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MEMBERS of Kilrush Town Council accumulated salaries and expenses to the total of € 72,114.97 last year.

The biggest earner was Cllr Mairead O’Brien (Ind), who was mayor for the first six months of the year and claimed € 11,046.55. As well as her councillor’s salary Cllr O’Brien was also entitled to a mayoral allowance of € 1,487.50 for the period.

Also influencing her council expenses last year was the St Patrick’s Day trip to New York, which cost the council € 2,045.88 and costs associated with the Kilrush Famine Commemoration which she worked on as mayor.

Cllr O’Brien also attends meetings of the Clare Local Development Company on behalf of the council ,which also added to her expenses list.

Current Mayor Cllr Paul Moroney (Ind) also received a mayoral allowance for the last six months of 2013 bringing his expenses to € 9,369.43.

All nine councillors received a basic taxable salary of € 4,160.94 as well as a tax free allowance for attending meetings of € 2,036.

Cllr Christy O’Malley (FF) who was seconded to the town council following the death of Cllr Stephen O’Gorman (FF) in February received a salary and an allowance for just 11 months.

Councillors were also entitled to receive a mobile phone allowance up to the value of € 400.

Not all councillors claimed expenses beyond their salary and meeting allowance however.

Cllr Tom Clyne (Ind) did not claim any conference or mobile phone expenses, while Cllr Moroney and Cllr O’Malley did not claim phone expenses. Cllr Ian Lynch (FG), like Cllr Clyne, did not have any travel expenses to conferences or seminars. The remaining seven councillors spent € 12,125 attending meetings, seminars and conferences outside of Kilrush.

Cllr Liam William (FG) was the least travelled of the seven however, claiming just € 74.44 for a trip to the Inn at Dromoland for the launch of the Integrated Plan for the Shannon Estuary.

With the exception of the AMAI conferences (a body which represents the interests of municipal bodies in Ireland) there were just five conferences that attracted more than one councillor.

Cllr Tom Prendeville (FF) and Cllr Liam O’Looney (FF) both attended the conference of Reconstructing the European Economy; Debt Relief in Ireland and a conference on Facing the fear of Alcohol and Mental Health in Ireland.

Cllr Marian McMahon Jones (FG) and Cllr O’Brien also attended the Tourism Annual Conference in Ennistymon on separate days, while Cllr O’Malley and Cllr Williams made their way to Dromoland for the launch of the Integrated Plan for the Shannon Estuary.

DOZENS of Clare people who were the victims of industrial abuse have contacted new state abuse agency Cara Nua during its first three weeks in operation.

Close to 100 people from the county are understood to have contacted the new agency – which has been set up to help connect victims of abuse with a selections of practical services.

The new agency cannot take on any candidates who have not been previously before the Residential Institutions Board or had a successful case before the courts. With the board now closed to new applications, some Clare people who have suffered abuse in an industrial setting may be excluded from the scheme.

Abuse victims can still choose to take a case through the courts, but only if their level of abuse they endured was severe enough to be considered and indictable offense. The statute of limitations for less serious offenses – such as assault (six years), personal injury (two years) and summary offenses (six month) – will have elapsed.

The group currently has a budget of € 74 million funded by the religious institutions but that could swell to € 100 million in the months ahead.

“We can only provide services to people who have actually received an award – either through the Resi- dential Institutions Board or through the courts. We are limited to those people and we can’t deal with people who have spent time in a residential institute but did not take a case or go through the courts,” Fiona Coyne of Cara Nua.

“That said we know of around 400 people who are currently going through redress and we will be able to help them once there cases have been completed. Unfortunately the redress board is closed to applications – they are currently hearing their last 400 cases.”

The scheme is mainly aimed at meeting the needs of the victims of industrial abuse as they enter old age.

“Our focus is on their quality of life now and promoting well being. We’re looking at the issues that they are faced with now, not their time in an institution. These people have already told their story [to the redress board] they don’t need to go into that side of things with us. We are just there to help,” continued Ms Coyne.

“We don’t provide services directly ourselves but if people do need counselling or any kind of physiological support we can put them in touch with people.

“We have a budget of € 74 million and out anticipation is that this money won’t last indefinitely, so we feel we many be able to fund this service for the next three years.”

Contact Cara Nua at 1800 212477.

CLARE farming is on the verge of a civil war, with farmers from the north and west of the county examining the possibility of picketing Clare Marts in Ennis later this week.

A group from the Ennistymon branch of the IFA met last night (Monday, February 10), to discuss a possible picket and boycott of the Ennis Mart. This follows plans announced to sell Ennistymon Mart to supermarket chain Aldi, which prompted more than 450 people to attend a protest meeting in Ennistymon last week.

