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NOT all members of Clare County Council have paid the € 100 household charge – a charge the Government says is to support local services. Some of their colleagues believe they should not benefit from the council coffers until they pay up.

In the last week, the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Phil Hogan, withheld almost a quarter of a million euro of funds owed to Clare County Council as just 62 per cent of the county’s householders have registered for the controversial charge.

One of the 28 per cent who have not yet paid in Clare is Shannon’s Cllr Gerry Flynn (Ind).

Cllr James Breen (Ind) is also firmly against the charge but would not say yesterday (Monday) if he had paid the charge.

“I believe this is a very penal tax. People are not able to pay for food and they are being asked to pay € 100. There are people living on € 15 a week when all the bills are paid, “ he said.

The former TD was adamant, however, that he had not encouraged people to avoid the tax. He said he told his supporters to make up their own minds on the issue.

“At this point and time, I am not saying whether I paid it or not. For now all I am saying is that it is a personal matter between me and my wife,” he added. “I will represent people who have paid and people who have not paid it equally and impartially as I have done for the last 25 years in politics,” he said.

Cllr Flynn, however, has made a conscious decision not to pay the charge. The Shannon councillor said he sat down with his family and supporters and made a conscious decision not to pay.

“I had information that the € 100 fee is for data collection for the minister that will then be sent on to revenue for home tax,” he said. “The € 100 was never meant to be a tax. This is my own free choice. It is not that I could not pay. I do not encourage or discourage anyone to pay,” he told

A CLAREMAN’S obsession with rally driving is set to be showcased on the international stage in the next year, thanks to a documentary film that’s being shot about the Clare Stages Rally.

Miltown Malbay man Eddie Cogan is the subject of the documentary called ‘Fast Eddie’ that filmmaker Neil Hynes says “follows a man’s passion for the sport and a dream to win the Clare Stages Rally” – the flagship motor race in the county that takes place this coming September.

The idea was born when Hynes, who also hails from Miltown Malbay, discovered Cogan’s passion for the sport of rallying five years ago and made a short film about his preparations for an event.

“I decided to come back again and do a bigger production by following the adventures of a man, as he deals with life and prepares a car and himself for the Clare Stages competition.

“The film is not just about the motor sports; it’s an observation of the people involved in it and what makes them tick.

“The film follows Cogan’s pursuits in the run up to the event. His workplace and private life are all in the mix as we get to see a man wheel and deal, beg and borrow for a chance to try and finish first,” he added.

Hynes has put together an experience and varied production team for the documentary. His cameraman is Polish native Domink Koisci, who performed camera work on the Rubberbandits hit video ‘Horse Outside’.

Others involved are Miriam Garcia Mortell, who was production assistant on the Pat Shortt film ‘Mattie’ and Ronan Cassidy is on sound, having just produced a documentary on the rugby scene in Limerick that has aired both in Ireland and America.

“It’s heading for film festivals once it’s completed and we hope to secure distribution both here and abroad,” said Mr Hynes.

THE summer sun finally reached the Banner county on Friday, but the heat from the long-awaited sunshine paled to insignificance next to the heat in the council chamber.

Members of Clare County Council had gathered to discuss the withholding of funds from the General Purpose Grant Allocation of the Local Government Fund for 2012.

While council were already irritated by the fact that Minister for the Environment, Phil Hogan, had with-held € 243,000 from the third quarterly payment to the council, it was a letter of apology from Clare TD Michael McNamara (Lab) that he could not attend that caused the greatest uproar.

Cllr Cathal Crowe (FF) was critical of the letter claiming that it was “pedantic and arrogant”.

“There is no explanation as to why he can’t be here,” he said.

Cllr Patricia McCarthy (Ind) took exception to what the youngest member of the council said.

“Do not forget who invited in the troika. Do not forget the people who had to pick up the pieces of this country in the last few years, and do not forget now who are suffering for what was done,” she said. “So be mindful when you are casting aspersions across the chamber at people who are not here and who outlined the situation as it is.”

Cllr Crowe then shouted across the chamber, claiming Deputy McNamara was a party colleague of the independent councillor.

“No, he is not a party colleague of mine. This is where you are going wrong, Cllr Cathal Crowe,” said Cllr McCarthy.

“You wear a red rose when it suits you,” he interjected.

Mayor Pat Daly attempted to bring the meeting to order as Cllr McCarthy clarified, “I am not a member of the Labour Party, I have not been a member of the Labour Party since 1986. I support a certain deputy in this county,” she said.

In the course of a loud and heated “discussion”, Cllr Crowe said he found elements of Cllr McCarthy’s argument “hard to believe”.

She in turn asked for an apology for insinuating she was lying.

