Category: News

NEW byelaws which allow for the introduction of a new € 40 charge to be levied on clubs for the use of facilities at the Lees Road Sports and Amenity Complex were voted through at yesterday’s meeting of Ennis Town Council.

A majority of councillors present voted 5-3 in favour of adopting the council’s new parks and open spaces byelaws on the condition, proposed by Cllr Brian Meaney (GP), that the laws be reviewed within one year.

A counter motion, proposed by Councillor Johnny Flynn (FG) that the byelaws be introduced without the introduction of new charges, was defeated in a separate vote.

In a report, town clerk Eddie Power insisted that the proposed charges will “apply only to organised use by clubs for this area specifically”.

Mr Power along with town manager Ger Dollard and several coun- cillors insisted that the charges will not apply to individual walkers and runners.

The area to be charged for relates to a section of re-developed track that borders woodland at the rear of the facility’s synthetic running track and all weather soccer pitch.

Mr Dollard said that it costs the council almost € 100,000 to maintain Lees Road.

Mr Power defended the charges, describing them as “competitive and not excessive”.

He said they were being introduced in the interests of fairness and consistency as charges were currently in place for other facilities at Lees Road.

However, some councillors expressed opposition to the new charges. Cllr Mary Howard (FG) described them as “retrograde”, saying that groups such as the ladies Meet and Train and the Clare Crusaders who are not organised sports clubs, may be charged under the byelaws.

She said, “It’s as clear as mud to a lot of people. It’s growing legs because its not clear who is being targeted.”

Cllr Frankie Neylon (Ind) said that a number of athletic clubs were interested in contributing to the cost of new facilities at Lees Road.

He said it was unfair that some clubs could avail of lighting for free at Lees Road while other clubs paid for it.

LOCAL councillors have voted in favour of a proposal that would see two residents in Cloughleigh sit on an advisory group for a new youth and community resource building to be managed by Clare Youth Services.

Locals have been opposed to the siting of the € 500,000 building at Cloughleigh Road in Ennis, due to fears over anti-social behaviour and the perceived impact the centre would have on elderly residents.

Following requests from local councillors and residents, the outline of a proposed lease agreement between the council and Clare Youth Services was presented at yesterday’s meeting of Ennis Town Council.

The proposed advisory panel would also include one local councillor and a council official with a further eight more people with “recognised experience” to be selected by Clare Youth Service.

It is also proposed that the opening hours for the centre be from “8am to 10 pm each day”.

This proposal was criticised by Cllr Frankie Neylon (Ind) who said the centre should not be open seven days a week. Town manager Ger Dollard explained it was unlikely the building would be open on a seven-day basis. He said the opening hours had been proposed to allow for greater use of the building by members of the wider Cloughleigh community.

Mr Dollard said it was a pity that the building had become “bogged down in negativity” as it was a very positive project for Ennis.

He warned that unless councillors voted to accept his recommendation to agree a lease with Clare Youth Service, then the building would remain “vacant”.

Cllr Brian Meaney (GP) said that at a time of unemployment when there is a “crying demand” for youth and community services, it would be “reprehensible for elected members to leave that building empty”.

Five councillors – Tommy Brennan (Ind), Peter Considine (FF), Johnny Flynn (FG), Brian Meaney (GP) and Paul O’Shea (Lab) – voted in favour of progressing the lease agreement on the condition that two residents sit on the advisory panel.

Three councillors – Mary Howard (FG), Frankie Neylon (Ind) and Michael Guilfoyle – voted against the proposal. Cllr Mary Coote Ryan (FG) was not present at the meeting.

ENNIS Town Council will not be represented at the annual St Patrick’s Day in New York after councillors declined an invitation to attend the event.

Catherine T Hogan, President of the County Clare Patriotic Benevolent and Social Association of New York City, had issued an invitation to the mayor of Ennis Cllr Tommy Brennan (Ind) and the town manager, “or their respective representatives” to attend the parade in the Big Apple on March 17.

At yesterday’s meeting of Ennis Town Council, Cllr Brennan turned down the invitation, saying the mayor’s place on St Patrick’s Day should be in Ennis.

Mr Dollard said that a member of the Ennis / Phoenix twinning delegation would be in Arizona for St Patrick’s Day and that it might not be appropriate for the council to attend both events.

Cllr Frankie Neylon (Ind) proposed that Cllr Brian Meaney (GP) represent Ennis in New York. Cllr Meaney said he was not in a position to go and that the trip might not be advisable given the current economic circumstances.

