Author: admin

MUCKROSS Park in Killarney could soon have some serious competition from Kilrush as the council proposes to introduce jaunting cars to Kilrush Wood.

The wood, which surrounds the popular Vandeleur Walled Garden, is also the responsibility of Coillte, and members of the council executive are to meet with the state body to discuss this proposal and a number of other issues.

At the March meeting of the council, Mayor of Kilrush Ian Lynch (FG) asked that “Shannon Development and Coillte in association with Clare County Council to explore the possibility of opening of the Kilrush Wood existing road and track network to the seasonal attraction of jaunting, which would complement the existing attractions of the Vandeleur Walled Gardens and Kilrush’s Historic Trail while also providing tourism revenue to the town.”

He said that there are already old stables on the grounds of the Vandeleur Walled Gardens and the tracks are in place.

Marketing Officer with Kilrush Town Council, Síobhan Garvey said, “The Vandeleur Walled Garden and Kilrush woods remain a top priority when the town council engages in any tourism promotion and in recent years Kilrush Town Council has invested in resurfacing the roadway leading from the main road in through the woods to the car park as week as including it in the Historic Town Trails Walk.”

“In 2011, following consultation with coillte, they developed their walkways further by adding a new marked way and interpretational signs. It is acknowledge that the gardens and woods are almost a hidden treasure in the area and every effort is being made to promote both.”

THE MAYOR of Kilrush has threatened to get a brush and can of white paint and draw road marks on a road that has being dubbed “Bombay Junction” locally.

Mayor Ian Lynch (FG) was told that it would be a serious traffic violation to interfere with the road markings at Limekill Junction (sic) on the entrance on the town.

Cllr Paul Moroney (Ind) said it would be a shameful for the council, if something wasn’t done about the busy junction.

The councillor, who is also a volunteer member of the fire service, said the fire brigade has already been called to a serious accident at the cross roads where the occupants of the car had to be cut from their vehicles.

Another man told Cllr Moroney that he got knocked off his bike at this junction.

“It would be a shame if this council got this done two days after someone is killed,” he said.

“We have discussed this for two years. Let us do something about this now. Shame on us.”

Cllr Liam Williams (FG) said at nine in the morning when children are going to school it is a very seriously dangerous junction.

The councillors were responding to news that plans for re-drawing the junction are still not in place.

Clare County Council maintained previously that they did not have time or the staff available to design the junction.

Town engineer Derek Troy then designed a solution for the dangerous junction, which was not approved by the road design team.

Town Manager Nora Kaye told the members of the council that there were a lot of people out on sick leave and as a result a lot of work was on hold.

“We have a bit of an issue at the moment.”

She said the junction, which is a cross roads past Aldi as you enter the town from the Ennis side, was the re sponsibility of the NRA.

“Don’t lose sight of the fact that we do not have money to do it. Strictly speaking it is a primary secondary route and the responsibility of the NRA,” she said.

She said once the road design is complete the project will still not be done.

“We should just get the design done and worry about the money after. We look foolish on this when we can’t even get a white line drawn,” said Mayor Lynch.

Cllr Marian McMahon Jones (FG) asked, “Could we still be here next year and it still not done.”

A DATE for the opening of the € 15 million, 50-bed development at Ennis General Hospital still has not been set.

Work on the unit began in November 2010.

Yesterday (Monday) management was still unable to give an opening date for the unit, as all of the equipment is not in place.

The HSE lodged a planning application for the hospital extension with Ennis Town Council in August 2010.

The project includes a two-storey ward building including bedrooms, associated treatment rooms and staff facilities, connecting into the existing two-storey hospital at ground and first floor level.

A new landscaping, parking and realignment of internal roadway and paths; alterations to the internal layout of the south east wings of the existing hospital and temporary egress from the hospital during construction to Highfield Park was also included in the planning.

The new unit is not only to provide modern wards and isolation rooms but the vacated space in the existing building is to be “gradually refurbished”.

The existing hospital building is a protected structure.

