Category: News

THE POTENTIAL development of a multi-billion oil and natural gas well off the Clare coast has hit a major set back – which could delay any exploration of the Spanish Point or Burren off shore wells by a number of years.

Drilling work was due to take place at the Spanish Point field, located in the Porcupine Basic off the Clare coast this Spring.

Irish company, Providence Resources, who are leading up the exploration operation off the Clare coast have announced a delay of at least a year.

The company had previously announced a partnership with Cairn Energy, who would undertake the drilling at the site. However, as a result of delays to a refurbishment of the rig, the project operator have been forced to cancel the rig contract.

As a result of this cancellation, Providence Resources will have to open a new tender for an industry drill-partner which prevent any drilling taking place until 2015 at the earliest.

The company has however decided to go ahead with its planned 3D seismic scanning of the area which should reveal more information about how much oil and gas reserves are contained in the Spanish Point field.

“The postponement of appraisal drilling at Spanish Point is regrettable and beyond the control of the partnership,” commented Chief Executive of Providence Resources, Tony O’Reilly, who is a son of Tony O’Reilly the former head of Independent Newspapers and CEO of Heinz.

“As the rig refurbishment delays became apparent, the operator evaluated various options to re-schedule the Blackford Dolphin rig and to secure another drilling unit for 2014, but this proved unsuccessful.

“Our ability to commence drilling in the autumn was further constrained by the rig’s operational capabilities at the Spanish Point location during winter and thus the decision was taken to terminate the contract and seek a new drilling unit for 2015.

“This procurement process has commenced and we will provide further updates as they are confirmed by the operator,” O’Reilly said during the week.

It is believed that there is a vast natural gas reserve contained in the Burren and Spanish Point wells with previous estimated suggesting that they contained enough natural gas to meet Ireland entire needs for more then 70 years.

THE NATIONAL Parks and Wildlife Service [NPWS] have confirmed that illegal deer poaching in taking place in parts of Clare – but cannot comment as to whether the problem is getting worse.

This comes in the wake of an incident in the Whitegate area last month when a horse was shot dead on private property by suspected poachers.

It has also been reported locally that shooting, and night shooting in particular, is continuing in areas of the county even though the shooting season for deer has long closed – and that some people are even shooting illegally from the back of moving vehicles.

East Clare residents have also expressed their concern that poachers, using high powered rifles to shoot at night, could pose a serious risk to public health.

“We do get reports of illegal hunting. Shooting at night is illegal.

“Discharging a fire arm from a public roadway is also illegal but that would be a matter for the gardaí to deal with.

“Shooting from a moving vehicle is also illegal and would be a matter for the gardaí if done from a public road, shooting from a vehicle off-road is something that we [NPWS] would look at under the Wildlife act,” said Seamus Hassett, District Conservation Officer for the NPWS.

“We mount patrols in conjunction with the gardaí and sometimes on our own but in relation to going to court, evidence has to be gathered and you would need to have a robust and strong enough case to take them to court.

“That would entail evidence, either physical or others.

“I cannot really comment on whether the problem is getting worse in Clare or not.

“You hear anecdotal evidence that deer numbers are decreasing in some areas and also that they are increasing in others.

“So it is very difficult to give an accurate answer. But we are aware of an element of what we would consider taking place in Clare.”

Fears have been raised about the dangers of night hunting in parts of Clare – with poachers using rifled that can kill from a number of kilometres away.

The National Parks and Wildlife Service have confirmed that, under current legislation, there is no maximum power of rifle than can be used. “There is no upper limit to how powerful the rifles can be – there is a minimum power. The rifles must be of at least a .22 caliber with a minimum grain weight of 64 grains and a minimum muzzle velocity of 1700 foot pounds.

The idea of this is to insure that the rifle is powerful enough to insure that animal is dispatched humanely,” said Mr Hassett.

