Category: News

A NORTH Clare poet and writer has just won one of Ireland’s most prestigious short story competition for a story on Ireland in the recession.

Mary O’Donoghue saw off competition from more than 300 writers from all over Ireland to claim the Legends of the Fall short story competition.

He story, which is entitled ‘The Sweet Forbearance in the Streets’, tells the sport of a middle-aged woman whose husband has died and whose son has emigrated to Australia.

“It means a great deal to have been selected by writers whose work I deeply admire, Eilís Ní Dhuibhne, Donal Ryan and Fintan O’Toole. I wrote this story from a distance, so I’m especially honoured to be included in a series of writers responding to my home country’s thoroughgoing hardship and malaise,” she said

Miss O’Donoghue was born in Kilreedy in North Clare in 1975 but emigrated to America in 2001 and now lives in Boston. She teaches creative writing and literature in Babson Col- lege, Massachusetts, but returns to Ireland regularly to visit her family.

Her first book of poetry, ‘Tulle’, was published by Liscannor-based publishing company Salmon Poetry. She has since published a second collection of poetry, ‘entitled Among These Winters’, while her first novel, ‘Before the House Burns’, was pub- lished by Lilliput Press in 2011.

She has also won a number of awards including the Salmon Poetry Prize, a Hennessey New Irish Writing Award and two artist fellowships from the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

A PRIVATE air tour company based in Mountshannon is bidding to have Davy Fitzgerald flying high this week, as it is proposing to fly the Clare hurling manager all over the county with the Liam McCarty Cup.

Harbour Scenic Tours are propos- ing to give the manager and members of the Clare team a scenic view of the county, covering almost every town and village in an hour and a half.

Operator with the company Darren McNamara said it was hard to get commitment for the venture the morning after the All-Ireland home coming, but he was convinced he already had an orange light for an air trip that would see the Liam McCarthy Cup leave the base in Mount Shannon and circle the county before landing at Shannon airport.

“This would have many benefits. It would get him everywhere in a short space of time, continue the buzz and give the company some promotion,” he said. Last night he was proposing the event for early Wednesday afternoon, so the children could run into the schoolyard and wave on the plane that flies between 300 and 500 feet high. He admitted however that those watching from ground level would not be able to see the Liam McCarthy cup or anyone on board, but maintained it would be a very special and unique event causing a stir around the county.

MEMBERS of Clare’s Nigerian community will gather in Ennis this week for events to celebrate the African country’s Independence Day.

The Association of Nigerian Community in Clare (ANCC) has planned a series of activities in Ennis that include football, a party with dancing, singing, fashion and Nigerian food.

A number of events including a fashion parade and a children’s awards ceremony are planned for Ennis CBS.

It is 53 years since the first Independence Day.

The association has invited the Mayor of Ennis Town Council and Clare County Council, Bishop of Killaloe, Garda Superintendent in Clare and other guests to grace the occasion.

The ANCC was first set up in Clare in 2007. One of the prime objectives of the Association of Nigerian community in Clare is to foster closer working relationships within all communities in Clare and also with the Nigerian embassy in Dublin. It exists as an advocate and to suppor t the welfare needs of Nigerians as well as to progress integration and to be valued, valuable residents of Clare.

“We are delighted to be celebrating Nigerian Independence here in Ennis which is home to many of us now, these events will give us an opportunity to showcase and share our culture and rich heritage from food music, fashion and dance as well as the history of Nigeria,” said ANCC President Francis Okeyebulor.

The father of five who was elected president of the ANCC in August said the association is also planning a number of charity events.

He adds, “As an organisation we want to help Nigerian people who are in Clare. We believe that integration to the Irish way of life is very important. We thing it is integral that people integrate with their local communities. We want to help Nigerian people who maybe in difficulty. The association had been dormant for a few years but we have a good committee in place now. We have resuscitated it and we hope the association can play a role in helping people in Clare.”

THE Irish Kidney Association has paid tribute to the West Clare Kidney Support Group as it has exceeded raising € 200,000 for the organisation during the past decade.

The enormous funding has been used for projects benefiting kidney patients and their families from Clare and throughout Ireland.

In recognition of the West Clare group’s fundraising, chairman of the committee of the West Clare Kidney Support Group, Tom Prendeville, was presented with an award.

The Kilrush man was instrumental in setting up the West Clare group.

Clare IKA board member Peggy Eustace, from Ennis, who accepted a presentation on his behalf, thanked the entire committee for the enormous contribution they have made to the Irish Kidney Association over the years through their annual walk from Kilrush to Corraclare, which takes place every May bank holiday weekend.

Projects which have benefited from the West Clare Kidney Support Group’s fundraising include the Irish Kidney Association’s Renal Support Centre, which has 12 ensuite bedrooms and is located on the grounds of Beaumont Hospital in Dublin; a Holiday Centre in Tramore, Co Waterford, which offers free week-long holidays for kidney patients and their families; and the establishment of a home haemodialysis programme rolled out by Beaumont Hospital benefiting renal patients from around the country including a patient from Clare.

