SHANNON’S mounting losses in recent years means that the airport won’t be granted its independence in the short-term, even though a 2011 deadline had been put in place to determine if it would be broken away from Dublin Airport Authority control and given its wings as a standalone entity.
A NEW group which aims to fight for the right of the unemployed and marginalized in Clare will be officially formed in the coming week. The group, which is a collection of employed and unemployed volunteers, is currently working under the name ‘Hope for the Marginalized’ but is aiming to host an AGM before the end of July and officially launch the group.
The first aim of the group will be to lobby for practical and inexpensive changes to education, social welfare and local business strategies which they feel could have a massive effect on the lives of young unemployed people.
“We have found that we can work towards and very workable ideas that we could lobby the Government to introduce changes which will make our country a better place to live in,” said Ennis woman Paula McNamara of Hope for the Marginalized.
“At the moment the unemployment crisis is so massive, especially in this part of the county, so our first aim to work in that area but after that we would hope to broaden out our work to other parts of the community who are marginalized.
“The group isn’t just people who are unemployed – it is a wide cross section of people in Clare. If anyone who has any ideas that they think might help the situation then we’d love to hear from them.
“We are at a crossroads now, we have to make a choice about how we want this country to be. Do we want it to be focused about bailing out the banks and forget about the weak and vulnerable or should we think about this in a different, more sensible way.”
Some of the ideas put forward by the group include targeted training in universities, colleges, VECs and FÁS, which would see a greater focus on offering courses in areas where there is a realistic prospect of a job.
The group is also looking for all people on social welfare to be given a single case worker to oversee every aspect of the case, from benefits to retraining opportunities and is calling for a greater emphasis to be put on alternative local opportunities for creating jobs.
“We know that the country is broke – that is why we are not calling for big schemes, we are looking at practical solutions which could help drag us out of this situation,” continued Paula.
Anyone who wants to be involved in Hope for the Marginalized can contact Paula on hopeforthemarginal ized@gmail.com.
AIRLINES and passengers will have to rally behind Shannon Airport before the Minister reinstates the controversial travel tax if the airport is to make any kind of recovery, according to the airport pressure group Give Shannon Wings.
Ennis businessman Brian O’Neill was reacting to the Tanaiste’s warning at last week’s mid-west aviation conference, where he stated that the tax will be reintroduced if the airlines cut numbers.
And O’Neill added that whatever negotiations the various government departments are currently having with the airlines, they should be more transparent so that people in Clare know what is being planned.
“The airlines have the break they asked for and now they have to bring greater numbers into Shannon. And the travelling public have to support the airport and plan trips as much as possible to use the routes that are already there,” he said.
An Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore, said last week that the Government will “have to look at what Shannon Airport is doing and what role it plays in the overall picture of things. The objective of removing the travel tax, which was at the request of the airlines, was to increase the numbers and if we find that some airlines, instead of increasing numbers, are cutting back on routes and cutting back on activity, then we would have to revisit the issue of travel tax.”
O’Neill, of the Rowan Tree hostel and restaurant in Ennis joined forces with John O’Conner of Custy’s music shop and David Woodford from the Irish Shop came together to form the Give Shannon Wings and an online petition in support of the airport late last year. The petition which contained more than 13,000 signatures was presented to the the Minister for Tourism along with ten ‘demandments’ on what is needed to resurrect business at the aiport.
“The development of the Lynx Cargo Hub is to be welcomed but the airlines have to take advantage of this break. At the same time routes have to be encouraged and supported and there needs to be a targeted package put in place to promote the airport and let people know what routes are available.”
The other key to Shannons recovery lies with the travelling public, he said. “We need to support the routes that are there and plan to use them whenever possible and make a determined effort to see can we get where we’re going by using Shannon?
“We don’t know what the Minister is saying to the airlines or what he is saying to Michael O’Leary. It has been put about that Ryanair have been offered incentives. If that’s the case, then let people in the mid-west know what is being said and what we can expect.”
THE new First Citizen of Clare has told his fellow councillors and local government chiefs that cutting rates is key to kick-starting a resurgence in the county’s economic fortunes.
Mayor of Clare Pat Hayes has said that tackling the rates problem within the county will be a priority during his year in office, even if it means introducing cut-backs in other areas of Clare County Council’s yearly budget.