Cllr Meaney then proposed that Cllr Johnny Flynn should go. Cllr Flynn also declined the offer, saying it was not his policy to go on foreign trips. He said councillors should instead stay at home and support local events.

Cllr Michael Guilfoyle (Ind), who as deputy mayor represented Ennis at last year’s parade in New York, said it was important the council send someone to America to show support for emigrants.

Cllr Guilfoyle too turned down an invitation to attend, citing “other commitments”.

THE Clare Citizens Information Centre is spearheading a new initiative designed to help some of the 10,000 people who are currently signing on the Live Register in the county. A special information helpline has been set up along with an online one-stop-shop designed to help Clare people who have recently lost their jobs. According to Paul Woulfe of the Clare Citizens Information Centre, cutbacks in the public sector as well as a marked increase in the number of people losing their jobs, has created a large backlog in claims being processed.

The Ennis branch of the Citizens Information Centre has also seen a large rise in the number of people using the service with questions about redundancies. According to Mr Woulfe, a marked increase in the number of companies going into liquidation has created a large waiting list for people who are forced to get their statutory redundancy from the Social Insurance Fund.

“A key feature of Citizens Information Services is to provide responses to the multi-faceted needs of people that very often cross the boundaries of Government departments. Our services provide comprehensive information, advice and advocacy in an accessible format to empower and enable people to access their entitlements,” said Mr Woulfe. “It is vitally important that people who have lost their job or are being put on reduced working hours get clear, comprehensive information about their rights and entitlements. Citizen Information provides a countywide service, through its website, phone service and locally-based offices.

“This new website contains comprehensive information which is readily accessible and easily understood.”

Last month the Citizens Information Service saw a 20 per cent increase on the number of people using the service compared to January of 2010.

“Losing your job is a shocking and stressful event that not only affects your finances but many other areas of your life also,” continued Mr Woulfe. “In the current economic conditions it would appear there will be no magic cure in the short term. When people are newly unemployed, facing redundancy or coping with reduced hours or pay at work they will have many questions about what supports are available.”

The new Citizens Information Service helpline can be reached on 1890 777121 or by going online at www.losingyourjob.ie.

LOCAL businesses and members of the public in north Clare have criticised Clare County Council’s handling of latest sewage contamination in the drinking water supply in Ballyvaughan.

This is the forth time in the past year that a boil notice had to be placed on the Ballyvaughan water supply, with farm slurry or domestic waste the likely cause of the contamination.

Following a previous contamination in October of last year, Clare County Council promised to set up a text alert service, which would allow local people to be warned that the water was not safe to drink.

However, local people have criticised Clare County Council for not informing them that the water was dangerous to drink, with the local authority only releasing a warning on their website last Friday, February 4, almost a week after the contamination was first noticed.

According to local shopkeeper and tourist centre operator Jim Linnane, he was only notification of the outbreak when Clare County Council asked him to put up a sign warning the public in his shop, three days after the outbreak was first noticed.

“The only notification I got about this was a phone call from a lady in the Environment Section of Clare County Council last Monday or Tuesday. She called asking me to make a sign and put it up in the shop to warn people that the water was unsafe. This is days after the water was bad,” he said.

“We got no notification from Clare County Council that the water was not safe to drink again. Normally we get signs and posters, which are put up to warn people but not this year.

“It’s a ridiculous situation. In this day and age it is completely ridiculous that we cannot have a water supply which is safe for human consumption. We are going backwards. We could drink the water 15 years ago and it was fine; this situation is ridiculous.”

Clare County Council issued a statement last Friday, February 4, requesting that people in the Ballyvaughan area submit their mobile phone numbers to the council if they wished to be included on the boil water text warning system. They also indicated that the current boil notice would be lifted once the Ballyvaughan water system is connected to the main regional supply scheme next month.

Anyone who wishes to be part of the text warning scheme should contact Clare County Council Water Services Section on 065 6846427.

A COUNTY Clare lawyer was one of the highest paid barristers in Ireland, under the criminal free legal aid scheme last year.

Mark Nicholas, who is a junior counsel practising in Clare and Limerick, earned € 267,006 under the scheme last year. He was the eighth highest paid out of more than 600 barristers on the scheme last year. His income under this scheme increased by almost € 40,000 on the previous year.

