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IT IS not so much the possible hotel rates as much as the commercial rates that are concerning one possible bidder for an Ennis hotel that goes on sale at a basement price reserve this Friday.

An interested party in the sale of the Ashford Court Hotel on the Old Mill Road, Ennis, said commercial rates is a concern for most potential business owners.

According to the Valuation Office of Ireland, the commercial rate on the hotel to be sold as part of an auction of distressed properties, is set at € 185. The current rate set by Ennis Town Council is € 65.45 bringing the annual rate for this property to € 12,108.25.

The 27-bed Ashford Court Hotel is being sold on the instruction of receiver Kieran Wallace of KPMG at the Allsop Space auction in the Sherbourne Hotel, Dublin. Its reserve is not to exceed € 215,000.

Set on 0.072 hectares, the property will be sold with all contents to be included.

The Ennis hotel is not the only Clare property going under the ham- mer during the auction.

The Allsop Space auction will also feature the well-known Kilkee Bay Hotel.

The familiar landmark hotel on the Kilrush road into Kilkee will go to auction with a reserve not to exceed € 315,000.

A house in Mountshannon is also included among the 155 properties listed.

KILRUSH’S designation as host town for the 2013 National Famine Commemoration will be kickstarted in a big way this Tuesday as the ‘Famine in Clare Exhibition’ is formally opened in the West Clare capital.

The exhibition will be staged at Kilrush branch library, where it will be on display from now until the National Famine Commemoration on Sunday, May 12, which will be the highpoint of week-long events in the town.

The exhibition concentrates upon the famine in Clare (1845/52) and explores each Poor Law Union, its electoral divisions and workhouses.

Reports are included from those such as English Poor Law Commissioners and Relieving Officers, the Board of Guardians and Poor Law Inspectors.

Lists of names of those who died in the Kilrush and Ennistymon Workhouses will be displayed.

“This is an important part of the commemoration of the event,” said Paddy Waldron of the local Kilrush Historical Society, which was the prime mover in bringing the commemoration to Clare for the first time.

“The week itself will be a week of lectures and tours leading up to a commemoration ceremony on Sunday afternoon.

“It will bring what happened in Kilrush to national attention again. It will bring people with a history in that period to Kilrush.

“It will enable us to put up permanent memorials to some of the more tragic events of the period. It will hopefully engender an interest in history in the people of West Clare,” he added.

Among the memorials that will be put in place will be one to the victims of the Poulnasherry ferry tragedy of 1849 when 41 people drowned.

“They were turned away from the workhouse and were going home to the west and drowned. There should be some permanent marker on the shore that a terrible tragedy occurred there,” revealed Mr Waldron.

“What really happened to Kilrush town was that the people who were evicted anywhere from Quilty to Loophead to Kildysart all headed for the workhouse in the town. The town was swelled with the poor and the starving and the original workhouse was built for 800 and they ended up opening a total of six auxiliary workhouses and they were all overcrowded.

“There were 19,000 living in workhouses during the Famine and well over a quarter of them were in Kilrush at one time,” he added.

CRUSHEEN storyteller Eddie Lenihan will begin a new and unusual chapter in his career next month when he appears in one of the most underground Irish albums to be released in 2013.

Mr Lenihan, who captured the nation’s hearts with his 12-part RTÉ series ‘Ten Minute Tales’ in the 1980s, is to feature on a new album by London-based dark-ambient outfit ‘From The Bogs of Aughiska’.

The album, which is due for release on March 18, includes a nine-anda-half-minute-long track featuring samples of the Crusheen native over the dark and ominous instrumental of ‘From The Bogs of Aughiska’.

The track, which is entitled ‘An Seanchaí’, is the second song on the album and has already started to create a stir within the UK underground and dark-ambient communities.

‘From The Bogs of Aughiska’ is the brainchild of musician and record producer Conor Droney, also known as the Human Jigsaw.

Originally from Lisdoonvarna, where he was half of speedcore duo Drugzilla, he has been working in the record industry in London for nearly a decade.

“I remember Eddie performing in the Spa Wells in Lisdoonvarna when I was growing up and, when it comes to an Irish storyteller, there really isn’t anyone better,” he said.

