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KILRUSH Town Council has finally resolved to flush away the public toilet in the town centre that costs over € 200,000 to operate over a fiveyear period, while netting less that € 10,000 in income for the local authority over the same period.

The Council has issued formal notice that it is to extricate itself from a 20-year agreement for the public toilet on Martyr’s Square in the town.

The toilet will still be in operation in 2012 at a rental cost of € 35,910, but to terminate the contract later in the year must pay € 60,382 to Street Furniture Limited.

At the September meeting of Kil- rush Town Council it was revealed that the town authorities were tied to a 20-year contract for provision of the toilet that was signed in 1999 and doesn’t run out until 2019.

At that meeting Independent councillor Paul Moroney had described Kilrush’s public toilet as “the most expensive piece of retail property in Ireland”.

ENNIS has been ranked as the 16th cleanest town in Ireland in the final of the 2011 Anti Litter League by Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL).

Ennis was deemed again to be clean to European norms with Ennis finishing 16th out of 53 areas surveyed.

The result represents an improvement in its 21st position in 2010. The Chairman of IBAL, Dr Tom Cavan- agh, praised the work of Ennis Town Council and local volunteer groups in maintaining the fight against litter.

He said, “Our environment continues to get cleaner despite a tightening of the public purse at local authority level. This indicates that the fight against litter is not about money. It’s equally about a spirit of local pride and volunteerism among the local community, and we’re seeing a resurgence of this in the current climate.”

The An Taisce report for Ennis praised the appearance of public spaces and residential areas but stated that work needs to be done on approach roads. It stated, “Another satisfactory result but not as good as the Tidy Towns. Neither the Limerick or Galway approach roads are clean to European norms. Over half of the sites surveyed in Ennis got the top litter grade – these sites were not just clear of litter but very well presented and maintained e.g. O’Connell Monument, Ballymaley Business Park, the residential area of Kincora Park and Mark Square. Ennis bus and train Station got the top litter grade but care needs to be taken to sustain this standard.”

38 of the 53 towns and cities surveyed by An Taisce were deemed clean to European norms, a similar number to last year. When IBAL commenced the league 10 years ago only two towns were clean to European norms and one in three were litter blackspots.

Ennis Town Council is to spend an additional € 45,000 on street cleaning activities this year. In his 2012 budget report, town manager Ger Dollard stated, “The council operates a very extensive street cleaning arrangement to ensure that the streets throughout the town area achieve a litter free status. This is important in context of the annual tidy towns competition and in the consideration of other competitions such Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) league.”

THE authors of the 2011 report for the Irish Business Against Litter League (IBAL) have praised the work of “house proud” resident’s committees in Ennis.

Ennis was classed as clean to European norms and ranked in 16th place in IBAL’s annual results, details of which were announced yesterday.

An Taisce surveyed 10 areas in the town with Grade A marks bestowed on six business parks, housing estates and public spaces.

An Taisce described Ballymaley Business Park as “very clean, tidy and well presented industrial environment. The vacant unit didn’t impact in any negative way on the litter situation – this can easily happen so clearly close attention is paid.”

The report states that while Ennis bus and train station “just scraped getting a Grade A”, “the bus shelter deserves special mention as it had improved hugely since it was last included in IBAL anti-litter survey”.

According to An Taisce, the overall impression created of Kincora Park is “of a house-proud residential area with well cared for properties. The communal area was enhanced with planting and sculpture – a top ranking site throughout”.

College Park is described as “another very well presented and maintained residential area within Ennis – the individual properties and the open green were all in very good order”.

The report states that the O’Connell Monument is an “important site”, adding, “the steps of this monument are used as a meeting place and in spite of footfall it scored very well with the top litter grade. Care needs to be taken to ensure that cigarette butts don’t blight the monument.”

There was found to be “virtual absence of litter in this main shopping area”.

O’Connell Street was given a Grade B with An Taisce noting a “scattering” of litter that had become trapped in corners.

An Taisce noted that most of the Galway Approach Road (Grade B) is in “good order but it was let down by litter”.

Scratch cards and food litter were highlighted in the car park near Ennis station. The N18 Limerick approach road (from Topaz station / West County Hotel to junction at Ennis Service Station) also received a Grade B.

The report states, “There had been some improvement along this approach road but it was still moderately littered – fast-food wrappers and sweet papers were particularly obvious.”

