The Clare People Archive

that the council is hopeful that it will be open “a week or so” before Christmas.

“There are, however, a couple of weather dependent activities that need to be completed and if things went bad in that respect we may have difficulties,” he said.

The Ennis bypass from Barefield to the Limerick dual carriageway opened ahead of time last January.

The remaining parts of the projects have all run behind time.

Ennis Chamber of Commerce CEO Rita McInerney said that it would be great if the link roads were open up to two weekends before Christmas.

“I believe it will help the businesses for the bypass to be open. It is impor- tant for access around the town that these sections are opened.”

The chamber CEO said that it was also important that the link roads were finished off well with footpaths and lighting.

“People enjoy walking and cycling on the link roads as a leisure activ- ity,’ she said.

Ms McInerney said that the link

roads were also important to the vis- ual impact of the town.

‘“T expect that these roads would be finished to a high standard. It is im- portant that they are finished prop- erly as it gives a good impression on the approach to the town,” she said.

This weekend also saw the first weekend of the pedestrianisation of the town centre for Christmas shop- pers. Retailers had mixed fortunes with many blaming the bad weather for sales. Late last week the Ennis Chamber of Commerce asked the council to postpone the pedestriani- sation when the stormy weather was predicted. The council had already advertised the closure of the roads,

so it had to go ahead.

Ms McInerney said that next week when the Christmas lights are switched on it would bring an even more festive feel to the centre of the town and be more inviting to shop- OL uCR

The CEO also suggested that a change to the barriers stopping cars from entering the centre of the town would also help. The barriers used last week gave the impression that the roads were closed off completely and an alternative should be consid- Kerem

The Holy Family National School will also be opening its car park from next weekend at €3 per day.

A DUBLIN-BASED housing asso- ciation has scaled back its plans for an apartment complex in Ennis town centre in order to overcome local council and resident concerns.

Last September, Ennis Town Coun- cil refused planning permission to Cluid Housing Association for a five storey apartment block adjacent to Ennis Tennis and Badminton Club.

The proposal involved plans to con- struct 21 one bedroom apartments and six two bedroom apartments.

However, Cluid Association 1s now seeking permission to construct three and four storey buildings in the erounds of Waterville House to ac- commodate 14 one bedroom apart- ments and three two bedroom apart- ments.

The housing association is also seeking planning permission for two one-bedroom apartments within Wa- terville House.

The Ennis Tennis and Badminton Club lodged a strident objection to the previous scheme pointing out that “with a large junior membership, the club has rigorous child protection schemes. Consequently, units with views overlooking children at play is of serious concern to all members”.

In a subsequent refusal, the council stated that due to the scale, massing, height and excessive site coverage

would result 1n over-development of the restricted site.

The council concluded that the pro- posal would compete visually with the Cornmarket building and Water- ville House, would detract from the character for the setting of Water- ville House and would fail to respect its context and contravene the Ennis and Environs Development Plan.

The council also refused planning permission after ruling that the de- velopment would result in over-look- ing and over-shadowing of adjacent residential buildings and would seri- ously injure the amenities of prop- erty in the vicinity.

“The proposed development there- fore would materially contravene a policy of the Ennis and Environs Development Plan 2003 and the zon- ing objective for the area which 1s to protect residential amenity.”

The council also refused planning due to the proposal’s “layout and den- sity and consequent lack of private Open space to serve the residential units would result in a sub-standard form of development which would seriously injure the amenity of future occupants. The council found that inadequate on-site parking would re- sult in over-development of the site. Rather than appealing the decision to An Bord Pleanala, Cluid Housing Assocation lodged revised plans to overcome the council’s concerns.

A HIGHLY cosmopolitan group of adult learners, including Polish Rus- sian and Croatian nationals, received their certificates at a special ceremo- UNAS DOW BI OD ON KB Keero NLU AZ

The awards were the end result of courses delivered by Clare Adult Basic Education Service (CABES), an arm of County Clare Vocational Education Committee’s Adult and Community Education Service.

The 147 strong group of certifi- cate recipients was the largest in the county to have gone through assess- ment.

Dr Sean Conlan, head of the Adult and Community Education Service, who presented the certificates, said that the high number was another milestone for the service.

