Category: News

CLARE County Council is to make a submission to the Electoral Commission in an effort to retain the current local authority boundaries and save the North Clare or Ennistymon Area of the local authority.

A joint motion put forward by three councillors from West, North and East Clare at last night’s December meeting of Clare County Council requested that the council lobby the Minister for the Environment, Phil Hogan (FG), to have some flexibility in how the electoral areas of Clare are divided, in an effort to ensure that the five traditional electoral boundaries in Clare are allowed to continue in their current form.

While no formal decision has yet been made, it is likely that the Ennistymon Local Area and the West Clare Local Area will be amalgamated, while the East Clare, Ennis and Shannon Electoral Areas will remain. The criteria for deciding on the number of councillors who represent each area has also been changed but it is not clear as yet whether this will mean a reduction in the overall number of councillors.

The motion was put forward jointly by West Clare Cllr PJ Kelly (FF), North Clare Cllr Richard Nagle (FF) and East Clare Cllr Joe Cooney (FG).“If this goes ahead, it seems that the Ennistymon Area council would be a prime candidate for abolition. I think that we need to make the submission and hope for the best,” said Cllr Nagle. Cllr Kelly said that a “small bit of flexibility” by the Minister for the Environment would result in a a situation that was “not too different from what it is like at the moment”.

Speaking on the motion, North Clare Cllr Joe Arkins (FG) said that the local areas of the council represent different community blocks in Clare and should not be altered.

“An electoral area should be a community area – Ennistymon has very little in common with Kilrush and probably even less in common with East Clare,” he said.

FINAL confirmation on whether commercial drilling will take place off the Clare coast in 2013 is expected before Christmas.

Chrysaor E&P Ireland Ltd, who now own the majority stake in both the Spanish Point and Burren gas and oil fields within the Porcupine Basin, undertook a vessel-based geotechnical and environmental survey of the Spanish Point Field in September.

While initial results for this resource have been described by the company as very positive, an official announcement on the survey, and the prospects of commercial drilling taking place next year, is expected to be made in the coming weeks.

According to Chrysaor, planning is already well underway for a programme of drilling off Spanish Point over the next two years.

“In 2013, subject to normal governmental consents and rig availability, the group intends to drill a Spanish Point appraisal well to confirm volumetrics and reservoir properties,” said a company statement.

“If that well is successful, the group will return in 2014 to drill a second Spanish Point appraisal well, frac-test the original Spanish Point appraisal well and drill the first ranked exploration prospect.”

The cost of drilling two explorations wells on the Spanish Point field is likely to run to between € 80 million and € 100 million.

Chrysaor now own a 62 per cent share of the exploration licence for both the Spanish Point and Burren fields. Irish company Providence Resources’ share of the license has been diluted to 32 per cent while Sosina Exploration also owns an 8 per cent stake.

Providence, who held a majority share of the licence when interest in the “Clare” fields was reignited in 2007, told The Clare People at the time that they would not be bringing any gas on shore in Clare.

Chrysaor have not indicated how they intend to bring the gas and oil ashore.

Latest estimates indicate that Spanish Point contains about 200 million barrels of oil equivalent, with peak production estimated to be 70,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

This is estimated to be enough gas to fill Ireland’s entire domestic gas need for the next 50 years.

Gas and a small amount of oil was discovered in the field in 1981 but was deemed to be too difficult to recover at the time.

However, with increases in gas prices and improvements in exploration techniques, the prospect is now thought to be profitable. A c o n sist e n t we e k o f sin g le – fig u re t e m p e ra t u re s b u t n o re a l fre e ze . Ne xt we e k lo o ks sim ila r. No Wh it e Ch rist m a s o n t h e c a rd s t h is ye a r 🙁

ENNIS and Ballyvaughan flew the flag for Clare at the inaugural ‘Tourism Town Awards’ initiative that were promoted by Bord Fáilte, but had to be content with the minor placings as the overall award went to Portmagee in South Kerry.

The awards, which were organised as an added competition to the National Tidy Towns Awards, saw both Ennis and Ballyvaughan nominated as being among the 10 finalists shortlisted for the overal prize out of 100 entries around the country.

Clare and Kerry were the only counties with two centres seleted to be among the 10 finalists, with the other finalists being Portmagee and Killarney (Kerry), Clonakilty, Dundalk, Kilkenny, Letterkenny, Trim and Westport.

