The Clare People Archive

STXMILEBRIDGE is set to become Clare’s fastest growing village with planning applications before Clare County Council valued at over €130 million set to transform the local community.

According to the 2006 census, the population of Sixmilebridge ex- ceeded 2,000 for the first time in liv- ing memory with the the population registered at 2,029, representing an increase of 15.7% on the previous

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Now, in a development expected to increase the size of the village even further, Cormac Quigley is seeking to construct a €55 million develop- ment comprising of 221 residential UUObLRSE

The plan involves 75 two bedroom duplex units; 38 three bedroom semi- detached dwellings; 25 three bed- room townhouses; 22 three bedroom duplex units; 34 two bedroom garden apartment units; 10 one bedroom garden apartment units;10 three bed-

room stepdown garden apartments; 6 three bedroom detached dwellings and three four bedroom detached OM ob b areas

Mr Quigley is also proposing a creche as part of the project.

Separately, Fordmount Develop- ment have recently lodged further information on plans for a mixed-use scheme comprising residential, retail, community and commercial uses on a nine acre site bounded by the Lim- erick Road. This plan involves retail floorspace of 13,367 sq.m and 79

residential units.

The retail aspect of the project in- volves a convenience anchor store; 9 retail units; an off-licence; an office/ commercial/community suite; 5 non- retail services units; a bar/restaurant; a bank facility; a hot food take-away and a creche as well as 389 sqm. an- cillary floorspace.

There is also provision for 276 car parking spaces.

These applications coincide with a proposal to develop the village’s first hotel while Clare hurler, Niall Gil-

ligan has also lodged planning ap- plications aimed at revitalizing the village centre.

Rinn Construction Ltd has already secured planning permission for 33 homes and is seeking approval for a further 32.

The local national school is already trying to cope with the rapid scale of expansion and secured planning per- mission for a temporary classroom last year, while the local GAA and soccer clubs are also expanding their facilities.

THE founder of the Irish Rural Dwellers Association, Jim Connolly has complained to County Manager, Alec Fleming about a verbal attack on him by a senior council planner.

Last month, Scottish-born planner Bill Sansum responding to a claim from Mr Connolly (below) that ru- ral dwellers are suffering from an imported “British ideology in the planning system” said that as a for- eign national and planner working in Clare, he took strong exception to this sort of “gratuitous, offensive and paranoid drivel’.

Mr Connolly has now written to Mr Fleming and the Ombudsman stating that any attack of this kind made by a local authority employee on a mem- ber of the public was in breach of the code of conduct for employees and brought the Council into disrepute ‘‘as well as shattering any confidence in the planning system vis-a-vis fair- ness and impartiality”.

“As a private citizen pursuing my

democratic right to lobby for legisla- tive change in planning and to public- ly challenge what the IRDA contend is a historically accurate planning ideology of forced urbanisation on rural Ireland which has its origins in the UK, I object in the strongest pos- sible terms to the personal attacks made about me in newspapers by planners employed by local authori- (one

“T also refer to the Ombudsman’s Guide to Standards of Best Practise for Public Servants which “clarifies citizens rights and the principles of good administration which include objectivity and impartiality and the need to avoid unfair discrimina- wo) eae

“It is not just a damning indictment of the planning process that indi- vidual planners are permitted to vent their spleen in the media on private citizens going about their legitimate, democratic pursuits, but confirms the behaviour of many planners as being personal, autocratic, arrogant and unaccountable.

In his comments last month, Mr Sansum said that by attacking local authority planners in this way and as a soft target, Mr Connolly did the IRDA no credit whatsoever.”

Mr Sansum said that the IRDA’s arguments in favour of loosening up the rules for more one-off hous- ing in rural areas don’t stack up as Government policy was moving the other way.”

He said that as a professional plan- ner, he was accountable to Irish law and Irish guidelines on planning.

