Author: admin

ENNIS’ reputation as a haven and hotspot for traditional music was given a shot on the arm on Friday night’s Late Late Show as local Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann activists prepare to crank up their campaign to bring Fleadh na hÉireann back to the county to the county capital.

And, the boost to the county capital’s traditional music came from the unlikely source of Bob Geldof – the former Boomtown Rat and Live Aid promoter, who told Late Late Show host Ryan Tubridy of the time he spent in Clare that helped him reconnect with Ireland and realise what he was missing.

“I went on a brief holiday a number of years ago to rediscover,” said Geldof.

“I’d forgotten how beautiful it was. I’d told my friends to lay out a plan – I want to do Ireland – but that I may not know the places to go. I went down to a couple of sessions in Ennis and I said to myself ‘I miss this so much. This is so cool’,” he added.

Geldof’s praise of Clare traditional music in Ennis – a reputation developed on the back on the huge success of the Fleadh Nua event in the 1970s – comes as amid a growing wish among Comhaltas Ceoltóirí activists that Clare be chosen as a Fleadh na hÉireann venue for the first time since 1976.

Geldof’s association with Clare dates back to the late 1980s when he became a key component in the efforts of the late Dr Brendan O’Regan at fostering world peace.

Along with media mogul Ted Turner, President Patrick Hillery and others, Geldof was a keynote speaker at the 1988 International Peace Conference organised by O’Regan’s Shannon-based Centre for International Cooperation.

THERE was celebrations in Liscannor over the weekend as Dennis Vaughan was crowned Irish Seafood Chef of the Year. Vaughan, who runs Vaughan’s Anchor Inn Bar and Seafood Restaurant in the village, was officially presented with the prestigious accolade by the Minister of State with responsibility for Fisheries, Sean Connick, last week.

“We are very happy to get the award. We have always aimed to produce the highest quality of seafood in the restaurant. It’s what we have always done, we were brought up on it with all the fishing so even from a very young age we have aimed to produce top quality seafood,” he told The Clare People yesterday.

“In the restaurant the focus was always primarily on fish. The total focus of the restaurant is on local fish and shell fish. We are one of the few restaurants in the country who proc ess all their own stuff – from crabs to prawns to fish – everything that we use comes in either on the bone or in the shell and we work with it from there. Everything is as it comes out of the sea.

“I think that the public do recognise a product. You could be in a restaurant beating yourself up and going down the road of putting cheaper products on the menu but I think you will lose the loyalty of people who come to you looking for that grade of product. It’s is about giving people what they want and not cutting any corners.

“We give it as good as we can give it, with a premium product that peo- ple seem to like and so far it is working out well for us.”

While a number of restaurants around the county have closed for the winter months or have installed limited opening hours, Vaughan’s Anchor Inn Bar and Seafood Restaurant has been able to remain open all year round, seven days a week.

Meanwhile, it was also being confirmed over the weekend that 13 Clare eateries have been named as part of the BIM Seafood Circle – with the majority of the chosen restaurants located in the north and west of the county.

There are currently 200 members of the Seafood Circle nationwide. It was set up to champion retail and hospitality outlets that offer the best quality seafood and service to customers.

THE West County Hotel, which forms part of the Clare-based Lynch group, will remain under Lynch management, the group’s managing director has confirmed.

The Clare Inn Hotel became the second hotel in the Lynch Hotel group to enter receivership along with the Breaffy House in Castlebar on Friday. Around 150 people are employed at the Clare Inn and Breaffy House.

Michael McAteer of Grant Thornton was appointed receiver last Friday. Pat McCann, founder of Maldron Hotels has been appointed to oversee the management of the Clare Inn and Breaffy House. Michael B Lynch told The Clare People on Monday that “The West County will remain under Lynch management and its business as usual.”

Mr Lynch added that the recent weeks “had been very difficult time” for everyone associated with the business.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Mr McAteer confirmed that, “Michael McAteer was appointed receiver of the Clare Inn Hotel in County Clare and at Breaffy House Resort in Castlebar in County Mayo on Friday, 28 January, 2011.

