Category: News

ORGANISERS of a public meeting in Ennis at the weekend are hoping to tap into mounting public anger at new taxes and cutbacks to services.

Members of the public are being invited to attend ‘Organising Resistance – Fighting Against Injustice And Inequality’, which takes place upstairs in Brogan’s Bar, Ennis, on Saturday, February 18, 2pm.

Kieran Allen of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) and the United Left Alliance (ULA) will give a talk on organising protests and activism.

Opposition to the new household charge will be among the topics up for discussion, according to one of the event’s organisers, Brían Ó Cualáin.

Brían, a member of the SWP, explained, “There is a push on against the household charge. And we’re hoping this meeting will give people an incentive to come out and hopefully inspire them to get involved.

“It’s not necessarily just about the household charge. We want people to talk about the issues that are affecting them in their community. That could be cutbacks to education, a lack of facilities for young people.”

He believes more and more people are looking for a way to express their anger at a time of economic uncertainty.

He said, “It is definitely building. There is an appetite there and people are looking for ways to express their anger and change the agenda for the little people, the people who are on the margins.

“This is affecting us all. Hopefully it will help create a bit of movement and we can capitalise on that movement and anger.”

The meeting is the latest in a series held in recent weeks around the county aimed at encouraging greater protest and activism.

Brían explained, “There were around 250 people at the Old Ground Hotel for a meeting on the household charge.

“There was a meeting in Kilmihil where around 80 people attended. We had about 80 at a meeting in Shannon and there were 50 or 60 at a meeting in Scariff.”

Organisers say that the reduction in the registration fee for septic tanks following a nationwide storm of protest offers a good example of the power of grassroots activism.

However, Brían says that one of the purposes of Saturday’s meeting is to encourage people to continue to hold the government of the day to account.

Pointing to the ongoing campaign for the retention of services at En nis General Hospital, Brían says, “We know that whatever government gets back into power down the road, they will roll back on a lot of promises.”

Originally from Inis Oirr, where he was involved with the island’s cooperative movement, Brían moved to Ennis 15 years ago.

He says, “I just feel that things have got to such a stage that I’m worried about my own kids’ futures.”

Opposition to the household charge and a new regime of septic tank inspection has been the focus of intense debate at meetings of Clare County Council in recent months. Last month, members met for a special meeting called in response to concerns expressed over the implications of the scheme for homeowners.

At the meeting a senior member of Clare County Council and former Dáil TD, Cllr James Breen (Ind) called for the people of Clare to engage in a period of “civil disobedience”. Around 300 people attended a public information meeting held in Ennis just before Christmas about new septic tank charges.

CLARE’S Irish Wheelchair Association is to lose two thirds of its Community Employment (CE) funding this year.

The organisation that supports people with limited mobility throughout the county has had its funding slashed by € 16,000, from € 24,000 to € 8,000.

As many as 16 people are employed through the CE scheme providing administrative assistance to the charity as well as driving the buses, organising events and courses and providing support and assistance to the service users.

Up to now the local IWA was allocated € 1,500 for each CE participant – € 500 for training and € 1,000 for materials.

Johnny Crawford, Supervisor with the Irish Wheelchair Association in Clare, explained that this funding provided a vital role in delivering services to IWA users.

“In our context we have quite a lot of mandatory training to do, especially relating to heath and safety, manual handling, adult and child protection. We have a menu of mandatory courses to do that pretty much eats into the training budget. Beyond that if there is funding left over we offer it to people for something they want to do themselves outside of the mandatory courses,” he said.

The € 1,000 allocation is used to help fund the running costs of the office, help pay the rent, put diesel in the buses and cover other material costs.

It is through this funding, and the work of the 16 dedicated CE workers, that the IWA in Clare can provide outreach services in Cois Na hAbhana, Ennis, on Tuesday, Miltown Malbay on Monday and alternate between Kilrush and Ennistymon on Wednesday. An outreach programme is also provided in the family resource centre in Killaloe and Friday night is the social gathering for the younger people.

“Everything we do is driven by desires of service users. It is their programme,” he said.

He added the cut in funding would put added pressures on the charity’s fundraising, which has already been affected by the recession. “The loss is huge and it will affect the services without a doubt,” he said.

The CE programme is designed to help people who are long-term unemployed and other disadvantaged people to get back to work by offering part-time and temporary placements in jobs based within local communities.

CLARE County Council’s water staff was last night encouraged by some members of the council to go on strike and bring the country to a halt.

The council was reacting to news of Government plans to give full responsibility for water supply to a new national body.

