Author: admin

AT LEAST four Kilrush families have emigrated en masse and another young family with two children under the age of 10 are packing their bags this week for Canada.

The plight of families with no option but to leave the country was highlighted by Cllr Ian Lynch (FG) at Thursday night’s meeting of the council.

He said that in many cases these families are arriving in foreign soil with no immediate prospects, just a little more hope for a future.

However many of these families have no work organised in advance and in many cases are working off hearsay that there will be work available. There have been cases where the opposite has been discovered when they arrived in another country, leaving them homeless and penniless.

Cllr Lynch said he does not want to see the people of West Clare suffer the same fate as the homeless man who died on the streets of Ennis last month.

Adding to the plight of this generation are those that are now arriving home on the completion of their visas to a country here nothing has changed.

“When they come back they aren’t entitled to anything. There is a long wait for social welfare,” said Cllr Lynch.

The former mayor of Kilrush called on the Taoiseach to establish a department of emigration that will assist the thousands of emigrants leaving every day.

This office would ensure a central point to obtain information in relation to the new destination they hope to travel to.

The office would also assist those returning home by ensuring they have appropriate and correct information on social welfare entitlements and provide further direction on introduction back in to the work force.

Cllr Marian McMahon Jones (FG) said she was aware of one family that returned to Kilrush and although they were not entitled to any social welfare, they were looked after by the Government due to their circumstances.

Not all councillors agreed that people were misinformed about their decisions, as Cllr Christy O’Malley (FF) argued, “The youth by their nature are idealistic” and will travel.

Cllr Lynch added, “I always say young people should go and travel when they are finished their education but when you see young families forced to leave that is different.”

“It is a sad indictment that we are here discussing that not only our best and brightest emigrating but that when they come back that there is no hope for them, and the only thing we can see for them is social welfare,” said Cllr Liam O’Looney (FF).

A TOTAL of 304 people presented as homeless last year in Clare according to the county’s draft homelessness plan

More women (160) than men presented as homeless with the majority of people (122) aged between 20 and 29.

A total of 19 people under the age of 19 and 10 persons aged 60+ presented as homeless in 2012.

Most of those presented (212) said Clare was their county of origin.

The next highest number of people came from Limerick (27). Non European Union homeless people accounted for 12 with three coming from EU countries.

12 people from accession state countries presented as homeless in 2012.

83 people found themselves homeless due to domestic violence; 52 due to breakdown of an independent living arrangement; 34 people pre- sented as transient; 20 people were evicted from private accommodation and 18 people presenting as homeless had been released from prison.

According to the figures four people were discharged from acute hospital; three were discharged from a treatment centre and one person was homeless due to alcohol and drug addiction.

Cllr Mary Howard (FG) told the June meeting of Ennis Town Council that young mothers and children are now becoming homeless.

She added, “That’s what I find heartbreaking about this, the stories behind the figures. This isn’t partying kids.” Cllr Howard was speaking in response to earlier comments from Cllr Michael Guilfoyle (Ind) who claimed that some homeless people who secure housing through agencies could be the source of antisocial behaviour in housing estates.

“There is often no follow up (by these agencies) in the estates,” he added.

Cllr Frankie Neylon (Ind) said that while it is “unfortunate” to see people drinking in laneways, homeless people “seem able to get housing more than our local people.”

“There are people using this homeless thing, especially in Ennis where the problem isn’t as big as that,” he added.

Cllr Paul O’Shea (Ind) said he found the figure of one person being homeless due to alcohol and drugs as “disingenuous.” He also claimed that the number of young people affected by homelessness is growing.

THE current site of Ennis National School would be “ideal” for the future development of a commercial retail centre, according to Ennis Parish.

The view that the Kilrush Road site would become a “strategic location for retail development” is contained in a submission by the Parish on the draft Ennis and Environs Development Plan to Clare County Council.

Prepared by engineering firm Paddy Coleman and Associates, the submission cites the Retail strategy for the Mid West Region (2010-2016) in stating there is “a deficiency in retail use in convenience and comparison goods within the town of Ennis”.

The submission states, “It is their opinion that Proposal Site PS1 is ideal and should be promoted by the council through the Ennis and Environs Development Plan to cater for the identified retail deficiency. It is stated that they own part of the said site (the land associated with the Boys National School) and that the land will be available in the short term when it is vacated for the new school currently under construction at Ashline”.

