The Clare People Archive

THE streets of Ennis will be off lim- its to cars in the run up to Christmas, despite concerns over the impact on retail activity in the town.

Abbey Street and O’Connell Street will be vehicle-free on Saturday/Sun- day 1-2, 8-9, 15-16 and 22-23 of De- cember. The streets will remain pe- destrianised during Christmas Eve.

Eddie Power, Ennis Town Clerk said that the decision to pedestrianise the streets was taken following consid-

eration of submissions received and that, as part of the statutory process, gardai were also consulted.

Mr Power said, “Ennis Town Coun- cil will erect signage around the town indicating that Abbey Street and O’Connell Street will be pedes- WUTTIDRoOD

“In relation to parking, it should be noted that the new multi-storey car park at Dunnes Stores has resulted in an additional 250 spaces in the town. Other car parks are conveniently lo- cated adjacent to the town centre and

are easily accessible.”

Ennis Chamber of Commerce sup- ports the temporary introduction. But, in a statement, the chamber said the completion of the inner re- lief road must take place before the policy could be contemplated on a long-term basis.

The chamber has called for free parking to be introduced on the days set aside in December and for extra parking to be provided in town cen- tre schools.

Concern over the impact of pe-

destrianisation stems from a recent footfall survey commissioned by En- nis Chamber to examine the impact of the policy on retail activity in the town centre.

The footfall survey conducted on Car Free Day and October 6 showed a significant and proportional in- crease in Abbey Street and O’Connell Street.

However, researchers conditioned results with the views that on Car Free Day favourable weather condi- tions had an impact on figures and

that people brought more children into the town centre.

Welcoming the move, Mayor ‘lom- my Brennan said pedestrianisation would improve safety for increased numbers of shoppers.

Businessman Oliver Moylan, a vo- cal critic of pedestrianisation in En- nis and of the level of commercial rates imposed on businesses in the town centre, said the policy would depress activity and drive shoppers towards large-scale retail develop- ments.

The musical western was adapted for the stage from the film musical of the same name with Doris Day in the title role and Howard Keel as Wild Bill Hickok. This stage ver- sion of the show was premiered in 1961. The musical tells the story of famed Calamity Jane — played by

Aisling Davies — who dresses and shoots like a man, but given a proper chance, can be a beautiful girl who hankers for the love of a man.

That man may be dashing Lt. Dan- ny Gilmartin — played by Emma Collins — or the justly famed Wild Bill Hickok — played by Stella Mc- Glennon.

Calamity puts her reputation on the line when she volunteers to bring famous singing star Adelaide Ad- ams (Aoife Corry) but mistakenly hauls her maid, Katie Brown (Kate Mc Glennon) to Deadwood’s Golden Garter Saloon.

This is the latest in a long line of Scoil Mhuire’s hugely entertaining musical offerings and, with Peter Kennedy as producer and Patricia Dooley as musical director, the well- loved musical will no doubt be a SNe efete

The school has been something of a hotspot for musical talent over the years. In this, Scoil Mhuire’s ninth musical, the students deliver the mu- sic with panache and verve.

The musical numbers are outstanding, including the romping ‘Deadwood Stage’, the charming ‘Just Blew in from the Windy City’,

the romantic ballads “Higher than a Hawk’ and the Academy Award- winning “Secret Love’.

The show will be staged in Ennistymon Community Centre from Wednesday, December 5 to Saturday, December 8, with matinees on Tues-

day and Thursday.

LISDOON VARNA is set to benefit significantly as a result of a four- pronged development which will cost up to €3 million.

The major plans will see the development of a 300-seater thea- tre, a new community creche, play- eround and sports pitch complete with running track.

All of the projects are being run in tandem and will be located close together, along the site of the old

town hall in the town. The plans for the theatre were spun into action some years ago when former Clare TD Sile de Valera secured more than €1 million towards the project. The project is expected to be completed early in 2008. The existing town hall will be renovated and the state- of-the-art theatre is expected to be opened next April.

“All projects are being done together and will be a huge benefit to the local community,’ said Marian O’Callaghan, who is a director of

Lisdoonvarna Failte, which owns the property on which the development will take place. The old town hall goes all the way back to Victorian mb en teh

“We are kitting it out as a fully equipped theatre. Along with the main theatre, there will be a suit- able place for conferences,” said Ms O’Callaghan.

