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THE DEVELOPMENT of a new road layout at Blakes Corner in Ennistymon is back on track – with An Bord Pleanála agreeing to fund an Environmental Impact Statement [EIS] into the development.

Progress on the development has been virtually stalled since October 2011 – when the Save Ennistymon’s Heritage group indicated its intention to refer planning permission for the project to An mBord Pleanála – should Clare County Council and the National Roads Authority [NRA] go ahead with planning without first completing an EIS.

This tactic had previously been used by objectors to a new pier in Doolin to delay progress on that development. Clare County Council has made a number of unsuccessful requests that funding be made available by the NRA over the past two years.

A council spokesperson confirmed yesterday that NRA funding will be made available next year to complete the EIS. “Clare County Council has received confirmation from the NRA that the required funding will be provided during 2014 to enable the Council, in conjunction with the NRA, to proceed with the EIS in relation to resolving traffic issues at Blakes Corner, Ennistymon. Work on this EIS will begin once this funding has been received,” said a council spokesperson.

The news comes on the foot of cor respondence between Lahinch Councillor Bill Slattery (FG) and Minister for Transport, Leo Varadkar, earlier this year.

“This matter has dragged on for a considerable time and no progress is being made on the issue. The lack of progress has been very frustrating,” he said. “We are now getting the money that we need for the EIS.

“This means that we can proceed right away with procurement of consultants to do this work and make a submission to An Bord Pleanála. I also received an assurance from Tom Tiernan [Senior Engineer with Clare County Council], that the steps leading down to Blakes Corner will be back-filled soon. This will make the situation there much safer.”

Once the EIS is completed Clare County Council/NRA will be in a position to go ahead with planning permission for the junction. This plan could see the front of Blakes and Linnanes building demolished and rebuilt on a site a number of metres back from the junction.

GARDAÍ are urging anyone affected by illegal money lending in the town of Kilrush to come forward and speak to them.

The appeal comes following a dawn raid on businesses and homes in the Kilrush area by gardaí investigating illegal money lending, on Tuesday last.

A total of 11 people were arrested following the searches, which commenced at 7am.

They were later released without charge and a file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The planned search followed months of investigations involving local gardaí assisted by Criminal Assets Bureau, Regional Support Unit, and Special Detective Units from Galway, the National Criminal Intelligence Unit as well as officials from Revenue, Social Welfare and Clare County Council.

The arrests included five males aged between 18 and 55 years, and six females aged between 20 and 49 years.

All those arrested were detained at various Garda Stations in County Clare, Limerick and Galway under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act.

The investigation, which has been ongoing for several months, centres around complaints received from various individuals and is focused on those suspected of being engaged in unlicensed money lending. _

There had been a number of reports to gardaí of intimidation relating to the illegal money lending during the last year, but those making the complaints were often too frightened to make statements.

Kilrush Gardaí along with CAB and other local bodies began to carry out further investigations leading to last week’s searches and arrests.

This is the second major investigation requiring extensive Garda resources, to be carried out in the town in the last number of months.

Gardaí in Kilrush, in conjunction with the National Drugs Unit have been tackling the supply of illegal drugs issue with a special five-month undercover operation spanning the end of last year and the first quarter of this year.

A total of 1,400 Garda man-hours were used in Operation Luxor, which resulted in at least eight arrests that have come before the courts so far.

THE FIRST details of what location in Clare have been infected by Ash Dieback have been confirmed.

At last night meeting of Clare County Council it was confirmed that an area of forestry between Ennistymon and Lisdoonvarna has been infected with the contagious fungal disease.

It was also confirmed that three other positive cases of Ash Dieback or Chalara fraxinea have been found in trees bordering the M18 motorway.

The Department of Agriculture confirmed to the Clare People last month that a total of seven positive cases of the disease have been found in Clare. However, despite a number of inquires, the department has consistently declined to give any detail of the exact location of the outbreaks.

Yesterday’s information represents the first detailed confirmation of where outbreaks have taken place since it arrive in Ireland almost 13 months ago.

“Ash dieback disease has been found in at least three location close to motorways in Clare and in one plantation between Ennistymon and Lisdoonvarna,” a council spokesperson said yesterday.

The information was in response to a motion put forward by Cllr Brian Meaney (FF) who said that people with ash plantation in Clare were “ex- tremely concerned” about the spread of the disease.

At present there a total of 75 ash plantation through county with the average size of these plantation less than 10 hectares in size.

The number of instances of ash dieback in Clare has more than doubled over the last six months with Clare trees now the third most infected in Ireland.

According to figures obtained from the Department of Agriculture, a total of seven positive cases of ash dieback, or Chalara fraxinea, have been recorded in Clare so far this year – up from just three cases in May.

Coincidentally, strong hurling counties have, to date, been hit hardest by ash die back. The last three All Ireland hurling champions – Clare, Kilkenny and Tipperary – have the three highest instances of ash dieback in Ireland.

The Department of Agriculture has declined to give exact details of the location of infected trees in Clare and other counties. This follows confusion earlier this year when the department appeared to release contradictory information about the location of infected trees in Clare.