“The rates issue is critical,” Mayor Hayes told The Clare People . “A lot of businesses in Clare are struggling to survive. They have cut every other cost, but when you take the rates, from commercial rates to sewerage and water charges, it is a huge burden on ordinary businesses.
“The small businesses across the county are the ones that are going to get us out the trouble we’re in. They’re the ones that are going to provide employment. Clare County Council needs to recognise this.
“If cutting rates means we have to cut services, they we have to look at that. It we don’t do something, our rates base is going to fall. And with new charges that are put in place by the government, it’s important that the funding from these charges filter back into local government immediately.
“In the next few months, prior to any budget, I want all councillors in Clare to have a real look at what we can do to make this council leaner – it is important to look how we do all our business in the sake of finances. If we don’t continue to make strides in that, our rates base is going to fall. It is a key thing for me as mayor of Clare,” he added.
“I’m following in the footsteps of former councillors from East Clare who served in the chair,” Cllr Hayes told fellow councillors at the Clare County Council AGM last Thursday. “Sean Brady from 1932 to ’69, Johnny Moloney from 1984 to ’85 and Colm Wiley from 1993 to ’95. They were Fianna Fáil men as well and it was great honour to follow people like that,” he added.
“We have great hope right across this county. We as a council have been putting in place policies to lead this county forward. You can see that in the County Development Plan in the Clare Tourism Forum.
“What’s good about Clare is its people, its culture and its sharing capacity to help each other. We need to celebrate the good things of Clare and come out with a positive attitude of celebrating that. We need to do that on a monthly basis. Every month we should look at an aspect of our county and celebrate that.”
47-year-old Mr Hayes is the fifth Fianna Fáil mayor of Clare since the title was created in 2001 and the 20th chair of the county council from the party from the Fianna Fáil benches.
TWO new wastewater treatment plants for Kilrush and Kilkee – at a combined cost of € 17 million – have been given the green light, after a long wait.
The Government is to today announce the construction of the treatment plants in the two West Clare areas, along with the upgrade of the existing network collection system in the area.
The projects have been mooted for several years and the work is poised to be of a huge benefit to tourism in the West Clare area. € 10.5 million will be spent on the Kilkee project and € 6.7 million on the Kilrush project.
It will lead to job creation in the area when the work is ongoing, after contract documents are prepared for the project which will go to tender.
Fine Gael Deputy Pat Breen told The Clare People last night, “This has been with the Department of the Environment for many years and it is a significant development in progressing the two schemes. I would like to see these projects progressing with the minimum of delay, through to the preparation of contract and tender documents, so that the schemes could go to construction some time in 2013.”
“These schemes are very important to these two West Clare towns particularly given the importance of tourism to their local economies,” he added.
‘‘This contract is included in the Department’s Water Services Investment Programme 2010-2012 as a scheme at planning,’’ he said.
The schemes will be funded by the Department, in conjunction with Clare County Councils. The final de tails have yet to be worked out, according to Deputy Breen.
Local hotelier John Redmond said, “The sewage treatment project is something that needs to be done. Protecting the environment is such a high profile thing, especially in West Clare. It is a good thing for the town and the environment.”
Mr Redmond said this announcement is a significant boost to the local area, in the wake of grants being awarded for new lights at the Prom.
Every boost is essential, given that the tourist season hasn’t yet shown great results in the seaside resort.
“Even when people are around, the spend is not there. It has been fairly quiet. It is similar to last year. It’s not as busy as it should be. Everybody is trying their best,” said Mr Redmond.
THE future of the proposed Ballyvaughan to Galway ferry link will be decided this week as an independent survey group arrives in north Clare to speak to locals and complete the feasibility study which will be used to determine whether the project should continue.
The Spyria Partnership will be going door to door in the Ballyvaughan, Fanore, Kilfenora and Lisdoonvarna areas this week, asking local people to complete a survey.
This survey, as well as market research into the commercial feasibility of the link, will be used by the survey team to make a recommenda- tion on the future of the ferry link.
A meeting of all stakeholders will also take place in St John’s Hall in Ballyvaughan on Friday morning from 10am. This meeting is designed to attract local business people and to allow anyone who may be indirectly affected by the link being established to have their voice heard on the project.
