Category: News

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.

SINCE 2006, planning applications for large residential and commercial schemes in Ennis have been refused because of inadequate capacity in the public sewer, a meeting has heard.

The comment was made by Andrew Hersey, Executive Planner with Ennis Town Council, at an An Bord Pleanála oral hearing in Ennis on Thursday.

The hearing was held to examine information submitted to the Board by Clare County Council in relation to a proposed upgrade of the Clondroadmore Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) in Ennis.

In his submission as a representative of the planning authority, Mr Hersey recommended to the board that permission be granted to the proposed development.

He explains that the plant, which has been in operation since the 1970s, has a design capacity for a population equivalent (PE) of 17, 000 and its cur rent loading is circa 26, 000 (PE).

He added, “There is therefore a shor tfall of treatment capacity. I note that in order to comply with conditions for a discharge authorisation license as issued by the EPA, it is necessary that the capacity be increased.”

Mr Hersey states that Ennis is designated as a hub town in the National Spatial Strategy 2002-2020.

He states that the strategy identifies three levels of capital invest ment in hub towns, “the highest priority being investment in water, wastewater and road infrastructure”.

Mr Hersey explains that while public water has been upgraded through the opening of the Dr umcliff water treatment facility and the road infrastructure has been upgraded with the Ennis bypass, “There has been no investment in wastewater infrastructure to date.”

Mr Hersey states that the population of Ennis is expected to grow to approximately 33, 000 by 2022, an increase on the cur rent population of 8,747 persons.

He adds, “At present there is not the capacity on the sewerage system of the town to facilitate the delivery of growth.”

The submission continues, “Since 2006 planning applications for large residential and commercial schemes have been refused in the basis of inadequate capacity in the public sewer and prematurity pending the provision of sewerage facili ties in the town.

“This cannot be the case into the future as the town cannot grow and reach its target population projections as planned until this wastewater treatment plant is upgraded.”

Describing the proposed upgrade as an “essential component of this town’s infrastructure”, Mr Hersey states, “Without it, future development in the town will stagnate and the success of the town as a hub town for the mid-west region will ultimately fail.”

KILRUSH Town Council is to make an application to the Department of Sport for over € 1 million in funding to build a new state of the art multiuse sports facility in the West Clare capital.

The development has been earmarked for Gallery Park on the Cooraclare Road, after the conclusion of negotiations between the local the authority, the ESB and the Department of Education.

“Grant aid of up to 95 per cent is available in some areas,” Kilrush Town Manager Nora Kaye told The Clare People this week.

“I think that the grant aid applicable to this case is in the region of 85 per cent. A very cost initial estimate for the entire development would be € 1.3m,” she added.

The proposed facility will include a full-size GAA pitch, two full-size training pitches, upgrade of the tennis and basketball courts, an astroturf pitch as well as dressing rooms, playground, car parking and ancillary facilities.

It is hoped that the grant will be announced in September 2011, follow- ing which construction of the first phase will commence.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for the people of Kilrush. We have waited a long time to see progress in relation to sporting with regard to the availability of land for these facilities,” said new Mayor of Kilrush Cllr Ian Lynch.

“Discussions have been held with the various sporting organisations and they are all on board with these proposals,” he added.

Kilrush town clerk John Corry said that the proposed sports complex delivers a much needed development in the town and it will provide ‘something for everyone’.

“People of all ages will be encouraged to participate in the various sports and exercise options and the completed facility will not only add to the competitive sports activities in the area but will be there to encourage people to become more active in their daily lives.

“The development of the facility will also mean that there will be employment opportunities during the construction stages and this is a welcome boost for the local economy,” added Mr Corry.

SECTIONS of the Ennis and Clarecastle sewer network will be upgraded and extended in parallel with a proposed development at the Clondroadmore Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP), a meeting has heard.

David Timlin, Director of Environment and Water Services with Clare County Council, told an oral hearing in Ennis that money is available for the works.

It follows concerns raised at the hearing by Senior Inspector with An Bord Pleanála, Mary Kennelly and Board representative, David Kelly.

