Category: News

CARS are being continuously broken into and vandalised at Clare’s most popular tourist beach because of a lack of basic security measures at a local authority car park.

This is despite a historic commitment made by Clare County Council to invest all money raised from parking charges at Lahinch in the local area.

The local authority took in more than € 600,000 in parking charges in Lahinch between 2009 and 2011, and Cllr Bill Slattery (FG) yesterday accused the local authority of not investing the money in the local area – specifically the local authority car park on the Liscannor Road.

“There is rubbish been dumped there every night, cars and being vandalised, windows are being broken and items are being stolen from these cars. I think that this [proposed changing the car park] would actually make the council money – as more cars would be able to park there,” said Cllr Slattery.

“Between 2009 to 2011 we took in € 613,000 in car parks in Lahinch. I can’t understand where this money is going. There was an agreement that this funding would be ring fenced. I don’t think that this money is going back into Lahinch at all.”

Clare County Council yesterday indicated that they would consider the proposal to upgrade the Liscannor Road car park.

“The figure mentioned [€ 613,000] is a gross figure but there are costs and expenses to come out of that, but there is a net balance of fund [from the car park charges],” said Niall Moroney, Senior Engineer at Clare County Council.

“We can look at this in the context of a plan, which is currently being prepared for the car park. It would certainly be possible to source funding for a project like this. There is a question of quantums to be addressed- we need to figure out what this will actually cost.”

THE owner of the Old Ground Hotel in Ennis says he expects the business to be fully back in action by Wednesday evening. A temporary closure was needed on Thursday last when a pipe was cracked during refurbishment work. A limited food menu is still available at the Old Ground while bar and accommodation services are running as normal.

In a statement, the hotel said an issue was identified with part of the drainage system of the hotel following a recent refurbishment of the ladies bathrooms.

The statement added, “As a precau- tionary measure, the hotel has taken the decision to temporarily close our main kitchen and we are working in conjunction with our local health authorities towards a speedy resolution of the problem.”

The hotel also apologized to customers for any inconvenience caused. The Old Ground Hotel employs 126 people.

Speaking yesterday, hotel owner Allen Flynn thanked the community and local businesses for the “avalanche of support” given to the hotel in recent days.

Mr Flynn said, “The industry that we are in is in very difficult times at the minute and to have this problem occur just coming into summer isn’t easy. But I suppose if anything has come out of it, it is truly the support of the local community and businesses since the problem arose.

“Truly we have received an avalanche of support from what I would have called competitors – I now call them friends – The Temple Gate Hotel, the Madden Family, Dromoland and especially St Flannan’s College who were more than willing to provide us with kitchen facilities over the weekend.

“They said they were willing to help somebody who does an extra special job of creating as much local employment as possible. It’s great to see support like that coming back to the hotel.”

He added, “We were doing a refurbishment of our ladies bathroom here. We were trying to solve a water issue that we had, we actually ended up cracking pipes underneath and that caused a problem with our drainage. Our drainage experts are back in with us and we’re trying to get all that sorted.”

Mr Flynn said, “At the moment we have a limited menu for food but the bar and accommodation is still running as normal.

“It was wonderful to see again over the weekend the atmosphere that could only be created in a place like Ennis with the Fleadh, with setdancing in the lobby until the wee hours.”

IT MAY have been a ‘school night’ but that did not stop the people of Loophead partying last night (Monday), as they gathered in the Longdock Bar in Carrigaholt to celebrate Loop Head peninsula being named Best Place to Holiday in Ireland.

Kilbaha woman Ailish Connolly was one of the many excited people delighted to see this area of west Clare get national recognition.

“I really can’t believe it. I was out dolphin watching on Saturday and I got a call saying they [‘The Irish Times’ sponsor] wanted to take a photograph. I got all excited but then was told that they were taking photos of all five finalists. I just kept telling myself we didn’t win, but coming in the top five was great,” she laughed.

Kevin Heapes of Pure Camping based in Querrin had spent Sunday night checking the web to see if an announcement had been made.

