Category: News

WEST Clare tourism has received a huge shot in the arm this week thanks to the decision by Shannon Development to keep the its tourist office in Kilrush open for a month longer than previous years.

The move by the state agency to keep the tourist office that located on Frances Street in town comes on the back of what was a good tourist season in West Clare and the expectation that this strong showing can continued for the month of September.

Shannon Development, which has responsibility for operating tourist centres in Kilrush, Kilkee and Ennis, confirmed that extended opening hours had been put in pace in at the Kilrush centre “to meet a demand that’s out there for the service”.

And, The Clare People can reveal that the success of the Loophead Lighthouse initiative has been the main driving force for ensuring that tourism in the West Clare catchment area has been boosted in 2011.

“The Kilrush Tourist Information Office was due to close at the beginning of September but with the phenomenal success of the Loop Head Lighthouse in attracting visitors to the area we have decided to extend the opening until the end of September,” revealed Siobhan King, Shannon Development Tourism Officer for the county.

“We are doing this to facilitate additional visitors who are being drawn to the area. To-date almost 15,000 visitors have been attracted to this wonderful heritage site and we intend to do all we can to maximise on this.”

The tourist office was to close last Wednesday, August 31, but will now remain open for seven days a week on the back of the success of the Loophead initiative. It’s opening hours are 10am to 1pm and 2pm to 6pm from Monday to Saturday and from 10am to 2pm on Sundays.

Meanwhile, the Shannon Development operated tourist centre in Kilkee has closed after a three-month season. It re-opened on June 1 last and operated from 9.30am to 5.30pm from Tuesday to Saturday of each week, despite fears locally that there would be reduced opening hours which would eventually lead to its permanent closure.

Now after a successful season, the local Chamber of Commerce is set to ramp up its campaign to have the tourist office moved from its traditional O’Connell Street home to the newly renovated Sweeney Memorial Library, which is set to re-open in 2012.

AIR QUALITY issues have emerged yet again in Shannon, according to local residents in the town.

The town has been plagued by concerns over unsavoury smells emanating in recent years. In March of this year, the Environmental Protection Agency put monitoring measures in place and recorded a result of ‘good’ at the time. This was upgraded to the top possible result of ‘very good’ last month, and the latest figures are set to be made available later this week.

The EPA’s mobile laboratory, which is located in the town, actively analy ses the quality of air in the town and surrounding areas. This is part of a comprehensive assessment of air quality in all major cities and towns in Ireland.

However, Fine Gael Senator Tony Mulcahy, who first brought the issue to the public’s attention several years ago, said that there have been several complaints in recent weeks over odours. “We have a very bad sewage smell and an unsavoury pungent odour. I have had complaints from Smithstown and the lower half of the town; Ballycasey and Tullyvarraga. I am getting a very bad sewage smell myself,” said Mr Mulcahy, who lives in the town. “I am getting complaints about a pungent odour at weekends. A few people have rang me with the same thing,” he said.

“If it is a sewage issue we need it cleaned up as soon as possible. We need it identified,” he said. “Up until now there hasn’t been an issue but in the last two weeks there has been a smell. We had a similar issue last year. It is something we need to resolve. We need to establish where they are coming from,” said Mr Mulcahy.

When the EPA announced the measure in March, it indicated that the initiative would continue for up to a year. The assessment was started, on foot of requests from local town councillors. This assessment is done via a trailer which is located at the rear of the civic offices in Shannon. Analysers are contained in the trailer and these are read on a regular basis.

In addition to the trailers that are moved from one location to another, there is also a fixed network whereby a number of sites nationwide are monitored on a continuous basis. One of those sites is Ennis. Concentrations of oxides of nitrogen, sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide and benzene and toluene are being measured. The index is based on four parameters – sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone and particulate matter.

According to data from the EPA, there was one exceedance of particulate matter to-date this year.

THREE local companies will be rewarded for their ingenuity this Thursday with the first ever Innovation in the Community Awards. The awards, which are being organised by Gort solicitor and cleric abuse campaigner Eileen McMahon, aim to recognise local businesses who use the natural resources available in the west of Ireland to good effect.

The identity of the three shortlisted business are as yet unknown but they are drawn from more than a dozen local companies in Clare and South Galway.

