Category: News

A NEW era in policing County Clare, which includes the closure of eight Garda Stations and the downgrading of two Garda Divisions, has caused concerns for many communities across the county.

Those representing the elderly said those living alone in rural Ireland are particularly concerned at the loss of the “local garda”.

Last night, police chiefs were meeting with people in Inagh to allay fears and explain how the new system would work. Former Superintendent Frank Guthrie, who is now involved with the Inagh Housing Association said, “A lot of people, especially older people, favour the old-style policing and confiding in their local garda. They felt safe. The meeting is really to see how this will be dealt with,” he said of the “new concept in policing”.

The majority of the Clare stations to close are along the west coast and in rural East Clare, including Quin, Inagh, Lahinch, Broadford, Mountshannon, Doonbeg, Kilmihil and Labasheeda. Ennistymon and Killaloe District Garda Headquarters will be downgraded, and the administrative responsibility will come under the Ennis and Kilrush District Headquarters.

None of the stations to close were open 24 hours a day but six of the sta- tions had their own gardaí stationed there.

With the closure of the stations, the garda serving in Quin will now be reassigned to Ennis, the gardaí in Inagh and Lahinch will be stationed in Ennistymon, the Broadford garda will now be based in Ardnacrusha, Mountshannon in Killaloe and the Doonbeg garda will be working out of Kilrush Garda Station.

Labasheeda and Doonbeg stations were provided with a garda from Kilrush every weekday from 10am to 1pm and at the weekend from noon until 2pm. These stations will also close.

Many of the stations to close in Clare have served their communities since before the state was formed, with many RIC barracks in a previous life. Broadford was one such barracks and, up until 1993, the station had a sergeant and guard. In 1993, a staffing reduction removed the sergeant from the station

Local councillor Cathal Crowe (FF) described the closure of the station as “an attack on rural Ireland”.

“Broadford Garda Station serves a large area of East Clare and includes the communities of Kilmore, Truagh, Oatfield, Ballyquin, O’Callaghan’s Mills, Kilbane and, or course, Broadford village. The station currently operates on a part-time basis and roundthe-clock coverage for this area is given by gardaí stationed in Killaloe. The presence of Broadford Garda Station gives the people of East Clare a great sense of security. Elderly people in the locality have been very vocal in voicing their concerns for what the closure of the station could bring.”

Those supporting the Government have also raised concerns about the closure of the eight Clare Garda Stations.

Clare Labour Party National Executive Member Seamus Ryan called on the Government to rethink the course of action. “While the Commissioner is operating under the same financial constraints as so many people and the Government, it is short-sighted on the part of the force to abandon these facilities in favour of patrols and cover from other stations, some of which are up to 20km away and are themselves part-time and up to 25km to a 24-hour station for communities like Mountshannon.

TD Timmy Dooley (FF) described it as an “appalling attack” on communities across the county. “Clare has fared one of the worst in Minister Shatter’s hitlist. Within the next six months, Clare will have eight less garda stations and many of our communities will have lost their local station.”

THE Chairperson of the Lahinch Community Council has welcomed the closure of Lahinch Garda Station announced last week, saying the station was already “virtually closed”.

Local businessman Donogh O’Loghlin believes that the closure of Lahinch Garda Station will not have an effect on the safety of the local population. Mr O’Loghlin did say that a more flexible approach to Garda rostering in the local area, especially on weekends, could have a positive impact on the situation with anti-social behaviour in Lahinch.

“I am not really concerned by the closure of the station. It is a beautiful building but I think it has been more or less closed for years already,” he said.

“It should have been closed years ago really. The local people here don’t have any idea when there will be a garda present in the station or not, so what is the point of having it there? There are 30 guards stationed just two miles out the road in Ennistymon. That should be enough.”

Mr O’Loghlin did say that anti-social behaviour was a major problem in Lahinch, especially during the summer months, but also said that this could be better tackled by a reorganisation of Garda man-hours, rather than having a station in Lahinch.

