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BOTH Aer Lingus and Ryanair have been challenged to ‘put-up’ or ‘shutup’ when it comes to blaming the controversial government travel tax for any lack of growth in Shannon Airport.

Fianna Fáil transport spokesperson Timmy Dooley fired a volley across the two airlines this week when backing the Fine Gael/Labour coalition move to leave the € 3 travel tax in place until next year, at the earliest.

Speaking to The Clare People this week, Deputy Dooley said that the airlines have failed to live up to the promise of delivering extra passenger growth, after the Fianna Fáil/Labour government slashed the travel tax from € 10 to € 3 in last December’s budget.

“If the airlines are serious, they made a lot of noise about the imposition of the tax day one and the impact it had on passenger numbers,” said Deputy Dooley.

“There is now an opportunity for them to live up to their responsibilities and to prove that the tax was an inhibitor to passengers travelling and passenger growth.

“If the airlines are to have confidence in their own statements, then they should have no problem in identifying where the increase in passenger numbers are going to come from.

“Ryanair maintained that the € 10 tax prevented them from expanding – they used it as a reason why they re- duced their activity out of Shannon.

“One would have to believe that if you were to remove the tax then business would come back, but that is clearly not happening. Even when it was reduced from € 10 to € 3 there was little or no increase in activity,” the Fianna Fáil frontbench spokesperson added.

The controversial levy had been due to be abolished as part of the government’s bid to boost tourism numbers. However, Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar has claimed airlines had not made enough commitments in terms of increasing flight capacity.

“What I’m looking for from airlines is some solid propositions as to what they’ll do in return for the reduction and it can’t happen without that.”

Earlier this year, Ryanair chief ex- ecutive Michael O’Leary claimed that removing the € 10 tax would bring six million extra visitors to Ireland annually and create 6,000 new jobs.

The European Commission had brought a legal case against the tax, but withdrew it last month when the single € 3 levy replaced an earlier two-tier system.

Ryanair currently operates to 11 destinations in Britain and mainland Europe out of Shannon. This represents over a 300 per cent cut in operations out of Shannon from a high of 35 flights in 2008.

The airline began reducing its Shannon-based aircraft in February 2009, with the biggest axe falling in March of 2010 when it slashed 16 flights for its schedule.

HOUSE hunters in Clare can now buy a house for less than it costs to build.

The staggering fall in property values in the county has left houses changing hands at 1990 prices, property insiders say.

According to the Residential Property Price Index results, released by the Central Statistics Office last week, property prices outside of Dublin have fallen by 13 per cent in the last year.

According to Ennis auctioneer, Diarmuid McMahon, this is the most accurate picture yet of what is happening in Clare. “House prices in Clare have fallen to sub-construction levels. From a buyers perpective, that’s fantastic news.”

The Sherry Fitzgerald auctioneer said that it is now also cheaper to take out a mortgage on a property in Clare than to rent one. “Rents in Ennis have stabalised but with quailty rental stock availability low.” he said.

“Buying hasn’t been this afford- able in a decade. We’re back to 1990 prices.”

McMahon said that a three bed semi-detaached home in a desireable area in Ennis can now be had for as little as € 150,000. Ghost estates aside, a squeeze on stock of houses may be on the cards he predicted.

“With prices such that it costs more to build than the builder will get when a house is sold, then no-one is going to build new estates.”

The CSO index is a welcome addition to the store of information available to those involved in prop- erty deals, but there is also a pressing need for a property sale price index, McMahon said.

“This is a much more accurate picture of what’s happening in the market than any of the property web-sites. But we need to know what properties are selling for so that people know what their property is worth.

“In the UK, if your neighbour sells his house you can go to a website and see what was paid for it, Here, unless there is a public auction, we are not allowed to say what price was paid for a particular property.”

A 31-YEAR-OLD man has been charged with the false imprisonment and sexual assault of his partner over the weekend, in the Killaloe Garda District.

The accused, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is accused of falsely imprisoning and sexually assaulting a female, on July 30 last.

Garda Edel Crowley of Killaloe Garda Station told Ennis District Court yesterday that the accused was arrested on Sunday evening.

He did not reply when one of the charges was put to him.

In reply to the other charge, he said, “False imprisonment. Where did you get that from?”, Gda Crowley told the court.