“The towns were nominated for a number of reasons,” a Fáilte Ireland spokesperson revealed. “It was because of their sense of place, how they tell their unique story to visitors, the tourism products available in the towns or villages, the local involvement and the development, promotion and marketing of tourism towns,” the spokesperson added.

As the overall winner, Portmagee received a certificate and a € 10,000 grant toward developing itself as a tourism destination, while the Tidy Towns committees in Ennis and Bal- lyvaughan received € 1,000 grants to accompany their certificates of merit.

Ennis’ nomination for the award completed a memorable year for the county capital in Tidy Towns competition. In 2012, Ennis was named Ireland’s Tidiest Large Urban Centre, won the national Gum Litter Taskforce award, was the regional and county winner of Tidy Towns and was one of three Clare centres to pick up gold medals in the overall competition.

THE first standalone plan for Shannon that will be the new blueprint for the growth and development of Clare’s second largest town over the next six years was officially launched at a ceremony in Shannon Airport on Monday.

The Shannon Town & Environs Local Area Plan has been produced by Clare County Council and contains objectives to establish a strong and vibrant town centre, maximise the potential from Shannon’s location on the Estuary, increase the town’s tourism potential and establish Shannon as a low carbon town.

It also provides sufficient zoned land to cater for an increase in the current population of 9,673 to a target population of 11,972 by 2017.

Meanwhile, the plan has anticipated proposals for the development of an aviation services hub at Shannon airport by zoning a 2000-acre landbank around the airport.

The area covered by the plan includes the town of Shannon, Shannon International Airport, Shannon Free zone, Smithstown, Westpark and some adjoining hinterland, including Hurlers Cross.

The launch of the plan, which was an objective of the existing Clare County Development Plan, has been welcomed by the Mayors of Shannon and Clare.

Town Mayor Michael Fleming described the plan as a “unique blueprint” for the future economic and social development of the town and surrounding community, while Senior Planner at Clare County Council, Gordon Daly said “implementing this plan by working with all those who have an interest in Shannon is now the priority for the council”.

“While Shannon’s importance as an aviation hub and as a significant employment centre is recognised in its designation as one of nine Gateways along with Limerick in the National Spatial Strategy, the council is keen to stress that the plan is also one for the town itself and the people who live there. The council is particularly pleased that the final plan is the result of the high level of engagement received from the people of Shannon during the plan making process.”

“For the first time since the town was established during the 1960s, clear objectives to establish Shannon as a tourism destination in its own right have been set out,” he stated.

“Amongst the objectives is the development of an aviation museum at Shannon Airport, as well as improved aircraft viewing point. The aim is to build on existing facilities such as Atlantic Air Venture and Ballycasey Craft and Design Centre.

“The plan also identifies a site at Illaunagowan point on the Shannon estuary close to the centre of the town for a potential tourist/interpretative development associated with the Shannon Estuary,” he added.

GARDAÍ in Ennis have launched an investigation after an attempted arson attack on units in the Beechpark Traveller accommodation site.

Two buildings at the site on the outskirts of Ennis sustained smoke damage when an attempt was made to set them ablaze on Saturday night.

Intruders attempted to set fire to the kitchen of one unit after breaking a window. The rear was forced open in another unit and an attempt was made to set the building alight.

Gardaí in Ennis said yesterday that petrol was discovered near the scene of both attempted fires. No one was injured in the attack.

The family who live at one of the damaged units were away on the night. As of yesterday, no one had been arrested or charged in connection with the attack.

It is the second time in three years that the Beechpark site has sustained damage. Between 2010 and 2011, the Council was forced to spend € 2800 a week on providing security at Beechpark after units there were destroyed by vandalism and arson in April 2010. Last year, a report from Clare County Council on the costs associated with providing traveler accommodation in Clare, stated that Beechpark has been the subject of threats and intimidation since 2010.

COMPANIES are queuing up to do business in the Shannon Free Zone and provide thousands of new jobs – the only thing they’re demanding to turn this commitment into a reality is that Clare’s international airport be freed from the strictures of Dublin Airport Authority control and be given its full independence.

This promise of a jobs bonanza for the region was delivered by Rose Hynes, the chairperson of the Aviation Business Development Task Force that has helped draft a blueprint for the independent Shannon Airport structure over the last four months.

