Category: News

EAST Clare is in mourning today following the tragic death of an eightyear-old boy in a quad-bike accident on Thursday evening last.

Ultan Hayes from Ballinagough in Whitegate will be laid to rest this morning, April 8, following mass of the angels at St Camin’s Church in Mountshannon.

Ultan passed away at Temple Street Hospital in Dublin on Friday evening, after receiving head injuries in an accident just after 9pm on Thursday. The youngster was the passenger of a quad bike driven by his father, Brian Hayes, which came in contact with a stone wall close to their home.

Both Ultan and his father were rushed to University Hospital in Limerick, with Ultan being transferred to Temple Street Hospital. His fathers injuries are understood to be non-life threatening.

Ultan, who was a keen sports person, had been at training with the Whitegate Under 8 and Under 10 hurlers on the evening of the accident. The youngster had also completed his First Confession with his fellow students from Mountshannon National School earlier that day, as part of his preparations for his First Holy Communion.

“People are absolutely devastated. It’s a big blow for everyone in East Clare to be honest. To lose anyone in an accident is a tragedy but to for a family to lose someone so young is devastating. On behalf of everyone in Whitegate, I’d like to extend the sympathy of the whole community,” said local councillor Pat Burke.

As well as being a talented hurler, Ultan was also a promising athlete and a keen Irish dancer who was studying in a local Irish dancing school.

Ultan is survived by his parents Orla and Brian, his siblings Alannah, Oisin and Donnacha, and his grandparents Patrica and Liam Hayes from Broadford and Kathleen Hayes from Whitegate, as well as a large extended family and many friends.

A MAJOR new survey is being undertaken in North Clare, which aims to examine how happy the 18,000 residents of the greater Burren area are with their lot in life.

The survey, which is being undertaken by the newly-formed ChangeX Burren organisation, is the first of its kind in Ireland and will be used to analyse different approaches that could be taken to sustaining Burren communities, which are under constant threat from depopulation and economic hardship.

When completed, the ChangeX Burren project will be used as a prototype to roll out a ‘wellness’ analysis of other communities in Ireland and eventually to compare relative happiness in different areas as well as tracking changes over time.

Work on the ChangeX Burren survey has been underway since February and the project will be officially launched on May 8. Once the survey have been completed, they will be analysed with the help of NUI, Galway, and a number of community initiatives will be promoted to tackle any problems identified in he survey.

These initiatives include the promo- tion of a number of existing community groups such as Grow It Yourself (GIY) groups, Coder Dojos and the Slow Food Movement.

“The idea of the survey is to give us an insight into what innovations would work [to improve life] in the Burren region but also to measure well-being. Key to the whole process is community involvement and we want to community to take this into their own hands from the very beginning,” said Elaine Williams of ChangeX Burren.

“Well-being is a very broad term, and one person’s idea of well-bring is very different to anothers, so people will define their own definition of well-being for themselves. The hope is that through the survey we will be able to come up with a base-line definition of well-being for the Burren.

“The Burren is the pilot project for this. It is a great opportunity for the people of the Burren to be involved in this. It is the perfect place to start. We are very excited because there is already a great community spirit in the Burren.”

The group are hoping to collect as many completed surveys as possible before the end of next week but will continue to collect surveys after that date. To complete the survey email elaine@changex.io.

THE Moneypoint power station could be transformed from Ireland biggest polluter to Ireland’s biggest source of renewable energy, according to a new report.

A BW Energy report, which was released over the weekend, claims that a switch from coal to biomass in the three Moneypoint electricity generators would effectively be a “silver bullet” for reaching Ireland’s renewable energy targets.

The transfer from coal to biomass at Moneypoint would, at a stroke, bring Ireland’s renewable energy levels above the 40 per cent target required by the EU by 2020. With Ireland’s renewable energy levels currently around 19.6 per cent of total, the estimated 25 per cent boost would bring Ireland comfortable over the target and even allow for a slower roll out of other renewable plants.

The three current power plants at Moneypoint are likely to be phased out on or before 2025. At present, there is no obvious choice for what form of power plant might replace the plants as coal or gas plants are unlikely to go ahead without the addition of carbon capture technology, which has yet to be developed.

