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KILRUSH Town Council is set to spend € 32,870 in 2012 on providing a public toilet in the Martyrs Square in the town centre – this is despite the fact that the facility, which has been described as “the most expensive piece of retail property in Ireland”, only nets € 1,300 in revenue to the local authority.

The extent of the annual cost of the toilet, which is leased by Kilrush Town Council from Street Furniture Limited, is contained in the estimate of expenses that will go before the nine members of the local authority at this week’s budget meeting.

In light of these figures, it’s expected that Thursday night’s meeting in the Town Hall will hear renewed calls for the council executive to extricate itself from the leasing arrangement it has with Street Furniture Limited for the provision of the rarely used facility.

At the September meeting of Kilrush Town Council, it was revealed that the town authorities are tied to a 20-year contract with Street Fur- niture Limited for the toilet that was signed in 1999 and doesn’t run out until 2019.

The latest figures provided by the council have revealed that the provision of the toilet cost € 201,301.51 between 2005 and 2010, while over the course of the same six-year period, income to the council from the public’s use of the facility was just € 9,940.49.

Mayor of Kilrush, Ian Lynch has led calls for the council to try and extricate itself from this contract, which he has labeled “a huge drain on Kilrush Town Council’s resources at a time when we need every penny we can get”.

Mayor Lynch has also gone so far as to say “what can they do if we don’t pay it? They can’t get money off us that we don’t have”.

Town clerk John Corry has revealed that the council “would have to pay 25 per cent of the basic rent for each remaining year on the contract together with the costs of removing the universal superloo. As eight years remain in the contract, the current cost would be € 75,000”.

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.”

THERE is now “light at the end of the tunnel” for residents of John Paul Estate in Kilrush – the town’s biggest council estate that’s now in the final stages of a major refurbishment overhaul costing over € 1.5m.

These positive vibes for residents in Kilrush Town Council’s biggest property was sounded out as details of the final two phases of the redevelopment programme was revealed to members of the local authority by Town Clerk, John Corry.

“It is certainly positive times for John Paul Estate,” said Mr Corry. “We fought hard for three or four years after the completion of the first phase in 2008. There were a lot of dark days, for both ourselves and people who were residing there and for a time there was no light at the end of the tunnel, but thankfully we have got there. A lot done, more to do is the motto, but we are well on our way,” he added.

The latest and final piece of the John Paul Estate jigsaw will see the refurbishment of 21 houses, after work on 11 houses on the estate and anotehr seven on Wilson’s Road was completed last month.

“The 21 houses are mainly in Sycamore Drive, but on is on Elm Drive,” revealed Mr Corry, “and the contract has been agreed and has been entered into with the contractor L&M Keating. The contract sum is worth € 790,000, which is a significant contract. It has been broken down into two phases.

“Phase one is the refurbishment of 11 houses, which has already commenced and works are well advanced of four of the houses, four bungalows that will completed by February.

“We have to do the 21 houses over two phases because of the significant works that are involved it’s required that the houses be vacated. We had to break into two phases, so as to have enough temporary accommodation. It’s envisaged that the 21 houses will be fully complete by the end of April.

“It’s significant work when you consider what’s already been done. There are a total of 18 houses that have already been refurbished and when you add these 21 houses, it is a significant investment on the part of Kilrush Town Council.

“We were delighted with the quality of workmanship. From the point of view of the tenants who have been residing there longterm, it has certainly given them renewed hope,” added Mr Corry.

In praising the council’s housing strategy, Mayor of Kilrush, Cllr Ian Lynch said “the real work begins now, because we need to build a community back there. We have to manage it and try to get people interested into managing it themselves”.

MEMBERS of Clare’s immigrant community have hit back at claims from a local councillor that non-nationals are responsible for the majority of discrimination in the county.

Independent councillor Frankie Neylon said last week that “about 60 per cent” of discrimination is carried out by non-nationals.

Cllr Neylon was speaking at the December meeting of Ennis Town Council, where members voted against a proposal that would call on the Government to provide mandatory equality training for all local representatives.

However the Clare Intercultural Network have criticised the comments, describing them as “disappointing”. In a statement, CIN Coordinator Alphonse Basogomba said, “When he refers to racism, Councillor Neylon claims 60 pe rcent of racism in Ennis is caused by non-national residents themselves. The CIN would like to make the point that all individuals have a nationality and should be addressed as non-Irish nationals instead of non-national.

“We are also unclear where the figure of 60 per cent came from but if Councillor Neylon believes this is factual and based on researched evidence, this indicates there is a clear and urgent problem which needs to be addressed and he as a public representative should welcome all tools which will enable him and his colleagues to deal with this effectively and efficiently before someone gets seriously hurt or injured.”

