Month: August 2013

A UNIQUE horse and pony charity ride will begin in Clare on August 31 in a bid to raise much-needed funds for the Mid West Cancer Foundation.

Established in 2007, the centre is located on the grounds of the University Hospital Limerick and its main aim is to provide holistic care for people from Clare, Limerick and Tipperary with cancer through a wide range of services.

The foundation also supports research being carried out by the Stokes Institute.

All funds raised from the Ennis to Limerick charity ride will enhance the cancer centre’s facilities and will ensure that the best treatment, services and cutting edge technology is available to people with cancer in the mid-west area.

Co-director and credit controller of the event Ennis woman Paula Williams explained, “As parents we got thinking wouldn’t it be a lovely to do something in the mid-west for the people of the mid-west that involves both children and parents.”

The charity ride and drive will not just be going from Ennis to Limerick, but a second group of horses, ponies and riders will also make their way from Adare in Limerick to meet with the Clare group at the Limerick Greyhound Course.

On the day of the event route one leaves from the Showgrounds in Ennis with participants free to do a much or little of the ride as they wish. There will be stops along the way in Quin, Sixmilebridge and the Radison in Meelick for refreshments.

A raffle will be held at the end of the ride and six winners will be picked to lead out the grey hounds running in the 8.30 Mid-western Cancer Foundation Charity Race at the greyhound race.

“All the proceeds from the charity ride and drive, raised by sponsorship cards and collection buckets on the day will go to the Mid-Western Cancer foundation which was which is based at the University of Limerick,” said Ms Williams.

THE number of planning applications received by Clare County Council during the first half of this year was down 25 per cent on the previous year.

The latest edition of the National Housing Construction Index shows that Clare has the fifth highest percentage drop in planning applications this year.

The number of houses that commenced building this year was also slightly down on last year with a drop of four per cent.

A spokesperson for links2plans, the company that issued the figures said, “Even though Clare only has a marginal drop in its commencements this year, the new figures on the significant drop in planning applications suggests that we may expect to see a significant drop in planning commencements in the near future.”

There were 179 housing planning applications lodged with Clare County Council in 2012, and this dropped by 45 to 134 this year.

The number of commencements dropped from 113 to 109.

“Compared to Clare, the outlook is positive for particular pockets around the country which are experiencing an increase in commencements and applications,” said the Managing Director of Link2Plans, Danny O’Shea.

“The Link2Plans team have seen significant changes in activity throughout the country which in part can be explained by the weather conditions in the first few months of 2013. There are however clear signs that the growth in residential construction activity is being felt in Dublin and other counties are still some way back. It will be interesting to see if the dry weather experienced throughout June and July will see the next edition of the index, register an increase in project commencements.”

THE dolphin human relationship in Clare may have got some bad publicity in recent weeks, but two striped dolphins are back swimming off the west coast of Clare thanks to a group of children.

The young heroes floated the two mammals, who had become beached on Thursday evening at the west end of Kilkee beach, before the emergency services has arrived.

The Kilkee unit of the Irish Coast Guard were dispatched to the beach following reports of the distressed dolphins trapped in shallow waters.

The unit had been on a training exercise nearby at the time.

The call out came at around 7.30pm but the coast guard arrived just in time to see the dolphin swim away, after it was helped out of shallow rock pools.

A spokesperson for the coast guard told The Clare People , “By the time we got there a few local lads had floated the dolphins back out. Apparently it happens regularly enough.”

Members of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group also arrived at the beach shortly after the rescue.

It is believed that there were as many as four dolphins in the area on the night in question.

The striped dolphin is more likely to become beached in shallow waters that the more confident bottlenose dolphin.

Dolphins are social, living in pods of up to a dozen individuals. In places with a high abundance of food, pods can merge temporarily, forming a superpod; such groupings may exceed 1,000 dolphins.

THE Bishop of Inis Cathaigh (Scattery Island) and Auxiliary Bishop of Brooklyn in New York Most Reverend Frank J. Caggiano has apologised to the people of Kilrush for pulling out of plans to celebrate Mass on the monastic island at the 11th hour.