IT MAY be more than 50 years since Whitegate GAA last club ruled the Clare hurling roost, but the club now sits on the most impressive pedestal in the county following the construction of a massive replica of the Iron Throne from ‘Game of Thrones’, made entirely from hurleys.

The project was the brainchild of Mountshannon sculptural chairmaker Paul Berg, who completed the massive structure with the help of local people at the recent Iniscealtra Festival of Art. The throne is more then seven foot tall and, according to Paul, is strong enough to seat seven senior hurlers at one time.

“We decided to put the word out to the local community and to the Whitegate GAA club and, within a week, Whitegate delivered 150 hurling sticks, most of them signed, and a lot of them battered and cracked from the players. Once we got those we knew we were in business,” he said yesterday.

“We then received a further donation from Mountshannon and Lakyle National School and people were just arriving up to the house with hurleys every day. We made a box frame for the throne and then we organised a community workshop during the festival to build the thrown itself.”

The throne was made by Paul with the help of Nard Slabbers, Bernd Schneppe and a further 10 volunteers from the local community.

The throne has now been donated to Whitegate GAA club for use during big matches and community events.

“They are now storing the throne in the clubhouse, since Whitegate gave the majority of the sticks. We’ll take it out and tour around a little bit. When the matches take place we can have it beside the pitch so that people can pose and take photos on it,” continued Paul.

“It is a big structure though and people can certainly sit on it. Just today we had seven hurlers sitting on it at the same time. So it is a big structure.”

For more on the Throne of GAAmes visit www.facebook.com/hurleysculpture.

CLARE home owners may not now receive the expected cut in their annual Local Property Tax (LPT), despite the Government allowing local authorities to reduce rates by up to 15 per cent.

From 2015 onwards, local authorities will be allowed to keep 80 per cent of the funds raised through the LPT. Clare County Council will also be granted the power to reduce the rate of property tax paid by residents by up to 15 per cent from the same date and it had been expected that councillors would be in positing to sanction such a cut.

However, it now look likely that Clare, along with 10 other local authorities, may see cuts to its Local Government Fund (LGF), which will makes introducing cuts to the property tax impossible. The LGF is paid to local authorities from central government and a cut in this stream of funding may impact on the council’s ability to reduce the rate of the LPT.

Cllr Tom McNamara (FF) said the proposed cut was unfair on Clare homeowners, especially considering that the county has one of the highest rates of LPT payments in the country.

“I am not happy about this situation at all. We should have the scope to reduce rate of Local Property Tax as was promised. The Local Government Fund must stay at the same level as it was in 2012,” he said.

“When the property tax was brought in we were told that we have the leeway to reduce it if we had the funds available. This proposed cut to the Local Government Fund must not take place. It is just camouflage to take away our ability to cut the property tax.

“We have been penalised time and again. They [Department of the Environment] took € 247,000 off us when our collection rate was below 80 per cent but we were supposed to get that back. We never got that back, even when the payment rate was was above 80 per cent.”

Cllr McNamara called on Clare’s three Government TDs to seek clarification on the proposed cuts to the Local Government Fund. The proposed cuts to the Local Government Fund are understood to be one of the items up for discussion between Labour and Fine Gael follow Joan Burton’s election at Labour party leader last week.

A SENIOR director with the Ombudsman for Children has said that to the best of its knowledge it has not yet been asked to investigate childcare services in Clare.

On June 10, a District Court Judge ordered that the Guardian Ad Litem of a number of children taken into State care request the Ombudsman to examine a case where the children were unallocated a social care worker for more than three months.

At a sitting of the Family Law (District Court) in Clare last month, Judge Alan Mitchell directed that the Guardian Ad Litem also refer the matter to the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA).

The children, who lived in Clare and were found to have been neglected by their mother, have since been allocated a social care worker.

Judge Mitchell granted a full child care order on application from the CFA in respect of a number of children. In the case, Judge Mitchell said the un-allocation of social care workers in Clare was “a source of serious concern” to him.