Inspector Tom Kennedy said that gardaí were objecting to bail, on a number of grounds, including that the accused does not have a permanent address; the seriousness of the charges and that the accused may be at flight risk.

Defending solicitor Tony O’Malley said that his client was residing with the injured party.

“Matters have arisen which caused him to be charged with offences. He has been given accommodation with a friend,” said the solicitor.

“I don’t think there are any real grounds for him being at flight risk,” he added.

He said that while his client is not working at the moment, he had a good work record in the past.

Inspector Kennedy said, “He doesn’t have a place to live.

“The address put forward is a convenient address. . . That address isn’t a permanent address.”

“Based on the seriousness of the charges, one would have to be very fearful that he might leave the jurisdiction,” said Inspector Kennedy.

Judge Aeneas McCarthy said, “There is a Constitutional right to bail.

“The seriousness of the charge on its own is not grounds for refusing bail.

“It has been put to the court that he’s at flight risk. . .

“The difficulty the court has here is a permanent address. . . Unless the accused can provide a permanent address at which he can live, then I am afraid he has a difficulty.”

He adjourned the case until later this week and remanded the accused in custody.

He said he would revisit the bail application on the adjourned date, subject to a permanent address being provided.

“If he does provide a permanent address, the court is mindful of granting bail with an independent surety.”

The judge went on to say that this surety would be in the region of € 5,000. “I have in mind a surety of € 10,000, a half to be lodged.

“All that is subject to providing a permanent address to gardaí,” said the judge. Free legal aid was granted to the defendant.

THE Barefield man, whose daughter was given just weeks to live last October, is now preparing to bring her home to Ireland after successful cancer treatment that has been described as a miracle.

Forty-year old John Malone moved to Boston with his family last winter when his four-year-old daugher Megan was given just weeks to live when diagnosed with a very rare and aggressive form of cancer, SPNET Medulloblastoma.

Now, they are getting ready to come home after ground-breaking treatment in New York’s Presbyte- rian Children’s Hospital and a course of radiotherapy that’s now in its final stages.

“We have booked our flight home and we’re all very excited about that,” John Malone said this week.

“It’s been a long a difficult road for every member of our family, but especially for Megan. Our wish is that Megan will remain cancer free and enjoy every minute of a long and happy life. I haven’t seen our other children so excited in such a long time,” he added.

Megan became ill in October, just a few days after her parents Sheila and John celebrated the birth of their fourth child.

A major fundraising drive was started to enable Megan travel to America to undergo revolutionary cancer treatment, while the Megan Malone Trust was established in December of last year.

So far over € 700,000 million has been spent on her medical fees, while the estimated final cost of her treatment that’s now in its final three weeks in Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

A little over four months into her treatment, her parents John and Sheila were given the results of the youngster’s latest MRI scan, which have amazed doctors.

“We could not have asked for better news. The MRI scans were reviewed by the medical team and the results are amazing. Megan’s brain now has no evidence of cancer,” John Malone revealed at the time.

“Dr Garvin told us there is complete response in the brain and that the main tumour is gone. We are in shock and just can’t believe it.

“Dr Garvin told us that this is a unique situation. Most brain tumours of this nature and magnitude are surgically removed first before chemo and many still require radiotherapy to completely remove them.”

MALICIOUS use of online social media and the Wikipedia tool on the internet were blamed last week on the spreading of “a vicious rumour” that Clare hurling legend Ger Loughnane had passed away.

The rumour, which was presented as a statement of fact, first emerged last on Wednesday evening last and from there gathered momentum through the night, before it finally emerged that it was malicious and totally unfounded.

A number of GAA websites around the country ran with the story, be- fore Loughnane family spokesperson, Matt Purcell, took to the Clare FM airwaves on Thursday morning to rubbish the false reports and allay peoples’ fear about the Clare hurling legend’s health.

“I was just talking to Ger’s family and thankfully he is still very much with us. He is as bright as a button and extremely well. He couldn’t be in better form and is responding 100 per cent to treatment,” said Purcell, who also hails from Feakle.

“The family were inundated with messages and calls yesterday and it was gone to a ridiculous point. How could someone start something stu- pid like that on the internet?

“Thankfully, we can set the record straight. Everything is going well and according to plan with his treatment. That’s about all there is to it,” Ger Loughnane’s close friend added.

Fifty-seven-year-old Loughnane was diagnosed with leukaemia in late June and immediately began an intense course of treatment in Dublin.

