Month: August 2014

THE Clare construction industry is beginning to come back to life with a marked increase in the number of projects actually being commenced in the first half of this year.

The number of commencement orders issued in Clare has grown by a massive 53 per cent compared to last year. While these figures have been broadly welcomed, industry insiders have stressed that the growth is from a very low level and it will take a prolonged period of similar growth before the construction industry in Clare returns to a sustainable level.

There was further good news for the construction sector as the number of planning applications lodged in Clare during the first half of 2014 is up by more than 12 per cent when compared to the same period during 2013.

Commencement orders are considered to be a much more accurate way of mapping the health of the construction sector in a region as a large proportion of planning applications in recent years refer to the retention of historic planning applications, many of which may go forward to the construction stage.

Despite Clare’s positive showing in the National Housing Construction Index, the county is actually lagging behind the country as a whole with Ireland recording an overall increase of 66 per cent in commencements so far in 2014.

“The year on year increases for planning applications and project commencements bodes well for the construction sector in the short to medium term. The 66 per cent year on year increase in project commencements is incredibly positive, notwithstanding the slowdown in the rate of growth in project commencements since the start of the year,” said Danny O’Shea of Link2Plans who compile the National Housing Construction Index.

SCORES of Clare horses are being trapped in a circle of neglect with many horse owners literally unable to give their animals away.

The number of Clare horse owners increased sharply during the Celtic Tigers years but reports of cruelty and abandonment have been widespread since the economic downturn, with many people now unable to af- ford the cost of keeping the animals properly.

However, according to Clare dog warden Frankie Coote, a large number of Clare horses are suffering from neglect on numerous occasions – with their owners unable to get rid of the animals. With a large number of horses bought or sold on the black market, many Clare horse owners have no longer got the money to keep their animals but do not have the documentation to sell their animals.

“We are dealing with the same horses now as we were dealing with four or five years ago. Because of difficulties with passports and microchips, there people are unable to sell them on to factories which has resulted in a lot of people owning horses who don’t have the means to look after them,” said Frankie Coote.

“We are being called out to the same horses again and again over the past four years. These horses are getting no vetinarial treatment, their hoofs are not being done and they are not being fed right. They are not getting adequate water in many cases.”

A number of Clare cases of animal cruelty have currently been referred to the DPP for possible investigation.

“We can take animals away in severe cases and we have sent a number of files to the DPP in relation to cases from last year,” said Frankie.

“But we do have a situation at the moment where we have a lot of peo- ple who just can’t take care of their animals but can’t get rid of them either. People should know that in emergency cases we have fodder for horses available and vetinarial fees available – so people can contact us for help.

“We are expecting this to be a difficult winter and we are certainly advising people not to over stock. But I think we need a legislation change really to allow for these [undocumented] horses to be moved on.”

CLARE County Council spent € 742.15 last month on the official launch of the its new Local Enterprise Office (LEO), but the spend was far from the € 4,000 splurge of some other local authorities or the frugal celebrations of Leitrim County Council who partied for just € 30.

On July 14, the Minister of State for Small Business, John Perry, officially launched LEO at Áras Contae an Chláir in Ennis, a department that has been operational since mid April.

Combining the resources of the Clare County Enterprise Board and Clare County Council’s business support unit, Clare LEO is one of 31 around Ireland that is tasked with delivering services and support to busi- nesses within a framework set by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and overseen by Enterprise Ireland.

According to figures released in a parliamentary question, 27 local authorities have already hosted official events to launch these offices.

The € 742.15 spent by Clare County Council on the official launch included photography costs.

The efforts of the neighbouring local authority, Tipperary County Council, were not as prudent however as it ran up the largest bill of € 4,385, which included a € 1,449 catering bill and a € 1,000 marquee hire.

Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown also ran up a bill over € 4,000 with the Taoiseach’s home county of Mayo coming in third with costs reaching € 3,717.

