Category: News

THE “crippling cost” of high rents in Ennis are forcing some businesses to close down, a meeting in the town has heard.

The claim was made by a local businesswoman at a meeting between business representatives and General Election candidates in Ennis last Wednesday.

Debbie Harrington, Co-manager of Little Silvermines jewellers, told the meeting that the high cost of rent was forcing her to close her doors.

Speaking in the Temple Gate Hotel, Ms Harrington said she and her sister had “established the business from scratch” in Ennis 13 years ago.

She explained that a number of factors including commercial rates and a lack of parking spaces had forced the closure of her business.

Ms Harrington added that high rent, which she said was set “at the height of the boom”, had had a “crippling effect” on her business.

Calling for rents to be reduced in Ennis, Ms Harrington added, “Everyone has to start living in the real world now.” A loud and sustained round of applause followed Ms Harrington’s final comment from the over 200 business people in attendance.

The chairman of the Ennis branch of the Irish Taxi Federation, Martin White, told the meeting that 33 taxi drivers had recently lost their jobs in Ennis.

He said taxi operators, hotels and pubs should be “working hand in glove” on a collaborative basis to encourage more tourists into Clare. “Until such time as we get together, we’re gone,” Mr White warned.

Eamon Cagney, owner of the Wine Buff, urged Clare’s politicians to do every thing they can to get a major multi-nationals to set up in Clare.

Ger Murphy of Gerz Place Café called for free parking to apply in Ennis until 12 noon. Ms Murphy said this would give parents more time to spend in town after dropping kids of at school without worrying about the cost of parking.

Tattooist Tadhg Kelly said business owners should be entitled to free parking in Ennis.

SHANNON Airport passenger figures are poised to continue to decline until the end of March. That’s the prediction of a spokesperson for the airport, which is anticipating growth after the end of the first quarter of the year. The reduced figures were released last week, after Ryanair’s decision to reduce its services from the mid-west airport took effect in January.

Figures published by the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) showed that commercial terminal flights through Shannon were down by almost 25 per cent in January. “The performance at Shannon Airport is a cause for concern,” stated a spokesperson for the IAA.

According to the figures, air traffic through Irish airspace increased by 5.1 per cent last month, compared with January 2010. Dublin and Cork figures were more promising than those for Shannon. Commercial terminal flights at Dublin increased by 0.7 per cent, while they were down by almost seven per cent at Cork.

North Atlantic flights between Europe and USA increased by four per cent last month, compared with January 2010.

Responding to the figures, a Shannon Airport spokesperson said: “Shannon Airport monthly passenger figures will continue to show a decline for the first quarter of 2011, at the end of which they will stabilize and return to growth.

“The drop is largely attributable to the ending of a five-year agreement with Ryanair, which had four aircraft based at the airport and operated 18 services twelve months ago compared to one aircraft and ten services this January. Shannon Airport was unable to accede to the airline’s demands for a new agreement that would have involved unsustainable passenger charges and significantly reduced traffic volumes. The ending of the agreement accounts for 90 per cent of the decline in passenger numbers at Shannon since.

“However, from May of this year we expect that both passenger and air traffic movement data will show a marked improvement at Shannon, arising from the airport’s strong recovery in the latter half of 2010 and its move towards a more sustainable network of services. This has already yielded positive results, with the announcement of a range of new services in the latter half of the year, an upswing that has been maintained into 2011,” added the spokesperson.

Among the newer services include the establishment of Aer Lingus services to Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow and Bristol (last summer) and the commencement in December of a new Aer Lingus Paris service.

CLARE General Election candidate Brian Meaney (GP) says his primary focus will remain local issues, even if he is asked to take up a senior position within the Green Party following the elections.

Cllr Meaney will be the most senior party member in the country should the Greens, as predicted, lose all of their Dáil seats in the upcoming election. Cllr Meaney has already been touted in some quarter as a possible party leader following next week’s vote.

“I will probably be the most senior elected Green in the country [after the election] and that is not something that I would relish. What will happen will happen but the party will not go away. The party will need to be rebuilt, and they’re not going to be rebuilt from the ashes because the possibility is there that there won’t be any ashes,” he told The Clare People . “But that said, on a good day we could get four seats; we could even get eight seats. There is no way of predicting this.”

Should the Green Party lose all of their Dáil seats, they will need to retain at least two per cent of the overall national vote to retain funding for national party office in Dublin. Even if they don’t achieve this, Cllr Meaney is confident that the party will survive.

“In many ways we are still a campaigning party and no matter what happens we will remain a campaigning party and many of the issues that we are campaigning on have become main stream issues. The issues have not gone away and the need for a Green Party has not gone away,” he said.

