Category: News

THE NUMBER of children being baptised in West Clare has dropped significantly in recent years as the effects of emigration further impacts on rural Clare.

According to figures produced by the Diocese of Killaloe, the number of baptisms in the west of the county fell from 170 in 2010, to just 157 in 2013 – this equates to a drop of almost 8 per cent.

The worst hit areas were Kilmihil which recorded a 39 per cent decrease (from 23 to 14) and Doonbeg which saw a 33 per cent decrease (from 21 to 14).

Despite losing all of it’s government funding in 2012, Kilrush based Rural Resettlement Ireland continued to rehouse urban families in rural areas.

“Indeed, according to founder Jim Connolly, the organisation has brought three new families to West Clare so far this year.

“Where we see the drop in population most is in requests from schools, who are desperately needing two or three students who need students to save a teachers job.

“We get requests like this from families from all over the west – it’s like they are ordering families off a fence.

“We have three villages in West Clare who are getting new families this summer, all with young children. I know that in each of these cases they are saving a teachers job,” said Mr Connolly.

“It seems to me that all over the West [of Ireland] a generation has been lost.

“The spin at the moment that Ireland is pulling out of recession applied only to Dublin and to the East coast.

“I’m not a doom merchant, I’m a very positive person, but as far as I can see it every rural town in Ireland is as dead as a dodo.”

Rural Resettlement Ireland has also began taking requests from homeless families who are currently being kept in emergency accommodation by ur- ban local authorities.

“None of the current situation makes common sense. We have a housing crisis in Dublin.

“For the first time ever we are now taking inquires from people who are homeless – people who had a mortgage, Mr and Mrs Average who had a mortgage and couldn’t keep up with it.

“We were dealing with one family last week who were being put in a Travelodge by a local authority,” continued Jim.

“You have hundreds and hundreds of families who need a home, and on the west coast we have thousands of homes with no-one in them.

“It just doesn’t make sense.”

A CLARE stonemason has secured a € 223,000 write-down on his € 346,390 family home mortgage as part of a Personal Insolvency Arrangement (PIA).

The arrangement was approved by Judge Patrick Meaghan at the Circuit Court in Ennis on Tuesday.

A separate PIA in respect of the man’s wife was also granted by Judge Meaghan

The court heard the man was left with debts of almost € 2.3 million following the collapse of the man’s stone products business which went into liquidation last year.

Judge Meaghan said he recalled the case because the size of the debts involved. He complimented all sides for finalizing the agreement.

He said this represented “quite a feat” given the difficulties surrounding the titles of some of the man’s properties.

Earlier this year the man was granted court protection to allow his Personal Insolvency Practitioner (PIP), Jim Stafford, time to negotiate with secured and unsecured creditors.

Judge Meaghan said all creditors voted 100 percent in favour of the PIA at a creditors’ meeting.

The Judge said that because of the man’s low income he was unable to engage in a multi-year payment plan to his creditors.

Judge Meaghan said the man did not have to sell his home. He explained that KBC Bank have agreed to reduce the mortgage on the family home from € 346,000 to € 123,000 subject to a dividend of € 15,000 being paid to the bank as an unsecured creditor.

There is a reduction in the term of the mortgage of three years and three months.

The man is to pay a revised monthly mortgage payment of € 1,200 on the family home for 10 years and three months up to his 70th birthday.

In order to pay a dividend to his creditors the man is to sell the following assets; a farm and stables totaling 31.86 hectares; a residential buy-to-let property; a residential buy-to-let apartment; a commercial buy-to-let property and several other plots of land.

The man will also make available a lump sum to pay the PIP’s fees.

According to the arrangement no other assets of the debtor will be sold pursuant to the PIA.

Judge Meaghan said, “I am pleased to approve this arrangement.

“It was a particularly difficult case given both the size of the debts and the complexity with regards the security in respect of the assets”.

Judge Meaghan said the debtor’s banks may have legal claims against the debtor’s former solicitor for breaches of undertakings provided to the banks.

