Category: News

CLARE third-level students drink more per person than students from any other county in Ireland. According to a survey of more than 3, 500 students attending University College Dublin, Clare students drink more than 351 alcoholic beverages per year or almost one a day.

This means that students from the Banner county are Ireland’s biggest drinkers. Students from Cork, Waterford, Kilkenny and Dublin also featured high in the survey with students from Donegal, Mona- ghan, Carlow and Tipperary North amongst the countries lowest drinkers.

According to the study, which was carried out by ‘Discover Magazine’, the social and economic background of a student did not have a direct correlation with the amount that that student drank.

“We find relatively small effects of parental background variables on how much their college attending children drink. Neither father’s education, mothers’ age, whether a parent is still married, and parental incomes have any statistically significant effects on students’ drink- ing,” read the study.

The study did find that parents drinking habits did have an influence on their children, with a mothers drinking effecting all offspring while a fathers drinking only tending to influence male offspring.

“We find that drinking of mothers significantly impacts the number of drinks consumed by both female and male students about equally. But drinking of fathers appears only to influence drinking of their college attending sons,” it said.

Boys who attended an all-boy’s school, or a boarding school, also went on to drink more in college.

A HOMEGROWN Clare company that has been in business for 34 years has been acquired by one of the world’s largest elevator companies.

In a statement last week, American giant Kone announced that it had purchased Ennis Lifts, a local company specializing in the supply, installation, modernization and maintenance of elevators, escalators and autowalks.

Ennis Lifts Limited was founded in 1979 by C.P. McGuinness. Since then Ennis Lifts has grown to become the largest national lift and escalator company in Ireland, also serving Europe and the Middle East.

A statement on the company’s website states, “The cornerstone from which the company has developed has been providing excellence at all levels to our customers, thus becoming specialists in the supply, installation, modernisation and maintenance of lifts, escalators and walkways.”

Kone’s executive vice president and area director for central and north Europe, Ari Lehtoranta said the company is “delighted” with the purchase of Ennis Lifts.

“We are very pleased to have Ennis as a part of Kone. The acquisition will strengthen our business in the challenging Irish market.”

According to Kone, Ennis will continue to operate as a separate company under its current name and brand.

Kone is one of the global leaders in the elevator and escalator industry. In addition to manufacturing elevators, escalators and automatic building doors, it provides maintenance to its global customers. Worldwide, it employs about 35,000 people including 325 in the Quad-Cities, a group of five cities on the Illinois / Iowa border.

The company’s North American headquarters are located in in Lisle, Illinois. Kone Americas’ operations centre is at Kone Centre in Moline. The company has an escalator plant is in Coal Valley, Illinois.

No one from Ennis Lifts was available for comment when The Clare People contacted the company yesterday.

THE family of a Kilfenora man Brian McMahon, who tragically lost his life in California over the weekend, flew out to America yesterday to be with his wife and children.

Father of two Brian McMahon was killed in a car accident in the Californian city of San Rafael on Friday morning last. Mr McMahon, who is 46 years old and has been living in America for a number of years, was out walking close to his home just before 8am, local time, when the ac- cident took place.

The exact details of the accident are not yet clear but it appears that Mr McMahon was struck by a single vehicle on the street close to his home at 7.45am. Emergency first aid was given to Mr McMahon at the scene at he was rushed by ambulance to Kaiser Permanente Medical Center where he was later pronounced dead.

“San Rafael police officers and San Rafael paramedics located an unconscious 46-year-old man lying in the roadway. Life saving measures were immediately initiated. The male sub- ject was transported to Kaiser Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival,” said a spokesperson from the local police department.

“The driver of the involved vehicle remained on scene and called 911 to report the collision. Numerous bystanders were interviewed at the scene.

“The driver fully cooperated with the investigation. At this time, it appears neither alcohol nor any other impairment was present or a factor in this collision. The involved vehicle was taken for a thorough inspection.”

Police are reportedly investigating the possibility that the driver may have been blinded by the bright morning sun and did not see see Mr McMahon out walking. Mr McMahon was home in Clare in August and was due to return with his sons for the All-Ireland hurling final but was unable to do so because of work.

Mr McMahon is survived by his Tipperary born wife and his his two children aged 13 and 11 years old. He is also survived by his father Murty McMahon, his American-based brother John and a number of siblings based in the North Clare area.

GARDAÍ remain extremely concerned that tensions between two Traveller families in Ennis could result in more violence as it emerged that witnesses are wearing protective vests to court.

The fear was expressed ahead of the expected sentencing in Ennis today of four people involved in a violent public order disturbance at the Maid of Erin roundabout last October.

A Circuit Court judge was told last week that the relationship between the families has not improved and that “tensions remain very high”.

“There are garda concerns for the potential for violent incidents,” said Detective Garda John Casey at a sitting of Ennis Circuit Criminal Court on Thursday. The court was told that the two families previously lived as neighbours and friends in the Ashline area of Ennis.

THE search for a 42-year-old man who was washed into the sea off North Clare will resume this morning. Naval divers are due to resume their search for the Latvian national around 10am this morning, October 8, after bad weather brought an end to last nights search effort.

