Category: News

THE announcement of 35 new jobs for Gort could be the first in a series of jobs announcements for the locality, according to the local Chamber of Commerce.

US-based company CareFusion are to add 35 new full-time positions to their medical equipment manufacturing centre in Gort before the end of the year. This company currently employs 90 full-time and 15 contract workers and the latest jobs announcement will swell their number to just under 150 workers.

According to Chamber of Commerce spokesperson and local councillor Gerry Finnerty (FF), this investment proves that the infrastructure is now in place in Gort to cater for large-scale factories and investment. Over the past 12 months, Gort has seen the completion of the Gort/Crusheen bypass, which gives the town motorway access to Shannon Airport, and the local water and sewerage scheme.

“It isn’t so much the number of new jobs. This is a vote of confidence for the area and an indication that we will certainly be able to hold onto the jobs which are already here. The size of this operation now shows that we have the infrastructure here in Gort to attract major companies,” he said.

“We now have the motorway and access to Shannon Airport, which is very important. And we have the new water system and good broadband, which is all very important for attracting business.”

The new jobs are also expected to have a large spin-off for other local businesses, with more money being spent in the locality by the increased factory workers.

CareFusion was established in Gort in 2006 with just 12 staff members. The company now employs more than 15,000 in more than 20 countries worldwide.

Since the Gort/Crusheen bypass opened 10 months ago, the retail sector in the town has seen an increase in trade with better access to the town and a reduction in congestion leading to more people chopping in the area.

A number of businesses in the hospitality sector have seen a reduction, however, with a lessening in the passing trade using local cafes, bars and hotels.

THE match may not live long in the memory but for members of the Tulla Pipe Band the meeting of Ireland and Slovakia in last Friday’s European Championship qualifier was certainly an unforgettable experience.

After years of performing at some of the country’s biggest sporting and cultural events, the band played for over 40,000 fans and an international television audience of millions when they performed the national anthems of the respective nations at the Aviva Stadium.

The band were invited to perform after impressing Football Association of Ireland (FAI) CEO John Delaney during a visit to Tulla in July. An invitation for a first ever performance at the old Lansdowne Road was extended to the band by the FAI through Tulla United.

Club players and officials accompanied the 26 band members and assistant treasurer Mary Boland to Dublin on Friday.

“We got there at 5pm on the button and the bus pulled into the tunnel in the stadium. I suppose it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to get into the heart of the stadium,” recalled band Chairman Fintan Leamy.

The band ran through a 20-minute sound check and rehearsal before returning to their dressing room beside the Slovakian national team.

Fintan said, “They were right next door to us. They came out to try and warm up in the warm up area where we had left our equipment and instruments. I think it obstructed them. I don’t know if they were put there for tactical reasons!”

The band spent six weeks preparing for the event, making sure their performance conformed to the strict requirements of television schedules.

He continued, “We were back out on the pitch at exactly 7.29pm, that was our time slot to be out on the field. The playing of the two anthems came in at around 2mins 30secs and we had to shorten it by about 10-15 seconds…It was the most technically managed event we ever played at.”

Fintan added, “We had it all very well rehearsed. From the gate to the pitch in Tulla is almost the exact same length as the tunnel in the Aviva. We were 100 per cent prepared.”

While Slovak fans gave a rapturous response to the band’s version of ‘Lighting over the Tatras’, Fintan said the players weren’t sure what to make of it.

He explained, “The Slovak players were a little surprised on hearing their anthem played on pipe music. The fans were certainly rejoicing in it. It’s normally played in an orchestral band format. It was a totally new sound (for them).”

Band members were congratulated on their performance by John Delaney and former Republic of Ireland international Ray Houghton.

Fintan said he hopes the high profile association with the world of international soccer will help attract a new generation of musicians to the band who this year celebrate 75 years in existence.

He added, “Any band would love the exposure. It’s great advertising. Certainly we would love to do it again.”

A FORMER Mayor of Kilrush is to take the fight against the centralistation of local government services in Ennis to the floor of a public meeting of his local town council this week, in a move which is expected to receive the unanimous backing of fellow members of the council.

Cllr Tom Prendeville has lashed out at what he calls “the diminuition of services” in the west Clare capital, following the recent move that requires drivers wishing to renew their motor tax to do so by way of the internet only, rather than through a facility that was available to them in Kilrush.

Speaking ahead of his motion before the September meeting of Kilrush Town Council, the Fianna Fáil councillor blasted the decision to remove the motor tax renewal facility from the local Town Hall in Kilrush.

