Author: admin

A DEMAND for Clare’s top civil servants to take paycuts has been sounded out this week by a Shannonbased businessman who is one of the leading figures behind a new countywide campaign that is demanding Clare County Council to cut rates and water charges for 2013.

Darragh O’Connor, the proprietor of the Texaco Service Station in Shannon Town Centre, has warned that hundreds of Clare businesses are now teetering on the brink of going under, because of Clare County Council’s refusal to budge on the issue of service charges.

“Businesses are closing down everywhere and the county council seem happy to let that happen,” blasted Mr O’Connor in a statement to The Clare People this week, ahead of a public meeting for ratepayers throughout the county that’s being organised in Shannon next Monday night.

“We are now in a situation where businesses are closing down every day, something that’s not acceptable if the county hopes to get back on its feet. The only thing that the county council has said is that rates won’t go up, but that’s not enough.

“There has to be some give. Look at the top salaries in Clare County Council – the top 10 officials are earning € 1.2 million between them,” Mr O’Connor claimed, “yet for people who are struggling with rates and water charges, they are living with the fact that their lights or their water could be turned off because they can’t pay the rates,” he added.

As recently as the 2012 Budget, which was passed by Clare County Council, it stated, “It has not been possible to provide for a decrease in rates”, with the local authority adding that, “Clare County Council is acutely aware of the financial difficulties which our ratepayers are experiencing and we are committed to adopting a practical approach in terms of facilitating rate-payers”.

The meeting takes place in the Oakwood Arms on Monday night next at 8pm, with Mr O’Connor calling on business people, public representatives and council officials to attend.

THE Department of Education and Skills has raised a number of queries regarding the possible lease of land from a Killaloe school to a local community development group.

The Ballina Killaloe Sports and Community Development Company Ltd are seeking to lease land from Clare VEC at St Anne’s Community College for the development of new sports facilities.

The September meeting of Clare VEC heard that the Department has now written back to the group with a “significant” number of queries.

CEO George O’Callaghan told the meeting that the Department had concerns over a number of aspects of the proposed agreement, including the length of the lease and the amount of land being sought by the company.

Mr O’Callaghan said the Department also has concerns over the impact any arrangement might have on the future development of the school.

Mr O’Callaghan told the meeting that the company had requested some time to consider the Department’s requests. He said the company had also requested time to look at “other options”.

The meeting heard that the VEC must first receive the approval of the minister before entering into any agreement.

Mr O’Callaghan said the Department had indicated a desire to work with the Ballina Killaloe Sports Development Company.

Committee member Cllr Peter Considine (FF) urged the company to work with the Department on the project.

Mr O’Callaghan said the VEC expect to reach agreement with a Kildysart-based community group about the lease of lands at St John Bosco Community College in the next few weeks.

He said that the heads of agreement had been sent to the Department of Education and Skills.

He said the group had been able to address the queries raised by the Department.

Mr O’Callaghan added, “We would expect to be able to sort it out in the next couple of weeks.”

ENNIS Town Council will today announce details of plans to pedestrianise parts of the town centre in the run up to Christmas.

The council has been urged to follows last year’s system, which saw O’Connell Street closed to vehicular traffic from 12 noon to 6pm.

Parking charges were also suspended for certain days, a move credited with helping to attract more shoppers to Ennis.

Free parking was applicable to the town’s 759 off-street and 783 on- street public car parking spaces up to 12pm daily on Saturdays during the festive period.

Councillor Johnny Flynn (FG) believes the council should adopt a similar approach to pedestrianisation again this year.

He said, “Last year, it seemed to have been very successful where they pedestrianised only O’Connell Street and only from 12 noon to 6pm and offered free parking for that period. Hopefully it will be a similar approach.

“I believe pedestrianisation of Abbey Street is a total failure. It closes off the town. It gives the impression to people that the town is closed down.”

Cllr Flynn continued, “You need to bring people to the Square. You need to be able to bring people into the middle of the town to do their shopping. In the morning time, you have people from the suburbs and the outlying areas of Ennis coming in to do their shopping before 12. I think last year’s solution was very successful, just O’Connell Street until 6pm. I would hope that they bring that in again, along with the free parking.”

Rita McInerney, CEO of Ennis Chamber, said pedestrianisation on Saturday should be again introduced along with free parking.

She added, “It was a real benefit in terms of bringing people into town. It was nice to be able to come into Ennis and relax and not have to worry about paying for parking.

