Month: May 2013

THE DATA Protection Commissioner has written to a Clare school demanding that it turn off CCTV cameras in operation in a classroom in the school.

The school installed the CCTV system recently and within days of installation a complaint was received by the Data Protection Commissioner (DPC). Within the complaint it is alleged that the school in question installed the CCTV cameras in classrooms without consulting parents of children in the school.

In a letter sent by the DPC to the Chairperson of the Board of Management of the school, which has been seen by The Clare People , the officer stated the DPC “will not tolerate the use of CCTV cameras in the classroom”. The letter stated that an investigation of the complaint is underway.

The school have been given two weeks to respond to the letter, which lists four areas of concern, one of which is why the cameras were installed. The letter does not identify the complainant who brought the matter to the attention of the DPC.

A CLARE local development company that has invested € 86.5 million in the county over two decades has described Government plans to dissolve it as little more than a “grab” for its resources. Clare Local Development Company (CLDC) has hit out at plans to give local authorities control of community-led programmes, such as LEADER.

CEO of CLDC Doirin Graham said, “There is no credible justification for this change other than a grab for the resources of LEADER. Minister [Phil] Hogan has failed to back up his contention that a local authority-led model will deliver a better service to the public and will save money.”

According to figures released yesterday (Monday), almost 1,200 local businesses and community projects have benefited from communityled development funding, totalling € 86.5 million since the first LEADER contract was awarded in Clare in 1992. During this time, 1, 550 jobs have been created or sustained and training provided to 3,000 people in County Clare. A further 250 people were assisted into employment.

Further spin off jobs, especially in the building sectors, were created locally as many of the projects required buildings or outdoor areas.

Currently the company in Clare employs 68 people on a wide range of programmes, including LEADER, Local Community Development Programme, Rural Recreation Local Training Initiatives and community work schemes.

This year, the company will also be responsible for the employment of a further 312 people on community work placement schemes including, Community Employment, the Rural Social Scheme and Tús.

CLDC has vowed to “fight tooth and nail” against Minister Phil Hogan’s proposed local government reforms, which would allow new County Council-led bodies replace local development companies as the organisations responsible for LEADER and other local development programmes. It also rejected what it described as “efforts by the Minister to discredit the contribution made by local development companies and their staff across the country”.

“Our organisation has 21 years experience of bottom-up development, a huge voluntary input, strong relationships with communities and people on the ground, and provides better value for money,” said Ms Graham.

“The European Commission and the OECD have praised Ireland’s local development organisations strongly for their ability to deliver EU supports and policies on the ground. CLDC and the 49 other Local Development Companies around the country will fight the Minister’s proposal tooth and nail.”

A PUBLIC meeting concerning the construction of a controversial fish farm off the Clare coast will take place in Ballyvaughan this week.

The meeting, which has been organised by local fishermen and others in the local community, is the first formal opposition meeting to take place against the fish farm on Clare soil.

The meeting follows on from a general meeting, organised by Clare Labour TD, Michael McNamara last month.

At that meeting, which was held at the Russell Centre in Doolin, a pro- posed talk about ways of improving the local fishing trade was overtaken by a large number of complaints about the proposed fish farm.

The project is the brainchild of Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) and will be the largest fish farm of its kind in Europe if they are given the go ahead. The Minister for Agriculture, Simon Coveney (FG), will decide on whether to licence the development later this year.

The twin fish farms will be located around six miles off the coast of Doolin and Fanore and locals are worried that the farm will have a negative impact on the existing local fish trade and have a negative impact on the Burren’s tourism industry.

A number of different studies have been presented by BIM and other group including Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) about the possible impact of the farm.

The chairman of the World Register of Marine Species last week sent a letter to Minister Coveney warning him about what the described as “incorrect data” released about the potential effect of sea lice from the farm on local wildfish.

“Salmon lice from aquaculture farms have proven difficult to control on farms, especially large farms and have been linked to mass fatal parasite infestations on wild salmon and trout in Ireland, Scotland, Norway and Canada,” said Mark Costello, who is also a Marine Ecology Professor at the University of Auckland.