A win would have been a huge endorsement of the work carried out to date by Loophead Tourism, a group of local private businesses who, with the support of the Clare Local Development Company (Leader) and Clare County Council, got together to market the peninsula for sustainable tourism.

Of the 90 businesses on Loophead, as many as 45 are part of Loophead Tourism. And all 45 are in some way involved in the tourism industry.

Maps and information is published locally on recycled paper, the plaques for each building are designed and produced locally and all marketing and design work is produced locally, feeding back into the local economy.

“None of this would be possible without Leader. We would not have been able to pull it all together and market it,” said Ms Connolly.

“There are five businesses that want to get started in the next 12 months on the Loop and that cannot happen without Leader support,” she added.

Meanwhile Cillian Murphy, Chairman of Loophead Tourism said that with the company’s support sig nificant work had been undertaken during the past four to five years in establishing a community-wide approach to tourism development across the Peninsula.

“As a result of this, we have seen many members of the community establish their own tourism-based initiatives that are complemented by the supports being made available by other established local businesses, the Loophead Tourism network, Clare County Council, Clare Local Development Company (CLDC) and Fáilte Ireland,” he said.

“Loophead excelled in this competition not only because it possesses a rich variety of visitor attractions and activities and one of some of Ireland’s most unique scenery, but also because it matched the competition criteria that were very much focused on community, sustainability and the quality of the tourism product on offer. This reflects a shift within the tourism sector to visitors looking for a genuine and organic holiday experience, which is something that Loophead offers in abundance.”

THE Irish Cancer Society received just 103 enquiries from Clare last year – that is just .3 per cent of the 28,383 calls being taken nationally.

A spokesperson for the charity said it is hoped that with more awareness even more people with the disease will contact the organisation in the coming year if they need assistance.

With less than half a percent of the calls to the society coming from Clare it is one of the lowest in the country.

However local grown organisations, such as the West Clare Mini Marathon Centre, which is not affiliated with the Irish Cancer Society, is busy providing transport to an from hospital for patients and holistic and psychological support to patients and their families.

In the last month the Irish Cancer Society also announced that it would be providing transport for cancer patients in Clare to and from the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Limerick for treatment.

Other Irish Cancer Society services available to Clare patients include the National Cancer Helpline, which is staffed by specialist cancer nurses; and the Society’s Night Nursing service, which provides care to cancer patients in their last days of life so they can stay at home with their families.

During 2012 the society’s night nurses cared for 1,818 patients, providing 7,350 nights of care. 167 nights of care were provided to cancer patients in Clare.

Financial aid is also available to cancer patients suffering financial hardship as a result of their diagnosis. During 2012 financial aid to the value of € 1,047,461 was provided to 1,753 cancer patients across the country. € 24, 530 worth of financial aid was given to cancer patients in Clare.

The society thanked all those in Clare who supported Daffodil Day 2013, which helps to fund such services.

The charity said however that the bad weather impacted severely on fundraising this year, with funding down 50 per cent.

An emergency appeal was launched to re-coup the shortfall and appeal to those that could not donate as usual due to the weather. The appeal saw just fewer than 30,000 people donate following Daffodil Day, with donations being made online, by phone and by text. The response to the appeal saw the initial shortfall recover to within 20 per cent of the original target.

The society is now encouraging everyone who participated in this year’s Daffodil Day campaign to bank their funds as soon as possible.

HE’S lost over 13 stone; he’s completed four marathons and counting, raising money for charity en route, but for Darren Kelly that’s not enough – there’s more as he takes to the skies this weekend for his latest exploit.

The 26-year-old Ennisman is going to Galway, along with up to 20 more Clare Crusaders, for a fundraising sky dive in aid of the Barefield-based charity for children with special needs.

“There was a group doing the sky dive for the Crusaders, so I decided to give it a go,” Kelly told The Clare People about his latest adventure since losing nearly half his body weight over the past 18 months.

“In January of last year I joined Weight Watchers and it started there. I put an awful lot of emphasis on exercise and started exercising every day of the week.