The IKA’s Renal Support Centre, which opened in 2000, is open all year round and provides a dayroom and free overnight accommodation for kidney patients and their families from Clare and other counties.

Many Clare families have benefited from the use of the centre, which has become a home away from home for them when their loved ones are called for a transplant at Beaumont Hospital. Families of Clare transplant recipients from the living donor kidney programme have also benefited from the use of the centre. Also using the facilities are patients who have to travel long distances to various Dublin hospitals for outpatient visits and require overnight stays.

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.”

AN APPLICATION to build a major extension to an aircraft and helicopter leasing facility in Shannon has been ruled not to be of strategic importance by an Bord Pleanála.

The planning authority last week turned down an application from Westair Aviation to a have a 253 square metre extension of their Shannon hanger deemed to be a Strategic Infrastructure Development (SID).

If the company had succeeded in gaining SID status, it would then have been allowed to apply for planning directly to an Bord Pleanála – and not through Clare County Council. In addition to this, an Bord Pleanála would also have worked with the company to ensure that the planning process would be navigated as smoothly as possible.

Having failed to receive SID status the company must now apply directly to Clare County Council, should they decided to go ahead with the hanger extension. Any decision made by Clare County Council would then be open to an appeal to an Bord Pleanála, a process which could take a number of years to complete.

The proposed expansion would see Westair Aviation develop the large extension to the south side of their existing hangar, which currently forms part of their corporate jet hire centre.

Detailed plans for the proposed extension were not submitted to the planning authority but it was stated that the extended hangar would be not be higher than the existing structure and would accommodate larger aircraft. It was submitted that the use of the building would remain the same, just with an increased floor area. There is no indication from the submitted plans whether the expansion would have led to an increased workforce at the company.

In his report inspector Philip Green stated that the proposed development was too small to be considered a SID.

THE Shannon-based Eirtech Aviation has announced a major expansion, saying that it will growing “its global footprint”, following the news released on Monday that it will begin painting aircraft in the former Alitalia Paint hanger at Rome’s Fiumicino Airport.

The state-of-the-art hanger, which is used for the painting of wide-body aircraft, boasts four magic carpet platforms, suspended from the ceiling.

The magic carpets facilitate the preparation and painting of an aircraft without the need for docking, helping to reduce the time taken to prepare aircraft for painting.

The Rome facility brings Eirtech Aviation’s number of dedicated aircraft painting locations to four, with over 20,000 sq mtrs of hangarage.

Niall Cunningham, CEO of Eirtech Aviation, said, “Our expansion into Rome is the next phase in the company’s development, which is focused on being able to provide state-of-the-art services to clients in geographically advantageous loca- tions. Providing multiple location options for clients gives Eirtech Aviation a competitive advantage as moving aircraft for painting and maintenance can be a costly exercise.

“Ultimately however we are judged on our responsiveness, service provision and cost effectiveness and it’s heartening to see clients returning to us again and again. It’s an exciting day for the team as we launch our new hangar in Rome, which follows the launch of our facility in the Czech Republic in 2012.”

During 2012, Eirtech Aviation painted over 200 narrow and widebody commercial aircraft and clients include SAS, Qatar Airways, and Lufthansa to name a few. The expansion into the Rome facility, which can cater for all aircraft types and will further strengthen Eirtech’s wide-body capability.

Painting will commence in October following commissioning and handover.

Eirtech would like to acknowledge and thank Aeroporti di Roma for their assistance and look forward to continuing to work with them in future.

THE education officer for the Diocese of Killaloe has warned that continued cuts to education budgets is making the management of primary schools in Clare almost impossible.

Fr Gerry Kenny said it’s time to stop treating schools like businesses and again prioritise investment in education.

He was speaking in Ennis on Thursday night at a public meeting called by the Irish National Teacher’s Organisation (INTO) to highlight opposition to cuts to education spending in next month’s budget.

He said the cuts in capitation grants are seriously affecting the ability of volountary Boards of Management to run schools.

“Schools are being treated more and more like businesses. Most of you in boards of management will be familiar with water bills. We haven’t received it privately but in recent years the water rate bill has hit the schools and by golly is that an eyeopener,” he explained,

“We are charged for ESB and gas. It’s estimated that 1/3 of those bills are just the service charges that come to us even when the schools are closed. It’s becoming more and more difficult with the small pool of money that is being given in the capitation grants. On top of that the minor works grants have disappeared. That means there is often very little left to do essential works that often have to happen for the maintenance of the schools.”

Fr Kenny continued, “We have lived through austerity and I think on behalf of the pupils for whom we manage the schools, it’s time to say to our State, ‘You have to begin once again to prioritise investment in our schools.’”

Diocesan communications officer Fr Brendan Quinlivan told the meeting that by increasing class sizes and cutting school budgets, the Government is “storing up a whole lot of trouble for the future”.

He added, “We are effectively making enemies of our children because if we deprive them of the things that are most important – the opportunity to learn, grow and socialise, the opportunity to value who they are as individuals, the opportunity to achieve their full potential – if we deny them those things, all we will be doing is storing up resentment and anger in a society for the future.”