THERE have been calls to convert Ennis’ oldest inhabited house into a museum.

Archaeologists believe that the McParland’s building on Parnell Street is one of Ireland’s earliest surviving examples of a timber-framed house.

A local councillor believes that there is potential to develop the site as a major tourist attraction.

Councillor Paul O’Shea (Lab) is calling on Ennis Town Council to seek funding to open a medieval museum at McParland’s and to offer a County Clare passport to every visitor to the town.

According to Cllr O’Shea, the initiative would “entitle the passport holder to discounts at other major touristic attractions, in addition to shops and restaurants throughout Ennis and the county.”

The matter is due to be discussed at today’s meeting of Ennis Town Council.

Ms Irene Clune’s house, known as McParland’s, is long understood to have been the oldest inhabited house in the Clare County capital. The building’s triple diamond stone Jacobean chimney has been an icon of medieval Ennis for centuries.

The house was first inspected in 2008 by Clare County Council’s conservation officer, who recommended that the property undergo structural repair work. Following detailed technical analyses by the National Monuments Service, officials from Ennis Town Council and consulting conservation engineers, it was concluded that the structure was unstable and represented a danger to the general public.

Ennis Town Council, using its statutory powers to deal with dangerous buildings, commenced a € 170,000 project to make the building safe and to protect and restore the historic fabric of the structure. A grant of € 85,000 was procured under the Structures at Risk Scheme from the Department of the Environment towards the restoration project.

During October 2011, the gable and chimney were carefully recorded, taken down and stored. At present the historic gable is being re-built using the original stones bedded in an authentic hydraulic-lime mortar, the floor of the house having been archaeologically excavated prior to this.

Last November, archaeologists discovered an oak frame structure, which they described as “potentially one of the most exciting urban archaeological discoveries in Ireland in recent years”.

ONE OF the world’s all time favourite Christmas songs ‘The Fairytale of New York’ was actually written about County Clare – according to Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan.

According to the mercurial Mr MacGowan, the 1987 classic was originally written from the perspective of a West Clare sailor looking out across the Atlantic and dreaming of life in New York. The Clare People has also learned that the song, which was made world famous as a duet performed by MacGowan and the late great Kirsty MacColl, was also written with a Clare woman in mind.

Instead of MacColl, early versions of the song were performed by formed Pogues singer Cait O’Riordan, who father hailed from Lahinch and who used to spend much of her summer time as a girl in North and West Clare.

The Clare connection with ‘The Fairytale of New York’ was revealed as part of an hour-long interview with Shane MacGowan conducted by the BBC over Christmas. This change of emphasis from West Clare to New York was also confirmed by Pogues banjo player Jem Finer, who admitted the song took nearly two years of hard work to perfect after the decision to move the song to New York was made.

According to Pogues guitarist Philip Chevron, the song developed well in its orioginal format but the band was never able to quite finish the ‘Fairytale of West Clare’.

“In the earliest incarnation it took place not in New York, but in the west coast of Clare. If you listen to the early demos we did of that song at a certain point, in each case, they kind of just stop developing. They just fall into a hole where they can go no further,” he said.

According to Finer, it was the record producer Steve Lillywhite who persuaded his then wife, Kirsty MacColl, to perform the song as a duet with MacGowan.

“We tried to record it twice before it finally got it nailed with Steve Lillywhite,” he said.

“So it went through a lot of revisions. There were always things that didn’t quite work and Shane did a lot of editing of the lyrics, coming back to it again and again over a period of about two years, and we played about with the arrangement until it sort of sat properly.”

Despite being more than 24 years old the song continues to beguile listeners and reached an impressive Number 7 in the Irish singles charts this year.

CLARE County Council estimates that it will take three or four months to replace lead water mains at three residential areas in Ennis.

Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stated that all lead pipe replacement works must be carried out in compliance with a European Union limits deadline of December 2013.

The Council is aiming to undertake work to replace lead piping at 82 houses in Ennis comprising 64 at Marian Avenue and 18 at Linnane’s Terrace (Carmody St), and Ahern’s Terrace (Kilrush Road).

The EPA served a direction on the Council to replace these lead mains by September.

In a detailed statement, Senior Engineer Sean Ward, explained that the “Council sought tenders for the works, and applied to the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government (DECLG) for funding. Tenders have been received and studied, and a preferred tender has been identified”.

