Month: April 2014

THE actions of a mystery guitarist, who played a half hour long guitar solo on a small rocky outcrop in the Ennistymon cascades, have been described as “reckless” and “highly dangerous” by Clare’s most senior water safety official.

Clare County Council Water Safety Officer Liam Griffin, yesterday appealed to members of the public not to copy the bizarre incident, which he said could easily have lead to a fatality.

The incident took place on a rocky crag in the centre of the famous En- nistymon Cascades, beside the Falls Hotel, earlier this month. A man was seen to enter the cascades underneath the bridge in Ennistymon and play a Slash-style guitar solo in the centre of the river for around half an hour.

While no one was hurt in the incident, a photograph of the guitarist was released on social media last week – prompting Clare’s Water Safety Office to issue a warning.

“This behaviour is both reckless and highly dangerous. I would appeal to the public not to imitate these acts as repeat acts of this nature will lead to a fatality,” said Mr Griffin yesterday.

The guitarist has been identified as a member of Clare band ‘Los Paddys de Los Pampas’ who intend to use footage of the guitarist for an upcoming music video. Band spokesperson Paddy Mulcahy, yesterday declined to identify the guitarist and claimed that the incident was safe.

“I can understand him [Clare Water Safety Officer, Liam Griffin] not wanting to encourage folks to play on the waterfall, but what we did was perfectly safe,” said Mr Mulcahy.

“Of course we don’t want kids playing there, but recording a video of a guitar solo is different to playing. If we were running across the waterfalls just for a laugh, I’d say that would have been a bad example for people. But we went there for a single purpose, did it quickly, and then left.

“The video is a scene for an upcoming music video. The guitarist wanted an epic scene for his guitar solo in the middle of the song, so we decided the most amazing looking place we have on our door step was the falls in Ennistymon.”

A SENIOR official has re-iterated Ennis Town’s Council’s “significant concern” at having to foot a near € 500,000 legal bill in respect of cases taken against it in relation to national legislation.

The council was forced to defend two separate legal challenges taken in the High Court concerning the deregulation of the taxi industry and new casual trading byelaws.

Ennis Town Manager and Director of Service Gerard Dollard said it remains the local authority’s view that it should not bear the costs alone.

Mr Dollard’s comments are contained in the statutory audit of the Ennis Town Council’s financial accounts for the year ended December 31, 2012.

He states, “The cases referred to relate to challenges to national legislation and are cases that have been taken against the council. The council has no choice but to defend cases taken against it. Both cases have involved extensive High Court hearings. The council has had detailed discussions with the relevant government departments and also made every effort to operate the cases on the most cost effective basis possible. It remains the council’s view that costs relating to cases such as these should not be funded solely by the council.”

The auditor states the council was involved in two cases as a defendant in regard to challenges taken on matters relating to national legislation. One case related to the Ennis Casual Trading Byelaws 2011, which represented a challenge to the Casual Trading Act 1995 and in particular the status of casual trading on market rights.

The auditor states the council incurred legal costs of € 147,000 in respect to that matter. The council is also involved in a High Court case regarding the deregulation of the taxi industry some years ago.

The report states that a number of sample cases are being heard including one involving the town council.

The legal costs in this case are estimated to be in the region of € 300,000 and € 450,000.

In January, Mr Dollard said the council would receive € 200,000 from the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and the Department of Transport towards the cost of the court hearings.

Mary GUERIN (née Harrington)
, Drewsboro Road,Tuamgraney. Funeral mass today (Tuesday), at 11.30amat St Joseph’s Church, Tuamgraney, with burial afterwards in St Cronin’s Cemetery. Family flowers only please, Donation if desired to Raheen Community Hospital. May she rest in peace.

Susan BANNON (née Keane)
, Loughville, Lahinch Road, Ennis. Formerly of Connolly and London. Laid to rest in Mullagh Cemetery. May she rest in peace.

Berna LYONS
, Sunset House, Strand Line, Kilkee. Peacefully at The Galway Clinic. Reposing onTuesday evening 15th April at Lillis’ Funeral Home in Kilkee from5.30pmwith removal at 7pmto Kilkee Parish Church. RequiemMass on Wednesday at 11.30amfollowed by burial in Lisdeen Cemetery, Kilkee. Family flowers only please, donations in lieu toThe Clare 250 mile cycle. May she rest in peace.

