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BANKING competition in Ennis has moved up a notch with the official opening today of the Bank of Scotland.

And while the move received a warm welcome from the Chamber of Commerce’s, its Executive Officer, Rita McInerney has called for more support through the planning process to ensure that retailers are encouraged into Ennis to balance big chains like the banks.

Ennis is the 11th branch to open of the 46 branch network that the Bank of Scotland intends to achieve over the next year. This will be the first

completely new retail banking net work in more than a century.

The new bank will operate longer than usual opening hours, starting at 9am Monday to Saturday and staying open until 5pm on weekdays and noon on Saturday. Ms Chrissy Quinn, Head of Retail Banking at Bank of Scotland said the banks is “delighted to officially open the Ennis branch” and she thanked the Mayor of Ennis, Cllr Frankie Neylon, for agreeing to perform the official opening.

Rita McInerney said that the Chamber “welcomes the opening of the bank. It shows confidence in the economy of Ennis as a regional town.”

But Ms McInerney expressed the Chamber’s concern “that a good balance between retail and services be kept. The bank is in a good location, as it is close to existing banks, but we would be concerned that more retail businesses be encouraged to come in and keep the town centre alive.”

The Chamber’s CEO said that the organisation would like to see greater assistance given to prospective retail businesses at the planning stage.

“We need good pre-planning meetings, with proper note taken of what is discussed and agreed. Retailers thinking of investing in Ennis need to know what restrictions might apply in terms of things like site and architecture. We need to keep the balance between services, chains and individual retailers,” she said.

The Ennis branch is managed by Ciara Flynn, who is joined by Diarmuid Kelly, Mortgage Advisor and staff Claire Keane, Suzi McMahon, Mary Gilmore and Pauline Casey. Head of Retail Banking at the Bank of Scotland, Chrissy Quinn, said that customers “will see and experience a real difference.”

CLARE may not have risen up in revolution back in 1916, but 90 years on, public bodies in the county capital of Ennis and in Kilrush are gearing up to remember those who took up arms to strike for Irish freedom.

Wreaths of commemoration will be laid at the 1916 memorials in both towns, while ceremonies are also earmarked for Tuamgraney and the Republican plot in Drumcliffe Cemetery.

Mayor of Ennis, Frankie Neylon (Ind), will perform the honours at the ‘Laochra na Cásca’ plaque on the Club Bridge at 12 noon, while the Ennis Brass Band and the Army Reserve will be present for the occasion.

The commemoration plaque was unveiled for the golden jubilee Easter celebrations in 1966, by the then Bishop of Killaloe, Dr Joseph Rodgers and Clare County Council vicechairman, Michael Considine.

Forty years on, Mayor Neylon says it’s only right that the men of 1916 were remembered.

“These are the men who fought for our country and if we don’t remember the past, we don’t know how to shape our future,” he told The Clare People.

The ceremonies in Kilrush will be more lavish and are timed for 1pm. The commemoration wreath will be laid by Mayor Christy O’Malley (FF) while the guest of honour will be Independent TD James Breen.

“Everything will take place outside the Town Council offices where the plaque to the men of 1916 lies,” Councillor Tom Prendeville (FF) revealed.

“The Proclamation will be read in both Irish and English, while Padraig Pearse’s poem, The Wayfarer, will also be recited.

It’s only right that we are honouring the men of 1916 in this way,” added Councillor Prendeville.

Politicians local to east Clare are expected to be out in force for a wreath laying ceremony in the Republican park in Tuamgraney, which is known as the Garden of Remembrance.

Sinn Féin activists in the county will head for the Republican plot in Drumcliffe for their celebration of the Rising.

It expected that a leading official from the party in the Munster region will be present to perform the wreath laying ceremony and graveside oration.

Meanwhile, the Fleadh Nua which takes place in Ennis in May, will also mark the rising. This will take the form of a musical celebration in Glór on May 26.

“It will tell the story of 1916,” revealed Fleadh Nua chairman, Dónal Ó Loinsigh.

THOSE who were executed during the 1916 Rising are being remembered across the country this week, but thoughts are also being spared for another band of volunteers, who lost their lives in a different war.

These were the men of the First World War, who were also executed at the hands of the British. They now form the basis for the “Shot at Dawn” campaign being taken up by the Government.

Twenty-six Irishmen were executed during the war. A new report has described the treatment meted out by the British military authorities as “shocking”. One of those executed was a Clareman, Thomas Davis, from the Turnpike area of Ennis.

He was charged with quitting his post on June 22nd, 1915.

What really happened was that he suffered bad stomach cramp and had to go to the toilet.

A few hours later, he suffered another attack of cramp.