With more settled weather expected this morning, it is hoped that the mans’ body can be located close to Ballyreen, where he entered the water in Sunday evening.

The man had been fishing with a number of friends at a spot known as Fisherman’s Climb in the popular fishing location between Doolin and Fanore on Sunday evening when he was washed into the ocean by a freak wave. A friend raised the alarm and then attempted to swim out to reach the stranded man.

However, while the friend was swimming to rescue the man, the victim – who has not yet been named – was washed under the water. Despite an intensive search led by a number of rescue agencies, including the Doolin Unit of the Irish Coast Guard, the man has not been sighted since. The man’s friend, who dived into the water to save the 42-yearold man, was assisted by emergency services and treated on site for the effects of cold. “The search has been stood down for the night because of poor weather conditions and the hope is now that the divers to be able to enter the water tomorrow morning,” said Mattie Shannon of the Doolin Unit of the Irish Coast Guard last night. “We are hopeful that the divers will be able to come up with something tomorrow. It is a very exposed spot and if something is not discovered soon it could be very difficult to locate.” It’s understood that man was not wearing a lifejacket and may have been dragged beneath the waves by his heavy clothing. The area has been the scene of a number of tragedies in recent years including the death of a two men in separate fishing accident in Ballyreen in 2009.

COST cutting measures have resulted in a reduction in polling stations in Clare for the referenda this Friday.

The 13 per cent reduction in polling booths will see the number reduced to 151, 24 less than previous referendum and elections.

The closure of two school houses in the west of the county will also have an impact on where some people can vote.

Those registered to vote at Clooneygullane (Clonigulane) Primary School will now vote at Cahermurphy Primary School, while those registered to vote at Baltard Primary School will now vote at Doonbeg Primary School.

Polling stations have also been amalgamated for financial reasons, therefore people registered to vote at Maria Assumpta Hall, Ennis, will now vote at Holy Family School, Station Road, Ennis, and the two boxes formerly at the Youth Centre, Kilrush Road, Ennis, will be amalgamated into one and moved to the Holy Family School.

Those to vote at the Kilrush Courthouse, Kilrush, will now vote at St Senan’s National School in Kilrush, while all voters to vote at the Boys Primary School on the Kilrush Road, Ennis, will continue to vote at this same location even though the school has relocated.

Returning officer for the county Pat Wallace said his team of workers will be much busier as a result, but he believes “it is doable for a referendum”.

He told The Clare People that this is something his office will continue to review on an on-going basis.

In areas such as Lahinch and Lisdoonvarna, where there were once two polling booths, there will now just be one. In total 83, 544 Clare People are registered to vote in the referenda to decide the proposed Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013 and the Thirtythird Amendment of the Constitution (Court of Appeal) Bill 2013.

Turn out for referendum in the last number of years has been declining in Clare.

The last referendum – Children’s Rights Bill – was held last November and just 32.3 per cent of the Clare electorate turned out to vote.

The voter turn out for the Stability Referendum the previous June was the lowest in the county in almost a decade at 49.8 per cent turn out in Clare, which was just short of the national average.

Just 30.83 per cent of the electorate in Clare turned out in June 2001 to vote on the first Nice referendum, the abolition of the death penalty and the criminal courts referendum.

This was a huge drop from the previously referendum of June 1999 when 60.05 per cent of the Clare electorate turned out to vote for “Recognition for Local Government.”

In March 2002 just 39.29 per cent of the Clare electorate turned out to vote on the Protection of Human Life in Pregnancy, with 47.05 per cent voting on Nice 2 that October.

The largest turn out for a referendum in recent years in Clare was in June 2004, when 64.6 per cent voted on Citizenship.

THE odds on Clare having a representative in the European Parliament have lengthened following the redrawing of the constituency boundaries last week.

Clare has been removed from the now defunct Ireland North West constituency and has instead been placed in a new South constituency – which includes all of Munster as well as Carlow, Kilkenny, Wicklow and Wexford.

Current Labour TD, Michael Mc Namara was Clare’s leading vote getter in the last EU election – claiming 12,700 first preference votes. However, depending on the turnout and voting patterns, a candidate in the new constituency will need to win in the region of 100,000 votes even be in the running for a seat.

In fact, it is difficult to see how a Clare candidate could even get on the ticket for any of the major parties, who will likely contest the seats. Current polls suggest that Fianna Fail and Fine Gael would claim a seat each in the constituency if elections were held today, with Sinn Fein, Labour and second candidates from the main two parties likely to battle it our for the remaining seats.

With Fianna Fáil’s Liam Aylward (Kilkenny) and Brian Crowley (Cork) both elected at a canter last time out, it is difficult to see the party putting forward a Clare candidate. Similarly, with Sean Kelly’s location in Limerick, Fine Gael are unlikely to pick a candidate from his back yard who might draw suport away from Kelly.

Sinn Fein are likely to put their weight being one main candidate with Toireasa Ferris, who claimed 64,000 votes last time out, currently in the driving seat. Tipperary’s Phil Prendergast is likely to get the nod from Labour – even if she can’t spell Clare [she last week welcomed “Claire’s” inclusion in the new South constituency].

