Category: News

A RADICAL plan that would see Shannon Airport given its freedom from Dublin Airport Authority control has been tabled with the Minister for Transport, Leo Varadkar, but the controversial move by management at Clare’s international airport has polarised political opinion in the county.

Despite the sale of state assets being firmly on the Government agenda, local Labour Party TD Michael McNamara has rounded on the SAA proposal that the airport be leased out to private intererests for a period of between 15 and 35 years.

This is also the stance taken by Clare’s lone Fianna Fáil TD, Timmy Dooley, who also doubles as his party’s transport spokesperson, but local Fine Gael TDs, Joe Carey and Pat Breen have reserved judgment on the SAA submission, until more details of its contents become available.

Deputies Dooley and McNamara have emerged as the leading voices of opposition to the plan for the aiport, which will celebrate the 75th year of the sod turning that marked the building of the airport on October 8 next.

“Government have responsibility from a regional development perspective to promote and retain the airport,” said Deputy Dooley, “and if it’s passed to a private entity, leased to a private entity or sold, it’s responsibility is gone and they’ve washed their hands of it. That’s not the best thing for the airport,” he added.

“I hope that we don’t ever see the situation whereby there is a shortterm effort to turn a buck in Shannon to the detriment of the long-term development on the region, to which Shannon Airport is central,” said Deputy McNamara.

“What’s to be gained from leasing Shannon. I don’t see that there’s going to be any financial gain – I can see a potential gain for hawkish investors, but I’d be very reluctant to see people who are involved in Shannon Airport turn a buck in Shannon,” he added.

“I’d like to see the full proposal that the management in Shannon are putting forward,” said Deputy Carey, while his party colleague Deputy Pat Breen told The Clare People that ahead of making a decision of Shannon’s future within the DAA “Minister Varadkar is very much aware of the airport’s role in balanced regional development while at the same time conscious of the need to secure the airport’s future on a sound economic footing”.

Ryanair, which has called for Shannon’s separation from the DAA has told The Clare People that government backing for the SAA submission could represent a new start for the airport.

“This could help the airport do what it needs to do and that’s return to a low cost model and have low cost ethos,” said spokesperson Stephen McNamara.

“That’s where it is at across Europe. It’s about a local focus and a local delivery of a really good tourism product. If they can get that the airport can return to growth.”

OFFICIALS at Ennis Town Council have admitted frustration with the National Roads Authority’s (NRA) policy towards motorway signage for Ennis.

The issue was raised at the September meeting of Ennis Town Council, where members discussed a motion put forward by Councillor Brian Meaney (GP).

Cllr Meaney urged the Council to consult with the NRA, pointing out that there are no signposts for Ennis on numerous sections of the motorway network in the mid-west.

Speaking at the meeting, Cllr Meaney said a stronger case should be made to ensure Ennis is “identified as a major junction in the midwest”.

In his response to Cllr Meaney’s motion, Senior Engineer Tom Tiernan said the NRA does not regard Ennis as termination point.

He explained, “The main reason Ennis fares poorly on the national road signage relates to NRA standard policy, which dictates that the number of destinations to appear on signage should be minimised and that priority is given to destinations at termination points of relevant routes. Unfortuneatley Ennis loses out in a number of situations where one would expect it should feature due to the fact that it is not a termination location on the N/M18. I have received this explanation from the NRA on a number of occasions when I have raised this issue previously.”

Mr Tiernan continued, “Ennis isn’t indicated on signage along the approaches to the Tulla Road interchange because a decision was taken in advance of opening the Ennis bypass that it would not be appropriate to encourage Ennis bound traffic to take the Tulla Road route into town for a number of reasons including: concerns regarding traffic capacity of the route; the risk associated with encouraging increased quantities of traffic (particularly large vehicles) to enter Ennis under the Corrovorrin railway bridge whose clearance above road level is less than desirable; the extent of residential development along the route.”

Senior Executive Engineer Eamon O’Dea admitted that the issue of ter mination points had been “extremely frustrating” for the Council.

“We’re not happy about it and we will talk to them about it,” he added.

