Category: News

CLARE GAA has received the green light to proceed with the next stage of its € 5 million project to transform its landbank at Caherlohan near Tulla into a new state-of-the-art training facility for county teams.

Clare County Council planners have given planning permission for the second stage of the development that will see clubhouse, dressing room, dining room, gymnasium and toilet facilities built on the site.

Permission was granted to Clare GAA to proceed with this stage of their ambitious development on Friday, which means that the board can now proceed to tender stage and is on track, funding permitted, to have the Caherlohan project completed by the end of next year.

Design work on the project started back in 2005 when Clare GAA purchased the 60-acre Caherlohan site for € 2.2m. At the time the board received € 600,000 in grant aid for the purchase, while grant aid for the development work will be nearly € 2 million.

“Players are getting more and more professional and they need better facilities. This is the way sports clubs are going, developing modern facilities to cater for all of their members,” according to Niall Fitzgerald of Hor- gan-Lynch, who are engineers for the project.

“At Caherlohan, there is planning for seven pitches and one all-weather pitch. There will also be covered accommodation for 1, 500 patrons. It is expected that phase one will be fully operational by the spring of 2012, ” he added.

The new facility will ensure that Clare teams teams have access to training facilities which will be the envy of most other counties in Ireland, a project that county board secretary Pat Fitzgerald has hailed as “a massive financial undertaking in a time of economic depression”.

At last December’s Clare GAA Convention, Fitzgerald blasted successive governments for refusing to support the project. “The thank you Clare GAA has received in turn by way of funding as regards the project, is zilch.

“Without the € 1.8m contribution from Croke Park, we would have had to self-fund the project, something I believe in the current climate would have been virtually impossible but I believe we, the clubs and the people of Clare, will rise to the challenge. There’s tremendous goodwill towards the association at county level and such positivity will, I believe, enable us to bring the project to fruition,” he added.

ALMOST 30 bags of rubbish were collected by members of Clare County Council’s waste enforcement team during a clean-up carried out last week on the outskirts of Clarecastle.

The clean up was carried out by staff attached to the council’s Ennis area office last Wednesday along a stretch of the N18 road from Clarecastle to Latoon.

The green bags, which were spotted by members of the public along the road, were transported to the Central Waste Management Facility at Ballyduff Beg, Inagh.

The initiative forms part of the council’s ongoing attempts to prevent the practice of illegal littering around the county.

In 2010, a total of 58 litter fines were issued and 23 prosecutions were taken under either the Litter Pollution Acts, 1997-2003 or the Waste Management Acts, 19962010, in the Clare County Council functional area.

Betty Devanny, Administrative Officer with the council’s waste enforcement section explained, “Clare County Council has a dedicated waste enforcement team that responds and takes appropriate enforcement action in relation to waste and litter complaints. Where evidence of acts of littering or illegal waste is found then action is taken under relevant litter pollution and waste management legislation.”

She added, “This is not to mention the litter enforcement work undertaken by Ennis Town Council. The Ennis East Electoral includes areas within both Clare County Council and Ennis Town Council and, as such, the two councils liaise on an ongoing basis in order to share information and expertise, and ensure the optimal use of their respective resources.”

Ms Devanny said the council’s waste enforcement team takes a proactive approach to dealing with illegal waste and litter activities. This includes the deployment of CCTV surveillance, vehicle checkpoints in conjunction with the Gardaí, targeting of illegal dumping at problem locations, planned inspections and audits of waste facilities.

Area offices also work closely with community groups while the environmental patrol warden and community warden conduct routine daily patrols in Ennis and around Clare.

Ms Devanny added, “In county council areas, area-based staff are involved in the removal of waste and litter on public roads and other public lands and carry out these works as part of their other duties within the areas. The waste enforcement section on an ongoing basis encourages and facilitates community involvement in waste and litter prevention and removal.”

Ms Devanny encouraged communities to get involved in the National Spring Clean organised by An Taisce. Communities can register with An Taisce for each year by telephone on 01 4002219 or online at www.nationalspringclean.org. Free passes to Clare County Council’s waste management facilities can then be provided to all registered groups who participate in a local community clean up.

REFUSALS by insurance companies to offer flood cover to homeowners are a form of “further discrimination on hard-pressed communities”, a meeting has heard.

Members of Clare County Council yesterday backed a motion from Cllr Brian Meaney (GP) that stated “That this council request all insurance companies and their umbrella organisation not to apply address specific refusals for flood cover on house insurances.”

Cllr Meaney told the meeting that he had heard of instances where homeowners in parts of Ennis are being refused cover on the basis that a small minority of houses in the area are at risk from flooding. He said this policy was creating huge difficulties for families trying to obtain insurance and that insurers are applying a “very broad definition of where flooding occurs”.

