THOSE dying for a bargain have the opportunity to avail of a once in as lifetime sale this month, as plots in a West Clare graveyard are part of a once-off sale.
The new extension to Burrane Cemetery can accommodate more than 50 double graves and from now until the end of the month they are available at a knock down price.
A single grave at the cemetery overlooking the Shannon Estuary will set the buyer back € 350 but this will drop to € 300 if bought in the next four weeks.
A FLOOD warning remains in place along the western and northern coast of the county with high tides expected to threaten beleaguered flood defenses again today.
A number of roads were closed across the area yesterday with Loop Head, Quilty, Lahinch and Liscannor already sustaining damage.
At high tide, 6.30pm last evening (Monday), the people of the Loop Head peninsula were preparing to be isolated from the rest of the county again.
This is now the fourth month the community has to endure tidal and storm damage. Just six hours before, the only remaining road on to the peninsula was reopened as it has been flooded again by high tide earlier that morning.
At 6am the Fodra Road, the only life line for the West Clare communities was closed by the tides. The main road to Kilbaha remains closed as Clare County Council works to repair it, while the road at Ross is closed and no work has begun on it.
Yesterday the people of Rhinevilla and Kilduane were again virtually living on an island as the high tides raised the floods once again.
On a happier note, Yvonne McNamara from Kilbaha, who had feared she would not be able to make it to hospital to have her baby if the tides were in, gave birth to a healthy baby girl and Friday. Mother and daughter were safely home in Kilbaha again before the only access road was closed for a period of six hours.
Meanwhile in Quilty the high tide burst through some of the council work at Cloughnainchy, and water has come in on some of the land again, while other coastal defences held.
Meanwhile, the Lahinch to Liscannor road was closed once again yes terday, while Clare County Council cleared boulders and other debris from the road. The promenade in Lahinch sustained further flooding during the high tide on Monday morning but it is not thought that and further significant structural damage has been done.
“High spring tidal conditions resulted in some flooding at various locations along the Clare coastline overnight and this morning [Monday],” said a council spokesperson.
“This flooding has since receded. The main road at Liscannor was closed for a time this morning to enable council workers to remove rubble from the road.”
THE number of planning applications in the county were up last year, albeit by a very slight margin.
According to the National Housing Construction Index, there was an increase of two per cent in planning applications for Clare in 2013.
However, project commencements for the year showed a decline, of five per cent. The majority of the projects seeking planning or about to go to construction in the county are selfbuilds or extensions to homes.
The team of researchers at www. link2plans.com have examined every housing construction planning application and planning commencement from January to December 2013, in the production of the National Housing Construction Index.
Viewed on a nationwide basis, the National Housing Construction Index reveals there is a very slight decrease in planning applications – down one per cent, with a drop in project commencements of four per cent since last year.
Clare bucks the national trend however and with the number of planning applications made increasing by five.
From January to December 2012 there were 322 planning applications made in the county, compared to 327 for the same period in 2013.
The previous year again, 2011, there was a decrease of 32 per cent, indicating the rate of decline has slowed and there are signs of recovery in the sector.
While there was a drop in the number of builds started in Clare in 2013, the reduction was not as significant as the previous year.
According to the managing director of Link2Plans, Danny O’Shea, the National Housing Construction Index shows a positive outlook for construction in Clare.
“The slight decline overall in the National Housing Construction Index for project applications and commencements was further evidence that the construction sector in Ireland is stabilising. Also of note is the introduction of the new Building Regulations which has resulted in a sharp increase in the number of planning commencements, in order to get started on projects before the more onerous building regulations come into force,” he said.
ST JOSEPH’S Secondary School Spanish Point is continuing the fight to raise funds for the county’s first second level education unit for students with Autism.
In its second year, the ‘Fight for Autism’ white-collar boxing competition has been organised again to raise funding to equip the specialised unit.
Last year € 20,000 was raised for the cause, with the organising committee hoping to reach the same fundraising milestone this year.
As many as 12 women and 20 men from all over west and north Clare have been training to get into the ring for this cause since January 1.
So popular is the event that the 700 tickets have already almost completely sold out, even though they only went on sale on Saturday morning.
The Fight for Autism will take place in the Armada Hotel, Spanish Point, on Sunday evening next.
The boxers parade will begin at 6.30pm, with six women’s fights and 10 men’s fights then scheduled to take place.
Deputy principal at St Joseph’s Secondary School, Spanish Point, Paul Reidy paid particular tribute to Ennis Boxing Club.
“We have to say a huge thanks to the club, without them this would not be possible,” he said of the boxing club that provided training and facilities to train to the 32 participants.
