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GOVERNMENT claims that the use of Shannon Airport by the US military over the past decade has been good for the economy have been called into question this week by Shannonwatch.

The mid-west-based watchdog has hit out at the what it says is the Dublin Airport Authority’s “lack of transparency” when it comes to divulging the what Shannon has earned from the military stopover since 2001.

In 2011, the US Military – on foot of a Freedom of Information request revealed that there 12,154 troop stopovers in Shannon en route to US war fronts, carrying 2,300,925 troops, while 11,995 return flights accounted for 2,029,365 military personnel over the same period from January 2001 to Janaury 2011.

And, additional figures secured by The Clare People revealed that 407 commercial flights carrying military personnel have passed through the airport from January to June 2011.

The 2001 to 2011 figures revealed that the peak period of Shannon’s use in US military operations came in 2005, when 1,973 flights passed through the airport, carrying 335,847 passengers, over double the amount that had passed through the previous year.

“In the few cases where the State could benefit financially from the US war traffic it is reluctant to give details,” a spokesperson for Shannonwatch told The Clare People this week.

“The Dublin Airport Authority has said that landing and parking fees are applied in the case of the main US troop carrier, Omni Air International. However “for confidentiality and commercial sensitivity reasons” they will not say how much it pays for its daily foreign troop flights through Shannon.

“The Irish Aviation Authority which imposes air traffic control fees also refuse to indicate what en-route and terminal air navigation charges Omni Air International pays. The lack of transparency around the payment of charges by the US military and its carriers undermines any statements that politicians make about the use of Shannon being good for the economy” the Shannonwatch spokesperson continued.

“It would be morally wrong to profit from the hundreds of thousands of lives lost as a result of the invasions and occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. But it is even more alarming to realise the extent that we are supporting it financially. At a time of economic crisis, the spending of € 4 million a year by a supposedly neutral state in support of illegal wars is an outrage,” the spokesperson added.

SHANNON Development could be about to play its part in helping revitalize the business district of Kilrush town centre through a new grant aid fund, the potential for which is set to be teased out over the next month by the state agency in conjunction with the town council and interest groups in the West Clare capital.

Details of what could potentially be a ground-breaking aid to new and existing businesses that wish to upgrade and re-brand themselves was unveiled by town manager Nora Kaye at the January meeting of Kilrush Town Council.

“We had a positive meeting with Shannon Development in relation to finding some fund that would encourage people to set up business in the town,” revealed Ms Kaye.

“The meeting was arranged with Shannon Development and that meeting took place (last Thursday). We discussed the need to revitalize the town centre, in view of the recent upgrade of Moore Street.

“What we were really looking at was a Shopfront Assistance Fund. For new businesses that are starting up or have started up, there would be a fund there from which allocations could be made and it would go towards helping the financial aspects towards setting up and fitting out a new business in the town, or even existing businesses that need to upgrade,” added Ms Kaye.

This new departure was given a broad welcome by all councillors, with the Mayor of Kilrush, Cllr Ian Lynch, saying that it was up to the local authority to spearhead the continued regeneration of the town.

“If we lose any more shops in the town people won’t stop in the town at all,” warned Mayor Lynch. “This is about reviving our town centre. This town council chamber is in the heart of the town centre and we really are the pulse of the town and we really need to drive this thing forward,” he added.

“It would be great if we could sit everyone around a table, so that we could all be involved in it,” said Cllr Marion McMahon-Jones (FG).

“I have spoken to a number of people with business premises on Moore Street and I think we should sit down and see what they have to offer.

“We should dedicate a meeting to this – not a monthly meeting but a special meeting,” suggested Cllr Liam Williams (FG).

“What’s going to happen is that a scheme will be drafted and we would hope to launch it early in the year so that businesses could avail of it and it would encourage phase two of the Moore Street regeneration,” concluded town manager Nora Kaye.

The special meeting to discuss the regeneration of the town has been fixed for Tuesday, February 7.

