Category: News

CONSIDERATION should be given to a reduction in commercial rates in Ennis, one of the town’s longest serving councillors has said.

Cllr Peter Considine (FF) said that many businesses in Ennis are finding it difficult to pay rates.

He said, “We should be looking at a minor decrease in rates to assist businesses that are struggling.”

Cllr Considine was speaking at the June meeting of Ennis Town Council, where members were presented with the Council’s annual financial statement for 2010.

In his report, Town Manager Ger Dollard states, “2010 resulted in a small positive operating result of € 102,725 on the revenue account. This represents an overall improvement in Ennis Town Council’s revenue account and reverses the negative result of 2009.”

He added, “Overall, it should be noted that the AFS reflects the position at a particular point in time and underlying issues and trends need to be taken into consideration.”

The statement shows that expenditure on the revenue account (excluding transfers) amounted to € 11,867,320 while income on the revenue account (excl transfers) amounted to € 5,214,747.

Mr Dollard explained there were a number of reasons for the principal variances in income and expenditure for 2010.

They included: loan charges under budget mainly due to the fact that an additional loan for section E of the Inner relief road that was budgeted for and not drawn down; income from traffic fines and parking charges being less than expected; the requirement of a higher provision for potential bad debts of commercial rates due to the current economic crisis and additional expenditure (€ 666,594) on Lees Road and other recreational facilities.

The report shows that the figure for irrecoverable rates in 2010 was € 528,930. Cllr Michael Guilfoyle (Ind) urged the Council to get tough with some business people whom he said are “not paying rates and moving from one shop to another”.

HOUSEHOLDERS who had to claimed for repai rs on thei r home insurance after the big freeze last December are in some cases facing a 300 per cent hi ke in t hei r insurance costs.

One householder who made a claim after pipes burst and flooded her West Clare home is now facing a bil l of € 1, 200 to insure her home for the comi ng year.

“Our insurance last year was less than € 400 for the year. I was ab- solutely st unned when they told me how much the renewal would be. And we can’t even shop around because the company still hasn’t paid for all t he work t hat was done,” t he woman, who asked not to be named, told The Clare People .

Having never made a claim on her home insurance before, the householder said she feels it is “ a ver y severe hi ke. They have you over a bar rel because you can’t not insure t he house in case somet hing happens. But I really feel this is excessive when there has never been a clai m before.”

Another home-owner who had to clai m after pipes burst on Christmas Day and flooded his home in East Clare has had a jump in the cost of his renewal to € 1,100.

“There was a lot of damage to put right as there was water flowing for a long ti me because of the day that it was. It was hard to get anyone out. But this just r ubs salt i n the wound. Our yearly premiums were around € 350 before this. They were quick about paying for t he work done but they were quick to put the price of renewal up as well,” he told The Clare People .

Household insurance rates increased by an average of 10 per cent last year and a similar amount the year before.

The last two years had been “heavily loss-making” for the indust r y, a spokesman for the Insurance Federation of Ireland said.

Insurance companies paid out a massive € 10. 573 million in compensation to householders and businesses in Clare whose proper ty was damaged in December’s big freeze.

The Banner count y received the four t h highest amount of insurance money in t he count r y, behind Limerick Galway and Ker r y.

The cost per 1, 000 head of population in the count y was € 95, 295.

And whi le the Munster area accounts for 28 per cent of t he national population, 40 per cent of the claims which insurers paid out were from Munster.

The December severe weather cost insurance companies € 224 million national ly.

GREATER transparency in the allocation of private and local authority housing would help to prevent antisocial behaviour in estates in Ennis, a meeting has heard.

Ennis Town Council has adopted a draft allocation scheme, which incorporates new clauses relating to estate management.

However members have expressed concern over the level of information available regarding the allocation of housing in Ennis.

Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) told the Council’s June meeting that tenants in some estates in Ennis “are doing a lot of damage in the communities they move into”.

“I’m hearing stories that people are thrashing houses and moving on,” he added.

Cllr Frankie Neylon (Ind) said elected representatives are “handcuffed” when it comes to housing policy. He said it would be helpful if councillors had access to information regarding the number of houses on the waiting list and who they are available for.

Cllr Peter Considine (FF) stressed that councillors have “no hand, act or say” in the allocation of local author- ity housing.

However, he said that there should be some means by which councillors can convey information about potential tenants to the housing section. Cllr Michael Guilfoyle (Ind) said it should be an aim of the Council to ensure that tenants that “arrive into an area are best for the area”.

Town Clerk Eddie Power explained that when the Health Services Executive (HSE) are involved, tenants select the house and then receive financial support from the HSE. He explained that the Council advises that all standard letting agreements include provisions for anti-social be- haviour.

