Month: June 2006

THE MAYOR of Limerick has taken a lashing for suggesting that the Limerick boundary should be enlarged to take in Limerick business people living outside the city.

The question of the Limerick city boundary with counties Clare and Limerick has to be resolved, Mayor Diarmuid Scully told the AGM of the Mid-West branch of IBEC in the city on Friday.

Many owners of businesses within the city were unable to vote in city council elections, he said in his after-lunch speech. “There is an inherent danger, because middle-class owners of businesses live outside the boundary, with the businesses inside and the working class inside,” said Mayor Scully. “Who speaks for Limerick city — the Cathaoirleach of Limerick County Council, the Mayor of Limerick or the Cathaoirleach of Clare County Council?” he asked.

“The reality is that the Mayor of Limerick does and the others do not.”

East Clare Labour councillor, Paschal Fitzgerald, said the Mayor “is talking blarney.”

“There are plenty of Clare business people with businesses in Limerick and Limerick people with businesses in Shannon — this is not an argument for a boundary extension into Clare.”

Cllr Fitzgerald said that the Mayor “should go and talk to County Limerick and leave Clare alone.

“That’s what Dick Roche said to do.”

The Mayor also told the AGM that they can expect “fierce” cost competition from abroad. “We haven’t had a good record in attracting large investments to the region from abroad, and we won’t in the future because of costs,” said Mayor Scully.

“We have to compete on innovation and quality of life.”

Damien Clancy, the outgoing Mid-West President of IBEC, handed over to incoming president John Liddy of Roche Ireland in Clarecastle.

In the days immediately leading up to the AGM, one of Mr Clancy’s last presidential acts was to call for the appointment of a Minister for Regional Development.

“Unless Regional Development is prioritised under the new National Development Plan and a Cabinet Minister is made accountable for its overall day-to-day management, the Mid-West Region will end up with unfinished projects that will have serious consequences for our economic development and competitiveness,” Mr Clancy stated.

GARDAÍ have launched a major crackdown, targetting Limerick criminals who are carrying out crimes in east Clare.

The Clare People has learned that a two-fold initiative, involving the establishment of mobile patrols and setting up static checkpoints, has been mounted in recent weeks.

One garda sergeant and five gardaí have been deployed to the ‘AntiCrime Patrol Unit’ which is based in Ennis, Killaloe and throughout east Clare. In addition, garda checkpoints are being set up every night, in east Clare areas including Killaloe, Sixmilebridge and Cratloe, as part of the campaign.

A number of Limerick people, known to gardaí, have been stopped and searched in recent days, in an initiative which senior gardaí hope will curb rising crime levels in the area.

Superintendent John Kerin said the initiative is part of a major crackdown on crime in Clare, which is being committed by gangs of Limerick criminals.

“The sole purpose is to stop travelling criminals entering Clare, from the Limerick side.

“We found that, through analysis of crime trends, a lot of crime has been happening during the daytime in the Killaloe district.

“Criminals are coming into county Clare from the borders of Limerick,” said Superintendent Kerin.

Gardaí say the initiative is still in its infancy, and it is difficult to pinpoint how effective it will be.

However sources say early indications suggest that crime rates in east Clare are showing a decrease.

Hopes are high that this trend will continue, in the wake of the area experiencing spiralling rates of burglaries over the past year.

“We are concentrating a lot of our efforts in this area at the moment.

“So far this has been effective.

“While it is hard to measure the success of this, crime has decreased, certainly in east Clare and Sixmilebridge,” he added.

“The patrol unit will operate for the foreseeable future,” he said.

Gardaí say the initiative is also targeting drink drivers in the east Clare area, in the face of the growing number of people arrested on suspicion of the offence, throughout the Division.

The initiative was given the goahead by Assistant Garda Commissioner Gerry Kelly.

Funding was allocated, as part of a specialised budget, under Operation Anvil – an ongoing national campaign against criminal activity – following a submission by garda management in Clare. The operation is being conducted by existing garda resources in the Clare Division.

“We will be reviewing this on a monthly basis.

“We are certainly happy with this to-date,” added Supt Kerin.

THE late Taoiseach Charles Haughey had envisioned a different future for the acute health services in Clare, one that would no longer have Ennis General Hospital on its present site.

