Category: News

THE fact that two priests are being ordained in the Diocese of Killaloe within weeks of each other is a sign of hope and encouragement.

That’s according to Diocesan communications officer Fr Brendan Quinlivan, who said the ordinations of Fr Ger Fitzgerald and Ger Jones create much positivity.

Fr Fitzgerald, from Castleconnell in Limerick, has taken up a post in Ennis, having recently been ordained, while Ger Jones from O’Briensbridge will be ordained on Sunday, August 21. He will be based in Nenagh.

“It is a cause of huge joy to us in the Diocese to welcome two new priests. It’s a wonderful sign of hope. It gives us great encouragement in our Ministry that young men are willing to take on that challenge,” said Fr Quinlivan.

“The priesthood is a wonderful, fulfilling life. It is filled with more joy than sorrow. It is a source of joy and true happiness and fulfillment,” he said.

He believes that despite the negativity surrounding the Church, overall there is a positive attitude towards priests.

“A lot of what has been spoken about in the public domain in relation to priesthood has been largely negative. Yet we are all deeply enriched by it. The vast majority of our people are still phenomenally positive towards our clergy,” he added.

“We are no longer perceived as being on a pedestal; rather we are seen as we walk alongside people. We don’t stand ahead or behind them,” said Fr Quinlivan.

“In recent times the number of young men considering and actually pursuing a vocation to the priesthood has declined.

“This year is very special for us (with two ordinations). We currently only have one student studying for the priesthood in the Diocese,” he said.

He said that the trend of clusters of parishes – whereby parishes are grouped together – which have been established in recent years is poised to continue. This is necessary due to a shortage of priests.

“One of the things that we would always do at an ordinary ceremony is we welcome a new brother into the priesthood. It’s like becoming part of a close family. We work closely together.

“Clusters are important in that this is the way we are meant to administer to others, to work together, to bring about change,” said Fr Quinlivan.

A NEWMARKET-ON-FERGUS car enthusiast who has had two major organ transplants is revving up to raise money for the Irish Heart Foundation.

Brendan McCarthy underwent a heart and lung transplant in 2000. Five years later, he returned to hospital for another lung transplant. Brendan was forced to undergo the double transplant after being born with a congenital heart condition.

Now Brendan and fellow Newmarket man James Shanagher are aiming to raise money for the Irish Heart Foundation by setting off on a sponsored ‘Wheels of the West’ drive around parts of North Clare and South Galway.

However, to take part in the event, drivers’ cars must fall into a specific category. Brendan explains, “It’s been done with the VAG club – Volkswagen and Audi club – so anybody can take part as long as they own a Volkswagen or an Audi.”

After receiving the support of the IHF, Brendan was keen to support the work of the foundation.

He says, “I like driving and I thought this would be a good way to raise money for the Irish Heart foundation… Every year the Irish Heart Foundation helps fund research to help prevent disability and death from heart disease and strokes. This is the reason behind starting the wheels of the west charity drive.”

The drive will set off from Glór car park in Ennis on August 20 at 11am. Brendan says, “We will then continue on to Lahinch followed by the Cliffs of Moher, Liscannor and Ballyvaughan, finishing back in Ennis. On each stop, we will be fundraising on the streets wearing branded t-shirts and using brand buckets all with the logo of the Irish Heart Foundation. The foundation has agreed to send all this equipment to us and has said they are 100 per cent behind the drive.”

Brendan aims to raise € 10,000 and hopes to attract the support of Clare businesses to help him achieve his target.

Anyone wishing to donate can contact Brendan on 087 3885116 or Jamie on 087 7871870 or email wheelsofthewest@gmail.com.

THE first move towards transforming the old Two-Mile Inn Hotel in Meelick into the biggest privately run nursing home in Clare began last week when a planning application was lodged with Clare County Council.

On behalf of the new owners of the property, Cork-based building firm Ó Mórdha Construction Ltd has applied to the planning authority for permission for “change of use from hotel to convalescence home”.

Included in this planning application that was submitted last Wednesday is a request to demolish the water tower structure on the site, an extension of the dining room facilities, a series of other internal modifications to make it suitable for a nursing home and the construction of an outdoor fenced children’s play area.

The planning application comes two months after the hotel was sold by GMV Auctioneers in Limerick on behalf of receivers Price Waterhouse Coopers.

The hotel first opened its doors in 1970, having being built by developer Tom Ryan, before being taken over by Brendan Dunne later that decade.

In October 2008, Billy O’Riordan of PriceWaterhouseCoopers was appointed as receiver and he placed the hotel on the market as a going concern, as was the Woodstock Hotel in Ennis, which was also part of the Dunne Group of hotels.