In December, the Department of Environment Heritage and Local Government announced that it had approved € 200,000 for lead pipe replacement in Ennis.

Mr Ward stated that there is no specific funding programme for replacement of lead pipes.

He continued, “The DECLG will allocate funds under this (Water Conservation) programme, but there is a major gap at present between this allocation and the amount of the preferred tender for the works.

“We are in discussions with the DECLG in an effort to close this gap so as to allow work to start. The work should take around three to four months to complete. The EPA’s directed date has passed, but we are keeping the EPA informed of the situation”.

Mr Ward explained that there are very few water mains for which the Council is responsible. However, he said there are “probably thousands of lead service pipes i.e pipes connected to the main and bring water into single premises in Clare including at least several hundred in Ennis”.

He added, “Clare County Council is responsible for the part of the serv- ice pipe from the point of connection to the main as far as the property boundary; the owner or occupier of the premises is responsible for the part from the property boundary into the premises”.

The Council has no programme for planned replacement of lead service pipes in Ennis, which it estimates would cost well over € 1 million

Mr Ward stated, “The Council will, commencing in mid 2012 approximately, be carrying out a major mains replacement project in Ennis under the national Water Conservation programme.

“If and when we encounter lead service pipes while doing this work, our policy will be to replace the service pipe with a plastic or other pipe,” Mr Ward stated.

A SERIES of public consultation meetings are set to take place next week as part of the process of putting together an historic first ever stand alone plan for the development of Shannon.

Public meetings are seen as a crucial part of finalising the Draft Shannon Town and Environs Local Area Plan 2012-2018 will provide a framework for the future development and enhancement of Clare’s second largest town and its environs for the next six years.

In announced details of the consultation process, Gordon Daly, Senior Planner, Clare County Council, said, “‘It is an objective of Clare County Council to ensure that Shannon, as a linked gateway with Limerick in the National Spatial Strategy is a driver of county and regional prosperity.”

He said this could be done by “harnessing its strategic location and access on the atlantic corridor, in addition to its employment base, international airport and other competitive advantages.”

According to Cllr Gerry Flynn, “The public consultation process presents members of the public with a valuable opportunity to have their say on the future development of their local community.

“I would encourage people from Shannon and its environs areas to inspect the Draft Local Area Plan before the submission deadline of February 1. They will not get a better opportunity than over the next few weeks to influence the future economic and social development of their town and community.”

The public consultation has also been welcomed by the Mayor of Shannon, Cllr Mary Brennan. “The preparation of a new plan for Shannon and environs is very positive news and I would encourage the people of Shannon to engage with the process. If you have any queries, the Council officials will be on hand to deal to answer any questions.”

The public consultations will take place at Unit A16 (Shaney Macs) in Shannon’s Skycourt January 16 to 18 from 2pm to 5.30pm and January 19 from 3pm to 7.30pm. A further public consultation will be held at Rineanna House, Shannon Free Zone, on January 20 from 12.30pm to 3:30pm.

THE Cliffs of Moher recorded a massive return to form last year with the number visiting Clare foremost tourist attract jumping by a massive 12 per cent from the 2010 numbers.

The total number of people to visit the Cliffs of Moher in 2011 was 809,474 – which almost returns the landmark tourist attraction to its prerecession visitor numbers. These figures will cements the Cliffs position as Ireland’s third most popular tourist attraction and should also should also give it a chance of passing out the Guinness Store House in second place.

The news was welcomed by Director of the Cliffs of Moher Visitors Experience, Katherine Webster, who also said that tourism in Ireland has a number of challenges still facing it for 2012 – including Ireland qualifications for Euro 2012 in Poland and the Ukraine.

“We are taking a cautious outlook for 2012 due to the global economic turmoil. Improvements in exchange rates for the US dollar and sterling are the only positives for tourism in the difficulties that the Eurozone is currently experiencing,” she said.

“However, economic uncertainty in major tourist markets like the UK, France, Spain, Italy and even the US will impact tourism numbers from these countries.

“In June Ireland’s qualification for Euro 2012, while great news for the country, is less positive for domestic and European tourism as typically visitors whose countries are competing in major championships like the European Cup or the World Cup tend to stay home to watch the matches unless they are travelling to support their teams.

“We are hoping for some positive spin off from the London Olympics at end of July as tourists may stay away from London during this period and Ireland may benefit especially if exchange rates remain low.”

