Month: May 2006

A SIX-lane motorway passing through Clare, surrounded by thousands of acres of native woodland where people can live, is the way forward, rather than “Mickey Mousing around with bypasses,” a transport expert has said.

And Transport Minister Martin Cullen has promised to try to “frontload the dual carraigeway between Limerick and Galway and I hope to make an announcement on it in the coming months.”

Professor Ed Walsh of Limerick University made the call for the construction of the highway between Limerick and Galway while addressing a business lunch organised by the Shannon and District Chamber of Commerce at which Minister Cullen was the guest speaker.

Professor Walsh said that providing a high-speed corridor between the two cities and having the two come together to create an “Atlantic counterpole” as a counter-balance to Dublin.

He cited the example of the US State of North Carolina which “offers a fine example of how a neglected region moved from the fringes, prospered and became a remarkable model for knowledge-age development.

The prospects for North Carolina were bleak, as cotton and tobacco farming went into decline, until the State Governor, Luther Hodges moved to bring together three universities to form the Research Triangle Park.

The associated cities of Raleigh and Durham grew together with the Raleigh-Durham airport as the transport hub at the core.

This partnership of universities and cities has acted as a catalyst for investment in North Carolina and transformed a once-poor State into a prosperous and progressive one.

“A similar opportunity and challenge presents itself to the cities of Galway and Limerick, to their universities and to Shannon Airport at the core of the interurban corridor,” the professor said.

The professor said that the motorway “would significantly improve the prospects for Shannon and for the creation of the Atlantic Cities counterpole.

“The energies of the Mid-West and West regions should be directed towards ensuring that the current defective plans are upgraded and a Motorway to normal EU standard is built between Galway and Limerick.

“Provision should be made for eventually upgrading this to six lanes, anticipating the development of the Atlantic Cities counterpole.”

In his address Minister Cullen said that he believes that having Galway and Limerick come together is the right thing to do.

“On their own, none of the cities can be a counterbalance to Dublin,” he said, adding that the Government is ‘Mickey Mousing about with bypasses’.

“We’re spending ten million per day of taxpayers’ money – the difficulty for me is that everybody wants their road first.”

CLARE’S 2,300 registered Fine Gael members are focused on this Sunday’s selection convention in Ennis where five party members, including sitting TD Pat Breen, will fight it out for two nominations to run for the party at the next general election.

The other four candidates seeking selection are former TD Cllr Madeleine Taylor Quinn; Cllr Joe Carey, the son of former TD Donal Carey; Cllr John Crowe; and Cllr Tony Mulcahy.

Deputy Breen said the number of people seeking selection was a mark of the vibrancy of the party in Clare.

“Unfortunately there will be losers as well as winners at the convention but I know that everybody has their eye on the greater goal of regaining a second seat in Clare,” he said.

“I am looking forward to a dynamic convention where the party faithful in the county will get an opportunity to assess the candidates.”

With five of the better-known members of the party vying for a position on the blue team’s ticket in 2007, one Fine Gael insider has predicted, “it will be a right dog-fight.”

Fine Gael won two seats in Clare in the 1982, 1987 and 1989 elections. Deputy Breen added that it was apparent from this weekend’s Ard Fheis in Dublin that there was a new mood of optimism in the party which had built itself up and unified itself under the leadership of Enda Kenny.

“Leading the Fine Gael team going into the next election will be an honour,” he said.

“I have spent the last four years seeing at first hand what the problems and issues are for people in Clare and after nine years of the same Government, people are looking for change.”

The party selection convention is scheduled for the West County hotel in Ennis this coming Sunday.

The Fine Gael party has seen a 2,000 per cent increase in its membership in Shannon town in the past year.

Membership has increased three fold across the county.

The Shannon town branch has swollen to 21 and a half times its original size, from 24 to 516 in the run up to its election convention now pencilled in for mid-May.

Across the county the party figures have also increased to more than 2,400 members as the party prepares for its one member, one vote general election candidate selection process.

