Category: News

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.”

A QUIN resident is poised to see his dream come to reality later this year when the government is expected to launch an initiative which will form a solid link between Ireland and America.

Gerry O’Neill, who has lived in Corbally, Quin, for the past 53 years, is a retired employee of Clare County Council. A number of years ago, Gerry – who is a native of Athlone – came up with the idea of presenting an official document which would certify the Irish heritage of those whose ancestors originated in Ireland.

Gerry developed a love for the US through visits to Shannon Airport while working with Clare County Council. He visited the US more than 50 times over the years during which time he developed several connections. Gerry put his idea forward to government officials in 2008 and felt it would provide an economic boost to Ireland through increased visits by those from the US.

Tanáiste Eamon Gilmore said last month that he expected the certificate to be in place by October and was in the process of being established “in direct response to a strong demand for such a scheme from those members of our diaspora who are not entitled to Irish citizenship”.

He said he believed the scheme would provide a practical demonstration of the inclusive approach adopted by successive governments to the di- aspora. However, he stressed that it would not confer any citizenship or other legal rights or entitlements to the successful applicants.

Those who apply for the certificate will be required to submit details of their Irish ancestral connections. Contract negotiations have been completed and it is expected that the process will be finalised in October.

A LOVE for Shannon, coupled with a fascination with the US, are behind an international initiative born in Clare which is expected to be introduced later this year.

81-year-old Gerry O’Neill started out his career in Roscommon County Council before joining Clare County Council in 1958. He moved to Clare as a senior staff officer, dealing mainly with housing and water supplies.

“After a short while in the office I was sent out on the road buying land. I used to go down to Shannon. I was always interested in Shannon. Shannon was a whole series of temporary buildings. Anyone who had a job was working in Shannon. The planes going across the Atlantic were propellor planes.

“I was interested in the Irish. I sat down in Shannon and watched what was going on. I watched people emigrating to America. You were never sure what time a plane was coming in at. People came in from America very well dressed and speaking with fancy accents.

“I got to know Brendan O’Regan. He set up the first duty free shop in the world in Shannon. I was very anxious to go to America and see what America was,” he said.

There the fascination with the US was born. It was developed over the years. His love for Shannon, coupled with his interest in the US, prompted him to set about coming up with an idea to form a permanent link that he hoped would boost Shannon.

In the 60s he looked on as various initiatives were organised in an effort to attract tourists to the mid-west. He feels the formation of a Certificate of Irishness would emulate this in the future.

“Medieval tours were organised and groups visited all the villages along the way like Newmarket-onFergus, Sixmilebridge, Quin and Ballyvaughan. People waved at the buses along the way and made the visitors feel welcome,” he said.

Gerry’s first visit to the US was in 1966 and since then he has built up connections with several people living there. “I went to a Clare Association dinner in New York. There was a huge crowd there, mainly people who went there from Ireland in the 1920s. I heard the band playing The green, green grass of home. I saw old men with tears in their eyes. About 400,000 people left Ireland in the 1920s. There was nothing here so they went to America. I got talking to a few of those. Some of them wanted to come back to Ireland to retire,” he recalled.

Inspired by this, Gerry decided to come up with a way he felt could help those living in the US and at the same time ensuring the Irish economy would be boosted.

“Over the years I brought back a good few people to Ireland and helped them to make contacts to get houses here,” he said.

In 2008, he spotted an article in a national newspaper about the government reaching out to the Irish in the US. He was contacted by a government representative. Arising out of this, he later met with government officials, during which he put forward his idea. He says the proposal was welcomed and is looking forward to it becoming a reality later this year.

He believes a Certificate of Irishness would inspire those with Irish roots to visit here in huge numbers.

“Tourism in Ireland would benefit. They would come all year around,” he said.

THE establishment of a Certificate of Irishness could bring five million tourists to the mid-west region over a ten-year period.

That’s according to Clare County Councillor James Breen, who is strongly in favour of the establish- ment of the scheme, as proposed by Quin resident Gerry O’Neill.

Cllr Breen has endorsed the campaign established by Mr O’Neill and raised the issue at a meeting of Clare County Council last year.

“There are over 80 million people of Irish decent living in the US. I think this can turn Shannon Airport into what it was like in the Brendan O’Regan era,” he said.