Several other barristers who practice in Clare also featured prominently on the list, published by the Department of Justice.

Brian McInerney was top of the list, with an income of € 413,860. Michael Collins earned more than € 135,000 under the scheme; Pat Whyms earned more than € 80,000; Senior Counsel David Sutton earned almost € 80,000; Lorcan Connolly, BL, received close to € 60,000; Senior Counsel Brendan Nix earned more than € 30,000, while Elaine Houlihan, BL, earned more than € 22,000.

More than € 20 million was paid to barristers nationally, under the criminal legal aid scheme, in 2010.

During the past few years, there have been calls for the scheme to be curbed. Among those calling for this has been Fine Gael Councillor Tony Mulcahy.

Mr Mulcahy, who is a candidate in the forthcoming general election, this week repeated his calls for a revamp of the system and said that repeat offenders should not receive unlimited free legal aid.

“There should be an attachment of earnings. If someone breaks a window, the cost of that should be taken into account. Make him pay for that. Whether he is working or not working, it should go through his PPS.

“There would be no need to impose fines any more. That way he won’t be breaking too many windows the following Saturday night. That would deal with 80 per cent of the middle of the road crime.

He said the current system is “ridiculous. The system trudges along”.

“If you are on your 75th criminal charge, you have to ask yourself, where do we stop this representation? It is incredible. You look at the repeat offenders. They are getting free legal aid and free legal aid and free legal aid. That has to stop,” he said.

He said that people should be given no more than a few chances before exhausting all of their options under the free legal aid scheme. “Three chances to avail of free legal aid and you are out,” he said.

THERE was celebrations in Liscannor over the weekend as Dennis Vaughan was crowned Irish Seafood Chef of the Year. Vaughan, who runs Vaughan’s Anchor Inn Bar and Seafood Restaurant in the village, was officially presented with the prestigious accolade by the Minister of State with responsibility for Fisheries, Sean Connick, last week.

“We are very happy to get the award. We have always aimed to produce the highest quality of seafood in the restaurant. It’s what we have always done, we were brought up on it with all the fishing so even from a very young age we have aimed to produce top quality seafood,” he told The Clare People yesterday.

“In the restaurant the focus was always primarily on fish. The total focus of the restaurant is on local fish and shell fish. We are one of the few restaurants in the country who proc ess all their own stuff – from crabs to prawns to fish – everything that we use comes in either on the bone or in the shell and we work with it from there. Everything is as it comes out of the sea.

“I think that the public do recognise a product. You could be in a restaurant beating yourself up and going down the road of putting cheaper products on the menu but I think you will lose the loyalty of people who come to you looking for that grade of product. It’s is about giving people what they want and not cutting any corners.

“We give it as good as we can give it, with a premium product that peo- ple seem to like and so far it is working out well for us.”

While a number of restaurants around the county have closed for the winter months or have installed limited opening hours, Vaughan’s Anchor Inn Bar and Seafood Restaurant has been able to remain open all year round, seven days a week.

Meanwhile, it was also being confirmed over the weekend that 13 Clare eateries have been named as part of the BIM Seafood Circle – with the majority of the chosen restaurants located in the north and west of the county.

There are currently 200 members of the Seafood Circle nationwide. It was set up to champion retail and hospitality outlets that offer the best quality seafood and service to customers.

THREE Clare solicitors, between them, earned more than € 400,000 in criminal legal aid last year.

Ennis-based solicitor Tara Godfrey was the highest earner in the county, with € 163,699. Kilrush-based solicitor Eugene O’Kelly received € 135,746, while Daragh Hassett earned € 110,128.

Ms Godfrey’s earnings leave her just outside the top 50 earners in the country under this scheme.

Although her earnings reduced from more than € 180,000 in 2009, she slipped just two places, from 52nd to 54th nationally.

Mr Hassett, who runs an office in Ennis, earned just € 4,000 less last year in criminal free legal aid than in the previous year.

However, Mr O’Kelly increased his earnings in free legal aid by more than € 30,000 last year and is now the 71st highest earner in the country under this particular scheme.

A number of other solicitors who practice in Clare also featured in the figures obtained by The Clare People. Anthony O’Malley, who is based in

Killaloe, received almost € 80,000; Shannon-based solicitor Jenny Fitzgibbon earned more than € 42,000; William Cahir received almost € 40,000, while John Casey earned in excess of € 35,000 in free legal aid in 2010.

