Category: News

A NUMBER of high profile positions were divided up at last Friday’s AGM of Clare County Council with the power-sharing ar rangement extending far beyond the appointment of Mayor and Deputy Mayor.

Following the abolishment of local councils in Ennis, Kilr ush, Kilkee and Killaloe – and the redrawing of the electoral boundaries to abolish a stand alone council district in north Clare – there will be four separate Municipal Districts, who will each have a yearly chair person.

The power-sharing arrangement agreed between Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and the Technical Grouping of Independents and Sinn Fein will see a Fine Gael chai rperson elected in Ennis this year, with a Fianna Fail councillor taking the West Clare and Shannon and a Fine Gael councillor taking the top job in East Clare.

The Ennis Municipal Chair person will be a Fianna Fail councillor in 2015, followed by a councillor from the Technical Group, Fine Gael and then the Technical Group.

Sinn Fein’s Mike McKee will serve as chair person of the Shannon Municipal District over the next five years, as will Independents PJ Ryan and Gerry Flynn.

The Fianna Fail councillor, understood to be Cathal Crowe, will be the first chair person later this month, followed next year by a councillors from the technical group, Fine Gael, and then two councillors from the technical group.

The chairperson of the West Clare area will be councillors from Fianna Fail, Technical Group, Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and Technical Group over the next five years respectively. In East Clare it will be Fine Gael, Technical Group, Fin Gael, and then two from Fianna Fail.

There was a host of other appointments made at last Friday’s annual general meeting with Pat McMahon (FF) and Bill Slattery (FG) appointed to the Regional Assembly.

All of the appointments were uncontested and received cross par t support.

THE head of the largest retail industry trade body in Ireland has said Ennis has been “forgotten” as a shopping and hospitality destination by the people of Clare.

David Fitzsimons, the CEO of the Ennis-based Retail Excellence Ireland, says new forms of customer communication and a fresh look at the town’s urban environment could aid retail activity in the town.

Mr Fitzsimons was speaking on the issue of how to make Ennis a retail destination of choice for local people in Clare.

He said Ennis could learn from Letterkenny, which recently established a Town Team to formulate policies to revive the town centre.

He told a public meeting in the Temple Gate Hotel on Thursday that the introduction of a rates incentive for hospitality and visitor-based businesses helped boost tourism in the Donegal town.

“They’ve realised they’ve been forgotten by the people of Donegal and in many ways Ennis town has been forgotten by the people of Clare,” Mr Fitzsimons said.

“As consumers we’re convenience based shoppers during the week, we nip into Tesco and Dunnes Stores. We do one thing and we go home. At the weekend we’re willing to travel longer distances for experiences and that’s why Kildare Village, Dundrum, Avoca… and all these destination venues are thriving.

“We need to remind people that Ennis is here, that it’s theirs, it’s their public realm. We need to maybe communicate with people differently. We need as a town to get out, we need to be communicating really professionally to citizens and give them a reason to come into their civic space. It doesn’t have to always be ‘shop more, spend more’. It’s just come in an enjoy the space. It’s yours,” he added.

CLARE County Council is to write to Health Minister, James Reilly (FG), demanding that A&E services are reopened in Ennis until a new state of the art building is opened at the Limerick Regional Hospital.

This comes in the wake of a damning report of services at the Limerick facility by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) which described the Limerick A&E as “not fit for purpose”.

At last night’s meeting of Clare County Council, councillors voted unanimously to contact the Department of Health demanding both the temporary reopening of A&E services at Ennis General Hospital and the fast-tracking of funding for the promised state of the art A&E services at Limerick General Hospital.

Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) also confirmed that local Fine Gael councillors held a meeting with TDs Pat Breen (FG) and Joe Carey (FG) yes- terday morning – and requested they secure a meeting with Minister Reilly and Taoiseach Enda Kenny.

It was also claimed at last night’s meeting that the Limerick A&E was “cleaned up” during a recent visit by Minister James Reilly, with 35 people on trolleys on the day before the meeting and only 10 during the meeting.

