Category: News

MORE than 11 per cent of mortgage holders in Clare have defaulted on their payments and many of these cash strapped home owners now face unpaid property tax been taken from their wages or social welfare payments in the coming weeks. Paul Woulfe Development Manager, Citizen Information Clare and MABS has attributed the struggle to stay up with household payments to increasing taxes and bills at a time when working hours are being cut. He told The Clare People that the majority of the people failing to pay their mortgages are not necessarily out of work, but people who have had their working hours or wages cut. “We are seeing this especially in the retail sector which has been badly hit. “People are having their hours and working days cut, with some being made redundant,” he said. “They are going into arrears because of changes in their circumstances. “Then there are extra charges such as the property tax,” he added. The citizen information expert said that at this time of year people are under particular pressure as they face the back to school bills. He was also critical of costs, bills and expenses that target the less well off such as the National Car Test and car tax. The NCT must be carried out in cars over four years old every sec ond year and every year on cars over ten years old. Car tax is also higher on older cars. “People have multiple debts, but we always encourage them to speak to their banks,” he said adding that there is some helpful information on the citizen information and MABS websites. The Ennis based official said there has been a marked improvement in the number of people contacting the office about mortgage payments problems since the introduction of the Central Banks Code of Conduct for banks, but people are still struggling. “There is a way of dealing with banks and the in formations is available on keepingyourhome.ie, citizen information or MABS,” said Mr Woulfe. Meanwhile Insurance company Caledonian Life has warned that the increase in arrears and mortgage restructure arrangements is leading to potential underinsurance issues for Irish households. Tadgh Malone Caledonian Life representative in Clare said; “According to a Moodys report from less than a year ago 11.3 per cent of people in Clare have defaulted on their mortgage and unfortunately it is unlikely that this per centage has decreased with the latest Central Bank figures revealing that arrears are on the up and so too are restructure arrangements for homeloans, with nearly 80,000 mortgage accounts classified as restructured.”

THE inquests into the deaths of two fishermen who died off the coast of Clare last year are due to take place at Ennis District Court tomorrow (Wednesday).

64 year old Skipper Michael Galvin – a married father of three and his 35 year old neighbour Noel Dickinson drowned when their boat – the Lady Eileen- sank off the coast of Quilty last August.

Their disappearance sparked a massive search involving coastguard units from Kilkee, Doolin along with a rescue helicopter and the Aran Island Lifeboat.

The bodies of the men were subse- quently recovered in the wreckage of the boat.

The official report into the tragic sinking of the “Lady Eileen” found that the 10.85 metre boat probably encountered wind or wave action on the day when the local fishermen lost their lives at sea.

“It is probable that the “Lady Eileen” encountered wind or wave action or a combination of both. This caused the vessel to be swamped and loose reserve of buoyancy beyond which it was able to recover for its loaded condition, resulting in its sinking,” the report said.

The inspector who carried out the “Report into the Sinking of FV “Lady Eileen” on August 13, 2012” also had questions regarding recent work carried out on the boat.

The report was clear however that the incident that resulted in the sinking of the vessel, and the death of the two men, was sudden.

“Both men were active able-bodied experienced individuals. The evidence would suggest that the incident happened very suddenly and that neither Mr. Galvin nor Mr. Dickinson had any time to react to the situation and access the emergency equipment,” the report said.

The report did claim however that “Neither crewmember was found wearing a lifejacket,” and “the wearing of lifejackets would increase the chances of survival.”

A CLARE food company is to increase its work force by almost 50 per cent after it was given the go ahead to build a new café and restaurant in Bunratty.

Shannon based company Zest is expected to begin building the new eatery on the site of the former Avoca building early next year, the construction also providing up to 40 new jobs. The site has been vacant since the landmark building along the N8 dual carriage way was destroyed by fire in 2007.

It was purchased by Zest, which is the retail division of EFG Inflight Ltd, in 2011.

Last December Zest was granted conditional planning permission to demolish the existing structure on the old Avoca site, and build a new 680 square metre facility comprising of a restaurant, café, food hall and kitchen, as well as associated works, by Clare County Council

The local authority’s ruling was appealed to An Bord Pleanala by Maurice Walsh of Durty Nelly’s, who claimed it would “severely detract from the setting and character of Bunratty”.