“The hardest thing was to start and trying to keep going. I was always swimming, but I wasn’t put the huge amount of effort that was needed. My sister was getting married last year and I set myself the target of getting down a couple of stone by the time she got married. That was a good target to set – then I set another target and aimed for that it went on from there,” he added.

His progress can be measured, not only in his weight loss, but also by his marathon times since first taking on the 26 miles 385 yards test in October 2010.

“I walked my first two marathons,” he revealed. “The first year I did the Dublin Marathon in nine hours and then the following year in nine and a half hours, but after really starting training in 2012 I’ve ran the last two, breaking five hours in Dublin last year and doing the Limerick Marathon in 4:42 a few weeks ago. I was delighted with that.

“I also did White Collar boxing for the Crusaders last year – it was all part of setting targets for losing weight and I’ve now lost over 13 stone and am now about 15 stone 12. There is great enjoyment reaching your targets. The more you do it the more it becomes a habit,” he added.

As for his latest adventure, which is quite literally a leap of faith, the affable Kelly is taking it in his stride. “We will go up on the day – you’re tied on to somebody up to 10,000 feet and weather permitting we’ll jump,” he said. “We have set ourselves a target of raising € 250 each. I’m doing a raffle of a signed Munster jersey, an Irish soccer jersey and a Clare jersey,” he added.

THE National Roads Authority (NRA) were yesterday accused of “giving the finger” to Clare County Council and the people of North Clare because of its continued refusal to provide funding for a pedestrian crossing at Inagh.

The construction of the pedestrian crossing on the Miltown Malbay road in Inagh has been identified as the top local roads priority by Clare County Council in recent years but the NRA has not yet seen fit to provide funding for its construction.

The Miltown Malbay road currently divides the village of Inagh, with a large amount of community facilities – including a number of resources for young people – located at either sides of the roads.

“I am absolutely amazed the NRA cannot regard this pedestrian crossing as a priority. This is a national secondary route. There are huge volumes of traffic on this road and there and there is a massive numbers of people crossing that road every day,” said Cllr Richard Nagle (FG).

“Someone from the NRA needs to come down and have a look at this road.”

Lahinch-based Cllr Slattery (FG) pointed out that this issue has been raised by councillors on four separate occasions in recent years and on each occasions councillors received an identical response from the local authority.

“I received the reply I in January of 2012, Richard [Nagle] got in again in July 2012. We have received the same reply to this on four different occasions and that is not acceptable,” he said.

“People are coming to us with genuine issues regarding this road. What is the point of us putting in these motions and getting the standard response again and again. I know it’s not your fault [Clare County Council] but the National Roads Authority seem to be giving all of us the finger in relation to this road.”

In a response to the motion, local engineer Stephen Lahiff described the crossing as “vital” to the ongoing safety of people using the village.

A DISTRICT court judge labelled the atmosphere in a small West Clare community “septic”, as he fined a father of two € 750 for assaulting and injuring the local school principal.

Martin Tubridy (55), Quarry Vale, Mounthshannon, Labasheeda, had been found guilty of assault causing harm to Liam Woulfe at Labasheeda National School on December 9, 2011, during a court hearing on January 20, 2013.

School principal Mr Woulfe suffered a bloodied nose, black eye and dislodged tooth during the after school attack.

At Kilrush District Court Judge Patrick Durcan said evidence had been given that Mr Tubridy had driven to the school on the afternoon in question.

Mr Woulfe was meeting with another parent, when Mr Tubridy walked up the steps of the school to deal with a matter regarding his eight-year-old son.

Mr Woulfe told the accused that he would speak to him later as he was dealing with another parent, and Mr Tubridy struck him in the face.

Caroline O’Shea the parent, who had been in the classroom meeting Mr Woulfe, had told the court the Mr Woulfe recoiled back over the door in shock. Mr Tubridy then left.

Mr Tubridy’s solicitor had challenged Ms O’Shea and said could not have seen the assault from where she was.