He said it is accepted this arrangement does not prejudice these potential proceedings

The unsecured creditors are listed as KBC € 333,683; EBS € 423,428; Ulster Bank € 829,982; Bank of Ireland € 8,926; Bank of Scotland € 85, 536; Emberon Finance Ltd € 29,928; Vanguard Auto Finance € 195,343 and Niamh Perrotta € 75,000.

have signed up to a website which promised to get them dates with wealthy older Sugar Daddies. The owners of the Seeking Arrangement website told The Clare People

UNEMPLOYMENT figures rose for the second month in a row in July, despite a reported increase in the numbers being employed in the county’s tourism sector.

With good weather bringing a large number of visitors to Clare beauty spots, especially on coastal areas, a significant drop in the number of people signing on the live register had been expected for July.

However, the number of people signing on increased from 8,717 in June to 8,796 in July – an increase of 79 people or just under 1 per cent.

While the June increase in the live register figures was understood to be a result of a large number of university students being unable to find summer work after the end of the college year – it is as yet unclear what has caused the negative trend to continue into July.

As in the previous month, the Ennistymon Area Office was the only area to record a reduction in the live register last month with numbers falling from 1,314 to 1,310.

The largest personnel increase in the live register was felt in Ennis where the number signing on increase from 4,934 in June to 4,968 last month.

This increase of 34 people represents a 0.6 per cent jump in just a month.

The largest percentage increase was recorded in West Clare however with the Kilrush office recording a 2.6 per cent increase in the numbers signing on.

A total of 1,255 signed on in West Clare last month, an increase of 32 on the 1,223 who signed on in June.

East Clare saw a similar trend with the numbers increase by 17 from 1,246 in June to 1,263 – an increase of 1.4 per cent.

While the recent months have shown a downward turn, the numbers recorded on last months live register is still far smaller than those recorded in of July 2012 and 2013. Indeed, last months figure represents a reduction of 1,641 people or more than 15 per cent when compared to the same month in 2012.

This recent negative turn on the county’s live register comes after consistent reduction saw the number drop it their lowest levels since the start of the recession in May of this year.

THE ORGANISERS of The Outing matchmaking festival in Lisdoonvarna are aiming to host Ireland’s first gay wedding at the festival over the next two or three years.

The festival, which is the world’s first gay matchmaking event, attracted nearly 3,000 gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people to North Clare – where Lisdoonvarna matchmaker, Willie Daly, and Irish Gay icon Panti, matched couples together.

Last year was the first time that a gay element was included in the 157 years of the Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival and according to Outing organiser, Eddie McGuinness, the event produced a number of long term couples.

“We had a nice few matches last year, not just by Willie Daly himself but also Panti, who tried her hand at some matchmaking.

“I personally know three couples who are still together from last year, which isn’t a bad result at all,” said Eddie.

“It is brilliant that real, long-term relationship are coming out of this festival. We have teamed up with the Marriage Equality organisation this year to get the message across that it all about love, commitment and finding the right person.

“Hopefully in a few years we will be able to go out and have a good old wedding in Lisdoonvarna.

“Hopefully next year or the year after we will be able to have a wedding in Lisdoonvarna, during the Outing. That would really be something amazing.

“The people of Lisdoonvarna and the surrounding villages really opened their arms and embraced The Outing last year.

“It was amazing to be in Clare for the weekend. My mother is originally from Clare and to be in Lisdoonvarna and such a great Clare welcome was something very special.”

This years event will run from October 3 to October 6 and will be the last weekend of the five week long Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival. TV personality, Brendan Courtney, will host blind date as part of the festival while singer Brian Kennedy will also perform.

For more information visit www. theouting.ie THE CEO of Irish Water Safety, John Leech is urging the public to use Local Authority manned lifeguarded bathing places in Clare to ensure that they avoid being stung by two of the most venomous jellyfish that visit Irish waters. The warning has been issued after a Lions mane Jellyfish was spotted in Dublin last week. The Portuguese man-o-war jellyfish was also reported in Wexford and Waterford last Tuesday. Meanwhile, a young girl was taken to hospital after suffering an allergic reaction to a jellyfish sting at Barleycove beach in West Cork last week. “The Lifeguards ensure your safety on our beaches and will be patrolling on their surf rescue boards and on the beaches to ensure that they do not pose a threat to members of the public,” stated Mr Leech. The CEO is also alerting the public that due to the high temperatures in our waters, the prevailing westerly winds and the north Atlantic current, these potentially dangerous jellyfish are likely to appear on more of our beaches in the coming weeks.