Clare was well below the mid-way mark in 16th place when it came to costs, but it was Leitrim that proved to be the most entrepreneurial when it came to showcasing its enterprise office. The € 30 it spent was for the cost of a courier to deliver a stand. The tea and coffee for the celebration was provided by the council canteen and kitchen with two small local companies displaying their home baking and providing the food free of charge.

Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton said official launches of these offices, which cost a total € 38,528.81, were part of an ongoing effort to raise awareness of their role.

“Each LEO has a small allocation for events such as these and the costs are incorporated into each Office’s budgets for the year,” he said.

A WEST Clare artist, commissioned to sculpt a marble bust of Bobby Sands, saw his work unveiled in the Felon’s Club in West Belfast at the beginning of the month. Paraic Casey from Kildysart was working with white marble on the Greek Island of Thassos when he was approached by the Bobby Sands Memorial Trust to create a piece of sculpture to represent the iconic hun- ger striker. The 100 kilo piece was unveiled by Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams in the club dedicated to republican political prisoners as part of its 50th anniversary celebrations. The bust was hand-carved by the 31-year-old Clareman over two and a half months and three locations. The work began on Thassos Island and the marble was then moved to Athens while Paraic attended the Athens School of Sculpture. The life-size bust that stands at 60cm in height, 50cm in length and 35cm in width was then shipped to Kildysart to Paraic’s workshop for completion. The young sculptor explains that there were no short cuts taken with the work as it was all completed by hand. He even made the pointer he used to carve the piece using clay and then casting it in plaster. “I felt very grateful to be allowed to do this work and I would love to do more realist pieces like this,” said Paraic. “A lot of the work I do is garden sculpture and abstract work, but I enjoy doing realist pieces too. I work mainly in stone – limestone, granite and marble, but have also done some abstract work in wood.” From as early as three years old Paraic has been creating pieces of sculpture. He attended art college in Limerick but his love of sculpture saw him leave other mediums behind in favour of sculpting. He attended the School of Sculpture in Leitrim where he learnt his craft and further honed his talent in Greece. He hopes to continue to make commissioned pieces of all shapes and sizes from his workshop in West Clare.

PICKPOCKETS are targetting Ennis with up to three separate incidents reported to Ennis gardaí on Wednesday last alone.

On each occasion wallets were stolen from unsuspecting tourists, all from back pocket locations.

Gardaí are warning members of the public to be on the lookout for suspicious behaviour and to keep valuables in front pockets for safety.

The latest warning comes almost three weeks after a public announcement was issued to supporters at the Clare – Cork Munster U-21 hurling final in Cusack Park, alerting the large attendance to reports of pickpockets among the crowd. This was an unprecedented public announcement at a Clare GAA match.

It is suspected that a gang with pickpocket expertise are ‘dropping in and out of Ennis’, identifying targets and then leaving the town quickly.

Gardaí are understood to be examining street CCTV pictures from a number of locations throughout Ennis in a bid to identify the thieves.

However an American tourist who had his wallet stolen in Ennis last week has said the experience did not ruin his visit to the town.

Timothy Sweeney from Washington told The Clare People last week how his wallet was taken from a rear pants pocket near Parnell Street on Wednesday afternoon.

Mr Sweeney explained that he turned and bumped into a young man.

He said it was only after the encounter that he noticed his wallet was missing. Mr Sweeney said the wallet contained € 110 and $200 and a number of credit cards.

“I was walking around with my camera out. It was obvious I was a tourist. I guess they thought I was an easy mark. It’s a lesson learned”, Mr Sweeney told The Clare People .

LISCANNOR man, Thomas Cusack, could move one step closer to becoming a Saint this week as Pope Francis is expected to mention the martyred Clare priest when he undertakes the first visit of any siting Pope to South Korea in more than 25 years.

Last September the Korean Church applied to the Holy See to begin the process which could one day lead to the Columban priest being beatified.

If successful, Fr Cusack ([ictured right), would become only Ireland’s fourth saint of the past thousand years; joining Cellach of Armagh, Saint Oliver Plunkett and Charles of Mount Argus.

Fr Cusack was killed by communist forced in Korean in 1950 and the Korean Church are seeking his beatification as a martyr.

