Category: News

A MAN has been ordered to pay money to a local women’s refuge after being found by Gardaí in possession of a kitchen knife on the streets of Ennis earlier this year.

At Ennis District Court on Wednesday, Arunas Jankauskas (29) with an address at 11 Gus Murphy’s Apartments, Mill Road, Ennis, was charged having a 12-inch kitchen knife contrary to the firearms and offensive weapons act on Parnell Street, Ennis, on February 26.

He was also charged with a public order offence, being intoxicated to such an extent that he might endanger himself or others.

Inspector Tom Kennedy said Mr Jankauskas was “staggering” on the street when he was met by Gardaí.

His solicitor John Casey told the court that his client had been drinking in a flat on the Mill Road with a woman. He said the woman had come at him with a knife. Mr Casey explained that his client took the knife away from the woman for her own safety. He said Mr Jankauskas, a car sprayer, had been on his way to the Garda station to hand in the knife when he met gardaí. He said his client had been “as drunk as a skunk” on the night. The court heard that Mr Jankauskas has no previous convictions. Judge Patrick Durcan said there was an “element of gallantry” in Mr Jankauskas’ actions on the night. He ordered him to pay € 250 to Clare Haven, a service that provides support, and refuge accommodation to women and their children experiencing domestic violence/abuse. He struck out the charges against Mr Jankausakas.

STUDENTS from Coláiste Muire will meet Taoiseach Enda Kenny in Dublin tomorrow as part of an ongoing campaign to make Ennis the age-friendly capital of Ireland.

The group of transition-year students are hoping Mr Kenny will support their project on Positive Ageing, which aims to tackle ageism in Ennis.

They will also present the Taoiseach with an age-friendly loyalty card during their meeting at Leinster House on Wednesday.

The meeting was arranged by local Fine Gael councillor Mary Howard.

Led by their teacher, Mrs Finola Howard, the transition-year students have set out to tackle as many of the aspects of ageism as possible.

The foundation of their project is based on the areas of age discrimination and abuse, loneliness, lack of social connection and an education in technology.

The group have submitted a proposal to Ennis Town Council for new signage to caution motorists to be more aware of elderly pedestrians.

They also put forward the idea that the time period available to pedestrians at traffic lights is insufficient and should be lengthened.

The project is the school’s entry in the annual Young Social Innovators competition, the finals of which take place on May 9.

As part of the project, the students take part in paired walking with elderly members of the community, to keep them company while walking and to run errands for them.

The students are also promoting ‘New Year, New Price’, a collabora- tion with a number of cafés and taxi companies to agree on a reduced price for OAPs, which will take effect this month.

The students will also be actively involved in the consultations for Ennis’s Age Friendly Strategy on May 3. To mark this occasion, the European Day of Solidarity, the class have invited an active retirement group to visit the school on April 27 and relive their school days.

Student Muireann O’Shea said, “Ennis, as a potentially age-friendly town, needs to adapt its structures and services to be accessible to and inclusive of older people with varying needs and capacities.

“We, as a community, need to look after our elderly. Crossing the roads is a basic function and should not cause unnecessary stress or injury to any individual, least of all the vulnerable in our community.”

The Burren will once again be in the hat when the management committee of the UNESCO World Heritage Site organisation meets in St Petersburg in the Russian Federation later this year.

It was confirmed yesterday that the Burren is one of a number of Irish locations that will go forward for possible inclusion as an official World Heritage Site. Should the Burren gain this prestigious status, it could result in thousands of extra tourists being attracted to holiday in North Clare each year.

The Burren was included on the so-called “tentative list” drawn up by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht’s Expert Advisory Group on World Heritage Sites. The Burren was included alongside a group application from the ‘Royal Sites’, which include Tara, Cashel, Dún Ailinne and Rathcroghan; the ‘Monastic sites’, which include Clonmacnoise, Durrow, Kells and Glendalough; and the Céide Fields in Mayo.

If the Burren succeeds in gaining UNESCO World Heritage status, it will becomes just Ireland’s fourth site after Brú na Bóinne, Skellig Michael and the Giant’s Causeway.

