Category: News

A CLARE third-level student will have to wait to find out whether her legal appeal against changes to the criteria for third-level grants will be successful.

The Union of Students of Ireland (USI) have brought the High Court challenge on behalf of North Clare student Mebh McCarthy, who studies at NUI Galway, as well as Dundalk IT student Robert Johnson and Iesha Rowan who is studying at the Galway Mayo Institute of Technology.

The evidence was heard in the High Court last Friday, February 24, with the judge choosing to “reserve judgement”. It is thought that a final decision on the case could be two weeks away or more.

The case has been brought against the Student Services Act which was introduced last year. The act changes the rules for third-level grants, increasing the distance that a student would have to live away from the educational institution from 24 kilometres to 45 kilometres.

Under the new rules, Mebh – who lives between Ballyvaughan and New Quay in North Clare – would be considered to live “adjacent” to NUI, Galway and with a commutable distance to the university.

The case is being seen as a test case by hundreds of students in Clare who will have their grants reduced if the new system is enforced.

Mebh is currently in receipt of a grant of between € 6,100 and € 6,700 per year to go towards rented accommodation and maintenance while she studies in NUI, Galway.

If the decision is not reversed, it will lead to a loss of between € 2,440 to € 3,900 towards her maintenance in college next year.

With no effective public transport in place in the North Clare area, Mebh will not be able to reach Galway City for college each day until after 11am. Despite working to support herself during her time in college, she is not in a position to make up the shortfall in the grants payment.

According to the Minister for Education, Ruairi Quinn (LAB), the change in policy was put in place to reflect the improving public transport network in Ireland – which, he claims, has made it easier for students to commute to work.

ALLOWING artists occupy vacant buildings in Ennis to create and exhibit their work would add greatly to the vibrancy and image of the county capital, while at the same time guarding against vandalism and ensuring that many prime units don’t become derelict eyesores.

That’s the view of Clare County Council enterprise officer, Majella McNamara, who in throwing the weight of Clare local government behind Ennis Access to Space Initiative (EASI) has appealed to landlords to embrace the concept for enhancing the visual landscape of Ennis.

“From the point of view of landlords, we would encourage you to become involved because there isn’t really anything to lose in it for yourselves,” said Ms McNamara.

“You get to have something vital going on in your building and potential tenants can also see your building has many uses for it that might not have been considered before.

“We would encourage you all to get involved for the various different reasons, but really to revitalise the town and show that different uses can be made of the buildings,” she added.

In outlining the Clare County Council vision for EASI, Ms McNamara revealed that the local authority had “looked at a number of different schemes that might be suitable for addressing the problem in Ennis with regard to vacant properties and also to meet the demand for artists for space in the town.

“From a public perspective, this would take away some of the eyesores from the streets of Ennis and bring some vibrancy to the town. This initiative is very much about facilitating the needs of artists and helping the landlords who currently have vacant properties to add a sense of vibrancy and occupancy to their buildings.

“For the point of view of artists, craft workers and other creative people – you get to use the building to have a space in which to work and to exhibit your creative work. You also get an opportunity to contribute to the vibrancy of the town – for the people who live here, for the people who come to shop and visit, for tour- ists.

“It doesn’t look very good if buildings are vacant. One of the other aspects of the properties is that there is an increase in value to the buildings if they’re occupied. They aren’t as well maintained if they are vacant because there’s nobody in them and there’s no income.

“There’s more of an encouragement to maintain the building if they are occupied. Having the building occupied helps protect it against vandalism,” Ms McNamara added.

MORE than € 73,000 was raised in Clare last year for Daffodil Day, as demand for the Irish Cancer Society’s free services also increased in the county. As the event’s 25th birthday approaches, the Irish Cancer Society continues to grow its support in Clare, as 733 more Clare people were diagnosed with the disease in last year.

In 2011, € 23,890 worth of financial aid was provided to people in County Clare, with services also increased.

The amount of nightcare provided by specialist cancer nurses in Clare increased from 98 nights in 2010 to 159 nights in 2011.

These nurses provided 8,110 nights of care to over 2,000 families nationally in 2011, which was an increase from 7,187 nights in 2010.

Specialist cancer nurses also supported 22,120 callers to the National Cancer Helpline (Freefone 1800 200 700) – 167 of these calls were from people in County Clare.

In 2011, the Irish Cancer Society also funded 13 Oncology Liaison Nurses in hospitals across the country to the value of € 497,943. One of these nurses is employed at the Mid Western Regional Hospital, Limerick, the centre for cancer treatment in Clare.

