Category: News

THE Ennis Town Council unit charged with preventing misbehaviour in local authority housing has seen a reduction in anti-social behaviour among its clients in the last year.

The Estate Management Unit has, however, seen a marked increase in the number of less serious complaints classed as breach of tenancy, an increase from 47 cases in 2010 to 75 in 2011.

There were no cases of drug-related complaints in 2011, however, with anti-social behaviour issues not related to drugs decreasing from 11 in 2010 to seven 2011.

A spokesperson for the Estate Management Unit told last evening’s meeting of Ennis Town Council that all but one of the anti-social behaviour complaints were alcohol-related.

The less serious issues were made up of complaints about noise, children playing and “rows”.

The majority of cases investigated by the Estate Management Officer relate to breech of tenancy agreements rather than anti-social behaviour.

Among the typical problems he encounters are parking issues, refuse storage and disposal, and noise.

“It is the council’s policy to investigate breaches of the tenancy agreement promptly and thoroughly and to follow up with advice and warnings where necessary.

In most cases this brings the issue to a satisfactory conclusion, In cases where warning letters are issued, follow-up calls are made to ensure the conditions of that warning are adhered to,” the town council meeting was told.

There were seven warning letters issued in 2011, an increase of four on the previous year.

There were no evictions, excluding orders or Notices to Quit served by the unit last year.

“The primary focus of the Estate Management Unit is on the prevention of tenant misbehaviour and building good relationships with communities,” the council heard.

Cllr Tommy Brennan (Ind) praised the unit for meeting its objectives.

“You know how well estates are being managed by the number of calls we get, and I have gotten very few in the last year,” he said.

He raised concerns that there were not enough local authority houses in the county town however. He said the council should apply to the Government for extra housing.

“We should seek funding for a scheme of houses here in Ennis,” he said.

“There are some people on the housing list for 10 to 12 years.”

Town Manager Ger Dollard told the councillor that national policy does not encourage the building of new houses but has a policy of renting.

He added that the people on the list are not homeless but are on it for various reasons.

THE day of farmers bringing a few cattle to the mart in a car trailer is coming to an end, unless the next generation apply for a new specific driving licence.

The majority of driving licences issued before 1989 allowed drivers to tow a relatively heavy trailer behind their domestic car.

Newer licences are more specific however. The majority of motorists hold a ‘B licence’ which allows them to drive a car and tow a light trailer that does not exceed 750 kg in weight.

To tow a trailer in excess of 750kg, the driver must also hold an ‘E licence’.

While many older motorists have an ‘EB licence’, the younger generation are required to apply for a provisional ‘E licence’ and then a full licence if they are to tow anything heavy behind their car.

At the first meeting of the Joint Policing Committee this year, chairman Cllr Joe Arkins (FG) raised the concerns of local farmers and these driving regulations.

“The days of towing a good hefty cow after you on a trailer are gone,” he said.

Superintendent Colm O’Sullivan explained that the driver could be in trouble if he/she did not have an EB licence.

Supt O’Sullivan said it was more of an issue for insurance, as the driver would not be covered in the event of an accident.

The superintendent advised those motorists intending to tow a trailer, or any other such item, to tell their insurance company at time of renewal.

Car drivers without a specialised licence can, however, tow a small trailer as long as it and its contents weigh less than 750kg and their car is over 3, 500kg in weight.

Community representative on the committee Richard Cahill said this traffic law was counter-productive when it came to promoting local tourism.

He argued that this prevented families taking caravan holidays, as they could not tow the caravan without the specialised licence.

Cllr John Crowe (FG) described the licensing law as “another attack on rural Ireland”.

OPENING up a pre-clearance facility for the US military at Shannon; bringing Aer Rianta International back home to Shannon and Shannon Development handing over their tourism remit to Fáilte Ireland. These are just three major issues that were addressed at the Radisson Hotel in Meelick on Friday morning last when business leaders in the mid-west region had a breakfast briefing with Transport Minister Leo Varakdar.

During a question and answer session Minister Varadkar revealed that there will be “seven test runs of US military pre-clearance” in the coming week and “if that works we will be signing off on military pre-clearance at Shannon”.

Local anti-war group Shannonwatch was quick to criticize this announcement with spokesperson Ed Horgan telling The Clare People “during his speech Minister Varadkar talked about capturing the entrepreneurial spirit of Shannon, but it would seem that every one in six people that passes through Shannon Airport these days is an armed US soldier. That is not the type of viability or entrepreneurship that Shannon requires at this time.”

