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has learned that 6,513 parking tickets have been placed on cars parked in the town up until last week, an increase on 6,369 during the same period in 2004.

But, there has been a sharp increase in the number of mo- torists taken to court on the issue. Twenty-one per cent of cases (1,367) came before the

courts, after the fines were not paid and the reminders ig- nored. This compared with just nine per cent (573) last year.

At Ennis District Court last week, the majority of offend- ers were fined €100, but some were handed down fines of €1,250.

Of the 6,513 tickets issued by the town’s four traffic war- dens so far this year, 11] per cent (716) were cancelled on appeal; 30 per cent of driv- ers (1,954) paid their €19 fine within 21 days; 21 per cent (1,368) paid after receiving a first notice; a further 15 per cent (977) paid €40 after re-

ceiving a second notice; two per cent paid €52 after receiv- ing a court summons, with the remaining 21 per cent being taken to court over the issue.

The biggest number of tick- ets are issued to drivers who do not pay and display in the car parks, including at Abbey Street, Woodquay and Parnell Street and people who fail to display parking discs. But drivers parking on double yel- low lines are also regularly pe- nalised.

Ennis town council staff of- ficer Barry Keating said every ticket was followed up and every driver was given “every

chance” to pay.

The money from the fines imposed in the district court goes into a central Government fund and is allocated from there. But, the money earned from the fines paid goes into the day-to-day running of the council, he said.

“People still want to park outside of the shop. They would rather take the chance and they are getting caught,” | aTemcy-HKCb

He advises people working in Ennis to avail of long-stay car parks at Glor and Clough- leigh where a fixed rate applies for the entire day.

THE new Telemedicene service was launched by Albert Reynolds in hospi- tals in Ennis last week.

The Mid-Western Regional Hospi- tal, Ennis and Cahercalla, will benefit from the this new consultancy service.

This new service will allow doctors from all over the world to offer online ob TFs slot

Special tributes were paid to fami- lies that played a major role in bringing the service to Clare.

Marie O’Sullivan initiated a fund- raising drive after her sister Caroline, died from cancer when she was 13.

She wrote to schools asking students to donate a euro each for cancer treat- ment.

This led to the Ireland Children for Children Foundation leading a drive to bring Telemedicene to hospitals throughout Ireland.

On Wednesday, Marie’s fundrais- ing efforts were recognised with the

installation of the new technology in Ennis Mid-Western.

At Cahercalla Hospital another Tele- TNasLON (CAI emN To M’s (CONE RM UDER oI OLsOe

During this ceremony Andrew and Loretta McLoughlin also presented a cheque for €13,500 to the hospital in memory of Anna McLoughlin.

Anna McLoughlin died from cancer in 2002.

Mr Reynolds paid tribute to the ef- forts made by all families who had helped in the fundraising efforts.

He also revealed that the service may become more widespread throughout Ireland.

‘The Department of Health and the new health authorities are considering making it a new national programme and putting proper structures in place.

“They are planning to talk to us about bringing it to more a adult hospi- tals,” said Mr Reynolds.

The former Taoiseach is currently chairman of the the Ireland Children for Children Foundation.

A LIMERICK man who assaulted a bar staff member after he was refused entry to a pub during a festival in Sixmilebridge, has been jailed for three months.

But Thomas Power (43), of Sul- lane Crescent, Raheen, Limerick, will not serve time, if he carries out 200 hours community service.

Shannon District Court was told that the accused struck a Mr Hunt, after he was refused entry at The

Mill Bar, Sixmilebridge, on Janu- ary 8, 2005.

Defending solicitor Daragh Has- sett told the court his client was in Sixmilebridge for a festival that day. A session was taking place at the back of the bar and when he was not allowed in, he hit out.

He said his client had problems with alcohol and had “fallen off the wagon” over the years. He said the incident was a “watershed” for his client and he had not drank al-

cohol since it took place.

Judge Joseph Mangan adjourned the case until November, to allow for a community service report to be carried out and remanded the accused on bail until then. He 1m- posed a number of bail conditions, including that the accused abstain from alcohol, stay out of licensed premises, stay out of Clare, except for court attendances and report to Henry Street Garda Station in Limerick once a week in a “sober and orderly condition.”