He continued, “It would appear that Councillor Neylon not only rejected the training which might assist in developing a strategy for change but did not propose an alternative measure to assist with the stark statistics he has referred to.”

Cllr Neylon said that he had no problem working with people from the 26 different nationalities who live in Ennis. He told last Monday’s meeting that Ennis had always welcomed people of different nationalities.

Mr Basogomba stated, “It is unclear as to why Councillor Neylon believed the training would assist him to deal with only 26 nationalities and not all members of the town, including Irish nationals.

“The Equality Legislation comprises of the Employment Equality Acts 1998 and 2004; the Equal Status Acts 2000 to 2004; the National Disability Authority Act 1999. Is Councillor Neylon suggesting he doesn’t need training in any of the above areas?”

Mr Basogomba stated, “At CIN, we believe it is unfortunate that a vote needed to be taken at all on this motion, as it should be mandatory for public representatives to ensure they are aware and trained in all relevant legislation.

“This training and knowledge are legislative instruments, which assist elected representatives to fully represent their constituents.”

Orla Ni Eilí, coordinator of the Clare Immigrant Support Centre said, “It is disappointing and we hope this is the last time we hear that from our public representatives”.

CLARE schools are being encouraged to take part in an “innovative” new equality and diversity study, details of which were announced on Saturday.

University of Limerick, Mary Immaculate College and the Clare Intercultural Network are collaborating on research that will examine the attitudes of students towards interculturalism and equality.

Coordinators are hoping to roll out the project in primary and post-primary schools around the county.

Dr Orla McCormack, lecturer in education at UL, explained, “The project is about trying to get the voice of young people and looking at their views on diversity and equality within their school and in the education system.

“We’re doing it at three levels – primary, post-primary and then with pre-service teachers at UL and Mary Immaculate College”.

She continued, “We’re going into schools and we’re conducting a number of workshops. It’s using quite innovative and participatory methods.

“ The young people are given cameras and they are given a set time to go around and get photos in their school of equality and diversity. It’s left quite and quite broad. It’s their interpretation. We’re not saying this is what it means.”

She said, “The next workshop after that they use their 15 images along with lyrics from songs and articles from newspapers to represent a scrapbook of their ideas of diversity and equality.”

The project was launched at a conference in Ennis on Saturday entitled – ‘I’m ok, you’re ok and that’s ok’.

It follows on from previous collaborations between Limerick’s universities and the Clare Intercultural Network. Dr McCormack explained that this is the first time that participatory research of this kind has been undertaken in the area of equality in Clare.

She said, “We’re hoping to start in January and hopefully have all that done in three months. The idea is that this time next year, at this conference again, we can present back the data. Based on findings from that, different directions for the project might evolve.

“We may continue using the same approach but another element may come along as well.”

Organisers are hoping for a good response from Clare schools. Dr McCormack said, “We organise everything and I suppose it’s ideal for transition-year students. It’s for workshops we could come in fully prepared and also, if teachers want to engage in it, it could be useful for teachers to gain experience.”

The research coordinators are Dr Orla McCormack, Lecturer Education (UL); Dr Eimear Enright, Lecturer Physical Education (UL); Deirdre O’Rourke, Lecturer Religious Education, Mary Immaculate College; and Maurice Harmon, Lecturer Religious Education, Mary Immaculate College.

THE Vandeleur Garden in Kilrush has the potential to be transformed into the new flagship tourist product for west Clare and become the county’s rival to Muckross House in Kil- larney. This new vision for Kilrush’s historic visitor attraction was unveiled at a meeting of Kilrush Town Council that took place in the Vandeleur demesne on Thursday night as county architect, Ruth Hurley, revealed plans to develop a major museum on the site. The interpretative centre-type project is set to be developed over the next two years as agencies such as Coillte, Shannon Development, Clare County Council, Kilrush Town Council, Kilrush Amenity Trust and the West Clare Economic Task Force throw their weight behind ambitious plans for the old landlord estate. The ruin of Kilrush House, the seat of the Vandeleur famil that was responsible for building Kilrush, was knocked by Clare County Council in 1973, but now the authority is to spearhead new development in the courtyard area of the estate on the back on a successful application for Leader funding. “There is an opportunity for something new here,” said Ms Hurley. “We want open up the courtyard into the centre and into a museum, so there is element of enticing people into the Vandeleur facilities. “The whole idea behind this is to get funding from Leader, with a view construction beginning in 2013. It’s about taking baby steps towards a bigger picture. A lot of places started like that. Muckross House started like that, so it’s about taking smalls steps. “The built environment is there. The heritage is there. It’s about giv- ing it a new freshness and enticing people in. With the support of everyone around the table and with the support of the people of Kilrush, hopefully we can push this forward,” Ms Hurley added.