“We have guards walking the streets in Lahinch on a Monday or a Tuesday, but we don’t see them when we need them at the weekends. It’s about having the right garda resources here at the right time,” he said.

“Being a guard in this part of Clare is like being at a holiday camp. I don’t know why there is not more manpower being used at the weekends, when all the problems with anti-social behaviour are taking place.”

FOUR people suspected of involvement in dissident republican activity arrested in Clare on Wednesday were released without charge.

Three men and one woman aged in their late 20s and 40s were arrested as part of a planned Garda search operation.

They are all detained under the pro- visions of Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act 1939, at various stations in County Clare.

The search took place in premises in Ennis, Shannon, and East Clare.

It is understood items such as paramilitary style clothing and laptops were also recovered in the searches.

The four were released at various stages on Thursday from Garda Stations in Shannon, Ennis, Killaloe and Ennistymon.

Files are being prepared for the DPP.

SOURCES within Clare GAA have confirmed to The Clare People that a number of suspensions will be handed down this week as a result of the investigation into Minor A hurling final between Kilmaley and Clarecastle.

Both clubs are also expected to be fined as a result of the incidents that marred the second half of the final, played in Sixmilebridge back in October. Several mentors from both sides have recently been before a committee appointed by the GAA in Clare to examine the controversy.

The game made headlines when pictures of the incidents were featured on the front pages of a number of national newspapers, as well as going viral on Facebook and Twitter. Only two mentors were named in the referee’s report, Kilmaley’s Niall Romer and Clarecastle’s Tommy Howard.

AN Bórd Pleanála has determined that issues raised with it regarding a contentious wall across a contested right of way have been dealt with previously.

James McNulty had asked the planning appeals board if development works (between the period 20042008) from the end of the public road L61041 across Doonbeg Golf Course to the public beach at Doughmore Bay, Carrowmore, Doonbeg, including the closure obstruction of the established public right of way to Doughmore Beach and the movement and alteration to the natural line of the public vehicular right of way at this location was considered development.

In his submission, the Cree man said he requested a declaration on the question from Clare County Council but had received no declaration.

An Bórd Pleanála concluded that the question being asked had already been dealt with and adjudicated on previously. The report said, due to “the evidence of the site inspection by the Board’s Inspector, where no works are apparent, it is considered that the substance of the case have already been determined and any further question has not been clearly articulated to enable the formulation of a determination.

“In deciding not to request further clarity in the matter, the Board considered that the substantive matter regarding previous works have already been dealt with,” it concluded.

A decision was made in May 2010, to a previous submission on the issue by Mr McNulty along with Theresa McNamara of Ballykeelaun House, Parteen. They appealed against a decision by Clare County Council to grant subject to conditions permission to Doonbeg Golf Club Limited for a development comprising retention of a gravel path, a dry stone retaining wall along a section of boundary between the golf course property and a neighbouring property, and the alteration of ground levels over an area of 300 square metres on the golf course to the west of the dry stone retaining wall.

At the time, An Bórd Pleanála upheld the local authority’s decision regarding that gravel path but refused permission for the retention on the contentious “dry stone retaining wall”.

“It is policy of the planning authority, as set out in the West Clare Local Area Plan 2009, to protect public rights-of-way and to keep them free from obstruction. This policy is considered to be reasonable,” the board said in May last year.

MORE than 30 young men and women from the North Clare and South Galway area have contacted Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) either applying for a job or asking to be trained to work on the 500-hectare organic salmon farm proposed for off the Clare coast.

Despite growing concerns about the impact of the fish farm among local fishermen and agencies such as Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI), BIM confirmed to The Clare People yesterday that they have been inundated with young people looking to work on the proposed site.

BIM have also confirmed that, should the farm be given the go ahead by the Department of Agriculture, the organisation will establish a temporary training facility in North Clare where people can learn the skills needed.

