Category: News

SHOPPING in the county town of Ennis is not an experience that is open to everyone.

Wheelchair users in the county are limited in the main to one end of the town, and if they require to visit a premises on the other side they have to either drive for up to 20 minutes through a one-way system to get there, or just take their business elsewhere.

That is according to wheelchair users across the county.

Geraldine Gilligan, who works in the town, has ruled out having lunch out or shopping on her break as impossible.

“Dunnes and Boots is basically a one-stop-shop for me. The thought of going up to Carraig Donn is impossible,” she said.

The hills and cobblestones of Ennis town made it difficult for a wheel- chair user to navigate the streets alone, but the greatest difficulty is the width of the footpaths.

Making O’Connell Street a pedestrian street is the dream, according to Geraldine.

For now going past Boots towards the Daniel O’Connell statue is impossible alone.

Even bracing this main thoroughfare brings its problems.

A wheelchair user has to travel the whole length of one street to cross the road and then travel back down the other side to visit a shop directly across the road from where the shopper originally was.

She was also critical of disabled parking spaces branding some of them a disgrace.

The Corofin/Kilnaboy woman was particularly critical of a space on the corner of Abbey Street and Bank Place.

The space is so tight she explained that she “nearly got chopped off by traffic” while parking there herself.

Shannon native Padraic Hayes said he would visit the town more if it was accessible.

“You have oncoming traffic when you come out of Dunnes on to the street. I go as far as Boots, or I would go up the market or I would go as far as Hillbillies and that is it,” he said.

“Moving past Dunnes is too high up and trying to manage with traffic while you are in a chair is impossible and you have people coming against you too. Some people are okay they will move. Others will just stand there,” he said.

Ms Gilligan said that while there is little that can be done about the topography of the town, pedestrianisation of more streets, ramps and improved footpaths would open more of the town to wheelchair users.

CLARE farmers may be forced to assemble every animal on their farm for all future cattle inspections, should new inspections requirements being put forward by the Department of Agriculture come into force.

The new assembly rules were just one of the main sticking points when a team of senior officials from the Department of Agriculture met officials from the farming organisations in Portlaoise last week.

The other main point of conflict was unannounced inspections, with IFA Deputy President, Eddie Downey, strongly rejected the idea that any spot checks should take place.

“Unannounced inspections are totally unacceptable and IFA is demanding that no inspector arrives on a farm without reasonable prior notice. There need to be better coordination of inspections and the avoidance of duplication as well as increased tolerances, reduced penalties and a strict adherence to prompt payment deadlines. Farmers will not tolerate a repeat of last year, where applicants selected for inspection encountered long payment delays.” he said.

“The assembly of animals involves a major additional workload, creates undue stress, adds considerable costs, and is an additional and unnecessary farm safety risk.”

Downey, who described some of the new proposals as “way over the top” saying that the department inspectors should be able to obtain a reasonable sample of tags without the necessity to bring all animals into the farmers’ yard.

He also called on the Minister for Agriculture, Simon Coveney (FG), to intervene to ensure a more farmer friendly inspection regime. Pressure is also being placed on the Minister for Agriculture to ensure that the delays caused by maps and digitisation not be repeated in 2012.

“There is now significant advantages in submitting on-line SFP applications. Apart from the commitment to be processed and paid earlier by the Department, farmers and their agents can make changes to their applications and maps on line,” said Downey.

“Given the importance of direct payments to farm income it was vital that farmers make sure that their SFP application is made correctly and on time.

“This application is necessary for all schemes including the Single Farm Payment, Disadvantaged Areas, REPS 4, AEOS, Sheep Grassland, Suckler Cow Welfare, Dairy and Beef Discussion groups – it is absolutely essential that no mistakes are made.”

MORE than 700 jobs could be fasttracked to Ennis this year with a planned new private hospital set to circumvent the local planning sys- tem and gain planning permission in as little as 26 weeks. Construction work on a new € 60 million private hospital, which is proposed for the former Our Lady’s Psychiatric Hospital, could begin before the end of the summer should An Bord Pleanála classify the hospital as a Strategic Infrastructure Development (SID). The project is being put forward by Ennis-based company Duesbury Ltd, which lists John and Allen Flynn of the Old Ground Hotel in Ennis as its company directors. Allen Flynn purchased the site with builder Martin Fitzgibbon and Paul Talty from Clare County Council for € 5.2 million in October, 2005.

A GROUP of colleagues went to Lisdoonvarna to the matchmaking festival this year for a day out – nothing note worthy in that.

