Category: News

DOUBLE yellow lines outside a Kilrush primary school are one road marking too many for one member of the local council, who has vowed to quit the council in four weeks if they are not removed.

Cllr Tom Prendeville (FF) said that he would leave Kilrush Town Council if parts of the line were not removed to allow parents to park when they pick up and drop off their children to St Senan’s Primary School.

He believes that the council executive has crossed a line by not remov- ing the offending lines on the direction of the elected council members last September.

At Thursday’s meeting of the council, Cllr Prendeville asked why the lines had not already been removed.

“This is becoming farcical. Parents are being forced to park illegally. If it is not carried out, I will resign from the council in the next four weeks,” said the father of the council.

“It is making a farce of what is happening in this town council.

“Is there another school in Ireland where there are double-yellow lines for 300 yards either side of the school?” he asked.

Cllr Marian McMahon Jones (FG) said there was no need for an emergency roads and traffic meeting on the lines as suggested by the town clerk, as the issue had already been decided.

“We have already agreed that there is a strip on either side of the pedestrian crossing where the double yellow lines can be removed,” she said.

Cllr Liam O’Looney (FF) added that legally under the Road Act the council could remove some of the yellow line.

“There should be minimum room for three spaces above and two spac- es below,” he said.

“My recollection of it was that the town engineer would go back and look at it,” Town Clerk John Corry told the councillors.

The councillors, however, expect the lines to be removed by the February meeting or they will be down their longest servicing member.

In the meantime, Cllr Prendeville has called for an amnesty for people parking on the double yellow lines outside the school.

“If anyone has a parking issue on that part of the road, they should be written off because a member of this council did not carry our instructions,” he said.

CLARE County Council has been urged to consider modifying roundabouts in the Barefield area to prevent cars from being deliberately driven through them.

Flowerpots and other items on a roundabout near the M18 motorway were damaged during incidents of vandalism last July, with members of the Barefield Tidy Towns committee blaming the activities of boy racers.

Yesterday’s meeting of councillors in the Ennis West Electoral Area heard that the deliberate driving of cars through the roundabout is a source of “significant frustration” to the local community.

Councillor Brian Meaney (GP) made the comments as he tabled a motion calling for measures to be “provided for to hinder access onto the roundabouts in Barefield village”.

Cllr Meaney told the meeting that cars are being driven late at night through the roundabout. He said the local community in Barefield had devoted a lot of resources into the upgrade and maintenance of the roundabouts.

Senior executive engineer for the Ennis Electoral Area, Eamon O’Dea, said it was important that all incidents be reported to the Gardaí.

He stated, “The council recognises the excellent work that is being carried out by the Tidy Towns and community groups in Barefield village. It is impracticable and unsafe to put measures in place to hinder access onto the centre of roundabouts, however it is important to report all non emergency intrusions onto the roundabouts and green areas to the gardaí as there are issues regarding pedestrian safety and incorrect use of a motor vehicle.”

Cllr Meaney said that while he would be happy to allow time for the gardaí to deal with the matter, it may be necessary for the council to install some sort of barricade.

CLARE County Council has acknowledged that there are still “major problems” with a sewerage plant in Quin.

It emerged yesterday that the council could not proceed with a planned € 800,000 upgrade of the Quin Gardens plant in 2012 due to a lack of funding.

In a report, the council stated that while € 130,000 was spent on improving some priority features of the plant, issues remained with capacity.

The issue was due to come before a meeting of councillors in the Ennis West Electoral Area yesterday. Quin councillor, Sonny Scanlan (FG), tabled a motion requesting an up to date position from the council on the sewerage system in Quin Gardens.

The project consists of the upgrading of the existing wastewater treatment plant including the provision of additional underground tanks and associated site works to increase capacity from 740 population equivalent (pe) to 1400 pe at Quin Gardens, Quin.

In his reply, Sean Ward, Senior Engineer, stated that it was not possible during 2012 to commence a full upgrade of the Quin wastewater treatment plant due to the non-availability of funding.

