Category: News

OFFICIALS from Ennis Town Council are to meet with family members to discuss the best way to honour the memory of the politician and writer Paddy Hogan.

A native of Ennis, Mr Hogan was a Labour TD and member of the Oireachtais from 1923 to 1967.

For the final 16 years of his tenure, he was appointed by Taoiseach Eamon DeValera as Ceann Comhairle.

A qualified barrister, Mr Hogan was actively involved in the trade union movement and wrote a play about Irish freedom and the ‘Galway Shawl’ ballad.

According to a letter written to Ennis Town Council, the Labour Party in Clare are planning to mark the 100th anniversary of the founding of the party with a memorial to Mr Hogan.

It had been proposed that the Kilmaley roundabout be renamed the ‘Paddy Hogan Roundabout’.

The Labour Party say that the family “are not enthusiastic” about renaming a roundabout in memory of Mr Hogan.

At yesterday’s meeting of Ennis Town Council, former Labour party member, Cllr Paul O’Shea proposed that the new inner relief road be renamed after Mr Hogan.

However, councillors suggested that the matter should be discussed further between the council executive, the Hogan family and the council’s place names committee.

Cllr Frankie Neylon (Ind) said Mr Hogan was a “proud members of the community in Ard Na Greine who are very proud of him”.

He added, “I’d prefer if the family sit down with the council and come up with a suitable memorial to Paddy Hogan.”

Cllr Neylon said Mr Hogan should be commemorated. Mayor of Ennis, Peter Considine (FF) said he and council officials would be happy to meet the Hogan family.

Cllr Tommy Brennan (Ind) said the council had moved away from the practice of naming roads and estates after individuals. He said a plaque might be a more suitable memorial.

Work on the inner relief road, which will link Station Road to the Clare Road, is expected to be complete by the end of the month.

According to the council, this relief road is intended to include the overlay of Station Road from Árd na Gréine to the school crossing in the works.

ENNIS could literally turn green next March as part of proposals put forward to celebrate St Patrick’s Day 2013.

Ennis Town Council is to investigate the possibility of dying the River Fergus green as part of the ‘Green the Town’ initiative.

The proposal was tabled by Cllr Mary Howard (FG) as part of a motion at yesterday’s council meeting.

Cllr Howard called for the council, in conjunction with local businesses and venues, to ‘Green the Town’ by illuminating buildings with green filters and lights and hanging hundreds of Irish flags.

Cllr Howard told the meeting that businesses are very keen on the idea.

She said that in a year when Ennis celebrates the 25th anniversary of its twinning arrangement with Phoenix, Arizona, the green plans would help capture attention and generate plenty of publicity for the town.

Mayor of Ennis, Cllr Peter Considine (FF) backed the motion. However Cllr Frankie Neylon (FG) questioned if the council could justify the cost of turning Ennis green when it has had to cut back on other vital services. Cllr Howard said there would be very little cost to the council, adding that green filters cost just € 12.

Cllr Paul O’Shea (Ind) suggested that councillors pay for the cost with their expenses.

In response to Cllr Howard’s motion, town clerk Leonard Cleary stated that the technical staff of the council will research the feasibility of the project.

He continued, “With regard to turning the River Fergus green, there are non-toxic dye products that are used for tracing water courses that could be used for this purpose. The river through the town is a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and consultation will be required with other agencies. The council are trying to ascertain the cost of these products as the quantities required would be larger than normally used for dye tracing. The council will respond once the information is received.”

THE President of Ireland is set to follow in the footsteps of Muhammad Ali by becoming an honourary freeman of Ennis.

Michael D Higgins is due to accept the award at a ceremony in Ennis on February 13 (2013).

Ennis Town Council wrote to the President in November inviting him to accept the freedom of Ennis. A letter from the President’s office to the council has confirmed that Mr Higgins has accepted the invitation.

Denise Lynch, events office, stated, “The President has asked me to let you know that he has agreed in principle to accept your kind invitation for Wednesday, February 13, 2013, subject to the usual requirements of State and other business that may arise later. The President will arrive at a time to be confirmed. In the meantime, we would be glad if you could send details of the arrangements for the occasion and I have enclosed a note to assist you in preparing the programme.”

Former World Boxing Champion Muhammad Ali was named the first ever freeman of Ennis when he visited the town in September 2009.

Mayor of Ennis, Cllr Peter Considine (FF) welcomed the announcement that the President would be visiting the town to become an honourary freeman.

Mr Higgins has strong Clare connections. He was raised by his uncle and aunt at their home in Ballycar and went to school in St Flannan’s College. Prior to taking up a job with the ESB in Galway, he worked in Progress International in Shannon.

In June, President Higgins was granted a civic reception by Clare County Council. He spoke about his strong affinity for the county at the time. “Yes indeed I associate myslef with Clare. There are many origins I have that are very simply understood,” he said. “My father and my grandfather and my greatgrandfather have been associated with county Clare since time immemorial. I am glad to say in the 1901 census in the town land of Ballycar there are four families of Higgins. And once again as a result of my brother’s [John] activites and his sons there are four families in Ballycar again.”

