Month: April 2006

CLARE patients awaiting neurological assessment at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital are being forced to wait years, according to Labour TD, Jan O’ Sullivan.

A single visiting neurologist, who works at Limerick two days a month, has not taken new patient referrals for two years, resulting in them being sent instead, to hospitals in Galway, Cork and Dublin.

Deputy O’ Sullivan said that thousands of people in the mid-west, suffering from conditions such as such as multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease and many other conditions, were effected.

“This is a matter of urgency because the visiting neurologist no longer accepts new patients,” she told the Dáil.

“The situation is woefully inadequate and very distressing for patients. General practitioners have been instructed to refer new patients to Dublin, Cork or Galway”.

Deputy O’ Sullivan revealed that a circular sent to GPs in the mid-west region, two years ago, confirmed the waiting list for neurological assessment had “grown substantially and waiting times for routine appointments of several years are not uncommon.”

Yet the situation had not improved since then. She pointed out that the Comhairle na nOspidéal report on neurology and neurophysiology, of April 2003, recommended that a post be developed in Limerick. The national task force on medical staffing recommended further neurological posts in the country.

“I have raised this issue by way of parliamentary question at least three times and we are still waiting for a most essential service in the midwestern region”.

In response, Minister for State at the Department of Health, Tim O’Malley, said that as part of the estimates for the health services in 2006, additional funding of €3 million was allocated to the Health Service Executive specifically for the further development of neurology and neurophysiology services nationally.

“The Mid-Western Regional Hospital has the services of a visiting consultant neurologist two days per month. The consultant provides an out-patient service for review or return patients and an in-patient consultation service.

“Due to pressure on the existing service, new patient referrals are forwarded to the neurological services at Cork, Galway or Dublin. ln view of the pressures, the development of neurology services at the mid-western regional hospital is an urgent priority for the Health Service Executive in 2006.”

He said that the Government was committed to the continued development of neurology services nationally and that resources had been made available to commence neurology services in Limerick in 2006.

THE world’s best Irish dancers have descended on Ennis for the annual All-Ireland and International Irish Dance Championships.

This is the fourth year that the championships organised by An Chomhdhail have visited Ennis and as usual the venue is the West County Hotel.

Ennis had previously been the venue in 2002, 2003 and 2004 with Dublin being the venue in 2005. Hundreds of competitors, parents and interested spectators have been circulating the Ennis venue since the competition kicked of in style on Sunday (April 9).

The seven day festival runs from April 9-16 with the concluding event taking place on Easter Sunday night. The event is a huge boost to the local economy with most local accommodation taken up.

This year there is a truly international field with competitors Ireland, England, Scotland, USA and Slovakia taking part. Mattew Donoghue, Chairperson of An Comhdhail said the event has been a major success do far.

“It been pretty hectic alright. There’s been dancers, parents, uncles, friends, cousins, aunts, granparents, everybody you could think of, has been around”

“Over 200 competitors will compete in the event. The people are really enjoying it and everybody is settling in after Sunday’s opening ceremony.

“Everything is going according to plan and as usual Ennis has been an excellent venue. So far we have had the five solo championships and the competition will finish with the senior championships next Sunday,” he added.

The event willl return to Ennis for 2007.

PLANS by Kilkee publicans, Gerard and Helen Lynch, to extend their pub in the west Clare resort of Kilkee are facing opposition from neighbouring publican, Kevin Marrinan.

Earlier this year, the Lynchs lodged plans to extend Lynch’s bar at O’Connell Street, Kilkee.

However, Mr Marrinan, in his planning objection, claims that the extension “will constitute a considerable loss of privacy to my adjoining property.

“This building if constructed will result in the overlooking of my property from the proposed fire escape stairway and the overshadowing of my property by virtue of height and size.

“The proposed development will, if constructed, result in the overdevelopment of the site and result in almost 100% site coverage.”

He claims that the development does not comply with a policy in the West Clare Local Area Plan which stipulates that “developments in the Architectural Conservation Area (ACA) should respect the scale, massing, proportions, design and materials of existing structures and reflect the character of the area”.

Mr Marrinan also points out that there is no provision for off-street car-parking, or cycle parking, in compliance with Chapter Nine of the Clare County Development Plan.

“I believe for this reason this development is not in keeping with the Clare County Development Plan 2005, or the West Clare Local Area Plan 2003 and has issues on complying with the Building Control Act.

“Considering the size of the site and existing development, I believe that this site has already achieved its full potential and any modernisation or alterations should be confined to the existing building.”

CLARE County Council’s controversial €8 million landfill site near Inagh will be around for another 30 years, if the current disposal levels at the facility are maintained.

But that’s because disposal rates of waste have plummeted in recent months, to 42 per cent of their permitted levels, according to a council report.

If this continues, the landfill will have a licensed capacity that will allow it remain open until 2036.

The landfill is licensed to receive 900,000 tonnes, or 56,500 per annum. If the landfill were used to its maximum capacity, it would be closed by 2018 and the council would have to locate a new landfill elsewhere in Clare.