Private Davis, who was a soldier with the Munster Fusiliers, was only 21 years of age. He was taken out at 5 am on the morning of July 2, 1915 and shot by a firing squad at Gully Beach in the Aegean Sea.

Now, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern is in the vanguard of a campaign to secure a pardon for Private Davis and the 25 others executed.

“It is our objective to recover their memory from the dishonour that was done to them some 90 years ago. This week, we mark the 90th anniversary (of 1916) and later on in the year, we will remember the Battle of the Somme,” said Minister Ahern.

“For too long, the experiences of the Irishmen who fought in the first World War and the losses suffered by their families were not talked about and commemorated as they deserved,” he said.

“The British military system of justice seemed to ignore clear evidence of medical afflictions and was marked by class-bias and a disparity in the treatment of different nationalities, including particular Irish soldiers,” added Minister Ahern.

LISCANNOR looks set to be twinned with the town of Paterson in New Jersey, to commemorate the invention of the submarine by local man John Holland 125 years ago, this year.

An open invitation has also been extended by the Mayor of Paterson, José Torres, to the people of Liscannor, to join in the celebration of the invention in New Jersey on May 1.

Holland was born in Liscannor on February 24, 1841, but later moved to the small New Jersey town, where he set up a naval company and won the contract to build the world’s first working submarine, ‘the Fenian Ram’ in 1881.

A public meeting was held in Liscannor last week to discuss the possibility of setting up a twinning agreement with the American town.

After attending St Macreehy’s National School in Liscannor, Holland spent some time in the Christian Brothers School in Ennistymon. He moved to Limerick, following the death of his father when he was 17years-old.

His father was in the coastguard and, as a young man, Holland expressed an interest in following him in this career. His eyesight was not of the required quality however, and he instead joined the Christian Brothers.

While in training to enter the Brothers he came into contact with a science teacher named Brother Dominic Burke, who encouraged him in his designs for a submarine.

Just before his final ordination into the Christian Brothers in 1873, he decided to leave the order and join his mother and his two brothers in Boston.

After working for a brief time in an engineering firm, he took up a teaching position at St John’s Catholic School in Paterson, New Jersey.

His original attempt to attract the US Navy to invest in his design were rejected, but following help from his brother Michael and funding from the Fenian movement, he constructed the 14-foot prototype, the Holland No 1, in 1877.

Using further money invested by the Fenians, Holland built the Fenian Ram in Delamater Iron Works in 1881.

He later set up the John Holland Torpedo Boat Company, which won the contract to build the first submarines for the American Navy in 1896.

FIVE months after being named the tidiest town in Ireland, Ennis was given the Presidential seal of approval on Saturday.

Flanked by the Ennis Brass Band and members of the Civil Defence, President Mary McAleese addressed the rain sodden crowd assembled outside the entrance of the Ennis Tourist Office.

She said they could feel justifiably proud of the massive community effort that had secured the town its fist ever Tidy Town’s crown.

Ennis scored 279 marks out of a possible 300 in the competition to take top prize last year, in addition to winning the title of Ireland’s Tidiest Large Town.

“Only 32 towns can lay claim to the title of Ireland’s Tidiest Town since this competition was started way back almost 50 years ago in 1958, and now Ennis has joined this elite group.

“It is a huge achievement and a hard-earned one as anyone who ever competed in Tidy Towns will tell you.

“There are no short-cuts, no easy wins.

“Patience and persistence and a community effort worthy of a mobilised army are essential and Ennis has shown these qualities in abundance”.

President McAleese was welcomed on her arrival at the Ennis Tourist Office by a host of Clare’s political and community leaders, including Mayor of Ennis, Councillor Frankie Neylon (Ind) and Donal Griffin, Chairman of Ennis Tidy Town’s Committee.

After meeting with councillors and senior staff of Ennis Town Council, Mrs McAleese unveiled a plaque at Place St Paul De Fenouilent museum plaza in Ennis to celebrate the Tidy Towns win.

Noel Crowley, treasurer of Ennis Tidy towns Committee said that the location of the President’s address held special historical significance to the town of Ennis.

“This was indeed an historic occasion for the people of Ennis and County Clare and was just a metres distance from the scenes and public meetings associated with both Daniel O’Connell and the 1828 election and de Valera and the 1917 elections.”

The man who masterminded Ennis’s triumph, Donal Griffin, praised the contributions of the town’s community organisations and businesses. Welcoming President McAleese, Mr Griffin reflected on the immense feeling of pride that engulfed the county in the wake of Ennis’s success.

“September was the culmination of 11 years’ work from many in the town and by many people and organisations.