Cllr Prendeville has highlighted what he calls the “lack of consultation” with people in west Clare and its local representatives before the decision to remove the Kilrush facility was made, labelling it evidence of “the centralisation of services to Clare County Council headquarters in Ennis”.

Cllr Prendeville has called on Clare County Council “to restore the motor tax service which was available under the much-vaunted ‘one-stopshop initiative in the Town Hall until recent weeks.

“From now onwards, members of the public are being asked to renew their road tax online, even though a great majority of car-owners don’t have access to internet facilities.

“The removal of the service is an inconvenience to west Clare and is being seen as a further centralisation of services to Áras an Chontae and it is a source of regret that public consultation was not entered into before the service was withdrawn,” he added.

THE Chairman of Ennis Tidy Towns says he is happy Ennis has retained its “elite” status after the town won county and regional honours at the National Tidy Towns awards yesterday.

Ennis placed fifth overall, scoring a total of 307 points, just three marks shy of winners Killarney. Ennis won a county award, the mid-west regional award and a gold medal.

The county capital also narrowly missed out on reclaiming the prize for Ireland’s tidiest large urban centre, with the honour going to the home of the newly crowned All-Ireland hurling champions, Kilkenny.

“I was talking to one of the adjudicators and he said it was only a toss of a coin, there was only one point between us. It’s Kilkenny’s year, I suppose. We had won it a few times and we were hoping to get it back. But we’re quite happy,” explains Ennis Tidy Towns Chairman, Noel Crowley.

The adjudicator’s report praised Ennis for it’s “structured approach to ongoing developments in the town.”

It continues, “There are many examples of good planning policy, good design and imaginative and colourful presentations dispersed throughout. New developments have integrated well and have strengthened the traditional identity and ethos of your historical location, while continuing an important programme of development for the youth. Well done on your success in the Tidy Towns competition, which is well deserved.”

Mr Crowley says, “We were fifth out of 820, which is no mean achievement. It’s hard to stay at the top because you only climb up incrementally.”

“To stay at the top is the hardest thing to do. The mark we got this year would have it won it last year and the year before that. So we’re happy to stay at the elite end of the competition,” he adds.

On the area of litter control in Ennis, the report states, “Your litter programme is working well, considering that the town hosted a number of events over the weekend. The employment of litter wardens is a very good initiative as is your campaign of promoting civic pride through your liaison with the Green Schools and the Spring Day Programmes. Once again the main streets were generally litter free while some back areas had small scatterings of litter. The river area looked very well.”

The report also compliments the efforts of local residents associations.

It states, “The various initiatives you have undertaken in this category are effective. Categorising areas for competition and the holding of prizegiving ceremonies is a great way of promoting environmental issues in the many housing estates in your town.

“This adjudicator was very impressed with new developments at Cloughleigh including the HSE Community Resource House and the new playground. The announcement name sign of the various estates and many individual colourful private gardens were admired here. Well done on this effort.”

Mr Crowley hopes the unveiling of four new statues in the coming months will boost Ennis’ chances of landing the top prize next year.

He also thanked all those who had contributed to Ennis’ ongoing success in the competition, saying, “Everyone in Ennis is part of this. It’s not the committee. It’s everyone.”

IT’S 30 years now since Clare first scaled the heights of the National Tidy Towns when Mountshannon brought the overall title home for the first time ever, but it’s in the last decade that the county has showcased itself as one of the leading lights of the hugely prestigious competition that dates from 1958.

Figures secured by The Clare People this week give a breakdown of how far the county has come in 10 years – from the smallest centres like Bridgetown with less than 200 of a population through to the county capital of Ennis that has emerged as the flagship of Clare Tidy Towns in recent years.

Firstly, it’s in terms of participat- ing centres, with the numbers of towns and villages taking part in the competition having mushroomed in recent years on the back of greater community involvement and awareness of the importance of the local environment.

In 2002, the number of entries from Clare was 27, but in the intervening decade that has risen by 22 per cent, with 34 entries in 2011, but more significant than that rise in participation has been a huge jump in the standard of entries from Clare.

Pride of place in this regard goes to centres like Ballynacally – 10 years ago it returned an overall mark of 218, but in the intervening period has made rapid strides through the ranks of Tidy Towns in the county, winning a Gold Medal in this year’s event af- ter returning a hugely impressive mark of 305.

Once again, Ennis has proven itself to be Clare’s most consistent Tidy Towns performer, winning a Gold Medal in every year over the past decade. Ennis’ drive to the top started at the beginning of the decade and culminated with overall victory in 2005, while they’ve maintained those high standards since then, winning the Tidiest Large Urban Centre Award in 2006 through to another Gold Medal-winning performance this year.