“The Christmas lights went on a week earlier as well, which helped. I think that they should even be switched on a week earlier this time. It gets people into the spirit that bit earlier.

“For businesses, Christmas is the most important time of the year. They can do up to 50 to 60 per cent of their business in December so it really is a crucial time for businesses.”

Ennis Town Council members are also expected to discuss an updated report on efforts to develop the town’s night-time economy.

The council is working with the local business community, Gardaí and Promote Ennis on plans that could see part of the town receive a Purple Flag status.

The Purple Flag is run by the Association of Town Centre Management (UK) and is awarded to towns based on the quality of its nightlife and the types facilities and services in place at night.

THE break-up of Shannon Development will be put on a legislative footing by the end of the year in a move that will pave the way for Enterprise Ireland and the Industrial Development Authority to take over the running of the Shannon Free Zone.

The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton, made the announcement on Friday after it was revealed that an agreement had been reached with Shannon Development to enable the two State bodies to take over the enterprise development functions in the Shannon Free Zone.

In announcing this decision, Minister Bruton said, “This Government is committed to securing a bright future for the Shannon region. We have decided to make swift legislative change to ensure that Enterprise Ireland and IDA can, as soon as possible start delivering enterprise support services in the Shannon Free Zone.”

This move follows on from the decision taken in May by Minister Bruton and Transport Minister, Leo Varadkar to create a new world-class aviation industry at Shannon as part of a series of reforms of Government agencies operating in the region.

Central to that plan was the decision to merge Shannon Airport and Shannon Development into a new entity and to transfer Shannon Development’s functions in relation to indigenous enterprise and foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Free Zone to Enterprise Ireland and IDA.

Part of the reforms previously announced was to task IDA and Enterprise Ireland with carrying out enterprise development functions in the Shannon Free Zone, in addition to their existing enterprise development functions throughout the Shannon region.

The agencies will also develop a plan for the delivery of enterprise supports in the Shannon region. This will mean that indigenous and foreign businesses throughout the region will have direct access to the comprehensive range of supports from the State enterprise agencies, as well as to a dynamic international airport with extensive property holdings.

The legislative process made it nec- essary to remove the restriction contained in the Industrial Development Act 1986 on Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland carrying out enterprise development functions in the Shannon Free Zone (SFZ).

This legislation will be published before the end of the year and then put before the two houses of the Oireachtas for enactment in the new year.

“This represents a step along the road to creating a new future for Shannon,” said Minister Bruton. “Much important work remains to be done, and that work is continuing. I am convinced that with the right reforms properly implemented, that a bright future can be delivered, and Government will continue to work hard to ensure that happens.” We will h a ve w in d a n d p le n t y o f ra in e a rly in t h e we e k b u t t h e we e ke n d lo o ks p le a sa n t , fin g e rs c ro sse d .

THE Diocese of Killaloe yesterday moved to dampen speculation that the Bishop Kieran O’Reilly is being lined up to replace Seán Brady as the Primate of All Ireland. Bishop O’Reilly will attend a special synod or meeting of top-ranking bishops in Rome this Sunday, in the place of Cardinal Brady. This is the first synod not attended by Cardinal Brady in his time as Primate of All Ireland and it has been seen by some as an indication that he soon intends to step down. Cardinal Brady has faced a number of calls for his resignation over the last 12 months and, while Bishop O’Reilly is one of the newest bish- ops in Ireland, it is thought in some circles that he would be the ideal candidate for the position – should it become available. Spokesperson for the Killaloe Diocese, Fr Brendan Quinlivan said yesterday that while his elevation is “not beyond the bounds of possibility” it is more likely that he is being asked to attend because of his missionary experience. “While it is true that Cardinal Brady would have attended all of these meetings in the past, I’m not sure we can draw too much from that. “The theme of this meeting is the new evangelisation of the faithful and I think Bishop O’Reilly’s experience in the missions makes him a perfect candidate to attend,” said Fr Quinlivan. “He is very happy in Killaloe. He has really thrown himself into the role and has been travelling the diocese, meeting and getting to know all the clergy here and getting into the work of the diocese. That said, it is not beyond the bounds of possibility.” Bishop O’Reilly will be joined in Rome on Sunday by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin who, as Cardinal Brady’s number two, also attends all of the synods. Archbishop Martin is considered by some to be too radical – given his previously stated opinions in support of gay priests – to be acceptable to the powers that be at the Vatican.

UNPRECEDENTED cuts to services will be inflicted on Clare County Council this winter unless an unlikely change of heart is forthcoming from the Department of the Environment over the next seven days.

