Category: News

LOCALS say they are frustrated and disheartened following recent vandalism near Barefield village.

Three large concrete flowerpots were damaged at a roundabout near the M18 last Sunday. It followed similar incidents of flowerpots being damaged in the area over the weekend.

Gardaí have been informed of the incidents with members of the Bare- field Tidy Towns Committee blaming the behaviour of boy racers for the damage.

Committee chairman Sean Corcoran explained, “It’s been sort of going on for the past six weeks, cars doing wheelies on the roundabouts and damaging the flowers. Then under the bypass these three concrete pots were smashed.”

Sean says the incidents are a blow to the village’s efforts to do well in the annual Tidy Towns competition.

“We’re disheartened and upset. The guards called out and had a look. The people that are doing this are a bloody nuisance. We’ve been doing work on the roundabouts and the approach roads, planting flowers beds, cutting the grass, to make sure the place looks good. And then along come these people and do this. It really is very, very frustrating.”

The incident couldn’t have happened at a worse time for the committee with judging for the Tidy Towns expected to take place in the coming weeks.

Sean explains, “Judging usually takes place in June or July. That’s what usually happens. So this is a bad time for all this to happen. We had nearly € 2,000 saved from various fundraising events we held in the village like the quiz night. But to buy new pots, we’re almost down to the last few hundred euros. We can only hope that they’ll last.”

The Tidy Towns committee was set up in 2010 with local people volunteering their services. The committee has drawn members from the local community who were eager to roll up their sleeves and help out. Their activities include cleaning stone walls, re-setting grass margins and placing flower baskets around the village.

The project also enjoys close links with Barefield National School and the local Clare Crusaders Clinic.

Sean says, “We’re all doing this on a voluntary basis on our own time. We’re not getting any help from FÁS or anything like that. We’re delighted to do it but when something like this happens, it’s really frustrating.”

IN THE last year Clare Suicide Bereavement Support has received more calls than ever before.

Spokesperson for the voluntary group Owen O’Mahony cannot be sure however if the increase in numbers can be attributed to an increase in deaths or the change in the group’s name from Living Links in the past 12 months.

Either way the organisation is proving a necessary support in County Clare as more people seek out its service.

The group is run completely by volunteers and provides one to one befriending at home or at an agreed location, family support and a healing programme. A monthly group support meeting is also held.

“We don’t approach people we feel that is intrusive. We wait for people to contact us,” explained Mr O’Mahony, adding it was essential that the bereaved know this help was available.

He said while people eventually learn to go on and live their lives the most difficult issues to resolve for most is the question “why”.

“They really don’t find an answer to it but they learn to take up activities and live again,” he added.

As many as eight volunteers work for the service which now has a premises in the Roslevan Shopping Centre, Ennis.

Mr O’Mahony stresses that the volunteers are not councillors but will help someone find such support if it is required.

Mostly people get a lot off their chest through the service and begin a healing process.

“People find if they can talk and realise what they are feeling is normal it helps,” explained Mr O’Mahony.

Those wishing to contact Clare Suicide Bereavement Support can do so by calling 086 0565373 or 087 3698315 or get further information on www.claresuicidebereavementsupport.com.

A JUDGE has said he will refuse installment orders sought by Ulster Bank until it gets its “house in order.”

Judge Patrick Durcan has been refusing to grant the applications in light of recent problems at the bank, which have caused massive disruptions to customers.

Banks can seek an installment order from the court to compel debtors to pay a fixed amount each month.

Ulster Bank sought two such orders at Ennis District Court on Friday. However, Judge Durcan informed the solicitor acting on behalf of the Bank that he would “not be granting any installment orders until they get their house in order.”

He said the recent problems experienced by the bank had caused “huge inconvenience to the people of Ireland”.

Judge Durcan adjourned both cases to December 14. IT problems have affected hundreds of thousands of Ulster Bank’s customers for almost one month. A technical problem dur- ing a software upgrade at its parent company RBS disrupted electronic transactions and created a massive backlog processing payments.

In a statement yesterday, the Bank said, “All of our systems are running as normal this morning in the timeframes we would expect and normal service has now been restored for the majority of our customers.”

The statement continues, “Given the scale of the incident, the clean up continues and a small percentage of outstanding transactions are being processed over the next couple of days.

