Category: News

THE spirit of enterprise will be alive and kicking in Clare next week as the county plays host to Enterprise Mid West, an event that has been dubbed a showcase for aspiring entrepreneurs in the region.

The event is being hosted by Clare County Enterprise Board in colaboration with four other enterprise boards from around the region.

The event will be targeting Clare’s small business community and also those who may be thinking of setting up their own small business within the county. The programme was launched this week. It includes a wide range of intresting events including a new visitor-friendly map for tourism providers, an interesting and inspirational talk from mountaineer and entrepreneur Pat Falvey, a building workshop from Therese Ryan and many more.

The CEO of Clare County Enterprise Board, Eamonn Kelly, said that the small business community in Clare continues to rely heavily on enterprise supports, delivered at a local level.

On Monday, October 10, the event will start with Therese Ryan and her building workshop at Bunratty Castle Hotel at 9.30am.

Best known from her appearances on RTÉ’s Hea lth of the Na tion and How Long Will You Live , her workshop will focus on the aspects of managing stress in the workplace.

Stephen Kinsella will be delivering a talk around the Irish economy and local development on Tuesday, October 11, at 12 noon at the Temple Gate Hotel in Ennis. Stephen himself will be discussing the economic landscape for Clare businesses.

Mountaineer, adventurer and entrpreneur Pat Falvey will be helping small businesses to ‘Reach for the Stars’ during his motivational talk on Wednesday evening at the Woodstock Hotel, Ennis.

Miriam Ahern and Anne Corcoran from Alighn Management Solutions will be the ones to run a interactive networking session just before Pat’s talk which starts at 6pm.

A full day-long mentoring clinic will take place on Thursday, October 13, with three experienced business mentors – Theresa Mulvihill from Smart Marketing, Michael Brynes and Associates and Sharon Cahir, from Cahir & Co solicitors.

Free mentoring appointments will be available from 10am to 5pm. Each session will last 50 minutes with the three mentors at the meeting rooms at the Vandeleur Walled Garden in Kilrush.

Closing the programme of events will be the launch of a dedicated tourism map of North Clare entitled ‘Rugged North Clare – Ireland As It Once Was’.

All of the events are to be presented at free of charge or highly subsided by the Clare County Enterprise Board.

A MEETING attended by 85 people in Ennis last week heard serious concerns from the business community about the impact proposed changes to the Ennis and Environs Development Plan could have on retail activity in the town centre.

An element of the variation of the development plan, which is to be voted on by members of Ennis Town Council and Clare County Council, proposes changing the zoning provision for a site at the junction of the Limerick Road and the Tobertascáin Road. If passed the site would be deemed suitable, under the Ennis and Environs Development Plan, as a location for a new district centre.

Michael Lynch Ltd is seeking planning permission at the five-hectare site for the development of large retail park, which businesses fear could have a negative impact on the town centre. Documents filed with Ennis Town Council state that the project has the potential to create up to 500 jobs in construction and retail. Permission is also being sought at the same site for the development of a new access road.

The applications are currently the subject of a further information request. The proposed variation to the development plan is the subject of a lengthy submission by Ennis Chamber of Commerce.

The submission outlines the Chamber’s concerns at the possibility of a new district centre being developed away from the town centre.

The matter was discussed at a meeting in the Old Ground Hotel, Ennis last Tuesday.

Brian O’Neill, Vice President of Ennis Chamber, told the meeting that the review of the variation was commissioned by the Chamber and the streets associations of Ennis.

He said Ennis Chamber represents 230 businesses, employing over 4,000 people.

He said the review had been un- dertaken due to concern over the potential development of a new district centre away from the town centre.

Michael Leahy, architect and urban planner, said the submission was not an assessment of the Tobertascáin application. He explained that the variation would allow for the development of a new district centre. He warned of a “donut effect” whereby all retail activity would be attracted from the town centre to the outskirts. Mr Leahy said cars exiting the site would turn left on the motorway. “It’s a possibility that there would be very little benefit to the town centre.”

