Month: September 2006

THE chairman of the Clare Association of An Taisce has warned that four large retail parks on the fringes of Ennis will have a negative impact on businesses in the town centre.

Plans for the retail parks are before Clare County Council and An Bord Pleanala. If approved, they could dramatically alter the town’s commercial landscape.

In a submission to Clare County Council, Oliver Moylan said that “if these out-of-town retail centres are allowed to continue, the town centre will be affected. What will happen in the end is the decline of retail shops on the streets and their places will be taken up by solicitors, finance houses, auctioneers and insurance companies”.

There are plans for a €50 million retail park on the Quin Road, a €25 million development at Claureen, Lahinch Road, another park as part of a €50 million development near Clarecastle and another €50 million park on the Clare Road.

“All these will bring about the decline of shopping in the town centre – the consumer choice will be gone. Note, there are five solicitors offices in Parnell Street – fatal for attracting shoppers,” said Mr Moylan, who also operates a business in Ennis town centre.

“In all honesty, do we need another retail park? Are we not overretailed?

“In the Ennis and environs plan 2003, it states that ‘no out-of-town centre retail developments will be allowed unless it can be demonstrated that no other suitable sites are available’. I put it to you that the Ennis area is amply covered in all aspects of retailing, especially with the existing seven centres.

“There are at present virtually seven retail parks in the Ennis area: town centre, Dunnes, Tesco, Aldi, Lidl, Roslevan and the Lynch proposal for the Limerick Road. I really must ask is there a need for another one?

“There is a population of 110,000 in Clare. Of that, only half come into Ennis to shop. The other half, especially those living in south Clare, go to Limerick to shop.

“That leaves roughly 55,000 to shop in the existing centres. It is an awfully small cake to share out. It is interesting to note that Dunnes Stores has 100,000 square feet of retail space, almost equal to the square footage of the small shops on the three main streets.”

Decisions are due on the retail park applications in the next number of weeks.

FURTHER concern has been expressed over the declining number of people living in the centre of Ennis.

The most recent census figures show that the population of Ennis grew by 7. 5 per cent in the period from 2002 to 2006, with the town now home to 10,305 people.

The areas of Ennis defined as rural also grew, in this case by 9.4 per cent.

However census figures also show that the core population has dropped by almost 20 per cent in the past 10 years with the town’s urban population now standing at 5,917 compared to 7,163 a decade ago.

According to Rita McInerney, Chief Executive Officer, Ennis Chamber of Commerce, the decline is a cause for concern.

“Certainly it is a concern and we have a committee together who are looking at the reasons why and seeing what recommendations can be made”.

Increased demand for commercial space is seen as one of the reasons for the fall in population and according to Mrs McInerney the town would benefit more from having an increased core population.

“The figures show there is a great demand for commercial space. It would certainly be better to have certain areas in the centre that were residential.

“The idea of having deserted streets is not ideal.

“ It is important there is a good mix of people in any town, and there are also benefits from a security point of view.”

Meanwhile, there have been calls to install a new lighting system near Clare Abbey.

Plans for a new link road to the Ennis bypass that would pass by the ancient abbey have been lodged with Clare County Council and at the September monthly Executive Meeting of Ennis Chamber of Commerce, one of the items discussed was the potential focus on Clare Abbey.

According to statement from the Chamber, “Clare Abbey will now be much more visible to motorists, both locals and visitors alike. Ennis Chamber believes this is an historic religious structure of high architectural value which should be revered.

“Therefore the chamber is calling on the Office of Public Works to develop a lighting plan in order to give Clare Abbey the attention it deserves.

This will ensure its role as a landmark symbol for Ennis, reflecting the rich heritage and culture the town has to offer.”

KILKEE has secured a massive coup by persuading Oscar-winning actor, Russell Crowe (left), to participate in the unveiling of a statue dedicated to the late Richard Harris.

The Hollywood star is to take a break from filming in New York to be in Kilkee next Saturday for the unveiling of the life-size statue.

Event organiser, Manuel di Lucia, confirmed yesterday that the star was to attend and sing a song that Crowe penned in memory of Richard Harris.

The first move in what is likely to be a nine-month long game of strategising, planning and spin began in Clare this week.

Making the first move with a walk about in Clare, Fianna Fáil leader Bertie Ahern was working to keep all three of his pawns in play.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny believes that he needs to have just two of his four remaining pawns standing to secure victory.

He told The Clare People this week that the party hoped to gain two seats in Clare, despite claims that he is overloading the constituency with too many candidates.

