Author: admin

AN INTERNATIONAL campaign highlighting domestic violence against women will be marked in Clare over the coming weeks, amid increasing numbers of women seeking help.

As part of the 16 Days campaign opposing domestic violence – which runs from November 25 to December 16 – a candlelit ceremony will be held at the friary in Ennis on Thursday, December 1, at 7.30pm.

Candles will be lit in memory of each victim. Sixteen community leaders – such as a member of a sporting organisation, a garda and a community volunteer – will each bring a candle to the altar representing each of the 16 years since the initiative was established.

“It sends out a really strong message that each of their organisations are opposing violence,” said services manager with Clare Haven, Denise Dunne.

“We are commemorating 174 wom- en who have been murdered in Ireland since 1996 (when figures were first collected). 107 of them were murdered in their homes.

“This year, the theme is communities working together on opposing violence against women, such as gardaí, family resource centres, different community-based organisations and people volunteering with the community,” she said.

“In order for us to help women experiencing domestic abuse, we need community support,” said Ms Dunne.

She said that the Clare Haven refuge for women suffering domestic abuse is “full all of the time”, while the outreach centres across the county are experiencing huge demand.

The initiative will get underway on November 25, which is the UN day opposing violence against women, and will conclude on December 10, which is Human Rights Day.

Meanwhile, the local area networks – of Clare, Limerick and north Tipperary – have set up a website, www. midwestvaw.ie, geared towards those working professionally who may encounter violence against women.

“It is around recognising, responding and referring,” said Ms Dunne.

“If somebody presents in front of you asking for help, how do you ask the questions and respond? It is for professionals, people on the ground who meet people through work such as social workers, gps, teachers or anybody who comes across it. It is a resource for them,” she said.

For further information on the 16 Days initiative, phone 065 6842646.

A NEW outreach centre for rape victims is being opened in Ennis, in response to demand from clients throughout the county.

That’s according to Rape Crisis Midwest, which will officially open its Ennis centre on the Clon Road at 4pm on Friday.

Demand for services in the midwest is significant, with 15 new calls received every week at its Limerick headquarters.

“This is in response to demand. We have delivering a service to the people of Clare since we opened up in the 1980s. We have found that people found the trip to Limerick quite hard, particularly those coming from the west,” said the director of fundraising with the organisation, Verena Tarpey.

The new centre will be operated on a part-time basis, two days a week; counselling services will be available on Mondays and Wednesdays by appointment. “Not only will there be long-term counselling but it will also provide support counselling for the family of a victim of a sexual attack. We also do court accompaniments,” said Ms Tarpey.

The waiting list for clients currently stands at four months, but those in need of immediate assistance are taken as priority.

“I think that more people are coming in looking for help. There is more awareness. There is also more awareness of the fact it is not something to be ashamed of either,” she said.

Fundraising will be crucial to the survival of the Ennis outreach centre. “We are receiving no government funding to pay for the overheads in Ennis such as rent and computer services. We get core funding for our service in Limerick. We made a huge decision to open it (Ennis). It is needed. We are relying on the goodwill of the people of Ennis,” she said.

“We have to stretch our resources. We want to do it to make the service accessible to the people of Clare,” she said.

The organisation is piloting a new education programme for transition year students in a number of schools in the mid-west, including Coláiste Mhuire in Ennis.

“We are piloting it in the mid-west and it is a first for Rape Crisis Midwest,” said Ms Tarpey.

“We felt that a pilot programme such as this would be beneficial to students. It educates them in relation to different aspects of the law of sexual offences and how alcohol can affect people,” she said.

“Students in particular would not necessarily want to avail of long-term counselling but they are aware of the different services that are available in the mid-west,” she added.

NO VENUE in Clare has been granted permission to host civil partnerships between same-sex couples despite a number of civil marriages between heterosexual couples having already taken place in the county.

North Clare lesbian couple Bernadette Kenny and Heidi Hummel became Clare’s first same-sex civil partnership earlier this year but were prevented from hosting a ceremony in Clare because they were told that it would take more than two years for a officer to be free to come to Clare to perform the ceremony.