It emerged this week that as Minister for Health and Social Welfare from 1977 to 1979, Mr Haughey had discussed the possibility of relocating the county hospital to Cahercalla with senior politicians in Clare.

In fact, the controversial Taoiseach discussed plans to develop a medical campus on the site, then owned and run by the St John of God Order, which would include a maternity service and psychiatric services.

The Taoiseach visited the county to sanction the development of the maternity unit at Cahercalla. He had also wanted to close Our Lady’s Psychiatric Hospital on the Gort Road.

“He always felt this institution should be closed down,” said Fianna Fáil Senator Brendan Daly.

The west Clare senator, who served under Haughey as minister, said the man who would later become Taoiseach felt that Our Lady’s should never be considered for a general hospital, as he felt there would always be a stigma associated with the site.

During his visit to the county in the late seventies, Mr Haughey visited all three hospitals, Our Lady’s, Cahercalla and the County Hospital, now the Mid Western Regional Hospital Ennis.

Mr Haughey held a strong opinion that the general hospital should have been moved from its current location on the Gort Road.

In the late seventies, the mortuary in the county hospital was used for the majority of funerals and this led to congestion in the town.

Mr Haughey felt an out-of-town health campus would be ideal and felt the best place for such a development was in Cahercalla.

According to Senator Daly, Charles Haughey was also one of the first people to see the potential of a marina in Kilrush.

Himself a keen seaman, on passing the town dump in Kilrush he said to his party colleague, “wouldn’t that be ideal for a marina?”

In the run up to one of his many general elections, Charles Haughey’s mother Sarah was quoted as saying “Cathal always had notions.”

Some of the notions led the former Taoiseach to disgrace, some to changes for the country even Clare. Some remained merely as notions, as with the hospital.

THREE Ennis businesses have become the first companies convicted of failing to measure the cancer-causing gas, radon, in their workplaces.

Woodstock Golf and Country Club and Shannonside Oil, Clare Road, Ennis, pleaded guilty to the offence, at Ennis District Court last Thursday. The Clare Champion newspaper had entered a plea of guilty, at a previous sitting of the court last December.

The prosecutor, the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (RPII) had sought an adjournment of a case involving a fourth accused, Paddy Power bookmakers. However Judge Joseph Mangan stressed that the case was in for hearing and dismissed it.

Solicitor for the RPII, Harry Mooney told the court the Institute can issue directions to employers to carry out tests for the naturally occurring radioactive gas, radon.

He said companies are given six months to carry out the tests. The companies concerned were directed to carry out the assessments in May 2004, but did not do so within the required timeframe, he said.

“Shortly before the expiry of the six-month limit, a reminder was issued, but the tests were not carried out,” said Mr Mooney.

“The defendants have now carried out the tests. The test results reported back now show that there was no cause for concern,” he added.

The solicitor said Ennis was targeted, because, “statistically, information suggests the town may have radon problems. . . Thankfully tests carried out at these three premises show they have no problems with radon.”

Solicitor Isobel O’Dea, who acted as agent for Shannonside Oil, said the accused understood that Irish Shell, who owns the depot, was responsible for carrying out the tests and that it was an oversight.

Ms O’Dea, who also represented The Clare Champion , said the company’s Managing Director John Galvin regretted the tests weren’t carried out and apologised for the oversight.

Sharon Cahir, representing Woodstock Golf and Country Club, said results carried out on the premises over a six-month period were “very low.” All three had been also accused of failing to submit results, but these summonses were struck out, on application, with no objection from the Prosecutor.

Judge Joseph Mangan imposed fines of €500 on Shannonside Oil and Woodstock Golf and Country Club, and €300 on The Clare Champion . He said he was giving credit to The Clare Champion , for entering a plea, at the initial court hearing in December. All three were ordered to pay €600 costs.

These convictions are the first imposed for this offence in Ireland.

Last month, three businesses in Tralee were ordered to pay into the court poorbox, for failing to carry out tests for radon. Costs in those cases were not allowed and no convictions were imposed.

IRELAND’S nuclear watchdog says one in five homes in Ennis has high radon levels and equivalent to those facing workers in Sellafield.

The Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (RPII) says the convictions secured against three Ennis companies last week will encourage it to take other cases, if necessary.

