Clare, Cllr Pat Daly said, “This plan is the culmination of months of work and represents the commitment of those with a role in the management of the Shannon Estuary to ensuring that future development takes place in a coherent and sustainable manner. I hope that many new opportunities will be afforded to the people of Clare, and the wider region, as a result of this Plan.”

Tom Coughlan, Clare County Manager and Chairman of the Steering Group overseeing the plan, stated that the aim of the SIFP was to identify the nature and location of future development, economic growth and employment that can be sustainable accommodated within the Shannon Estuary.

However, as the estuary is desig- nated a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) under the EU Habitats Directive and also partly a Special Protection Area (SPA) for Birds, he noted that “the SIFP will also aspire to achieving a careful balance between promoting development, and protection and conservation of this natural resource”.

“The estuary is multi-functional as its waters and adjoining lands support a range of functions, uses, communities, activities and environmental resources and assets. Although the SIFP attributes a very strong weight to the growth of shipping and safe guarding the commercial shipping lanes it also has objectives for marine tourism, leisure and recreation as well commercial fishing and aquaculture, energy and renewable energy as well as aviation,” he added.

Meanwhile, Gordon Daly, Senior Planner, explained that the SIFP recognises the importance of the role the towns and villages along the estuary.

“The important role Kilrush can play in developing tourism on the estuary is recognised in the SIFP due to its many amenities including Kilrush Marina, Cappa Pier and Blue Flag Beach, Vandeleur Walled Garden and Scattery Island. The importance of the estuary to Kilrush is reciprocated in the soon to be published Draft Kilrush Town & Environs Plan 2014-2020.”

The website www.shannonestuarysifp.ie, has been developed to coincide with an eight-week public consultation that extends from December 17, 2012, to February 15, 2013.

BUSINESSES in Clare need further investment in broadband to support enterprise and jobs growth across the county. In a new report, Connecting the West: Next Generation Broadband in the Western Region, the Western Development Commission highlights this need.

The report includes case studies such as that of MeteoGroup in Ennis, a company that finds the cost of telecommunications services for a given level of broadband capacity more expensive in Ireland than at its other sites across Europe. Another Clare company, eTeams based in Scariff, highlighted the practice of eWorking, where employees work remotely from the company office, but need broadband connections to do so.

The Western Development Com- mission’s report examines the likely rollout of next generation broadband services and makes recommendations to ensure next generation access for all areas and better value for money for state investment in infrastructure.

Mr Ian Brannigan (acting CEO) said “broadband costs in the Western Region need to be competitive with prices available across Europe. Rural and regional areas need quality broadband services at a competitive price to ensure that businesses can compete on a level playing field”.

“The evidence from across the region presented in this report indicates that in many areas broadband services lag those that are available elsewhere in the country, for example, the western region accounts for 18 per cent of the households in Ireland but accounts for 28 per cent of applicants to the Rural Broadband Scheme (RBS) highlighting the weaker broadband services there.”

The WDC report noted that a better value of next generation broadband infrastructure can make geographic distance to customers far less relevant and provides easy access to worldwide markets. “This can be a real benefit to promoting regional and rural job growth, but only if the infrastructure and services are there,” said Mr Brannigan.

MONEYPOINT and Innismurry/Cahercon have been named as “Strategic Sites” on the Draft Strategic Integrated Framework Plan (SIFP) for the Shannon Estuary.

A multi-agency steering group comprising of Clare County Council as lead authority has commissioned the land and marine-based plan, which is said to be the first of its type to be developed in the country.

It has been a long held view of many local representatives that the southern part of the estuary – Kerry and Limerick – has been developed to the detriment of Clare.

This new draft plan outlines a strategic plan for the future development and management of marine-related industry and tourism along Ireland’s largest estuary, and includes a number of key points along the Clare side of the estuary.

The SIFP identifies nine ‘Strategic Sites’ on the Estuary, namely Moneypoint, Innismurry/Cahericon both in County Clare, Limerick Docks, Foynes Island, Foynes Port and adjoining lands, Askeaton Industrial Estate, Aughinish Island, (Limerick), Tarbert Power Station and Ballylongford Landbank (Kerry). For the most part, these sites are zoned for ‘Marine-Related Industry’ with Askeaton zoned for ‘Industry’ and Limerick Docks zoned for ‘Mixed Use’.