On the future role of Shannon Development, Minister Varadkar said the department was “considering whether their tourism marketing remit should revert to Fáilte Ireland” but that there was no question of the agency losing the remit to run visitor attractions in the mid-west region.

“Shannon Airport’s asset base, including the substantial landbank adjacent to the airport offers significant scope for future growth and development,” the president of Shannon Chamber of Commerce, Damian Gleeson told Minister Varadkar.

“The Lynx cargo hub and the Humanitarian Aid Centre are examples of projects this landbank could accommodate. The Shannon area is synonymous with innovative initia- tives. Route development and marketing of the airport underpins its future and the airport underpins the future of the entire Shannon region.

“We need to take the best from the past to move to the future. The corporate capability that has fuelled this region over the decades is still present in the region; it needs to be re-energised and given the wherewithal to take the region and the airport in a new direction,” he added.

The former head of Aer Rianta International, Michael Hanrahan, said “ARI’s headquarters is now in Dublin and that is wrong – it has produced hundreds of millions for Dublin and the sooner it is based back down here the better.”

IARNRÓD Éireann and Clare County Council have expressed their confidence that building work on a train station at Crusheen will start this summer, despite fresh delays in the project.

Both funding and planning permission have been secured for the longawaited Crusheen stop on the Western Rail Corridor but construction work has been delayed as a result of protracted negotiations between Iarnród Éireann and a third-party developer.

The negotiation is centred around development contributions but a spokesperson from Iarnród Éireann has said that the station will go ahead.

“We are committed to the development of the station,” said Barry Kenny of Iarnród Éireann.

“The Crusheen proposal has elements of contribution from our capital programme, Clare County Council in relation to the construction and operation of a car park and a thirdparty developer.

“We are in discussions with the third party at present, so we must await the outcome of these to determine when the project will proceed, though it is our aspiration to commence works this summer.”

A spokesperson from Clare County Council yesterday said that the local authority was not aware of any reason why the station at Crusheen would not go ahead.

Senior Engineer with Clare County Council, Tom Tiernan, yesterday de- clined to make any comment on the delay in starting construction on the Crusheen station, saying that it was a matter between the developer and Iarnród Éireann.

Having originally been told that Crusheen would not be granted a station on the Western Rail Corridor, it was announced shortly after the reopening of the Ennis to Athenry section of the line in 2009 that Iarnród Éireann would be going ahead with a Crusheen stop.

This change of heart followed more than two years in intensive lobbying by local people and also a section of land being donated for the station itself and the carpark. When completed, it is predicted that the station will swell the number of people using the train to commute to work in Ennis, Limerick and Galway.

THE definitive government policy on Shannon Airport won’t be known until later in 2012.

Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar has told business leaders in the Mid-West region that the deadline for a formal announcement on the future direction of Clare’s international airport, originally due this January has been delayed for a number of months.

A timetable for the delivery of a new policy blueprint for Shannon was confirmed by Minister Varadkar on Friday last when he addressed a Limerick Chamber of Commerce breakfast gathering at the Radisson Hotel in Meelick.

And, the future of the former hub of the aviation world, Minister Varadkar said could involve a substantial or complete “write down” of Shannon’s debts which are now running at € 100m, with losses from 2011 standing at € 8m.

“There is no point in proceeding with independence if it’s not going to work and. in that context, the debt would have to be written down, if not written off,” Minister Varadkar revealed.

In opening up the possibility of Shannon having a fresh start, freed from the strictures of Dublin Airport Authority control and no overhanging legacy debts, Minister Varadkar said “what we want is to secure the future of Shannon. There is no question of closure”.

“It is my absolute intention to give certainty (concerning the airport’s future) in 2012. Whatever solution we decide on will be decided this year,” the Minister added in a question and answer session with journal- ists and business leaders.

Last October Minister Vardakar commissioned a study on the airport’s future from Booz & Company, which suggested that Shannon be separated from DAA control and placed under the management of a new company drawn from public bodies like Clare County Council and Shannon Development.

On Friday, Minister Varadkar revealed that this process of change at Shannon would begin with the appointment of a interim board by Easter to deliver a business plan going forward.

This announcement follows on from the revelation earlier this month that Bertie Ahern appointee, Brian O’Connell, was no longer chairman of the Shannon Airport Authority.

It was O’Connell who controversially proposed to Minister Varadkar last year that Shannon be semi-privatised by way of the State entering into a 15 to 35-year lease agreement with private business interests who would take over the operation of the airport.

