Category: News

“BUT generally I think it is to do with the place that that we are living, the expectations that we have for life and how things – like the recession – are affecting that,” said ACCORD counselling manager Stephen Cummins.

“Things like the recession have put people under a lot of pressure – not just financial pressure but also time pressure if someone is out there trying to make ends meet or save a business.

“A lot of times, couples who had been working hard through the good years have found that they have been thrown back together, with one or both losing their job. If people are in each other’s faces more often than they had been before, that can be a very awkward situation for them – something that can take a bit of getting used to.”

A total of 12 local relationship counsellors are employed at the ACCORD office on Harmony Row in Ennis. The service is open to all couples – both married and unmarried – who feel that their relationship would benefit from some professional help.

Besides the effects of the recession, distrust brought about by one partner’s activities online is the fastest growing cause of marital instability, according to ACCORD. With many people unemployed and finding themselves with spare time and the widespread availiblity of broadband enabling people to browse online, the temptations here can cause unrest, says Stephen.

“People can be attracted into it quite innocently but the danger is that it can take over your life. It can be very innocent – people going online to buy things without really realising that they cannot afford it, for example.

“The problem is when this becomes a secret compulsion, and a wife or husband is not aware that their spouse is going online and spending money,” continued Stephen.

Recent reports nationally suggest that online gambling and addictions to internet pornography are having detrimental effects on marriages – most likely, says Stephen, because couples do not discuss their problems.

“Communication is the real key. Real communication can help a couple to deal with an awful lot of other difficulties. But if you can’t communicate properly together, how can you deal with other issues? People can take each other for granted – but they just need to realise that no one has the perfect marriage and everybody needs to work at it,” he added.

ACCORD is the largest relationship counselling agency in Ireland. Their Ennis offices can be contacted on 065 6824297.

A BELARUSSIAN infant who’s life-saving operation was paid for by money raised by the Burren Chernobyl Project in Clare has finally returned home this week – safe and well after her year-long ordeal.

The parents of baby Eva Razenkova were told last November that their 17-month-old daughter would be dead before Christmas if more than € 20,000 could not be found to fund a life-saving operation for their daughter.

After spending their life savings to get Eva the tests which diagnosed the condition, her parents, Yuri and Veronika Razenkova, came to the Burren Chernobyl Project for help. The couple had already raised more than € 20,000, or the equivalent of 15 years’ salary for the average worker in Belarus, to go towards the operation but had exhausted all their avenues of fundraising.

After an intensive fundraising effort the Burren Chernobyl Project were able to donate € 20,000 to help save Eva’s life – € 10,000 from money raised in Clare in just two weeks and a further € 10,000 from the group’s own emergency response fund.

Baby Eva went under the knife in a Belgian hospital Wednesday, December 8, in an attempt to correct a cholestatic hepatitis along with a number of cardiac abnormalities which, specialists say, would have killed the infant before Christmas if left untreated.

The operation, which was risky in its own right, was a success and after recuperating in Belgium for the last number of month, Eva, who has just turned 2 years old, was able to return with her family to Belarus last week.

Eva’s patents, Yuri and Veronika, have expressed their thanks to the Burren Chernobyl Project and to the people of Clare for their support that they have received.

“It was such an incredible response. We knew that we could always rely on the people of Clare to come up with the goods in an emergency situation like this, but Eva’s parents just can’t believe that so many strangers from Ireland have given so generously to help their daughter,” said a spokesperson from the Burren Chernobyl Project.

THE NUMBER of cars seized by gardaí has increased by almost a third so far this year, compared with last year. So far this year, 304 vehicles have been seized by gardaí, compared with 240 during the same period in 2010.

The cars were seized mainly due to them not being taxed, if those driving them were not insured, or because they had serious mechanical defects.

“A lot of those would be driven without insurance or defective or company cars being driven by crimi- nal gangs. There is no doubt this has resulted in preventing serious crime. The legislation is there to seize cars without insurance or tax,” said the head of the Clare Garda Division, Chief Superintendent John Kerin.

He said that gardaí are considerate when seizing cars that are not taxed and drivers are given every chance to ensure the tax is paid.

“The tax would be out a long time before the gardaí would seize a car. If the tax was out for one or two or three months because of the recession, there would be an understanding,” he said.

He said that the increase in seizures is “partly due to the recession. People can’t afford to tax them. There are a lot of young people who were working on building sites and who are now unemployed but still have the cars,” said Chief Supt Kerin.

The figures have emerged in the wake of figures from Clare County Council showing that 102 cars were abandoned during the whole of last year.