The HSE has promised that the hospital would offer “general medicine including cardiovascular support, day surgery, plastic surgery, geriatric medicine, acute adult emergency medicine and minor injuries care.”

GORT is in mourning today after the tragic death of two local men is separate incidents in recent days.

Enda O’Donohue from Ardrahan was killed in a car accident in Australia on Friday night last, just five weeks after emigrating to work with his brother Eoin.

The is the second major tragedy to hit the family in recent years, following the tragic death of Enda’s brother Aidan in Ennis in 2005. Aidan went missing following a night out in Ennis and was discovered dead in the River Fergus after a week-long search.

This latest tragedy comes just days after the death of Enda’s aunt in Gort last week.

The young carpenter, who is described as being a hurling fanatic, played for the Gort hurling club and also played soccer for Kinvara. His parents, Bernie and Mary, along with his siblings Alan, Caroline and Christina, gathered at their home last week to try and come to terms with the tragedy.

Enda is understood to have been walking home alone after socialising with friends and was crossing the Bruce Highway when he was struck by a car. The alarm was raised by a passer-by and the young Irishman was rushed to Ingham Hospital in a critical condition. He was later airlifted to the larger Townsville Hospital around 60km away but died there on Saturday morning.

Meanwhile, gardaí in Kerry are investigating if a Gort man whose body was found in the Ballylongford Bog in North Kerry had been involved in a row over a car before his death.

The victim, who was named locally as Brazilian national Bruno Limes de Souza Silva, was reported missing from his home in Gort last month.

Two men – a 19-year-old Irish man and a 24-year-old Brazilian – were taken into Garda custody on Sunday.

A spokesman for the Brazilian Embassy in Ireland said consular staff are in touch with the victim’s girlfriend in Gort, Patricia Silva, who first reported him missing.

“His family have been in touch with us before to say he was missing. At the moment, we do not know too much and we are waiting to see what happens from the gardaí,” said the embassy spokesperson.

Mr De Souza Silva came to Ireland eight years ago and was last in touch with the embassy in 2010 when he renewed his passport.

NATURAL food businesses in North Clare were to the fore last Friday when the Minister for Food, Horticulture and Food Safety, Minister Shane McEntee (FG) paid a special visit to Inagh Farmhouse Cheese and the Burren Smokehouse.

The minister was met in Lisdoonvarna by co-owner of the Burren Smokehouse, Birgitta Hedin-Curtin. Birgitta, who began the compa- ny with her husband Peter, had just returned from the Middle East, having met with a number of high-end retailers in Kuwait and Qatar.

“For the Burren Smokehouse, it is vital to meet face to face with our customers. I got an invite from my buyer in Kuwait two weeks ago and decided to immediately take up on his invite.

“This is à great opportunity for the Burren Smokehouse to further our brand in the global gourmet market and is part of our brand strategy,” she said.

The smokehouse will soon be launching their brand in specialty food shops in Portugal and Spain.

“This is not an overnight success. We have been building this business for 22 years, staying true to our core values of 100 per cent Irish raw materials, with excellent certification, building a great team, learning hard lessons and building trust with our customers,” said Peter Curtin.

The smokehouse began as a twoperson business with Birgitta and Peter but has since grown to employ 14 people in the low season and 20 in the very busy periods.

Meanwhile, Siobhan Ni Gháirbhith and her team welcomed the minister to Inagh for a tour of the farm and a tasting of their famed St Tola Organic Goats Cheese.

“We are delighted that the minister took the effort to come and visit us and it is a boost to us all that such importance and understanding is being applied to the organic agriculture industry,” said Siobhan.

“Over the past two years, St Tola Organic Goats cheese has grown its business from supplying the catering sector to having a major presence in the Irish retail market with product in all the major supermarkets. St Tola Divine and Logs will be on special offer this month and next in SuperValu and later in May in Tesco.”

THE war against drugs in Clare has taken a sinister turn this week amid claims that a meth-type substance disguised in a sweet was being distributed among school children in Ennis.