“It wouldn’t bother me [if he started to get responsibility within the party] but I would concentrate on my main job which is a councillor representing the people of Ennis West. The electorate of Ennis West, the electorate of Ennis Town Council and the various other positions that I have as a result of these, they are my primary function and responsibility.”

STUDENTS from Ennis Community College will set sail on the River Fergus in April after taking a lead role in a new currach-building project.

Working alongside members of the Fergus Rowing Club, James Madigan and Richard O’Donohue of the West Clare Currach Club, 11 first and second year students have spent the past week building a currach.

The pinnacle of the project will be the official launch of the boat as it embarks from the River Fergus in Clarecastle and makes its maiden voyage west of the Shannon.

Teacher Vivien Arthur-Grogan explained, “The project is cross-cur- ricular in nature and the benefits are admirable. Students who normally would have no hands-on knowledge or no previous point of reference to such a craft are responding excitedly.

The 11 students involved are Jordan Slattery, James Slattery, Ethan McNevin, Shaun Brody, Eoghan McInerney, Michael Daly, Brendan Molloy, Roisín Peoples, Toheeb Tolulope, Sylvia Kielak and Corey Hayes.

Vivien added, “The project provides an ideal forum to engage students from a multitude of nationalities and cultures to engage in team building exercises, benefiting them in countless ways.” I a m Ge r r y Wa ls he , a n e le c t r ic ia n b y t r a d e a nd for m e r c ont r a c t or who e m p loye d 7 m e n. I a m a s king for your num b e r 1 vot e or 2 nd p r e fe r e nc e if you ha ve a lr e a d y d e c id e d on your 1 s t p r e fe r e nc e . In t he p a s t I ha ve c a m p a ig ne d t o ke e p Ennis Ge ne r a l Hos p it a l op e n wit h full s e r vic e s , a nd c a m p a ig ne d a g a ins t t he b a il out wit h NAMA a nd Lis b on r e fe r e nd um , I a m a ls o a g a ins t t he c ur r e nt b a il out of p r iva t e b a nk d e b t . I d e c id e d t o r un a s a c a nd id a t e in t he Ge ne r a l Ele c t ion b e c a us e I a m d is g us t e d wit h t he c or r up t ion wit hin t he p olit ic a l s ys t e m . If e le c t e d I will b r ing hone s t y a nd a c c ount a b ilit y t o t he Dá il a nd will b e a s t r ong fig ht e r for t he p e op le of Cla r e a nd t he ir ne e d s . I will fig ht t o ke e p Ennis A & E a c ut e s e r vic e op e n a nd c a m p a ig n for t he Links Ca r g o hub a nd d e ve lop m e nt of t he Sha nnon r e g ion wit h a r a il link t o t he a ir p or t . I will a ls o d e ve lop a loa n s c he m e t o a s s is t our Fa r m e r s , s e lf-e m p loye d a nd s m a ll b us ine s s e s , not for g e t t ing our fis he r m e n. I found e d a n a nt i-c or r up t ion or g a nis a t ion wit h t he we b s it e www. s p ir it -of-t r ut h. or g whe r e I p ub lis he d a ud io a nd d oc um e nt e d e vid e nc e t o s how a c onne c t ion b e t we e n Ir is h s old ie r s a nd t he b uying of a r m s on t he b la c k-m a r ke t . I wa s t he m a in wit ne s s who e xp os e d t he s e ir r e g ula r it ie s a nd wis he d t o c onfr ont De fe nc e Minis t e r Tony Kille e n a s t o why he r e le a s e d a m ilit a r y r e p or t wit hout int e r vie wing m e t he m a in wit ne s s wit h e vid e nc e . I a ls o p ub lic ly c r it ic iz e d t he c ove r up of c hild a b us e wit hin t he Polit ic a l a nd St a t e b od ie s a nd p ub lic ly r e a d c or r e s p ond e nc e fr om a s e nior Ga r d a whe r e he c la im e d he c ould not look in his offic ia l file s r e la t ing t o t he s e m a t t e r s b e c a us e he wa s not in Cla r e in 2 0 0 8 . If e le c t e d t o t he Dá il I will b e a wa t c h d og for t his Count y a nd Count r y a nd will c onfr ont t he c or r up t p olit ic ia ns , b a nke r s a nd wha t e ve r d a r k s e c r e t s t his c or r up t s ys t e m ha s b ur ie d . I ur g e you t he p e op le of Cla r e , if you wa nt r e a l c ha ng e t o s t op vot ing for t he s a m e old c r onie s a nd g ive m e a nd ot he r ne w Ind e p e nd e nt s your Vot e s o we c a n he lp b uild a Ne w Ir e la nd .

CLARE FINE Gael TD Joe Carey is the latest candidate to claim reconfiguration of hospitals services has failed miserably, and he points to the largest hospital in the mid-west as proof.

