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MORE than 20 people in Clare who have had development on their lands frozen by part of the planning act are being treated unconstitutionally, it was claimed last night.

The council is damaging it’s own policy to halt rural depopulation by putting Section 47 orders on land Where one permission has_ been granted, members of Clare County Council were told.

The deferred meeting of the coun- cil heard from Cllr PJ Kelly(FF) who had asked for details in relation to section 47 conditions placed on the granting of planning in areas where the is a lack of development, known as structurally weak areas.

The condition means that no other permission, regardless of what it is, will be given on that land for a pe- riod, usually five years.

“I believe that many people in County Clare have had section 47s

imposed illegally. Section 47 is in- tended for urban areas, not for rural areas which are structurally weak. We are suffering from a condition called planorexia,” he said.

The councillor called for the “1- legal burdens to be removed forth- We LNee

Cllr Madeleine Taylor-Quinn (FG) seconded the motion.

“In my view, the issuing of section 47’s is an unconstitutional act. Land where a section 47 is applied could

vary in size from 10 acres to 100 acres and no distinction is made. It’s inequitable,’ she told the meeting.

Councilor Pat Hayes (FF) said he supported his fellow councillors. “I sought legal opinion six months ago on this area.”

Councillors expressed concern that section 47’s were making freezing family lands where a second and subsequent children in one family would need to build homes.

ClUlr Martin Lafferty (Ind) said he believed the application of a section 47 is “often a matter of opinion. I know of at least one case where one planner was going to impose a freez- ing order and after discussions with a more senior planner. It wasn’t im- posed.”

In written reply to the councillor’s query, Director of Services, Berna- dette Kinsella, said that there have been 21 section 47 conditions 1m- posed in Clare since 2005 and she was not aware of any being removed in that period.

Cllr Kelly said he wanted officials to go back and find out how many of these had been imposed in structur- ally sensitive areas.

Manager Alex Fleming told the meeting that in relation to the ques- tion of the equal provisions in struc- turally sensitive areas was that the act itself made reference to such areas.

THE council chambers in Kilrush witnessed one of its most heated Kil- rush Town Council meetings of the year on Thursday.

More than 30 local business peo- ple packed into the small upstairs chamber to witness the June monthly meeting.

As some councillors spoke, those present coughed loudly in protest, at times drowning out what was be- ing said. Kilrush County Councillor Madeleine Taylor Quinn (FG) was also in attendance in the public gal- a

The contentious motion on the agenda was raised by Cllr McMahon Jones (FG) who asked for a detailed account from the town manager in relation to the acquisition of a site for the new civic offices in Kilrush.

Town Manager Bernadette Kin- sella told the meeting that “normal

professional advice was sought” and €15,000 was spent on valuation, a feasibility study and expert financial advice.

She said that in the mid-1990s five sites were examined and €20,000 was spent on that study.

In the last four to five years, 17 sites were examined and in the last year to year and a half, a feasibility study was carried out on four sites in the town including Park de Plouzane, John Paul Estate and the Cooraclare Road, according to the manager.

She said she did not have anything that equated to a €1.6 million civic office proposal raised by Cllr Mc- Mahon Jones, so she could not com- TneCsunLO) OMG eTeL

“Is that as detailed as that can be?” the councillor asked the manager af- ter she had answered.

Cllr McMahon Jones then asked for a detailed report on the four sites examined in the last year and a half

and a full list of land owned by the council.

“I am very very disappointed by the overall response. We need to be informed. Evasive answers and half answers are not what we are looking for,’ she said.

Cllr Liam O’Looney (FF) asked if the town hall would have to be sold to finance the venture.

“Last year when we could not bal- ance the books and afford €50,000 for the project, it was reduced to €24,000. I have reservations about how we can find €1.4 million. I don’t feel comfortable going forward with this,” he said.

Cllr Deirdre Culligan (Ind) asked if the manager considered acquiring the site under the derelict site act.

“IT don’t know what would have been the benefit, as we would have to pay for valuation and the mar- ket value, and in my experience we could have ended up in arbitration,”

said the manager.