“This meeting is aimed at guesthouses and any tourism attractions who could benefit from this and from having more people travelling to and from Galway on the ferry,” said Gwen Ryan, chair of the Ballyvaughan Bay Hop Group.
“It is about teasing out how the service would work. This is a com- munity-based service so we want to get people’s opinions on this. We don’t have a commercial operator behind this just yet.
“They are also going to go from house to house with a survey for the people who might think of using the service to commute themselves. We will be trying to get a leaflet into every house in the area and we also have a survey that can be completed on-line.
“We had a survey in the past but the Spyria people have a more detailed survey that they need to have completed for the feasibility study. So if anyone has completed the old online survey, we would ask them in particular to come back to the website and complete the new survey again if they want to have their voices heard.”
The group from Spyria Partnership will be in the Ballyvaughan area from July 6 to 9.
The response that they receive here will largely decide the outcome of the feasibility study.
“The people who I have contacted all think that this is a wonderful idea so I guess what I am trying to do now is make everyone aware of what is going on, especially the people who are stakeholders and will benefit from this ferry link if it becomes a reality,” continued Gwen.
Anyone interested in completing the new survey should contact www. ballyvaughanbayhop.com.
REMEMBERING the late town clerk in Shannon was one of the new town mayor’s priorities immediately after she was elected last week.
Fine Gael councillor Mary Brennan paid tribute to Tomás MacCormaic, who died suddenly on June 7. He had been the town clerk for 27 years prior to his retirement two years ago and was highly regarded in the town.
A golf classic was held last week to raise funds for the senior citizens club in the town last Monday and the new mayor was one of those involved. “It was dedicated to Tomás,” she said.
“Tomás was a gentleman and was very much part of the community in Shannon. Young and old loved him. Nothing was too little or too big for him. I felt it was a nice gesture to dedicate the golf to him. He was involved with the senior citizens club.”
Cllr Brennan was elected as mayor two weeks earlier, to replace Tony Mulcahy who left the council to take up a place in the Seanad. Her fellow councillors opted to re-elect her to the position for a 12-month term. She has been a town councillor for the past two years.
She told The Clare People she enjoyed the fortnight as chairperson of the council and is look- ing forward to the year ahead. “It has been very enjoyable. I am excited about it,” said Cllr Brennan, who has worked as the caretaker in the town’s health centre for the past 23 years.
A number of priorities are on her mind for the year ahead, not least a focus on the local airport.
“I’d hope we could facilitate more work at the airport and lobby Richard Bruton. It is such a shame to see the airport being used for the wrong reasons; our children leaving due to lack of jobs,” she said.
She knows at first hand the circumstances surrounding the recession, as one of her sons has emigrated to Canada, while another will move to Australia in the coming weeks.
“I will be working with the community. I would be quite open to taking on board any ideas people would offer me for the betterment of Shannon,” she said. “I’d know a lot of people in Shannon through working in the health centre. People know they can come up to me and I will point them in the right direction,” said the mother-of-three, who is a native of Mayo. My eldest is 30 and my youngest is 23. I would be very well known in that age group. I work with vast age groups. The elderly enjoy coming in and having the banter in the health centre.”
HOMES IN seaside areas in Clare are selling at the moment, while more cash buyers have come into the market in recent weeks. However, overall house prices in Clare are showing no signs of increasing.
According to the latest Daft House Price Report for the second quarter of this year, house prices fell on average by 5.1 per cent. The average asking price for a house in June of this year was € 196,000, which is a fall of 47 per cent on the 2007 peak, according to Daft.
According to Daft, a two-bed house in Clare currently has an asking price of € 108,000. A threebed house has a tag of € 155,000; a four-bed is priced at € 229,000 and a five-bed has an asking price of € 279,000.
These prices are decreases on the figures, compared with the first quarter of 2010. Then, a two-bed house in Clare had an asking price of € 144,000, while a three bed was priced at € 194,000. A fourbed house was priced at € 276,000, while a five-bed was deemed to have a price of € 326,000.
Ennis-based auctioneer Diarmuid McMahon of Sherry Fitzgerald McMahon said yesterday that the Daft figures “are consistent on asking prices. They are not on sold prices. Prices nationally have fallen by between 40 per cent to 60 per cent between 2007 and now and have fallen in Clare by between 40 per cent and 60 per cent”.