He said that if the scheme is put on a firm footing by the government, the mid-west should be given priority, given that it is the brainchild of a man living in County Clare.

“It should be in the mid-west. We should get chartered flights into Shannon again. We want something in the west to make Shannon viable.”

“The idea was hatched in the midwest. There should be a central point in Shannon and people can travel around Ireland from there,” he told The Clare People . “I personally believe that it would bring over five million tourists into Shannon over 10 years. It will lead to strong links being forged,” he said.

He said that the introduction of such a scheme would bring pride to those of Irish ancestry. “Irish people are so proud of their heritage. The economy can be boosted. We can make Shannon Airport viable and into profit.”

A PROPOSAL from the Food Safety Authority to ban the sale of all unpasteurised milk will not effect plans by North Clare farmers to sell milk directly to the consumers. New Quay farmers Brid and Roger Fahy had planned to develop a number of milk dispensers in shops around the North Clare area where people could bring their own reusable containers and buy milk directly from the farmers.

The Fahys, who also own the Linnalla home made ice-cream company, have put the project on hold for the moment because of the recession but do plan to return to the direct sales model in the coming years.

According to Brid Fahy, the proposal put forward by the Food Safety Authority, while unusual, will not hurt their own business.

“The Food Safety Authority seem to want to ban it [the sale of all uspasteurised milk] even though it is something that is on sale commonly in many other countries all over Europe. It does seem to be a strange one but honestly there is very little unpasteurised milk out there,” she said. “I think that it’s is a case of somebody making a job for themselves – there are so few people producing milk which is unpasteurised at the moment. I really don’t think this will make a huge difference for people.

“We haven’t started up the milk vending machines yet but we had planned to put pasteurised milk into that and not unpasteurised. The only difference between our milk and milk that you would buy in a shop is that our milk would not be homogenised – which is something that many people would see as having a lot of health benefits.

“We haven’t been able to go ahead with that plan yet – we have been concentrating on getting the ice-cream business on a firmer footing but milk vending machines are something that we would intend to do in the future.

“Most of the people who want unpasteurised milk really want it because they want unhomogenised milk. In homogenised milk the cream on top or fat cells have become mixed with the milk so that you can’t take the milk without the cream.

“There is a wave against homogenised milk because it is believed that the broken down fat cells can go straight into the blood stream and in that way cause more damage to the body.”

LAST orders have been called for legendary Lahinch publican, Tom Frawley, who has been forced to give up working in his beloved pub because of ill health. Tom, who at 91 years-old was the oldest working publican in Ireland has been forced to call time on his working life after spending the last number of months at a nursing home in Liscannor.

Tom has worked in his world famous pub for more than 80 years having first began to help his mother behind the counter at the age of just 7 years.

DRUNK-DRIVING is more acceptable in Clare than in any other county in Ireland with more than half of all Clare drivers would “take the chance” of driving while possibly still drunk from the previous nights drinking according to a survey from the Automobile Association of Ireland.

According to the survey, which had 14,000 responses and is the largest survey of its kind ever undertaken in Ireland, 52.4 per cent of Clare drivers would drive while still a little drunk compared to 49.8 per cent in Cavan and 49.7 per cent in Limerick.

The survey also revealed that Clare people were the third most likely in Ireland to get into a car with someone who was possible drunk.

Ennis man and head of the Irish Drivers Association, John Lernihan, says that people need their head examined if they get into a car driven by someone who is over the alcohol limit.

“Would you go on a flight with a pilot who had drink taken? I know I wouldn’t. It is the same thing, you could be killed in the car just as easily as a pilot in a plane,” said John.

“Clare is a rural county and people don’t have the public transport which is available to them in Dublin or places like that but there is no excuse to drink and drive. If you are down in a place like Kilbaha, let’s say, and want to go into Kilkee, it just can’t be done with public transport.”

Mr Lernihan has blamed the governments policy of allowing drunk drivers to pay a fine and collect penalty points for putting a price on human lives.

“The idea is to make money. They are saying that it’s okay to chance killing someone by being drunk behind the wheel and people can get away with it by paying a fine. They are doing away with the court route – it’s about fines and penalty points now and that is all about making money for the government,” continued John.

