Category: News

A TOTAL of 32 volunteers worked diligently at the weekend to restore some forgotten West Clare history and adding to the number of tourist attractions on Loop Head.

Among those white washing the Kilbaha Éire sign was Peter Keane from Cross, whose father Corporal Keane was the last man to under take the whitewashing task more than 60 years ago.

Due to the hard and unfunded work of volunteers, the old Éire sign at Kilbaha has been restored to its former glory, and can now be seen by all passengers flying into Shannon.

On Good Friday last year, the venture to bring back the Éire sign began with a few volunteers using rods to mark out the 150 foot by 50 foot sign carved into the grassy shore.

Some inventive local men then took the blade off an old plough and attached it to the back of a tractor so that they could cut away the sod that covered the sign designed and built at the onset of World War II in 1939.

The top layer was removed under the supervision of archaeologist Terry Barry of Trinity College Dublin.

The original flat stone was still in place when the layer of clay was removed, looking almost as good as it did when it was placed there in 1939.

The volunteers then filled in any few gaps in the stone and white washed them.

These Éire signs were cut into the coastline every 10 miles to declare to fighter pilots that they were flying over a neutral country during World War II.

The American pilots requested that each sign be numbered so they knew exactly where they were flying, and the sign in Kilbaha got the number 45.

Volunteer Ailish Connolly said that the group now hope to restore the number 45 and the associated look out post in Kilbaha, before moving on to develop the Carrigaholt sign.

All new work is dependent on Leader funding.

To date, the sign has been restored without any funding.

The leading expert on the subject of protecting Ireland’s neutrality, Dr Michael Kennedy gave all of his services for free as he advised the group on the work.

Diggers, equipment, food and even overnight stays were also donated by local people and businesses.

“The only cost to me was the price of three bags of lime at € 8.99,” laughed Ms Connolly.

The project was under taken as a result of the combined efforts of the Kilballyowen Development Committee and Loophead Tourism.

It will feature on the RTÉ programme Nationwide next Monday, which will be all about West Clare.

THE HSE spent more than half a million euro on wheelchairs for Clare, Limerick and North Tipperary last year.

It was unable to say how much it spent on other aids such as walking frames and crutches last year stating they were included in “a generic cost centre of either beds and hoist or medical surgical equipment”.

In 2008 the HSE spent € 1,121,193 on aids and appliances in Clare.

However the cost of wheelchairs in the former mid-west area was recorded at € 511,260.84 in 2011 and € 491,231.07 in 2010.

Green Party councillor Brian Meaney raised concerns that aids such as crutches and wheelchairs were not being recycled by the HSE.

He asked if it was still the policy of the HSE not to return such mobility aids.

In its reply the HSE said it has recently signed a contract with the company Homecare Medical.

“This contract award supports and supplements existing recycling services and will ensure high standards in infection control and appliance service and maintenance. This contract will also support the movement of aid and appliances to ensure equity of service for clients in the community,” said Philip Browne from the HSE’s Procurement Department.

“It will increase current recycling levels and reduce the need for purchase of new appliances,” he said.

It is still unclear what equipment and aids will be recycled and how much will be saved each year under the project.

A NEW organisation dedicated to providing employment services for people with illness, injury or disability has been established in Clare. The launch of EmployAbility Clare represents a rebranding of the former Clare Supported Employment Service.

The new identity was unveiled by Caroline Casey, a well-known campaigner for people with disabilities, while addressing an audience of almost 190 people at Dromoland Castle last Wednesday.

Speaking to a theme, ‘Impossible is an Opinion’, Ms Casey said the new name, which “puts the focus on a person’s ability to work, rather than their innate or acquired disability, describes what supported employment is about”.

“While our service centres on supporting people with an illness, injury or disability to secure employment, we’re also concerned with assisting employers,” said EmployAbility Clare team leader, Alice O’Carroll.

