Category: News

THE work of a recently established community development group in Clarecastle came in for praise at a recent meeting in Ennis.

At last week’s meeting of councillors in the Ennis East Electoral Area, Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) urged the council to work with the group on projects that would help enhance the village. Eamon O’Dea, Senior Executive Engineer, stated that the council has already met with representatives of the group and has been directly liaising with members on individual issues.

He continued, “The council very much welcomes the proactive, positive approach taken by the community in undertaking such a visioning exercise and is very complimentary of the energy and passion that has been displayed to work in partnership with local authority is effecting further improvements in the Clarecastle area.”

He added, “The council will continue the engagement on the basis of the relationships already established with a view to positively progressing the many initiatives that have been brought forward for consideration by the group.”

Cllr Paul Murphy (FG) praised the work of the group. Cllr Pat Daly (FF) said it was important that the positive work of the group continue in Clarecastle.

Town manager Ger Dollard said the work of the group represented a “great example” of community led development. He said there appeared to be a great energy, passion and commitment around projects in Clarecastle at the moment.

He added, “It has been a joy to work with them and we will continue to do what we can in terms of the resources. That is something that the group are conscious off.”

In May 2011 a public meeting was held which identified positives and negatives about Clarecastle and produced ideas for developing the village and its environs. The then Acting Development Group made a recommendation in September 2011 that a Selection Committee would nominate a new Development Committee. An interim Board of Directors of the new Development Company was nominated and met for the first time in October 2011. The new company will aim to access government grants and funding streams. The company will also seek to develop crucial links with stakeholders and key influencers as well as urging feedback from members of the local community.

SINN Féin leader, Gerry Adams, has left the door open for a number of former party members in Clare to return to fold, but has closed the door on expelled members such as Shannon Cllr Cathy McCafferty (Ind), saying she was expelled for a “good reason”. The Louth TD, who was in Ennis last week to campaign for a ‘No’ vote in the upcoming European Fiscal Treaty, refused to give a reason why the Shannon councillor was expelled from the Sinn Féin party earlier this year.

“After the last election we initiated a review right across the island of Ireland, looking at where we need to shape our organisation – looking at where we were strong and how we could change things where we were weak. We did this in Clare and some local people objected to what was brought forward,” said Deputy Adams.

“It was all done democratically. Some people left and some people were dismissed. We are in a new era. We have a sizable vote in the county, I think that is seen in European elections, it is seen when Martin McGuinness stands, but we have no local representative and we have to crack that. It isn’t a matter of cracking that for a ego trip, it is a matter of correcting things so we can start to serve people in a matter that we think is best for the people of this county.

“I am very hopeful and very confident that the changes that we have made [in Clare], which have been done in consultation with local people, will lead to greater traction to the party in Clare.

“All parties have their democratic process and their disciplinary process. The fact is that a small number of people who were expelled, were expelled for a good reason. We don’t want to end up being complicated for all or any of that. It has happened, people part company in every organisation and every political party. It is done, it’s dusted, it is regrettable, but sin é, that’s it, we move on.

“Those who have not been expelled, there is a process for anyone who wants to come back into the party. There is a process in place for those people. That is a decision for them, it isn’t a decision for us. We can’t altogether blind ourselves to the fact that part of the lack of the development of the party [in Clare] is the refusal of some to go with the way that the party is building itself across the island. If it works in County Antrim, if it work in Kerry and in Donegal, it can also work in Clare. But it needs a full hearted involvement by the local members. A political party, at least one like the one we want to build, can only be built from the bottom up.”

A SCHEME that has been credited with helping to reduce speed on roads around Ennis should be extended to other parts of the town.

That’s according to Councillor Tony Mulqueen (FG) who says solar powered signs are already have a positive impact on driver behaviour.

In a motion submitted to a meeting of councillors in the Ennis East Electoral Area, Cllr Mulqueen stated, “I call on the area engineer to put in place more of those new solar powered electronic signs in the Ennis west area as they are proving very helpful to road users and making them aware of speed zones.”

In his response, Eamon O’Dea, Senior Executive Engineer, stated, “Ennis Town Council provided four digital speed signs on the Tulla Road as part of their 2011 roadworks programme.

“Provision has been made in the Ennis Town Council Roadworks programme for the provision of two further digital speed signs on Cusack Road.”

