Category: News

PLANS to generate an award winning and booming night-time economy in Ennis have been backed by local Gardaí.

Ennis is seeking to obtain the Purple Flag – a UK-run initiative that recognises a town’s night-time activities and services. Details of plans, which would seek to position Ennis as the west’s night-time tourism destination of choice, were outlined at meeting in the town on Thursday night.

Ennis Town Council is exploring the possibility of bringing the scheme to the town. Members of Ennis’ Municipal Policy Committee (MPC) and local gardaí recently met with Association of Town Centre Managers, the body who adminis- ter the scheme. MPC Chairman and local Fine Gael councillor Johnny Flynn told the meeting that Ennis along with Kildare and Dublin City have expressed an interest in taking part in the scheme.

Cllr Flynn who, along with Garda Supt Peter Duff, met with Purple Flag organisers in Dublin recently, explained that the scheme could provide a much-needed shot in the arm for the local economy. He said that studies have shown that towns and cities with an active night-time economy such as Galway and Cork tend to fare better in times of recession.

He said that night-time businesses account for 27 per cent of turnover in towns and cities in the UK while providing for 5 per cent of employment. He said it is time that local authorities, businesses and emergency services come together to agree that the attractiveness of Ennis at night is improved.

Speaking at Ennis Chamber’s crimewatch meeting, Cllr Flynn said that by meeting the Purple Flag’s strict criteria, Ennis could become a “mini Galway”. Supt Peter Dufff told the meeting that gardaí would support any initiative that makes Ennis more attractive to visitors.

Positive features of the town that could help it gain Purple Flag accreditation, he said, includes a good transport network and a crime rate that compares favourably with other similar sized towns in Ireland.

He said gardaí had noticed a decline in footfall on Ennis’ streets at night in recent years, adding that on some nights gardaí return to the police station at night having “talked to no one”.

Supt Duff explained that public order offences in Ennis are down “considerably” this year. He said this was not just a result of policing but also of the economic impact of the recession.

The Purple Flag is run by the Association of Town Centre Management (UK) and is awarded to towns based on the quality of its nightlife and the types facilities and services in place at night.

In order to qualify for Purple Flag status, successful towns must meet four standards, wellbeing, appeal, movement and place.

Towns are judged on a number of criteria including active policing, safe late night car-parking, public transport, public utilities nightlife and street activities.

AFTER decades of campaigning Kinvara has finally been given the go ahead for the construction of a state of the art € 5.2 million treatment plant.

Presently more than 60,000 gallons of raw sewage are been discharged into Kinvara Bay each day. Besides the obvious environmental difficulties associated with the dumping of raw sewage, the village also suffers badly at times of low or unusual tides when a back wash effect can bring some of the waste into the picturesque surrounding of the Kinvara Pier. Because of this unusual movement of water in Kinvara Bay, raw sewage is often seen floating on the flat waters of the harbour – especially during the summer months.

Kinvara village has become a major tourist attraction in recent years with tens of thousands of tourists visiting each year to enjoy the the towns great maritime and traditional music heritage.

Before this year’s General Election local TD, Ciaran Cannon (FG), committed to resign his seat and not run again if a sewage system for Kinvara was not built during the life of the current government.

“When I first ran for the council back in 2004 this was an issue that had lingered for years with no solution in sight. I had always hoped that some day I could work with my colleagues locally and nation- ally to bring this saga to an end, and thankfully we have now arrived at that point,” he said. “Anyone visiting Kinvara at night over the Christmas period will be uplifted by the beautiful sight of a boat moored in the harbour and lit with hundreds of twinkling lights. It is a fitting symbol of a community that has lived and laboured by the sea for generations. I am delighted that within a couple of years that boat will be moored in a bay which has finally been restored to its original pristine beauty.”

The majority of the € 5.2 construction cost will come from the Department of the Environment with the balance being made up from funds already earmarked for the project by Galway County Council.

CLARE County Council will have no landfill facility in operation during 2012, but the aftercare costs associated with the landfill that was located at Ballyduff beg in Inagh have broken through the € 1m barrier for the first time. The Clare People can reveal that Clare County Council has budgeted to spend € 1,122,201 on aftercare maintenance of the controversial landfill facility that has now been shut down – over double the sum they budgeted for and spent in 2011.

These figures are contained in the Draft Budget 2012 that was put before members of Clare County Council this Tuesday by County Manager Tom Coughlan.