At the time, the price being sought was in the region of € 7m. However, two years later, when a buyer could not be found, the asking price was slashed to € 1.2m.

At the time, Mr Crosse described this as a “giveaway price” for such a substantial and high profile property that finally closed its doors in September 2010 before being sold last December in the region of the € 1.2m asking price.

The 123-bedroom hotel is located on an 11-acre site with substantial carparking space and when it closed employed 15 people. A decision on the planning application will be made by Clare County Council on September 20 next.

A DECISION on whether a supermarket and office development will be allowed to go ahead in Miltown Malbay is expected to be handed down by An Bord Pleanála in the next two weeks.

The appeals board is currently deliberating on the application for the project earmarked for New Line Road in Miltown Malbay – a twostory shop and office development comprising of a supermarket, newsagent, café, off-license, warehouse stores, offices, a basement car park comprising of 49 spaces, a surface car park with 23 places and a new town square.

“The new public square adjoins the entrance to the supermarket/office development and will link to the Main Street via a pedestrian lane, which will comprise of a separate planning application to Clare County Council,” the application states.

Plans for the ambitious project were first submitted by Jim Shannon and Michael Gleeson to Clare County Council in August 2010, but follow- ing five submissions/objections from members of the public, the local authority refused planning on March 16 of this year.

In refusing the permission for the project that would total 4,253 square metres, the Clare County Council planning authority said that the proposed development “by reason of lack of pedestrian connection between the site and the Main Street of Miltown would result in a development which would be functionally detached from the Main Street.”

In addition, planners ruled that the development “would adversely impact on the viability and vitality of the Main Street” and would be “contrary to proper planning and sustainable development of Miltown and the retail planning guidelines issued by the Department of the Environment”.

Following the refusal, an appeal was lodged by Mr Shannon and Mr Gleeson to an Bord Pleanála on April 14, while the decision on future of the project will be given by the appeals board, which should be revealed on August 15 next.

THE fate of Clare’s oldest construction firm, McInerney Holdings, took another twist on Friday when the board of directors of the company that was set up by O’Callaghan’s Mills man Thomas McInerney in 1909 resigned after a proposal to put the troubled house-builder into liquidation was rejected by shareholders.

Last week, McInerney Homes, which represents the Irish divisions of the construction company, was placed in receivership after the Supreme Court rejected an appeal to a previous High Court decision that refused to approve a rescue plan for the firm that had been proposed by the directors.

Had the plan been adopted, US private equity firm Oaktree Capital had pledged to invest € 54m in it and a related firm in order to keep them going.

McInerney’s directors said afterwards they were disappointed at the ruling. They pointed out that it meant that a € 54 million investment – that would have saved 100 jobs and resulted in a € 2 million payment to trade creditors – could not now go ahead.

Rebel shareholder David Nabar- ro, who owns 21.45 per cent of the group, was co-opted on to McInerney’s board after an extraordinary general meeting in Dublin city centre on Thursday.

Mr Nabarro succeeded in rallying enough support among shareholders to defeat the board’s motion to wind down the company through a voluntary liquidation. Of the 50 per cent of shareholders who voted, some 73 per cent rejected the motion.

Addressing the egm, chairman Ned Sullivan said the plc “has run out of cash, has no assets of worth and no bank facilities”. Its main Irish businesses were in receivership, the British businesses had been sold as had its Club business in Spain. Its remaining Spanish businesses had been placed into insolvency procedures, he said.

Mr Sullivan said the directors had exhausted “all possible efforts and options” to rescue the group.

“In this situation, it is not realistic to consider that there is any equity value for the shareholders,” Mr Sullivan said.

The company celebrated its centenary in 2009 and, until the recession took hold, the McInerney Group remained one of Ireland’s leading construction companies.

THE teenagers of Newmarket-onFergus have found their own way to promote the village summer festival – by making a film!

Members of the local Buzz Stop café decided to launch the Village Carnival – a three-day festival commencing on Friday, August 26 – in style by visiting Mooghaun Woods and filming.

The filming took place throughout last Thursday, culminating in a three-minute production. It will appear on the festival’s website and on youtube later this week.

The idea came from the teenagers themselves, as they were keen to use a novel approach to get involved in the festival.

The film is an artistic take on history and features stories of Newmarket in the past.

“We did the theme of the bronze age meeting the 19th century when the new gold was found again,” said co-ordinator Siobhán O’Driscoll of Obair in Newmarket.

“It is thought that the King buried his gold and never returned. The gold was found in Ballycar near Mooghaun when they were building the railway track,” she added.