“As the appointed receiver, it is Mr McAteer’s duty to realise the maximum value from the assets over which he is charged, and discharge any receipts in accordance with the priorities as set out in the Companies Acts.”

In a statement last week, Mr Lynch said he will work with the receivers and the banks to ensure that the jobs are protected and that the affected hotels remain open.

He said, “We had a duty to move to protect the 500 employees’ jobs in our seven properties and do right by their families in these harsh economic times. It is with great regret that we have had to make this decision but I am happy that in our discussions with the bank and receiver we have secured a position where the properties will remain open and continue to trade.”

Mr Lynch said the decision of Bank of Scotland (Ireland) to withdraw from this market “had a serious impact” on its “ability to source working capital over the winter months”. The Lynch Hotel group successfully emerged from examinership in 2009.

THE opening of the West County Inn Hotel over 40 years ago was the foundation stone of the Lynch Hotel Group that in recent years that became one of the flagship hotel chains around the country under the direction of Michael B Lynch.

The West County Inn was developed by Michael Lynch Snr and when officially opened in April 1968 by the then Minister for Labour and future President of Ireland, Dr Patrick Hillery, it was labelled “a very substantial addition to Clare tourism”.

And, while both the Clare Inn Hotel and Breaffy House Hotel went into receivership last Thursday, the West County still remains one of the industry leaders in the county and beyond, having been developed as one of the flagship hotel in the midwest region in terms of numbers of visitors over its 43-year history.

In 2009, the group, which employed over 500 in seven hotels in the west of Ireland, gained court protection from its creditors as it endeavoured to re-organise its finances. Judge Mary Finlay Geoghegan appointed Michael McAteer of Grant Thornton as interim examiner of Ireland’s largest family-run hotel group.

The judge made the appointment after being told that an independent accountant’s report showed that the group has a reasonable prospect of survival as a going concern. The examinership gave the company 100 days to reorganise its finances. The court heard that the group owed € 22.85m and was unable to pay its debts.

After being established in 1968 the group expanded further in Clare by and into Mayo, Limerick and Galway. In 2008, the group opened a luxurious family-friendly spa at the Breaffy House Hotel in Castlebar, while other hotels in the group included the George Boutique Hotel in Limerick City and Haydens Gateway Hotel in Ballinasloe.

The hotel group pulled out of Dublin a couple of years ago, selling the 270-bedroom Green Isle hotel at a € 10m loss for € 40m. It also sold the South Court Hotel in Limerick for an estimated € 15m and then leased the 127-bedroom building back.

Mr Lynch, remains a director but the company is now run by his son, Michael B Lynch, a former finalist in the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year competition.

“We are professional hoteliers with a fundamentally sound business and at this time are planning to restructure our financial position,” Michael B Lynch said in 2009.

“We are confident that our 40 years of experience in the hotel business, our customer and staff loyalty and recognised innovation practices will see the company through this process,” he added.

A NEW rail service, specially targeted at the hundreds of Clare people working in Galway City, could be in operation before the end of March. The Clare People has learned that Iarnród Éireann is considering the introduction of a 6.30pm Galway to Ennis service as part of an overall timetable reshuffle which is currently being finalised.

At present the last train leaves Galway at 5.25pm, meaning that the vast majority of Clare people commuting to work in Galway cannot use the service.

This new service has been mooted as a result of customer feedback and focus group research undertaken by Iarnród Éireann.

Also on the table is the introduction of a Dublin connection on the Galway side of the western rail corridore. This means that Dublin bound Clare commuters could choose between travelling to Heuston Station via Limerick or Athenry in the future.

Iarnród Éireann last week published a list of time-table alterations on its website – including the new Galway to Ennis service and the Athenry to Dublin connection. This is the first time in the organisation’s history that proposed timetable changes have been published before a final decision has been made and according to company spokesperson Jim Gallivan, it will lead to a more customer friendly timetable.