“To suggest that I am withholding information is incorrect. I will give you information when I can. Like any such capital acquisition it will be spread over a number of years,’ she added.

She said she apologised if she mis- understood the motion and further information was required.

Cllr Tom Prenderville (FF) told the meeting that the questions asked by the councillors were legitimate and they were entitled to answers.

‘“T am satisfied that the property on Francis Street should be purchased. I have no problem in proposing a vote of confidence in the managers ability to do this,” he said.

He said the arrival of the areas of- fices to Kilrush put space at a pre- mium.

“If anyone made an argument, it is the people here tonight. We are breaching fire regulation and health

and safety regulations here tonight,” he said.

His comments were greeted with loud coughing from the public gal- a

He then referred to what he de- scribed as threats made to the town manager at a recent chamber of com- merce meeting.

Cllr Marian McMahon Jones asked the manager if Clare County Council had put up €700,000 for the purchase of the former Inis Cathaigh site.

“In principle, probably yes,” said Cllr Prendeville and the coughing began again.

His proposal of a vote of confi- dence in the manager was passed by five councillors to three.

Prior to this, the councillors were also split five to three in adopting the Annual Financial Statement.

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The Irish Road Hauliers Associa- tion (IRHA) have set a deadline of June 27 for progress to be made on the issue or they will take to the Streets on protest.

One of the counties oldest haulage companies, Spa Transport, revealed yesterday that it has had to cut back staff as a direct result of the soaring cost of diesel.

“This is a huge issue, people have gone out of the business already and there are going to be more casualties. I myself had to sell two trucks and let people go because of this,” said Eu- gene Brennan of Spa Transport Ltd and the IRHA.

‘No matter how big or small you are this is savage. We have had a higher percentage increase in the last year and a half than has been felt over the last 20 years.

“It has affected us in many ways. The increases in diesel are really massive and we cannot be going to OUT MCLUT Kees RMAY ALO MUST KERA (OM ANCE RA

Besides that it has hit business gener- ally meaning that there is less busi- ness for us to compete for. Coupled with that we have been hit by a sur- charge by the shipping companies meaning a further increase in our overheads.

More than 100 years old, Spa Trans- port began life hauling produce from the west Clare railway using a horse and cart. The company now trans- ports high tech produce out of Shan- non as well as agricultural produce.

“It needs to be addressed in a two fold process. First we must go to the customer and look for a surcharge. We are going to have to do this to keep going. We are trying to meet with all the industry and get this idea across to them. We want a simple rate that does up and goes down with the price of oil,” continued Mr Bren- WE NOe

‘The other side of it is that we have to go to Government. They can either declare us an essential service like the buses and give us a special rate, they can rebate our fuel like they do with farmers, they can create a stable structure for a switch to using plant oil, they can assist us with the intro- duction of surcharging or they could help us to hedge our fuel and buy for- ward like the way airlines do.”

yesterday WeTLOD LMR MMA DM RETUO RY, impossible for small businesses to get off the ground in Ire- land today.

“This situation 1s really tightening up our margins and that means that there is very little left for reinvestment and all businesses like this need to be able to invest in order to Survive,’ he said.

“If we were just starting now, there is nO way we would be able to get going. The entry cost for new busi- nesses is just too high. Smaller busi- nesses like ours are just not getting off the ground.”

Despite healthy sales, the Burren Smokehouse has already been forced to stop exporting to America because of high production costs and volatile exchange rates.

“It could get to the stage that we

will have to stop exporting to main- land Europe because the price would just be too high. It hasn’t got to that stage yet but it could do,” he contin- ued.

“There is no sign of the price of oil going down and if it goes up fur- ther, it will impact even more. You’d

wonder in the future, with the increasing price of oul, will it be competitive to ship abroad at all. “There is a real feeling of uncer- tainty in the mar- ket. Nobody seems to know what is coming next but

everyone _ thinks that it is not going to be good.

“The cost of dis- tributing the prod- uct has gone up and

that is having a serious impact on the business. The cost of the raw mate- rial has gone up and the cost of ship- ping the product has also gone up.

“We ship all over Ireland and into Europe. We used to ship into Ameri- ca but, because of economic factors, we have had to stop doing that.”

