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A SURVEY of the Clare tourism sector shows evidence of growing confidence in the industry.

Up to 300 people involved in tourism in Clare gathered at the Inn at Dromoland on Thursday night to participate in the annual Clare Tourism Forum Gala Networking Evening.

During the conference participants were informed of the findings of a survey, which found that 57 per cent of operators are confident that 2013 will bring an increase in tourism business for their attraction/business.

A quarter of those surveyed said that business levels would be similar to 2012. Meanwhile, the majority of those surveyed say they are more hopeful for a recovery in the Irish tourism sector this year than they were last year, while 87 per cent said they plan to either maintain or increase existing staffing levels during 2013.

Just 13 per cent of operators said they were planning to reduce staff numbers this year.

Maureen Cleary, Marketing Executive, Clare Tourism Forum explained that Clare tourism operators have responded well to the shift in visitor trends in recent years with a significant increase in the number of people holidaying at home.

“While not neglecting the potential offered to Clare tourism by the international visitor market, a huge amount of work is being carried out by operators, both individually and collectively, to market the County’s many wonderful attractions to the domestic market. There is growing confidence in the Clare tourism sector as evidenced by the results of a recent Clare Tourism Forum survey of more than 100 local tourism operators,” she added.

Donnagh Gregson, Chairperson of the Clare Tourism Forum stressed the continued need for tourism operators to work together to increase tourism business in the County.

“The local tourism sector continues to face challenges in an increasingly competitive and commercial marketplace. However, Clare tourism and hospitality operators are actively working together to capture and increase visitor numbers to the County.

“Networking events such as this help consolidate Clare’s growing status as a competitive and appealing destination to both domestic and international visitors alike,” she said.

“This event also helps to promote collaboration between our members and other agencies involved in the promotion of tourism at home and abroad.”

The purpose of the free businessto-business event was to provide tourism providers with the opportunity to showcase their respective operations to the wider County Clare tourism Industry.

TWO homeless men who were sleeping rough in an Ennis toilet until last week plan to resume living rough in Clare next month.

The men, Czech national Josef Pavelka (58) and Polish man Peter Baram (35), were admitted to a hostel in Galway City last week, following a appeal for help by Judge Patrick Durcan at Ennis District Court.

The men’s living arrangements were disclosed in a report by the Probation Services at Ennis District Court where Mr Pavelka appeared on charges of public intoxication.

On viewing the report, Judge Patrick Durcan commented that it was a “scandal” that a person is “living in a toilet in a prosperous nation.”

Mr Pavelka’s solicitor Daragh Hassett said that if it wasn’t for the help of the church, his client “would be dead.”

The court heard Mr Pavelka has chronic problems with alcohol. However, according to Josephine O’Brien of the Help the Homeless in Clare charity, the move is just “papering over the cracks” and the men will be living rough in Ennis again in a matter of weeks.

“The are paid up in Galway until the first week in May, but after that they will back on the street in Ennis again. We need a proper solution to this problem,” she said.

“The situation is actually worse now that it was. They receive breakfast at the hostel and nothing else – so we have been going up and down to Galway every day to feed them.

“They don’t like it in Galway and they have said that they won’t be staying there.

“This is just papering over the cracks and it won’t change anything. When this is over they will be back on the street in Ennis – no different then before.

“I know both of these men have serious problems with addiction but sending them away like this isn’t going to cure anything.

“They need real help getting over the problems. This would be better for them and cheaper for everyone in the long run.

“There is no point moving them on from one place to the other and not dealing with the real issue.”

Mrs O’Brien also refuted a statement made by Ennis Town Council last week which said that there was no evidence that the two men were living in an Ennis toilet.

“I posted pictures of the toilet on Facebook more than a month ago. At that stage I was trying to get sleeping bags that they could use [in the toilets].

“They were certainly staying there,” she said.

In a statement to The Clare People last week, the Council said it “had no evidence of any parties using public toilets in Ennis as accommodation facilities”.

The statement continued; “Having checked with the gardaí, a similar view has been expressed.