Like so many others they travelled by bus and looked forward to a bite to eat, a few drinks and plenty of music and craic.

After a few beers and orange juices in a local establishment some members of the group needed to use the facilities, but soon discovered they couldn’t.

The facilities were working perfectly and others had been using them all day, but still the members of this group had to leave the public house and go to the other end of the town to use the toilets in a small café.

They went to another pub and once again, when they had to use the facilities they were forced to go outside in the cold September air and travel hundreds of yards to use the toilets in the same café.

The local primary school had agreed to allow the group to use their facilities and a local hotel would also have been available to them except it was closed on that day, but their comfort would have been disrupted in any eventuality.

So their day continued like this and all because they were dependent on wheelchairs for mobility.

This experience is not unique for people who rely on wheelchairs to get around County Clare, nor is it exclusive to the North Clare town.

Despite the change in laws and a growing philosophy of inclusiveness, wheelchair users are continuously penalised for needing mobility assistance.

The freedom to move around, use the facilities their tax euros pay for, and access buildings and social settings remains limited. One group of young wheelchair users who meet regularly on a Friday night, explained how their meeting places are limited, especially in Ennis, as access and space remains an issue. As the group spoke they explained how they have legally enshrined rights to integrate socially with everyone else yet they cannot. Shannon woman Majella Nihill explained how she likes to visit the Shannon shopping centre with the assistance of her mother. She said she can navigate the area quiet well but it is not without it difficulties as pointed out by fellow Shannon citizen Padraic Hayes. He does a lot of his shopping in the new Shannon Town Centre, as toilet facilities is an issue in many shop- ping centres.

“I go to the old one [Shannon Shopping Centre] in the Gort Road. That is the best one for me and my chair to get in and get out. The other one you can manage but there is a bit of struggle. I can get in but it is tight,” he said referring to the “disability toilets”.

“I go to Limerick a lot. O’Connell Street (Limerick) is a dream for me because it is so level even if shop accessibility is not great,” he said.

Connie Commane is a regular face in the county town of Ennis.

A proud wheelchair user she makes her way through town with purpose.

But all of the county town is not accessible to wheelchair users like Connie, and the shopping experience is often limited to lower O’Connell Street and the market.

Gerry Quain told how a coffee shop he use to frequent in the Tesco shopping centre in Ennis has since closed limiting the places he can meet his friends.

Ger Arthur from Shannon enjoys the freedom and space of the Friday night catch-up of young wheelchair users in Hassets pub in Barefield, where he can relax and have his pint without worrying about facilities, access and space. This he cannot do everywhere.

As the dinner was served in the Barefield bar last week and the group settled in to a night out, Padraic remarked “everyone has their own definition of accessibility”.

For this group of young people however the definition in Clare leaves a lot to be desired.

CONCERNS have been expressed at the location and availability of lifesaving defibrillators in the county town. Ennis Town Councillor Paul O’Shea (Lab) believes that the local authority should provide 24-hour access to defibrillators that are placed at convenient locations, in sight of CCTV cameras on the main streets with no less than a three-minute walk from each installation.

Ennis Town Council currently has three defibrillators. One is located in the Customer Service office of Ennis Town Council and two in the council’s Sports and Leisure Facilities – one in Ennis Leisure Complex and one in Lees Road.

Ennis Town Clerk Leonard Cleary said, “Staff have been trained in the use of this equipment. Clare County Council also has a defibrillator, which is located on its property within the town. The local authority does not have a role in relation to other privately-owned or community-owned defibrillators. The council’s CCTV network is available as a resource for the gardaí, with whom Ennis Town works closely.”

Cllr O’Shea raised concerns, however, that the council offices close at five, the leisure centre at 9pm and Lees Road at 10pm. He said that defibrillators should ideally be positioned three minutes from each other, and be available 24 hours a day.

“We probably need a few (defibrillators) but we need a 24-hour one,” he said.

Mr Cleary explained that there are a number of other defibrillators in the town centre owned by voluntary organisations.

Cllr Mary Howard (FG) said it was an issue of awareness. “I don’t know where they are located,” she said.

The councillor called for all defibrillators to be clearly marked and visible to the public.

Ennis Town Manager Ger Dollard reminded the council that the provision of defibrillators is not a function of the local authority.

“Perhaps the HSE have a better idea of where the defibrillators are located,” he said.

AFTER her star turn on RTÉ radio, singer Siomha Brock is looking forward to a triumphant homecoming concert in Ennis on Saturday.