Last week’s HIQA review found serious delays and risks for patients and staff due to persistent overcrowding in A&E in Limerick.

It also found that there were delays in transferring patients from the Emergency Department to the Intensive Care Unit and the High Dependency Unit, partly due to the absence of a single clinical governance structure.

The report found that there was just one toilet in the Emergency Department for all patients, adults and children, and there were no single rooms to isolate patients with communicable diseases.

“The review also found that people in Clare were not using the minor injuries units in Ennis General Hospital.

In a statement to The Clare People

THE development of a “high-quality” market in Ennis would be a boost to the local food and tourism industry, a meeting has heard.

Doirin Graham, the CEO of the Clare Local Development Company (CLDC), last week recommended that Ennis be the location for a “flagship” market development.

“There are all these food produc- ers out around the county and I think what would really work for Ennis, is a good strong, high-quality food producers market in Ennis town centre,” she said.

“There is a really good attractive range for both local people and for the tourists, to draw both tourists into a market and have all the ancillaries of cafés and music. I think we need to look at something that is a good strong, flagship-type project for Ennis. The food businesses are out there to populate a market and sustain a market, particularly from March to September. There is potential for looking at that but you need a dedicated space that is really set up for it and meets the standards that people have become used to. It also has to be attractive for tourists and locals as well.”

Prior to its abolition, the former Ennis Town Council set in train a process that could lead to the re-development of the Ennis Market.

The € 1.5 million project proposes the installation of covered market spaces in Garraunakilla.

Ms Graham was speaking at a public meeting in Ennis on Thursday on the topic of community led job creation in the food sector. She said the CLDC, the company which administers LEADER funding, has supported the establishment of 86 food enterprises in Clare over the last five years. She said those enterprises have created 109 jobs in the county.

GARDAÍ are investigating early morning armed robbery at a business in Ennis town centre yesterday.

The incident occurred at around 7.30am at the Xtra Vision store in the market area of the town.

A man carrying a weapon entered the home entertainment and electrical goods store and made away with a quantity of cash.

A member of staff was opening up when he was set upon by the assailant at the front door of the premises.

It is understood the man who carried out the robbery was carrying a hammer. It was unclear yesterday if the victim suffered any injuries in the ordeal.

Gardaí in Ennis are investigating the robbery and are looking at CCTV footage from the area.

The incident follows a similar robbery at a family-run shop in Ennis last month.

At around 11.30am on Wednesday, May 21, a man went into a shop at the top of O’Connell Street in Ennis brandishing a knife and demanded money.

He was wearing a hoodie and a scarf to cover his face. He stole a sum of money from the till and then fled the scene on foot. No one was hurt in the robbery.

On May 27, Cassidy’s Pharmacy in Ennis was the scene of a raid occurred at around 2.30am.

Two raiders, believed to be males, used a sledgehammer to smash in the reinforced glass paneling on the front door of the premises.

The thieves filled bags with stock, mainly brand name men’s fragrances and cleared several shelves before leaving the scene in a black Volkswagon Golf.

Gardaí have urged business owners in the town to be vigilant and take appropriate security measures such as lighting and security cameras to protect their premises.

THERE is potential for the creation of 800 jobs in the Ennis/Shannon corridor over the next four years, a local developer has said.

Padraig Howard, a director of the Barefield based Drumquin Construction, told a meeting in Ennis that the National Housing Agency has identified the requirement for 534 dwellings in Ennis and 290 houses in Shannon.

“That minimum demand creates about 800 jobs over the next four years. If everyone was to announce there was going to be 800 jobs in the town, the carpets would be rolled out. The TDs would all be here from every party and the Ministers and the Civil Service,” he said.

Mr Howard was citing figures contained in a report issued by the National Housing Agency in April.

He said, “They predicted that as an absolute minimum, excluding any pent-up demand from the last four or five years, that there is a requirement for 534 new dwellings in Ennis town between now and 2018. Shannon came out quite well in that they assessed that similar demand for 290 houses. In the Ennis / Shannon corridor there is a minimum demand, excluding pent up demand, for 800 dwellings in the next four years.

