Category: News

A PAIR of developers who were granted planning permission for a 60 bed nursing home in Tulla earlier this year have lodged an objection with An Bord Pleanála against the planning permission granted for a separate nursing home in the village by Clare County Council.

John and Ted Nugent were granted planning permission for a 30 person single storey nursing home by Clare County Council in January. The nursing home, which will comprise a 26 bedroom main building as well as four semi-detached single units and four semi-detached two bedroom self-contained units, was given the green light by the local authority after more than one year in the planning process.

This planning permission will have to be scrutinized once more, however, after an objection was made to the granting of planning by Geraldine Cosgrove and Mary Coleman.

The pair, who had lodged a submission as part of the original planning permission for the Nugents’ development, were themselves granted planning permission by Clare County Council for the construction of a 60 bed nursing home in Tulla in March of last year.

As part of their submission against the original planning permission lodge by John and Ted Nugent – Geraldine Cosgrove and Mary Coleman said that the second nursing home was outside the “settlement boundary” as identified to them during their own planning process.

They claim that they were encouraged by the council’s planners to identify and obtain a second site which was inside the local settlement boundary, a condition which did not prevent John and Ted Nugent’s proposal from securing planning permission.

“My clients are of the opinion the requirements of the local authority have not been rigorously addressed by Ted and John Nugent,” said the submission of Geraldine Cosgrove and Mary Coleman.

“Ted and John Nugent have not adequately demonstrated that no alternative sites were available within the settlement boundary. My clients do not consider that this site is the optimum location for the development as it is not with the settlement boundary.”

A final decision on planning is due from an Bord Pleanála on May 17 of this year.

FORMER classmates of a “beloved” young Ennis student who died from cancer last year are aiming to pay tribute to her memory by raising awareness about the illness.

Sixteen-year-old Ciara Conroy passed away last May following a battle with cancer. A student at Coláiste Mhuire, Ennis, Ciara was also involved with Can Teen Ireland, a nationwide support group for young people who have or have had cancer, and for their family and friends.

Now many of Ciara’s friends and classmates are participating in a project aimed at raising awareness about cancer among young people.

A group of transition year students at Coláiste Mhuire are taking part in the Young Social Innovators (YSI) awards – a programme that aims to promote social awareness and activism among young people.

While one transition year class are basing their project around cancer awareness, all second and fourth year students will be involved in a fashion show to raise money for Can Teen in March.

Transition year student Mairead Cunnane explained, “The fashion show is in memory of Ciara Conroy, a beloved student who passed away from cancer last year”.

Teacher Margaret Harrold said students were eager to celebrate Ciara’s life. She said, “We’re raising awareness of teenage cancer and we’re also doing events in memory of Ciara. Ciara was very much involved with Can Teen. In our posters we will be mentioning that the money raised will be going towards Can Teen. It is the Transition Year 2 group that are involved in the young social innovators project but all of the transition year students are involved in organising the fashion show. The whole Coláiste community will be involved, teachers, students. There will be no outside models”.

Margaret added, “It’s because she was so young and style and fashion are important to young people. It’s a way of commemorating Ciara. It’s a celebration for the school, of Ciara’s life and who she was.”

Students will design some of the dresses but local stores have also donated dresses to be modeled also. The theme of the show is ‘Beautiful things we love and love to share’.

All second and fourth year students will model on the night while students from transition year will produce the show.

The show, which is being run in conjunction with the Martina Costelloe modeling agency, will take place on Thursday, March 3.

“YOU would have to be here to know how bad it is” – the words of one Tubber native following the tragic death of Mossy and Jimmy Quinn on Saturday morning last.

The community of Boston and Tubber is in mourning today following the deaths of well known father and son Mossy and Jimmy Quinn after a fire in their house at Kiltacky More.

Both men were well known in the local community having both represented the Tubber hurling club with distinction over the years.

According to local councillor Micheal Kelly (FF), who was a classmate of Mossy at Boston Primary School, the whole community is deeply saddened by the tragedy.