CLARE manager Joe Garry was left to rue a string of missed chances fol- lowing his side’s defeat to Kerry in the semi-final of the Munster junior championship on Sunday.

Clare trailed by six points at half time after passing up two glorious opportunities to take a decisive lead early in the first half. Kerry made no mistake in front of goal Mike O’Donoghue and the impressive Ni- all Fleming finding the net.

Brian Donnellan’s late penalty re- duced Kerry’s lead to five points with eight minutes remaining. Clare were awarded a second penalty two min- utes later but this time Donnellan’s

shot struck the foot of the post and Pat Nagle was unable to convert the rebound.

Standing on the pitch at Fitzgerald Stadium shortly after the final whis- tle, Garry paid tribute to his side’s resilience in the second half.

“In fairness to the lads, it didn’t look great going in at half time two goals down. But they stuck into it”, said Garry. “We spoke about it at half time, its easy to play football when things are going well, when the going got tough and it got tough here today, they deserved more out of the game. We had plenty of chances and in fairness you have to take your hat off to everyone of them. They fought manfully in the second half.”

Garry felt his side shaded the second half but acknowledged that against a side like Kerry, with three members of the Kingdom’s All-Ireland under 21 wining team in their ranks, Clare needed to take their chances.

““T thought we were the better team in the second half but unfortunately it comes down to chances. We creat- ed maybe five or six chances during the course of the game and we come of with I-7 or 1-8 whatever it was and you have to better than that when you take on Kerry.”

CLARE left Fitzgerald stadium beat- en and a little dazed after 70 minutes in the company of the All-Ireland champions. No backdoor, no quali- fiers. Eight months hard work cul- minates with another meeting with Tommy Murphy and a competition that will disappear from the fixture schedule after this season.

Kerry left to mutterings over the

quality of their 12-point win and the adulation of wide-eyed kids waiting for autographs and jerseys. The con- trast could not have been greater.

Clare captain Michael O’Shea stood outside the dressing rooms, frustrated.

“It’s very disappointing. At the be- ginning the qualifiers were brought in to help the weaker teams and at the moment, now all they are doing is giving the stronger teams their

second chance. Maybe the higher authorities are going to have to look at themselves there and ask why they were brought in, in the first place. I know they are coming back next year for everyone, but it’s no good for us now’’, said O’Shea.

Clare will take what they can from the Tommy Murphy Cup said O’Shea, who admitted Clare lost their way once Kerry found some rhythm.

“We stuck with them for 35 min-

utes there and maybe a bit after the re-start. But I suppose, when the goal went in and we lost Conor (Whelan), we lost our shape. It was hard to keep going after that. Especially when you are playing the likes of Kerry. They are a top quality team. They were bringing lads off the field there to- day, who would walk onto any coun- ty team in the country. It’s not easy in that respect. We’ll walk away, we’ll be happy enough with our first half

performance. We’ll try and build from this in the future.”

The end of another campaign but O’Shea feels that Clare football is in a better place than it was last year.

“The progress has been good. We’ve had ups and downs through- out the year. Compared to where we were this time last year, we’re a good couple of rungs up the ladder from there. So it’s just a matter of building oy nm aor: T mp OKO) \ vam

IT WAS always going to be more of a match on the radio.

At least on the radio there was the prospect of a contest, or so we hoped beforehand.

In Kerry’s corner were those deni- zens of the “Voice of the Kingdom’. You know them well, they’re the Ra- dio Kerry crew who provided an in- valuable service on the Clare side of the estuary a couple of months back when doing a live commentary on the Clare v Kerry first round Mun- ster minor football championship in Cusack Park.

Going over water and road was no obstacle to the Radio Kerry crew — the few hundred yards down Francis

Street was too long a journey for the Clare FM’s crew.

But Clare FM showed up this time — Georgie Fitzpatrick and Ger Keane going into battle against Gary O’Sullivan and Weeshie Fogarty in the Kerry corner.

Both teams were under no illusions of what lay in store. Lambs and lions were the order of the day for Geor- reales

“Minnows from Clare,’ he said, “came across on the ferry to try and put it up to the lion kings of Kerry in their own den.”