Following a mix-up concerning Clare Fine Gael deputies Joe Carey and Pat Breen and the Minister for the Environment, Phil Hogan (FG), the council is now faced with cutting € 243,000 more from its budget, over just three months.

County Manager, Tom Coughlan, declined to go into detail over how these cuts could be achieved as he doesn’t want to create alarm in the county.

A proposal to use an overdraft facility to carry the quarter of a million debt to next year’s budget was also turned down by Mr Coughlan.

“To be honest, I am slow to give an answer to what the impact of this will be. I don’t want to be alarmist. If there is not a positive response from the meeting [a proposed meeting between Minister Hogan and Clare Fine Gael deputies], we are really running out of time,” he said.

“I have not brought proposals to you today for reducing the budget, but the longer we wait, the more difficult it is going to be. The council has an obligation to operate within its budget.

“Any move to operate outside the budget would put Clare County Council in a very difficult position and would store up this problem for another day. If we wait for two weeks, that is two weeks gone – and that will make this much more difficult.

“As of now, we are just over 68 per cent compliance rate. Collecting every 0.01 per cent is getting increasingly difficult. Without the cut of € 240,000, it would already be extremely difficult to balance this budget.”

Former Mayor of Clare, Pat Hayes (FF), said that the cuts could result in basic services such as street lights being turned off.

“Ultimately, this is not our fault and we are going to pay in cuts to frontline services. I am very disappointed by the tactic here, especially that there are no government representatives here today.

“This is bad politics. There will be lights that will be turned off, roads that won’t be repaired and services that will be cut,” he said.

THEY’RE the sounds that have made Clare a haven for traditional music lovers around the world and now they’ve been made accessible to everyone thanks to a new online initiative called the Music of Clare Project.

Clare County Library and the Clare Arts Office have joined forces in the venture, the first stage of which concentrates on the traditional music of the county and featuring the biographies and music of some of Clare’s best known traditional music artists.

These include Martin Hayes, Micho Russell, Willie Clancy, Sharon Shannon, Chris Droney, Dennis Cahill, The Kilfenora Céilí Band, Martin Junior Crehan, Elizabeth Crotty, Kevin Crawford, Kieran Hanrahan, The Tulla Céilí Band and Kitty Hayes.

“This new online project will allow immediate access to all those interested in the music of County Clare, and will greatly enhance the existing historical and cultural resources on the library website itself,” said Clare County Librarian, Helen Walsh in launching the initiative.

“We want members of the public to be able to listen to traditional tunes associated with Clare, played by musicians who are from the county or who have lived in it for many years,” said senior executive librarian Anthony Edwards.

“We have also included transcriptions of the featured tunes, to help anyone who wishes to learn the basic notes of a tune so as to be able to play it. Links to alternative transcriptions are also provided,” he added.

The project also includes a music videos feature, a collection of embedded online videos of Clare musicians from YouTube. Historical and biographical articles place the music of Clare in context and provide back- ground and further resources for study and enjoyment.

The project received financial support from the Clare County Arts Office which, with Arts Council funding, sponsored an initial researcher, Paddi O’Connell, and funded the transcription of some of the tunes by Geraldine Cotter.

“The County Arts Office is committed to promoting the wealth of traditional music in Clare and we were delighted to work with Clare Library Service on such an exciting and important project,” said Siobhán Mulcahy, County Arts Officer.

The Music of Clare Project team consisted of executive librarian Maureen Comber, library staff officer Jackie Dermody and project manager Anthony Edwards.

The Music of Clare Project is accessible at www.clarelibrary.ie.

A NUMBER of strategic sites in Clare were identified as being key to Nazi Germany’s plan to invade and occupy neutral Ireland during World War II, a new top-secret dossier has revealed this week.

The document, which went under the hammer at an auction in England last Thursday for € 2,961 – almost four times the reserve price – was compiled by Nazi spies in Ireland and graphically illustrates that Clare would have been given a crucial part to play in any German war effort conducted from Ireland.

In all, seven Clare sites were singled out by Nazi intelligence as having a role to play in German’s invasion plans in a document that clearly showed that neutral Ireland and the constituency of Taoiseach Eamon de Valera was viewed of strategic importance by the fascist regime.

The detailed document, which includes maps and analysis of the Irish countryside compiled by Nazi spies, shows how under Operation Green/ Sealion, Hitler planned to overthrow the State and turn it into one of six regional hubs for Britain and Ireland.