He continued, “However in August and September of 2012, Clare County Council applied to the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government’s rural water section for approval to divert Quin an amount approximately € 130,000 of our small schemes allocation which could not be spent at its original intended destination because of design issues. We succeeded in our application, and have spent this money on a number of the highest priority items of improvement at the existing plant – including screening, improved aeration and sludge tank. These works will be incorporated in any larger upgrade which we may be able to do in the future i.e. the money spent in 2012 won’t go to waste if we do the bigger job.”

Mr Ward added, “Already we are seeing an improvement in effluent results and a reduction in the costs of sludge management and are confident that odour problems will also be alleviated. We cannot however guarantee that the works done to date will solve all problems in the Quin sewerage system. These works do not add significantly to the spare capacity of the plant to cater for any future developments and there are still major problems of infiltration of stormwater and/or groundwater into the sewers. Furthermore when we receive a wastewater discharge license from the Environmental Protections Agency, we may have to comply with stringent conditions which the works done to date cannot in themselves achieve.

“Therefore we still intend to carry out a major upgrade if funding becomes available, and the works done to date can be regarded as an important advance element of such an upgrade,” he stated.

According to the council report, the proposed development will serve the needs of Quin village and its environs into the future. The report stated that Quin village will have a population of 789 persons by 2017.

IRISH Rail has been urged to improve accessibility at Ennis Rail Station after claims that passengers are sometimes forced to cross platforms through the doors of two stopped trains.

Irish Rail yesterday denied the claim that was made at yesterday’s meeting of councillors in the Ennis West Electoral Area.

In a motion tabled at the meeting, Councillor Brian Meaney (GP) called on the committee to request Irish Rail provide seating and shelter on the Galway platform at Ennis Station. He said the absence of seating and shelter on the Galway platform is causing difficulty to elderly and disabled passengers. He said the new footbridge is still not accessible to disabled people.

Cllr Meaney added, “It is still quite frustrating to see elderly people moving across the footbridge and having nowhere to sit apart from the plinth of the Old Victorian footbridge.”

He called on the committee to write to Irish Rail to highlight these concerns.

Cllr James Breen (Ind) asked if Irish Rail is in compliance with Irish and European law on disability.

Cllr Breen said that as someone who has to use a crutch, he would have great difficulty catching a train on the Galway platform.

Cllr Meaney told the meeting that he had heard instances where passengers who are unable to use the footbridge are brought through the trains that are stopped side by side on the tracks.

He said in other circumstances, trains are switch tracks in order to collect passengers.

Councillors said this was not a satisfactory situation for passengers. They agreed to write to Irish Rail.

Cllr Meaney added that much of the recent criticism of the number of passengers using the Galway line was “unwarranted”.

Speaking yesterday, a spokesperson for Irish Rail denied that passengers are transferred across platforms through stopped trains.

She said, “We would never have a situation where passengers are brought through from train to train. As far as we are aware that has never happened in Ennis. There are situations where we bring trains into the other platform.”

The spokeswoman acknowledged there are issues around access for disabled people at the station.

PROMOTING Scattery Island as a heritage and tourist attraction, while informing people of its rich and varied history, is the main aim of the newly formed Scattery Island Tourist Group.

The dedicated group is rooted in a VEC course and grew to include local business people and the farming community, as well as receiving support from the Head of the History Department at the University of Limerick, Dr Bernadette Whelan.

Rita McCarthy of the Scattery Island Tourist Group said the organisation has four main objectives.

Firstly, the group want to make the island’s terrain more accessible. Local farmer and member of the group, Thomas Burke explained that the island has become overgrown in parts and work is especially needed around the Battery. He said the group are proposing to build a path or roadway all the way to the Battery that would pass through the vacated village, and open up these areas for tourists.

The historical and tourism group has already begun talks with the OPW, the state body responsible for the island and have outlined their hopes for the historical site.

Improving access on to the island has also become a priority for the group. Making the history and heritage of Scattery Island available to everyone is something it is also working on. The members are preparing a written history of the island going back long before St Senan and up to the present day.

The final aim for the group is to promote the island locally, nationally and internationally and to encourage people to visit this unique and unspoilt part of West Clare.

Ms McCarthy explained that the island will be of great interest to those with an interest in various histories, including early Christian history, military history and maritime history. The island will also play a central role for The Gathering, as the group believe this is an ideal opportunity to bring the eyes of the Diaspora firmly onto the historical attraction.