“It will be a good asset for touring groups around Clare. We will talk to all groups so that it is a benefit not just to Lisdoonvarna, but north Clare

as such,’ she added. While Govern- ment funding will pay much of the costs, there will also be a need for lo- cal fundraising and Ms O’Callaghan is encouraging people to dig deep and help out.

“We hope to raise €120,000 over- all and now there is the chance to do it,” she said.

The organising committee has decided to organise a few major fundraisers, one of which will be a race night at the Ritz hotel on Satur- day, December 29.

ONE of Clare’s largest credit unions has said it proposes to pay its mem- bers the same dividend they earned last year, despite predictions of slashed earnings on shares.

The ACCA (Association of Char- tered Certified Accountants) is advis- ing credit union members to expect a lower dividend and loan interest re- bate this year.

Aidan Clifford, Advisory Services Manager, ACCA Ireland, said, ““The current trend is for credit unions to be under-lent and over-invested and because investments yield a lower return than loan interest, the surplus

available for distribution in many credit unions will be lower this year.”

He added, “A number of credit un- ions have also been hit with invest- ment losses from perpetual bonds and other bonds and a generally un- derperforming stock market, adding to the downward pressure on divi- dends.”

All credit unions in Ireland have a September 30 year-end and will traditionally hold their AGM in De- cember to allow a dividend and loan rebate to be paid prior to Christmas.

Credit unions take deposits from members, lend the funds to other members and the balance of un-lent

funds are invested. The target for credit unions is to lend out €7/0 of every €100 deposited and invest the balance.

Few credit unions achieve this, with €50 being more normal and in some cases as low as €20 in every €100 being lent. Investments typi- cally yield a much lower return than interest on loans and this year invest- ment income has been hit by falling markets and losses on some unusual investment products such as “per- petual bonds”.

The Registrar of Credit Unions has barred credit unions from investing in some of these more exotic prod- ucts in the future. Mr Clifford con-

cluded, “Some credit unions are so heavily invested and so under-lent that they risk being described as dysfunc- tional savings clubs.”

But Paddy McNamara, acting man- ager of Derg Credit Union, said that the board will be proposing paying a two per cent dividend when the AGM is held in December.

‘“That’s the same rate as last year and the year before.” he said, adding that that is ““a much better rate than the or- dinary bank deposit account, which would typically pay much less on an active account. Credit union members have full access to their funds, pro- vided they are not being used to guar- antee loans and a better rate.”

A SHORT summer holiday in Lahi- nch ended in tragedy for a 19-year- old Dublin man who drowned in the early hours of the morning after a night out.

Joseph ‘Joey’ Wall from Clontarf lost his life during the August bank holiday weekend last year, Ennis Coroner’s Court heard last week.

A day-long search followed his dis- appearance at around 4am on Mon- day, August 6. His body was located at the seashore less than 24 hours Fitoe

Joey’s friend, Tom Verling, said that a group of friends went back to their

bed and breakfast accommodation after a night out. He said that Joey went to the bed and breakfast and asked some friends to go for a swim. Tom and another friend agreed and they went down to the water.

“Joey started running and taking off his clothes. We started to run af- ter him,’ he recalled.

They followed Joey into the water, trying to catch up with him. They lost sight of him and called out his ue BaNToR

“Joey never replied,’ recalled Mr Verling.

Another friend, Sean Rooney, said Joey invited him to go swimming at around 4am. Sean initially declined,

but then agreed and they headed for the beach.

“Joey was taking off all his clothes as he went down the steps,’ he re- called.

He said he called him and waited in the water for some time, until the lifeguards told him to get out of the water.

The inquest heard that John Logan was out walking along the seashore at around 7.15pm on the Bank Holiday Monday. He noticed a male’s body in the water, face down. Doolin Rescue retrieved the body a short time later.

Garda John Cleary of Lahinch told the inquest that after the alarm was raised, the search for Mr Wall con-

tinued throughout the Bank Holiday Monday. The beach in Lahinch was deserted that day, apart from the search party, he said.

Pathologist Dr Peter Fawl carried out an autopsy on Mr Wall’s body on August 7 last. Death, he said, was due to asphyxia, secondary to drowning.

Coroner Isobel O’Dea said _ that, based on the evidence she had heard, the appropriate verdict was one of misadventure.