Mr Leahy said businesses are very concerned about the proposed dis- continuance of the requirement for a sequential test – a test requires that any applicant for a substantial retail development must first show that there are no suitable locations closer to the town centre than that which is proposed.

He added, “The location of the development is likely to act as a counter-magnet to the town centre.”

Businessman Oliver Moylan said the lack of a suitable retail mix is harming the town centre. He urged councillors who will vote on the proposed variation to “wake up” and oppose it. He said, “The town is dying in the centre and anyone with a brain can see that we don’t need this.”

PLANS to develop an incinerator in the county to help deal with the disposal of waste in the mid west region have been scrapped, a decision that comes ahead of the imminent closure of the Inagh landfill facility.

The incinerator, labelled a thermal treatment facility, was earmarked for Gillogue, near Clonlara in south east Clare and with the application lodged by Energy Recovery Limerick in conjunction with Clare County Council. The move to develop an incinerator was first mooted in 2009 when then Minister for Defence, Willie O’Dea, launched Energy Recovery Limerick, which pledged to invest € 80m into the mid west economy by developing thermal treatment facilities for the Clare, Limerick and Kerry catchment.

News of the decision to terminate the project, for the time being at least, for the Gillogue site has been learned by The Clare People this week, with An Bord Pleánala confirming that a preapplication consultation by Energy Recovery Limerick and Clare County Council has now been withdrawn.

An application was submitted to An Bord Pleanála in October 2010, but the Clare Green Party immedi- ately railed against the proposal with Cllr Brian Meaney saying “this is not a solution to our waste problems and I would be opposing any application that involves thermal treatment”.

However, the development of thermal treatment facilities for the county is contained in the 2005-2011 Clare County Development Plan, with the blueprint noting that “within the greater Limerick area there is a need for a thermal treatment facility to treat residual combustible waste”.

A feasibility study found that the “Limerick/Clare/Kerry Region could benefit from the development of thermal waste treatment capacity” and that “thermal waste treatment is environmentally, technically, and economically feasible at the recommended scale”.

However, plans for developing such a facility at the old Burlington factory in Gillogue, which was considered a suitable given its location away from high density residential development, were terminated with An Bord Pleánala signing an order to this effect on September 22. The Clare People contacted the environment section of Clare County Council this Monday, but a spokesperson was unavailable for comment.

THE current site of Ennis National School would be more suitable for large retail developments than a location away from the town centre, a meeting has heard.

The school is due to move from its present location on Kilrush Road to a new site at Ashline with construction work due to commence this autumn.

In addition to 32 classrooms, the building will include rooms for our reading class, special education teachers and library. The building will have an energy rating and a level of disability access, which is ahead of current regulations. Facilities for sport will include a full-size sports hall with dressing rooms and a playing pitch.

The current site was put forward as an alternative to a proposed major urban development at lands at Tobertascáin and the Limerick Road, at a meeting in Ennis last week.

Organised by Ennis Chamber of Commerce, the meeting was held to discuss a proposed variation to the Ennis and Environs Development Plan.

Vice President of Ennis Chamber, Brian O’Neill said the Chamber favoured the development of smaller scale developments located closer to the town centre.

Mayor of Ennis Cllr Michael Guilfoyle (Ind) questioned the suitability of Ennis National School as location for a major retail development.

He said there were questions to be asked over how the site could accommodate heavy traffic flows.

Referring to the suggestion of Ennis National School, Cllr Guilfoyle said, “If you’re going to mention something, mention something that works.”

Responding to Cllr Guilfoyle’s comments, Ennis based architect and urban planner Michael Leahy, said a full assessment would have to be carried out at Ennis National School before any definitive answer could be given. Mr Leahy, who prepared Ennis Chamber’s submission on the proposed variation to the Ennis and Environs Development Plan, told the meeting that the possibility of constructing a shopping centre at the Ennis National site could not be ruled for traffic reasons alone.

“There are always engineering solutions to engineering problems,” he said.

Asked about other town centre locations for potential new shopping centres, Mr Leahy said Cusack Park had been mentioned as a possibility.

