Category: News

FIANNA FÁIL has returned to party political dominance in Clare County Council and with the support of the three Independent councillors of Fianna Fáil origin, the party could take control of the chamber.

Councillors Michael Begley (Killaloe), Cllr James Breen (Ennis) and Cllr PJ Ryan (Shannon) are well positioned to be king-makers, or in this case mayor-makers, in the new 28 seat council.

Although the party increased its overall first preference vote by just .2 per cent, its representation on Clare County Council has increased from 34.4 per cent to 42.8 per cent. In the 2009 local election Fianna Fáil won 11 seats in a 32 member council. In 2014 the number increased to 12 in a 28 seat council.

Director of Elections for the party in Clare Gerry Reidy believes with a bit more vote management the party may have even secured two more seats and brought the number to one seat short of an overall majority.

“We had great potential to get two more seats. If we had managed the vote that Cathal [Crowe] got better, and he got an amount of that from the Cratloe area, we could have got in Pat O’Gorman because he was only beaten by a short margin of votes,” he said.

“Cathal is a brilliant campaigner, and it is only afterwards when you see the benefit of his work you think we might have had a different conversation about some of these places.”

The Fianna Fáil man also questions how the party did not win a seat in Kilkee and were beaten to that seat by a Government councillor.

“There is a lot of controversy in Kilkee over the damage the storms have done and Pat Keane would have highlighted constantly, but you have the situation where the councillor that was in the Government Party got in, and the councillor in opposition did not.”

While congratulating the 12 Fianna Fáil councillors, Mr Reidy said he was also aware of those that were not elected across all parties and none, and was aware of how difficult that was on them and their families.

The party lost just two casualties in the election – Cllr Brian Meaney who was elected a Green Party councillor in 2009 but transferred to Fianna Fáíl in April 2013.

Cllr Pat Keane also lost his seat in the new West Clare Electoral Area.

CATHAL O’Reilly, the candidate denied by Sinn Fein less that 48 hours before he was due to stand in the Ennis Local Electoral Area for them, still managed to secure 392 votes and poll stronger than sitting councillor Brian Meaney (FF).

Senior members within the Sinn Fein Party in Clare maintain how ever that his vote would have been significantly higher had his “resignation for Sinn Fein not been accepted” on Wednesday.

“We were looking at different figures to that. To me that was the core vote that we could have got had we run a paper candidate and not had a campaign around it. We were garnering more support, certainly the figures we were talking about were higher than that,” said Director of Elections for Sinn Fein Finbarr MacGabhann.

The Ennis butcher, was forced from the party after disparaging comments he posted to Facebook three years ago about the Traveller community, people working in particular shops and other groups, were brought to the attention of the party.

Mr O’Reilly’s name still appeared on the extensively long Ennis ballot paper as the Sinn Féin candidate, but by then the party said he was no longer one of its members.

Mr MacGabhann said Sinn Fein was surprised by the comments.

“It was a shock. To see the things he said, the things he said about people, about minorities, about people going about their daily life in town was a shock.”

It did not affect the other two candidates running in West Clare and Shannon, as they were able to compartmentalise their campaign, he said.

Mike McKee was elected to the Shannon area for Sinn Fein, while first time candidate Noeleen Moran received a first preference vote of 1,023 out of West Clare.

JUST minutes after Ian Lynch was deemed elected to Clare County Council for the first time, Fine Gael co-ordinator Jim Madden shook the Independent councillor’s hand.

The former Fine Gael man had been unsuccessful at the party’s convention last November and decided to go it alone in an attempt to secure a seat for the town of Kilrush.

Shortly after he realised that ambition, the outgoing Kilrush town councillor and new county councillor promised “to shake up” the new county council.

Asked if his election was Fine Gael’s loss, Cllr Lynch said, “I don’t know whose loss it is; it is a gain for West Clare. I put myself forward. I was always going to run the race. People voted for me and my job is to serve the people. Parties shouldn’t come into this level of politics. Parties are for a bigger arena. I put myself forward as an Independent candidate and I got elected to the seat as an Independent and I have a lot of work to do now,” he said.