An Bord Pleannala rejected the appeal and the project was given the green light in the last week.

A total of 15 conditions have been attached to the Bunratty development.

These include an order that a bat survey be carried out on the site, further changes to proposed signage, as well as other measures in the interest of visual amenity, traffic safety and local wildlife.

The new project is expected to create 40 jobs to add to the 100 more Zest jobs at its base in Knockbeg Point, Shannon Airport, and at its shops and cafes in Ennis and Limerick.

The company was founded in 2006, and the first Zest shop opened in Ennis in June 2010.

The Limerick branch is open in Pery Square at the Limerick City Gallery of Art and in the last few weeks the company opened a new store for Killaloe.

LOCALS in Doolin are growing angry with a small group of visitors who are ignoring advice from residents and continuing to get in the water with Dusty the dolphin.

Despite national and international media coverage for Dusty’s numerous dust-ups with the public over the past 10 days, swimmers did attempt to swim with the dolphin over the weekend.

“One lady did try to enter the water and swim with her – despite all the warnings. There is no getting through to some people,” a local told The Clare People .

It has also been revealed that Dusty is unlikely to leave Doolin as a result of recent violent interactions with swimmers – indeed, these interactions could actually encourage her to stay forever.

BALLYVAUGHAN grandmother and symphysiotomy survivor, Ellen Moore, says she will not accept the redress scheme proposed by the Minister for Health, James Reilly (FG), during their face-to-face meet- ing last week.

Ellen was one of a small group of symphysiotomy survivor who met with the health minister in Dublin on Thursday.

The meeting was originally organised by the Survivors of Symphysiotomy (SOS) group because of fears that the government was preparing to renege on promises made to wave the statue of limitations for symphysiotomy sufferers earlier this year.

It know looks likely that the government is indeed looking to perform a you-turn on their promise to lift the statue for women who were given symphysiotomy without consent.

Minister Reilly instead proposed a Magdalene style redress scheme for Ellen and the other symphysiotomy survivor.

This deal would see the women receive some level of compensation from the state but there would be no admission of fault and no apology.

This proposal was rejected by Ellen and the other representatives of SOS.

“We were there to talk about the statute of limitations and he [Minister O’Reilly] said that there was some issue with that and it was still with the Attorney General,” said Ellen.

“He did seem to be effected by our stories – he and his advisors. But his proposal would mean that there would be no apology and no admission of liability, and that is something that we cannot accept.

“It seems to us that he is trying to divide and conquer [using the redress system].

“Time is on their side. We are all older women and the longer this goes on the fewer of us there is.”

Hundreds of symphysiotomies were performed on women without their consent in Irish hospitals in the 1960 and 1970.

The controvertial operations involved breaking of a women’s pelvic bone during labour – which resulted in a litany of medical complications and complications.

Ellen has undergone more than 20 operations over the last two decades and is now in near constant pain.

PLANS for a multi-million euro wave energy plant off the Clare coast could soon be sunk as the government appears to be dragging its feet in legislating for the project.

It was announced earlier this year that a license for the project, which has been earmarked for White Strand in Miltown Malbay, had been authorised by the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources however, The Clare People has learned that this license has yet to be issued.

In addition, the legislation necessary to allow for a private company to “lease” a section a Irish water from the state has not even been drafted.

According to Kieran O’Brien, Executive Director of Carnegie Wave Energy and former Managing Director the ESB National Grid, the Clare site has fallen behind rival locations in Scotland and England – and if a decision was being made today, the Clare site would not even be in the running.

“The Minister has announced that we are to be granted a license, we haven’t actually got it yet, it is still in the legal process,” said Kieran.

“After we actually get the license we have a lot of technical survey work to undertake and once those surveys are completed we would have to secure a lease for the ground. The legislation that will grant us a lease is not even in place in Ireland at the moment. So, even if we were ready right now, we couldn’t do anything in Clare.

“To be frank, I’m going to spend the first two weeks of September in the UK – I’ll be talking to people in Scotland and down in Cornwall and in London. These people have all this stuff in place.

“In Scotland, they have one agency who looks after all of this. If you want to talk to fishermen, you talk to Joe; if you want to talk about a lease, talk to Mike; if you want support from the Scottish universities, you talk to someone else.

