Month: September 2006

THE Ennis couple who received over €100,000 after withdrawing their objection to a housing development have failed in their attempt to prevent Clare County Council re-routing a road near their lands.

Earlier this year, the council announced its intention to re-route a planned road that would facilitate road-users accessing the Quin Road Business Park off the Ennis by-pass.

However, a number of local residents with property adjacent to the route voiced their opposition. They included Vincent and Anne Coffey, Clonroad, who in 2004 received over €100,000 and two free sites from Luxury Homes (Galway) Ltd after withdrawing their objection to a €20 million development at Doora.

Details of the payment emerged in a planning appeals report which stated that at no time did the Coffeys approach the developers with the intention of securing payment, gifts or other inducements.

Now, the County Manager’s report, summarising their views on the rerouting of the road, states that “the proposed route is in the Fergus flood plain and development will interfere with existing draining and encourage additional landfilling which will adversely impact on their land and that the proposal would be detrimental to flora and fauna habitats in the area”.

In response, the planner’s report recommended no change to the road. and stated that measures would be put in place to deal with the natural drainage of the area and ensure that adjoining lands are not at risk from flooding.”

Other to make a submission included locals Gerry and Breda Woods, who claimed no provision had been made for road linkages to lands to the west of the proposed route.

However, the planners have recommended no change and have pointed out that by re-routing the southern section of the road through the land zoned commercial, the earlier completion of this section will be facilitated and zoned lands opened up for development. At the council’s September meeting, councillors ratified the new route.

PLANS have been lodged with Clare County Council to construct a roadlink to the Ennis by-pass that would open almost 60 acres of land for commercial development on the outskirts of Ennis.

The move by Michael Lynch Ltd is the latest by developers in the scramble to exploit the commercial opportunities provided by the opening of lands by the €190 million by-pass.

Already, plans for two large-scale retail parks have been lodged. One of the options put forward for the lands near Clareabbey by Michael Lynch Ltd is for the development of a 42,000-capacity stadium.

The proposed development of a 1.5km-long single-carriageway is to connect the Clonroadmore industrial estate, where the headquarters of Michael Lynch Ltd is based, and the western relief route of the Ennis by-pass.

The road will open up lands for development at Clonroadmore, where the company propose to develop the stadium along with 8,000 sq metres, a 70-bed hotel, 650 sq metres of offices, 1,200 sq metres of a conference facility, 240 houses, 1,000 sq metres of gym, an all-weather pitch, a three to four acre public park around Clareabbey and park-and-ride facilities along with a train stop.

The second option put forward for the land is the development of 400 residential units, 25,000 sq metres of retail warehousing, a three to four acre public park around Clareabbey, park-and-ride facilities and a train stop.

The company states that the road will unlock development lands and will facilitate the orderly and controlled development of land in close proximity to the urban core of Ennis.

The proposed link road is to be located 30 metres from the national monument, the Clareabbey.

However, the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) states that the site of the proposed route is “outside the area of highest archaeological potential”.

The EIS does acknowledge that “it is possible that archaeological deposits may be present within Area 2”.

As part of consultation for the EIS, An Taisce’s Heritage Officer, Ian Lumley stated that the “proximity of the proposed route to the ruin of the medieval Clareabbey and its impact on the physical and landscape is seriously problematic”.

Meanwhile, Green Party Councillor Brian Meaney said the abbey has been isolated and hidden away for years and he is doubtful that the road will “alter the integrity of the abbey.”

He believes the road will improve access to the historic site and reduce anti-social behaviour on the grounds.

A decision is due on the application later this year.

IN A BLACK weekend on the county’s roads, an Ennis cyclist died tragically on Saturday night, while a rally driver is fighting for his life.

Rally driver Thomas White (37), from Ballagh, County Limerick, is understood to have lost control of his Toyota Starlet coming into a bend during stage five of the Clare Stages Rally, at Ayle, near Feakle, at around 2pm on Sunday.

The car smashed head on into a tree. Mr White’s co-driver escaped without injury.

Mr White, who is married with a 16-month-old child, was last night in a ‘critical’ condition in hospital in Limerick.

A spokesman for the rally organisers said they were “satisfied the safety plan was in place and working properly.”

A 60-year-old man became the eighth person to die on the county’s roads this year.

John Fitzgibbon, from Knockanoura, Tulla Road, Ennis, was walking across the road near St Joseph’s Hospital at Lifford Road with his bicycle, when he was struck by a taxi, at around 9pm on Saturday. He died instantly and the taxi driver did not sustain any injuries.

Mr Fitzgibbon, who was unmarried and lived with his sister Philomena, will be laid to rest today.

Originally from Ennis, he was one of a family of 10 and worked for many years as a farmer.

“He was an absolute gentleman. If you wanted help with anything, all you had to do was ask him. He was an honest decent fella,” said his neighbour and friend, Seán McMahon.

Only a few witnesses to the fatal accident have come forward and gardaí are seeking assistance.

“We need to know where exactly he was, what position on the road. Someone would have seen him prior to the accident,” said Inspector Kevin Moynihan.