This is not the first time that the Burren has been close to gaining World Heritage status, having gone forward as one of Ireland’s final nominations in 2011 and 2010.

The Burren and Cliffs of Moher were granted Geopark Status earlier this year and it is thought that this might aid in the quest to be classified as a World Heritage Site.

The 36th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee will take place in St Petersburg from June 24 to July 6. The committee, which is headed up by Russian diplomat Mitrofanova Eleonora, meets once a year to consider new applications for World Heritage Site status and to ensure that all current heritage sites are living up to their commitments under the programme.

CLARE farmers could be the unlikely winners of the move to domestic water metering, with water charges for farmers in Clare likely to be reduced under the new Irish Water organisation.

At present, each farmer in Clare pays Clare County Council a standing charge of € 145 per water metre, per year – almost 350 per cent more per year than the annual charge per domestic metre proposed by Irish Water.

The standing charge for farmers varies drastically from one local authority to the next, with farmers in Wicklow paying just € 60 per year, while farmers in Donegal pay € 175 per year.

Speaking to The Clare People yesterday, the Clare chairperson of the IFA, Andrew Dundas, says his members are hopeful of a standing charge reduction under Irish Water.

“We would be hopeful that the charges would at least be evened out across the country. It is very unusual, you play an awful lot more in some counties than you would in some others,” he said.

“We are hoping that we will get a reduction here in Clare. But it’s not just the reduction; we are hoping that the system would be an awful lot more efficient when it comes to things like stopping leaks and things like that.

“We are hoping that under the new company the whole water system will be run better.”

The Southeast Clare farmer did welcome the announcement that farmers who use water drawn from their own wells will not be hit with a charge under the new system.

“Some farms in Clare have their own wells that they paid to put in place themselves and it is some relief that they won’t be charged again,” he said.

“These wells were not cheap for the farmers to put in place in the first place and I think it would have been very unfair if farmers were to be charged to draw water from a well that they built themselves,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Mayor of Clare, Cllr Pat Hayes (FF), has said that the proposed establishment of Irish Water by the Government has raised more questions than it has provided answers about the transfer of Clare’s water and wastewater assets from Clare Local Authorities to the independent, State-owned subsidiary.

“If Clare’s water and wastewater infrastructure is transferred to Irish Water it is imperative that the funding invested by Clare ratepayers to develop this asset is returned to the county,” said Mayor Hayes.

A SMALL West Clare primary school has been praised for its enthusiastic teaching staff, well behaved pupils and significant improvements made in information technology.

A Whole School Evaluation Report under taken by the Department of Education and Skills at Clohanbeg National School, Cree, last November, found that its board of management and the local community enthusiastically supported the school, “for which this school is the primary focal point”.

“The teachers work diligently to provide effective teaching in an atmosphere conducive to the growth of mutual respect and inclusiveness,” the report into the 36-pupil school said.

“The quality of overall teaching, learning and pupil achievement, in the areas evaluated, is very good. The principal provides able leadership to the school and is well supported by a hard-working deputy principal.

“Significant improvements have been made to the school’s information and communication technologies (ICT) infrastructure and to the integration of ICT into teaching and learning,” it said.

The report found that enrolment was “somewhat higher” than in 2004, when it last carried out an inspection.

It recommended that the board should consider appropriate protocols for communicating its work to parents and said greater cohesion and consistency is required in planning for pupils with special and additional educational needs and in recording their progress.

The school’s board of management said it was committed to implementing the recommendations during the lifetime of the board and it was encouraged by the positive feedback of the report.

A Clare secondary school also came under the microscope of the Department of Education Inspectors.

The inspectors examined the teaching of English at St Camin’s Community School in Shannon in September. The resulting report found that good interpersonal relations exist between teachers and students at the 700 student co-ed school.

“Overall, teaching was good in the lessons observed, with examples of excellent practices in some lessons,” the report said.

“Further developing the school library would be a very useful wholeschool literacy support. While progress has been made in subject department planning, this is an area where there is still scope for development.”

