Month: June 2006

COUNCILLOR Joe Reidy is the new Mayor of Ennis, having been elected by a six-two majority at a meeting of Ennis Town Council last night.

His Deputy mayor is Independant councillor, Tommy Brennan.

The Fianna Fáil councillor didn’t have a clear run at the Mayoral position, however, with Councillor Johnny Flynn being nominated for both positions.

Before the election, outgoing Mayor, Frankie Neylon, said that it had been “an honour to serve as Mayor of this town, for me and for my family.”

He listed the events which he had seen come about in his year as mayor, including the opening of Lees Road, the success in the Tidy Towns competition,the progress on the Ennis bypass and the first Clare Mini Marathon last weekend.

Cllr Neylon said he wanted to “thank and compliment the staff for the huge amount of help they have given me.”

After being elected and accepting the chain, the new mayor said he hope “to be as good in this office as those who have gone before me.”

He thanked his supporters and said that as a body, the Ennis councillors “always stick together when it comes to issues that affect this town. The town is the first concern.”

THE Burren could become a haven for illegal dumping if action is not taken. In the last seven days The Clare People , has been contacted by a number of local residents reporting incidents of illegal dumping around Clare’s most treasured natural resource.

The first incident is reported to have taken place along the shore line close to Fanore. According to one local, who asked not to be identified, it is a problem which is on the increase.

“The beautiful coastline from Ballyreen to Fanore and beyond is a real mess,” according to the local. “It is not just mindless litter louts, but it’s anglers too who are at fault.

“Beer bottles, cans, discarded fishing line and bin liners are all discarded along the shore line.”

A separate illegal dump, which appears to be made up of construction materials, was reported on the wall border of the Burren National Park in Carron.

The Clare People contacted the Environmental Section of Clare County Council in relation to this story, but no response was available at the time of going to press.

AN investigation into illegal dumping on local authority land in Kilrush Town has pointed to a break down in communication within the council.

Rubbish made up of soil, stone and various wastes was discovered by a member of the public on council lands on the Cooraclare Road across from the Teagasc Office at the end of last month.

Kilrush Town Clerk Fiona Mooney said, “The waste material was gathered arising from a community clean up of a back lane. It was separated into the various waste streams and all of it was brought to the licensed waste transfer station at Lisdeen.

“However, as some of the waste was mixed with soil and stone, it could not be accepted into Lisdeen’s compactor unit. Those two trailer roads were then brought back to Council land in Kilrush and inappropriately disposed of, contrary to local authority policy,” Ms Mooney admitted.

The Town Council was alerted to the waste disposal on the Cooraclare Road after receiving a complaint from a member of the public on May 30. The complaint was acknowledged immediately and within a working week, the matter was investigated and the waste had been appropriately disposed.

The waste was removed from the town council lands and disposed of at the Central Waste Management Facility at Ballyduff Beg within a working week of becoming aware of the matter.

Ms Mooney acknowledged that there had been a breakdown in communication on local authority policy. “I acknowledge that the incident should not have happened in the first instance and I have taken steps to ensure it will not happen again. I have now communicated Kilrush Town Council’s policy on waste right through to everyone at all grades and levels”, she stated.

Earlier in the week Clare County Council had issued an appeal to all customers using the Central Waste Management Facility at Ballyduff Beg, Inagh and recycling centres at Ennis, Scariff and Lisdeen to adequately cover trailers and waste. Anyone who failed to do so could face prosecution under the Litter Pollution Act 1997, the statement said.

THE company constructing the Ennis by-pass has received an estimated €12 to €15 million in additional payments from Clare County Council, The Clare People has learned.

In 2004, GAMA Strabag beat off competition from five other companies to build the 21 km route for a fixed price contract of €123 million after lodging the lowest tender.

However, the contractor is now set to scoop up to €138 million, as a result of successful claims totalling an estimated €15 million.

It is believed that GAMA Strabag has received an additional €6 million under the section in the contract relating to labour laws and another €6 million under the section in the contract relating to lands made available.

A spokesman for the National Roads Authority (NRA) would only confirm that GAMA Strabag had received additional money through claims made, but would not confirm the amount.