Electronic displays that show the speed of passing cars have already been installed on the Tulla Road by Ennis Town Council for road design purposes and the recording of traffic flow data.

The council is providing four 50/ kph activated electronic speed display signs on the Tulla Road at locations outbound after Tulla Road and Railway Bridge and Roslevan roundabout and inbound near Hill- crest and Cappahard Lane as a pilot scheme.

Through the scheme, the council will be able to download traffic flow data from the signs and this information can be used for road design purposes and data will be forwarded to the Garda traffic corps.

It is not the first time solar power has been put forward to help road safety on roads in Clare.

Last year independent councillor James Breen made the request for a public solar powered streetlight at Kilnamona Cross.

Cllr Breen said at the time that solar street lighting could be piloted in Kilnamona and, if successful, introduced around Clare.

He said the local community would be willing to cover 50 per cent of the cost of the project.

KILRUSH TOWN Council has proposed to build an outdoor fitness area in the town.

Cllr Liam O’Looney (FF) suggested that developing the outdoor fitness area for adults in the centre of the town would merge well with the proposed sporting facility proposed for the Cooraclare road.

Town Clerk John Corry agreed the council should look into providing such a public facility.

He said the town council was represented on the Recreation and Sport Strategy Steering Committee, which has prepared a strategy for the development and growth of active recreation and sporting activities in the town.

“Key objectives of this strategy were to actively research all possible available sites and sources of funding for proposed new facilities in order to develop milti use sport and recreational facilities in West Clare and to actively involve local communities in agreeing the facilities to be developed through meaningful public consultation.

“Kilrush Town Council had worked towards these objectives by identifying in conjunction with local sporting group, a site on the Cooraclare Road which could be utilised for a multipurpose sports facility including a synthetic playing pitch, grass pitches, cross country running track and dressing rooms,” he said.

“Kilrush Town Council and Clare County Council are presently applying for grant assistance under the 2012 Sports capital Grant Scheme for funding for the first two phases of this development.”

“An out door fitness area could also be considered as a future phase of this development or indeed an alternative site in the town could also be selected.

“It is recommended that the location of any such facilities should be located in an area that will be utilised y the public for recreational purposes for example walking.

“Therefore consultation with the public would be advised,” said the town clerk. The funding of such a fines are would need to be carefully considered and may qualify for assistance under a future application for grant assistance under the Sports Capital Programme.”

Cllr O’Looney suggested that the outdoor fitness area could also be situated adjacent to the playground, so that parents could use it while watching their children play.

BURREN film ‘Songs For Amy’ looks set to become the latest small budget Irish film to make it big in Hollywood after to took the main Jury Award at the prestigious Newport Beach Film Festival in Los Angeles last week.

The film, which is the brainchild of Burren based writer and producer Fiona Graham, took the award for ‘Outstanding Achievement in Filmmaking’. It was also confirmed last week that the film has been chosen for a screen at the Cannes Film Festival on May 26.

Features a number of North Clare and South Galway locals, ‘Songs for Amy’ was shot on location in Kinvara last Summer.

The film tells the story of a New York musician played by Sean Maguire who moves to the West of Ireland where he sets about writing an album of music for the girl he loves, played by Lorna Anderson.

Present at the screen were Bellharbour musician Jim McKee and Kinvara’s Ultan Conlon who both acted in the films and contributed to the films soundtrack. The film will be given its Irish premier at the Galway Film Fleadh next month.

“The film has already been dubbed ‘the musician’s film’ due to its portrayal of the eclectic music scene of Ireland and because of the incredible original sound track with songs by Ultan Conlon and Jim McKee, rock band Alabama 3, Patrick Bergin, Eleanor Shanley, as well as music from Tom Paxton and Jono McCleery,” said Fiona.

“The West of Ireland is a character in the film with it’s culture and beauty woven into the story. The Galway Film Fleadh was where we all wanted to showcase it and the cast and crew are extremely excited about reuniting back on the west of Ireland. It feels like we’re bringing the film home.” The films was produced by Burren based company Sonny and Skye Productions and Seafaring films.

RELATIVES of the three Clare passengers who travelled on the ill-fated voyage of the Titanic visited Clare County Council yesterday to take part in the unveiling of a plaque in their memory.

Twenty-year-old Martin McMahon and 35-year-old Daniel Keane lost their lives when the liner collided with an iceberg on its maiden transatlantic crossing, while 19-year-old Mary Agatha Glynn, from Flagmount, was one of the lucky few to make it to America on the rescue ships.