AN BORD PLEANALA has ig- nored the objections of a number of residents’ associations to give the go-ahead for a €45 million housing development near the O’Keeffe oil depot in Ennis.

Dismissing objections from _ resi- dents in Pine Grove, Oak Park, Wil- low Park, Tobarkeel and Drehid- nagower Road against the 241 house

plan by Michael Lynch Ltd, the ap- peals board also overruled the strong recommendation of its own inspec- tor to refuse the application on four separate counts.

Two years ago, Ennis Town Council granted permission for the scheme at Drehidnagower Road, Lifford, and an inspector’s report into the appeal was delivered in January of last year.

However, in finally making its de- cision on the appeal, the Board has

significantly reduced the number of units in the proposal due to concerns over the impact the development will have on the Ennis floodplain.

The Board ruled that five apartment blocks be omitted and 28 terraced TO leehe

In her report, the inspector said the development was contrary to the En- nis Development Plan because of its excessive density, its inappropriate urban style site layout and its nega-

tive impact on existing houses.

She recommended refusal on the basis that the development didn’t take account of the basic principles of good urban design; would result in a substandard form of development with diminished on site residential amenity; would be out of character and visually obtrusive in the town- scape, with consequent serious injury to the visual amenities of the area.

In deciding not to accept the In-

spector’s recommendation to refuse permission, the Board had regard to the location and zoning of the lands in Ennis and considered that the modifications required addressed the Inspector’s concerns in relation to flooding, traffic safety and the order- ly development of adjoining lands.

The proposed development would, therefore, be 1n accordance with the proper planning and sustainable de- velopment of the area.

THE PROMOTERS of the €150 million Doonbeg Golf Resort are to finally implement the terms of a High Court agreement struck four years ago in relation to a disputed right of way.

This follows four locals settling their claim with the golf club over its failure to date to implement the terms of the High Court deal reached in February 2004. This prompted four locals in Doonbeg to lodge pro-

ceedings at Ennis Circuit Court.

The case was due to be heard at Ennis Circuit Court last Wednesday. However the court was told the case nE:YeMoleres soln O(oreb

A spokesman for Doonbeg Golf Club said yesterday that “we are hap- py that the matter has been resolved to everyone’s satisfaction”.

As part of the terms of the High Court agreement, five locals agreed to an alternative right of way lead- ing to the golf club to build a bar- rier across the existing right of way

which traverses the 15th hole of the golf course to Doughmore beach.

The five that secured the agree- ment with the golf club were Thomas Considine, James O’Leary, Chris Carroll, Sinead Carroll and Simon O’Donnell, who has since passed on.

Arising from the High Court set- tlement, Doonbeg Golf Club built a six foot high wall across the disputed right of way.

However, this precipitated An Bord Pleanala ruling that the club acted 1l- legally in building the wall and that

decision is now the subject of sepa- rate High Court action by Doonbeg Golf Club.

In the circuit court action, the sur- viving four involved in the original High Court settlement lodged papers alleging that Doonbeg Golf Club “has failed, refused and neglected to take the requisite steps to comply with the Terms of Settlement and has failed to meet its obligations on foot of the settlement”.

The four claimed that no steps had been taken by Doonbeg Golf Club

to register the four’s right of way as a burden on their title deed; that no steps have been taken by Doonbeg Golf Club to register the right of the four to drive onto Doughmore beach and that Doonbeg Golf Club has failed to extend the existing carpark by July 1, 2004.

Following the settlement, it is ex- pected that a public consultation process will soon be initiated to al- low the works be carried out, which includes a car-park for 30 to 40 cars at the site.

A SECOND man has been arrested in connection with the fatal stabbing of a young boy in east Clare at the weekend.

A 19 year-old was taken to May- orstone garda _ station yesterday evening.

Gardai investigating the stabbing to death of Roman Vysochan yester- day afternoon released a 16-year old whom they had arrested on Sunday.

A file is being prepared for the Di- rector of Public Prosecutions.