In some cases, the zonings confirm existing large scale developments but additional lands for expansion and some new sites are also identified.

Moneypoint Power Station has also been identified as part of the ‘Key Energy Sites’ in addition to Ballylongford Landbank and Tarbert Power Station, the site of the permitted liquefied natural gas LNG project.

The Plan identifies Moneypoint, Kilconly point, Carrig Island and Tarbert Bay as opportunity sites for renewable energy, with opportunities for servicing offshore renewable energy developments also identified.

Five Clare fishing points have also been singled out for fishing and aquaculture development. There are eight separate opportunity sites singled out on the Estuary, including designated Shell Fish Waters at Poulnasherry Bay and Carrigaholt Bay in Clare.

Other areas of opportunity include Rinevella Bay, Killimer and Clonderlaw Bay in Clare, Carrig Island in Kerry, and Greenish Island and Long Rock in Limerick. The plan outlines the tourism potential of the Estuary and includes objectives to further develop the cruise ship industry, while it highlights the potential of the islands on the Fergus Estuary.

Meanwhile, the strategy features objectives relating to aviation and supports the future development of Shannon Airport, including acknowledging the importance of the 2,000acre land bank zoned for aviation uses in the new Shannon Town and Environs Local Area Plan 2012-2018.

CLARE County Council planners have said that there are “serious concerns” relating to the application by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) to construct a car park in the shadow of Mullaghmore mountain, which has threatened to re-open interpretative centre controversy that dogged North Clare for over a decade.

The local authority has outlined these concerns to the NPWS this week in a direct request for more information about the car park plan because “the information submitted with this application is insufficient” for planners to make a judgement.

A decision on the planning permission was to be made by last Sunday, December 16, but this has now been deferred after the council’s senior staff officer in Planning and Enterprise Development Siobhan O’Reilly has that “serious concerns arise as regards the principle of the development as proposed at this site location within an area that is designated as a Special Area of Conservation”.

“Concerns arise that in the absence of a formal Conservation Management Plan for the Burren National Park, the development may be premature and may lead to piecemeal, uncoordinated development at this sensitive location,” Ms O’Reilly adds.

In its objection to the car park application at Knockaunroe, Corofin, submitted to Clare County Council in October, the Burren Action Group (BAG) said the development was “part of a process” that will eventually lead to the building of a visitor facility in the area.

BAG warned that the car park will “create a new set of risks” in the Burren – chief among these a covert plan of “induced development” designed to eventually bring about the building of visitor facilities at Gortalecka, the original site earmarked for the Mullaghmore Interpretative Centre.

Now, council planners have made a number of requests from the NPWS before they will make a decision on the planning application. “It is considered that the content of the Conservation Management Plan for the Park would inform the planning process in terms of future plans for access management, visitor management and service provision at this location,” says Ms O’Reilly in her correspondence with NPWS. “As a management plan has not been prepared, it is considered that there is a shortfall in terms of information available,” she adds.

The NPWS have been asked to submit details of a timeframe for the completion of the Conservation Management Plan and this should include: a visitor management plan for the Burren National Park, a transport and access plan, future development plans for the area and details of the management plan.

In advance of a formal response to this request for further information, the NPWS has been invited to meeting with the planning authority, while Ms O’Reilly states that “the request for further information should not be construed as an indication of a positive decision”. Th e re will b e n o Wh ite Ch rist m a s t h is ye a r, wit h Ch rist m a s Day fo re c a st to be m ild a n d we t .

FORMER Mayor of Kilrush Cllr Stephen O’Gorman (FF) passed away on Friday morning just hours after watching a recorded episode of Coronation Street with his wife Geraldine.

The town councillor had been ill for the last few months, but his sudden passing was still a shock to his loving family, friends, fellow councillors and constituents.

Cllr O’Gorman was elected to Kilrush Town Council in 1994 and served as mayor on two occasions. His colleagues described him as a political colossus.

He was recognised for his resilience and more particularly for his stand against anti-social behaviour.

At his request the Multi-Agency Task Force, bringing together all strands of community life under one umbrella, was established. The John Paul Estate Regeneration Project was one of his greatest political achievements. As Manager of the Community Centre in the estate, he organised self-development programmes for the residents. He was also a member of the board of Kilrush Amenity Trust, Éiri Corca Baiscinn and Clare VEC.