Minister Varadkar’s pledged to decide on Shannon’s future in 2012 comes in the wake of latest passenger figures which have revealed that numbers through the airport dropped to 1.6m in 2011, which represents a drop over 2m from the historic high of 3,639,046 in 2006.

IT WAS mixed news for Clare this week when it came to the care of the county’s roads. While the budget allocated to Clare County Council for the care of its non-national roads was almost on a par with last year, the funding for the county’s national roads was significantly down.

The spending on the county’s main roads has dropped by more than € 1.9 million to just over € 3.5 million this year.

However, the council was breathing a sigh of relief yesterday, Monday, when its funding allocation for all non-national roads was announced.

Clare County Engineer Tom Tiernan explained that once the allocation for the Killaloe bypass is removed from the € 14.9 million allocated, it equates almost exactly to last year.

“Anything that has not gone down is good,” he said referring to the funding.

Meanwhile, one of the busiest roads into Ennis is a death trap for young mothers, according to one member of Clare County Council, but the council is hopeful the situation will be resolved very soon.

Cllr James Breen (Ind) described the Quin Road bridge as “deadly dangerous” and is frustrated that nothing has been done about it, despite plans being drawn up for a footbridge by Clare County Council more than two years ago.

“It is frightening on the day of a mart to see women trying to come over the bridge pushing a pram. It is deadly dangerous if a cattle lorry and car meet on that bridge,” he said.

The former TD said he raised this issue as far back as 2006 when he was in the Dáil and still it has not come to a satisfactory conclusion.

It has emerged, however, that the council has finally received the go-ahead for the work on the longawaited footbridge from the Railway Safety Commission, an independent body that oversees the safety of the railway system.

The local authority is now finalising some details with CIE and it is hoped that work will begin on the bridge within the next two months.

WEST Clare could be enveloped in a “toxic mud” that would be poisonous to animal, plant and human life should fracking be allowed to take place. That is the opinion of one of Ireland’s top doctors, Dr Elizabeth Cullen of the Irish Doctors’ Environmental Association, who believes that an outright ban on fracking should be put in place to avert a possible public health catastrophe.

This stark warning comes following a decision by the Department of the Environment not to follow the example set by Clare County Council last month and ban fracking. Speaking in the Dáil last week the Minister for State in the Department of the Environment, Fergus O’Dowd (FG), refused to back any move to ban fracking, saying that there could be billions of Euro in untapped gas resources which could provide a “massive economic boost” for the country.

According to Dr Cullen the toxic mud and other fluids produced by fracking could have a massive negative impact on all lives in West Clare. “It is difficult to ascertain the precise nature of chemicals used in fracking. Drilling companies to date, it seems, have not registered the chemicals they use according to the European law REACH,” she said.

“Research in the US has found that 58 out of 262 chemicals used in fracking gave rise for concern. Among these, 17 were found to be toxic to aquatic organisms, 38 were classified as being acutely toxic to human health and eight were classified as known carcinogens. Six were suspected carcinogens, seven were mutagenic and five were known to have adverse impacts on the reproductive system.”

Dr Cullen raised a number of other possible concerns about the fracking process including the risk of large amounts of contaminated fracking fluid remaining underwater and entering the natural water system.

There is also research which indicates that fracking can lead to a build-up of methane gas in private wells close to the fracturing site – which could lead to explosion, air pollution and an increased release of radon.

The Irish Doctors’ Environmental Association also highlighted the possibility of soil contamination which could hurt West Clare as a tourist location and as an agricultural area.

A spokesperson for Clare Fracking Concerned last week criticised the Government, saying that they had no faith in the Government to address the fears of people effected by fracking in West Clare.

THE importance of the Clare LEADER programme to community and voluntary groups around the county is set to be showcased this Saturday at a special workshop being hosted by the Clare Local Development Company (CLDC). Groups around the county involved in conservation, tourism or heritage-related activities are being urged to attend the workshop in Woodstock Hotel.

Since 2009, grant aid totalling € 3 million has been allocated to a diverse range of community and enter- prise projects in Clare, while in 2011 alone funding amounted to € 1.8m.

Between now and 2013, the CLDC, which administers funding under the EU-backed LEADER Rural Development Programme, will allocate more than € 5m to projects in the county. The group is also set to pay out € 2.5m to pre-approved projects during 2012.