“People are living longer, and as the population rises, more and more people acquire disabilities. People in the older age groups hold most of the wealth in society and naturally have more purchasing power. It makes sense for businesses to attract as broad a range of customers as possible. They can learn how best to be accessible to people with disabilities by finding out, first hand, from people with disabilities how to make their products and services attractive and accessible,” she added.

EmployAbility Clare, which offers a range of supports, including workplace adaptation grants, wage subsidies and on-site employment facilitators, is key in supporting people with an injury, illness or disability overcome the challenges of adapting to employment and to being accepted in the workplace. It also works with employers to ensure new recruits make a meaningful contribution to the business’s bottom line.

“We strive to reassure employers and give them the confidence to see the benefits of working with us. The new identity, which focuses on the positive benefits of ‘employing ability’, rather than ‘supporting employment’, will help to address any existing misconceptions,” aid Ms O’Carroll.

The launch was organised by EmployAbility Clare in conjunction with Shannon, Ennis and Limerick Chambers, IBEC, and co-sponsored by UCB Manufacturing Ireland Limited, Shannon Development, Vitalograph, Dromoland Castle Hotel, ZAGG International, and the Cregg Group.

THE SHANNON region was touted as being ideally located to cash in on traffic and business associated with the 2012 London Olympics, but it never happened.

Until last Saturday that is, when Shannon Airport that famously welcomed home Ronnie Delany from Melbourne with his Olympic gold in 1956 and saw off Cassius Clay with his Olympic gold that he won in Rome in 1960 was finally touched by London 2012.

It was all thanks to the surprise pit-stop made in Shannon by the Olympic torch on Friday, over a month ahead of schedule when it will be carried from Belfast to Dublin en route to London by among others, Paul McGrath, Michael Carruth and Rory McIlroy.

But, in ahead of all these famous names was Airport Duty Manager Natasha Naughton-O’Keeffe after the British Airways flight BA2036 was forced to divert to Shannon for re-fuelling.

“I certainly wasn’t expecting to be holding the Olympic torch when I came into work this afternoon but it’s certainly made the evening shift a lot easier,” she said.

“The whole world will be looking at the Olympic torch on the opening night of the games in July and I’ll be able to say I carried it too,” said Ms Naughton-O’Keeffe who hails from Gort.

“It’s a great honour to have been the first place in Ireland to have the Olympic torch this year. I know it’s scheduled to come to Ireland in June and there’s a lot of effort going into organising its visit but we can always say we had it first in Shannon.

“We have had many firsts here since the airport was established and this is definitely right up there,” she added.

The BA flight was one of two forced to divert to Shannon to take on extra fuel after air traffic control issues in Canada forced them to take longer routes than anticipated. The torch was being brought to England by Mr Piers Skinner, director of customer management for Coca-Cola.

The arrival of the Olympic Torch today is in keeping with a long history of firsts at Shannon Airport, including being the birthplace of ‘duty free’ airport retailing, Irish coffee and, more recently, the first airport outside the Americas to get US preclearance services in 2009.

The torch was transferred from the BA flight to complete it journey to London on a scheduled ShannonHeathrow flight on Friday evening.

RNLI branches from Ennis and along the county’s Atlantic coast will come together later today to launch the ‘Mayday Mayday’ campaign for new lifejackets in the stations.

The Ennis and Kilrush branches of the RNLI have decided to pool their resources and produce a combined programme of fundraising events for the rest of the year. This programme includes events established events such as the Burren Ramble and the July Moonlit walk in the Burren, but also includes new events such as the hills of Aylroe in Kildysert.

The Mayday Mayday programme launch will take place at the Sanctuary in the Queens Hotel, this evening, May 1, from 8.30pm. It is hoped that a large number of locals and RNLI members will support the launch and the different fundraising events.

“This appeal centres on the new lifejacket initiative for the crews of all our lifeboat stations around the country. It also gives the Clare community to come out and support their local lifeboat stations,” said Jennifer Ryan of the Ennis RNLI.

“Our countries lifeboat branches are always looking for ways of improving and maintaining their equipment. This however is a costly business. The new lifejackets that have been in development for some time now are the way forward.”