The 24-year-old embarks on a nationwide tour this week with stops in Galway (Kings Head, Thursday), Cruises Bar, Ennis (Saturday), Limerick (Office Bar, February 21), Cork (Crane Lane, February 24) and Dublin (Sweeneys, Dame Street, February 26).

The former Coláiste Muire student, who has been tipped as one of Ireland’s rising music talents, released her self-titled EP in Ennis last December. Reaction has been positive, with one track ‘Right From The Start’ being added to the RTÉ Radio One playlist.

Siomha and her band also appeared on Pat Kenny’s popular morning show with the veteran broadcaster hailing their performance.

She says, “He really liked it. He’s into that jazz style of music so he seemed really happy with it. He was very nice and we were really well looked after. It was great to go up and play in such a great studio. It was really a good boost. I sent up the CD and, because they liked it so much and because I had the tour coming up, they said they’d bring us on to do a bit of promotion.”

Joining her on tour are Ennis man Eoghan Judge (guitar), who has been writing songs with Siomha for the past year. Bass player Karl Clews has worked with artists such as Jamiro quai, Gary Barlow (Take That) and PJ Harvey. Drummer Pat Corless has worked with artists such as Jerry Fish and the Mudbug Club and The Blizzards.

Siomha says, “We’ve a good few new songs for the tour. We’ve just over an hour of new stuff. Eoghan and myself work really well together because we’ve known each other for so long and because we’ve very similar taste in music.” She adds, “The guys are great. They know exactly what we want to do with the song.”

Siomha, who has performed regularly in Cruises and around Ireland, is hugely influenced by jazz singers such as Ella Fitzgerald and Billy Holiday, She says, “I stick to a lot of the old jazz stuff because that’s the way I like to sing. I got all my influences from them.”

THERE was a large increase in the number of dogs being put down in Clare last year, with a total of 728 animals destroyed in the county throughout 2011. This compares to a total of 547 animals destroyed in Clare in 2010 – a year when more animals were put down in Clare than in any other county in Ireland. Given this 34 per cent year-on-year increase, it is likely that Clare will retain the unwanted title of Ireland’s biggest dog-killing county when na- tional figures for 2011 are released later this year.

This news comes despite massive efforts being made by a number of organisations in the county – including the ISPCA and Clare County County – to reduce the number of animals being destroyed each year. Of the 1,378 dogs dealt with by the Clare dog pound in 2011, 176 were returned successfully back to their owners while 465 dogs were rehomed in Britain though Deirdre Ryan and Rover Rescue.

The majority of dogs, 812 in total, were brought to the pound by their owners, while 563 were stray dogs.

“People don’t realise the scale of the problem in Clare. I have been in the pound this morning from 9am to 1pm and already we have had 11 dogs handed into me here this morning,” Clare dog warden Frankie Coote told The Clare People yesterday.

“Nobody here wants to see a dog put down. We are making every effort we can. It is heartbreaking having to put down an animal. We have about 150 dogs in for biting people each year and another 170 or thereabouts in for chasing livestock. The fact is that once a dog does something like that, we have to take action. But we have one of the highest numbers of dogs who we get back to their owner each year.”

Only 4,000 of the estimated 30,000 dogs that currently live in Clare are registered.

“These problems could be solved quite easily if dogs could be microchipped. That way we know as soon as we find a dog who the owner is and we don’t have the expense of keeping that dog for days. That way, when we come across a stray, we know it’s a stray straight away. This would sort the whole thing out very quickly. As it stands now, the figures in Clare are not going to change because we have too many dogs,” continued Frankie.

AHEAD of the annual Ennis Book Club Festival that takes place on the first weekend in March, the event has been recognised internationally thanks to being nominated for EDGE Awards that take place in Edinburgh every year.

The Ennis festival is the only Irish nominee in the 2012 awards scheme pioneered by Edinburgh City Council, which are are designed to reward innovation and creativity in library services.

The award winners will be announced on March 1, the eve of the Book Club Festival that has become a key part of the Irish literary festival circuit over the past seven years by being able to attract some of the biggest names in Irish literature.

“Ennis Book Club Festival is organised by a voluntary committee in association with Clare County Library,” said festival chairperson Ciana Campbell. “We really value that support. Ennis is a festival dedicated to book club members and readers and given that there are over 150 library-based book clubs in the country it makes complete sense to work together in this way. The organisers of the EDGE 2012 Conference obviously feel that we are a good example of how the public sector can support community organisations like ourselves,” she added.