His former colleague on Kilrush Town Council Marian McMahon Jones (FG), who was eliminated on the fourth count, also wished the new councillor well, saying she was happy that the town of Kilrush had a candidate.

Cllr Lynch believes his work on the town council helped his work, but realised it was always going to be an uphill battle for a newcomer to be elected in the West Clare area, where nine sitting councillors were going for eight seats.

“The last few weeks of the canvass were crazy. I am not sure who was pregnant there for a while, me or Rene,” he said referring to his partner, whom he has promised to take on a long weekend away to make up for his absence over the last number of months.

GABRIEL Keating has hailed himself as “the comeback kid” after retaining his seat on Clare County Council. The Fine Gael councillor emerged victorious from a tightly fought battle for places in the eight seat West Clare Electoral Area.

Despite not reaching the quota, Keating was elected on the 11th count courtesy of votes received from former Fine Gael man Ian Lynch’s surplus.

In doing so, Keating pipped his party colleague Oliver Garry to the final seat.

Such a scenario seemed improbable after the first count, which left Keating with a mountain to climb, but the West clare man never had a moment’s doubt.

“It’s a wonderful feeling. It’s a wonderful achievement. This morning I was at 911 and I jumped to 1590. It’s unbelievable. They’re calling me the comeback kid,” beamed the Cross native as he savoured his triumph at the end of a long weekend in Treacy’s West County count centre.

He continued, “I never thought I was gone. I worked hard for the five years. I put in a great effort. I opened up West Clare to tourism. Loop Head, the whole place came alive. I’m so delighted to be able to do it for the people of my parish. It’s a great honour for me and for my family. They mean everything to me.

“We had storms and we had floods and we had a whole lot things,” said Keating in reference to storm that battered West Clare earlier this year.

“But I can tell you I rode this storm today,” he declared to loud cheers.

Meanwhile, PJ Kelly (FF) was returned without reaching the quote in the West Clare electoral area.

The veteran campaigner was returned for an eight successive election, making him the longest serving councillor on Clare County Council by some distance.

The Lissycasey councillor joked that it had been “cheeky” of him to run for an eight election but also said that there was lessons to be learned from the election.

THE ACTIONS of unknown thieves who stole a set of toddler swings from the Crusheen playground have been described as “despicable” by the local community.

The Crusheen Playground Committee believe that the swings, which were taken at some time between Tuesday evening, May 20, and Thursday evening, May 24, were deliberately targeted by criminals – rather than as a random act of criminality.

Sean Nihill of the playground committee says people in the area are devastated, not by the value of the items stolen, but that anyone would steal from children in a premeditated and planned way.

“They screwed out both the infant swings.

“There was no damage done to the swings and they would have needed specialist equipment to do it.

“It is our opinion that it was a premeditated thing, they would have gone there to do it. It’s despicable,” he told The Clare People. “Two members of the playground committee were there when I arrived on the scene and we reported it to the gardaí and they say they will look into it.

“It’s not the value of the crime and what was stolen, it’s the impact of it. What kind of person would steal from children like this?

“What happens now when parents come to the playground with their toddlers? How do they explain to their children that some bad man stole their swing?

“How do you do that? It’s a big loss to the community, especially to children arriving to find swings missing,” he added.

The playground, which was officially opened in November of 2012 after years of local campaigning and fundraising, attracts larger crowds of children from Crusheen as well as from the wider area – with families travelling to the facility from east Clare and south Galway.

The playground is surrounded on each side with a small, four foot high, wall and there is currently no way of locking and completely securing the playground at night.

The local playground committee is appealing to whoever took the swings to return them as soon as possible.

Gardaí in Ennis are also investigating the incident.

GARDAÍ in Clare are urging car owners to exercise greater vigilance when leaving their cars unattended.

The advice comes following a spate of breaks-ins to vehicles in East Clare and Ennis earlier this month.

A Toshiba laptop was stolen from a car that was parked in the Erasmus car park on College Road in Ennis on Saturday May 17. The break in occurred between 8.20pm and 2.30pm.