“If there are a million fish on the farm with one egg-bearing louse each, the farm may release 500 million lice larvae. A key consequence of this is that on large farms, it is possible to keep the number of lice below what is harmful to the farm fish but they may still be producing a lot of lice larvae.”

The meeting will take place from 8pm at St John’s Hall in Ballyvaughan this Friday, May 17. Local politicians as well as a representative from BIM have been invited to attend.

COROFIN actress Maura Clancy is the toast of the Irish drama world today after capturing the Best Actress title at this year’s RTÉ All Ireland Drama Festival. Maura’s victory is a milestone for the Corofin Dramatic Society, having qualified for the All-Ireland Open Finals for the first time just last year. The society also took the top prize for Best Set and Best Stage Management to round off a remarkable week for the players of Corofin. Maura’s success came in the role of Hester in their production of ‘By The Bog Of Cats’, directed by John Clancy. “I am really delighted; it is a huge honour. There are a lot of fine actresses and actors out on the circuit, including a number in our own group, and to win this is a hugh honour,” Maura told The Clare People yesterday. “I see this very much as a group honour; it was a big group effort and I was singled out. We had such a huge cast for this show that it was all about the whole group. Even just to organise rehearsals was a lot of work so everyone involved pulled out all the stops this year. “In 2008 we won the confined All Ireland, so we have only been competing in the full open competition for a few years. Our plan was to work really hard and see could we some day get to Athlone for an All Ireland. “We were over the moon that that happen so quickly for us last year. Our aim this year was to prove that we could do it again, and that is what we did. So we are all over the moon. We are all so delighted with how this has turned out for us this year.”

THERE have been calls for a ‘wet’ hostel to be set up in Ennis to help alcoholics.

Ennis councillor Paul O’Shea says the need for such a service, as Ennis can’t keep “exporting” people with alcohol problems to Limerick and Galway.

Wet hostels provide shelter for street drinkers while allowing them to continue to consume alcohol on the premises, unlike other homeless hostels that enforce abstinence. Cllr O’Shea said there are 324 people waiting on the local authority-housing list that are presenting as homeless.

He said a growing number of young people are ending up homeless caused by drink related problems. Speaking at the May meeting of Ennis Town Council, he said, “We don’t have wet hostels in Clare but we have Clare people that are using them in Limerick and Galway.

Councillors were discussing issues raised by the death of Czech national Josef Pavelka (52) who died on the streets of Ennis earlier this month.

His plight came to national attention when District Court Judge Patrick Durcan described as a “scandal” the fact that Mr Pavelka had spent tie living in a toilet.

On Wednesday, Ennis Town Council again insisted that it had no evidence that Mr Pavelka or his Polish friend Piotr Baram (36) had been living in the toilet.

Town manager Ger Dollard said the council never received a report that people were sleeping in the town’s two public toilets. He said, “It doesn’t seem plausible” that the men were sleeping in the toilets. Mayor of Ennis, Cllr Peter Considine (FF) said he had sympathies for Mr Pavelka’s family. He said the story was “badly handled and a bad representation of the town of Ennis”. He said he was “very doubtful” the men had slept in the toilets as the doors open at 20minute intervals. He said the fact that Mr Pavelka had no access to services after his recent surgery was “shameful”. However, Cllr Considine added, “You can’t help people that don’t want to help themselves.”

Cllr Mary Howard described the men as “lovely craters”. “At the end of the day, he’s somebody’s son, somebody’s brother.”

Business man Kevin Keenan who runs, Formacompany.ie on O’Connell Street, said businesses had experienced problems because of people drinking in the area.

He said, “I wouldn’t wish what happened on that man to anyone. Its not they’re fault they’re alcoholics. But people are feeding their habit. They are stopping on the street to give them money. If you knew someone with a heroin habit you wouldn’t go and buy them heroin.”

Mr Keenan says he has noticed an increase in the number of people drinking in the area. “There was an Irish contingent that caused a lot of bother. They were gone for a while and now they are back. There is so such goodwill out there that people are milking it.”

THE case of a 16-year-old Clare girl who a Judge said was “deprived” of a right to education is to be referred to the Minister for Children.

Judge Patrick Durcan said last week that in not receiving her constitutional right to a minimum level of education, the girl was subjected to “abuse and severe neglect” by her parents and agents of the state.

