Category: News

CLARE County Council is considering installing security cameras at a graveyard near Ennis to combat mounting problems with crime and anti-social behaviour.

It follows a spate of incidents at Drumcliff graveyard in recent months. There have been a number of thefts from cars parked at the cemetery.

There have been reports of antisocial and intimidating behaviour by large groups attending the graveyard.

The area has also been the scene of violent incidents between feuding members of the Traveller community.

In a separate incident last November, Gardaí investigated a complaint of damage to a baby’s grave.

Ennis woman Christine Quinn discovered damage to the grave of her late son Patrick.

“I was devastated when I saw what happened and so was my husband, absolutely devastated. It breaks my heart. Who would do such a thing?”

At the time, the mother of three called on the council to install cameras in the area to prevent future in- cidents.

The January meeting of Ennis Town Council heard allegations of aggressive and intimidating behaviour by people visiting Drumcliff.

Cllr Mary Howard told the meeting she witnessed a group of people “drinking and being aggressive” in Drumcliff on Christmas day.

Clare County Council has confirmedit is considering installing CCVT near the cemetery.

The issues at Drumcliff were raised yesterday at the February meeting of Ennis Town Council.

In a motion, Cllr Mary Howard (FG) called on the local authority to look at the feasibility of placing CCTV at Drumcliff graveyard.

Cllr Howard said that while a number of thefts have been reported from vehicles at Drumcliff, a high number have gone unreported.

“You often meet people up there (Drumcliff ) who are upset because a window was smashed or something has been stolen from a car,” she said.

She said she feels CCTV is the only way to address the problems. Cllr Brian Meaney (FF) said Drumcliff had been the location of violent incidents between feuding Traveller families while graves had been dam- aged in other incidents.

“It’s a pity but I think we have to put it [CCTV] in,” he added.

Administrative officer Betty Devanny confirmed Clare County Council is examining the feasibility of temporary installation of CCTV at specific locations at Drumcliff cemetery.

“This is necessary to combat the ongoing issues in relation to theft from vehicles in the car park, antisocial behaviour and illegal dumping”, she added.

Public lighting is also being considered in the car park area of Drumcliff.

A YOUNG Kilbaha couple were forced to flee their home with their six-month-old baby as their house was flooded by waves from the Atlantic.

The West Clare village was once again engulfed by a storm and high tides, just weeks after a similar force of nature did € 3.4 million worth of damage.

Two houses and two homes were flooded in the village at the weekend, in a storm described as “more dramatic” than the previous one.

This time homes did not escape the flooding, with the water reaching above the bay window in one house.

Two days later and the local people are still suffering as a consequence of the weather.

Local woman Ailish Connolly explained that it will take sometime for things to return to normal.

Roads remain impassable and concerns have been expressed that emergency vehicles would have difficulty reaching the communities of Kilbaha, Ross and Fodra.

Water continues to run off the land into Fodra Bay, which in turn is flooding the local roads.

“Kilbaha is effectively an island. The only way to get through the village is with a four by four,” said Ms Connolly.

“The Ross road is out and even worse than before.”

Even the work carried out by Clare County Council during the last storm has been washed away.

This interim work included backs of rocks and interlocking concrete boulders.

While the playground survived the worst of the storm this time, the memorial to the Five Pilots was completely destroyed.

“There is so much more damage done this time. The last time it was directed at one area but now it is spaced out,” she said.

A COASTAL Management Report dating back to 1989 made recommendations for reinforcement works and protection works along the coast of Clare, that still have not been implemented 25 years on.

Three members of Clare County Council – Cllr Oliver Garry, Cllr Christy Curtin and Cllr Johnny Flynn – are to attend next week’s meeting of Clare County Council armed with the document hoping to make the case that the people of West Clare cannot wait another 25 years for such work.

As the council re-count the cost of coastal damage following the storm on St Bridget’s Day, February 1, the council members are to call for emergency funding to be released by Central Government immediately.

The people of the west coast have also lost patience with central Government and are demanding immediate action, as well as a long-term strategy.