Seamus WALSH
, Broadford/Shannon. Peacefully at Milford Care Centre after a short illness. Being laid to rest onTuesday. May he rest in peace.

Michael HICKEY
, Bridge Street, Scariff. Laid to rest in the NewCemetery, Moynoe. May he rest in peace.

Kathleen BARRY (née Benson)
, Bridgetown. Peacefully at Milbane Lodge Nursing Home Newport. Laid to rest in Bridgetown. May she rest in peace.

Mary CORRY (née Grace)
, Coolin, Coolmeen. Laid to rest in Kilfiddane Cemetery. May she rest in peace.

Mary CUDDIHY
, Birmingham, England, and formerly of Bouladuff, Inagh. Laid to rest in Moohana Cemetery. May she rest in peace.

Kathleen GEANEY (née Gissane)
, Knockanpierce, Nenagh/Killaloe. Formerly of Cross Roads, Killaloe. In the loving care of the staff of Nenagh Manor Nursing Home. Laid to rest in Old Abbey Cemetery. May she rest in peace.

Michael James KELLY
, London and 18 St Patrick’sTerrace, Kilkee. Laid to rest in Lisdeen Cemetery. May he rest in peace.

Kieran MULKERE
, Drumsallagh, Crusheen. Laid to rest in Drumcliffe Cemetery. Donations, if desired, to Cancer Campaign. May he rest in peace.

Ann (Nan) GOONAN
,Whitegate. In the gentle care of the Staff of Portumna Retirement Village, Portumna, Co Galway. Laid to rest in Clonrush Cemetery. May she rest in peace.

Teresa HYNES
, Mullagh Road, Miltown Malbay, Laid to rest in Ballard Cemetery. May she rest in peace.

Karen RYAN (née Mc Cormack)
,The Hill, Loughrea/Inagh, Boston, Massachusetts. Laid to rest in Mount-Pleasant Cemetery. Donations, if so desired, to Galway Hospice Foundation. May she rest in peace.

David OWENS
, Dal Geish, Scarriff Road, Killaloe. Suddenly. Funeral Mass held in Killaloe. May he rest in peace.

Peter GUY
, Formerly of Ard na Greine, Ennis/ Clifden. Laid to rest in Banogues Cemetery, Galway. May he rest in peace.

PJ MURPHY
, McHughVillas, Ennis. Laid to rest in Drumcliffe Cemetery. May he rest in peace.

Peggy MCDONAGH (née McMahon)
, Knockdromagh, Ennistymon. Peacefully at The Galway Clinic. Laid to rest in the Old Cemetery, Ennistymon. May she rest in peace.

Stephen MALONE JNR
, 6 Dalcassian Drive, Ennis. Laid to rest in Drumcliffe Cemetery. Donations, if desired, to the Irish Kidney Association. May he rest in peace.

CONTRACTS to begin construction work the M18 motorway, which will provide a completed motorway between Ennis and Galway, will not be signed this week, despite repor ts circulated to the contrary.

This is the latest in a series of false starts for the completion of the motorway, which is expected to create as many as 2, 000 jobs in direct and indirect employment during the construction phase.

The motorway has for some time been heralded as a possible saviour for construction in the county with a number of the county’s smaller sub-contractors expected to tender for valuable contracts once the proposal receives the green light.

It is also expected that the motorway, when completed, will provide significant advantages for Shannon Ai rpor t, opening up the market for tourists to use Shannon as their destination air port for visiting Connemara in the closure of all commercial flights out of Galway Air port.

A spokesperson from the National Roads Authority (NRA) told The Clare People yesterday that contrary to recent reports, contracts for the € 550 million motorway extension were not to be signed this week.

This is another delay in a series of delays which have plagued the motorway since it was signalled that it would go ahead in this year. Indeed, when the announcement of the completion of the motorway was made last October, it was envisioned that constr uction work would already be underway on the motorway at this stage.

It is still expected that, providing contracts are signed in the next number of months, that the motorway will be up and running before the end of 2017. It is not yet clear what issues are preventing contracts from being signed for the completion of the motorway.

The NRA are understood to be in ongoing negotiations with the prefer red bidder, but the identity of the prefer red bidder has not yet been made public.

The Cla re People has learned.