“They are extremely well organised and funding – they have the administrative organisation that investors who want to spend million like. The Irish authorities have a long way to go before they are in that area.”

If successful, the project would see a large spherical wave buoys being built to harvest the power of the sea. The movement of the buoy would be used to turn turbines which would in turn create electricity. The buoys which will be used off the Clare coast would be of full commercial size, have a diameter of between 16 and 20 metres and produce up to 1.5 megawatts a day.

A number of Irish companies are currently developing wave energy generators but none have yet progressed past the prototype stage of development.

A STAND-OFF between Iarnród Éireann and the Department of Transport has resulted in the shelving of planned Crusheen rail stop on the Western Rail Corridor.

Construction work on the Crusheen station, which has been the subject of the major local campaign for almost 10 years, was due to begin this year but works will now not get going until 2014 at the earliest. The stand-off centres around the € 2.1 million price tag for the station with the Minister for Transport, Leo Varadkar (FG), insisting that Iarnród Éireann find a way of cutting the construction costs.

The rail company insist that a full € 2.1 million will be needed to complete the long awaited project – resulting in a stand off.

In a written Dáil reply to Clare Fianna Fáil’s transport spokesman Timmy Dooley, Minister Varadkar said there was no money at present to fund the station.

“My department’s capital funding for rail infrastructure was reduced last year in order to support the emergency funding required for the CIE Group.

“As a result of the reduced capital funding, Irish Rail have had to reevaluate their planned capital programme to 2016, with the priority being to protect existing assets and to maintain safety standards,” he said.

“In the context of this, I have asked Irish Rail to revisit their current proposals for Crusheen rail stop which have a construction cost of in the order of € 2m and see if a lower cost alternative is feasible.

“It is my intention to provide for a rail stop at Crusheen.”

Earlier this year Clare County Council granted planning permission for the long awaited station at Crusheen. While overall passengers on the Western Rail Corridor have been slightly below projects – the number of people using the commuter sections of the line – such as between Ennis and Limerick and Athenry and Galway have exceeded all expectation.

It has been projected that a strong commuter demand between Cursheen and Ennis will help make this station a success.

An Iarnród Éireann spokesperson said there was “limited scope” to reduce the cost of the Crusheen Station.

KILRUSH’S Music and Set Dancing Festival could be in doubt for next year, as it failed to receive any financial support from the Arts Council, but organisers are determined to make this year’s event one of the best ever. The festival, which replaced the Eigse Mrs Crotty festival five years ago, has new competitions added to its listing this year with a focus on encouraging young musicians.

Secretary of the group Anne Hayes said a new under 12-concertina competition will take place for the first time this year, as well as the traditional under-18 competition.

While the Kilrush Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann organised festival has encouraged musicians of all ages from all over Ireland to visit the town during the last five years, it is facing new challenges every time.

This year the direct funding from the Arts Council has been cut, resulting in the group working with € 3,000 less than last year. Determined volunteers have not been deterred by this or the fact they are also competing with other festivals and competitions.

As schools are opening earlier and earlier every year the national fleadh competition has been brought forward to accommodate school going partici- pants. As a result the Kilrush competition also had to be brought forward so as not to clash with the national competition. The West Clare music festival is now competing with the festival in Feakle and over laps with the Rose of Clare just out the road in Cooraclare-Cree. Despite all the hurdles the festival promises to be better than ever, opening tomorrow (Wednesday) with a Sessiun in the Teach Cheoil at 9pm.

The Singers Club will take place in the Haven Arms on Thursday August 8 at 10pm with_music, set dancing and Irish language classes on Friday from 10 am. A unique Musicial Boat Trip to Scattery Island will take place on Friday at 1pm, and an open air ceilí in Kilrush Town Square at 7pm followed by music sessions in the town bars from 10pm.

Classes will take place again on Saturday, as well as concertina competitions followed by open air dancing to Johnny Reidy Ceili Band at 2.30pm and a Gala Concert in the Teach Cheoil at 8pm.

On Sunday the final of the concertina competition is at noon with a monster open air music session at the Vandeleur Walled Gardens with Inis Cathaigh Comhaltas Branch. Open Air Ceili with the Five Counties Ceili Band in the square at 7p.m. with the closing sessions in the town’s bars at 10pm will bring the festival to a close.