“I did not call her a liar,” he replied.

He concluded that he believed he was within his rights to condemn Deputy McNamara’s “arrogance” and said he did not think he was alone in that.

Deputy McNamara told The Clare People that in his letter he outlined his stance on the issue as he could not be in attendance.

He said he, like all of the Government and the Seanad, voted for the charge as it was outlined in the IMF bail-out document, a document he added to his letter so as to be helpful and support his point.

“It was pointing out the realities. You can’t have councillors speaking out of both sides of their mouths, saying no funds for local government and then not supporting raising the funds.”

During the meeting, the County Manager Tom Coughlan was also less than impressed when it was implied that the executive had been dragging its heels when it came to paying the charge at the council offices.

Cllr Joe Arkins (FG) said that in the run up to the original deadline for the payment, there were issues with council officials stating that they could not take postal payments and later letters without stamps.

“I don’t think they were overly helpful in assisting the Local Government Management Agency. We were behaving like an organisation scorned. I don’t think we had our shoulder to the wheel,” he said.

Jumping to the defence of his employees, Mr Coughlan said they had made every effort to facilitate the payment of the charge, so much so that Clare had one of the highest compliance rates in the country.

After almost an hour of councillors airing their grievances on the issue, West Clare County Councillor Pat Keane (FF) left the council chamber in anger. The councillor was frustrated at the way the meeting was progressing, with some councillors getting to speak on a number of occasions while others, he felt, were over looked.

Later in the meeting, Mayor Daly apologised to Cllr Keane, stating that he was up to speak at that point but was no longer in the chamber.

CLARE’S Fine Gael TDs gave assurances that the county council will be reimbursed all of its Local Government funding, but only if it brings its household tax compliance to above “70 or 75 per cent”.

County Clare has the third most compliant taxpayers in the country when it comes to the household charge, yet last week when the county manager went to the council’s bank account he noticed it was almost a quarter of a million euros short.

The Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Phil Hogan had withheld € 243,000 of the General Purpose Grant Allocation of the Local Government Fund for the third quarter of the year.

The council also learnt that its over stretched staff will be taking over the collection of the household charge for this year, a role that is expected to be passed on to Revenue in 2013.

Clare County Manager, Tom Coughlan said that the local authority had not received any database to date from the Local Government Management Agency (LGMA) so the authority does not know who has paid or has yet to pay the € 100- plus fines now incurred.

Mr Coughlan explained that when the council balanced its budget for this year, it did not make provision for this unexpected cut to its fund. Cuts had already been made to council spending at the beginning of the year so that it could balance the books, and there is very little “discretionary spending” left, he explained.On Friday last, councillors agreed at a hastily convened meeting that they would continue to spend as per the agreed budget.

They were critical of the minister for taking money out of its annual budget seven months into the year, and argued that any cuts should wait until 2013.

Cllr Christy Curtin (Ind) said, “I do not support any reduction in services. I do not support any financial cutback at this stage of the year. If the minister wants to make changes, he can tell us what he wants us to do in 2013 and we will deal with it then. But to force a reduction in the middle of 2012 when we have our budget passed and we are halfway through the financial year is certainly not acceptable.”

In his address to councillors, Deputy Pat Breen (FG) said the lost € 243,000 would be returned to the council’s coffers. “You will get back what is owed to you before the end of the year. I don’t think the council should worry about that,” he said.

“The money is not being cut, it is being with-held,” added Deputy Carey (FG). “We don’t have to face the cuts if we get the allocation up to 70 to 75 per cent. I got that assurance from Phil Hogan,” he added.

Deputy Breen said the whole purpose was to encourage local authorities to give one last push to get the money. “This money is not a cutback. It is an initiative to collect finances.” he said.

This is an initiative the council must currently face without any direction as to who has paid and who has not.

A MAJOR row has er upted in Nor th Clare over plans by Clare Count y Council to excavate stones from a public beach just nor th of Lahinch.

A local woman has blasted what she has labelled “illegal” plans to privatise a section of Cregg Beach, while a local representative has tabled a motion before Clare County Council that the works be carried out “to allow public access to the beach”.

The stand-off sparked by the oneperson protest waged by Maura Lehane has resulted in work at the beach – which lies at the southern end of Lahinch on the Miltown Malbay road – being halted.

Excavation work began on Saturday, July 21 at Cregg Beach at the southern end of Lahinch village.

“I saw what was happening,” revealed Ms Lehane.

“The excavation of the sea stones was going on for a considerable length of time and I could see a visible difference.