The service, which has been closed

since February 2 as a result of seri

ous flooding in the Ballycar area, a

spokesperson from Iarnród Eireann

confirmed yesterday that the service will not be reopened until the middle of May at the earliest. The track was originally closed in early February of this year following severe flooding in the wake of ongoing wet conditions last winter. This flooding increased water levels on nearby Ballycar Lough dramatically and resulted in the rail line becoming severally submerged. At the time, it was estimated that the rail service would be up and running again in the middle of last month. However, a spokesperson from the national road company revealed yesterday that the Ennis to Limerick section of the Western Rail Corridor will not reopen again until the middle of next month. “It will now be mid May at least. It is just a matter of waiting for the levels to subside,” said a spokesperson from Iarnród Eireann. “The landscape is know as Karst and it feature porous rock that takes a long time for the water to get through.” The train station at Sixmilebridge has been closed since February with bus transfers taking commuters back and forth between Ennis and Limerick. This latest flooding comes despite the railway company raising the track levels in the Ballycar area by 60 centimetres in 2003, in an effort to avoid flooding. The level of flooding taking place this year was so severe that the water levels were recorded more than half a metre above the raised track. The existing rail timetable on the Ennis to Limerick section of the Western Rail Corridor will continue to be honoured by Iarnród Eireann, with busses taking the place of trains on these routes.

PAYMENT of close to € 1 million will be made to farmers involved in conservation farming in the Burren this week, but these payments could be just the tip of the iceberg.

The 157 farmers involved in the Burren Farming for Conservation Project (BFCP) will share € 986,000 in funding from the Department of Agriculture. The funding is in payments for monitored works carried out on their farms over the last 12 months, which have resulted in environmental benefits for the region.

Head of the Carron BFCP, Brendan Dunford, said yesterday that his group are pushing strongly for a ma- jor expansion of the programme for 2015, which would see level of farmers involved in the programme quadruple and the funding just around € 4 million per year.

“We’re hopeful that we can secure funding for an expansion of the BFCP across the Burren under the new Rural Development Programme 2015 to 2020,” he said yesterday.

“Our target is for a four-fold expansion which would enable any Burren farmer who wants to farm for conservation access to gain access to the required support. This would be an enormous investment in the local economy, community and heritage of this wonderful place.”

The programme, which is one of the first of its kind in Europe, pays farm- ers to manage their land in a way that promotes biodiversity and sustainability. One of the major successes of the programme to date is the better management of the encroachment of scrub, which had been taking over in many areas of limestone pavement in the Burren in recent decades.

The project works through a meticulous list of on-farm criteria, with each section of land on a farm being assessed for its environmental benefits and farmers receiving payments based on the status of the land and the works carried out.

The Minister for Agriculture, Simon Coveney (FG), yesterday confirmed € 1 million of funding for the project in 2014 but did not comment on the prospect of rolling it out across the entire Burren area.

Over the past four years, farmers in the Burren have received more then € 3.8 million through the project. Over the same period more than 67,000 metres of stone walls have been repaired while 180 hectares of invasive scrub has been removed – mainly by hand – from rare, species-rich grasslands and ancient monuments.

Almost 100 km of paths have been reopened enabling livestock access to under-grazed grasslands which can then be restored. Hundreds of water supplies have been protected by installing new tanks, troughs and pumps, resulting in improved water quality in this very sensitive karst landscape.

FOUR people involved in what a Judge described as an “unseemly” pub row in Corofin have been bound to the peace.

Sisters Fiona Concannon (38) and Rebecca Concannon (35) were allegedly involved in an altercation with their uncle, Valentine Bane and his partner Sharon McGrath (41) in Crowley’s Bar, Main Street, Corofin on September 16, 2012.

After hearing evidence in the case, Judge Patrick Durcan said the “most unseemly”, “most appalling” and “most gross” behaviour had occurred in Crowley’s on the night.

Ms McGrath, with an address at Newtown Corofin, denied a charge of assault to Rebecca Concannon.

Fiona Concannon, with addresses at Newtown Corofin and Poulanine, Carron denied assaulting Mr Bane and Ms McGrath.

Judge Durcan dismissed the charge of assault on Mr Bane after saying no evidence had been offered in the prosecution.

Rebecca Concannon, with an address at Radharc an tSeidean, Corofin, denied assaulting Ms McGrath. Mr Bane, who also lives at Newtown Corofin, was not charged with any offence but was bound over to the peace after Judge Durcan said he had played a role in events at Crowley’s.