Cllr Gerry Flynn (Ind) told the February meeting of the council, “I feel it is time for Clare County Council to stand up and be counted and withdraw that service.”

Fellow Independent councillor Tommy Brennan said that if every council followed suit, it would bring the country to a standstill. Electricity and power rely on water too, he explained. Without these services, the country could not function.

The majority of councillors were concerned with the implications of a new Irish Water Company, as it would inevitably erode more of the local authority’s powers and more than likely lead to job losses within its water section.

Cllr Bill Chambers (FF) led the charge that the members of the council were opposed to having its responsibilities for water maintenance and provision transferred to the new Irish Water Company.

“The last thing we want now is another quango with high-paid officials,” he said.

Father of the council Cllr PJ Kelly (FF) said he could not understand the Government making such a proposal given difficulties experienced in Northern Ireland during this winter.

“We can huff and puff about taking water from the Shannon, but if it is nationalised, they can make a canal and bring all the water to Dublin,” he added.

Former mayor Cllr Christy Curtin (Ind) said there was no indication of early consultation with the stakeholders. He also had reservations about the second phase of the process – the consultation phase.

“Are they going to listen to us or is it a courtesy exercise to appease the peasants?” he asked.

“This debate is coming too late. It would appear this is a fait de compli,” said Cllr McCarthy who raised concerns about council jobs if and when it was set up.

“By degrees we will have no function at all as councillors,” said Cllr Brennan.

County Manager Tom Coughlan said that there was a lot of uncertainty surrounding the plan. Among his many concerns was the possible loss of council assets to the Irish Wa- ter Company but with the liabilities staying in the county.

“I have serious concerns in relation to the financial statement. I have concerns the council will be left in a worse financial state at the end of it.”

He said the council is carrying a € 13 million debt balance which is mostly due to water. “I hope the liabilities transfer with the assets,” he added.

The manager said a lot was still uncertain, not least the future of the council staff working in this area.

He raised concerns about the loss of control of planning issues relating to water and a lack to democratic responsibility under the new proposal.

LOCAL authorities in Clare have less than three months to sign up to the Croke Park Agreement under which public service workers are obliged to increase their working hours.

This follows on from a survey of local authority working hours around the country which has shown that the average working week of public service working in Clare local government is one of the lowest in the country.

Staff in Clare local authorities are working just 33 hours a week, in comparison with staff in the private sector who work a 39-hour week.

This figure is shared by Meath County Council and Galway City Council. At Galway County Council, the figure is even lower with staff working 32.92 hours a week.

When contacted by The Clare People , Clare County Council that the deadline for local authority workers to fall into line with workers in the private sector is two months away.

“This is a national issue that remains outside of Clare County Council’s control as reform has been delayed due to an ongoing national dispute with unions,” said Eddie Power, Senior Executive Officer, Clare County Council.

“This point has already been made publicly by the Office for Local Authority Management (OLAM). The implementation date for the standardisation of working arrangements across the local government sector is April,” he added.

The increase in working hours that is expected to come into effect in April comes in the wake of staffing levels at Clare County Council hav- ing been reduced to just over 800 over the past six years.

In 2006 there were 1,002 people working in Clare County Council with the reduction over the past six years amounting to a 20 per cent, while payroll costs have been pared back from € 44.8m to € 36.8m in that time.

It is expected that there will be further reductions in staffing levels in 2012, while Taoiseach Enda Kenny has warned that local authority workers in all counties will have to sign up to the terms of the Croke Park Agreement.

PPS NUMBERS may soon appear on Clare gravestones instead of names if the current approach to naming roads and other public areas continue, according to one Clare County Councillor.

A plan to encourage community groups to put up their own local name signs was last night accepted by Clare County Council after a number of councillora criticised the roll-out of road numbers which they claim “depersonalise” local communities.

According to Cllr PJ Kelly (FF), the current ethos will see PPS numbers being used instead of names on gravestones in the near future.

“If this continues, we will have a time when we forfeit our own names and just go with our PPS numbers. In times to come, we will have tombstones that read ‘here lies 07235762’,” said Cllr Kelly. “And God help a man who is lost in the middle of the night and can’t find a turn-off for Crusheen or Ballinruan and he doesn’t have a computer with him to tell where the L367865 road leads to.”

Cllr Kelly also described as “discrimination” the process which sees some villages granted signs while others are not.

“I would not have my village discriminated against just because it is on a national primary or secondary road – that is discrimination against villages and I don’t think that this council should be party to this kind of discrimination,” continued Cllr Kelly.

