Author: admin

NORTH Clare is in danger of becoming an unemployment blackspot if action is not taken to reverse worrying jobs trends in the region.

Almost 74 per cent of all new people signing on the live register in the last quarter of 2013 signed on in the Ennistymon office.

Fears have also been expressed locally about the growth in the number of long-term unemployed in the area, with the overall number of people signing on in North Clare growing by almost 300 per cent over the last eight years.

These figures do not take into account the number of people emigrating from the North Clare area, meaning the over number of actual jobs lost in the area could be far greater than the official figures suggest.

The overall number of people signing on in Clare rose by 302 people between September and December of last year. Over the same time period, the number of people in the Ennistymon area office grew by 223 people, meaning that 73.84 per cent of all live register increases in the county came in the Ennistymon area.

While much of this can be explained as a result of seasonal factors, with a number of large tourism sector em- ployers located in North Clare, the continued stagnation of the county’s building industry is also a major problem in the North Clare area.

“The Government needs to be cognizant of the fact that it needs to create job, not just on the city areas but in the regions as well. Opportunities are going to have to be developed for smaller, local employers who can offer four or five sustainable jobs. There is no point getting a factory into Ennistymon, Miltown Malbay or Lisdoonvarna that could be gone in five years,” said Ennistymon businessman and Senator, Martin Conway (FG).

“The recession has hit hard in North Clare. A lot of the people who are long-term unemployed in North Clare are that because of the collapse in the construction industry. It is really difficult to get employment in the area at the moment – particularly for young men.”

The number of people singing on the live register in North Clare doubled between 2005 [637] and 2008 and 1,214. The numbers signing on have fluctuated seasonally between 1,500 and 1,700 over the last fours years. It has been suggested that the repair work in North Clare following the storm might help a number of the long-term unemployed in Clare back into employment.

A WEST Clare man who claims he walked 17 miles between Ennis and Kilrush while in a “drug haze” after he was arrested for breaking into a car has been ordered to comply with the Probation Services.

Sam Johnson (19) was arrested by gardaí after breaking into a car at Considine’s Terrace, Ennis on October 12, 2013.

Mr Johnson appeared at Ennis District Court on Wednesday where he pleaded guilty to two charges of illegally interfering with mechanically propelled vehicles.

Inspector Tom Kennedy told the court a resident of Considine’s Terrace contacted gardaí after she discovered her car had been moved from its original position to the middle of the car park.

Mr Johnson, with an address at New House, Cooraclare, was arrested after gardaí discovered his phone and a specimen of blood in the car. He was later released.

Insp Kennedy said gardaí received another report later that morning of a car being broken into at the Cross Roads Pub, Knockalough, Kilrush Road.

The court heard the owner had parked his vehicle at the pub before getting a lift to work in Meelick.

Insp Kennedy said Mr Johnson was seen in the car and arrested soon after.

Insp Kennedy said the accused was disorientated and intoxicated and was unable to give an explanation for his behaviour.

The court heard Mr Johnson has paid compensation of € 200 for the damage done to the car at Knockalough.

Mr Johnson has no previous convictions.

Defence solicitor Fiona Hehir said her client was still high on drugs and had no phone when he was released.

She said Mr Johnson walked from Ennis to the Cross Roads Pub.

“He was in a drug haze. There is no other way to explain it”, she added.

Ms Hehir said her client has not taken any drugs since the incident and is meeting with a drugs counselor.

The court heard that when asked by gardaí why he had broken into the car at Knockalough, the accused, said, “I wanted to buy the car.”

Insp Kennedy said the distance from Ennis to Knockalough was around 17 miles.

Asked by Judge Durcan if he accepted Mr Johnson’s version of events on the night, Insp Kennedy said, “No.”

“I don’t know how he got to Knockalough but I can assure you he did not walk it”, he added.

Judge Patrick Durcan said these were very serious offences. However he said Mr Johnson was in full time education and is taking steps to deal with substance abuse issues. Adjourning the case to April 2, Judge Durcan ordered a pre-sentence report from the Probation Services.