Another 16-year-old who was stabbed in the leg in the attack 1s in a stable condition in hospital.

Roman, originally from _ the Ukraine, was found wounded on the main Limerick to Killaloe road, opposite the entrance to the Carrig Midhe estate in Corbally at 11pm.

He had stab wounds to his chest and was pronounced dead on arrival at the Mid-West Regional Hospital.

Two knives were found at the scene. Gardai arrested a teenager from the Moyross area in Limerick city and it is understood they may be seeking to speak to a second youth in relation to iW slomrAlARATO@

The dead boy had lived with his family in Ashley Close in Westbury for the last three years and joined St Munchin’s College a year ago.

A statement on behalf of the school said, “The prayers and thoughts of the community of St Munchin’s Col-

lege, Our Patron Dr Donal Murray, Bishop of Limerick, Trustees, Board of Management, Staff and Students are today with the family of Roman Vysochan a fifth year student who died tragically on Saturday night.

The whole school was shocked to hear of the tragic circumstances of Roman’s death. This is a difficult time for both the family, and the lo- cal and school communities. The school has put in place counselling for any pupils who may feel the need of help over the coming days.”

Meanwhile, local Labour Council- lor Pascal Fitzgerald has called for counselling to be made available to all of the dead boy’s friends. “They are getting together at the scene and they are very traumatised. They will need help dealing with this terrible shock”.

The councillor, backed by other local representatives has repeatedly called for a garda station to serve the Corbally area.

‘‘Ardnacrusha is a small rural sta- tion. A lot of people in Westbury wouldn’t know how to find it. With developments in recent years, we have thousands of people living in this area. Our community guard does a great job but he can’t be here all the time. We need a dedicated station for the area, with a garda presence.”

FORMER assistant county manager Roibeard O Ceallaigh, who passed away at the weekend, has been re- membered as a great motivator for WTR UK emOvis ba tey

Mr O Ceallaigh (64), died in hos- pital in Dublin at the weekend, fol- lowing a short illness. He had suf- fered from a rare heart disorder for a number of years.

The Kilkenny native had worked in the local authority sector for 40 years, during which time he was SETA ANOKe kDa Mm Oba eee) and assistant county manager and Ennis town manager (1985 – 1994),

He also served as county manager in Limerick and Meath and also

worked with Kilkenny, Waterford and Wicklow county councils, prior to retiring in 2001. ;

Over the years, Mr O Ceallaigh had played a key role in the Irish lan- guage and had been pivotal in Ennis winning several national awards for Gere

He had been chairman of Conradh na Gaeilge in Ennis, while he was also chairman of the board of Clar na Gaeilge, a community language development programme for the county.

He was also chairman of Glor na nGael in Ennis, which won a national award last year.

Mr O Ceallaigh’s last public func- tion was in Glor in Ennis last March, when he accepted this prestigious ac-

colade, on behalf of Glor na nGael.

He was the founding chairman of Gaelscoil Cios6g in Ennis in 1983 and was also on the committee of Féile na hInise, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.

His colleague with the various Irish organisations in Ennis Donal O Loinsigh said, “He was in his ele- ment that night.

‘“Roibeard was a man who learned Irish. He acquired Irish and learned it in Ballyferriter (Kerry) every sum- noe

“In his professional career, he pio- neered the use of Irish in the public service. He came up with the concept of having people in every section of the council to have proficient Irish even before the language Act,’ he

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“Clare County Council was the first local authority to produce fully bilingual application forms and he was a pioneer of that,’ added Mr O Loinsigh.

“He was the driving force behind anything that catapulted Ennis into the limelight nationally.

“He was a great motivator,” he Teeter

Mr O Ceallaigh had retired to En- nis and had lived in Roslevan with his wife Carmel. He had three sons Roibeard Og, Ronan and Eoghan.

He will repose at his home from 4pm today (Tuesday) and will be laid to rest in his native Kilkenny, follow- ing [lam mass at Ennis Cathedral tomorrow.