A red Mazda 323 hatchback (98-C2395) was stolen from the back of a house in Linnane’s Terrace in the Kilrush road area of Ennis between 5pm on May 20 and 8pm on May 22. Gardaí have issued the warning ahead of Crime Prevention Day on Thursday, May 29.

“Our primary aim is to raise awareness within our communities on methods that can easily be adopted to prevent crime, reduce the fear of crime and to promote community safety” explained Crime Prevention Officer, Joe Downey.

He continued, “Statistically speaking € 220 is the average value of property stolen from vehicles in the past twelve months, apart from the added hassle of getting a broken window replaced and a possible insurance claim. Criminals make a decision to steal from a vehicle based on a judgment of: what goods they are likely to get; how quickly can they carry out their task; the likelihood of being caught”.

Sgt Downey said vehicle owners need to be extra vigilant when leaving their vehicles unattended even outside their home.

The following advice is recommended; do not leave property visible from the outside; when not in your car always lock it, even outside your home or in the driveway; park in a well lit area during darkness and at other times in busy areas where it can be seen or in a CCTV monitored area; report any suspicious activity immediately to the gardaí.

A TOTAL of € 435,868.80 is to be paid out to councillors who will not be returning to Clare County Council next week.

The eleven Clare county councillors who have left the council, either through retirement or losing their seats, can expect a retirment gratuity payment up to a maximum of € 61,112.12.

Dual councillors, those sitting on both a town and county council, will only receive a gratuity payment from the county council, although some may be entitled to a payment for time served on the town council prior to joining the county council.

Cllr Patricia McCarthy (Ind), who annouced her retirement from the council prior to the local election, will receive the maximum payment of € 61,112.20 for 35 years service.

Councillors that have served on the council since May 2000, are entitled to a percentatge of their annual sal- ary for every year served since then.

An ex-gratia payment is also added on to this payment for every consecutive year served prior to 2000, up to a maximum of 20 years.

All councillors must also be over 50 years of age to collect their windfall.

For Mayor of Clare Joe Arkins (FG), and councillors Brian Meaney (FF), Tony Mulqueen (FG), Pascal Fitzgerald (Labour), Sean McLoughlin (FG), Oliver Garry (FG), Sean McLoughlin (FG) and Pat Keane (FF), the payment is expected to go some way towards easing the disapointment of losing their seats at the weekend.

Cllr Arkins is expected to receive € 47,541.43; Cllrs Meaney, Fitzgerald and Garry can expect € 33,448; while Cllr Keane will receive € 53,255.27; Cllr Mulqueen € 16,724 and Cllr McLoughlin € 8,362. Meanwhile Cllr Sonny Scanlon (FG) and Tommy Brennan (Ind), who will also retire from the council, are to receive € 57,540.75 each, and Michael Kelly (FF) is to get € 33,448. TODAY Day will st a rt ple a sa n t a n d h e a t u p t o 17c bu t c h a n c e o f a fte rn o o n sh o we rs.

THE school’s Green Flag initiative reached a significant milestone this week when the 100th school in the county was given the environmental award.

Four Clare primary and secondary schools were awarded Green Flags for the first time bringing the number of local schools now holding the international award for environmental action to the century mark.

Run by An Taisce, in partnership with local authorities throughout Ireland, the Green Schools award scheme is an international environmental education programme and management system that acknowledges long-term, whole school action for the environment.

St Patrick’s Comprehensive School in Shannon; Coore NS, Kilkishen NS and Scoil Mhuire in Meelick were presented with their very first Green Flag at a special An Taisce Green Schools Awards ceremony in the Radisson Hotel in Galway.

A further 32 schools successfully renewed their Green Flags following work on new themes including energy, water, travel, biodiversity and global citizenship litter/waste.