The report recommended more active learning strategies in classes, by extending team teaching arrangements to meet the needs of particular cohorts, and by more widespread promotion of personal reading through planned year-group initiatives.

It said subject department planning for English would be enhanced by regular, planned teacher sharing of effective teaching methods and recommended that the existing programme for first-year English should be revised in order to provide a consistent, skills-focused experience for students.

CLARE company Cupprint Ltd has been named as winner of the Innovation & Emerging Technology Award at the national final of the Ulster Bank Business Achievers Awards, which took place at the Mansion House, Dublin, on Thursday, April 19.

Cupprint Ltd manufactures paper cups for takeaway beverages, using an innovative printing process to print a minimum of 5,000 cups with a two-week turnaround compared to a minimum of 50,000 cups and a twelve-week turnaround.

The company was established in 2009 with the unique selling point that this smaller scale manufacturing appeals to companies all over Ireland and Europe who do not need large quantities of cups. Since it was founded, the company has expanded to export to cafés and marketing companies all over Europe. Cupprint Ltd has a turnover of € 2.2 million last year and has 35 employees.

Receiving the award, Terry Fox from Cupprint Ltd said: “Winning the Ulster Bank Business Achievers Innovation & Emerging Technology Award is an honour. It represents our visions and exactly what we set out to achieve. I accept this award on behalf of our fantastic team at Cupprint and would like to thank them for their dedication and enthusiasm in keeping the company ahead of our competitors during these uncertain times. I am delighted to accept an award that recognises this achievement.”

Seven other leading businesses from across the country were selected as winners in their category at the awards, which are in association with the Irish Independent, Enterprise Ireland and InterTradeIreland.

A FINAL exhibition of work by Roma families living in Clare will take place later this week at Ennis Community College.

Clare Family Learning Project will welcome its Turkish partners for the final meeting and exhibition of families participating in the EU Comenius Regio Project.

The project has been successful in engaging Czech and Slovak families living in Ennis in a number of classes. In total, 42 adults are currently attending a number of classes including family music, family cookery and health and exercise with the Clare Family Learning Project.

Some of the participants have now moved on to more formal learning with workplace education and English language classes. Schools who are partners have now moved on to more formal learning with workplace education and English language classes. According to those involved in the project, schools that are partners have mentioned improved attendance by children of those parents. The exhibition takes place at Ennis Community College on April 30 and May 1.

A new booklet aimed at helping Czech and Slovak children to adapt to the Irish education system was launched in Ennis last September.

‘Helping Children To Do Well in School’ is a collaboration between the Clare Family Learning Project, Ennis Educate Together School, Ennis Community College and Clare Immigrant Support Centre.

The views of Czech and Slovak parents with children attending Ennis Community College and Ennis Educate Together were sought during the preparation of the booklet, which received funding from the European Union’s Comenius Regio Project.

The Ennis project is twinned with a similar EU initiative in Aydin, Turkey.

The Clare Family Learning Project was developed by Clare VEC’s, Clare Adult Basic Education Service. The project provides support to parents helping their children’s literacy and numeracy skills.

THE kindness of a Clare carpenter means that people can now donate to the local hospice during funerals in a discrete and safe way. For the last number of years, the fundraising staff at Cahercalla Hospice were required to make temporary donation boxes when requested by families who wished to seek donations for the hospice in lieu of flowers at funerals. Mary Maloney, Fundraising Manager at Cahercalla, said that the boxes were often hastily put together with a poster attached and taken to funeral homes and churches across the county on request. On a trip to her home county of Galway recently the fundraising manager noticed that the Galway Hospice had professionally made donation boxes for such occasions. Taking her inspiration from Galway, she approached Munster Joinery to see if such boxes could be made for the Clare hospice. Paudie O’Callaghan and his business partner Dave Burke not only made 10 of the wooden boxes but also donated them free of charge. “This was a real act of kindness and charity that was not sought,” said Ms Maloney. She said the boxes have a lock so families can leave them in funeral homes, at home or in churches without any concerns. Padding inside the boxes also means there are no loud noises when coins are added, therefore disturbing the funeral. Ms Maloney said the boxes are available from the fundraising committee at Cahercalla Hospice from anyone who requires them.