CLARE Youth Service have launched a new guide aimed at helping students make the adjustment to life in thirdlevel education. ‘Flying the Coop – a Guide to Going to College’ is now available from Clare Youth Service in Carmody Street, Ennis.The publication provides useful tips about accommodation, adjusting to college life, budgeting, health and accessing support services.

Patricia Flynn, Youth Information Officer with Clare Youth Service, said, “College life brings a lot of decisions – what kind of accommodation, how to budget, how to settle into college life. The publication, which has been produced by Roscommon Youth Information Centre, provides information on all areas. It also draws on the wisdom of current students.”

Copies are available from the Youth Information Service at Clare Youth Service in Carmody Street. Visitors can call in from Monday to Friday, 10am to 6pm, phone 065 6845350 or email info@clareyouthservice.org

Meanwhile, Iarnrod Eireann’s announcement of free car parking at Craughwell, Ardrahan and Gort Stations has been welcomed as a boost for students. The promotion will run to September 10.

According to Ennis councillor Brian Meaney (GP), “This represents the first steps in promoting and marketing the Western Rail Corridor. The provision of student rates will give the option to students to consider commuting rather than having to pay expensive rents in Galway and Limerick.”

ANY cuts to the already inadequate home help hours allocated to one elderly West Clare woman will have a devastating affect, not just for her but for her whole family.

Carer Margaret Scanlon is living in fear that the six and a half hours of home help allocated to her highly dependent mother-in-law will be cut again as the HSE take the knife to community services.

This one and a half hours, five days a week means that the mother of five can go to work to earn the only wage for the family since her husband was made redundant.

As well as working outside the home, she spends every available minute caring for her mother-in-law, teenage son who suffered a stroke when he was just four years of age and the rest of her family.

Just 18 months ago, when the HSE made its first cuts, her home help hours were reduced from two hours to one and a half. If they are cut again, Ms Scanlon is in no doubt that she will be forced to give up her job.

“There is no way I am putting my mother-in-law into a nursing home. Why should she have to move out of her home of the last 48-years?” she said.

In October 2010, Ms Scanlon applied for a Home Care Package, so grave was the situation. The HSE agreed that, as at least one of the two family members Ms Scanlon cares for around the clock was highly dependent, she was entitled to the package.

However, the package was “put on hold” due to lack of funding.

Ms Scanlon believes she will never receive that assistance now, and is awake nights worrying that she will lose the little assistance she has.

“It can be very stressful. We have five children and the whole of family life has been affected,” she said.

“People are not going out for the day during these home help hours. They have to go do the grocery shopping, or keep doctor or other appointments. Carers are annoyed and frustrated at what is happening,” she said.

“The old and young – the most vulnerable – are being hit by this again. Carers have to stand up for themselves. We do this because we love or care for the person, but it is not easy.”

CARERS are living in fear not only of the day when they are not around to care for their loved ones, but living in fear that the system that should be there to assist them will let them down.

One carer from just outside Ennis asked that her name not be used. She said that rightly or wrongly, she feared her case would not be looked on favourably if she “said the wrong thing”.

“You are very vulnerable and you may need these services again,” she said.

Rose (not her real name) is married with five children. Just over 13 years ago, when the children were still very young, her husband was diagnosed with a very rare disease of the brain and a stroke. Since then, he has suffered numerous side affects, further complications and a blood condition.

As a result, this still relatively young man requires round-the-clock assistance. The responsibility for his care lies solely with Rose.

The family have currently no outside assistance.

“The DPOC gave funding for a man to come two mornings a week. He was great – so helpful and respectful of my husband and his needs. Two years ago, the funding was cut and we lost the service,” said Rose.

Currently, the family have no home help, although Rose is applying for assistance.

“I have no home help hours and now I definitely won’t be getting them,” she said, resigned to a difficult winter.

“My husband cannot be left alone. For now, everywhere I go, I have to bring him with me or the children stay with him while I go out for something. They are great but they have to have their lives too,” she said.

“I am lucky. I know some people who have no one,” added the young mother, looking at the bright side of a sometimes very bleak situation.

“The cutbacks are terrible. I thought when he (Minister for Health, James Reilly) came in, he would be good as he is a doctor, but he seems as bad as the rest.”

SMALL businesses across Clare are foregoing the use of credit cards and debit cards in their shops as the cost of maintaining the service is crippling them.

Businesswoman Joanne Dillon from Kilkee accepts that by getting rid of the credit card service in her two businesses – Jo Soaps Launderette and The Flower Shop – a year ago she has lost some business, but retaining the service was costing her too much money.

“In July to August last year, I looked at my statement and I realised the credit card service cost me € 150, and I only took in € 100 in credit card payments that month,” she told The Clare People .