Mayor of Ennis and independent councillor Tommy Brennan, who is one of three elected representatives in the chamber whose homes were damaged by flooding, said that he cannot get insurance.

Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) described Cllr Meaney’s motion as “timely” and said insurance companies should offer reduced premiums where previously they charged exorbitant prices.

Cllr Cathal Crowe (FF) said that in November 2009 during a period of heavy flooding, insurance assessors were “prepared to take the vulture approach when people were at their lowest” but wouldn’t provide cover to homes “in places that were bone dry”.

Cllr Crowe said he supported the motion but called on Cllr Meaney to mark the letter for the attention of the regulator.

Cllr Tony Mulqueen (FG) told the meeting that since flood water damaged his home at Cappahard, he has been unable to get “any insurance at all”. “No insurance company will give me insurance,” he added.

Cllr Gerry Flynn (Ind) said the motion should be brought to the attention of the regulator. He said a lot of homes around Clare were finding it very difficult to obtain flood insurance.

He added, “This is a further discrimination on hard pressed communities.”

ONE of Ennis’ best known pieces of sculpture, ‘Icarus’, should be unveiled at its new home on the Rocky Road roundabout in June, according to Ennis Town Council.

The 11-tonne statue had occupied a place on a roundabout at the heart of the market area of the town prior to its removal in December 2006.

The statue, which is currently been stored on the grounds of the council office’s at Waterpark House, is due to be moved to another roundabout on a section of the N85 Western Relief Road.

Speaking last week, town clerk Eddie Power explained, “The size and weight of the statue is fairly significant so an appropriate base to hold the statue at the roundabout has to be designed. That design work is almost complete and then we will prepare a schedule for tenders to carry out the work.”

Mr Power added that he “expected Icarus to be in place on the Rocky Road roundabout, roughly by the end of June”. The statue was designed by the renowned Irish sculptor John Behan.

It was gifted to Ennis Town Council by the former Shannon-based company Guinness Peat Aviation in 1990, to mark the town’s 750 year anniversary. Behan titled his work Daedalus though it became known locally as Icarus.

Former Irish Ambassador to the USA and Secretary General of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Sean Donlon, welcomed the news that Icarus would return and told The Clare People , just how the piece was commissioned by the late Tony Ryan.

“In 1990, Ennis was celebrating 750 years since its foundation – and asked GPA to make a contribution to the celebrations. The late Tony Ryan, GPA’s founder and then its chief executive, decided that we would do something and after some internal discussions hit on the idea of commissioning Ireland’s leading sculptor, John Behan, to do a piece which would be publicly displayed in the town. Behan was by now well established. Behan was fussy about where his works would be displayed and Tony Ryan was equally fussy about how GPA’s money would be spent. On a wet Saturday afternoon in 1990, Tony, John and I walked the streets of Ennis looking for an appropriate site. I had grown up on Bindon Street (no. 11, now Michael Houlihan’s law offices) and thought a site there would be good but Tony thought this was too elitist. Eventually, we settled on the Market Square site and, happily, the council accepted this site. The piece was put in place and, on behalf of GPA, where I was executive vice-president, I unveiled it. There was a reception afterwards in the Old Ground Hotel. For me it was an emotional return to Ennis where my brother Tomas had been killed in the Carmody Hotel collapse in 1958. It was also the last time my father, a former school inspector for County Clare, visited Ennis,” recalled Sean.

Icarus’ place in the market will be taken by a new piece by local sculp- tor Barry Wrafter. The piece will be installed in the market area of Ennis and will be the latest addition to the town’s ever-growing sculpture trail.

The statue, which shows two farmers and cow, is inspired by Ennis’ market tradition.

The sculpture is a joint initiative between Ennis Tidy Towns and the Ennis Sculpture Initiative. Mr Power explained, “It’s appropriate in terms of its depiction of the Ennis area. The pieces involved should be in place by June. As in the case of Icarus, it’s significant in terms of its size and weight.”

The new statue had been welcomed by local businesses. Donie Neylon, whose men’s clothes shop business has operated in the market since the 1950s, said a statue should be located in the area. “It’s a very big space [the roundabout]. There should be something on it.”

On hearing that Icarus would soon be on public display again Sean Donlon promised a ‘second relaunch’.

“It would be great to see it restored. Tony Ryan deserves it, John Behan deserves it – incidentally, he has gone on to many great honours at home and abroad – and most of all the people of Ennis deserve it. To mark the second coming, my former GPA colleagues and I will have another reception in the Old Ground Hotel!” said Sean.