“I found a piece of him telling a story on Youtube which was perfect for a piece of music I had written. So I wrote him a letter, expecting to hear nothing back, but I get this lovely letter back from him saying I was wel- come to use the piece and the whole thing just grew from there.

“His voice is great, it really brings the story he is telling to life. I mean, this track is over nine minutes long and once you get to the end of it, you just want to go back to the beginning and play it again and again.

“The reception has been great already – we’ve already had a few reviews back and they have all been very positive.”

Dark ambient music is a type of industrial music that features foreboding or discordant sound with usually no lyrics. The songs are typically around 10 minutes long and can often feature sampled speech.

Despite the alternative nature of the project, Eddie was happy to give it his blessing.

“I am always looking for new and different things and it is not a bad thing to try something that you’ve never tried before. Like next month, I’ve been invited to speak in Russia at the University of Moscow. If I can get a visa sorted, that will be an amazing experience – and something that I never thought would happen. So I think it’s better to try out something than not to try it at all,” he said.

A TOTAL of € 1.25 million is allocated in the council budget for Clare councillors’ wages, expenses, allocations and support cost.

The majority of that sum, € 916,832.12, was paid to councillors in the form of wages, expenses and allowances.

Among the higher earners for the year were the two mayors – Cllr Pat Hayes (FF), that served from January to June, and the current mayor Cllr Pat Daly (FF), that took over as first citizen in June.

As well as their basic annual allowance as a councillor of € 16, 724, they also received a mayor’s allowance of € 13, 500. Both payments are subject to taxation.

Among the expenses listed on Cllr Hayes’ accounts was a € 1, 535.56 subsistence allowance for a weeklong tourism promotion trip to New York in March, including St Patrick’s Day.

Cllr Patricia McCarthy (Ind) received the third highest payment of € 37,784.72. The Shannon councillor’s payment includes an allowance of € 6,000 as chairperson of a Strategic Policy Committee and € 4,500 as chair of the County Development Board.

Councillor Richard Nagle (FF) also received an allowance of € 6,000 as chairperson of another SPC and € 1, 500 for chairing the County Development Board.

Cllr John Crowe (FG) received an allowance of € 5,870 as chairperson of an SPC, as did the sixth highest recipient, Cllr Joe Cooney (FG), who received € 6,000 as chair of a SPC.

As well as payments of almost € 920,000 to councillors, a budget of almost € 250,000 is set aside for support costs provided by council staff and the offices.

Councillors can claim up to a maximum of € 4,700 in expenses and € 6,156 to attend conferences.

Just one councillor, Cllr Christy Curtin (Ind), noted the tax and PRSI paid on his council income. Including PAYE on salary, PRSI, universal social charge, pension levy, the deduction totalled € 5,100.

CLARE’S county councillors cost the taxpayer almost € 920,000 in salaries and expenses last year.

According to accounts published by Clare County Council, 31 of the 32 councillors claimed expenses totalling € 381,664.12; this does not include the € 16,724 salary paid to each member of the council.

From the expenses listed a total of € 112, 580.99 was paid in conference allocations.

This included trips to one-, twoand three-day conferences all over Ireland including different parts of Donegal, Dublin, Mayo Waterford, Cavan, Cork and Down.

Among the many conferences attended were conferences on ‘Utilising your Tax Entitlements and Relief’, ‘Understanding EU funding and functions’, ‘Personal Injuries’, ‘Dr Garret Fitzgerald Spring Seminar’ and ‘Local Media and the Councillor’.

Councillors have also claimed for mobile phones, stationary, computers and repairs to lap tops under this category, although this makes up a very small percentage of the overall allocation.

Councillors also receive allocations for mobile phone use, which varies from councillor to councillor and was reduced in July 2012.

An allowance for attending meetings, replacing the old milage system, is also paid as are special allowances to the mayor, deputy mayor and those serving as chairperson of a Strategic Policy Committee.

Councillors appointed to the VEC, HSE West Forum and other public bodies are also entitled to claim expenses from these bodies, which is not included in this county council figures.