“CLDC has recently embarked upon a new support programme for community groups in Clare. We are keen to seek out and provide support to a broad range of community projects in the areas of heritage, conservation and tourism in 2012 and 2013, and enable community and vol- untary groups to avail of LEADER funding,” says Sue Targett, Social Inclusion and Community Development Manager with CLDC.

“The aim of the upcoming workshop, entitled ‘Applying for LEADER funding – the process and benefits explained’, is to help community groups to become more familiar with the significant benefits of LEADER, to facilitate a better understanding of LEADER requirements, and also to support more communities to potentially avail of rural development funding towards improving tourism, conservation and/ or heritage projects, activities and facilities in their local areas.

“Over € 5m in LEADER funding is available to support and fund a wide variety of projects in Clare in 2012 and 2013. CLDC is keen that new community projects and initiatives are encouraged and supported, firstly through groups gaining a better understanding of LEADER and, secondly, so that more groups are in a position to avail of and make successful tourism, conservation and heritage funding applications during 2012 and 2013”, Ms Targett adds.

The workshop takes place between 9.30pm and 1.30pm. The closing date for those wishing to register for the event is this Wednesday.

SCOUTS are to return to the Burren region after an absence of more than 30 years with the reformation of the Ennistymon branch of the Scouts later this week. The Ennistymon branch, which will be known as the 9th Clare, will retain the colours of the original Scout group in Ennistymon, which means that the Clare county colours will be worn proudly by each member of the Scout group.

While the group will be based in Ennistymon, the 9th Clare will be open to boys and girls from all over North and West Clare.

After months of planning and training, the new Scout group will host an open day for parents and potential new Scouts this Sunday, February 5, in Ennistymon. The event will take place from 12 midday to 2pm in the Ennistymon Enterprise Centre.

Scout meetings will start officially in February and the open day is designed to provide information to parents and young people interested in joining. The information event will outline what’s involved in becoming a Scout – be it as a Beaver, a Cub, a Scout, a Venture or a Rover.

The two-hour event will be informal in nature and family-centred and will include one-to-one meetings with leaders, details of planned events, illustrated talks, slideshows, demonstration of scouting, walking, camping and mountaineering gear.

Scouts and leaders from other groups in County Clare will also be on hand to talk to young Scouts and parents alike.

“Beavers caters for ages six to eight, Cubs caters for ages nine to 11 and Scouts from 12 to 14. Scout leaders are also welcome and the greater the number of leaders involved, the greater the number of Scouts that can be catered for,” said Cian Kearns, Group Leader of Ennistymon Scouts. “While former Scouts and leaders, and those with experience in the great outdoors, are most welcome, all potential leaders will be provided with full training by Scouting Ireland, so past experience is not essential or necessary.

“Supports are also required in many other ways so, if you wish to get involved, please come along to the information event on Sunday.”

For more information, visit www. facebook.com9thClareEnnistymonS couts.

A NEW dawn in the history of the preservation of traditional Irish music in Clare will be heralded this weekend when Oidhreacht an Chláir plays host to the first in a series of workshops aimed at attracting some of the biggest names in the country.

Oidhreacht spokesperson Barry Taylor has revealed that the masterclass series – featuring Noel Hill this weekend and Martin Hayes the following month – will help begin the process of throwing open the doors of the Miltown Malbay-based organisation to students of the tradition.

“We are mainly concerned with preserving material in our archive and we now want to make that maeterial available to the new generation of musicians that are coming up,” says Taylor, the acclaimed traditional music historian and author of ‘Touchstone for the Tradition: the Willie Clancy Summer School’.

“The masterclass series ties in with our overall aims and objectives. We want to give musicians the opportunity to develop from older generations like Noel Hill and Martin Hayes.

“Both of them are carriers of the tradition – Noel learned from Paddy Murphy, while Martin learned from his father Pat Joe and Paddy Canny and they are now passing on the tradition to a new generation.

“This is an extension of what we do. In the past, we collected material, but this is a way of getting the material out to people.

“By learning from people like Martin Hayes and Noel Hill in the masterclass series, students will also be using the facilities of the Oidhreacht,” he adds.

Oidhreacht an Chláir was launched in 2003 with the aim of conserving and promoting the traditional arts in their native environment and is based next door to the old homestead of Willie Clancy on the Flag Road in Miltown Malbay.

As part of the inaugural masterclass event, Noel Hill will be giving a concert in the Market House in Miltown Malbay on Friday night.

Classes will then get underway on Saturday and will include student recitals at Oidhreacht an Chláir and music sessions in local pubs.