“The people of Boston and Tubber, and indeed the whole area, are deeply saddened by the death of Mossy Quinn and James in this tragedy. The fact that it was the family home makes this tragedy even sadder,” he said.

“The Quinn family are very well known and well respected in both farming and GAA circles. Mossy is an uncle of Clare hurler Gerry Quinn and they have all played hurling with Tubber – they are good neighbours and will be sorely missed in this community.”

No funeral arrangements have yet been announced for the father and son as it is understood that the family is waiting for one of Mossy Quinn’s daughter to return from Australia. The daughter had spent Christmas at home in Clare and had just returned to Australia days before the tragic blaze took place.

According to one local person, the community is ready to provide all the help and support that they can to the family.

“You would have to be here to know how bad it is. The whole community is in total shock. We were in our local pub here on Saturday night and I can tell you there was no one smiling. It is a tragedy for a small community,” said the Tubber native.

“It is times like this that the local community has to come together. We are a close knit community and we do stand beside someone when they need it and I know that help will be coming to the Quinns.”

A Garda forensic examination took place at the scene on Sunday with the investigation centering around a stove which they feel may have been the cause of the accident.

A NEW rail service, specially targeted at the hundreds of Clare people working in Galway City, could be in operation before the end of March. The Clare People has learned that Iarnród Éireann is considering the introduction of a 6.30pm Galway to Ennis service as part of an overall timetable reshuffle which is currently being finalised.

At present the last train leaves Galway at 5.25pm, meaning that the vast majority of Clare people commuting to work in Galway cannot use the service.

This new service has been mooted as a result of customer feedback and focus group research undertaken by Iarnród Éireann.

Also on the table is the introduction of a Dublin connection on the Galway side of the western rail corridore. This means that Dublin bound Clare commuters could choose between travelling to Heuston Station via Limerick or Athenry in the future.

Iarnród Éireann last week published a list of time-table alterations on its website – including the new Galway to Ennis service and the Athenry to Dublin connection. This is the first time in the organisation’s history that proposed timetable changes have been published before a final decision has been made and according to company spokesperson Jim Gallivan, it will lead to a more customer friendly timetable.

“We have a draft copy of all the proposed changes on our website at the moment and this is the first time that we have ever done something like this. All going well we could be in a position to introduce the new routes by the end of March or the beginning of April,” he said.

“The changes are in response to hundred of comments from our customers over the last weeks and months and also from the results of a number of focus groups. Nothing has been finalised 100 per cent yet, we want to get a feel for exactly what people want and to see what they think of the proposed timetable.

“We are also trying to work out a number of other issues on some of the routes. Some of the connections are a bit ambitious at the moment, with just two or three minutes between trains at some stations, so we need to fine tune a few elements here or there.”

THREE men have appeared in court, charged in connection with an incident in which a family was held hostage near Sixmilebridge a year ago.

The incident led to a major Garda investigation and charges were brought against three men – two of whom have addresses in Shannon and one in Dublin.

Noel and Martin O’Callaghan and Simon Gentles appeared before court sittings last week in connection with the incident, on January 7, 2010.

Simon Gentles (25), of Casement Grove, Finglas, Dublin; Noel O’Callaghan (39), of Rineanna View, Shannon and Martin O’Callaghan (22), of Finian Park, Shannon; are accused of committing burglary at Ardkyle, Sixmilebridge, while in possession of a shotgun.

Shannon District Court was told on Thursday that in reply to charge after caution, Martin O’Callaghan replied, “No.” The court also heard that Noel O’Callaghan did not make any reply to charge after caution.

Inspector Tom Kennedy told the court that the DPP has directed that the case be dealt with in the circuit court and he sought an adjournment for preparation of the book of evidence.

Free legal aid was granted to both defendants.

Mr Gentles appeared before Ennis District Court on Friday. The court was told that he was charged that morning and did not reply to the charge after caution by a Garda. Free legal aid was also granted to Mr Gentles.

The court was told that the DPP has also directed that his case be dealt with in the circuit court.

