Category: News

THE Cliffs of Moher recorded a massive return to form last year with the number visiting Clare foremost tourist attract jumping by a massive 12 per cent from the 2010 numbers.

The total number of people to visit the Cliffs of Moher in 2011 was 809,474 – which almost returns the landmark tourist attraction to its prerecession visitor numbers. These figures will cements the Cliffs position as Ireland’s third most popular tourist attraction and should also should also give it a chance of passing out the Guinness Store House in second place.

The news was welcomed by Director of the Cliffs of Moher Visitors Experience, Katherine Webster, who also said that tourism in Ireland has a number of challenges still facing it for 2012 – including Ireland qualifications for Euro 2012 in Poland and the Ukraine.

“We are taking a cautious outlook for 2012 due to the global economic turmoil. Improvements in exchange rates for the US dollar and sterling are the only positives for tourism in the difficulties that the Eurozone is currently experiencing,” she said.

“However, economic uncertainty in major tourist markets like the UK, France, Spain, Italy and even the US will impact tourism numbers from these countries.

“In June Ireland’s qualification for Euro 2012, while great news for the country, is less positive for domestic and European tourism as typically visitors whose countries are competing in major championships like the European Cup or the World Cup tend to stay home to watch the matches unless they are travelling to support their teams.

“We are hoping for some positive spin off from the London Olympics at end of July as tourists may stay away from London during this period and Ireland may benefit especially if exchange rates remain low.”

According to the preliminary 2011 visitors figures for the Cliffs of Moher, visitor number broke the 800,000 on December before finishing on 809,474. This figure represent a 12 per cent year-on-year increase on the 2010 figures and a six per cent increase on the 2009.

The majority of the recovery was recorded during the summer and late autumn and was driven largely by an increase in Irish people deciding to holiday at home.

OFFICAL passenger numbers through Shannon Airport in 2011 are set for another drop, but the drastic fall-off experienced in 2010 has been stabilized with figures of over 1.6m recorded for the year.

Shannon Airport Authority marketing director Declan Power has revealed that passenger numbers in Shannon have now bottomed out, with early projections saying that figures for 2012 will be along 2011 lines.

In 2010 passenger numbers through Shannon dropped by one million over the previous year. This drop represented a 37 percent decline in passenger traffic, a 12-year low at Shannon.

Only 1,755,885 passengers used Shannon in 2010. The drastic fall-off in numbers, from 2,794,563 in 2009 represented the fourth year in a row that Shannon’s passenger count when into sharp decline.

Between 2004 and 2006 passenger numbers increased by a record 37.9 per cent as Shannon’s numbers grew to a record 3,639,046 from 2,395,116 over a two-year period.

The drop in traffic was attributed to Ryanair’s decision to drastically cut its Shannon operation – from having 53 routes that accounted for 1.9m passengers in early 2009 the lowcost carrier now only has 300,000 passengers in Shannon.

“That traffic was there during the boom time in the economy, it is not there now,” said Declan Power in arguing the case that it’s good for Shannon that it no longer has a dominant carrier like Ryanair.

“Before we had the Ryanair base, we had five or six different foreign carriers in Shannon and they were all driven out. Now we have to get back to the start again and go back to what we were good at and get other airlines to fly in.

“Politicians state that Shannon should give everything away for free so that we get the business in, but we have an airport to run. We have to pay for a € 6 million overlay on the runway, basic facilities have to be paid for, the lighting and the heating and security,” he added.

Mr Power also pointed out that 80 per cent of the passenger numbers provided by Ryanair were Irish people travelling abroad.

Stephen McCOY
of Loughash, Newmarket-on-Fergus. Late of The Strand,Walshestown, Mullingar, Co.Westmeath. Tragically. Laid to rest in Lemanagh Cemetery. Date of death: Saturday, December 31, 2011. May he rest in peace.

Tess McMAHON,
(née McGuane) of Greygrove, Kilmihil. Late of Coore. Laid to rest in Kilmihil cemetery. May she rest in peace.

Bridie KAYE
, (née O’Gorman) of Ballycotton Liscannor. At St.Theresa’s nursing home Kilrush, relict of the late Percy, (Manchester). Laid to rest at St Brigid’s Well cemetery. Date of death:Tuesday, January 03. May she rest in peace.

Mary WARD
of 13 Fergus Road, Shannon. Buried in Lemenagh Cemetery. May she rest in peace.