THE contribution of the Glynn family in Kilrush to Clare life will be celebrated this week thanks to the Clare Roots Society, which will host its first meeting of 2012 at the Civic Rooms in Drumbiggle this Thursday night.

The role played by one of the west Clare’s best known families to business in the county will form the basis of a talk to be delivered by Paul O’Brien that has been entitled ‘The Family Papers of the Glynns of West Clare 1790-1980.’

“The Glynn archive is an example of the many family archives probably still in private hands around the county, which contain vital clues for researching not only the family history of the compilers of the archive, but also that of their employees and other associated families, and local history generally,” a spokesperson for the Clare Roots Society said this week.

Paul O’Brien did his BA (History & Philosophy) in Mary Immaculate College, Limerick. He graduated in 2010 and commenced a research Masters in History. However, due to the large amount of primary source documents, he successfully transferred to the PhD programme in March 2011.

O’Brien is employed as a history tutor at Mary Immaculate College. He is the chairperson of the Mary Immaculate College History Society, an active member of the Kilrush Local History Group and also works as a docent at the Hunt Museum, Limerick.

The Glynn family archive consists of approx. 20,000 documents. The main body of the records relate to the operational and administrative processes of M. Glynn & Sons.

The documents take the form of leases, contracts, accounts, insurance certificates, commercial and private correspondence, legal and court documents and photographs. The date range is c. 1790 – 1980. O’Brien was given access to the archive by Mr. Charlie Glynn, in 2009.

The physical condition of the material was in good although some of the documents were in a fragile state and this has resulted in some being illegible owing to exposure to moist and damp conditions, which has resulted in moulding and foxing.

Following professional consultation the entire archive has been removed from its original boxes and is now locked in a dry and safe environment. Most of the records survive in their original form, others are in transcript form. The transcripts are handwritten, printed and typed.

The is a cover charge of € 5 for nonmembers.

THE success of the Moore Street regeneration project that was marked by a street party in December has spawned a new ‘Family Gathering’ festival that will take place in Kilrush next summer.

Details of staging a Moore Street Reunion in August, which could become an annual event were unveiled by Cllr Tom Prendeville (FF), who himself is a native of the what was once the main shopping street in the West Clare capital.

The idea emerged following the outstanding success of the Moore Street celebrations that took place on December 17 last in the wake of the upgrading work carried by the National Roads Authority (NRA).

“We came up with the idea of having a Moore Street Reunion of all the old families in August during the Inis Cathaigh music festival,” revealed Cllr Prendeville.

“We were talking about have a fes- tival, with an arts and culture element to it, with exhibitions and events and it and for this to particularly make use the Vandeleur Walled Garden. We’d have lectures there and it would be all about bringing more life back into Kilrush,” he added.

The upgrading works that were carried out by the NRA at the cost of € 150,000 came after a long-running campaign that was waged by both councillors and members of the council executive over a number of years.

“The efforts made by the people of Moore Street was incredible,” said Cllr Liam Williams (FG).

“Anybody that came home to Kilrush for Christmas, it was the chat. It’s something that can be built on,” he added.

“I must admit that the spirit was unreal on Moore Street,” said Mayor of Kilrush, Cllr Ian Lynch (FG). “It was unbelievable. The photographs that were in the exhibitions have been put on a CD and they are sending them to America and all over the place.

“Now the windows of premises that aren’t being used, they are going to keep the exhibition going and change around some of the photographs. It’s absolutely amazing and maybe it’s something that we should do each year and pick a street in the town,” he added.

“Maria Hartmann had a spectacular performance with the organization of the whole event. She is very much in favour of the reunion, so it’s onwards and upwards,” added Cllr Prendeville.

KILRUSH Town Council are set to press ahead with developing the € 1.3m sports facility earmarked for the Cooraclare Road in the West Clare capital – whether they get government funding for the ambitious project or not.

