Category: News

CLARE County Council will contribute € 5,000 towards a feasibility study for the development of Doonbeg Pier.

Doonbeg Community Development and the Doonbeg Fisherman’s Association have spend years working on plans to develop the community-owned pier and have come up against issues relating to changes in planning legislation.

Previously the group had been told these planning changes and the inability of the council to pay for a € 40,000 EPA meant their plans of developing tourism and the fishing industry could go no further.

This week there was renewed hope as the council said it would contribute to a feasibility project to see if the project is viable.

Tommy Commerford, PRO of the Doonbeg Fisherman’s Association, said the group is hopeful that the report will be favourable and that Clare County Council will make an application to Europe for the necessary funding to make the pier accessible at high and low tide.

The Doonbeg Pier was constructed in 1995, and was later extended by 35 metres. Hundred thousand euro plans were then drawn up that would ex- tend the capacity of the pier to allow boats to moor at high and low tide.

The Minister for Agriculture provided € 525,000 to the project in 2008 but this cannot be allocated until full planning permission is granted.

The developed pier would create extra jobs by stimulating the promotion of sea angling, leisure trips to view the cliff scenery off Doonbeg and help promote Doonbeg as an angling centre, said Mr Commerford.

He said it would also provide access to the proposed wave energy farm at Killard.

Clare Labour TD Michael McNamara said, “Doonbeg has a small pier which is inadequate and because it is tidal; people can only access the pier at certain tides. The community is doing everything to develop tourism. Doonbeg is on the coast, so sea angling would be a normal extension of its tourism product.

“There is money available from the department to develop piers but only when the project has passed the stages of planning and Environmental Impact statements.

“The decision by Clare County Council to grant aid a feasibility study is evidence of good faith and illustrates a willingness to work with the Doonbeg community in achieving the desired upgrade.”

THE first wave energy farm in Eu- rope is being planned for waters off Killard near Doonbeg. It could begin operating as early as 2018 according to the ESB. The energy company confirmed last week that its West Wave project will go ahead off the West Clare coast, and that five wave energy de- vices will initially be deployed to help “prove” that the technology can work on a commercial scale. The project is expected to cost between € 40 million and € 50 million. The company has secured a foreshore licence, and a number of environmental studies are currently under way that will take up to 18 months to complete. Planning permission will also have to be secured before the project goes ahead. According to reports, the ESB hopes to prove that the fledgling technology is durable and can produce power on an ongoing basis, which will help drive the wave industry forward. West Wave has been described as a critical project for the whole ocean energy business. The ambitious plans are being supported by Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), which is providing € 1.3m in funding to help complete feasibility studies. Five firms have been shortlisted to supply the technology, and the successful bidder will be chosen by the middle of 2016. The successful bidder will supply five devices, which will be moored in an area of one square kilometre. The ESB aims to produce 26 per cent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2025, and become ‘carbon neutral’ by 2050.

A NUMBER of people in Clare have received a bizarre phishing email, written entirely in the Irish language, offering them $4.1 million dollars to take part in a business venture in Africa.

The emails, which are addressed from a Mr Ignacio Nwaku, are understood to be the first phishing emails of their kind written as Gaeilge.

A number of Clare people have reported receiving the email since they first appeared last week but there is no indication as yet that the emails are targeting Irish people because of the proximity to St Patrick’s Day.

The email professes to be from Ignacio Nwako – a barrister from the Togo Republic. Mr Nwako claims to be acting on behalf of his late client “Mr David” whose $4.1 million fortune has been lodged in a “coded deceased account”.

Phishing email work by enticing people to reveal important personal details like their online usernames, passwords and even their bank account details.

A spokesperson for Údarás na Gaeltachta, who examined the email for The Clare People , said it contained “jumbled up, nonsensical Irish” and was most likely made using automatic translation software.

The spokesperson also confirmed that this was the first phishing email in Irish that Údarás na Gaeltachta had ever come upon.

“I didn’t notice it at first [that is was written in Irish]. I saw that $4.1 million dollars and I knew straight away it was a scam. I was about to delete it and then I noticed that it was in Irish. I couldn’t believe it,” said one Ennis recipient who asked not to be identified.

The Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources have asked members of the public to delete the email straight away.

The email reads: Tá mé Barrister. Ignacio Nwaku ó Phoblacht Tóga, chuaigh mé i dteagmháil leat ar feadh méid togra gnó i gceist é US $ 4.1 milliún dollar mbaineann le mo chliant go déanach Mr David agus tá sé sábháilte sa chuntas códaithe éagaigh. Beidh níos mó sonraí a relayed do duit ach má f haighim do freagra dearfach. Go raibh maith agat. Mr Ignacio Nwaku.

DUSTY the Dolphin has become jumpy and wary of human contact, following a number of high profile incidents with members of the public in Doolin last year.

Members of conservation group, Dolphin Day Ireland, spent the weekend in Doolin warning members of the public not to get in the water with Dusty. This follows a number of dangerous interactions with members of the public last year – with one person being hospitalised after swimming with the dolphin.

Vanessa Fagan-Vanhorn of Dolphin Day Ireland says that last year’s incidents have taken a toll on the Clare dolphin.

“She is definitely more jumpy and easier to startle then she used to be. The incidents of last summer do seem to have had an effect and her behaviour has changed. I was last swimming with her in October but I have been swimming with her in Doolin for more than eight years now,” she said.

“What was noticeable in October was when I put my hand into the water, she flinched. After a moment she recognised me from the camera that I bring with me and after that we swam together for two hours.”

Recent storms in Doolin have blown away all the warning signs, advising members of the public not to swim with Dusty. Dusty was not sighted in Doolin for a number weeks during the storms of January and February, leading to concerns that she might have left the area or been injured in the storms.

“Dusty has never left Doolin. She has been there right through the winter and through all the storm. I don’t think she will ever leave the area. She is very territorial and she has made it her home,” continued Mrs Fagan-Vanhorn.

“Really, people should sit on the rocks and enjoy watching her from there. It’s not that people want to cause her harm but they just don’t understand the species. People desperately want to have the experience of swimming with a dolphin and sometimes that gets the better of them.

“On a positive note there has been a big change in people’s understanding of dolphins, which is a result of last summer’s incidents. People seem to have more of an understanding that dolphins are wild animals.”

A BALLYVAUGHAN grandmother, who was given a symphysiotomy without her knowledge or consent while giving birth to her first son in September of 1965, says the “stonewalling” of the Irish state has forced her to take her case before the United Nations Committee Against Torture.

Details of the life and medical history of Ellen Moore were last week presented to the UN court in Vienna and Mrs Moore says the attitude taken by the current government and Minister for Health, James Reilly (FG) have forced this latest action.

After meeting with Mrs Moore and other members of the Survivors of Symphysiotomy (SOS) group last October, the health minister agreed to lift the statute of limitation involving symphysiotomy and allow sufferers to gain compensation through the courts.

The minister also agreed to release the second half of the Walsh Report, which probed the use of symphysiotomy’s in Irish hospitals, public. Neither of these promises have, to date, been kept.

“They have been stonewalling us and neglecting us. We worked so hard for the statute of limitations to be lifted and now it looks as if that that will not now happen. We were told in a meeting with Minister O’Reilly back in October that that we would receive the second half of the Walsh Report in two weeks – that still hasn’t happened,” said Mrs Moore.

“They [the Government] say one thing in public and they do the complete opposite in private. They are hoping that we will just go away. There are a lot of older women in the group and many of them have already died without receiving compensation.

“This isn’t just for us, this is for the next group of people who have something done to them without their consent. The state is not owning up to anything.”

This symphysiotomy procedure, which involved breaking a woman’s pelvic bone during labour, was carried out on an estimated 1,500 Irish women in the 1960 and ‘70s but fewer than 200 of these women are still alive.

THE use of unmanned flying drones could help halt the growing problem of illegal dumping of household waste at areas around Ennis, a meeting has heard.

In addition to the use of CCTV, Clare County Council is assessing a number of measures aimed at reducing illegal dumping.

