This article is from page 32 of the 2007-07-31 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 32 JPG
THE developers of a proposed €1m crematorium in Shannon have resub- mitted their planning application for the project to Clare County Council after withdrawing it at the last minute late last year.
Clare County Council was expect- ed to decide last November whether it would grant permission for the construction of what would have been Ireland’s only crematorium outside of Dublin. A similar facility has since opened in Cork however. The original decision on the future of the development was due on Au- gust 2 last, however just a day earlier the developers were granted a four month extension to their planning application.
At the time, a spokesman for II- launamanagh Ltd said they sought
the extension because they “wished to address some issues raised by the Local Authority”. Clare County Council granted the extension at the time and was due to deliver its deci- sion in November.
At the last minute however, II- launamanagh Ltd withdrew the ap- plication altogether because they required further time to gather other information, including a consultant’s report concerning environment is- sues which was also sought by the council.
IIlaunamanagh Ltd comprises of two local businessmen, former Clare County Councillor Tony McMahon and existing Shannon Town Coun- cillor Sean Hillery.
Company Director Sean Hillery has now confirmed, “The council had been looking for a consultants report on environmental issues re-
lating to the development. We have now resubmitted our application along with the consultants report and we are confident that all the I’s have been dotted and the t’s crossed and that the local authority now has all the information it requires.”
“All we can do now is wait for the decision but I believe that we have allayed all of the fears and concerns of the local community,’ Mr Hillery Sr HLGe
The proposed development, which has been designed by the company that drafted the plans for Newlands Cross Crematorium in Dublin, will be located beside I[llaunamanagh cemetery in Shannon and will com- prise a 12-tonne crematorium unit and furnace. The plans also include a multi-denominational chapel and a garden of remembrance surrounded by an ornate wall where family mem-
bers can enter the cremated remains of their loved ones.
The project has received the full backing of the Parish Priest of Shan- non. Fr Tom Ryan has already stated, “This is something I have welcomed from the very beginning and advo- cated for Shannon since I arrived here as a curate in 1992. From a Catholic perspective, cremation is very acceptable as our understand- ing of death and grief has evolved over the years.”
Mr McMahon, who is also a well- known local undertaker with funeral homes in Shannon, Sixmilebridge and Blackwater, has described the public reaction to the proposed cre- matorium as ‘very positive’.
Councillor Hillery has said the crematorium project is a long-term investment for the people of Munster and surrounding areas.