“There are definitely sites that are closer to the town centre that could be used,” he added.

GARDA services in Clare face one of the largest upheavals in the history of the force early next year when the number of Clare gardaí who have retired since the recruitment embargo will force a major restructuring of services throughout the county.

The number of guards retiring from the force since the ban on new recruits was introduced will reach 37 in March of 2012 – with no guards being replaced and only one being transferred into the county.

Speaking at last night’s Joint Policing Committee meeting in Sixmilebridge, Clare Chief Superintendent John Kerin said that all of the major Garda stations in the county were safe from closure but could not comment on the future of smaller, rural stations. The Chief Superintendent did admit that law enforcement in Clare would have to undergo a major change in the months ahead.

“Last year, 18 gardaí retired in Clare and there was no recruitment. This year we lost one garda, sadly, through illness and five others have retired so far. We have seven who have indicated that they will retire before Christmas and another seven or eight who will retire early next year, before the end of February. The people who are retiring are hugely experienced and valuable gardaí.

“I can’t tell you exactly what is gong to happen but there are going to be changes, there is no doubt about that. We have to provide a professional police service with less resources than we have had in the past. Later on this year or next year, the whole situation is going to have to be looked at, especially in late February or early March. We will have to see what is going to happen.”

Ennis Superintendent Peter Duff has been tasked with the job of saving money in the Clare area and it was stressed that no decisions on any station closures have been made yet.

Meanwhile, the crime figures in Clare for the first nine months of 2011 have shown a reduction across the board in most categories compared to the same time in 2010. Robberies are down 40 per cent, sexual offences are down 15 per cent and public order offences have also been reduced.

“There is no doubt that the public order reduction has been caused by the economic recession – people don’t have the money to go out that they once had,” said Chief Supt John Kerin. “But that said, we are satisfied with the figures and satisfied that we are working hard to tackle the situaton. Having said that, there is still the equivalent of a burglary a day in County Clare.”

PARKING, or the lack of, is never far from the debate when the health of businesses in Ennis is being discussed. And last Tuesday’s meeting to discuss proposed changes to the Ennis and Environs Development was no exception.

The issue arose when former Mayor of Ennis, councillor Frankie Neylon (Ind), claimed he hadn’t been able to secure free parking for his ‘Super Tuesday’ initiative because the President of Ennis Chamber of Commerce, John Dillane was not in the country.

Super Tuesday took place in Ennis earlier this month. Cllr Neylon put forward the idea as a means of promoting local businesses and encouraging shoppers into the town.

Speaking in the Old Ground Hotel, Cllr Neylon claimed he had wanted parking charges to be suspended for the day. However, he said that when he raised the matter with officials at Ennis Town Council he was told a decision could not be taken because Mr Dillane was in China. This claim was immediately rejected by both Chamber Vice President Brian O’Neill and Chamber CEO Rita McInerney.

Speaking last Wednesday, Ms McInerney confirmed that while Mr Dillane had been away on holidays at the start of September, he returned to the town on September 3, three days before Super Tuesday.

She explained, “He [Mr Dillane] was never contacted about anything to do with free parking and neither was I.” Ms McInerney also confirmed that Mr Dillane had not been in China at the time. The discussion prompted further calls for changes to the system of parking charges in Ennis, which businesses say is essential to bringing more shoppers to the town centre.

Ms McInerney said the introduc- tion of free parking in Limerick city in the lead up to Christmas last year had been a “huge success”. She said councillors had already started calling on Limerick City Council to repeat the policy this year. Aoife Madden, Chairperson of Ennis Development Forum, claimed the high cost of parking is turning shoppers away from Ennis. Addressing local councillors, she said, “If ye can bring down the cost of parking it would bring the people back into town.”

A RECRUITMENT firm in the midwest is bucking the trend and has 200 jobs to offer in multinational companies. CareerWise Recruitment has recruited two new members of staff to cater for a surge in vacancies. The company currently has 200 vacancies on its books as employers in the mid-west are struggling to fill the positions.

