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MORE THAN 200 volunteers were out in force on Saturday and Sunday as the search continued for a woman who has been missing from the Cliffs of Moher for more than a week.

The missing woman, who has been named locally as Gillian Richardson from Limerick, was last seen on Saturday, December 10, and the alarm was raised when local gardaí located the car belonging to the 38-year-old Dell employee parked on a road close to the Cliffs of Moher.

More than 200 people took part in one of the largest searches to take place in north Clare in recent years with the emergency services being joined by more then 150 family, friends and neighbours over the weekend.

The Doolin Unit of the Irish Coastguard, who have been leading the search effort, was joined by volunteers from the Kilkee Coastguard and the Lough Derg Rescue Service over the weekend as-well-as members of the Gardaí and a number of local volunteers.

The search area has also been widened and now stretches from Blackhead, between Fanore and Ballyvaughan in north Clare, and Quilty in West Clare. According to Mattie Shannon of the Doolin Unit of the Irish Coastguard, the search will continue for a number of days this week but is likely to scaled down later in the week if no major discovery is forthcoming.

“We are still searching and we will continue to search tomorrow (Tuesday, December 20), and later on into the week.

“We had more than 170 people out with us looking on Sunday with most of them being relatives, family and friends,” said Mattie.

“The search area now stretches from Blackhead down to Quilty so it is a very large area to be searching. The search will continue for the time being, but is likely to be scaled down later this week.”

As well as the various local units of the Irish Coastguard, family, friends and relatives, the search has also included the Shannon based Irish Coastguard Rescue Helicopter aswell-as the SARDA Dog Team.

The search was officially launched on Saturday, December 9, when a car was discovered on a road near Aill na Searrach a short distance from the Cliffs of Moher on the road to Doolin.

Inquiries also confirmed that the woman had left her home early on Friday and she is understood to have told family members that she had a doctor’s appointment.

CLARE County Council will have no landfill facility in operation during 2012, but the aftercare costs associated with the landfill that was located at Ballyduff beg in Inagh have broken through the € 1m barrier for the first time. The Clare People can reveal that Clare County Council has budgeted to spend € 1,122,201 on aftercare maintenance of the controversial landfill facility that has now been shut down – over double the sum they budgeted for and spent in 2011.

These figures are contained in the Draft Budget 2012 that was put before members of Clare County Council this Tuesday by County Manager Tom Coughlan.

The closure of Inagh Landfill last month means that the bill for having a landfill operation in Clare has reduced to zero, as against the € 3,886,535 that was provided for the facility in the 2011 Budget.

However, this significant cost saving is significantly cut by the spiralling maintenance costs associated with the facility, as well as the loss of over € 2m in income to the council because of the landfill’s closure.

The council’s budget has set aside € 1,122,201 for aftercare services, as distinct from just € 482,625 in 2011, which represents a jump of € 639, 576.

“The closure of the landfill will have a significant effect on the budg- et for 2012,” the county manager has revealed.

“The operating costs of the facility will reduce, but provision has to be made for the maintenance of the closed landfill. There will also be a reduction in income at the facility of € 2.1m.

“The closure of the landfill will mean that all waste deposited at our three transfer stations in Scariff, Lisdeen and Ballyduff beg will need to be transferred by licensed waste management companies to landfills outside the county,” he added.

The final cells at the Inagh landfill were filled in November 2011, bringing an end to landfill activity in Clare, but the recycling facilities still remain open, while small quantities of household black bag waste continue to be accepted at the facility.

KILRUSH Town Council have given themselves just 36 hours to come up with a solution to a € 24,000 hole in the local authority’s budget or face the possible closure of Kilrush Town Council.

Councillors were unable to pass the 2012 budget at last Thursday night’s meeting of the local authority and were also unable to schedule a follow-up meeting before the evening of January 3, 2012.

The council is statutorily required to pass a budget within 21 days of being presented with the draft budget – meaning the council must have a balanced set of figures for 2012 in place before January 5.