A senior social care worker described the staffing difficulties that led to the un-allocation as “scandalous”.

Yesterday, Niall Muldoon, Director of Investigations with the Ombudsman for Children, told The Clare People that to the “best of my knowledge, we have not received anything yet”.

Mr Muldoon said that in the event his office is asked to investigate, the case would first be examined to see if it falls under the remit of the Ombudsman.

“After that we look at it on a case by case basis,” he added.

A spokesman for HIQA would not confirm or deny the case had been referred to the authority.

“It is a policy of HIQA not to comment on specific cases,” he added.

Figures supplied to The Clare People last month by Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, showed that as of June 13 there were 10 childcare cases unallocated in Clare.

The Children in Care team in Clare (CIC) is currently providing services to approximately 160 children in care.

A spokeswoman said the “staffing arrangement has by and large remained stable over the last four to five years, and in fact there has been a significant improvement”.

She continued, “Clare social work department was allocated five additional social worker posts in 2010 in the wake of the Ryan report and also a social worker post in 2012. Changes to core staffing group have been due to maternity leaves and special carers’ leaves.”

A PRIME Ennis development almost doubled its original asking price when it went under the hammer at the Allsop Space Estate Agents distressed property auction in Dublin last week.

The mixed residential and commercial development, located on the Mill Road in Ennis, attracted a lot of attention and was eventually sold for € 315,000 – despite having gone on the market with a reserve of just € 180,000.

The property comprises five apartments and three retail units right in the heart of Ennis, which already have a sizable rental income.

According to Allsop’s, the rental income on the property at present amounts to more than € 25,000 per annum, a figure made up of € 18,000 from three of the apartments while one of the retail units is bringing in € 7,380 per annum for the present owner. Two of the retail units are vacant at present as are two of the apartments.

This means that, even with the current level of vacancies, the development will pay for itself in just 13 years.

According to the auctioneers, the Ennis block is “internally arranged to provide five two-bedroom apartments and three retail units” and was advertised as an “ideal investment opportunity”.

The property is located along the Mill Road close the junction with Pound Lane and the Old Mill Road, while Allsop have revealed that first floor offices are not included in the sale as they have previously been sold.

Two other Clare properties were sold at the auction with a further two not being sold.

Three vacant warehouse units located at the the Portdrine Development Park in Cratloe sold for € 145,000, while a vacant house at Ashview Drive, Shannon Road in Sixmilebridge, sold for € 140,000.

A second house in Chapel Court in Sixmilebridge was withdrawn before the auction as was a property at Castle Gardens in Bunratty.

CLARE ISPCA officer Frank Coote has said he is concerned that a dangerous poison may have been laid along a popular public walkway in South East Clare.

Gardaí are looking into the matter after it emerged that a number of dogs died after ingesting Strychnine.

The dogs had been walking on the River Shannon canal bank near the villages of Clonlara, O’Briensbridge, Killaloe and Twomilegate towards the ESB power station at Ardncrusha. The walkway is owned by the ESB, who have rented the surrounding lands to farmers.

The potential presence of Strychnine along the walkway sparked fears locally that the pellets could be picked up and ingested by a child.

“It is a serious concern for a couple of reasons,” said Mr Coote,

“One of those reasons is that if you are putting down poison, it has to be pinned down. Animals can come along and eat it but if it’s a thing it is not pinned down properly, something like a blackbird could come along, pick it up the pellet and drop it in someone’s garden. And then you have the whole danger with children picking it up,” he explained.

Mr Coote said Strychnine is illegal but other forms of poison can be laid down providing the gardaí are first notified, warning signs notifying the public are erected and a notice is taken out in a local newspaper.

Warning signs have now been erected in the area and the ESB has written to farmers reminding them of their responsibilities. Gardaí are also looking into the matter.

CLARE tourism businesses are struggling to find staff to fill vacant positions this summer, despite there being nearly 9,000 people on the live register in the county.