Mr Howard was speaking on the ‘recovery of jobs in the construction sector’ at a public meeting in Ennis on Thursday.

He said there is now a “massive labour shortage” in the construction industry.

“We’re now into a situation where there is no plasterers, no block-layers, no chippies and for very good reason. The last six years have seen the young qualified trades people emigrating. They’ve gone to Australia, Canada, Germany; they’ve gone all over. The older ones who weren’t destroyed by businesses going bust haven’t the heart to go back into it or their age profile is such they can’t go back into it. There are no new apprentices being trained,” he explained.

Mr Howard called for changes in the payment of development contributions and for more development finance to be made available.

“Development contributions are correctly levied and should be paid but the method of paying them needs to be flexible to allow the construction industry get back on its feet.”

Mr Howard is also behind plans to develop Ireland’s largest wind-farm near Mount Callan. He said Ennis should position itself as a hub to serve the emerging renewable energy industry.

“Within one hour’s drive of this town there is going to be € 20 billion invested in the next 10 years in renewable energy. I think Ennis could and should position itself to be a hub to service that industry, the downstream service and maintenance of that industry, the planning of the. Other areas are doing this. Tralee have attracted a service centre for a major German turbine manufacturer. I believe that’s an area Ennis could capitalise on. That German manufacturer will hire 50 in Tralee and plans to increase that to 200,” he explained.

THE number of people signing on the Live Register in Clare continues to plummet, with figures for Clare last month the lowest since February of 2009.

The lion’s share of the reductions were recorded in the Ennistymon and Kilrush areas with an increase in the number of people employed in the tourism sector believed to be contributing to the reduction.

There was a total 8,585 people signing on the live register last month, a drop of 154 people or just under 2 per cent on the 8,739 who signed on in April.

When seasonally adjusted and compared to same month in 2013, the figures show a even more remarkable reduction of 933 or 9.8 per cent.

Should the reduction in people signing on the live register continue at the same rate the number of people signing on the live register in Clare will reach Celtic Tiger levels by mid2017.

The number of people signing on the live register in the Ennistymon area fell from 1,403 in April to 1,331 last month. This represent a month on month fall of 72 people or more then 5 per cent.

There was also good news in the Kilrush area where the number fell from 1,271 to 1,198 – a drop of 73 people of 5.7 per cent.

Each of the Clare areas recorded a reduction with the numbers signing on in Ennis falling by three to 4,848 and the numbers in East Clare falling by six to 1,208.

Despite this good news, the number of vacant commercial units in Clare has risen in the first three months of 2014.

A total of 863 of the 7,062 com mercial addresses in Clare in the first quarter of 2014 were vacant – a vacancy rate of 12.2 per cent.

Frank DAFFY,
Harbour Village, Killaloe, Formerly of Corofin. Laid to rest at Mount Jerome Crematorium, Dublin. Donations if desired to ICU Limerick Hospital. May he rest in peace.

Noreen O’GORMAN
, Pella Road, Kilrush, At St Joseph’s Hospital Ennis. Funeral Mass on Tuesday at 10amat St Senan’s Church, Kilrush. Burial afterwards in Old Shanakyle Cemetery. May she rest in peace.

John SCANLON
, Crawford Street, Kilrush, Funeral mass onTuesday at 12pmat St Senan’s Church, Kilrush, followed by burial in NewShanakyle Cemetery. Donations in lieu to the Palliative Care Unit, Regina House, Kilrush. May he rest in peace.

Steve SOUTHBY
, Laghtagoona, Corofin, Funeral MassTuesday at 11amat St Bridget’s Church, Corofin. Burial afterwards in the New Cemetery, Corofin. Donations if desired to cancer research. May he rest in peace.

Evelyn KELLY
, Lahinch, Clare. Laid to rest in Kilmacreehy Cemetery. May she rest in peace.