This leaves the council just 36 hours to find a way pass the budget and little or no wiggle room to defer a decision on January 3. It is not clear what would happen should the local authority be unable to pass a budget before the 21 day deadline but in theory all operations undertaken by the council could be brought to a halt.

The € 24,000 hole in the budget came as a result of call by councillors for a number of cuts to arts and community schemes to be reversed and a cut of two per cent to the local rate by introduced. A second proposal for a rates cut of one per cent would mean a hole of € 16,000 in the budget, while the restoration of a number of arts and community projects by themselves would leave a budget deficit of between € 5,000 and € 6,000.

The difficulty began when local councillor Tom Prenderville (FF) suggested that a one per cent rates cuts would be of benefit to local businesses.

“We know that business people are struggling this year and they will not be able to pay their rates next year. If we continue like this we will erode our rates base because people won’t be able to stay in business,” he said.

“I think, as a gesture, if we were to reduce out commercial rate by one per cent it would send a message to business people that we are on their side.”

This sentiment was shared by Cllr Mairead O’Brien (Ind) who said that she would prefer a two per cent rate cut for 2012.

According to town clerk John Corry, the two per cent rate cut would result in a rates reduction of just € 2 per week for the vast majority of businesses in Kilrush – 201 of the 241 businesses.

When asked how the money could be raised they suggested cuts to the tourism development and promotion fund, savings made from the reduced cost of maintaining council houses and a possible increase in revenue from planning applications.

“Everything comes with a cost, we are looking at a reduction of € 17,000 in next year’s budget as a result of the introduction of free parking, it will be very difficult to find a one per cent reduction,” said town manager Nora Kaye.

“At the moment we have just under 74 per cent collection in rates – there are a lot of people now on a phased payment and they will not have their rates paid by the end of the year. I think that it will be a very difficult task to find € 16,000, never mind to find € 24,000.”

KILRUSH Town Council is set to ramp-up the number of inspections it undertakes on local authority housing in the town for 2012 – in an effort to reduce the amount of money currently being spent on repairing council houses.

At last Thursday’s annual budget meeting in Kilrush the local authority approved a plan to reduce the annual allocated for social housing repair from € 45,000 in 2011 to € 40,000 for 2012.

This reduction has been budgeted, in part, to take account for a number of major repairs currently being made by Kilrush Town Council to their stock of local authority houses.

The council has also decided to adopt a strategy of increasing the number of housing inspections taking place to local authority houses in an effort to reduce the amount of damage done by tenants in local authority houses.

According to Mayor of Kilrush Ian Lynch (FG), the council would hope to reap the benefits from this year’s capital expenditure in years to come.

“This year we will more proactive on making sure that houses are properly maintained. We would hope that we will see the benefit from this next year,” he said.

Kilrush town clerk John Corry confirmed that there will be an increase in the level of inspections of council houses in Kilrush in 2012 and that more staff had been delegated to the housing sections to help with this.

He also confirmed that the local authority was having a more difficult time in collecting rent from council property as a result of the recession.

In total Kilrush Town Council has allocated € 270,000 to be spent in the Housing and Buildings Section for 2012 in addition to € 40,000 to be spent on house repairs. They have also budgeted for just over € 300,000 to be raised in council rents locally in 2012.

COUNCILLORS at last Thursday’s budget meeting of Kilrush Town Council have described the nine per cent cut in central government funding to council as an attempt to “squeeze the life” out of local government.

The cut, which was announced in September, amounts to a € 40,000 reduction in the budget for Kilrush Town Council – or the equivalent of a seven per cent rates increase.

According to local council and former Mayor of Clare, Tom Prenderville (FF), the cuts are mak- ing local authorities more and more irrelevant.

“Local government was always on a life support scheme but I think, at this stage, the life has been squeezed out of it. The money has been pillaged from this council,” he said.

