Category: News

CLARE County Council this week confirmed that it had spent almost all of the money it was allocated to care for the county’s roads – completing all work with the exception of two projects.

Fears were expressed at the end of last year by Deputy Joe Carey (FG) that the roadwork’s budget would not be spent and therefore lost.

In total the local authority spent € 22.687 million on all road works.

The allocation confirmed by the Department of Transport in relation to Regional and Local Roads for 2010 was € 15, 586,498, € 15, 281,462 of which was spent by the council.

The shortfall of approximately € 300,000 was attributed to the fact that a sum of € 500,000, allocated in respect of the Killaloe By-Pass/ Shannon Crossing, could not be spent as planning and design stages documentation were under consideration by the Department of Transport.

According to senior engineer Tom Tiernan, “To all intents and purposes the council completed its Roadworks Programme in 2010. Any minor elements, which were not completed, were as such due to circumstances outside of the council’s control. For example, it became apparent in early summer 2010 that it would not be possible to spend a sum of € 300,000 allocated to Blakes Corner, Ennistymon, due to the complexity and sensitivity of the procedures involved because of the conflict between the proposed junction improvement and the location of adjacent protected structures.

“The Roadworks Programme was implemented systematically while taking account of the specific needs of the various work sites involved, the climatic conditions required in each case, optimisation and allocation of plant resources available etc. Certain difficulties were encountered both at the beginning and the end of 2010 because of the very severe weather conditions, which pertained. Certain improvisations and strategy alterations were required but ultimately the job was completed as effectively as it could be in the prevailing circumstances.”

Among the routes to benefit from road improvement works were the N68 at Edenvale, Caherea, Lissycasey and Kilrush, the N67 at Moyasta and the R352 in Tulla. The main road north of Lisdoonvarna to Corkscrew Hill has also been upgraded while the road between Corkscrew Hill and Ballyvaughan is currently being upgraded. Works are scheduled to take place in the coming weeks at Ballyduff beg, Inagh on the N85.

AND they’re off. The race to the 31st Dáil has begun, and it was a particularly exhaustive first stage for the first two out of the blocks – Independent TDs James Breen and Jim Connolly.

The two Independent candidates were up and down ladders and polls more often than a New York fire crew.

When the Green Party pulled out of Government more than a week ago, the two Clare candidates began hanging their posters in preparation for the election.

After a weekend of hard work they were contacted by Clare County Council who informed them they were in breech of new legislation that did not allow the erection of any election posters until the election date officially named.

So the two candidates and their followers were back up the ladders on Tuesday morning removing all evidence of their political ambitions.

Meanwhile fellow hopefuls Cllr Tony Mulcahy (FG) and Michael McNamara (Lab) have also been busy with their followers in the county town of Ennis ensuring their message was getting through letterboxes, even if no one was home to let them through the doors.

Fine Gael’s two sitting TDs Pat Breen and Joe Carey are also busy wearing down the leather on the soles of their shoes, when they were not busy wearing out the tires in their cars returning to Dublin for votes on the Finance Bill.

Unlike his running partner Deputy Timmy Dooley (FF), Dr John Hillery (FF) has yet to brave the front door of Clare homes to make his case, and to begin canvassing this week.

Cllr Brian Meaney (GP) is also braving door steps this week, but the Green Party man is preparing for a lot of shut doors, complaints and in some cases even abuse as the only representative of the junior coalition party in the county.

And if our voxpop this week is anything to go by, all candidates do well to heed Cllr Meaney’s wariness as the mood of voters is somewhat tetchy. Many people who spoke to our reporter, but refused to go on the record, gave endless lists of how political decisions had negatively affected their lives in the last two years. Many others said the political system was now so damaged it made little or no difference that they voted for, and almost everyone said change was needed.

As the candidates face into a week when the Dáil is finally dissolved and a date for voting more than likely decided upon, the best most can hope for on the doorsteps of Clare is apathy or anger.

A CHANGE to the Litter Pollution Act proved a potentially costly lesson to two Clare candidates.

Independent candidates Cllr James Breen and Jim Connolly were told to remove their election signage or face a hefty fine from Clare County Council.

The warning came following a reminder being issued by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government stating that changes to legislation last year meant that election posters could not be erected until after the Taoiseach went to the President and dissolved the Dáil.

Under an amendment to the Litter Pollution act in 2009 the time period from which posters can be put up commences on the date of the order for the holding of the poll or 30 days prior to the date of the poll, whichever is the shorter period.

Both candidates said they were unaware to the changes to this legislation when they began work on their poster campaign.

Mr Connolly was particularly critical of the council’s speed and eagerness to implement this legislation.

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A MAN was fined € 1,000 for his role in an assault that took place in Ennis town centre.

Kevin Conroy (22), with an address at 48, The Punch Bowl, Ennis Road, Gort, appeared before a sitting of Ennis District Court last Wednesday.

Mr Conroy was charged with assault and a public order offence arising out of an incident at Abbey Street, Ennis. The court heard that Mr Conroy had no previous criminal convictions.

The court was told that on the night in question, Gardaí parked on Abbey Street observed the accused pushing another man up against a wall and striking him in the face.

Inspector John Galvin told the court that when Gardaí approached Mr Conroy, he was ‘quite drunk’ and ‘very disorderly’.

Insp Galvin said that the accused had resisted Garda efforts to restrain him. He said that Mr Conroy had met the other man as both of them left a nightclub.

Solicitor for the accused, Billy Loughnane, told the court that his client was “very sorry” and that he had too much to drink on the night in question.

Mr Loughnane said that his client had been on serious medication at the time and that this had ‘caused him to act out of character’.

Mr Loughnane said his client was a very hardworking man who worked as an agri-machinery driver.

Judge Joseph Mangan said that it had been suggested by gardaí that there had been ‘existing issues’ between the accused Mr Conroy and the other man’s family.

Insp Galvin said that while the defendant didn’t know the man, he knew his brother.

Judge Mangan fined Mr Conroy € 1,000 and fixed a bond in the event of an appeal.

ENNIS’ reputation as a haven and hotspot for traditional music was given a shot on the arm on Friday night’s Late Late Show as local Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann activists prepare to crank up their campaign to bring Fleadh na hÉireann back to the county to the county capital.

And, the boost to the county capital’s traditional music came from the unlikely source of Bob Geldof – the former Boomtown Rat and Live Aid promoter, who told Late Late Show host Ryan Tubridy of the time he spent in Clare that helped him reconnect with Ireland and realise what he was missing.

“I went on a brief holiday a number of years ago to rediscover,” said Geldof.

“I’d forgotten how beautiful it was. I’d told my friends to lay out a plan – I want to do Ireland – but that I may not know the places to go. I went down to a couple of sessions in Ennis and I said to myself ‘I miss this so much. This is so cool’,” he added.

Geldof’s praise of Clare traditional music in Ennis – a reputation developed on the back on the huge success of the Fleadh Nua event in the 1970s – comes as amid a growing wish among Comhaltas Ceoltóirí activists that Clare be chosen as a Fleadh na hÉireann venue for the first time since 1976.

Geldof’s association with Clare dates back to the late 1980s when he became a key component in the efforts of the late Dr Brendan O’Regan at fostering world peace.

Along with media mogul Ted Turner, President Patrick Hillery and others, Geldof was a keynote speaker at the 1988 International Peace Conference organised by O’Regan’s Shannon-based Centre for International Cooperation.

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.