IT was a case of lucky 13 for the people of Shannon on Thursday night last – the number who were honoured by Shannon Town Council as part of its annual Liosta na Laochra civic awards initiative that took place in Sean Lemass Library.

Broadcasters, journalists, athletes, kick-boxers and All-Ireland under 21 and senior winning hurler Aaron Cunningham were among those presented with awards by Mayor of Shannon Greg Duff.

Each year Shannon Town Council honours residents from the community who have achieved national or international recognition or have achieved their national/international recognition with a club, society or organisation operating within the functional area of Shannon Town Council.

The award winners were broadcasters/journalists Valerie Sweeney, Aisling O’Loughlin, Rachel English and Orla Walsh; All-Ireland winning athletes from Shannon Athletic Club; Geariod McMahon, Colin Curran, Dylan O’Brien and Seamus McMahon; medal winners at the World Kickboxing Championships and members of Shannon Kickboxing Club in Leona O’Shea, David Ryan, Caimin Murphy and Darren McNamara as wll as Aaron Cunningham.

The Mayor of Shannon noted that “the awards winners have brought great pride to the Shannon community through their achievements by their achievements in their chosen sports and professional careers”.

On the night civic honours were also awarded to Clare Civil Defence and EI Electronics. Clare Civil Defence were awarded a civic honour in recognition of their ongoing voluntary work on behalf of the communities in Clare including Shannon.

“The assistance of the Civil Defence in the organisation of the St. Patricks Day parade each year is much appreciated,” said Mayor Duff, while he also praised “the tireless voluntary work of the civil defence over the last number of years, especially during the severe weather incidences that have effected Ireland”.

EI Electronics celebrated their 50th year in business earlier this year. The company manufacture detector alarms from their facility in Shannon, a landmark that was honoured by the town council in recognition of “the much needed employment the company brought to local people” but they also because of the company’s generous sponsorship of community organisations and events.

A WOMAN who parked across two disabled parking bays in Ennis Courthouse acted in an “ignorant” and “insensitive” manner, a court has heard.

Judge Patrick Durcan was speaking as he imposed a € 750 fine on a mother of seven who was found to have illegally parked in disabled parking bays on May 22, 2013. Judge Durcan also disqualified the woman from holding a driver’s license for a period of six months, by way of ancillary order.

“Obviously this is an ignorant and insensitive person who would park across two disabled parking bays”, added Judge Durcan.

The woman was not present in court for the brief hearing. Judge Durcan said that he recently had to adjourn a case from Gort District Court to Ennis District Court to cater for a disabled person attending the court.

The woman who received the fine later appeared in court. Solicitor Tara Godfrey told Judge Durcan the woman was in a “very distressed state”. Judge Durcan refused an application to fix recognizance for an appeal as the case had already been dealt with.

Ms Godfrey said she would file a new application with the court requesting recognizance be fixed in the event of an appeal.

SHANNON suffered a major jobs blow last week when it was revealed that one of the longest serving companies in the Free Zone will close its manufacutring facility in 2014.

On Thursday it was announced through a public relations firm in Dublin that Kraus and Naimer would shut down the manufacturing arm of its operation in the industial estate early in the new year. “Production at the facility, which supplies electrical switchgear, will cease at the end of January 2014,” a statement issued by through FleishmanHilliard revealed.

The announcement was made to the total workforce of 63 by senior management from the company’s parent group in Austria.

The employees were told that “the closure is due to the business sus- taining losses for the last number of years, which have been driven by the impact of weak customer demand due to the global recession.

“The decision follows previous efforts to restructure the facility and a move recently to enter short working time arrangements,” the statement continued.

“It is with deep regret we have had to make this decision which has been made due to ongoing and unsustainable losses incurred at the Shannon

facility,” said Ted Naimer, Global President at Kraus and Naimer.

“We will be entering into a process with staff over coming days in relation to an orderly winding down of the facility, and thank them sincerely for the contribution they have made to the company,” he added

Kraus and Naimer established its facility, which is involved in the manufacture of a variety of electrical switches for industry, in Shannon in 1973.

SIPTU, which had been in talks with the company about strategies to maintain its operation in Shannon, said workers are shocked and angered to learn of the company’s decision to end production.

The union says further talks are due to take place at the company next week.

It will explore all avenues open to maintaining employment and if necessary trying to secure the best redundancy deals possible.

THE CLARE branch of St Vincent de Paul say they will pay for Christmas presents for children this year – if it means that families won’t be forced to use non-traditional moneylenders.

Clare SVP president, John Cullinane, is urging Clare families to contact the society now – before the pressures to go into debt to fund Christmas presents begins.

Speaking in the aftermath of a Gardai crackdown on illegal money lending in Clare, Mr Cullinane said his organisation can provide toys, food and fuel to needy families this Christmas.

“We have had some people coming to us in recent times reporting that they have gotten in trouble with money lenders but we fell that most of these people don’t actually contact the SVP,” he said.

“We feel that a large amount of people are using money lenders before they contact SVP.

“We would really urge people to contact us, especially coming up to Christmas time when families need more money.