Coláiste Muire principal Jean Pound told The Clare People that the school authorities had been informed that a “highly dangerous” sweet-like drug was now available in the Clare area and that innocent school children could be targeted in its distribution.

And, amid fears that students at the all-girl secondary school in Ennis could be offered the drug during lunchtime when they are allowed to leave the school premies, Ms Pound, revealed that a warning for children to remain vigilant to the dangers of drugs was issued to all students last week.

“We got a warning for people not to take it from anyone that was offering it,” she said.

“We were told there was this substance going around that was highly dangerous and that it looked like a sweet,” she added. However, when contacted by The Clare People on Monday, Chief Superintendent of the Clare Garda Division, John Kerin, has moved to ally fears that school children are being offered drugs. “Part of school talks are to try to make children aware of the dangers of meeting strangers and not taking anything from them,” the chief superintendent revealed. “Maybe it was exaggerated by someone, but we don’t believe that there’s any basis for it that things like this are being handed out,” he added.

GOVERNMENT cutbacks in youth services that are set to be implemented over the next three years now means that frontline services provided throughout the county by the Clare Youth Service will be closed.

That’s the warning that has been issued by both the chairman and chief executive of the Clare Youth Service, as they front up a new fundraising campaign to try and stave off the forced closure of key services that will be brought on by budget cuts.

These fears for the future of Clare Youth Service operations have been sounded out in a letter, secured by The Clare People this week, in which chairman Michael Byrne and chief executive Margaret Slattery launched their appeal to members of the public to row in behind a fundraising campaign for youth services throughout Clare.

“We’ve responded to the cutbacks of recent years by pay reductions, restructuring and changing the way we work. This has helped us maintain core services,” the letter outlining the current financial well-being of Clare Youth Service states.

“However, we’ve now been informed of the scale of cuts to our grants up to 2015. There will be more significant reductions each year to the extend that internal savings will not allow us to maintain a reasonable level of service.

“Unless alternative income in generated, frontline services will close,” it adds.

Clare Youth Service has a huge network of services throughout the county, providing 68 projects in 25 locations for up to 3,000 young people between the ages of 12 and 25.

Clare Youth Service had its beginnings in 1969 when it was established as Clare Regional Youth Council. Over the years it has changed and developed to become a leader in the field of youth services.

The range of services includes youth clubs, certified training, music projects, youth cafés and education programmes.

To ensure that services can be maintained, people around the county are being asked to become “a patron or a friend” of Clare Youth Service.

“Individuals and companies can become a patron for a donation of € 50 or become a friend for € 20. There is no ongoing commitment. Friends will receive a car sticker, whilst patrons will receive a certificate for their premises or home in addition to the sticker,” the letter adds.

A LOCAL sculptor has rejected criticisms made online about his recent work, which was unveiled in Ennis last week.

Barry Wrafter says he doesn’t care what critics think of his Market Day sculpture. The piece, which comprises two farmers, a cow and a dog, pays a tribute to Ennis’ market tradition.

Made from granite, the near 20 tonne work depicts the two farmers discussing the purchase of a cow. The sculpture was installed on the market roundabout last Tuesday as a replacement for the Icarus statue, which has been re-located to the Rocky Road roundabout.

The statue has attracted plenty of attention from passers by. However it also provoked a string of both positive and negative comments on social networking and news websites such as Facebook and Broadsheet.ie.

Some critics claimed the statues are too bland. But Barry says he’s not bothered by what people think of his work. “I don’t really care about the negative stuff. People were giving out about the cost of it and saying we shouldn’t be spending money on things like this when the economy is the way it is. It’s Ennis Town Council and the Sculpture Initiative who paid for it. I did a year’s work on this for nothing. What I got paid only covered the cost of it.

“Anytime I’m up around the market people are saying fair play to you. There were two people on Facebook who were negative about it. I went on to respond and as soon as I did a lot of people started putting up messages in support. That gave me great heart.”