Ennis National School is due to move from its current site to a new building at Ashline later this year. Builders are working to an accelerated programme to have the building ready by Autumn.

Town Manager Ger Dollard has already stated that discussions with landowners have taken place so “a masterplan can be prepared for its development with the objective of completing the planning process at an early stage to ensure that the redevelopment of the site as a primary retail area can be progressed immediately on the relocation of the school to the Kilrush Road.”

The Parish submission states that in order to increase the attractiveness of this site the town centre boundary should be extended to encompass the site. It continues, “this would greatly increase the prospect of developing the site in the near future because it would (a) become a strategic location for retail development in terms of sequential testing as it would become a town centre location rather than an edge of centre location.

It is stated that other sites in the town centre i.e. Cusack Park, the Ennis Shopping Centre and the Post Office Field are not currently developable due to planning restrictions on these sites”.

The submission states that other landowners are interested in the development of the site.

MORE THAN 300 disabled Clare people are celebrating a significant victory this week as the government has been forced to row-back on plans to abolish the Mobility Allowance and Motorised Transport Grant.

The you turn has been heralded as a major victory by Clare based organistion Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) – who committed to “waging war” against the proposed cuts in March of this year.

Following a number of protest meeting held in Ennis and in Dublin, the Government has agreed to set up an inter-departmental group, to look at alternatives to scrapping the disability payments.

Organiser of Disabled People Against Cuts, Ann Marie Flanagan, yesterday warned disabled Clare people that they must be ready to fight against any future funding cuts.

“We welcomes the news that the Government will continue to provide individualised payments to significantly disabled people.

This demonstrates the benefits of speaking out and having direct representation on decision making processes,” she said.

“The Government has decided that new statutory provisions will be established to provide individual payments to people with severe disabilities who require additional income to address the costs of their mobility needs.

“The Government has agreed that payments should temporarily continue to be made by the HSE to those persons currently in receipt of the Mobility Allowance for a further number of months, pending the commencement of a statutory scheme on the basis that this would prevent hardship and alleviate stress, anxiety and uncertainty among a vulnerable group in society and having regard to the exigencies that have arisen.”

Earlier this year the Department of Health decided to ax both transport schemes after Ombudsman, Emily O’Reilly, warned the age limit on the payments was in contravention of equality legislation.

It was claimed at the time that the scheme was discriminatory against old age pensioners and – according to the Department of Health, to roll out this scheme to all people over the age of 66 would cost an estimated € 170 million per annum.

New criteria for a new schemes to assist severely disabled people with transport needs is likely to come before Government in October.

It is not yet clear how many of Clare’s estimated 9,000 disabled people will qualify for this new scheme. Criteria for the existing schemes was already considered by disable groups to be very strict – with only 300 Clare people – or 1 in every 30 disabled people – qualifying for the payments.

THE LABOUR party’s Seamus Ryan will be allowed to serve as a Clare County Councillor if elected – provided that he doesn’t get a promotion.

The North Clare man, who works as a library assistant for Clare County Council, has already stated his intention to run for the party in a Clare constituency next year.

However, according to legislation covering local government, an employee of a local authority is not allowed to serve as a county councillor – once they have achieved a certain position within the council.

Clare County Council confirmed yesterday that since 2004 any local authority employees whose maximum remuneration does not exceed the maximum remuneration for the post of Clerical Officer may become members of a local authority.

This mean that under his current level of seniority – Mr Ryan would be eligible to serve as a county councillor for the next seven years – unless he gets an unexpected promotion.

“Under the Local Government Act 2001 (Statutory Instrument 216, 2004) a person running for the County Coun- cil cannot earn more than the maximum salary of a Clerical Officer. Fortunately, I am at least seven or eight years from the top of the scale so there shouldn’t be a problem with going forward for election,” he said.

Ryan was last year elected onto the nation executive of the Labour Party, has already stated his intention to run in next years local elections – most likely in Ennis or in the new enlarged West Clare area.

ORDERS from Clare courts that will see the Health Services Executive (HSE) notified of offences committed by parents described as “serial offenders” have been welcomed by one the country’s largest child protection services.

The Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC) described the transmission of such information to health authorities as “absolutely vital” to the protection of children.

The society was commenting following directions issued by Judge Patrick Durcan in respect of two sep- arate cases at Ennis District Court last week.

