Category: News

ANY help for the County Clare’s struggling rates payers will only be introduced hand-in-hand with new taxes, The Clare People has learned.

Businesses around the county owed more than € 5.6 million to Clare County Council when figures were last compiled in December of 2010. This represent a massive increase on the € 600,000 end of year rates arrears figure recorded by the local authority in 2006. Much of these arrears comes from the tourism sector where a number of Clare flagship tourism businesses have been unable to pay their rates in full in recent years.

Speaking to The Clare People last week, the Minister for the Environment said that changes to the current rates situation would be tackled by “broadening the base” by which Clare County Council funds itself.

“We are actually signed up to the EU/IMF agreement – the previous government signed up to it and we are obliged to implement it. This year we will be bringing forward proposals for utility charges and that will broaden the base of financial support for local authorities and hopefully take the pressure off the rate payers,” he said.

“There are significant cash flow problems in every business and it is not just because of rates, there are other issues as well. We will be asking the valuation office to apply more resources towards carrying out re-valuations which are essential throughout the country – this is too slow at the moment and will take too long. I am conscious at the moment of having the costs of local government as low as possible to allow business people to protect employment and to create other employment. There are problems in Clare but these problems are replicated right around the country and this will need a national response.”

Besides speeding up the process by which businesses can have their rates re-valued, the Minister has also agree to examine Irish Hotel Federation proposals to completely change the way in which rates are calculated.

“We have received a number of submissions about that [changing the way in which rates are calculated] and I am looking at them at the moment. I have asked the department to examine how we could actually improve the situation with regards to deploying resources to the valuations office – which is a matter for the Department of Finance – but also to look at ways that we can get local government to broaden its tax base and the opportunities in other ways and to take the pressure off labour intensive industries like the tourism sector,” he said.

Meanwhile, Clare local authorities have restated their commitment to work with Clare people in solve individual rates arrears.

“Calculation of rates is primarily determined by the valuation attributed to the property. This is determined by the Valuation Office independent of the local authority. Pending any change in the current system we will continue to work with rate payers to put in place flexible payment arrangements to discharge rates due,” said Ennis Town Manager and Director of Services with Clare County Council, Ger Dollard.

THE state of the art fire and rescue service and training centre opened in Ennis last week is set to become the blueprint for regional fire services all over the country.

The centre, which was officially opened by the Minister for the Environment, Phil Hogan (FG), is set to become a centre for fire training for professionals from all over the midwest.

“This is a wonderful boost for the county – it is a fabulous training facility and one that should be replicated all over the country if resources are available,” he said.

“I can see how this can be a regional centre for other counties as well. I wish the fire service well and all who work here. They are doing a very im- portant job as a front-line service to protect the people of Clare and the surrounding counties.

“The training needs of today’s fire service personnel are wide and diverse. The opening of this new facility in Ennis will ensure the provision of high quality training to fire fighters into the future.”

Minister Hogan was joined at the launch by the Mayor of Clare, Christy Curtin (Ind); the County Manager, Tom Coughlan and a number of members of both Ennis Town Council and Clare County Council.

The € 470,000 facility is located right beside the offices of Clare County Council on the New Road in Ennis. Speaking at the official opening, Minister Hogan also paid tribute to the work done by the county’s fire fighters during major flooding events in the winter of 2009 and 2008 and to the efforts of County Manager, Tom Coughlan; Clare’s Chief Fire Officer, Adrian Kelly and Clare County Council Director of Service, Ger Dollard, in getting the new facility in place.

“I understand that management and staff worked around the clock to ensure that the threat posed by the flood waters to property and life was minimised [during the flooding],” he said. “The response was a credit to everyone involved. The experience and insights gained will no doubt shorten the learning curve for others in the emergency management sector.”

A FATHER of two, charged with the murder of a woman in North Clare in March, has secured bail in the High Court – subject to conditions.

Colm Deely (39), of School Road, Ballyvaughan, made his third court appearance last week in connection with the death of Deirdre McCarthy (43), whose body was found on Fanore beach on March 31 last.