Ennistymon IFA say they feel “incredibly let down” by members of the board of the Clare Marts, which includes many prominent IFA members. It is not yet clear if a sale has been agreed between Clare Marts and Aldi, with neither organisation willing to comment on the subject.

“We are being totally ignored and left in the dark, and that is adding to the frustration that we are feeling. There are a number of IFA members on the board of Clare Marts – a number of prominent members. We feel that they are selling out farmers in North Clare,” said Pat O’Donoghue from Ennistymon IFA.

“This company [Aldi] were selling sprouts for 9 cent just a month ago. How can something like that be proIrish farming? We feel incredibly let down on what they [the board of Clare Marts] are doing.

“The word had gone out before the meeting that the mart had already been sold and we thought that that might put people off from attending. But in the end we had more than 450 people there from right across the local community.

“We are looking for a meeting with them but we get no answer. We are having a gathering ourselves tonight [Monday, February 10] and the top of the agenda the possibility of picketing the mart.”

Speaking to The Clare People yesterday, Jackie Fitzpatrick of Super- valu in Ennistymon said that, while she recognised the need for competition, jobs would be lost locally if Aldi moves into Ennistymon.

Fitzpatricks currently employ 70 local people, paying out € 1.4 million in wages annually, last year, and spend more than € 400,000 with local suppliers.

“Obliviously I accept the need for competition but if a retail outlet like Aldi were to open a store in Ennistymon there would be consequences for local business. I would anticipate job losses both in my business and in other local business. ” The Clare People contacted Clare Marts yesterday who said they had nothing to say on the proposed sale.

WEST Clare Coastal Windpower has lodged plans for a windfarm to be constructed outside of Doonbeg, months after An Bord Pleanála rejected their previous proposal to build a controversial windfarm in the same area.

Plans were lodged with Clare County Council last week for the construction of nine electricity generating wind turbines at Carrowmore South, Einagh and Shragh – two kilometres south of Doonbeg village.

These wind turbines would have a central stack 85 metres high, with a rotor diameter of 82 metres.

This would give a total height of 126 metres or 413 feet – or well over half the height of the Cliffs of Moher.

Besides the turbines themselves, the new planning permission also includes the construction of hardstandings, a control building, an electrical compound, a permanent meteorological mast as well as associated site roads.

Last July, An Bord Pleanála refused planning permission for what was described as an “industrial scale” € 200 million wind farm in the same location as the current proposal.

This proposal included 45-turbine each of which were in excess of 400 feet.

The proposal caused a rift in the local community with 79 landowners in the area missing out on a significant cash payment to lease their land for the windfarm.

One of the grounds for refusal was the pollution threat the windfarm posed to Doonbeg river that contains 5,000 freshwater pearl mussels – the highest concentration of the species in Clare.

The original decision followed a six-day oral hearing into the wind farm in April of last year, at which the country’s foremost authority on the mussel, Dr Evelyn Moorkens, said that if nothing was done to secure the future of the mussel, the species would become extinct there over time.

A decision on the proposal is not due for some months.

AN ATTENDANCE is excess of 10,000 is expected in Cusack Park this Sunday as Clare’s senior hurlers kick off their 2014 Division 1A National Hurling League campaign against Brian Cody’s Kilkenny.

The ground is expected to be able to host the fixture despite the inclement weather forecast for the week, with up to 12mms of rain possible on Friday. Clare come into the game on the back of a fourteen point loss to Tipperary in the Waterford Crystal Final under lights in the Gaelic Gounds on Friday night.

That game highlighted the gap between the All-Ireland champions and the other top hurling counties in terms of preparations according to Banner boss Davy Fitzgerald:

“We are way behind all the other teams in terms of work done. This time last year, going into the league we were eight weeks ahead of where we are this year.

“That’s the price of winning an AllIreland and we’re happy to pay it. It just means we might struggle in the early rounds of the league because we have an awful lot of work to do on catching up with the other teams. But we’ll knuckle down and we’ll get it done,” he told The Clare People this week.

Clare’s team won’t be finalised until closer to the weekend although it is expected to contain a couple of changes from the fifteen that started the All-Ireland final.

Cathal ‘Tots’ O’Connell and Seadna Morey are just two players expected to be pushing for starting places, while Peter Duggan, Shane Golden and Donal Tuohy are also in the reckoning.

Brian Cody is bringing a strong panel to Ennis, with Henry Shefflin expected to start the match. The Cats will be providing a guard of honour for Clare before the game starts.