That was the message delivered at the January meeting of the local authority in Kilrush Town Hall on Thursday night last as councillors gave their unanimous approval for a proposal to press ahead with the project regardless of whether the 90 per cent funding they missed out on in 2011 is forthcoming this year.

“If we don’t get the government funding, we should have an alternative plan that will kick in straight away,” said Mayor of Kilrush, Cllr Ian Lynch (FG) in kickstarting a move for work on the project to begin in 2011.

“The ten per cent that Clare County Council and Kilrush Town Council have to invest between them, we can match that with Leader funding to provided some of the facilities, not all of them, but some of them. That’s what we should do. If we don’t get the 90 per cent, we should go with the ten per cent and then get as much as we can from Leader,” Mayor Lynch added.

Last October the council made an application for funding from the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport for the first phase of the integrated sports facility on lands owned by the ESB and Department of Education.

The first phase of the development will include an artificial surface facility, a full-size playing pitch and two full-size training pitches, fencing, lighting and associated works at the cost of € 500,000. The second phase of the project will include the development of dressing rooms, car parking, footpaths and associated works.

“The Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport has advised that it hopes to announce a Sports Capital Programme in the first quarter of 2012,” revealed town clerk John Corry.

“In anticipation of the announcement of a grant scheme in 2012, Kilrush Town Council together with Clare County Council will be in a position to make an early application for grant assistance and if approved, would be hopeful of receiving grant approval of 90 per cent of the cost of the scheme,” he added.

The matter was raised before the council by Cllr Liam Williams (FG), who called on the council to “prioritise the sports complex and make sure that funding is accessed for it”.

“It is a community effort,” responded town manager Nora Kaye. “It is a community project and if Kilrush Town Council is the vehicle through which we can make it happen, we’re all singing from the same hymn sheet and we will work hard to bring it about,” she added.

FURTHER confirmation that local authorities like Kilrush Town Council must answer to the European Union and International Monetary Fund as much as, if not more than, they do to national government was hammered home at last Thursday’s monthly meeting of the local authority. That’s because a new stringent timetable has been laid down by the Department of the Environment for receipt of the town council’s financial statement – all at the behest of the new criteria that has been handed down as part of the EU/IMF bailout deal for the country’s economy.

Kilrush Town Clerk John Corry revealed that the new guidelines that will be imposed means that the financial statement is set to be delivered up to four months ahead of previous years.

“We are required to prepare our annual financial statement by April 1 and has to be published by July 1,” said Mr Corry, “but we received a circular from the Department of the Environment in the middle of December advising us about the financial statement – it’s all to do with the reporting of the EU/IMF arrangements and the quarterly report that we do in tandem with that.

“They set a very difficult thing to deal with. They’re suggesting that our annual financial statement would be prepared by the February 24, along with our quarterly returns,” he added.

News of the strict new guidelines come only two months after it was first revealed that the management of Kilrush Town Council finances now come under the microscope of Eurocrats in Brussels and the IMF.

This prompted Cllr Tom Clyne (Ind) to say “the long arm of the EU is extending all the way to Kilrush,” while Cllr Tom Prendeville (FF) said “little did I think that Kilrush Town Council would be responsible to the bureaucrats in Brussels”.

However, in facing up to new financial realities, the town clerk revealed that the local authority was “working towards” adhering to the new deadlines.

“The statutory dates still exist – that’s April 1,” said Mr Corry, “but there’s a sort of a strong encouragement that’s being advised to us that we’d have the statement ready by the February date.

“I’m seeking advice with regard to the formal adoption of it. The February meeting is fixed for the 9th and there’s no way that we’ll have it completed by then, so what I’m seeking advice on is whether or not we will be able to present it to members at the March meeting.

“To achieve that will be an onerous task, because normally we don’t present it to the members until the May meeting – it was even June last year. I’m hoping that we will,” added Mr Corry.

THE process of drafting a new plan that will chart the development of Kilrush for much of the next decade is to begin by this March at the latest.