Speaking last night, the Mayor of Clare, Cllr Pat Hayes (FF), said it was important to mark the Clare people who took part in the only voyage of the world’s most famous ship.

“More than 100 years on, many people remain fascinated by the story of the Titanic. The ship was regarded as the pinnacle of man’s engineering ability, while many of its First Class passengers were drawn from some of the world’s best known and wealthiest families,” he said.

“The ship also was regarded as a microcosm of society at the time, due to its segregated class system and the fact that the majority of those saved emanated from the first-class section of the ship. It is important that Clare County Council recognises Clare’s connections with an event that has captured the public’s imagination for more than a century.

‘In erecting this plaque, we are remembering not only these connections but all of those who tragically lost their lives in the North Atlantic on the morning of April 15, 1912.”

Mary Agatha Glynn was the only Clare person to survive the sinking. She was on her way to start a new life in Washington when the White Star Liner collided with an iceberg.

After being rescued in Life Boat 13 by the Carpathia and taken to New York, the third-class passenger carried on to Washington, where she lived until 1955 when she died at the age of 61.

A farm labourer, Martin McMahon hailed from Cragbrien in Tiermaclane just outside Ennis. Thirty-fiveyear-old Daniel Keane, from Gallows Hill in Cratloe, was a second-class passenger who had planned to travel on to St Louis, Missouri, after arriving in New York City.

HISTORY was made in Athlone on Saturday night when the players of the Corofin Drama Society won two All-Ireland titles at the prestigious RTÉ All-Ireland Drama Festival for their production of ‘The Subject was Roses’. The big winner on the night was Maura Clancy, who took the overall Best Actress Award while Kevin Glynn also brought home a deserved All-Ireland for his light work. The society took a very impressive third place in the overall Best Play category and different members were also in the running for a number of other awards. For Maura, who is a professor of maths at NUI, Galway, her Best Actress award was a team award rather than a personal one. “It was such a prestigious achievement and such an thrill just to make it to Athlone. We felt that we had already done well just to be there, so we were very relaxed about things, we felt we were already winners no matter what happened in the final so that did take the pressure off us a bit,” said Maura. “Every actor knows that you are only as good as the people around you. I was thought from a very early age that acting is all about reacting – so if you don’t have great cast members there with you to give you something to react to then it is pretty difficult to be out there on your own. “It was a total team performance and I can’t emphasise how wonderful it was to work with Martin O’Donoghue and James Rallahy, their performances were magnificent on the night and I thin that the reward really goes to all of us. It was an honour to be recognised but I think the award is for all of us really.” This win continues the recent run of good form for the Corofin Drama Society having won the All-Ireland (Confined) three act finals in 2008 and the All-Ireland (Confined) one act final last year.

SHANNON Airport will become “a carcass” if a new management structure for the airport is not fully operational before international airlines decide their 2013 route schedule this August.

The airport could also become the victim of “asset stripping” by the Dublin Airport Authority, with the loss of Aer Rianta International and the possible loss of the Shannon slots at Heathrow Airport, should the government’s stake in Aer Lingus be sold.

These were the main concerns expressed by councillors at a special meeting of Clare County Council on the subject of Shannon Airport yesterday.

Shannon Cllr PJ Ryan (IND) said that a steering group, including a member of Clare County Council, must be put in place immediately with a view to creating a new management structure of the airport as soon as possible.

“Setting up a steering committee is fine but if don’t have any decision made by this steering committee before the end of 2012, Shannon Airport will become a carcass of an airport,” he said.

Cllr Jerry Flynn (FG) warned that this process should not be used as a means to allow the Dublin Airport Authority to strip the assets of Shannon Airport.

“Aer Rianta should not be given away, it is worth € 100 million, and it should not be handed over to the DAA. Nor should the Heathrow slots be lost. This will amount to asset stripping for the airport in Shannon,” he said. “Shannon Airport also saves Dublin Airport around € 25 million a year by allowing all emergency landings to come through Shannon. If it was not for this, they would have to shut down Dublin Airport a number of times each year.”

Chairman of the council’s Transport Special Policy Committee (SPC), Richard Nagle (FF), said that the timescale for establishing the steering committee was critical.