The bishop was forced to change his plans to celebrate the Mass last weekend due to financial constraints, both in his own budget and the budget of the local authority in Clare.

The bishop, who holds the ancient title of Bishop of Scattery Island since his ordination in August 2006, accepted an invitation from Kilrush Town Council and the local committee Comóradh Sheanáin Naofa to celebrate the annual Mass on the year of the Gathering.

In July his secretary wrote to Kilrush Town Council asking if the bishop would be reimbursed for his travel expenses.

The council members agreed that they did not have the funds to cover the costs, and did not usually cover any costs of visiting dignitaries to the town.

The bishop then contacted the town clerk John Corry just weeks before the Mass expressing his regret that he could not visit Kilrush due to budgetary issues.

“In the reply that I received from Most Rev Caggianos office regarding his visit to Ireland it appears that the cost of the trip to Kilrush appeared to be the problem,” Mr Corry told The Clare People .

“His offices indicated that because of the limited travel funds in their budget, they determined that it was not feasible for the Bishop to travel to Ireland for the Mass. They estimated the cost of this trip at $1,800 and with the bishop previously scheduled to participate in the Youth 2000 Summer Festival in mid-August, an additional cost like this would off-set their expenses.

“They expressed their sincerest apologies for the short notice and change in plans,” said Mr Corry.

Chairperson of Comóradh Sheanáin Naofa Cllr Tom Prendeville (FF), who first proposed the invitation to the council, said the group were disappointed that the bishop could not attend the special Mass.

Had he been able to make the trip he would have been the first Bishop of Scattery in living memory to visit the sixth century settlement.

“I understand why the county could not afford the bill, especially at such times of constraint. Maybe he might be able to come in the future.”

Cllr Prendeville said that other than the disappointment of not having Bishop Caggiano in attendance, the Mass and weekend of visits to the island was a huge success.

A STAND-OFF between Iarnród Éireann and the Department of Transport has resulted in the shelving of planned Crusheen rail stop on the Western Rail Corridor.

Construction work on the Crusheen station, which has been the subject of the major local campaign for almost 10 years, was due to begin this year but works will now not get going until 2014 at the earliest. The stand-off centres around the € 2.1 million price tag for the station with the Minister for Transport, Leo Varadkar (FG), insisting that Iarnród Éireann find a way of cutting the construction costs.

The rail company insist that a full € 2.1 million will be needed to complete the long awaited project – resulting in a stand off.

In a written Dáil reply to Clare Fianna Fáil’s transport spokesman Timmy Dooley, Minister Varadkar said there was no money at present to fund the station.

“My department’s capital funding for rail infrastructure was reduced last year in order to support the emergency funding required for the CIE Group.

“As a result of the reduced capital funding, Irish Rail have had to reevaluate their planned capital programme to 2016, with the priority being to protect existing assets and to maintain safety standards,” he said.

“In the context of this, I have asked Irish Rail to revisit their current proposals for Crusheen rail stop which have a construction cost of in the order of € 2m and see if a lower cost alternative is feasible.

“It is my intention to provide for a rail stop at Crusheen.”

Earlier this year Clare County Council granted planning permission for the long awaited station at Crusheen. While overall passengers on the Western Rail Corridor have been slightly below projects – the number of people using the commuter sections of the line – such as between Ennis and Limerick and Athenry and Galway have exceeded all expectation.

It has been projected that a strong commuter demand between Cursheen and Ennis will help make this station a success.

An Iarnród Éireann spokesperson said there was “limited scope” to reduce the cost of the Crusheen Station.

BALLYVAUGHAN grandmother and symphysiotomy survivor, Ellen Moore, says she will not accept the redress scheme proposed by the Minister for Health, James Reilly (FG), during their face-to-face meet- ing last week.

Ellen was one of a small group of symphysiotomy survivor who met with the health minister in Dublin on Thursday.

The meeting was originally organised by the Survivors of Symphysiotomy (SOS) group because of fears that the government was preparing to renege on promises made to wave the statue of limitations for symphysiotomy sufferers earlier this year.