A number of Limerick solicitors, who represent several Clare people also featured prominently in the list.

Ted McCarthy was number 16 on the list, with more than € 380,000; John Devane slipped from 16th on the 2009 list to 21st on last year’s list, but still earned more than € 280,000. John Herbert received more than € 270,000; Chris Lynch earned more than € 180,000, while Darach McCarthy earned more than € 120,000 under the scheme.

According to a statement from the Department of Justice:

“In relation to the 2010 lists of payments to individual solicitors, it should be noted that many solicitors are running practices with associated employment and overhead costs.”

Overall, more than € 33 million was paid out under the scheme, a decrease on € 37 million last year.

In the wake of last year’s figures being published, the then Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern said he was “extremely concerned at the accelerated costs of criminal legal aid” and said that a Bill was being drafted with a view to carrying out a review of the scheme.

Several judges across the country have become more strict in dealing with applications for free legal aid.

The district judge in Clare, Joseph Mangan has, on several occasions, refused free legal aid if he is informed that a particular individual is not in jeopardy of going to prison.

In one case last year, the judge refused an application to grant free legal aid to cover a barrister for each of two brothers accused of violent disorder in Ennis and told the defence solicitor that his decision could be appealed in the circuit court.

At Ennis District Court last Friday, the judge refused an application for free legal aid after an applicant admitted he had not read the form he had signed, requesting that his legal fees be covered.

THE West County Hotel, which forms part of the Clare-based Lynch group, will remain under Lynch management, the group’s managing director has confirmed.

The Clare Inn Hotel became the second hotel in the Lynch Hotel group to enter receivership along with the Breaffy House in Castlebar on Friday. Around 150 people are employed at the Clare Inn and Breaffy House.

Michael McAteer of Grant Thornton was appointed receiver last Friday. Pat McCann, founder of Maldron Hotels has been appointed to oversee the management of the Clare Inn and Breaffy House. Michael B Lynch told The Clare People on Monday that “The West County will remain under Lynch management and its business as usual.”

Mr Lynch added that the recent weeks “had been very difficult time” for everyone associated with the business.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Mr McAteer confirmed that, “Michael McAteer was appointed receiver of the Clare Inn Hotel in County Clare and at Breaffy House Resort in Castlebar in County Mayo on Friday, 28 January, 2011.

“As the appointed receiver, it is Mr McAteer’s duty to realise the maximum value from the assets over which he is charged, and discharge any receipts in accordance with the priorities as set out in the Companies Acts.”

In a statement last week, Mr Lynch said he will work with the receivers and the banks to ensure that the jobs are protected and that the affected hotels remain open.

He said, “We had a duty to move to protect the 500 employees’ jobs in our seven properties and do right by their families in these harsh economic times. It is with great regret that we have had to make this decision but I am happy that in our discussions with the bank and receiver we have secured a position where the properties will remain open and continue to trade.”

Mr Lynch said the decision of Bank of Scotland (Ireland) to withdraw from this market “had a serious impact” on its “ability to source working capital over the winter months”. The Lynch Hotel group successfully emerged from examinership in 2009.

AS POLITICAL parties encourage people to exercise their democratic right to vote, one Shannon group is controversially calling on the electorate to do the opposite.

Led by former chairperson of Shannon Town Commissioners Peter Flannigan, a group of so called “former political activists” have urged the Clare electorate to abstain from voting in the upcoming 2011 General Election.

The group have now begun a shortterm campaign “to urge the electorate in Clare to show its total rejection of the economic mess created by an Irish ruling political elite” by not voting.

“The group had met because as individuals they held a view that each political party contesting the General Election in Clare has stated that it will be behind imposing financial hardship. This has been clearly demonstrated. As all the larger political parties have been prepared to support a Finance Bill of unbearable and unjust proportions with those parties who are seeking to offer an alternative to the present coalition, being prepared to withdraw their no confidence vote in the current Government, thus proving that they only seek power irrespective of the cost,” said Mr Flannigan.

“The former political activists who attended Sunday’s meeting feel there is a requirement to show real opposition in the county to the despicable political actions which have brought misery to people. The actions of those former TDs deserting the sink- ing Irish economic ship akin to rats, creaming their large severance handouts of tax payer’s money after creating a Universal Tax Levy on workers to pay for their unscrupulous pay off has to be challenged by way of protest,” he added.

The group, who has organised itself to encourage people not to vote, will not be entering a candidate in the election.