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THERE was good news yesterday for residents of one of the areas in Ennis worst hit by floods three years ago.

Ennis Town Council yesterday signed a contract with Ward & Burke Construction Ltd for flood relief works to be carried out in the Watery Road / Elm Park area of the town.

The need for flood alleviation works to be carried out at Watery Road, Elm Park and Oakwood Drive was identified in the Ennis Main Drain- age & Flood Study Preliminary Report. The area experienced serious flooding in November 2009.

Dozens of famillies living in two local authority housing estates in Ennis – Oakwood Drive and Watery Road – were rescued from their homes by members of the army and civil defence when heavy floods struck the area in November 2009.

The € 307,000 (approx) project is being financed primarily by the Office of Public Works (OPW) under the Minor Flood Mitigation Works & Coastal Protection Scheme, with additional funding coming from Clare Local Authorities. Work on the project is scheduled to commence at the end of January, subject to river levels.

Welcoming the contract signing, the Mayor of Ennis, Cllr Peter Considine, stated;

“I would like to compliment Clare Local Authorities for their ongoing efforts to improve flood defences throughout Ennis, particularly in those areas that were badly affected by severe flooding in late 2009. I look forward to these works being completed which will be very much welcomed by the residents of Watery Road, Oakwood Drive and Elm Park.”

Eamon O’Dea, Senior Executive Engineer, Ennis Town Council, explained that the contract between the Council and Ward & Burke Construction Ltd involves the construction of 400 metres of new river embankment and a pump station.

“There will be minimal disruption to vehicular traffic during the construction period as the works will be carried out on lands adjacent to the Rover Fergus. It is anticipated that work will commence at the end of this month, subject to river levels,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mr O’Dea confirmed that the OPW is expected to announce the awarding of a contract for the River Fergus Lower (Ennis) Drainage Scheme, from Bank Place bridge to Doora bridge, in the coming weeks.

CONCERNS have been expressed that any potential sale of semi-state companies could see responsibility for water services in Clare transferred to Shanghai. The comment was made yesterday by Fianna Fáil councillor PJ Kelly at the January meeting of Clare County Council.

Members were discussing a report on the eventual transfer of water services from local authorities to a new body, Irish Water.

Irish Water will be a subsidiary of Bórd Gáis, with reports indicating that the semi-state could be sold off.

Cllr Kelly told the meeting that Chinese investors have been linked with the purchase of Bord Gáis. Cllr Kelly said, “Will Clare water services be run from Shanghai? This is a serious question that needs to be asked.”

County Manager Tom Coughlan said that the government had given a commitment that Irish Water would remain in public ownership.

It is anticipated that Irish Water will take responsibility for all water service by 2017 with billing of customers set to commence in the first quarter on 2014.

Councillors expressed concerns over the transfer of services to Irish Water.

Cllr Pat Hayes (FF) claimed Irish Water will have a “dismal future” and questioned what the effect will be on staff working in the council’s water services division.

Cllr Tommy Brennan (Ind) asked if meters installed in new housing estates will be accepted by Irish Water or will new facilities have to be installed.

Cllr Michael Kelly (FF) said it was a “shambles” that no Clare representative is on the steering committee. Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) said that an extraction levy should be imposed if Irish Water make a decision to extract water from the River Shannon for use in industries in the the East of the country.

Cllr Brian Meaney (GP) asked if the council would have to vote on transferring ownership of its water infrastructure to Irish Water.

He said, “It would be a step too far that councillors will give the nod to the transfer of substantial assets.”

Mr Coughlan said he is very aware of the concerns of staff and has met with all workers in the water services division over the past three weeks.

He said staffing would be an issued resolved at a national level between Irish Water and the trade unions.

He said it was his understanding that the council’s water infrastructure would be transferred to Irish Water. He said a vote may not be required if primary legislation is enacted that allows for the automatic transfer of assets.

Mr Coughlan said that while there had been no specific discussions of a mooted Shannon extraction scheme, every issue regarding water management is on the table.

Councillors requested that the Minister for the Environment allow for local representatives to be nominated to the Irish Water steering committee.

CLARE’S four town councils will meet in Ennis on Monday to begin their fight for survival.

With an estimated 16 months left before they are to be dissolved in favour of local municipal councils made up of members of a smaller Clare County Council, some believe the members have left it all a little too late.