It know looks likely that the government is indeed looking to perform a you-turn on their promise to lift the statue for women who were given symphysiotomy without consent.

Minister Reilly instead proposed a Magdalene style redress scheme for Ellen and the other symphysiotomy survivor.

This deal would see the women receive some level of compensation from the state but there would be no admission of fault and no apology.

This proposal was rejected by Ellen and the other representatives of SOS.

“We were there to talk about the statute of limitations and he [Minister O’Reilly] said that there was some issue with that and it was still with the Attorney General,” said Ellen.

“He did seem to be effected by our stories – he and his advisors. But his proposal would mean that there would be no apology and no admission of liability, and that is something that we cannot accept.

“It seems to us that he is trying to divide and conquer [using the redress system].

“Time is on their side. We are all older women and the longer this goes on the fewer of us there is.”

Hundreds of symphysiotomies were performed on women without their consent in Irish hospitals in the 1960 and 1970.

The controvertial operations involved breaking of a women’s pelvic bone during labour – which resulted in a litany of medical complications and complications.

Ellen has undergone more than 20 operations over the last two decades and is now in near constant pain.

A CLARE food company is to increase its work force by almost 50 per cent after it was given the go ahead to build a new café and restaurant in Bunratty.

Shannon based company Zest is expected to begin building the new eatery on the site of the former Avoca building early next year, the construction also providing up to 40 new jobs. The site has been vacant since the landmark building along the N8 dual carriage way was destroyed by fire in 2007.

It was purchased by Zest, which is the retail division of EFG Inflight Ltd, in 2011.

Last December Zest was granted conditional planning permission to demolish the existing structure on the old Avoca site, and build a new 680 square metre facility comprising of a restaurant, café, food hall and kitchen, as well as associated works, by Clare County Council

The local authority’s ruling was appealed to An Bord Pleanala by Maurice Walsh of Durty Nelly’s, who claimed it would “severely detract from the setting and character of Bunratty”.

An Bord Pleannala rejected the appeal and the project was given the green light in the last week.

A total of 15 conditions have been attached to the Bunratty development.

These include an order that a bat survey be carried out on the site, further changes to proposed signage, as well as other measures in the interest of visual amenity, traffic safety and local wildlife.

The new project is expected to create 40 jobs to add to the 100 more Zest jobs at its base in Knockbeg Point, Shannon Airport, and at its shops and cafes in Ennis and Limerick.

The company was founded in 2006, and the first Zest shop opened in Ennis in June 2010.

The Limerick branch is open in Pery Square at the Limerick City Gallery of Art and in the last few weeks the company opened a new store for Killaloe.

THE inquests into the deaths of two fishermen who died off the coast of Clare last year are due to take place at Ennis District Court tomorrow (Wednesday).

64 year old Skipper Michael Galvin – a married father of three and his 35 year old neighbour Noel Dickinson drowned when their boat – the Lady Eileen- sank off the coast of Quilty last August.

Their disappearance sparked a massive search involving coastguard units from Kilkee, Doolin along with a rescue helicopter and the Aran Island Lifeboat.

The bodies of the men were subse- quently recovered in the wreckage of the boat.

The official report into the tragic sinking of the “Lady Eileen” found that the 10.85 metre boat probably encountered wind or wave action on the day when the local fishermen lost their lives at sea.

“It is probable that the “Lady Eileen” encountered wind or wave action or a combination of both. This caused the vessel to be swamped and loose reserve of buoyancy beyond which it was able to recover for its loaded condition, resulting in its sinking,” the report said.

The inspector who carried out the “Report into the Sinking of FV “Lady Eileen” on August 13, 2012” also had questions regarding recent work carried out on the boat.

The report was clear however that the incident that resulted in the sinking of the vessel, and the death of the two men, was sudden.

“Both men were active able-bodied experienced individuals. The evidence would suggest that the incident happened very suddenly and that neither Mr. Galvin nor Mr. Dickinson had any time to react to the situation and access the emergency equipment,” the report said.