Mayor of Ennis Cllr Tommy Brennan (Ind) said that when tenants in HSE supported housing create antisocial behaviour, neighbours often did not know who to complain to. Describing it as a “big issue” in some private estates around Ennis, Cllr Brennan said, “No one can make a complaint to because there is no one to make a complaint to.” Cllr Brennan added that there “was no way the HSE should have anything to do with housing”. Town Manager Ger Dollard said that local authority tenancy agreements are structured in a way to deal with anti-social behaviour.

Niall O’Keefe, of the Council’s housing’s section, told the meeting that approaches to state agencies and developers for houses “hasn’t been successful”, resulting in just four units being made available.

Cllr Paul O’Shea (Lab) said the Council should allocate more staff to estate management. Cllr Guilfoyle said anti-social problems are mainly occurring in private estates and the Council’s estate manager only deals with local authority housing.

Mr Dollard said that while there is case for more staff, 47 positions had been lost in the Council in the past two years.

THE theft of diesel and home heating oil is happening in Clare “on a daily basis” it has been claimed.

A West Clare haulier, who contacted The Clare People after reading reports last week about the thefts says he has personally lost more than € 2,000 worth of diesel, “and I can tell you, I know more than 40 other people who have had fuel stolen in large amounts. One driver I know, they bored a hole in the tank of his tr uck to steal fuel.”

The haulier – who asked not to be named in case it marks him out for further thefts – said he has “gone to ever y length to keep fuel safe. I have to have fuel for the tr uck. I had locks on the shed where I keep it, locks on the gate leading to the shed. They just cut them open.”

The West Clare man said that he has reported the thefts to the gardaí but many of his fellow drivers have stopped reporting such thefts.

“They don’t see the point. No-one is caught for these crimes and if they are, they walk away. There was a man in court a few weeks ago, caught red-handed by the gardaí stealing diesel in Shannon and all that happened was that he was given the Probabtion Act.”

The driver said that he believes that stealing home heating oil and other types of fuel “is not an opportunistic crime. These are ver y organised criminals. They drive round in vans with containers and syphoning equipment in the back. If they’re stopped by the guards all they have to say is they were syphoning fuel from their own tanks.”

Angr y at the loss of his own fuel, the haulier told The Clare People that he has “been doing some investigating into this myself. What some of them are doing is taking the stolen heating oil up to Galway and selling it to students.”

Gardaí had confirmed that they are investigating a number of reported thefts of fuel around the county.

A SECTION of the historic Ennis Friary will not be available for wider public use or community-based events when it re-opens next year, according to the Office of Public Works (OPW).

A roof has been installed over the 18th century church in order to provide protection for the collection of carved features, which survive at Ennis Friary.

The OPW also plans to improve visitor access at the site. A design for the display of the Friary’s carved stone features is also being finalized. The project is expected to cost € 100,000.

In a letter to Ennis Town Council, Marie O’Gallagher, of the OPW’s National Monument’s section, explained that the OPW is implementing “plans for the protection and presentation of the significant collection of medieval carved stone features and in improving visitor access to the site”.

Cllr Johnny Flynn had called on the OPW to open up the Friary for “wider public use, educational, cultural and community purposes within a management plan to increase its relevance to residents and visitors”.

Ms Gallagher said that work on the project, which will include a wire mesh to provide security for the display area and deter birds and wildlife, is due to be complete by the end of 2011.

She added, “However it is not envisaged that this space will be available for wider public use or communitybased events. It is anticipated that the site will re-open to visitors in 2012.”

CLARE’S very own ‘horse whisperer’ will be on hand at the Galway Horse Show at the weekend, aiming to give a little TLC to 1,000 animals.

Gina Syver from Tulla is a qualified equine touch practitioner, having trained in the practice for two years.

And with Saturday being National Equine Awareness Day, Gina will be demonstrating how her technique can help.

“People think that troublesome horses have an innate badness in them but I don’t believe that’s true. In almost 100 per cent of cases, there is pain at to root of a horse giving grief,” Gina told The Clare People .

Equine touch is a discipline which was developed by Scotsman Jock Ruddock, who worked as a professional wrestler.

It started out with he and his fellow wrestlers learning to give each other therapeutic massage while on tour. With his wife, Ivana, he developed and adapted the system to treat horses and the practice is now fully accredited in the UK.

“Equine touch is a gentle hands on soft tissue bodywork technique which encourages tight muscles to relax, stimulates blood circulation, reduces pain and boosts the immune system, helping the whole body to improve its functionality,” said Gina. She has even worked with horses considered to be too dangerous to handle to return them to being gentle animals.

As well as treating injured and traumatized animals, Gina is starting to teach the technique, which takes two years and a series of studies and examines to qualify.