Meanwhile, Mountshannon’s enduring involvement in Tidy Towns received national recognition once more thanks to their Silver Medalwinning performance, 30 years after they blazed a trail for the county by winning the overall award.

At the presentation of the awards in Dublin on Monday, Minister for the Environment, Phil Hogan, praised those from Clare who participated in this year’s competition.

“I continue to be impressed by the dedication and enthusiasm of all those involved in the Tidy Towns effort,” he said. “These people volunteer their time and effort, year on year, in order to make their communities better places.

“The results of their efforts are to be seen in attractive, well cared for towns and villages throughout the country. It is clear that working together, getting out there and getting things done increases peoples’ pride in where they live and helps to build stronger communities,” he added.

WEST Clare fared well in the national Tidy Towns results announced yesterday, with two of the three gold medals heading there.

Kilrush and Ballynacally – along with Ennis – took gold medals, having recorded impressive results.

Ballynacally recorded the county’s second highest score of 305 points (Ennis earned 307), which was just five points behind the overall national winners Killarney. Kilrush re- ceived 303 points. Kilrush increased their scores from last year by three and improved in the areas of landscaping, litter control and the built environment.

A three-point increase was also handed to Ballynacally, which increased points in the areas of landscaping, the built environment and wildlife and natural amenities.

The adjudicators were pleased with both areas and described Ballynacally as “a lovely rural village still retaining a good quantity of traditional farm buildings”.

“Ballynacally is a charming village retaining its original character and scale while developing a modern style and outlook,” noted the adjudication report.

In Kilrush, the adjudicators noted the improvement in the town, where “new buildings superbly integrated alongside the fine old structures”. St Senan’s Church and the grotto were pointed out, having impressed the adjudicators, who described the town’s work as a “truly wonderful effort”.

“The Vandeleur Walled Gardens are a unique attraction and the resurfacing of the access road here is an impressive project,” noted the adjudication report.

“Kilrush has a large number of incidental open spaces widely dispersed throughout the town and they are presented to a high standard. The production of bedding plants is an admirable scheme. Your plans to develop more sustainable planning augur well for the future,” added the report.

THE PEOPLE of Bridgetown were over the moon last night after scooping their very first accolade in the national Tidy Towns competition.

Bridgetown won the endeavour award after increasing its score from 254 points last year to 259 this time around. The success was put down to the strong community spirit locally.

The adjudicators visited Bridgetown in June and were very happy with the work done by the small committee in the village which is populated by around 200 people.

Points were increased in a number of categories including landscaping; wildlife and natural amenities; litter control; waste minimisation and also the condition of the residential areas.

Chairperson of the Tidy Towns committee, Mary Duggan said this was the first award during 15 years’ participation in this competition. It comes on foot of the area winning first place in its category in the countywide ‘Clare in Bloom’ competition earlier in the year.

“We are delighted. We didn’t expect anything,” said Ms Duggan. “We have a lovely green area, lovely church grounds and school grounds. They are all top class,” she said.

Mary works closely with Tony Horan, Brid Drew and Aidan Toomey in ensuring the locality looks its best all year round.

“We just kept going with the high standard of what we have been doing over the years. It’s all about commitment really,” she said.

“We focused on grass cutting, keeping the kerbs litter free and painting the creamery,” she said.

The adjudicators were pleased with a number of initiatives undertaken by the local committee and stated that the village green has a “striking appearance”.

“Bridgetown village has an attractive layout radiating out from the old stone bridge on both sides,” the adjudication report noted.

It congratulated the local primary school on securing a green flag. “It was good to see one (Green flag) flying proudly this year. We congratulate all concerned on this achievement,” stated the report.

The Church and adjoining burial grounds were praised, while the Marian Grotto was described as pro- viding a “welcoming atmosphere”.

“The various approach roads are certainly your strength and have a lovely variety of stone walls, hedgerows and mature trees. The Clonboy Estate approach is spectacular and still retains its original formal character. The sloping green at the village centre is a delight and makes an immediate visual impact on the visitor,” stated the adjudicators, in their report.

“Your successful liaison with the local school is heartening and perhaps bodes well for the future,” added the report.

SHANNON improved by three points in their Tidy Towns scoring this year, much to the delight of the hard-working committee.

A core group of four or five people meet at the town hall every Monday night and focus on keeping the town as clean as possible. Their efforts were rewarded when the results were announced yesterday evening, when 275 points were awarded, compared with 272 last year.