“I sincerely hope that we join together to bring back the culture of our county and our villages.”

Speaking on the motion, Cllr Brian Meaney (GP) said that road numbers were necessary to help emergency services to locate fires and other incidents quickly.

“I fundamentally disagree with this motion and the way it is being talked about here today. There is a stark need for an all-Ireland approach to this issue,” he said.

“I know that there is a certain amount of impersonality involved with these road numbers but if someone is sitting in a centralised emergency dispatch service – maybe down in Cork – these local names mean nothing.

“I don’t care what you want to stick on stones on the corner of the road in a village, but what has to happen is that these numbers need to exist and every house should be digitally identifiable.”

LAHINCH artist Michael Hanrahan will meet with American ambassador to Ireland, Dan Rooney, later this Tuesday and present him with a one-of-a-kind painting to mark the historic visit of Barack Obama to Ireland last year.

The painting, which illustrates Obama’s famous ‘Is féidir linn’ speech in College Green last May, will be brought by Ambassador Rooney to Washington later this year where it will be hung in the White House to commemorate the historic visit.

This completes a famous hat-trick for Hanrahan after both the Queen and former Irish president Mary McAleese accepted a painting marking their famous state visit last year. Hanrahan will become the first Irish artist to have paintings hanging in Áras an Uachtaráin, the White House and as part of the Royal British Collection in Buckingham Palace at the same time.

“It really has been an unbelievable six months for me,” said Mr Hanrahan yesterday. “I was contacted by Trina Vargo, founder of the US-Ireland Alliance, and she asked me to complete two paintings – one which I am donating to the George Mitchell Foundation and another which will be going to the White House.

“The painting for the White House is taken from the famous ‘Is féidir linn’ speech which took place in College Green. The painting is in the back of the car now and I will be presenting it to Dan Rooney tomorrow morning [February 14], and the Ambassador will then bring it to the White House. Dan Rooney has Clare connections – his brother Pat Rooney has a house in Lahinch.

“It really has been an amazing six months for me. I’m not being paid for any of these works. It’s such a great honour to be able to donate these paintings.”

Michael’s rise in Irish artistic circles has been nothing short of meteoric. He came to art late in his life, having worked as a banker in both Ireland and the UK. After taking early retirement from his position in the bank, long before the financial collapse, Michael set about creating a new career for himself as a painter.

Over the last five years, the Lahinch native has gone from strength to strength – culminating in him being chosen as the only artist to be granted official accreditation for the official visit of the Queen last year.

ONE East Clare school faces the prospect of having its teaching numbers halved next year, if the Minister for Education continues with his proposed cuts to staffing levels in primary schools.

The Killaloe Boys National School, which currently has a staff of 14 – nine mainstream and remedial teachers and five special needs assistants (SNA) – could be starting next September with just 7.5 – 6.5 teachers and one SNA if the cuts are implemented.

School principal David McCormack explained that it will not only be the teachers that will struggle to cope with the increased class numbers.

“Our school building will not facilitate an increase in class sizes as three of our classrooms are part of the old building and will not sustain extra furniture to accommodate 30 children. We have statistics from our school engineer to confirm this,” he said.

The school was given special status in 2002 entitled Giving Children an Even Break which allowed for an extra class teacher and a reduced pupil teacher ratio.

This school has now been notified that this teaching post will also be cut.

Concerned parents attended a meeting at the Killaloe school on Thurs- day last to hear what Clare INTO Executive Sean McMahon described as “social injustice”.

“A new buzz word has entered the Irish dictionary and the Irish psyche – austerity,” he told parents.

“Austerity in primary schools like Killaloe Boys translates to staff cuts be they teacher, SNA or ancillary personnel. It translates into larger classes, multigrade classes, lower school budgets, and less learning support for weaker pupils.

“This will undoubtedly lead to a under achievement and a denial of the rights of pupils to reach their full potential. Obviously these impacts will be most severe among our disadvantaged and marginalised pupils,” he added.

Hundred of parents and teachers from Clare also travelled to Dublin last week to protest at the proposed cuts to staffing levels in smaller rural schools.

The majority travelled from east and west Clare to the Dáil protest on Wednesday.

Meanwhile plans are being put in place for a public meeting involving INTO members, parents, boards of management, patron representatives and school communities at the West County Hotel on Monday night, February 20, to address these issues.

“All Oireachtas members in Clare are to be invited to listen to our collective concerns,” said Mr McMahon.

