Category: News

CLARE County Council is to hold a special meeting on the ongoing controversy over the iconic Ballyvaughan sign.

At last night’s Council meeting, a group of councillors put a forward a motion requesting a meeting to discuss the removal of the sign which has been strongly opposed by residents and business people in North Clare. The motion also proposed that the sign be re-installed at its original location and that it be listed as a protected structure.

Cllr Brian Meaney (GP) asked if the Council could provide a list of accidents that have occurred on the road near the sign. He said that it was within the remit of the Council to place a conservation order on the sign.

He added, “It was iconic and had particular relevance for people of Ballyvaughan and its removal was due to a vacuum of information.”

Cllr Joe Arkins (FG) said that signage is a big issue in Clare. He told the meeting that there are three different spellings of Lahinch and two different spellings of Ballyvaughan. He said, “If you were a tourist in this county you wouldn’t know whether you were coming or going.”

Cllr Arkins added that the different spellings of towns and villages had made Clare an “international laughing stock”.

Cllr Richard Nagle (FF) called for the National Roads Authority (NRA) to take a more realistic approach to signage. He said the removal of the sign had left people in North Clare feeling “outraged” and “victimised”.

He added, “The people in North Clare are relying on the sign for their livelihoods and this should be pointed out quite forcefully to the NRA.”

Cllr Tommy Brennan (Ind) told the meeting that if the NRA had “nothing to do but to look at signs, it should be abolished”.

County Manager Tom Coughlan said there had been contacts on an hourly basis between the Council and the NRA. He said he could not comment too much on the current situation regarding the sign, as he had not yet had a chance to speak with the Director of Service.

However he added that as far as the Council was concerned, it was the view of the NRA on Friday evening that the sign should not go up.

Cllr Patricia McCarthy (Ind) described the level of ambiguity coming from the NRA as “dreadful”.

RECORD numbers turned out to walk, jog and run the Clare 10K on Saturday in what has become one of the sporting highlights of the summer in the county.

The event, organised by The Clare People newspaper in conjunction with Clare Haven, was once again a major success. This is the sixth year of the event and the number of entries topped 1,300 for the first time.

Local athlete Seán Hehir won the race in a time of 29 minutes 42 seconds, while Veronica Colleran from Ennis Track Club won the women’s race.

All of the money raised from the run goes to Clare Haven, which provides support for female victims of domestic abuse and their families.

According to Services Manager with Clare Haven Denise Dunne, this event is the organisation’s biggest annual fundraiser.

“The Clare 10K is our biggest fundraiser for the year. Over the past couple of years it has become difficult to fundraise. We can’t keep the service open without fundraising,” said Ms Dunne.

“The people of county Clare have been very good in supporting the Clare 10K every year,” she added.

Colin McGann, of The Clare Peo- ple , said that while the weather was poor for the run on Saturday morning, the pouring rain didn’t dampen the spirits of most entrants.

“Around 1,100 turned up on the day, which was less than the 1,300 entrants, but thankfully the rain didn’t keep the majority of people away,” he said.

“It was a family fun day out and it is great to have the facilities at Lees Road. The running track adds another dimension to it. We are happy to support a good cause,” he said.

While several top class athletes take part every year, hundreds of walkers also participate in the event.

“And while it is becoming more competitive up the front, equally the numbers of walkers have increased every year,” he added.

Carmel Brady, of The Clare People , paid tribute to the participants and also the volunteers who helped out on the day.

“A huge thanks to all the volunteers. Complimentary refreshments were available for everybody for the first time, which was a nice touch,” she said.

“We are hoping to increase numbers again next year. People are becoming more health-conscious and there are a lot of Meet and Train running groups and walking groups across the county,” she added.

LITTER laws are criminalising landowners rather than people who engage in illegal dumping, a meeting has heard.

Councillors yesterday backed a motion calling for the “Litter Act to be amended to state that where there is a reasonable doubt that landowners are not penalized for illegal dumping”. The motion was put forward by North Clare councillor Michael Kelly (FF). At yesterday’s meeting of Clare County Council, Cllr Kelly explained that farmers are being hit with enforcement orders when rubbish is dumped on their land.

He said landowners are now “guilty until proven innocent”. He said he was aware of one incident where a farmer’s fence was cut and a sofa and armchair were thrown in.

He acknowledged that Council staff are doing everything they can to stop illegal dumping but farmers and landowners are still being penalized.