She was last seen alive on Sunday, March 27, and was reported missing the following day, after she failed to turn up to meet a friend.

At Ennis District Court last Wednesday, Inspector Tom Kennedy asked that the accused be further remanded, to appear in court again on May 13.

His solicitor did not object. She told the court that her client had appeared in the High Court the previous day, where a bail application had been made. She asked that her client be brought back to Limerick prison, saying, “He’s currently being detained at Cloverhill.”

However, Inspector Kennedy said this was not a matter for the court; rather it was a decision to be taken by the prison authorities.

In the High Court, a ruling was made that a new address was to be approved by gardaí, at least 30 miles

away from Bally

vaughan, if bail was

to be granted. A number of bail

conditions were at

tached, including

that the accused

reside at an address

approved by gardai;

that an independ

ent surety be pro

vided; that he sign

on at a nominated

garda station; that

he abide by a cur

few and not contact

the family of the

deceased. Another condition was that the accused surrender his passport.

The matter will have to get district court approval, prior to bail being taken up.

FIFTY years after Shannon Town was born, it finally has an Oireachtas member thanks to Tony Mulcahy’s election to Seanad Éireann – a victory the former Mayor of Clare and Shannon had dedicated to the power of the social media site, Facebook.

On being elected to the upper house on the Labour Panel after the 13th count, Senator Mulcahy told The Clare People that it was the reaction to his General Election bid on Facebook that inspired him to launch his Seanad Éireann campaign.

“I was told to read the Facebook page. I read it on the Monday night after the General Election and the volume of goodwill messages that I got – people telling me to give it another go – was what prompted me to go for the Senate,” he said.

“That drove it home for me. I was going to leave it after the General Election and I decided after that to give it one good lash. It was from Malin Head to Mizen Head and every bit of it to get elected but it was worth it.”

Senator Mulcahy first stood for election in 1999 when winning a seat on both Shannon Town Council and Clare County Council, seats that he subsequently retained in the 2004 and 2009 local elections.

His first Oireachtas election was in 2007 when he polled 3.408 first preference votes in the General Election, a figure he doubled to 6,829 in the February 2011 election.

After the General Election, Senator Mulcahy, who served as Mayor of Clare from 2009 to 2010 and is the current Mayor of Shannon, was selected by the local Fine Gael organisation in Clare to contest the Seanad election, a nomination that was endorsed by party leader Enda Kenny.

“This brings closure on the General Election. We were over four months on the road. I was asked to stand in the General Election on December 19 and was added to the ticket on January 10,” said Senator Mulcahy.

“It was a tough campaign, a much different campaign to the General Election, but one that I threw myself into, once I made the decision to give it a go. I think it’s a great day for Shannon Town that it finally has an Oireachtas member.

“I say that because there was a strong view out there that people wanted an Oireachtas member from the town of Shannon and the Shannon electoral area. Shannon needed an Oireachtas member – Shannon is a major promoter for business and investment,” he added.

CLARE’S reputation as the county that makes electoral history was continued on Friday when Cllr Martin Conway was elected to Seanad Éireann on the Administrative panel, a success that been hailed as an historic breakthrough for the disability sector.

Senator Conway, who has been a Fine Gael member of Clare County Council for the last seven years, was selected to contest the Seanad election by the People With Disabilities Ireland (PWDI) group only months after his own party refused to put him on the ticket for the General Election.

Now, in being elected to the Upper House on Friday night to bring Fine Gael’s complement of Oireachtas members to an historic four, Senator Conway has created a famous first for Clare and national politics.

“From the vision impairment perspective, I’m the first person member of the Oireachtas ever to be elected with a severe vision impairment,” Senator Conway told The Clare People .

“There hasn’t ever been someone elected with the level of eyesight I have, which is less than 20 per cent.

“It is a great achievement for myself, given the battles I’ve had over the years, the disadvantages I’ve had over the years. I was born with it and lived with it all my life. It isn’t an is- sue I go on about but I speak about it when I’m asked,” he added.

Senator Conway’s success came against the odds as he was up against two former Fine Gael TDs who had the imprimatur of the party in a highly competitive seven-seater constituency.