Details of these events will be available this evening but it is understood that the new fundraising event in the hills of Aylroe will take place during May. The annual Midnight Walk will take place as usual in July while this year’s Burren Ramble will take place in September.

SOUTH Clare’s tourist attractions will be put under the spotlight this Wednesday when tourism operators from throughout the county take part in the third of four ‘Familiarisation Tours’.

The tours are the brainchild of the Clare Tourism Forum, thanks to their ongoing campaign aimed at increasing tourism business referrals within Clare.

As part of the initiative two tours have already been held in North and West Clare, while the final tour in the series will take place in East Clare later on in May.

This Wednesday’s excursion to South Clare will feature guided tours of Quin Abbey, Craggaunowen, Bunratty Castle and Folk Park, Bunratty Castle Hotel Angsana Spa, and Durty Nelly’s perfect Guinness workshop. Participants also will attend a cookery demonstration at Bunratty Cookery School and an Irish coffee making demonstration and tasting session at the Shannon Oakwood Arms Hotel. John O’Brien, Shannon Archaeological and Historical Society will accompany the tour.

“The familiarisation tours have been hugely successful to date with dozens of Clare tourism providers pledging their support to help to build referral business within the local sector,” says Clare Tourism Forum chairperson, Barbara Faulkner.

“By broadening their knowledge and experience of other tourism attractions within County Clare, individual operators will be better positioned to promote the wider tourism sector and in doing so accrue the benefits of fellow operators doing likewise,” she adds.

Tourism operators interested in joining a tour should contact the Clare Tourism Forum office on 0656846537 or email ctf@clarecoco.ie.

CLARE people waiting for out patient appointments in Galway are among 40,517 hoping to get a call, with many waiting years for that coveted appointment.

Galway has the longest waiting lists in the country, but the CEO of the Galway/Roscommon Hospitals Group, Bill Maher, said he was more concerned with the duration people were waiting rather than the length of the list.

He also said the 40,000 plus figure was “a worse case scenario” as it had not yet been validated and once it was he expects the figure to fall significantly.

He told members of the Regional Health Forum West that some of the names on the list were duplicated, on other hospital lists or no longer required the service.

“Once validation is complete we would expect a reduction in this number. We know for example that a number of patients are referred routinely to the same or similar services in a number of hospitals,” he said.

Describing the list as “frightening” chairman of the HSE West Forum Cllr Padraig Conneely said he was “getting horrific stories of people waiting years” on the list.

“This is a figure I wouldn’t be happy with either. The real issue for me is not the number of people in the list but how long they are waiting. There are some specialise where people are waiting for years,” the CEO admitted. “I wouldn’t be sure if all patients are still active on the list. To validate the list properly would entail writing out to 40,000 patients and await a response,” he said.

Mr Maher added the HSE had set itself a target to shorten the list significantly within the next 12 months.

“We have set ourselves a target that no one will still be on the list in 12 months. 12 months is still too long for patients to wait for an out-patient appointment but we have to start somewhere,” he said.

“On March 23, 2012, the SDU launched an initiative to deal with the out-patient waiting list. This is similar to the initiative currently underway for in-patient waiting lists. We are currently preparing to take part in this initiative and will be addressing out-patient waiting lists across the hospital group.”

He also denied that the waiting list was as a result of a staffing issue.

The CEO told the HSE forum members that when he had exhausted all of the resources he had, and if he still needed more then he would apply for some.

THERE have been calls for teachers in Clare to receive training to help support students who may be feeling suicidal or depressed. Services and organisations that help prevent suicide and self-harm should also be publicised through secondary schools.

The suggestions were put forward in Ennis on Friday at the launch of Pieta House’s Darkness into Light walk, which takes place at Lees Road in Ennis on Saturday, May 12.

Pieta House is a non-profit organisation providing a specialised treatment programme for people who have suicidal ideation or who participate in self-harming behaviours.