Cllr Pat Hayes (FF) said he had received numerous complaints from landowners about illegal dumping and encampments.

“There has to be protection for landowners. A lot of litter was dumped in my field and I had to take responsibility for it.

Cllr Joe Arkins (FG) said Council staff had been successful in identifying culprits and removing “lorry loads of rubbish”. He added, “We should engage in dialogue before we get into business of enforcement.”

Cllr PJ Ryan (Ind) told the meeting that “there is only one thing to be said and that the Act has to be changed.” Cllr Joe Cooney (FG) called for the imposition of “stiffer penalities”. Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) described the current litter legislation as “bad law”. He added, “It criminalises the victim rather than the culprit.”

Cllr Gerry Flynn (Ind) said the majority of people are compliant with the litter laws. He said there are only two environmental wardens in the county. “They are doing the best they can but there are not enough resources,” he added.

Cllr Arkins urged greater promotion of the Council’s 24-hour confidential litter hot-line. He said the number should be marketed on all of the Council’s publications, stickers and biros. “Everyone should be a litter warden,” he added. Cllr Kelly said people engaged in dumping are more likely to throw rubbish onto other people’s lands in the middle of the night rather than the middle of the day. He added, “The wording of the act has to be amended.”

Director of Servce, David Timlin confirmed that the Council have two full time environmental wardens. He said that there were other members of staff designated to remove litter and carry out clean-ups of areas around Clare.

FOUR of Clare’s prime tourism hotspots will come together this Friday to launch a major new ticketing strategy, which they hope can attract thousands of extra tourists to the Banner county in years to come.

By using a special Burren4Group ticket members of the public will now be able to access the Cliffs of Moher, the Aillwee Caves, Caherconnell Stone Fort in Carron and the Burren Centre in Kilfenora for a fraction of the previous costs.

Several thousands copies of the special ticket will be circulated to hotels and guesthouse around Ireland, allowing anyone access to all four tourism location for just € 18 – a saving almost half on the non-ticket price to enter the four sites.

The initiative is designed to both attract tourist to the area but to also encourage the more of the 700,000 tourists who visit the Cliffs of Moher each year to stay overnight in the area or possibly for a number of days or a weekend.

“This really came about following the realisation that we are living in recessionary times and people don’t have the money to go to all the different centres. This is a combination of offering people good value but also offering them something really special. We have the iconic Cliffs of Moher, Aillwee, the fort in Caherconnell and ourselves, so you have a bit of everything that you might want,” said Frances Connole of the Burren Centre.

“Hopefully that this will get people to stay longer in the area and ultimately that is what all of this is about. This is not a day trip, we have so many great facilities here are there really is something for everyone.”

The scheme will be launched on a pilot basis by the Minister for Tourism, Michael Ring (FG) in Kilfenora this Friday. It is hoped that the ticket will be rolled out on a widespread basis should it prove to be a success this year.

“If this is successful, we build on that success in future years. We don’t want to rush into anything. At the moment the ticket is aimed only for individual travellers but down the road we will look at things like family tickets and things like that,” continued Frances. “It is just too early to roll that all out now. We need to float the idea and make sure that people will be happy with it and that it will work. It is a new project and a big innovation for this region so we need to be sure before we proceed. I think people will be interested in it though. This is about working together and networking together instead of always looking over the water and being in competition. It is a good idea and I think that people will like it.”

ENNIS Town Council is to contact businesses in the town to request the removal of temporary signs from roads and footpaths.

Town clerk Eddie Power told the June meeting of Ennis Town Council that the number of temporary advertising signs has “increased significantly throughout the town”.

However local councillors have warned against a policy of “absolute regulation”, saying it could harm businesses and create tensions.

Acknowledging that businesses are operating in a difficult economic climate, Mr Power stated, “These signs may cause obstruction to users of the public footpath and they may pose a risk to the personal safety of road users. Furthermore, the town of Ennis has an established record of high achievement in the Tidy Towns com- petition. The number of temporary advertising signs currently visible on the footpaths around the town detract from the image of the town and may have a negative impact on the marks awarded by the tidy towns adjudicators in this national competition.”

He added, “It is intended to contact the relevant businesses responsible for such temporary advertising signage requesting removal of same. It should be noted that the Council has the legal authority to remove such signage if the request is not complied with.” However councillors were skeptical about the policy.

Mayor of Ennis, Cllr Tommy Brennan (Ind) said he had not received any complaints about signs. He added, “Do we want to cripple the town altogether.”