James (Sox) McINERNEY
,Ardkyle, Sixmilebridge. Peacefully at the University Hospital, Limerick. Laid to rest in Feenagh Cemetery. May he rest in peace.

Stephen MCKNIGHT
,Walkinstown/Kilrush, At St James Hospital. Laid to rest in Bohernabreena Cemetery. May he rest in peace.

Bridget (Bridie) MORONEY (née Good
win) formerly of Parteen. Peacefully at Kiltipper Woods Care Centre, Dublin. RequiemMass on Tuesday at 11amat St Patrick’s Church, Parteen with Funeral afterwards to Mount St Lawrence Cemetery (Extension). May she rest in peace.

Merlyn QUINN (née Lyons)
, Castleside, Bunratty. Peacefully at Milford Hospice. Laid to rest in Bunratty Cemetery. May she rest in peace.

Mary KEOGH- MOLONEY,
Scart, Kilkishen and late of Ballysheenmore. Laid to rest in Ballysheen Cemetery, Sixmilebridge. May she rest in peace.

Noreen NORMOYLE MPSI (née Roche)
, Normoyles Pharmacy, 47 O’Connell Street, Ennis, Peacefully at University Hospital Limerick. Laid to rest in Drumcliff Cemetery. May she rest in peace.

Flan O’GORMAN
, Glasgowand formerly of Moveen East, Kilkee. Peacefully in Glasgow. Funeral will take place in Scotland, a memorial Mass will be held in Kilkee Church at a later date. May he rest in peace.

Eddie COTTER
, Clare Road, Ennis/Kilmihil. Peacefully. Laid to rest in St Michael’s Cemetery, Kilmihil. May he rest in peace.

Kathleen KELLY (née Linnane)
, Scoole, Corofin. Peacefully in her 95th year. Laid to rest in Dysart Cemetery. May she rest in peace.

John (Johnny) O’CONNELL
, Querrin, Kilkee. Suddenly. Laid to rest in Lisdeen Cemetery Kilkee. Donations in lieu toWest Clare Mini Marathon Fund. May he rest in peace.

Margaret TOBIN (née O’Shaughnessy)
, Furnacetown, Feakle. Formerly of Dromod, Bodyke.Laid to rest in the newcemetary Moynoe. Donations if desired to Milford Hospice. May she rest in peace.

THE announcement by Ryanair last week that it will retain five new routes from Shannon airport has already saved jobs in Clare, a meeting has heard.

The airline will continue to operate services between Shannon and Berlin, Paris, Warsaw, Fuerteventura, Krakow during the winter.

At a meeting in Ennis on Thursday, the managing director of the Rowan Tree Café and Hostel in Ennis, Brian O’Neill, said last week’s announcement has already stabilised jobs.

He said, “Those announcements have already stabilised jobs in the tourism industry in Ennis and in Clare throughout the lower season of this year. A lot of businesses, like our own hostel, are seasonal businesses. We have a low season and a high season. But from that announcement we will re-plan for the winter and maybe stay open for longer than we previously would have, keeping more people in employment. More people living in and around Ennis and Clare will then go and spend money in businesses in Ennis and Clare. It creates a cycle. It will help for the future.”

Mr O’Neill addressed the meeting in his capacity as Chairman of Promote Ennis – a local partnership that aims to bring more tourists to the town.

He told businesses the recently launched Wild Atlantic Way represented both a “threat” and “advantage” to Ennis.

“We now have a very good motorway bypassing the town of Ennis on the east and now we have a new heavily marketed driving route bypassing the town on the west. The goal for Ennis obviously has to be to draw people in the town,” he explained.

Mr O’Neill said there are now 35 people employed as a result of Labasheeda man John O’Sullivan’s decision to extend his Dublin Bus and Quick Tours service from the capital to Ennis.

He told the meeting that local food producers are playing an increasingly important in Clare’s tourism industry.

“Tourists can go an experience it [food producers] themselves and the key to is to overnight in Ennis, they can go into restaurants and experience what culinary experts can do with the produce. They can see how it’s produced, how it’s made, support that employment,” he said.

