Category: News

A NEW venue for the monthly Killaloe court sittings has not yet been secured, after the hotel which had hosted it for the past year went into receivership.

The Kincora Hotel closed during the summer and as a result the monthly court sittings for September and October moved back to Ennis Courthouse.

At the time the move was described as a “temporary measure” for September and October courts. However, The Clare People has learned that the November and December sittings will also take place in Ennis, as a new premises in Killaloe has not yet been identified. It is hoped that the sittings from January onwards will move back to East Clare. “Killaloe will sit in Ennis on a temporary basis while we look for an alternative venue. We are looking at options,” said a spokesperson for the Courts Service. “In the short-term we are hopeful of securing a venue. We are hopeful that a temporary venue will be available in Killaloe in January,” added the spokesperson.

“We are committed to staying there in the short to medium term, provided we can get accommodation,” he said.

The district court sittings moved to the Kincora Hotel last September, after months of searching for a venue by the Courts Service.

It came after it emerged that The Lakeside Hotel – where the court had sat for a number of years – would not be an option in the long-term.

The old courthouse in Killaloe is in a state of disrepair and funding is not available to renovate it.

Members of the legal profession in Clare have expressed hope that the court will sit in Killaloe in the future and say that a permanent move to Ennis is not desirable. Gardaí in East Clare are of a similar view as it is more manageable from a resources point of view.

In recent years, several courthouses across the county closed and the court sittings moved to more centralised venues. Among those to close

THE quality of teaching Construction and Wood Technology at St John Bosco Community College in Kildysart has been described as “very good” by Department of Education inspectors.

According to an evaluation carried out, effective learning takes place, while the subject plan represents a very good start on which to base further planning.

The report recommended that “further development of active methodologies should be used to further improve students’ learning”.

“Well structured lessons were conducted at an appropriate pace. Lesson content was presented very competently. Demonstrations of practical skills were of a high standard.

“However, more opportunities should be created for students to participate more actively in their learning. Well structured group work in theory lessons should be used to encourage more collaboration between students who should then be enabled to share with the whole class,” stated the report.

“Learning was effective. Students were interested and fully engaged in classroom activities showing appropriate levels of knowledge and understanding of the subjects. Students approached the subjects with enthusiasm and inquisitiveness and on occasion made contributions that indicated a high level of engagement,” it added.

It recommended that closer supervision should be provided for students who are allowed to use more hazardous machines such as the band saw.

Planning for the lessons observed was described as “very effective” and included the use of a wide range of resources including digital resources and ICT equipment.

“Good use was being made of the overhead projector, notably in a CS theory lesson. While this was effective, it is suggested that the transparencies in use could be scanned for use with the data projector to increase their flexibility as a resource,” added the inspectors.

A SERIES of events for the small business community which is taking place all over the mid-west for the whole month of October, comes to Clare over the following five days.

The small business initiative, which is co-organised by the Clare County Enterprise Board, then travels to Limerick city and county the following week, finishing with events in Kerry for the final week of ‘Enterprise Mid-West.’ Tipperary North is currently hosting five events this week until Friday, October 7.

Pat Falvey, the well-known mountaineer and entrepreneur, is expected to give an uplifting talk to Clare small business owners, helping them to ‘reach for the sky’ at a seminar on Wednesday evening, October 12 at the Woodstock Hotel in Ennis.

On Tuesday, October 11, Stephen Kinsella, the highly respected economist, will be putting the local economy on the agenda, as well as discussing developmental opportunities for local businesses. The Temple Gate Hotel in Ennis is the venue for the free talk, which takes place from 12 noon to 1pm and includes light lunch.

Meanwhile, anyone in business or thinking of setting one up is being invited to attend a free resilience-building workshop at the Bunratty Castle in County Clare on Monday morning (October 10). Therese Ryan is the guest speaker at this event, which runs from 9.30am to 12.30pm and is entitled: ‘Performing to Succeed.’

Free mentoring clinics are taking place at the Vandeleur Walled Gardens in Kilrush, with 50-minute appointments available with experienced business people. The clinic is running from 10am to 5pm on Thursday, October 13.

The programme of events for Clare comes to an end with the launch of a highly significant tourism map of north Clare. ‘Rugged North Clare Ireland As It Once Was’ is the title for this project, which is scheduled to be officially launched at 3pm on Friday, October 14 at The Pavillion in Lisdoonvarna.