Judge Durcan ordered that the Courts Services notify the HSE of the convictions recorded against a mother of two for public intoxication and a father of three sentenced to six months in prison for having heroin for sale or supply at the family home in Ennis last year.

Judge Durcan further ordered that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) furnish a list of all previous convictions to the HSE.

The man and the woman, who are both in their twenties, have multiple previous convictions.

Judge Durcan said when court has knowledge that children are in the care and control of “serial offenders”, it has a duty to protect them.

In the case of the man convicted of having heroin for sale or supply, Judge Durcan added, “I’d like to get the HSE involved here as quickly as possible.”

Caroline O’Sullivan, Director of Services with the ISPCC, said the society “absolutely welcomes” the orders to notify the HSE.

Ms O’Sullivan said, “Often the only way the HSE can intervene in situations like this is when issues like this are highlighted to them. We would welcome it.”

She continued, “We would abso- lutely welcome it. If you have a situation where parents are taking drugs or are out drinking every day there is an obvious concern about who is looking after the children; who is feeding them; who is tucking them into bed. On a physical level, that is obviously a concern but then you also an impact on an emotional level also. It is absolutely vital that this type of information is passed on.”

Ms O’Sullivan said the orders fitted with the Children First guidelines the State’s official policy on the protection and welfare of children.

She said demand for the Society’s services in the Mid West is “increasing all the time.”

THE NUMBER of commercial flights using Shannon Airport each month continues to drop – despite the completion of the Shannon Airport Authori- ty’s (SAA) new board of management this month. Figures released by the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) last week reveal the enormity of the challenge faced by the SAA’s new chief executive, Neil Pakey, with the number of commercial movements for May more than 6 per cent down on the same period in 2012. However a number of new routes connecting Shannon to America and a number of European holiday destinations have been announced in recent weeks and this is expected to have an impact on figures for later in 2013. A total of 1,667 commercial movements took place in Shannon last month. This represents a drop of almost half (45.5 per cent) when compared to May 2008 – at the height of the airports capacity. Indeed, last month represents the second worst May ever recorded in the recent history of the airport. Lower figures were recorded in May 2010 – but this historic low was brought about by the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland which crippled flight all over northern Europe. “After an expected challenging start to the year, not least due to the drop in military traffic, the additional new services that have come on stream in May and earlier this month are starting to reap benefits for us,” said a Shannon Airport spokesperson. “May was on a par with last year in terms of passenger numbers and in June we are beginning to see growth for the first time. “This is really promising considering the airport has only been independent for six months and is down to the additional new services we have been delighted to secure this year at the airport.” The continued decline of commercial traffic through Shannon Airport comes as traffic numbers coming through both Dublin and Cork have shown significant signs of recovery. Transatlantic passenger number dropped from 574,843 in 2008 to 287,923 last year. Over the same period European passenger numbers fell from 1,020,437 to just 236,699 – mostly on the back of a large pull out from Ryanair.

A BUSLOAD of tourists were sent on an extensive tour of West Clare which would not be an issue if that was their original intention.

However at the time the bus driver was attempting to drive the less than impressed passengers directly from Mullagh to Kilimer in time for the ferry, but poor road signage sent him on a tour through Doonbeg, Bellaha and into Kilkee before making the journey back to Killimer. Needless to say the tourists did not make their intended crossing on schedule and were delayed reaching Kerry as a result.

Kilrush Town Councillor Tom Prendeville (FF) said it was time for the council to follow through on a promise to upgrade signage, especially on approach roads to the town of Kilrush.

As a result of the 35 kilometre detour an appointment to have food in Kilrush also had to be cancelled.

“That was lost business to Kilrush,” said the local councillor.

“I am all for promoting West Clare and keeping tourists as long as possible in the area to sample the many attractions we have here.

“Signage should certainly offer tourists alternative destinations, but in this instance it was misguided and deceptive.

“That can be a great source of annoyance and irritation for some visitors on a tight schedule,” he said.

There is some hope for disgruntled bus drivers and bemused tourists however as Síobhan Garvey, Marketing and Development Officer in Kilrush said that the National Roads Authority is currently re-signing the national secondary N67 route from Miltown Malbay to Kilimer.

This will include the Kilkee Kilimer approach roads.

“As part of the process that will also be removing unlicensed roadside signage. The installation of their new signage scheme will provide clear directional guidance to the visiting motoring public and will include some tourist signage,” she said.