MOTORISTS accused of speeding offences on Clare roads have been told their cases will not be dealt with until a High Court case on the Go Safe speed camera network is resolved. At Ennis District Court on Friday, Judge Patrick Durcan ad- journed 17 speed camera prosecutions to September 19.

A total of 18 people faced prosecutions for alleged speeding offences allegedly captured by cameras mounted in Go Safe vans.

Judge Durcan struck out a case against one person following an application from the State. The privately run Go Safe has operated speed camera vans in Ireland since winning the Garda contract in 2009.

The cameras operate on sections of road, which have a history of collisions occurring where speed was a contributory factor.

In recent months, Judge Durcan has been critical of Go Safe and has struck out a number of speeding charges brought against motorists in Clare. On Friday, Judge Durcan told all those who had answered summons issued by Insp John McDonald, that the law with regards to issuing of fixed charge penalty notices is the “cause of some controversy in the land”. He said a colleague has sent a case to the High Court seeking clarification of the law under-pinning the speed camera system.

He said he was adjourning all cases until the issue in the High Court has been dealt with.

He told those people facing prosecutions their cases were adjourned to September 19. He told them they are not required to be present in court on the day.

There was a brief exchange when the Judge told a Cork man facing a Go Safe prosecution he would get “brownie points” for being present in court on Friday.

To laughter in the court, the man replied, “Which points?”

Judge Durcan said, “Brownie points, a different category of points to the ones concerned with here.”

Five Go Safe Inspectors were present in court for the adjournments. As they left the courtroom Judge Durcan asked them to convey to Inspector McDonald “that it is a total waste of time and public money you guys turning up here until after September 19. Any prosecutions before then will be adjourned.”

“I don’t like to see State money wasted seeing five strapping men sit here all day,” he added.

THE acclaimed debut album from two Clare men has caught the ear of one of the biggest rap stars on the planet.

John Lillis and God Knows will perform the biggest gig of their lives tonight when they share the stage with hip-hop legend Snoop Dogg in Dublin.

Ennis DJ John (mynameisJohn) and Shannon MC God Knows are among the support acts for the veteran rapper’s shows in The Academy, tonight and tomorrow.

John and God Knows landed the prized support slot at one of the most eagerly anticipated rap shows of the year on the strength of their acclaimed debut album, Rusangano/ Family.

A copy of the album found its way to Snoop’s management team who were said to be very impressed by John and God Know’s thrilling blend of grime and hip-hop.

“We’re delighted with it. We’re buzzing. I remember listening to Snoop when I was 13. It’s hard to believe we’re going to be playing with him,” said John last week.

Rusangano/Family has attracted huge critical praise since it’s release in May.

Hot Press described the album as a “hip hop stunner”. Influential music writer, Nialler9 hailed Rusangano/ Family as “a game-changer in the way it drags Irish hip-hop into a fully-formed album/mixtape format with a confidence and skill that is unfamiliar in this country’s rap output”.

Music blog The Point of Everything said Rusangano/Family is the “best album of 2014 so far.”

“The reaction to it has been absolutely amazing. Its something that we definitely didn’t see coming” says God Knows, “When we started out, we just wanted to make music for ourselves.

“We’ve enjoyed every minute of it. The amount of support we have got from people in Clare and Limerick has been brilliant.”

The pair describes themselves as a “Zimbabwean Christian and Irish Pagan who sat down with a cup of tea to discuss making an album.”

“We’re two people who really enjoy making music. We’re gob smacked at how it’s been received so far,” said John.

John has been involved in DJ’ing and music production for the best part of a decade. In 2013 he released ‘The Struggle’ EP with Limerick producer Graeme S.

God Knows moved to Ireland with his family from Zimbabwe.

The former St Caimin’s Community School student is a founder member of the music collective Random Acts of Kindness (RAOK).

The pair will hold an album launch at Limerick’s Belltable theatre on July 4.