Eamonn Kelly, CEO with Clare County Enterprise Board, said, “Research shows that we have more ‘necessity’ entrepreneurs in Ireland now than ever before, due to the increasing numbers of those being made redundant. In fact, three out of every 10 entrepreneurs are now motivated by ‘necessity’ rather than ‘opportunity’, compared with a figure of nearly one in every 17 entrepreneurs back in 2007.”

A NEW report has praised the standard of Mathematics in Cluain an Átha National, describing it as a particular strength. Findings of the Department of Education and Skills whole school evaluation report of the Inagh School were published last week. The report praised teachers, stating they “are highly dedicated to the welfare of the pupils and work very hard to achieve the best possible learning outcomes”.

The report states that the school has a number of strengths. It found that “very effective organisational strategies have been developed to cope with the challenges of multi-grade teaching”. The report continues, “Commendable standards are achieved in the curriculum areas evaluated, with particular strengths in mathematics. The Board of Management contributes in a praiseworthy fashion to the provision of a safe, well-resourced and pleasant learning environment for pupils.” According to the report, “Parents are very supportive of the school and indicate high levels of satisfaction with overall school performance”, while “pupils interact with each other and with adults in a confident and respectful manner and are adept at working independently”.

The evaluation focused on the quality of and learning in English, mathematics, Irish and history. The school has an enrolment of 29 students with two mainstream class teachers. The report states that enrolment has declined since the last evaluation was carried out but is expected to remain close to the current figure for the foreseeable future.

In a submission, the Board of Management says it “is delighted with the findings of the report”. They thank “the inspector for his encouragement and advice. We appreciate the respect which he showed to us during the evaluation process.”

The report “recommended that school self-evaluation practices be formalised to include the setting of specific and measurable targets”. The report continues, “It is recommended that the teachers continue to build capacity to integrate information and communication technologies (ICT) into teaching and learning”.

In their response, the Board says it is implementing the recommendations of the inspection with regard to school self- evaluation practices.”

The submission states, “ICT infrastructure has been upgraded and ICT facilities within the school continue to be developed. Staff training in integrating ICT into teaching and learning has commenced.”

THE lack of capacity at wastewater treatment plants in the Ennis area has been cited by An Bord Pleanála as one of its reasons for refusing planning permission for a proposed 12-unit development in Barefield.

Martin Fitzgibbon (Builders) Ltd had applied for planning permission to develop 12 houses with garages, foul sewer pumping station with associated rising main connection to existing pumping station at Barefield School and ancillary site works, at Carrowdotia, Barefield.

Clare County Council refused permission earlier this year and the matter was appealed to An Bord Pleanála.

In upholding the decision of the Board’s inspector, the Board stated, “Having regard to the lack of capacity of the local authority wastewater treatment plant to adequately treat the wastewater from the proposed development in addition to the existing load on the plant, it is considered that the proposed development would be prejudicial to public health”.

The report adds, “Furthermore, the proposed development would set an undesirable precedent for and lead to demands for the upgrading and uneconomic provision of public services in the area and would be contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area”.

Clare County Council is currently awaiting a decision from An Board Pleanála regarding approval for a proposed upgrade of the Clonroadmore Wastewater Treatment Plant in Ennis.

The Board also ruled that the proposed Barefield development “would constitute an excessive density of suburban-type development in a rural area, which would militate against the preservation of the rural environment, would detract from the rural character of the area, would seriously injure the visual amenities of the area and would, therefore, be contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area”.

The Inspector’s site also cited the provisions of the Ennis and Environs Development Plan 2008-2014, which sets “out and overall strategic settlement strategy for the area”.

The report continues, “Notwithstanding the planning history of the site, and having regard to the nature and scale of the proposed development in a rural area, the provisions of the current development plan for the area, and the said Guidelines, it is considered that the proposed development would constitute a material contravention of the objective of the planning authority, would conflict with national guidelines, would militate against the future ordered development of the village of Barefield and would, therefore, be contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area”.

THE Leaving Certificate Applied (LCA) programme is well co-ordinated at St Joseph’s Secondary School in Spanish Point. That’s according to the findings from a Department of Education inspection, the details of which were published last week.

The report pointed to several strengths of the programme. These include that teachers are encouraged and facilitated within the school to attend relevant continuing professional development sessions; that guidance provided in the context of programme choice is appropriate to the needs of the students and that additional educational needs of students are well supported within the programme.

