Category: News

THE felling of the last tree in the village of Ballyvaughan has provoked an angry row within the local community – with a number of local groups claiming that it was cut down illegally.

The tree was located in front of L’Arco’s Italian Restaurant in the village – a premises owned by former Clare TD, Madeline Taylor Quinn, and her husband George Quinn.

Clare County Council confirmed to The Clare People yesterday that no permission had been sought for any tree felling work to be undertaken in Ballyvaughan on or before February 29, when the tree was cut down.

A spokesperson from the Ballyvaughan Tidy Towns committee said the people of the town are furious that the tree was removed.

“There is a lot of upset and anger among the people up here.

“Every member of the Ballyvaughan Tidy Towns Committee has been inundated with calls about it so we decided to contact Clare County Council and see what could be done,” said a committee member form Ballyvaughan Tidy Towns.

“The council agree that the situation needs to be rectified. People are really very angry about this situation and want this rectified.”

A spokesperson from the Ennistymon Area Office of Clare County Council contacted the Ballyvaughan Tidy Towns Group last week, confirming the council intention to seek to restore a new tree to the site on the village main street.

In a statement released to The Clare People yesterday, the Ballyvaughan Community Development Group said they were very “upset” that noone in the village was notified before the tree was cut down.

“We are very upset that the tree has been cut down.

“The Community Development Group are surprised and upset that this happened and also with the manner in which this has taken place,” said the statement.

“We now want to work with everyone involved in this situation and insure that a solution is found which would see a tree being reinstated for the village.”

The tree itself was planted more than 25 years ago and is the last of more then a dozen trees which were planted in the village at that time.

A LEAVING Cert student from Clare has won the national Doodle 4 Google Competition. Last evening (Monday), Patrick Horan from Clonlara was announced as the winner of the competition.

A desire to turn back time and see how people lived in the past has won Patrick the fourth Doodle 4 Google competition. Patrick, a sixth-year student at St Munchin’s College in Limerick, looked to the past for his inspiration.The theme of this year’s competition was ‘I wish…’.

Commenting on the inspiration for his doodle, Patrick said, “Many of us look towards the stars to make a wish. I wish I could turn back time to see our world in past times. My doodle shows the mechanisms inside a clock slowly turning back the hands of time, making my wish come true.”

Patrick’s doodle will be seen by millions of users when it appears on the Google Ireland homepage on Friday, March 16. Patrick’s school will be awarded a € 10,000 technology grant, while both Patrick and his teacher will receive a personal laptop.

This is the second time a student from St Munchin’s has won the com- petition – Evan O’Sullivan-Glynn won the very first Doodle 4 Google competition in 2009.

Sophia Foster-Dimino, an official Google doodler, travelled from Google’s offices in Mountain View, California, to present Patrick with his award at a special prize-giving ceremony in Google’s EMEA headquarters in Dublin.

“This is my first visit to Ireland and, with over 2,300 entrants, it is obvious that Ireland’s reputation as a cultural and artistic leader in Europe is well deserved. The creativity exhibited by all of the five group winners was fantastic. I really struggled to pick the overall winner. I can’t wait to see Patrick’s doodle on the Google Ireland homepage.”

John Herlihy, Head of Google Ireland said, “The Doodle 4 Google competition shows the power of imagination and how talented Irish children are. Everyone involved should be extremely proud of their achievements. Google is committed to encouraging creativity and innovation amongst the next generation and the standards shown by this year’s entrants confirm that Ireland’s future is in safe hands.”

MANAGEMENT at Ennis Golf Club have moved to further improve security measures after a spate of recent break-ins.

The club, which has around 1,300 members, has been the target of three break-ins in recent months.

On Wednesday, February 22, the club was broken into by breaking a window. Nothing was stolen on that occasion.

On February 12 the cash register was stolen from the club shop when a person gained access to the premises by breaking the side window.

Damage has been repeatedly caused to windows at the club shop, a situation one committee member has described as “very annoying and frustrating”.

The premises is covered by CCTV and now management at the club have improved lighting at the front and rear of the club in an attempt to ward off intruders.