THE ban on cutting turf on two east Clare bogs has been lifted following the publication of a new National Peatlands Strategy – but the much contested ban on cutting at the Tullaher Lough and Bog in West Clare still remains.

Restriction turf cutting will now be allowed on a total of 45 bogs, including two in east Clare, which had been deemed to be Natural Heritage Areas by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.

The situation at the Tullaher Lough and Bog in less clear however, as it is classified as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and a bad on turf cutting will remain in force – for the time being at least.

The National Peatlands Strategy also included a biodiversity for the Doonbeg Bog. The bog received poor ranks in term of its Habitat Quality and Ecological Diversity, receiving an D and E grade respectively.

These negative marks could work in local turf cutters favour as the bog could now be seen as a site of lesser ecological importance and less become less important to protect.

The new National Peatlands Strategy plan is pending European approval, but local turf cutting campaigners are hopeful that it may herald the beginning of a u-turn in government policy towards raised bogs and lead to the lifting of restriction at Tullaher.

LIVING in a house overlooking Farhiy Bay in Baltard, Doonbeg is a blessing most of the year, but the storm and high tides at the beginning of the New Year made it a precarious place to call home.

Gearoid Greene along with his wife and five children were shocked as the spray from the storm and high tide of January 7 beat off the back of the house.

What made it all the more surprising was the fact that the house was far above sea level, looking down on the sea from a great height.

Shortly after 8am as the storm took hold the family were in fear of severe damage to their home and even considered moving while the storm abated.

The winds and strength of the sea blew in the stones from the periphery wall into the garden, leaving the back of the home, which faces on to the sea, exposed.

Wiring securing electric poles were also up rooted, in damage never witnessed in the area before.

As well as dealing with the clean- up of the storm and the rebuilding of the secure wall, this farming family must also contend with reseeding land covered by seawater, when and if it eventually dries, in time for this year’s harvest.

The cost of the bad weather continues to be counted.

THERE is a ‘huge problem’ with theft in Clare, a Judge has warned.

Judge Patrick Durcan made his comments at Ennis District Court on Wednesday as he imposed a 12month prison sentence on a Romanian man convicted for his role in a number of theft offences.

Emil Brasoveanu (27), with an address at Dun Leinn, Monivea, Galway, was part of a three strong gang who targeted small businesses in West and North Clare in a crime spree on December 17 (2013).

In December, a husband and wife Anton Makula (26) and Anca Grancea (23) of Cluain Rocaird, Headford Road, Galway city, received prison sentences for their role in the offences.

All three had pleaded guilty to various theft charges on three businesses in West Clare.

In December, defence solicitor Fiona Hehir said the couple had “stupidly got involved in the operation” because they needed money for their children’s Christmas presents.

The court heard Mr Brasoveanu wore a ladies swimsuit during the commission of the thefts.

Last month, Sgt Ronan O’Hara of Kilrush Garda Station, told the court the accused wore the swimsuit back to front.

“By wearing it back to front, you can conceal more down the back of it”, explained Sgt O’Hara.

“It’s a new one on me”, said Sgt O’Hara when asked if he had come across this type of theft before.

The businesses targeted were McGrotty’s Medical Hall, Ennistymon, William’s Pharmacy, Kilkee and Miltown Malbay Post Office. All property was recovered, the court heard.

“These people (businesses) were very specifically targeted by these people in a deliberate and organised fashion”, said Judge Durcan at the time.

Praising the actions of local gardaí and the bravery of a post office worker who helped foil the theft of a charity box, Judge Durcan said of the accused;

“Their actions are putting jobs on the line, businesses in jeopardy and leads to a situation where a commu nity could’ve been deprived of essential services.”

On Wednesday, defence solicitor Fiona Hehir said Mr Brasoveanu was an unemployed father of two who committed the offences to get money for Christmas. Judge Durcan said, “I do not believe a single word of what your client has instructed you”.

He said Mr Brasoveanu was part of a gang that had engaged in the “commercial tyranny” of small businesses in West Clare.