Cllr Mary Howard (FG) said, “Businesses find it difficult enough. Where does it end? Does it mean that Jimmy Brohan [local businessman] can’t put goods outside his shop.”

Cllr Peter Considine (FF) urged the Council to pursue a “softly, softly approach”, adding that he was “very nervous of absolute regulation”.

Cllr Considine said that by forcibly removing signs, the Council risked creating unnecessary tensions with the business community. He added, “I would be inclined to let the hare sit.”

PART of Clare is going to be taken into Limerick when a decision is made in cabinet today on the Limerick boundary extension.

In a leak from a reliable source in advance of today’s decision, The Clare People has learned that land in Clare which has been, or is earmarked for, development by the University of Limerick is to come under Limerick’s control.

But fears that parts of Westbury, Shannon Banks and even Meelick and Parteen might be taken by Lim- erick in a boundary extension can be laid to rest.

It has also been leaked that no residential land in the Banner will be taken into the new super authority which will result from the amalgamation of the city and county councils in Limerick.

While anti-boundary extension activists in Clare have welcomed the fact that residential areas will be left alone, many are less than happy that the UL land is going into Limerick City.

“While the fact that no residential areas are to go into Limerick is to be welcomed, people are concerned that if one extension (of the Limerick boundary) is allowed in the campus area this will pave the way for future extensions,” said local councillor Cathal Crowe (FF).

“Clare has always facilitated UL in extending the university campus and that collaborative arrangement has worked very well. There is no need for the boundary to be changed. People will not be happy about this or the implications for the future and it will be opposed,” he said.

Jim Gullt, Chairman of the AntiBoundary Extension Committee, said that they will wait to read the Minister’s speech and see the official announcement before reacting.

In relation to the leak which points to Clare land in UL becoming part of Limerick, he said: “Our position is still the same. There is to be no cherry picking with this. It’s not the case that we’ll say ‘Okay, you left Westbury alone so we’ll concede UL’ – we are 100 per cent that no part of Limerick is to come into Clare.”

A spokeswoman for UL said they would make no comment until after the official announcement is made today.

COILLTE and smaller forestry contractors may be forced to pay for damage done to roads as a result of transporting trees in rural parts of the county.

An estimated 200,000 tonnes of timber was transported on the county’s roads last year, with this figure expected to treble in the coming years. According to councillors at last night’s meeting of Clare County Council, roads in rural areas of North and East Clare have been destroyed in recent years as a result of the transportation of large amounts of timber. The Clare People understands that Clare County Council has entered into negotiations with Coillte with a view to working on some sort of road management plan for the forestry companies and a means of gaining reparations should damage be done.

“They are removing timber out to roads and these roads are not able to take the weight of the timber being removed. I think that Coillte need to provide us with a five-year plan where trees have to be felled or thinned out. They should at the very least supply a list of what roads they intend to use and these plan should need to be ap- proved by the county engineer,” said Cllr Michael Hillery (FF).

“This problem is going to get worse as time goes on. I know that right now roads are being damaged all over the county and I think it will take a lot of money to put these roads back to a level that will be acceptable to the local people.”

At present just over 13 per cent of the area of the county is covered in forestry with half of this being managed by Coillte. Commenting on the matter, Cllr Michael Beagley (FG), said that the current situation was ‘hell on earth’ for local residents.

“The level of support that Coillte give is often tempered because they have the excuse that other forestation in taking place along those roads,” he said.

“Quite a lot of private operators are growing trees in Clare and we should not give them [Coillte] an excuse to pay less than they should, but at the same time they shouldn’t have to pay everything if other private operators are in place. This is hell on earth to the local residents and the council needs to put something in place to deal with this problem, in a comprehensive way.”

According to the Council, negotiations are currently ongoing between Clare County Council and Coillte.

“We have found that in recent times there has been better engagement between ourselves and Coillte. In recent times Coillte have allocated some money to roads in the county,” said a council spokesperson.

“It may not be possible to have a one size fits all approach [for Coillte and the private operators]. We are at the early days of trying to formalise something and it makes sense to talk to the largest operator and I think that under these circumstances it would be easier for other operators to come on board once we have this formalised.”

FINE Gael is the party of government with four Oireachtas members in the county for the first time in its history – now the greatest ever year for its Clare wing is set to be enhanced next Monday when two more party representatives take the mayoral chains of local government office in the county.

