Category: News

UNEMPLOYED people in east Clare are missing out on job opportunities because of the lack of a frequent bus service to Limerick city, it has been claimed.

A Clare barworker living in Westbury – who asked not to be named – told The Clare People that he has missed chances to get back to work because there is no later or early public bus service.

“I was recently diagnosed with a medical condition which means that I can’t drive at the moment. It’s not something that would stop me working, but I can’t risk being behind the wheel. In my line of work, there’s no good expecting to work nine to five,” he said.

A bus runs to Ardnacrusha, stop- ping at various areas along the way, six times a day but the service finishes at 6pm.

The Westbury man has six years’ experience and good references. He has applied for a list of bar jobs, but says he is hampered each time by the fact that he can’t get to and from work at times outside the bus schedule.

“There’s a bit of extra work going at this time of year and I was hoping to take advantage of that. In fact, I was almost certain of being taken on for a few hours at weekends in a place the far side of the city but then I discovered it would mean taking a taxi home every time. It wouldn’t make any sense financially.”

Local Labour councillor, Pascal Fitzgerald said that he wants to see an hourly bus service connecting areas like Westbury, Parteen, Meelick and Ardnacrusha with Limerick city.

“I’m going to be asking Bus Éireann what they can do. This part of Clare has a big population and is growing. There is plenty of demand for a more frequent bus service,” he said.

Cllr Fitzgerald added that the service would boost employment prospects for east Clare people as well as allowing people to travel into the city to do business, socialise and shop and would improve matters for people who are stuck for lifts.

“I live in the area and I regularly stop to give lifts to people who are thumbing. It’s not a safe situation, escpecially when you see young people, teenagers trying to get a lift” he said.

CLARE County Council has turned down a planning application for a € 50 million windfarm at Shanovogh near Miltown Malbay. This represents the second time in a year that the promoters of the windfarm project have had an application turned down by local authority planners.

In handing down its judgment, the planning authority said the “noise generated” by the wind turbines and development itself would “seriously injure the amenities of residential property” and “depreciate the value of property”.

Planners also ruled that the development would “pose an unacceptable risk to water quality standards”, while also noting that it was “not satisfied that the proposed development will not negatively impact on species and habitats in the area” and finally concluding that the project was “contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area”.

In May, McMahon Finn Wind Acquisitions Ltd lodged an application to build a windfarm on a site that’s two miles away from the West Clare Renewable Energy project on Mount Callan, the green light for which was given by Clare County Council last August.

The application was for a windfarm comprising of six turbines with a height of 85 metres and was submitted to local authority planners by Cian Ó Laoithe Architects.

Last year, Clare County Council invalidated plans submitted by McMahon Wind Ltd for a 12-turbine windfarm on the same site, while a decision date on the new planning application is due in mid-July.

The second application for a windfarm development in the county falls within the guidelines of the Clare County Council wind energy strategy that has set a working target of 550 MW of wind energy to harnessed in the county by 2020.

Between 2000 and 2010, 22 applications for windfarms were lodged with Clare County Council, with one of the first projects to be given the green light being in 2002 when the ESB were granted permission for a nine-turbine € 20 million renewable energy farm at Moneypoint.

Last December, An Bord Pleanála rejected an appeal by An Taisce against a Clare County Council decision to allow Hibernian Windpower to construct a windfarm incorporating 11 turbines of approximately 2500kW capacity each, at Boolynageragh, Lissycasey.

The development site, which is three kilometres north of Lissycasey, will have total rated electrical output of 27.5MW.

The Mount Callan project is set to be the largest community-owned windfarm development in Ireland and is a € 200 million project that aims to create 300 jobs during the construction phase.

CLARE County Council has invited members of the public to submit any observations or representations concerning a number of road closures planned to accommodate the staging of Michael Flatley’s ‘Lord of the Dance at the Cliffs of Moher’ this September.

The world-famous music and dance extravaganza is expected to attract as many as 20,000 tourists to north Clare this September.

The local authority have served notice that they intend to temporally close sections of the R478 – from its junction with the L5148 at Ballysteen to its junction with the R479 Doolin Road at Garrihy’s Cross – on September 1 and 2.

The road will still be open to local traffic and all other traffic is asked to use the N67 between Ennistymon to Lisdoonvarna throughout the restrictions.

