Month: December 2011

HE’S LIVED the jet set lifestyle of a Hollywood star and now a family reunion in Ennis could be the next port of call for George Clooney.

Last week the world famous actor announced plans for a motorbike trip around Ireland in April. The Ocea ns 11 star is keen to re-connect with his Irish roots, which some believe, could stretch all the way back to the Banner County.

Clooney’s father’s great, great grandfather, Nicholas Clooney, hailed from Kilkenny. His grandmother’s maiden name was Guilfoyle, a surname common in Clare. Clooney’s decision to visit Ireland has prompted the Mayor of Ennis, Michael Guilfoyle, to invite the Oscar winning actor to the Clare capital. Councillor Guilfoyle, who shares a name with Clooney’s great grandfather – Michael T Guilfoyle believes the actor could be persuaded to come to Ennis.

He explains, “I just thought that given that George Clooney is coming to Ireland next year, it would be good to invite him to the town. The fact that his grandmother’s name was Guilfoyle, I want to invite him to Ennis to meet the other Guilfoyles.”

Clooney has not revealed the places he will visit when he comes to Ireland next spring but Cllr Guilfoyle says the lure of some of Clare’s world famous tourist attractions may tempt him to visit the county.

“He probably will be going to the Cliffs of Moher. I’m trying to make contact with his agent but I haven’t been able to do so yet,” says the independent councillor.

The potential arrival of George Clooney would be another boost to Ennis following Muhammad Ali’s memorable “homecoming” to the town in September 2009. Thousands packed the streets for the visit of the former world-boxing champion whose ancestors are thought to have come from the Turnpike area of the town.

Cllr Guilfoyle believes the visit of another high profile figure like Clooney would generate a similar feel-good factor around the town. “It would be huge for us to get him over to Ennis,” he says.

A € 450,000 property in Mountshannon looks set to be the first property in Clare to be transferred to the Land Aggregation Scheme – the so called NAMA for local authorities. Mountshannon House was purchased by the Respond! housing agency with the support of Clare County Council in 2004.

The building, which had been earmarked as social accommodation for the elderly, has lain dormant for the past seven years and

SIGNIFICANT staff turnover has impacted on the teaching of English at St Joseph’s Community College in Kilkee. That is according to an inspection carried out by inspectors from the Department of Education at the school, where enrolment stands at 194.

The inspectors found that teaching was “generally good and learning ranged from adequate to good in the lessons observed” during the inspection in May of this year.

“High expectations are promoted by the placement of students into mixed-ability classes in first and second year and by the organisation of co-curricular activities to develop students’ subject-specific skills and interests,” stated the report.

“Due to a number of factors, significant staff turnover has and continues to be an issue in the English department, impacting on subject department planning and implementation and on the learning of some junior cycle students,” noted the inspectors.

The report found that a good quality of teaching was observed in lessons, which was facilitated by teacher preparation, knowledge of the subject, well-managed lessons and good rapport with students.

It recommended that lessons should incorporate greater emphasis on sharing learning outcomes with students at the outset and on organising more varied active learning opportunities.

“A greater range of resources should be used to enhance learning, including graphic organisers, audio recordings, and props. No ICT was used in classes because of the absence of fixed equipment and of the reported unreliability of satellite coverage for the school. Senior management is working with Co Clare Vocational Education Committee (VEC) to overcome these deficiencies,” stated the inspectors. “Homework was being set and monitored and some good written feedback being given in the sample of copies reviewed. The valuable practice of sharing criteria for the assessment of substantial pieces of writing with senior cycle students should be extended to junior cycle students.”

A number of recommendations were suggested by the inspectors. These include that a base room for English be established and that timetable provision for first and fourth year English should be increased and allocated lessons should be spread over the maximum possible number of days per week.

“Existing termly schemes of work should be reshaped after discussions are held on the key learning outcomes and skills to be developed in each year of study. New assessment practices that link to those agreed learning outcomes should also be established,” added the report.

A BROAD range of curricular experiences are provided at a primary school in East Clare, which has been praised by inspectors from the Department of Education.

A whole school evaluation report carried out at Boher National School, Ballina, Killaloe, was very complimentary of staff at the school.

There are currently 108 pupils in the school, where there are four mainstream classes and a class for pupils with autistic spectrum disorders (ASDs). The evaluation focused on the quality of teaching and learning in English, Irish, Mathematics and Social, Personal, and Health Education (SPHE).

A number of strengths were identified at the school, including the “commitment, enthusiasm and professionalism of the teachers”.