The schools include Clondrinagh NS; Úlla Beag Preshool, Killaloe; Doolin NS; Scoil Mhainchín, Ennistymon; Ennis Educate Together NS; St John Bosco Community College, Kildysart; St Senan’s Primary School, Kilrush; Lakyle NS, Whitegate; Moyasta National School; Gaelscoil Iosef Naofa, Moy; St Clare’s School, Ennis; Annagh NS; St Mary’s National School, Feakle; St Enda’s National School, Lisdoonvarna; Scoil na Mainistreach, Quin; Moveen NS; St Colman’s NS, New Quay; Kilmurry NS; St Aidan’s NS, Shannon; Tubber NS; Bridgetown NS; Clohanes NS; Colaiste Muire, Ennis; Knockanean NS; Mol an Óige NS, Ennistymon; Ogonnelloe NS; Stonehall NS; Sixmilebridge NS; Flagmount NS; St Flannan’s NS, Inagh; St Joseph’s NS, Miltown Malbay and Rockmount NS.

Mayor of Clare, Joe Arkins said, “The Green Schools programme continues to be a phenomenal success in Clare with 100 schools now flying the Green Flag. It is estimated that this amounts to a significant cost savings of € 135, 505 for Clare schools. Comhgairdeas do na scoileanna sin ar bronnadh a gcuid Brat Glas.”

Joan Tarmey, Environmental Awareness Officer, noted that Clare’s Green Flag schools have shown significant savings in generating less waste, and reducing energy as well as water consumption.

“While water conservation has never been more topical, one primary school, Clohanes NS, is leading the way and has been just awarded regional winners of the ‘Water School of the Year’ in the southern region. Sponsored by Irish Water, this is the first time such awards have been run. They achieved a 74 per cent reduction in the average litres used per student per day through introducing measures such as urinal sensors, push taps, water experiments, table quizzes, poems, posters and water saving tips.”

THE cheapest farm in Ireland has gone on sale in the Burren – with a large number of bidders expected to show an interested in purchasing a house, farm buildings and a 166 acre farm for just € 250,000.

The farm, which is located at Glencolumbkille in Carron, has being brought to the market by Colm Farrell Auctioneers, at an asking price of just over € 1, 500 per acre. This is in marked contrast to the average price per acre of land received for farms in Clare last year which was in excess of € 6,500.

Indeed, according to figures obtained from the ‘Irish Farmers Journal’, last year’s average price in Clare was more than 20 per cent below the average for 2012, which was just over € 8,500 per acre.

The sales agents describe the property as having “some of the best views of natural landscape in the world” and have also stressed that the € 250,000 is a minimum price, and the property could be sold for a lot more.

“The lands are of mixed quality ranging from grazing land to rock outcrop and water supply is from natural sources only. The residence is in need of major refurbishment but because of its existence, it provides one with permission to reside in one of the most desirable locations in the world of natural scenic landscape,” said a spokesperson.

“The farm also has some farm buildings with livestock handling facilities. One has to visit this farm of beauty to appreciate what it really is and what it has to offer in this wonderful part of the world.”

The property is located around three miles from Carron and about 10 minutes from Kinvara.

After a lull of a number of years, farm land has begun to be bought and sold again in recent months. Indeed, there was almost 3 per cent more land sold in Clare in 2013 compared to the 12 months of 2012.

THE Department of Education has granted approval for a new hall and an additional car park at St Joseph’s Secondar y School, Spanish Point.

The project is in addition to the new autism unit, which is expected to be completed later this year.

The two-room unit will be situated on the seaside of the secondary school.

Al ready teachers from the second- ar y school have under taken specialised training so that they can assist students from the unit who wish to under take some or all classes in the mainstream school.

The specialised autism unit will be staffed with exper t teachers and other staff, while the students who wish to can also avail of mainstream education.

As well as Depar tment of Education funding to build the unit, the school has also been supported by a number of local fundraisers to help stock the unit with state of the ar t equipment and props when it opens.

The car park and hall is a new addition to the campus.

Labour TD Michael McNamara said the approval of the hall will provide a facility for all who live in Spanish Point and its environs.

“This is excellent news. It is just two years ago since I first ar ranged a meeting with Principal Mary Crawford and Ruai rí Quinn. The project was delayed because of issues which arose in relation to the loss of rights of way to/from the school and the resultant need to provide additional car parking. These issues have now been resolved and the preparator y work can commence.

“This means the work of selecting the design team and building contractor can begin. Subject to a successful planning application, it is expected the new autism unit could be completed in time for the first intake of students in September 2015,” said Deputy McNamara.