However, in the first 11 weeks of 2006, the Inagh facility accepted just 5,002 tonnes of waste, the equivalent to 23,645 tonnes per annum.

The dramatic fall off occurred after the landfill’s biggest customer opted to go elsewhere, in search of cheaper prices.

“The number of options now available to waste collectors is such that there is no guarantee that any particular collector will use any particular facility,” said Senior Engineer, Sean Ward, in a report to council.

“Collectors will dispose of their residual wastes at the landfill which is most benefit for them commercially, having first minimized the quantity to be landfilled.”

At the adjourned March Council meeting last night (Apr 3rd), councillors were told that a total of 15 non-compliance notices, incorporating 38 items of non-compliance had been served on the council from the EPA, since work started on the project in November 2001.

“All the non-compliance items in 2002 were related to construction activity rather than operation of the facility,” said the Director for the Environment, Ger Dollard, in his report

“It is impossible to guarantee that a landfill accepting a mix of municipal waste will never emit an odour, but the highest possible standard has to be aimed at.

“The most effective means of mitigating fresh waste odour are to keep the area of the active landfilling face as small as possible. The face area has at all times been kept as small as possible.

“The foregoing demonstrates that the council has been and remains committed to sourcing the best cover materials, in consultation with, and where applicable in compliance with the instructions of the EPA.

A DOOLIN pub’s wastewater exceeded its legal limits by up to six times, a court has heard.

Ennis District Court was told that an environmental technician from Clare County Council visited the waste water treatment plant at O’Connor’s pub in Doolin last August.

Karen Hayes said certain limits were set out for discharges from a wastewater treatment plant.

She analysed samples and found that Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) was six times the legal limit and suspended solids exceeded the legal limit by four times. BOD is an indicator of organisms in the water.

She stressed that the pub’s proprietor, Patrick Sexton, had authorised considerable works to be carried out at the site over a number of weeks and this was ongoing.

In this regard, a company employed by Mr Sexton attended the site. Ms Hayes said work got underway in January and had been ongoing since.

She said Bord na Móna had also been employed on site.

“Bord na Móna have been on site and have recommended works to be carried out,” she said.

Solicitor for the council, Mairéad Doyle, said, “He was slow in taking steps but Clare Council is happy he is carrying out work on the plant.”

She said there had been reductions in the levels of both BOD and suspended solids, since the summons was served.

Judge Joseph Mangan asked what were the effects of BOD and suspended solids.

Ms Hayes said when effluent was not treated property, the number of bugs increased and took oxygen out of the water. This affected plant and animal life.

She said the river discharged just outside O’Connor’s public house and was not used for fishing at that point.

Judge Joseph Mangan said he was declining jurisdiction and adjourned the case until June, for a Book of Evidence to be served.

A PIGEON loft in Marian Avenue, Ennis, that has been the source of a bitter neighbours dispute, has been granted planning permission. Ennis Council has granted planning permission to May Guilfoyle to continue housing 30 racing pigeons from a loft at 24 Marian Avenue, in spite of neighbours John and Mary Flynn claiming that they are “prisoners in their own home” due to the presence of the pigeons.

Commenting on the outcome, George Guilfoyle said, “We’re happy with the decision. The loft is kept up to a very high standard and the pigeons are very well looked after.”

Mr Guilfoyle said that Marian Avenue has had a long history of involvement in pigeon racing. “As kids, we didn’t have Playstations or anything like that,” he said, “All we had were the pigeons.”

Relations between the neighbours have broken down due to the bitter fued. “We don’t talk at all,” said Mr Guilfoyle, “We could really do without the hassle that this has caused and I would be prepared to do anything to stop the bickering. I don’t want any trouble and my parents are elderly and they don’t want any hassle.

“We’ve not done Mrs Flynn any wrong by having the pigeons here. They have been here since 1982 so I can’t understand why she objects now. We’d like everything to go back to the way it was. I have nothing against the woman.”

Mr Guilfoyle said that he hopes Mrs Flynn doesn’t appeal the Council’s decision to An Bord Pleanala. He said that if she does, his pigeons won’t be able to race this season.

The Town Council’s planner stated that the details submitted by the Guilfoyles on the management and care of the pigeons would not adversely interfere with the amenities of adjoining properties. The planner stated: “The objectors have not submitted any details to prove their claim that the pigeons have not been kept since 1985 at No 24.”

The Council granted planning after the Health Service Executive (HSE) kept the number of birds to 30 and instructed that the birds are vaccinated annually and that they are checked by a vet on a regular basis.

Efforts to contact the Flynns for a comment failed.

BUSINESS people involved in renewable energy in Clare have welcomed the introduction of grants totalling €27m to install renewable heat technology in homes.

The scheme was agreed in last year’s Budget and is part of a multiannual finance package of €65m for renewable energy that will also include grants for a range of renewable heat, electricity and transport initiatives.

The “Greener Homes” scheme will allow householders to get grants for the installation of renewable technologies including wood pellet stoves and boilers, solar panels and geothermal heat pumps. Grant aid of €1,100 to €6,500 will be given, depending on the individual technology used.