Kilrush Town Clerk John Corry said that during his time working with Stephen he found the councillor took a “very keen interest and pride in his town and in particular in John Paul Estate.”

“He continuously fought to see the regeneration of John Paul Estate and it was an immense source of satisfaction to him to see such significant improvement works taking place in the estate over the past few years. As well as the structural improvements within the estate he also sought to improve the social fabric of the estate through the Multi Agency Group set up for that purpose and through his role as supervisor of the community centre within the estate.

“Over the years Stephen raised many Notices of Motion regarding carrying out improvement works to Moore Street, Crawford Street, and Wilson’s Road. Stephen was delighted to see significant improvement works carried out to roads, footpaths and public lighting in these areas by Kilrush Town Council, on foot of his Motions.

“On a personal level Stephen was a great family man and on my last conversation with him he spoke to me about family and the importance of family. Stephen will be a huge loss to Kilrush Town Council, to Kilrush and most of all to his family. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.”

Stephen O’Gorman is survived by his beloved wife Geraldine, sons Stephen and Barry, daughters Mandy, Sinéad, Mary and Claire, sonsin-law, daughters-in-law, grandchildren, relatives and friends.

MORE than one third of this year’s LEADER funding for Clare was signed off on this month with community groups and small businesses from across the county benefiting.

The board of Clare Local Development Company approved almost € 2 million in LEADER grant-aid at the December board meeting.

This grant-aid is estimated to lever an additional € 1 million in private funding bringing a major boost to the local economy at the end of the year.

Almost € 5.8 million in the total LEADER grant-aid has now been approved in Clare in 2012.

According to the CEO of CLDC, Doirin Graham, the grant aid will support a range of community projects including a new purposebuilt community centre for Lough Graney and the refurbishment of community buildings in Tulla, Cooraclare and Feakle.

“LEADER funding will support the development of new astro-turf playing pitches at Killdysart and a new children’s playground at Clarecastle, while a number of smaller community initiatives will also benefit,” said Ms Graham.

Several Tourism and Enterprise projects also received grant support with new businesses being established in Feakle, Clonlara, Lahinch, Kilmurry McMahon, Quin and Whitegate and existing businesses expanding operations at Shannon, Loop Head, Carron, Ennistymon and Quin.

A small number of training projects also received support as did a local history project for Corofin and a feasibility study on the potential use of Ballinalacken Castle for tourism promotion in North Clare.

The CLDC board also approved funding towards the promotion of The Gathering initiative in the county.

“Next year is the last year of the current LEADER Programme in terms of project approvals and funding would appear to be already expended on capital community projects other than heritage projects,” added Ms Graham.

“We have exceeded the targets which we set at the beginning of 2012 and with the success of the programme nationally our department is now taking stock of the areas where projects will continue to be accepted in 2013.”

Stephen Walsh, Chairman of the Board of CLDC, complimented his fellow board members for their commitment to the work of the local development company in 2012. He also thanked the management and staff for their work in successfully rolling out a wide range of programmes to the people of County Clare and looked forward to further achievement in 2013

THREE thugs broke into a West Clare home late on Sunday night last, terrorising two elderly sisters and demanding money. The trio broke down the door of the rural farmhouse in Kildymo, Bansha near the seaside town of Kilkee be- tween 10.30pm and 11.30pm and entered the premises where the women had lived all of their lives. A frightening ordeal then began for the two ladies in their eighties as the robbers ripped the phone from the wall and demanded money from them. There was very little money in the house and the thugs eventually got away with a small amount of cash from the old age pensioners purses. The three who had targeted two vulnerable older women in their own home covered their faces during the robbery. It is not known how long the frightening ordeal continued for, but the two ladies were left very shocked after the late night experience. They are recovering in a nursing home since. The farmhouse, described as being left in a state after the event, is situated close to Bansha graveyard along a minor but busy rural road. One neighbour told The Clare People that while the sisters lived a very simple life on their family farm, opting to live with out modern comforts such as electricity, central heating and running water, they were very popular and well known locally. “People locally are shocked and many are very frightened after this,” he said. Gardaí in the Kilrush district are leading the investigation into the late night robbery. They have appealed to anyone who may have seen anything on the night of Sunday, December 9, or have any other information to contact the Garda Station in Kilkee or Kilrush.