“Concerns have been expressed about the timescale of the proposals. It was highlighted by speaker after speaker [at yesterday’s Transport SPC meeting]. It was felt that any delay would leave the future of the airport in limbo,” he said.

“The concerns of the staff down there need to be address without delay. Time is critical – the steering group needs to be put in place now an need to come up with proposals for the airport.”

Cllr Patricia McCarthy (IND) also warned about the airport being left in limbo.

“What is not acceptable is that we are now entertaining in a period of limbo and we don’t have an idea what s going to happen to Shannon during this period,” said Cllr McCarthy.

“My main concerns stems from the fact that while a decision has been made, there is no indication of how this is going to be achieved and what impact this will have on the staff down there going forward.”

PEOPLE are becoming more fire and road safety conscious, with Clare Fire and Rescue Service call-outs dropping by one third last year.

According to the county’s fire chief, Adrian Kelly, people are becoming more safety aware, but false alarms continue to be an issue.

In 2010, the fire services responded to 1,355 calls, compared to 908 last year.

As many as 850 of the 2010 callouts were to fires, a number that almost halved to 461 in 2011.

Chief Kelly explained that gorse, bog and forestry fires had a huge affect on the 2010 figures, with approximately 260 such fires in total.

From January 1, 2010, to September 30, 2010, the fire service responded to 257 large outdoor fires. During the same period in 2011, that number had dropped to just 73.

A number of initiatives introduced by Clare County Council and the fire service have also played a part in the reduction in call-out numbers.

Among the schemes in place is a school programme where the fire service speaks with third-class students, a clean chimney campaign, and a smoke detector initiative.

The number of fires started for controlled burning that have gotten out of control has also reduced, with people ringing the service in advance to say they will be lighting fires.

“People are therefore more responsible as they have already informed the service who they are,” explained Mr Kelly.

The number of road traffic accidents the fire service was called to in 2011 reduced by 25 from the previous year. This number was down almost 100 from 2007.

“Part of the reason for this is the opening of the motorway, and there are less people on the road because there are less people working and due to the cost of fuel,” said the Clare fire chief.

Bogus calls continue to waste time and money for the fire service, however. Last year, there were 24 malicious false alarms at a cost of approximately € 1,100 per call-out.

Not only did this cost the fire service € 26,400, it also cost the service valuable time, according to Chief Kelly.

While the fire units are attending a bogus call, they could get a call to a genuine emergency.

“We could be losing valuable minutes on bogus calls,” he said.

A further 75 call-outs last year were good-intent false alarms.

DESPITE having its Government funding cut by more than nine million euro last year, Clare County Council ended the year with a deficit of just € 47,000.

Total Government funding received by Clare County Council during 2011 was € 66.8M, compared to € 78.2m in 2010.

The council’s financial department said it achieved considerable savings through a reduction in operating costs such as payroll and has some additional income generated under the Non Principal Private Residence (NPPR) scheme.

A significant reduction in staffing levels saved the council € 1.26 million in salaries, wages and pension costs.

The pay roll cost for 2011 was € 40.9 million, compared to € 42.2 million incurred the previous year.

Reduced call outs to the emergency services also had an impact on council savings.

Not surprisingly there was an in- crease in uncollected rates at the end of 2011 over the previous year yet the total cash intake had also increased by 10 per cent to € 34.5 million.

The council also managed to reduce its long-term loans by € 6.6 million.

Head of Finance Niall Barrett noted that the 2011 financial year was a difficult one that required the council to make expenditure savings in order to negate both the impact of a significant reduction in Government funding, and other income reductions.

“Taking into consideration the fiscal challenges faced by the Coun- cil, this result is welcomed and has arisen from effective budget management of both expenditure and income throughout the organisation,” he added.

“The key factors that influenced the financial performance of the council included an increased level of vacant properties impacting Commercial Rates and a general increase in irrecoverable charges due to the impact of the economic climate, NPPR income, payroll savings, the severe cold weather and resulting damage to water mains, the deferral of the am- ortization of unfunded capital balances relating to the Central Waste Management Facility at Ballyduffbeg; and critical maintenance and security issues at Traveller Accommodation sites,” he said.

“While the overall result is almost break-even and can be considered to be positive in the context, cognisance must be taken of the fact that this situation is only arrived at by virtue of the corrective actions taken by the council in reducing its expenditure in line with available funding in 2011,” added Mr. Barrett.