Category: News

A NIGERIAN born information technology consultant has confirmed his intention to run as a candidate in the 2104 local elections.

George Atijohn (47) intends to seek election in Ennis. The married father of two has lived with his family in the county capital for over 14 years. He has worked as a management and IT consultant. He currently volunteers as computer instructor in Ennis for the Clare/Limerick Education Training Board (ETB).

This is Mr Atijohn’s first time entering the political arena.

He says he wants to help achieve the “unprecedented transformation of County Clare through viable and sustainable economic structures”.

“Economic regeneration at the local level will ultimately improve the economy of the country,” he explained.

He wants to see Shannon Airport as a catalyst for job creation.

Mr Atijohn explained, “There is a new law in aviation (fifth freedom rights) which enables an airline to fly from its home country to a second country for example like Shannon in Ireland, picks up passengers there and fly to a third country for example New York in the USA. Most flights originating from West Africa pass through the European airspace enroute to the USA. Deals can be made with these airlines to make a stopover in Shannon for their passengers to undergo pre-clearance”.

Mr Atijohn said he wants to see greater focus on drugs awareness programmes in Ennis.

He also believes greater encouragement of multiculturalism can boost the local economy in Clare.

“Harnessing human capital resources of the other ethnic nationalities can improve the economic wellbeing of the town/county,” he added.

Mr Atijohn says he supports affordable housing initiatives through the Public Private Partnership approach. He hopes all candidates will be afforded the opportunity to discuss issues at a public debate.

A MAN accused of robbery in Ennis earlier this month as admitted breaching his bail conditions.

Mao Kimbadi (40), with an address at Laurel Lodge, Clare Road, Ennis, was granted bail subject to conditions at Ennis District Court earlier this month.

The accused, who is originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, was ordered to reside at Laurel Lodge, observe a curfew between 10pm and 7am and sign on twice weekly at Ennis Garda Station. The State was granted liberty to re-enter the cases should any breaches arise.

Mr Kimbadi is charged with robbing a handbag and cash from a woman in the Causeway Link Road area of Ennis at around 11.30pm on January 18. He is further charged with possession of a knife at Clon Road, Ennis on January 19.

He appeared before Ennis District Court on Wednesday. Inspector Tom Kennedy said the State were seeking to have the accused’s bail revoked as conditions had not been abided by.

Detective Garda John Casey of Ennis Garda Station told Insp Kennedy he visited Laurel Lodge on January 26 and 27 within the hours of the accused’s curfew.

He said Mr Kimbadi was not present at the address, which provides temporary accommodation to homeless men. Detective Casey said after further enquiries, he was told Mr Kimbadi had not stayed at Laurel Lodge between January 22 and 31.

Detective Casey said the accused had abided by the signing on conditions.Defence solicitor John Casey said his client no longer resided at Laurel Lodge but lived with his sister in Dublin. He said his client was in Dublin when Detective Casey called to Laurel Lodge.

Mr Casey said it had been explained to Mr Kimbadi that he would have to apply to the court to have his bail conditions varied. He said Mr Kimbadi accepts he breached his bail conditions. Judge William Early ordered Mr Kimbadi to abide by bail conditions. He was remanded on continuing bail to appear again at Ennis District Court on March 26.

Mr Kimbadi’s co-accused Clara Chapman (19) is also alleged to have breached the terms of her bail.

Ms Chapman, with an address at Banner Lodge, Ennis, was not present in court when her case was heard on Wednesday. On Wednesday, Detective Casey said he visited Banner Lodge on January 26, 10pm. He said Ms Chapman was not present and he was told by the owner she had not resided there since January 18.

Defence solicitor Tara Godfrey said her client, an unemployed mother of one, had a number of appointments and may not have been unable to attend court. He remanded Ms Chapman on continuing bail to appear again at Ennis District Court on February 12.

MAGOWNA House in Inch is the latest Clare hotel to go under the hammer at an Allsop Space Auction with a reserve price of € 350,000.

Last year at the auction, Ashford Court Hotel in Ennis was sold to Clarecastle businessman and farmer JJ McCabe for € 305,000.

The millionaire also bought the Kilkee Bay Hotel that failed to sell at the same auction in a private deal afterwards.