‘That unfortunately sums up the sad circumstances concerning Joseph’s death. It was a bank holiday week- end and there were a lot of people in Lahinch. It was a very sad and tragic end to the weekend,” she added.

THE TOURISM arm of Shannon Development suffered a 42 per cent drop in profits last year according to the most recent returns to the Com- panies Office.

Shannon Heritage’s profits dropped from €196,000 in 2005 to €113,000 last year.

However, a major contributory fac- tor to the drop in profits and drop in attendances at its visitor attractions across the region was the closure of O’Brien’s Tower at the Cliffs of Mo- her in 2006 to facilitate the construc- tion of the new visitor centre.

The accounts show that 81,000 tourists visited O’Brien’s Tower in 2005 and the absence of these tour- ists last year resulted in the overall number of tourists visiting day-time attractions dropping from 512,000 in 2005 to 449,000 in 2006.

Overall numbers going to night

time attractions also showed a mar- ginal drop from 66,999 in 2005 to 65,168 last year.

The combined total for day-time and night-time attractions dropped from 625,615 in 2005 to 562,139 last year.

The profit last year of €113,000 put Shannon Heritage on a firmer finan- cial footing with accumulated profits now of €847,000.

The accounts show that the com- pany secured a gross profit last year of €8.9 million, however, Shannon Heritage’s “administration expens- es” increased from €7.9 million to €8.8 million. The company now has €1.353 million, while staff costs last year were €5.2 million employing 210.

In spite of the drop in profits, the statement accompanying the ac- counts states that Shannon Heritage “recorded one of its best results for

many years’.

FORMER ~ Lisdoonvarna parish priest, Brendan Kelly, was last week appointed as the new Bishop of the Diocese of Achonry.

Monsignor Kelly, who served as PP in Lisdoonvarna from 1996 to 2003, will succeed Bishop Thomas Flynn who has been in charge of the Mayo,

Sligo and Roscom- mon diocese for the last 30 years.

Speaking after the announcement _ the Bishop-elect said that he was happy to be in the diocese and had already been made to feel very welcome by the priests and all the people he has met.

He went on to say that he looked for- ward to working in the diocese and would concentrate his initial efforts on getting to know the priests with whom he would work and the people of the diocese.

Monsignor Kelly was born in Der- rybrien on the Clare/Galway border in May 1946. He was the second in a family of nine. He attended Craughwell National School before going on to St Mary’s College in Crea

When he finished secondary school he began his studies for the priest- hood in St Patrick’s College, May- nooth in 1964, where he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Divinity, and was ordained a priest in the diocese of Galway in June 1971. After his ordination he studied for his Higher Diploma in Education

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After serving a year as curate in Kinvara, he held a number of teaching posts, first in Colaiste Einde, and then in Our La- dy’s College in Gort until 1986 when he became president until 1995.

He received sab- batical leave in 1995 and served as chap- lain to the L’Arche community in Cul-

se-la-Motte in France.

Following his time in Lisdoonvarna he was appointed as parish priest for Spiddal in Galway where he served until he was announced as the Bish- op-elect for Achonry last week.

The Diocesce of Achonry consists of 23 separate parishes, with 39 priests and 47 Catholic churches. Ac- cording to the latest census figures the Diocese of Achonry consists of 35,224 Catholics.

AN extra 150 childcare places will have to be provided in County Clare during the next four years if the cur- rent level of childcare provision is to be maintained. However, a further 1,100 childcare places are required if the county if to achieve its proportion of the national targets. That was the message coming from the launch of the County Childcare Strategy 2007- 2010 last evening (Monday).

The strategy outlined the rapidly changing childcare contexts within the county, and identified the areas most in need of supported childcare.

There has been an increase of 4.8 per cent in the number of children and young people under 15 years of age between 2002-2006 and by 2006 they accounted for 23,973 out of the total population of the county of 110,950.

In 2006, there was a population in- crease of eight per cent in Clare and

figures from the recent census show 8,206 children are aged O to four years, 8,118 children are aged five to nine years and 7,649 are young peo- ple aged 10 to 14 years.

The strategy was complied by the Clare County Childcare Committee, which has been in operation since 2001 and was established with the key role of developing a co-ordinated approach to childcare in the county.