“We have four exceptional candidates and as long as we work as a team and urge the voters to use their vote to change the Government, I’m confident we can take two seats.”

But who of the four candidates, Deputy Pat Breen, Cllrs Joe Carey, Tony Mulcahy and Madeleine Taylor Quinn he hopes to have left standing with him remains a mystery.

Meanwhile Mr Ahern is hoping to bring all three candidates, Deputy Tony Killeen, Senator Brendan Daly and Senator Timmy Dooley to the Dáil. Current political polls would suggest that such a move would require a lot of work however.

Speaking in Clare on Thursday the Taoiseach went so far as to suggest that the political games began with the leak of tribunal documents to a national paper.

“Who went to the trouble of such a motivated and scurrilous way of leaking what was a confidential session that I had with a tribunal and put it in the public domain?” he asked the gathered media in Kilrush after admitting the report was damaging.

“I don’t want to say it is politically motivated, but it is dirty (and) dishonest. I mean somebody went to a lot of trouble to place this in the public domain and it has been going on for the last few days,” he said.

Meanwhile Deputy Kenny is planning his strategy to call checkmate in the Banner County. The Mayoman outlined how the government has failed the people of Clare.

A TOTAL of 17 generous people from the Banner county have been honoured for their contribution to saving hundreds of lives.

The 15 Clare men and two women were presented with donor awards from the Irish Blood Transfusion Service on Friday, as each had donated blood more than 50 times.

Donating blood makes it possible for many people to lead normal, healthy lives. Every year, thousands of patients require blood transfusions in hospitals, because they are undergoing surgery, recovering from cancer or have been in a serious accident.

Among the reasons given for these Clare people’s generosity is the benefit a transfusion has been to a family member or a friend.

For many, they were following on a family tradition as their parents were donors. For others, they simply wanted to give something back to the community.

Donors must be over 18 years of age, weigh over seven stone 12 lbs (50kgs) and be fit and healthy.

People are deferred from donating for a short period of time if they are on medication or have a cold. Those who have lived in the UK for more than one year between 1980 and 1996 cannot donate.

THE Department of the Environment has requested that the developers of a €10 million wind farm in mid-Clare put in place measures to protect Hen Harriers, which are protected under the EU Habitats Directive.

In a submission to Clare County Council, the department has stated that owing to the sensitivity of the general area for the Hen Harrier and the presence of at least one Hen Harrier on the next site, it is recommended that there should be ongoing monitoring of Hen Harrier populations in the area.

The department also made the recommendations on the number and size of windfarms in the area.

The department has also stated that the windfarm should be designed to avoid areas of deep peat, even if these areas are modified by afforestation or drainage.

The proposal has also received one objection from Noel McGuane.

He told the council that the proposed extension to the existing wind-farm would seriously alter the format of the existing windfarm in the area.

Mr McGuane said that some of the turbines were very close to Lough Nan, which is the main water supply for over 2,000 homes.

The planned six-turbine wind-farm is an extension to a wind-farm that became operational last year. It is the first time in two years that planning permission has been lodged for a wind-farm in Clare with the council.

Already, within 10km of the proposed development, there are 62 wind-turbines consented to or built.

The existing 15-turbine windfarm at the site is only the second windfarm in Clare – the other is located at Moanmore, outside Kilrush.

Five years ago, DP Energy secured planning permission for the proposal in the face of strong local opposition and only after An Bord Pleanala disregarded the recommendation of its own inspector and granted planning permission.

The appeals board gave the plan the goahead, citing the National Development Plan in relation to the development of renewable energy and the national strategy on sustainable development.

According to the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) lodged with the new plan, the closest village to the proposal is Lissycasey at 6km, while the closest house is 700 metres away.

A decision is due on the application later this month.

ONE lucky Clare youngster will get the birthday treat of a lifetime if they are celebrating a 10th birthday on October 7 next.

The Clare People has teamed up with Clare FM and Mid-West FSG to find a Clare child who was born on the day Mid-West FSG was launched 10 years ago – on October 7, 1996.

To help celebrate the company’s 10th birthday, Mid-West FSG want to find that special child to launch the celebrations at their premises on the Quin Road business park.

The lucky youngster will get celebrity treatment for the day and be showered with birthday presents from the companies involved.

The lucky birthday child will be chauffeurdriven in a limousine and will get birthday presents from Mid-West FSG with newspaper photographers on hand to capture the fun as he or she blows out the candles on not one but two special birthday cakes.

Mums, grandparents and carers of children who turn 10 on October 7 are being asked to send their name, address, proof of date of birth to The Clare People as soon as possible.