Sharon McGrath gave evidence that she and Mr Bane were in three pubs prior to going to Crowley’s. She said she was approached by Fiona Concannon. Ms McGrath said Ms Concannon said, “Will you get that boyfriend of yours to stop sticking his tongue out at my 60 year old mother”. The court heard Mr Bane is a brother of Ms Concannon’s mother.

Mr Bane denied making the gestures. He said the row “took off” by the door of the pub after he was “niggled” by another man and got an elbow in the back.

Rebecca Concannon told the court there was a “bit of gregging” in the pub and that Mr Bane shouted “C’mon Shrek” to another man in their company.

At this point in proceedings, Judge Durcan asked Inspector Tom Kennedy who Shrek was and if he could spell it. Insp Kennedy said Shrek was a cartoon character.

Judge Durcan also asked Insp Kennedy, “What’s gregging? Another example of Corofinese?”

Insp Kennedy said that he had never heard the phrase before and that it must only be used in Corofin.

Judge Durcan told solicitors for the parties that in his view these were extremely serious alleged assaults and carried serious penalties on conviction.

He said he was adjourning the case for 25 minutes. He said if parties decided not to go into evidence, he would impose a binding over order.

When the case resumed, solicitor for Ms McGrath, Daragh Hassett said his client was willing to be bound to the peace. Solicitor for the Concannons, Patrick Moylan told Judge Durcan his clients were not.

The case continued and heard from independent witness, publican Colm Carey. He said an incident developed between the Concannons and two people.

Mr Carey said he managed to halt the altercation by managing to get the other two people out the door.

Mr Carey said Fiona Concannon was not present in the pub when the incident developed.

Delivering his verdict, Judge Durcan said, “Nobody comes out of this prosecution smelling of roses other than the publican.”

Judge Durcan said two different versions had been given of events in Crowley’s. He said he had no alternative but to dismiss all outstanding charges against the Concannons and Ms McGrath.

He made an order binding Ms McGrath, Mr Bane and the Concannon sisters to the peace for a period of two years.

The parties were given 14 days to enter into the bond. Recognizance’s were fixed in each case in the event of any appeals.

THE three years stalemate on one of the county’s most dangerous road junctions is set to end with the development of Blakes Corner in Ennistymon set to be “kick-started” in the coming weeks, it was confirmed at yesterday’s meeting of Clare County Council.

The local authority confirmed yesterday that consultants have been appointed to undertake the long awaited Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Blakes Corner in Ennistymon and work is set to get underway soon. A total of € 120,000 has also been made available by the National Roads Authority (NRA) to fund the survey, which is expected to begin in a matter of weeks.

The building at Linnane’s and Blake’s are at the centre of a longrunning dispute involving Clare County Council, the NRA and local conservation group Saver Ennistymon’s Heritage.

Plans to demolish the buildings and rebuild their facade a few metres back from their current location, in the process making way for a new road layout, are being opposed by Save Ennistymon’s Heritage.

Progress on the proposed new road junction has been stalled since 2011, with Clare County Council deciding not to progress to the planning stage until funding for an EIS has been made available.

“The fact that an allocation [from the NRA] has been made available to kick start the planning and design process to deal with the ongoing traffic problems in the vicinity of Blake’s Corner is welcome and is a very important step towards achieving the desired objective,” said a council spokesperson.

Clare County Council and the NRA propose building a roundabout at Blake’s Corner to prevent ongoing traffic difficulties in the area and to make the roadway safe. Save Ennistymon’s Heritage would like the local authority to examine other possibilities – such as bypassing Ennistymon.

In recent weeks Clare County Council have commenced repair works on the two listed building – the first works to be carried out on the buildings since they were acquired by the local authority.

This works includes include roof repairs and external painting, with an amount of damaged being done to the building during the recent storms.

A number of windows in both buildings were broken during recent storms and it is understood that a number of skylights in Linnane’s have also been broken, allowing rainwater to flow into the interior of the building.

SHANNON Chamber of Commerce is “quietly confident” that a number of recent high profile jobs announcement in the Shannon Industrial Zone will lead to an improvement in the retail business in the town.

Shannon town was one of three Clare towns given a ‘red’ designation in a study undertaken by Teagasc into the effects that the recession has had on towns in Ireland between 2006 and 2011.

Shannon was ranked as the town in Clare worst hit by immigration during the recession, and the fifth worst town in terms of increases to the Live Register.

According to Helen Downes, CEO of the Shannon Chamber of Commerce, the Shannon Industrial Zone has seen some positive news in recent times and it is only a matter of time before it filters down and improves the employment situation in Shannon town and helps prevent immigration.