Honourary secretary John Cullinane said, “We have had three at least since last December. We don’t keep cash in the bar, the restaurant or the golf shop. Recently the breakins have been at the golf shop. The policy there is that we leave the till open so people can see that there is no money in it.”

Last year the club installed a new security system aimed at ensuring greater protection for staff and members. Members must now type in an access code at the main entrance door in order to gain access to the clubhouse at night. The measures were introduced last summer following incidents where intruders broke into the golf club.

Mr Cullinane continued, “10 days ago some guy broke the window but the alarm went off and he ran away. The guards told us that he faced into one of the cameras so they got him on CCTV. We’re looking at what else we can do in terms of security. The CCTV has been fairly good but when they get to the building they are ducking and diving trying to avoid it.”

He added, “There is a cost to the club every time that something happens. There is replacement cost to replace a window every time they break it. It’s very frustrating and annoying. We’ve had to replace the window several times.”

CLARE County Council won’t have to come up with funding to run the day-to-day operations of Shannon, because the local authority won’t be given responsibility for running affairs of Clare’s international airport.

That’s the message from the Minister for Transport, Leo Varadkar, as he has moved to clarify what Clare County Council’s involvement in Shannon could be when the Cabinet decides on a new airport blueprint.

“Local authorities may have a role to play in ensuring the future of Shannon Airport,” Minister Varadkar told Dáil Éireann, “but I do not believe it will be their role to subvent or run it,” he added.

“They do not have the skills to do this and it is not what was intended. When the consultants (Booz & Company) were examining this issue, they might have been thinking more of Manchester and Leeds-Bradford airports, but they are within the remit of very different local authorities for areas of population of one to four millon people,” continued Minister Varadkar.

This move, which effectively pours cold water on Clare County Council being a key driver in the new Shannon Airport, comes in the wake of concerns raised by a number of councillors last week that the local authority could be lumbered with responsibility for the airport without having the financial means.

“One cannot expect local authorities to find a fanciful pool of money in the current climate,” local TD and Fianna Fáil spokesperson on transport, Timmy Dooley said.

“The Minister is well aware that local authorities do not have the money required, neither does Shannon Development,” he added.

Responding Minister Varadkar said that “we can all agree that the status quo at Shannon Airport is not working well and that this year its passenger numbers continue to fall, particularly as a result of the reduction in the number of military flights.

“Two models have been put forward for Shannon,” continued Minister Varadkar. “One of these is the CIE model which is an option, but I am not yet satisfied it would result in sufficient change because an independent subsidiarity which requires another for subvention is not really independent.

“The other option is full independence, the detail of which must be figured out because I can only recommend it to the Government if I believe it will be financially viable. I am not willing to do anything that I do not believe in my heart will be a success.

“The whole point of the process is to make a success of an airport which has been in decline for some time. Whatever happens I assure anyone with concerns that the airport will stay open,” he added.

THE campaign by Clare turfcutters to continue what they say is their “age-old right” to cut turf at Tullaher Lough Bog in West Clare now moves to Brussels and will be won.

That’s the battlecry from chairman of the Clare branch of the Turfcutters and Contractors Association, Padraig Haugh, following last Thursday’s march on Leinster House and the passage of a private members motion in the Dáil in support of turfcutters in Special Areas of Conservation.

“I was up in Dublin,” said Mr Haugh, “and people were saying to me that I was hitting my head off a stone wall and there was no point going to Dublin marching and protesting, but we have achieved a lot.

“We have climbed the first hurdle against the directive from Europe which says that we cannot cut turf on Tullaher Lough Bog anymore. There are about 50 people who cut turf there,” he added.

Mr Haugh became chairman of the local branch of the Turfcutters and Contractors Association after a public meeting was staged in Garrihy’s of Moyasta last November and since then has taken the campaign to keep Tullaher Lough Bog open to turf cutters in west Clare.

“There is a high bog area and it’s very small and we are very happy to keep that preserved,” said Mr Haugh, “but there was another portion added into the Special Area of Conservation that’s 1400 hectares and there was no necessity to do that, because the EU is denying people a right to do what families have been doing for hundreds of years there.

“As turf cutters we are determined to fight for the right to cut turf. I’ve cut turf every year since 1948 and we are hopeful that these people in Brussels will see that what we’re looking for is only a small thing.