“It was very strange how this malicious rumour started,” said Clare County Board PRO Syl O’Connor.

“He is responding well to the treatment and they are hoping to let him out for a few days next week, all going well.

“The one thing I would wish now is that people would let him and the family get on with it. I said it when news of his illness first emerged and I’ll say it again – people should not make this story anything that it isn’t. We don’t want anybody to preempt anything, just let whatever is to happen, happen. We all wish him well.”

AN ESTIMATED 1,500 homes and businesses were affected by two major power outages in Ennis on Thursday. Shops were plunged into darkness while many banks were forced to close early due to repeated interruptions to the town’s power supply.

Restaurants and pubs were also affected, with some premises shutting up in the middle of the day. Some businesses, which had been without power since the morning, did not get supply back until near midnight.

In a statement, the ESB explained that the outages occurred as a result of cable faults in the town centre.

A spokesperson stated, “At 11am, a cable fault occurred affecting approximately 1,000 customers. ESB network crews were immediately dispatched and generators were provided at 5pm to ensure continuity of supply to the majority of affected customers while repair work was being carried out to the damaged cable. It was not possible to restore power to the remaining customers until midnight.”

She continued, “In the second case, a cable fault occurred close to Francis Street that led to an outage at 4.15pm. Supply was restored to the affected 500 customers by 6pm.”

Business representatives have called on the ESB to communicate more efficiently with businesses in the event of future outages.

Brian O’Neill, Managing Director of the Rowan Tree Hostel, said the premises were without power from 11.30am on Thursday to 1.30am on Friday.

He said that when the outage struck, he was unable to find out from the ESB when supply would return to normal. He explained, “Fourteen hours without power, it’s a disgrace. We had to make a decision to shut the restaurant. You can’t blame people for what happened but it was not dealt with as efficiently as it could have been. The communications side of it was a disaster.”

Mr O’Neill, who is Vice President of Ennis Chamber of Commerce, said staff at the Rowan Tree restaurant were forced to throw out € 1,500 worth of spoiled food.

He added that the ESB should have provided more information to business owners in Ennis.

He said, “There are enough staff with the ESB. Surely they could have had one person on the ground in Ennis with a list of businesses, updating them on an hourly basis, just as a courtesy.”

A spokeswoman for the ESB said the company was not anticipating any further problems with the supply in Ennis.

THE first move towards transforming the old Two-Mile Inn Hotel in Meelick into the biggest privately run nursing home in Clare began last week when a planning application was lodged with Clare County Council.

On behalf of the new owners of the property, Cork-based building firm Ó Mórdha Construction Ltd has applied to the planning authority for permission for “change of use from hotel to convalescence home”.

Included in this planning application that was submitted last Wednesday is a request to demolish the water tower structure on the site, an extension of the dining room facilities, a series of other internal modifications to make it suitable for a nursing home and the construction of an outdoor fenced children’s play area.

The planning application comes two months after the hotel was sold by GMV Auctioneers in Limerick on behalf of receivers Price Waterhouse Coopers.

The hotel first opened its doors in 1970, having being built by developer Tom Ryan, before being taken over by Brendan Dunne later that decade.

In October 2008, Billy O’Riordan of PriceWaterhouseCoopers was appointed as receiver and he placed the hotel on the market as a going concern, as was the Woodstock Hotel in Ennis, which was also part of the Dunne Group of hotels.

At the time, the price being sought was in the region of € 7m. However, two years later, when a buyer could not be found, the asking price was slashed to € 1.2m.

At the time, Mr Crosse described this as a “giveaway price” for such a substantial and high profile property that finally closed its doors in September 2010 before being sold last December in the region of the € 1.2m asking price.

The 123-bedroom hotel is located on an 11-acre site with substantial carparking space and when it closed employed 15 people. A decision on the planning application will be made by Clare County Council on September 20 next.

A DECISION on whether a supermarket and office development will be allowed to go ahead in Miltown Malbay is expected to be handed down by An Bord Pleanála in the next two weeks.

The appeals board is currently deliberating on the application for the project earmarked for New Line Road in Miltown Malbay – a twostory shop and office development comprising of a supermarket, newsagent, café, off-license, warehouse stores, offices, a basement car park comprising of 49 spaces, a surface car park with 23 places and a new town square.

“The new public square adjoins the entrance to the supermarket/office development and will link to the Main Street via a pedestrian lane, which will comprise of a separate planning application to Clare County Council,” the application states.