The marketing officer recognised that signage has been an issue in the area.

“There are plans to look in more detail at the Ennis approach road as a starting point by the Tidy Towns Liason Committee in the coming months.

“However both the Town Council and Tidy Town Committee are conscious that the NRA have not completed their signage project on the N67 and would like to see the outcome of this project so a clear plan can be put in place to deal with what signage needs to stay or be removed from the other approach roads in order to provide some unity to the entry – exit points of the town,” she said.

A MOTHER of two passed heroin to her partner in Killaloe Courthouse in an “act of desperation”, a court has heard.

Eileen Fitzgerald (29) was observed passing a gramme of heroin and cannabis valued at € 167 to her partner who was in custody at Killaloe District Court on May 1 (2012).

Details of the offence were heard at Ennis District Court on Wednesday. Ms Fitzgerald, with an address at Williamstown Lodge, Fedamore, Limerick, pleaded to guilty to drug possession.

Garda John Jenks of Killaloe Garda Station told the court that Ms Fitzgerald said she had been “under pressure” to pass the drugs.

He said Ms Fitzgerald’s partner told gadaí that he asked her to bring the drugs to court.

Ms Fitzgerald also pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of heroin at Cnoc Cluain, Ballina on June 23 (2012).

The court heard that gardaí found four wraps of heroin valued at € 220 in the house.

Garda Jenks told the court that Ms Fitzgerald would give the drugs to people who called to the house. She has 17 previous convictions.

Defence solicitor Jenny Fitzgibbon told the court that her client’s heroin addiction increased after her partner went into custody last year. She said Ms Fitzgerald is taking methadone and is on a waiting list for a detox programme.

Ms Fitzgibbon said passing the drugs was an “act of desperation” on her client’s behalf.

She said Ms Fitzgerald was “foolish and disrespectful” to commit such an offence in court.

Inspector Tom Kennedy said it was “debatable” whether or not prison would be the best environment for the accused.

Judge Patrick Durcan said he must balance between helping people and ensuring the system of law and order is maintained and protected. He adjourned sentencing for a brief period.

When the case resumed, Judge Durcan said he had considered imposing a lengthy sentence. He said he was concerned that Ms Fitzgerald is a young mother who had a serious drug addiction. He adjourned the case to September 4 for a pre-sentence report from the probation services. Judge Durcan granted liberty to the State to re-enter the case.

ENNIS Town Council has been urged to step in and demolish a derelict apartment block in Ennis amid fears it has become a haven for antisocial behaviour.

The Fairways apartment block near Steele’s Terrace and Marian Avenue has already been declared a derelict site the Council. It follows concerns from residents living in the area about the condition of the privately owned building and the level of antisocial behaviour it has attracted.

Marian Avenue resident Noel Purtill says the building is an “eyesore”.

He adds, “Marian Avenue is one of the oldest estates in the town. It’s a quite area. But you look at that (Fairways) and not to put too fine a point on it, you’d think you were in Beirut. And the residents of Marian Avenue have to put up with this eyesore.”

He adds, “It’s a disgrace that Clare County Council have to come along now and tidy up someone else’s mess.”

Mr Purtill says teenagers have been observed entering the building and throwing rubbish from windows.

The Council has issued a notice to the owner and is seeking to establish the market value of the site.

Ennis Town Clerk Leonard Cleary states, “The structures on the land are in a ruinous and derelict condition. The building is not fit for human habitation; the glazing is missing from most of the windows. The structure on the land is in unsightly and objectionable condition. The building is in need of re-painting; the curtains are flying out the unglazed windows.

“The surrounds of the land are strewn with litter, rubbish, debris and waste.”

Mr Cleary added, “It should be noted that there is no immediate solution in this type of situation and is subject to the owners cooperation or court proceedings.”

Cllr Brian Meaney (FF) says it is open to the Council to issue a vesting order and take control of the building. He told a meeting of Ennis Town Council that the building should be “demolished.”

He said problems with the Fairways building have “festered” for too long and now require “direct intervention” from the Council.

Deputy Mayor of Ennis, Cllr Tommy Brennan (Ind) said residents in nearby Marian Avenue have “put up with hell over the past couple of years.” The Clare People has previously highlighted the case of one homeless wheelchair bound man who had been sleeping in a squat in Fairways.