DRASTIC traffic calming measures are to be introduced in a Clarecastle estate to curb mounting traffic problems in the area.

Temporary speed ramps are to be installed in St Joseph’s terrace after a petition containing 100 signatures from residents in the area was presented to council officals. Locals are said to be very concerned that the estate had become a “rat run” for traffic avoiding delays on the N18.

Councillors had originally wanted to install two permanent ramps in the area but agreed a temporary solution after Hugh McGrath, senior execuCALLS were made by a Clare TD at the weekend’s Fine Gael Árd Fheis to liberalise the Irish insurance market by allowing EU-based competitors greater freedom.

Speaking on a motion proposed by the Sandymount, Dublin, branch of Fine Gael, Clare Deputy, Pat Breen, tive engineer, expressed reservations about such a course of action.

The petition was presented by Cllr Joe Carey (FG) at yesterday’s Committee Meeting for the Ennis Electoral Area. Cllr Carey’s motion called on the council to urgently provide speed ramps as the heavy volume of traffic using the road posed a definite risk to children living in the area.

Cllr Carey said residents’ concerns had been ignored for too long and that urgent action was needed.

“There is potential there for a serious accident,” he said. “I know that this is tied up with the bypass being finished, but I don’t want to be the one explaining to parents that said that in a market such as Ireland’s, the insurance industry was relatively small and despite a lowering of prices in recent times, many analysts felt there was room for improvement.

“A small market restricts choice and leads to high prices. In any survey comparing profits, Irish insurers always come out better than insurance companies, for instance, in the ramps didn’t go in because the bypass wasn’t finished. Clare County Council must deliver speed ramps to the people of Clarecastle. It’s like a rally circuit down there at eight in the morning.”

Cllr Tommy Brennan (Ind) supported Cllr Carey’s call, saying other forms of traffic management had a negligible effect on speeding.

“I’m living in an area where there were traffic calming measures imposed and you might as well have been lighting candles. If residents want that, then we should accept it.”

Mr McGrath said he was against the idea as speed ramps represented a last resort. “Speed ramps are the very UK market.

“In one notable survey by the Motor Insurance Advisory Board, it found that motor insurers in Ireland reported 11 times the profit earned by their UK counterparts between 1983 and 1999,” he said.

Deputy Breen, his party’s spokesman on small business, added that he received many queries from young last option on a list of traffic calming measures. We would conduct a traffic flow survey of the area to assess its needs. Lighting and signage are far more effective. Ramps have a detrimental look, feel and sound.”

There were some heated exchanges over the issue. When Mr McGrath asked whether councillors now determined engineering policy for Clare County Council, Cllr Brennan replied that as elected officials, wanted their decisions carried out.

Tom Coughlan, director of services, intervened and proposed a compromise. “There has never been a vote at an Ennis Electoral meeting. We could put in temporary ramps.” people in particular who are frustrated at the prohibitive cost of motor insurance.

“I feel that new entrants would encourage more attractive packages for such people,” he said.

He pointed out that if the Irish insurance market was healthy and competitive as was often claimed by the industry here, then they have nothing to fear from competition.

“In the same way that entrants such as the Bank of Scotland are shaking up the mortgage market, I feel the entrance of new insurers to the market would have a positive effect for consumers.

“If Ireland is to shake off its ripoff image then the underlying reality has to be tackled. It’s not just about marketing the image but tackling the cause,” he said.

Deputy Breen said afterwards that any person unable to get a quotation for motor insurance could contact the Insurance Information Service (016761914) who would assist them and arrange for their case to be considered under the terms of the Declined Cases Agreement.

Among the other Clare Fine Gael members who attended the weekend Ard Fheis for a special meeting of the party’s councillors were cllrs Madeleine Taylor Quinn, John Crowe, Martin Conway, John ‘Mashen’ McInerney, Oliver Garry, and Joe Cooney. Councillor Crowe missed by one vote being elected to the executive committee of Fine Gael councillors.