Plans for the ambitious project were first submitted by Jim Shannon and Michael Gleeson to Clare County Council in August 2010, but follow- ing five submissions/objections from members of the public, the local authority refused planning on March 16 of this year.

In refusing the permission for the project that would total 4,253 square metres, the Clare County Council planning authority said that the proposed development “by reason of lack of pedestrian connection between the site and the Main Street of Miltown would result in a development which would be functionally detached from the Main Street.”

In addition, planners ruled that the development “would adversely impact on the viability and vitality of the Main Street” and would be “contrary to proper planning and sustainable development of Miltown and the retail planning guidelines issued by the Department of the Environment”.

Following the refusal, an appeal was lodged by Mr Shannon and Mr Gleeson to an Bord Pleanála on April 14, while the decision on future of the project will be given by the appeals board, which should be revealed on August 15 next.

TOURISM concerns in Clare say there is some cause for optomism despite a season which has been a “very mixed bag” so far.

One of the definite success stories this summer has been the opening of the Loop Head Lighthouse attraction, which is already proving to be very popular with tourists, early figures showing that 700 visitors make their way to the iconic structure.

Sources in the Clare Tourism Forum also say there has been an upside to this season.

“The opening of new attractions plays an important role. The Loophead Lighthouse opening has had a tangible effect. There are 700 people a day visiting the lighthouse and that’s growing. You’re talking about a lot of people coming into an area and they don’t just visit the lighthouse and leave. They have coffee or lunch and they spend in other ways. Talking to people on the ground, it’s been a good July and the season is holding its own.”

And there is a renewed interest among anglers and country sports enthusiasts in coming to Clare, according to Teresa Browne of East Clare Tourism. Teresa has just returned from four days manning a stand on behalf of the tourism organisation at the County Livinging Association’s annual show, the biggest of its kind in the UK.

“The angling tourism business is really down in recent years but that said, there was a lot of genuine interest and enquiries at the CLA show.

“There was also a lot of genuine sympathy for the trouble we have been going through with the economy. I would hope that the feedback at the East Clare Tourism stand will translate into tourists coming here.”

“Anyone who is involved in the North American business is doing well but the Irish don’t seem to be coming out to play,” said Mid-West Hotel Federation chairman, Michael Vaughan. The Lahinch hotelier said that a new dynamic in the industry is seeing larger towns and cities getting the tourists at the expense of smaller places like Kilkee and Kilrush.

“In those places, business has been fairly flat and I’ve been speaking to a lot of B & B owners this week. They are really struggling. But that said, the US group market is doing well and September bookings are looking good. The extra flights with Delta and Continental have brought people in as well. Overall, I would say there has been a small lift and there is cause for optimism for next year.” he told The Clare People .

THE CLARE County Council decision to extinguish a public right of way across one of the fairways on Doonbeg Golf Club has been upheld by the High Court.

The order was made by Mr Justice Peter Charleton on Thursday last, when he dismissed a bid to quash the extinguishment of the right of way, citing the fact that the application was brought outside the legal time limits.

The judge pointed out that under court rules, an application for judicial review must be made within a maximum six months, unless there are good reasons shown to extend the time. No good reason was shown in this case, he said.

The challenge to the extinguishment of the right of way across the course was taken by James McNulty, Ballingun West, Kilrush, who said he was dismayed the local authority would extinguish a right of way to a place of natural beauty.

In his court challenge, Mr McNulty also said that the council had acted beyond its powers in this decision, and that it breached legislation on grounds including that an oral hearing relating to the proposal lacked fair procedure.

Clare County Council voted by 223 in September, 2009 in favour of extinguishing the right of way, which meant the public could no longer walk across the fourth and 14th fairways. The decision provided for an alternative right of way nearby. The plan also involved the golf club constructing a car park to be used predominantly by surfers.

Mr Justice Charleton said Mr McNulty focused on the fairness of a public hearing held by the council in October 2008 concerning its proposal to set up an alternative right of way.

While that hearing was chaired by an independent planning official, Mr McNulty had concerns the county council’s solicitor advised the inspector on legal procedures during the course of the hearing and claimed that tainted the fairness of the hearing.

Mr McNulty also argued the council’s proposal to extinguish the right of way in favour of a private arrangement between it and the golf club was outside the local authority’s powers.