The Liscannor man’s 15 years in Korean were marked by intense bravery and hardship.

He refused to flee the county during the Japanese invasion in World War II and as a result spend a number of years in a brutal prisoner of war camp.

He again refused to leave the country when the Korean War erupted and was captured in 1950 but a communist troops as the retreated north of the border following a battle on July 24, 1950.

Fr Cusack, along with a number of other Catholic priests were martyred in “the massacre at Taejon Prison” with took place on September 24, 1950.

To mark the 80th anniversary of the arrival of the Columban in Korea in 1933 – the Korean Church has put forward a number of priests martyred during the Korean War for sainthood.

As part of the anniversary Korean Church leaders are set to lobby the Pope during his visit this week for the cause of Fr Cusack and seven other Columban priests who lost their lives at Taejon Prison.

“One of the gratifying things is that this process has been initiated by the two dioceses in which the seven men worked,” said Fr Donal O’Keeffe, Regional Director of the Columbans in Korea.

Father Cusack was born in Ballycotton in Liscannor on October 23, 1910. He was educated in Ballycotton National School before going on to attend St Mary’s College in Galway.

He entered the Columbans in 1928 and was ordained in 1934. The following year he was sent to Korea and at the time of his death he was serving in Columban mission in Mokpo.

At presents Ireland boasts a total of 166 saints. The vast majority of these saints were lived during the fifth, sixth and seventh centuries which Ireland was known as the Island of Saints and Scholars.

THE ORGANISERS of The Outing matchmaking festival in Lisdoonvarna are aiming to host Ireland’s first gay wedding at the festival over the next two or three years.

The festival, which is the world’s first gay matchmaking event, attracted nearly 3,000 gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people to North Clare – where Lisdoonvarna matchmaker, Willie Daly, and Irish Gay icon Panti, matched couples together.

Last year was the first time that a gay element was included in the 157 years of the Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival and according to Outing organiser, Eddie McGuinness, the event produced a number of long term couples.

“We had a nice few matches last year, not just by Willie Daly himself but also Panti, who tried her hand at some matchmaking.

“I personally know three couples who are still together from last year, which isn’t a bad result at all,” said Eddie.

“It is brilliant that real, long-term relationship are coming out of this festival. We have teamed up with the Marriage Equality organisation this year to get the message across that it all about love, commitment and finding the right person.

“Hopefully in a few years we will be able to go out and have a good old wedding in Lisdoonvarna.

“Hopefully next year or the year after we will be able to have a wedding in Lisdoonvarna, during the Outing. That would really be something amazing.

“The people of Lisdoonvarna and the surrounding villages really opened their arms and embraced The Outing last year.

“It was amazing to be in Clare for the weekend. My mother is originally from Clare and to be in Lisdoonvarna and such a great Clare welcome was something very special.”

This years event will run from October 3 to October 6 and will be the last weekend of the five week long Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival. TV personality, Brendan Courtney, will host blind date as part of the festival while singer Brian Kennedy will also perform.

For more information visit www. theouting.ie THE CEO of Irish Water Safety, John Leech is urging the public to use Local Authority manned lifeguarded bathing places in Clare to ensure that they avoid being stung by two of the most venomous jellyfish that visit Irish waters. The warning has been issued after a Lions mane Jellyfish was spotted in Dublin last week. The Portuguese man-o-war jellyfish was also reported in Wexford and Waterford last Tuesday. Meanwhile, a young girl was taken to hospital after suffering an allergic reaction to a jellyfish sting at Barleycove beach in West Cork last week. “The Lifeguards ensure your safety on our beaches and will be patrolling on their surf rescue boards and on the beaches to ensure that they do not pose a threat to members of the public,” stated Mr Leech. The CEO is also alerting the public that due to the high temperatures in our waters, the prevailing westerly winds and the north Atlantic current, these potentially dangerous jellyfish are likely to appear on more of our beaches in the coming weeks.

UNEMPLOYMENT figures rose for the second month in a row in July, despite a reported increase in the numbers being employed in the county’s tourism sector.