A MAN whose jail term for raping his pregnant ex-girlfriend at gunpoint in her County Clare home was described by a court as “unduly lenient” will reappear in court later this week.

Last week, the Court of Criminal Appeal (CCA) ruled that a 10-year jail term – three of which was suspended – handed down to a 45-yearold man last year should be reconsidered.

However, it did not finalise the case and adjourned it to allow for a governor’s report and psychiatric report to be prepared by the man’s legal team. The case will be before the threejudge CCA again on Thursday. The case came before the CCA after the DPP appealed the sentence handed down.

The man, who was living in Clare, was convicted last year of rape, anal rape, false imprisonment, possessing a firearm and threatening to kill the woman on September 9, 2007.

The CCA said last week it found the case to be “most shocking” as it had involved profound violence.

The man was convicted after a 14-day trial at the Central Criminal Court last year.

The trial heard that the man and his ex-girlfriend had broken up on 27 occasions.

The victim described the night as “mentally torturous” and said she had been made to believe her death and the death of her unborn baby were imminent. The trial judge, Mr Justice Paul Carney said, “It was serious criminality involving a lifethreatening siege which was diffused only by the extraordinary skilled and sensitive approach by the gardaí.” He described the incident as being at the upper end of criminality, involving a dangerous hostage siege.

A CIRCUIT COURT judge has decided not to re-activate a suspended sentence in the case of an Ennis man accused of driving while under the influence of alcohol.

Thomas Molloy (20), with an address at 12 Gordon Drive, Cloughleigh, Ennis, appeared before Ennis Circuit Court yesterday in relation to a section 99 application for an order revoking an order suspending a sentence of imprisonment.

The application arose out of a charge of driving while under the influence of alcohol. A Garda told the court that Mr Molloy was twice over the legal limit when he was caught in Dublin.

The court was told that Mr Molloy appeared before Dublin Metropolitan District Court under the Road Traffic Act in relation to the incident.

The court was told that on June 8, 2009, that Mr Molloy, and three other people, pleaded guilty to affray. He received a three year suspended sentence at the time.

Counsel for Mr Molloy said his cli- ent had pleaded guilty to the charge and had co-operated perfectly with Gardaí. Referring to the charge of affray, Counsel for Molloy said he had pleaded guilty to the charge and paid compensation of € 2,000.

He added that a “considerable period” of time had elapsed between the charge of affray and the charge or driving while under the influence of alcohol.

Judge Carroll Moran said that there was no other aggravating factor other than Mr Molloy being over the limit.

He said that driving while the twice the legal limit was a serious matter it did not require the reactivation of a suspended sentence. Judge Moran referred the matter back to the Dublin District Court.

A CLARE practical joker, who posed as a businessman in an effort to convince the public that his friend was about to open a sex shop in Ennis, says he will attempt an even bigger hoax later this year, if he can come up with a suitable idea.

N i n e t e e n – y e a r old Ballyea student Michael Gavin created a fake email address, business phone number and online persona for his friend in an effort to convince the public that this friend was about to open a sex shop on O’Connell Street in Ennis.

The Clareman, who is an Economics and Finance student at the University of Limerick, posted a notice on the Clare section of boards.ie, claiming that the sex shop was to open in Ennis on St Patrick’s Day.

When contacted by journalists, Mr Gavin pretended to be a businessman and claimed to be about to open the sex shop despite the objections of the “Joe Duffy brigade”.

Speaking to The Clare People yesterday Mr Gavin said that the sex shop hoax was not even the biggest practical jokes he had pulled off recently.

“I wouldn’t say that this is my biggest hoax ever but it’s definitely up there in my top 10. I’m not planning anything specifically in the future but if I get a good enough idea I wouldn’t

rule it out in future,”

he said. “I have played

pranks like this in

the past but if I was

to talk about them

in the newspaper I

would probably get

myself into a bit off

trouble,” he added. According to Mr

Gavin, he was a

quiet and shy stu

dent and only began to plan practical jokes and seek public attention in recent years.

“In school I wasn’t a big joker, I was always very focussed on my studies and had too much respect for the teachers and the other student’s to disrupt their work,” he said.

“To be honest I haven’t a clue where I got my idea from. I knew if I put something controversial but believable [up on boards.ie] there would have been a good chance that a journalist would be looking around and find it.”

A TOTAL of 491 students from Clare have entered paintings in this year’s 57th Texaco Children’s Art Competition, the winners of which will be revealed next month.

In excess of 30,000 entries were received with students from each of the 32 counties taking part.