Councillors were critical of the NRA’s policy towards Ennis. Mayor of Ennis, Cllr Michael Guilfoyle (Ind) said it was not “satisfactory” that on main motorways “you find every other sign but no sign for Ennis”.

Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) said the NRA does not seem to realise that there is a community beyond the Ennis bypass. He claimed Ennis had been “treated appallingly” in comparison to other large towns like Athlone.

THE success of the Loophead Lighthouse visitor project that has been running on a pilot basis for the past seven weeks is set to be built on as Clare County Council and its partner bodies put plans in motion to develop a range of tourism products in place for the 2012 season.

That’s the message delivered this week by the local authority’s director of service for tourism, Ger Dollard, who has revealed that a wide-range of new visitor experiences could be in the pipeline as tourism interest groups bid to build on the success of lighthouse experience.

“We went into it thinking that we were going to spend € 20,000 or € 30,000 over the three months and lose it – we were willing to do this on the basis that we were trying to see if we could build something at Loophead,” Mr Dollard told The Clare People this week. “The fact that it has been so successful, every single box has been ticked. The big thing we learned is that there is a very strong tourism product in Loophead – it’s how we develop that,” he adds.

Up to date figures released by Clare County Council this Monday have revealed that 15,507 have visited the tourist attraction since it opened its doors to the public, with children making up 3,793 of these.

Now, a new range of visitor attractions are set to mushroom around the lighthouse, with the county council director of service revealing that the challenge is now to “marry everything together, develop it into something on the tip of West Clare that can financially sustain itself”.

“It’s hoped to rebuild the lookout post between now and next summer – that’s part of history being put back in place. There’s a walk planned around the lighthouse and in this we have worked with local community and are getting it costed,” said Mr Dollard. “That should be in place for next summer. We have been talking to a geology group – a lot of geology work is being done in the area. It’s an element that could developed in a display of the geological history of the area.

“We have been talking to Inis environmental consultants who are working with UCC – they have ideas about a bird observatory on the site and we are seeing how that could be incorporated in an overal visitor product.

“Our biggest problem is that we have too much stuff between maritime, geology, the lighthouse itself, the flora, the fauna, the walks, the lookout post, the coastwatch service. It’s how you bring it all together in a coherent way and to try to prevent the natural beauty of the Loophead area being destroyed,” he added.

LOCAL business interests are on the cusp of making a pitch to take over the running of Shannon Airport in a lease agreement that would see the former hub of the aviation world given its freedom to chart its own future away from Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) control. The Clare People can reveal that a coalition of business interests in the mid-west region could be lined up to lease Care’s international airport from the DAA if Transport Minister Leo Varadkar backs a radical move by the Shannon Airport Authority (SAA) to offload the airport to a private company for between 15 to 35 years.

However, the plan has been blasted by Fianna Fáil transport spokesperson Timmy Dooley “as privatisation by another name. This is selling Shannon. It’s selling away a state asset for two generations”.

The SAA board, which is chaired by local businessman Brian O’Connell, submitted its plans on foot of a request for submissions by Minister Varadkar on the break-up of the three state-owned airports – Dublin, Shannon and Cork.

Ryanair have backed the plan, with spokesperson Stephen McNamara telling The Clare People “it should be taken out of the hands of the DAA and there is a case that it should be a local airport, owned and operated by local people so that it can grow”.

“We need an independent Shannon, free of Dublin where we can deter- mine our own destiny,” said Deputy Joe Carey. “The current model has failed Shannon. Something radical is needed,” he added.

The plan was drafted for the SAA by Avia Solutions consultants, but no private company has been listed as being interested in taking control of the airport, something which has prompted local Labour TD Michael McNamara to “call on the chairman of Shannon Airport to come clean and tell us which private company, or companies, or investors have expressed an interest”.

Shannon Airport have declined to comment on the matter.

A PROGRAMME of servicing and replacing storm water infrastructure in Shannon should be put in place.

That’s according to Independent Councillor Gerry Flynn, who raised the issue at a meeting of the local town council last week.

Cllr Flynn said that work is “crucial” for the upcoming winter season.

In response to Cllr Flynn’s motion, a written response from the council stated that poor ground conditions in the town has led to settlement of some roads and adjoining slit channels.