The closure of Inagh Landfill last month means that the bill for having a landfill operation in Clare has reduced to zero, as against the € 3,886,535 that was provided for the facility in the 2011 Budget.

However, this significant cost saving is significantly cut by the spiralling maintenance costs associated with the facility, as well as the loss of over € 2m in income to the council because of the landfill’s closure.

The council’s budget has set aside € 1,122,201 for aftercare services, as distinct from just € 482,625 in 2011, which represents a jump of € 639, 576.

“The closure of the landfill will have a significant effect on the budg- et for 2012,” the county manager has revealed.

“The operating costs of the facility will reduce, but provision has to be made for the maintenance of the closed landfill. There will also be a reduction in income at the facility of € 2.1m.

“The closure of the landfill will mean that all waste deposited at our three transfer stations in Scariff, Lisdeen and Ballyduff beg will need to be transferred by licensed waste management companies to landfills outside the county,” he added.

The final cells at the Inagh landfill were filled in November 2011, bringing an end to landfill activity in Clare, but the recycling facilities still remain open, while small quantities of household black bag waste continue to be accepted at the facility.

CLARE County Council’s share of the Local Government Fund provided to by the Department of the Environment has been slashed by over € 6.2m over the past two years.

Money coming into Clare County Council coffers in 2012 has been set at € 10.18m, while it stood at € 16. 41m in 2009. However, this reduction still represents good news for the county’s premier decision-making body. That’s because Clare has moved rapidly up the league table of county councils around the country when it comes to the doling out of government money from the lucrative Local Development Fund.

Figures contained in the Draft Budget 2012 have revealed that Clare Council have been informed by Minister Phil Hogan that their share of the Local Government Fund has been set at € 10.18m.

“This is a reduction of 5.45 per cent on the net Local Government Fund, making a cumulative reduction of 38 per cent since 2009,” Clare County Manager Tom Coughlan has revealed. “The national levels of reduction are not yet published,” added Mr Coughlan, “but I understand that, as in 2011, Clare County Council has not suffered the most severe reductions on a national comparative basis in the Local Government Fund.”

In fact, it’s believed that Clare now sits third in the Local Government Fund league table, when once they were a lowly 23rd when it came to secured monies from the fund that’s crucial to the operation of any local authority.

The funding levels for Clare County Council in 2012 come against a backdrop of a range of cutbacks that have been administered in the local authority over the past few years.

Payroll costs have been slashed from the € 44.8m high in 2009 to € 37.9m in 2011, while it’s been projected that they will be cut to € 36.8m in 2012, which will represent a 17.8 per cent cut in three years.

“Despite the ongoing efforts to reduce expenditure and increase income, the projected financial result for 2011 is a € 500,000 deficit,” the county manager has revealed.

This deficit has been blamed on the weather, Traveller accommodation and reducing rates revenues.

The key variances are as a result of the essential works which were undertaken to respond to the adverse weather conditions in early 2011, unexpected costs relating to Traveller accommodation and the increased levels of vacant properties in the county,” said Mr Coughlan.

Further cutbacks are to be put in place for 2012, with the projected number of staff at the end of February 2012 set at 810, which compares to a figure of 1,002 in 2006, while it’s anticipated that further reductions in staffing levels will occur in 2012.

“The ongoing reduction in staffing levels has resulted in a situation where staff of the council continue to deliver services even though the number of staff available to do so has been severely reduced,” said Mr Coughlan.

MORE THAN 200 volunteers were out in force on Saturday and Sunday as the search continued for a woman who has been missing from the Cliffs of Moher for more than a week.

The missing woman, who has been named locally as Gillian Richardson from Limerick, was last seen on Saturday, December 10, and the alarm was raised when local gardaí located the car belonging to the 38-year-old Dell employee parked on a road close to the Cliffs of Moher.

More than 200 people took part in one of the largest searches to take place in north Clare in recent years with the emergency services being joined by more then 150 family, friends and neighbours over the weekend.

The Doolin Unit of the Irish Coastguard, who have been leading the search effort, was joined by volunteers from the Kilkee Coastguard and the Lough Derg Rescue Service over the weekend as-well-as members of the Gardaí and a number of local volunteers.

The search area has also been widened and now stretches from Blackhead, between Fanore and Ballyvaughan in north Clare, and Quilty in West Clare. According to Mattie Shannon of the Doolin Unit of the Irish Coastguard, the search will continue for a number of days this week but is likely to scaled down later in the week if no major discovery is forthcoming.