The issue was raised at yesterday’s meeting of councillors in the Ennis West electoral Area where Fianna Fail’s Brian Meaney suggested the council explore the use of drone aircraft.

He requested the local authority to consider using CCTV to “counteract the upsurge in dumping of sorted domestic waste on roads in the Ennis west area”.

He told the meeting new technologies such as cameras and drones would make it easier for the council to enforce its litter laws while at the same time act as a disincentive to dump rubbish.

Cllr Tom McNamara (FF) agreed the council had to find a solution, describing the litter problem in the Ennis area as “absolutely awful”.

In his reply, acting senior engineer Paul Moroney said the council are currently dealing with dumping of domestic waste at various locations around Ennis. He said CCTV has been used at certain “problem locations in the county”.

He continued, “The Environment section are also dealing with a number of CCTV companies currently with a view to installing high grade cameras in the county. Decisions on the scale of the operation will be determined by a number of factors including site suitability, information technology compatibility and budgetary constraints.”

Mr Moroney said the adoption of new draft byelaws on waste collection would see the council begin a process of determining how individual householders and commercial operators are disposing of their household waste.

“The onus will be on the householder to either have a waste collection service or alternatively produce receipts from Clare County Council’s amenity centres when requested,” he added.

Mr Moroney said the illegal dumping of domestic waste at locations around Ennis is difficult to monitor “due to the sporadic nature of the activity”.

“The pattern of this type of dumping is that the waste is very rarely dumped at the same precise location but more likely to be dumped at varying locations on the same stretches of road. The difficulty is, recording this activity of CCTV cameras is not always possible due to the random nature of the dumping. Clare County Council environment section will continue to address the issue of illegal dumping.”

Ennis Town Manager Gerard Dollard said the council has significantly invested in measures to prevent dumping.

Responding to questions from Cllr James Breen (Ind) on farmers being held responsible for rubbish illegally thrown on the land, Mr Dollard said, “I agree it seems unjust and unfair but that is the law.”

FLOODING along a stretch of footpath at Ennis General Hospital is creating a dangerous situation for pedestrians and motorists alike, a meeting has heard.

Walkers are being forced out onto the road in front of the hospital after the footpath became submerged under a large pool of water in recent weeks.

Meetings yesterday of councillors in the Ennis electoral area heard the flooding is a high priority for the council.

Senior executive engineer Eamon O’Dea said a road sweeping truck has been “suctioning” water from the area, a course of action he described as “unsustainable”.

Mr O’Dea told the councillors the council has discussed the issue with the Health Services Executive (HSE). A CCTV survey to ascertain the exact reasons for the heavy flooding was carried out in recent days.

Mr O’Dea said it might be necessary to carry out work in the grounds of the hospital to solve the issue.

Cllr Tony Mulqueen (FG) said that if work is required, the council should seek to retrieve some of the cost from the HSE.

Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) said pedestrians are being forced onto the road because the footpath is impassable due to water. He said this is particularly dangerous for elderly people living in the area.

Mr O’Dea said solving the problem is a “high priority” for the council.

The council is also to investigate the potential risk of flooding to houses in Victoria Court on Cusack Road.

Cllr Pat Daly (FF) said a number of residents are fearful their homes could flood. He has asked the council to seek funding from the Office of Public Works to deal with flooding in the area.

Mr O’Dea said the council is surveying the area so a “detailed flood risk assessment can be completed”.

“Subject to that assessment an application will be made to the OPW under the minor works scheme,” he added.

CLARE is in line for a double tourism boost with the news that the world famous Lisdoonvarna Spa Well is set to reopen to the public later this month and that country singer Garth Brooks is considering playing an intimate charity gig at the nearby Pavillion Theatre.

The wells, which have been shut for nearly four years, are set to reopen before the end of March – once the results of a chemical analysis of the famed spa waters are released. Once the water is certified, tourists will once again be allowed to visit the Spa Well and take the water.

More than 10,000 German tourists already travel to Lisdoonvarna each year, even though the wells have been effectively closed for a number of years, and this number is likely to swell once the wells reopen.