“They are putting a value on people’s lives and I think that this is an insult to the people who have lost loved ones through drunken driving. They are now saying you can take a chance and drink and drive – and buy back your license after that. The Irish Drivers Association would be in favour of a mandatory ban – it is an insult to people and their right, especially those who have lost loved ones.”

PRESIDENTIAL candidate Michael D Higgins made a return to the place he calls home when he visited Newmarket-on-Fergus on Friday.

The Labour party’s choice to contest the presidential election opened the Newmarket Village Carnival, which was headlined by Dublin band Republic of Loose.

Mr Higgins was raised by his uncle and aunt at their home in Ballycar and went to school in St Flannan’s College.

He recalled, “It was really where I was reared. My father, my grandfather and great grandfather are all from Ballycar. My sister lives in Shannon. My brother farms in Ballycar in the home place and his nephews are now building their houses there. It is where I have my roots. I was born in Limerick city because my father had his business there before his health broke but I was reared from the age of five in Ballycar. I went to St Flannan’s so my brother and myself went in and out every day. I was 19 when I left Clare. I worked for a few months in Progress International in Shannon and then I took the offer of a job with the ESB in Galway.”

He added, “So then I worked there for two years and then I went to England and went through university in America and then in England. Then I came back to teach and then I decid ed to give myself to the public world and stand for the Labour Party. But Clare is where my roots are.”

Mr Higgins was speaking in Ennis at the opening of the Ennis Guitar School, a new venture started by another Newmarket native, Mike Varden.

Former Horslips guitarist Johnny Fean was among the musicians who performed at the opening.

Mr Higgins, a former Minister for Culture, said “Clare has a rich tradition in traditional and contemporary music and this guitar school will help to develop and advance this. The Ennis Guitar School is an invaluable resource for the people of Ennis and the surrounding area, allowing its students, young and old, experienced and novice, to embrace the power of music and develop their talent.”

IT LOOKS certain that one of Ireland’s most controversial clerics, Bishop Eamon Casey, will never again say Mass in public after he was taken into a Clare nursing home last week because of ill health.

The former Bishop of Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora has been in a virtual limbo in the parish of Shanaglish on the Clare/Galway border since his return to Ireland in 2006.

Bishop Casey has been technically a practicing priests for the parish but has not been allowed to say Mass locally and has instead had to content himself by saying Mass for himself in his home.

Bishop Casey, who is a popular figure in the locality, was admitted to a Clare nursing home last week for a period of “respite”. One local man, who is a close neighbour of Bishop Casey, says that the disgraced bishop is “a proud man” and is hoping to return to his own home as quickly as possible.

“I was told that he would be making an appearance in the local pub this week, that he would be given a passout for the night, but we will have to wait and see,” said one neighbour.

“I know that the woman from the shop in Gort will be asking me when he [Bishop Casey] be back in to collect his daily paper again. But we don’t know. He is a proud man and I have no doubt that he will want to back to his house in Shanaglish again soon.”

A spokesperson from the Galway Diocese declined to make any statement of the health of Bishop Casey yesterday saying it was a personal matter but did confirm that there had been no change is Bishop Casey’s position regarding saying Mass again locally.

Bishop Casey was one of Ireland’s most popular religious figures before it was discovered that he had fathered a child with an Irish American woman, Annie Murphy, in 1974. This was one of the biggest scandals ever to hit the Irish Church when it came to light in 1992 and prompted Bishop Casey to tender his resignation and leave the country.

After 1992, Bishop Casey then chose to embrace the life of a foreign missionary in South America and worked with members of the Missionary Society of St James in a rural parish in Ecuador.

After a number of years in South America he moved to England before returning again to Shanaglish in 2006.

THE future of Shannon Airport should not be reliant on the activities of the United States military.

That’s according to the Labour Party’s presidential candidate Michael D Higgins who said last week that he thinks “it’s very wrong to be saying to the people of Clare that you approve war under conditions”.

New figures have shown that almost two million US military personnel have passed through Shannon since 2001.

The figures provided by the UD Department of Defence also suggested that the number of flights and personnel traveling through Shannon more than doubled in 2003 when America began its invasion of Iraq.

Asked on Friday for his views on the US military’s continued use of Shannon, Mr Higgins told The Clare People