Publican and Community Activist in Doonbeg Tommy Commerford told The Clare People , “Emergency flooding must mean emergency flooding. We don’t need any more ministers running around telling us we have a problem.”

The people living along the west coast and the Shannon estuary are well aware of the problems they are facing following another weekend of high winds and high tides.

“The emergency funding must be released straight away especially for vulnerable areas,” said Mr Commer- ford.

“There should be no consultants required. This is a job that common sense can repair.”

Agreeing with Mr Commerford, Ailish Connolly from Kilbaha said a plan must then be made to address coastal erosion.

“There needs to be a coastal strategy at national level. Now is a time for action,” she said.

AS THE waters begin to recede along the Clare coast, the focus now turns inland with council engineers monitoring extremely high water levels on a number of the county’s rivers, including the Fergus.

Clare County Council yesterday warned people in Ennis and along the lower Shannon area to be extremely vigilant and take all necessary precautions, with heavy rain likely to swell rivers further in the coming days.

According to rainfall figures recorded at Shannon Airport, the county has already received almost a quarter (194.6mm) of the total rain that fell on the 12 months of 2013. A further 3 inches of rain, or 76mm, is expected to fall in the county over the next seven days.

Senior engineer Tom Tiernan said yesterday that newly constructed flood defenses in Ennis have worked well to date, but warned that the expected rainfall is likely to test these defenses to their limits.

People living in sections of Ennis where flood defenses have not yet been complete have been asked to be particularly vigilant in the com- ing days.

“The pressure on coastal areas is starting to lessen – we’re not out of the woods yet but the tides are starting to drop back. There has been a lot of rainfall and more on the way so there is a real possibility of local flooding in certain areas,” said Mr Tiernan yesterday.

“The Fergus is our main focus at the moment. The new defenses that were built have worked, and that is very significant. But all of the flood relief works have not yet been completed and we would ask that people in flood prone areas would remain vigilant.”

Council engineers are continuously monitoring river levels in the Fergus and in a number of at-risk rivers across the county.

Contingency arrangements are in place to increase pumping capacity in certain areas and a number of emergency flood alleviation measures are also in place.

WAITING times are down in all the University Limerick Hospitals, including Ennis and Limerick, but people are still waiting months for routine procedures.

That was the message from the first public meeting of the new hospitals group board, who also heard that while the hospital group had once again run millions of euros over budget, the over run was significantly lower than previous years.

Chief Executive of UL Hospitals Ann Doherty told the meeting that the hospital group had met govern- ment targets in 2013 and was now aiming to be ranked in the top three Irish hospitals by 2018.

According to the figures presented the longest any patient had to wait for a routine out-patient appointment was one year, a figure acceptable to Government targets.

No patient was waiting more than eight months for scheduled in-patient or day case procedures and no child was waiting more than eight months for a scheduled in-patient of day case procedure. According to the figures released all routine and urgent colonoscopy targets were also met.

Waiting times in the regions only 24-hour emergency department re- mains an issue however.

In December 58.4 per cent of patients were seen in under six hours. However 25 per cent of patients still hadn’t been treated within nine hours of arrival at A&E.

The group had however a financial over run of € 10.119 million which is 4.1 per cent of its annual budget allocation.

Ms Doherty said that the over run, or what she described as a financial challenge, at the beginning of 2013 was € 21.7 million or 9.1 per cent.

“The sizeable improvement in financial performance is noteworthy and is attributed to a number of factors such as additional budget alloca- tion, generation of additional income and the formation of sub committees to monitor, approve and provide visibility and accountability at every organisational level over all areas of spend.”

Launching its three-year strategic plan for the hospital group, Ms Doherty also outlined the plans for this year.

A ten-bed Intensive Care Unit is to be completed as well as an eight-bed High Dependency Unit.

She said that plans are also in place to maximise the use of bed capacity across the hospitals in Clare, Limerick and North Tipperary, and to recruit additional neonatal and obstet- ric consultants.

Plans for 2014 amongst others include more beds for the main hospital in Dooradoyle, Limerick, the opening of a temporary interim paediatric emergency department and continued capital investment.

The new Parkinson’s, stroke, breast and dermatology building, which is being developed with the voluntary sector is ear marked for 2015.