“Subject to available resources, remedial works is undertaken in conjunction with road resurfacing under the multi-annual road works programme,” stated the reply.

“Given the extent of the works required, however, the costs are likely to be significant and will take some years to complete unless specific funding, separate from that provided in the Road Works Programme, is made available,” it added.

According to the council, drains that are subject to flooding will be inspected in the interim and within budgetary constraints, an arrangement will be made for necessary remedial works to be undertaken.

In reference to the council’s response, Cllr Flynn said it was “like Noah saying we’ll trying to repair the ark when it’s sinking”.

Sinn Féin Councillor Cathy McCafferty said that areas which are likely to flood easily should be prioritised when drains are being cleared. “In this day and age, it’s totally not acceptable,” she said.

SEA and coastal conditions are set to return to normal around the county this morning as the last effects of Hurricane Katia are felt along the north and west of the county.

The former hurricane, which was downgraded to a storm before it made landfall in Clare, caused minor damage around the county with a top wind speed of 102 kilometres per hour recorded at Shannon Airport yesterday.

Despite the rough sea, two boat owners risked a swim ashore at Doolin Pier on Sunday when they were unable to dock their boat because of rough sea conditions.

The boat, which carried four passengers, had departed from Doolin to the Aran Island’s earlier that day but was unable to dock safely following the return journey.

Despite the large sea swell two members of the crew jumped overboard and swam ashore to collect their car and boat trailer before driv- ing to calmer water at Ballyvaughan where the boat was able to dock safely.

Meanwhile, opening hours at the Cliffs of Moher Visitors Experience are expected to return to normal tomorrow after the centre closed two hours early yesterday because of the weather.

The early closure follows a warning by the centre’s management against any visits to the world famous tourist attraction yesterday.

This is not the first time that the centre has been forced to close because of poor weather conditions but it is the first time that a closure has been necessary in the month of September.

“The track of this storm was always predicted to head for the to northern corner of Scotland and the strongest winds of any storm always occur about 100 km from this tip, so we were lucky enough in Clare to miss the very strongest winds from this storm,” said Mark Dunphy of Irish Weather Online.

“The winds will continue to abate but there could be some gusts around the county until Tuesday afternoon. There has been rough seas all around the county but we had not had any reports of coastal flooding yet in Clare, which was a big fear because of the high tide.

“There is another system which is likely to track this way in the days ahead. Maria is a tropical storm at this point and it is likely to track a bit more north than this storm so we should miss the worst of that.”

IT CAME down to one vote – a vote that went against the Banner County’s hopes of bringing 2012 Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann to Ennis, which would have bridged a 35-year gap to when the showpiece of the traditional music year was last in Clare.

Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann decided on Saturday by a 14-13 in Dublin to give host town status to Cavan for the third successive year, thereby robbing Clare of a festival which would have brought around 300,000 to Ennis next August and been worth an estimated € 30m to the local economy.

CLARE COUNTY Council is not in favour of installing litter bins in residential estates in Shannon, a meeting was told last week.

In a written response to a motion put forward by Shannon Town Councillor Vincent Coleman (Fine Gael), the council stated that litter bins are regularly used as bins for household waste.

Cllr Coleman called for the bins to be put in place in the Cúl na Gréine estate.

However, according to the council, the bins were previously vandalised in this estate. The council also stated that it does not have the resources to collect waste from bins within residential estates. The response also stated, “If they are not emptied on a regular basis they attract rodents and wasps.”

However Cllr Coleman – whose query on this issue was his first motion since he was co-opted to the council in June – said he was not happy with the council’s response. “In other estates they have bins and they are being collected. . . What is the problem?” he asked.

Independent Councillor Patricia McCarthy said that residents in that estate are doing excellent work, having recently reformed a residents’ association. “It should be possible to incorporate at least two collection points,” she said.

Independent Councillor Gerry Flynn said, “This is a totally negative response and offers no words of encouragement for people living down there.”

Labour Councillor Greg Duff said that residents’ associations should have the support of the town council. “We have to put our resources behind the residents’ associations,” he said.

Fine Gael Councillor Seán McLoughlin agreed, saying, “These people have done fantastic work. They have cleaned it from top to bottom. The least the council should do is put in a few bins.”