“There is no doubt that there will be reconciliations to some customer accounts that also need to take place over the coming days and weeks. However, for the majority of customers it is now business as usual”.

Judge Durcan was also critical of the level of information provided by Banks on debtors when seeking installment orders.

Referring to an order sought by the Bank of Ireland, Judge Durcan said, “The behaviour of the banks is nothing short of scandalous.”

A MAN who has pleaded guilty to harassing his former partner sent her a text message stating her new boyfriend would be “breathing through a tube” when he finished with him, a court has heard.

Ray Clune (37), with an address at Breafa West, Lissycasey, pleaded guilty to harassment and to contravening a safety order at a named Ennis address on dates between January 20 (2012) and February 4 (2012).

Details of the offences were heard at Ennis District Court on Wednesday.

Inspector Tom Kennedy said that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had directed summary disposal of the matters.

After hearing an outline of the facts of the case, Judge Patrick Durcan accepted jurisdiction.

Solicitor John Casey told the court that his client would be entering a plea of guilty.

Inspector Kennedy told the court that a woman made a complaint to gardaí after receiving a number of phone calls and text messages of a threatening nature.

He said the woman’s phone received 30 missed calls on January 21 and a further eight missed calls on February 4.

He said the woman had not answered the phone calls.

Insp Kennedy said the calls were followed by text messages containing remarks about her new partner.

Insp Kennedy told the court that the messages included threats that the man “would be breathing out of a tube” and “would end up in a body bag.”

Approximately 20 text messages were sent in total to the woman’s phone, the court heard.

Insp Kennedy said that Mr Clune was completely “cooperative and apologetic” when met by gardaí.

“No new complaints about the accused have been made,” he added.

Mr Casey handed in a doctor’s report explaining that his client suffers from depression.

He said at the time the offences were committed, Mr Clune “was drinking very heavily, 24/7, and this sparked something in him.”

Mr Casey added, “He knows that she has moved on and he has moved on and he accepts it.”

“He apologises unreservedly. She did not deserve this. She did nothing”, he said.

Mr Casey said his client had lost his job and had recently found it difficult to get meaningful employment. Mr Clune has no previous convictions.

Judge Durcan acknowledged that Mr Clune had experienced a number of difficulties in his personal life. However, he said that the accused had breached a court order and had harassed his former partner.

He remanded Mr Clune on continuing bail to appear again on November 7 for finalisation of sentence. He granted the State liberty to re-enter the matter at 24-hour notice. He said if Mr Clune’s good behavior continues, then the matter will be disposed

PRESSURE is mounting on An Post to bankroll a mid-week bus service for the people of Corofin who lost their local post office last week.

Following requests from members of the local community, Clare Accessible Transport have now started a Saturday morning service connecting Corofin and Kilfenora, one of the closest post offices to Corofin.

However, North Clare Senator Martin Conway (FG) met with offi cials at An Post last week and asked that the postal agency supply a midweek bus service to ease the pressure on locals.

“Many elderly people in Corofin and many of those on social welfare do not have transport and they will find it difficult to get to Kilfenora.

“I’m calling for An Post to provide bus transportation on a Tuesday and Friday for people without transportation, until an alternative premises can be found in Corofin,” said Senator Conway.

“An unfortunate set of circumstances led to the resignation of the postmaster in Corofin and to the closure of the post office.

“I acknowledge that An Post is doing its best, but the connectivity issue between the villages needs to be addressed,” he said.

Clare Accessible Transport hosted their first Saturday morning return service between Corofin and Kilfenora last week.

The not-for-profit organisation has committed to the service on a shortterm basis but could extend the service if required.

“The service leaves from outside Bofey Quinns in Corofin at 11.30am on Saturday and returns from Kilfenora at 12.15pm.

“We have a number of members in the Corofin area and they asked us to look at introducing this service,” said a spokesperson.

The Saturday morning bus service between Corofin and Kilfenora is open to anyone but users are asked to pay a € 10 yearly subscription to Clare Accessible Transport.

Following that, anyone with a travel pass can use the service for free, while a € 2 charge applies for the over 16s, and a € 1 charge applies for children under 16 years of age.

Children aged under five can use the service for free. Pre-booking is essential by ringing 061 924375.