“When you look at a reduction of nine per cent in the funding that we are receiving, that amount to more than € 40,000 which would allow us to reduce the amount that we have to collect in rates by more than seven per cent. I wonder are we in this council becoming irrelevant? Are we just going to be a rubber-stamp for the decision made by central government.”

Cllr Prenderville made the comment as part of a debate about the 2012 council budget. The draft budget accounted for large reductions in both the Community, Sports and Recreations and the Entertainment and Arts budgets.

The budget calls for a reduction from € 20,000 to € 8,186 in the Community, Sports and Recreations Budget and a reduction from € 8,026 to € 4,143 in the Entertainment and Arts budget.

The councillors asked for between € 5, 000 and € 6, 000 to be reduced from these cuts in order to provide for a number of schemes in 2012.

“The community grants have such an impact on our community at as a whole and we should do everything we can to help them. The arts bodies have also been hit and people are not buying art anymore,” said Mayor of Kilrush, Ian Lynch (FG).

“We need to look at where we can find some money to help these people.”

A number of calls were also made to retain the budget for the annual community awards.

“The awards were well received by everyone who was there and the publicity that we received in the newspapers last week, money could not buy. We are talking about fantastic voluntary organisation, there is no profits being made by these guys,” said Cllr Paul Moroney (Ind).

“We want to take from the most vulnerable in society -the elderly and the young – it won’t happen while I am at this table. We need to find this money from somewhere else.”

Funding for these projects will be decided at the January 3 meeting of Kilrush Town Council as no decision could be reached at last week meeting.

TEACHERS may have to be hired on a temporary basis to cope with retirements from Clare schools, a meeting has heard.

It has been predicted that a high number teachers will take early retirement in February.

According to the Association of Secondary School Teachers in Ireland (ASTI),

“Under the terms of the Croke Park Agreement, teachers who retire before February 29, 2012, will have their pension and lump sum calculated on ‘pre-cut’ salary – the salary they were earning before the pay cut imposed in January 2010.”

Clare VEC is waiting to see how many teachers take up the option in order to assess the impact on Clare schools.

At the December meeting of Clare VEC, Fianna Fáíl councillor, Peter Considine asked what contingency plans are in place to cope with teacher retirements.

“Hopefully there will be no disruption to students,” he added.

CEO George O’Callaghan told the meeting that teachers could be hired in a temporary capacity to take classes until the end of term.

Mr O’Callaghan said there should be no problems filling posts given the high level of unemployment in the country.

He said the VEC would examine the situation more closely in February.

Concern was also expressed over the impact of cuts to career guidance services announced in this month’s Budget.

Under the new system schools will have to provide the guidance service from within their general teacher allocation.

Mr O’Callaghan said the VEC would study the implications of the decision when to it receives its teacher allocation quota from the Department of Education and Skills in February.

“However he told the meeting that for schools in Clare and around the country, the cut “effectively means a de facto increase in the pupil teacher ratio”.

Mr O’Callaghan said the decision would have a varying impact on various schools, adding it would have “an upward impact on the pupil teacher ratio”.

In response to questions from Cllr Cathal Crowe (FF), Mr O’Callaghan pointed out that pupil teacher ratios would not increase at ‘disadvantaged’ or DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) schools around the county.

CLARE County Council services will be seriously affected in 2012 if income levels from the collection of rates that have been in the Draft Budget are not reached.

This worry has been sounded out by Clare County Manager Tom Coughlan this week in his financial report to councillors which has proposed to leave rates for the coming year at 2011 levels.

Mr Coughlan has confirmed that despite his admission of the fact that there “is an increasing level of vacant rated properties in the county” there will be no decrease in the rate that will remain at 72.99.

The decision not to cut rates for hard-pressed business had been blamed on the Government cut-backs that has seen Clare’s share of the Local Government Fund decreased by 5.45 per cent for 2012.