He added, however, that the project was coming in on budget at €205 million.

“The contingency cost includes inflations and claims that the contractor would make during the life-span of the scheme in response to agreed upon contractual conditions,” he said.

The making of claims is commonplace in road contracts. During the second phase of the Newmarket-on-Fergus by-pass, claims totalling €19 million were made and through negotiation with Clare County Council, this was reduced to € 3million on all claims.

County Engineer, Tom Carey said the scheme was on schedule for its completion date of April 2007, but it was hoped to open sections ahead of this date.

Cllr Joe Carey (FG) said yesterday that it was unfortunate that GAMA had made the claims.

“I hope that these payouts would not hinder the completion of the scheme in any way.

According to the Ennis by-pass website, there may be an early opening of the N18 Eastern Bypass from Dromoland to Cragard at the end of 2006.

Completion of the N85 Western Relief Road from Claureen to Clareabbey Roundabout section will take place by mid January 2007. The final section of the N85 Western Relief Road from Clareabbey Roundabout to Killow Junction to be completed by 11th April 2007.

THE programme which deals with young offenders is far too lenient and must be overhauled. That’s according to Shannonbased Councillor Tony Mulcahy (FG), who was speaking in reference to the increasing number of young offenders coming to the attention of gardaí in the county.

Councillor Mulcahy said children as young as 12 are getting involved in anti-social behaviour and that repeat offenders should face the rigours of the law. Young offenders are dealt with under the Juvenile Diversion programme, which is designed to deal with children who commit offences, in a manner other than prosecution. Juvenile Liaison Officers (JLOs) deal with these youths.

“We have to review the JLO system, going forward. We have anti-social behaviour from people as young as 12. We can’t have a warning system going on to the age of 18, when there can be 100 ticks on the card,” he said.

“We have a responsibility to ensure there is a punishment for crime. This is causing a lot of the elderly to be intimidated. It starts with minor crime and criminal damage and we need to address that as a society. It is too lenient at the moment. If we are dealing with these issues, we have to take stronger action,” said Cllr Mulcahy. The Acting Head of the Clare Garda Division, Superintendent John Kerin said the existing system is effective, and that most of those who come under the scheme, do not re-offend.

“Statistically, the people who are in charge of it will tell you, the vast majority of those who come under the scheme don’t re-offend and habitual criminals who don’t learn lessons are brought to court,” said Supt Kerin.

“Everybody will make a mistake. Five or six per cent of people who come under it prove to be a waste of time. The vast majority of people don’t re-offend,” he added.

Last year, 576 referrals were made from the Clare Garda Division, to the Garda National Juvenile Officer – an increase on almost half on the previous year.

In total, 459 individual children were referred, under the Juvenile Liaison programme, during 2005, which is an increase on 355 during the previous year. 59 of those were deemed unsuitable; 69 received formal cautions; 267 were given informal cautions, while no further action was taken against 33 others. A second Juvenile Officer was appointed in Clare for the first time last year, to deal with the increasing trend of juvenile crime in the division.

EAST Clare company, Finsa has succeeded in having strict new environmental controls eased that secures the 140 jobs at the plant.

Earlier this year, the EPA awarded a draft Integrated Prevention Pollution Control (IPC) license to the Spanish-owned Finsa Forest Products in Scariff that imposed tough new controls on the firm.

However, in an objection against conditions in the new licence, the company’s CEO, Virgilio Romero Suarez told the EPA that having studied the draft licence and discussed its contents “with our parent company, we have concluded that certain provisions will have serious implications for the continued viability of our company”.

Mr Suarez stated that the company “cannot sustain the imposition of environmental conditions that are not imposed on any of our competitors within the EU”.

Enterprise Ireland also come to the aid of the processing plant by also lodging an objection against conditions in the license, pointing out to the EPA that if the restrictions imposed are not lifted “it will impact negatively on the company’s competitiveness and threaten 140 jobs in Scariff”.

Any move to scale back operations would have a massive impact on the east Clare economy as Finsa’s most recent accounts show that it paid out €5 million in wages in 2004.

At the centre of the dispute between Finsa and the EPA was the agency’s insistence that from now on, it must not use any recycled material in its production process, including recycled materials from Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste.