The current plan is to close the road on both days between 3pm and 1am the following morning. It is expected that the event will have a number of spin-offs for the tourism industry in the county and if successful, could become the first in a series of concerts hosted at the Cliffs of Moher.

The concert will come just five weeks ahead of the D-Day in the Cliffs of Moher’s bid to become one of the new Seven Wonders of the World and could provide a welcome springboard for that bid.

Tickets for the event, which is being organised by MPO Promotions Limited, are currently available from Ticketmaster outlets and can also be purchased in person from the Cliffs of Moher Centre.

The show itself will feature 40 precision dancers acting out the mythical Irish folk story of a battle between Don Dorcha, the Lord of Darkness, and the Lord of Light, also known as the ‘Lord of the Dance’.

Local musicians Michael O’Connell and Hugh Healy, as well as special guests, folk legend Finbar Furey and the world-famous Kilfenora Céilí Band, will share the finale with the ‘Lord of the Dance’ troupe at the top of the Cliffs of Moher.

Anyone who wishes to make a submission on the proposed road closure is asked to contact the Roads Department at Clare County Council before Friday, August 5.

ALCOHOL and alcohol addiction is playing an increasing role in the suicide rate in County Clare, with a growing number of suicides in the county having some connection to alcohol abuse.

That is according to the Clare spokesperson for the Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) who told The Cla re People yesterday that alcohol is a major contributing factor to many suicides in Clare.

“Alcoholism is a killer disease; even the World Health Organisation (WHO) now recognise it as the third biggest killer on the planet and a lot of those deaths are through suicide,” said the Clare spokesperson for the AA, who asked not to be identified.

“Alcohol is a depressant and, if you drink a lot of it, can become very depressing. That is why a lot of people who become an addict also have suicidal tendencies. The biggest problem with alcoholism is the denial, both from the alcoholic themselves and their friends and families.

“This allows the situation to get worse and worse and worse until eventually it gets too much and suicide or attempted suicide is the way out for some people.”

There are currently 24 AA meetings taking place at different locations throughout Clare every week, evidence that no part of the county is unaffected by alcoholism abuse.

According to Ruth*, a recovering Clare alcoholic who contemplated taking her own life last year, the connection between alcoholic abuse and suicide in Clare is increasing.

“The amount of deaths that I have heard about through [alcohol] overdose and alcohol-related suicides is more than I’ve heard about through illnesses and natural causes. And that is despairing,” says Ruth.

“I have gone to funerals and I have seen how the children of someone who has done that [committed suicide] have reacted. But I can relate to what that person would have felt. I felt like my children would have been better off without me.

“I remember when I was at the Bushypark Treatment Centre, there was a lad in there in his early 20s. When I heard of this young man’s suicide, the thing that I remember most is the look on the counsellors’ faces at Bushypark. It was like they had lost one of their own.”

Anyone who feels that they might have a problem with alcohol can contact the local branch of the AA in confidence on 061 311222. To read about Ruth’s struggle to overcome her alcoholism and the help she found at the Bushypark Treatment Centre, turn to page 29.

KIERAN O’REILLY was ordained Bishop of Killaloe on August 29 last, but now, less than a year into his tenure as leader of the diocese that takes in parts of Clare, Tipperary, Offaly, Limerick and Laois, he should tender his resignation to Pope Benedict XVI. That’s the controversial call made this week by Clare Fine Gael senator, Martin Conway, who has told The Clare People that “a complete wipe-out” of the Church hierarchy “is the only way forward” and that Bishop O’Reilly should be one of the casualties.

“It may be seen as being a dramatic call,” said Senator Conway, “particularly in Killaloe, given that Bishop O’Reilly is in situ for less than a year. However, I firmly believe that there has to be a complete clean-out.While there are some in the hierarchy I would have a regard for, like Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, I think what’s needed in the church in Ireland is a change. A complete change.

“People have absolutely no confidence in the hierarchy. There are good guys there and there are people there who are not culpable for what’s happened, but at the same time there has been an institutional failing.

“That has been proved in the Cloyne Report. The Church systematically failed – not just the Irish hierarchy, but the Vatican as well.

“The only way as a practicing Catholic that I can have any confidence going forward is if there is a complete wipeout of the present hierar- chy and new people are appointed to lead the Church going forward. All bishops in all dioceses must go and must be replaced by younger people who are more in tune with how modern Ireland views these things,” continued Senator Conway.