Clare People Sales Director, Irene Hamilton, said, “we really want to make their birthday one to remember for life.”

The winning entrant will be chosen by Irene and the winner will be notified by September 30.

OFFICIAL figures show an increase in the amount of dogs put down in Clare in 2005.

According to the latest statistics from the Department of Environment, the destruction rate for animals in Clare in 2005 stood at 74 per cent, which represents a two per cent increase on figures for 2004.

The total number of dogs that entered the Clare pound in 2005 was 2,085 and from that 1,535 were destroyed.

Previous figures show that three times more dogs in Clare end up in the pound than the national average.

According to nationwide statistics, the national average is seven dogs per thousand population going to the pound.

In comparison, Clare has 18 dogs per thousand population.

Nationwide, the 2005 dog control figures show that 16,546 dogs, most healthy, were destroyed last year.

This is a 0.3 per cent decrease on last year’s figure of 16,598.

The total number of dogs held in Irish pounds increased from 24,716 in 2004, to 25,510 in 2005, representing a three per cent increase in total numbers entering pounds, proving the overall situation is not improving.

Limerick City has the highest destruction rate, with almost 100 per cent of animals put down, followed by Mayo, Kerry and Tipperary North and South, each with destruction rates of 90 per cent or more.

However, there was an increase in the rehoming of dogs in Leitrim, Dublin City, Fingal, South Dublin and Louth.

A GALWAY company has made a last-ditch bid to develop a sailing school in the New Quay area of north Clare.

Last month, Clare County Council refused planning permission to Redbank Leisure Ltd to develop the school. This followed the company being refused planning permission on three separate occasions for a visitor centre with learning facilities, on the same site.

The council refused permission after opposition to the latest plan from local residents.

However, Redbank Leisure has appealed the decision to An Bord Pleanala. The company states, “The proposal was for the development of a sailing school on part of the site which is owned by Redbank Ltd.

“The proposal involves a small section of the site and it is envisaged that the activities of the fish farm would continue on the other part of the site. The reason the principles are proposing this development is that the main business, that is the fish farming, is in decline.”

They argue, “There is no dedicated sailing centre in all of north Clare. There are two in south Clare at Kilrush and at Killaloe. This centre would address this situation and provide a much needed facility to cater for a growing demand in activity tourism and also for the expanding local youthful population who, living as they do on the sea shore, should have the facilities to learn how to sail the sea and taste its boundless possibilities in a supervised environment.

“The applicant owns Redbank and its entire shellfish water site, so it would be in our interests that any risk posed to the water quality or the shellfish in the bay.

“To this end, we have employed environmental consultants and they have produced a comprehensive analysis and a proposal to deal with the issue of waste water treatment.

A decision is due on the appeal later this year.

AHEAD of its AGM next week, the Gort Chamber of Commerce has pledged to continue its work on social projects, community facilities and to creating new business and housing opportunities in the town.

In an extensive release, the Chairman of the Gort Chamber of Commerce, Adrian Feeney, yesterday outlined the chamber’s plans for the next 12 months, including a desire to play an active consultative role with the council in implementing the Town Development Plan and with related issues such as rezoning.

“Through the efforts of the chamber, in co-operation with other community groups, we can continue to thrive as a community,” commented Mr Feeney. “As we come to the end of another year in the chamber, I can take a proud look back at the work of fellow chamber members who gave generously of their time and energy throughout the year.”

Mr Feeney pointed to the enhancement of the Market Square, the summer street cleaning programme and the new street lighting scheme as some of the greatest achievements this year.

“Well over 10,000 cars pass through our streets on a daily basis,” continued Mr Feeney. “If we encourage and support civic pride, and show our town is a pleasant place to live, to work and to do business, we all reap the benefits.”

Other highlights for the chamber this year include the success of the Coole Park Project, the introduction of broadband in the town and the visit of Mary McAleese.

“The highlight of the year for me as Chairman was the visit of President McAleese,” continued Mr Feeney. “Her interest in the work of our many voluntary organisations was recognition of our achievements.”

In addition to this, the chamber set up a sub-committee to liaise with Galway County Council to discuss the usage of Lough Curta to serve future water needs of the community and a Certificate in Business Studies course to be run by GMIT in partnership with the Chamber of Commerce.

Mr Feeney also highlighted the work done by the chamber, in association with other groups, in addressing the second access junction from the N18, Crusheen dual carriageway to Gort.

The Gort Chamber of Commerce AGM will take place next Tuesday, September 26.