In March her parents pleaded guilty to failing to comply with lawful requirement that their daughter attend school.

The case was brought by the National Education Welfare Board (NEWB). Judge Durcan was strongly critical of aspects of the Board’s handling of the case, describing it as a “shambles.” On Wednesday, Ennis District Court heard that girl had an absenteeism rate of 68.68% from school between 2010 and 2012.

Her mother contacted the Health Services Executive (HSE) last August due to concerns over drinking. She was advised to do so after receiving an eviction notice from a local authority.

The court heard that the girl had been coming to school smelling of alcohol and hungover.

The NEWB subsequently raised the matter with the HSE. Judge Durcan said that he could not understand why over a four period, the NEWB had not referred the case to the HSE. He said, “This child has been immeasurably and permanently dam- aged.” Reading from a report submitted by the acting CEO of the NEWB, Judge Durcan said the case was not deemed to have crossed the “threshold of serious harm and neglect” that would compel the Board to contact the HSE.

He said the Court was bound to the inescapable conclusion that the failures amounted to a “serious and flagrant abuse of a child and a child’s constitutional right.”

He said one of the reasons the child had been deprived of an education was the “abject failure of the NEWB to liaise with the HSE.”

The court heard there was substantial non-cooperation from the parents with the NEWB.

The court heard that the family are from a Traveller background and there may have been “cultural” reasons why the parents did not insist their daughter go to school. However Judge Durcan said cultural issues do not give parents a right not to send their children to school.

Dan O’Shea, NEWB Regional Manager, told the court that there were no other child protection concerns that would have lead to the involvement of the HSE.

Judge Durcan said this was probably the most serious case he has dealt with during his time on the bench.

He ordered that the case be referred to the Minister for Children and that a meeting take place between the HSE and NEWB at the earliest possible date.

He made no order against the girl’s parents.

MORE than two thirds of people in Clare with disabilities are out of work and are more likely to face challenges and barriers when it comes to finding, securing and retaining a job.

That is according to the Clare Irish Association of Supported Employment (IASE), who say people with disabilities are less than half as likely to be at work when compared to the rest of the working age population.

According to figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), as many as 14,775 people in Clare have a disability.

Working age people within this group, which makes up 12 per cent of the county’s population, are more likely than the rest of the general population, to be out of work.

36 per cent of people with disabilities are active in the labour market compared to 77 per cent of other adults.

Pat O’Neill team leader at EmployAbility Clare, and Census 2011 supervisor for Clare explained the latest data from the CSO shows people with a disability face challenges in securing job placements.

“The emphasis in Clare is on inclusion and expanding the range of placement opportunities,” he said.

The IASE is hosting a major European conference next month to address some of the challenges, innovations and latest developments in the area of supporting people with disabilities and other marginalised groups into jobs.

Clare is to play a central role in this conference.

The artistic endeavours of a group of artists, who are clients of Employ- Ability Clare, will be showcased.

Mr O’Neill worked with clients of EmployAbility Clare to design the delegate gift for hundreds of people travelling to Ireland the conference.

The design and creative process was hosted by the Burren College of Art.

A video documentary has also been produced and will be shown for the first time in Croke Park to the international audience.

EmployAbilityClare will also present their experiences on supporting clients into self-employment opportunities.

ALMOST 6,000 patients from across the mid-west, which includes county Clare, have been waiting more than four years for an outpatient appointment. The most serious offender in the region, and country, is the Mid-Western Regional Orthopaedic Hospital in Croom. Here 10,347 outpatients are on waiting lists; 4,109 or 39.7 per cent have been waiting more than four years to be seen by a consultant. According to the Department of Health’s Patient Treatment Register the Mid Western Regional Hospital, in Dooradoyle, Limerick, where most Clare patients are now referred, has the second highest number on a waiting list, with 1,716 outpatients waiting over four years. Nationally, there are now 9,784 patients waiting more than four years for an outpatient consultation in a public hospital, most of whom have been waiting between three and four years for an appointment. The total number of people on outpatient lists, according to the PTR figures for the end of January, is 386,643. The HSE West vowed to reduce this figure significantly back in January, bringing the waiting list in line with the Health Minister James Reilly’s pledge that no patient would be waiting more than a year for an outpatient consultation by the end of 2013. The HSE West claims that they can achieve this by November. The health service has been validating waiting lists to ascertain which patients still need appointments. In October last year 10,970 orthopaedic out patients in the mid-west were waiting for an appointment with a consultant. By May that figure fell to 7,477. “It is our objective to have the entire list validated by the end of May and to have no patient waiting longer than 12 months by the end of November for an outpatient orthopaedic appointment,” it said.