And, the county manager has warned that only by projecting for a greater level of efficiency in the running of the council’s financial affairs has the local authority been able to avoid increasing rates levels in 2012.

“Due to the fact that the household charge is being paid into the Local Development Fund and in the light of the continuing reduction in local government funding and income from local services, it has not been possible to provide for a decrease in rates in this Draft Budget,” Mr Coughlan has revealed.

“It is proposed to meet the ongoing reductions in funding through achieving efficiencies, as in previous years, and consequently an increase in the level of commercial rates is not provided for.

“The issues of a reduction in rates has been considered at a number of council meetings during 2011, and the consequence of such a reduction would have made clear to the elected members at those meetings,” added Mr Coughlan.

However, in acknowledging the hardships being endured by ratepayers, the county manager has pledged a flexible approach when it comes to collections during 2012, albeit the money will have to be collected to ensure that there will be not cutbacks to council services earmarked for the year.

“Clare County Council is acutely aware of the financial difficulties which our ratepayers are experiencing,” said Mr Coughlan, “and we are committed to adopting a practical approach in terms of facilitating ratepayers.

“However, I must emphasise that if the council does not receive the income which is identified in this budget, the maintenance of the levels of services which are planned in 2012 would be impacted,” he added.

A STOCK of 35,000 sandbags is available to Clare County Council as the county braces itself for potential flooding. Heavy rainfall and increased river levels have heightened public anxiety over floods with the memory of the 2009 flood event still fresh in the minds of many homeowners and businesses.

In that instance, thousands of euros worth of damaged was caused and dozens of homes were evacuated as families saw their homes destroyed by rapidly rising floodwaters.

Clare County Council says the experience of 2009 has led to an improvement in the effectiveness of the implementation of contingency plans.

Yesterday’s meeting of Clare County Council heard that there are people in rural parts of the county “that don’t sleep at night” because of a flood fears. The comment was made by Cllr Joe Arkins (FG) who said there is huge concern among people in Ruan over flash flooding.

Cllr John Crowe (FG), who tabled a motion on the Council’s plans for dealing with floods, said river levels around Sixmilebridge are “two foot” higher than they were in November 2009. He told the meeting that heavy floods are now a real concern. “The way the rain is falling we might not be too far away,” he said.

Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) said the council’s capacity to deal with emergency weather events had significantly improved since 2009. “We can’t predict what’s going to happen but we can plan,” he added.

In a report to councillors, Nora Kaye, acting Director of Services, Planning, Land Use and Transport, explained, “In total, the council has a stock of approximately 35,000 sandbags all of which are located strategically in the various area depots.

“The vast majority of these sandbags are stocked in a number of de- pots in the Ennis Area because of the continuing vulnerability of so many areas within Ennis Town and environs – notwithstanding the fact that some flood relief schemes are being planned or are under construction in relation to most of these areas.”

Ms Kaye continued, “Of the above total, approximately 8,000 sandbags are distributed across the various engineering areas outside Ennis. Approximately 3,000 bags in all are filled. Well over 2,000 tonnes of sand and other material is stocked strategically and more sandbags will be filled between now and Christmas.”

Ms Kaye said that 30 pumps are readily available at various locations throughout the county. She added, “Notwithstanding the fact that it is impossible to predict the characteristics or intensity of any particular flood event, the overall level of awareness, knowledge and response capacity in respect of such situations as improved significantly in recent years and this feeds in to out present contingency plans in a very strategic and significant manner.”

THE backers of a proposed fivehectare retail development on the outskirts of Ennis say it will have a “limited” impact on existing businesses in Ennis.

Michael Lynch Ltd are seeking planning permission for a large development on the Clare Road/Tobertascain, which it is claimed will create 300 construction jobs.

A retail impact assessment prepared by DPP on behalf of Michael lynch Ltd states that the projected retail turnover for the proposal is estimated to be of the order of € 46.4m.