“We’ve already got concessions from the Government in that they are giving another € 1,000 onto the € 1,000 and a new top up payment of € 500. That’s down to the campaign and we won’t stop until we are allowed cut turf on Tullaher Lough again,” he added.

A GERMAN woman who developed a heroin addiction after moving to Ireland has been sentenced to 14 months in prison for drugs offences.

Imposing the sentence at Ennis District Court on Wednesday, Judge Aeneas McCarthy described Annette Hausmann (34) as a “dealer in heroin”.

Hausmann, with an address at Clare Villas, Clare Road, Ennis, pleaded guilty to having heroin for sale or supply in Ennis on August 12 (2011) and possession of heroin on November 4 (2011).

Insp John Galvin said gardaí carried out a search of the accused’s apartment under warrant last August. He explained that they discovered 36 deals of heroin with an estimated value of € 1,128. He said the accused was also found in possession of heroin during a Garda search of her home in November. Insp Galvin said Hausmann had previous convictions for drugs offences.

Solicitor Tara Godfrey said that it appeared that Hausmann had been sharing heroin with serious heroin addicts. She said that on none of the occasions had her client been found with a weighing scales or a tick list.

She added, “My client did not appear to be enriching herself at all from the sale of heroin”.

The court heard that Hausmann had moved to Ennis with a good work ethic and clean of drugs. Ms Godfrey explained that her client appeared to have “acquired a very serious habit in Ireland”. She said Hausmann had made every effort “to rid herself of this pernicious addiction”.

She added, “Her family have become exhausted by her addiction and appear to have distanced themselves from her”.

Ms Godfrey said that in attempting to distance herself from other heroin users, Hausmann had seen her property damaged and suffered offensive graffiti near her home. Judge McCarthy said, “This is a serious matter. This lady is dealing in heroin”.

He imposed two sentences of seven months to be served consecutively. Recognances were fixed in the event of an appeal.

THE leading agency linked with the proposed public-private partnership takeover of Shannon Airport has heard the whole process to chart a new future for Clare’s international airport described as “a complete farce”.

Condemnation of the Booz and Company report into the future of the airport, which was commissioned by transport minister Leo Varadkar and published last Wednesday, has come at Clare County Council level.

Councillors and officials delivered a withering response at a specially convened meeting of the local authority’s Special Policy Committee on Enterprise and Tourism.

“The report before us is a complete farce,” blasted former Mayor of Clare, Cllr Tommy Brennan (Ind).

“They are treating us like mushrooms – keeping us in the dark and feeding us you know what,” said Cllr PJ Ryan, amid fears that the local authority might pull back from a commitment to embrace a takeover of the airport.

“What are they trying to keep back from us? Did they keep back stuff from us about the figures? Did they keep back from us how the DAA were milking Shannon over the years? What is the real story? We don’t really know,” added Cllr Ryan.

These fears have been backed up by Clare County Council Director of Service, Ger Dollard, who said “the biggest issue” was that “all financial data is effectively taken out of the report, which it makes it very difficult to make any type of assessment whatsover”.

A MEMBER of the Labour Party has branded the Government’s handling of household charge as an “absolute mess”.

Councillor Paul O’Shea also claimed it was “absurd” that the Fine Gael / Labour Government had not enlisted the help of An Post in allowing people to pay the charge.

He raised the matter in a motion submitted at yesterday’s meeting of Ennis Town Council. Cllr O’Shea urged the council to provide information to the public on the charge and provide clarity on who is exempt from it.

According to national statistics, just over eight per cent of household- ers had paid a portion of the charge as of the end of February.

Cllr O’Shea said not enough information had been provided to people. “I think its an absolute mess the way this has been handled,” he said.

He urged the council to write to the Minster for Environment Heritage and Local Government, Phil Hogan, to highlight their concerns.

The Mayor of Ennis, Cllr Michael Guilfoyle (Ind), described the charge as “badly thought out”. Cllr Frankie Neylon (Ind) said people should be allowed to pay € 2 a week off the cost of the charge. Cllr Peter Considine (FF) said the implementation of the charge had been “diabolically badly handled”. However he added that the “harsh reality is that it is now the law of the land”.