“One of my interests in dealing with people who suffered from trauma. When I set up my complementary health business, I tried to source products from Ireland and the local areas and there wasn’t really anything around. I had to import everything from the UK. I think we should be using more of our resources and trying to creat things which are based locally. That is what sparked the idea,” said Eileen. “I was interest in any ideas from the community. Whether someone is a cleaner or the head of a million pound company, there is no telling where the good ideas will come from. Often times it is people in the front line of a business, people who are dealing with a problem on a daily basis, are the people who are able to find a good way of getting around that problem.”

The awards night will take place at the Lady Gregory Hotel in Gort this Wednesday from 7pm. The guest speakers on the night will include Bobby Kerr from the Dragon’s Den, Eileen herself and Richard Griffin, who is a specialist in power generation. “The idea of the competition is to get people to think. For them to look around their area and think how they could survive if they couldn’t get something from outside their area,” continued Eileen.

“The idea is to help local people who have good ideas to be able to take that idea forward. A lot of companies are coming into Ireland and setting up, and that is fine but I think we need to look more about creating something for ourselves.”

Winners of the competition will be announced on the night. For information or to book a table for the finals night call 091 632426.

TWO tragedies marred the summer on the county’s waters.

After a busy summer on the county’s beaches, the 30 lifeguards completed their final tasks of 2010 at the weekend.

The lifeguards at the county’s beaches finished their duties for this year at the end of August, but those at the busiest beaches – Lahinch, Kilkee, Spanish Point and Fanore worked until Sunday evening.

There were two tragedies on the waters in Clare – the death of a Limerick woman while out swimming near Liscannor in June and the death of a man while out fishing in Kilkee two weeks ago – during the summer.

A number of rescues took place during the summer months, the most serious of which were in Spanish Point after two people got into difficulty in separate swimming incidents.

The county’s Water Safety Officer Liam Griffin reflected on the summer, saying, “The weather wasn’t as good as we would like to see. There were a number of rescues. There were a couple at Spanish Point that were quite serious.”

A number of other rescues also took place in Lahinch and Fanore. Lifeguards also had to deal with several missing children in several of the seaside resorts in Clare.

“We had 30 lifeguards on duty covering 12 different beaches; four in Lahinch, four in Kilkee, three in Spanish Point, three in Fanore and two at the others,” he said.

The other beaches covered were Bishop’s Quarter in Ballyvaughan; Doolin; White Strand, Miltown Malbay; Seafield, Quilty; Whitestrand, Doonbeg; Cappagh, Kilrush; Ballycuggeran and Mountshannon.

Mr Griffin stressed the importance of swimming in public areas over the coming months when the lifeguards are off duty.

“In many cases, people are not aware of the dangers of the water. If people are in strange places, they should ask locals. People who lose their lives in the West Clare area are not locals. Locals know and appreciate the dangers and will help,” said Mr Griffin.

“The advice is to go to areas regularly frequented by other users and don’t go swimming in isolated areas. If you are going boating, life jackets are vital. They are not expensive to buy,” he said.

TRADERS in Ennis are pulling out all stops today in a bid to give the retail trade the kind of boost that can have the domino effect of bringing more people into the county capital to do their shopping.

As part of the ‘Super Tuesday’ initiative that has been pioneered by Cllr Frankie Neylon and Mayor of Ennis, Michael Guilfoyle, traders have come up with a host of promotions in a bid to attract an influx of shoppers to the town.

“It’s a very basic thing,” says the chairman of O’Connell Street Traders, Gearóid Mannion. “It’s an attempt by councillors Neylon and Guilfoyle to do their bit to help the retailers and traders a bit of a boost, to try and generate a bit of excitement and enthusiasm and create a buzz on what might be expected to be a normally quiet enough Tuesday.

“The idea is that business in town would offer something small for free, or a special offer, or a small discount, two for one, or whatever might be. In the case of Tom Mannion Travel, if you buy a holiday, you get free travel insurance,” he added.

“It’s not about giving away big things. There are no flat screen televisions here. It’s something very small to try and generate something that’s brought about by the collective strength of traders themselves.”

The idea for a ‘Super Tuesday’ was first floated by Cllr Neylon at a meeting of Ennis Town Council in July, and since then the former town mayor has spearheaded its implementation along with current mayor, Cllr Michael Guilfoyle.

“The response we have got to the idea has been great,” says Cllr Neylon. “We sent fliers around and the feedback we got was that this was something businesses wanted to do to try and bring more people into the town.