“Furthermore, the company contracted to maintain the public toilets says there is no evidence to suggest that the toilets are being used in such a manner.

The Council says the toilets are “subject to an intense maintenance regime which involves a daily inspection by the said company”.

THE opening of a new cycling route in North Clare this Thursday is being heralded as the first step towards creating a new type of tourist product in Clare.

The cycle way, which connects Lahinch and Ennistymon, will be officially opened by Minister of State Alan Kelly (FG) on Thursday.

The two-mile route, which will be named in honour of former local businessman, Gilla Skerrett, will connect up with the 200-mile long Wild Atlantic Way route, which is currently being mapped out by Fáilte Ireland.

Local businessman and head of the Irish Hotel Federation Michael Vaughan believes that extending this new route to Ennis along the route of the West Clare railway could make Clare the cycling tourism capital of Ireland.

“This is a great addition to the tourist product in the area and will be much used. I think this could be the start of a cycleway or a greenway connecting Lahinch and Ennis,” he said.

“If you were to continue on the logical route along the route of the West Clare railway I think you could easily get enough interested parties to make it a really good tourism project.

“Clare County Council have gone a great job in getting this started and we now need to keep the ball rolling.

“The biggest tourism boost coming down the road in the West of Ireland is the Wild Atlantic Way.

“This passes right through Lahinch and if we had this greenway from Ennis that would be a brilliant way of making this area into a real tourist hub.

“This is the way that tourism is going. We have to give people more of a reason to stay in Clare and spend more time in the area.

“Walking and hiking is probably the biggest tourist activity in the country now, and we are not doing enough to capitalise on that in Clare.”

A bench and plaque has been erected on the route in memory of Gilla Skerrett, who operated a garage and work studio on the Lahinch Road in Ennistymon for more than 50 years.

TWO peace activists, including a 78year-old woman, look likely to stand trail for an incident which took place at Shannon Airport last October.

Margaretta D’Arcy (78) and Niall Farrell (60), claim to have received letters from gardaí in Shannon last week stating that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) is planning to press charges against them and that a summons would be issued at a future date.

The pair are accused of possible criminal damage and causing a security breach at airport on October 7 last. The pair gained access to the airport and disrupted a number of flights by holding anti-war placards on an airport runway for a number of minutes.

The protest was organised but the Galway Alliance Against War to mark the 11th anniversary of the war in Afghanistan. Since 2001, Shannon Airport has been an important logis- tics distribution point for American soldier and equipment heading to and from Afghanistan the Iraq.

A number of private jets used to carry out special rendition missions have also used the airport but it is unclear of any prisoners were on board while they were on Irish soil.

Margaretta D’Arcy is one of the leaders of the regular anti-war vigils which take place at the airport. She and her husband, the late Booker Prize nominated playwright John Arden, wrote performed a play based on the Ralahine Commune in Newmarket on Fergus in 2010.

“Our protest was part of an international week of action to oppose killer drones, which along with other deadly weaponry and troops are transported daily through Shannon’s Warport,” said Niall Farrell.

“Prosecuting us will not silence us, it will not prevent us from raising our voices in protesting against the death of Irish neutrality and this craven government’s role in the imperial wars of the 21st century.”

THE meltdown of the Green Party as a force in Irish elected politics could be re-enforced in the coming days with the possible defection of sitting member of Clare County Council and Ennis Town Council, Cllr Brian Meaney, from the party. The Clare People has learned this week, that Cllr Meaney is sensationally on the cusp of cutting ties with the Green Party, with sources within the Clare County Council chamber revealing that the 47-year-old is pre- paring to join Fianna Fáil.

A source within Fianna Fáil in the Ennis electoral area that Cllr Meaney represents has revealed that he has applied for membership of the party and is in the final stages of severing ties with the Green Party. The Clare People

TWO men that had been living rough on the streets of Ennis have secured temporary accommodation at a tourist hostel in Galway.

It emerged last week that Czech national Josef Pavelka (58) and his Polish friend Peter Baram (35) had spent a period of time living in public toilets in Ennis town centre.