CASH strapped parents in Clare who are facing back to school bills of more than € 700 per child are being forced to turn to moneylenders and charities such as the St Vincent de Paul in desperation.

The Clare Citizen Information Office surveyed stressed parents who sought their advice and assistance and discovered that the cost of one second level student starting school in Clare has reached almost € 800.

The € 200 Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance (BSFCA) grant is not taking the pressure off parents, said Clare’s Citizen Information Development Manager Paul Woulfe and he has raised concerns that the financial pressure is forcing people to turn to “legal and illegal money lenders in desperation”, who charge exorbitant interest rates and in the case of illegal money lenders can resort to threatening and abusive behaviour when collecting a debt.

Parents are also finding some sol- ace in organisations such as the St Vincent de Paul.

“It is easy to see how the costs add up. Shoes cost about € 250 because you need runners and sports shoes too, € 200 for school uniforms and tracksuits, books cost anything between € 200 and € 250 with miscellaneous classroom costs at least € 50.

“The voluntary contribution to schools is usually between € 100 to € 125,” explained Mr Woulfe.

The Citizen Information development manager said many parents find themselves in debt at the start of the school year, especially as the BSCFA and children’s allowance is reduced as costs increase. The cost of school tours and extra-curricular activities or tuition can also be very high.

“Though not compulsory, such activities are often essential with regard to social and educational inclusion,” said Mr Woulfe.

“Children from lower-income families are likely to benefit most and yet be most at risk of exclusion from costly extra-curricular activities and supports. Additionally, a child who has to opt out of school tours or outings is likely to experience social stigma,” he said.

“Evidence from MABS suggests that parents may opt to ensure that their children do continue to participate in extra-curricular activities, school tours etcetera, but that this brings with it the risk of deepening household poverty, which carries with it not only health risks associated with food and fuel poverty but also the stress of household indebtedness and social exclusion of the parents and family within the broader community or socio-economic context.”

“They have so many costs it is crippling and they face a great burden,” said Mr Woulfe.

Families on certain social welfare payments and some low income working families are this week applying for the back to school grant.

The grant for second level students is € 200 down from € 305, while € 100 is granted towards primary school children.

ONE of Ireland’s most acclaimed painters is eyeing a former barracks on the banks of the River Fergus as the location of a proposed new artistin-residence project.

Ennis man and award winning artist Mick O’Dea (RHA) is part of a local group proposing to convert old stables located near the Garda Station into an artist’s studio.

O’Dea believes the site is rich with potential and the project could attract the very best artists from around the world.

He says, “Ennis is one of the few towns in Ireland without a studio or even a proper exhibition space. There is one in Glór, but that’s more of an annex, its part of the building. Ennis doesn’t have a dedicated space. It would be an interesting thing to happen for the town.

O’Dea adds, “Those buildings and that area from Steele’s Rock down by the river are what makes the town, I think. Can you imagine if that was a car-park or if those buildings were gone? They are amazing buildings and you have these stories that go with that area. It’s a good opportunity to get artists into the middle of Ennis.” It has been suggested that some of the work produced by artists using the studio would be gifted to local museums or local authorities.

O’Dea is currently working on a proposal document for Ennis based on artist in residence schemes from around the world.

He says the cost of transforming the stables into a working studio would be “minimal”. O’Dea says Ennis should also exploit its twinning arrangements with other towns and cities to bring artists from around the world to the town.

“We’re twinned with enough of towns. There must be artists in these places who would relish coming to Ennis.”O’Dea was part of a group of local people including Fine Gael councillor Johnny Flynn who recently visited the buildings.

Cllr Flynn is hoping that the Office of Public Works (OPW), who are currently carrying out major flood relief works on the river, will repair slates and the guttering of the building while scaffolding is in the water.

He says the artist-in-residence project could be the next step in promoting cultural tourism through a so-called Abbey Quarter, based around the town’s historic Franciscan Abbey.

“You’re talking about the best in international talent. Anything that would bring more culture into the town would be great.”

Cllr Flynn is also proposing that the OPW develop walkways and cycle paths along the Fergus in order to connect Ennis and Clarecastle.