The board had sought clarification from the Council regarding the intended upgrading works for the wastewater collection system in Ennis.

In his response read out at the hearing, Thomas McKeown, associate partner with JB Barry and Partner’s Consultant Engineers, said reports in 2002 and 2011 had “identified the requirement for sewer structural rehabilitation and for upgrading and extension of the wastewater collection system in Ennis and Clarecastle”.

The Ennis Clarecastle Main Drainage Preliminary Report Addendum (July 2011) states, “It is recommended that sewer rehabilitation and sur- face water separate works be carried out in order to maximise the capacity and extend the design life of existing and upgraded wastewater treatment infrastructure, to reduce the energy costs associated with pump station operation and to provide adequate infrastructure for future development”.

Mr McKeown explained that work carried out by the Office of Public Works (OPW) on the River Fergus certified drainage scheme (phases one and two) will “assist towards the objective of reducing the surface water component in the combined sewer network and reducing the hydraulic load to the waste water treat- ment facilities for the town”.

He continued, “This will also reduce the constituent volume of storm water entering the Clonroadmore treatment plant and will reduce periods of overflow.”

Mr McKeown explained that the “preliminary report addendum 2011 includes a recommendation for foul and surface water sewer rehabilitation in Ennis at an estimated cost of € 1.89 million excluding VAT.”

Both Ms Kennelly and Mr Kelly expressed concern over the implications of funding not being available for the sewer network upgrade.

Mr Kelly said the board had to establish if the Council could meet water surface regulations in the absence of funding for the wastewater collection system in Ennis and Clarecastle.

Mr Timlin told the hearing that the funding is in place and that the Council had already identified the “highest priority” sewer network areas in Ennis.

Responding to a question from Ms Kelly, Mr Timlin said, “Clare County Council will fund this work if necessary. It will be done in parallel with the Clonroadmore upgrade.”

Ms Kelly told the hearing that completion of the sewer upgrade works could be attached as planning condition to the Clonroadmore project.

THE MUSIC at the Feakle trad festival will be silenced for a time this week, as a mark of respect for a visiting group from Olso who put aside the trauma of mass murder to come and play in Clare.

An organised silence is planned during the festival and Clare County Council will open its offices on Saturday to allow the visiting musicians to see the book of condolences.

And it has emerged that a group of young East Clare musicians narrowly avoided beiung at the heart of the dreadful massacre.

The East Clare youth traditional music group and their leaders and helpers were just back from an exchange visit to Oslo when Anders Behring Breivik went on his killing rampage.

Speaking from Oslo as the group of young people prepared for their trip to Ireland last night, leader, Thor Hauknes, said that they have been deeply shocked and traumatised by the events, but were dertermined to come to Clare nonetheless.

“It is terrible and everyone is very shocked. Thankfully, none of the group were directly involved but one of them works very close to the building that was bombed but she was not there at the time. My daughter, Solveig, her friend was killed. She was a fiddle player and they had played fiddle since she was nine years old.”

Thor said that the long-planned trip to Clare will be part of the healing process for the youngsters.

“This youth exchange, getting to know other young people in Europe and learning about the music of Clare, that is so important. That is what it is about,” he told The Clare People.

The exchange between the young people from Norway and the music students from Clare is funded by the Leargas Youth In Action prgramme. 28 Clare youngsters and twenty leaders and helpers had just returned from a trip to Oslo when atrocity struck.

Music Teacher, Mary McNamara, said that everyone involved “was so shocked when we heard about it. (the murders). I can’t tell how wonderful the people in Oslo were to us and what a fantastic trip it was. It’s chilling to think of what happened and to think that but for the timing, our students could have been there.”

A period of silence is planned during the festival as a mark of respect and Mayor of Clare, Pat Hayes has organised to be at thecouncil offices to welcome the Oslo musicians and show them the book.

The young musicians, who are aged between 15 and 21, will learn about the East Clare style at classes during the week and will take part in a joint youth concert with Clare musicians on Thursday night.

“They will stay with the Clare musicians in a group as we did in Oslo. That’s the point of the exchange. As well as learning music, they live together, eat together and get to know each other,” Mary explained.