Category: News

THE construction of a new rescue centre at Doolin will help save lives by improving response times by the Doolin Unit of the Irish Coast Guard.

The centre, which was built at a cost of € 1.8 million, is large enough for all materials owned by the coastguard to be stored in one place, which will cut response times in emergency situations.

The new building, which will become fully operational this week, was due to be officially opened in October of this year but it is now understood that an opening ceremony will not take place until March of 2015.

“This will make it much more ef- ficient for us, all the equipment is in the one place so when the team comes there will be no searching around for equipment or anything everyone knows where it will be. It will take a few days to straighten it out and get everything in place but at the same time it will all now be in the one building and that’s what is important,” said Mattie Shannon of the Doolin Unit of the Irish Coast Guard.

“It will make us faster, especially for boat launches and emergency situations. Then as well when they [the volunteers] come back there will be more comfort. There will be changing rooms and bathrooms and showers and a proper area to wash down the boat.

“All the volunteers have been in over the past week, they have been transporting equipment from the various places that we store it, and there is still more to be done. The volunteers are working away, fitting out different systems like the wifi and things like that. We are still waiting for the communication aerial to be erected for the VHF radios and the paging system, they are going in this week. At that stage we will be fully operational.

“We are delighted to be moved in. We launched our first boat from the new centre last week and we have launched three times already. It’s a fantastic place and it’s going well.”

PLANNING permission for a further development of facilities at the Ennistymon Community Hospital has been lodged with Clare County Council, with hopes high that construction work could get underway before the end of the year.

The hospital, which serves as a facility for older people from the North Clare area, has been threatened with closure on three separate occasion over the last 10 years with the facility staying open and then growing as a result of heroic fundraising by the Friends of Ennistymon Hospital.

Construction work on phase one of the hospital’s redevelopment is almost finished with a grand opening due to take place in the next month. Planning permission for phase two of the development was lodged last week and involves the construction of a single story extension which will include eight ensuite, bedrooms as well as a new sitting area.

The hospital, which is located on the site of the old Ennistymon Workhouse, is a listed building – a fact which was taken into account in the planning permission.

The projects was put forward by Friends of Ennistymon Hospital, who have raised in excess of € 3 million for the hospital over the past 30 years.

“This is phase two of our five-year plan that we are into now and we are hopeful that planning permission can be secured as quickly as possible,” said Tomsie Sullivan of the Friends of Ennistymon Hospital.

“We decided from the beginning that we were going to take this in phases and make sure that the hospital was going to remain open before we spent large amounts of money donated by the local people. The hospital has been threaten with closure on a number of occasion in recent years.

“This second phase will include the provision of eight single rooms and the fundraising for this is already underway. We will be outlining our fundraising plans for 2015 when we officially unveil the completed phase two in the coming weeks. We estimate that we have raised in excess of € 3 million for the hospital since the Friends of Ennistymon Hospital started its work back in 1984.”

Phase three of the development will see a major upgrade of the existing rooms and facilities at the facility to bring them up to the standard of the new constructions.

THE people of Doolin have heralded the beginning of a new era following the opening of a new sea rescue centre in the village last week.

The € 1.8 million facility, which became operation last week but will not be officially opened for a number of months, has been the subject of intense local campaigning over the last 20 year.

Operator of Doolin Cave, John Browne, yesterday welcomed the new centre – describing the conditions in the old facility as “crazy”.

“It is such a necessary facility, the old situation that the coast guard was forced into was crazy – trying to get a boat down Fishers Street in an emergency,” he said.

“They [the coast guard volunteers] are such an important part of this community. It is important that they have the proper facilities to do their work.”

The new centre was also welcomed by Eugene Garrihy of Doolin2Aran Ferries.

“The facility is of huge importance to the work carried out by those brave men and women. In our ferries, it is a massive comfort to us to know that we have a back-up in the event that anything goes wrong,” he said.

“The coast guard have been waiting for this facility for some time now and any help that this could be for them and their work is very welcome. It brings to mind the great work that people like Mattie Shannon and Thomas Doherty have been doing for years, but also the men that came before them.”

THE merger of Credit Union branches in Clarecastle, Ennis and Lissycasey will see no change in the day-today operation of their local branch, according to Credit Union chairpersons. St Francis Credit Union, Ss Peter and Paul Credit Union and Fergus Credit Union are to amalgamate in a process called a ‘Transfer of Engagements’.

In their addresses to members, the chairpersons of Lissycasey and Clarecastle branches say they are “confident” that the transfer of en- gagements will be an “extremely positive development” for members.

“The enlarged credit union will have offices in Ennis, Lissycasey, Kildysart, Kilmihil, Clarecastle, Tulla and Newmarket on Fergus. Members will see no change in the dayto-day operations of the credit union. Members savings and loan accounts will be unaffected by the transfer,” they state.

Madeleine McCarthy, Chairperson of Fergus Credit Union, Lissycasey, said the board took the decision to amalgamate with branches in Ennis and Clarecastle in the “belief that the interests of all our members will be best served by a combined entity providing enhanced services”.