Travel2Care grants of € 356,966 were administered to patients across Ireland, with € 11,995 specifically going to patients in County Clare. Travel2Care is a transportation assistance fund which has been made available by the National Cancer Control Programme (NCCP) to patients travelling for cancer treatment and is administered by the Irish Cancer Society.

The organisation also distributed more than 688,266 cancer information booklets and fact sheets to people concerned about cancer across the country in 2011; 7,575 booklets and fact sheets were sent to people in the county. While there were 259 registered Daffodil Day supporters in Clare, many more assisted them in selling daffodils and gathering donations on the day.

John McCormack, CEO, Irish Can- cer Society said, “This year marks the 25th birthday of Daffodil Day, and, since it began in 1988, we have seen a massive increase in the demand for our services due to the ever increasing incidence of cancer.

“The latest figures from the NCRI show that there were 733 cases of cancer diagnosed in Clare last year. Now, more than ever, the services we provide are crucial.

“The money we raise on Daffodil Day goes directly to support people with cancer and their families at every stage of the cancer journey,” he said.

THE Ennis Access to Space Initiative (EASI) should be about paving the way for new businesses to come into Ennis, rather than using vacant building in the county capital as a vehicle for promoting and cultivating artistic endeavour.

Calls for this business-led approach to the EASI project that was launched at a public meeting in Ennis was championed by a spokesperson for Limerick City Council that has pioneered the ‘Occupy Limerick Space’ initiative for artists.

“We are looking at evolving our scheme more into pop-up-shop type scenarios where people would sell arts and crafts,” Mary Grace revealed.

“It would allow people to go in and test the market with low overheads and they may potentially become a rent paying tenant of that landlord down the road.

“That’s where this scheme needs to go if we want to keep our towns and cities vibrant. The requirement is for a business-led focus. We have to be looking at creating sustainable business models.

“It’s fine having a place that’s tem- porarily active in the current climate, but we need to get business models in there that can sustain themselves in the future.

“We need someone with a business mind who’s saying ‘can I set up a business out of this in a couple of months time’. ‘Can I be a future tenant for this landlord’. ‘Am I in a position to pay him a rent if I can make a go out of this’,” added Ms Grace in outlining her vision of what the longterm goals of the Ennis initiative should be.

In backing EASI, Ms Grace said it was up to landlords to see “potential in their vacant properties” rather than looking on them as a problem. “We had to decide to be innovative and come up with a solution,” she said, “and we were very lucky to get one landlord, who was a huge fan of the scheme.

“He promoted it to everybody else. He went to talk to his fellow landlords to get them on board. If you can get someone like that, that’s an asset.

“If you can get estate agents who are committed to it, that’s another major asset because we did find that there was one particular firm in Limerick – Rooney Auctioneers who were very good at selling and very good at encouraging landlords to come on board with the scheme.

“The next challenge is finding suitable vacant properties. All properties out there aren’t immediately suitable. Some of them need work to be done to them. Just because properties are vacant doesn’t mean you can take it straight away.

“Creatives need to be reminded of their duties: active occupancy – to keep the place clean and tidy. It’s always important that people remember their responsibilities.

“The responsibility in all cases is to the landlord. We have to ensure that their asset is protected,” she added.

THE first ever Ennis Food Festival is among the proposals being considered for the next phase of the Create the Magic Initiative.

The initiative was launched last year as part of a push to make Ennis the friendliest town in Ireland. Around 40 businesses have so far backed the campaign which, through a series of seminars of workshops and seminars, focused on improving standards of customer service.

The next stage of Create the Magic will be launched in Ennis next week. Business people have met in recent weeks to develop new iniatives to help Ennis rebound from the recession.

These include plans to promote Ennis as the culinary capital of the Mid West by capitalizing on the town’s market history and popular cafés and restaurants.

According to one local businessperson, the idea was one of several put forward in light of the recent decision not to put Ennis forward for the 2013 Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann.

“After losing out on the Fleadh, it was just one of the ideas raised. Food festivals have been very popular and there hasn’t been one in Ennis before. We have a lot of cafes and restaurants. It would be ideal to have a food festival in Ennis.”

A new Create the Magic committee has been selected to guide the initiative in 2012. They are Mary Kelly, Mary Kelly Newsagents (Chair); Ciara Mulhern, Rowan Tree Café Bar & Hostel; Kathleen Sullivan, KT Sullivan & Associates; Marie Dillane, Banner Motor Factors; Mary O’Halloran, An Binsin Luachra; Sarah Malone, Zest; and Rita Mc Inerney, Ennis Chamber.

A Create the Magic information evening for the launch of the initia- tive for the coming months has been scheduled for Wednesday, March 7 at the Temple Gate Hotel, O’Connell Square, Ennis. Businesses are being urged to attend to maintain the energy of the initiative.

