Category: News

AFTER more than two decades of local campaigning and action, construction work on a new state-of-theart rescue centre for the Doolin Unit of the Irish Coast Guard will being later this week.

The new € 2 million centre, which is expected to be operational by the summer of 2014, will revolutionise the way in which the Doolin Unit can operate – and may, in time, save lives.

Even though the Doolin Unit of the Irish Coast Guard is one of the busiest coast guard units in the country, it does not currently have the ability to store all of its equipment at the current site at Doolin Pier.

This means that important equipment has to be stored at different locations around North Clare, meaning making rescue operations more complicated. The new facilities will include a garage area for the storage of boats, equipment and transport as well as changing facilities and an operations room.

“Ultimately this will make our work more efficient because we will be able to keep everything in the one place. The team will all have one place to assemble; there will be no confusion over where different teams should go in an emergency,” said Mattie Shannon of the Doolin Unit of the Irish Coastguard earlier this year. “Also, when you put a piece of equipment down you will where it is going to be when you need it again. That was a big problem. We had to store so much equipment in so many different places that it was very difficult to keep track of everything.

“This is going to make our job a lot more easy and they will make us better able to save leaves. We will be able to assemble at the one place and leave as a block.”

The news was welcomed yesterday by Clare Senator, Martin Conway (FG).

“The building in which the volunteers have worked in for the last 20 years was not fit for purpose and I have no doubt that the new facility will greatly assist the volunteers in their tireless work on behalf of the community, carrying out search, rescue and recovery operations off the coast of County Clare,” he said.

A CLARE woman is proposing to go where no woman has ever gone before – into Clare county council chambers as a Fianna Fáil county councillor.

Clare Colleran Molloy is aware however that her biggest challenge is to first get through the hotly-contested Fianna Fáil convention for the Ennis Electoral Area.

At least 15 people are expected to contest the convention for the new constituency, and it is very likely she could be the only woman in this contest, especially if former independent candidate Rita McInerny opts to contest the West Clare Fianna Fáil convention.

The Quin woman is a complete novice when it comes to elected politics, but has worked with community and charitable organisations.

A barrister by profession, she has also helped to run a restaurant with her husband Tony Molloy, formerly of Tony’s Fashions, Ennis, in her hometown of Quin.

The Clare woman spent a number of years living and working in Florida, returning home in 2002, and selling her American home and moving back on a permanent basis in 2007.

At the time she saw a lot wrong with politics in Ireland.

“While Fianna Fáil was in my blood I saw a lot of problems when I came home. I remember a news report from the time saying the Government was surprised with the surplus and did not know what to do with it, and thought this was bad forward planning,” she said.

She told The Clare People that she felt that the time was now right for her to begin a political career, aware that more female voices need to be heard in the council chambers and the Dáil.

She has returned to the law library and she and her husband are in the process of selling the restaurant, allowing her more time to the law and a possible political career.

“Fianna Fáil is on its knees and needs new blood,” she said.

For the first time ever the convention will be run on a one person one vote selection process, which Ms Colleran Molloy believes may be an advantage to her in the two month run up to the convention.

“It allows me as a new comer to ruffle some feathers,” she said.

There has never been a female Fianna Fáil county councillor in Clare and the party fielded just on female candidate in the last county council elections – Michelle Moroney in the Ennistymon Electoral Area.

FREE Legal Aid Centres (FLAC) in Clare reported a marked decrease in the number of people requiring free legal assistance with financial matters.

According to the legal rights group’s annual report for 2012 there has been more than a 49 per cent drop in legal enquiries relating to credit and debit issues in Clare on the previous year.

The human rights organisation, which promotes equal access to justice and has a base at the Citizen Information Offices in Ennis, Kilrush and Shannon, also reported that the majority of its work for a second year in succession is in the area of family law.

As many as 36.9 per cent of the calls to the FLAC in Clare related to family issues, making up 167 of the 445 enquiries – the same number as last year.

There was a 26 per cent drop in the number of people requiring employment legal advice, even though it made up 11.2 per cent of all enquiries.

There was also a significant drop 28 per cent – recorded in the number of people with consumer law ques- tions, with a 15.5 per cent drop in property and land questions and a 16.7 per cent drop in immigration and refuge calls – a drop of six calls to five.

