Category: News

FAMILY Carers throughout Ireland have participated in the second annual Caring for Carers Ireland poetry competition, the winners of which were announced at the Ennis Book Club Festival in County Clare during the weekend.

The nationwide poetry competition asked Family Carers to compose poems on the theme of ‘Springtime’, representing renewal and new life.

Noelle Dalton from Askeaton in County Limerick received first prize for her poem ‘Twilight’. Runners up included Gaia Charis from Castletownshend, County Cork, Tracy King Kinlan from Caherush, Quilty, County Clare, Terri O’Mahony from Ballinacurra Gardens, Limerick City, and Barbara Roche from Glenina, Ennis, County Clare.

Brigid Barron, Research and Program Manager with Caring for Carers Ireland, explained that the purpose of the competition is to highlight the significant contribution made by thousands of Family Carers to Irish society.

“Recognising the role of Family Carers in the home is crucial,” Ms. Barron said. “This form of care is the foundation of formal health and social care systems. Family Carers are a distinct group who provide care and also, very importantly, require care themselves.”

Ms. Barron continued: “Family carers spend a lot of time caring at home and that often gives them time for reflection. The poetry submissions received by Caring for Carers and our co-organisers, Clare County Library and the Ennis Book Club Festival, have been excellent, very touching and expressive.”

According to Helen Walsh, Clare County Librarian: “The library is delighted to have been able to support this initiative. Caring for Carers Ireland carries out invaluable work throughout the country and the County Library has a particular interest in socially inclusive events such as this.’

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.

CLARE County Council has questioned the criteria used by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) when assessing the quality of waste water treatment, describing it as “too blunt”.

While the local authority have not disputed the results of the EPA’s 2009 audit of treatment plants in the county, which was released last week, they have questioned the failure notice given to the Lahinch Waste Water Treatment Plant, which passed 11 of the 12 tests carried out by the EPA in 2009.

“While we have no dispute with the factual information on test results, we feel that the EPA’s cover-all definition of non-compliant is very blunt,” said a spokesperson from Clare County Council. “We are reviewing our records to find out the date and reason for the single failure [in Lahinch]. It may have been due, for instance, to weather conditions, or very high loading during holiday period, or a maintenance or equipment fault at the time the sample was taken.”

Meanwhile, construction work planned for a number of Clare waste water treatment plants has been stalled as a result of a lack of central government funding. Projects planned for Kilrush and Kilkee, Clarecastle, Liscannor, Ballyvaughan, Quin, Shannon, Ennistymon and Ennis South are all at various levels of development but none of the projects currently been granted the financial backing needed to go forward.

According to the latest information from Clare County Council, the Kilrush and Kilkee project is still on the Government’s 2010-2012 Water Services Investment Programme (WSIP) and is currently waiting for financing before works can begin.

Works at Clarecastle which would intercept the local effluent and pump it to the proposed upgrade of Clareabbey treatment plant are now unlikely to begin until 2015 or 2016 at the earliest.

Construction work on both the Lis- cannor and Ballyvaughan waste water treatment plants were part of the government WSIP for 2006 to 2009 but have been dropped from 2010 to 2012 list of projects.

Clare County Council are also planning an upgrade of the Quin treatment plant using funding received in total from levies and that work is ready to proceed, subject to finances being available.

The Shannon sewerage scheme, which includes a new treatment plant, has been retained on the WSIP for 2010 to 2012, however Clare County Council may be forced to pay unusually high percentage of the cost of this because of the large number of industries and business in Shannon.

The construction of a new treatment plant for Ennistymon was included as part of the government’s WSIP for 2006 to 2009 but has been dropped from the latest list of likely projects while in the Ennis South area, construction of an upgrade of Clareabbey is now thought unlikely to start before 2015 while.

KILKEE is now home to west Clare best cultural and library facility – a new dawn that was heralded this Monday evening when the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Jimmy Deenihan formally opened the Culturlann Sweeney.

The € 1.6m redevelopment of the 1950s public library building on O’Connell Street in the west Clare town has been hailed as a major development for the arts by both Minsiter Jimmy Deenihan and Mayor of Clare, Pat Hayes.

The 8,299 sq-ft development, which is almost double the size of the original Sweeney Memorial Public Library, comprises additional library space, theatre and exhibition space, and multifunction spaces.