“The festival has enabled the library service to reach out, make contacts and create goodwill with a broad sector of the community,” said county librarian, Helen Walsh. “Over the years, links have been forged with local writers, artists, musicians and youth groups and the library service, through the festival, has contributed to the cultural life, tourism and economy of the region and proved that local authorities can play a vital role in projects such as this.”

At the cutting edge of digital technology, the EDGE 2012 Conference will show how libraries – physically, virtually and socially are revolution- ising local authority service deliver. The two-day conference in Edinburgh will bring together top local government figures from the UK and beyond to explore how libraries are key to delivering council services, e-government, learning and digital inclusion.

Ennis Book Club Festival 2012 will be held from March 2 to 4. Visiting writers include Lynne Reid Banks, author of the L-Shaped Room , English novelist Patrick Gale, Maureen Gaffney and Shelia O’Flanagan.

ENNIS Town Council has said it does not have land available to give to sports clubs to develop facilities.

With clubs in Ennis seeking to develop their own playing grounds, a local councillor had urged the council to make any surplus lands available.

In a motion submitted to the February meeting of Ennis Town Council, Cllr Johnny Flynn called on, “Ennis Council to request Clare County Council, a la recent decision with regard to the site at Doora, consider making available portions of any suitable surplus lands in Environs area similarly available to Ennis Rugby Club, Avenue United soccer club, Ennis Town and other clubs who have the ability and can demonstrate the capacity to build much needed additional facilities.”

He added, “Some of these clubs, I understand, made previous such applications/approaches to one or both local authorities.”

In his response, Town Clerk Leonard Cleary, pointed to the council’s significant investment in “flagship facilities” such as Lees Road.

However he said that the council does not have surplus land available to distribute to clubs.

He stated, “Ennis Town Council recognizes the important role that sports clubs play in the everyday health and quality of life of residents and visitors to Ennis. In this regard, the council has invested in the development of flagship facilities at Lees Road, Ennis Leisure Centre, Tim Smyth Park, Glenina, Cloughleigh, and Coote Park. Some government grant support has also been provided which has enabled the local authority to develop these facilities.”

Mr Cleary regarded, “This is a major capital investment in sports in Ennis town and requires significant council budget provision to meet operational costs of these facilities. Further developments are planned at these sites, subject to available resources. Ennis Town Council is aware of a number of sports clubs currently seeking to identify a suitable site, but does not currently have a suitable landbank for consideration in this regard.”

The matter was discussed at last week’s council meeting with on councillor suggesting the sporting clubs in the county look to NAMA when it emerged that there was no local authority lands available for sporting amenities.

“Can we get a list of lands from NAMA and put the clubs on to them,” asked Cllr Tommy Brennan (Ind) who was reacting to indications from town manager Ger Dollard that the local authority had no surplus lands available.

“I am not sure that Clare County Council has a surplus of lands available.”

He added that while the town council should contact the more senior local authority to request any such lands for sporting clubs, he did not want to give false hope.

CONSTRUCTION work began yesterday on a major restoration of Thoor Ballylee, the Gort residence of William Butler Yeats. The historic tower and tourist attraction has been closed to the public since it was badly damaged by flooding in 2009.

The redevelopment of Yeat’s West of Ireland getaway will take an estimated three months to complete and will be fully operational ahead of this year’s busy summer season. The decision to fund the restoration of Thoor Ballylee comes after top-level meetings between Fáilte Ireland and the Office of Public Works (OPW), who manage the facility.

The tower at Thoor Ballylee, which is located just outside of Gort, was purchased by Yeats as his family home in 1917. It was used as a summer home for Yeats during his frequent visits to Gort where he spent much of his time at the residence of Lady Gregory at nearby Coole Park.

Local senator, Lorraine Higgins (Lab) has begun a campaign to secure enough government funding to reopen the tower as a tourist attraction.

Higgins hopes that the combination of a renovated Thoor Ballylee alongside Coole Park will be enough to win literary tourists away from Yeats’ childhood home in Sligo and down to the Burren region.

“We need to reclaim our strong association with one of the English language’s foremost and renowned poets by ensuring Thoor Ballylee is restored as a prime tourist attraction in the region,” she said.

“Thoor Ballylee is steeped in connections with Yeats and should be just as important a tourist landmark as his grave in Drumcliffe in County Sligo. More than 100,000 tourists visit the poet’s grave in Drumcliffe every year and there is no reason whatsoever why Thoor Ballylee cannot achieve similar status as a mustsee tourist destination.

“Thoor Ballylee has been extensively damaged by flooding, particularly in 2009. The River Coole which runs beside the tower is prone to flooding and overflows onto the road, and this has added to the difficulties from a tourist attraction point of view.”