“People who took responsibility for their environment and their town, people who wanted to make a difference and who took the first step to get involved.”

THE failure of the Industrial Development Authority (IDA) to create any new jobs in Clare or the midwest in 2005 was yesterday branded a disgrace.

Fine Gael deputy, Michael Noonan, said the IDA were doing “very badly in the Mid-West,” in terms of creating jobs.

The agency provided no grants for new jobs last year in Clare and the mid-west and only 25 the previous year.

There were 23 visits by potential overseas investors organised by the IDA to Clare and the Mid-west. In all, since 2002, there had been 97 visits.

Shannon Development organised 84 visits by potential investors to the Shannon Free Zone since 2002 with 22 visits last year.

The figures were revealed in the course of a Dáil reply by Enterprise, Trade and Employment Minister, Micheal Martin, to a question tabled by Deputy Noonan.

Minister Martin said that the number of potential expansion jobs approved for assistance was 254 in existing companies last year and 332 the previous year.

“From 2002 to 2005 a total of 15 projects were approved for assistance by IDA Ireland in the Midwest. These projects had the potential to create over 1,900 jobs in both new and expanding enterprises.

“Also, in the period 2002 to 2005, a total of 1,950 jobs were created in IDA supported companies in the region,” he said.

However, Deputy Noonan said yesterday that the mid-west was not getting its fair share.

“The main economic Ministries are elsewhere and that is where a lot of the jobs are going,” he said.

“There needs to be more attention on the Midwest. To have created no new jobs last year and only 25 new jobs in 2004 is disgraceful.”

Deputy Noonan also claimed that the number of site visits by potential investors to Clare and the mid-west was “a problem.”

“Two site visits to date this year is very meagre. Inward investment has dried up in the mid-west and this should be acknowledged and it must become a political issue”.

Deputy Noonan said that the continuing uncertainty over Shannon Development was not helping the situation.

Last July, Minister Martin announced a new mandate for the company, but it has yet to be implemented due to union opposition.

“I thought it was a bad idea at the time, but in order to bring certainty to the situation, the new mandate should now be implemented,” said Mr Noonan.

VETERAN politician, Senator Brendan Daly and Clare County Counillor, Pat Hayes, are reassessing their political future, after they missed out on selection at last night’s party selection convention for next year’s general election.

Senator Timmy Dooley, who topped the poll, was elected on the first count, at the convention in the West County Hotel, Ennis.

Minister of State, Tony Killeen, had to wait until the third count, before he was elected to join Senator Dooley, on the Fianna Fáil ticket.

Following the convention, Senator Daly said the convention “made a decision and I will take it into account before making any further decisions.”

Councillor Hayes said he would be back and would support the Fianna Fáil team.

Earlier, chairman of the Clare Comhairle Dáil Cheantar, Denis Hayes, opened the selection process by making reference to a direction from headquarters, last week, that the convention select two candidates, one less than expected.

He appealed to the members to use their Comhairle Cheantar and Cumman to air any grievances and not to go “running to the media”.

The directive had set rumours in train that a third name was to be added by party chiefs in Dublin, much to the annoyance of some within the party in Clare.

Concerns were also expressed that the convention would follow the fate of the Galway West convention, overseen by Clare Minister for State, Tony Killeen. That convention was suspended when Galway delegates refused to follow headquarters’ directions.

But Clare was to handle its affairs differently according to Mr Hayes.

“The last few days have been traumatic and people have been understandably upset, including myself,” he said.

He admitted that “things could have been handled better”, but told the delegates that they were “going to handle things with dignity and decorum”.

After the four candidates agreed to the term of the convention, the four candidates, Senator Brendan Daly, Senator Timmy Dooley, Councillor Pat Hayes and Minister for State, Tony Killeen, were asked to leave the conference room, while their political futures were voted upon.

Visibly under pressure, the four left the podium and the room, knowing just two of them were going to be successful. Seconds before the election, seasoned delegates were still unable to call the result, adding to the tension.Delegates called by name to vote by secret ballot, did so without protest, debate or “running to the media”.

CLARE women will have to wait until the end of 2007, before routine breast examinations are provided in the West. Seven years after the launch of the pilot programme in the east of the country, women in Clare will finally become part of Breastcheck.

Planning permission has been granted for a unit at the University Hospital, Galway, which will accommodate both the Breastcheck base for the West and the existing symptomatic breast disease service in UHG.

In addition to its base in Galway, Breastcheck will have three mobile screening vehicles covering counties Clare, Tipperary North, Galway, Mayo, Roscommon, Sligo, Leitrim and Donegal. Almost 58,000 women in this region, aged between 50 to 64 years, will avail of this service on a two-year cycle.