Turning his attention to the Galway diocese, which takes in vast tracks of his political base in north Clare, Senator Conway said the handling of sex abuses cases again highlighted the urgency for Bishop Martin Dreannan to resign.

“I have absolutely no confidence whatsoever in Bishop Drennan,” he said. “My confidence in Bishop Drennan has been eroded a long, long time ago. He is there against the wishes of the vast majority of people in the Galway diocese. He does not in anyway reflect the mood of genuine Catholics within the Galway diocese.

“I, as a public representative in the second instance, but in the first instance as a practicing Catholic, have absolutely zero faith in him whatsover. The best thing he could do in the interests of the people, in the interests of the Church and in the interests of the genuine people who are in the Church for the proper reasons, is resign.

“The Church has to look people in the eye and say that everyone who has been involved in the Church at hierarchical level is gone and we are starting again. It’s the only way forward,” he added.

HUNDREDS of jobs could to be created in Clare in the coming years as a result of a number of new Irish wave energy projects which are set to come online off the Clare coast in the coming decade.

This follows the granting of a foreshore license for the WestWave Project at Killard Point off the Doonbeg coast last week, which will see a number of companies use the water off the Clare coast as Ireland’s first wave energy power station.

When completed the prototype wave power station will create an estimated 5MW of electricity. According to Andrew Parish, CEO of wave energy company WaveBob, each megawatt of energy created will equate to roughly 15 jobs onshore, with many more during the construction phase.

This mean that the WestWave Project could create as many as 75 Clare jobs before 2015. With commercial production likely to be roughly ten times the size of the WestWave prototype, the number of Clare jobs to be created could quickly into the several hundred. The Clare, Mayo and Kerry coastlines are considered to be three of the top locations for wave energy in the world.

“Clare has a huge potential for wave energy, indeed the west coast of Ireland has one of the largest wave energy capacities in Ireland. Clare is one of the three counties best served with the potential to exploit wave energy. That is not just about the waves, it is also about the coastline, port facilities and the grid connection,” Mr Parish told The Clare People yesterday.

“The official estimates from the European Commission is that there would be 10 to 15 jobs created for every megawatt of capacity added. So you can see that there is a good number of jobs here.

“We would estimate that about half of these jobs would come in the supply side of the operation – the people who are providing servicing, maintenance, transport and boats. That is on an ongoing basis but during construction there are additional contractors who would be brought in work on that,” he added.

The WestWave Project aims to develop the first wave energy project in Ireland by 2015 by generating an initial 5MW of clean renewable electricity. WestWave is a collaborative project being led by ESB in conjunction with a number of wave energy technology partners including Ocean Energy and WaveBob.

CALLS for a properly benchmarked judicial investigation into the Church’s dealing of child sex abuse cases involving members of the clergy that took place in Clare have been sounded out this week as the fall-out from the findings of the Cloyne Report gathers momentum.

Fresh from Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s Dáil Éireann broadside against the Vatican, Clare Oireachtas member Martin Conway has told

THE success of the Loophead lighthouse tourism initiative has been hammered home in the first week of its operation as thousands flocked to the most westerly point of the county.

Figures secured by The Clare People this week revealed that over 2,000 people have now passed through the doors of the famous landmark building – a volume that has already prompted its Clare County Council promoters to extend the opening hours.

“It was initially planned to open from 10am to 4pm, but now we’re going to go from 10am to 6pm,” a council spokesperson revealed. “This is because of the interest that’s there. We have had over 2,000 visitors in its first week.”

The official opening of the light house took place last Monday week, and brought to an end a two-year process that was started when the idea for opening the facility was first floated at Clare County Council.

Local Loophead councillor, Gabriel Keating, made the initial move in July 2009 when calling on “Clare County Council in conjunction with tourism bodies and the Commissioners of Irish Lights to develop the lighthouse as a tourism centre”.

It was the Fine Gael representative’s first ever motion to Clare County Council, having been elected to Clare’s premier decision-making body the previous month and now on the back of the facility’s early popularity has called for additional facilities to be added to the visitor attraction.

“This is only the start,” said Cllr Keating. “This is bringing jobs to the peninsula and there are 10 people employed. I would hope that a museum can be developed in one of the rooms on site. The past week has shown the potential that’s there in Loophead and it’s about moving it on and bringing more people into the area,” he added.

Clare County Council’s Director of Services, Ger Dollard, has revealed that “in the autumn we will be continuing to work with our partners in Shannon Development and Loophead tourism to arrive at a consensus on the future development of the tourism product”.