The proposed reopening of the famed sulfur baths themselves will require a large investment before it can be realised with Lisdoonvarna Fáilte estimating that € 1.3 million would be needed to brings the baths back on line. This figure includes between € 20,000 and € 30,000 worth of damage sustained during the recent storms.

The Minister for Tourism, Michael Ring, was in Lisdoonvarna last week to see the facilities.

“The wells are open at the moment and hopefully in a week or two, once the water is tested, we will be able to give it to people again. We will be giving people free samples, we won’t be charging for it,” said Lisdoonvarna Fáilte chairperson, Paddy Dunne.

“We will be able to get the pumphouse open but it will take some serious investment to get the bath houses open again. This will be a huge boost for the whole county. If we get the pump house going well hopefully an investment will be made available for the baths.”

Meanwhile, Mr Dunne also confirmed yesterday that Lisdoonvarna Fáilte has been in contact with representatives of Garth Brooks, with a view to bringing the US singer down to Lisdoonvarna for a one-off concert.

“There is the possibility of Garth Brooks coming for a private show. We contacted them, and they got back to us looking for more information, so you’d never know. They got back to us last Friday so we will see what happens,” said Paddy.

Lisdoonvarna Fáilte have recently elected a new Board of Management and are hopeful to add three new members to the board, especially people with a background in tourism.

The current board includes Tina O’Dwyer, Donie Garrihy, Pat Haugh, Kate Burke, Marie Urquhart, Gemma Dowling, Cllr Joe Arkins, Peter O’Dwyer and Tom Connolly. Anyone interesting in becoming involved is asked to contact 065 7075644.

THE confusion surrounding the ownership of a 200-year-old listed structure in Corofin has deepened with a host of state agencies lining up to deny ownership of the property.

A section of wall surround the Corofin Workhouse collapsed on February 28 last and locals claim that the building is now a public health risk – especially to the children of nearby Corofin National School.

Local man Val Dane, has been trying to locate the owners of the prop- erty for a number of weeks and said yesterday that the derelict property is “suicidal for the local kids” as well as for local residents.

Clare County Council denied ownership of the property last week, claiming that it was owned by the Office of Public Works (OPW). Following enquiries by The Clare People , the OPW claimed that the workhouse was owned by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht (DAHG). Last Friday the DAHG claimed that they did not own the property and pointed the finger, once again, to the OPW. On Friday evening the OPW denied the workhouse for a second time, instead claiming that that the building was owned by the Health Service Executive (HSE) but that the wall was the responsibility of Clare County Council. The Clare People

BALLYVAUGHAN grandmother Ellen Moore is preparing to share the story of her mistreatment at the hands of the state with the United Nations Committee Against Torture.

Mrs Moore was given a symphysiotomy without her knowledge or consent while giving birth to her first son in September of 1965. She has been living with near constant pain for the past 50 year since the procedure, which she describes as like “being butchered”.

She will be in Dublin today to officially launch a complaints on behalf of Survivors of Symphysiotomy (SoS) to United Nations Committee Against Torture (UNCAT) and United Nations Human Rights Committee. The SoS group, who represent more than 95 per cent of the women who were given symphysiotomy in Irish hospitals, say that they are going to the United Nations as the Government continue to ignore their de- mands.

“We are getting absolutely nowhere with the Government so I we don’t really have any choice but to take this step,” said Ellen yesterday.

“We are meeting tomorrow morning to vote on whether to go to the UN, but I believe that that vote is a foregone conclusion at this stage. The details are not 100 per cent clear but someone from the group will go to Geneva later this week. I signed a legal letter last week to say that I am happy that the details of my case go forward to the United Nations and I would be more than happy to Geneva and tell them my story.”

Elizabeth “Ellen” Moore says that she has wanted to die on a number of occasions over the years following her symphysiotomy, which has left her in near constant pain and completely incontinent. This procedure, which involved breaking a woman’s pelvic bone during labour, was carried out on an estimated 1,500 Irish women in the 1960 and ‘70s but fewer than 200 of these women are still alive.