More than 20 youths were involved in the production, which was supported by the Clare Youth Service.

“The teenagers have a great interest in it,” she said.

Preparations are well underway for the festival later this month. It is the inaugural festival but the plan is to turn it into an annual event. Several years ago, a festival took place in the village every year. Then, it was a nine-day event and was the highlight of the summer locally.

Presidential hopeful Michael D Higgins will officially open the festival on Friday evening, when a parade will take centre stage and this will be followed by a busy schedule of events over the weekend. “The main thing on Friday and Sunday is to get the community involved,” said Ms O’Driscoll.

Mooghaun is very much on the agenda in the locality these days. A feasibility study is currently being carried out by Obair to determine what steps should be taken to boost tourism numbers in the locality. Members of the public have been invited to take part in this process, which could see a heritage centre, tourist office and budget accommodation being constructed in the area.

The aim is to publicise some of the lesser known tourist and heritage sites in the locality, such as the great Newmarket gold find, the bronze age hillfort at Mooghaun and a local tourist heritage trail.

A feasibility study for an interpretative centre is currently being carried out, which will be completed later this year.

Most events are free of charge. For full details, check out www.villagecarnival.com.

AN AMERICAN couple whose newborn son passed away at the Cliffs of Moher in 2006 are aiming to raise money for new emergency medical services at one of Ireland’s most popular tourist destinations.

According to TJ Waters, Chairman of the Ennis Sister Cities Board, the Stokes family are looking at the possibility of providing funds for a form of emergency vehicle to transport injured people from the Cliffs.

Kelly and Delia Garcia-Stokes’ newborn baby, Nicolas, passed away at the Cliffs in July 2006 after Delia went into premature labour.

Delia gave birth in a room at the Cliffs but sadly Nicolas died before the family could reach a hospital.

The Stokes family part funded a first aid facility at the Cliffs known as Nicolas’ Room, named in honour of their son.

In 2009 Councilman Claude Mattox of Phoenix City Council in Arizona, presented a cheque for $25,000 to the then Mayor of Clare, Councillor Tony Mulcahy, as a donation to first aid services and facilities at the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience.

Phoenix, which is twinned with Clare’s county town Ennis, is home to the Stokes family. Earlier this year the couple visited the Cliffs to make a donation of $25,000 as part of their ongoing commitment to medical facilities at the centre.

First aid treatment and assistance to over 200 visitors has been provided from “Nicolas’ Room” since the Cliffs of Moher visitor centre opened to the public.

24 staff at the tourist centre have received advanced first aid training and the room is equipped to the level of a cardiac ambulance.

In addition, thousands of visitors have benefited from the wheelchair loan service, which is also operated from the room.

Ennis is twinned with Phoenix and, according to Mr Waters, the funding of new medical services at the Cliffs would be “very worthwhile, particularly at a time when funding is so tight”.

Mr Waters said the family are also keen to initiate an exchange programme between members of the emergency services attached to Clare County Council and their colleagues in Phoenix. He added, “That is something that might help in the future.”

TOURISM concerns in Clare say there is some cause for optomism despite a season which has been a “very mixed bag” so far.

One of the definite success stories this summer has been the opening of the Loop Head Lighthouse attraction, which is already proving to be very popular with tourists, early figures showing that 700 visitors make their way to the iconic structure.

Sources in the Clare Tourism Forum also say there has been an upside to this season.

“The opening of new attractions plays an important role. The Loophead Lighthouse opening has had a tangible effect. There are 700 people a day visiting the lighthouse and that’s growing. You’re talking about a lot of people coming into an area and they don’t just visit the lighthouse and leave. They have coffee or lunch and they spend in other ways. Talking to people on the ground, it’s been a good July and the season is holding its own.”

And there is a renewed interest among anglers and country sports enthusiasts in coming to Clare, according to Teresa Browne of East Clare Tourism. Teresa has just returned from four days manning a stand on behalf of the tourism organisation at the County Livinging Association’s annual show, the biggest of its kind in the UK.

“The angling tourism business is really down in recent years but that said, there was a lot of genuine interest and enquiries at the CLA show.

“There was also a lot of genuine sympathy for the trouble we have been going through with the economy. I would hope that the feedback at the East Clare Tourism stand will translate into tourists coming here.”

“Anyone who is involved in the North American business is doing well but the Irish don’t seem to be coming out to play,” said Mid-West Hotel Federation chairman, Michael Vaughan. The Lahinch hotelier said that a new dynamic in the industry is seeing larger towns and cities getting the tourists at the expense of smaller places like Kilkee and Kilrush.