In total the queries to the three centres were down 8.5 per cent on 2011, from 497 to 455 inquiries.

The number of people enquiring about negligence and personal injury had increased by 27.6 per cent in 2012 to 37, while enquiries relating to wills, succession and probate went up 25 per cent to 40.

Questions about neighbour disputes and client solicitor relations went up from 11 to 16 and three to five re- spectively.

Enquiries relating to civil matters went up 40 per cent from 15 to 21.

In a statement the FLAC said there is not only a fundamental need in Irish society for accessible legal information and advice for individuals, but also for fairer systems that allow people to access their rights across a wide range of issues.

Director general Noeline Blackwell added, “2012 was a milestone year for FLAC where, after years of campaigning to reform personal debt law, we finally saw the passage of personal insolvency legislation, its many flaws notwithstanding.”

MORE than 40 council houses are to be made liveable again, as almost a half a million euro is invested in the project.

Clare County Council’s 2013 Housing Works Programme got an extra € 700,000 boost and the funding is being invested in improving the local housing stock.

The 42 vacant Clare council houses will not only be returned to use as a result of the investment, but the work will also contribute to local employment.

The funding will be targeted at improving the energy efficiency and comfort levels of the council’s social housing stock, returning council houses to use and providing grant aid for the adaption of houses for older people and people with a disability.

A specific allocation of € 198,490 was set aside under the jobs stimulus investment programme for energy efficiency retrofitting of social housing stock.

Mayor of Clare, Cllr Joe Arkins, highlighted the new employment opportunities that will be provided for numerous private contractors in the county by the effective doubling of Clare’s 2013 allocation.

“The energy retrofitting measures for 2013 will target 250 older houses in the council’s stock which lack adequate insulation and draught proofing. The works will, in addition to providing an economic boost, considerably improve the comfort levels for our tenants.”

Meanwhile, the Chairperson of the Housing SPC, Cllr Patricia McCarthy welcomed the provision of additional funding of € 400,000 euro to carry out necessary works to return vacant houses to stock.

“This budget provision will see contracts being issued in respect of approximately 42 vacant units around the county in the current year. This, she stated, is particularly welcome at a time when our recently completed housing needs assessment identified 1,671 applicants in need of housing,” she said.

The housing adaptation grants scheme also received a welcome boost with an additional allocation of € 81,456 to bring the total available for the year to € 1.55 million.

The council’s director of Housing Services, Bernadette Kinsella, said, “This ambitious work programme presents a significant challenge for the council. However, I believe the Housing Department’s highly motivated technical and administrative team will ensure the effective delivery of this programme.”

LESS than a year after it was threatened with closure, representatives of the Ennistymon Community Hospital yesterday signed contracts which will secure the facilities future for a generation.

Following a mammoth local fundraising operation, The Friends of Ennistymon’s Hospital and the HSE yesterday signed contracts for Phase 1 of a € 3 million master plan for the facility.

Construction work will begin in early August with Phase 2 of the project likely to get underway at some stage in 2014.

In order to secure this new future for the facility, the Friends of Ennistymon Hospital have raised an incredible € 400,000 from local people to co-fund Phase 1 with the HSE.

A similar amount of money will also need to be raised locally to cofund the second part of the project. Yesterday’s contract signing seems like no more then a dream last year, when the facility was threatened with closure for the third time in as many years.

“The contracts were signed this morning which is a great relief for all of us.

“This is a major step forward, in the last six months we were threatened with the hospital being closed.

“That is the third time in recent years that we have been told that Ennistymon hospital was in danger of being closed,” said Thomas O’Sullivan of Friends of Ennistymon Hospital.

“It came down to what funding we could put up to back up our talk. So we were able to go to the HSE, from our small community, with € 400,000 for Phase 1.

“This is an incredible amount of money for the people of North Clare to come up with.

“We have people at church gate collection from Mullagh up to New Quay and down to Kilnamona and the support that we have got is really tremendous.

“These local people are the real back bone of our funding. That proves to us that people really want it.”

The development will see the total transformation of the facility, with twin on-suite rooms replacing the current ward-style sleeping arrangements. Phase 1 will focus on the mens and women’s sleeping quarters while Phase 2 will develop the mens area.