Now the sellers of the 10-bed Magowna House are hoping for similar success.

Three two-bedroom cottages and an 18-hole pitch and putt course are also part of the sale.

The hotel is not the only property for sale at the February 25 auction however.

16.67 acres of land in Doonbeg, as well as an apartment at Town Court, Shannon and 22 acres of land at Ard- nacrusha are also to be sold off.

The “irregular-shaped plot of land” at Doonbeg is being offered with a reserve of € 75,000.

The 60-square-metre apartment in Shannon will sell for no less than € 20,000.

The two-bedroom property is on the first floor and includes off street parking.

Meanwhile a parcel of land in Ardnacrusha extending to approximately 8.963 hectares (22.13 acres) will go on sale with a reserve of € 75,000.

This irregular-shaped plot of land is subject to a tenancy expiring in March 2015 at a current rent of € 450 per annum.

The Clare properties and land are just five of 190 properties to go under the hammer in the RDS, Dublin, on February 25 starting at 9am.

Allsop Space director of auctions Robert Hoban maintained that no repossessed family homes would be sold at any of the company’s auctions.

MONTHS of fundraising paid off yesterday as, what has been described as life changing equipment for people with Cystic Fibrosis in Clare and Limerick, was unveiled at the University Hospital, Limerick.

The fundraising drive by TLC4CF, which raised more than € 205,000, resulted in the € 160,000 Bronchoscope suite and an Exhalyzer D which cost € 44,000.

The Bronchoscope suite will be used to carry out internal examinations on the lungs and airways of children with Cystic Fibrosis.

Paediatric CF consultant Barry Linnane welcomed the launch of the new equipment and said, “The Bronchoscope suite allows us to visualise the internal structure of the lungs, and to obtain samples from the lower airways of children with CF. With this approach infection and inflam- mation can be detected even before the patient develops symptoms, facilitating early, targeted treatment.”

The installation of the new Exhalyzer D means the regional hospital is the first hospital in Ireland to acquire such specialised equipment. This piece of high-tech equipment has just been installed in the Paediatric CF Unit and provides a unique system of measuring and monitoring pulmonary function in children and adults.

Welcoming the launch of the new equipment, Ann Doherty CEO UL Hospitals stated that, “the added bonus of this equipment is that it allows us to attract more clinical trials and research to Limerick because it is a very sensitive and can measure clinical outcomes.

“New developments in technologies and research have the potential to improve the quality of life for people with CF and other inherited illnesses.”

A CLARE woman who endured a four-year sentence in a € 300,000 ‘debt prison’ has secured a 70-day protection period from her creditors.

The woman, who lives in Shannon, has a mortgage of € 329,000 with a financial institution, the Personal Insolvency Court in Ennis heard on Friday.

The Circuit Court heard the 30year-old secretary took out the mortgage on an investment property with her then boyfriend.

The relationship has since ended and it is thought the man has left the jurisdiction.

The court heard the woman has monthly repayments of € 1,600 and a credit card debt of € 3,600.

She is now living in rented accommodation. Judge Patrick Meaghan was told the investment property cost € 345,000 in 2007 but is now worth € 170,000.

The court heard the property is in poor condition with repair costs estimated at between € 20,000 and € 25,000. Judge Meaghan said he was satisfied to grant the protection certificate, meaning the woman now has 70 days to strike a deal with creditors.

The woman was not in court for the brief hearing, but was represented by Ennis based Personal Insolvency Practitioner (PIP) John Hogan.

Mr Hogan said the court’s decision would come as a relief to his client.

He said, “For 70 days she doesn’t have to worry about court appearances or things like that and just the level of hope that an arrangement can be reached”

Speaking to reporters after the hearing, Mr Hogan said the emotional toll of struggling with debt had been “huge” on his client.

“She has put down four years of virtual trauma from her point of view. She obviously suffered the effect of the break-up of a relationship and then as a consequence of that, to be left holding the proverbial baby with regards the mortgage”.

He said the volountary surrender of the property would have been ideal for the woman but she would have been left with the balance of the mortgage – € 200,000

Mr Hogan added, “It really is a life sentence. Most traumas that people suffer heal in time, but when it comes to finance, you’re getting that letter every week, that phone call.