PRIMARY and secondary level students are being called on by Ennis Tidy Towns, to enter their school in the Ennis Schools Sustainability Challenge 2013.

Schools who do their best to reduce waste, recycle and who are environmentally sustainable will be included in this year’s Tidy Town’s entry to help Ennis shine.

Feídhlim Harty of FH Wetlands System Ltd, has said Ennis Tidy Towns are looking for schools who have begun “composting apple cores, who have started a school vegetable garden, or who have even organised a second hand book sale”.

Being environmentally friendly means taking pride in your hometown, school and environment. The involvment of schools is of great importance to Ennis Tidy Towns and is critical to the future of Ennis.

“It’s really important that we can read and write but we must be able to look after the world around us. It is vital that young people get a sense of what it means to reduce waste and be environmentally sustainable,” according to Féidhlim.

“By doing this we can protect the environment and also help the pockets of our local schools.”

To enter your school into this year’s challenge, write a short description of your waste minimisation or sustainability project, when it started and what the results have been.

“We need you to keep it brief,” according to Feídhlim, “time is short, so from one line to half a page with bullet points will be perfect.

“The more initiative the better but it’s about highlighting the work students have done this year. It’s probably a bad time with exams and school trips around now but we want to give students the recognition they deserve for their hard work.”

Féidhlim has said that there is great hope for Ennis in the Tidy Towns competition this year and “each year the town has been going from strength to strength”.

Entries must be sent to reeds@wetlandsystem.ie. before May 17 to take part in the Ennis Schools Sustainability Challenge.

ENNIS is getting ready to rock for the annual Fleadh Nua festival, which kicks off in the town on Sunday.

A fixture on the town’s calendar since 1974, this year’s festival features an expanded programme of events. There will be a special celebrity concert in honour of one of Clare’s foremost musicians, Brendan Mulkere. Recognised as an accomplished fiddle player, Brendan’s dual achievements as a teacher and musician will be recognised at a concert in the West County Hotel on Saturday, May 25.

Brendan’s guests will include brothers, John and James Carty, Niall Keegan, John Bowe, Terence O’Flaherty, Sinéad Egan and the Whelton Family. There will also be a performance by double All Ireland winners the Thatch Céilí.

Trad super-group ‘Four Men And A Dog’ will bring their high-octane live show to the West County Hotel on Friday, May 24.

The Gathering provides the inspiration for ‘Spraoi’ – The Kilfenora Ceilí Band’s latest concert presentation on Sunday, May 26.

The concert will also feature the vocal talents of Don Stiffe as well as the dancing skills of the West Clare Set Dancers.

Following a successful streaming of last year’s concert, which was viewed by almost 10,000 people in 40 different countries, ‘Spraoi’ will be available on www.livetrad.com.

Thursday, May 23 is Ladies’ Night at the Fleadh as the spotlight shines on musicians Joan Hanrahan, Bríd O’Gorman, Geraldine Cotter and Paul O’Regan.

CD launches are a relatively recent addition to the Fleadh Nua but have already proven hugely popular with festival goers.

There will be launches by Niamh Ní Charra and The Bonnymen in The Old Ground Hotel on Saturday, May 25. Enda Seery and Michelle Mulcahy will launch their album at the Temple Gate Hotel on Sunday, May 26.

Other events to look out for are the Gathering Parade, photographic displays, open-air entertainment, street entertainment, café music sessions and a tribute night for Ennistymon Comhaltas.

The popular Riches of Clare, free lunchtime concert series, will also continue to run during the Fleadh. The usual residency in the Clare Museum, Ennis, begins during the Fleadh Nua festival and continues each Wednesday afternoon during June and July.