A SHANNON based company has been ordered to fund a third level science scholarship after pleading guilty to health and safety breaches.
Seven people were hospitalised after the accidental release of a “toxic” and “corrosive” gas at Chemifloc, Smithstown Industrial Estate, Shannon on December 20, 2012.
Details of the accident were heard at Ennis District Court on Friday.
Inspector Dermot O’Callaghan of the Health and Safety Authority (HSA), told the court that 6000 litres of sodium chloride were being loaded onto a tanker for delivery on the day in question.
Insp O’Connor said that after the loading of the fourth container, a yel- low green chlorine dioxide gas was produced, “which is classified and toxic and corrosive”.
The warehouse and yard were evacuated and emergency services were called to the scene.
A number of people were hospitalized and one person spent two days in intensive care, the court heard.
Insp O’Callaghan explained that an investigation determined that an unknown and unidentifiable container was accidentally loaded beside the sodium chloride, which led to production of the gas.
Chemifloc pleaded guilty to failing to ensure that all containers used at work for hazardous chemical agents were clearly labeled or identified.
The company also pleaded guilty to failing to manage and conduct work activities in such a way as to ensure, as was reasonably practicable, the health and safety of employees.
The offences are contrary to the Safety, Health and Welfare Act Work Act, 2005.
Solicitor James Nash said his clients had acknowledged the accident. He said it had resulted from a “systems error” and the company have fully changed their labeling system at the plant.
The company has no previous convictions. Mr Nash said the company, who were represented in court by the managing director and another director, were embarrassed by what happened and would suffer a 70 per cent jump in insurance costs.
He said Chemifloc had always been compliant with health and safety regulations.
“They are both here. They are both embarrassed to be here and they want to take it on the chin”, he added.
Judge Patrick Durcan said this was a very serious matter.
However he noted this was a local company that provides employment and has complied with every regulation and law.
He said if Chemifloc funded a € 10,000 third level science scholarship and discharged total witness and legal costs of 4714 euros, he would strike out the summonses.
He adjourned the case to March 14. Founded in 1982, Chemifloc employs 40 people.
The company is involved in the manufacture and supply of water treatment products.
A FIREMAN from Ennis is being hailed as a hero for the second time after jumping to the aid of a drown- ing woman at the weekend. Eli Brace jumped off Sarsfield Bridge in Limerick City as the woman was swept under. Eli is a member of Limerick City Fire and Rescue Service. The Shannon-based Coast Guard Rescue Helicopter 115 had been dispatched to help out in the river rescue, but due to high winds the winch man could not reach the woman. Eli then jumped from the bridge. The woman was being swept under the water when he rescued her from the water. The Ennis native was previously in the army before joining the fire services in 2008. He is a member of the fire service’s Swiftwater Rescue Team, who receive specific training to carry out rescues in river conditions. It is not the first time the married father has been involved in a dramatic river rescue. In March 2011, he was one of 10 members of the fire services who attended an emergency at Shannon Bridge in Limerick city. Emergency services were called to the scene after a man was seen entering the water. Eli, who is originally from the Cloughleigh area of the town, jumped into the water at Limerick Docks in order to save the man from drowning. In January, Eli was one of three people who co-opened Crossfit Ennis in the Quin Road area of Ennis. He spent his military career training soldiers in all aspects of fitness in his capacity as a PTI (Physical Training Instructor).
THE Magner family from Ross gathered this weekend to celebrate a hat trick of occasions, Mai and PJ’s 67th wedding anniversary, as well as birthdays for the happy couple – 95th and 91st respectively.
The key to a long and happy marriage and indeed life is living a “sim- ple lifestyle, coupled with prayer, and a sense of neighbourly goodness”, according to the couple’s family who have watched their parents live a long “wholesome life” together for almost seven decades.
Undoubtedly one of the longest married couples in the county, Mr and Mrs Magner celebrated the landmark occasions with their seven children and their grandchildren at a special dinner that saw the clan gather from all over.
Both Mai and PJ hail from the parish of Kilballyowen, with Mai living all her life besides the famed Bridges of Ross.
Formerly Mai Fennell, this only child married PJ Magner shortly after World War II, on February 12, 1947.
Rations were still in place, so to ‘obtain’ a bottle of whiskey for the ‘wedding breakfast’ was a major coup.
The wedding breakfast was held in their home, in a room that has since become their bedroom, and was attended by a few neighbours.
The West Clare couple went on to raise seven children in that home, three boys and four girls.