“An initial meeting was held with Leader, just to see what their reaction was to the whole concept,” revealed Kilrush Town Manager, Nora Kaye. “Leader were very receptive to the whole visitor experience.

“There is a matching funding requirement should we be successful with Leader.

We will keep this project on a priority list, to ensure that we have a place in the queue for applications,” she added.

“I don’t see why it can’t become a reality,” said Cllr Tom Prendeville (FF). “There is massive potential here and I don’t think we have realised the true potential of the Vandeleur Walled Garden – from the historical perspective as well as modifying and adapted to modern demands,” he said. “The Vandeleur Garden is a gem,” said Cllr Liam Williams (FG), who is also a member of Kilrush Amenity Trust. “This is huge for west Clare,” he added.

AN Iranian man now living in Ennis has documented his 12-year struggle as a refugee in a new book launched on Saturday. Hassan Faramarz (42), author of The Flagless Ones , says he is “proud” to have told his story.

He adds, “I really wanted to tell everybody that this is happening to 70 million people. You don’t have to repeat my experience. You can learn from my experience. I wanted to share this is with everybody so people can learn what’s going on in Iran. We should learn from each other.”

Hassan was speaking in the West County Hotel on Saturday at a conference focusing on equality and diversity in Clare.

The book tells the story of the father of four’s upbringing in Iran, the oppression his family suffered at the hands of the Ayatollah Khomeini’s regime and his life as a refugee in India, China and Ireland. Hassan grew up in Iran at a time of political unrest in the late 1970s and ‘80s. Members of his family who opposed the ruling regime were imprisoned and executed.

He recalls, “I was not arrested but being a member of a family whose four brothers are involved in that movement, it’s not easy for you to have a normal life. I didn’t have a normal life. I couldn’t have a normal life.

“I graduated from high school and went to Open University and I learned some English. I married and I also did my military service. But after that I could not get a job, anything. They don’t arrest you but they don’t see you anymore. You are like a shadow in society. Nobody is listening to you. It’s a strange condition.”

Hassan left Iran for Indian in 1996 but found life as a refugee no better than his “shadow” existence at home.

“I spent three years in India as a refugee. In 1998, my wife joined me there. There we had our first son. We spent three years almost in India. The situation was hard. It was horrible. There are thousands of refugees there. You are struggling with your food, your clothing, shelter everything.”

Instead, with the help of a friend, Hassan and his family secured a visa to travel to Canada. However, the family encountered difficulties while travelling through China and ended up spending nine years living in refugee accommodation in Beijing.

The family moved to Ireland in 2008, eventually settling in Ennis. A former journalist and language teacher, Hassan is now studying theology and philosophy at Mary Immaculate College, Limerick. Of his life in Ennis, he says, “It’s great and my children are integrating very well. I have three children, two boys and one girl. Their English is improving very fast. They have already started criticising me, saying ‘Daddy, your English isn’t very good’. They are actually learning very, very fast. I’m very happy here and for Ireland accepting us.”

LOCAL councillors have criticised comments from the Minister for Transport, Leo Vardakar, stating that Shannon Airport will make an € 8m loss this year.

Fianna Fáíl councillor Pat McMahon told yesterday’s meeting of Clare County Council that there is widespread concern among staff at the airport about the statement.

The Newmarket-on-Fergus councillor described the figures as “highly debatable” and the product of “creative accounting”. He was speaking as councillors debated a motion tabled by Cllr McMahon and fellow Fianna Fáil councillor, Pat Daly.

The motion states, “We request the council to make contact with the Minister for Finance, Mr Michael Noonan TD, and urge him to set up an all-party forum of Oireachtas members and representatives of the councils from the West and MidWest, seeking the continuation of Shannon Airport as a top-class international airport”.

Some councillors expressed support for the proposal though some said a forum was not the best option.

Cllr Daly told the meeting that elected representatives should have a say in the future of Shannon Airport, which he said was suffering from the absence of a clear marketing strategy. He described Shannon as a “dying airport”.

Cllr Patricia McCarthy (Ind) said Shannon might not be making a loss at all when depreciation and loan charges are taken into account.

Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) said the problems at Shannon Airport stretch back 10 to 15 years. Cllr Cathal Crowe (FG) said the airport has “everything going for it” but a new management structure needs to be put in place. He said Shannon should be spoken about in positive and optimistic terms.