A PACKED passenger jet travelled almost 5,000 kilometres (3,000 miles) across the Atlantic Ocean with a gaping hole in one of the its wing flaps, but the damage went undetected until the plane landed at NJetvevslelswaeeu seu m

It was only after the scheduled Del- ta Airlines flight from New York’s JFK International Airport arrived at Shannon on Friday morning that the damage to the flap and a tyre were spotted.

The outer tread of one tyre on the Boeing 757 jet was completely miss-

ing. However, the main highly pres- surised section of tyre remained in- tact.

It is understood that the tread shred- ded during or soon after take-off in New York and a piece of rubber pen- etrated the wing flap.

The Delta aircraft was grounded for further inspection and repairs by aircraft maintenance company Shan- non Aerospace. The hole in the flap was described as “sizeable”.

According to an airport source, “If the damage had been spotted when the incident occurred the pilot would have had to declare and emergency and land at the nearest airport im-

mediately.”

Airport sources also said the crew and passengers on board the flight were oblivious to the incident, heard nothing out of the ordinary and saw no debris or damage to the flap. There was no indication in the cockpit at any time that anything had occurred while the plane continued to function and land without difficulty.

The Air Accident Investigation Unit of the Department of Transport has confirmed that it 1s investigating the matter.

Meanwhile two aircraft have made emergency diversions to Shannon in the past few days.

On Friday evening a transatlantic jet which was almost half way across the Atlantic was forced to Shannon after one of its two engines failed in jubheaale

The Continental Airlines Boeing 757-200, with 144 passengers on board, touched down safely after the pilot managed to restart the troubled engine shortly before arriving at Shannon.

On Monday morning a _ female member of the cabin crew of a Virgin Atlantic flight from Boston to Lon- don was taken to the Mid Western Regional Hospital with suspected appendicitis.

IT’S been real roller-coaster ride, but after almost four years of bargain- ing, horse trading and achievement, Mary Coughlan left the Department of Agriculture for the last time on Thursday morning.

The last 5 year have been some of the most eventful and controversial in recent memory for Irish farmers, although Minister Coughlan has certainly left the office with more friends than she had back in 2004.

The Donegal woman will now take up a new position as Minister for En- terprise, Trade and Employment and will also act as Tanaiste.

Speaking on Thursday, IFA Presi- dent Padraig Walshe wished Minis-

ter Coughlan well in her new posi- tion and said she could look back on a number of achievements during her four-year term as Minister for Agri- TTA Ken

He also congratulated Brendan Smith on his appointment as Min- ister for Agriculture. Walshe said he looked forward to working with Minister Smith and dealing with the issues in agriculture.

ICSA president Malcolm Thomp- son has welcomed the appointment of Brendan Smith as the new Min- ister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

“We worked well with the minis- ter when he was a minister of state before and look forward to a positive and pro-active relationship with him

into the future,” he said.

“However, we would urge him to ‘hit the ground running’ so to speak on WTO issues, as he will have to vigorously defend Ireland’s agricul- tural interests both in Europe and at WTO.”

Macra na Feirme also welcomed the appointment of Brendan Smith and wished Mary Coughlan the best of luck in her new post as Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise Trade and Employment.

However, it was not all kind words from the young farmers organisa- tion.

“We want to warn Brendan Smith that the task ahead as Minister for Agriculture Fisheries and Food will have immediate challenges such as

WTO and the CAP health check, farm waste management scheme along with young farmer specific 1s- sues such as the reintroduction and the continual supports and incentives to young farmers to readdress the age profile in agriculture,’ said a spokes- person from Macra.

Indeed questions have been raised about the timing of this Government reshuffle and the impact that it might have on the upcoming WTO negotia- tions. Minister Coughlan had almost single-handedly been managing the Government’s plan for handling the WTO negotiations.

Fears have been raised that Minis- ter Smith may not have enough time to fully understand the complex is- sues on discussion.

