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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.”

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”.

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”.

HEAVY rain and high winds are forecast for the West Coast this week and Clare is on high flooding alert, as the county seeks to prevent the disasters of 2009 when so much of the county was under water.

Clare County Council are monitoring river levels as the weather worsens and have urged householders to be vigilant in case of flash flooding.

“Residents of the county can visit www.flooding.ie to familiarise themselves with the range of actions that can be taken in advance of, during and after flooding events,” Ennis Town Manager Ger Dollard told The Clare People this week.

A MAN CHARGED with failing to appear before a court has been refused bail.

Martin Blunnie (23), of Beech Park, John Paul Estate, Kilrush, is charged with stealing a bottle of Yazoo at Mace, Henry Street, Kilrush, on November 15 last.

Mr Blunnie is accused of stealing two bottles of Yazoo on November 18 last.

He is also accused of failing to ap- pear in court last month.

Garda Donal Corkery told Ennis District Court on Friday that he arrested the accused at Beech Park, Kilrush, the previous day.

The garda told the court that he was objecting to bail and sought to remand the defendant in custody to appear again in court later this week.

Free legal aid was granted to the accused.

Judge Angela Ní Chondúin remanded the accused in custody to appear again in court later this week.

A KILLALOE man has received a three-month prison sentence after failing to pay compensation for his part in a burglary in the town in January.

James Tuohy (23) with an address at 21 Clarisford, Killaloe, was convicted at a sitting of Killaloe District Court in Ennis last week.

Tuohy and a co-accused, Vincent O’Reilly, had been ordered to pay compensation after both men were involved in the burglary of the Celtic Cat Jewelery Shop in January.

O’Reilly (21) with addresses at 4 The Rise, Cullenagh, Ballina, Tipperary and Fossabeg Scariff, did pay compensation and received a suspended sentence.

Solicitor for Tuohy, Tara Godfrey said her client would be in a position to pay compensation in a week’s time.

She said a change of address had lead to a delay in the receipt of a social welfare payment.

She told the court that at the time when the burglary was committed, Tuohy had been going through a “very traumatic” period due to his family circumstances.

She explained that he had attended the services of consultant psychiatrist and been prescribed medication. She described her client as a “very vulnerable young man”.

She said that Tuohy wanted to pay compensation but apart from social welfare payments, he did not have access to any other form of financial support.

The court heard that on the day of the burglary, Tuohy had taken medication and drank cans of Budweiser.

“He appears to have committed the offence when he was of an unstable mind”, added Ms Godfrey.

The court heard that Tuohy received a suspended sentence in December (2010) for a public order offence.

Judge Aeneas McCarthy said that Tuohy had committed burglary and been ordered to pay compensation, “He either pays it or he doesn’t”, he added. He noted that the accused “has convictions going back to 2008”.

He convicted Tuohy and imposed a three-month prison sentence. Judge McCarthy added that he would not impose the suspended sentence handed down last December. Recognances were fixed in the event of an appeal.

Solicitor for O’Reilly, Christopher Lynch told the court that his client was in a position to pay compensa- tion.

He said that since the offence was committed in January, his client has moved away from Killaloe.

He said O’Reilly did have issues with drink and drug abuse but has now sorted his life out and has enrolled in an adult education course in Nenagh.

“He’s keeping himself out of difficulty”, Mr Lynch told the court.

Judge McCarthy convicted O’Reilly and imposed a six-month prison sentence.

He suspended the sentence for a period of two years on condition that O’Reilly be of good behavior.

NEARLY 600 people in Clare face the prospect of a return to the dole queues in the coming months as the future of Community Employment Schemes around the county are left hanging in the balance this week. The Clare People has learned that 560 people in Clare are directly dependent on the Community Employment Schemes for work, while FÁS have confirmed that the jobs programme provides jobs and training opportunities “in every corner of Clare”. Last week’s Budget took the unprecedented decision to abolish the FÁS operated jobs support scheme and while they have been since given a temporary stay of execution, fears have been expressed locally that the county’s 32 schemes will begin the process of winding down operations over the next few months.

“This is an anti-rural Ireland measure, it just gets worse” blasted Mayor of Clare, Pat Hayes.

“Communities in rural Clare depend on the Community Employment Schemes to help them survive. They are the only light in some communities. The programme as we know it is gone because the payment per worker has been reduced from € 1500 to € 500,” he added. “These schemes go into every part of Clare,” a FÁS spokesperson told

A TWO-MONTH sentence has been handed down to a Shannon man who committed criminal damage in the town earlier this year.

Judge Aeneas McCarthy imposed the sentence on Mark Liddy (19) at a sitting of Shannon District Court on Thursday.

Liddy, with an address at 5 Fergus Drive, Drumgeely, Shannon, was in court to face the potential activation of suspended sentence.

The court heard that Liddy had previously been sentenced at the Circuit Court and his case had been referred back to the District Court to deal with the issue of a suspended sentence.

Liddy had been charged with causing damage to five clear white Georgian double glazed units belonging to Clare County Council at Ballymurtagh, Cross Shannon on March 23.

Solicitor Tara Godfrey said her client had expressed remorse for his actions and was willing to pay compensation for the damage to the double glazing units.

She asked the court not to consider activating the suspended sentence and instead adjourn the matter for 12 months when her client’s sentence had expired.

Judge McCarthy convicted Liddy and sentenced him to two months in prison.

He ordered that the sentence commence on the lawful termination of the sentence he is now serving. Recognances were fixed in the event of an appeal.

A 17-YEAR-OLD girl who got involved in “very bad company” in Ennistymon has been told by a judge that she is “on a very slippery slope”.

The girl pleaded guilty to entering the Old Convent, Deerpark, Ennistymon, as a trespasser, on October 28, 2010.

On October 31, 2010, she and another individual were involved in an incident in which a car had a front window broken, while the front seat was set on fire.

The court heard the cost of the damage amounted to € 800.

Superintendent Colm O’Sullivan told Ennistymon District Court last Wednesday that the girl went into the convent with a number of other youths “for the purpose of drinking”.

“Somebody in the group lit a fire to warm themselves,” he said.

Judge Aeneas McCarthy said that the Probation report on the accused was “very positive”.

The court heard that girl had a number of previous convictions.

Her solicitor Gearóid Williams said that the girl was aged 16 at the time of some of the offences.

“She used to come to Ennistymon. She mixed in very bad company. She spent time in Oberstown.

Since then there has been a considerable change,” Mr Williams told the court.

“She is now availing of the opportunities she is being given,” said Mr Williams.

He said that the girl has not been in Ennistymon in recent times.

“The difficulty is when she goes to Ennistymon she gets involved in bad company, much older people,” he said.

He said that his client has not been involved in any incidents since August and is now a “completely differ- ent” person.

The girl’s social worker told the court that she has made a “huge improvement” since she spent time in Oberstown.

Judge McCarthy placed the girl on 12 months probation.

“You seem to be making progress,” he told her.

“You are on a very slippery slope at a very young age.

“The court will not be as lenient with you in the future.

“I am taking a chance with you and I hope you take the chance you are getting,” said the judge addressing the teenager.