“There are statements coming in. It never leaves. It’s like a continuous sense of trauma.”

“She really has and people like her have suffered virtually a three year prison sentence”.

Mr Hogan said people he believes the personal insolvency process offers hope to debtors and banks.

“The real hope for people is that they are not expected just to exist. They are expected to be able to live and be socially included.

“What’s actaully happening is that people are trying to pay as much as they conceivably can to satisfy their creditors at the expense of food, light and heat..

“This process actually turns the tables a little bit”

THE Irish Red Cross said it is available to help the people of Clare affected by flooding and storms.

More than a month after the first two storms that destroyed homes, infrastructure and livelihoods on the west coast of Clare and along the Shannon River and estuary, and weeks following the third storm, those affected are still referring to the fallout as an emergency.

In Doonbeg a special group has been set up to lobby for “emergency works” along the coast, while families in Cloughaninchy in Quilty battle with insurance companies as they struggle to repair their homes.

In areas like Loop Head, main roads remain impassable and farmers through out the county struggle to reclaim land in time for spring.

Acknowledging the issues facing people in the county the Red Cross said it is there to help.

James Lafferty, Irish Red Cross Clare Area Treasurer, said anyone in Clare’s affected areas that wish to apply for assistance from the Irish Red Cross should contact Fintan Breen, National Services, to be put in contact with their local Community Welfare Office. His e-mail is f breen@redcross.ie. Meanwhile the Red Cross is under financial pressure to provide such services.

“The Irish Red Cross, Clare Area, wish to make an appeal for funds and over the next few weeks we hope to raise much needed funds through church gate collections all over Clare,” said Mr Lafferty.

THE National Roads Authority (NRA) say that it has introduced a new system of ongoing maintenance on the M18, since the tragic death of 26-year-old student Vicky Courtney on a stretch the of road near Ballyline.

Ms Courtney died when her car veered off the motorway while driving in poor weather on November 18, 2012.

Following her inquest, which took place last September, Clare coroner Isobel O’Dea wrote to the NRA requesting that “a pool of water should not be allowed” to develop on the motorway.

According to an NRA spokesper- son, the organisation only assumed responsibility for maintenance on the M18 last September.

“The National Roads Authority fully agrees with the objective of the coroner’s statement in this regard,” said a spokesperson.

“Since this time, routine maintenance works have been undertaken including road sweeping and cleaning of gullies, slot drains and outfalls in addition to other general maintenance activities which assist with rapid drainage of water from the road surface.

“The NRA monitors and assesses the network under its direct control with a view to carrying out any maintenance or remedial works which might be required to improve road drainage and maintain the de- sign capacity of the drainage system. However, the possibility of the occurrence of surface water due to extreme weather events or other causes cannot be fully eliminated.

“In relation to the specific location on the north-bound carriageway of the M18 at Ballyline, the NRA is ensuring that our service provider is following their maintenance works. The installation of replacement pipework may be undertaken if the ongoing monitoring referred to indicates that this is warranted.

Ms Courtney’s inquest heard that she died when her red Peugeot spun 360 degrees after driving through a 15-metre pool of water lying across the fast lane. The car crashed into a barrier before overturning on the road.

WEST Clare Coastal Windpower has lodged plans for a windfarm to be constructed outside of Doonbeg, months after An Bord Pleanála rejected their previous proposal to build a controversial windfarm in the same area.

Plans were lodged with Clare County Council last week for the construction of nine electricity generating wind turbines at Carrowmore South, Einagh and Shragh – two kilometres south of Doonbeg village.

These wind turbines would have a central stack 85 metres high, with a rotor diameter of 82 metres.

This would give a total height of 126 metres or 413 feet – or well over half the height of the Cliffs of Moher.

Besides the turbines themselves, the new planning permission also includes the construction of hardstandings, a control building, an electrical compound, a permanent meteorological mast as well as associated site roads.

Last July, An Bord Pleanála refused planning permission for what was described as an “industrial scale” € 200 million wind farm in the same location as the current proposal.

This proposal included 45-turbine each of which were in excess of 400 feet.

The proposal caused a rift in the local community with 79 landowners in the area missing out on a significant cash payment to lease their land for the windfarm.