He complimented the courses par- ticipants on their courage to return to education and upskilling themselves in various subjects while juggling with their other commitments.

He said his service providers were delighted to be in a position to of- fer such wide-ranging courses to an ever-growing international popula- tion in the county as well as indig- enous residents.

Recipients of certificates were

participants in CABES programmes in Knockalisheen Accommodation Centre, Clarecare Primary Health- care and various CABES courses.

Karl Quinn, co-ordinator of Eng- lish Language Programmes, who was master of ceremonies, pointed out that the range of subjects cov- ered included English for speakers of other languages, child develop- ment and play, learning skills, com- puter literacy, computer applications, communications, food and nutrition, food and cookery and understanding POLKoRGUDLAUUEAUO KONE

The courses were certified by the Further Education and _ Training Awards Council of Ireland.

CABES delivers one-to-one and group tuition to learners wishing to improve their skills in reading, writ- ing, spelling and basic maths as well many other subjects. Themed litera- cy classes allow learners to explore a subject while improving their liter- acy. Themed classes include stained glass, preparation for the driver the- ory test, computers, woodwork, arts, crafts and cookery.

Resources for the courses include a library available to students and an extensive range of adult-based read- ing writing and numeracy materials, including computer software, avail- able on loan.

that the organisa-

tion had not yet been able to calculate

how many women in the mid-west

had been affected but she feared that

the numbers to date were just the tip of the iceberg.

The ICA is providing counselling

for the women who were first given the all clear for breast cancer only to be recalled and re-tested. Some of these women were then told that they had cancer.

The ICA spokesperson said that many of these women were not of- fered counselling until they were of- fered help from the ICA. She said the ICA were now asking the Govern- ment to provide a medical card for the women for the duration of their treatment.

The ICA meeting in Limerick is open to all and not confined to just members of the organisation. The eroup hopes that through the voices of its 14,000 members the women’s voices will be heard.

COINCIDING with World AIDS Day Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSCs) have made a special appeal in Clare for support for their work with AIDS victims in South Africa. In 2006 nearly three million people died from the virus with about two million of these in sub-Saharan Af- rica – half the population of Ireland. ‘There are hundreds of thousands of children orphaned by the AIDS epidemic in South Africa. Children as young asl2 years are the head of

their household trying to provide for their younger brothers and sisters,” a spokesman for the charity said.

The MSCs have care programmes for orphans and the sick and dying. These include prevention education, foster family care for orphans, sup- port for the sick and dying as well as for families where the breadwinner has died. They also supported the development of an AIDS Hospice at Midrand.

Fr Michael O’Connell at the MSC Mission Support Centre in Cork said: “The orphans receiving care are the

lucky ones… but many thousands are left to fend for themselves… of- ten with tragic consequences. With very limited resources to meet the erowing need we are dependent on personal donations from Ireland and local fundraisers.”

€35 will care for an orphan for a month. Donations can be posted to Fr O’Connell at the MSC Mission Support Centre, PO Box 23, Western Road, Cork.

Credit card donations can also be made to 021 4544024. All donations will be acknowledged.

FIVE people were questioned by gardai in Shannon on Friday night following a disturbance earlier at Shannon Airport during which an Airport Police Officer was allegedly AISSALUD Kee b

The incident occurred at around 3pm when the four men and one woman, all from Lithuania but with addresses in Nenagh, County Tipper- ary, allegedly presented themselves in an intoxicated state at a check in

desk prior to their scheduled flight to Kaunas, Lithuania’s second larg- est city.

Airline staff refused to allow the passengers board the aircraft and ar- rangements were made to have their luggage returned to them. The group then agreed to make alternative ar- rangements and fly from Dublin on Saturday. However, a row broke out after their luggage was returned to them and one bag appeared to have been damaged.