Ardnacrusha Power Station – which had been constructed by the pride of German engineering, SiemensSchuckert in the 1920s, at the cost of £5.2m, and at that time the biggest hydro-electrical plant in Europe – was circled as being a vital component in the German rule in Ireland. Other key Clare sites included former capital of Ireland Killaloe, probably because of Lough Derg’s potential to cater for flyingboats, while the key coastal areas targetted by the Nazi regime were the Cliffs of Moher and Blackhead/Ballvaughan area. The document entitled Militärgeographische Angaben über Irland contains detailed maps and postcards, with a number of images of Ardnacrusha highlighting it importance to the state. These key places were numbered by military officials before being plotted on a series of eight fold-out maps, which would have been used during ‘Operation Sealion’. However, on September 17, 1940, Hitler was forced to scrap Operation Sealion because of the Luftwaffe’s failure to gain air supremacy over England during the Battle of Britain. The Nazi offensive never took place after the German defeat in the skies, but experts believe the book reveals what could have happened if the Nazi’s had conquered Britain.

THE awards continue to pour in for North Clare food producers and restaurants with four new accolades being won over the weekend.

St Tola’s Inagh Farmhouse Cheese was the toast of the 2012 Irish Cheese Awards winning a gold medal for the “St Tola Organic Log” and a silver medal for the “St Tola Ash Log”.

There was also celebration for two Ballyvaughan restaurants who both won gold medals at the prestigious Hotel and Catering Review Awards. L’Arco Italian Restaurant, operated by the Quinn Family in Ballyvaughan, picked up the Best Ethnic Restaurant award, while Stephen Spielberg’s favourite Irish restaurant, An Fear Gorta received the Gold Medal Award for Cafés and Tearooms.

Speaking after the cheese awards, Siobhan Ni Ghairbhith of St Tola said she was delighted that their cheeses were recognised.

“We are very happy to have won two Irish Cheese awards this year. It’s great that our classic log, now over 30 years in production, is still recognised as one of the finest cheeses in the country,” she said.

“We are also thrilled that our new cheese, St Tola with Ash, which has only been developed this year, is winning awards already! It’s a great boost for all the team back in Inagh and reflects that hard work and high standards of the whole company.”

The Irish Cheese Awards 2012 were judged by a panel that included Michelin starred chef Ross Lewis and celebrity chef Rozanne Steven. It was held with the support and assistance of Cáis and Sheridans Cheesemongers.

FINE Gael deputies Pat Breen and Joe Carey were nowhere to be seen at yesterday’s emergency meeting of Clare County Council where councillors and officials discussed ways to cut the € 243,000 hole which has emerged in the council’s budget.

The Fine Gael deputies were accused of being sold a pup by the Minister for the Environment, Phil Hogan (FG) – a pup that could result in drastic cuts to services in Clare over the next three months.

Deputies Breen and Carey assured members of Clare County Council at a meeting earlier this year that the € 243,000 deducted from the council’s budget, because of the low payment rates of the household tax, would be refunded if the rate in Clare reached 65 per cent.

With the collection rate in Clare currently standing at 68 per cent, the Department of the Environment is sued a circular last week stating that the money would not be refunded.

Deputies Breen and Carey, Sena- tors Tony Mulcahy (FG) and Martin Conway (FG) as well as Labour Deputy Michael McNamara all sent their apologies to the meeting, with only Fianna Fáil’s Timmy Dooley in attendance.

“When these promises were made, I rang the Department of the Environment the very next day and they hadn’t heard about it. It was just a yarn passed down to Deputy Breen and Deputy Carey to fool the people of Clare,” said Cllr James Breen (IND).

“I challenged Deputy Carey and Deputy Breen to clarify the position. I asked the [County Manager] Tom Coughlan to clarify with the Department if this arrangement was ever made. I don’t believe that it was.”

Cllr Patricia McCarthy (Ind) accused the Minister for the Environment of using the issue as a way of cutting budgets by the back door.

“We have a problem. It is clear that whatever promises were made, there was no foundation for it. I am finding it extremely difficult not to believe that the Department and the Department’s head [Phil Hogan] haven’t pulled a fast one in relation to this,” she said.

The council adopted a proposal to allow the Fine Gael deputies another week to secure a meeting with Minister Hogan before immediate cuts to services were introduced.

A motion put forward by the Fine Gael councillors to ask for the full refund from the Department of the Environment should Clare reach a 75 per cent sign-up rate for the household charge was defeated by nine votes to 13.