Despite this however, Management at the Cliffs of Moher have confirmed to The Clare People that a heterosexual American couple were allowed to celebrate a civil marriage at the world famous tourist site in June of this year – just six months after the civil partnership and civil marriage legislation came into effect.

The procedure for having a samesex civil partnership and a heterosexual civil marriage outside of a registry office is the exact same and requires an officer from the Civil Registration Service in Limerick to inspect the venue for health and safety reasons before the go-ahead can be given.

“If we had wanted to use a venue in north Clare or somewhere in the Burren it would have been a two year waiting time – and we were no prepared to wait for that long,” Bernadette Kenny told The Clare People yesterday. “They have a big backlog at the moment but it meant that we had to have our ceremony at the back end of a hospital in Limerick. There is no venue in Clare which is registered for this sort of ceremony.

“It would have been great to do it at the Cliffs of Moher or some other location up in the Burren but it would have taken so much time. There is so much paperwork involved already, especially if one person has already been married and then divorced. So of the rules governing this are very antiquated.”

A spokesperson from the Department of Social Protection has confirmed that no civil partnerships registered in County Clare to date.

“A venue may only be approved at each individual request from a couple. As no civil partnership has been registered to have taken place in County Clare there is no venue approved for County Clare,” said the spokesman. The Clare People contacted the Civil Registration Service in Limerick in relation to this but no response was received at the time of going to press.

THE chances of another public toilet being installed in Ennis are somewhere between “slim and none”, a meeting has heard. Town manager Ger Dollard was speaking in response to a proposal aired at yesterday’s meeting of councillors in the Ennis West Electoral Area.

Cllr Tony Mulqueen (FG) called on the council to “provide a public toilet in Parnell Street car park, Ennis, for car park customers and taxis”.

Cllr Mulqueen told the meeting that the matter had been brought to his at- tention by local taxi drivers. He said drivers operating from Parnell Street car park had told him there was a need for the facility in the area. He said a public toilet would also help reduce the level of public urination taking place at night.

In response, town clerk Leonard Cleary explained, “Public conveniences have been provided in the market area and Abbey Street. It should be noted that a public convenience has a significant annual cost and daily management requirement.”

He added, “The matter can be brought to the attention of Ennis Town Council if the committee so desires.”

Town Manager Ger Dollard told the meeting that public conveniences “are hugely expensive”. He said Ennis Town Council had previously been criticised for the cost associated with maintaining public toilets. Mr Dollard said the chances of providing a new facility are “slim and none”.

Figures contained in Ennis Town Council’s 2010 annual financial statement showed that it cost € 70,000 to operate pubic toilets in the town.

ENNIS should take priority over other parts of the county when it comes to the allocation of staff by Clare County Council, a meeting has heard.

The view was expressed yesterday by Cllr Tommy Brennan (Ind) as concern was raised over the impact of localised flooding on roads and churches in Ennis and Clarecastle.

A section of the Kilrush Road near Gallows Hill; St Joseph’s Hospital, Ennis and the Parochial House in Clarecastle were highlighted as three areas prone to “ponding” and road flooding, at meetings of councillors in the Ennis electoral area.

In response to motions tabled by councillors Johnny Flynn (FG) and Pat Daly (FF) regarding flooding on the Kilrush Road, senior executive engineer Eamon O’Dea stated, “The council has used a power jetty to clear the outlet from the gully at this location. This gully discharges to a soak away in this grass margin on the opposite side of the road.”

He added, “The council is examining the existing storm drains in the area to see if this location can be discharged to a storm sewer, otherwise the soak away will be renewed.”

The committee chairman, Cllr Brennan, told the meeting that the issue had existed at the Kilrush Road for a number of years. He said that there is a danger that “someone will be killed there” because pedestrians are stepping onto the road to avoid the water.

He said the biggest problem in the Ennis area is the absence of council staff. He said that Ennis is the county capital with a population of 30,000 and as such, should take priority when the council allocates staff to work in particular areas.