The piece was commissioned in 2009 and is a joint initiative between Ennis Town Council and the Ennis Sculpture Initiative. The Newmarket on Fergus based artist has been working on the piece for past 12 months.

Barry explained, “It is two men of the land meeting on some fine day in the past to come to an agreement on the purchase of a cow. This is the moment in time literally set in stone that the deal is made the way deals were made back then with the gesture to spit on the hand and then a firm handshake and always with the right hand.

He added, “I’d like to thank Ennis Town Council for facilitating this sculpture and Keatings for the work on the roundabout especially Michael Murphy. I would also like to single out Tommy Scott for praise and the Halpins for the handling of the stone and lastly to Al, Alex and Neo for the inspiration to keep going at this.”

Barry who documented the making of his work on his website www.barrywrafter.com.

FAMILY Carers throughout Ireland have participated in the second annual Caring for Carers Ireland poetry competition, the winners of which were announced at the Ennis Book Club Festival in County Clare during the weekend.

The nationwide poetry competition asked Family Carers to compose poems on the theme of ‘Springtime’, representing renewal and new life.

Noelle Dalton from Askeaton in County Limerick received first prize for her poem ‘Twilight’. Runners up included Gaia Charis from Castletownshend, County Cork, Tracy King Kinlan from Caherush, Quilty, County Clare, Terri O’Mahony from Ballinacurra Gardens, Limerick City, and Barbara Roche from Glenina, Ennis, County Clare.

Brigid Barron, Research and Program Manager with Caring for Carers Ireland, explained that the purpose of the competition is to highlight the significant contribution made by thousands of Family Carers to Irish society.

“Recognising the role of Family Carers in the home is crucial,” Ms. Barron said. “This form of care is the foundation of formal health and social care systems. Family Carers are a distinct group who provide care and also, very importantly, require care themselves.”

Ms. Barron continued: “Family carers spend a lot of time caring at home and that often gives them time for reflection. The poetry submissions received by Caring for Carers and our co-organisers, Clare County Library and the Ennis Book Club Festival, have been excellent, very touching and expressive.”

According to Helen Walsh, Clare County Librarian: “The library is delighted to have been able to support this initiative. Caring for Carers Ireland carries out invaluable work throughout the country and the County Library has a particular interest in socially inclusive events such as this.’

THE people of Doolin will hit the big time later this week as the town features in an hour-long programme to be broadcast on Sky TV. A number of local people and musicians were interviewed during the recent Micho Russell Memorial Music festival in the village, with many of these interviews to feature on the programme.

The programme, which is entitled ‘Out and About in Ireland’ will be broadcast on Sky channel 201 this coming Thursday, March 8, from 9pm and repeated twice on Sunday and Monday, March 11 and 12, at 11pm.

It is not clear as yet which local people have made it into the final cut for the programme, but it will feature something from local musicians Kevin Griffin, Adrian O’Connor, Albie Grace, Donal Murphy, Pat Ryan, David Crowe, Tom Delaney, Matt Burke and Christy Ennis, as well as an interview with Sean Keane who was in Doolin performing for the weekend.

“It is always an honour to be invited back to perform in front of people that really appreciate and understand the music,” said Keane about the Russell Memorial Festival.

“I love coming down to Doolin. Micho Russell has a legendary place in traditional music and I think this weekend embodies the emotion and spirit of his music.

“There is something about Doolin and the music of Clare that is magical and I am sure people will really enjoy this programme.”

The programme focuses on the Russell Memorial Music Festival, describing it as one of the “hidden gems” of the Irish traditional music calendar.

While the festival already attracts musicians and music-lovers from all over Ireland, it is hoped that the exposure gained from the television programme could attract new audiences to the festival for 2013.

The programme was made for Sky by a film crew from an Irish television company who will also be streaming the programme online at www.irishtv.ie from this Thursday.

It is presented by Pierce O’Reilly and, besides focussing on the traditional music of the area, it also looks at some of the leading local artisan food producers in the area, including the Burren Smokehouse in Lisdoonvarna and Linalla Ice Cream in New Quay.