A garda spokesman confirmed,

“There was a public order incident at Shannon as a group of passengers who were booked on a Ryanair flight to Kaunas arrived at the check in desk in an intoxicated manner. There was an exchange of words between members of the group and airport staff and one Airport Police Officer was assaulted. The assault was minor in nature but the group were later ar- rested under the Public Order Act.” According to one eyewitness, “They were very rowdy but we couldn’t make out what was going on. Two

Airport Police Officers arrived and tried to calm the situation but that didn’t work. They called for more help but when they asked the group to leave the airport, they wouldn’t. They were eventually removed from the building with their luggage one by one. Then the guards arrived and the five people were handcuffed and RCo he Ale

“When they were removed from the terminal, the door was locked behind them and people had to enter and leave through another door which

was heavily manned by security staff. The argument went on for quite a while,” the eye witness said.

An interpreter was sought by gardai to aid them in their questioning of the five. A garda spokesman confirmed that all five were charged with Pub- lic Order offences and were released on station bail later that evening. It is understood that none of the five was charged with the alleged assault. All five are now due to appear before the next sitting of Shannon District Court in Ennis on December 13.

KILRUSH area councillors have de- ferred any decision on the controver- sial proposal to close 120 metres of the Caherfeenick Road, Cree, until a draft legal agreement is presented to them.

At last evening’s Kilrush area meet- ing the councillors agreed after some debate to reconvene on Friday De- cember 14 to consider a draft legal agreement drawn up by the council’s legal team and the solicitors working for Doonbeg Golf Club Ltd.

The legal team for both parties are also to be at the meeting.

Just a month ago the members agreed to defer any decision on the controversial proposal until yester- day after a very heated meeting at- teended by the county solicitor John Shaw.

At that meeting Mr Shaw said that any decision made by the councillors would not affect a judicial review currently listed in the High Court.

The proposal which has split the west Clare councillors relates to a right of way on to Doughmore

Beach.

Under the agreement a right of way on to the beach will be handed over to Doonbeg Golf Club Limited in ex- change for alternative access to the beach.

Under the proposal, which must get the approval of the elected members of the complete council, part of the public road at Caherfeenick, Cree, will be extinguished for 120 metres.

The extinguishment will only take place, however, when certain criteria are met by the golf club according to council officials.

Among the commitments is the provision of a car park of 35 spaces constructed to Clare County Coun- cil’s specifications and supervised by the local authority’s staff.

An area of land including the car park and a further estimated .6 acres for 35 more car park spaces must also be transferred into the ownership of Clare County Council.

A new “turn table at the new term1- nal point” on the Caherfeenick road to Clare County Council’s specifica- tion in size and standard must also be constructed and bollards installed.

A document circulated to the coun- cillors earlier this year also pointed to “a clear legal grant of a vehicular right of way for emergency vehicles” to be given by the golf club to Clare County Council and this right of way to be three metres wide.

The councillors are to meet again on Friday week to discuss the issues as claims continue that the elected representatives have reneged on a previous agreement to postpone any decision until after an upcoming high court judicial review taken by the golf club against An Bord Pleanala.

ENNIS Town Manager Tom Cough- lan has rejected claims of a cover up in the aftermath of the fire that de- stroyed Bredin’s Hardware store.

Reacting to comments made by Independent Councillor Frankie Neylon, Mr Coughlan said the coun- cil had not misled the public on the problems associated with water pres- sure in the area and that council of- ficials had been upfront and honest.

Town Engineer Tom Tiernan said he resented the fact that the integrity of council staff had been called into question and the talk of a cover up.

Speaking at yesterday’s meeting of Ennis Town Council Mr Tiernan said, “The response to some of what I said at the time was upsetting and surprising. The integrity of my staff was called into question and I resent that.

He added, “I am particularly dis- appointed that words like cover-up were used. I resent that. I could say a lot more about what was said on the airwaves’.

Mr Tiernan also acknowledged problems existed with water pressure in the town.

Mr Coughlan said, “I don’t see

any cover up. We have given you the facts as they are. There has been no cover up in this council. We are only running away from facts if we cover

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Fire destroyed Bredin’s hardware on the Station Road after a blaze erupted at the premises on Novem- ber 7. Fire units from Ennis with as- sistance from units from Shannon,

Scariff and Ennistymon brought the blaze control.

At yesterday’s meeting Cllr Neylon re-iterated his view that had water pressure been sufficient, the building

could have been saved.