While the position of county councillor is not considered a full-time job, a number of Clare’s local elected representatives have decided to become full-time elected representatives.

The majority of members however also have another form of income through employment, business, farming or are retired professionals.

All councillors are required to pay tax and PRSI on their council “salary”.

Just one member of the council, Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG), does not claim any expenses as a member of Clare County Council or as a member of Ennis Town Council.

He is frustrated however that he cannot reallocate this money saved to projects and issues within the community.

PARENTS from a North Clare primary school are to use online “crowd funding” to raise the € 2 million needed to build their new school.

A new organisation entitled Build Mol An Óige will be officially launched later this week, with the aim of convincing people all over the world to pledge € 1 or € 2 to help fund the construction of the Ennistymon school.

In recent years, crowd-funding has become a popular method for bands to raise money to fund recordings, with fans pledging donations before a record is made in return for receiving a copy of the finished project.

This is the first time, though, that crowd-funding has been used to fund the construction of a school in Ireland or for such an expensive project.

Mol An Óige is currently based in a temporary location between the Ennistymon Vocational School and the Falls Hotel.

They are on the current Department of Education waiting list but department funding for the project is at least five years away.

“We are on the list to be built even- tually but it could take years and years before any funding is made available. We have this beautiful new site and we would just like to move there.

“The outreach online and on the social media is huge. Two million euro is a lot of money but we are aiming to reach hundreds of millions of people through this project – and if a million people were convinced to donate € 2, then we’d have our school,” said Stuart Woolley of Build Mol An Óige.

“Many times, with crowd-surfing projects, people set themselves a funding target and, if they hit that target, they will go forward with the project, and if they don’t then the money goes back.

“We are not going that way – we are considering these small, charitable donations and we will make some progress on the school no matter how much money we receive.”

The funding project will be officially launched in Ennistymon this Friday when parents, teachers and students from Mol An Óige will walk through the town to the site of the new school, beside the Teach Ceoil at 12 noon.

For more information or to donate, visit www.buildmolanoige.org.

LESS legal aid and more gardaí was proposed by Fine Gael councillor Tony Mulqueen at Friday’s adjourned meeting of the county council.

The Ennis-based councillor received the support of Cllr Patricia McCarthy (Ind) from Shannon in his motion to “call on the Minister for Justice, Alan Shatter, TD, that free legal aid in criminal cases be given only once and that repeat offenders pay for their legal costs with their own money.”

“Widely known criminal and serial criminals are abusing the system day in day out,” said Cllr Mulqueen.

He added that many of these criminals have undeclared money and money hidden away in off shore accounts.

“The savings from such a move could be used for Garda recruitment,” he said.

“I think we need to strengthen up free legal aid. People are using and abusing the system,” added Cllr McCarthy.

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A LOCAL entrepreneur has launched a new competition aimed at showcasing the best of Clare to a worldwide audience. My Destination, the global travel resource powered by a community of local experts, is set to unleash travel’s ‘Biggest, Baddest, Bucket List’ and offer one lucky person the prize of a lifetime – a six-month, all-inclusive, blogging trip around the world to a minimum of 25 international destinations and $50,000 (USD) prize money on their return. The competition will be in partnership with a series of interna- tional associates including Hotels. com, Travelex and Viator. It closes on March 31.

Applicants must create a video application in English and up to three minutes in length telling about their favourite destination around the world, whether it’s where you live or a dream holiday destination.

The Clare branch of My Destination was set up by Ennis businessman Gerard Lynch. Gerard says the competition is a great chance to show off Clare in the year of the Gathering. He explained, “People from County Clare and the Shannon Region would surely love to know about this and even enter. And wouldn’t it be great if the winner was from Clare?

“Secondly, every video and written entry acts as an advert for Clare. One that can be shared, talked about and tweeted about for the duration of the competition and beyond. The shortlisted ‘top 10’ and the eventual winner’s videos are likely to be watched by hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of potential tourists. What a great way to promote our region.”

He continued, “The winner gets to choose their own trip. However, at least 25 destinations that they choose have to be from the My Destination network, which includes County Clare.