A MAN accused of robbery in Ennis earlier this month as admitted breaching his bail conditions.

Mao Kimbadi (40), with an address at Laurel Lodge, Clare Road, Ennis, was granted bail subject to conditions at Ennis District Court earlier this month.

The accused, who is originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, was ordered to reside at Laurel Lodge, observe a curfew between 10pm and 7am and sign on twice weekly at Ennis Garda Station. The State was granted liberty to re-enter the cases should any breaches arise.

Mr Kimbadi is charged with robbing a handbag and cash from a woman in the Causeway Link Road area of Ennis at around 11.30pm on January 18. He is further charged with possession of a knife at Clon Road, Ennis on January 19.

He appeared before Ennis District Court on Wednesday. Inspector Tom Kennedy said the State were seeking to have the accused’s bail revoked as conditions had not been abided by.

Detective Garda John Casey of Ennis Garda Station told Insp Kennedy he visited Laurel Lodge on January 26 and 27 within the hours of the accused’s curfew.

He said Mr Kimbadi was not present at the address, which provides temporary accommodation to homeless men. Detective Casey said after further enquiries, he was told Mr Kimbadi had not stayed at Laurel Lodge between January 22 and 31.

Detective Casey said the accused had abided by the signing on conditions.Defence solicitor John Casey said his client no longer resided at Laurel Lodge but lived with his sister in Dublin. He said his client was in Dublin when Detective Casey called to Laurel Lodge.

Mr Casey said it had been explained to Mr Kimbadi that he would have to apply to the court to have his bail conditions varied. He said Mr Kimbadi accepts he breached his bail conditions. Judge William Early ordered Mr Kimbadi to abide by bail conditions. He was remanded on continuing bail to appear again at Ennis District Court on March 26.

Mr Kimbadi’s co-accused Clara Chapman (19) is also alleged to have breached the terms of her bail.

Ms Chapman, with an address at Banner Lodge, Ennis, was not present in court when her case was heard on Wednesday. On Wednesday, Detective Casey said he visited Banner Lodge on January 26, 10pm. He said Ms Chapman was not present and he was told by the owner she had not resided there since January 18.

Defence solicitor Tara Godfrey said her client, an unemployed mother of one, had a number of appointments and may not have been unable to attend court. He remanded Ms Chapman on continuing bail to appear again at Ennis District Court on February 12.

A GROUP of traveler students from Ennis can become “role models” for their community and help break down barriers to education.

That’s according to one Ennis man who plays a key role in helping young people from Traveller backgrounds achieve success through education.

Peer support worker David McCarthy worked alongside the group who recently devised a Drugs Awareness Art Project, a campaign supporter by Ennis CDP, the Mid Western Regional Drugs Taskforce, Clare County Council, St Vincent de Paul and the Courts Services.

Mr McCarthy, who works on a weekly basis with 12 secondary school students in Ennis, says an absence of role models is one of the main factors why many young people from a Traveller background fail to complete education.

“Role models is a big one and a lot of them feel that it doesn’t matter if they stay on in school, they won’t get jobs. That’s what we’re trying to challenge. That’s our big challenge at the moment,” he explained.

However he believes certain preconceptions about Travellers are being challenged

He explained, “There still is a taboo around Travellers getting married young and having families and settling down (and not continuing in education). That’s been challenged in Clare over the past few years. In the past five years, we’ve had Paddy McDonagh who has finished his degree course and is teaching in Scariff at the moment. We have a Pa Sherlock who did a Sports and Recreation course in the University of Limerick. Lee Sherlock is studying in UL as well. I’m in college doing youth and community work.”

He continued, “Traveller students are still not finishing school in any way close to their settled peers but we’ve seen an increase in school retention to at least the Junior Cert year. Currently in our group, we have four lads going into fourth year. You can never tell if they are going to stick with it but I believe the lads will push through.”

15-year-old Brian McDonagh is a student at St Flannan’s College in Ennis. He is also a member of the peer support group that devised the drugs awareness campaign.

He said, “It was very enjoyable. Doing this project, it makes more kids aware of what drugs can do to you. This group gives kids a positive message rather than a negative message in life, to go down the right path and not do drugs. It’s really good.”

Brian, a member of Ennis Boxing Club, says he hopes to study sport at third level.

THE cost of the unprecedented run of storms which battered the Clare coast over the past five weeks has grown to a massive € 36.8 million according to new estimates published yesterday by Clare County Council.

This means that more than € 12 million worth of damage was inflicted on the county over the past two weeks – with the giant sea swell and high winds of the St Brigid’s Day storm causing the lion’s share of this new damage.