In its objection, Finsa state that it began using recycled material in 1995 and currently it uses 35,000 tonnes of recycled material in its process “and this has become vitally important to the economic survival of our company”.

The company point out that if the condition is not modified it will cost the company €790,000 per annum – the company’s most recent accounts show that in 2004, it made a profit of €116,000 which followed the company making a loss of €1.82 million in 2003.

However, in its response to the Finsa submission, the EPA’s Technical Committee recommended no change due in part to the licensee “having a poor compliance record which does not inspire confidence”.

However, this was over-ruled by the Board of the EPA who stated that the recycled material could be used as a raw material, stating that it was satisfied that there would be no environmental impact.

Senator Timmy Dooley said: “Sanity has prevailed and I welcome the decision of the EPA and the efforts Enterprise Ireland has made in assisting Finsa. It is important that state agencies recognize the role of industry in local areas.”

The license issued follows a number of difficult months for Finsa after the EPA uncovered a series of environmental breaches at the facility as a result of two audits of the facility in the second half of last year.

AS thousands of parents and teachers in the county prepare to battle with the Department of Education to reduce class sizes, one small west Clare School is encouraging pupils to join its small classes.

Baltard National School, close to the White Strand in Doonbeg, has less than a dozen pupils.

Chairman of its board of management, Michael Howard, told The Clare People that it was important that the school facility was maintained, especially with the ongoing development in the area.

“People are crying out for smaller numbers and we are prepared to take children from other areas to counteract the overcrowding,” he told The Clare People .

Last week, a petition was handed in to the Department of Education, which included more than 6,500 signatures from Clare parents, demanding smaller class sizes and an end to overcrowding.

Baltard Primary School principal Mary Molloy, who previously worked in an overcrowded Dublin city school, told The Clare People that smaller schools, were a huge advantage to both mainstream and special-needs children as they allowed one-on-one tuition.

It also allowed the teacher give special attention to a child who might need special help with a specific subject, she said.

The West Clare school recently received the prestigious DEIS (Delivering Equality of opportunity In Schools) award, one of only 100 rural schools ever to do so.

An associated grant was welcome for the school that has continued to battle with the Department of Education for funding for a second adult to assist its teaching principal.

To date, the board of management has had to find the funds for the second employee. Ms Molloy, who began working in the school four years ago, has outlined a number of suggestions for the future development of education in the area.

The principal, with qualifications in special needs education, outlined an idea that would involve developing the school as a junior or senior school for the area, with the students transferring to another school in the parish that could specialise in other classes.

The school is also likely to grow in the coming years due to ongoing development in the area, according to Mr Howard. The board of management chairman maintains the school can cope with any increase in number, and indeed welcomes the prospect. The Baltard man pointed to the importance of the school as the centre of the small community.

THE Department of Education has revoked an autistic girl’s essential after school education without any notice to her family.

Isabelle Séquin, who attends Carrigaholt National School with her twin sister Clara, was denied her home tuition last April without any explanation.

When her parent’s Pat and Daniele inquired about the service that supported their daughter to attend the local school, they were told the practice was being discontinued as she was attending school full time.

Isabelle’s mother said that the two hours tuition every evening was vital for their daughter if she was to continue her education, as it helped her with communication and integration.

This is just one in a series of disappointments for the young family, since Isabelle was first diagnosed with Cerebral Palsey at seven months.

At two and a half she was further diagnosed with autism.

During her pre-school years the little girl was provided with the services necessary to help her learn to communicate.

When she started primary school at five, it was on condition that a specialised team including a senior psychologist, social worker and speech therapist was in place. A special needs assistance was also employed at the primary school.

But in the first 12 months of her primary school education the senior phsychologist moved on to another job. The speech therapist she saw just three times a year, also left the position and neither were replaced.

Since then the little girl has managed with just five hours of remedial teaching a week and after school tuition, which the government have now taken from the little girl.

“It is difficult enough to deal with this situation, with all the stresses and strains, but then you have to battle for every little bit,” said Isabelle’s distraught mother.

“She had more at pre-school. The (national) school is doing the best they can, but there are 15 children in the classroom and four classes. One hour of remedial teaching a day is not adequate,” she said.