“As soon as the first section is nearing completion we will start looking at Phase 2.

“We have started fundraising for that already and hopefully we can progress that in the next eight or 10 months,” continued Thomas.

UNDERGROUND hunting rings are believed to be behind the reintroduction of herds of wild boar into rural County Clare. Three separate herds of wild boar have been discovered by authorities in forestry areas in the east and south of the county – with a total of 24 animals being captured from the wild. The most recent herd was discovered last week in the Sixmilebridge area where two adults and two young boar were discovered.

“These can be very dangerous animals – especially if they turn wild. The difficulty is that they breed like hell and while these animals are relatively sedate, one sow could have 13 or 14 offspring, and these offspring would be wild,” Clare’s ISPCA Warden, Frankie Coote told The Clare People this week.

Earlier this year, 15 animals were discovered in the Scariff area and a further five were discovered in a separate location in East Clare.

According to Frankie Coote, the animals are likely being released so that their offspring can be hunted for sport.

“I believe that they are being introduced by people who have an interest in coming back again and shooting the animals,” he said. ContinuedonPage14

THERE is a glimmer of hope for dwindling vocations in the Diocese of Killaloe as five young men have expressed an interest in training for the priesthood next year and are in talks with the vocations officer.

Even if one of these men are from Clare and decide to enter St Partick’s College Maynooth as a clerical student, it would still be at least seven years before the county had a new Clare priest among the 52 priests currently working in the county.

There is currently no Clare man training for the priesthood and just one man from the diocese – a Birr native – studying in Maynooth.

Meanwhile the number of priests serving the diocese continues to decline, as the patrol needs of the 124,000 Catholics in the six county dioceses are met through a “cluster system”.

According to figures released by the Diocese of Killaloe there are currently 82 priests in full-time ministry in the diocese’s 58 parishes, and The Clare People has learnt that 52 of those priests are serving in this county.

Among the 50 plus priests serving in Clare is Bishop Emeritus Dr Willie Walsh, who retired as bishop in 2010, but continues to serve the people of his adopted county as a priest.

The Diocese also has a priest from a Polish Diocese – Fr Dariusz – attending to the patrol needs of the Polish community.

Based in the Cathedral in Ennis, he serves Mass once a week in Ennis, while also moving to other counties in the diocese to serve Mass and administer at christenings, weddings and funerals.

A further six Killaloe priests are engaged in full-time school chaplaincy, teaching, diocesan administration and other pastoral work throughout Ireland, while five more serve overseas in various ministries.

Fifteen Killaloe priests are fully retired from active ministry, four of these men are from Clare.

The Diocese also benefits from the service of six priests from other dioceses or religious congregations serving as priests and benefits from the ministry of the clergy based at the Franciscan Friary in Ennis and the Cistercian Monastery at Mount St Joseph’s, Roscrea.

A WELL-KNOWN garda is swapping the highways and byways of County Clare for a new assignment in Cyprus.

Garda Martin O’Brien, a member of the Clare Garda Traffic Corps, has been chosen to participate in the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP). Garda O’Brien is one of just a handful of Irish gardaí chosen to serve with the UN. His duties will include monitoring a buffer zone between Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities. He departs Clare in August for a 12-month posting in Cyprus.

The father of three has been a member of An Garda Síochána for 31 years in Clare. He has worked for 26 years in the Traffic Corps, serving in Ennis and Killaloe.

Garda O’Brien is well known in Clare soccer circles having refereed in the League of Ireland for 16 years. He still officiates at junior and adult soccer matches in Clare.

Garda O’Brien says he will miss life in Ireland but is looking forward to a new challenge in Cyprus. “Its something new. I’ll miss refereeing in Clare. Its something I really enjoy.”

At Ennis District Court on Friday Judge Patrick Durcan paid tribute to Garda O’Brien. “The fact that Garda O’Brien has been chosen to serve in Cyprus is reflective of his high qualities as a Garda,” he said

Speaking yesterday, Chief Supt of the Clare Garda Division, John Kerin also praised Garda O’Brien’s achievement. He said, “This is a nationwide selection process. The fact that he has been selected shows the high esteem in which Martin is held.”