“I had to look at long and hard about standing,” admitted Senator Conway. “It’s a separate house and I don’t buy into theory that because I didn’t get to run in the Dáil that I’m automatically going to run in the Senate as a second best option.

“I looked at panel system, as outdated and archaic and all that it is, from my perspective in politics, that the most appropriate panel was the Administrative panel given the outside nominating bodies are the voluntary disability sectors.

“My life experience of disability of being the only councillor the country with a declared disability, there was scope there for representing a minority group. Given that the Senate is supposed to be for minorities I felt I could competently represent that minority group.

“I sought the nomination for People With Disabilities Ireland (PWPI). I felt I could be a strong advocate for the issues that concern them. They gave me their nomination. I toured the country and I met every Fine Gael councillor I could – 90 per cent of them and got the vote out,” added Senator Conway.

TAOISEACH Enda Kenny must reward Clare with “a post of significance” after the historic achievement of the Clare branch of the party in winning four seats in the Oireachtas.

Cllr Joe Arkins, who spearheaded Clare Fine Gael’s Seanad Éireann campaign among the party’s 14 members of Clare County Council, told The Clare People that “Clare cannot now be ignored by the party brains trust in Dublin”.

“In the absence of Clare getting a junior ministerial post after the General Election, Enda Kenny can now look at the county again. We have four Oireachtas members for the first time in the party’s history and we want that recognised by Government.

“It’s in the Taoiseach’s gift to do that. He has the scope to make one of Clare’s Oireachtas members the chair of an Oireachtas sub-committee. It’s the least the county deserves. The bank of talent is in Clare.

“Senator Martin Conway has a special insight into the area of disability, so to does Senator Tony Mulcahy. Both of them also have an involvement in small and medium enterprises. They could be rewarded with a post on sub-committees in these areas,” added Cllr Arkins.

CLARE has six members of the Oireachtas, but it could have been an unprecedented eight, after the election count for the 25th Seanad concluded in Dublin on Friday.

Both Cllr John Crowe (FG) and Declan Kelleher (IND) were just edged out in their bid to join Senators Tony Mulcahy and Martin Conway in the Upper House.

For Sixmilebridgeman Cllr Crowe, it was another agonising defeat, five years after he was edged out in his first national election when contesting the Seanad on the Industrial and Commercial Panel.

Cllr Crowe polled 36,000 first preference votes and, after a mammoth count, was eliminated after the 32nd count when his vote stood at 82,149.

“If he had got three more transfers, Cllr Crowe would have lasted to the 33rd count and then the votes of Labour’s Joe Leydon’s would have elected him,” Cllr Joe Arkins told The Clare People .

“I’m disappointed not to be elected,” admitted Cllr Crowe. “I put in a good campaign and just came up short. It was very close but I’m proud of the performance,” he added.

Meanwhile, Corofin National School principal Declan Kelleher was edged out for one of the four seats on the National University of Ireland Panel.

Mr Kelleher, who was the INTObacked candidate for the election, re- ceived 3,771 votes in the first count, but missed out after the 25th count after he had amassed 5,410 votes.

“I needed about 700 more first preference votes and then a good transfer to get elected,” reflected Mr Kelleher afterwards.

“There were three seats and 27 candidates in the running for them and there was always the chance that I would come fourth out of 27 and just miss out. That’s what happened.

“I was disadvantaged in being a candidate from the west, because there were only 2,000 NUI votes in Clare, while there were 33,000 in Dublin.

“However, I learned an awful lot by contesting the race and I am delighted that I did so,” he added.

RESIDENTS in Newmarket-on-Fergus are being urged to take part in a local survey, the findings of which will play a key role in shaping the future of the village.

Community group Obair is spearheading a community needs assessment, with a view to putting together a range of events for locals. The aim is that those who are struggling with any aspect of their lives will be helped out.

Project co-ordinator Kirsty Horner said the aim of the project is to look at the needs of the community and build on the findings.

“We are targeting specific groups, for example one-parent families, people with disabilities, unemployed males and the elderly. The aim is to create a profile of Newmarket and find out what the needs are in the village and what is here already…what needs to be improved and what needs to be added,” she said.