RE-ENERGISED and enthused ahead of the next local election, that is how the secretary of Clare’s Fianna Fáil Comhairle Dáil Cheantair Gerry Reidy described the party after its first Ard Fheis since the 2011 General Election.

Although Fianna Fáil may be reduced to just one TD in Clare, the lowest in the history of the state, the Banner county was once again painted as deValera country at this weekend’s Ard Fheis conference.

More than 140 members from around Clare travelled to the RDS in Dublin for the party’s annual gettogether.

Figures revealed from Fianna Fáil headquarters showed that Clare not only had the highest number of cumann registered nationally every year for the last three, but also brought the most money to the table.

From 2009 to 2011, Clare raised the most money in the national collection, collecting € 23, 594.26 in 2009, € 21,727.35 in 2010 and € 16, 536.02 in 2011. Financial support for the party dropped considerably in 2011 after the General Election, which saw its number of TDs, reduced to 19.

Clare, however, continued to contribute the largest amount, an achievement that was marked with an award to Mary O’Dwyer treasure of the Comhairle Dáil Cheantair.

The number of cumann registered in 2011, like the funding, dropped significantly to 70 in Clare.

Despite this low number, however, Clare still registered the largest number of cumann nationally.

There are 142 cumann or branches of Fianna Fáil in Clare but just 104 registered in 2009, and 121 in 2010 – but again the largest number in the country.

“The number of cumann registered in Clare for the past three years is a good indication of the health of the organisation,” said Mr Reidy.

The large number of registered cumann and the financial support from the county, coupled with the three Clare members on the national executive, makes the county very influential within the party, according to the Clare secretary.

He is also a constituency delegate and is therefore on the national executive, as are Deputy Timmy Dooley as vice-president and Garrett Greene as a member of the Committee of 20.

Mr Reidy was particularly enthusiastic about the number of young people who took part in this year’s ard f heis.

Younger members of the party, through Ógra Fianna Fáil, sought the majority of the motions for change in political life.

Among Clare Ógra Fianna Fáil’s many motions was one asking that the Ard Fheis calls on the Government to enact legislation banning all corporate donations to political parties.

Meanwhile, Marian Coughlan Flynn from Ennis was acknowledged at the weekend for selling the highest number of tickets in Munster for the party’s super draw, and co-ordinating the second largest sale nationally.

IF implemented, one of the options for the future operation and management structure to govern Shannon that has been put forward by the team of international consultants hired by the Government would mean little change for the airport.

That’s according to Booz and Company themselves, after the final report, which has been part-published by the Minister for Transport, Leo Varadkar, outlines that one of the two options favour by the consultants would not give Shannon its independence and instead place control of the airport’s destiny in the hands of a new holding company.

“State control of Shannon would be maintained, but would be given the status of an independent subsidiary within overall airport group,” says the Booz and Company blueprint.

“The independent airport board would set the strategic direction for the airport and appoint individual management teams with responsibility for developing tailored business plans and marketing strategies,” it adds.

Booz and Company also say that “if properly structured, the primary benefit of this approach is that it would provide the airport with enhanced autonomy at local level”, enabling Shannon “to develop policies and processes that will enhance airport competitiveness with their specific market”.

However, the downside to this option is that it amounts to a watered down version of the current status quo where Shannon is concerned. In theory, Shannon would be given equal status to Dublin and Cork, with all three airports being subsidiaries of a new Ireland Airports Corporation (IAC), but could still be the junior partner of the IAC because of having the smallest number of passengers.

That these pit-falls exist have been confirmed by Booz and Company’s admission that “a risk of this approach is that increased competitiveness of one airport could have a detrimental effect on another airport within the group by diverting traffic away from one or both of the other airports.

“The holding company may therefore choose to impose restrictions on the subsidiary boards to ensure a group-focused approach to financial risk management.

“This would undermine the key benefit of separation and lead to outcomes that are similar in reality to the current situation, but it would create a structure more suitable for future separation.

“Under this approach, there would also be some additional costs associated with creating extra governane at the national level, and through duplicating some management roles at the airport currently performed by the DAA,” Booz and Company add.