Reflective of the population increase and the high number of children in

Clare is a growing demand for child- care in the county and one of the committee’s key principles is to en- sure that there is a synergy between all the stakeholders represented and a collaborative response to the growing demand for childcare services.

There has also been an increase in childcare services throughout the county provided by both private and community childcare providers, many through funding under the Equal Op- portunities Childcare Programme (EOCP) and the National Childcare Investment Programme (NCIP).

The Clare County Childcare Com- mittee supports applicants both pri- vate and community through the NCIP process of developing funding proposals for the Office of the Min- ister for Children.

The strategy also pointed to areas in the county where there is under- provision of services. It discovered that there was a need for pre-devel- opment work with communities if childcare facilities are to be devel- oped in these areas.

The role of childcare committee has now become central to ensuring that funding is allocated to areas where AUSTIN MUO IM Ole NBUES ee

The group also launched a guide to setting up a childcare service.

PUPILS could be walking to school this Friday after SIPTU served strike notice on Bus Eireann in a demand for increased pay and conditions for more than 200 school bus drivers seeking proper pay and conditions.

The union is calling a one-day stoppage, which it says will be just the first if demands are not met.

Talks are scheduled for the Labour Relations Commission tomorrow to try to avert the dispute.

Pay and condition in the job are

So unattractive, SIPTU claims, that the company found it impossible to recruit new drivers in Limerick and Galway to fill vacancies recently. The drivers currently earn €11.66 per hour. “They have no pension, sick pay or other benefits. They are amongst the lowest paid workers in the public transport or education sec- tors. For example, school caretakers earn €14.38 per hour and other Bus Eireann drivers have a payscale run- ning from €13.15 to €15.23 per hour. SIPTU is seeking parity with full- time drivers and the same benefits as

all other Bus Eireann employees.”

SIPTU National Industrial Secre- tary, Michael Halpenny said that, ‘Employment conditions are so poor that it proved impossible to recruit new drivers recently in Limerick and Galway, when vacancies arose”.

Meanwhile, Bus Eireann said in a statement that it welcomes the deci- sion by SIPTU to enter talks with the company at the Labour Relations Commission on Wednesday, adding that it is hopeful that strike action can be averted.

A spokesperson for the company

said, “We welcome SIPTU’s deci- sion to participate in talks at the LRC and hope that Friday’s planned strike can be averted.”

The spokesperson added, “Any ac- tion would cause unnecessary dis- ruption and inconvenience for school children and their families.”

The company said that the pay claim had already been examined by the Rights Commissioner and reject- ed. SIPTU subsequently appealed the decision to the Labour Court and in May the court disallowed the ap- peal.

MARTINA Baker told the court yesterday that her duty was “for the care of the children” and denied the AT Neone ree Rem eoe

Ms Baker said she had run the creche, which was located on the Quin Road in Ennis, for more than 10 years.

She said that there was not a musty smell from the room where the ba- bies were asleep.

“I dispute that. There was at least one child with a soiled nappy, if not two,’ said Ms Baker.

She also disputed the allegations regarding the sanitary accommoda- tion of the créche.

“The building is vented. They are young children you are dealing with. We would have let the older ones use the toilets on their own, for privacy and they may not have flushed after,” said Ms Baker.

She said a cleaning regime pro-

gramme was in place on the premises and that the Health Service Execu- tive (HSE) did not offer any specific guidance on cleaning.

Referring to the allegation that the running water in the bathroom was cold, she said the water is thermo- statically controlled and was spe- cially installed when the créche was olebn te

“I wasn’t told there was no hot wa- ter. I don’t know whether or not it was. I didn’t check it that day. I can’t

comment whether it was hot or not,” she added.

She also denied that there was dust or dirt on a floor in a playroom as had been alleged by HSE staff who visited the premises in March 2006.

She said she used floor cleaning solution and hot water once a day to clean the floors.

Solicitor for the HSE – which is taking the case – Cathal Minihane asked her if the sanitary accommo- dation was cleaned regularly, would

it be fair to say there wouldn’t have been a smell of urine.

Ms Baker replied, “I could not say Whether an unflushed toilet would smell or not.”

Mr Minihane said that there was a musty smell from the sleeping room and not the smell of a soiled nappy, but she denied this.

“I wrote to the HSE looking for a definition of must but I never got a reply. I don’t know what the chemical composition of must is,’ she said.