“We are still searching and we will continue to search tomorrow (Tuesday, December 20), and later on into the week.

“We had more than 170 people out with us looking on Sunday with most of them being relatives, family and friends,” said Mattie.

“The search area now stretches from Blackhead down to Quilty so it is a very large area to be searching. The search will continue for the time being, but is likely to be scaled down later this week.”

As well as the various local units of the Irish Coastguard, family, friends and relatives, the search has also included the Shannon based Irish Coastguard Rescue Helicopter aswell-as the SARDA Dog Team.

The search was officially launched on Saturday, December 9, when a car was discovered on a road near Aill na Searrach a short distance from the Cliffs of Moher on the road to Doolin.

Inquiries also confirmed that the woman had left her home early on Friday and she is understood to have told family members that she had a doctor’s appointment.

THE events of the Clare branch of Birdwatch Ireland have been chronicled in another calendar, the proceeds of which will raise funds for the group’s activities organized each year.

The Clare branch of Birdwatch Ireland is a registered charity, with the 2012 calendar being the third production that they have published over the past three years.

“Funds raised go towards the maintenance of our www.clarebirdwatching.com website and the annual running of our branch,” spokesperson and wildlife expert, photographer and filmmaker John Murphy has revealed.

“During the year we run free out- ings on a monthly basis throughout the county so that the general public and Birdwatch Ireland members can come along to see the wonderful birds and nature that the county has to offer,” he added.

The calendars are available from many shops in Ennis including the Ennis Bookshop, Jimmy Brohans, the Paperchase, all the pet shops,

McLougney’s in Shannon and many other small outlets throughout the county.

It can be purchased directly from Tom Lynch or John Murphy, details on our website and are priced at € 8, with a limited amount of copies remaining.

UNOFFICIAL REPORTS from the Beckman Coulter manufacturing plant in East Clare have indicated that the plant, and the majority of its 180 strong workforce, is likely to survive the company’s restructuring programme.

An announcement has been expected concerning the future of the plant for more than two months since vice presidents Pamela Miller and Charles Pittman visited the O’Callaghan’s Mills plants in early October.

The company now operates two manufacturing plants in the west of Ireland with the Beckman Coulter top brass expected to close either the East Clare plant or its sister facility in Galway City and roll operations into one location.

Workers at both factories have been warned to expect an announcement at some stage this week but no formal time or date for an announcement has been identified. The company currently employs 180 people in East Clare with more than 200 people employed in its Galway facility.

SIPTU are currently engaged with ongoing negotiations with the company and unofficial indications are suggesting that it will be good news for the East Clare facility.

“It is looking positive at the moment but we must stress that we have heard nothing official from the company at this stage,” said local Cllr Joe Cooney (FG).

“This would be a huge boost for the area if the factory remains in East Clare, especially when you consider the 70 or so jobs that have been lost at FINSA over the last 12 months. It would be a massive blow for the area of something happened to this facility as well after what has been a really tough year.”

The East Clare facility was formally operated by Olympus Diagnostics until it was purchased by Beckman Coulter in 2009. Beckman Coulter was in turn purchased by US medical giant, the Danaher Corporation, earlier this year and it is this latest buy-out which has brought about the stand-off between the Galway and East Clare factories.

The two facilities, which have both retained the Beckman Coulter name, develop and manufacture products used in complex biomedical testing. While Beckman leases the facility in Galway, the company owns the site in East Clare, which has also been upgraded in recent years.

This is thought to be one of the key factors which may swing the decision in favour of the Clare factory.

ONLOOKERS in Ennis were stunned on Friday afternoon last when a vicious melee broke out in the Turnpike area of the town.

The violent incident saw a van crash into three parked cars, one of which contained a four year-old child, before the occupants of another van emerged to smash windows and attack two men with shovels.

“I thought someone would be killed,” an eyewitness told The Clare People. “One van drove the other off the road, damaging cars and moving them eight or ten feet up on the footpath,” he said.

Miraculously the four year-old child was not hurt in the incident, despite the car he was in being hit by the van.“They then got out of their van and attacked the fellas in the van they run off the road. They had shov- els and smashed the windows in with the shovels. They then tried to hit the men in the van with the end of the shovels.