SHANNON Airport bosses have confirmed that there will be more than 2,500 extra seats from the airport to Cardiff and Bristol to help Munster’s Red Army travel to the Heineken Cup Final. Details of the flights and tour operators are available on www.shanonairport.com.

But supporters determined to have a ticket for the showdown are prepared to travel much further than Cardiff to get what they want. Last week, fans were turning up at the French side’s stadium, Stade Aguilera, where tickets for the Cardiff game were in plentiful supply.

Two supporters went as far as buying up 100 tickets which they say they will charge just face value for to friends, sources in the Munster supporters side said.

And when the Red Army goes overseas, there will be no shortage of red flags to mark their passage. The Limerick company with the franchise for the official Munster flag has used contacts in China to help produce enough flags for the supporters.

DJ Daly will turn out more than 40,000 Munster flags at his factory in Pallaskenry, County Limerick but his company has been swamped with orders.

To met demand, he contacted a friend who runs a similar business in Beijing and they have obliged with a shipment of flags for Munster supporters to wave.

A 19-YEAR-OLD Kilmaley learner driver with 17 motoring convictions has been put off the road until he passes his test.

Noel Keane of Kilcolumb, Kilmaley, Ennis, must also pay a fine of €1,300.

He was found guilty of operating his car without a silencer fitted to his exhaust and of having defective number plates at Liscannor Road, Lahinch, on January 13.

Garda John Cleary of Lahinch Garda Station told Ennistymon District Court last Wednesday that Mr Keane had 16 driving-related previous convictions.

Three of these were for having no silencer fitted to his exhaust.

Garda Cleary said that the other previous convictions were of a minor nature, relating to driving without Lplates and having no NCT certificate displayed.

In imposing the conviction, Judge Joseph Mangan banned the accused from driving for six months, but imposed a continuing ban until Keane produced a completed driving test pass to Clare County Council.

His license was also endorsed. Recognisance was set in the event of an appeal.

Judge Mangan’s ruling was described as “innovative” by a member of Clare County Council’s Road Safety Committee, Cllr Brian Meaney (GP).

“I would very much welcome the judge’s ruling, though I believe that it discriminates against provisional drivers and legislation should be put in place to punish drivers with full licenses who continually flout the road traffic laws in a similar way,” he said.

“For example, I believe that repeat offenders with full licenses should be made re-sit their driving test.”

Conor Faughnan of AA Roadwatch declined to comment on the individual case.

However, speaking generally, Mr Faughnan said it was possible to have anti-social behaviour in a car in a way that was not dangerous and there were laws there to prevent this.

“It is open to the courts to prevent such behaviour and it is a good thing to see that in action.

“Most people would welcome a firm hand with that sort of behaviour,” he said.

ALMOST 10 per cent of Clare’s drivers have not yet passed the driving test, with 605 of them on their fifth or successive provisional, according to Government figures.

There are 9,725 Clare people driving on provisional licenses with 5,527 on their first license, 1,549 on their second, 559 on their third and 557 on their fourth.

Nationally, there are 410,602 people on provisional licenses.

Fine Gael TD, Pat Breen said yesterday that the high number of provisional license holders in Clare was “symptomatic of the nationwide crisis in driving test waiting lists”.

He added, “That there are almost 10,000 people in Clare on a second, or subsequent, license demonstrates that these people are frustrated at the waiting periods involved.

“This is contributing to the sense some people have of not feeling compelled to go for a full driving license. This situation has been calling for an effective solution for years now. We need to have driving tests held in a timely manner and when they are in place, for road safety reasons, we have to move to stop provisional license holders being able to reapply for those licenses indefinitely.”

Deputy Breen added that figures released to him earlier this year showed that there were approximately 3,000 people on the driving test waiting list in Clare. According to those figures, Shannon has a waiting period of 45 weeks, Ennis, 32 weeks; and Kilrush, 27 weeks.