Fresh from Cllr Mary Brennan’s election as Mayor of Shannon last week, in the coming week Cllrs Ian Lynch and Elaine Haugh-Hayes are set to be elected as mayor of Kilrush and Kilkee respectively.

The annual general meetings of the two West Clare local authorities are set for Monday evening next, with the power-sharing agreements in place on both councils set to pave the way for the elections of Cllrs Lynch and Haugh-Hayes.

Both were elected to their town councils for the first time in 2009 and two years later will be given the signal honour of being their town’s first citizen for the next 12 months.

“I’d be hoping to get it,” Cllr Lynch told The Clare People this week. “I’ve been Deputy Mayor for the past year and it normally follows that the deputy steps up to become mayor the following year.

“When there’s a party in power, you might find that they share it out, but when you have situation like you have in Kilrush at the moment, with three Fine Gael, three Fianna Fáil and three Independents you have a power-sharing arrangement and it’s spread over the five years,” added Cllr Lynch, who at 33 years of age will become one of the youngest mayor’s in the West Clare capital’s illustrious local government history that stretches back over 100 years.

“We have to wait and see what happens on Monday,” Cllr Haugh-Hayes told

CLARE County Council last night decided not to vote on a motion to back Séan Gallagher’s bid to contest the forthcoming Presidential race – on the grounds that legal advice need sought before any vote could take place. This comes after five independent candidates addressed the elected members of the Council last night – each seeking the local authority’s nomination to contest the election.

Following a heated discussion, coun- cillors voted by 15 votes to 14 to seek legal clarification on the issue before making a decision. The motion was put forward by Cllr Michael Begley (Ind) – and after the meeting was adjourned Mr Gallagher commented to the Killaloe councillor that he could see “democracy was alive and well in County Clare”.

Earlier, Senator David Norris (Ind) had defended himself against criticism from Cllr Cathal Crowe (FF) that he was anti-Shannon Airport because of his stance against the use of the airport for special rendition flights.

Special Olympics chief Mary Davis told councillors that her connection with Clare was through holidaying in Kilkee and playing golf. She paid tribute to the work done by the Brothers of Charity in Clare and lauded the outreach programme.

She said she was aware of the issues facing young people in Ireland, adding, “As a county yourselves, you have experienced a tragic share of emigration, unemployment and sui- cide. The position [of President] has an enormous role to play in addressing these difficulties.”

Former Dragons’ Den judge Seán Gallagher said that he came from “simple beginnings”. He said he is not aiming to contest the presidency out of a personal ambition; rather as a result of what he has experienced through his work with the unemployed and those with disabilities. “It’s not about Seán Gallagher,” he added.

Dermot Mulqueen from Ennis, who also intends to run for the Áras, said he believes that a central capital of Ireland should be built. “Ireland is sinking eastwards. It drains resources, population, eastwards,” he said. “We should take over the Corrib Gasfield and have a State-owned gasfield like Norway and set up an international press agency like France.”

The other individual to address the meeting was Dr Pat Jones, a doctor of plant physiology from Carlow. He explained that his connections with Clare were through being a student of Maureen de Valera at UCG.

THE first aircraft ever owned by Aer Lingus was in West Clare last week to help celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the opening of the Spanish Point Airfield.

The “Iolar”, which was a working aircraft more than 80 years ago, was one of 30 working light aircraft which travelled to West Clare to mark the historic event.

Miltown Malbay man Joe Ryan landed an aircraft at a farm in Legard South in the 1970s. An experienced pilot and instructor at the time, Joe knew that the strip of land was suitable as a runway and, after another 20 years of careful examination, it was decided to open a runway and establish a Flying Club in Spanish Point.

The club ran successfully for many years but was badly hit by downturn in the sector after the September 11 attacks, while the salty air also quickened the corrosion of aircraft in Spanish Point.

After successfully training many pilots, the club closed nearly 10 years ago but the airstrip itself has remained in use and has recently seen a large increase in traffic.

“Unfortunately everything took a hit after September 11 and the training school had to shut down,” said Ruth Bagnell of the Spanish Point Airfield.

“There are three aircraft based there at the moment and we are getting more and more people coming to use it.

“The airfield has a long history. I know there was a pilot who crashed a Spitfire close to the site back towards the end of WWII. He was in trouble and saw the flat stretch and tried to land.

His plane crashed but he did survive the landing,” she added.