“We have people lined up who are willing to do business with Shannon but they are only willing to do it if the airport and the new entity is created on the basis of separation,” Ms Hynes revealed at Monday’s press conference heralding the timeframe for the airport’s independence.

“People are willing to do business, but not when there’s an air of uncertainty. They want to do business when there’s certainty and separation. We are already talking from a position of strength where we have commitment for a 1000 of those jobs – that’s a position of considerable strength. We are talking a success- ful airport that when combined with the landbank we can actually create and additional 3,500 jobs over five years,” she added.

Ms Hynes, who is tipped to become chairperson of the new Shannon Airport structure, has moved quickly to dispel thoughts the jobs target is overly ambitious, telling The Clare People that the plan represents “the beginning of a new era” for the airport.

“We had intensive discussions and we formed the view that the status quo was not a sustainable option and that a restructured Shannon and Shannon Development can be sustainable and can be successful,” said Ms Hynes. “Shannon cannot just remain where it is at the moment. We have looked at the Shannon situation high up and low down and we are absolutely convinced that we have a plan that’s viable, that’s going to lead to a successful airport.

“We had a philosophy in the task force where basically we decided that we weren’t going to leave behind a set of recommendations that were going to just gather dust somewhere. We decided that if we were going to recommend something we were going to put momentum into it.

“We were going to try and take that as far as we could do. We did that in relation to job numbers; we did that in relation to every other recommendation that we made. It means that when we talk about it, we talk about something we believe,” she added.

Commenting on the cabinet decision, Shannon Airport Director Mary Considine said, “Today is a pivotal step in the process of separation. The focus of staff and management at Shannon Airport has been on ensuring that the airport is financially and operationally ready for separation.

“This entire process is all about securing a sustainable future for all the stakeholders of the Airport and that Shannon Airport delivers on its role as a key economic driver for the West of Ireland,” she added.

FIVE thousand new jobs can be created in Shannon by 2018 as Clare’s international airport finally prepares to free itself from the shackles of Dublin Airport Authority control and chart a new independent future for itself.

This ambitious blueprint for Shannon was revealed by senior Cabinet ministers, Leo Varadkar and Richard Burton at an aviation conference in Dublin on Monday, with December 31 next set as formal beginning of the new independent airport freed of its € 100m debts and given a start-up fund in this Wednesday’s budget as it begins life as a separate, stand alone entity.

The new airport authority has been provisionally named as NEWCO – a merger between existing Shannon Development and Shannon Airport staff, and in an early move to allay fears among the workforce in the two companies, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton has said “there will be no compulsory redundancies”.

Meanwhile, The Clare People can exclusively reveal that Clarewoman, Rose Hynes, is being lined up to become the first chairperson of the new airport authority. The Bellharbour woman chaired the Aviation Business Development Task Force that drafted the new airport plan, which she says is “the beginning of a new era” for Shannon.

The government has set a target of boosting passenger numbers at Shannon by one million over the next nine years, with Transport minister Leo Varadkar telling The Clare People that “if Shannon can’t achieve that kind of growth, then there is no fu- ture for the airport”.

However, it’s in the area of jobs that Shannon can expect its biggest windfall with Minister Varadkar revealing that a new international aviation services centre has “the potential to create between 3000 and 5000 jobs within five years”.

Minister Bruton said the airport’s independence, which will see two companies in Shannon provide up to 850 in the coming months represents “a new chapter in regional development” in Ireland.

THE new independent Shannon Airport has been warned away from entering into a new deal with Ryanair similar to the one that resulted in record passenger numbers of over 3.6m passing using Clare’s international airport in 2007.

Transport Minister Leo Varadkar told a media briefing in the Dublin Convention Centre that was attended by key figures from the Shannon Airport Authority, Shannon Development, Clare Oireachtas members and the mayors of Clare and Ennis that any dealings with Ryanair in the future should be on “a commercial basis” and instead pointed to the benefits of securing more military traffic through the airport.

Shannon’s passenger numbers rocketed to 3,620,623 in 2007 on the back of an incentive package arrangement between the airport and Ryanair that saw the low-cost carrier operate over 50 routes, but since then have declined year-on-year with figures expected to dip below 1. 5m by the end of 2012.

“I would expect that any deals that the new Shannon Aiport makes would be on a commercial basis that can be sustained, which was not the case in the previous Ryanair deal,” said Minister Varadkar, before revealing that targeted growth of having up to 2.5m passengers over the next decade was not dependent on a new Ryanair deal.

