Month: April 2006

THE people of Ennis should have a cleaner safer, albeit temporary, water supply within the next three weeks.

According to Clare County Manager Alec Fleming the council is a little behind time in installing the treatment system. It is now unlikely that the system will be in place by May 1 as previously thought, but the delay is not likely to take more than two weeks.

County Engineer and Director of Services Tom Carey said, “To date, this project has been progressing fairly satisfactorily. I can report that the membrane banks are due for delivery within a matter of days.

“While it was intended that the plant would be commissioned on May 1, we are experiencing some delay on the delivery of the necessary pumps. This is likely to delay the commissioning by not more than two weeks,” he added.

Green Party Cllr Brian Meaney said he had concerns about the long-term suitability of the Ennis water supply. Mr Fleming explained that there was nothing wrong with the supply. “We have a large town and we didn’t have adequate treatment, just disinfectant,” he told Mr Meaney. “Disinfectant just doesn’t deal with cryptosporidium (parasite),” he added.

KILRUSH Town Councillors may decide to ban HGVs from entering the town when the traffic management plan comes before them next month.

That was the warning from Kilrush Town and County Councillor Tom Prenderville who said Dublin took a similar decision after 19 people were killed by HGVs in the capital last year. He was speaking at a meeting where members of the HGV Action Group and Clare County Council disputed the number of heavy goods vehicles going through the town.

A special in-depth traffic management study by council officials showed that 30 HGVs with non-compliant loads passed through the town since February to the €350 million retrofit project in Moneypoint.

In total, there were 158 deliveries to the ESB plant in the two-month period, three more than planned. According to the report, the majority of the heavy loads accessed the town by the Killimer Ferry. Of the 113 that used the west Clare ferry, 23 came across the estuary during the week beginning April 4.

As many as 1,200 deliveries are expected to the ESB multi-million euro building project, the majority of the deliveries currently going to the site.

A total of 244 deliveries were made to the site during the first three months of this year, with 286 forecast for the second three months.

The second half of the year should see a marked reduction in deliveries to the site according to the report, with the traffic decreasing further in the remaining 18 months of the project.

Barry Copley, chairman of the local residents’ group, The HGV Action Group, said, however, that not all lorries are following the traffic management plan set out as part of the Retrofits planning permission conditions.

“I can categorically state that they are not taking the route you say they are taking,” he told council officials, adding that children’s lives are being put at risk as the lorries speed through residential areas.

The Senior Executive Engineer reassured the residents that any driver not complying with the guidelines set down by the council and the ESB are held on site for 24 hours without their vehicle being unloaded. This penalises the haulage company and sends a clear message, he said.

He also told the meeting that all vehicles leaving the project are required to go right when they go out the gate.

THE founding chief executive of Clare FM has described as “much too low” an offer by the company’s board to shareholders to make a profit of 50 per cent on their original investment in the station 14 years ago.

Caimin Jones, also a small shareholder, dismissed the €2 offer as “much too low”.

“The offer by the board of Clare FM to buy back shares at €2 each is at least some recognition of the role played by those who responded so positively to the 1992 share drive,” said Mr Jones, CEO from 1989 to 1994.

“As a minority shareholder to whom this offer has also been made, the issue for me is whether or not the share price of €2 is reasonable.

“Given the buoyancy of the radio station market currently and even allowing for Clare FM’s relatively low profit levels, my strong feeling is that the €2 offer is much too low.

“I am surprised that the accompanying documentation contains no independent analysis as to the reasonableness of the Board’s offer.

“Neither does it contain any opinion on the offer from Clare FM’s own auditors, Deloitte and Touche. Their view would have assisted me in arriving at a decision.

“Taking what I know into consideration and speculating on what I don’t know, I intend to retain my shares in Clare FM.

“This should not be interpreted in any way as advice to other shareholders.

“Each person will make their own evaluation and arrive at a decision best suited to his or her needs.”

In 1992, Caimin Jones was involved in the fundraising drive that attracted 530 shareholders from all walks of Clare life to invest in Clare FM.

SHAREHOLDERS in Clare FM have been given the opportunity to make a profit of 50 per cent on their original investment in the company 14 years ago. The company is proposing to pay €2 per share to the over 500 shareholders, who purchased shares at €1.27 each.

The shareholders are to hold an extraordinary general meeting of Clare Community Radio Holdings plc at the Temple Gate Hotel, Ennis, on May 9.

In correspondence circulated by the board, shareholders are given the option of retaining their investment, or securing the return on their investment. The board has told the shareholders that the funds available for share buy-back purposes are limited.

Some of the Clare’s best known personalities are small shareholders in the station. They include Fr Harry Bohan, Junior Ministers, Sile de Valera and Tony Killeen; Ennis Town Mayor, Frankie Neylon; Cllr Madeleine Taylor Quinn (FG), Cllr Christy Curtin (Ind) and former Labour TD, Dr Moosajee Bhamjee.