His case was also adjourned until March 10, for service of the Book of Evidence.

THERE are four members of Dáil Éireann charged with representing the interests of County Clare. Unlike other countries, Irish parliamentarians are all well known to us. They live in our localities, attend our funerals and are available, quite literally on a 24/7 basis for constituents. Their offices and clinics are visible to us and come election time we will meet them all at least once.

But what is it they actually do? How do they spend their time? How are they helping the county of Clare? How are they working for us? How are they delivering for you?

We decided to ask them.

From this week on The Clare People will host the four TDs in four separate weekly columns side by side. The parameters are simple enough. We asked each TD to describe their working week for the people of Clare. Where were they? How will this benefit Clare? What did they get done? They have four hundred odd words to fill – how they do that is their own affair. We will not be editing their copy, but we will be rating them on their contributions. We invite you to do the same.

There are a couple of things to keep in mind. Firstly and most importantly,

THE number of weekly Aer Lingus regional departures from Shannon is set to jump by 36 per cent this year, the national carrier has revealed after unveiling details of the latest new direct route from the airport under the terms of its franchise agreement with Aer Arann.

From Sunday, March 27 Aer Lingus Regional, operated by Aer Arann, will provide flights to Shannon from Edinburgh in addition to the current Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol and Glasgow services. Flights to Edinburgh will operate five days per week with fares starting at € 29.99 one way including taxes.

Shannon’s Aer Lingus Regional Summer 2011 schedule, also beginning on March 27, will include additional flights to Manchester on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings. The Birmingham service will oper- ate daily on a business-friendly slot, while the Shannon to Glasgow route will operate three times per week.

“Combined with the recently launched Glasgow route, the addition of our new Shannon-Edinburgh service demonstrates the continued success of our franchise agreement with Aer Lingus,” said Aer Arann chief executive Paul Schütz said

“This is the fifth Aer Lingus Regional route launched from Shannon since our partnership with Aer Arann began in April of last year. We look forward to welcoming customers onboard the Edinburgh service in March,” said Aer Lingus director of communications Declan Kearney.

SUPPORTERS of a proposed wind farm in east Clare say the project could potentially generate up to 300 jobs in the area.

Local landowners and farmers are due to meet in the coming weeks to discuss the possibility of developing two wind farms in the Broadford and Ardnacrusha areas.

The project was lent extra impetus by last week’s decision by Clare County Council to keep its existing wind energy strategy in the new County Development Plan.

Councillors had argued that a re- vised strategy would place a number of proposed wind farm projects, such as the one in Broadford, in jeopardy.

Though still in the early stages, landowner PJ Donnellan said that if successful, the project could help revitalise the local economy.

He explained, “There would be one starting in Broadford, going into Ardnacrusha and there’s another one from the Windy Gap going down into Ardnacrusha. It’s a co-op project. We set up the co-op to create jobs for people in our area. We hope it could create about 300 jobs.”

Mr O’Donnell continued, “We’re trying to get jobs for that area and keep everything going. Farmers would be getting an income out of it. The local GAA clubs, sports clubs would benefit out of it. The big companies would just want the land to set up and they would put nothing back. There are complaints about noise and that but I’ve been down at other wind farms and they don’t have any noise out of them. All the councillors supported it the last day. We’re only just at the early stages. We will be looking for planning. Our biggest thing was to get the land re-zoned again.”

Mr O’Donnell said that as many as 30 farmers are looking to get involved in the project which he said has been supported by the local branch of the Irish Farmer’s Association (IFA).

He added, “We’re looking to create jobs for the local area, number one. They would have an income out of it. The local sports teams would all benefit. Young fellas wouldn’t have to go Australia; you wouldn’t have all these guys forced out of the country. And we would be producing energy for this country, we wouldn’t have to be going around the world, to Iraq or wherever to buy oil. The money for oil and diesel, that goes out of the country, back to Dubai or wherever…With wind power, it’s produced in Ireland, the money stays in Ireland. That’s the way it should go.”