According to the preliminary 2011 visitors figures for the Cliffs of Moher, visitor number broke the 800,000 on December before finishing on 809,474. This figure represent a 12 per cent year-on-year increase on the 2010 figures and a six per cent increase on the 2009.

The majority of the recovery was recorded during the summer and late autumn and was driven largely by an increase in Irish people deciding to holiday at home.

PRESIDENT Michael D Higgins returned to the Banner County for the first time since his election to office last week to attend funerals in North Clare and South Galway.

President Higgins, who grew up in Ballycar, Newmarket on Fergus, attended the funeral of Josie O’Donoghue, mother of late poet and former priest John O’Donohue. Dr O’Donohue died four years ago today at age 53 after collapsing in France. His mother Josie, née Dunleavy, died peacefully on New Year’s Eve – also the eve of Dr O’Donohue’s birthday – at her home near Ballyvaughan.

Mrs O’Donohue’s funeral Mass was held in St Patrick’s Church in Fanore. Her remains were buried in a windswept Craggagh cemetery alongside those of Dr O’Donohue and her husband, Paddy.

Mr Higgins was a friend of Dr O’Donohue. The latter’s poem ‘Beannacht’, which he wrote for his mother, was performed at the presidential inauguration last November.

A message on Dr O’Donohue’s website said: “On December 31, 2011, John’s dear mother, Josie O’Donohue, passed away. She was surrounded by her family when she slipped peacefully across that threshold to John’s waiting arms.”

A Clare native, Dr O’Donohue studied for the priesthood in Maynooth, where he was ordained in 1982. He served in a number of parishes before completing a doctorate on the philosophy of GWF Hegel in Germany.

His first book, Anam Cara , was published in 1997.

President Higgins attended St Colman’s Church, Kinvara, on Tuesday night to sympathise with Attorney General Maire Whelan on the death of her mother.

Ms Whelan’s mother Katie died peacefully on New Year’s Day. Mr Higgins is a longtime associate of Ms Whelan’s, and was one of her lecturers at the then UCG where she studied sociology and politics.

The President was accompanied to the service by his aide-de-camp, Commandant Murt Larkin, as he offered his sympathies to the Whelan family.

Ms Whelan’s funeral was celebrated last Wednesday. Members of the Government, led by Taoiseach Enda Kenny, were present to join the Whelan family in mourning. Her husband John died some years ago.

Labour Party leader and Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore was accompanied by Communications Minister Pat Rabbitte, while Health Minister James Reilly and junior minister Ciaran Cannon were also present. President Michael D Higgins was represented at the funeral by his aide de camp, Commandant Michael Walsh.

The chairman of the Bar Council, Paul O’Higgins, led members of the legal profession in offering their sympathy to the Attorney General.

ADOVCATES for ethnic minorities say that the recession is leading to an increase in the incidents of racist abuse. The Clare Intercultural Network (CIN) have called for greater awareness of race related issues.

CIN co-ordinator Alphonse Basogomba said, “The economy is going down and people are more abusive. We have to make sure that people who can contribute can be allowed to work properly.”

He said that politicians and people in positions of authority should undergo equality training.

“This has to be embedded in our value as human beings,” he added.

Mr Basogomba was speaking after a man was convicted for assaulting Nigerian taxi driver Batholomew Omoifo in Ennis in June 2010.

At Ennis District Court last week, Azriel Higgins (26) of Cregaun, Tobertascáin, Ennis, received a prison sentence for an unprovoked assault on Mr Omoifo.

The court previously heard that Higgins assaulted a taxi driver after not paying a fare. The court heard that Higgins headbutted the driver causing € 2,400 worth of damage to his teeth. The court was also told that damage totaling € 761 was caused to the taxi.

The incident has provoked a flurry of comments on social networking sites and discussion groups.

One poster on boards.ie pappyodaniel stated, “It just happens that this incident happened in Ennis. Racism is a very common problem for black taxi drivers all over the country. This incident went to court and because Mr Omoifo spoke up against racism when given the opportunity to do so in front of the media it has been highlighted nationwide. I don’t believe this incident highlights Ennis to be a hotspot for racial inequality, it’s the country as a whole.”

Another poster Dr Fuzzenstein stated, “Abusing someone on the basis of what they look like is wrong and sick in the head, but sadly it’s everywhere on this planet…And I also believe that Ennis is no worse than anywhere else.”