“Clare County Council has a procedure in place from receipt of complaint to resolution, involving the issue of a warning letter to the relevant vehicle owner and removal if the abandoned vehicle remains in place past a specified period of typically seven days,” said a council spokesperson.

Meanwhile, thefts from cars are on the decrease in County Clare, by 28 per cent. So far this year, there have been 89 thefts from cars, compared with 123 last year.

Gardaí are attributing the decrease to increased vigilance.

“We have placed a lot of emphasis in the past couple of years in putting patrols in place in tourist areas,” said Chief Supt Kerin.

A PILOT ferry service connecting Ballyvaughan and Galway City looks set to be established early in 2012 after initial feedback from the Spyria Partnership feasibility study has given a thumbs-up to the ambitious project.

While the report in full won’t be published until the middle of next month, The Clare People has learned that the research undertaken by the independent Scottish company will show that tidal conditions are conducive for the service to be established and that there is a demand, both in North Clare and Galway, for the service.

Following the official publication of the report next month, the Ballyvaughan Bay Hop Group will put out a tender, looking for a local ferry owner to operate the service. It is expected that the “hop” will first run for an initial six-week trial basis this spring but hopes are high that the demand will exist to extend the service indefinitely after that.

Once the initial commuter demand has been met, it is hoped that the service could be expanded to ferry tourists between Ballyvaughan and Galway during the busy summer months.

The Ballyvaughan Bay Hop in the brainchild of Ballyvaughan woman Gwen Ryan, who began the project as a means of aiding her own daily commute to and from Galway City. The group itself is a not-for-profit organisation and Gwen is hopeful that a local ferry owner will see the potential for the service, rather that the Ballyvaughan Bay Hop Group having a role to play in directly organising the service themselves.

“We have got initial research back from a company in Scotland and they are very happy that the service that we envision is possible. This is taking into account both the local conditions and also that there is a good demand for the service from the local people. Of course there are some who are not in favour of the service but the majority of people are in favour of it,” said Gwen.

The Ballyvaughan Bay Hop Group has also just launched a small fundraising drive to help pay for the completion the feasibility study conducted by Spyria Partnership. The vast majority of this has been paid through a Leader grant but a small amount of local fundraising is required to pay the balance.

The group are using “crowd funding” to raise the money. The idea of crowd funding is that a relatively large number of people each donate a small amount to fund a community project.

To entice people to donate a number of rewards have been set up for donators, including an invitation to the launch party when the ferry is launched next year to a place on the ferry’s first trip between Ballyvaughan and Galway City.

To donate visit www.ifund.ie/ projects/37/help-us-float-our-boat.

MICHAEL Flatley will not take to the stage when his ‘Lord of the Dance’ spectacular comes to the Cliffs of Moher this September, but he has pledged his full backing to the event, as well as to the Cliffs’ bid to be named as one of the 7 New Wonders of the World.

The world famous dancer disappointed his legions of fans from all over the world at the weekend when he announced that, for the time being at least, he has hung up his dancing shoes.

The multi-millionaire began a series of media events last week highlighting the Cliffs’ bid to become one of the 7 New Wonders on the World.

“He has taken ownership of the Cliffs of Moher’s Seven Wonders bid and also the ‘Lord of the Dance’ at the Cliffs, which is absolutely great news for everyone in this county,” said Oliver O’Connell.

“They say that this can bring € 300 million in tourism to the county so the fact that Michael Flatley has gotten behind it is a major boost. He is a person who just doesn’t have following in Ireland, he can get people from all over the world behind the Cliffs.”

Flatley invited the world’s media to his € 30 million Cork mansion last week in an effort to get support for the Cliffs of Moher bid.

“My reason for inviting everyone was to help these people accomplish their goal. I want to promote Ireland and Irish interests and I feel these people are doing a wonderful thing,” he said. “Last time I danced it was for the Prince of Wales and Camilla at a private function at Buckingham Palace. That was in February. I’ve never danced at all since then.”

Flatley went on to say that while he wouldn’t rule out dancing altogether he “can’t see it” in his future.

Tickets for the ‘Lord of the Dance’ at the Cliffs of Moher are reportedly selling well and organiser have urged locals to buy their tickets soon to avoid disappointment.

“This event will be the most spectacular event ever to take place in Clare – you will never see anything like this again,” continued Oliver.

“Ticket sales are steady and we believe that we can still fill the Cliffs for both nights but this project is about more than money – it’s about a once in a life time event at a once in a lifetime venue. People are getting behind the project and if everyone gets behind it then who knows, maybe something could happen again in 2012. This is a major event – every B&B in North and West Clare is booked up because of this and I have been getting calls from all over the world about the concerts.”