“We have tried working from the outside in, maybe we should be working from the inside out,” he added.

Agreeing with Cllr Brennan, Cllr Flynn said there “is huge pressure on Ennis area offices because of a lack of staff”.

Cllr Paul Murphy (FG) raised the issue of flooding that occurs outside the old Parochial House, Clarecastle. Cllr Murphy stated that “rainwater from the Creegaun na Hilla estate flows straight across the roundabout (bypassing the gully trap to the side of the roundabout) and lodges at the entrance to the Parochial House, causing a lot of annoyance to callers to the house and to mass goers, particularly at night time.”

Mr O’Dea said the council will examine the road levels at this location and “endevaour to reduce the impact of rainfall run off in this area”.

A meeting of councillors in the Ennis West Electoral Area heard that church-goers found it difficult to attend Mass because of floods at the rear of St Joseph’s hospital.

Cllr Brian Meaney (GP) told the meeting that flooding was a specific problem for elderly residents in the area.

Mr O’Dea stated that the council will examine the location to “see if there is a feasible method to dispose of the storm water”. However, he added that “any works will be subject to available resources”.

A FAMILY in east Clare telephoned the county council emergency helpline during the severe weather spell 27 times, but the calls were not answered. This was revealed at a meeting of the council yesterday, after the issue was raised by Independent Councillor PJ Ryan. He asked that the council ensure that adequate staff be made available to man the emergency number during the winter weekends and holiday periods.

In a written response from the council, it was stated that the council’s emergency phone operates throughout the year outside office hours. “The effectiveness of the facility was compromised during the very severe weather event of December 2010 when temperatures dropped to minus 12 degrees and the intensity of calls from members of the general public in relation to water services and roads related issues increased to an unmanageable level,” stated the council’s response from director of services, Nora Kaye.

She added that in such situations, additional call answering and technical support advice facilities were set up. “This issue has been examined during the year and criteria have been agreed which will facilitate identification of the need for additional support,” she stated.

Cllr Ryan told the meeting that due to problems with emergency numbers late last year and early this year, residents were not getting a reply when they called the emergency phone number.

“I had constituents in Kilkishen who phoned the number on 27 occasions and got no reply,” he said. “It is important that somebody is there.”

Fine Gael Councillor Johnny Flynn said that the problem is particularly acute in isolated areas where people are living alone.

Ms Kaye told councillors that a lot of lessons were learned from last year. “There is an improved system in place now,” she said.

PUBLIC lighting is required to curb anti-social behaviour in unfinished housing estates in Clare, a meeting has heard.

The problems faced by residents living in unfinished housing estates was raised at the November meeting of Clare County Council.

Cllr Crowe called on the council to put a system in place in the event of developers of unfinished estates going into liquidation. The Sixmilebridge councillor stated that where estates have not been taken in charge, the Council should arrange for public lighting to be switched on in the interest of “public safety and to protest against anti-social behaviour”.

Cllr Crowe told the meeting that something has to be done for residents of unfinished estates; many of whom he said are “completely in limbo”.

Cllr Crowe said the chances of these estates being taken over as “unlikely”. “We have to start looking beyond the rules and regulations”, he added.

Cllr PJ Ryan (Ind) said there are going to “major problems” in unfinished estates.

Cllr Cathal Crowe (FF) said the lack of public lighting is condemning residents of some estates to “months of darkness”. He said unfinished estates “cultivate and environment for anti-social behaviour”.

He said the council must “aggressively pursue developers that are still trading”.

Cllr Gerry Flynn (Ind) called on the council to compile a list of all unfinished estates in Clare.

In response, acting director of services, planning, land use and transportation Nora Kaye stated, “While there is merit in the above proposal, the reality is that the council’s resources are extremely limited in respect of taking in charge of housing estates. The provision in this year’s budget for the taking in charge process is € 55,000 for the county. With escalating public lighting costs, I do not consider that the Council is in a position to arrange for public lighting to be switched on and / or for the ongoing maintenance and energy costs of same”.