“The co-ordinating structures are operating very effectively. The joint co-ordinators liaise closely with school management and the programme teaching team and they discharge their duties very effectively,” stated the inspectors.

“Students displayed very positive attitudes to their work and to learning, and this was borne out by the quality of the work they produced in their tasks and key assignments,” they added.

It stated that policy and practice in the school regarding communication with parents supports effective links with the homes of LCA students.

“Parents receive meaningful feedback regarding the progress of the students by means of the session results issued by the State Examinations Commission (SEC) in addition to which school reports are issued. Parent-teacher meetings are held annually and letters are issued if a student is at risk of not being awarded a credit due to non-attendance.

“The school newsletter provides in- formation on the progress of the programme and letters are sent to parents as the need arises to provide additional information,” stated the inspectors’ report.

According to the report, the written LCA plan is “coherent and forms a very good basis for further development”.

Two joint co-ordinators form the core programme team and meet regularly to plan, monitor and evaluate its implementation. The programme is evaluated annually in line with “good cyclical practice”, said the report. This evaluation is done by the co-or- dinators in conjunction with the team and students.

“There is evidence that the programme has benefited from evaluation and review, and it is reported by the school that morale among the students has improved, largely due to the inclusion of more suitable elective modules. These changes have been introduced in the past two years in response to the expressed interests of the students. This responsiveness to change by the LCA co-ordinators and team is a strength of the implementation of the programme in the school,” stated the report.

TRADERS’ representatives have welcomed plans by Ennis Town Council to make safe the derelict McParlands building on Parnell Street.

Last week, Town Manager Ger Dollard revealed that the council intends to demolish and reconstruct a section of the building, which is deemed unsafe. Scaffolding was erected around the building two years ago. McParlands is home to a rare 16th century triple diamond Jacobean chimney and is believed to have been the oldest home in Ennis.

In a report on the matter, Mr Dollard said the council has been “extremely concerned regarding the McParlands property. He said works undertaken to date by the council had been done to render the building safe. He said, “It is clear however that the building has been deteriorating and the shortterm measures put in place do not render the structure safe on a long term basis.”

He added, “The council has taken detailed professional advice and inputs have also been made by the National Monuments Service regarding the conservation of the property.”

It has been estimated that the cost of conserving the privately-owned property will cost the council around € 170,000. Mr Dollard said last week that work on the building must be completed by the end of November in order for the council to fully avail of an € 85,000 grant from the Department of the Environment.

Speaking yesterday, Noreen Twomey Walsh of the Parnell Street Trader’s Association said businesses in the area are happy that the issue is finally being resolved. She explained, “We feel as traders that it gives a very un-sightly appearance to the street. We didn’t want to see it [scaffolding] there for that long. We’d be delighted to see it resolved. Any solution will be welcomed. We did know that there was a problem with funding.”

She added, “What concerned us as traders was that when people looked down the street and saw a building site, they wouldn’t come down. It was preventing some people from going down the street.”

Ms Twomey Walsh also acknowledged that the presence of scaffolding on one of the town centre’s main street also represented a serious health and safety issue.

AN ENNIS psychotherapist whose recovery from a brain injury was aided by her work on the Feldankrais Method says the therapy is now providing support to children and adults with disabilities in Clare.

Bernadette Kenny, co-ordinator of Tara Healing Arts Centre (Ennis), is one of the practitioners in Ireland of the Feldankrais method. The centre opened last year and provides a range of movement based therapies and counselling to children and adults.

The Feldankrais method uses movement and function as a gentle non-invasive aid in learning to learn. Bernadette explained that new research and neuro-science has validated the 60-year-old method, which has its own research in the USA, UK and Germany. “My work is scientifically based. It’s just not fully out there yet,” she said.

According to Bernadette the Feldankrais method benefits children and adults with special needs through improvements in walking, language and cognitive development as well as behaviour.

Bernadette has worked in the area of psychotherapy and counselling for 30 years and holds a four-year qualification in the Feldankrais Method. Originally from Ennis, she previously worked in youth services in London. She also spent two years working in Dublin at St Michael’s House, an organisation that provides community-based services to people with intellectual disabilities.

She is currently completing masters at the University of Limerick in Feldankrais and Dance therapy and how they can support learning of children with special needs.

Bernadette had reason to turn to the Feldankrais Method. Four years ago when she suffered an angioma (brain injury). She lost her speech and stability but by applying the lessons she had learned throughout her career, Bernadette made a full recovery.