Senator Brendan Daly (FF) said it was unacceptable that there are so many provisional drivers on the road and it had to be dealt with.

“The unions and the Department of Transport have to resolve their difference,” he said. “There is a need for more driving testers in order to eliminate the backlog and that needs to happen now.”

Cllr Brian Meaney (GP) said he would be concerned at the 1,000 or more people who were driving on their fourth and fifth licenses.

“These people have failed their test multiple times and continue to drive on our roads,” he said.

“More should be done to ensure that these people pass their tests. They should be compulsorily required to have more driving lessons to ensure that they pass.

“That said, I know of many provisional drivers who are competent drivers. I would also like to know the proportion of L-plate involved in traffic accidents.

“This type of information could feed into proper Government policy on the issue.”

THE Diocese of Killaloe has been forced by Clare County Council into drawing up a masterplan for 85 acres of land in Ennis that could net the diocese a massive €30 million windfall.

Last night (Monday) Clare County Council voted unanimously to rezone 85 acres of land at Ashline to facilitate the relocation of Ennis National School.

The diocese proposes to construct 590 houses which would place a €150 million value on the development.

However, a diocesan spokesman confirmed to The Clare People yesterday that the diocese was forced by the council to draw up the tentative masterplan, as part of a proposal to relocate Ennis National School.

The diocese originally lodged a submission to rezone a small parcel of the land for ‘community use’ to allow the relocation of the school.

But, as the spokesman explained, “In order for the proposal to be evaluated, the council demanded that a masterplan be drawn up in relation to what would ultimately happen with all the lands owned by the diocese, before deciding on the school issue.”

Local auctioneer, Philip O’Reilly of Property Partners said last night that the rezoning would place a €30 million value on the diocesan property, based on a cost of €55,000 per site.

The masterplan has yet to be published.

However, The Clare People understands that the diocese’s consultants have told the council that the lands are better suited for high density housing than the three areas zoned for such at Roslevan, the Lahinch Road area and Clarecastle.

Along with 590 homes, the Diocese also proposes the development of sheltered housing for Cahercalla Hospital.

The proposal will allow the creation of distinct residential sub-areas, while community facilities will be placed at the centre of the area. The diocese also proposed a park area to separate the new development from existing housing.

They added that the proposal is also intended to facilitate the redevelopment of Ennis National School into a three-stream, 24 class school with the capacity for 707 students and a staff of 45.

The masterplan further proposes a commercial development to the entrance of the area that would be visible from the N68 roundabout.

The development of the lands is to be carried out in four phases over a 21-year period, with the first phase commencing in 2007-09 with the construction of the school.

THE largest carrier of US military personnel through Shannon Airport has confirmed that it is “reviewing possible alternatives to Shannon” for some of its operations, a move which could see the airport lose millions of euro worth of business.

There has been speculation in recent days that World Airways will relocate part or all of its refuelling and technical operation at Shannon, to the German city of Leipzig. The company made a similar move in February 2003 when it diverted 17 of its regular flights to Frankfurt, all of which returned to Shannon some months later.

World Airways, which is the world’s largest transporter of US military personnel, uses Shannon as a refuelling and technical stop for aircraft transporting troops to and from Afghanistan, the Gulf and US bases in Europe. Two other carriers, North American Airlines and American Trans Air, also use Shannon. However, World Airways is at present Shannon’s largest “technical transit airline partner”.

“We are reviewing possible alternatives to Shannon for some of our operations but no decision has been concluded,” a spokesman for World Airways confirmed. “We are looking at operational factors for us, including better aircraft and crew utilisation, because we already have several operations in Germany.”

But, he added, “Shannon has always been one of our preferred locations in Europe and will continue to be so, regardless of the outcome of our current review.”

Shannon is understood to have earned an estimated €14m during the first three months of this year from US military flights, with over 116,450 service personnel transiting through. This represented a 21 per cent increase on the same period last year. The Shannon Airport Authority is believed to have earned around €100m from the Pentagon in the past four years.