“We can cover it up all we want but anybody who was out on the road that morning would have noticed the lack of water. I was amazed at the decision to let it burn out. The bottom line that morning was water Kee Rome

After presenting a report on the Fire Service’s response to the fire, Chief Fire Officer Adrian Kelly admitted there had been problems with water pressure and defended the decision made to contain the fire and restrict it from spreading to nearby buildings.

He told the meeting, “The decision was made to contain the fire and not let it spread. Where there are lives at stake we would take a different ap- proach”.

The council also unanimously backed a motion to support Clare County Council’s request for a water tanker for Ennis.

Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) said the council had failed in its responsa- bility to provide a satisfactory water

supply.

IF THE go-ahead is given for plans to convert a former convent build- ing into an apartment complex, it will pose a serious risk to the safety of children attending Scoil Muire in Ennistymon, according to its parents’ association.

The association were responding to an application by Thomas Fitzgerald of Banna Developments to transform the “Old Convent” into 21 apartments along with 37 parking spaces.

The parents’ association, Scoil Muire, Scoil Mhainchin and the Dio- cese of Galway are objecting.

In their objection, the parents’ as- sociation point out that the roadway serving the development also serves the primary and secondary schools.

They state, “In the interest of safety, the school authorities have already taken the decision to restrict vehicu- lar access to the school to staff and emergency vehicles. They also em- ploy a traffic warden to enforce their decision.”

Demanding that the council refuse planning permission, the parents’ association state, “Any compromise to the safety of the children is unac- ceptable.”

Already, Banna Developments has been refused planning for a simi- lar proposal on the same site. The schools state that “the current appli- cation makes no significant effort to challenge this decision by substan- tially improving the traffic safety of the access laneway and that the de- velopment will endanger their pupils

and staff”.

The schools’ objection points out that there is a proposal to amalga- mate the three secondary schools in Ennistymon on a nearby site.

Sreysebweebeetcmmm dorsi mums elo Romr-VucwmEOL U0 Ee rently 430 students attending the two schools, the objection states that after the schools have been located, “there will no objection in principle to this development. In the mean- time, this proposed development is premature pending the relocation of the schools and should be refused by

the council”.

The Diocese of Galway point out that the proposal “is to use the pri- vate entrance roadway to the parish priest’s house, which is also used to accommodate Scoil Mhainchin and Scoil Mhuire, which entrance is ab- solutely and totally within the own- ership and control of Galway Dioc- esan Trustees.”

The diocese claims the develop- ment would create a traffic hazard and be contrary to the proper plan- ning and sustainable development.

THE CHAIRMAN of the Clare Childcare Committee believes that the Government may perform a u- turn on contentious proposals that may leave community childcare services worse off.

Cllr Joe Arkins (FG) said yesterday that there was a possibility that the Minister for State at the Department of Health, Brendan Smith, “may see the light of day” in relation to the proposed Community Childcare

Subvention Scheme (CCSS) being introduced from next January.

Cllr Arkins said that if the scheme was introduced in its current form “all the good work of the last six to seven years in this area will be over- aU bw elere

Cllr Arkins confirmed that case studies have been carried out on a number of community-based child- care providers in Clare and it has found “that they will be considerably worse off” under the new funding mechanism.

In the Dail, Minister Smith said “that the new scheme will provide an effective framework for the contin- ued targeting of additional resources towards disadvantaged parents and their children while continuing to Support community childcare serv- CoO EUR YE

‘The scheme has been informed by and takes account of a number of en- hancements recommended by the re- port of the Value for Money Review of the Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme 2000-06. . .

‘The new scheme has clear advan- tages over its predecessor. There is an increase in the level of funding available under it, and a majority of services will benefit from the chang- es it introduces.”

However, Cllr Arkins said yester- day that the new scheme hadn’t been measured in terms of rural isolation or economies of scale. The Ruan- based councillor said that if the new Scheme was introduced, it would result in greater fees for parents in Clare and would make some com-

munity childcare services in Clare unviable.

Cllr Arkins said that lobbying had already taken place with Minister Smith and Junior Minister, Tony Kil- leen on the issue.

Cllr Arkins believes that the meas- ures were put in place with Dublin- based community childcare provid- ers in mind. He said: “It is an east versus west argument to some extent and Minister Eamon O’Cuiv is now on side and I am confident that the new measures will be overturned.”