“The idea is that instead of making a profit for the day that they might make a customer. It’s to have a special day. They can do whatever they want. It’s left totally to themselves to do what they want. We want each trader to have their own Super Tuesday – they can do what ever kind of promotion they want with their business,” he adds. “One of the better aspects about the whole thing is that every business is not doing the same thing. It has been embraced by the business community in the town and the good thing about this that it could become an annual thing.

“It’s trying to create the incentive for people to come into the town to shop and then try and keep them coming back,” he adds.

GARDAÍ are investigating the seizure of four kilos of methadrone, a heroin substitute, in two connected hauls over the weekend. The total value of the drug is almost € 175,000.

The first two kilos was seized by gardaí during the search of a car on the Tulla Road in Ennis last Thursday afternoon.

In a follow-up search, another two kilos of the drug was seized in a bog in the Ballymaley area on Saturday evening. The drugs discovered in each seizure is valued at approximately € 87,000, according to gardaí.

A man in his 40s, from county Clare, was arrested at the scene on Thursday. He was detained at Ennis Garda Station, before being released without charge on Saturday evening. A file is being prepared by gardaí for the DPP’s office.

Gardaí say that the amount of this type of drug – which was sold in the head shops nationwide prior to their closure last year – is significant.

The head of the Clare Garda Division Chief Superintendent John Kerin said gardaí are continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding the seizures of the cheaper substitute for heroin.

“This is the first significant seizure in Clare and we are not aware of too many of them around the country. It’s unusual in this regard,” he said. He described the amount seized as “surprising”. “It is a substitute for heroin and is very addictive. The amount found is quite surprising. We would never have come across anything of this nature previously,” he said. “People of any age group who are sampling them are likely to get addicted. People were using them and there were all kinds of bad reactions to them and they have led to the commission of crime. It has serious side effects and has been known to be involved in the commission of crime, criminal damage and attempted suicide,” he said. “They can be even more addictive than heroin and cocaine,” he said. “We are delighted to take it off the streets. It’s worrying that we have a quantity like this,” he said. This significant seizure follows six seizures of small quantities of the drug from individuals during random searches by gardaí in recent months.

PLANS to pump water from the River Shannon to supply the Dublin region could have “significant impacts” on fish populations, according to Inland Fisheries Ireland.

Dublin City Council has unveiled plans that if passed would result in 410m litres of water a day being taken from the Shannon at Lough Derg during periods of flooding and when conditions are suitable.

In a submission to the council, the fisheries board states that the estimat ed € 500 million project would affect water levels, having an “effect on the lake shore line with fluctuations in water levels which could have significant impacts on spawning success of coarse fish populations”.

The submission continues, “In the fisheries context we still have concerns about the impact on the lake, the fish habitat and fish in particular. An in-depth fish survey of the lake would be required, with particular emphasis on the Irish Pollan.”

The council states, “Modelling results demonstrate abstractions from Lough Derg will not result in changes to current operating lake levels as outlined in the ‘Regulations and Guidelines for Control of the River Shannon’. The proposed abstraction can be off-set by Ardnacrusha generation activities (with ESB approval), which can be modified to compensate for marginal reductions in flows.”

On concerns over the impact on fish habitats, it states, “The proposed abstraction from northern Lough Derg will be managed in conjunction with the availability of external storage at Garryhinch cutaway bog.” The report continues, “The proposed use of external storage (as per recommended Option F2) enables poten tial environmental issues resulting from residence time increases during low flow periods to be minimised/ eliminated (e.g. nutrient flushing and phytoplankton ecology), which have potential knock-on influences up through the trophic levels.”

KILRUSH was once considered as a potential site for the Harland & Wolff shipyard, but it’s as close as the West Clare capital came to the Titanic – the ill-fated White Star Line ship that came to a watery end on the Atlantic 100 years ago next April.

Until now that is, because this Tuesday – 150 years after Harland & Wolff nearly made a home for itself in Kilrush – the Titanic is finally coming to West Clare thanks Jackie Whelan’s West Clare Railway in Moyasta that’s being given a lead part in new documentary on the most famous vessel in maritime history.

International distributor ZDF Enterprises is co-producing a € 1.6 million documentary on the men below the Titanic’s deck with Irish production company Tile Films and German-based Gebrüder Beetz Filmproduktion.