Pro-nuclear group have begun lobbying the Irish Government about the possibility of building a new form of nuclear reactors, known as Small Modular Reactors, at the site. However, with both nuclear energy and the storage of captured carbon currently illegal in Ireland, there is no obvious energy form to replace the current system.

According to the BW Energy report, the conversion from coal to could be done for € 380 million. The proposed new new generators would burn mainly wood pellets at the West Clare site.

While biomass energy sources do release carbon, they are considered environmentally friendly and renewable as the carbon they release during burning is equivalent to the carbon captured by the trees and other plants used to make wood pellets. In this way, biomass factories do not contribute extra, previously trapped carbon, into the environment.

The majority of the wood pellets needed would likely have to be shipped from America, creating both extra cost and environmental impact, as Ireland currently does not have enough planted biomass plants to meet demand.

AN ANIMAL rights group has offered a € 5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the deaths and dumping of 17 animals in Doonbeg.

The decomposing carcasses of approximately 10 horses, four cattle and three calves were discovered at the bottom of the spectacular Baltard Cliffs last week.

The animal carcasses, which have been at the scenic cliffs for up to two months, have not yet been removed as there is some difficulty in getting the proper equipment to where they are located. See page 9 for more

AN ANIMAL rights group has offered a € 5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the deaths and dumping of 17 animals in Doonbeg.

The decomposing carcasses of approximately 10 horses, four cattle and three calves were discovered at the bottom of the spectacular Baltard Cliffs last week.

Gardaí in Kilrush, along with Clare County Council, the Department of Agriculture and the ISPCA are investigating how the animals died and who dumped their remains.

One horse was found at the top of the cliff, barely alive, and had to be put down by a local vet.

Questions also remain if the animals at the bottom of the cliff were fully dead at the time their bodies were dumped over the cliff edge.

The animal carcasses, which have been at the scenic cliffs for up to two months, have not yet been removed as there is some difficulty in getting the proper equipment to where they are located.

“The council is trying to determine if it can get a tracked machine down to where they are located, which is not easily accessible.

“The HSE has advised the council that the animals are not going to cause a public nuisance in the meantime due to their remote location,” said a council spokesperson yesterday (Monday).

The group, Animal Rights Action Network (ARAN), has now offered a reward for information.

John Carmody from ARAN said, “The new laws which the Minister introduced recently are clearly not going to deter these cowards from taking their issues out on whomever is available to them.

“As a nation we should now hang our heads in shame that we’ve reached a point where animal abuse has now gone so out of control that those who are involved in it, simply don’t have anything to fear. We’ve been saying it for years.”

ENNIS Town Council yesterday heard calls for shaving foam, eggs and other messy substances to be banned from the town during certain public events such as St Patrick’s Day Parade.

The ban was called for by Cllr Mary Howard (FG) in the wake of a number of unsavoury incidents which were reported to have taken place during this year’s St Patrick’s Day festivities in Ennis.

“I think that it is obvious that if a group of 11 or 12 year-olds are buying lots of shaving foam that they are not all going home to shave their legs,” said Cllr Howard. See page 17 for more

CLARE drill makers Mincon made a record profit of € 15 million last year, despite a general slowdown in the international mining sector. The Shannon-based company last week posted operational profits in excess of € 15 million for 2013, despite a sizable shrinkage in their overall sales.

The company, who famously played a key role in a mission to save a large group of Chilean miners trapped un derground for 69 days in 2010, saw their overall sales drop from € 63 million in 2012 to € 52 million last year. Despite the reduction in overall sales, Mincon managed to raise their overall profits by nearly 20 per cent over the last 12 months.

The company’s increased profits came against the background of a shrinking global mining market, with the price of precious metals continuing to decline in 2014. Mincon’s yearly sales were also hot in 2013 through by currency fluctuations in some of its key markets, particularly in South Africa and Australia.

Indeed, according to the company’s accounts, this currency fluctuation cost the company € 1.3 million in profits last year. The company determines that the profit increase has been brought about by increasing its share of the global rock-drilling products markets, which generates higher margins than what it can earn from the sale of third-party products.

Earlier this year, the company’s two biggest shareholders gave employees € 1.2 million from their own private funds to reward them for their hard work over the years. Company founder Paddy Purcell and Kevin Barry initiated the employee recognition plan, which excluded all members of senior management. The money was paid to Mincon’s 140 eligible employees across the group and was based on years of service with a payment of € 1,000 per staff member per year of service.