The councils have been issued with forms and formats from their governing body, the AMAI, outlining how best to present their individual cases for survival to the Minister for the Environment, Phil Hogan, the minister also responsible for announcing their demise.

Kilrush Town Councillor Paul Moroney (Ind) said he was not expecting a lot from the process, as input from the councillors prior to the announcement was all but ignored by central Government.

Cllr Marian McMahon Jones (FG) said town councillors had not come out fighting but they had to do something, even now.

“If we adopt the attitude of we can do nothing, then nothing will happen,” she said.

Kilrush Town Council is already researching and compiling a list of all that it has achieved in its 128year history, in its bid to the minister.

“I have trawled through archives both here [Kilrush Town Council] and in Clare County Council and in the Clare Local Studies Centre in Ennis.

“There are some very interesting snippets available from the land league, post famines and the Vandeleurs, right up to the present day,” explained Kilrush Town Clerk, John Corry.

All four councils – that is, Ennis, Kilrush, Shannon and Kilkee – will meet on Monday night, January 21, to further compile a county-wide argument to hang on to its four town councils.

TWO men have pleaded guilty to the possession of weapons during a morning dispute at a post office in Ennis earlier this year.

Details of the incident, which occurred at Bank Place, Ennis on June 6, 2012, were heard at Ennis District Court on Wednesday.

Michael Carr (22), with an address at Rose Cottage, Clarecastle and Martin Faulkner (23), with an address at Rose Cottage, Clarecastle were both charged with offences under the firearms and offensive weapons act.

Mr Carr pleaded guilty to the possession of a golf club intended by him unlawfully to cause injury to, incapacitate or intimidate a person.. Mr Faulkner pleaded guilty to possession of a timber bat intended by him unlawfully to cause injury to, incapacitate or intimidate a person.

A third man – Michael Mongans (23), with an address at Clarehill, Clarecastle, also appeared in court in connection with the incident at Bank Place. He is charged with possession of a machete.

Inspector Tom Kennedy told the court that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had directed summary disposal of the cases.

He explained that the State would allege that all three accused were involved on two sides of a dispute that started after a man went to the post office to pick up a social welfare payment.

The court heard that an assault did not take place at the time. Insp Kennedy said that charges had been brought because it was alleged that Mr Carr and Mr Faulkner had brought the weapons to get involved in the dispute.

Solicitor for Mr Carr and Mr Faulkner, Daragh Hassett, said his clients were pleading guilty to the charges.

All three men were remanded on continuing bail to appear again at Ennis District Court on February 13.

PARENTS in Shannon are invited to have their say on which of four patron bodies they would like to see running primary schools in their area.

The bodies, which have indicated they would like to become patrons of any divested schools in Shannon, include the County Clare VEC, An Foras Patrúnachta, Educate Together and the Redeemed Christian Church of God.

Parents of children aged 0 to 12 years in 38 areas across Ireland are being asked by the Minister for Education and Skills what patrons they would like to see operating their local primary schools.

As part of this, parents in Shannon are being asked for their views.

The survey went live yesterday (Monday) on the Department of Education website and is an expansion of pilot surveys on primary school patronage which were conducted late last year in five towns.

The aim of the survey is to establish the level of demand from parents for diversity of school patronage in each of the towns. The current patrons of schools in Shannon are the Catholic Bishop of Killaloe and the Church of Ireland Bishop of Limerick, Killaloe and Ardfert.

If parents indicate they would like a wider choice of patron, then the Department of Education and Skills (DES) will ask existing patrons to come up with a plan to transfer some schools to other patron bodies.

“This is an historic opportunity for parents in Shannon to have a real say in the type of school they wish to send their children to, be it denominational, multi-denominational, allIrish or other,” said Minister Ruairí Quinn.

“In Shannon, there is little prospect of any new schools opening as the population remains stable and there is enough capacity within existing schools. However, if parents demonstrate through this survey that they want a greater choice of primary school, then we will work with existing patrons to transfer patronage to ensure they can send their children to a school which best reflects their own ethos and beliefs.”

The survey can be accessed online via www.education.ie and parents or guardians of primary school going children and 0 to 5 year olds in the 38 towns and suburbs (list below) are also being urged to fill it in before February 8. They will need to have their PPS number in order to complete the survey – for verification purposes. Paper-based versions of the survey are also available.