A spokesperson for the SAA said, “We have not been made aware of any plans by any airline to withdraw services from Shannon Airport and continue to have an exceptionally good working relationship with all our technical transit airline partners.

“But the technical transit business is ad-hoc in nature and subject to intense competition between many international airports”.

Prominent anti-war activist Edward Horgan said he was sceptical of a World Airways pullout: “They moved briefly from Shannon in Feb 2003 and came back again. Can we bring back to life all those little children who have been killed by soldiers who we allowed pass through Shannon?”

STAFF at Shannon Airport have claimed that they were told in advance that EU aviation inspectors were to inspect security at the airport, and procedures were stepped up before they arrived.

Sources say that everything was put in place to avoid a repeat of last year’s embarrassing security lapse, when a Department of Transport official smuggled a knife through a baggage checkpoint.

After the security officials from the European Civil Aviation Council had given Shannon a “very high rating”, airport management treated staff to a celebratory night out in the Clare Inn hotel. But speaking ahead of last Thursday’s night out, staff remained sceptical about the manner in which the audit was carried out.

“We were aware when the inspectors were going to be in Shannon. There were three or four inspectors and they were accompanied by staff from the Department of Transport here. Everything and everyone was in place this time,” one airport police officer said.

“If it was a surprise inspection and we were not told they were coming, I am sure there would be no party tonight,” a fire and police officer said.

The good news for the airport has come almost a year to the day after an inspector from the Department of Transport managed to smuggle a Swiss Army knife through an airport security check.

This most recent audit took place during the first week in April when officials inspected equipment, systems and procedures at Shannon. Attempts by inspectors to smuggle various items including an imitation bomb through airport security checks were thwarted.

Security at Irish airports was stepped up significantly last year, following a series of embarrassing incidents.

Asked to comment on the news that Shannon had achieved such a high rating, a spokesperson would only say, “The Shannon Airport Authority does not comment on security issues.”

The SAA is currently attempting to cut over 200 jobs at the airport and can only recruit internally for its police and fire service. Nine recruits are currently in training.

“If we were at full strength and not keeping the place running on overtime, there would be no security issue, because the staff would be in place to do the job properly,” another officer said.

“It is costing the airport hundreds of thousands on overtime. We can have as much of it as we want, but what we want is a full strength service, nothing more.”

THE arrest of a west Clare man in connection with the murder of Limerick bouncer Brian Fitzgerald has been described by gardai as “significant”, and the DPP will decide soon if charges are to be brought.

The 48-year-old man was arrested at Barefield, on the outskirts of Ennis, shortly before 6pm last Thursday, in connection with the death in November 2002.

He was detained at Mayorstone Garda Station in Limerick under Section 30 of the Offences against the State Act, before being released 24 hours later.

Gardai say a file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions, who will decide within weeks if charges are to follow.

The man’s house was searched on Thursday evening, following the arrest which was conducted by Limerick gardai, who were working in conjunction with officers from the Clare garda division.

“This development was significant, in the investigation, which is continuing,” said a garda source.

The man who was arrested had been outside the jurisdiction for several months and returned to his home in County Clare during the past fortnight. While several people have been interviewed in connection with the death of Mr Fitzgerald at his Corbally home, just one man is serving time for the murder.

James Martin Cahill (30), from Birmingham, who has strong west Clare connections, was jailed for life last November for murdering Mr Fitzgerald.

He was offered €10,000 by a gang to murder the father-of-two, after he refused a gang member entry to the nightclub where he was a bouncer. Cahill, who pleaded guilty to murdering Mr Fitzgerald, told his sentencing hearing that he would testify against those who he said paid him to carry out the murder.

“I will testify against people. That’s why I feel my life is in danger,” he told the Central Criminal Court, during his sentencing hearing six months ago.

He said he felt his life was in danger in prison and said that others involved in the case should be brought to justice.