Michael (Buddy) PURCELL
of Ballyduff, Barefield, Ennis. Suddenly. Donations, if desired, to the ICU, University Hospital Galway. Date of death:Tuesday, January 03, 2012. Laid to rest inTemplemaley Cemetery. May he rest in peace.

Teresa MULHERN,
(née Hehir) of Main Street, Kildysart. laid to rest in the local cemetery in Kildysart. Date of death:Wednesday, January 04, 2012. May she rest in peace.

Mrs Bridget (Bridg) Keating,
(née Moloney) of Oughterard, Cross, Kilrush. Peacefully at home in the loving care of her family. Laid to rest in Kilballyowen Cemetery Cross. Date of death:Thursday, January 05. May she rest in peace.

Nancy CRAWFORD
of Connolly. Laid to rest in Mount Temple Cemetery, Kilmaley. May she rest in peace.

Lena BROWNE,
(née Culligan) of Kilmurry McMahon, Kilrush. Laid to rest in the Kilmurry McMahon cemetery. Family flowers only, please. Donations, if desired, to Unit 1, St. Joseph’s Hospital, Ennis. Date of death:Thursday, January 05, 2012. May she rest in peace.

Doris BERND
of Mahonbourgh, Inch, Ennis. Cremated privately on Saturday, January 7. May she rest in peace.

Mary WALSH,
(néeTuttle) of TLCNursing Home Santry, Dublin and late of Quin and Ennis, Clare. Peacefully, after a short illness. Laid to rest in Drumcliff Cemetery. Date of death: Saturday, January 07, 2012. May she rest in peace.

Vida SANCHEZ
of Elton Court, Meelick. Deeply regretted by her husband Fernando, son Jaden, daughter Caitlin, mother, brothers and sisters, other relatives, neighbours and friends. Laid to rest in Ballycannon Cemetery, Meelick. May she rest in peace.

Jake Marcus O’TOOLE
of Kilrush. Formerly of Lucan Co. Dublin. Peacefully, in the loving care of the staff at St.Vincent’s Hospital, ElmPark, Dublin.A Service of Remembrance will be celebrated onTuesday afternoon in Newlands Cross Crematoriumat 2pm. Family flowers only, Please. RequiemMass will be celebrated in St. Senan’s, Church, Kilrush. Date of death: Friday, January 06, 2012. May he rest in peace.

Rebecca KELLY
of Kincora Park, Ennis. Formerly of Bealnalicka, Ruan. Laid to rest in Dysart Cemetery. May she rest in peace.

Frank (Francis) HALPIN
of 82Tullyvarragh Crescent, Shannon. Late of Knockainey, Co Limerick and Customs and Excise and Shannon Estuary Port. Funeral Mass onTuesday at 11am. Burial afterwards in Knockainey Hill Cemetery. Date of death: Saturday, January 07, 2012. May he rest in peace.

Robert WATCHORN,
Kildimo, Miltown Malbay. Funeral Mass onTuesday at 11 o’clock with burial after in Ballard cemetery. May he rest in peace.

Mattie FENNEL,
43 Moore Street Kilrush – Peacefully at Ennis General Hospital. May he rest in peace. Funeral arriving at St Senans Church, Kilrush, on Tuesday for 11 o’clock Mass with burial in new Shanakyle cemetery. May he rest in peace.

Paul KEANE,
Ballymaconna Barefield. Funeral mass onTuesday at 11. Burial after in Kilraghtis cemetery. May he rest in peace.

A SERIES of public consultation meetings are set to take place next week as part of the process of putting together an historic first ever stand alone plan for the development of Shannon.

Public meetings are seen as a crucial part of finalising the Draft Shannon Town and Environs Local Area Plan 2012-2018 will provide a framework for the future development and enhancement of Clare’s second largest town and its environs for the next six years.

In announced details of the consultation process, Gordon Daly, Senior Planner, Clare County Council, said, “‘It is an objective of Clare County Council to ensure that Shannon, as a linked gateway with Limerick in the National Spatial Strategy is a driver of county and regional prosperity.”

He said this could be done by “harnessing its strategic location and access on the atlantic corridor, in addition to its employment base, international airport and other competitive advantages.”

According to Cllr Gerry Flynn, “The public consultation process presents members of the public with a valuable opportunity to have their say on the future development of their local community.