With good weather bringing a large number of visitors to Clare beauty spots, especially on coastal areas, a significant drop in the number of people signing on the live register had been expected for July.

However, the number of people signing on increased from 8,717 in June to 8,796 in July – an increase of 79 people or just under 1 per cent.

While the June increase in the live register figures was understood to be a result of a large number of university students being unable to find summer work after the end of the college year – it is as yet unclear what has caused the negative trend to continue into July.

As in the previous month, the Ennistymon Area Office was the only area to record a reduction in the live register last month with numbers falling from 1,314 to 1,310.

The largest personnel increase in the live register was felt in Ennis where the number signing on increase from 4,934 in June to 4,968 last month.

This increase of 34 people represents a 0.6 per cent jump in just a month.

The largest percentage increase was recorded in West Clare however with the Kilrush office recording a 2.6 per cent increase in the numbers signing on.

A total of 1,255 signed on in West Clare last month, an increase of 32 on the 1,223 who signed on in June.

East Clare saw a similar trend with the numbers increase by 17 from 1,246 in June to 1,263 – an increase of 1.4 per cent.

While the recent months have shown a downward turn, the numbers recorded on last months live register is still far smaller than those recorded in of July 2012 and 2013. Indeed, last months figure represents a reduction of 1,641 people or more than 15 per cent when compared to the same month in 2012.

This recent negative turn on the county’s live register comes after consistent reduction saw the number drop it their lowest levels since the start of the recession in May of this year.

have signed up to a website which promised to get them dates with wealthy older Sugar Daddies. The owners of the Seeking Arrangement website told The Clare People

A CLARE stonemason has secured a € 223,000 write-down on his € 346,390 family home mortgage as part of a Personal Insolvency Arrangement (PIA).

The arrangement was approved by Judge Patrick Meaghan at the Circuit Court in Ennis on Tuesday.

A separate PIA in respect of the man’s wife was also granted by Judge Meaghan

The court heard the man was left with debts of almost € 2.3 million following the collapse of the man’s stone products business which went into liquidation last year.

Judge Meaghan said he recalled the case because the size of the debts involved. He complimented all sides for finalizing the agreement.

He said this represented “quite a feat” given the difficulties surrounding the titles of some of the man’s properties.

Earlier this year the man was granted court protection to allow his Personal Insolvency Practitioner (PIP), Jim Stafford, time to negotiate with secured and unsecured creditors.

Judge Meaghan said all creditors voted 100 percent in favour of the PIA at a creditors’ meeting.

The Judge said that because of the man’s low income he was unable to engage in a multi-year payment plan to his creditors.

Judge Meaghan said the man did not have to sell his home. He explained that KBC Bank have agreed to reduce the mortgage on the family home from € 346,000 to € 123,000 subject to a dividend of € 15,000 being paid to the bank as an unsecured creditor.

There is a reduction in the term of the mortgage of three years and three months.

The man is to pay a revised monthly mortgage payment of € 1,200 on the family home for 10 years and three months up to his 70th birthday.

In order to pay a dividend to his creditors the man is to sell the following assets; a farm and stables totaling 31.86 hectares; a residential buy-to-let property; a residential buy-to-let apartment; a commercial buy-to-let property and several other plots of land.

The man will also make available a lump sum to pay the PIP’s fees.

According to the arrangement no other assets of the debtor will be sold pursuant to the PIA.

Judge Meaghan said, “I am pleased to approve this arrangement.

“It was a particularly difficult case given both the size of the debts and the complexity with regards the security in respect of the assets”.

Judge Meaghan said the debtor’s banks may have legal claims against the debtor’s former solicitor for breaches of undertakings provided to the banks.

He said it is accepted this arrangement does not prejudice these potential proceedings

The unsecured creditors are listed as KBC € 333,683; EBS € 423,428; Ulster Bank € 829,982; Bank of Ireland € 8,926; Bank of Scotland € 85, 536; Emberon Finance Ltd € 29,928; Vanguard Auto Finance € 195,343 and Niamh Perrotta € 75,000.