Meanwhile, An Post have introduced an external postbox in Corofin to replace the posting facility in the Corofin Post Office and have confirmed that mail collections will continue at normal times.

It is still not clear when regular post office service will be resumed in Corofin.

A COMPROMISE appears to have been reached between Clare County Council and Minister Leo Varadkar over the involvement of the local authority responsible for Shannon in the decision making process for the Airport.

The main bone of contention between the two concerned Clare County Council’s lack of involvement in the three steering groups appointed to oversee the process.

Following a meeting between the two sides it would appear that a formal mechanism will now be put in place whereby there is communication between the Council and the three groups.

A Clare County Council delegation met with Minister for Transport, Leo Varadkar on Thursday to discuss issues relating to Shannon Airport’s separation from the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA).

Following the meeting at the Department of Transport in Dublin, Mayor of Clare Councillor Pat Daly announced that the Minister had committed to putting a formal proc- ess in place to facilitate input by the Mayor and Clare County Manager, on behalf of the Council, with the Chairs of the recently announced Steering Group and two Taskforces.

“Minister Varadkar listened to our views and accepted we have a valuable contribution to make to the process,” stated Mayor Daly.

He continued: “The Council accepted that if the Minister was to add additional members to the Taskforces that he would have to reopen the entire process and that could have delayed the work of the relevant Taskforces. Therefore, the Council did not request to be included on the Taskforces. We asked for a process that would facilitate the Council influencing, and participating in the decision making process. The Minister positively responded to that request.”

Clare County Manager, Tom Coughlan confirmed he has already met with the Chairs of the Taskforces.

“The Chairs strongly indicated to me that the Council’s input to their deliberations would be essential to the process. The outcome of today’s meeting with the Minister is that a formal process is being put in place to facilitate that role.

“Clare County Council, as the Local Authority for Shannon and Clare, looks forward to playing a key role in devising a plan for the future development of Shannon Airport,” he added.

The Clare County Council delegation that met with Minister Varadkar included Mayor of Clare Cllr. Pat Daly, Clare County Manager Tom Coughlan, and Councillors Patricia McCarthy, Richard Nagle and John Crowe, each members of the Council’s Corporate Policy Group.

THE national spokesperson for the ISPCA, Aiden Corcoran, has agreed to meet with Ennis woman Deirdre Ryan in an attempt to bring to an end a four-month-long row involving the Clare Dog Shelter in Ennis.

Ms Ryan, who is founder of the Rover Rescue organisation, claims that she is being denied access to dogs from the Ennis Shelter. While this is being disputed by staff at the shelter, Mr Corcoran confirmed last week that he is willing to travel to Clare to meet Ms Ryan and “mend bridges”.

Contact between the ISPCA National Office and Rover Rescue was made through a local intermediary who has connections with both organisations.

“Unfortunately, in the interest of the health and safety of the public enter- ing the shelter and disease control, it was found necessary to introduce new standard operating procedures at all ISPCA-run shelters,” said Mr Corcoran.

“Visitors and members of the public entering the kennels were identified as high risk and this practice was discontinued.

“All rehomeable dogs are made available to the public, including Deirdre, for rehoming and to suggest otherwise is simply unfair.”

It is as yet unclear when the proposed meeting will take place and whether the Clare Dog Warden, Frankie Coote, will have any role to play in the proposed bridge-mending.

Over the last three years, Rover Rescue has rehomed hundreds of Clare dogs in Wales and England.

However, founder Deirdre Ryan claims that she has not been able to re-home dogs as she normally would since February of this year.

TOURISTS have been sucked out of North Clare over the last two weeks with the Volvo Ocean Race creating a “vortex” for holiday makers, according to one leading Clare hotelier.

While hundreds of thousands of tourists flocked north to take in the spectacle in Galway, Clare tourism operators were left kicking their heels for two successive weekend and the expected tourists failed to show up.

According to Lahinch hotelier and president of the Irish Hotel Federation, Michael Vaughan, the Volvo Ocean Race was good news for Galway, but very bad news for Clare.

“The year had started okay and May wasn’t so bad but things were very bad in Clare, and North Clare in particular over the last few weeks. The Volvo Ocean Race succeeded in hovering up all the tourists that were coming out west in recent weeks. It was like a vortex for tourists,” he said.

“It was the same when it happened two years ago – it created a very quiet period for tourists in Clare.”