CALLS for the resignation of the Bishop of Killaloe, Kieran O’Reilly, have been described as “unfair and unjust” by diocesan spokesperson Fr Brendan Quinlivan, who believes that the diocese “can stand up to” any judicial or Church investigation into the handling of allegations against clergy in the Killaloe Diocese.

This comes after calls from Clare Senator Martin Conway (FG) for the resignations of both the Bishop of Killaloe, Kieran O’Reilly and the Bishop of Galway and Kilfenora, Martin Drennan.

“I think that to call for his resignation is unfair and unjust, he has been in office for less than a year. He has [implemented], and will continue to implement, the child policy in the Diocese of Killaloe as begun by Bishop Willie Walsh,” he told The Clare People .

“Bishop Willie Walsh was very open and reports concerning the conduct in the diocese were published either last year or the year before.

“Bishop O’Reilly has continued on in that way and any statutory body or Church investigation would get access to any files they are looking for.

“We have been fully compliant with both Church and state guidelines [on the handling of allegations against the clergy].”

It also now looks likely that the Diocese of Killaloe will publish the results of an audit into its recent performance with regards to the handling of allegations against priests when the audit is completed later this year.

The audit, being undertaken by the Church’s own child welfare organisation, is due to take place in September.

“We stand ready for the audit of the diocese which will take place later this year. My understanding is that an audit will take place in Killaloe in September and we are ready for that,” continued Fr Quinlivan.

“I am confident that we can stand over our practices and that we can stand up to any investigation from any Church or state body. It is down to each bishop to decide if he wants to publish the results of these audits and I would imagine that Bishop O’Reilly will do so.

“I think it must be remembered that it was just such a report that prompted the Cloyne Report to take place.”

Meanwhile, relations between the Irish government and the vatican reached an all time low yesterday when the vatican recalled its ambassador to Dublin. Papal nuncio, Giuseppe Lenaza, was called back to Rome yesterday after what was described the “excessive reaction” by the Irish government to Cloyne’s Report.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny (FG) received a standing ovation at the McGill Summer School over the weekend following his unprecedented attack on the hierarchy of the church last week.

A MAN who was involved in a “one punch” incident in Shannon has been given one chance by a judge.

Jason Lynch (22), of Kincora Apartments, Shannon, was accused of assaulting David McKee at Shannon Town Centre.

Mr McKee told Ennis District Court yesterday that he was out socialising in Shannon on November 21, 2010.

He left the Knights Bar at around 2.30am and was walking home with two others when an incident occurred.

He said he saw two males walking along a roadway near Darcy’s Bar in the town centre “and they stood right in front of me. I thought one was my cousin”.

“I remember saying, ‘Sorry, I thought you were my cousin’; maybe not in those exact words,” he said.

He said that he was then punched in the face.

He said he didn’t know the name of the man who had punched him, but when asked to identify him, he pointed to the defendant in the courtroom.

“I received a black eye and broken tooth. I received a good bit of dam- age,” he told the court.

However, defending solicitor Jenny Fitzgibbon put it to Mr McKee, “My client will say you egged him over.”

She added, “Your left hand went into your pocket as if to reach for something. My client felt threatened and in self-defence he hit you one slap.”

Mr McKee replied, “I had my two hands in my pockets. My hands stayed in my pockets throughout my whole walk.”

Garda Lynsey Nason told the court that the defendant admitted to gardaí that he had hit Mr McKee, but said it was out of self defence.

The accused told the court that he was walking home that night and was about to walk into the building where he resides when he heard a voice and then saw three men.

He said he saw Mr McKee reaching into his pocket. “He said something like, ‘I have something for you’,” he said.

“I hit him out of self-defence. I was frightened,” he said.

Inspector Tom Kennedy, prosecuting, put it to the accused, “You deliberately approached Mr McKee and you hit him into the face.” He denied this.

Judge Olann Kelleher said, “I have no hesitation in convicting this man.”

The court was told the accused had two previous convictions for assault.

The judge said he would give the accused one chance. “I’ll give him a chance. It was a one-punch event,” he said.

He imposed a four-month jail term, suspended for two years.

Addressing the defendant, he said, “It’s up to yourself what you want to do.

“If you are involved in any other incident in the next two years, you will serve four months. I’m giving you one chance.”