A NEW era where Kildysart can cash in on the natural amenity of the Shannon Estuary could now be in the offing after a 10-year campaign by a local action group to remove “hulking eyesores” from Cahercon Pier has been brought to a successful conclusion.

Members of Cahercon Pier Pressure and the Kildysart-based chairman of the West Clare Economic Task Force have rowed in behind new moves to have the pier transformed into a community amenity that would be a huge boost to tourism along the estuary.

The call comes after a cargo ship named the MV Matrisha that has been abandoned at Cahercon Pier for over a decade, as well as a number of other vessels have finally been dismantled and removed from the controversial site that lies two kilometres west of Kildysart.

“We have been campaigning for this for many years, because this hulk of a wreck and other ships were an eyesore at Cahercon,” a spokesperson for Cahercon Pier Pressure said this week.

“We want this to be a new start for Cahercon Pier and we want it to be developed into an amenity for the community, because it could benefit tourism along the Shannon Estuary and could also be put to commercial use.

“We had made a number of submissions to Clare County Council about what we want done with the pier. We want it to be declared a protected structure, because there is a lot of history attached to it and we want Clare County Council to play its part in restoring the pier to its former glory and transformed into the public amenity that it should be,” the spokesperson added.

The 1000-tonne MV Matrisha was wrecked on the south coast of Ireland in 1991 and was susequently towed to Cahercon Pier, from where the CW Shipping company operated a salvage business.

The Japanese-built ship became known as the ‘Ghost Ship of Cahercon’ and its presence, along with a number of other vessels sparked a local campaign that was waged for a long number of years to have the pier cleared up. The final removal of the MV Matrisha took place during a five-month operation that involved it being cut up and taken away.

Clare County Council owns Cahercon Pier, but in 1988 councillors voted to allow the local authority enter into a 35-year lease agreement with Whelan Engineering Ltd, with an initial rent of £500 a year, to be reviewed every five years.

Due to internal re-organisation of Mr Paddy Whelan’s companies in 1996, he sought to have CW Shipping Company Ltd, substituted for Whelan Engineering Limited in the lease.

“I am now seeking clarification regarding the lease agreement that’s in pace,” Cllr Oliver Garry told The Clare People . “The removal of the wrecks is a welcome development and there is massive potential there for the pier. At this stage I would be hopeful that the pier can be developed, not just for the local community, but also for commercial purposes,” added Cllr Garry, who is also the chairman of the West Clare Electoral Area of councillors and West Clare Economic Task Force.

AN INITIATIVE which will form a solid link between Ireland and America – which is the brainchild of a Quin resident – is poised to become official within weeks.

Gerry O’Neill, who has lived in Corbally, Quin, for the past 53 years, is a retired employee of Clare County Council.

A number of years ago, Gerry who is a native of Athlone – came up with the idea of presenting an official document – a Certificate of Irishness – which would certify the Irish heritage of those whose ancestors originated in Ireland. Irish emigrants and their descendants will be in a position to formalise their Irishness for a small fee.

It now appears that the certificate will be launched by Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore in New York later this month.

Gerry told The Clare People yesterday that he was delighted that moves are being made to rubberstamp his idea. “It’s for the sake of the country . . . I believe that we owe something to the generation before us,” he said.

He is hopeful that any links set up or strengthened between the US and Ireland would primarily benefit the Shannon region. This idea has been supported by Independent County Councillor James Breen, who is a long-time supporter of the initiative.

“I am delighted, provided it takes the right turn. The key is that any- thing that comes out of it goes to the west of Ireland,” he said.

Gerry developed a love for the US through visits to Shannon Airport while working with Clare County Council. He visited the US more than 50 times over the years, during which time he developed several connections.

He put his idea forward to government officials in 2008 and felt it would provide an economic boost to Ireland through increased visits by those from the US.

Those who apply for the certificate will be required to submit details of their Irish ancestral connections.

Mr Gilmore said earlier this year that he expected the certificate to be in place by October and was in the process of being established “in direct response to a strong demand for such a scheme from those members of our diaspora who are not entitled to Irish citizenship”.