The company was founded in 1977 and listed on the Dublin and London stock exchanges late last year. Many of the company’s Shannon based employees have been there for a number of decades.

SHANNON Airport has taken to the Big Apple to promote the latest strengthening of its US network – Aer Lingus’ first year-round service to New York since 2009.

The airport kicked off the most significant week for route commencements in almost a decade as it held meetings with travel, trade and US media in New York to promote the enhanced services.

Airport chairman Rose Hynes and marketing manager Marie Slattery led the Shannon delegation and during the four-day visit also held meetings with New York-based business interests and investors with regard to the wider Shannon group activities, including members of the influential Irish diaspora.

According to the airport chairman, the American market for services into the west of Ireland is heating up. “We have had a tremendous response from the trade, which is our key audience this week, as well as US media. There is a particular demand from the US for services into the western half of the country and Shannon because of the uniqueness of the product we have.

“Shannon is, of course, the only airport on the entire Atlantic coast with direct access from the US and we are delighted to have strengthened the services this year again. The Wild Atlantic Way is also generating considerable interest. It will be the longest coastal driving route in the world and that’s the type of product the discerning US market demands,” she said.

Aer Lingus will add 31,000 seats on its transatlantic services in 2014, a significant increase in capacity over last year when it operated seven flights a week between Shannon and the US compared to 13 flights a week this year.

Said Tourism Ireland’s Head of North America Alison Metcalfe, “The Shannon region has extensive links with the US, forged over generations, and it has been a major gateway to the West of Ireland for US visitors over the years.

“Getting to the Shannon region has never been easier with great value non-stop flights from cities such as New York, Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia with a welcome that is second to none.”

AN ENNIS postman is on the verge of making a big splash in the film world with two new film credits to his name in 2014.

Local postie, Kerry Whitehouse, took up composing as a hobby a number of years ago and has been inundated with offers of work, including two films which will receive Irish releases in 2014.

Kerry worked on the sound effects and title music for Irish film ‘Somebody’s There’, which will released on DVD and Blueray across Ireland and the UK in June of this year.

He also completed the score for the American horror film ‘Slender’, which will be shown at a number of Irish film festivals in the coming months.

Indeed, Kerry has been in so much demand lately that he was considering giving up composition altogether because it was taking up too much of his time.

“It is going really well. So much so that I was considering packing it in before Christmas because I was just too busy.

“I work a full time job and the film composition has always been more of a hobby,” said Kerry.

“If the opportunity arose I’d go into it [film score composition] in a heart beat. I work in the post office and I get my fair share of bad weather going around the place.

“It is difficult though – even composers who are working on film shows in America often have another job. But if the opportunity arose I’d jump at it.”

Kerry is also in line to work on a new TV series which will deal with the events surrounding the famous Roswell alien sighting in 1947.

“I think one of the maddest things that I’ve been involved in recently is to do with the UFOs.

“I do music for a radio station in America and through that I came across Jessie Marcel, the grandson of Lieutenant Jesse Marcel – who was first on the scene at the Roswell UFO incident in 1947.

“He is putting together a new series for the Sci-Fi channel in America and I am in talks about doing that as well,” continued Kerry.

TENDERS have been invited for a ferry service between Kilrush and Scattery Island.

A ferry service has been provided to the historical landmark off Kilrush by a local company for the last number of years, and once again the contract has been put to tender by the Office of Public Works.

The monastic island has seen an increase in visitors of more than 62 per cent last year, with the manager of OPW Heritage sites in the Shannon region, Pádraig Ó Ruairc, and the Scattery Island Heritage and Tourism Group working to increase that number again.

The Commissioners of Public Works are seeking the services of ferry operators for the provision of a ferry service from a designated berth at Kilrush Creek Marina to the picturesque island.

Located 2.5 kilometres off Kilrush, the island is home to a monastery founded by St Senan in the early sixth century consisting of a round tower and several churches. Visitor facilities located on the Island house some exhibition material on the history of the island and a free OPW Guide Service is provided during the tourist season or on special request.

Applications for the ferry contract are invited from those who are interested in tendering for the concession to provide a service between the OPW berth and the island for the 2014 season.

Closing dated for receipt of expressions of interest is mid-day Thursday, April 17, 2014.