The new theatre and foyer/gallery facilities have been designed to accommodate approximately 110 people, while the number of book titles in the library stock exceeds 12, 500.

The project was funded by Clare County Council, in association with the Charitable Commissioners of Ireland, as well as the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, and the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government.

“The official opening of Cultúrlann Sweeney represents the completion of one of the biggest infrastructure projects to be undertaken in the West Clare area in recent years,” said Mayor Hayes. “The facility will greatly enhance the social infrastructure of the area and will help the future development of Kilkee and its environs,” he added

“The project has led to an improvement in the standard and range of independent functions within the building, allowing for different activities to occur independently. This new facility will play an important public and social role within the town”, said County Librarian, Helen Walsh.

The first County Council Library opened in Kilkee in 1945 in O’Connell Street and from 1951, when the Sweeney Memorial Library opened, there were two libraries operating in Kilkee. This Sweeney Memorial Library was founded with money bequeathed from Dr. William J. Sweeney, Union City, New Jersey, whose grandfather was born in Kilkee in 1833.

The Kilkee Public Library branch was closed in 1962, with Clare County Council taking over the running of the library from Sweeney Memorial Trust Fund following High Court Agreement was signed in 1985.

“The main reason behind the redevelopment of the previous building was that it did not sufficiently ad- dress modern accessibility requirements, nor did it possess efficient heating, advanced stage technology and the expanding functions of a modern community library,” said Clare County Council Director of Services, Bernadette Kinsella.

“The primary changes to the internal layout are the demolition of the existing toilet block to the front of the building, and the separation of library and theatre functions within the existing building.

“The new side extension contains the new floor space and gallery, the provision of lift access to the upper level, the new entrance foyer, and the upgrade of existing electrical and heating systems,” she added.

It’s expected that the Kilkee Tourist Office will be located at Culturlann Sweeney.

ALMOST 17 years after it first opened, Buskers musical instrument shop will close its doors in Ennis for the final time tomorrow.

A first port of call for a generation of aspiring young musicians and the place where many of Clare and Munster’s best known touring bands popped in to get equipment, Buskers has been a part of life on O’Connell Street since March 1, 1995.

An increase in the purchase of instruments online is one of the main reasons behind owner Philly Walsh’s decision to close the business.

He explained, “It seems to me that a lot of people now are buying over the internet. Rather than go their local shop, people are buying off the internet having never had the feel for an instrument.”

Philly also believes there has been a decline in the pub music scene.

He said, “There has been a huge de cline countrywide in musical instruments sales in general, along with a decline in the pub music scene. If bands aren’t working as often, then they are not getting the basic equipment, guitar strings, leads etc.”

Having worked as a drummer with bands on the showband circuit in the early 1990s, Philly decided to open his own business in Ennis.

Philly recalled, “It had kind of run its course and I had been working on the road for a long time. I decided to open Buskers because I felt there was no place catering for band or rock musicians. You had shops for trad music but not for bands.”

Buskers originally opened as a shop for music instruments but, over the years, Philly’s work moved more towards supplying and installing audio equipment. The Ennis native will continue to operate the audio equip- ment supply and installation business.

However, Philly admits that he is sad to be closing the business. He said, “It’s been my day job for the past 17 years. You were helping out kids who were buying the first guitar or keyboard. In one way, it’s hard but, in another way, it allows me to concentrate on the PA side of the business.”

Having worked in the centre of Ennis for almost two decades, Philly believes the town is facing serious challenges from large retail developments in Limerick and Galway.

“For a lot of people, if they are living outside Ennis, its almost easier for them to take the motorway to Limerick or Galway. Somedays, by the time you get into town and get parking, you’d be in Coonagh Cross quicker.”

PLANS have been put in motion which could see Lisdoonvarna transformed into Ireland’s first ever wellness town. Despite the closure of the famous Spa Wells facility in the town, more than 8,000 German visitors came to the North Clare town last year, to walk in the grounds of the famous magnesia, iodine and iron spa.

While details for the Wellness Town Project have yet to be announced, Lisdoonvarna Fáilte last Friday issued a tender, looking for applications for someone to steer the project.

Lisdoonvarna Fáilte is a communityowned trust which owns the Spa Wells Facility as well as a number of local community facilities including the North Clare Sports and Amenity Centre and the Pavillion Theatre.