One of the grounds for refusal was the pollution threat the windfarm posed to Doonbeg river that contains 5,000 freshwater pearl mussels – the highest concentration of the species in Clare.

The original decision followed a six-day oral hearing into the wind farm in April of last year, at which the country’s foremost authority on the mussel, Dr Evelyn Moorkens, said that if nothing was done to secure the future of the mussel, the species would become extinct there over time.

A decision on the proposal is not due for some months.

THE cost of the unprecedented run of storms which battered the Clare coast over the past five weeks has grown to a massive € 36.8 million according to new estimates published yesterday by Clare County Council.

This means that more than € 12 million worth of damage was inflicted on the county over the past two weeks – with the giant sea swell and high winds of the St Brigid’s Day storm causing the lion’s share of this new damage.

This, coupled with the € 24 million worth of damage cause during the storm in early January, has left Clare County County with the possibility of a large hole in its budget should central government fail to make sufficient money available.

It was also revealed at last night’s meeting of Clare County Council that the local authority has already spent € 750,000 of its own money on repairs and clean-up operations to date.

County Manager Tom Coughlan admitted yesterday that the local authority has no budget for this € 750,000, admitting that the council was spending money that it did not have.

The council’s Corporate Policy Group (CPG) met before yesterday’s main council meeting and compiled a letter for the Government which stated that the council couldn’t, in good conscience, continue to spend money on repairs without central government giving firm details of the funding that will be made available. The most expensive storm damage was recorded in Lahinch where the council estimates that € 6.064 million will be required to fix damage done to the promenade and surround areas. The cost of repairs at Cloughaninchy in Quilty is now estimated at € 4.716, with the bulk of this going towards the re-construction of more than two kilometres of sea armour. There was also significant damage at Kilbaha in West Clare (€ 3.498 million) and New Quay in north Clare (€ 3.449 million) where roads and sea walls have been destroyed. Other badly damaged areas include Carrowmore (€ 1.628 million), White Strand/Doonmore (€ 1.550 million), Clahane in Liscannor (€ 1.487 million), Kilcredaun Irish College (€ 1.226 million), Carrowdotia, Moneypoint (€ 1.115 million), Doolin (€ 1.025 million) and Liscannor itself (€ 1.011 million). Serious questions have also been raised as to what agency or agencies are responsible for coastal defenses. There are 14 different agencies which have some interest in coastal and river flood defenses. “Until there is some clarity as to who is responsible for these areas this is going to be a very difficult project. We are all talking about providing leadership, but we cannot lead unless we know where we are going,” said county manager Tom Coughlan. “There are a lot of agencies involved, but there is no clarity who is responsible. We need a co-ordinated approach and that has to be led by Government. This is something that is outside the scope of Clare County Council.”

JUST over € 91,000 was paid out to eight of the nine members of Ennis Town Council last year.

The payments were made up of expenses, wages, and the cost of attending conferences and seminars, with the two councillors who served as mayor for six months each during the year accruing the largest payments.

Current mayor Cllr Mary Coote Ryan (FG) and former mayor Cllr Peter Considine (FF) received € 17,166 each.

The sum included the councillors’ taxable salary of € 8,362 as well as mayoral allowance of € 5,750. Cllr Considine’s expenses also included a trip to Charleston, USA, while mayor.

All town councillors are entitled to the taxable salary, with the exception of those who also serve on Clare County Council – Cllr Tommy Brennan (Ind), Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) and Cllr Brain Meaney (FF).

The deputy mayors also receive a deputy mayoral allowance of € 2,625 for the six months of the year they serve. In 2013 that payment went to Cllr Brennan and Cllr Frankie Neylon (Ind).

Members of Ennis Town Council are also entitled to claim for 50 per cent of vouched mobile phone costs, as well as the cost of a mobile phone and other “IT equipment” and office costs such as printing.

Cllr Flynn was the only councillor not to receive any payment from Ennis Town Council as he did not claim any expenses. He also refused to claim expenses as a member of Clare County Council, receiving only his Clare County Council salary.

When it came to attending town council meetings, including specialised committee meetings, Cllr Mary Howard (FG) was top of the class, having been to 23 meetings.

Two thirds of the councillors however had a full attendance rate for the monthly town council meetings with everyone in attendance at the budget meeting.