Other works including the new much needed Emergency Department for Limerick is expected to be completed in 2016.

A key objective for the board is to secure capital for a new maternity unit on the Dooradoyle campus.

A WOMAN in her late 80s has been trapped in her East Clare home since Christmas Day because of unprecedented local flooding.

The four houses in the Dooras area of O’Callaghan Mills have been effectively cut off from the rest of the world for the past six weeks – as their only access road now covered by a 200 metre long lake of water.

One family was evacuated from a rented house in Doora on Christmas Eve, with their landlady using a tractor to pass through the flooded road. However, since then the road has been impassable, even for tractors, with sitting water of up to five feet on the road itself, with a further 10 foot of water on either side of the access road.

Three members of another affected family, including three young children, left their homes last weekend but a number of people have no choice but to remain.

The only access to the homes at present is through a long stretch of bog, which is itself flooded and very dangerous to cross.

“The situation is very bad at the moment. There is no access, not even with a tractor. Some of the residents were using a quad to get out through a local bog, but unfortunately the quad got stuck last Saturday, so they have to go by foot to get in and out to the houses,” said Cllr Joe Cooney (FG).

“You are taking your life into your own hands driving down there, even in a tractor. You can’t see the road for 200 metres along the road and there is a a drop of nine or ten foot on one side of the road.”

The road has not flooded since 2009, with Clare County Council raising the road surface following the last prolonged period of flooding. It is understood that a blockage along the O’Garney River could be cause of the current flood.

“Is is very disappointing to have this happen. It’s awful to have people leave our parish because of the flood ed, but in fairness, the council have given us a commitment that when this flooding goes down, they will do some work to rectify the situation,” said Cllr Cooney.

QUEEN Elizabeth II’s only son-inlaw visited the county last week unbeknownst even to the Clare people he met.

The lesser known of the British Royal Family, Vice-Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence was part of the RNLI Coastal Review Group that visited the Irish Coast Guard Helicopter Head Quarters in Shannon, the RNLI station in Lough Derg and the Kilrush RNLI Life Boat.

The husband of Princess Ann identified himself as Tim Laurence and ingratiated himself by his laid back attitude and his interest in all things nautical.

Pauline Dunleavy from the Kilrush RNLI said the crew found him to be a “really lovely gentleman” and it was only days after he left and with the help of google they worked out his royal connections.

The former British Navy Lieutenant Commander was particularly impressed with the condition of the three-year-old Kilrush lifeboat and the work of mechanic Martin Brew.

Kilrush RNLI were so delighted at getting the green light from the coastal review team to continue work along the West Clare coast, they did not notice the royal visitor.

Tim, the second husband of the queen’s only daughter, was born the son of a London salesman and joined the British Royal Navy as a young man.

He was quickly promoted through the ranks eventually reaching the rank of Lieutenant Commander. In 1986, he was appointed as Equerry to Queen Elizabeth, a post he would occupy for three years.

Equerries to the Queen are most commonly high-ranking military officers who attend to her during public appearances and royal events.

It was during this time he met his future wife, Princess Anne.

TOUR operators in Doolin may have to delay the start of this year’s tourist season following extreme damage to Doolin Pier and the surround area over the weekend.

Local operators say they are devastated by the latest storm damage – which undid much of the remedial work done following the devastation of the New Year storm.

Indeed, the St Bridgid’s Day Storm caused more damage to the area surrounding Doolin Pier – with massive boulders being moved into waters close to the pier – blocking the route navigated by the ferry operators.

“Everything that has been done over the past two weeks has been torn up – it’s actually worse than before. The offices on Doolin Pier have been flooded and damaged again. The place is like a tip. It’s like Ennistymon dump 25 years ago. It’s rotten, it’s disgusting to look at. I was down there at six in the morning, watching everything unfold. There was a couple of portacabins down there that were moved 40 or 50 feet in shore,” said Donie Garrihy of Doolin2Aran Ferries.

“The pier has been damaged, there was some safety railing left before but that’s all gone now. The channel where the boats sail out is are all full of big boulders, which will have to be removed.