“The principal provides dedicated leadership to the school and ensures that a focus is firmly maintained on teaching, learning and the welfare of pupils. Pupils are provided with a broad range of curricular experiences in a positive and affirming atmosphere,” stated the inspectors’ report.

“The overall standards of attainment, particularly in literacy, are very good. The meaningful inclusion of pupils with special educational needs in the full life of the school is a notable feature of practice,” added the inspectors. “The pupils interact with adults and with their peers in a highly positive fashion. The school enjoys considerable support from the board of management, the parents and the community.”

According to the evaluation, classrooms are well resourced with suitable teaching aids and the buildings and grounds are well maintained. “However, at the pre-inspection meeting, the board referred to the challenges it has experienced in acquiring permanent classrooms.”

The current deployment of staff affords teachers opportunities to gain experience at different class levels and in various settings. “It is advised that this good practice be formalised and agreed at board level,” stated the inspectors.

The quality of classroom planning is regarded as “generally good”, with a clear focus on specific learning objectives described as “good practice”.

The report pointed to a number of recommendations that could be adopted by management at the school. It suggested that the school should review its assessment policy and clarify whole-school approaches in this area.

“The school should review and consolidate the individualised planning process and the school’s policy on autistic spectrum disorders. In managing the school, the board needs to review its practices in regard to decision making and, in particular, its practices around the recording of decisions made,” it added.

COUNCILLORS in Ennis have voted against a proposal that would call on the Government to provide mandatory equality training for all local representatives.

A majority of councillors present at yesterday’s monthly meeting of Ennis Town Council voted 4-3 against the proposal.

In a motion, Cllr Paul O’Shea proposed that the council extend their sympathy to the family of Moses Ayanwole, a Nigerian taxi driver killed in Dublin last month.

Cllr O’Shea also called on the council to request that Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Phil Hogan legislate immediately for mandatory training in equality anti-discrimination and racism for all local elected representatives throughout the State.

While all councillors present offered their sympathies to Mr Ayanwole’s family, a dispute arose over Cllr O’Shea’s proposal for all members to undergo mandatory training.

Cllr Tommy Brennan (Ind) told the meeting that he was dissenting from the proposal. He said he had been an elected representative for all people in the Ennis area for the past 32 years and had treated all constituents with equality and fairness. “I don’t believe you need training for good manners,” he said.

In reference to controversial remarks made by the former Fine Gael Mayor of Nass, Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) said Darren Scully had raised issues that needed to be discussed. Supporting Cllr O’Shea’s proposal, Cllr Flynn said training would allow him to express his views in an appropriate and more inclusive fashion.

Cllr O’Shea said councillors are entitled to express their opinions “but how we express them is important”. He said he was hopeful that politicians in the “hometown of Muhammad Ali” would support his proposal.

Cllr Frankie Neylon (Ind) said people in Ennis had always welcomed people to the town, adding there had been an old saying that “The stranger will flourish and the native will perish”. Cllr Neylon claimed that people in Ennis and around Clare have been discriminated against by non-nationals. He told the meeting that he had no problem working with people from the 26 different nationalities that lived in Ennis.

“I’ve met people of all nationalities that appreciate the work we have done”, he added.

Cllr Mary Coote Ryan (FG) said counillors did not need training to be respect other people. “We just need to be respectful. You either have it or you don’t.”

Mayor of Ennis, Cllr Michael Guilfoyle (Ind) said he opposed the pro- posal on the basis that it could present legal difficulties for the council in the future.

Cllr O’Shea challenged his fellow councillors by asking them if they were fully up to date on recent equality legislation.

“I’ve done my job to the best of my ability for 32 years and I don’t need no course,” responded Cllr Brennan.

A vote was taken on the proposal for mandatory training.

Councillors Brennan, Coote Ryan, Neylon and Guilfoyle voted against it. Councillors O’Shea, Howard and Flynn voted for it. Councillors Brian Meaney (GP) and Peter Considine (FF) were unable to attend the meeting.

THE importance of fire safety awareness has been emphasized as new figures show that Clare County Fire and Rescue Service were mobilised to 110 incidents last Christmas.

They included 65 fires while Ennis Fire Brigade alone attended 52 incidents during the same period. The figures are contained in a report prepared chief fire officer Adrian Kelly.

Mr Kelly was responding to a motion tabled by councillor Brian Meaney (GP) at yesterday’s monthly meeting of Ennis Town Council.

Cllr Meaney stated “that this council request all homeowners to welcome this motion and want to emphasise the necessity of fire safety awareness in the home, not just during the Christmas period but throughout the year”.