He said that shocking statistics emerging from the Mid West Regional Hospital Limerick highlights the extent to which health services in the mid-west are not working.

In recent weeks, studies show that one in five patients at the Dooradoyle hospital had to wait 24 hours to be seen by a doctor, while one in four patients had a wait of between six and 12 hours.

The studies looked at 29 hospitals and found that the Mid West Regional Hospital ranked one of the worst in terms of waiting times and patient safety.

“I think it will come as no surprise to anybody in this region that the Mid-West Regional Hospital in Limerick has ranked so low in that staff working there have to deal with severe over-crowding and bed shortages on a daily basis.

“Anyone who has had to spend time in that hospital will tell you about the conditions.

“In this region, many of us warned the Government that the hospital was unable to cope and local Fianna Fáil TDs and HSE managers accused us of scare mongering.

“Now the facts speak for themselves. The reconfiguration process has placed unfair and immense pressure on staff working in Limerick’s Mid-West Regional Hospital.

“There was an attempt by the Government to fool the population into believing that Limerick was prepared for added demands placed on it. I never supported this policy and always felt it was misguided and under resourced,” he said.

“As well as consistently falling behind the majority of hospitals in the State in terms of waiting times, the statistics from Limerick in relation to staff shortages and sick days are very high. Staff there are under immense pressure.

“Months ago, I called in Dáil Éireann for an independent HIQA review of hospital reconfiguration in this region. I have contacted the Department for Health several times to insist that any further reconfiguration of services be suspended until a new Government is formed.”

A NEW ‘Spring Tide’ can sweep Clare’s Labour Party election candidate Michael McNamara into the 31st Dáil, the former leader of the party and two-time Tánaiste Dick Spring has claimed this week.

In taking a timeout from his nephew Arthur Spring’s Dáil bid in North Kerry and turning his attention to the Clare campaign, Spring told The Clare People, “We will have Labour TDs on both sides of the mouth of the Shannon on February 26 and thus make some history.”

Spring, who served as a TD from 1981 to 2002, has claimed that the groundswell of support for McNamara’s election campaign represents a throwback to Dr Moosajeé Bhamjeé’s famous election win in 1992 when the Tralee man led Labour to their historic hight of 33 Dáil seats.

“Dr Bhamjee’e victory was the sensation of the ‘92 election. As the ‘Spring Tide’ was gathering towards the end of the campaign I was asked by Party HQ to do one final day’s canvassing in Donegal NE, Cavan/ Monaghan and Clare.

“By the time I got to Shannon the pilot said if I wasn’t back on the plane in 25 minutes he would have to leave as he was running out of flying hours.

I had a 20 minute

press conference with

Bhamjeé and there

was a feeling that he

was going well but

we did not see that we

would break through

the Dev culture in

Clare. But the people

of Clare in their wis

dom came out and

supported Bhamjeé.

Dr Bhamjeé to quote

his own words did

‘bring some colour to Dáil Éireann’.

“Given the breaking of traditional political moulds that is going on at present I believe that Michael McNamara can win a Labour seat in Clare. Ireland and Irish politics will be in a very different place after this election. With the Labour Party on course to achieve 24/25 per cent of the national vote that should suffice to bring Michael across the line,” he added.

CLARE County Council is to write to the President of the America, Barack Obama, officially inviting him to visit the county and use Shannon Airport in the coming months.

The motion, which was put forward by Cllr James Breen (Ind), came about following a discussion on the future commitments of Aer Lingus to Shannon Airport. On the foot of the motion the local authority will now write to President Obama, officially inviting him to visit Clare.

While Massachusetts Congressman Richard Neal confirmed last year the US President would pay a visit to Ireland during his first term in office no official confirmation has come from the White House.

It is also unclear what impact, if any, the invitation from Clare County Council will have on shaping the possible itinerary that the US Presi- dent would have on the proposed state visit.

The invitation arose following a motion on Shannon Airport put forward by Cllr PJ Ryan (Ind).

According to Cllr Ryan, the decision by Aer Lingus not to operate a transatlantic service into Shannon Airport at certain times of the years is having a negative impact on tourism in the county, especially around St Patrick’s Day.

“This council needs to make representations to Aer Lingus to establish their long-term commitment to Shannon Airport in view of the fact that they have suspended their transatlantic flights for the early part of 2011, which includes the St Patrick’s Day period,” he said.

“I feel that this situation need to be highlighted. Our former national airline has taken it upon itself to discontinue service into Shannon for the early months of the year. This is unbecoming of a company which is still party owned by the State. Aer Lingus’ commitment to Shannon is very poor and we would like to know what there plans are for the airport in the coming years.”

According to Shannon-based Cllr Patricia McCarthy (Ind), the loss of the year-round transatlantic services is doing long-term damage to the region.