There was more of where that came from: “Clare came down like lambs to the slaughter in the great Kerry den,’ added Georgie.

Weeshie Fogarty wasn’t getting too

excited. “It will be an easy win for Kerry,” he said in almost subdued tones, just as Clare FM’s roving re- porter Marie Crowe struck a defiant note. “It’s anyone’s game down here in Killarney, the fans think Clare are going to do it.”

Obviously, she didn’t have one ear tuned into Ambrose O’ Donovan over on Radio Kerry. “I expect Kerry to win by 2-20 to 1-6 or 1-7,” he said confidently, while Ger Keane rub- bished this prediction mid-way through the first half when revealing that “Clare are standing up manfully to the task”.

It all changed in the second half, maybe because Kerry heard Am- brose O’Donovan’s words at half- time. “It’s a wake up call for Kerry.

Kerry must start the second half with all guns blazing and blow this Clare team away.”

Ger Keane certainly believed it was going to happen after Conor Whelan was sent off.

‘“That’s an absolutely ridiculous de- cision,’ he roared. “It makes a farce of the game and ruins the game as a contest.”

Fellow Kilkee Blue Georgie Fitz- patrick said soon afterwards: “With a cascade of scores the full-time whistle can’t come quick enough”.

As it turned out, it didn’t come quick enough for Kerry captain Paul Galvin. Radio Kerry were in no mood to condemn the man, but the Kilkee Blues were straight into the action.

‘Paul Galvin and John Hayes are having a right old battle,” exclaimed Georgie. “They’re exchanging pleas- antries,’ — a term that could be termed a euphemism for Micheal O’Hehir’s fabled used of the term ‘schmozzel’.

Then Ger took up commentary. “Paul Galvin did throw a knee,’ he roared. “Galvin’s punching Tomas O Sé on the chest…Galvin’s knocked the book out of Paddy Russell’s hand. He may not see action for three months.”

Ger Keane was the first man to make the call.

It ensured that Clare FM didn’t lose the game like Clare — they left Kil- larney with a draw on points against their heavyweight opponents.

AN ENNIS family whose home was burnt down a fortnight ago has been forced to move to temporary illegal accommodation in Limerick, the family’s solicitor has claimed.

The Mongans’ family home at Shalee Drive, Cloughleigh, Ennis was extensively damaged by fire on Saturday, May 24.

The revelation came as two mem- bers of the family appeared in court last Friday, charged in connection with an incident in Ennis last Octo- ber.

Christy Mongans Senior (49) and Jim Mongans (18), of Shalee Drive, were charged with violent disorder, at Cloughleigh, Ennis, on October 11 last year.

Garda Dominic Regan told Ennis District Court last Friday that he met both men by appointment on May 25 ENe

In reply to charge Mr Mongan

Senior replied, “I was not involved” while Jim Mongans did not reply to charge after caution, said the garda.

Defending solicitor Tara Godfrey said Mr Mongans Senior was not in ous

“He is unwell. He suffers from ser1- ous heart problems. The family home was burnt down recently and they are staying in temporary illegal accom- modation in Limerick,” she said.

She said Mr Mongans Senior’s doc- tor confirmed to her that he had not been in regular attendance, due to his ill health.

Inspector Tom Kennedy said he would accept what Ms Godfrey had to say.

The case was adjourned until Sep- tember.

“A MOMENT of absolute stupidity” was how a Solicitor referred to an in- cident in which her client punched a garda in the face.

The remark was made in court in the case of Flan Ginnane (26), of Quay Road, Kildysart, who was

charged with assaulting Garda Alan Kelly, at Abbey Street, Ennis, in the early hours of March 3 last.

Defending solicitor Siobhan Mc- Mahon said her client was pleading cuilty.

Garda Kelly told Ennis District Court last Friday that he was dealing with Ginnane’s friends and he got in-

volved.

‘‘He punched me in the face. He ran off. I caught up with him,” said the eee

He said the accused apologised that night and again the following day.

Ms McMahon said that when her chent saw gardai approaching, he tried to intervene to help one of his

friends who was younger than him.