“It has been tough sometimes without the service, not so much for the launderette but definitely for the florist. I hate having to tell people to lodge the money into my account or send a cheque when they ring. It also means I have to follow up on bills,” said the young businesswoman.

“One Portuguese company rang me to supply flowers for them but I couldn’t because they needed to pay by card, so yes, I suppose I am losing some business.”

She said it was impossible, however, to continue with the charges associated with providing credit and debit card services as the standing charge for the machine and every transaction was costing her. “A lot of small businesses in town got rid of them for that reason. We would love to have it but we just can’t afford it,” she said.

This is not just an issue for businesses in West Clare, however. Rita McInerney of Ennis Chamber of Commerce confirmed it is an issue for a lot of small businesses in the county town too. A number of smaller businesses in Ennis have signs up saying they are no longer taking cards due to the cost.

“The charges on credit and debit cards are quite hefty. It is not just the bank charge, there is the charge from the credit card company and the cost of the technology involved and the leases,” said Ms McInerney.

She said she was hopeful that new technology that is currently being developed in Ireland would allow businesses to use their smart phones or tablets to make credit card charges, which would reduce a lot of the cost.

OVER 24,000 houses were built in Clare during the past 20 years, despite the fact that the population of the county only increased by 15,000 during the same period.

The full extent of the building boom, that was experienced in Clare during the Celtic Tiger years, has been revealed in the latest census returns for the county, which show that in the 20-year period from 1991 to 2011, there was a 76 per cent increase in the number of houses in the county from 31,606 to 55,616.

Of this figure 42,534 of the houses are occupied, which means that there is a vacancy rate of 21.2 per cent in Clare, representing over one fifth of the county’s housing stock.

The numbers of vacant houses is 5,936, while there are a further 1,236 flats unoccupied. The number of holiday homes in the county stands at 4,610.

According to a recent report Clare was the most over-zoned county in the State with enough development for a population of 273,000.”

A FULL-SCALE murder investigation began in Clare last evening (Monday) following the death of a man shot during a wedding celebration.

The victim, named locally as Robert Sheehan of Pineview Gardens, Moyross, Limerick, received numerous shots to the head and body while he stood outside the Bunratty Castle Hotel on Sunday morning last. He died last evening at the Mid Western Regional Hospital, Limerick.

The 21-year-old was attending a family wedding in the County Clare hotel, and had left briefly for a cigarette break.

At approximately 3.40am, at least one gunman approached him and shot him a number of times. The culprit was then driven away in a dark saloon-type car.

Gardaí have confirmed that they are examining a “short type fire arm” found near the scene.

It is understood that detectives are following a number of lines of enquiry, including a link to a large row in Moyross in July during which two men were stabbed.

Two men in their 20s were arrested in Cork on Sunday morning in connection with the Bunratty incident.

They are currently being held in Ennis and Shannon Garda Stations under Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act, 2007.

Gardaí have appealed to anyone who may have seen a dark saloon- type car in the Bunratty area during the early hours of Sunday morning or who may have any information relating to the incident to contact them at Shannon Garda Station.

The late Mr Sheehan had come into contact with Gardaí previously.

He was sentenced to two years detention in October 2007, after he pleaded guilty to recklessly endangering the lives of Gavin and Milly Murray. He admitted acting as a look-out as two other men petrol bombed a car in which the four and six-year-old were sitting.

AS CARERS, the elderly and those with disabilities face an uncertain wait while the HSE decides how much of their services to cut, one Clare mother worries about her daughter’s future. Mary Finnegan worries about what will happen her daughter Claire when she is gone.

The Cratloe woman is Claire’s primary carer and assistant but she realises that if the cuts to the health services announced last week remain in place, her daughter has no chance of ever receiving a personal assistant and her independence.

The greater worry for this mother is how her daughter will manage if she can no longer take care of her.

“It is more about what is going to happen after me. I look at what I do now for her and I wonder who is going to do it when I am gone,” she said. Claire is even more frustrated by the lack of service, and is very stressed as she battles for some little assistance from the HSE.

She has applied to the service on numerous occasions for a personal assistance for a few hours a week but repeatedly she has been told “no”.

More than two years ago Claire, who lives with the condition spina bifida, broke her leg during a fall while she tried to shop.

“I was in a wheelchair. I could not drive and still I was turned down for an assistant. I explained to the HSE that this would happen again if I did not get some help. I told them I was struggling. My biggest issue was with shopping. I cannot reach items if I am in my wheelchair, and I cannot carry bags if I have my crutches,” she explained.

Last November Claire’s harrowing prediction came true and she fell again, and once again broke her leg.

Mary maintains that this would not have happened had she an assistant with her.

Claire has also suffered severe burns to her feet while taking a bath. She explained to The Clare People that she attempted to live independently without home help, but one evening while drawing a bath was unaware of the temperature this resulted in severe burns.