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THE number of Clare homes that have registered their septic tanks has doubled over the past week as the deadline for the reduced € 5 registration charged passed on Friday.

According to figures obtained from the Local Government Management Agency yesterday, a total of 7,603 septic tanks have now been registered in Clare. This is an increase of more than 100 per cent, 3,534 of which had been registered in the county on the same day last week.

In addition to the 7,603 online registrations, the Local Government Management Agency found that there are an estimated 70,000 registration forms which have been processed at local authority offices around the country and have yet to be added to the current figure.

When processed, these registrations could bump up the numbers signed in Clare by more than 2,000 and bring overall registration close to the 10,000 mark.

It is still unclear exactly how many septic tanks currently exist in Clare. Last year, the former Director of Services, David Timlin, put the number at close to 19,000. However, more recent research has estimated that there could be as many as 31,000 septic tanks in the county, with 11,700 in the River Fergus catchment area, 8,400 in the West and North Clare area, 7,600 in the Lough Derg area and 3,400 in South Clare.

The registration fee for the septic tanks had been set at € 5 by the Minister for Environment, Phil Hogan (FG), until last Friday, September 28. Anyone who wises to register their septic tank from now on will have to pay € 50 and homeowners could also face a fine of € 5,000 if they fail to register their tank before February 1, 2013.

Clare currently has one of the highest registration rates in the country with only Wexford, Galway, Meath and Mayo reporting more registered septic tanks.

THE land will go quite in the Banner County next Tuesday as 6,500 Clare farmers down tools in an unprecedented strike day being organised by the IFA. The action is being organised to highlight the threats currently against the Single Farm Payment, the decreasing margins offered by super- markets and the loss of other government schemes for farmers. The Single Farm Payment currently bring in € 49 million to the Clare economy each year. This money is a vital lifeline for local communities as most of it is reinvested in the local community. “We are asking farmers not to let any produce off their farm on that day. This means that farmers would not go to the mart at that day, that milk would not to the creamery, that sort of thing,” said Andrew Dundas, Chairperson of the IFA in Clare. “This is easy enough for the 600 or so milk producers in Clare, because of the time of the year that’s in it, but the marts are in to their busiest time now. So it is probably harder on marts and the 6,000 suckler farmers to come on board. “This is about sending a message to government and the shops. There are marts scheduled to take place on that day so this is, unfortunately, going to inconvenience some people. “We have been getting a great response in Clare. Farmers see the necessity of it – we all know the importance of the Single Farm Payment. Very very few farmers in Clare would be able to farm without it. It is the pretty much the total income taken in by most farmers in Clare. “That money is spent in the local shop and is a very important aspect to farming in Clare and really all rural live in Clare.”

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 .

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.

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 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.”

GORT mother and son team, Gina and Cathal Casey, made their own piece of history last week when they both won bronze medals at the World Kickboxing Championships on Florida. The pair, who are both students of Lisa Connolly, at the Gort Taekwon-do Academy returned home over the weekend with their unique set of medals.

Gina, who is a special needs assistant at Gort Community School, and Cathal, a second year pupil at the school, both won the medals for Ireland competing in the ‘Light Contact Sparring’ category.

Fourteen-year-old Cathal is a black belt in Taekwondo, while Gina has a red/blue striped belt. The pair began Taekwondo three years ago and are now leading members of the Gort Taekwondo Academy. After making it past the initial elimination rounds, both were delighted to take home bronze medals from their first ever WKA World Championships.

The pair’s trip to America was made possible, in part, because of € 500 in fundraising conducted by Gort Community College.

According to their instructor, Lisa Connolly, who is herself a European Taekwon-do Champion and fourth degree black belt, Taekwon-do has many benefits for those who practice it. “The main things that people learn concentration, discipline and respect. Respect is a very big thing in Taekwon-do,” said Lisa.

“People’s concentration can improve because there is a lot of repetition, and if you don’t get something right you have to do it over and over.”

To find out more about the Gort Taekwon-do Academy call Lisa on 087 2070583.

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.

BUSKERS could soon have to go through X-Factor-style auditions in order to perform on the streets of Ennis. Ennis Town Council will today discuss a proposal to introduce new on-street entertainment byelaws.

In a notice of motion, Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) is calling on Ennis Town Council to “draw up street entertainment bye-laws to deal with busking and the provision of small street public performance spaces (spotaí ceol) to enable performers book a targeted time”.

Cllr Flynn says similar byelaws have been introduced to much success in several other towns around Ireland.

He explains. “It’s about bringing opportunities to quality young performers and to people who have busked in certain locations in town. It’s to try and enhance the experience on the streets, particularly on Fridays and Saturdays from 4pm on. It would provide opportunities for local groups to perform in areas like the Temple Gate or up in the Square, or in Abbey Street.

“There are one or two corners that could be developed to suit bands playing from around 4pm to 7pm on Saturday afternoons. It’s trying to bring a bit of music and culture to the streets of Ennis, a bit like there is in Galway.”

Cllr Flynn says the byelaws would be aimed at improving the on-street experience of customers and businesses alike.

He says the byelaws could include a requirement for buskers to audition in order to a secure a designated performance space.

He explains. “You can see the huge improvements that are happening in coach parking where we are trying to make the town a more go-to place for coach tours. It’s taken a number of years to get agreement and provide facilities. Once you provide facilities, you have to manage them.

“Likewise, if you make the streets of Ennis more open and available for street performers, you have to manage them in a way to ensure there is high-quality busking. Some businesses might not want buskers outside their premises, blaring music all the time. You would have to manage that and see how different towns and cities manage them.”

Cllr Flynn continues, “You could have an X-Factor-style audition process for busking in Ennis. You can’t very well have somebody pelting away poor quality music and driving people off the streets. It’s to improve the experience in and around the street of Ennis, both for businesses and the customers coming.

“It would give an opportunity for prime busking locations or prime performance spaces for young as well as experienced performers.”

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.