Kirsty has been working on the project for the past few months and is hoping to have all the information gathered over the coming months. A public meeting will then be held and locals will be encouraged to attend this and present their ideas for the future of the village.

A number of focus groups have been set up and their findings will be made available at a later stage.

“We will form a social inclusion committee, where people who have never been on a committee before will be involved,” she said.

“It is important that people get involved. It’s a chance for them to have their say,” she said.

Kirsty recently completed her Master’s Degree in Partnership Studies at the University of Limerick and completed training with the HSE in relation to compiling a community needs assessment. Arising from this, she got involved in this project.

“We have to build up a profile of the area and put together statistics on social housing units, unemployment and rent supplements in Newmarket,” she said.

“The aim is to help people who are struggling with childcare or who are going back to education. We felt it would be good to have a community fund,” she added.

Anyone wishing to get involved in the project should phone Kirsty in Obair on 061 368030.

HUNDREDS of Alpaca’s from all over Ireland will descend on Ennis this Sunday in search of the much coveted Anna May Driscoll Cup.

The cup, which is the premier award for Alpaca farming in Ireland, is named after the Ballyvaughan nurse and Alpaca farmer Anna May Driscoll, who died in 2007.

It is the highlight of the Alpaca Association of Ireland (AAI) national show which comes to Clare for the first time ever this year.

“We are delighted to bring the Irish National Show to Ennis. This will be our fourth national and we have been looking for an indoor arena in case of rain,” said AAI President, Damien Dyar.

“This allows us to have an early show before the alpacas are shorn. The public will be interested to see the alpacas with full fleece on as opposed to shorn. We are very grateful to the Ennis Showgrounds Committee for allowing us to use their premises.”

As well as being the President of the AAI, Damien is also the founder of Burren Alpaca – the Fanore-based company which he set up with his partner, the late Anna May Driscoll.

This year’s show will take place at the Ennis Showgrounds and will be judged by UK Alpaca expert Jay Holland, who is accredited by the British Alpaca Society as a fleece and animal judge.

The show will be open to visitors from 9am to 4pm and the judging of various classes will be in the morning.

It is expected that the Supreme Champion will be judged about mid day. As well as the judging there is also a display of fleece and alpaca products.

Alpacas are bred for their fine fleece which is as soft as cashmere. Peruvian Alpacas were introduced to Ireland only 11 years ago by Clare breeders Burren Alpaca and are steadily growing in popularity.

SHANNON recorded the highest temperature in Ireland this year, on Thursday afternoon – and we are in for quite a good week ahead across Clare.

Temperatures reached 22.7 degrees Celsius at the weather station at Shannon Airport at lunchtime on Thursday. This was the hottest day of the year and is the third highest April temperature in Clare in 50 years. It was also the highest April temperature since 2003.

Temperatures in Ennis peaked at 21.5 degrees on the same day, according to meteorology figures. County Clare fared much better than other parts of the country last week. Temperatures lowered to 12.4 degrees in Malin Head in Donegal.

However, temperatures aren’t likely to reach those highs this week. Predicted temperatures for the next few days range from 11 degrees (Friday) to 16 degrees (Thursday). Editor of the website www.irishweatheronline. com, Mark Dunphy, said this month is predicted to break records.

“It’s not going to be too bad this week. It is going to get thundery towards the weekend with heavy showers, but it will be a largely bright week ahead. Temperatures could hit 20 degrees in Clare by the weekend,” said Mr Dunphy.

“Other hot April months would have been 1975, 1984 and 1990. This was the third highest. We are on track for the warmest April on record,” he said. “These figures are according to meteorological stations across the country.”

Mr Dunphy, a public relations consultant, set up the website last November and since it was established has commanded 7,500 followers on Twitter.

Indeed if the figures for Clare so far this year are anything to go by, we are in for a bright summer ahead. According to Met Éireann, the weather station at Shannon recorded the highest sunshine levels since 1955 in March. The monthly total of sun recorded there was more than 160 hours.