This, coupled with the € 24 million worth of damage cause during the storm in early January, has left Clare County County with the possibility of a large hole in its budget should central government fail to make sufficient money available.

It was also revealed at last night’s meeting of Clare County Council that the local authority has already spent € 750,000 of its own money on repairs and clean-up operations to date.

County Manager Tom Coughlan admitted yesterday that the local authority has no budget for this € 750,000, admitting that the council was spending money that it did not have.

The council’s Corporate Policy Group (CPG) met before yesterday’s main council meeting and compiled a letter for the Government which stated that the council couldn’t, in good conscience, continue to spend money on repairs without central government giving firm details of the funding that will be made available. The most expensive storm damage was recorded in Lahinch where the council estimates that € 6.064 million will be required to fix damage done to the promenade and surround areas. The cost of repairs at Cloughaninchy in Quilty is now estimated at € 4.716, with the bulk of this going towards the re-construction of more than two kilometres of sea armour. There was also significant damage at Kilbaha in West Clare (€ 3.498 million) and New Quay in north Clare (€ 3.449 million) where roads and sea walls have been destroyed. Other badly damaged areas include Carrowmore (€ 1.628 million), White Strand/Doonmore (€ 1.550 million), Clahane in Liscannor (€ 1.487 million), Kilcredaun Irish College (€ 1.226 million), Carrowdotia, Moneypoint (€ 1.115 million), Doolin (€ 1.025 million) and Liscannor itself (€ 1.011 million). Serious questions have also been raised as to what agency or agencies are responsible for coastal defenses. There are 14 different agencies which have some interest in coastal and river flood defenses. “Until there is some clarity as to who is responsible for these areas this is going to be a very difficult project. We are all talking about providing leadership, but we cannot lead unless we know where we are going,” said county manager Tom Coughlan. “There are a lot of agencies involved, but there is no clarity who is responsible. We need a co-ordinated approach and that has to be led by Government. This is something that is outside the scope of Clare County Council.”

THE National Roads Authority (NRA) say that it has introduced a new system of ongoing maintenance on the M18, since the tragic death of 26-year-old student Vicky Courtney on a stretch the of road near Ballyline.

Ms Courtney died when her car veered off the motorway while driving in poor weather on November 18, 2012.

Following her inquest, which took place last September, Clare coroner Isobel O’Dea wrote to the NRA requesting that “a pool of water should not be allowed” to develop on the motorway.

According to an NRA spokesper- son, the organisation only assumed responsibility for maintenance on the M18 last September.

“The National Roads Authority fully agrees with the objective of the coroner’s statement in this regard,” said a spokesperson.

“Since this time, routine maintenance works have been undertaken including road sweeping and cleaning of gullies, slot drains and outfalls in addition to other general maintenance activities which assist with rapid drainage of water from the road surface.

“The NRA monitors and assesses the network under its direct control with a view to carrying out any maintenance or remedial works which might be required to improve road drainage and maintain the de- sign capacity of the drainage system. However, the possibility of the occurrence of surface water due to extreme weather events or other causes cannot be fully eliminated.

“In relation to the specific location on the north-bound carriageway of the M18 at Ballyline, the NRA is ensuring that our service provider is following their maintenance works. The installation of replacement pipework may be undertaken if the ongoing monitoring referred to indicates that this is warranted.

Ms Courtney’s inquest heard that she died when her red Peugeot spun 360 degrees after driving through a 15-metre pool of water lying across the fast lane. The car crashed into a barrier before overturning on the road.

THE Irish Red Cross said it is available to help the people of Clare affected by flooding and storms.

More than a month after the first two storms that destroyed homes, infrastructure and livelihoods on the west coast of Clare and along the Shannon River and estuary, and weeks following the third storm, those affected are still referring to the fallout as an emergency.

In Doonbeg a special group has been set up to lobby for “emergency works” along the coast, while families in Cloughaninchy in Quilty battle with insurance companies as they struggle to repair their homes.

In areas like Loop Head, main roads remain impassable and farmers through out the county struggle to reclaim land in time for spring.

Acknowledging the issues facing people in the county the Red Cross said it is there to help.

James Lafferty, Irish Red Cross Clare Area Treasurer, said anyone in Clare’s affected areas that wish to apply for assistance from the Irish Red Cross should contact Fintan Breen, National Services, to be put in contact with their local Community Welfare Office. His e-mail is f breen@redcross.ie. Meanwhile the Red Cross is under financial pressure to provide such services.

“The Irish Red Cross, Clare Area, wish to make an appeal for funds and over the next few weeks we hope to raise much needed funds through church gate collections all over Clare,” said Mr Lafferty.