Michael Neylon of Solargen, an Ennis company which provides solar panels and collectors for hot household water, said that the new grants “will help more people become aware of the benefits of renewable energy and will certainly encourage householders to install this technology.

“It is a major boost to the whole renewable energy field.”

Neylon explained that using renewable energy, such as solar panels, could save up to 70 per cent of the cost of household hot water bills in the year.

“And it doesn’t have to be hot and sunny. Solar panels work on light and will do their job even on a dull day,” Neylon added.

Dick Whelan, project manager of Renewable Energy Skills, a company which trains people in the installation, workings and maintenance of renewable energy technology, says he has had a huge increase in calls.

“We have certainly seen a raised level of interest.

“This is a very welcome announcement, both as part of the Kyoto agreement and with a view to de-coupling from oil prices,” said Whelan.

The company has been training people such as plumbers and electricians over the last two years.

“It will be more important than ever now to have people who are trained and accredited in this technology.

“Qualified people in Clare meet regularly and have now built up an extensive bank of expertise and knowledge which they can share,” said Whelan.

THE problems faced by up to 15,000 legal foreign workers in Clare will be the topic for discussion when Columban Priest and head of the Irish Immigrant Rights Council, Fr Bobby Gilmore, speaks in Ennis this morning.

Fr Gilmore will speak at the Civic Building at ten this morning (Tuesday) on the invitation of the Network of Service Providers for Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Ennis.

The main focus of the talk will be integration.

“The immigrants tend to cluster in certain areas and with all the industry around the Shannon area, there could be anything from ten to 15,000 immigrants here,” said Fr Gilmore.

“It is very hard to get an accurate number and there is a lot of back and forth all the time with seasonal work”.

Between 1978 and 1992, Fr Gilmore worked with Irish Immigrant’s in Britain where, among other things, he worked with the Birmingham Six and the Guilford Four.

Following this he went to work in Jamaica, where he dealt with the plight of thousands of Cuban Immigrants.

THE pupils and teachers of St Enda’s National School in Lisdoonvarna are celebrating this morning after four students from the school won the All-Ireland U11 Credit Union Quiz Competition in dramatic fashion in the RDS, Dublin, over the weekend.

After ten rounds of gruelling competition, the Lisdoonvarna team were level on 50 points with two other schools, Réalt na Mara Girls National School from Meath and Scoil na Croise Naofa from Waterford. The competition then went into extra time with three rounds of sudden death questions.

Amazingly, after the three additional rounds St Enda’s and Réalt na Mara remained deadlocked. As a tie-breaker, both teams were asked to guess the height of a statue located in London and, to the delight of parents and teachers, the St Enda’s guess was closer.

“We are absolutely delighted,” said school principal John Hehir. “To win an All-Ireland on any day is a fantastic achievement. We were expecting to do well having came so close last year. But this is really fantastic achievement.”

The Lisdoonvarna team, which consisted of Padraic Rubio-Lacey, Eimear O’Sullivan, Robert Hillary and Orla Burke, had already seen off more than 100 teams on their way to winning the Clare/Limerick qualifing round earlier in the month.

This latest victory means that the Lisdoonvarna team outdid more than 25,000 children on their way to claiming the title.

The school will receive some €1,200 (IR£1,000) for winning the competition, with each student receiving a DVD player.

“We hope to use the money to do something to encourage students to do more research, or to use new multimedia technology in some way,” continued Mr Hehir. “It might also be a nice idea to open a credit union account for each of the four students involved.”

The school, with a long tradition of producing quality quiz teams, had been in preparation for the competition for the last number of weeks.

“In the past two weeks, you could get asked any question under the sun when you walked into the school,” continued Mr Hehir. “Two of the teachers here, Maura Hanrahan and Bridget Crawford have been working really hard.”

A CHURCH on the former site of Our Lady’s psychiatric hospital has been mooted as a possible location of worship for people of different religious faiths.

At yesterday’s annual monthly meeting of Ennis Town Council the suggestion was put forward that the use of St Mary’s Church should be explored as one option by members of religious organisations in Ennis who don’t have a suitable location to practice worship. A dispute between developers and the local community was recently settled with the agreement of a four year lease that safeguarded the future use of the building.

Councillors were debating a motion submitted by Councillor Taiwo Matthew (Ind) which requested that Ennis Town Council provide a designated area within the town where members of different religious affiliations could gather for worship.

“I am aware that there is a church on Our Lady’s. Ennis is a fast growing town with different cultures and races. If we are to look at extending the town boundary we need to take into account community development as well. There have been some cases where people have complained about people using houses to worship.”

The motion wasn’t passed but councillor’s advised that religious groups should identify a suitable location and engage in the pre-planning process. Director of Services with Ennis Town Council, Tom Coughlan stated that land for community use has been designated, but that it would be unwise for the council to engage in site acquisition when they weren’t aware of the exact requirements.

Councillor Peter Considine (FF) and Councillor Johnny Flynn both expressed their support for the use of Our Lady’s as a temporary location while Councillor Donal O’Beara (GP) said religious groups should prepare a submission for next year for a variation to the Ennis and Environs Development Plan.