“A machine driver was using a track machine to alter the course of the River Moy and, if this work continued, it would have resulted in the flow of the river running through the centre of the beach. I could see that if this work was allowed to continue, the southern part of Cregg Beach would be lost to the public – at least half the beach would be privatised,” she added

“It is a contentious issue,” admitted local councillor, Bill Slattery (FG) “and it is one that has to be resolved. What was being done was to provide access for the general public to the beach.

“The work has now been stopped and it is gone back to the county council and the engineers will deal with it.

“This work has to be done to allow the public have access to the beach and this has to be resolved,” added Cllr Slattery.

“That fact that there was no engineer or safety officer on site or any signs of warning of work on the beach shocked me, not to mention the untold damage they have done to our beautiful beach,”said Ms Lehane.

“I am aghast that our beautiful coastline would be touched to such a degree.

“It is imperative that this situation is rectified immediately and the beach returned to its natural state,” she added.

THEY are the most famous ceilí band in the world but this Saturday night, the Kilfenora Ceilí Band are in their home county to play in a oneoff ceili at the West County Hotel in Ennis.

The gig, which will feature set dancing will start at 10pm and run for three hours, with the entire famed group in attendance.

The cast of talented musicians have been playing traditional music for over a century, but as band leader John Lynch explains, it’s always a pleasure for them to play in their home county:

“It’s where you’re from and where you grew up so you enjoy coming back (to play in Clare).”

Indeed, the attendance at the band’s ceilís and concerts within the county has been phenomenal over the past year as the band’s ‘gigging’ appearances in Clare can be rare.

Over 800 attended the sold out event at the West County last year while over 600 attended both ceilis during Willie Clancy Week.

The level of interest is something Lynch and the band “appreciate so much” and audiences have been huge at each of their five events in Clare so far this year.

Lynch enjoys playing at both concerts and ceilis but for different reasons:

“At ceilís, the audience are on the floor dancing sets and there is a great atmosphere and response from the crowd.

“On the other hand, we can arrange pieces and harmonies much more easily at concerts as the audience are in their seats listening.”

He adds that Saturday’s concert will include music from past and present:

“You have some people there who have listened to previous bands so we want to play some of the older music to please them.

“On the other hand, we want to show that we are progressing with new material. And of course we want to get people out dancing!”

A member of The Kilfenora Ceilí band for 20 years, Lynch, who plays the banjo, says that there is a “little bit of tension before an event” but as soon as you begin to play, “the music takes hold.”

There are still a few tickets remaining for Saturday night’s show in the West County (tickets are € 15 apiece), they can be purchased at reception.

FEARS and public concern have been allayed this week that a new tourism initiative on Lough Derg would be responsible for scaring away two rare white-tailed sea eagles that have made their home near Mountshannon.

Environmentalists in East Clare had voiced their concern that an air show due to take place in Mountshannon on September 9 next would threaten the rare eagles that are now breeding in Ireland for the first time in more than 100 years.

The eagles were driven to extinction a century ago; the last white- tailed sea eagles to breed here did so in remote coastal areas of Kerry and Mayo back in 1898.

This new breeding pair – a fouryear-old male and three-year-old female – were introduced to Ireland in 2008 and 2009 respectively from the island of Frøya off the west coast of Norway.

They were among 100 birds released in Killarney National Park as part of the reintroduction programme and early last year they made their home in Bushy Island, a thickly vegetated outcrop on Lough Derg, close to Mountshannon.

“People were afraid of what might happen to the eagles because of the air show,” revealed John Harvey of Mountshannon Community Council. “But Dr Alan Mee, who is in charge of the eagles, said he doesn’t think there will be any problem unless the planes fly over the island.

“We had a meeting to address those concerns on Friday night and everyone seems to be happy. We are going to meet with the pilots before the show, so we will know exactly where they will be flying over. Once they stay a kilometre away from the island, it will be okay. They will be flying at 1,500 feet, so we seem to think that everything will go ahead without any problems,” he added.

The air show is being organised by Harbour Flights, the company that has been given permission by Clare and Galway County Councils to operate a sea-plane service on Lough Derg that will include a floating pontoon and slipway at Mountshannon.

“The intention of putting on this activity is to attract people from all locations across Ireland to Lough Derg and introduce them to what we believe is one of Ireland’s best-kept secrets,” says Rose Curtis of Harbour Flights.

“As Lough Derg is the second largest lake in Ireland, it is hoped the air show will attract a large amount of cruiser owners from as far away as the six counties,” she added.