Gina and some of her students will be on hand at the show on Saturday and Sunday.

“To celebrate Equine Awareness Day, we want people to bring their animals to us to work on. There will be other people working at other centres to help us achieve our 1,000 horses target, so come along and let us give a demonstration of the technique.”

Anyone travelling to the show can find Gina at the green Equine Connect lorry near showjumping arenas one and two or call her on 087 9021666.

AFTER three years of community effort a new € 114,000 playground will be officially opened in Quin on Saturday, June 18.

Mayor of Clare, Cllr Christy Curtin (Ind) will be joined at the event by the Minister for Children, Frances Fitzgerald.

Funding for the project was secured from Clare County Council (€ 84,333) and the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (€ 30,000). Money was also raised by the local community.

The need for the playground in Quin is highlighted by the fact that over 250 children attend the primary schools of the Clooney Quin parish.

In early 2007, a community survey carried out by the playground committee identified a playground for the Quin area as critical infrastructural requirement.

The project was spearheaded by committee members – Cllr Sonny Scanlon (FG), Liam Conneally, Nancy Cantwell, Carmel Crosse and Alison Deane.

Cllr Scanlon said, “This is an important day for the Clooney Quin parish and in particular the people of Quin. It is important that we develop facilities such as this for the children of our community and the playground will only enhance the amenities for the existing residents of Quin village.”

Commenting on the opening, Liam Conneally stated, “During the recent economic boom, much development took place in the parish of Clooney Quin resulting in significant population increases for the area.”

He added, “The construction of a community playground will add another important piece of infrastructure to the area to be enjoyed by children of current and future generations.”

Mr Conneally said the committee are also thankful to Cyril O’Reilly, local business people and the staff and members of Clare County Council, in particular the community and enterprise section in bringing the Quin playground to fruition.

He added, “The playground will allow Quin village to reach its potential in terms of being an attractive place to live for its citizens and visitors alike.”

Cllr Scanlan also acknowledged the support of local businessman John Beirne, farmer Pat Scanlon and landowner Martin Liddy.

He said the project was also supported by Brian McCarthy and Pat Hassett.

A COMPANY will be officially formed later this week to create a centre for international humanitarian aid in Shannon. The Atlantic Way group will officially register the not-for-profit company ‘Global Aid Shannon’ this week, following more than a year of behind-the-scenes negotiations with a partner organisation in Jacksonville in Florida.

The new facility, which will co-ordinate the delivery of Irish and EU aid as well as disaster relief, is expected to create hundreds of new jobs in the Shannon region as well as greatly increase the chances of a major logistics hubs for cargo transport to be created at Shannon. The Clare People has also learned that the Limerick Institute of Technology and the University of Florida at Jacksonville are preparing to launch a new four-year joint degree course in humanitarian aid and disaster relief. The course, which will see students spend their time between both institutions, is being created to produce the trained professionals to work at the facility in Shannon and a sister facility in Florida.

Speaking to The Clare People last week, Brian Byrne, a member of the advisory board in Atlantic Way, said work on Global Aid Shannon could begin before the end of this year. “The ultimate aim is to promote the region and to create jobs. We view this as being a very worthwhile project from a global humanitarian perspective, which is very important because you are saving lives, but this is also generating jobs and using the Irish budget for overseas aims very effectively.

“So, instead of Irish overseas agencies taking out the phonebook and seeing who can provide what they need in other countries, they will be calling Shannon to see who can get them what they need in Shannon tonight. This creates jobs here and it helps to reinvigorate traffic flow through Shannon. It helps reinforce Ireland as a centre for global aid. We are working hard with our friends in Jacksonville to make sure that this will be bearing fruit by next year or even before – so we will be creating jobs in Shannon soon,” he said.

“We brought the universities together and encouraged the development of this curriculum because it matched the strategic aims that we have in mind for Shannon Airport and it underpins the shared regional assets that we have here and in Florida. This curriculum is being developed to allow Shannon to become a centre of excellence for humanitarian aid and to allow it to supply the trained people needed by the NGO and the agencies who work in disaster relief. This centre of excellence will be a conduit for employment, not just at home but also at overseas locations.

“There are some very large commercial players who have indicated their willingness to become involved and that significantly strengthens the proposition. It will be a not-for-profit entity but it will involve commercial players coming together to make it a reality, and that will help generate support at a government level and at an international level. All of these things are coming together.” The Clare People understands that delegations from The Atlantic Way and the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce have already held eight top-level meetings on the development with a ninth meeting due to take place in Ireland later this month.

Along with the humanitarian aid hub, the groups have also been working together on creating twin logistic hubs for cargo transport in Florida and Shannon, as well as exploring avenues in which tourism links between the two areas can be strengthened.