It states, “In terms of convenience retail floorspace, it is likely that the proposed development will compete with existing Tesco and Aldi, both on Francis Street; Dunnes Stores on O’Connell Street; and Lidl which is located on the Gort Road.”

The report adds “There may be a small amount of diversion from other convenience outlets in the Ennis area but this would be limited. Aside from the big-name operators, most other existing provision is smallscale, local walk-in trade.”

The report was prepared as part of a response to a further information request from Ennis Town Council.

It states that the “proposed development at the Limerick Road, Ennis, consists of an urban development including a mix of retail and office use. The development represents one district centre format of which none currently exists in Ennis despite its status as; hub town….county town for Clare and a recognised need for additional floor space in Ennis in the Mid West Retail Strategy”.

Of the potential impact on town centre businesses, the authors state, “The assessment of retail impact or cumulative retail impact of the proposed development on Ennis Town Centre found that, whilst there would be a small diversion of trade to the proposed foodstore, this would be cushioned by capacity in the retail market and the retention of both Dunnes and Tesco in the town centre and limited competition with the higher-end comparison and specialist retail offer in Ennis town centre.”

The report, continues, “If permitted, the proposed development will contribute to the retail offer of the town and stem retail expenditure leakage to other urban centres.”

The report outlines the retail characteristics of the proposed development. It states that the proposal provides for a total gross retail floorspace of 7,834sqm; the hypermarket provides 3,000sqm net convenience floorspace and 2,411 sqm net comparison floorspace. The ancillary units provide for 481sqm gross retail floorspace.

The report continues, “It is envisaged that the majority of these (retail units and kiosks) would be used for services, restaurants and café and community uses as envisaged by the development plan and the RPG in light of the proposal’s district centre format. For the purposes of calculating retail impact, therefore, we are mainly concerned with the net retail figures for the proposed foodstore.

“However, in the interest of robustness, we estimate that approximately half of the additional floorspace (totaling 520m2) will be given over to small convenience and / or comparison uses and have factored in 130m2 space each to account for these potential occupiers.”

Citing figures from the 2010 retail strategy for the mid-west region, the report states, “The figures would sug- gest that there remains substantial capacity for another large foodstore in town in addition to this proposal and that the residual comparison would be more than sufficient to cater for further substantial higher order comparison floorspace in or close to the town centre on sites such as PS1.

“These results are not surprising when one considers the relative lack of growth in the town’s retail offer over the past 10 years and indeed the lack of any substantive pipeline development as illustrated by the MidWest Retail Strategy Review 2009.”

The authors state that they have received correspondence from Tesco Ireland that confirmed their intention to remain in the Ennis Shopping Centre.

“The letter also points out their own business view of much greater potential in the existing retail market space.”

BUSINESS groups are calling for people to make submissions on a proposed retail development on the Clare Road.

Ennis Town Council has re-advertised changes to a planning application from Michael Lynch Ltd who are seeking permission to develop a new district centre on the outskirts of Ennis. The developers have submitted a number of reports to the council in response to a request for further information on the proposed development.

Businesses in Ennis have previously outlined their opposition to the proposal saying it would have a damaging effect on retail activity in the town centre and lead to the creation of “ghost” shopping units.

A statement from Ennis Chamber explained, “Members of Ennis Chamber, Ennis Development Forum and Ennis Street Associations met again recently to discuss the Further Information received by Ennis Town Council in relation to the proposed development on the Clare Road in Ennis”.

“Ennis Town Council has deemed the Further Information received by the developers as significant enough for a re-advertisement of the changes to the Planning Application. Therefore anyone is entitled to make a submission to Ennis Town Council in relation to the proposed development”.

Ennis Chamber, Ennis Development Forum and Ennis Street Association will be making additional submissions to the planning process prior to the closing date for receipt of submissions, which is Friday December 16.

The spokesperson added, “The organisations are encouraging anyone with an interest in this significant proposed development for Ennis to make their views known through the planning process by making a submission to Ennis Town Council by the closing date of Friday next”.