A 17-YEAR-OLD boy has been sentenced to nine months in a young offenders institute after pleading guilty to burglary in Shannon last year.

At Ennis District Court last Wednesday, the boy also pleaded guilty to charges of the unauthorised taking of a vehicle and handling stolen property. The offences arose out of an incident in Ros Min, Shannon, last December. The court heard that the boy, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, has 55 previous convictions.

A Detective Gwarda told the court that the boy entered the house, taking a set of car keys, house keys and a quantity of cash. A car was also taken in the incident.

The court heard that the house was occupied at the time of the burglary. The boy gained access through the front door, which was closed but unsecured, the court heard.

The accused was subsequently arrested in Tipperary where he admitted his involvement to gardaí. The car was recovered undamaged.

Solicitor Eileen Whelan told the court that her client had entered an early guilty plea so as to spare civil- ian witnesses the “trauma” of re-living the burglary in court.

She said her client, who was accompanied in court by his parents, had “certainly been mixing with the wrong people”. Ms Whelan said her client intended finishing his Leaving Certificate and had enroled in a mechanics programme. “He’s having a real eye opener. He’s here to take his medicine”, she added.

Judge Aeneas McCarthy noted that the boy had “umpteen previous convictions”, adding, “He hasn’t got a good record”. Taking into the account the accused’s plea of guilty and other mitigating circumstances, Judge McCarthy imposed a ninemonth sentence for the burglary charge. A three-month concurrent sentence was imposed for the unauthorised taking of a vehicle.

DETAILS of the latest auction of distressed Irish properties by Britishbased firm Allsop Space have been announced, with just one Clare prop erty set to go under the hammer and another from Gort at the sale which will take place in the Shelbourne Hotel on March 1 next.

The Clare property is a farm 10km west of Ennis comprising of 48 acres and a derelict farmhouse and outbuildings, with a reserve price of € 120,000 place on the property. The property is being sold by Allsop Space on the instructions of the receiver, KPMG. There was an expectation that more Clare properties would be included in the 100-lot sale, following on last November’s auction when the lowest price nationally for any property was recorded in Ennis.

In that sale, one of four that was organised by Allsop in 2011 attracted an attendance of 1,600 and saw a site with planning permission for a retail unit and two apartments up until 2015 was sold for just € 11,000,

Meanwhile, a three-story derelict building on the Mill Road in Ennis that had full planning permission for a five-story hotel was sold for € 55,000. In the March 1 sale, a property from Gort will also go under the hammer – a mid-terrace town house situated in Market Square that has a reserve asking price of just € 90,000. The property that comprises of three stories and a basement and is 2,250 square feet in size, while it also comes with a 3,304 square feet site at the rear of the building, with the two properties being sold in one lot.

A KILRUSH-BORN garda is being hailed as a hero after a dramatic gun attack in the Newport area of Tipperary on Monday of last week.

Garda Gerry Brassil, who is stationed in the area, has been praised for his “quick-thinking” that one resident who witnessed the incident on the Thurles Road out of Newport said helped save the life of fellow garda, Sergeant Deborah Marsh.

Anthony McMahon was stopped on suspicion of drunk driving on Monday night at 7.30pm, with a source close to the investigation saying he was seen driving “in an erratic manner” moments earlier.

However, when Mr McMahon (44), originally from Janesboro in Limerick, was approached by Gda Brassil and Sgt Marsh, he fired a number of shots from one gun and then, after a struggle, turned another gun on himself and died.

“I saw the whole thing,” said local resident Shane O’Brien. “I could see the lady garda at the front of the car. I could hear another male voice – I presume the male garda – and he was saying: ‘Don’t go for the gun, don’t go for the gun’.”

Gda Brassil wrestled with McMahon for control of the shotgun while Sgt Marsh pepper-sprayed him, before racing to Mr O’Brien’s house to raise the alarm. “They wouldn’t be alive only for each other. They were brilliant in fairness,” said Mr O’Brien.

After the initial struggle as the two gardaí ran for cover, Mr McMahon is believed to have fired another four or five shots from a rifle, before turning the gun on himself.

An investigation into the incident is being led by officers from the Office of the Garda Ombudsman, while a local Limerick politician, Cllr John ‘Rocky’ McGrath, has said the immense courage of Sgt Marsh and Gda Gerry Brassil should be recognised.

“Definitely they should receive medals for bravery. What they did was unbelievable and thank God they weren’t injured,” he said

“Only for the grace of God and their heroic actions, we would be marching behind a hearse,” one garda told The Clare People .