Improvements were made in a number of areas including landscaping, wildlife and natural amenities and litter control, while the residential areas impressed the adjudicators. The overall development approach dropped by one point this year – it moved down from 47 points to 46 out of a maximum of 50.

The PRO of the Tidy Towns committee in the town, Olive Bowen, said the result pleased everybody. “We are delighted. It is very, very hard to get a point. We are thrilled. Seven or eight years ago we were losing points. There was a lot of construction then. To go up three is excellent,” she said. “The focus now is back to work, no celebrating! We love doing it. We have great old banter,” said Olive. “Hail, rain or snow, we will meet at the Town Hall at 7 o’clock every Monday night.”

Among those who help out every week are founding member Tess Barry, her son Fintan, Olive Bowen, Gerry Fogarty and Joe Hogan.

The adjudicators’ report congratu- lated the committee on liaising with the local schools to improve the area. The hotels and restaurants were praised for their various features and colour co-ordination.

“Your committee has undertaken an impressive amount of planting. The flower beds along Bóthar Mór provide a nice splash of colour and impress the visitor on arrival. The town has vast areas of green spaces and parks and these were generally well maintained and presented to a high standard,” noted the adjudicators. “The landscaping presentation at the Town Hall was excellent and set a very high standard. A fine feature of the town is the many well presented Irish name signs,” added the report.

The information board on flora and fauna near the Wetlands project was also congratulated and was described as “educational”.

“As a rural town, Shannon is rich in natural wildlife, green areas and habitats and perhaps a good way of raising awareness of environmental issues amongst the local community would be for the committee to further liaise with the local schools to encourage local wildlife surveys,” advised the adjudicators.

The committee was congratulated for its efforts on litter control. The residential areas throughout the town were also praised for their good standard of presentation and maintenance. “Your ongoing promotion of estates competitions is a very good initiative and can only have an increased beneficial effect over time,” stated the report.

THE Tidy Towns Committee in Corofin has seen a massive influx of new members over the past 12 months. These new members, along with a core group of experienced locals, have helped guide the village to an impressive 254 points in this year’s competition.

“We have managed to pack about five years’ work into one year so we are very happy. It’s been a great year, a lot of new people have come on board and that has really helped take it to the next level,” said Marie Nealon of the Corofin Tidy Towns Committee.

“We’ve also had a lot of skilled local professionals, stonemasons and wall builders, who gave their time for free to the Tidy Towns which re- ally helped as well.

“It is great to have the competition to focus on. These results will help us get an idea of what we need to work on for future years. They will give us something to build on and something that we can aim to improve on next year and the year after.”

The Corofin Tidy Towns group meets every Tuesday and Wednesday evening in the car park beside the Corofin Hostel from 7pm. Everyone is welcome.

A LIBYAN man who has lived in Ennis for almost 12 years has recalled how he made a dramatic escape from the fallen regime of Muammar Gadaffi.

Salaheddin Attia Elkurdi, a former aircraft engineer with the Libyan air force, recently returned to Ennis af ter spending a couple of weeks in his home town of Benghazi, providing logistical support for the rebel army there.

Despite the volatility and danger that still exists in parts of Libya, Salaheddin says, “I returned to my country to see what happened and to see my family. I found everything okay. People need to help the country.”

A former student at Clare VEC adult education centre, Salaheddin moved to Ennis after escaping the Gadaffi regime in the late 1990s.

After studying in the Soviet Union, Salaheddin became an officer in the Libyan air force. In 1981 he and members of the armed forces were accused of plotting a coup. He spent eight years in a Libyan prison before being among a group of hundred or so prisoners released in 1988 following pressure from the United Nations. He lived in Libya but remained under the watch of the regime. After being interrogated by Gadaffi forces in 1997, Salaheddin feared for his life. He fled to Turkey and eventfully made it to Ireland in 1999. He admits that he is lucky to be alive.

He was one of the first refugee students to study at the adult education centre in 2001. Salaheddin, who has since gained Irish citizenship, studied electronics with FÁS and was offered a place at Limerick Institute of Technology.

A married father of two, both of Salaheddin’s children attend primary school in Ennis. He says, “Ireland is my country. The hospitality from people in Ennis is very good.”

Salaheddin hopes to return to live with his family in Libya.

He adds, “The people are okay. The people are excited. When it started, the people fight for freedom and they die for freedom. They don’t think about themselves. They fight and many of our friends die. Our family also have some people that died, but it’s nothing for the freedom of Libya. I think if a million people die in this war, it’s nothing for Libya.”