Mr Woulfe, who has been principal at the school for 17 years, said that he had never had to deal with a parent in such an aggressive manner.

At Tuesday’s sitting of the court solicitor for the defence Fiona Hehir said that the publicity of the case had taken its toll on her client and that he had left employment due to depression.

“He fears the publicity on this court will affect his chances of getting work,” she said.

Ms Hehir handed in character references from Thomas Linnane, the charity Second Chance Rescue, Shannon Gael’s GAA Ladies Club and a private reference from parish priest Fr John Kelly. Fr Kelly’s reference was not on behalf of the board of management, the court was told.

A list of charity work carried out by Mr Tubridy was also submitted.

“I am satisfied on review of evidence as I was on January 20, 2013, that Mr Martin James Tubridy assaulted Liam Woulfe,” said Judge Durcan.

He said that he had adjourned the case for a lengthy period aware of the impact the case could have on a small community like Labasheeda.

He said he was conscious that this was a special community, where resources were scarce and small schools, like the two-teacher school in Labasheeda, are under threat.

He then referenced a Department of Education report carried out on June 30, 2012, that showed 89 per cent of parents said their children felt safe in the school.

He said he was not satisfied that any steps had been taken however to rectify the issue outside of the court.

“There is a septic atmosphere out in Labasheeda that needs to be addressed,” he said.

“I am dealing with what happened on December 9, 2011.”

He said he was satisfied that the references showed Mr Tubridy was a “committed” man that did work for charity.

The judge added that this did not get away from the fact that the defendant walked into the school and hit the school principal.

“The assault on a school principal in a small community is a very serious matter,” he said, describing the school principal as a leader in the community.

He sentenced Mr Tubridy, who had no previous convictions to pay a fine of € 750.

Mr Tubridy had previously been ordered to pay € 400 compensation to Mr Woulfe and Ms O’Shea.

TARGETTING cargo traffic through Shannon is set to be a major plank of the new chief executive blueprint for Clare’s international airport, once he takes up his piovital post in early June.

That’s the view of a number of aviation commentators this week as Shannon celebrates what has been described as a “coup appointment” of Scottish-born Neil Pakey to the post of chief executive of the newly independent airport.

The potential of cargo services through Shannon, which could be developed as a European hub operation was highlighted in the Booz and Company consultants report on Ireland’s three state-run airports in 2011.

Now, Mr Pakey’s appointment is seen as a huge step forward in maximizing Shannon strategic location as a freight and cargo nerve centre, because of his track record in doing business with one of the major freight operators in Europe.

“While he was in Liverpool one of his major coups, not just with EasyJet and Ryanair, was to bring KLM in,” revealed aviation commentator Joe Downes.

“KLM are one of the world’s biggest cargo carriers.

“The Shannon board has said that that freight is one of the targets of the new airport – to turn it into a hub for freight cargo. Mr Pakey has the experience to do this,” he added.

The Booz report, which was published last year, said that “the viability of (Shannon) business cannot be justified through passenger growth only”.

“New sources of revenue should be explored including exploitation of land banks, exploration of cargo business potential and improved leverage and expansion of the US preclearance facilities to include cargo.

“Shannon Airport is widely viewed as having the opportunity to transform itself into a major cargo hub in Europe, particularly should the Irish Government negotiate cargo preclearance with the US,” the report added.

“My aim is to build the business and lead a team dedicated to achieving operational excellence, superior customer service, efficiency in all functions and with full support for our airlines, partners and stakeholders,” said Mr Pakey on his appointment.

From 2002 to 2010, Neil was managing director of Liverpool John Lennon Airport, one of Europe’s fastest growing airports, where he led the growth in passenger numbers from 867,000 passengers per year to 5.5 million passengers per year.

Since 2010 he has been the senior director network marketing of the Vantage Airports Group with responsibility for 18 airports worldwide, including airports in Canada, Cyprus, the Caribbean and the UK.

A native of Troon in Scotland, Mr Packey is aged 52 and initially joins Shannon on a three year contract.