Group member Nicki Power has dtarted work on a database of ancestors of those who once called Scattery Island home, so they can be invited to a special Gathering weekend. From July 12 to 14, ex-pats, locals and visitors will be welcomed to the island. A reenactment and a photography exhibition are being organised to showcase memories from the past. Visitors will also be able to take part in a historical tour of the island and watch the currach races from the island to the mainland.

Dr Whelan, who is working with the group to develop the island’s history, described Scattery as “a microcosm of Irish history”.

“You have a very valuable asset that has not been desecrated or interrupted,” she said.

PARENTS in Shannon are invited to have their say on which of four patron bodies they would like to see running primary schools in their area.

The bodies, which have indicated they would like to become patrons of any divested schools in Shannon, include the County Clare VEC, An Foras Patrúnachta, Educate Together and the Redeemed Christian Church of God.

Parents of children aged 0 to 12 years in 38 areas across Ireland are being asked by the Minister for Education and Skills what patrons they would like to see operating their local primary schools.

As part of this, parents in Shannon are being asked for their views.

The survey went live yesterday (Monday) on the Department of Education website and is an expansion of pilot surveys on primary school patronage which were conducted late last year in five towns.

The aim of the survey is to establish the level of demand from parents for diversity of school patronage in each of the towns. The current patrons of schools in Shannon are the Catholic Bishop of Killaloe and the Church of Ireland Bishop of Limerick, Killaloe and Ardfert.

If parents indicate they would like a wider choice of patron, then the Department of Education and Skills (DES) will ask existing patrons to come up with a plan to transfer some schools to other patron bodies.

“This is an historic opportunity for parents in Shannon to have a real say in the type of school they wish to send their children to, be it denominational, multi-denominational, allIrish or other,” said Minister Ruairí Quinn.

“In Shannon, there is little prospect of any new schools opening as the population remains stable and there is enough capacity within existing schools. However, if parents demonstrate through this survey that they want a greater choice of primary school, then we will work with existing patrons to transfer patronage to ensure they can send their children to a school which best reflects their own ethos and beliefs.”

The survey can be accessed online via www.education.ie and parents or guardians of primary school going children and 0 to 5 year olds in the 38 towns and suburbs (list below) are also being urged to fill it in before February 8. They will need to have their PPS number in order to complete the survey – for verification purposes. Paper-based versions of the survey are also available.

THE ambitious plans to develop a new cultural centre in Kilkishen have received the ringing endorsement of government this week, following confirmation that the project is to be grant aided to the tune of nearly € 400,000.

On Monday, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Phil Hogan, gave the green light for the Clare Local Development Company to approve funding of € 386,193 to Kilkishen Development Limited for the new centre.

The money for the new community and cultural centre, that will be located in the old Protestant Church in Kilkishen, has been allocated under the conservation and heritage stand of the Rural Development Programme 2007-2013.

The proposed works are estimated to cost in the region of € 550,000 and, under the plans set out by the development association, are envisaged to take up to three years to complete fully.

The church was acquired by the Kilkisken Development Association in 2011 when after many years they were given the green light by Clare County Council to develop it as a cultural centre for the parish.

The church was built in 1811 and held services right up until 1964, but lay idle for 47 years before development association’s dream of transforming the building into a place of pilgrimage for the arts in East Clare started taking shape with the launch of the Kilkishen Church Restoration Project.

“The new development will provide a supervised social and advice centre for all the community, especially young people and the aged,” a spokesperson for the Kilkishen Development Association, that is chaired by Mike Hogan, revealed.

“The building will act as an information centre with an interactive visual display providing information on the local area including amenities and local history.

“Local heritage artifacts will be on display. It will be a starting point for walking trails and loop walks,” the spokesperson added.

The development, which is set to be completed in 2014, will comprise two different elements – the conservation and restoration of the existing church building and the construction of a new extension.

THE community must show that it abhors recent aggravated robberies on the elderly in West Clare by standing up to these thugs and giving the gardaí every assistance.

That is the message from the gardaí in Kilrush, who are appealing again for information from anyone who may have seen something suspicious before, after or during these callous robberies.