The Diocese of Killaloe, Clare County Council and the Clare GAA also contributed to the 1992 fundraising drive.

The Galvin family that own the Clare Champion newspaper have a significant shareholding, with Flan Galvin sitting on the board.

In all, the 530 small shareholders who bought into the company in 1992, make up a minority 15 per cent of the total 391,792 shares.

The returns show that Chairman, Michael Evans, has 17,500 shares with Managing Director, Liam O’Shea holding 20,365 shares.

However, one of the small shareholders concerned, Dr Bhamjee, confirmed to The Clare People that he would not be selling his shares.

“I believe that the price of €2 is too low. Also, I haven’t been provided with up-to-date financial accounts of the company.

“A number of local radio stations have been bought out in the recent past and Clare FM itself could become a target in the near future, so I believe that it would be better to hold out where a much higher price would be secured in the event of a take over.”

Last year, Clare FM experienced a drop in profits due, in part, to rising staff costs at the station.

The figures show that to the end of 2004, Clare FM secured a profit on €92,000, down 18.5 per cent on the €113,000 profit for 2003.

A CLARECASTLE man with 21 previous convictions has been jailed for 20 months, after pleading guilty to a string of offences last year.

Alan Kerin (22), a father-of-one, of Church Drive, Clarecastle, pleaded guilty to a variety of offences, including theft, possession of cannabis and drink driving, between May and October 2005.

Ennis District Court heard that gardaí received a call that the parochial house in Clarecastle had been broken into, on October 26, 2005. Up to €400 in notes and some coins were missing.

Det Gda Kevin Kennedy approached the accused and as he did so, Kerin dropped a bag of coins. A struggle ensued and the garda received a number of blows. Kerin was so drunk he couldn’t be questioned when brought to Ennis Garda Station.

In August 2005, he was arrested for a public order offence and brought to Ennistymon Garda Station for questioning. He was searched there and a stolen gold ring – which belonged to an Italian tourist – was found on him, which he said was given to him by someone he knew.

In May, he was caught drink driving and gave a false name and address to a garda. He also pleaded guilty to being drunk in public in Lahinch in August, and he shouted insults at two gardaí at Steele’s Terrace in Ennis on October 23 last, referring to them as “muppets”.

On another occasion, he was found in possession of a small amount of cannabis. Kerin also admitted stealing alcohol from two supermarkets, all of which was recovered.

Defending solicitor Tara Godfrey said all of the offences centred around alcohol.

“I believe Alan Kerin has a dangerous relationship with drink, but Alan Kerin is not a no-hoper,” said the solicitor.

The court was told he has 21 previous convictions, including for assault, theft and criminal damage, and is currently serving a 16-month sentence. Judge Joseph Mangan imposed sentences totalling 20 months. He disqualified him from driving for three years.

“I can find very little in the way of mitigating circumstances, expect for the fact that a plea was entered,” said the judge.

WITH promises of tax cuts and more public spending, the Progressive Democrats were in election mode at their conference in Limerick this weekend.

While the party’s strategists may be planning the campaign for the next election, they have yet to put forward a candidate to contest the election in Clare.

The PD’s most high-profile politician, former Clare County Councillor Mary Mannion, is unable to represent the county due to a change in the constituency boundary.

The PD area representative for Clare has vowed, however, to support and assist whatever candidate the party puts forward in the Banner County.

The Parteen woman, who spent 13 years as a councillor in Clare and also sat on the Mid-Western Health Board, is now within the Limerick East constituency, but has no plan to run for the neighbouring county.

It is believed the party is in negotiations with a number of candidates, but no definite decision will be made on a possible Clare candidate until after the party convention.

During the weekend’s conference, the PDs did not discourage voters from giving a second preference vote to Fianna Fáil, but issued a strong health warning against any pre-election policy pact.

Party delegates voted against any decision to enter a pact with their government pact with their party colleagues having suffered due to pre election deals in the past with both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.

The party agreed to wait until the election campaign to decide whether to ask PD voters to pass their second preference to Fianna Fáil.

While the rest of the country concentrated on the party’s plans to cut income tax to 40 per cent and reducing the tax bill of the middle and lower income workers, Clare delegates paid special attention to one of the party’s guest speakers.

HSE chief executive Professor Brendan Drumm told delegates that he hoped the health issue would cease to be a political issue and not be used as a political football.

Following the conference, Ms Mannion told The Clare People that she felt secure about the future of Ennis General Hospital having heard Prof Drumm speak.

THE mother of a teenage girl killed in a road crash in county Clare almost three years ago, says the Irish authorities cannot afford to miss the next opportunity to extradite the alleged driver of the car back to Ireland as soon as he is released from a young offenders home in England.