Despite the current political lay-ofthe-land, Clare TD Michael McNamara believes that the new boundary will help Clare candidates in the future. “The larger constituents will make it more difficult for new candidates, unless they’re already well known or have a party organisation,” he said. “If anything, the prospect of a Clare-based candidate would be improved. It seems to me that as a county we have a stronger link to Munster than Connaught. Just look at the Clare [hurling] team, more of them go to college in Limerick, Cork or Waterford than in Galway.”

ONE of Ireland’s most experienced planners has raised serious concerns about the role that politicians play in planning process in Ireland.

Brendan McGrath, who is a consultant planner with Clare County Council, believes that clientelism has become endemic in the Irish plan- ning system and has come to supersede the public good as a planning consideration.

In his new book, ‘Landscape and Society in Contemporary Ireland’, Mr McGrath concedes that “something has gone wrong” in the Irish planning system, which he argues does not serve the common good.

“The political system functions to support individual landowners. Cli- entelism gets in the way of consideration that are more supportive of the broader community. It [political interference in planning] is an obstacles to the common good, which is what the planning system should be about,” he says.

“Even at a very local level clientelism is not helpful. The decisions are not made with the landscape in mind, instead decision are made be- cause of who owns what land. That is not about the wider best interests.

McGrath argues that it is not individual politician who are to blame for this process but rather the planning system which allows for rampant clientelism.

“It’s not as though politicians are looking to make lots of money on these things [planning decisions], but it is putting personal interests before decisions that effect more people,” he said.

“If things were being run properly, if there was no clientelism, the real planning arguments would hold sway rather than these local influences that get in the way.

“Councillors have a duty to the people that they represent, so if someone comes to them an says they want something zoned X, Y or Z, then the councillor is quite entitled to take that on board.

“When these type of considerations override the way that decisions are made then it is contrary to proper planning and development. That is the order of the day in local government where zoning decisions are made.

“Even with simple planning application, when the decision lies with the county manager. But even in these situations representations are made to managers and to their offices. And on occasion these representations can be given excessive weight.”

Brendan McGrath’s book, ‘Landscape and Society in Contemporary Ireland’, will be published this week by Cork University Press.”

THE Burren will soon be dancing to the beat of a brand new song as Gort Local Radio prepares to launch in the coming weeks.

The community radio station has been producing limited broadcasts online for a number of weeks but plans a major roll-out of programmes in the coming weeks.

The station was founded earlier this year by local man Donal Hanlon, who has been running all aspects of the radio station alongside local volunteers Brid McCann, Fidelma Larkin, Fiona O’Driscoll and Sinead Morgan.

A large number of local people attended an open day at the station last week and hope are high that these people will being their own shows on the station in the weeks ahead.

At present, the type of programming on Gort Community Radio in- volves local people coming into the studio and reporting on what is happening in the locality.

A number of new local businesses as well as community groups such as the Gort Youth Café, Gort ICA and the Gort Show have all been profiled on the station.

Donal became involved in radio after completing a media course ran by the South Galway Educational Centre last year.

After completing the course he took to the streets of Gort, microphone in hand, canvassing local about whether they wanted a local Burren radio station.

Donal has been presented all the programmes since the beginning of the station up until recently when a local girl, Lisa Nolan, came on board and is now presenting her own show.

To learn more about becoming involved or in Gort Local Radio, or to listen to streamed braodcasts visit www.gortlocalradio.wordpress.com.

IRELAND has developed a system of planning which is totally at odds with the modern standard of planning across western Europe. That is the opinion of Brendan McGrath, consultant planner with Clare County Council, who believes the Irish planning works to mismanage the landscape of the country.

His his book ‘Landscape and Society in Contemporary Ireland’, Mr McGrath argues that an Irish preoccupation on property rights has led to a broken planning system. “There is a good bit of effort in the book to set out how exceptional the cultural landscape and heritage of Ireland is, and the limited advantage that we have taken of this compared to other European countries. I would hope that this is one message [that people will take] from the book. Something has gone wrong,” he said.

“Planning is a very difficult area of Irish life. Ireland has a wonderful landscape heritage but our interaction with that heritage is problematic. All along the balance [in the Irish planning system] is about protecting the rights of private property and the common good and that balance has always been hard to achieve. The system has protected private interests fairly well but the system has fallen far short when it comes to protecting the common good.”

According to Mr McGrath, the problem does not lie in a lack of vision for the planning system but more a lack of will to enforce planning decision. “There has never been any shortage of plans and visions. As a country we are good at producing plans but there is an enormous gap between the plans and what actually happens. That is a really disappointing aspect of planning in Ireland. We have lots of plans about containing urban growth and creating these attractive little cities. But we have ended up with a lots of urban sprawl and we don’t have the national parks they have in other European countries,” he says. “I know where things break down [in the planning system] but it very hard to come up with explanation [on how to fix the problem]. We do lack effective government institutions. We can make plans and policies but we don’t seem to have the capacity to carry through on these.”