The importance of the plan to the future of the West Clare capital was emphasized by Town Manager Nora Kaye, who urged that all interest groups in the town take part in the process that is set to be kickstarted at a meeting of the Kilrush Town Council.

“I would hope that the senior planner for West Clare would address Kilrush Town Council at the February or the March meeting to start this process,” revealed Ms Kaye.

“It is very useful that the new town development plan for Kilrush is starting this year. In view of discussions that we’ve had about revitalizing the town centre of Kilrush and promoting Kilrush as a place to invest and a place to do business, I think it’s very timely that the new town plan and the preparations for it will be commenc- ing early in 2012,” added Ms Kaye.

The Town Manager revealed the new Kilrush Town Council planner Emma Pillion will be involved in the process of drafting the new town plan, but she emphasized that the completed blueprint will be about “refusing or granting planning permissions”.

“It is an opportunity,” said Ms Kaye. “It is not just a plan by which we refuse or grant planning permissions, it is really an investment strategy for the town of Kilrush going forward.

“I think that having a Kilrush Town Development Plan is very positive and hopefully it will serve us well in attracting new businesses to the town,” she added.

Cllr Tom Prendeville (FF) told the meeting that developing a new marketing for Kilrush should be a key part of the plan.

“I notice in Drogheda that’s now being sold as Drogheda on the Boyne. It’s a new brand. Why not Kilrush on the Shannon, why not build on the maritime theme. I think that is the way to go.”

A DECISION to grant planning permission to Eire Óg GAA Club for the construction of a hurling wall has been appealed to An Bord Pleanála.

Eire Óg are seeking to construct a hurling wall adjacent to the clubhouse, including the removal of netting on the pitch side of the existing all-weather facility and replacing it with the hurling wall.

However, neighbours Enzo and Nuala D’Auria have appealed the decision, citing in their objection concerns over potential anti-social behaviour and noise.

Last month, Ennis Town Council granted planning permission subject to a number of conditions.

The council stated that, as part of the development, “Netting shall be erected along the north eastern side of the existing all-weather pitch to protect the adjacent property from wayward balls, details of which shall be agreed with the planning authority prior to the commencement of the development.”

The council also stated that, “The hurling wall shall only be used between the hours of 9am and 9pm on Monday to Friday and 10am to 6pm on Saturday and Sunday.”

In their submission, Enzo and Nuala D’Auria, whose property is located beside the Eire Óg grounds on Clondroadmore, state, “We have endured trespass (reclaiming of balls), vulgarity of language emanating from the all-weather facility outside our boundary wall. Currently, we are presented within the club as bad neighbours and generally we suffer inconveniences resulting from various developments within Club grounds.”

The submission states that the purpose of the hurling wall is to “cater for a squad of players (30 number) practicing hand-eye coordination, sure hands, quick feet and lightning reactions.”

It continues, “From a technical point of view, every player needs 200 contacts per session to improve their skills. During a single session, this can result in 6,000 bangs on the wall in a one-hour period (Ref: GAA’s Director of Hurling Paudie Butler).”

The submission states that draw- ings submitted by Eire Óg offer a clear indication of “existing flood lighting post”. “We would contend that there is an attempt with the current application through the ‘back door’ to regularise these posts and allow for future lighting to be fixed to same.”

The D’Aurias state that the application does not provide details on associate drainage and bundling of gables.

They also express concern over supervision of the facility, saying it could lead to “unauthorised and out-of-hours use and anti-social behaviour”.

The submission also cites concerns over the acoustic impact of the proposed development.

“The noise from the wall would be a source of serious and significant impact and intrusion.

“Along with the thwack of the sliotar on the hurleys, one also has to consider the noise from the strike on the wall. The key noise-sensitive location associated with the proposal is my property. This is a significant issue in the context of the proposal.”

The submission concludes, “While we fully accept that sports and recreation facilities are important for people to live a full and active life, we would request your council to request the applicant to seek an alternative more suitable location within their grounds or refuse this application.”