THE loss of two branches of AIB in West Clare will have a devastating affect on local businesses. Kilkee businessman John Nolan said that the closure of the Kilkee branch is another impediment to businesses in the town. As a result of the bank’s closure, business people who carry out their business with AIB will now have to travel to Kilrush every day to lodge cash. He said that there is too much of a risk in leaving money on the premises overnight so they will have to make the 28-kilometre drive daily. A mobile unit muted for the town would not work as different businesses need to lodge cash at different times of the day, he explained. “Personally, I think it is very bad for the town at the moment to see the bank go at a time when other businesses are struggling,” he said. Mr Nolan now fears that the town’s only remaining bank – Bank Of Ireland – will close its branch too, leaving the seaside town without a banking institution. Meanwhile, business people in Kildysart will face a 63kilometre round-trip for their business transactions. Eddie Michaels, owner of Centra, said the town’s people are not very happy about the loss of the bank. “It is a very important service, especially to older people. People feel this is another service taken away. People are generally not happy,” he said. The business man added that he did not believe the mobile bank would be adequate for businesses trying to lodge cash, so business owners would have to travel to Ennis for their banking. “This is another obstacle that we have to get over, and we will have to,” he said optimistically.

A BUSINESSMAN has reached an agreement with Clare County Council over fire safety concerns at an apartment block in Ennis.

Oliver Moylan, with an address at Golf Links Road, Ennis, was brought to court after failing to comply with a fire safety notice issued by the Council in January.

The notice was issued to rectify deficiencies at a 10-room apartment building owned by Mr Moylan on O’Connell Street, Ennis.

The court previously heard that an inspection of the premises highlighted a number of deficiencies including inadequate means of escape and the placing of cooking facilities adjacent to doors.

The court had heard that individual apartments were not fitted with fire alarms while there was no central fire alarm for the apartment block. Both systems are required under fire safety regulations. Mr Moylan, who owns the Ennis Cash Company, had been given until last week to agree a schedule of works with the Council.

On Friday, Ennis District Court heard that an agreement had been reached between the parties.

Solicitor for the Council Rachael Leahy said the proposal put forward by the defendant’s engineer was “perfectly acceptable” to her client. She told the court that the fact that the building was now vacant meant the safety notice had been met.

The court heard that the premises are not to be occupied until approved by the fire officer. Ms Leahy made an application for costs. Judge Durcan struck out the matter with no order for costs. Judge Durcan had previously criticised evidence given in court by a Council witness.

Speaking on Friday, Judge Durcan said, “I was very unimpressed by the evidence of Clare County Council. I was quite appalled.”

A MAN described as a “good skin when he’s not fuelled up on drugs” has been sentenced to five months in prison for the theft of power tools from a garage in Kilrush earlier this year.

At Ennis District Court on Wednesday, Jonathan Kenny (23), with an address at 1 Elm Drive Kilrush, pleaded guilty to theft of the items from a shed alongside a family home at Cappa Road, Kilrush on April 4.

Detective Garda Donal Corkery of Kilrush Garda Station told the court that Mr Kenny was spotted entering woods in Kilrush with items taken from the shed.

All of the property was recovered and Mr Kenny made a full admission to gardaí. The court heard that the garage was unlocked at the time.

Detective Corkery said that Mr Kenny has a total of 41 previous convictions. Solicitor Michael Ryan said the offence had been carried out in a “haphazard and disorganised” manner. He said that all of the items had been recovered. Mr Ryan said the murder of his client’s older brother in Kilrush in 2009 had a major effect on him. He said that Mr Kenny has a “very serious drug habit.”

He added, “When Jonathan Kenny is not fuelled up on drugs he is a relatively good skin, and I think the gardaí would agree on that point.”

He told the court that his client’s personal circumstances had been made more difficult by the availability of drugs in Kilrush. Mr Ryan said that despite the best efforts of gardaí in the West Clare town, “there is a willing availability of drugs”, a point acknowledged in court by Detective Corkery.

Mr Ryan added, “Given the circumstances, I do think the deck was stacked against him.”

He said there are situations in Kilrush where dealers are coming to people’s doors to push drugs on them.

“And then you get into trouble when you don’t have the money to pay for them”, he added. He urged the Court in passing sentence, to consider offering Mr Kenny “some light at the end of the tunnel.”

Judge Patrick Durcan said that he did not view life in terms of tunnels. “I see life in terms of day and night and in terms of good and evil”, he said. Judge Durcan said people are entitled to live their lives in peace and tranquility and to leave their tool sheds unlocked.

Referring to Mr Kenny’s offence, Judge Durcan said, “He was very anxious to get the goods that he had had stolen and he was eager to get them out of the way.”

He imposed a five-month prison sentence. Recognances were fixed in the event of an appeal.

Judge Durcan added, “I want the message to go out, not to the good skins of Kilrush, but to the bad skins that they will be met by this court with the harshest of penalties.”