Category: News

AN AMALGAMATION of Fianna Fáil, Sinn Fein and Independent councillors voted to cut property tax rates in the county by the full permissable amount of 15 per cent for 2015.

The cut means means people who valued their house at € 100,000 or less will receive a reduction amounting to roughly 23 cent per week or € 12 per year, while those whose homes are valued at over € 300,000 will see their tax bill fall by up to € 90 per annum.

As a result of the decision, a number of vital local projects may now be put on hold following the decision to cut the property tax in Clare by 15 per cent.

Before the vote councillors were told that the reduction in the tax rate could see the Council having € 1.56m less to spend on local projects and services.

A NUMBER of vital local projects may now be put on hold following the decision to cut the property tax in Clare by 15 per cent.

Councillors at last Friday’s special meeting of Clare County Council voted by a majority 17 to 10 in favour of introducing the full 15 per cent cut available to the local authority.

The decision means people who valued their house at € 100,000 or less will receive a reduction amounting to roughly 23 cent per week – but the council will lose € 1.56 million in funding for services.

Ahead of the vote, the executive of council circulated a list of possible outcomes to councillors – depending on how the vote went. This document listed 20 separate projects, located in each of the four electoral areas, that would not be possible if the full 15 per cent reduction was applied.Mayor of Clare, John Crowe (FG), said yesterday that it was inevitable that services would be effected.

“There is no doubt that people will suffer. We were talking about € 1.5 million to be split between the four electoral areas – we all know about the massive list of jobs that are waiting to be done across the county with estates to be taken in charge, lighting to be repaired and services provided. The € 1.5 million would have had a big impact on the work we could do, but when you break it down, it would have meant less than € 30 a year to the 91 per cent of people on the lower rate, which isn’t a lot,” he said.

Fine Gael and number of independent councillors voted against the reduction with Fianna Fail, Sinn Fein and the majority of independents voting for the reduction.

“Our budget is very risky at this stage. We have so many services that are crying out for funding – with road, hedge cuttings, libraries, and our beaches – and I saw this as funding that we could use at our discretion to provide these services better,” said Cllr Christy Curtin (Ind).

“I would not like to describe what motivates anyone else to vote, but I will not engage in auction politics. I will always take the decision that I feel is in the long-term benef t of the county and I feel that this would have been a better county if we had that money to spend on vital services.”

GARDAÍ in Ennis are investigating a violent attack on a former IRA man and convicted killer that has sparked fears among residents living in the area. The attack occurred recently at Abbeyville housing estate in the early morning hours.

The intended target of the attack was asleep in his sitting room, when two men arrived at the scene at around 3am in a light coloured car.

The men smashed the front window of the room where the victim (63) was sleeping, forcing him to f ee his attackers who it is thought were armed with weapons including a machete. He suffered minor injuries from breaking glass but was not hospitalised. The men f ed the scene before the arrival of gardaí and an ambulance. A source described the attack at Abbeyville as “vicious”. “This was violent. You could see the hack marks on the PVC from them trying to get in. They meant to do him a lot of damage. It was vicious”, a source said. The man said the attack is the latest in series of violent incidents that have occurred in the area over the past year.

“It’s a nightmare to be living there. People are worried that something more serious will happen”, he added. A senior garda conf rmed yester day the incident is under investigation and that no arrests have yet been made.

CLARE is set to lose almost half of the € 8.276 million allocated to the county for coastal protection works following last year’s devastating storms. The Off ce of Public Works [OPW] wrote to Clare County Council last week, warning them that they could lose funding for coastal protection, such as damaged sea walls, if the money is not spent by the end of 2014. To date, the council has been granted € 16.2 million from the Department of Environment to cover damages from the January storm including € 8.2 million from the OPW for repairs to coastal defences – but have yet to receive any allocation following the devastating St Bridget’s Day storm in February.

The council have written to the OPW and the Department of Envi ronment on numerous occasions over the last seven months, informing them that it is not possible to develop an effective programme to facilitate spending all the money allocated for coastal repairs and coastal defences in a reasonable and balanced manner until a decision has been made on the February allocation.

It took the government 39 days to allocate money in relation to the January storms but, as of today, September 23, 235 days have passed since the equally destructive February storms with no allocation forthcoming.

This delay has resulted in a situation where the OPW is warning the council that it is about to lose millions of euro in vital funding. The Clare People understands the OPW is fully aware that the council cannot spend this money.

Speaking last week County Manager, Tom Coughlan, says he has explained the situation to the OPW on numerous occasions but they “don’t seem to get it”.

A NUMBER of priests from the Catholic Diocese of Killaloe were among those protesting at the now postponed Permanent Diaconate, which bars women from taking up the role within the Church locally.

Among those speaking at the open forum in the Inn at Dromoland and attended by more than 150 people was Ogonnelloe, Bodyke and Tuamgraney based Fr Donagh O’Meara who queried “how are decisions made in our diocese and who makes them?”

“I was on that listening process and there was only one time when I heard about deacons. Once. Where did that decision come from and who made it? That’s the debate that needs to happen. That’s the deeper question,” he said referring to the Listening Process introduced by Bishop Kieran O’Reilly.