“The home assistance was the only service available to progress children with autism. The services in schools have not been replaced, or improved but the Department of Education is removing the one service in place.”

Up to 14 children on the west Clare peninsula have been diagnosed with autism, and Ms Séquin says that the cancelling of the service is affecting the majority of these families.

The Department of Education said it “no longer provides home tuition grants where a child has secured a school placement.”

PARENTS from across the county are preparing for a long and drawn out battle with the Department of Education, as they seek essential education for their children.

The parents, whose children have autism, are campaigning and fundraising under the group Clare Action Autism, for a specialised “Sapling School” for the county .

Ian McMorrough, a parent, said a group of parents had begun campaigning for the school, already in place in Kildare and based on the ABA (Applied Behavioural Analysis).

In the Sapling School each child has one-to-one tuition based on individual plans. The school also includes essential services for children on the “autism spectrum”, such as speech and language therapy and occupational therapy.

“This requires the parents to get it up and running, we know we have a battle on our hands with the department,” said Mr McMorrough.

“The Government has paid out in excess of €16 million in legal fees fighting cases of children with autism,” he said.

More than 2,000 children in Ireland are awaiting diagnoses, but no numbers are available as to how many children have autism.

It is estimated by the National Autistic Society in Britain that one in every 166 children have varying degrees of autism.

Twelve specialised schools – Sapling and another form of autism school known as Cabas – are supported by the Department of Education, but in each case, parents had to fight for the service.

Mr McMorrough maintains that by spending €50,000 per child when he or she is young, the Government will save itself €400,000 when the child is older.

“Early intervention is also vital for the child,” he said.

Ian and his wife have already started educating their young son using the ABA method at home, employing specially-trained staff. A clinical psychologist is also overseeing the schooling. The progress of the young boy has been described as amazing by his father.

“Individual learning is key for these children as they have to learn how to learn,” he said.

“The children would then be integrated into mainstream when they are ready, not when the Department say,” he added.

The campaigning parent explained that most individuals who did not receive effective treatment were unlikely to live independently as adults.

Using the ABA method, up to 70 per cent of children have been integrated into mainstream education, he said.

Clare Action Autism can be contacted on 087 6814240.

SHANNON Airport is not viable, is losing money and now has accumulated debts of €100 million.

That is the bleak assessment offered by the chairman of the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA), Gary McGann who has also cast serious doubt over the Shannon Airport Authority (SAA) assuming full control of affairs at Shannon in the proposed break-up of the three state-owned airports.

In a presentation to the Oireachtas’s Transport Committee, Mr McGann said: “Shannon Airport is not viable. It is losing money. Positive discrimination is already happening. If it were not, Shannon would not be able to continue to survive as it has done in recent years.

“In the past year or two, it has been supplementing its income and getting into positive cash flow mode because of military traffic, which is not something it can depend on in the long term. That business is already declining.”

Mr McGann said that Shannon Airport generated €9 million in profit per annum from the military traffic. But, he added that “there is no prospect at all of Shannon being viable in the near term with its current cost base”.

In response to Mr McGann, vicechair of the committee, Peter Power (FF) asked whether Shannon could be made fully independent. Replying, Mr McGann said: “In accordance with the mandate we have, which is that the airports must have viable business plans, the Acting Chairman is quite correct. There is no possibility of…”

Deputy Power completed the sentence: “Delegated authority or no delegated authority, it will still be part of the Dublin Airport Authority.

In response, Mr McGann said:

Yes, and the consequences of that are problematic in their own right in that the DAA gets no compensation for losses in Shannon, and presumably rightly so. Shannon losses will continue to be funded by it. I do not mean to be trite, but we have a commercial mandate and it does not include positive discrimination.”

Clare Senator, Timmy Dooley said yesterday that he would be surprised if Shannon achieved independence before the next general election.

“I can’t see it happening in the short-term and that may give the opportunity for a rethink. Giving Shannon autonomy has been excellent, but it may not be necessary to go the ultimate step to make Shannon fully independent.”

Deputy James Breen (Ind) said that “Government policy in relation to Shannon Airport is in disarray.