Kevin Collins, Chairperson of Ss Peter and Paul Credit Unions, Clarecastle, states the board of directors “has been engaged in a process of seeking a credit union to partner to enhance services currently provided by your credit union”.

“I am happy to report to the membership that your credit union has approached St Francis Credit Union Limited, Ennis, to form such an alliance,” Mr Collins explains.

On completion of the Transfer of Engagements, members of Fergus Credit Union and Ss Peter and Paul Credit Union will automatically become members of St Francis Credit Union and will be entitled to avail of the range of services and benefits provided by St Francis Credit Union.

Details of the amalgamation are outlined in a document circulated to members.

In a statement under Section 130 (2) of the Credit Union Act 1997 (as amended), St Francis Credit Union Limited states, no payments to members of the three branches concerned is proposed in connection with the Transfer of Engagements.

The document states that “Staff at St Francis Credit Union Limited, Fergus Credit Union limited and Ss Peter and Paul Credit Union Limited have been fully informed of all aspects of the Transfer of Engagement and are very much involved in the merger process.”

Further details of the merger will be outlined to members at information meetings next month. Meetings will take place at Temple Gate Hotel on September 1 for members of St Francis Credit Union; St Mary’s Hall, Lissycasey, on September 1 for Fergus Credit Union and The Inn at Dromoland on September 1 for members of Ss Peter and Paul Credit Union. All meetings start at 8pm.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

ENNIS is facing its worst ever rental property crisis – with prices set to rise by at least 10 per cent over the next 12 months.

The rental market in the county town is on the verge of grinding to a standstill – with just 29 properties available for rent in Ennis today, and only 12 three-bedroom, family style homes.

Rental property prices rose by 2.2 per cent in the the second quarter of this year – with the lions share of this rise being driven by Ennis.

A normally functioning rental market should see more than five per cent of the total property stock on the rent- al market at any time. Ennis requires a 1600 per cent increase on current stock levels to get close to that level.

“The last six months has seen a sharp decline on the number of properties available to rent in Ennis. We had a property last week which was rented after its first viewing for a increased rent, a lot of properties aren’t making it to the property websites they are going so fast,” said Mairead Carrig of Location Location in Ennis.

“Properties are being snapped up very quickly and there are very few new builds coming through. It would not be unrealistic if we saw price increases of 10 per cent of more in the year ahead. The powers that be need to make it easier for builders to get back to work in Ennis.”

The divisions between Clare’s two speed rental market also appears to be deepening with a large number of properties still available for rent outside of urban areas.

According to Ronan Lyons of Daft. ie, Ennis is just six months off a property shortage similar to those currently being experienced in Dublin and Cork.

Unlike Dublin and Cork however, there are few building projects planned for Ennis in the short and medium term.

“The figures for Ennis are really dramatic. A healthy market should have between 5 or 10 per cent of properties for sale at any one time but there is nothing close to that at the moment,” he said.

“Ennis is in the same boat as Cork and Dublin, there is just a lack of available accommodation, but it just on a small scale. Ultimately, this can only lead to large increases in rents.

“We have seen rent rises in four of the last five quarters in Clare and I could see rent rises significantly in the county over the next six months. It is very difficult to predict but I wouldn’t be surprising to see rents for the whole of the county rising by between 5 and 10 per cent in the year ahead.

“The places will see this the most is in Ennis and the parts of Clare which are close to Limerick and Galway. More and more now people want to be closer to jobs and services.”

GOOD news keeps landing at Shannon Airport as as new figures from the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) confirm another impressive month of growth at the Clare Airport.

After passing out Cork Airport just last month, and reclaiming its position as Ireland’s second largest airport, Shannon begun to pull away from its Munster rival.

According to the new Air Traffic Figures for July, compiled by the IAA, Shannon Airport recorded an 18 per cent growth in the number of daily commercial flight coming through the airport compared to July of 2013.

More impressive than the percentage growth however is the number of commercial flights which are landing at the Clare airport each day.

An average of 74 daily commercial movements were recorded at Shannon Airport in July – the largest monthly average for more than four years. This compares to 66 daily commercial movement in Cork for the same period.

While commercial movement do not necessarily translate directly to passenger numbers, it is expected that Shannon Airport will also have passed out Cork Airport when those figures are released later this year.

This growth in traffic through Shannon Airport comes in the way of the decoupling of the airport from the Dublin Airport Authority. During 2012 Shannon Airport was close to being passed out by Knock Airport in Mayo as Ireland third busiest airport.

Meanwhile, the Central Statistic Office have compiled detailed figures for Shannon last year which show that the airport hosted 1,308,242 passengers last year – with four out of every ten passengers travelling to or from London.

The most popular route was Shannon to Heathrow which carried 258,000 passengers while Shannon-Stansted and Shannon-Gatwick hosted 183,000 and 104,000 respectively.

In the same year, more than 200,000 people travelled between Shannon and New York with 107,000 travelling from Shannon to Newark and 102 travelling from Shannon to JFK.