ENNIS Town Council says it has “serious concerns” that development bonds valued at € 1.5 million have been left unsecured following the Government’s decision to wind up the former Anglo Irish Bank.

A report on unfinished estates in Ennis states that the council “could not afford the cost of completing estates which are the responsibility of the developer or financial institution (or their successor) that hold the bond commitments”.

A full team of three staff has been allocated by the council to deal with the issue of unfinished estates in Ennis.

In a report to councillors, Town Clerk Leonard Cleary says the issues relating to unfinished estates is “absorbing significant local authority management time”.

The report acknowledges that many homeowners “experience frustration and disappointment” when estates are not complete.

Mr Cleary states, “In many instances, developers are still in a position to trade, but have been slow to fulfill their responsibilities to complete their estates. This is unacceptable.

The report states that there are currently 27 developments that remain incomplete within the urban area of Ennis.

Category 1 developments are those with bonds with held by IBRC and Ulster Bank and / or referred to the council’s legal team; Category 2 developments are progressing in conjunction with developer or bondholder; Category 3 developments are not progressing with little or no activity on site.

Since 2010, Ennis Town Council has taken in charge 11 housing developments including three – Glean na Coille, Claureen, Drumbiggle Drive and An tSean Dún, Tulla Road – in 2013. Eight category 2 developments are proceeding satisfactorily and are on target for taking in charge by either the council or management company.

Mr Cleary states that the pursuit of uncooperative developers through legal channels is required in several situations.

He adds, “The council is cognisant of the public purse when pursuing a legal course of action in an unfinished estate. The view from operations experiences is that if appropriate the best first action of the council to achieve a satisfactory resolution for residents and citizens of Ennis is with the active assistance and cooperation of the developer or those now responsible for the development in the absence of developer fulfilling his/ her responsibilities. The presence of receivers, liquidators NAMA etc has complicated matters even further but is a reality of the current economic circumstances of the building industry. When the above approach does not receive the required response in terms of estate completion, the council has no hesitation in discharging its regulatory role through Court proceedings.”

A VIGILANTE painter has struck at Clare’s most dangerous traffic junction, with a zebra crossing being painted at the notorious Blake’s Corner in Ennistymon.

The zebra crossing was painted in the early hours of last Tuesday morning, May 21, on the Lahinch side of dangerous junction. The identity of the vigilante painter is unknown, but some local people have started using the new zebra crossing.

Blake’s Corner has been the site of ongoing difficulty for Clare County Council, who have had to shelf long-awaited plans to create a new traffic flow system at the junction. Local group, Saving Ennistymon Heritage, opposed the new junction on the ground that two listed building, known as Blake’s and Linnane’s, would have to be demolished as part of the joint National Roads Authority (NRA)/Clare County Council project.

The process has been stalled for the last two years as Clare County Council have been unable to secure funding from the NRA to complete an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed development. More than two million people use the tiny junction every year to access the Cliffs of Moher and Lahinch beach.

Council engineer, Tony Neville, yesterday describe the vigilante action as a “dig” against the council.

“We have to take it out. It is emulsion so white spirits won’t take it out. We are scrubbing it at the moment,” he said.

“It is a bit of a dig. We have to condemn it and to note that is dangerous. People are using it and it is causing confusion. If anyone has information we would urge them to contact the gardaí.”

Local councillor Joe Arkins (FG) said that the action was a direct prompt from the local community aimed at the council.

“The community are prompting us to take on certain works here. We have a real problem there [Blake’s Corner] and the sooner we can apply outselves to solving this the better,” he said.

In an official statement yesterday Clare County Council urged local people to forward any information on the new crossing to the Gardaí.

“We will be removing the zebra crossing as soon as possible. If any member of the general public is aware of the identity of the person or persons who did this, they should report it to the Ennistymon Area Office or directly to the gardaí. Unauthorised surface markings can cause confusion for road users and can be hazardous for both pedestrians and motorists,” said senior engineer Tom Tiernan.