“They have lived a simple wholesome life, growing their own vegetables, raising their own fowl, beef and bacon. In summer, there was also lots of fresh mackerel caught, and this was often pickled for winter consumption,” said their daughter Carmel.
“There were plenty rough spots with bad weather spells at harvest time and so forth, but they came through it all, and now they have the comfort and care of living at home with their son Patrick and daughter in law Mary.”
In their nineties the couple continue to enjoy life.
PJ keeps mentally fit by learning off very long recitations, which he delivers at family gatherings, while Mai was an avid reader and a keen flower gardener up until very recently.
As a leap year baby – born on February 29, Mr Magner celebrated his birthday on March 1, while Mrs Magner reached the age of 95 yesterday (Monday).
COMMUNITIES along the west coast of Clare are coming together to hire their own engineer and access the damage to land and property as a result of two months of storms and high tides.
Led by the Clare Irish Farmers Associations, community groups have decided to take action where responsibility is being denied by government and state bodies.
Of particular concerns are sluices, which were in many cases initially built by the former Board of Works to drain sea water from farm land.
This infrastructure is not the responsibility of Clare County Council according to the local authority, with the Office of Public Works also denying accountability.
Embankment work and coastal erosion along farms and private property is also adding to the confusion, with property owners in many cases prepared to undertake the work but fearful of the bureaucratic consequences if they do so.
Clare IFA county chairman Andrew Dundass said the Minister for State with responsibility for the OPW Brian Hayes gave a commit- ment that he would consider some financial support if the farmers came together to undertake the work.
This would have to be inspected by the council, said the minister, as the OPW did not have the resources.
“These are all jobs that need to be done, even though they may be farm land at the moment, if these jobs aren’t done they will affect people further a field,” said Mr Dundass.
The plan is that farmers will come together to finance the work with some grant aid from the Government, similar to the community road projects a number of years ago.
“We will have to put all the reports together for the areas the council are not responsible for and what can be done for these people.”
Mr Dundass said farmers along the Shannon estuary are frustrated that no commitment has come from the OPW as yet as to what repair work will be carried out there. The OPW is responsible for parts of the estuary, especially areas of conservation.
“A lot of farmers are in a position to build up those embankments but are afraid of the consequences of doing so due to the restrictions on these lands,” explained Mr Dundass.
HAIL stones, which struck cars like “little ball bearings”, caused a spate of car accidents on the M18 near Newmarket-on-Fergus, as people made their way to work on Thursday morning last.
The freak hail storm caused three separate accidents involving five cars in just half an hour – with both lanes of Clare’s busiest motorway being closed for extended periods during rush hour.
The first accident was reported on the north bound carriageway just after 8.30am – with the motorway being closed for 90 minutes and one person being hospitalised with minor injuries.
Two separate accidents were then reported at the same location on the south bound carriageway, just ten minutes after the first accident. No one was hurt in either of the south bound accidents but the south bound carriageway was closed for more than a hour.
The National Roads Association (NRA) yesterday blamed the freak hail storm for the spate of accidents.
“Weather totally changes the conditions on how the driver and the road interact. Depending on the severity of the hail, it can act like little ball bearings and therefore the best course of action is to reducing your speed,” said NRA spokesperson Sean O’Neill.
The NRA also confirmed yesterday that it will now conduct an “engineering assessment” of the the M18 north of Crusheen, where six separate accidents took place during stormy conditions on the morning of December 19 last.
Despite requests from Clare County Council, the NRA will not conduct a full safety audit, but have instead committed to completing a engineering assessment within the next next few months.
Mr O’Neill also said that the NRA “cannot fully eliminate” the possibility of water pooling on this section of the road during heavy weather and suggested that permanent signs asking motorists to reduce speed in bad weather could be erected.
ALL Clare properties that went under the hammer at the Allsop Sale last week made or surpassed their reserve, as all the banner properties were snapped up.
The only Clare hotel on the list, Magowna House, Inch, was sold for € 370,000, € 20,000 over the reserve. The new owner of the 10-bed house, three two-bedroom cottages and an 18-hole pitch and putt course has not being confirmed, with millionaire business man and farmer JJ McCabe denying he purchased the lot.
A bungalow at Mahonburg, Inch, also sold at the Dublin-based auction for € 105,000.
Meanwhile 16.67 acres of land in Doonbeg reached its reserve price of € 75,000 and was sold, while land in Ardnacrusha surpassed its reserve by € 20,000. The 22 acres of land was bought for € 95,000.
A ground floor appartment also surpassed its reserve by € 11,000. The Town Court apartment was sold for € 31,000.
New hotelier Mr McCabe told The Clare People,