Category: News

ELDERLY people are terrified in their own homes this Halloween while it is expected that Clare County Council faces a clean-up bill of up to € 50,000 from the night’s activities.

While the majority of people enjoy the fun and festivities of the season, Clare Fire Chief Adrian Kelly said he has come across numerous examples of older people being forced to stay in their home, all the time fearing it will catch fire.

“We literally had old people in tears last year because they were afraid to go out and they were afraid in their homes because they could see burning embers coming towards their houses and they were afraid their homes would catch fire. The fires often go on late into the night and create other anti-social problems, he added.” A spokesperson for Clare County Council put the conservative cost of Halloween at € 50,000. The estimate takes into account the cost of fire servwice call-outs, removal and disposal of stockpiled material, removal and disposal of burnt material, and clean-up and restoration after the night.

A MAN described by senior gardaí as one of the most “prolific burglars” in Clare has been expelled from the country.

Chief Supt John Kerin said that the number of thefts locally have de- creased by 10 per cent since the man was arrested.

He was a non-national living in the county and as such gardaí were able to petition to have him excluded from the country.

“This is something we intend to use more of in the future,” said Supt Kerin.

According to the Central Statistic Office, burglary and related offences had decreased by 3 per cent so far this year when compared to the same time last year.

Likewise robbery, extortion and hijacking were also down by 8 per cent, while theft and related offences stayed the same at 780.

A closer look at the figures reveal that theft from the person has increased by 220 per cent from five incidence in 2011, to 16 cases in 2012.

Superintendent Kerin said the majority of these incidents were in the Ennis area and mostly took place in supermarkets.

People who are doing a large grocery shop often leave their handbags or purses in the trolley and discover when they go to the check out that the purse has been robbed from the bag, the superintendent explained.

The number of car and vehicle thefts also increased during the first nine months of the year from 113 to 130 and theft from shops went up by 25 incidents when compared to the first nine months of last year.

General burglary was down 3 per cent however although aggravated burglary had increased by three incidents to five.

Robbery from premises was up from two cases to five also, while robbery from the person had decreased by one third.

Other thefts had decreased by 10 per cent.

Chief Supt Kerin said that the Gardaí have a detection rate of 65 per cent when it comes to these crimes, a figures that is considered high when compared nationally.

“While one crime is one too many, when compared to other Garda figures around the country we have managed to reduce the number of overall crime,” he said.

ENNIS rate defaulters can expect to see their name in Stubbs Gazette .

Ennis Town Council confirmed to The Clare People that, following court rulings, it will publish “outstanding uncollected rates prior to 2012” in the magazine recognised as the reliable and comprehensive source of information on companies and businesses.

The town authority is currently struggling to collect the payment of the rates, with just 57 per cent of the town’s businesses paying last year.

As businesses feel the full impact of the recession, that figure is understood to be even lower this year, putting pressure on the council’s coffers.

A total of € 34.5 million was collected from Commercial Rates in 2011 by the Clare local authority, with arrears of € 9 million at the end of 2011.

It is expected that € 2m of that arrears is uncollectable as it relates to businesses that have closed down or gone into receivership owing rate payments.

Ennis Town Clerk Leonard Cleary said; “Every effort is being made to ensure collection of arrears in order to continue to fund the delivery of services to the public. Ennis Town Council has expressed concern about collection levels generally in 2012.

“It is the council’s intention to follow through with court proceedings and subsequently to ensure collection of all debts due.

“Ennis Town Council is encouraging businesses in financial difficulty to make contact with its Finance Department in order to discuss a payment plan,” he added.

Meanwhile, Clare County Council and Kilrush Town Council are faring better than the county town when it comes to collecting commercial rates.

At the end of last year, the county authority had collected as much as 80 per cent of its rate, while just over three-quarters of Kilrush’s businesses had paid their commercial rates (76 per cent) as against the figure of 57 per cent for Ennis.

EVERY cloud has a silver lining and while Hurricane Sandy could mean devastation for parts of the American east coast, it could mean a miniboost for hotels in Shannon and Ennis.

Hundreds of tourists have already been stranded on both sides of the Atlantic as the hurricane has shut down airports all over the American east coast.

Aer Lingus cancelled all their Monday EI-111 and EI-110 services between Shannon and New York and it looks likely that further cancellations will take place this week.

The airline will announce later today if they will be in a position to operate the service this Wednesday and customers are asked to check their flights before coming to Shannon.

The centre of the hurricane is predicted to hit Philadelphia some time later today and is expected to move north to New York over Wednesday. This could bring about a lengthy closure of airports in New York, strand- ing American visitors in the Clare area for an extended period of time.

The airline has also offered to accommodate anyone affected by the cancellations on a subsequent service between Shannon and New York, at no extra cost.