Another supporter, Joe O’Connell, cautioned that the project was still very much in the early stages and that there is a “long road” to travel before the area could see any real benefit.

He explained, “We’ve got a group of farmers together and we’re trying to put up a wind farm but it’s at the very early stages. It would be a clean supply of energy but there is a long road to go yet, before you even get planning permission. And even if you got that, the biggest problems can be getting on the grid. You have to wait and wait.”

MEMBERS of Clare County Council have argued that the retention of the council’s existing wind strategy will aid job creation in the county.

The Clare wind energy strategy will form the basis of development plan policy on wind energy and will assist in the assessment of planning applications and in the decision making process.

Last week a majority of councillors voted to retain the existing strategy under the County Development Plan

A total of 18 councillors spoke on the issue when it was raised by Cllr Brian Meaney (GP) at last week’s meeting of Clare County Council.

Cllr Pat Hayes (FF) urged the council to keep the existing wind energy strategy, saying the effect of windfarms on rural areas was minimal.

Cllr PJ Kelly (FF) said he supported keeping the existing wind energy strategy as proposed. Cllr Richard Nagle (FF) argued the existing wind energy strategy was “very robust”.

He added, “Any watering down of the strategy will do a tremendous disservices to the county and to renewable energy in Clare.”

Councillor PJ Ryan (Ind) said that it was very important that the council retain the existing wind energy strategy.

In a reference to east Clare landowners who sat in the public gallery at last week’s council meeting, Cllr Ryan said, “These people in the gallery are dependant on a very meager income from farming”.

Cllr Pascal Fitzgerald (Lab) said he supported the retention of the existing strategy while Cllr Tony Mulqueen (FG) also expressed his support, saying, “jobs are number one”.

Cllr Joe Cooney (FG) said he strongly supported the strategy, as did Cllr Pat Burke (FG) and Cllr Paul Murphy (FG).

MORE THAN half a million euro worth of cocaine was seized at Shannon airport last year, in 11 separate hauls, while the overall value of drugs seized more than doubled.

The cocaine hauls amounted for the bulk of drugs seizures at the airport during the entire year.

According to figures obtained by The Clare People , the value of cocaine seized was € 518,000. This compared with € 151,000 in 2009. The number of cocaine seizures al- most quadrupled in 2010, increasing from three to 11.

Overall, the value of drugs detected at the airport increased from less than € 260,000 in 2009 to more than € 570,000 last year. There were 43 drugs seizures last year, a significant increase on 19 during the previous year.

Seizures of cannabis herb increased from nine to 20, but decreased in value from € 88,000 to € 46,000. Hauls of amphetamine and cannabis resin remained on a par with the 2009 levels. There were four seizures of ecstasy last year and one seizure of MDMA – there were no seizures of either drug in 2009.

The figures also show that the number of cash seizures at Shannon last year increased from three (2009) to seven. The value of money taken in by Customs officers in 2009 was in excess of € 157,000 and amounted to almost € 270,000 last year.

Seizures of counterfeit goods, including dvds, cosmetics and jewellery, reduced in number from 74 to 40 and also decreased in value, from € 400,000 to € 39,000. There were 155 seizures of cigarettes last year, compared with 396 in 2009. However, the number of cigarettes seized was comparable in both years – 830,000 last year and 791,000 in 2009.

Twenty-one hauls of tobacco were confiscated in 2009 and this reduced to 15 last year. However, the size increased from 65 kgs to 95 kgs. Five weapons were taken in by Customs in both 2009 and last year, but their value dipped last year from € 1,035 to € 230. The value of medicines detected reduced from € 71,000 in 20098 to € 2,100 last year. There were 10 seizures in both years.

According to a spokesperson for Revenue, significant resources are put in place to detect the presence of illegal goods in the country’s airports. The drugs dog Shadow, a Labrador, which is based at Shannon, was involved in several seizures.

“The Revenue’s Customs Service is continuously engaged in the analysis and evaluation of seizure trends, routes and smuggling risks and consequential resource deployment,” said the spokesperson.