LISCANNOR man, Thomas Cusack, could move one step closer to becoming a Saint this week as Pope Francis is expected to mention the martyred Clare priest when he undertakes the first visit of any siting Pope to South Korea in more than 25 years.

Last September the Korean Church applied to the Holy See to begin the process which could one day lead to the Columban priest being beatified.

If successful, Fr Cusack ([ictured right), would become only Ireland’s fourth saint of the past thousand years; joining Cellach of Armagh, Saint Oliver Plunkett and Charles of Mount Argus.

Fr Cusack was killed by communist forced in Korean in 1950 and the Korean Church are seeking his beatification as a martyr.

The Liscannor man’s 15 years in Korean were marked by intense bravery and hardship.

He refused to flee the county during the Japanese invasion in World War II and as a result spend a number of years in a brutal prisoner of war camp.

He again refused to leave the country when the Korean War erupted and was captured in 1950 but a communist troops as the retreated north of the border following a battle on July 24, 1950.

Fr Cusack, along with a number of other Catholic priests were martyred in “the massacre at Taejon Prison” with took place on September 24, 1950.

To mark the 80th anniversary of the arrival of the Columban in Korea in 1933 – the Korean Church has put forward a number of priests martyred during the Korean War for sainthood.

As part of the anniversary Korean Church leaders are set to lobby the Pope during his visit this week for the cause of Fr Cusack and seven other Columban priests who lost their lives at Taejon Prison.

“One of the gratifying things is that this process has been initiated by the two dioceses in which the seven men worked,” said Fr Donal O’Keeffe, Regional Director of the Columbans in Korea.

Father Cusack was born in Ballycotton in Liscannor on October 23, 1910. He was educated in Ballycotton National School before going on to attend St Mary’s College in Galway.

He entered the Columbans in 1928 and was ordained in 1934. The following year he was sent to Korea and at the time of his death he was serving in Columban mission in Mokpo.

At presents Ireland boasts a total of 166 saints. The vast majority of these saints were lived during the fifth, sixth and seventh centuries which Ireland was known as the Island of Saints and Scholars.

have signed up to a website which promises to get them dates with wealthy older Sugar Daddies. Of the ten women who have signed up to the website, seven say they are based in Ennis while there was one user in Kilkee, Clarecastle and Fanore. They range in age between 18 and 31 and many had detailed profiles with a large amount of personal information and pictures. The owners of the website told The Clare People this week that young women are not paid directly to go on dates with older men – but they often receive lavish gifts from their older male suitors. Spokesperson for the Seeking Arrangement site, Angela Jacob Bermudo, said the site is designed to connect struggling college students, described as ‘Sugar Babies’, with ‘Sugar Daddies’.

A NEW countywide music education programme part funded by rock giants U2 kicked off in Ennis yesterday.

Scoil Chríost Rí in Ennis is playing host to Clare’s newest summer music camp. The camp, which runs until August 15, is the first project rolled out under the Clare Music Generation project.

In January, Clare secured a € 400,000 funding boost from the U2 and Ireland Fund’s supported National Music Education Programme.

The overall aim is to provide the first countywide music education service in Clare.

Clare Music Education Partnership will receive close to € 435,000 in seed funding which will enable high quality, accessible music education programmes to be provided for children and young people in their local communities.

Clare/Limerick Education and Training Board (formerly Clare VEC) is the lead statutory agency for the programme.

Scoil Chríost Rí in Cloughleigh has been chosen as the launch-pad for this new era in music education following the success of the school’s 5th and 6th class students in the Pan Celtic Music Competition in Derry in May.

“Scoil Chríost Rí are very proud of their musical endeavors and believe in the power of music to develop a child’s confidence, wellbeing an feel good factor when playing music in whatever genre they like” said Karen Vaughan of Scoil Chríost Rí. She continued, “Music crosses all boundaries and is a gift for life, which is why we are passionate about the teaching of music of all genres, in particular traditional Irish music which instills in a child a strong sense of cultural identity which is at the heart of musical ethos for this camp. “We wanted to see what when you mix six genres of music together rap, hip-hop, percussion classes with djembe, bodhrán an samba drumming, rock classes with drums, electric and bass guitars, acoustic and all the different traditional Irish music instruments”. The camp is sponsored and supported by Clare Local Development Company and Music Generation Clare in association with the music team at Scoil Chríost Rí. Adrian Healy Development Officer with Clare Local Development Company said, “Clare Local Development Company is delighted to get involved with Scoil Chríost Rí in this initiative. “The school has a strong musical education ethos, which we felt would yield benefits for those in the local RAPID area. “We were happy to come on board the project and to fund the purchase of musical instruments for the school. “Clare Local Development Company believes that the investment in the musical education of young people is hugely beneficial for the holistic development of younger people, both from an individual and community point of view.”