The Clare People has learned that over the past 16 years, 1,634 homes in Clare have been measured for radon levels. 14.9 per cent of those have shown levels higher than the recommended safe level. 137 schools in the county have also been measured during this time, 17 per cent of which have exceeded the recommended safe level. RPII spokesman David Fenton said people in the areas above the recommended level “are experiencing levels comparable to workers at a nuclear station.”

Radon, the gas which is linked to 200 lung cancer deaths each year, is particularly high in Ennis, along with Tralee, he said. This was one of the reasons those towns were targeted by the RPII.

“One in five houses in Ennis have problems with radon. While there is no legislation governing radon in homes, awareness is important,” he said. Mr Fenton also expressed satisfaction that convictions were secured against three Ennis companies in the District Court last week.

The court proceedings arose after the companies failed to comply with directions issued by the RPII. Thirty companies in total were picked at random in May 2004 and issued with directions. The failure of the three to follow the directions, resulted in the court action.

“We are pleased with the outcome of the court case. There may well be other cases in Ennis. We won’t hesitate to prosecute companies who don’t comply with directions,” he said. He also stressed that when tests were carried out on the premises of the companies that were prosecuted, radon levels low and staff were not at risk. The RPII is encouraging householders to carry out their own radon tests. For details: 1800 300 600.

HE might be a horse of a different colour, but Zippy’s young riders, Mia Scanlan and her sister Farrah, reckon he’s in a class of his own.

He won’t be there, but if he were to put in an appearance at the Spancilhill horse fair — which starts this Friday — Zippy would surely have dealers thinking they were having nightmares. The very idea is enough to make a horse laugh.

The girls were getting aquainted with the 16-month old zebra at their farm at Gurtmagee, Killaloe.

Family friend and horse breeder, Johnny Cross, earned his stripes by breaking the mount, after being told it was impossible to do.

Having bought him from a dealer in Holland a few weeks ago, Johnny says he won’t be racing Zippy just yet — even though he has go-faster stripes!

THE Clare People has uncovered a failed attempt to defraud Clare County Council of more than €300,000 over a two-year period.

The dramatic revelation comes two years after a former traffic warden was jailed for defrauding another Clare local authority – Ennis Town Council – of €300,000 in coins.

The latest attempt came to light following publication of a local government auditor’s report which shows that an effort was made to defraud the council of €317,000, during 2003 and 2004. As a result, internal control and safety procedures have been further enhanced.

The report by auditor Thomas O’Callaghan stated that counterfeit paying orders “in the sum of €317,000 had been presented to the council’s bank. The sum included paying orders of €185,000, which the bank regarded as being fraudulent and did not debit to the council’s account.”

The balance of €132,000, which had been debited, was subsequently recredited to the council’s account.

Council Finance Officer Niall Barrett told The Clare People there was no loss to the council and Gardai were informed.

Asked to outline the circumstances around the attempted fraud, Mr Barrett said, “It is not appropriate to get into the transactional detail as the future effectiveness of the relevant control procedures could be diluted.”

The bold attempt to defraud the council follows a successful bid by former traffic warden, Chris Harford, to defraud Ennis Town Council of €300,000 in coins between August 1999 and September 2002. Mr Harford was jailed for three years in 2004 at Ennis Circuit Court where Judge Carroll Moran said that it was “extraordinary” that Mr Harford could steal such a huge sum undetected.

Mr Harford’s counsel, Michael Fitzgibbon BL, said the fact that his client could steal a staggering amount of money in coins over a three-year period and not be detected was astounding.

He said the lack of proper internal vetting and account procedures at Ennis Town Council was quite unbelievable.

The audit report in relation to the attempted €317,000 fraud was published and was up for discussion at the council’s June meeting. However, councillors chose not to refer to the attempted fraud. Instead, Clare’s mayor, Cllr Patrick Keane (FF) confirmed that County Manager Alec Fleming briefed councillors on the issue at a recent meeting of the council’s Corporate Policy Group (CPG), which is not open to the press or public.

A GORT community group made a presentation on their achievements and work to the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, when he dropped in on them, while on a visit to Galway at the weekend.

Mr Ahern came to Gort to meet with GRACE (Gort Regional Alliance for Community and Environment).