“I would encourage people from Shannon and its environs areas to inspect the Draft Local Area Plan before the submission deadline of February 1. They will not get a better opportunity than over the next few weeks to influence the future economic and social development of their town and community.”

The public consultation has also been welcomed by the Mayor of Shannon, Cllr Mary Brennan. “The preparation of a new plan for Shannon and environs is very positive news and I would encourage the people of Shannon to engage with the process. If you have any queries, the Council officials will be on hand to deal to answer any questions.”

The public consultations will take place at Unit A16 (Shaney Macs) in Shannon’s Skycourt January 16 to 18 from 2pm to 5.30pm and January 19 from 3pm to 7.30pm. A further public consultation will be held at Rineanna House, Shannon Free Zone, on January 20 from 12.30pm to 3:30pm.

NEWLY released figures show that the Clare Motor Tax Office issued a total of 126,600 tax discs during 2011. The figures represent a seven per cent decrease in the total number (135,800) of tax discs issued during 2010.

While the figure looks excessively high, particularly when considering that the most recent census population figures for Clare have the entire population of the county at 116,000, the high number of tax discs for the county is explained by the incidence of two-car families. It has also been noted by motor tax officials that more and more people are now taxing their cars for short periods of time, with three-month and six-month discs proving very popular.

The Clare Motor Tax Office, which moved from Francis Street in Ennis to Aras Contae an Chláir in late 2011, is responsible for the issue of all vehicle licences and driver licences for County Clare.

Clare County Council has also issued an appeal this week to motorists to consider using alternative payment methods, including the postal and online tax services. The Clare Motor Tax Office this week witnessed an increase in the number of customers and phone calls, leading to longer queues and waiting times.

Pauline Keane of the Clare Motor Tax Office praised staff who had successfully managed to keep waiting times at local area offices down to a minimum during 2011.

“Waiting times could be further reduced by members of the public choosing to use alternative payment methods including our online tax service which is operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week at www.motortax.ie. Customers may also avail of the Motor Tax Department’s postal service,” she explained.

The service was the first Motor Tax Office in the country to receive a Quality Service Management Award (Q-Mark) in 2004. In late 2009, the service was named overall winner of the Government Health and Social Services category at the National Quality Excellence Awards.

CLARE County Council estimates that it will take three or four months to replace lead water mains at three residential areas in Ennis.

Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stated that all lead pipe replacement works must be carried out in compliance with a European Union limits deadline of December 2013.

The Council is aiming to undertake work to replace lead piping at 82 houses in Ennis comprising 64 at Marian Avenue and 18 at Linnane’s Terrace (Carmody St), and Ahern’s Terrace (Kilrush Road).

The EPA served a direction on the Council to replace these lead mains by September.

In a detailed statement, Senior Engineer Sean Ward, explained that the “Council sought tenders for the works, and applied to the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government (DECLG) for funding. Tenders have been received and studied, and a preferred tender has been identified”.

In December, the Department of Environment Heritage and Local Government announced that it had approved € 200,000 for lead pipe replacement in Ennis.

Mr Ward stated that there is no specific funding programme for replacement of lead pipes.

He continued, “The DECLG will allocate funds under this (Water Conservation) programme, but there is a major gap at present between this allocation and the amount of the preferred tender for the works.

“We are in discussions with the DECLG in an effort to close this gap so as to allow work to start. The work should take around three to four months to complete. The EPA’s directed date has passed, but we are keeping the EPA informed of the situation”.

Mr Ward explained that there are very few water mains for which the Council is responsible. However, he said there are “probably thousands of lead service pipes i.e pipes connected to the main and bring water into single premises in Clare including at least several hundred in Ennis”.

He added, “Clare County Council is responsible for the part of the serv- ice pipe from the point of connection to the main as far as the property boundary; the owner or occupier of the premises is responsible for the part from the property boundary into the premises”.

The Council has no programme for planned replacement of lead service pipes in Ennis, which it estimates would cost well over € 1 million

Mr Ward stated, “The Council will, commencing in mid 2012 approximately, be carrying out a major mains replacement project in Ennis under the national Water Conservation programme.

“If and when we encounter lead service pipes while doing this work, our policy will be to replace the service pipe with a plastic or other pipe,” Mr Ward stated.

IN LIGHT of recent figures that show a jump in the number of farm related accidents, Clare farmers are being urged to attend rural health and safety conference.