The report did claim however that “Neither crewmember was found wearing a lifejacket,” and “the wearing of lifejackets would increase the chances of survival.”

MORE than 11 per cent of mortgage holders in Clare have defaulted on their payments and many of these cash strapped home owners now face unpaid property tax been taken from their wages or social welfare payments in the coming weeks. Paul Woulfe Development Manager, Citizen Information Clare and MABS has attributed the struggle to stay up with household payments to increasing taxes and bills at a time when working hours are being cut. He told The Clare People that the majority of the people failing to pay their mortgages are not necessarily out of work, but people who have had their working hours or wages cut. “We are seeing this especially in the retail sector which has been badly hit. “People are having their hours and working days cut, with some being made redundant,” he said. “They are going into arrears because of changes in their circumstances. “Then there are extra charges such as the property tax,” he added. The citizen information expert said that at this time of year people are under particular pressure as they face the back to school bills. He was also critical of costs, bills and expenses that target the less well off such as the National Car Test and car tax. The NCT must be carried out in cars over four years old every sec ond year and every year on cars over ten years old. Car tax is also higher on older cars. “People have multiple debts, but we always encourage them to speak to their banks,” he said adding that there is some helpful information on the citizen information and MABS websites. The Ennis based official said there has been a marked improvement in the number of people contacting the office about mortgage payments problems since the introduction of the Central Banks Code of Conduct for banks, but people are still struggling. “There is a way of dealing with banks and the in formations is available on keepingyourhome.ie, citizen information or MABS,” said Mr Woulfe. Meanwhile Insurance company Caledonian Life has warned that the increase in arrears and mortgage restructure arrangements is leading to potential underinsurance issues for Irish households. Tadgh Malone Caledonian Life representative in Clare said; “According to a Moodys report from less than a year ago 11.3 per cent of people in Clare have defaulted on their mortgage and unfortunately it is unlikely that this per centage has decreased with the latest Central Bank figures revealing that arrears are on the up and so too are restructure arrangements for homeloans, with nearly 80,000 mortgage accounts classified as restructured.”

OFFICIALS at Clare County Council admit they are baffled as to how a heavy bin full of rubbish was dumped in the River Fergus in Ennis last week. The large wheelie bin was thrown into the river near Eason’s bookshop in Ennis town centre sometime between Monday and Tuesday. Black refuse sacks could be seen in the bin, which has drifted down river towards the Club Bridge.

The act of illegal dumping comes just days after Council workers and local community groups took advantage of low water levels to carry out a clean up of the Fergus.

The Council has contacted the company that provides the bin and asked them to make arrangements to have it removed from the water. A council spokesman said last week that a crane would be required to lift the bin from the riverbed.

“We’ve been in touch with the contractor but it’s going to be very difficult to get it out from its current location. You’d probably be looking at a crane to lift it. Its full of rubbish”, he explained.

The Council believes a group of people may have been responsible for hoisting the bin over a fence and into the river. The spokesman said, “Its one of the bigger bins so you’d need a lot of power to get it off the ground and into the river. Physically, you’d need a number of people to do it. We think that they might have wedged the bin up against the wall and forced it over.”

“To see it happen so soon after the clean up is really disappointing, especially at a time of the year when we are asking people to be responsible when it comes to getting rid of rubbish. It is very disappointing that this happened.”

Last month water levels in the River Fergus dropped to their lowest point since September 1995 following a prolonged spell of dry weather.

Community groups and local authority workers took advantage of the dramatic decrease in the water levels to clean litter from the river.

Ennis Town Council environmental staff assisted members of Fergus Salmon Anglers Association, Ennis Trout Anglers Association, Ennis Sub Aqua Club and Ennis Tidy Towns during last weekend’s cleanup.

Gerry Murphy, Environmental Warden, Ennis Town Council explained, “With water levels being so low, debris and litter on the river bed had become visible. Amongst the items collected during the cleanup were general litter items including plastic bottles, cans and wrappers. Amongst the more unusual items recovered were supermarket trolleys, traffic cones, footballs and even bicycles.”