“It was a sad, tragic weekend. A life has been lost. This brings us up to the same number of deaths as last year in the Clare Garda Division,” he added.

A CONTENTIOUS plan by Parteen National School to construct a Portakabin has been put on hold by Clare County Council after opposition from local residents.

Earlier this year, the school lodged plans for a Portakabin to accommodate the growing number of schoolchildren attending. However, the plan has run into opposition from local residents who claim that the Portakabin is located in green space that forms part of a private housing estate in the area.

In her objection, Donna O’Donovan has told the council, “The land they are asking to use is not the school’s land. My understanding is that it belongs to the residents of Fieldbrook. The school has plenty of room on its own land on which to erect a Portakabin.”

Officials say they also have concerns about the proximity of the proposed development to adjacent residents. A decision is due on the application before the end of the year.

THE town of Ennis was described as an “educational black-spot” yesterday by a school principal as it emerged that up to 25 children are without a school in the town due to lack of space.

Making the charge, school principal of the Ennis Educate Together school, Sean Ó Comfhaola revealed that in the past week he has had to turn away between 20 and 25 children searching for a school in the Ennis area.

“This is an emergency situation. They are mostly foreign children and are not just junior infants, but kids looking for school places in first, second and third class. A few of the children have been back to us a second time after not finding a place elsewhere in Ennis,” he said.

Mr Ó Comfhaola said, “One of the toughest things I have ever had to do as principal was in the past week where a young Brazilian girl and her mother came looking for a place for the girl.

“The mother had no English, so it was up to the daughter to ask for a place in first or second class and I had to say ‘no, sorry we’re completely full’. She said that she had been around to every school and getting no place. I couldn’t tell the mother where to go, there is nowhere where they can register and as a result, we don’t know what has become of these people.

“The parents from eastern Europe come from a system that is quite organised and they can’t understand why there wouldn’t be schooling for their children,” he said.

Commenting on the situation, Fine Gael TD, Pat Breen said, “Everyone has a right to be educated and to be facilitated with a proper education, so it saddens me to hear that there are children going without one.”

A SISTER of the principal of the Ennis Holy Family Senior School was the only Ennis resident, along with her husband, to voice opposition to rezoning that allowed the relocation of Ennis National School.

In all, Clare County Council received five submissions relating to its plans to rezone lands at Ashline, on the fringes of Ennis, to facilitate the relocation of the national school.

Submissions came from the Holy Family Senior School, the Department of Education and the Killaloe Diocesan Trust.

However, a fifth was lodged by Catherine and William Sweeney of Tobartaoscain, Ennis.

It emerged yesterday that Ms Sweeney was a sister of Ennis Holy Family Senior School principal, Margaret Cooney. The senior school is strongly opposed to the proposed relocation.

In their submission, Ms Sweeney and her husband point out that the present Ennis National School site will be lost to primary education in Ennis and that the present site is in a central location.

The Sweeneys also state that the present site is within convenient walking distance for many pupils and that its loss would lead to more traffic congestion and inconvenience, as pupils would require transport.

Ms Sweeney told The Clare People : “I have no problem with the national school relocating as long as the school’s existing site remains a site for a new school.

“The Department of Education has pointed out that the current national school site is a perfectly viable site for a school.

“The site is a fantastic resource and that it might be lost to the town of Ennis is the main reason we lodged our submission.

“There has been an enormous increase in children seeking places in Ennis schools and it would be very short-sighted if the National School site was lost to education and it would be a long-term loss for Ennis town.”

Ms Sweeney said that her decision to lodge the submission with her husband to the council was “not connected” to her sister’s job.

She said: “I am a very independent person and I am surprised that more people didn’t make submissions.

Ms Sweeney said that she and her husband were, “very, very interested in education.

We are both teachers and from our time in Dublin, we saw the effect that schools moving out of areas can have on those areas.

“It can change the dynamics in other schools and change the ethos and balance and I would hate to see that balance being lost.

However, in response to the Sweeney submission, Executive Planner, Bill Sansum said: “The present site is not necessarily lost to education as education remains as appropriate use in Proposal Site (the current Ennis National site) in the Plan.

“It is understood that a high proportion of pupils currently travel by car and this would be likely to remain the case at Cahercalla until such time as local bus services are introduced and a local community develops in the area.”

PRIMARY school principals across Ennis yesterday railed against the reliance by the Department of Education on prefabs to address continuing accommodation difficulties for students.

A Clare People survey of Ennis primary schools found that there are over 1,000 school children being accommodated in 44 prefabs in the town’s schools.

The survey found that there are currently 16 prefabs in place at Ennis National School, 11 in place at Cloughleigh National School, eight prebabs at Ennis Educate Together, seven in place at the CBS primary school and two at the Holy Family School, where planning has recently been secured for a third.

School principal of Ennis Educate Together, Sean O’Comfhaola, said yesterday, “The lack of planning for the education of children now and into the future is criminal.”

Mr O’Comfhaola said, “We are at this site since 1998 and have not made any progress for a new school. There are two sites zoned for school use in the Ennis Development, but they are not available.”