Organised by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH), Western District Committee, a seminar on farm safety will take place at the Greenhills Hotel, Limerick, on Tuesday, January 17, at 7pm.

The event will cover a number of topics including: the challenges of health and safety in farming; practical approach to farm risk assessments; safety covers and pesticide approval and the safety aspects of pesticide use.

Speakers on the night will include: John McNamara, Teagasc health and safety officer; Aidan Brennan, farm manager, Teagasc, Moorepark, Fermoy; Gerry Graham, Reliance Bearing and Gear Co, Limerick.

A speaker from the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine will be in attendance.

Geraldine Gregan, IOSH Western District Committee member, called on Clare farmers to attend the seminar. She said there needs to greater awareness of the dangers of operating farm machinery.

She said, “As professional safety officers we decided last September the need to organize a seminar on farm safety. Most industrial fatal accidents occur on farms. Traditionally farms are family units and there needs to be more of an emphasis on the fact that farms are mechanized industrial units.”

According to figures released last week, a total of 55 workplace deaths were reported to the Health and Safe- ty Authority (HAS) in 2011. During 2011 there were 22 killed while working in agriculture compared to 25 in 2010.

Over the last number of years the high fatality rate in agriculture has resulted in the authority increasing inspections and awareness raising activities in that sector. A new awareness raising campaign aimed at encouraging farmers to stop taking risks has just been launched.

THERE have been calls to convert Ennis’ oldest inhabited house into a museum.

Archaeologists believe that the McParland’s building on Parnell Street is one of Ireland’s earliest surviving examples of a timber-framed house.

A local councillor believes that there is potential to develop the site as a major tourist attraction.

Councillor Paul O’Shea (Lab) is calling on Ennis Town Council to seek funding to open a medieval museum at McParland’s and to offer a County Clare passport to every visitor to the town.

According to Cllr O’Shea, the initiative would “entitle the passport holder to discounts at other major touristic attractions, in addition to shops and restaurants throughout Ennis and the county.”

The matter is due to be discussed at today’s meeting of Ennis Town Council.

Ms Irene Clune’s house, known as McParland’s, is long understood to have been the oldest inhabited house in the Clare County capital. The building’s triple diamond stone Jacobean chimney has been an icon of medieval Ennis for centuries.

The house was first inspected in 2008 by Clare County Council’s conservation officer, who recommended that the property undergo structural repair work. Following detailed technical analyses by the National Monuments Service, officials from Ennis Town Council and consulting conservation engineers, it was concluded that the structure was unstable and represented a danger to the general public.

Ennis Town Council, using its statutory powers to deal with dangerous buildings, commenced a € 170,000 project to make the building safe and to protect and restore the historic fabric of the structure. A grant of € 85,000 was procured under the Structures at Risk Scheme from the Department of the Environment towards the restoration project.

During October 2011, the gable and chimney were carefully recorded, taken down and stored. At present the historic gable is being re-built using the original stones bedded in an authentic hydraulic-lime mortar, the floor of the house having been archaeologically excavated prior to this.

Last November, archaeologists discovered an oak frame structure, which they described as “potentially one of the most exciting urban archaeological discoveries in Ireland in recent years”.

KILRUSH Town Council has finally resolved to flush away the public toilet in the town centre that costs over € 200,000 to operate over a fiveyear period, while netting less that € 10,000 in income for the local authority over the same period.

The council has issued formal notice that it is to extricate itself from a 20-year agreement for the public toilet on Martyr’s Square in the town, by terminating the contract for the facility with JCDecaux Street Furniture Limited. The toilet will still be in operation in 2012 at a rental cost of € 35,910, but to terminate the contract later in the year must pay € 60,382 to Street Furniture Limited.

At the September meeting of Kilrush Town Council it was revealed that the town authorities were tied to a 20-year contract for provision of the toilet that was signed in 1999 and doesn’t run out until 2019.

The figures provided by the local revealed that the provision of the toilet cost € 201,301.51 between 2005 and 2010. Over the course of the same six-year period income to the council from the public’s use of the facility was just € 9,940.49 – figures that led independent councillor Paul Moroney to describe it as “the most expensive piece of retail property in Ireland”.

Mayor of Kilrush, Ian Lynch led calls for the council to extricate itself from this contract, which he said was “a huge drain on Kilrush Town Council’s resources at a time when we need every penny we can get”.