“We would urge people not to go money lenders looking for money they should go to their local St Vincent de Paul instead.

“We will provide everything we possibly can for people and families coming up to Christmas.

“We can help people with food, clothing, toys and fuel – we are in a position to provide people in need with a wide array of materials that will help them steer clear of moneylenders this Christmas.

“It is so easy when a moneylender calls to your door.

“It is very tempting to avail of it at the time but then when you are paying back at interest rate of 300 per cent or more, people can get caught in a cycle with the money lenders and become trapped by the weight of their debt.”

The St Vincent de Paul carries out an assessment of all applications to prevent people who don’t need it from accessing their services.

“However, once a person or family have passed the application, they is funding in place to help them with a variety of materials in the run up to Christmas.

People thinking of using money lenders are also urged to contact Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS).

NELSON Mandela’s inspirational fight for freedom touched the lives of people around the world including that of a young priest from Scariff.

One of the closest friendships Mandela shared during the 18 years he spent imprisoned on Robben Island was with Fr Brendan Long, a native of Scariff who served as prison chaplain.

Aged 28, Fr Long was appointed chaplain to Robben Island in 1962 after a term at St Mary’s Cathedral.

Every Sunday, Fr Long would take a ferry from Cape Town to the island to hold services for the inmates.

As the prisoners’ beliefs varied, non-denominational services were held and confessions for Catholic inmates were heard,

In a 2003 interview, Fr Long recalled how the future President of South Africa would read aloud passages from scriptures.

“He once said to me: ‘If I were a communist I wouldn’t have read scripture,’ He read with great pride a psalm entitled ‘Let every creature praise the Lord’, Fr Long told a South African newspaper Mail and Guardian.

The article states “The chaplain’s weekly trips to Robben Island usually ended with a joke about them getting together for a party in freedom, little thinking this would ever come about. Their friendship continued after Mandela was transferred to Pollsmoor prison on the mainland in 1982 and his release from detention on February 11, 1990”.

Fr Long returned to Ireland in the mid nineties but his friendship with one of world’s great Statesmen endured beyond the confines of Mandela’s captivity.

Mandela, who passed away on Thursday, received an honorary doctorate from the National University of Ireland Galway in 2003.

He used the visit to Ireland to catch up with this old friend from Scariff who was one of the guests at the ceremony.

Reporting on the occasion, the Irish Independent described the “poignant scene” as Mandela greeted Fr Long.

Fr Long recalled meeting “the humble, highly intelligent, very spiritual Mandela and man with the very, very warm handshake”. Fr Long passed away in April 2009.

THE BOOK of evidence has been served on a man charged in connection with an alleged stabbing in Shannon last year.

Darren Lindsay (22), with an address at Cronan Grove, Shannon, appeared before Ennis District Court on Wednesday.

The accused is charged with assault causing harm to a man at Cluain Airne, Shannon on September 30 (2012).

Inspector Tom Kennedy applied for an amendment to be made to the charge sheet concerning the location where the alleged offence is alleged to have taken place.

Defence solicitor Oonagh Moylan objected to the amendment, saying it changed the nature of the charge.

Judge Patrick Durcan said he was overruling Ms Moylan’s objection and granting the amendment.

Garda Irene O’Flynn of Ennis Garda Station gave evidence of serving the book of evidence on solicitor Oonagh Moylan for her client Darren Lindsay.

Inspector Tom Kennedy said the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) consented to the accused being returned for trial to the next sessions of the Circuit Criminal Court.

Legal aid was approved for Ms Moylan and one junior counsel. Judge Durcan delivered the alibi warning to the accused and made the order returning the man for trial.

A TEENAGER has asked a Judge to lock him up for Christmas so he can get help for his drug addiction.

The 18 year-old made the request through his solicitor at Ennis District Court on Wednesday. The boy was previously ordered to complete 120 hours of community service in lieu of two months detention. The order was imposed in respect of a shoplifting offence whereby the teenager stole a jumper worth € 14 from Dunne Stores, Ennis on September 8, 2013. The case was adjourned to allow for a report from the Probation Serv- ices. But on Wednesday solicitor Tara Godfrey said her client was asking for the sentence at St Patrick’s Institution for Young Offenders to be activated instead of the community service order. Ms Godfrey said her client had developed a “pernicious addiction to weed” and believes the best thing for him is to get off the streets of Ennis. “He says he will get help there (St Pats). He says he needs it and he wants it”, Ms Godfrey added. Ms Godfrey said this was the first time a person of her client’s age had asked her to make such an application to the courts. “He doesn’t trust himself at liberty at this time,” she said. Judge Patrick Durcan asked the teenager if he had ever spent time in St Patrick’s Institution before. The accused told Judge Durcan he had spent a few months there. Inspector Tom Kennedy said it was not open to the accused to come into court and tell the court what orders to impose. “Its rather incredible really” he added. Insp Kennedy continued, “He should do what he is asked to do by the court.” He said it was not open to the teenager to treat the court in an “a la carte” manner. Probation Officer Paula McNamara told the court she would require time to speak with the accused. Judge Durcan adjourned the case to December 11.