“They’ve come to the West Clare for a couple of reasons,” Whelan told The Cla re People this week. “I have the only steam-operated engine in the country and the final journey made by a lot of people before they boarded the Titanic was on a steam train. “They are re-enacting that scene, while they also want to film the boiler we have in the Slieve Callan engine, because in many ways its similar to the boilers that were used to power the Titanic,” added Whelan. Saving the Titanic, which will be available to mark the 100th anniversary of the ship’s sinking on April 14, 2012, will use eyewitness accounts to tell the story of six engineers who were below the Titanic’s deck. The production budget is more than € 1.6 million and will include largescale re-enactments and computer generated imagery to bring to life the last hours of the Titanic. The Irish/German co-production is being funded by ZDF Enterprises, RTÉ, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland and the Irish Film Board. “It’s great that they’re coming back to the West Clare,” said Whelan. “Four or five different film crews have been here for filming and it’s great publicity for what we are trying to do,” he added. The West Clare Railway’s first brush with film came back in 1956 when acclaimed Holywood director John Ford used the narrow gauge railway to film

DETAILS of a major infrastructure project that would see water taken from the River Shannon to supply homes and businesses in the Dublin region have gone on public display.

According to Dublin City Council, the recommended preferred scheme would involve the “abstraction of raw water from northern Lough Derg on the River Shannon and pumping of raw water from Lough Derg to Garryhinch cutaway bog, owned by Bord na Mona, located near Portarlington”.

The report explains that there would be “Large scale storage of raw water within Garryhinch cutaway bog and treatment facilities at the site to produce potable water; Delivery of treated water to a termination reservoir in the Dublin region and onward delivery of treated water from the termination reservoir to Saggart and Peamount service reservoirs.”

If passed by An Bord Pleanála, the plan would see abstraction “from north eastern Lough Derg of up to 410Ml/d of raw water (when Shannon flow conditions permit), pumping in a twin rising main to large raw water storage at Garryhinch, treatment at Garryhinch and treated water transmission to Dublin, mid-east and midlands regions.”

According to the Water Supply Project report, the storage of raw water will secure water supplies “while supporting the development of water- based amenities and environmental parks with knock-on tourism benefits for the midlands as a secondary benefit.”

The report continues, “Proposed eco-tourism facilities at the site are being modelled on similar facilities which were created at Rutland in the UK by Anglian Water where bird watching, angling and water sports have considerably enhanced the economic earning potential of the region.”

Proposed uses for the site at Garryhinch include dingy sailing, kayaking, bird watching, kite surfing and ecology zones. Details of the plan along with a strategic environmental assessment are available at the offices of Clare County Council.

ONE of east Clare’s largest employers, Beckman Coulter, is seeking up to 20 voluntary redundancies from its plant in O’Callaghan’s Mills as part of a major restructuring of the company.

The redundancies are to be spread between the company’s two Irish plants – the O’Callaghan Mills facility which employs 180 people, and a facility in Galway City which employs 190.

These redundancies are the first part of a major restructuring of the company which could lead to a closure of one of the two plants, with operations to be consolidated in ei- ther Galway or east Clare.

According to Clare SIPTU spokesperson Mary O’Donnell, who is working with the Beckman Coulter employees in O’Callaghan’s Mills, it looks likely that there will be enough staff members willing to take redundancy at this time.

However, SIPTU officials in Clare and Galway are monitoring the situation and hope to interact with Beckman Coulter management concerning any possible closure.

“At this point, we have the impression that there will be enough people to take up the voluntary redundancies so there is no plan for any union actions at this point,” she said.

“We are also monitoring the situa- tion regarding the proposed closure of one of the facilities. At this point, we have been given no timetable for when a decision on that is likely to take place.”

In a statement to all staff last week, Beckman Coulter president Bob Hurley said that eight per cent of the company’s 12,000 employees, or just under 1,000 employees, would be affected by the restructuring.

He said that management of the company were in the process of “making many tough decisions” about the future of the company and that any lay-off in facilities outside the US would “follow all local laws and legal requirements”.

Beckman Coulter was bought by Washington-based technology firm Danaher last July and have been in the process of a major restructuring of operations since then.

These latest job losses for O’Callaghan’s Mills come after 59 employees were let go at the facility in 2009.

These lay-offs were made following Beckman Coulter’s acquisition of the facility from Olympus Life Sciences in August of that year.

The reduction came when Beckman Coulter had to choose between getting rid of its Immunoassay Departments in either Clare or Galway. The factory has existed in the Lismeehan area of O’Callaghan’s Mills for more than 30 years.