GRACE is an umbrella association for 22 established and newly formed groups in the Gort region. The group is celebrating a number of successes lately, including its recent campaign to have a second entrance/exit to the town of Gort, off the new N18 Dual carriageway.

The Taoiseach met with delegates from all the GRACE groups and was presented with a Brazilian t-shirt by the Brazilian Association.

GRACE made a powerpoint presentation to the Taoiseach, outlining the various community development projects that they were currently undertaking.

Earlier in the week, a delegation from GRACE made a presentation on Water and Sewage in the town to Environment Minister Dick Roche, when he visited the town.

Dr Niamh Clune, Chair and Coordinator of GRACE, said they “were absolutely delighted to have Minister Roche and the Taoiseach visit Gort in one week. We were very impressed that the Taoiseach showed such interest in what we are trying to do, and are extremely grateful to him for taking time out of his busy schedule to visit us here in Gort. We also really felt that Minister Roche listened to our concerns about the water and the sewage and that these serious issues will be addressed in the near future.”

Paddy Grealish, of Grealish Glynn Associates, made a presentation on the issue of sewage, and Coley Roche from the Chamber of Commerce put forward the arguments on the issue of the town’s water.

Junior Minister Noel Treacy was also thanked for the success of the road campaign.

“We must also especially thank Colin Joyce, Parliamentary Assistant to Joe Callahan, who has been working closely with GRACE on a number of different projects. He helped arrange for GRACE to meet with Minister Dick Roche and the Taoiseach,” said Dr Clune.

The Taoiseach visited Gort after he had officially opened the Marine Institute’s new purpose-built facility at Oranmore.

The building has state-of-the-art research facilities for the science institute which is responsible for advising the Government on the status of fish stocks.

CLARE County Council’s windfarm strategy is hindering the county’s alternative energy industry, according to Green Party councillor, Brian Meaney.

He was responding to the turning down by An Bord Pleanála of plans for a new windfarm in the Lissycasey area. The board found that the proposal contravened the council’s wind energy strategy.

The decision by the appeals board to refuse planning permission to Thomas McNamara to build a 375-foot high one-turbine windfarm within 500 metres of Lissycasey means it is now two years since a windfarm has got the go-ahead in Clare.

Clare County Council established “no-go” areas for windfarms in the Clare County Development Plan.

The number of planning applications for windfarms has also come to a near standstill, because of a Government-imposed moratorium on new windfarms making connections to the national grid.

“There is no doubt that the windfarm strategy is hindering the development of windfarms and surely any policy should be proactive in supporting alternative energy uses, especially as farmers seek to diversify their streams of income,” said Cllr Meaney.

He said that the council must revisit the strategy and identify the areas where it would be open to consider the location of windfarms.

“I believe that the current council policies are too restrictive and should be revisited in order to put in place a greater tolerance towards wind energy.

“Many of the locations in west Clare are deemed unsuitable for wind energy. That should also be revisited, as should the number of areas countywide deemed suitable for windfarms.

“In comparison to other western counties, Clare has a very small number of windfarms.”

Currently, there are two windfarms operating in Clare, one outside Kilrush and a second near the village of Connolly.

The latest windfarm developer fell foul of the council, because the proposed farm was within 500 metres of the village of Lissycasey, though it was not included in the “no-go” areas for windfarm development.

A UNIQUE guide to Ennis public art, developed by a group of Ennis National School children who have dyslexia, was launched yesterday in Glór in Ennis.

‘A Guide to the Ennis Sculpture Trail,’ which aims to reflect the childrens’ abilities, was launched by Clare FM’s Colum McGrath.

Earlier this year, the class undertook to do a guide to the many sculptures around the county capital. They researched the stories behind each sculpture, interviewed the sculptors and compiled all the information to produce the guide.

The children who created the guide are Alison Dwan, Katie Brennan, Cara McGillivray, Edwin Fitzgibbon, Keith Jones, John McInerney, Odran O’Brien, David Lunch, Peter Duggan and Emmet LaStrange. They are currently expanding the work by individually producing a guide to their favourite sculptures.

The Ennis Sculpture Initiative has installed numerous sculptures along the riverside in Ennis, as well as creating street furniture in the town centre. The Dromore Woods Sculpture Trail was the inspiration for the Ennis Sculpture Initiative.