Now in light of a council report, which revealed that annual receipts from the superloo are about € 1,200, councillor have unanimously agreed to terminate the contract which will save the local authority € 239,401 in rental charges for the remaining six years and eight months of the contract.

“We thought long and hard about this, but it needs to go,” said Cllr Marion McMahon-Jones (FG). “We cannot justify the expense and we have no statutory obligation to provide a public toilet. It is necessary now to terminate the contract.”

ONE OF the world’s all time favourite Christmas songs ‘The Fairytale of New York’ was actually written about County Clare – according to Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan.

According to the mercurial Mr MacGowan, the 1987 classic was originally written from the perspective of a West Clare sailor looking out across the Atlantic and dreaming of life in New York. The Clare People has also learned that the song, which was made world famous as a duet performed by MacGowan and the late great Kirsty MacColl, was also written with a Clare woman in mind.

Instead of MacColl, early versions of the song were performed by formed Pogues singer Cait O’Riordan, who father hailed from Lahinch and who used to spend much of her summer time as a girl in North and West Clare.

The Clare connection with ‘The Fairytale of New York’ was revealed as part of an hour-long interview with Shane MacGowan conducted by the BBC over Christmas. This change of emphasis from West Clare to New York was also confirmed by Pogues banjo player Jem Finer, who admitted the song took nearly two years of hard work to perfect after the decision to move the song to New York was made.

According to Pogues guitarist Philip Chevron, the song developed well in its orioginal format but the band was never able to quite finish the ‘Fairytale of West Clare’.

“In the earliest incarnation it took place not in New York, but in the west coast of Clare. If you listen to the early demos we did of that song at a certain point, in each case, they kind of just stop developing. They just fall into a hole where they can go no further,” he said.

According to Finer, it was the record producer Steve Lillywhite who persuaded his then wife, Kirsty MacColl, to perform the song as a duet with MacGowan.

“We tried to record it twice before it finally got it nailed with Steve Lillywhite,” he said.

“So it went through a lot of revisions. There were always things that didn’t quite work and Shane did a lot of editing of the lyrics, coming back to it again and again over a period of about two years, and we played about with the arrangement until it sort of sat properly.”

Despite being more than 24 years old the song continues to beguile listeners and reached an impressive Number 7 in the Irish singles charts this year.

FUNDING for small local arts festivals in Clare has been slashed by more than 50 per cent for the first half of 2012, with similar cuts also expected for the second half of the year.

According to figures obtained by The Clare People , the total investment by the Arts Council in Clare festivals for the first half of 2012 has been cut to € 20,500 – down from € 41,500 for the same period of 2010. Funding for two traditional music festivals in North Clare have been cut completely with a number of adjustments taking place in the funding for other events. Both the Corofin Traditional Music Festival, which was last year granted € 8,000 in funding, and the Russell Memorial Weekend, which was granted € 2,000 in 2011, have not recived any funding this year.

According to records received from the Irish Arts Council, Clare County Council was also granted € 14,000 in 2011 for Scoil Cheoil an Earraigh – which is not funded as part of the 2012 budget. The Iniscealtra Arts Festival also saw a reduction in its Arts Council budget from € 11,000 in 2011 to € 9,000 this year.

Despite the overall reduction however, the growing popularity of the Ennis Book Club Festival was recog- nised with a funding increase from € 6,500 last year to € 8, 500 in 2011. The Doran Tionol Festival was also granted € 3,000 in funding, having not received any funding for 2011.

“While it’s always disappointing when funding in decreased. I think that the strength that we have here in Clare with our festivals means that they will continue and will grow,” said Clare Arts Offices, Siobhan Mulcahy. “It was encouraging to see that some of our festivals received more than the average amount and some even received a small increase which I think goes to vindicate the quality of the programmes which take place at festivals in Clare.”

The Arts Council releases it funding for small local festivals in two tranches – each covering a six month period of the year.

The second allocation of funding is due to be announced early next month with festivals such as the Clare Festival of Traditional Singing, the Ellen ‘Nell’ Galvin Traditional Music Weekend, the Feakle International Traditional Music Festival, the Music in the Glen Festival, the Willie Keane Memorial Weekend and the Winter Music Weekend Festival all hoping to retain some level of funding.

An announcement for larger years grants schemes – including the annual Arts Council Investment in Glór – will also be made in mid-February.