Ms Kaye continued, “The Department of Environment, Community and Local Government has been requested to consider funding proposals for a small number of estates where due to special circumstances of those estates, the public lighting issues are unlikely to be resolved in the short term. On a receipt of reply from the Department, I will update the Council further”.

COURT sittings across Clare will experience significant changes in the new year if proposals to centralise the service, which is currently on the table, are adopted.

Under the changes, there will be specific dates for crime hearings, separate dates for civil hearings and other listed dates for hearings related to traffic offences.

Also, most of the hearings will be centralised to Ennis. While Kilrush cases will continue to be heard in the west Clare town, cases from north Clare are to be moved to Ennis.

Shannon cases are already heard in Ennis, while Killaloe courts currently sit in Ennis as a temporary measure while a new venue for the east Clare courts is being sought.

Up to six additional east Clare sittings will take place annually, after Athenry was moved from the district to the Galway district. It frees up the 11 Athenry sittings currently presided over by the district court judge responsible for Clare. Some of those will go to Killaloe, where a backlog has built up over the past few years, after Scariff and Tulla courts closed.

Under the proposals, there will be five crime sittings a month, two traffic days and two civil hearings, along with two days of family law sittings.

Crime cases will be heard on Wednesdays, with civil and traffic cases on Fridays.

“The bulk of Ennistymon is going back to Ennis, apart from a few townlands that will go to Kil- rush. Kilrush will stay as is,” said a spokesperson for the Courts Service.

The spokesperson added that if possible, courts will move back to Killaloe.

“If we can keep a court in Killaloe we will. A committee is looking at venues,” said the spokesperson.

The proposed changes, which are at draft stage, are poised to be implemented in January if they are adopted.

The separation of the types of offences heard means that less Garda resources will be wasted. In recent years, members of the traffic corps regularly spent hours sitting in court waiting for hours for their cases to be heard during the general court sittings.

“It will reduce Garda overtime, for example if there are 14 gardaí from Shannon sitting in Ennis court, at least seven will be on overtime, at the moment. Now, they can be put working on the days their court is sitting. It is a way of reducing State expenses,” said the spokesperson.

A Garda spokesman told The Clare People that hopes are high that the Killaloe courts still return to east Clare, having sat in Ennis since September.

Additional dates for Killaloe court sittings were requested by gardaí, after lengthy sittings prevailed in recent months.

“The logistics of bringing all the gardaí and witnesses from Killaloe to Ennis is a nightmare. There is no direct public transport service for people travelling the 35 miles to court,” he said.

DETAILS have been unveiled of a proposed € 500, 000 upgrade to the Quin wastewater treatment plant.

The project consists of the upgrading of the existing wastewater treatment plant including the provision of additional underground tanks and associated site works to increase capacity from 740 population equivalent (pe) to 1400 pe at Quin Gardens, Quin.

According to a report prepared by senior planner Gordon Daly, the proposed development will serve the needs of Quin village and its environs into the future.

The report states that Quin village has a projected population target of 789 persons by 2017.

A flood risk assessment states that the “site is designated as being located within flood zone A and B hence this site has been identified as being at risk of flooding”.

The report states that the proposed works will not give rise to increased flooding at the site.

The report states, “It is noted that that the risk of flooding would be from the adjacent River Rine. The wastewater treatment facility is already present and operating within a flood risk area – the same therefore is cur rently at risk of flooding.”

It continues, “The report from water services dated 20/10/11 that the proposed works will not reduce the potential of the site to flood but will, in the event that this occurs by reason of the design of the new plant, reduce the potential of the plant contaminating flood waters. Having regard to the established use of the site as a wastewater treat ment plant and having regard to the works proposed it is considered that the works will not give risk to an increased chance of flooding at the site.”

With regard to the impact on the visual amenities of the area, the report states that the “proposed works will not impact to any significant degree on the visual amenities of the area”.

Local Fine Gael councillor Sonny Scanlan welcomed the project saying it was needed in the area.