Cllr Gerry Flynn (Ind) urged all Clare TDs to put political differences aside and work together to secure the future of Shannon Airport. He said Fianna Fáíl TD, Timmy Dooley, should use his “years of experience in government” to help his counterparts in Labour and Fine Gael.

Concern was also raised over the number of US-bound flights using pre-clearance facilities at Shannon. Cllr McMahon tabled a motion stating that the council seek “detailed information from the Department of Transport on the potential for further development of pre-clearance type facilities at Shannon Airport.”

THE newly refurbished Moore Street should be given special designation by the Department of the Environment as a pilot project capable of kick-starting new life into the economy of the west Clare capital.

That’s according to members of Kilrush Town Council, who on Thursday backed a move to approach Minister for the Environment, Phil Hogan, seeking ‘special status’ for the street as the refurbishment works are finally completed ahead of this Saturday’s party to mark what has been hailed as “the rebirth of Moore Street”.

The refurbishment works were due to be completed on Friday last, but have been delayed by a week due to the scale of the work involved and the recent inclement weather.

“It’s all systems go,” Kilrush Town Clerk John Corry told last Thursday night’s monthly meeting of the local authority.

“It is a very significant job and they have made substantial progress. Kerbs are being installed at the moment and the contractor is on site this Monday commencing the tarmacadam works.

“There will be a lot of progress made within a couple of days and the contractor is envisaging completion by the 16th or 17th of December. A temporary order for the closing of the road from the 10th December through to the 23rd of September appeared in the paper. It won’t be required for that length of time,” Mr Corry added.

“We needed to get it done and there was never going to be a right time to do it. The contractors are out there morning, noon and night and they are giving it socks to have it ready,” said Mayor of Kilrush, Cllr Ian Lynch.

The call for a special incentive scheme for new traders was proposed by Cllr Tom Prendeville (FF), who said “we have to go one step further now.

“It’s one thing to rejuvenate the street itself and get the road done, but there are still a lot of vacant premises on Moore Street. I do believe that this Council, in its wisdom, should make an application to the Minister for the Environment, so that we can use Moore Street as a pilot project and get it designated so as to new people into those vacant premises and bring life back to the street.

“What has been done has been tremendous but we need to go that little bit further. It would really put the icing on the cake – there has to be a concession, whether it’s rates or whatever for people who go in there.

“People who own the properties have to be prepared to offer pepper corn rents. It is a very exciting time for Moore Street,” added the former town mayor.

FIRST it stood at 9.43 per cent among general staff and was held up as the worst in Ireland – now it’s worse again as the percentage stands at 12 per cent among key frontline nursing staff.

These are the absenteeism rates at Ennis General Hospital, which have come under sharp focus again in the last week following the publication of the Health Services Executive ‘Heathstat Report’ for September.

“The issue is receiving maximum attention,” a HSE statement released to the The Clare People this Monday says. “The assistance of the Human Resources department has now been sought to assist the hospital in any additional actions required,” it adds.

According to the Healthstat figures, absenteeism rates among its 133 nurses during September were running at 12 per cent, a figure that is 8.5 per cent ahead of the target national absenteeism rate of 3.5 per cent.

These alarming figures come only three months after Minister for Health, James Reilly, pledged to put measures in place to tackle the problem at the hospital when it was revealed that absenteeism levels were running at 9.43 per cent, almost double the average for HSE hospitals around the country that stood at 4.85 per cent.

“We are putting in place a new initiative around this,” vowed Minister Reilly. “I’m not at liberty to say what it is just yet. In the next couple of weeks, I’ll be able to announce it,” he added.

In September, it was revealed in Ennis that every day an average of 22 staff were missing from the hospital’s daily workforce of 238, a rate of absenteeism that impacts on the day-to-day operation of the facility, resulting in the HSE having to employ temporary outside staff to cover for sick workers.

And a breakdown of these figures has revealed that the rate of absenteeism is worst among general support staff when it’s running at a staggering 18 per cent.

Now the Healthstat figures show that, of Ennis General Hospital’s 133 nurses, 16 were absent from work on each day in the month of September.

“The hospital accepts that the absenteeism rate is high but all elements of the HSE’s Managing Attendance Policy are being carried out,” the HSE statement says. “These include referrals to occupational health, return-to-work interviews, certification of absences etc. While the hospital’s percentages appear high currently, the amount of ‘uncertified’ sick leave is very low.

“Where uncertified sick leave is low, the hospital is viewed to have achieved an improved performance in managing attendance as the majority of sick leave is certified by medical practitioners. A recent review by management shows that a number of people are absent with long-term serious illness,” the statement adds.