The Ennis launch was attended by local politicians including the Mayor of Clare, Councillor Pat Hayes, gardaí, clergy and teachers. The walk is also supported by Davy Fitzgerald and the Clare senior hurling panel.

John Burns, Deputy Principal of Rice College, Ennis, said it is “vital” that the availability of services such as Pieta House is promoted through schools. He added that training should also be provided to teachers.

Joan Freeman, CEO of Pieta House, said the service has refused requests to speak at schools. She said that after hearing from Pieta House, teachers were often left “to deal with the aftermath” amongst students, a situation she described as “unfair”.

Ms Freeman said Pieta House has initiated a ‘Mind Your Buddy’ programme, which encourages students to tell someone if one of their friends is in crisis.

Ms Freeman said the service would be happy to educate staff.

A recent meeting in Ennis heard that 899 children were referred to the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in Clare, Limerick and North Tipperary last year. In 2009, that figure stood at 419, while 710 children were referred in 2010.

Cllr James Breen (Ind) told the launch that the decision by the Minister for Education and Skills to abolish guidance counsellor posts in schools was a mistake.

“They understand the pressures pupils are under. This can avoid people committing suicide. Career guidance is a very important part of the curriculum.”

Mayor of Clare, Pat Hayes praised the work of Pieta House, who operate a centre in Limerick.

He said, “We all have a duty of care to try and help people who seek help. Thank you for the good work that you do. It is the voluntary and community organisations that are keeping this country afloat.”

CLARE’S most senior garda has acknowledged the “widespread” problem of fuel theft in Clare.

Chief superintendent of the Clare Garda Division John Kerin said yesterday that gardaí had received an estimated 40 reports of fuel theft so far this year. He said roughly 25 report referred to the theft of home heating oil while around 15 to 20 concerned theft of fuel from cars.

He explained, “It is fairly widespread, right across the country and people are using sophisticated methods.”

Chief Supt Kerin was speaking at a meeting of the Clare Joint Policing Committee (JPC) in Clare County Council.

There have been calls for greater use of the community text alert scheme to halt the rise of robberies in rural parts of the county.

Speaking yesterday, Chief Supintendnent of the Clare Garda Division, John Kerin, said there had been 14 more burglaries in Clare over the first three months of 2012 compared to the same period last year.

The number of assaults was down from 302 in 2010 to 225 last year. There were 36 incidents of arson in 2011, while gardaí in Clare dealt with 46 sexual offences.

Clare’s most senior garda also confirmed that the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) is carrying out investigations in the Clare area.

There have been 440 garda checkpoints set up in Clare during the first four months.

Chief Supt Kerin added, “I want to get guards out of the station and onto checkpoints.”

Councillors backed proposals to extend the use of community text alert schemes to all parts of the county.

The meeting also heard that there had been 41 garda retirements in Clare since 2010.

THERE was an increase on the number of people from Clare seeking help from suicide intervention service Pieta House in 2011. 348 people accessed Pieta House Mid West’s centre in Mungret, Limerick. 54 people came from Clare.

Tom McEvoy of Pieta House in Clare confirmed the increase ahead of the service’s second annual ‘Darkness into Light’ charity walk in Ennis next week. There are currently 20 people on a waiting list for the centre.

Mr McEvoy said, “We have a waiting list unfortunately. That isn’t the way we want Pieta House to run because we were fortunate up to now that we were able to cope with the numbers of people coming in the doors. However, we had 15 and a half per cent of the total number of people availing of Pieta’s services last year from County Clare. That’s a firm statistic.”

Mr McEvoy said the service urgently needs funding to meet its goal of providing a centre within 100km of every person in the country.

“There was a gesture made through the lottery and health board. We got € 100,000 which partly paid off the debt that we have on Pieta Mid West, our facility there. It’s like scraping all the time for funding. Instead of having a figure that we can work with, we’re continually going for bits and pieces. It’s not good enough and I feel strongly that we need to drive harder for funding.”

The Darkness into Light walk starts at 4am on Saturday, May 12 at 4am. Registration takes place at Lees Road on Thursday, May 10 and on the day.