According to those co-ordinating it, this process included feedback from 2,500 to 3,000 people and took 400 hours to put together.

“The overriding thing that I heard was about the absence of women in leadership roles and positions in the diocese. We then subsequently came back from that and what did we do? We were supposed to have to listened but we put in another layer of men. That appals me really,” he added.

Kilmihil priest Fr Peter O’Loughlin was equally forthright.

“One of the things that holds us all back at times is fear. Fear is created by people who have power and very often we’re afraid to speak. I congratulate you on speaking [to the organisers of the forum]. Thanks be to God you were listened to when some of us who have tried to speak on other oc- casions weren’t listened to,” he said.

“For myself I need to be listened to in my own diocese, but I’m not so I think it’s great to have groups like this expressing their viewpoints and the Church has to be listening as well,” the West Clare priest added.

Fr Harry Bohan made the point “If you smoother the debate you kill the organisation.”

Meanwhile Cross PP Fr Michael Casey asked one question, “What are the implications for the Church of excluding women from effective ministry in our own Church?” Communications off cer for the dio cese Fr Brendan Quinlivan fears were different however as he was worried that the stance taken by the women could result in a vocations crisis.

Speaking on a personal capacity he said, “If we are discouraging the development of holy orders in the Diaconate, you are also discouraging the development of holy orders in the priesthood. I hope and pray that I’m not a prophetic voice here tonight,” he said adding that the Diaconate stretches back thousands of years and that people may not understand what it entails.

“I think that in a lot of the discussion that has taken place and from people that I have listened to speaking, there is something of a lack of understanding in relation the nature of holy orders and sacrament. I’ve listened to def nitions of sacred ministry that are actually at variance with the teachings of the Catholic Church.

“It may not be your intended consequence but if you say that because women cannot be deacons, therefore we cannot have the Diaconate in the diocese then you might as well say that because women cannot be priests in the universal church today, that we should not accept candidates for the priesthood. That is the logical consequence of your argument,” he said.

Bishop Kieran O’Reilly sent his apologies for his non attendance at the forum.

One of the forum organisers conf rmed that Bishop Reilly had extend ed an invitation to meet with the forum committee, which she said they would take up.

“They are signs that the charisms, vision and ethos of the sisters are alive and well in our community. May our worship, praise and thanksgiving give fresh heart to us all in bearing witness to Jesus and in playing our own part in building up his kingdom of mercy and redeeming love.” The Sisters of Mercy founded Mary Immaculate Secondary School in Lisdoonvarna in 1947, responding to the very serious need for education in the area. Over more than 60 years, the local convent of sisters in the parish worked to develop the school and the local area by serving as teachers, catechists, and chaplains. Mary Immaculate College is now a thriving centre of educational excellence, and has been entrusted by the Sisters of Mercy to the patronage of CEIST – Catholic Education, an Irish Schools Trust. Tributes to the decades of service undertaken by the sisters were also paid by school principal John O’Loughlin and Sister Caitlin Con neely, provincial of the western province of the Sisters of Mercy.

WEST Clare may soon become the windfarm capital of Ireland with plans lodged for two major windfarm developments with the planning authorities last week.

These projects include the construction of what could be the largest ever windfarm undertaken in the county at Slaghbooly in Kilmaley, as well as separate plans for the construction of what would be the tallest turbines ever built in Clare at Cahermurphy in Kilmihil.

Slaghbooly Wind Farm Limited lodged plans to construct a 29-turbine windfarm in Kilmaley with An Bord Pleanala last week. The plans were lodged under the Strategic Infrastructure Development (SID) process, which allows for the developers of very large projects, which are considered to be of national importance, to gain planning permission directly from the planning board and not from Clare County Council.

The SID process is reserved for very large projects and no Clare windfarm has ever received it initial planning through an SID. Only the € 200 million West Clare Renewable Energy project, which when completed will provide enough electricity for all of Clare and Limerick, has been the subject of an SID – and that was only after it received its initial planning through Clare County Council.

While there is no concrete documented lodged in relation with this project, the fact that it is being considered for an SID would indicate it is likely to be large in scale.

Meanwhile, Mid Clare Renewable Energy lodged plans for four windfarms at Cahermurphy in Kilmihil with Clare County Council last week. According to information lodged with Clare County Council, these windfarms would have a maximum ground to blade tip height of 131 metres. This amounts to a height of around 429 feet or well over half the height of the Cliffs of Moher at its highest point.

This planning permission is based on a previous successful planning permission granted at the same location for a smaller scale development. The planning permission also mentions improving road access to the site and the construction of a wind anemometry mast, which could itself reach up to 90 metres in height.

The largest windfarm in Ireland is located in Tipperary and has a height of 140 metres from ground to blade tip.

BILLIONAIRE tycoon Donald Trump remained true to his promise to object to a nine turbine windfarm in the vicinity of his golf links and hotel in Doonbeg, when he lodged an 11th hour objection.

The owner of the Trump International Golf Links Ireland is one of 42 objectors in total, with the majority of the objections coming from local people and environmentalists.