“We need urgent help. We are starting business at the beginning of March which is only 25 days away. The place is like a dump now, there is no way we can trade the way the place is at the moment.”

There has also been some superficial damage to the new Doolin Rescue Centre – which is currently under construction and due to open early this year.

“We took a drive yesterday in the sunshine. Myself and my wife and my five children went off for a spin. My young fella, who is eight, my oldest son, said ‘don’t bring us anywhere where there is storm damage – I’m sick of it’. That’s what he said to me. He said exactly what I am thinking. That’s what we are all feeling like up here right now,” continued Donie.

CARRIGAHOLT Postmaster Patrick Gavin’s house has been cut off from the mainland for the last five weeks due to the storms that have been battering the West Clare coast.

With road access is so poor, Patrick has been cut off from much human contact, especially that of his daughter, who he has not been able to see for the last fortnight.

As a sufferer of epilepsy, it’s too dangerous for her to visit in case she becomes ill and cannot access the medical attention she needs.

“It’s starting to take effect you know.

It’s starting to get to me now,” Mr Gavin said.

The Carrigaholt Post Office flooded last weekend for the second time in a month.

“The whole place is destroyed,” he added.

Mr Gavin says that the worst part of the most recent flood damage for the local residents is the lack of action from the Government.

Referring to a visit from Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works, Brian Hayes, Mr Gavin said the focus of politicians and repair work should be on people affected by the floods, not public amenities:

“He should have come to meet the people, you know and give them some heart.

“The minister should have told them we have it under control, we’ll work at getting funding and getting the place fixed up”.

Mr Gavin claims that more attention should be paid to local residents affected by the storm before attending to public areas such as the promenade in Lahinch.

“I think the six residents up where I live might be a little more important than the prom in Lahinch or the unfortunate people in Quilty that are being flooded out of their houses,” he said.

He also added that plans for coastal erosion should be given priority over proposals for other council and public projects.

Despite the disconnect that Patrick Galvin sees between politics and people the Carrigaholt postmaster was adamant that young people should still get involved in local politics but change their emphasis;

“What we need is people who want to wear the jersey, who want to do it for people, not for themselves,” he added.

The devastation in Carrigaholt and neighbouring areas has seen many homes cut off for the second time in recent weeks as the weekend floods and high tides undid much of the progress that had been made with repairs over the past month from Storm Christine.

FOUR houses were evacuated in Doonbeg during the early hours of Saturday morning as waves smashed through windows and doors.

The houses along the Dunmore road had never previously experienced flooding or such force from the waves as the battlement along the bay protected them.

On Saturday morning last the 70year battlement could not hold back the ferocity of the storm and the homes along with the local caravan park were flooded.

During the storm on January 7, the land was flooded up to 150 metres from the village, reaching the 50 kilometres per hour sign at the bridge.

On Saturday morning the water far surpassed that reaching areas that had never before seen floodwater.

Community activist Tommy Commerford told The Clare People there were a number of vulnerable areas in the parish following the storm.

The stone barrier at Rhynnagonnaught was swept away allowing the water to run as far as Mountrivers.

By yesterday (Monday) up to 150 acres of land in this area still remained under seawater.

Stones and debris once again made agricultural land unworkable for lo- cal farmers, with many contending with reseeding land once again under seawater.

The road to Rhynnagonnaught is also under threat following the storm and the loss of this would maroon the residents on an island similar to what happened at Kilcredaun on the Loop Head peninsula.

Manager at the Doonbeg Golf Course and Spa Joe Russell said that while the golf course was once again victim to the storm the damage was not as significant as in January.

“It brought back the dune face again but not as much as before. The most notable thing is the debris on the golf course,” he said.

A significant clean up at the golf course is underway and plans are beginning for a major clean up at Doughmore beach.

“More needs to be done long term. If this happened every year we would have a problem,” the manager said.

“There is a long-term discussion that needs to be had. A long-term Government strategy needs to be prepared for this instead of going from crisis to crisis every year.”

An estimated € 800,000 worth of damage was done to infrastructure in the Doonbeg area in January, but with more places affected following the weekend that number is expected to multiply.