An Bord Pleanála are due to make a decision on the matter in May.

INCREASED “out-of-hours” inspections will take place in Ennis to curb the sale of smoky coal in the town, a meeting has heard.

Clare County Council is seeking to halt the sale in the town of the fuel, which is banned under regulations introduced last year.

Independent councillor and Ennisbased fuel merchant Frankie Neylon raised the matter at last week’s meeting of Ennis Town Council.

Cllr Neylon told the meeting that fuel merchants in Ennis had recent- ly met with local TDs.

He described coal sellers in Ennis as being in “dire straits”, adding that the “problem of emissions had not been solved in Ennis”.

Cllr Neylon said the activities of unregulated coal sellers operating in “Limerick, Tubber and an area outside Tulla” are driving customers away from sellers in Ennis who are subject to the new smoky coal regulations.

“We have been insulted and abused by people who have been buying coal off us for the past 20 years because we won’t sell them Polish coal,” he said.

Cllr Neylon said fuel merchants had requested that Clare’s Dáí l members ask Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Phil Hogan, to suspend the legislation for two years so customers can be educated about the benefits of smokeless coal.

Emphasising that fuel merchants are not against smokeless coal, Cllr Neylon said the new legislation does nothing to stop customers burning smoky coal or prevent the sale of smoky coal in nearby Kilmaley, Clarecastle and Newmarket-on-Fergus.

He added, “If the government are serious about smoky coal, they can ban it at source.”

Last June, Minister Hogan announced that Ennis would be added to the list of towns and cities covered by the ‘Smoky Coal Ban’, under which it is illegal to market, sell or distribute bituminous or “smoky” coal.

Under the air pollution act, sellers found in breach of the ban could face fines of up to € 5,000.

The restricted area of Ennis includes Ennis and environs, comprising the following electoral divisions: Ennis Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4 Urban; Clareabbey; Doora; Ennis Rural; and Spancilhill.

Town Manager Ger Dollard said Clare County Council have constantly engaged with local coal sellers.

He said that “out-of-hours” inspections would take place to curb the sale of smoky coal in banned areas. He said a public awareness campaign would be launched to highlight the law on smoky coal.

He said air quality data would also be sought from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) described the restriction as “a bad law that is encouraging the black economy”.

MUHAMMAD Ali was overwhelmed by the reaction to his ‘homecoming’ and now Ennis should seek to position itself as Ireland’s greatest town of Cead Míle Fáilte.

Thousands lined the streets for the former world champion’s visit in 2009.

A year later, Lonnie Ali said she had never experienced anything like the large crowds that turned out to welcome her husband to Ennis.

Speaking at the time, she said, “All the people in Ennis that came out and welcomed us, all the people that came out and supported us. There were so many people there and Muhammad was so excited, he’s still excited when he thinks back to that day.”

Now there are calls for Ennis to cap- italise on its reputation as a welcoming town. Councillor Johnny Flynn (FG) told last week’s meeting of Ennis Town Council that Ali’s family had remarked that the welcome he received in Ennis “meant more to him than his Olympic medals”.

He said this image should be used to promote Ennis abroad.

Cllr Flynn was speaking as members backed a proposed to make Ali the first recipient of a County Clare passport.

The proposal was made by Cllr Paul O’Shea (Lab) to conincide with Ali’s 70th birthday this Tuesday In a motion submitted to the meeting, Cllr O’Shea called on the council to offer a Clare passport to visitors.

He said holders would be entitled to discounts at major tourism attractions, shops and restaurants.

In his response, Town Clerk Leonard Cleary, stated that the council works closely with the tourism industry on initiatives to promote Ennis.

He added, “The development of an incentivised pricing discount structure for visitor attractions would need to be led by the tourism industry and supported based on available resources by the local authority.”

Mr Cleary said the proposal could be further discussed at the next meeting of the Ennis Municipal Policy Committee (MPC)