“We have not only had people inquiring about jobs, we have also had people asking about training courses where they could up-skill in preparation for the jobs coming on line,” said Donal Maguire of BIM.

“I think most people understand that the jobs will come when we are in a position to appoint an operator. But we have had an awful lot of enquires from people who want to get qualified in operating a boat or diving training – things like that. There are quite a lot of people locally who are thinking ahead with a view to being at the top of the queue if and when these jobs come online.”

BIM have said that the fish farm could create as many as 500 jobs locally, if it is given the green light by the Department of Agriculture. The number of jobs have been queries by the IFI and other groups.

“Once we get the go ahead for this we will set up a mobile training unit in North Clare or in Galway so that we can deliver training on the spot to the local people,” continued Donal.

Meanwhile, groups opposed to the fish farm will protest outside the constituency office of Minister for Agriculture, Simon Coveney (FG), this Saturday, December 15.

In a statement, No Salmon Farms At Sea (NSFAS) said that it will join like minded groups Save Bantry Bay, Save Galway Bay, FISSTA and Friends of the Irish Environment for the protest march in Cork.

“I CRIED that day.”

Young mother Niamh Daly who spends every hour of every day caring for her three-year-old daughter with special needs was brought to tears by the announcement that the respite grant would be cut by € 325 to € 1,375 for the year.

This money was not used for the purpose of respite in her home, but to pay to replace essential therapies already cut by the government.

Little Chantelle was diagnosed with autism nine months ago. At the time, Niamh was told she would be sent on a course to teach her how to help her daughter with speech and language, but no speech and language therapist or occupational therapist would be provided directly to the toddler.

To provide such services to her nonverbal daughter would cost Niamh € 100 per week.

She decided to use the respite grant, designed to give carers a brief holiday from their round-the-clock dedication, to provide some essential services when possible, and horseriding therapy which also helps her little girl manage her condition.

“This is just a whole lot coming together,” said Ms Daly, referring to the respite cut – the straw that broke the camel’s already seriously weakened back.

“If they keep cutting, I will just have to sit home with my child all day,” she said.

She laughed at the thought of taking a holiday, explaining that a few hours to go into town would be a heavenly break.

Niamh spends 24 hours a day, seven days a week, caring for her daughter and, as a result, cannot hold down a job.

“I can’t go out to work because my child requires 24-hour care. I want to work. This is the first time in my life I have not gone out to work. If I could work, I would at least be able to do overtime to get her some therapies, but I can’t because I have to care for her full-time.”

Niamh is busily collecting old mobile phones in the hope of exchanging them for an iPad.

She must collect 185 in a bid to get the tablet that would allow Chantelle to communicate with her mother and alleviate some of her daily frustrations as she struggles to speak.

The mother of one is angered that all Government TDs have been offered free iPads, along with all the other allowances and expenses, while carers struggle to survive.

She called on the ministers and TDs to spend a day living her life and believes that, after such an experience, they would reconsider any cut to carers and people with disabilities.

Cuts to the respite grant will save the Government € 26 million while TDs’ allowances and expenses come in at € 25 million.

CARERS from all over Clare took to the streets of Ennis on Friday, following an impromptu meeting through Facebook, to raise their concerns about budgetary cuts to the Respite Care Allowance.

Among the 40 to 50 people that took part in the protest were parents of young children with disabilities, older parents of adults with special needs and full-time carers of the elderly.

All had one clear message – the cut to the respite grant was the last cut they could even contemplate bearing on top of all the previous hardships they had endured in previous budgets.

One of the organisers, Niamh Daly (pictured above), said the protest organised in Dublin by the Carers Association was an indication at how upset people were but, as most carers cannot travel to protest, the carers of Clare decided to have their say on their own streets.

“Carers cannot all get to Dublin but, at the end of the day, we have to have our voice heard,” she said.

Many more Clare carers were unable to attend the protest as the people they care for are house-bound and therefore could not come to Ennis.