She recalled, “It helped moderate and kept brain working and learning.”

According to Bernadette interest in her work as increased among parents who have been hit by the withdrawal of State supports for children with disabilities. She said her ultimate aim is to establish Tara Healing Arts as a non-profit organisation. “Everyone has the right to treatment.”

Bernadette will hold a talk about the Feldankrais Method at the Auburn Lodge, Ennis, on Friday, October 21, at 8pm.

HEALTH Minister James Reilly has pledged to put measures in place tackle the alarming rate of absenteeism in Ennis General Hospital, which has been exposed as the worst in Ireland when it comes to members of staff not turning up for work due to illness or ailments.

The county hospital was exposed as an absenteeism blackspot of at the weekend, when an audit of all hospitals operated under the auspices of the HSE revealed an average daily rate of sick leave of nearly 10 per cent of staff at the Ennis facility.

These alarming scale of these figures exposed the fact that absenteeism levels in Ennis, running at 9.43 per cent is almost double the average for HSE hospitals around the country that stands at 4.85 per cent, while the HSE’s target absenteeism rate is 3.5 per cent.

In Ennis, each day an average of 22 staff are missing from the hospital’s daily workforce of 238, a rate of absenteeism that impacts on the day-to-day operate of the facility, resulting in the HSE having to employ temporary outside staff to cover for sick workers.

And, a breakdown of these has revealed that the rate of absenteeism is worst among general support staff when it’s running at a staggering 18.01 per cent.

“We are putting in place a new initiative around this,” vowed Minister Reilly. “I’m not at liberty to say what it is just yet, in the next couple of weeks I’ll be able to announce it.

When questioned specifically about the situation in Ennis, Minister Reilly said “there has to be reasons behind it and they need to be addressed. There is cause and effect, so let’s look at the causes and then we can deal with the effect.”

The three worst hospital for absenteeism are all in the mid-west region. The Limerick maternity have 7.93 per cent of employees – 25 out of 319 out sick every day, while it’s running at 7.72 per cent in St John’s Hospital in Limerick, which represents 21 out of 280 being absent every day.

“This is clearly a management issue which needs to be addressed,” said HSE chief executive Cathal Magee. “The cost of absenteeism to HSE West is estimated to be in the region of € 60 million annually,” he added.

ENNIS Town Council may be forced to spend € 170,000 to demolish and reconstruct a section of a building believed to be the oldest home in Ennis. Town Manager Ger Dollard said yesterday that work is “urgently” required at the derelict McParlands site at the corner of Chapel Lane and Parnell Street.

Scaffolding and hoarding was erected around McParland’s after initial restoration work carried out in November 2009 revealed the 16thcentury building to be in a “danger- ous condition”.

The building, which is a protected structure, is home to a rare triple diamond Jacobean stone chimney that dates to the period 1580-1650AD.

In response to a motion tabled by Cllr Paul O’Shea (Lab), Mr Dollard said that the “building has been deteriorating and the short term measures put in place do not render the structure safe on a long term basis”.

Mr Dollard said the Council has taken detailed professional advice from the National Monuments Service. He told the meeting that it is clear that the owner of the property “does not have the financial resources to make the building safe”.

He explained that Ennis Town Council under its statutory powers is obliged to make the structure safe.

He continued, “This will involve the demolition of the gable wall and chimney and reconstruction of same. These works will not return the property to a habitable state but will make the building structurally safe.”

Mr Dollard said that a grant of € 85,000 has been secured to partially cover the cost of the works which he estimated could total € 170,000. Councillors expressed concern at the cost of the project.

Cllr Peter Considine (FF) said that while he acknowledged the importance of historical buildings, “there comes a point when you have to spend your money wisely.”

He said the estimated cost of the works represented a “lot of money down the Jacobean chimney”.

Cllr Frankie Neylon (Ind) said there was a serious health and safety issue to be addressed at McParlands. Mayor of Ennis, Cllr Michael Guilfoyle (Ind) expressed concern at spending € 170,000 on a chimney, for which he said there is no tourism benefit.

Mr Dollard admitted that the Council “finds itself in a position that it doesn’t want to be in”. He said the Council might be able to recoup some of the balance of the cost through any future sale of the property or further government grants.

Responding to concerns from Cllr O’Shea that the project will not go out to tender, Mr Dollard said he was happy the project would comply with procurement requirements.

He said the work has to be completed before the end of November in order for the council to avail fully of the € 85,000 grant.