CLARE County Council has secured an exclusion order against a couple living in a housing estate in Ruan, after a court heard their neighbours were subjected to hardship and ‘serious threats” as a result of their behaviour.

Mark and Louise Woodbridge had resided at Toormore Es- tate in Ruan, prior to their eviction by the Council over a week ago.

Brendan Murphy told Ennis District Court that he lived with his wife and family directly across from the home the Woodbridges had resided in. He is a tenant of Clare County Council.

He said he moved in at the end of July and became aware of the Woodbridges at the beginning of August. He said the

couple were fighting amongst themselves in their garden on one occasion and were ‘loud and vulgar.’ He said there was an instance where they hit their own car and shouted abuse at each other.

He was awakened one night to hear a lady screaming for help and she then “turned her anger towards us,’ Mr Murphy told the court.

He said his family received death threats, threats that the windows on his house would be broken and that his car would be damaged, while his children were called “vulgar” names.

“We couldn’t leave our house. There were serious threats that gangs would come down from Dublin with guns and kill us,’ he said.

The troubles continued on a daily basis, he said. Louise Woodbridge would lean out of the window of her house and

make threats to her neighbours.

He said he did not know the Woodbridges and this type of activity could take place at any time of the day or night. “We were terrified of them. We don’t know the people. We didn’t know how serious their threats were,” he said.

Clare County Council estates manager Dan Keane told the court that he notified the Woodbridges about the court hear- ing. However the couple did not appear.

Barrister Pat Quinn said he was applying for the interim or- der made a week previously to be confirmed as an exclusion order, to remain in place for three years. He pointed out that the couple had obeyed the interim order.

Judge Joseph Mangan said he was acceding to the applica- nto

OFFICIAL figures for one- off houses have been con- sistently over-estimated, according to a rural rights campaigner.

Prof Seamus Caulfield of the Irish Rural Dwellers As- sociation said that while 49 per cent of Clare’s popula- tion currently lived in the Open countryside, an aver- age of only 38 per cent of the planning permissions granted over the past year had been for one-off rural houses.

CSO figures had wrongly and consistently overstated the number of one-off hous- es by including houses in the

back gardens of Dublin city and all other cities and towns as one-off houses, for statis- tical purposes, he claimed.

Echoing Prof Caulfield, Independent MEP Marian Harkin said that planning decisions in Clare did not reflect the rural population of the county, or the need to preserve viable population in the rural areas.

She said it was essential to preserve the balance be- tween urban and rural popu- ETH Toyatce

“Tt is a major scandal that the people who have the greatest input into produc- ing our planning laws, have not even known the correct

statistics of the number and type of houses being built in the country,” she said.

Despite this, planning reg- ulations and guidelines had been produced, which were geared to restricting the preservation of viable rural population and pressuring people to live in towns and villages, she said.

“Recent CSO figures have revealed that for the first quarter of 2005, a higher percentage of plan- ning permissions for one-off houses were granted in the Dun Laoire/Rathdown area of Dublin city than in the whole of County Clare – a patently ludicrous situation”, said MEP Harkin.

Ms Harkin said that a sub- stantial campaign sustained by some national media and “influencers” had led to the creation and maintenance of a prejudice against grant- ing planning permission for one-off houses, in every county of Ireland including ETc

“This situation must be changed by insisting on the creation of an accurate ba- sis for housing statistics and analysis produced by the CSO and the Economic and Social Research Institute, so that planning regulations and planning decision are in future based on facts rather than the present fantasy,’ she said.

THE Tanaiste and Minister for Health Mary Harney will launch a €1.6 million one-stop-shop for children with disabilities, in En- eh

Minister Harney will officially open the newly refurbished Teach Boru on the grounds of St. Joseph’s Hospital, on Friday. Teach Boru has been equipped with state-of- the-art facilities to help identify and support children with special needs. The one-stop-shop service is doing away with the practice of

multiple appointments in count- less locations for children with disabilities and their families.