“The court has to look on these type of offences with the greatest severity and it does”, he added.

The court heard the accused is currently serving a prison sentence, activated by a Cork court last month.

Judge Durcan imposed a 12-month prison sentence, noting that there is “huge problem with theft in Clare.”

“You can’t have people perpetrating this type of crime against the retail sector which is on it’s knees”, he added.

ENNIS’ effor ts to become Ireland’s tidiest town have been boosted by a € 4,000 increase in funding from Ennis Town Council.

At the council’s annual budget meeting last week, members unanimously voted in favour of a motion to allocate extra funds to the Ennis Tidy Town’s Committee.

Cllr Tommy Brennan (Ind) proposed cutting by half money allo- cated for the mayor’s allowance in 2014.

The Ennis councillor told the meeting the money could instead be given to Tidy Towns as Ennis would only have a mayor for another six months.

It is expected that the town council will be replaced by a municipal authority after this year’s local elections.

Cll r Brennan’s proposal came in response to a suggestion put forward by Cll r Brian Meaney (GP).

A Fianna Fáí l candidate in the 2014 local elections, Cll r Meaney called on the council to increase the increase the cost of using the town’s automated public toilets from 25 cents to 50 cents.

The meeting heard the proposal would generate additional income of € 2, 000.

The council estimates it will cost € 70, 000 to maintain and service the two ‘superloos’ in 2014.

Cllr Meaney’s proposal was supported by Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) who said some of the extra income should go towards tackling the “graffiti epidemic” in the town.

However it was strongly opposed by other councillors. Cllr Brennan said, “For anyone even to suggest it is disgraceful.”

The council will give a contribution of € 16, 000 to Ennis Tidy Towns. Cllr Brennan said an extra € 4,000 could be found by cutting the mayor’s annual allowance. Cll r Brennan’s motion was unanimously voted through by all nine members. Cllr Meaney’s motion was defeated by five votes to four.

Town manager Gerard Dollard told the meeting the council would also look favourably on any application from the Ennis Defibrillator Committee for community grant funding. This was after a request from Cllr Paul O’Shea (Ind).

Going down on his knees as Tuesday’s meeting neared conclusion, Cllr O’Shea urged the council to provide financial support to the committee.

ONE hundred per cent of the € 23.76 million requested by Clare County Council from central government must be forthcoming and soon if the local authority is to begin restoring the storm ravaged county. That was the message from county councillors at a special meeting on Friday, during which warnings were issued that lives will be lost if the infrastructure is not repaired immediately.

Cllr Richard Nagle (FF) said that one such urgent case was the main thoroughfare to the tourist attraction – the Cliffs of Moher.

“If something isn’t done at that location and other locations highlighted in this report, what is going to happen? Is it that that road will simply collapse and it is very close to that now? And if the road collapses, without ever talking about loss of life, it is going to result in a huge loss to the local economy, the main way to the cliffs will be collapsed and it will cost millions then. Whatever it is going to cost now that the road it there it will cost a lot more to be rebuild,” said the North Clare councillor.

He added however that priority must be given to people displaced by the storm and sea swells.

“We need a swift response from central government and a swift allocation of funds to start this work as a matter of urgency,” he said.

Cllr Michael Hillery (FF) was not confident that the close on € 24 million will cover the cost of the “damage I have seen along the coast line”.

Senior engineer with Clare County Council Tom Tiernan said the coun- cil will be working hard to restore local authority infrastructure.

He said the council’s focus would also be in making serous inroads into the village of Kilbaha in the coming weeks and Clahane north of Liscan nor “where serious damage has been done and a number of other areas where access is seriously curtailed”.

“We are a long way from having Lahinch ready for what is needed for the tourist season, but we will achieve it. This is something that is obviously very important to the county during the tourist season.”

GARDAÍ in Clare have recovered more than three quarters of a million euro worth of cannabis plants at three different grow houses on the West Clare peninsula.