“In those places, business has been fairly flat and I’ve been speaking to a lot of B & B owners this week. They are really struggling. But that said, the US group market is doing well and September bookings are looking good. The extra flights with Delta and Continental have brought people in as well. Overall, I would say there has been a small lift and there is cause for optimism for next year.” he told The Clare People .

APPROVAL for a proposed upgrade to the Clonroadmore Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) is “urgently” needed to cater for future commercial development in Ennis, a senior official with Clare County Council has said.

David Timlin, Director of Environment and Water Services, said last week that cer tain wastewater license conditions issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “cannot be met until the plant upgrade is completed”.

Mr Timlin was speaking in the West County Hotel at An Bord Pleanála’s oral hearing into the Council’s application to upgrade the Clonroadmore WWTP.

Addressing senior inspector Mary Kennelly and board representative David Kelly, Mr Timlin said, “The capacity of the main Clondroadmore Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) urgently needs to be upgraded to provide for the current and predicted growth in domestic population and in the commercial and industrial sectors. As a water services authority, Clare County Council is acutely conscious of the need to urgently address the present sewerage deficiencies in Ennis.”

He continued, “The existing plant at Clondroadmore is already considerably overloaded. This proposal for the upgrade of the Clondroadmore WWTP will provide for the treatment of the wastewater loading arising in its catchments for the short term to medium term, in a sustainable and economic manner.”

Mr Timlin explained that the proposal forms par t of a “coherent plan for the provision of upgraded facilities to treat all wastewater arising in the entire Ennis agglomeration”.

Mr Timlin said the overall plan is contained in the preliminary report addendum for the Ennis Clarecastle Main Drainage, which was submitted to the Depar tment of Environment, Heritage and Local Government on July 7 last.

He said that a previous 2002 study had recommended the provision of a completely new single treatment plant to serve Ennis and its environs on the site of the Clareabbey wastewater treatment works, to replace both existing WWTPs and main pumping stations. An Bord Pleanála granted planning in 2003 and there followed, Mr Tim- lin explained, a period of detailed planning “including cost benefit analysis, public private par tnership assessment and national development finance agency approvals”.

He added, “However by March 2009 the enti re approach to the scheme had to be reviewed. The high front loaded capital costs associated with a vi rtually entirely new system could not be justified as against maximising the inherent value of the existing infrastructure, mainly dating from the 1970s and 1980s.

Mr Timlin explained that the proposed upgrade would enable the Clonroadmore plant to cater for a population equivalent of 30,150.

He added, “There will only be a small increase to the existing footprint of the facility, without extend- ing the boundary of the facility.”

Mr Timlin also stated that the upgrade is requi red “immediately, due to overloading and non-compliance with the waste water treatment discharge authorisation license and the water framework di rective requi rements as set out in the Shannon River Basin Management Plan 2010.”

He continued, “In summar y, Clare County Council as water services authority is conscious of the duty to meet all legislative requirements … Compliance with this requirement urgently requi res the proposed improvement works at the treatment facility. Indeed certain licence conditions which required compliance by December 31 (2010) cannot be met until the plant upgrade is completed.”

THE CLARE County Council decision to extinguish a public right of way across one of the fairways on Doonbeg Golf Club has been upheld by the High Court.

The order was made by Mr Justice Peter Charleton on Thursday last, when he dismissed a bid to quash the extinguishment of the right of way, citing the fact that the application was brought outside the legal time limits.

The judge pointed out that under court rules, an application for judicial review must be made within a maximum six months, unless there are good reasons shown to extend the time. No good reason was shown in this case, he said.

The challenge to the extinguishment of the right of way across the course was taken by James McNulty, Ballingun West, Kilrush, who said he was dismayed the local authority would extinguish a right of way to a place of natural beauty.

In his court challenge, Mr McNulty also said that the council had acted beyond its powers in this decision, and that it breached legislation on grounds including that an oral hearing relating to the proposal lacked fair procedure.

Clare County Council voted by 223 in September, 2009 in favour of extinguishing the right of way, which meant the public could no longer walk across the fourth and 14th fairways. The decision provided for an alternative right of way nearby. The plan also involved the golf club constructing a car park to be used predominantly by surfers.

Mr Justice Charleton said Mr McNulty focused on the fairness of a public hearing held by the council in October 2008 concerning its proposal to set up an alternative right of way.

While that hearing was chaired by an independent planning official, Mr McNulty had concerns the county council’s solicitor advised the inspector on legal procedures during the course of the hearing and claimed that tainted the fairness of the hearing.

Mr McNulty also argued the council’s proposal to extinguish the right of way in favour of a private arrangement between it and the golf club was outside the local authority’s powers.