Mr Kelly stated between December 2010 and January 2011 there were 18 fatalities in fires throughout the country.

He continued, “Fire alarms were either not present or working in the majority of cases. In Clare alone we had two fatalities in that period. Many more people have been injured while there were a large number of properties damaged by fire. This magnitude of fire deaths serves as stark reminder to us all of the importance of installing working smoke detectors and the need to have an escape plan should it be necessary to escape.”

He stated, “During the Christmas period, people spend a lot more time at home, open fires are used for longer periods, electrical items and extension leads are used more. Add in flammable decorations, candles and alcohol and it becomes apparent that the risks increase during the festive season.”

Mr Kelly added, “The main causes of fire during the festive season are candles left unprotected, fairy lights left on all night or improperly wired, Christmas trees falling over, open fires without fireguards and decorations catching fire.”

He continued, “Last year, Clare County Fire and Rescue Service were mobilised to 110 incidents including 65 fires during the Christmas period. Ennis Fire Brigade alone attended 52 incidents in this period.”

Mr Kelly explained that there are a number of practical safety steps households can take. They include installing a smoke alarm and check ing it weekly, keeping candles away from curtins, never leaving candles unattended and visiting elderly neighbours.

He added, “And finally, the fire service hopes that Santa rates Ennis as the best town in Ireland for clean chimneys this year.”

WORK on the start of the € 12.8m second section of the Ennis Flood Relief Scheme is li kely to be delayed for a number of months after problems emerged in the tendering process.

The scheme will see improvements to river walls and other flood defenses on the river Fergus from Bank Place to Doora Bridge. Phase one of the scheme, which was com- pleted two years ago, is credited with preventing floods in large areas of the town centre.

However, the OPW has informed Ennis Town Council that the tendering process for phase two of the scheme has been terminated with immediate effect.

Councillors were informed of the development at the yesterday’s monthly council meeting.

Cll r Mar y Howard (FG) had requested a progress report from the council on phase two of the Ennis drainage scheme.

In his response, town clerk Leonard Clear y stated that the council has been in ongoing discussion with the OPW regarding the progress of the scheme. He explained that this included a briefing by OPW personnel for the elected members in recent months.

He continued, “The Office of Public Works has today advised that due to the withdrawal of certain tender- ers and issues that have arisen in relation to the tendering process, it has been decided to terminate with immediate effect the Ennis lower scheme tender competition. Letters have been issued to the eight prequalified tenderers notifying them of the termination. This competition will be re-tendered immediately.”

He added, “The council has also been advised by the OPW that Minister (Brian) Hayes would li ke to assure the people of Ennis that this scheme has been included in the OPW budget for next year. The council will continue to work with the OPW to ensure that this important scheme can be commenced at the earliest possible date.”

Town manager Ger Dollard described the termination of the tendering process as “unfortunate”. He said the council are quite satisfied that the OPW will proceed with the project.

PLANS TO centralise courts services to Ennis have been described as “disgraceful”.

Court sittings across the county will experience significant changes in the new year if proposals to centralise the service are adopted.

Under the changes, most of the hearings will be centralised to Ennis. While Kilrush cases will continue to be heard in the West Clare town, cases from North Clare are to be moved to Ennis. Killaloe courts currently sit in Ennis as a temporary measure while a new venue for the East Clare courts is being sought. Shannon cases have been heard in Ennis for the past few years.

North Clare sittings were held in Kilrush Courthouse during the past few years but the latest changes mean that any prospects of court sittings in Ennistymon are not likely, at least in the short-term.

Lahinch businessman Donogh O’Loughlin has expressed concern at the latest proposals.

“I think it is disgraceful. It is a loss of business for some people, the local restaurants and hotels. Also it is going to be more expensive for gardaí to go to Ennis and sit all day in a court and it might be heard and it might not be heard,” he said.

“It is another thing gone from the towns in the county. It is a pity. Ennistymon badly needs activity,” he said.

Fine Gael Senator Martin Conway said that courts should not be centralised to Ennis as other towns should also play a role in the administration of justice.

“I don’t agree with the centralisation of the courts service. I believe that courts in a community play an important role. People shouldn’t have to be discommoded and spend an entire day in court for something that could take 10 minutes,” he said.

“From a humanitarian point of view I don’t think it is fair. A court taking place in a town or a community is a deterrent. I’m not saying, ‘Hang them and flog them’, but if they see gardaí or a judge walking into court it does create some deterrent,” said Senator Conway.

“We are in the economic climate where we can’t justify things we did before.