CLARE County Council has acknowledged that there are still “major problems” with a sewerage plant in Quin.

It emerged yesterday that the council could not proceed with a planned € 800,000 upgrade of the Quin Gardens plant in 2012 due to a lack of funding.

In a report, the council stated that while € 130,000 was spent on improving some priority features of the plant, issues remained with capacity.

The issue was due to come before a meeting of councillors in the Ennis West Electoral Area yesterday. Quin councillor, Sonny Scanlan (FG), tabled a motion requesting an up to date position from the council on the sewerage system in Quin Gardens.

The project consists of the upgrading of the existing wastewater treatment plant including the provision of additional underground tanks and associated site works to increase capacity from 740 population equivalent (pe) to 1400 pe at Quin Gardens, Quin.

In his reply, Sean Ward, Senior Engineer, stated that it was not possible during 2012 to commence a full upgrade of the Quin wastewater treatment plant due to the non-availability of funding.

He continued, “However in August and September of 2012, Clare County Council applied to the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government’s rural water section for approval to divert Quin an amount approximately € 130,000 of our small schemes allocation which could not be spent at its original intended destination because of design issues. We succeeded in our application, and have spent this money on a number of the highest priority items of improvement at the existing plant – including screening, improved aeration and sludge tank. These works will be incorporated in any larger upgrade which we may be able to do in the future i.e. the money spent in 2012 won’t go to waste if we do the bigger job.”

Mr Ward added, “Already we are seeing an improvement in effluent results and a reduction in the costs of sludge management and are confident that odour problems will also be alleviated. We cannot however guarantee that the works done to date will solve all problems in the Quin sewerage system. These works do not add significantly to the spare capacity of the plant to cater for any future developments and there are still major problems of infiltration of stormwater and/or groundwater into the sewers. Furthermore when we receive a wastewater discharge license from the Environmental Protections Agency, we may have to comply with stringent conditions which the works done to date cannot in themselves achieve.

“Therefore we still intend to carry out a major upgrade if funding becomes available, and the works done to date can be regarded as an important advance element of such an upgrade,” he stated.

According to the council report, the proposed development will serve the needs of Quin village and its environs into the future. The report stated that Quin village will have a population of 789 persons by 2017.

PROMOTING Scattery Island as a heritage and tourist attraction, while informing people of its rich and varied history, is the main aim of the newly formed Scattery Island Tourist Group.

The dedicated group is rooted in a VEC course and grew to include local business people and the farming community, as well as receiving support from the Head of the History Department at the University of Limerick, Dr Bernadette Whelan.

Rita McCarthy of the Scattery Island Tourist Group said the organisation has four main objectives.

Firstly, the group want to make the island’s terrain more accessible. Local farmer and member of the group, Thomas Burke explained that the island has become overgrown in parts and work is especially needed around the Battery. He said the group are proposing to build a path or roadway all the way to the Battery that would pass through the vacated village, and open up these areas for tourists.

The historical and tourism group has already begun talks with the OPW, the state body responsible for the island and have outlined their hopes for the historical site.

Improving access on to the island has also become a priority for the group. Making the history and heritage of Scattery Island available to everyone is something it is also working on. The members are preparing a written history of the island going back long before St Senan and up to the present day.

The final aim for the group is to promote the island locally, nationally and internationally and to encourage people to visit this unique and unspoilt part of West Clare.

Ms McCarthy explained that the island will be of great interest to those with an interest in various histories, including early Christian history, military history and maritime history. The island will also play a central role for The Gathering, as the group believe this is an ideal opportunity to bring the eyes of the Diaspora firmly onto the historical attraction.

Group member Nicki Power has dtarted work on a database of ancestors of those who once called Scattery Island home, so they can be invited to a special Gathering weekend. From July 12 to 14, ex-pats, locals and visitors will be welcomed to the island. A reenactment and a photography exhibition are being organised to showcase memories from the past. Visitors will also be able to take part in a historical tour of the island and watch the currach races from the island to the mainland.

Dr Whelan, who is working with the group to develop the island’s history, described Scattery as “a microcosm of Irish history”.

“You have a very valuable asset that has not been desecrated or interrupted,” she said.