A MAJORITY of members of Clare County Council have voted in favour of re-zoning an 80-acre tract of land at Stonehall near Newmarket on Fergus that could facilitate the development of a large-scale renewable energy plant in the area.

A total of 17 councillors voted against an amendment proposed by Fianna Fáil councillor Pat McMahon that called for the E3 enterprise zoning site to be removed from the draft Shannon Town and Environs Development Plan 2014-18. 12 councillors voted for the amendment.

Developers Carbon Sole Group have proposed developing a 70MW Combined Heat and Power (CHP) facility at Stonehall.

The proposal is strongly opposed by locals in the area who have voiced concerns over the safety and suitability of the proposal.

A large crowd of people living and working in the Stonehall area attended last Wednesday’s council meeting.

In putting forward the amendment, Cllr McMahon said a renewable energy development could be better facilitated in Shannon Industrial Estate.

He said the proposed power plant would be 43 stories high while three to four trucks would carry fuel to the plant every hour. Cllr McMahon said the proposal represents “an attack on the local community”.

He added, “Nobody that I’ve met is against enterprise but it has to be in the right location.”

Senior planner Gordon Daly set out the reasoning behind the proposal to zone Stonehall for renewable energy developments.

He said the area has good infrastructure, is physically suitable and is relatively unpopulated.

He said the Council had placed a strong emphasis on being pro-enterprise. Mr Daly said this approach “would not be worth anything unless you give it effect”.

He added, “We do believe it is more appropriate to zone more enterprise land in Shannon.”

Mr Daly said the area had been targeted specifically for renewable energy development in order to prevent a migration of businesses from the industrial estate.

He said the area could become a cluster for renewable energy industries.

Mr Daly told the meeting that at a time when the farming industry is under pressure, raw materials for renewable energy plants would be sourced locally.

Responding to suggestions that such developments would be better suited to the existing industrial estate, Mr Daly said there isn’t 80 acres of land in the free zone with characteristics similar to the Stonehall site.

Mr Daly said the planning application process would deal with concerns with regard to any future developments at the site.

He said, “Zoning is not a fait accompli for planning permission.”

He added, “We would recommend in the strongest possible terms to retain this zoning…It would be an opportunity missed for this county.”

Fine Gael councillor Sean McLoughlin supported the zoning of lands at Stonehall. He said if industry is not attracted to Shannon, emigration would become an even bigger problem than it already is. “I want jobs for Shannon,” he said.

THE top official with Clare County Council has rejected suggestions that the local authority entered into a “deal” when it met with the backers of proposed power plant in Stonehall 15 months ago.

County manager Tom Coughlan was responding to comments made by Fianna Fáil councillor PJ Kelly at last week’s council meeting.

Cllr Kelly asked if the council had entered into a “quasi contractual arrangement” when it met Carbon Sole Group, the developers behind a proposed Combined Heat and Power facility at Stonehall. “Did we walk into a trap here?” he added.

Mr Coughlan said he totally refuted any suggestion that the council entered into a deal with developers or investors.

He said the council had met with the backers of the Lynx Cargo facility in Shannon and had met other potential investors.

He said the council is always interested in job creation initiatives but added that the local authority “do not compromise on planning”.

He said any meeting with inves- tors or companies is aimed at getting “badly needed jobs” into Clare.

Senior planner Gordon Daly had earlier told the meeting that his first contact with the developer occurred 15 months.

He said the council regularly met with people on enterprise related matters and are “very clear on why we meet them”.

He said the council “had nothing to hide” and that he was “entirely comfortable” with his role in the meeting.

Mr Daly was responding to questions from Cllr PJ Ryan who also asked if the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) had made contact with the council over the rezoning of land at Stonehall proposal.

Mr Daly said the DAA had made a submission welcoming the proposal.

“Ye’d be disappointed if we did not have a good relationship with bodies in Shannon,” he added.

Director of Service Ger Dollard said there are no development proposals for Stonehall before the council.

However he said that it is important that the council show it is “serious about enterprise and renewable energy”.