“It was frightening to watch. It’s a miracle no-one was seriously injured, especially the child.

“The men with the shovels took off quickly and the gardaí were here in minutes,” he explained.

Gardaí were conducting door-todoor enquiries in Ennis on Friday after the incident, which occurred around lunchtime outside Yvonne’s takeaway and Ladbrookes bookmakers.

The road was closed for a brief period. Gardaí are appealing for witnesses with any information to come forward. A garda spokesman explained;

“The driver of one of the vans was involved in an altercation on the Kilrush Road a short time earlier outside the Social Welfare offices.”

A DISTRICT court judge has dismissed an objection to the renewal of a licence for a pub in Ballinruan, after hearing from a garda that the premises is well run and has never generated a complaint.

Bernard Hassett, of Burrenview, Ballinruan, Crusheen, objected to the renewal of the licence of Hassett’s bar in Ballinruan.

Garda Declan Keavey, who is based in Crusheen, told the court that he has never had any complaints relating to the premises, which he described as well run.

“It is a typical rural pub. It is the social network of the local community. . . It is the centre of the community,” he said.

He said that the pub is located in a tiny village. “If you blinked you would miss it. There’s a church, a pub and a community centre,” he explained.

The age profile of those who frequent the pub is over 40, he said.

“I have never had any incident. I have never been called to the pub,” said the garda.

“The publican has never been convicted of any incident. There has never been a drink driving incident or traffic accident as a result of people leaving the pub,” he said.

Gda Keavey said there is never any anti-social behaviour in the village.

The publican, Paddy Hassett told the court that he bought the premises in 2003 and he and his wife run it. He said that the customers are mainly an “older crowd” consisting of locals, as the younger people from the area go to Ennis and Gort at night-time.

He said he opens the pub at around 8.30pm or 9pm every night and closes at 1am and there is Irish music at weekends.

During the weekday nights, there are generally just up to eight people in the pub and this increases to between 30 and 40 at weekends.

It was put to him that according to Bernard Hassett, people left the pub at 3.50am one morning and that a car was damaged. The publican denied this. He told the court that when Bernard Hassett moved to the Ballinruan area, there were no difficulties with him.

“He has gone to court with two friends of mine. That’s why he is hitting at me,” said the publican.

Bernard Hassett told the court that people left the pub one morning at 3.50am “and created anti-social behaviour”.

He said that his objection was based on CCTV footage. However, Judge Aeneas McCarthy told him that the footage was 20 hours in length, “predominantly a camera pointing at an empty road”.

“I am not looking at 20 hours of CCTV camera pointing at an empty road. It’s your business to edit it,” said the judge.

He dismissed the case. “I’m granting the licence,” said the judge.

TEACHERS may have to be hired on a temporary basis to cope with retirements from Clare schools, a meeting has heard.

It has been predicted that a high number teachers will take early retirement in February.

According to the Association of Secondary School Teachers in Ireland (ASTI),

“Under the terms of the Croke Park Agreement, teachers who retire before February 29, 2012, will have their pension and lump sum calculated on ‘pre-cut’ salary – the salary they were earning before the pay cut imposed in January 2010.”

Clare VEC is waiting to see how many teachers take up the option in order to assess the impact on Clare schools.

At the December meeting of Clare VEC, Fianna Fáíl councillor, Peter Considine asked what contingency plans are in place to cope with teacher retirements.

“Hopefully there will be no disruption to students,” he added.

CEO George O’Callaghan told the meeting that teachers could be hired in a temporary capacity to take classes until the end of term.

Mr O’Callaghan said there should be no problems filling posts given the high level of unemployment in the country.

He said the VEC would examine the situation more closely in February.

Concern was also expressed over the impact of cuts to career guidance services announced in this month’s Budget.

Under the new system schools will have to provide the guidance service from within their general teacher allocation.

Mr O’Callaghan said the VEC would study the implications of the decision when to it receives its teacher allocation quota from the Department of Education and Skills in February.

“However he told the meeting that for schools in Clare and around the country, the cut “effectively means a de facto increase in the pupil teacher ratio”.

Mr O’Callaghan said the decision would have a varying impact on various schools, adding it would have “an upward impact on the pupil teacher ratio”.

In response to questions from Cllr Cathal Crowe (FF), Mr O’Callaghan pointed out that pupil teacher ratios would not increase at ‘disadvantaged’ or DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) schools around the county.