Jim Hughes, Cunnane Stratton Reynolds, Copley Hall, Cotters Street, Cork, lodged the 16-page objection on behalf of Trump International Golf Links Ireland (TIGL) Ireland Enterprises Ltd.

Included in the objection is a detailed 40-page Observation Report carried out by Creagh House Environmental Limited.

The essence of the objection suggests that the second attempt by Clare Coastal Wind Power Ltd to build the windfarm just four kilometres from the golf resort in Doonbeg, will “have a signif cant negative impact on tourism”.

Clare Coastal Wind Power Ltd has applied for a 10-year planning application that would allow nine electricity-generating wind turbines of up to 126 metres in height to be built in Carrowmore South, Einagh and Shragh, two kilometres south of Doonbeg village.

According to the Trump objection; “The resort primarily relies on bookings from the international and in particular the North American market and a reduction in bookings as a consequence of the visual impact from the proposed development will have a serious negative impact on tourism in the area.”

The consultants commissioned by the Trump company go on to say; “The resort provides signif cant di – rect and indirect employment and represents an investment of € 150 million in the area, which will generate the same again in additional indirect tourism investment, giving an estimated total tourism investment of up to € 300 million along the West Clare coast and surrounding area.

“A loss of business at Doonbeg Golf Resort will have a direct impact on employment at the resort and also the surrounding area where many supporting tourist related businesses have emerged and thrived in the past 10 years,” they claim.

The objection also questioned the impact of the development on the local environment, stating there is a lack of appropriate f eldwork carried out to establish the impact.

It also states there “is an absence of any material commentary on the potential effects of a simultaneous construction of a Tullabrack windfarm and a Shragh windfarm.”

The Irish Peatland Conservation Council, with a base at Lullymore, Rathangan, Co Kildare, also raised concerns about the proposal on the West coast.

In its submission Tadhg O’Corcora, Conservation Off cer, said that while the IPCC recognises the importance of increasing the renewable energy sector as part of international efforts to combat climate change, it could not support the proposed development in Doonbeg as it would result in the destruction of “a mosaic of peatland habitats and its associated wildlife.”

A GROUP of women who have given their lives to serving the Catholic Church in Clare said they were hurt, upset and ignored following a pastoral letter calling for male only deacons to serve the Diocese of Killaloe.

At the weekend Bishop Kieran O’Reilly shelved the plans saying he would “not now proceed with the introduction of the Permanent Deaconate at this time in the diocese.”

Weeks earlier in a pastoral letter he asked for “men married or single, and who are already involved in some aspect of lay ministry or leadership in the community,” to apply for the position of deacon. No women could apply.

Among the jobs listed for these men were charity work, liturgy work, and becoming ministers of the Eucharist – roles currently being undertaken in the main by women in the diocese.

At a forum at the Inn at Dromoland last night (Monday) these women asked for their voices to be heard and a more inclusive deaconate to be developed.

“In 2014 is it appropriate that they bring in another male only ministry? What impression does it give of the Church?” asked Kathleen MacDonald from Cross.

Ms MacDonald is a co-ordinator of the sacraments, prepares creative liturgies, gives retreats to Conf rma tion children as well as being on the pastoral council and f nancial com mittee in her local parish.

Mary Hanley from Ennis who was part of the Diocesan Pastoral Council and involved in the two year long “Listening Process” introduced by the bishop and resulted in the pastoral plan said the document was about empowering lay men and women to do more work.

The Pastoral Plan of the Diocese of Killaloe 2013 to 2020 outlined plans to “empower men and women to live their baptismal calling in the Church at local and diocesan levels” and “To call forth the variety of gifts present in our communities and put them at the service of all.”

Ms Hanley explained that the pastoral letter was then “dropped in” and was “hugely hurtful for women”.

Rita O’Brien from Scarriff, a midwife by profession, was hoping to do masters in pastoral care and was excited in getting more involved in the Church as a layperson until she saw the letter.

“This was an ad for something I knew I had a vocation to do and have the academic ability to study for,” she said. “I was deeply upset on a personal level.”

Martina Meskell from Clonlara, the facilitator of the meeting, said this group of women were not radicals or even feminists.

“We do not want any negativity or divisiveness over this,” she said, adding that they just wanted the pastoral plan implemented to include everyone irrespective of gender.

“We are all ordinary women who give our time voluntary because we care and have a strong faith.”

“It took a lot of courage to speak out with passion and dignity.

“There was a fear of speaking out because there was a fear of damaging relationships with parish priests or jeopardising employment for those women working for the dioceses,” she said.

“We really welcome Bishop Kieran’s decision to put this on hold and acknowledge his commitment to dialogue.”

A TEENAGER has been sentenced to 10 months in prison for making hoax phone calls to the emergency ser vices in Clare. In calls made on November 13, 2013 and June 16, 2014, Nathan Coughlan ( 18) claimed a male had jumped into the River Fergus, Ennis District Cour t heard on Wednesday. Both claims turned out to be false and the calls were subject to a garda investigation. Mr Coughlan, with an address at Mallow Road, Doneraile Cork but who is from Ennis, pleaded guilty to two offences contrar y to