“So, when we help them plan, if you are able to promote the competition, maybe through your web site and network, we will encourage them to come and see County Clare, so even more exposure can be had”.

He added, “There is a massive opportunity for Clare to gain incredible exposure to a worldwide audience through the campaign, especially with The Gathering also happening”.

Videos with completed application form and a travel blog-style entry can be uploaded to www.mydestination. com/bbb.

NORTH Clare could soon become Ireland’s capital for civil partnerships, including same-sex couplings, following plans to create a centre for civil ceremonies in Doolin.

Documents have been lodged with Clare County Council for the development of a conference centre at Ballyvara House in Doolin where events, such as civil ceremonies could take place. The plans were lodged in the name of Lazarus Investments, a new company which is understood to have roots in the North Clare area.

With the development’s proximity to desirable wedding locations such as the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher, coupled with the shortage of registered locations for civil ceremonies in Clare and Ireland generally, it is thought that North Clare could prove a very attractive location for couples looking to tie-the-knot outside of the church.

Clare has already been identified as a hotspot for same-sex partnerships, with the Banner County having the second highest rate of same-sex civil partnerships in Ireland. According to figures released by the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network (GLEN), 15 Clare same-sex partnerships were awarded between January 2011 and the end of last year. Indeed, Clare has the second highest incidence of civil partnerships per head of population in Ireland, with only Dublin registering a higher rate of civil partnerships.

Despite these figures, only two same-sex civil partnerships have taken place on Clare soil, with no Clare locations registered to conduct civil partnerships until late last year.

According to Kilrush man and Director of GLEN, Brian Sheehan, the large uptake in civil partnerships will prove a stepping stone to full marriage for gay couples.

“It has been an incredible take-up in such a small space of time. I think once same-sex couples become more visible in Clare and other places, more and more people will see that a same-sex couple is no different from a heterosexual couple – this is people making a really profound commitment to each other,” said the West Clare man.

A decision is expected from the planners at Clare County Council on March 20.

THE President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins last week became only the second person ever to be awarded the Honorary Freedom of the Town of Ennis.

The President, who was reared and educated in County Clare, attended a Civic Reception hosted in his honour by Ennis Town Council. President Higgins was joined in Ennis by his wife Sabina and family members, many of who live in the county.

Muhammad Ali, the three-time World Heavyweight Champion, was the inaugural recipient of the Honorary Freedom of the Town of Ennis during his historic visit to the Clare county capital – the birthplace of his great grandfather Abe Grady.

President Higgins was welcomed to Waterpark House today by members of Ennis Town Council before being led into the council’s Civic Room by piper Michael John Quigney of the Tulla Pipe Band. Local traditional musicians presented a specially-arranged musical tribute to the President, while members of the Ennis Brass Band provided a trumpet fanfare after the President was officially awarded Freedom of the Town of Ennis.

Addressing the Civic Reception, Mayor of Ennis Cllr Peter Considine acknowledged the President’s close connections with the Clare county capital. “Outside of the time you spent in Ennis, particularly as a student in St Flannan’s College, I know that from a personal and professional perspective you are very familiar with the town of Ennis, its history and the people who live here. During your time as Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, you supported numerous projects and initiatives which sought to protect and promote the culture and heritage of towns such as Ennis.” The Mayor added, “A Uachtarán, your lifelong contribution to politics has inspired many. You have transcended all politics, promot- ed integration, instilled hope of a brighter future through pragmatism, embraced positive change within Irish society, and most importantly upheld the Office of President with dignity and honour.”

Mayor Considine raised a laugh from the gathered audience when he suggested that the President and Muhammad Ali shared more than an honorary title.

He said, “In your days as a TD and Minister, some might agree that you also did ‘Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee’. Your pragmatic approach to dealing with issues in Irish society and indeed abroad, is internationally recognised and certainly has not gone unnoticed here. Your close ties with Ennis and County Clare along with your continued, valuable contribution to Irish society means we are proud and honoured that you have accepted this award.”

While born in Limerick, President Higgins was raised near Newmarketon-Fergus, and educated at Ballycar National School and St Flannan’s College in Ennis.