This article is from page 2 of the 2011-06-14 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
THE activities of “cowboy coal-sellers” are hurting Ennis businesses and damaging homes, a meeting has heard.
At last week’s meeting of Ennis Town Council, Cllr Frankie Neylon (Ind) had sought support for a motion calling on the Minster for Finance to exempt domestic solid fuel from the carbon tax.
Cllr Neylon, who runs a coal and smokeless fuel distribution business, told the meeting that coal-sellers from outside Clare had operated in the county over the past two years. He described the coal as like “burning rubber” and claimed, “the people who were selling coal, 90 per cent of them are on the dole”.
He said coal distributors in Ennis had been hit hard by “outside suppliers bringing in rubbish coal”.
He added, “If we keep going like this, we are going to pay a massive price in terms of pollution.”
Cllr Mary Coote Ryan (FG) told the meeting that a neighbour had almost been injured by coal purchased from people she described as “cowboy coal-sellers”.
“A big stone flew out of the fire and broke everything and just passed this man’s head,” she explained.
Cllr Peter Considine (FF) urged the council to write to the Minister of Finance and the Minister for Social Protection.
Cllr Paul O’Shea (Lab) said the past two winters had been unprecedented. He said it had been so cold that elderly people “had gone to bed early to conserve coal”.