Members of Ennis Chamber and Ennis Development Forum, along with customer service expert Kathleen O’Sullivan, launched Create the Magic last March.

Members were also involved in the production of Ennis Share the Feeling, a promotional DVD that showcased Ennis at Christmas. The film drew over 11,000 views on sites such as YouTube and Vimeo.

ENNIS Chamber of Commerce are in negotiations with a number of landlords about allowing their vacant properties to be used by artists as exhibition and studio spaces, the business group’s new president has revealed.

Meanwhile, while Ennis Town Council has pledged to negotiate with landlords wishing to be part of Ennis Access to Space Initiative (EASI) when it comes to striking a different rate for use of unoccupied buildings under the new scheme.

This twin-track approach to bringing the ground-breaking project into being on the streets of Ennis emerged after a number of artists present at the launch in the Temple Gate Hotel pressed the promoters for specifics.

“Are there shops willing to take part,” asked Ennis-based artist Carmel Doherty. “Have you talked to owners who have said they are willing to give over their shop window or premises to a venture like this.

“We are in negotiations at the moment,” revealed Ennis Chamber of Commerce president Brian O’Neill (right), “and negotiations are positive and we are hoping to access some (buildings) in the near future.

“It will be about twinning artists and units, not just letting everyone go willy-nilly everywhere. It will be about twinning certain artists with certain units. That would be my feeling on it at the moment. The feed back from the landlords is positive.

“The overall point is that we need some property owners to take the leadership and take that risk and be the first one to lead, so that others will follow. Certainly we would expect an announcement from one or two property owners and something concrete,” he added.

“In relation to the question of rates,” said Town Clerk, Leonard Cleary, “what we’d ask is that individual property owners would come and discuss with the local authority, sit down on a one-to-one basis and discuss concerns in that area. There’s no blanket solution, but obviously there’s practical approach being taken so that individual owners would come and discuss it directly.

“What we’re asking is that artists and craftworkers would liaise through Siobhan Mulcahy as the Arts Office for a co-ordination point and we will ensure then that the business community and the local authority is linking in through one co-ordination point.

“If you are a property owner, if you would contact the local authority (Ennis Town Council) or the Arts Officer and then we would to try and create a situation where we would engage both parties in the process,” he added.

“We live in a big town in Ennis and I think it is very sad for this number of years that we have no studio places,” said artist, Shelagh Honan.

“I am a working artist from Ennis and travel to a studio in Tulla to work as an artist. There are also great studios in Ennistymon and it is a great pity that we don’t have those facilities in Ennis. This is a way to do it,” she added.

AN AMERICAN man is appealing to the people of West Clare to help him track down his Irish ancestors, and reunite a family that has been split apart since the Great Famine, more than 150 years ago. The Minnesota native is hoping that the people of Clare can help him track down any relatives of Mathias Breen, who hailed from the area of Kilofin in Labasheeda, and emigrated to America in 1851. Mathias Breen was born in 1833. His father’s name was Thomas Breen of Laghkil and it is thought that his father was probably Mathias Breen (Snr) of Ballina. Mathias (Jnr), who is the American’s great-grandfather, emigrated to the city of St Paul in America in 1951, just after the Great Famine. The American ancestor has contacted the Ireland Reaching Out project, asking them to assist him in tracing his Clare cousins. “The project is about connecting members of the Irish diaspora from all over the world, with people from the own parish and where their ancestors actually came from. We have volunteers in a number of parishes all over Ireland and they are researching their parishes and finding out who have gone abroad from their parish for the last 150 years. We are tracing those people and trying to reconnect the descendants of the people abroad with their parish back home,” said Paula Kennedy of the Ireland Reaching Out Project “While we normally look for people in foreign countries to connect with, we were contacted by a man in America who is looking for Breens in West Clare. He is looking for any descendants of his family and is very keen to make some sort of connections. At the moment, we have only one or two parishes in Clare who are part of the Reaching Out Project but we are hoping that more will come on board in the next little while.” Anyone who has information on the Breen family from West Clare and, specifically, any relatives of Mathias Breen is asked to visit www. irelandxo.com and make themselves known or ring 091 842013.

FACELESS landlords from national corporations have emerged as a potential stumbling block to ensuring that some of the biggest vacant building in the heart of Ennis are made available to promoters of the Ennis Access to Space Initiative (EASI).

This warning has been sounded out by a leading estate agent in Ennis, who told last week’s public meeting that launched the new project that appealing to the “civic responsibility” of banking institutions that have left town was key to opening some prime locations to EASI.

“One of the biggest problems that we have is that some of the properties are not occupied by the owners,” said Paddy Darmody, of Sherry Fitzgerald McMahon in Ennis.