‘In the past, parents who were concerned about their child’s de- velopment have been left to run round a variety of services, both state and voluntary, in a number of different locations. Follow- ing national and international research and consultation with parents and professionals, we decided on a one-stop-shop ap- proach to provide a seamless service for children from birth to six years,’ said Margaret Galvin,

Project Manager of the Regional SBD Ae) yelolmeoascocmeeUl the professionals now see a child at the same time, in the same room, in Teach Boru. The team also operates an outreach service in Kilrush.

Six early intervention teams will provide services for children from birth to six with develop- mental delay. These will include clinical psychologists, occupa- tional therapists, early interven- tion specialists, physiotherapists and speech and language thera- pists.

PLANS to build the long-delayed €25m sewage plant at Clareabbey, Ennis, have taken a major step for- ward, it was confirmed this week.

A developer has dropped a series of objections against Compulsory Purchase Orders for the plant, made by Clare County Council.

The new plant will replace the creaking system already serving Ennis’s fast-increasing population and help reduce pollution into the River Fergus. It will cater for a pop- ulation of 50,000.

Earlier this year, the bid to de-

velop the sewage treatment plant was Stalled after the Killaloe Di- ocesan Trust and local landowner, Peter Anthony Liddy objected to the CPO in its current form going ahead.

The Trust subsequently sold 35 acres of land to a property devel- oper for €8.5 million and the de- veloper took on the objection.

The objections lodged resulted in An Bord Pleanala calling an oral hearing into the case held on Tues- day, September 6. However, County Engineer Tom Carey confirmed this week that the two objections were withdrawn at the oral hearing.

Mr Carey said that it was hoped that work would proceed on the new system next year. Currently, the contract documents are with the Department of the Environment and the Council is awaiting their go-ahead to proceed.

With the 35 acres of land being sold for €8.5 million, it is expected to cost the Council over €2 million to compulsorily acquire the lands.

The Environmental Impact State- ment (EIS) into the scheme was published at the end of 2002 and planning permission was secured for the proposal last year.

The EIS states that a ‘do noth-

ing’ option in relation to the current sewage works “is not viable” and “the existing problems will be ex- acerbated over the next few years as increasing demands are put on the drainage system and treated plants due to expanded environment”.

The EIS also point out that the failure to put in place the proposed new water treatment plant will re- sult in the Council contravening the EU Council Directive concering waste-water treatment.

In his objection, Peter Anthony Liddy described the Council’s CPO as “ill-conceived, uninformed and Ure ALN koe

A PROSECUTION be- ing taken by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) against a Shannon- based = pharmaceutical plant has been adjourned to October for the service of a Book of Evidence.

The | German-owned Schwarz Pharma firm is accused of nine separate breaches of its Integrated Pollution Control (IPC) licence.

State solicitor Martin Linnane told Shannon District Court that the Book of Evidence is not yet ready and the case can, on consent, be ad- journed to the October Ota Mae te te

Initially, the prosecu- tion against the company was being taken by the Environmental — Protec- tion Agency (EPA). How- ever, after Judge Joseph Mangan heard an outline of the evidence against the company in March, he deemed the case too serious to be heard in the

district court.

As a result, the prose- cution is now being taken by the DPP and the mat- ter will be heard in the Circuit Court, where the company faces fines of up to €10 million.

At the company’s ini- tial court appearance in March, the court was told Schwarz Pharma would be pleading guilty to the nine alleged breaches.

The court was told that air emissions from the plant in August 2004, oyale-NeenbarS suspected cancer-causing substanc- es, were found to be 36 times the legal limit.

The company is also facing two __ separate charges of breaching air emission limits in rela- tion to an organic solvent that can affect the central nervous system and cause irritation and headaches.

The company is also accused of filing mis- leading reports with the EPA between November 21, 2003 and August 24,

ples

Six days after the dis- trict court appearance in March, Schwarz Pharma decided on a voluntary basis to suspend certain production ROCA ers which could give rise to emissions exceeding the levels in its Integrated Pollution Control (IPC) granted by the Environ- mental Protection Agen- OVA @ 8) 0 ¥P

The partial shutdown lasted for six weeks be- fore the company recom- menced production in April. To-date, this year, the company has spent €6 million on enhanced environmental controls.