The men’s living arrangements were disclosed in a report by the Probation Services at Ennis District Court where Mr Pavelka appeared on charges of public intoxication.

On viewing the report, Judge Patrick Durcan commented that it was a “scandal” that a person is “living in a toilet in a prosperous nation”.

Mr Pavelka’s solicitor Daragh Has- sett said that if it wasn’t for the help of the church, his client “would be dead”.

The court heard Mr Pavelka has chronic problems with alcohol. Ennis Town Council operates the Automated Public Conveniences (APC), more commonly known as superloos.

In a statement last week, the council said it “has no evidence of any parties using public toilets in Ennis as accommodation facilities”.

The statement continues, “Having checked with the Gardaí, a similar view has been expressed. Furthermore, the company contracted to maintain the public toilets says there is no evidence to suggest that the toilets are being used in such a manner.

The council says the toilets are “subject to an intense maintenance regime which involves a daily inspection by the said company”.

It continues, “The toilets are automated and the mechanism provides for a voice warning, an alarm activation and an automatic opening of the door after a 20 minute period. This includes an early morning inspection on at least five days each week. Ennis Town Council does not comment on individual housing circumstances, which are a personal matter. The relevant agencies and bodies have, however, been involved in addressing housing needs of the parties involved.”

Yesterday Pat Cahill, Manager of Laurel Lodge temporary accommodation centre where the men lived for two years, confirmed that Mr Pavelka and Mr Baram are now living on a temporary basis in Galway City. Mr Cahill said the men can stay in the hostel until May 7. He said the accommodation was secured following a multi-agency case conference.

Fr Tom Hogan, Ennis Parish administrator, said the men are “delighted to have a roof over their heads and a bed under them”. He said the men, who received meals from the St Vincent de Paul and the Church, “fell through cracks in the system”.

Fr Hogan said Mr Pavelka lived in public toilets for three weeks while Mr Baram lived there “on and off”.

Last Wednesday, Ennis District Court heard that Mr Pavelka was unable to take up an offer of re-patriation to the Czech Republic due to family issues. The court heard Mr Pavelka’s habitual residency has lapsed and as a result no state agencies can provide him with assistance.

MORE than 20,000 healthy Clare ash trees are currently being planted at various locations around England – in an effort to find a cure for ash dieback disease or chalara fraxinea.

Its is hoped that some of the native Clare tree could contain genetic components that might help them fight the disease or could even make them immune. If this proves successful, the Clare trees could eventually be used to restock much of the ash population in Northern Europe, which has been devastated by the ash dieback in recent years.

The Clare trees, as well as a number from Donegal, are being planted in various locations in the South East and South West of England – where the disease is already well established.

This was revealed in a draft strategy to combat the disease published jointly by the Irish and Northern Irish departments of agriculture yesterday.

The news that Clare trees could provide a possible solution to the ash-dieback crisis is cold comfort for foresters in the county. Two positive finds of the disease have already been identified in the west and east of the county and it is considered likely that more trees in the area are effected.

“We are basically waiting and holding our breath. There is noting else we can do. We are basically doing whatever the forestry services tell us at this point. We are not making any of the decisions, we are just doing what we are told,” said one Clare forester, who asked not to be identified.

“They [forestry services] are sending out letters and contacting foresters. Where the disease is found there is felling, and there is also felling at associated sites. At the moment this is mostly young trees, maybe two or three years old.

“The forestry services are now actively going around and checking sites off their on bat and they had put in place a tractability system to try and identify infected trees.”

There has been some criticism of the measure of the way in which the disease was allowed to enter Ireland. Before the disease was discovered in Ireland, no attempt was made to ban imports of ash saplings from counties where the disease was already present, because it was deemed to be against the EU fair trade rules.

However, now that the disease has reached Ireland, a ban on saplings from these locations has been implemented.

CLARE is celebrate Youth Work Ireland in style from next Saturday with a series of events around the county that will showcase the activities of the Clare Youth Service.

Details of the activities in the county for the week-long celebration of youth affairs in the county from April 20 to 28 have been revealed, with the Clare Youth Service staging a host of different events throughout the county providing an opportunity for people of all ages to participate, get involved and ‘Be part of it’.