“We’re seeing a lot more cash buyers coming into the market. There are apartments for sale around the town of Ennis that you would get rent for between € 450 and € 500 per month and that you would buy for between € 50,000 and € 60,000,” said Mr McMahon.
“The majority of our sales now are cash buyers. They are coming back into the market now because they can see value,” he added.
“Some of the seaside properties are selling well. We are selling a lot in Kilkee; selling for prices the vendors are willing to accept,” he said.
Some property owners in seaside resorts are not losing money because they bought before the peak in 2007.
“They are selling. The prices are down considerably,” he said.
Looking ahead, Mr Mahon predicts, “I’d say the best scenario by the end of this year is stabilisation. I think that stabilisation is starting to happen in better locations. Good quality houses will trade at prices that I think will be the same in six months’ time. I think eventually, in four to five to 10 years, you will get price increases but they would be in line with inflation.”
THREE international high rollers are set to battle it out for the chance to buy their very own piece of the Banner County as interest hots-up on the 180-acre Mutton Island.
The island, which is located just half a mile from the Clare coast, has been owned by a number of high profile people since the departure of its last inhabitants in the 1950s and was even subject to a bid from The Beatle’s John Lennon in 1967. The Clare People understands that interest in the island is high with a number of solid enquiries coming from America and the Middle East. The island, which is home to a number of derelict building and a herd of wild goats, is likely to sell for less than the € 500,000 guide price.
The sale of the island is being managed by Philip O’Reilly Auctioneers in Ennis, who believes that it will take a person with “a lot of money and balls” to buy the island.
“We’ve had a lot of interest in the island. We’ve had a lot of interest from America, mostly from expats but we’ve also had interest from people in the Middle East,” Philip told The Clare People .
“At the moment there is nothing at all on the island but a herd of wild goats. But it is perfectly located, just a half a mile from the coast. You can see the island when you are teeing off of a lot of the holes down in Doonbeg and whenever I play down there people are always asking me what it is.
“It would take a person with a lot of money and balls to buy the island and at the moment there doesn’t seem to be someone like that in Ireland. But it is a great opportunity for someone – this is a 180-acre island which is likely to be sold for less than the asking price of € 500,000.”
While no official bid has been made for the island, The Clare People understands the there are currently three very interested enquires and a large number of others who have yet to show a formal interest in the property.
Planning permission for a tourism development on the island has been turned down in the past so and, according to Mr O’Reilly, the island is likely to be bought for a home rather than a commercial development.
SEVEN Clare people yesterday became the first unemployed people in Ireland to get a year-long job under the new Tús scheme.
The scheme, which is being ran under the supervision of the Clare Local Development Company (CLDC), will give unemployed Clare people a chance to get paid € 20 extra a month to take on a job at a community or social project around the county.
Two of the employees will be based at the offices of the CLDC itself, implementing the Warmer Home Scheme in the county and designing websites for a number of different community group around the county.
Other groups to benefit from the scheme yesterday are the Moyasta Community Group, St Pat’s Soccer Club in Kilmihil, Clare GAA at Cusack Park, the Tulla Soccer Club and the Kilkishen Development Association.
Workers at 11 more Clare organisations will begin next Monday, July 11, and a total of 100 places have been allocated to Clare in total.
Currently more than 104 community projects have asked to be considered for a work placement but, according to Jackie Bonfield of the CLDC, the organisation is desperate for people in North Clare and in the south east of the county to put their community group forward.
“The candidates for this scheme were chosen through random selection and we have been conducting interviews with 300 clients to determine what kind of work would suit them best. Someone might have worked in an office all their life but wanted to get into gardening – so we can try and match them with a group who needs gardening work done,” said Jackie.
“Even though we are already oversubscribed for with community group looking for workers, we are desperate to talk to groups in the North Clare area – from Ennistymon up to the Ballyvaughan area – and to people in the south east of the coun- ty; we have a shortage of community group in this area.”
Tús works by giving short-term quality work opportunities for the unemployed both in the community and voluntary sector. Each work placements will last for a 12-month period and the participants will receive an additional € 20 a week payment on top of their social welfare payment. The project was yesterday welcomed by Clare TD Michael McNamara (Lab).
“Work carried out by Tús must benefit the community. Participants will learn new skills and will also be able to apply the skills they already have to the work they will be undertaking,” he said.