UNFICYP was originally set up by the Security Council in 1964 to prevent further fighting between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities. After the hostilities of 1974, the council has mandated the Force to perform certain additional functions. In the absence of a political settlement to the Cyprus problem, UNFICYP has remained on the island to supervise ceasefire lines, maintain a buffer zone, undertake humanitarian activities and support the good offices mission of the Secretary-General. In 1989 the Government of the day passed the Garda Síochána Act which permitted for the first time, members of An Garda Síochána to participate with the United Nations Civilian Police Component on Overseas missions.

ENNISMAN Anthony McMahon has been appointed to parish priest of Kilmurry-Ibricane this week.

The Clare priest was the only priest promoted by Bishop Kieran Reilly SMA, when he announced the new Killaloe Diocesan Priest appointments yesterday morning (Monday).

The bishop made 11 changes and appointments in total, including the reconfiguration of the of the East Clare Cluster to include the parish of O’Callaghan’s Mills, which is to move from the Scáth na Sionnaine Cluster.

Fr McMahon will move to Mullagh in succession to Fr Pat Larkin who has been appointed parish priest of Kilmaley.

Fr McMahon who is a native of Ennis was educated at St Flannan’s College, Ennis, and St Patrick’s College Maynooth and was ordained in 2001. He continued post graduate studies in Maynooth in 2001 and 2002 and was appointed Curate in Kinnitty, County Offaly, in 2002. In 2003 he was appointed Curate in Nenagh, County Tipperary, and has also worked as the Diocesan Catechetical Advisor to the Gaelscoileanna.

Canon Michael McLaughlin, PP Kilmaley, will also see a change to his role in the diocese when these changes come into affect on August 30, as he is to be priest in residence in Inch.

Fr Harry Bohan is to continue as parish priest in Sixmilebridge, while Fr Harry Brady is to continue as PP of Clarecastle.

Fr Paddy McMahon, a native of Kildysart, is retiring from the Diocese of Spokane, USA, and is to be attached to the Cluster of Scáth na Sionnaine with residence in Bridgetown.

Fr Ignatius McCormack will con- tinue to teach and reside in St Flannan’s College, Ennis, and be available for weekend ministry in the parish of Quin.

Changes outside the county will see Fr Enda Burke, assistant priest Cloughjordan, retire and Fr Tom Whelan, Administrator Cloughjordan, to be appointed curate in Castleconnell, Limerick.

Fr Tom Hannon, who is returning to the Diocese from Sabbatical leave, is to be parish priest in Cloughjordan.

Fr Noel Hayes, Assistant Priest, Bridgetown, is to retire due to ill health, returning to St Patrick’s Missionary Society.

LATE night beach parties are being blamed for causing the lions share of the littering which has blighted the counties beaches over the past month. Yesterday’s meeting of Clare’s Joint Policing Committee heard that these late night parties have become more common in recent years and are increasingly difficult for Clare County Council and the Gardaí to police.

The meeting also heard that prosecutions for litter offenses are currently difficult to follow up on in Clare, with Clare County Council’s four beach litter wardens currently focused on cautioning and education, rather than bringing prosecutions.

A spokesperson from Clare County Council also highlighted illegal household dumping from people in mobile homes and holiday home as a growing problem.

“The main problem that we are having on the beaches this year is excessive littering. This is a problem not just in Clare but all over the country,” said a spokesperson from Clare County Council.

“We have provided additional resources at all of our beaches. We have provided extra bins at our beaches and promenades and we have a good crew in operation.

“A large source of littering takes place late at night, with late night beach parties and rubbish from fast food outlets. While this behaviour is regrettable, there is little that we can do to stop it. We also have a problem this year with people in holiday homes and caravans who are using the public bins. If you are staying in a holiday home, there should be a facility there for disposing of rubbish.

“We can fine people but the severity of the fine depends on the severity of the offense. But a lot of our focus is on education and caution, and not on fines.”

North Clare senator Martin Conway (FG) called for a name and shame policy to be introduced for serial offenders.

“I have already called for the fines to be increased. I realise that might require a direction from the minister. But I also think that if someone is caught littering more than once, there should be a name and shame policy. I don’t know what it is in our society that makes people do this,” he said.

County manager Tom Coughlan, confirmed that Clare County Council had wanted to introduce a name and shame policy but were instructed by the Department of the Environment not to go ahead with it.