These events include a Youth Space Music and Film Event that will take place at Clare Youth Services headquarters on Carmody Street. A spokesperson for the youth service said this event is “aimed at volunteers and youth leaders who are interested in starting film-making projects with young people”.

Meanwhile, over 40 years of youth services in Clare will be reeled in at the West County Hotel on Satur- day, April 27, when it plays host to a ‘Youth Club Leaders Reunion’, in conjunction with a photography exhibition that will showcase the history of the Clare Youth Service and the people involved in youth affairs in the county dating back to the early 1970s.

“In addition to the events we are holding two open mornings and inviting people to call in and visit, to meet with staff and to see some of the work Clare Youth Service are doing around the county,” the youth service spokesperson revealed.

“The Junction Youth and Community Building, Cloughleigh Road, will be open from 9am to 1pm on Thursday, April 25, for people to call in, visit the building and have a cup of tea. On the same morning Clare FM will be broadcasting their show live from The Junction.

“Carmody Street is open from 10.30am to 1pm on Friday, April 26, and again encouraging people to call in meet staff and get a feel for some of the work the service does,” the spokesperson added.

CAMPAIGNERS against the construction of Ireland’s largest fish farm off the North Clare coast will get a chance to have their concerns heard in public as an oral hearing into the controversial salmon farm is now likely to take place.

The Department of Agriculture is currently deciding whether to allocate a license for the massive fish farm, which could create as many as 500 jobs if it goes ahead. A formal request was made by Galway City Council to the Department of Agriculture last week for a full oral hearing on the matter to take place and it is understood, because of the complex nature of the proposal, this request is likely to be granted.

The proposed fish farm, which will be located a number of miles off the Fanore coast, has divided opinions since it was first proposed in November of last year.

Indeed, the farm has even led to government agencies going to war, with Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) who proposed the farm, going toe to toe with Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) who oppose it.

Both organisation have submitted a large amount of technical data on the possible effects that the farm could have on the wild fish in the area and the nearby spawning rivers. Both sets of expert data contradict on a number of key points – most significantly on the amount of water pollution that the farm will create and the damage that sea lice will cause to native stocks.

More than 2,000 anglers and en- vironmentalists took protest against a proposed organic fish farm last month.

BIM claim that the fish farm would be a major employment boost in the North Clare area and could create as many as 500 local jobs. These claims have been contested by organisation such as IFI, who say that the likely number of jobs created will be closer to 40.

MORE Kilrush businesses will close under the new local government structure, that will see a new Clare County Council take over the responsibilities of Kilrush Town Council, its longest serving member has warned.

Cllr Tom Prendeville (FF) said, “When Clare County Council takes over we will see rates going up and more Kilrush businesses going to the wall unfortunately,” he said.

Kilrush businesses have shown a consistency when it comes to paying the rate in the last number of years.

A total of 76 per cent of commercial rates have been collected in the town for 2012, and the figure continues to rise as some cash strapped businesses have opted to pay the local tax in instalments.

At the end of 2012 more than € 221,000 was colleted in rates from businesses in the West Clare town, up € 5,000 on the previous year.

The most up to date figures also show that write offs were down from more than a € 107,000 at the end of 2011 to € 71,678.50 on December 31, 2012.

Kilrush Town Council accounts also show that business people in the town managed to pay a substantial amounts of the rates owing from 2012 during the first month of this year – almost € 28,000.

At the end of 2012 uncollected rates reached € 123,532.49, but this had dropped to € 95,744.51 by the end of January.

Describing commercial rates as “a crucial part of our funding”, town clerk John Corry said that Kilrush Town Council is making every effort to recover these outstanding payments, while being mindful of the economic climate.

He explained that the local authority had engaged various methods of payments with businesses, including payment by instalment.

“We are trying to be as flexible as we can,” he said.

“The outstanding balance for 2012 continues to reduce due to the instalment payment we have introduced,” he said.

At the end of 2011 the rate collection in Kilrush was also 76 per cent, making it the highest collection rate in the county.