The crimes against some of the most vulnerable people in society included an attack on the home of two elderly brothers in Lack West Kilmihil between 2am and 3.25am on Saturday, December 22.

At least two intruders, yielding iron bars, terrorised the elderly occupants and forced them to hand over what is considered to be a sizeable amount of money. The thugs then fled in a car.

On December 8 between 10.30pm and 11.30pm, three individuals broke into the farmhouse of two sisters in their 80s at Bansha, Moyasta and demanded money.

The culprits had their faces covered during the robbery.

Again on December 6, in Boo

lyneaska Kilmaley, an

older person was the

victim of an aggravat

ed robbery in their own

home.

Gardaí continue to

seek assistance in

bringing these culprits

to justice.

“This is a community

issue,” said Superin

tendent Gerry Wall.

“We are looking for

people to come for

ward and show these people the community deplores these attacks on the elderly. Older people are a very important part of our society,” he added. “We are anxious for any information.”

TWO men have pleaded guilty to the possession of weapons during a morning dispute at a post office in Ennis earlier this year.

Details of the incident, which occurred at Bank Place, Ennis on June 6, 2012, were heard at Ennis District Court on Wednesday.

Michael Carr (22), with an address at Rose Cottage, Clarecastle and Martin Faulkner (23), with an address at Rose Cottage, Clarecastle were both charged with offences under the firearms and offensive weapons act.

Mr Carr pleaded guilty to the possession of a golf club intended by him unlawfully to cause injury to, incapacitate or intimidate a person.. Mr Faulkner pleaded guilty to possession of a timber bat intended by him unlawfully to cause injury to, incapacitate or intimidate a person.

A third man – Michael Mongans (23), with an address at Clarehill, Clarecastle, also appeared in court in connection with the incident at Bank Place. He is charged with possession of a machete.

Inspector Tom Kennedy told the court that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had directed summary disposal of the cases.

He explained that the State would allege that all three accused were involved on two sides of a dispute that started after a man went to the post office to pick up a social welfare payment.

The court heard that an assault did not take place at the time. Insp Kennedy said that charges had been brought because it was alleged that Mr Carr and Mr Faulkner had brought the weapons to get involved in the dispute.

Solicitor for Mr Carr and Mr Faulkner, Daragh Hassett, said his clients were pleading guilty to the charges.

All three men were remanded on continuing bail to appear again at Ennis District Court on February 13.

AN Indian engineer who stole a life jacket from an airplane potentially placed a passenger in “great danger”, a court has heard. Rohit Sharma (37), with an address at 7 Oakington Close, Sunbury on Thames, Surrey, England Twi, 65AI, pleaded guilty at Ennis District Court on Wednesday to the theft of a life jacket worth € 50 from an Aer Lingus flight on January 8.

The court heard that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had directed summary disposal of the case. Judge Patrick Durcan accepted jurisdiction. The court heard Mr Sharma stayed overnight in the Bunratty Castle Hotel and had been in Clare on a business trip. Inspector Tom Kennedy said that staff at Shannon Airport discovered the life jacket in Mr Sharma’s luggage when he passed through a security screening point as he attempted to board his return flight.

Insp Kennedy said, “This is no ordinary matter. I’ve never come across anything like this.”

He said that Aer Lingus were tak- ing a “very serious view” of the offence. The court heard Mr Sharma is an Indian man who is traveling on a British passport.

Solicitor Catriona Carmody told the court that her client had taken the life jacket in a “moment of madness” as a gift to his eight-year-old daughter who is taking kayak lessons.

Ms Carmody described her client as a good community man who had cooperated 100% with gardaí.

She added, “He would like to apologise unreservedly to the court, the airline and the gardaí.”

Judge Patrick Durcan said the theft of a “very essential piece of safety equipment from an aircraft that is in constant public use” is a “most serious matter.”

Judge Durcan said the accused had shown“total disregard” for other people.

He added, “He, by his criminality, potentially placed someone in great danger.”

He added that a prison sentence was “foremost in his mind.” Judge Durcan adjourned sentencing for a day to Gort District Court. He fined Mr Sharma € 1000.