Mr O’Comfhaola was supported by INTO spokesman, Declan Kelleher. He said, “Anyone who would have witnessed the growing numbers enrolling in Ennis schools over the past 15 years would have seen the demands that were being placed on Ennis schools. Why weren’t these demands acted upon?”

He said, “Someone, somewhere in the planning of primary schools in Ennis, stands indicted. It should never have got to this and there is a huge amount of catching up to do as the Ennis area has been totally neglected.”

At the CBS primary school, there are seven prefabs in place and school principal Br Liam de Roiste said, “I believe, economically speaking and from a common sense and forward planning point of view, that the prefabs are a terrible waste of precious money. If we want the best education for our children, it should be done in proper buildings, not prefabs.”

School principal of Scoil Chriost Ri, Pat Hanrahan, said, “Half the staff at the school here are in prefabs. There is no question of building a new school on this site. The site was never adequate.”

As Mr Hanrahan was speaking, the school was taking delivery of another prefab for the coming school year. He said, “We are hopeful that the school will have a new school building on a new site in time for the 2010 school year.”

CLARE County Council is making moves to provide relief to entrepreneurs unable to afford massive rents for commercial spaces in Clare’s rural towns.

At the Council’s Special Policy Committee on Economic Development yesterday, chairman, Richard Nagle (FF) said that rents up to €100,000 a year are being sought from young entrepreneurs.

Cllr Nagle said: “They cannot afford these leases and that is why the Council has moved to make sites available.

Senior Planner, Liam Conneally said the Council passed a motion at its July meeting to acquire land in towns to provide sites to facilitate the start-up of small business. As a result, he has since been liaising with area engineers in the electoral areas in a bid to identify sites and the Council has also been in contact with Shannon Development to establish where vacant commercial space exists.

“The council wishes to work proactively in this issue and that includes adding lands to be zoned for commercial use. Purchasing lands will be a matter for the council,” he said.

SPC member, PJ Ryan asked was the Council proposing to subsidise the rent or sale of sites.

In response, Director for Economic Development, Bernadette Kinsella said the council was at an early stage in this process and a funding mechanism had to be decided.

Cllr Patrick Keane (FF) said: “I can’t envisage the Council subsidising sites. The Council doesn’t have the funds. It is not the Council’s job to provide subsidies. The Council can zone the land for commercial use”.

Cllr Nagle – who brought the motion before the Council’s July meeting – said that to charge €100,000 a year was totally impractical and occupied industrial sites were needed to keep small towns alive.

“The only way sites can be leased is that if they are at a reasonable cost. What we are talking about here are one and two-person businesses,” he added.

IN ONE of her final engagements before resigning as Tánaiste, Mary Harney praised Clarecastle’s highly skilled workforce after officially opening a new €5.4 million state of the art laboratory, at the Roche Ireland facility.

Ms Harney said the presence of a skilled labour pool, along with the company’s close community ties, were central to Roche success.

“The flexibility and commitment of the Irish workforce attracts companies like Roche to Clare and the mid-west. As people in Clarecastle know well, you don’t have to be in a big city to compete in big markets”

Managing Director John Liddy said, “We are fortunate to be well served by excellent schools and third level institutions in this region.”

The Clarecastle site was established in 1974 by thxe Syntex corporation and was acquired by Roche in 1994. Since then, Roche has pumped €200 million into the Clarecastle site which now produces final products and intermediaries for a wide range of health care products. The plant currently employs 240 people, 75 per cent of whom have third level qualifications. Mrs Harney said this figure underlined Roche’s importance to the region.

“We are very much moving into an era of fourth level education. The Government plans to double the amount of PhD holders so we continue to develop our knowledge based economy”

She was joined at the opening by the Chargé d’Affaires of the Swiss Embassy, the honourable Mr Ernst Balzili, Dr Jan van Koeveringe, head of Roche worldwide pharmaceutical manufacturing, Mayor of Clare Flan Garvey and Mayor of Ennis Joe Reidy.

SPENDING of €11.9 million on environmental works and €8.9 million on a redundancy programme contributed to a 60 per cent drop in profits at Roche Ireland last year.

Accounts filed to the Companies Office show that Roche Ireland, a subsidiary of the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche, returned a profit of €6 million to the end of 2005, compared to the €14 million profit secured after tax in 2004.

The drop in profits at the Clarecastle plant is explained by the €20.8 million spent on environmental works and redundancy payments last year to 35 workers let go. The director’s statement attached to the accounts state that the “directors have increased the company’s provision for obligations associated with its environmental development programme by €11,950,000 in the financial year. This is based on the conclusions of a number of on-site studies indicating soil stabilisation remediation requirements”.

It goes on: “In September 2005, the company announced that, as part of a group strategy to restructure its global manufacturing network, it would be closing its d, I Acid production plant during 2006. The above restructuring charge relates primarily to the costs of a redundancy programme associated with this closure.”

The accounts show that Roche enjoyed a turnover of €118 million in 2005 compared to a turnover of €124 million in 2004, while operating costs also dropped from €111 million in 2005 to €106 million in 2004. But, accumulated profits stand at €99 million.