“Tt was a moment of absolute stu- pidity that led to this situation. He is petrified by the whole situation,” said the solicitor.

She said her client is a “genuinely decent person” who was highly thought of in his local community, where he had a deep involvement in

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“Tt is totally out of character,” she said.

Judge Joseph Mangan imposed a two-month jail term. But he will sub- stitute this with 240 hours commu- nity service if the accused is found suitable. He adjourned the case until next month.

CLARE on the radar. Two years ago, a sopping, soggy Fitzgerald Stadium housed a little over 6,000 punters for Kerry’s opening game in the 2006 championship. Waterford visited and brought almost as many fans as those that showed up for the home side.

It was late May and one of those days when the mountains behind the stand can only be felt and not seen, when the slate on St Finian’s Hospi- tal beyond the terrace turns black.

Nobody knew it at the time but that wet May afternoon was the begin- ning of Kerry’s shot at what has now become a three-in-a-row possibility.

It was difficult to predict the suc- cess that the two years since then would bring because for parts of that game, Waterford caused problems Kerry and in fact, should have been closer than the eight point winning margin that Kerry recorded. At one stage in the second half, Waterford could have drawn level but Andy Hubbard’s penalty was saved by D1- armuid Murphy and Gary Hurney’s follow-up was brilliantly taken off the line by Seamus Moynihan.

That game is recalled merely as a Starting point for all that has hap- pened for Kerry in 2006 and 2007. Even leaving the All-Ireland of 2004 aside, the current Kerry side has evolved into one of the finest teams to ever play football.

They’re fluid and powerful in at-

tack, composed and dogged in de- fence and since 2006 their approach has again evolutionised the game. Those qualities of power and com- posure were seen several times over the past two seasons but particularly at different stages of the Dublin and Monaghan games last year.

Against Monaghan, the ball was never passed laterally in their own half and against Dublin, only very

rarely. During both games, they dic- tated the pace at key moments as time was running out and they man- aged to score goals at crucial times. It’s unfair to say that the Clare chal- lenge doesn’t register on the Kerry radar this week and that alone, high- lights the approach in the county. Twenty years ago and as recent as ten — even including ’°92 -, Clare was seen as little more than something to

swat away.

Now, there are senior players who genuinely feel as though they’re play- ing for their place on the panel, not to mind the team. Two weeks back, a handful of Kerry players were gath- ered for extra training in Killarney. It was a backflip to Mick O’Dwyer’s days but shows that Kerry are taking the Clare challenge on board, if for no other reason than to nail down places for later in the year.

“There are potential pitfalls out there. I have always maintained that,” sayS Kerry manager Pat O’Shea. “Look at Wicklow beating Kildare in the Leinster championship. Look at Fermanagh beating Monaghan. They are two prime examples of teams getting turned over unexpectedly this season.

“*T have said that to the lads and they know that. Clare will come down here with nothing to lose and they will be full of confidence after their win against Waterford.

“Tt’s a tricky tie for us because we will, obviously, be that bit ring rusty while Clare will have the benefit of their game against Waterford. But the bottom line is this is a match that we are treating very seriously, like we do with all our games. If we don’t perform then there is a good chance that Clare will beat us. We have to be at our best.”

Down the tracks, the prospect of that third title looms, strange as it sounds considering that only two

years ago, the prospects of any coun- ty achieving back-to-back titles was considered slim.

“Being honest, we haven’t spoken about that [the three-in-a-row bid] in training and we don’t have any say in regards to what people write and what people say. All we can do is concentrate on our own game and take it match by match, one step at PIB une lee

‘“That’s what we did last year and we see no reason to change a win- ning formula. The only match on our horizon is Sunday’s against Clare.

“We try to make sure that the panel is stronger every year and I think that the Under-21’s All-Ireland win is a big boost.

“The league was encouraging also with a lot of players making a claim for starting spots so the task for me 1s to now find the best balanced 15 that can Start.”

“There were times in the league when we saw the fight, heart and hunger that a team that wants to be successful needs. It was very heart- ab eehee

“These lads have always proved that they can rise to the occasion, and they will have to do that against Clare. That’s the first step in what we hope will be a long journey.”