One prominent Ennis businessman told The Clare People last week that he is now happy to take on unqualified staff, as it is proving increasingly difficult to find qualified staff to fill vacant roles.

This news comes as the number of people signing on the live resister in Clare jumped by more than 1.5 per cent last month, with 8,717 people now signing-on across the county.

With tourism numbers predicted to grow across Clare this summer, the possibility of a staff shortage has now been flagged by local employers. According to the Irish Hotels Feder- ation’s quarterly barometer, three out of every four hotels reported having difficulty finding qualified staff to fill entry level positions.

THERE is a glimmer of hope for the thousands of Clare country-music fans left in low places following last week’s news that Garth Brooks’ sold out series of Croke Park concerts may not go ahead.

Peter Aiken of Aiken Promotions said that he has been in contact with Mr Brooks and has not yet given up hope of all five concerts going ahead. The matter was discussed at last night’s meeting of Dublin County Council, with ticket holders left with unanswered prayers as the local authority did not row back its decision to only grant a license for three of the five concerts.

The thunder rolled in front of Croke Park yesterday as rival groups, both claiming to be local residents, held separate protests about the controvertial concert.

“We’re just going to keep working away as much as we can, meeting as many people as we can and doing whatever we can to try and get some light at the end of this,” said Mr Aiken.

Dozens of Clare people queued for days when the tickets went on sale earlier this year. UK-based fan Andrew McIntyre contacted The Clare People claiming that he would never return to Ireland if the concert does not go ahead.

“My trip from the UK has cost us around £700, excluding the cost of the tickets, and all that will be nonrefundable if they don’t happen,” he said.

“Do Dublin Council not realise the damage they have now done to the reputation of themselves and Ireland as whole? I will certainly never go back to Ireland should all of the gigs be cancelled.”

If tomorrow never comes for the two cancelled concerts, and no alternative venue can be agreed, tickets holders will be refunded directly into their credit card accounts.

Potential problems regarding the concert have been flagged for some time with local residents launching a major campaign on the back of a written agreement in 2009 outlined that no more than three concerts were to be held at the stadium each year.

At present the concerts on July 25, 26 and 27 are set to go ahead with the concerts on Monday 28 and Tuesday 29 in jeopardy.

HOTELIERS and guesthouse owners in Clare are reporting a serious shortage of qualified, entry-level staff in the tourism sector, even though there are more than 8,000 people on the live register in the county.

One Ennis hotelier says he is now finding it so difficult to find staff, that he will hire unqualified personnel, provided they have some experience.

The Irish Hotels Federation’s (IHF) quarterly barometer findings revealed that nearly three quarters of business owners in the sector were having difficulties in recruiting qualified staff to fill entry level positions.

Speaking to The Clare People last week, owner of the Rowan Tree in Ennis, Brian O’Neill stated that he would be happy to take on people without a qualification if they had experience.

“Finding chefs and kitchen staff has been quite difficult recently.

“I had a position looking for kitchen staff for a good while, thankfully I managed to hire someone recently,” he said.

“But I have to say that a qualification isn’t everything, I would happily take someone who has a good deal of experience. And without a doubt personality goes a long way in the industry.”

The IHF report shows that 86 per cent of hoteliers are indicating a positive outlook for bookings this year, but those in the industry claim that filling these positions will be difficult because of the industries unglamorous reputation as well as lack of work being done with third level colleges to attract young people into the sector.

Speaking last week, head of the Shannon branch of the IHF, Matthias Muller, said that the lack of qualified staff will significantly hinder the prospect of increasing jobs in the tourism sector in the future.

“As we seek to secure growth in the tourism industry, the barrier to stifle that growth must be addressed. We can build the tourism industry from strength to strength as long as we continue to have the right environment to encourage domestic and overseas visitors and continue to invest in pro-tourism marketing measures,” he said.

Hoteliers and guesthouse owners in Clare could see more qualified staff coming on stream in the years ahead following the announcement of plans for a training centre to be built in Limerick.