“They did reach a peak of 3.6 passengers largely on the back of that arrangement (with Ryanair),” said Minsiter Varadkar, “but bear in mind that prior to that they were well over 2m passengers on various occasions and up as far as 2.7m passengers at one point”.

Last June, Ryanair made a pitch to treble its passenger numbers through Shannon to one million if it was given a new deal by the Shannon Airport Authority whereby all charges would be waived for all additional passengers over the current level of 375,000.

Meanwhile, as late as last week it was revealed in The Clare People that the budget airline was on the cusp on announcing a new investment at the airport to bring in one million extra passengers providing an extra € 100m passenger spend to the region.

However, instead of looking to Ryanair, Minister Varadkar championed the cause of secured extra military stopover at Shannon as a way of boosting the airport’s figures.

“I have indicated for a very long time that Shannon has been a transit point for military flights and part of the plan would be to grow that,” he revealed.

MEMBERS of Ennis Town Council will meet today to pick a name for the newly opened € 2.5 million section of the inner relief road.

Jail Road and Bothar Na Rince are among the names that have been so far suggested.

It has also been suggested that a plaque be erected near Madden’s Furniture, the site of the old Paddy Con’s dance hall, to commemorate musicians in Ennis.

Up to 4,500 vehicles per day are expected to use section E of the Ennis Inner Relief Road project, which opened to traffic last week.

The newly completed 180 metres of single carriageway road links Station Road at Madden’s Furniture to Friar’s Walk and the Clare Road at Cathedral Court.

The € 2.5m road also features new traffic lights at Station Road and Clare Road.

Ennis Town Council says the com- pleted section of the Inner Relief Road will improve traffic flow to the town centre for customers and visitors to Ennis, and will reduce traffic congestion in the Station Road and Upper O’Connell Street area of Ennis.

Officials have said that it will take a few months to adequately assess the impact the road will have on traffic flow on the town.

Speaking at the opening, Mayor of Ennis, Cllr Peter Considine said, “It is heartening to see that despite the current fiscal constraints faced by Ennis Town Council that it is still continuing to complete important infrastructure projects throughout the town. The completion of the Inner Relief Road will bring a range of immediate benefits, both to the local community and to those visiting the town.”

Ennis Town Clerk Leonard Cleary said the new section of the Inner Relief Road will complement similar road projects completed in recent years, including the Ennis Bypass and the section of the Inner Relief Road from Station Road to Francis Street, in further reducing traffic congestion in the Clare County capital.

“The completion of work on Inner Relief Road project will be welcomed by motorists throughout the town as it will bypass numerous traffic bottle necks and vastly improve commuting time for users,” he added.

The road project is funded by Ennis Town Council with a € 2.1M loan approved by the Department of Transport.

SHANNON hasn’t been unfairly treated by the Government in a deal that will see its debts of € 100m cleared in return to saying goodbye to Aer Rianta International (ARI) that was established at the Clare airport and has made profits in excess of € 200m over the past decade.

In defending this trade-off that has been lambasted by both Fianna Fáil and former ARI executives in the mid-west, Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar confirmed that ARI would become the sole property of the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) post the December 31 independence of Shannon.

“It is important to bear in mind that ARI started in Shannon,” admitted Minister Varadkar, “but the contribution that has been made over the years has been much more than Shannon. It has been financed from all over the (DAA) group. The requirement of the new legislation is that both new entities – Shannon as a separated airport and the DAA – have to be vi- able. It wouldn’t be possible to write down the debt at Shannon – it’s not being written down, it’s being carried by Dublin and Cork. It’s passengers using Dublin that will pay off Shannon’s debt. Grant that concession and also ARI would not be possible,” added Minister Varadkar.

Fianna Fáil transport spokesperson Timmy Dooley has blasted this move, saying ARI had to “form part of the new Shannon entity”, which would “secure the airport’s future and provide a marketing budget that can be used to attract more tourists and open new air routes for the benefit of the mid-west region”.

Responding to this criticism, Minister Varadkar said, “ARI has considerable investment costs around the world over the next couple of years – € 60m over the next couple of years – and that money can be borrowing against the DAA’s balance sheet and the DAA’s assets.

“We didn’t want the new Shannon to have to go off and borrow a whole load of money to build perfume shops in the Ukraine and places like that,” he added.