This includes €3 mil- lion on putting in place liquid scrubbers on its pharmaceutical plant and an additional €3 million Spent on a new waste wa- ter treatment plant.

The company currently has an application with the EPA for an updated Integrated Pollution Con- trol (IPC) and a decision is due later this month.

THE success of the book, ‘Name your place’— the brainchild of Club na Sionna — which was printed last year has prompted an updated second edition to be published.

6,000 copies of the book, which is based on placenames (logain- mneacha) were printed last year and an additional 15,000 copies of the second edition will be printed shortly.

Club na Sionna, which incorpo- rates Conradh na Gaeilge and Glor na nGael in Shannon, 1s responsible for the publication.

A large group of people from the Shannon area were involved in the publication of the book, with La- bhras O Donghaile and his wife Sorcha to the fore.

The book is bilingual — the in- troduction in written mainly in English, while the logainmneacha (placenames) are explained in Eng-

lish, throughout the book.

“We have been involved in pla- cenames since 1973,’ said Sean O Nuanain, chairman of Club na Sionna. “People are very interested in placenames, household names and names of businesses and office blocks,” he added.

“There was a great demand, among builders, councillors and es- tate agents. The second edition will include a wider number of business names,” added Mr O Nuanain.

It will be available shortly at branches of Glor na nGael, County Councils, estate agents, tidy towns committees, gaelscoileanna and all Irish organisations throughout Ire- land.

Meanwhile, the Ciorcal Com- hra meets every week at the Wolfe Tones’ clubhouse between 8.45 and 9.45pm. Everyone is being encour- aged to get involved and use the cu- pla focail. The theme is ‘Don’t lose it — use it.’

RESIDENTS in the Ballybeg area of Ennis have claimed that conten- tious plans for a 120-residential unit proposed by McCarthy Bros will lead to a devaluation of property in iW elom-N Kore

In the next number of days, Clare County Council is expected to rule on the plan by the Ennis construc- tion firm to develop 120 homes at Ballybeg on the western side of Ennis near the main Ennis-Kilrush IWXey- (ee

The development comprises of 40 three-bedroom homes, 47 two- bedroom homes, 5 four-bedroomed homes and 28 apartments.

However, in an objection, backed by a petition from Ballybeg resi- dents, they claim that they are con- cerned that “with an estate of this size, it may have a negative effect on

the value of our property.”

The residents state: “The exist- ing residential housing on the Bal- lybeg Road, consists of low-density Owner-occupied detached family dwellings. The proposed high-den- sity development consisting of apartments and two and three bed- room semi-detached houses would alter the character of the area very significantly.

“The type of development pro- posed would suggest that many of the units will be rental properties and that in general the occupiers will most likely be transitory and car-reliant. It is obvious that such a development would not be in-keep- ing with, or appropriate to, the exist- ing adjoining and surrounding resi- dential houses in the area.

“The availability of an adequate water supply to the proposed devel-

Opment is seriously open to ques- tion. The houses on the Ballybeg Road are already subjected to an in- adequate flow of water.

“Should flow 120 houses be grant- ed, this will do nothing for the water pressure in the existing houses. We request that a hydrological report be completed for this proposed devel- Opment and we are furnished with the information as to how this will affect our already inconsistent water supply.

“The environmental impact of this proposed development would be to destroy an area of natural karst and wildlife — amongst others, a wild goat herd of 38, foxes, hedgehogs and a number of protected floral species.

The residents claim “that the pro- posed development will add noth- ing to the overall atmosphere and

well being of this area. The density of this proposed site is not in keep- ing with the ‘established planning and development practices’ of this area.

“We further raise the question, what potential impacts would a phase two of this type of housing have on the area. We feel that such a development, if allowed, would be used as a precedent and other such developments would quickly follow.

“We, the residents of Ballybeg, are of the opinion that this development should be refused in its entirety.”

On traffic safety, the residents state that “the sightlines for an exit from the proposed development on to the Ballybeg Road is in a danger- ous hollow and will remain totally inadequate and a danger to traffic already on the road and to the traffic emerging onto the road.”