“In Ennistymon I do appreciate that there won’t be a new courthouse built but there is adequate space to have a court in Ennistymon on the first Wednesday of every month. From a business point of view it brings people around. We can’t have everything happening in Ennis,” he said.

A YOUNG Kinvara garda, who risked her life to save a man who was drowning in a canal, was recognised for her bravery in a special ceremony help last week.

Garda Eileen Murphy last week received a Certificate of Bravery for rescuing a man from the canal in Mullingar in April of 2010.

Garda Murphy was called to the Dublin Bridge in Mullingar on the evening April 2, 2010, where a man was reportedly in a distressed state. When she arrived she could not locate the man on the bridge but soon located him on the canal itself.

As her accompanying officer, Garda Kevin Mooney, could not swim, Eileen risked her own life to enter the water and save the man.

“I remember we were on night duty at the time and I got a call at around 1am in the morning to say that a gentleman was quite distressed around the canal. We could not locate him for a while but we could hear him – it was very dark,” she said.

“We located him after a few minutes and at that point he was starting to go under the water. I knew Garda Mooney was not a confident swimmer so my first reaction was to go in and try to get him. I didn’t really think about it. We tried to talk to him at the beginning but he really wasn’t being very co-operative.

“So my initial reaction, once I saw him going under the water, was to just go for it – I didn’t think about it to be honest. I had to go underneath the water to bring him up and when I did get him to the surface he started to struggle. He panicked and tried to push me down under to save himself. The other garda was able to come into the water and bring us both out.

“I never thought I would be put in a situation like this. Thankfully things worked out well in the end. I know it could have been a very different story, I know that now, so I am just thankful that things worked out okay for me.”

One of Eileen sisters, Garda Sarah Murphy, is currently stationed in Ennis while her sister Aideen, runs a pre-school in Corofin.

A STAND-OFF between Cahercalla Community Hospital in Ennis and the promoters of a Diocese of Killaloe-backed project has already cost € 2.1m and this figure that could rise as high as € 3.6m or scupper the development of elderly care services on the hospital grounds altogether.

These fears has been sounded out by the Cuan An Chláir group that has been accused of embarking an ambitious € 3.5m project to develop a daycare centre and sheltered housing for the elderly “without consultation with Cahercalla Hospital despite its very execution being dependent on our support”.

The board of Cahercalla Hospital has refused to sanction the use of the access road to its facilities as the entry point to the new development, a row that has already seen the project promoters lose out on a € 2.1m grant from the Department of the Environment.

And in counting the cost of this lost government aid, Cuan An Chláir have claimed that it could cost up to € 1.5m to build an alternative access point to their development.

In 2008, the then Bishop of Killaloe, Dr Willie Walsh, donated 15.5 acres of land – then valued at € 10m – adjacent to Cahercalla Community Hospital to the Cuan an Chláir Committee for free.

Up until September of this year € 392,874 had bee raised for the € 3.5m project that’s set to be built in two phases. The first phase involving the development of a daycare centre to cater for 65 people daily and the construction of 12 individual houses the will cost € 2m, while the second phase will see the conversion of the old farm yard buildings, adjacent to Cahercalla Hospital to provide a café, meeting rooms, a garden and other appropriate facilities has been costed at € 1.5m.

However, the whole project is now hanging in the balance over a row on access to the site, with Cuan An Chláir spokesperson Pauline McNamara saying that “a tremendous asset will be lost to Ennis” if the project can’t proceed.

The stand-off between the two groups has gathered momentum following the release of a statement by the Cahercalla Hospital, which has accused Cuan An Chláir promoters of failing to address a number of key concerns relating to the project.

“At no point during the many discussions were any of the concerns we raised about the management of the project, including links with Cahercalla, addressed,” the strongly worded statement says.

“Having explored every possible option and following discussions which have been ongoing for over three years, the Board of Cahercalla Community Hospital & Hospice regret that they have, to date, been unable to reach an agreement with Cuan an Chláir with regard to granting permanent access to the site adjacent to the hospital and hospice.

“The project we tried to facilitate was presented to us as a development of housing for active retired elderly. However, as soon as detailed discussions began we discovered that the project was significantly different from what was originally outlined to us. In particular the development now included a daycare centre and permanent access was being sought, both of which would significantly increase the amount of traffic on our driveway impacting on the safety of our residents.

“Despite making every effort through our discussions and allocating a large amount of executive time to considering the proposal we have, to date, been unable to gain sufficient assurances that the project would not negatively impact on Cahercalla’s residents and staff.”

“There is no way that we can afford an alternative access,” says Cuan An Chláir spokesperson Pauline McNamara.