“We have three properties in the centre of town – the banks. They’re owned by people who don’t have possession of them. The banks are not trading there anymore but are still the tenants. They can’t get out of the lease that they’re in and can’t sub-let it because the rents are much lower than they were paying in the past.

“The problem with the three biggest properties in the centre of town with the biggest floor areas is that you’re dealing with faceless people and trying to get to people who make the decisions and take the responsibility.

“You might have to appeal to the civic responsibility and duties of national corporations who came into town and set up businesses and then up and left and are leaving us with these vacant properties. How we get to those I don’t know,” added Mr Darmody, who represented the longest standing estate agent in the county at the meeting.

However, while outlining these fears, Mr Darmody also pledged “support any initiative that would enhance our town” and pointed out that “everyone would like to work with such an initiative to get it off the ground”.

“The big thing for us is that our job is to let the property, so that whatever would happen, that it’s important from the owner’s perspective that the property is still clearly available to let.

“We would have properties that belong to local landlords and they are probably the easiest people to deal with as they are here and see the properties and would like to see them maintained and kept. For people not in town it’s as easy for them not to engage, because it’s a case of out of sight, out of mind,” added Mr Darmody.

CLARE County Council should seek to tap into the wealth of expertise that exists among retired workers in order to generate ideas for job creation.

The idea was put forward by West Clare councillor Gabriel Keating at the February meeting of Clare County Council. Cllr Keating (FG) proposed that the council seek to tap into the “wealth of experience and knowledge” amassed by the “many active retired, highly qualified and talented individuals residing in Clare”.

Cllr Keating said the council should engage with people who are willing to volunteer, advice, mentor or share their skills. He told the meeting that people with ideas for job creation should be encouraged to bring their proposals to the council. He said 30 good ideas could generate 300 jobs over a period of 10 years.

Cllr Keating said people would also be encouraged to provide some financial backing to their proposals. He added that he did not want the initiative to become a “talking shop”.

Cllr Joe Arkins (FG) encouraged the council to facilitate people who can provide a role commensurate with their skills.

Cllr Christy Curtin (Ind) said a broad invitation should be given to a wide section of the community. “There is a wealth of talent that can be tapped into,” he added.

Cllr Tommy Brennan (Ind) said Cllr Keating’s motion should be sent to the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government to see if grant funding is available for the proposal.

In his reply, Director of Service Ger Dollard pointed to the high number of people who volunteered in Clare last year. He stated, “By the end of 2011, 731 volunteers were registered with Clare Volunteer Centre and had volunteered for 9,342 hours. The Clare Volunteer Centre, which opened in 2008 as part of a national network of volunteer centres, confirms that reduced opportunities had resulted in community and voluntary sector organisations focusing on more innovative ways to involve volunteers.”

Mr Dollard continued, “Clare County Council has a tradition of engaging volunteers in an advisory capacity with the community and voluntary sector such as voluntary housing, development of community recreation and sporting facilities including playgrounds, tourism initiatives, consultation process’ through focus groups when developing policy and identifying actions to implement policy.”

Mr Dollard told the meeting that the high number of retired people seeking to volunteer their time and expertise has emerged as a significant issue. He said the council would examine Cllr Keating’s proposal.

CONSERVATION work on a section of what is believed to be Ireland’s oldest house is nearing completion in Ennis. Scaffolding was taken down from Ms Irene Clune’s house (better known as McParlands) last week to reveal the building’s historic triple diamond stone Jacobean chimney for full viewing for the first time in three years.

The building’s triple diamond stone Jacobean chimney has been an icon of medieval Ennis for centuries. The house has undergone necessary structural repair work in recent months. It has been estimated that the works will cost € 170,000 to complete.

Conservation and repair work at the site has revealed that the building’s timber frame interior dates back to the 1500s.

Conservation officer Dick Cronin explained that work on the building’s exterior is almost complete. He said, “We believe it’s the only half-timber frame house left in Ireland. We have to do dendrochronological analysis of the timber. Once it is tested, we will be able to trace it back to the exact year when the tree was cut down.”

Mr Cronin added, “They are doing work on the shopfront which dates back to the 1800s and that is almost finished.”

It has been suggested that the building could be used as a museum but, according to Town Manager, Ger Dollard, the building will be returned to its former use as a home. He explained, “Our priority is to complete the works under the Dangerous Structures legislation and allow Ms Clune go back to her home as soon as possible. There are no other plans for the use of the building other than returning it to its former use as a dwelling.”

During October 2011, the gable and chimney were carefully taken down and stored. The Conservation Contractor, Tom Howard, claims it was “the most dangerous and precarious job I have ever undertaken as a builder but thankfully everything went to plan”.