Tendering is currently underway for construction, and according to Alan Moran, Hospital Network Manager, HSE West and Northwest, the project is on target to be completed by late 2007.

In the meantime, Breastcheck are recruiting the key staff, including radiographers and radiologists, to put the screening service for the West in place, and interviews for the post of clinical director in Galway have already been held.

Breastcheck screening commenced on a phased basis in 2000 and now covers the East, North East, South East and Midlands.

In March 2005, the Tánaiste and Minister for Health, Mary Harney, gave Breastcheck the go-ahead for a €25 million programme to extend breast screening to the rest of the country.

Mr Moran expects a 70 per cent up take in Clare, with more rural than urban women taking part in the screening.

Approximately five per cent of the women screened will require further assessment, and approximately one per cent will require surgery.

At last Tuesday’s meeting of the regional Health Forum West, Galway County Councillor Fidelma Healy Eames (FG) warned that some women in Galway, Clare and North Tipperary would die while waiting for the programme to be rolled out.

She asked what were the options for women in the West in the interim.

The forum was told that systematic breast screening took place where there was concern about a woman’s health, and until 2007 this was the only option open to women in Clare and throughout the West of Ireland.

Mr Moran admitted however that there was a waiting time for mammograms for those referred by a doctor, and this issue needed to be addressed by the HSE.

THE rate of burglaries in the Clare Garda Division increased last year, but there was a drop in the number of assaults, sexual offences and public order incidents, according to latest crime figures.

Statistics obtained from the Department of Justice show that overall, reported crime has dropped by 16 per cent in Clare since 2003.

Some, 530 headline offences were committed last year, compared with 1,651 in 2004. The figure for 2003 was 1,820.

Chief Superintendent Liam Quinn said the reduction over the past two years was “significant.”

“While you have reductions in crime over two years, 2003 was a bit of a high, with 1,820 offences,” he said.

“There have been across-the-board reductions in assaults and sexual offences. Certainly here in Ennis, the trend has been downwards in relation to public order,” he added.

“Burglary will always be a concern. We have had a number of incidents of arson and stabbings in Kilrush, which have largely been brought under control, as a result of operations in that area,” he said.

Approximately one-third of all headline crimes are detected in Clare every year, which is along the lines of the national average.

Clare TD James Breen (Ind) has expressed concerned at the increased availability of drugs in Clare.

He said a lack of hobbies for young people was at the root of the problem.

“The temptation to experiment is great. In Shannon, for instance, there is no cinema and no disco and Kilrush is the same way.

“If we are to address the problem, we have to put the facilities in place for young people.

“Young people have nothing, no pastimes.

“They are standing idly by corners with nothing to do,” he said.

He said ecstasy and cannabis resin were widely available and that young people as young as six, should be educated on the dangers of drugs.

“The gardaí are under-resourced. The sooner the Minister for Justice gives the extra resources to deal with drugs, the better,” he said.

BISHOP Willie Walsh said this week that people were in denial about child sex abuse being a society-wide issue.

“Blaming the church on the issue of child sex abuse is partly to avoid the fact that this is a serious societal issue,” said Dr Walsh, in an interview with The Clare People .

He said that he had argued previously that the issue of child sex abuse was a societal issue, “but nobody wants to hear that.”

“Society is very much in denial over the issue of sex abuse. I am wary about saying this, because it may be in some way be interpreted as a denial on my part. That is the difficulty saying this.

“It is an uncomfortable issue to face up to, as it is easy for someone to convince themselves that it is someone else’s problem.”

Dr Walsh said that “people are entitled to criticise the Church on the issue.”

He also responded to concerns raised recently by a senior Clare cleric, Canon Caimin O’Carroll, over the church guidelines requiring priests to step aside when an allegation was made against him.

“I believe that we need to listen to the fears expressed by priests while at the same time to ensure that children are not put at risk.

“It is an important issue between bishops and priests and I have discussed the issue with priests in the diocese.

“The issue of trust between bishops and priests is very important and I am prepared to listen to the views of priests.

“It is always necessary to strike a balance between the rights of natural justice both to the person that makes the allegation and the natural rights against whom the allegation is made.

“It is always important to find the right balance and ensure that children are not put at risk.”

Asked was the church striking the balance, Dr Walsh said, “I hope that that is the intention.”

Dr Walsh said that the priests were worried that, in other professions, there was a requirement to make the complaint in writing, which was not required if an allegation was made against a priest.

“All these issues can be resolved by sitting down with the priests and talking in an open and honest way and by reassuring them that they will be treated in a just fashion,” he said.