Three people were arrested yester- day (Monday) during the raid of two different houses in the Kilkee area, as part of ongoing investigations into the cultivation of drugs in west Clare. On Wednesday half a million euro worth of cannabis plants were discovered in Carrigaholt by local Gardaí working as part of a national operation – “Nitrogen”.

Yesterday afternoon Gardaí in Kilrush arrested a man believed to be a Vietnamese national following the planned raid of the rented house in Kilkee. The number of cannabis plants secured in the raid will not be known until later today (Tuesday) but it has been described by Gardaí as “sizeable”.

The man in his early 50s was arrested and detained in Ennis Garda Station last night under Section 2 of the Drugs Trafficking Act.

Earlier that morning Gardaí from Kilrush discovered 200 cannabis plants, worth an estimated € 160,00, in another rented house in the Kilkee area.

IT WILL cost almost € 24 million to repair storm damage to 60 kilometres of coastline and 35 specific areas of Clare County Council managed infrastructures, with bills for the Office of Public Works, to private individuals and community groups expected to run into millions of euros more.

According to the Preliminary Storm Damage Report submitted to the Government by the local authority on Friday, it was the “worst experienced in living memory”.

More information relating to infrastructure the council maintains is the responsibility of the OPW will be forwarded to the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government in the coming days.

These areas in question include Kildysart, Ballynacally, the Shannon embankments at Shannon Airport and Doonbeg at the site of the golf course.

“Clare County Council accepts there has been further significant damage to infrastructure not under the control of the council, in particular to estuary embankments along the Shannon Estuary and strategic tourism enterprises. An assessment of this damage will now be completed for the Government’s consideration,” said the county manager Tom Coughlan following a special meeting of the council.

The largest cost to the council will be repairing the promenade and dealing with the compromised rock armour at the seaside resort of Lahinch at € 5.84 million.

The county’s most westerly village of Kilbaha was also extensively damaged with repair work estimated at € 3.42 million, and a further € 622,000 estimated for Kilcredaun where six families were isolated from the main land for days.

Cloughaninchy, Quilty, which was the sight of devastating damage to homes is estimated to cost € 2.58 million.

Damage at New Quay is also over a million euros estimated at € 1.84 million with € 1.12 million of damage estimated to the N67 road at Moneypoint, Kilrush.

Senior engineer Tom Tiernan, who compiled the report, warned that the figures are as realistic as they can be at this early stage and are subject to change. He explained the vast bulk of the report relates to the destruction caused by the high winds and surging tides throughout the length of the Clare coastline through the first week of 2014.

“The vast bulk of damage caused by the first of the aforementioned three storms was most severely impacting inland – within 10 miles of the north and west coasts of the county. The vast bulk of the impact of the latter two events manifested itself at several locations along the county’s entire coastline and their respective severities are explained by the coincidence of very high tides, extremely low pressure centres moving in a south-west to north-east direction off the west coast of Ireland and severe south-west to west winds gusting at speeds of up to 150 km/hr onto the coastline,” he said.

AMAZING film from CCTV cameras at the playground in Lahinch during the early hours of Monday, January 6, shows massive waves sweep away recycling bins weighing half a ton as the playground disappears under water.

Clare County Council’s Paul Moroney, who monitored the footage explained that no human could have survived the ferocity of the waves and a car would have been crushed with the impact.

The senior engineer with the council’s water department showed the film to county councillors at a special meeting on Friday last in an at- tempt to depict the terrifying weather conditions the people living along the county’s coast were exposed to during the end of December and early January.

Shortly after 3am on the fateful morning a wave dislodged the bottle and can banks weighing 250kg each.

Three minutes before 5am all of the bottle banks were dislodged and moving at speed with the force of a wave across the playground.

Half an hour later the film captured the playground now under water and the final bank – the half tonne back containing wet clothes, being swept across the screen.

Just 20 minutes later, at 5.50am, the playground was full of water with none of the play equipment visible.

Mr Moroney explained that in flood hazard terms the area was calculated to be “extremely hazardous”, “making it hazardous to life”.

Just seconds later a wave took out the streetlights, and even though the cameras kept running the screen was black and the only sound came from an angry sea.