Category: News

MEMBERS of the public in Ennis support pedestrianisation “in some sort or other” a new report about the future development of the town has found.

The findings of Ennis 20/20 – People, Place, Potential – A report on the Community Visioning Exercise – was presented by Dr Chris McInerney of the University of Limerick at yesterday’s monthly meeting of Ennis Town Council.

The main objective of the project was to support the development of a participatory plan for Ennis as a hub town in line with the National Spatial Strategy. The project was supported by the University of Limerick, Ennis Town Council and the Clare Active Citizenship Network.

The opinions of over 300 people were canvassed including those of 30 young people and the opinions of 180 people in Dunnes Stores on a Thursday evening and Saturday morning.

The report presents perspectives on what local people think Ennis will look and feel like in 2020; the strengths and assets on which it can build; how the image of Ennis might be improved and how Ennis might be developed further as an inclusive town. The report found that there is a “strong emphasis on pedestrianisation” with people also wanting an “enhanced relationship between the town and the River Fergus”.

In a section focusing on how improved infrastructure can enhance Ennis, the report found, “The related theme of pedestrianisation was undoubtedly one of the most prominent issues to be raised with all of those mentioned it advocating pedestrianisation of some sort or other, ranging from gradual or partial pedestrianisation to an all out approach taking in all of the town centre.”

Parking also emerged as a key concern for people in Ennis. The report states, “The suggestions ranged from reducing parking charges to designating certain days for free parking to help to stimulate retail sales.”

In a section on Ennis’ Economic Development, “reducing costs to business was also cited as an important factor in stimulating economic activity”.

Dr McInerney told the meeting that there was “divergence of views” on how retail development should proceed in Ennis.

The report states, “On one hand some participants favoured the introduction of large retails outlets as a means of preventing leakage of spending to Limerick and Galway. By contrast, other participants favoured the prioritisation of support for locally-owned specialty shops that would have a capacity to sell local produce, including the development of the town’s market area.”

The public also suggested “friendlier traffic wardens” and “street ambassadors and volountary town guides to assist tourists”.

In the area of ‘Building Cooperation’, the report found that some people are in favour of a “conscious effort” to support integration.

The report adds, “However, for others, further integration was not a priority, emphasis being placed instead on adjusting/improving behaviour, both amongst newly arriving groups and amongst the town’s Traveller population.”

VOLUNTEERISM in Clare is at an all time high as unemployed people in the county offer their skill for free to worthy organisations in the county.

Figures released from by the CAO last week reveal that the numbers signing on in the county rose by almost 200 last month – the first monthly increase since the Live Register hit its all time high in the county in January.

The news that there were 10,400 signing on in the county in June is disappointing as it comes after four months of straight drops in the the Live Register figure in the county.

The chairperson of the the Clare Citizen Information Service, Paul Woulfe, said that while there is no sign in the number of unemployed dropping, there are now many schemes to help them when they do find themselves out of work.

“We are seeing more and more people coming into us – people are still being let go and the trend is not changing at all at the moment. But there are a lot of schemes there to help people and the information about them is changing all the time. We would advice anyone who becomes unemployed to come into the office to see us or to look at any of our websites to see what their options are,” he said.

“The big thing for people when they lose their job is dealing with the immediate financial issues. A lot of people have mortgages and other expenditures so they have to change their budget a lot. If there is serious debt there or if they are finding that they are running into debt then we can refer them onto MABS who can help them with that.

“We do help by advising people on how they can fill their time in a good way. They might be interested in doing some voluntary work so we would be sending them onto the Clare Volunteer Centre who could assess their skills.

“People have more time on their hands than they are used to so we would be encouraging people to look at their options for upskilling and pointing them towards the VEC or other organisations. Or we could send them to the Adult Guidance Service if they want to get back as a mature student or to a jobs facilitator at the social welfare office if someone has an idea and wants to go out on their own. So we can look at the various options and then advise them where they can go and get more information and support that can help them.”

For help from the Citizen Information Service check out losingyourjob. ie or call into the Clare Citizen Information Services offices on Bank Place in Ennis.

NEW casual trading byelaws aimed at improving the operation of the Ennis market were last night adopted by members of Ennis Town Council after councillors voted unanimously to remove plans for a controversial tow away system.

As part of the byelaws, the Council had proposed introducing a system that would have seen cars parked in market trading bays on trading days, towed away.

That, along with plans to limit the sale of Christmas trees to the Cornmarket area of the town, were strongly opposed by all elected representatives present at yesterday’s Council meeting.

Despite sparking confusion, another proposal to prevent the further reduction of parking spaces in favour of trading bays in Guaranakilla, as set out in the byelaws, did make the final draft, despite criticisms from Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG).

Councillors Flynn, Paul O’Shea (Lab) and Frankie Neylon (Ind) proposed that the byelaws be passed subject to three conditions.

Members voted unanimously to re- move the tow away system and the restriction of the sale of Christmas trees from the byelaws.

However, following a warning from town manager Ger Dollard that a proposal to designate a section of Guaranakilla strictly for parking would have “serious implications” for trading in the market, a majority of councillors present voted 4-3 against the amendment.

Cllr Flynn said he was against the further reduction of parking in the interests of ratepayers in the area. Town clerk Eddie Power said effective byelaws were needed to manage the market in the interests of safety and of traders who pay to operate in the area.

Mr Dollard told the meeting that signs warning that cars may be towed away could still be put up in the market. He said the penalty would not be part of the byelaws, adding that Gardaí could still decide to tow cars away if they are found to be impeding trading.

Cllr Flynn described the tow away system as using a “sledgehammer to crack a nutshell”. Cllr Neylon said the proposal could cost affected car owners € 200 to remedy.

A MYSTERY Irish American couple have come forward with funding for a new project which could create hundreds of jobs in Clare over the next 12 months.

Details of the project, which is the brain child of West Clare man Jim Connolly, will not be officially released for another month but The Clare People understands that the project is modelled on a similar project started in Clare the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Jim, who is the founder or Rural Resettlement Ireland and was a candidate in this year’s General Election, says he had been seeking funding to restart the project for the last number of year but when no Government help was forthcoming the project was saved by the mysterious donation from America.

The project will see a series of open fair days being hosted around the county which would encourage unemployed people to show off their own talents and to grow confidence in the people.

“We are trying to attract people to set up their own jobs for themselves. It aims to promote one person enterprises by hosting free open days where unemployed people can come along and sell their good or services. It sounds like a simple idea but the response was simply overwhelming. This became a huge project, not just in Clare but in six other counties.,” said Jim.

“The key is that the whole thing is that it is totally free and people have nothing to lose. It is a great way of encouraging people to explore own talents and to give them confidence.”

Jim had failed to gain Government support for his project over the last two years, which was eventually why he decided to put his name forward for the General Election earlier this year.

“Through the publicity from the General Election I was contacted by an Irish American couple, who wish to remain anonymous, and within three or four weeks they had sent money over from America to fund this project on a part-time basis for one year,” continued.

“We have an application in with the new Government. I met the Minister last week and they are keen but have given no guarantee but if they come on board we could make it a fulltime project and extend it for more than a year.”

The project will be officially launched later this summer and any unemployed people are asked to prepare for the fair. The majority of the fair will be hosted by the local VECs but they will be made open to other locations.

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.