Judging of entries is currently taking place and winners will be announced in early-April. This will be followed by the prize-giving ceremony which takes place in May.

Pictured admiring three of the en- tries received from Clare are competition coordinator Annemarie Barnes (left) and competition adjudicator and well-known artist Dr Denise Ferran. Ms Barnes is holding a work entitled ‘In The Wild’ by 15-year-old Ryan Fleming from Ennis, a pupil at St John Bosco, Kildysart. Dr Ferran is holding a work entitled ‘Our Beautiful Coast’ by 16-year-old Michelle Clancy from Kilrush, a pupil at Kilrush Community School and another entitled ‘Beautiful Butterflies’ by 14-year-old Ashling McCann from Cranny, Kilrush, also a pupil at St John Bosco, Kildysart.

THE elected members of Clare County Council yesterday went against the expressed wishes of County Manager, Tom Coughlan, by adopting the new East Clare Local Area Plan including a resolution to zone an area for the possible future development of a marina in Killaloe.

Following more then two hours of heated debate and detailed legal advice, the elected members of the local authority voted by 19 votes to four in favour of passing the revised plan, with four councillors abstaining from the vote.

It now remains to be seen whether the county manager will decided to use his executive function to over rule the decision of the elected members.

“The overriding concern as far as I am concerned in tourism development. The history of this development and this debate is very important. This is like a test case for all of this new regulation which has been passed down to us. These issues are appropriate to everyone – a similar situation could arise down in Loop Head or up in the Burren,” said Cllr Pat Hayes (FF).

“I think that if we can develop a marina in Killaloe then I feel that that is in the overriding public interest of the people of Clare.”

The final decision was arrived at by the elected members following a series of proposals and counter proposals which led to a number of loud shouting matches across council chambers and the meeting being adjourned on two separate occasion.

The first difficulty arose when expressed some concerns about the discussion being conducted in public and asked for a legal opinion on whether some details of the plan should be discussed in camera.

This prompted angry scenes in the council chambers with Shannon cllr Gerry Flynn (IND) eventually proposing and winning a vote to have the matter discussed in from of the media and the assemble public.

However, the meeting descended into chaos when a second proposal, calling for a 10 minute recess to allow for councillors to contemplate the plan was also voted on and passed by the councilors.

The Mayor of Clare, Christy Curtin (IND) ruled that the two motions were not in conflict and councillors could both have a ten minute break to “contemplate” the motion before discussing the motion in council chambers.

This prompted an angry outburst between Cllrs Gerry Flynn and Cllr Cathal Crowe (FF) when the Shannon council alluded to the type of discussion which may have taken place during the 10 minute break.

At the request of Mayor Christy Curtin, Cllr Flynn eventually withdrew the remarks.

CONSTRUCTION WORK on the multi-million euro pier in Doolin could get underway before the beginning of the summer following last nights decision by Clare County Council to grant Part Eight planning permission to the controversial development.

Following a protracted planning procedure, councillors at last nights meeting of the local authority voted unanimously to grant planning permission to the long awaited development, despite objections from a number of local and national surf organisers.

More than 30 members of the local Doolin community packed the offices of Clare County Council yesterday to hear the matter being debated. Each of the Doolin locals held up signs which read “Support Doolin Pier” as the planning permission was being discussed.

Speaking after the Part Eight planing permission had been granted, County Engineer Tom Tiernan said that tender process for the development will be started in weeks with the construction work not likely to be finished until 2012.

The original planning permission for the pier came before last Decembers meeting of Clare County Council but a decision on this was deferred by County Manager, Tom Coughlan, to allow for more public consultation to take place.

In total more than 30 individual planning submission were put forward in relation to the project with a number of other submission coming from organisation from all over the country.

Speaking before the planning permission was granted, Ennistymon based councillor Richard Nagle, said that the pier had the potential to generate hundreds of jobs for the people of north Clare.

“I would like to propose that we proceed immediately with this project – it is imperative that we go ahead with this without delay. We have spent months considering this, it has already been delayed.

“There are several interests groups in Doolin pier and all of those interests much be taken into account,” he said.

“We now must take a once in lifetime opportunity to enhance the tourism life of North Clare.

“This has the potential to make Doolin the main departure and arrival point to the Aran Islands and to create a huge amount of jobs in the north Clare area and in the wider community.”

Councillor Johnny Flynn (FG) said that his concerns about the safety of the surf access at the pier and the integrity of local surfing waves had been addressed during the planning process.

“I would have had very serious concerns about the damage that this might have had on the surfing product in the area but I am now satisfied that the consultation and wave monitoring which has been carried out by Clare County Council,” Councillor Flynn said.