An increase of vacancies in the multinational sector has led to an increased flow of business in the midwest. Company director Joe Robbins told The Clare People that the skills required by the various companies in the IT, engineering, pharmaceutical and food sectors are not available. His company deals exclusively with multinational companies.

Mr Robbins said that Ireland is a nation of two economies – one in turmoil and generating job losses, the second buoyant and unable to fill vacancies.

“Food is having a tremendous comeback. We can’t get the people,” said Mr Robbins, who lives in Sixmilebridge and operates a business in Ballycasey, Shannon. “Back in 2001, the tech bubble burst and career guidance teachers were telling people not to do IT or electronics. We had a gap of four to five years when people didn’t study IT or engineering. There is no-one to fill the jobs at the moment. The science graduates are not there to fill the jobs,” he said.

Mr Robbins has companies in the mid-west, Cork, Galway and the Midlands on his books.

“The high skilled graduates are not there. It sounds amazing when 440,000 people are unemployed,” said Mr Robbins. “Building, retail and pubs and nightclubs have had drastic losses but the multinationals have been doing well,” he added.

He said that the companies are receiving numerous applications, but the required skills are not available.

“They don’t have the skills set. We are not getting the right people. There is a shortage of skills and a shortage of people doing science,” he said.

“Despite current job loss announcements, multinational companies are still very much open for business, and recruiting,” he said.

“We are actively updating our database of suitable candidates and are seeking a very broad spectrum of capabilities ranging from management accountants; mechanical design engineers; senior system administrators; human resource generalists; production team leaders; test, software and materials engineers; a senior technical scientist; we need to find people to fill a lot of vacancies.

“It sounds unreal in a time when job loss announcements seem the norm. It’s not the exception that some companies are recruiting; it’s a reality that a large number of multinationals have jobs to fill. Perhaps it’s time to summon some of our emigrants home; we’re doing an executive search to find the right people,” said Mr Robbins.

THE development of a world class tourism attraction would bring more people to Ennis and offer a boost to the town centre, a meeting as heard.

That was the view of John O’Connor of Custy’s music shop who claimed the lack of a major tourist attraction is hurting Ennis. Mr O’Connor, who was a founding member of the Shannon Wings campaign that attracted 5,000 online messages of support for Shannon Airport, was speaking at public meeting in Ennis last week.

Mr O’Connor said there were sociological and economic reasons behind people’s decision to spend money at large shopping developments rather than in city / town centres.

He said that in his view the other issue affecting Ennis was the lack of a “major tourism attraction”, which he said would ensure people spend time in the town centre.

Relocating the Irish Cultural Pavillion to a two-acre site adjacent to Ennis Garda Station and the Franciscan Friary has been put forward as the type of initiative that could bring more tourists to Ennis.

The pavilion plan, which was one of the most popular attractions at Expo Park in China, was suggested by Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG). Cllr Flynn recently asked Ennis Town Council to identify a suitable site in advance of making an application to locate the building and its exhibition permanently in Ennis.

According to a report by former Town Clerk Eddie Power, the site could be considered for major cultural / heritage attraction.

The report states, “The lands are zoned ‘Commercial 1 Town Centre’ in the Ennis and Environs Development Plan 2008-2014 as varied, where it is the policy of the council to allow for a broad range of facilities and services which fulfill a function as a focus for both the community and public transport.”

The report continues, “In this respect the lands are open to consideration to a variety of uses, residential, office, retail etc.

This would include a tourism / cultural venture having regards to the proximity of the site to the Franciscan Abbey.

“Development restriction may apply with regards to the impact any development would have on the adjacent Franciscan Abbey to the west of the site. Archaeological examination would be required,” Mr Power adds.

Mr Power states the lands are being offered for sale at a price “reflecting their commercial development”.

The report concludes that subject to issues surrounding access and traffic management being satisfactorily resolved, “it could be considered a suitable location for a major cultural heritage attraction”.

THE announcement that Shannonbased technology support firm Sykes Enterprises is to shed up to 75 of its works will bring to over 800 the number job losses in the Shannon Free Zone over the past two years as Clare’s unemployment levels reach crisis level.