Some 20,000 people are expected to attend the ‘Lord of the Dance’ at the Cliffs on September 1 and 2. The official 7 New Wonders of the World list will be announce on November 11.

FRESH wild mushrooms are the latest ingredient to be added to the list for the fourth annual Clare Harvest Banquet which will take place at the Auburn Lodge Hotel in Ennis this August.

The charity banquet, which is made up solely of fresh ingredients which can be found within the county borders, will come to Ennis for the first time ever, having completely sold out its three previous banquets in Ennistymon.

This year’s event will be cooked by five expert Clare chefs, with one chef taking responsibility for each of the courses on offer. All proceeds from the event will go towards the ASTRAL Charity, which helps protect families in some of the poorest parts of Mongolia.

The charity has a long established link with the county and felt made by the charity in Mongolia is currently sold in the Upstairs Downstairs charity shop in Ennistymon.

“The format of the event is the same. If we want salt, then we need to dry sea salt from off the Clare coast; if we want butter, then we need to make it ourselves in the churn,” said event organiser Sinéad Ní Gháirbhith.

“We have two mushroom experts this year who are going to find us some Clare mushrooms to use, which should be interesting. There is no one farming mushrooms in Clare at the moment so this will be a new thing for the banquet.

“Every year, we seem to be able to find new ingredients and this year is no exception. You need to have experts when you are talking about wild mushrooms because you need to be sure that they are not poisonous.

“We are in Ennis this year for the first time so we are hoping to unite the county and bring people from the east, west, north and south of Clare together for the event. The banquet will take place in the Auburn Lodge, who have been very good to us and giving us the run of their kitchen for the evening.

“Every penny raised will go to the Mongolian charity. I am so dedicated to this charity because I know that this is a matter of life and death if this money goes out or not.”

This year’s banquet will take place on Saturday, October 1 and tickets are available from the Auburn Lodge on 065 6821247 and from the Upstairs Downstairs shop in Ennistymon.

AFTER a successful comeback in 2010, horse and pony racing will return to Ballyvaughan later this month, with a large crowd expected to descend on Newtown Castle Lawn for the spectacular event.

The races returned to north Clare last year after a 35-year absence and the organising committee are now hopeful that the event is back for good and will once again become an annual event in the racing calendar.

“The Ballyvaughan Races returned last year after an absence of 35 years, and we were tremendously heartened by the immense local support and large turnout on the day,” said David Quinn, PRO for the Ballyvaughan Horse and Pony Racing Committee.

“It was a thoroughly enjoyable day for all involved and we antici- pate an even greater attendance this year. None of this would be possible without the generous support of local businesses and the broader community, for which we are extremely grateful.”

One of the highlights of last year’s event was its spectacular location, with the races taking place against the backdrop of the scenic Burren mountains.

The races will take place at Newtown Castle Lawn, which has again been provided for the event free of charge by landowner Mickey Vaughan.

Recent inspections of the track have revealed that the ground is in good condition and should provide a difficult challenge for the jockeys.

“All the horse owners and jockeys were very impressed with the facilities available and the professionalism shown by those organising last year’s race meeting,” said Mary O’Connor, Secretary of the Midlands Horse and Pony Racing Association.

“There has been huge interest in the return to Ballyvaughan this year.”

The committee are hoping to create a real family atmosphere for this year’s event. Besides the races themselves, the Ballyvaughan Farmers Market will take part, while there will also be bouncy castles and funfair amusements for young people, as well as face painting and a tug-ofwar competition.

A first for this year’s event will be the inclusion of a Best-Dressed Lady Competition.

This year’s Ballyvaughan Horse and Pony Club committee are Ailish Hynes (chairperson), Declan McNamara (secretary), Kieran Linnane (treasurer), David Quinn (PRO), Mickey Vaughan (president) and John Queally (vice president).

THE scale of the crisis in the Clare property market has been hammered home by newly released Department of Environment figures which show that new house registrations and completions have gone into freefall over the first six months of the year. The Clare People has learned that new house registrations in the county have plummetted by nearly 75 per cent from January to June 2011, while during the same period, house completions have fallen by 63 per cent.

And, when compared to the figures for other counties in the mid-west catchment area, the dramatic falloff in housing activity places Clare at the bottom of the mid-west league table where both house registrations and completions are concerned.

House completion numbers in the region dropped by 46 per cent from 758 to 410 during the first six months of 2011, but Clare is running 17 percentage points ahead of this average, with completion rates from January to June dropping from 378 to 140 over the corresponding period last year.