“This is not just doing damage to the airport, it is damaging all the businesses in the area,” she said.

“This is doing long-term damage to the airport when the so called national carried is just coming in during the summer months and cherry picking during the busy months.”

Speaking on the motion, Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) said that Shannon Airport must feel like the “jilted partner” as a result of Aer Lingus’ new found affection for Dublin Airport and Terminal 2.

STUDENTS from north Clare and south Galway have been granted a one year reprieve before school transport services are overhauled drastically in the area.

The Department of Education has announced that Gort Community School and Seamount College in Kinvara will continue to have a “joint catchment area” in parts of north Clare and south Galway for the 2011/2012 school year.

It is as yet unclear what will happened to services after that with a spokesperson from Gort Community School saying that the battle to retain the service will continue.

The reconfiguring of services follows a decision to open Seamount College to male students. The school traditionally operated a joint catchment, which allowed students from all areas to take advantage of school transport to either school.

Should this arrangement be cancelled it would create a situation where new students would not be able to travel to school with their older siblings and would split a number of families between each school.

It is also estimated that the change in the services could result in a 25 per cent reduction in the amount of students attending Gort Community School. A spokesperson from the schools parent’s association claims this will have a drastic effect on the standard of education in the area.

“If this goes through Gort Community School will use a lot of its services because of the drop in numbers, with two medium-sized schools instead of one big school and one small school, neither school will be able to offer things like woodwork and metal work,” said the spokesperson.

MORE THAN 1,000 Clare homes could face repossession once the Government’s stay on house repossessions is lifted.

According to figures released by the Irish Central Bank, more then 70,000 Irish homeowners are struggling to pay their mortgages with more than 30,000 currently making interest only payments.

It is also estimated that no payment has been made on more than 100 Clare mortgages for 12 months or over. The Clare Citizens Information Service and the Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) have organised a special public seminar for people in mortgage difficulty, which will take place at in Ennis this Thursday.

Despite new mortgage arrears measures introduced by the Central Bank last December, there has still been an increase in the number of homes being repossessed.

“The rise in possession actions underscores the need for a non-judicial, national debt settlement office,” said Paul Joyce, senior policy researcher on consumer credit law for the Free legal Advice Centres (FLAC), who will speak at the event.

“The EU/IMF deal had set a March 2012 deadline for a new law to create an out-of-court system to deal with personal debt. We cannot wait that long.”

The seminar will focus on mortgage debt and the impact it is having on people in Clare.

According to Paul Woulfe, Manager with the Citizens Information Service (CIS), more and more people are contacting CIS with difficulties keeping a roof over their heads.

“Recent data provided by MABS indicates that the number of mortgage arrears cases has increased by 57 percent between 2009 and 2010,” he said.

“Responding to this situation the seminar will address some of the issues with a expert panel of speaker in the areas of the revised Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears and dealing with mortgage debt.”

The seminar will take place at the Temple Gate Hotel, Ennis, Thursday, February 17, from 10am to 1pm.

Meanwhile, the Citizens Information Mobile Unit will be in Sixmilebridge on Friday, February 18; in Tulla on Monday, February 21; and in Ballyvaughan on Tuesday, February 22. It will also be in Miltown Malbay on Wednesday, February 23, and Lisdoonvarna on Thursday, February 24.

TOURISM could be catalyst which brings about economic recovery in County Clare with a number of new projects announced this week.

More then 20,000 bed nights are expected to be sold in Clare as a result of ‘Lord of the Dance’ coming to the Cliffs Of Moher this September, which, according to the management at the iconic tourism location, could be the first of a number of high profile events to come to Clare in the coming year.

“This is a really big announcement and it is welcomed by everyone here at the Cliffs. It is a great event but it will also give people nationally the chance to witness what we have her in Clare,” said Geraldine Enright, Sales and Marketing Manager for the Cliffs of Moher.

“This event will have a massive spin off for business around north Clare but also for the county as a whole. We had a lot of local businesses here for the launch and they can all look forward to being booked out for the first week in September.

“We don’t have any solid plans for future event that might take place but we will wait and see how this one takes place and then see what we can do into the future.”

Tickets for the event, which is being organised by MPO Promotions Limited, will go on sale at Ticketmaster outlets today, September 15. Tickets can also be purchased in person from the Cliffs of Moher Centre.

Michael Flatley’s ‘Lord of the Dance’ will be performed at the world famous Cliffs of Moher in Clare on September 1 and 2.

The show features 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, Hugh Healy and friends with special guest 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.

The performances will coincide with the tourist attraction’s campaign to be selected as one of the ‘New7Wonders of Nature’. The results of the four-year campaign, which will be decided through a worldwide poll, will announced on November 11 of this year.