The jobs losses at the call service company that employs over 50,000 worldwide represents the third time in the last three years that the company that it has sought to downscale its operations here.

The latest round of job losses for Shannon brings to 855 the number that have gone over the past two years – a domino effect that has seen some of the Free Zone’s leading em- ployers shed sizeable numbers of its workforce. The darkest period in Shannon’s jobs history was started in July 2009 when Element Six, formerly De Beers Industrial Diamond Ltd, announced a closure of its Shannon operation with the loss of 370 jobs.

The company blamed “the high cost of operating in Ireland” for its decision to end manufacturing at its plant that was one of the Free Zone’s biggest employers since being established there in 1963.

In October 2009 telecoms firm Technotree shed 80 jobs at its Shannon plant, while in the same month GE Money let 50 of its staff go. A further 207 jobs were lost on ‘Black Thursday’ in October 2010 – 107 at Shannon Aerospace and 100 at scientific publisher Elsevier, while 80 jobs were lost at Shannon insurance firm Lloyds Banking Group in February of this year.

Figures secured by The Clare People reveal that in 2010 there was a net loss of 461 jobs at the Shannon Free Zone, while from a five-year period from 2003 to 2008 there were the figure stood of 250 net job losses.

These contrasting figures hammer home the extent of the hemmorahage of jobs from the county’s flagship industrial base, with the latest round of job cuts coming in the same week as government figures revealed that 15 jobs had been created in the county from the Dell European Globalisation Fund that was established for the region in 2009.

Sykes established in the Shannon Free Zone in 1987 and at its peak of operations employed 380 at the facility, which is one of the company’s 80 global centres.

Sykes’ biggest growth phase came in 2006/2007 when it was one of the fastest growing companies in the mid-west region, with the company’s general manager for Europe, Colin Mitchell saying at the announcement of 100 new jobs, “Sykes Shannon has invested several million in equipment; furniture and fittings and leasehold improvement over the past ten years. This expansion, whilst increasing head count, will also provide an additional revenue flow to the Irish economy in terms of employer/employee contributions, and local spend on professional services, telecommunications and general domestic expenditure.”

MOUNTSHANNON can become Clare’s new international aviation hub drawing thousands of people to the mid-west region and eating into Dublin’s dominant position in the lucrative tourism market.

That’s the claim sounded out this week by Harbour Flights Ireland Ltd after being granted an operational license for a commercial seaplane base on the shores of Lough Derg at Mountshannon.

This is the first approved Com- mercial Sea Plane base in Europe and launches not only a new era in aviation history but a welcome development to the tourist industry,” Harbour Flights’ chief executive Emlyn Heapes told The Clare People .

“Failte Ireland and Shannon Development should be supporting this innovated enterprise which has now taken four years to archive this historical landmark in aviation and in tourism development.

“It will enable Lough Derg to become a major and vibrant tourism market leader as its prime location is perfect for sea plane owners to visit from all across Europe and a fantastic scenic introduction to beautiful Mountshannon and Lough Derg.

“Dublin receives half of our annual tourists with the west of Ireland predominately being a day destination. Our intention is to change this perception and make Dublin the day visit while opening up all of the tourist destinations in the west and have them easily accessible by the sea plane.

“Instead of attraction visits being a full day, with the majority of the visitor’s time being spent on a bus, we will shorten this to being under an hour.

“We are looking at opening the west and not only has our concept attracted the support of Failte Ireland, but we have also engrossed Tourism Ireland in the concept who have stated that it is an innovated tourism idea that they will use to promote tourism aboard,” he added.

Up to 45 new jobs are expected to the created by the Mountshannon based company that’s now set to embark on securing licenses for flights between Dublin Bay, Galway, Limerick, Foynes and Cobh.

The National Flight Centre, currently the largest flight training school in Europe, will also be using the Mountshannon base to establish the only European Aviation Safety Association (EASA) approved ‘Floats’ training base in Europe.

“This exciting development will greatly influence tourism revenue and help create a thriving training base that will attract budding pilots from all over Europe,” revealed Mr Heapes.