CLARE farm leader Martin McMa- hon, has welcomed the ban imposed by the Minister for Agriculture on the import of animals from blue- tongue infected regions.

In one of her last acts as Minister for Agriculture, Mary Coughlan in- troduced the ban following on from a unilateral move by Ireland some months ago.

McMahon, who is Chairman of ICMSA’s Beef and Cattle Commit- tee, argues that, to some extent, the Irish Department of Agriculture has forced the EU Commission to act in a sensible way to stop the spread of bluetongue.

He has however, expressed concern about any possibility of bluetongue being imported into the country.

“Given the serious potential losses from bluetongue, ICMSA’s view is that the import of animals which are still legally allowed should be reduced to the absolute minimum,” he said.

“Tt is essential that every precaution is taken against the spread of blue- tongue to Ireland and we feel that voluntary restrictions combined with the legal ban from bluetongue infect- ed regions may be required.

“Our second concern is around the area of vaccination.

“Tt is crucial that the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has

adequate stocks of vaccine should an outbreak occur.

“In this connection, ICMSA notes that Ireland still has not got a sup- ply of vaccine unlike other countries whose vaccination programmes are well under way. We need to do two things immediately: firstly, we need to secure a supply of the vaccination and, secondly, we need to consider voluntary vaccination by individual farmers who wish to protect their herds against any possibility of an outbreak.

“ICMSA is going on the record to express our concern about the degree of complacency that seems to be set- ting-in around the possibility of a bluetongue outbreak which would

put a beef industry already under threat under the most severe strain imaginable.”

Speaking after the ban Minister Coughlan said that notwithstanding the introduction of these new meas- ures, she would continue to insist that the EU must keep the bluetongue control measures under ongoing re- view and that if necessary these must be modified should evidence emerge that would demand such action.

“My priority continues to be to keep bluetongue out of this country and I will not hesitate to introduce additional safeguard measures, as I did in February, if I consider that Such action 1s warranted,” said the Minister.

ORGANISERS are confident this year’s Fleadh Nua will exceed the standards set by previous events.

There is a strong international di- mension to the programme as well a renewed emphasis on education.

Some 54 events are scheduled to take place over eight days includ- ing performances from a Congolese drum band and the Ulster Scots band, the Hounds of Ulster.

Focus in recent times has also switched to incorporating a more ed- ucational aspect to the festival. This is reflected in the growing popularity

of Scoil Fleadh Nua, which this year takes place in St Flannan’s College on May 24.

Rory Casey is a long time member of Fleadh Nua who is credited with pioneering Scoil Fleadh Nua. He is also the man responsible for publish- ing Nasc, the Fleadh Nua electronic newsletter.

According to Casey, the workshops are an integral part of the Fleadh Nua experience. He said, “Each year we are saying this year will be the biggest and the best, but this year it’s shaping up definitely, to be one of the biggest ever.

We have added to the programme

and there is something happening every night in the town.

“There is a lot of street entertain- ment, sessions, storytelling, Irish nights.

“We have the workshops for young- er musicians and they have become a really important and very popular element of the Fleadh Nua.”

A series of workshops in some of the more popular traditional music instruments forms the backbone of Scoil Fleadh Nua.

Teachers for this year’s event in- clude All-Ireland winning accor- dion player Damien O’Reilly, Caitlin Nic Gabhann (concertina), Siobhan

O’ Donnell (bodhran/singing), Anne- Marie Grogan (flute), Jack Talty (concertina), Aine Bird (fiddle) and Michael ‘Blackie’ O’Connell (uil- eann pipes).

It’s fitting then, Casey believes, that this year’s Fleadh Nua, recognises the career of one of Clare’s most respected music teachers, Frank Custy.

He said, “I suppose the main thing and perhaps one of the biggest high- lights is the tribute night to Frank Custy. Frank is recognised as a leg- endary teacher in Clare and around Ireland, so that should be a great night in Cois na hAbhna”.