A NEW face is expected in the council chamber in Kilrush next month with the inclusion of a new town councillor. The Kilrush citizen will take the seat, which has remained vacant since the passing of former mayor of the town, Cllr Stephen O’Gorman (FF).

At last Thursday’s meeting of Kilrush Town Council, Cllr Tom Prendeville (FF) said the Fianna Fáil party would begin the selection process shortly and the new member should be in situ for the next meeting of the council.

“Fianna Fáil will liaise with the family at first and then with the town clerk. The new councillor hopes to be in place at the February meeting,” he said.

Cllr O’Gorman died at home on December 14 following an illness. His passing left a vacant seat on the nine-person town council.

It is now the responsibility of the late councillor’s political party – Fi- anna Fáil – to co-opt someone to fill this seat. It is understood that the party will seek nominations for the position shortly, after consultation with the late councillor’s family.

The local Cumann will be tasked with selecting the candidate for the role, and the Cómhairle Dáil and Fianna Fáil will then ratify that choice. A spokesperson for Fianna Fáil in Kilrush said only, “The position will be filled in due course.”

Whoever is seconded to Cllr O’Gorman’s seat will likely serve one of the shortest ever terms on the 128-year-old council, as it is due to be dissolved during the summer of 2014.

Cllr O’Gorman served the council for more than 18 years, and was first elected in 1994. During his career, he served as mayor on two occasions.

Although he had been ill for a few months, his passing was considered sudden locally and was a shock to his loving family, friends, fellow councillors and constituents.

His colleagues described him as a “political colossus”.

THE community must show that it abhors recent aggravated robberies on the elderly in West Clare by standing up to these thugs and giving the gardaí every assistance.

That is the message from the gardaí in Kilrush, who are appealing again for information from anyone who may have seen something suspicious before, after or during these callous robberies.

The crimes against some of the most vulnerable people in society included an attack on the home of two elderly brothers in Lack West Kilmihil between 2am and 3.25am on Saturday, December 22.

At least two intruders, yielding iron bars, terrorised the elderly occupants and forced them to hand over what is considered to be a sizeable amount of money. The thugs then fled in a car.

On December 8 between 10.30pm and 11.30pm, three individuals broke into the farmhouse of two sisters in their 80s at Bansha, Moyasta and demanded money.

The culprits had their faces covered during the robbery.

Again on December 6, in Boo

lyneaska Kilmaley, an

older person was the

victim of an aggravat

ed robbery in their own

home.

Gardaí continue to

seek assistance in

bringing these culprits

to justice.

“This is a community

issue,” said Superin

tendent Gerry Wall.

“We are looking for

people to come for

ward and show these people the community deplores these attacks on the elderly. Older people are a very important part of our society,” he added. “We are anxious for any information.”

DOUBLE yellow lines outside a Kilrush primary school are one road marking too many for one member of the local council, who has vowed to quit the council in four weeks if they are not removed.

Cllr Tom Prendeville (FF) said that he would leave Kilrush Town Council if parts of the line were not removed to allow parents to park when they pick up and drop off their children to St Senan’s Primary School.

He believes that the council executive has crossed a line by not remov- ing the offending lines on the direction of the elected council members last September.

At Thursday’s meeting of the council, Cllr Prendeville asked why the lines had not already been removed.

“This is becoming farcical. Parents are being forced to park illegally. If it is not carried out, I will resign from the council in the next four weeks,” said the father of the council.

“It is making a farce of what is happening in this town council.

“Is there another school in Ireland where there are double-yellow lines for 300 yards either side of the school?” he asked.

Cllr Marian McMahon Jones (FG) said there was no need for an emergency roads and traffic meeting on the lines as suggested by the town clerk, as the issue had already been decided.

“We have already agreed that there is a strip on either side of the pedestrian crossing where the double yellow lines can be removed,” she said.

Cllr Liam O’Looney (FF) added that legally under the Road Act the council could remove some of the yellow line.

“There should be minimum room for three spaces above and two spac- es below,” he said.

“My recollection of it was that the town engineer would go back and look at it,” Town Clerk John Corry told the councillors.

The councillors, however, expect the lines to be removed by the February meeting or they will be down their longest servicing member.

In the meantime, Cllr Prendeville has called for an amnesty for people parking on the double yellow lines outside the school.

“If anyone has a parking issue on that part of the road, they should be written off because a member of this council did not carry our instructions,” he said.