Last week, David Naughton, from Galway, was jailed in London for offences there.

He is alleged to have been driving the car in which Lorna O’Mahony (13) and Stacy Haugh (16) were killed in a crash in Carrigaholt, in October 2003.

Lorna’s mother Geraldine said, “We have been waiting a long time and all we want is justice to be done and some element of closure for the families.”

Naughton, who was only 16 at the time of the crash, resided at a voluntary residential care unit in Galway before he fled the jurisdiction over two years ago.

After he was originally remanded to St Patrick’s Institution in Dublin, Naughton was granted bail at Ennis District Court.

He was later returned to St Patrick’s for breaching his bail conditions but was again released after telling a court that he had been assaulted by other inmates while in custody. Soon afterwards, he fled to England.

Mrs O’Mahony has already expressed concern that not enough has been done by the Department of Justice here to see the accused returned to Ireland.

“The authorities have not kept us informed and they will have to be ready to bring him back here as soon as he is released in a few months,” she said.

“The local guards didn’t even know what was going on but the local Superintendent was in touch with me on Thursday and has assured me that he will notify us as soon as there is any news,” she added.

Naughton faces two charges of dangerous driving causing death, one of driving without insurance and another of driving without a drivers licence.

CLARE County Council have until September to find an permanent road to reroute heavy goods traffic accessing the town of Kilrush.

The Kilrush Area members of the council passed a motion at a special meeting putting pressure on the executive to find a ring road around the growing town within months.

County Engineer and Director of services Tom Carey told the meeting which included members of the town council and the HGV Action group, that it would take at least nine months after the constraints study was completed before work began on the route.

“The idea of the by-pass in Kilrush is to link the N67 with the N68. That would suggest it would be a national link,” he told the meeting.

He said that council would have to push the boat out and bring the project to an advanced stage before approaching the National Roads Authority for funding.

“It is a fact of life that heavy commercial vehicles go through residental areas all over the country,” he said.

Councillor Madeleine TaylorQuinn proposed that a permanent route should be decided by the end of September for the Ring Road.

“Unless we set ourselves a target it will continue to be on the long finger,’ she said.

Residents in High Street, Chapel Drive, Griffin Road, Lower Moore Street, Crawford Street and by St Senan’s Terrace and John Paul Estate have been campaigning for an alternative route for HGVs going through the highly residental areas on the way to the ESB station at Moneypoint.

The residents say they have been living with the heavy traffic for more than 26 years, and the current Retrofit project at the Moneypoint site is adding to the traffic chaos.

Senior Executive Engineer Andy Price reminded the residents that traffic calming measures for the affected are at planning stage.

“We have done a lot of work, we are not just sitting on our hands,” he said.

LAST week’s heroin haul at an Ennis hotel had been transported from Limerick, according to gardaí. More than €15,000 worth of the drug was seized by gardai, during a search of a hotel bedroom in Ennis town, early last Tuesday.

Two men – one in his 20s and the other in his 30s – were seen getting into a car and entering a hotel carpark. They were stopped and searched by members of the Clare Garda Divisional Drugs Unit.

A key to a hotel bedroom was found and the room was searched, which yielded the drugs.

The two – one from Ennis and the other from outside the town – were detained at Ennis Garda Station, before being released without charge. A file is being sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

It was part of garda surveillance into drug dealing in Ennis, and follows smaller seizures of heroin in recent weeks.

“We are satisfied the heroin came from Limerick. It would be for sale around Ennis town. This seizure is substantial in our fight against heroin,” said a Garda Spokesman.

“Heroin is becoming very common around towns like Ennis. It is very addictive and tends to lead to more crime. Crime levels increase as a result of heroin use.

“There has been quite a number of small heroin seizures in recent weeks. We are anxious it does not take hold,” he added.

CLARE County Council has been given a cash injection of almost €1.5 million to improve access roads for farmers and turf cutters.

The cash boost is part of a €25 million funding package announced by Batt O’Keeffe, Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.

The figure for this year’s 2006 Local Improvements Scheme Grants to County Councils is a 100 per cent increase on last year’s allocation.

The money allows county councils to construct and improve non-public roads that provide access to parcels of land where there are at least two owners of fields who need access.

The funding can also be used if the council sees a need for access to cut turf, gather seaweed, or if the local authority believes that the road will be used by the public. Clare has been allocated €1,446,161, while Limerick has received €739,559 and Galway will benefit to the tune of €1,603,795.

The biggest beneficiary from the grants is Donegal County Council, which has been given €3,324,858.

Making the announcement, the minister said that the “2006 allocation of €25 million, which is double last year’s allocation of €12.5 million, is the highest ever level of State funding for the Local Improvements Scheme”.