This news comes just weeks after early season positive numbers from the Cliffs of Moher Visitors Experience were overturned by a very poor opening to June. This sudden downturn in the numbers visiting the cliffs was put town to a concentration of both Irish and European tourists travelling to Poland and the Ukraine because of Euro 2012.

This trend has sparked fears that the expected boost to tourism number predicted to take place during the London 2012 Olympics – may not materialise later this year.

THERE were 200 per cent more houses and commercial units added to the Clare building stock during the first six months of this year, when compared to the same period in 2011.

As many as 327 new residential and commercial buildings were recorded in Clare for the first six months of 2012, according to new figures released by GeoDirectory.

GeoDirectory was jointly established by An Post and Ordnance Survey Ireland (OSi) to create and manage Ireland’s only complete database of commercial and residential buildings.

The figures represent a year-onyear increase of 200 per cent compared to the same period in 2011 when 109 new buildings were added in the county.

The increase in new building additions in Clare in the first half of 2012 is in contrast to the 23 per cent fall recorded nationally.

The 327 new buildings identi fied in Clare were composed of 295 residential buildings, 29 commercial buildings and the were dual-purpose buildings with both residential and commercial elements. These new additions bring the total number of buildings in Clare to 57, 521.

Of these new buildings 11 per cent remain unoccupied in County Clare compared to 12 per cent nationally.

Across the country, GeoDirectory recorded 5,620 new buildings, consisting of 4,837 residential buildings, 590 commercial buildings and 193 dual-purpose buildings with both residential and commercial compo- nents. The new additions for the first six months of 2012 bring the total number of new buildings in the Republic of Ireland to 1,889,143.

Clare was one of just seven counties to buck the national trend by experiencing an increase in new building additions compared to the same period in 2011.

Commenting on the figures, Dara Keogh, CEO, GeoDirectory, said, “Current figures for new additions represent a 94 per cent decrease from the peak in 2007, when GeoDirectory identified 60,781 new commercial and residential buildings across the country.

The new figures have identified a vacancy rate nationally of 12 per cent for new building additions, which in effect would mean that 9 out of 10 new commercial and residential buildings are occupied.

UP TO 70 students, the majority from America, have been unearthing the historical mysteries of the Burren for the past two years thanks to the Caherconnell Archaeological Field School.

Within the last year the school, which allows students to get involved in the archaeological dig on the Caherconnell fort received academic accreditation from NUI Galway.

The accreditation adds even more academic weight to the course overseen by Irish archaeological heavy weight Dr Michelle Comer.

All of its achievements will be celebrated on Friday evening next when the school is officially opened by Minister for Arts Heritage and the Gaeltacht Jimmy Deenihan.

The family run fort and school has already added significantly to the historical knowledge of the area in the last two years.

Colm Davoren of Caherconnell Archaeological Field School told The Clare People that “education means a lot to the family.” The fort was originally built by the family and “it is our lineage” explained Mr Davoren.

Among the finds the students and their supervisor discovered just a stone’s throw from the school in the fort was a hearth the pre-dates the originally presumed date of the fort.

They also uncovered a footpath to the fort, which is now available for the public to see. The remains of a mystery woman dating back 400 years was also discovered. Her body was defleshed and disarticulated, a practice that should have finished many years previous – adding to the mystery. Mr Davoren said that plans are in place to begin excavating the main fort next year.

Siobhán King from Shannon Development has also pledged her support for the business.

“Caherconnell stone fort is an excellent example of a family-owned business in the heart of the Burren. They have worked over the years to maintain their uniqueness as a product, while at the same diversifying to build on their product offering. The addition of the field school is a fine example of this and is testimony to the enthusiasm, hard work, and innovation of the owners to develop the business as a key tourist attraction within the Burren,” she said.

“There has been an influx of archaeological students who come to Caherconnell to develop their ar- chaeological techniques and to add to their experience in a truly meaningful way.”

Dr Michelle Comber, the archaeological director at Caherconnell and a lecturer of Archaeology at NUIG, said the “field school provides an amazing opportunity for us, as archaeologists, to unearth information on the Irish past, and to pass on our skills to the next generation of archaeologists. The school also allows the local community to share its proud heritage with an international audience – continuing the centuriesold Davoren tradition of providing education in the Burren.”