FURTHER evidence of an impending housing crisis in urban parts of Clare has emerged with Clare Citizens’ Information Service last year recorded a dramatic rise in queries from people worried about becoming homeless.

According to figures obtained from Clare Citizens’ Information Service, nearly 2,500 Clare people experiencing housing difficulty contacted the service in 2013.

With rents on the increase in urban areas such as Ennis and Shannon, fears have been raised that of a surge in families becoming homeless in Clare, as rent supplement is no longer enough to cover rents.

This has prompted the Clare Citizens Information Service and Focus Ireland to team up to launch a new Information Guidebook aimed at tackling home- lessness before it become a widespread problem in the county.

The guidebook, which is entitled ‘A Guide to Information Givers on Preventing Homelessness’ is aimed at helping front line staff to deal with the increasing volume of queries relating to homelessness.

“Citizens Information Services have experienced a surge in the numbers of clients with housing problems related to financial issues.

“In 2013 there were 1287 housing queries to CICs in Clare in addition to 1002 queries related to Rent Supplement.

“The booklet will support information advisors in assisting individuals and families who come to our services who may be homeless or at risk of losing their homes,” said Paul Woulfe of the Clare Citizens’ Information Service.

“The combination of escalating rents, rent allowance caps and unwillingness among many landlords to accept rent supplement, is forcing lower income households out of the housing market.

“However, we know through our work that it’s possible to help families and individuals from losing their home through early intervention and support.

“This new guidebook will play a part in helping efforts to prevent homelessness at a local level nationwide in areas where there is currently no specialty housing advice service.

“Many problems have been associated with the Rent Supplement rent limits set in Budget 2012.

“Primarily they were set at levels that did not enable eligible households to secure and retain basic suitable rented accommodation.

“Many callers to our centres could not find suitable accommodation within the limits outlined.”

TRIBUTES have been paid to the late Dr Frank Counihan, a man recalled as the “very essence of a good doctor”. Dr Counihan, who lived in t he Golf Links Road area of Ennis, died peacefully at home on August 5, surrounded by his loving family.

Dr Counihan (91) worked as a GP in Ennis for nearly 40 years, as well as in the former maternity section of Cahercalla Hospital. He was involved in a number of sporting and community organizations including the Samaritans and Lahinch Golf Club. At his funeral mass in Ennis Cathedral on Thursday, Fr Tom Hogan said Dr Counihan lived a full life, “a life that made a difference”.

Canon Bob Hanna, Rector of St Columba’s Church of Ireland described Dr Counihan as a “true renaissance man” who was generous to all people he met in Ennis.

“I look upon him honestly as one of great influences in my 20 year ministry here in the town”, Canon Hanna added. Dr Counihan’s daughter Caroline said her father was a man who lived life to the full in so many different ways. She continued, “He had a curious enquiring and always original mind. He loved to get to the bottom of things and his analysis of interesting questions was always swift clear and to the point. He was no intellectual snob or worldly academic but a humane and wise man”.

“He was very slow to judge anyone. He was a bit swifter to judge institutions who were uncaring or un-responsive. He felt that was absolutely out of order”, she said.

Caroline said her father “was the essence of a good doctor, someone whose presence alone was healing, calming and comforting”.

She continued, “The centre of Frank’s professional life was selfless, selfless and extraordinary unstinting service. He was tireless in attention to his patients and in this he was an inspiration to us and to others.

“He has asked us to express his apologies to the community for any mistakes he made. Frank had the highest standards of professional probity and it was allied to a great sense of inner spiritual and intellectual freedom and extraordinary positivity about life”.

He will be sadly missed by loving wife Mimi, daughters Caroline, Francesca, Rachel, Helen and Eve, son in law, grandchildren, sisters Mary, Honor and Ruth, brother Roger, nephew, nieces, relatives and a wide circle of friends.