A spokesperson from Aer Lingus said yesterday that they will continue to keep a close eye on the situation in New York and other American airports in the days ahead.

“Customers who wish to cancel their travel plans will receive a full refund,” said a spokesperson.

“Aer Lingus apologises to all customers affected by these cancellations.”

While there are no official figures for the numbers of tourists who have been forced to spend an unplanned, extended vacation in the Clare area, the effects of the hurricane could leave hundreds of Americans stranded in the Banner.

As many as 1,000 Aer Lingus customers are currently weathering the storm in New York, waiting for the city’s public transport and airports to reopen.

AS the fall-out from Saturday’s altercations during the Clare Minor A hurling final in Sixmilebridge continued on Monday, GAA chiefs in the county were remaining tight lipped about the events until they have time to receive and discuss the referees report from the game.

Pictures from the incident, which occurred thirteen minutes into the second half, flooded the internet on Saturday night and were featured in many national newspapers on Monday morning with much of the focus centering on Clare’s 1995 and ’97 winning captain Anthony Daly, who was prominent in some of the pictures.

THIS Wednesday is D-Day for the Doolin Pier development as An Bord Pleanála come to Ennistymon for the final oral hearings on the much disputed development.

The planning authority will hear comments concerning the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the € 5 million development, which was completed in May of this year.

The development has been delayed for more than two years following objections raised by the local West Coast Surf Club and the Irish Surfing Association (ISA), who say that the development will damage the waves at Doolin and create a dangerous environment for surfing.

The ISA will be afforded the opportunity to address their board and give their opinion on the EIS.

An Bord Pleanála are likely to base the decision on two sections of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) – one which deals with the impact that the pier will have on the limestone paving at Doolin Pier, and a second which uses hydrodynamic modeling and bathymetric data to determine what impact the pier will have on local currents and wave formations.

Local businesses believe that the planned pier could generate as many as 20,000 extra bed-nights for North Clare each year. This would result in a major boost to the local tourist trade and would likely create a number of new jobs in the area.

If the pier development is given the thumbs-up, construction work will likely not begin until the spring of 2013 with a completion date of early 2014 the most likely.

The West Coast Surf Club have stated on a number of occasions that they are not against the development of a pier in Doolin, but they do feel that the location of the current development will damage local surfing.

Surfing is the fastest growing recreational sports activity in Ireland and thousands of young people take surf lessons in the Clare resorts of Lahinch, Spanish Point, Fanore and Kilkee each year.

SOME well-known male personalities in Clare are getting in touch with their feminine side as they aim to awareness for Rape Crisis Midwest.

The Dainty Daisy competition was launched in Ennis on Friday. The event takes place at the Auburn Lodge Hotel on Saturday, November 24 and involves 12 men from across County Clare taking part in a beauty competition with a difference. Rivalry between the competitors continues in a light-hearted fashion, with many remaining tightlipped about their party piece and evening gown for the event.

The MC on the night will be Ciana Campbell and the judges include Clare Rose Orla McDonagh, and Tess Purcell, fashion stylist.

Verena Tarpey, Director of Fundraising with Rape Crisis Midwest, said the organisation have received a fantastic response to the event so far.

She explained, “Miss Read, Seamus Ryan, is our youngest contestant and works at Ennis Town Li- brary. We also have Miss Cast, Ken O’Shaughnessy – when she isn’t acting in her local panto, she likes to get down and dirty with a Hotpoint and Whirlpool every now and then. When she isn’t running lines, she is running around Ennis fixing washing machines.”

In addition to raising awareness for Rape Crisis Midwest, organisers hope to challenge the stereotype that Rape Crisis Centres are just for women. Rape Crisis Midwest provides free, professional counselling for male and female survivors of all forms of sexual abuse.

Ms Tarpey stated, “It can be extremely difficult for men to come forward and look for help. Men frequently feel isolated and alone as there is little talk or understanding of the sexual abuse of boys and, particularly, of the sexual assault of adult men. Rape Crisis Midwest, however, does provide a safe environment where the survivor comes first.”

Tickets are on sale and are available to purchase from the contestants, Auburn Lodge Hotel and Rowan Tree Café Bar. The Rape Crisis Cen- tre can be contacted at 1800 311511, online at www.rapecrisis.ie or on the centre’s Facebook page. The centre is based at Tracklands Business Park, Clonroadmore, Ennis.

ORGANISERS of the upcoming Ennis Trad Festival estimate that the event could generate up to € 2.5 million for the local economy.

A crowd of around 10,000 people are expected to visit Ennis during the festival, which takes places in the Clare county capital from November 8 to 12. Up to 500 musicians will perform at venues around the town for the festival, which is now 19 years in existence. There will once again be a strong international dimension to the thousands of music lovers that will descend on Ennis. An association of American veterans of the Vietnam War and a large group of Swedish music students will be among the throng soaking up the atmosphere.