“We have built up some very strong relationships…which enables us to approach the challenge [of building connections between Shannon and Florida] at a regional level in Florida as well as in Georgia and South Carolina,” continued Mr Byrne. “For companies based in Jacksonville, Shannon is a major stepping stone into the European market. It is an ideal distribution point for cargos destined for the European market and that is why the focus from Jacksonville has been on Shannon as a bridgehead into Europe.”

The ‘World of Opportunity’ meeting between the two groups will take place in Shannon from June 22 to 24. Besides the two organisations, industry heavy-hitters such as DHL Global Forwarding, Dell’s Global Operations and the Irish Exporters Association will also be in attendance.

A DECISION to extend the so-called ‘Smoky Coal Ban’ to include Ennis may raise fuel costs and hit elderly people the hardest, according to one local coal merchant.

Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Phil Hogan TD announced last week that, with effect from August 1, Ennis will be added to the list of towns and cities covered by the ‘Smoky Coal Ban’, under which it is illegal to market, sell, or distribute bituminous or ‘smoky’ coal.

While coal merchants have welcomed the plans to reduce air pollution, some say that the cost of new smokeless fuel allied to the imposition of a carbon tax will be too much for some sections of the community.

Coal and gas merchant, Michael O’Brien, explained that while some smokeless coal is “very good” other products are “dirt”. He said customers are unconvinced by a lot of smokeless coal, which he said can be difficult to light. Mr O’Brien, who has run a coal and fuel business for 20 years, said that as a result many homeowners stopped burning coal and “went back to buying heating oil”.

Good quality smokeless coal, he said, was typically € 1-€ 2 dearer in price. He added, “That would put elderly people in fierce trouble. Over the last winter, you had people staying inside with their coats, not buying coal.” Mr O’Brien said business had declined by almost 50 per cent over the past two winters.

A spokesman for Ennis-based Galvin Coal and Solid Fuel Merchants said there were a lot of “grey areas” in the ban. He said it was still unclear whether the ban applied to the burning or selling of bituminous coal. He explained, “It seems to apply to sellers within the zone (Ennis) but then it seems that people are free to go outside the zone, buy it and burn it in Ennis, which is ridiculous.”

Welcoming plans to reduce air pollution, the spokesman said the coal industry had been affected by the recession.

He added,“I did see a massive increase in the sale of cheap coal. It’s the first winter I saw that.”

SHANNON Airport is on the verge of launching itself as a major hub for corporate traffic, with Shannon Development and the airport’s management working towards creating a Centre of Excellence for Business Aviation at the airport.

With corporate aviation currently on the rise, the airport is seen as a prime area to take advantage because of its US pre-clearance facility and uncongested runways.

According to Grellan Kelly of Shannon Development, corporate aviation could be a major grower in Shannon in the months ahead and create a host of new jobs in Shannon as well as providing spin-offs for tourism and increasing Foreign Direct Investment in the area.

“In recent months there has been a real increase in the amount of corporate traffic that is in the air. At current levels, it is still 10 per cent behind what it was at its peak. It is recovering and we want to be in there at the point in time that it is recovering so that we can win some of this new traffic through Shannon Airport,” Mr Kelly told The Clare People .

“There is significant volumes of this type of traffic coming through Shannon already. We want to create awareness in the marketplace that Shannon is a transit place for corporate jets but also to win any ancillary business that might come form that. We are trying to being a tourism product out of it – so that we would get the corporate traffic along with an overnight and some sort of tourist activity like golfing or fishing.

“The plan after that would be to get an investment from some of the corporate activity coming through. In these jets will be the decision makers for a lot of major corporations – if we can create an investment opportunity for them we might get an investment that will create some jobs here. We are trying to work up an investment product that would encourage these investors to come here.

“This is all built around the preclearance to America. That is unique and gives us a reason to compete in the market place. It is key to the whole idea.”

While the creation of a centre of excellence may be years off, increased demand could make it a real possibility in Shannon in the near future.

“Our ultimate goal is to create a centre of excellence for business aviation at Shannon Airport, but you have to build on what you have. There are probably 2,500 corporate jet movement through Shannon Airport every year and we want to grow that. If we can grow then after awhile ti will warrant a centre of excellence there for corporate jets,” continued Mr Kelly.

“For the centre of excellence we are probably talking about creating a physical building – but that is long term. We have the facilities there to do what we need to do at the moment but if we can get the critical mass up then we would warrant an investment. This is Shannon Airport and Shannon Development coming together jointly. We see an opportunity for increasing this traffic, there is also a tourism possibility and then there is the possibility of investment in Shannon and the area.”