While a spokesperson from Lisdoonvarna Fáilte declined to comment on any part of the new project, The Clare People understands that an application for funding for the new position of Wellness Town Animator has been lodged with a government funding authority and a decision in likely to be made in the next 10 days.

Should this funding be granted, a person will then be appointed to assess what needs to take place in Lisdoonvarna before it can be transformed into Ireland’s first wellness town.

The Spa Wells Centre itself has been closed for more than five years and it has been an aspiration of the local business community, and Lisdoonvarna Fáilte, to reopen that facility since then.

Hundreds of thousands of people have came to Lisdoonvarna to bathe and drink at the Spa Well since it became Ireland’s first Spa Well Centre in the middle of the nineteenth century.

According to documents lodged by Lisdoonvarna Fáilte, the Wellness Town Animator would be tasked to de- velop “a model and framework aimed towards launching and managing a wellness town concept focussed on, but not exclusive to, the town of Lisdoonvarna and the assets, facilities and lands under the control of Lisdoonvarna Fáilte”.

Over the last decade, Lisdoonvarna Fáilte have helped develop the North Clare Sports and Amenity Park into one of Clare’s foremost community venues.

Complete with a community childcare facility, a playground, all-weather pitches and a GAA field, the project has also seen the restoration of the Pavillion ‘Town Hall’ Theatre.

AN Ennis man has been given the job of spearheading the implementation of the € 337 million Limerick Regeneration Programme when it comes under the control of Limerick City Council later this year.

Oliver O’Loughlin, who has over 20 years’ experience working for Limerick City Council and is currently a Director of Service in the local authority, has been appointed to this key position by Minister for Housing and Planning, Jan O’Sullivan.

Mr O’Loughlin is to head up the new dedicated office to manage the 2009-2018 Regeneration Programme, which has six more years to run as it comes under Limerick City Council control. Council officials have revealed that over a couple of months, Mr O’Loughlin will begin the process of bringing the various facets of regeneration into one dedicated office working with current chief executive Brendan Kenny.

“In the past, he has provided a link to the wider council, including the planning, roads and wider functions. He is quite familiar with the process,” said Deputy City Manager Kieran Lehane.

“He is one of the best public serv

ants. He has worked in

every department in

Limerick City Council.

He would be very ex

perienced. Oliver has a

vast knowledge of the

public service and how

it works,” said Deputy

Mayor of Limerick,

Cllr Kevin Kiely said.

“He is going to bring

his experience and

knowledge of local government. I know he is very highly thought of in the department in Dublin. As a result of this, he will be aware of ways of leveraging money for the city council and projects to benefit the city centre,” he added.

In his Limerick City Council career, Mr O’Loughlin has worked as a fire chief, a senior engineer, as well as drawing up the city’s emergency plans and helped secure funding for the Northern Distributor Road, and Green bus routes in the city.

A DISABLED north Clare mother says she was “humiliated” and “degraded” by the manager of a Clare hotel – who refused to allow her to bring her personal assistant swimming with her and her seven month old baby.

Ann Marie Flanagan, who was the Green Party’s candidate for north Clare in the 2009 local election, says she was made to feel like a cheat and a crook by the hotel manager, who refused to allow her personal assistant free access to the facility, even though she cannot use the facilities without the aid of a trained assistant.

Ms Flanagan, who must use a wheelchair or crutches to get around, says that swimming offers her relief from her debilitating condition.

She is also a spokesperson for the National Advisory Group on Independent Living.

“I was told in no uncertain terms by the general manager of the hotel that my PA would have to pay – he acted as if I was trying to rip the hotel off.

“I explained in great detail but he didn’t seem to understand that I cannot use the facility without the help of my personal assistant,” she said.

“I felt humiliated and really very upset. I thought they would have some understanding of the situation but they made me feel like I was trying to get two for one.

“I need an assistant to get in and get out of the pool, but once I start I am usually okay. I would not be able to hold my son, Robert, in the pool all the time so my assistant helps with that as well. If a person needs a per- sonal assistant they should not have to be degraded by going into the specifics of their own personal condition.” Ms Flanagan has also paid tribute to the Woodstock Leisure Centre in Ennis who have accommodated her, her son and her personal assistant.

“Without even knowing me or anything about me, they were so helpful. I told them that I used a wheelchair and that I had a personal assistant and they were just brilliant. I have been a few times now and they have been very good and very kind,” said Ann Marie.