According to festival chairman, John Rynne, the event will give a pre-Christmas boost to the Clare economy.

He said, “We’re in the midst of this terrible recession and there is a lot of doom and gloom about but we will have a lot of people coming in to the town spending money, spending on accommodation, taxi, pubs, food. There is a lot of money. We reckon that anything up to € 2.5 to € 3 millions is spent in the town and its environs. You will have people coming for the music but also going off to visit other parts of the county.”

Mr Rynne said the festival also offers a unique opportunity to market Ennis to overseas tourists.

He explained, “If you have 10 American tourists going back home telling their friends about the great music they heard in Ennis, that will build up year after year. It all adds up.

“We are spending millions on these advertising campaigns to market the country but at the end of the day the product sells much better than advertising,” he added.

Mr Rynne said the festival received a “fairly slight” response to an appeal for support from local businesses. He said that while it is a tough time for traders, the festival would help to generate a lot of “repeat business”.

He added, “It has a big footprint around the world internationally. It is very well recognised internationally.”

THE impact of the recession is leading to an increase in the number of victims of sexual assault seeking support in Clare, according to Rape Crisis Midwest.

The service recently reported an 11 per cent increase in requests for support in 2011.

The Ennis Rape Crisis Centre, which is open a year, helps 10 people a week, while 250 people have passed through the doors of Rape Crisis Midwest.

According to Verena Tarpey, Director of Fundraising, stresses brought about by the recession are having a major impact on victims of sexual assaults.

She explained, “The recession has had an impact on people. People lose their jobs or their marriages break down and suddenly things that have happened to them in the past come back to them.

“When people are in difficulty, you will find it has a knock-on effect for other things, such as something that has happened in the past.”

The majority of people seeking help from the service are women but Ms Tarpey says more and more men are coming forward.

She said, “It took a while for the word to get out there that the service was open to men also. I also think that men maybe have more of an issue about coming forward about what has happened to them.

“Maybe men are trying suppress it a bit more and there is definitely a stigma about men coming forward, which is why this event coming up in November is a great way for men to get involved in the centre.”

Ms Tarpey said that while there is a waiting list for services, no person is turned away from the centre.

She explained, “We have a waiting list of about four months, generally. But nobody will ever be turned away. They will be seen immediately once they ring.

“In terms of giving them long-term counselling, they may have to wait a couple of months.”

Rape Crisis Midwest are also rolling out an educational programme in Clare schools, aimed at raising awareness among young people.

Ms Tarpey said, “I think most people would assume that rape is all about [a crime taking place at] 3am down an alleyway by someone wearing a balaclava.

“They are usually the cases that make the headline.

“Rapes are more common in a domestic situation or when it’s someone you bring home or a family relative.

“We’re trying to challenge that myth with teenagers.”

A NEW offshore organic fish farm planned for the Burren coast will generate almost € 15 million in wages for the people of North Clare and South Galway each year.

That is according to figures released last week by Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM), who say that the jobs created by the € 40 million development will be high paying, sustainable employment with pay “well above the average industrial wage”.

The new BIM figures put the figure for annual direct wages at € 14.7 million, should the twin fish farms be developed to capacity. This would equate, roughly, to the entire Single Farm Payment (SFP) paid to all the farmers in North Clare each year.

Speaking to The Clare People yesterday, Donal Maguire, Head of aquaculture development at BIM, said that spin-off incomes for the area could also run into the millions of euro.

“This fish is a perishable project so it has to be handled and dealt with in the local community. So there is a great business argument for processing the fish in the local area. So you get a massive spin-off employment near these big fish farms,” he said.

“We estimate this as about € 14.7 million in wages for the local community.

“That is in direct and indirect employment concerning the farm but then there is the wider circulation of money when we look at the money spent in local shops, and restaurants and petrol stations.

“These are full-time, year round jobs that will pay way more than the minimum wage. They will pay more than the average industrial wage, so these are good jobs. It will also create an extra hundred million more in exports for the country which we don’t already have.”

The BIM also confirmed that all money needed to get this projects off the ground would be payable from the operating company and not the state.

“Basically, we do all the heavy lifting in creating the means for this to happen; in getting the aquaculture license and the foreshore license, but all the major spend in actually getting the project physically off the ground comes from the operator,” continued Donal.

“It’s not money for nothing. IT is a big undertaking and requires a lot of effort from different aspects of the state to achieve it. Also, we have had to do a lot of design work to ensure that a farm of this size would not have a negative environmental impact.

“We’ve looked at this really closely and we are confident that this will not cause a huge impact.”