It is not just the cut to the respite grant, however, that is affecting Clare’s carers. Family carers, providing unpaid care to family members and loved ones, have been seri- ously affected through the number of cumulative cuts, including the cut to the Household Benefit Package, increases to the prescription charge from 50 cent to € 1.50, the new carbon tax on fuel and the drug payment scheme threshold increase from € 132 to € 144.

The Carers Association said it was extremely disappointed with the level of reduction of over 19 per cent in the respite grant paid to over 77,000 family carers, 20,000 of whom receive no other support from the State for providing full-time care for a family member from their own resources.

The grant is designed to be used by carers to buy in home care or pay for residential respite care for the cared-for person in order to give the carer a much needed break from their caring role.

However, The Clare People has learnt that many carers are using this grant to pay for necessary therapies and services for those they are caring for.

A TEENAGE actress with very strong North Clare connections has had her big international television break playing the role of an abducted girl in a drama reminiscent of the Madeleine McCann disappearance.

Fourteen-year-old Lauryn Canny, whose mother Nicola comes from Corofin, has been wowing audiences all over Europe with her performance in the four-part mini-series Amber.

The series, which has been commissioned by RTÉ but has yet to be broadcast, has been shown in a number of countries across Europe and as far afield as Australia. The drama tells the story of Dublin teenager Amber Bailey and the attempts made by her family and friends to find her.

Lauryn is currently in Morocco where she is shooting her first feature film alongside Juliette Binoche.

“That was her breakthrough role. It was commissioned by RTÉ but they haven’t shown it yet. She always wanted to be an actress. She never went to stage schools or anything like that but just because of her personality people always said that she was going to end up on the stage,” said Lauryn’s mother, Nicola.

“She absolutely loves it. She’s trying to find the balance between doing this and keeping up with school work as well. But her dream is to be a professional actor and do this for a living. She flew off to Morocco on Friday to be in a film with Juliet Binoche entitled 1,000 Times a Night . Lauryn is actually playing one of the lead roles – she is playing Juliet Binoche’s daughter. U2 drummer Larry Mullen is also in the film.”

Along with their Corofin connections, the Cannys also have a number of relations in the Shannon area.

“We come to Clare a good bit. We celebrated Lauryn getting the role down with my nan in Corofin, Lauryn’s great-grandmother. We found out that she got the role on Friday night and we all headed off to Clare for a big family night on the Saturday,” continued Nicola.

CLARE Green Party councillor, Brian Meaney has suggested that the Clare County Development Plan be changed to allow for fracking to take place, but only if it undertaken by a member of the local community.

The suggestion was made at last night’s December meeting of Clare County Council following a motion by the Green Party councillor concerning the status of a ban on fracking, which was asked for by the elected members of Clare County Council earlier this year.

In response to this motion, Ger Dollard, Director of Services with Clare County Council, said that it was not within the legal remit covered by the County Development Plan to place an outright ban on any activity – or any “crude exclusionary policy”.

Cllr Meaney then suggested that instead of introducing a ban on fracking, the council could take a “more creative” approach to the issue and change the County Development Plan to allow for fracking, but only by Clare people.

“We really don’t have a lot of power to change our own County Development Plan in order to reflect the needs of the elected members,” said Cllr Meaney.

“There is an awful lot going on with the energy companies. They are building up a reasonable expectation that they are going to be able to exploit this gas. The EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] and the European Commission still have not taken a proper look at whether this can be extracted properly. We still don’t know how people are going to be affected by this most intrusive of activities.”

In his response, Mr Dollard also said that there was no “hesitancy” from Clare County Council to deal with the fracking situation in the Clare Basin.

“The council will keep the matter under review and monitor progress at national level on the assessment of the issues and report back to the elected members in due curse,” he said.

“The council can be assured that there is no hesitancy on the part of the planning authority but any proposal must accord with law and be based on any national guidance on the issue.”

After successful test in West Clare, UK based company Enegi Oil confirmed last week that it intends to apply for a fracking license from the Department of energy next year.