The figures for new house registrations are more startling – only six houses have been registered so far in 2011, as compared to 23 for the same six-month period in 2010.

Again, this massive reduction of just under 75 per cent is running well ahead of the overall average reduction for the region of 54 per cent.

The problems being experienced within the housing industry in Clare come on the back of a claim from one of Clare’s leading estate agents earlier this month that the building of new housing estates could be about to grind to a halt.

“With prices such that it costs more to build than a builder will get when a house is sold, then no one is going to build new estates,” said Diarmuid McMahon of Sherry Fitzgerald in Ennis when revealing that house prices in the county had dropped back to 1990s levels.

A major contributory factor to the drop in prices and the slowdown in new house building emerged in the preliminary returns for the 2011 National Census returns for Clare that were released in July.

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) returns revealed that the number of new housing stock in Clare increased by 14 per cent in between the 2006 and 2011 censuses, which means that Clare house builds ran ahead of the national average of 13.3 per cent.

However, the breakdown of these figures also revealed that the vacant housing rate in Clare was running at nearly 22 per cent, eight points higher than the national average of 14.7 per cent, with the western seaboard being the worst part of the county affected, with over 25 per cent houses vacant. The number of vacant housing was attributed to the building boom that took place over the space of the previous decade.

RURAL shopkeepers are being urged to increase their security measures, after a shop in west Clare was targeted by shoplifters over the weekend.

A shop in Cree village was targeted on Sunday, when cash and cigarettes were stolen after a young sales assistant was distracted.

Two women went into the shop at around 6pm. One of the women distracted the sales assistant, while the other went behind the counter.

The shopkeeper then confronted the duo, but they denied doing anything wrong and quickly left the scene in a van that had been parked nearby.

Gardaí say they have obtained clear CCTV footage from the premises, which they hope will help to solve the crime.

The women are described as being in their late 30s and were around 5’ 7” or 5’ 8” in height. One had blonde hair with black streaks and wore a pink coat and black hat. She had a mark over her right eye.

The other woman wore a pink or red jacket and grey leggings with a red hat with white trim. It is believed that they are not local.

Gardaí say the amount of cash stolen was not substantial, but in the wake of similar incidents in Feakle and Flagmount in recent weeks, they are warning shop owners to ensure their security measures are adequate.

“This is most unusual. We looked at the adjoining counties but nothing of this nature seems to have occurred,” said the head of the Clare Garda Division, Chief Superintendent John Kerin.

“I would be confident enough that we would identify those involved from the CCTV,” he added.

He is advising shop owners to “keep small amounts of money in the till; keep it cleared regularly and have good CCTV that covers all areas of the shop”.

“Make sure you are not distracted,” he said.

Anyone with information on the Cree incident should contact Kilrush Garda Station on 065 9051017.

A NEWMARKET-ON-FERGUS car enthusiast who has had two major organ transplants is revving up to raise money for the Irish Heart Foundation.

Brendan McCarthy underwent a heart and lung transplant in 2000. Five years later, he returned to hospital for another lung transplant. Brendan was forced to undergo the double transplant after being born with a congenital heart condition.

Now Brendan and fellow Newmarket man James Shanagher are aiming to raise money for the Irish Heart Foundation by setting off on a sponsored ‘Wheels of the West’ drive around parts of North Clare and South Galway.

However, to take part in the event, drivers’ cars must fall into a specific category. Brendan explains, “It’s been done with the VAG club – Volkswagen and Audi club – so anybody can take part as long as they own a Volkswagen or an Audi.”

After receiving the support of the IHF, Brendan was keen to support the work of the foundation.

He says, “I like driving and I thought this would be a good way to raise money for the Irish Heart foundation… Every year the Irish Heart Foundation helps fund research to help prevent disability and death from heart disease and strokes. This is the reason behind starting the wheels of the west charity drive.”

The drive will set off from Glór car park in Ennis on August 20 at 11am. Brendan says, “We will then continue on to Lahinch followed by the Cliffs of Moher, Liscannor and Ballyvaughan, finishing back in Ennis. On each stop, we will be fundraising on the streets wearing branded t-shirts and using brand buckets all with the logo of the Irish Heart Foundation. The foundation has agreed to send all this equipment to us and has said they are 100 per cent behind the drive.”

Brendan aims to raise € 10,000 and hopes to attract the support of Clare businesses to help him achieve his target.

Anyone wishing to donate can contact Brendan on 087 3885116 or Jamie on 087 7871870 or email wheelsofthewest@gmail.com.