“We have a draft copy of all the proposed changes on our website at the moment and this is the first time that we have ever done something like this. All going well we could be in a position to introduce the new routes by the end of March or the beginning of April,” he said.

“The changes are in response to hundred of comments from our customers over the last weeks and months and also from the results of a number of focus groups. Nothing has been finalised 100 per cent yet, we want to get a feel for exactly what people want and to see what they think of the proposed timetable.

“We are also trying to work out a number of other issues on some of the routes. Some of the connections are a bit ambitious at the moment, with just two or three minutes between trains at some stations, so we need to fine tune a few elements here or there.”

EAST Clare councillor Joe Cooney has told The Clare People that he would “give strong consideration” to running in the upcoming General Election, if Fine Gael headquarters sanctioned an 11th hour move to add a fourth candidate to the party’s ticket in the county.

However, moves locally to have Cllr Cooney, who topped the poll in the Killaloe Electoral Area in 2009 with a surplus of over 1,000 votes, could finally be dashed tonight, Tuesday, when Fine Gael election strategists finally reveal their full hand for the Clare constituency.

“At the moment we have three candidates,” Fine Gael Director of Elections, Phil Hogan told The Clare People .

“I don’t see that changing, but we have a meeting this Tuesday night and if a fourth candidate was added the decision would be taken there,” he added.

“I’d give it strong consideration,” said Cllr Cooney when pressed on Dáil ambitions while attending the re-enactment of the 1921 Glenwood Ambush in Kilkishen.

“I got nearly 2,800 votes in the 2009 local election. We have three men in the race at the moment and it’s up to headquarters if they want to add a fourth. If the party came back and said that they were adding that fourth candidate, I would give it consideration.

“At the moment they’re leaving it at three and if it stays like that, that’s the door closed, end of story. It’s totally up to headquarters. We are bound by headquarters and I am hap- py with that. There is a strategy here in Clare, so it’s up to headquarters. Whatever they decide we’ll go with it,” added Cllr Cooney.

“Any decision in relation to a fourth candidate is a matter for the director of elections and his team – they are Frank Flannery, Phil Hogan and Tom Curran,” said Deputy Pat Breen, who has endorsed Cllr Cooney’s credentials as a possible candidate.

“I have no problem whatsoever if they want to add a fourth candidate. I have made that quite clear to the candidates involved. We had four candi- dates in the last elections in 2007 and secured two seats.

“The advantages of running four candidates is that you maximise your vote and you get a big vote. The disadvantage is that you dilute the vote that second preferences may not transfer. It’s a call the National Executive have to make. Whatever decision they make, I’d abide by that.

“At this stage I would hope that the National Executive would confirm if they’re to add a candidate, so we can finalise our team to get ready for an election,” added Deputy Breen.

SINN Féin will not be running any General Election candidate in Clare.

The republican party did not even consider any candidate for the constituency, believing the time was not right to offer a candidate from the party to the people of the county for consideration.

The decision was taken when it emerged the structures were not in place to field a strong candidate, as the party is currently reorganising in Clare.

The decision by head office was met with disappointment in some areas, particularly by supporters of Spancillhill Garage owner Joe Corbett who hoped to be put forward as a candidate.

Sinn Féin last ran a General Election candidate in Clare in May 2007, when then student and Enniswoman Anna Prior represented the party.

Two years later and the then 24year-old stood in the Galway local elections under her married name Anna Marley, having moved to Oranmore.

Ms Prior secured 1,929 first preference votes in the 2007 General Election for Sinn Fein in Clare.

It had been 15 years before this when the party last ran a General Election candidate, when Mike McKee contested the election of 1992.

He received 459 votes and was eliminated in the first count.

Since then, Sinn Féin has had some success in elections in Clare having secured a seat on Shannon Town Council in 2009.

Cllr Cathy McCafferty (SF) was the seventh councillor to be returned on the nine-member council.

Sinn Féin has already selected 16 candidates to contest the General Election in other parts of the country.

It currently has five TDs in the Dáil including Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin, Arthur Morgan, Martin Ferris, Aengus Ó Snodaigh and Pearse Doherty.