“We have a lot of really positive new in Shannon over the past couple of week and we are very hopeful about what is to come. We have seen a very positive announcement from Pepper in recent weeks. While I wouldn’t like to predict what will happen, there have been positives reports about Element Six in Shannon and Zimmer continues to be a key employer,” she said.

“I think the spin off for the retail section in Shannon will become apparent down the line. We have to be patient and see that the increased in employment in the industrial centres will lead to an increased football for businesses in Shannon. We are quietly confident that we will see an improvement in the months ahead,” she added.

THE area around Doora, just outside of Ennis, has weathered the recession better than any other part of Clare, according to a new study of Central Statistics Office (CSO) data compiled by the farm research agency Teagasc.

Doora was granted ‘blue’ status in the report, meaning that is one of the towns or places in Ireland least effected by the recession. Doora performed particularly well in main- taining employment levels between 2006 and 2011 but was slightly less successful in minimising emigration, where it was the third best performing in Clare.

Sixmilebridge has given ‘turquoise’ status in the report, meaning that it was only moderately effected by the recession. The rate of unemployment in the town was comparatively low, coming in as the third best in Clare, but the town saw very little emigration between 2006 and 2011, when it the least effected town in Clare and indeed one of the least effected areas in the country.

There were also good showing for Killaloe and Clonlara in East Clare with both places being granted ‘light blue’ status – to signify that they were only somewhat effected by the recession.

Despite having one of the worst comparative records for unemployment, Killaloe managed to gain largely on the back of its low level of emigration, the second lowest in Clare.

In contrast, Clonlara was the second best performing in Clare for lev- els of employment, but suffered more than most when it came to the level of emigration.

Both Newmarket on Fergus and Miltown Malbay were given ‘yellow’ status in the report – to signify that they were town badly effected by the recession. Miltown was comparatively badly hit be unemployment – but has managed to retain its level of population well compared to other towns in Clare. Newmarket was consistent in term of both unemployment and emigration – and was the mid-ranked town in Ireland in both areas.

Ennistymon has suffered worst than any other town in Clare in terms of unemployment levels between 2006 and 2011. The town was given an ‘orange’ ranking to signify that it has been badly effected by the recession.

Shannon, Ennis and Kilrush all received ‘red’ status in the report to signify that the were very badly hit by the recession. Shannon recording the worst comparative level of emigration while Kilrush was the worst effected overall.

GREEN shoots of economic recovery are being seen in Kilrush, despite the town being ranked as the place worst hit by the recession in Clare.

According to the Kilrush Chamber of Commerce, the introduction of large international supermarkets has had a negative effect on businesses in the town in recent years but a upturn in the tourism sector over the past 12 months is breathing new life into West Clare.

Kilrush was ranked as the Clare town worst hit by the recession in a new study of both employment levels and emigration carried out by Teagasc. The study, which compares figures from the Central Statistic Office from 2006 and 2011, found that Kilrush was the worst effected Clare town overall even though it did not rank worst in either changes to unemployment or emigration.

According to the Teagasc figures, Ennistymon and Killaloe were the worst hit by unemployment, with Kilrush coming in third. Shannon and Ennis saw the biggest change in emigration, with Kilrush the third worst effected town.

Kilrush, Shannon town and Ennis were given “red” status by Teagasc, indicating that they were among the towns worst hit when both unemployment and emigration.

According to the Kilrush Chamber of Commerce, the arrival of a number of large supermarkets in recent years have had a effect on a number of businesses in the town.

“Retail has suffered everywhere and people have less money in their pockets to spend but the arrival of two international supermarkets has had an effect on a lot of businesses in the town,” said Jack Kelly of the Kilrush Chamber.

“It is very difficult to compete with the scale of the international retailers. This has hit every small business in the town. Initially we though ti would just be the food businesses but these large shops now sell electrical goods, clothes, children goods, book – nearly every business in the town is effected in some way. “The Gathering was a great benefit to us last year. There was a great boost in tourism number because of that and the success of tourism in Loop Head and that has spin offs for all of West Clare. “There are some green shoots emerging, especially in the tourism sectors, and we can grow on that it would be a great step forward. We are hopeful that things like the Wild Atlantic Way and the Ryanair flight in Shannon will help. If number can grow like they did when Ryanair expanded in Shannon in 2003 and 2004 then if will be very positive.”