Category: News

THE Burren will be officially named as Ireland’s second ever ecotourism destination at a ceremony in Ballyvaughan next month.

This designation is the culmination of more then two years of work by the Burren Ecotourism Network – a host of local businesses and organisations in the area.

Ecotourism involved a move away from traditional mass-tourism and towards providing visitors with a more individual, more person tourist experience in Clare.

The classification of the Burren as an official ecotourism destination could become a major long-term driver for the local tourism industry. It is predicted that the ecotourism movement will become one of the primary drivers if tourism in Ireland in the coming years.

The Burren Ecotourism Network hope that this brand of tourism will encourage visitors to stay for longer in the county, spend more money in the area and cause less impact on the environmental and social make-up of the Burren.

Co-ordinated by the Burren Connect Project in Ennistymon, the network has seen a wide variety of north Clarebased businesses coming together for a series of mentoring days, local cleanups and education events designed to improve the tourism product offered in the Burren region. The group has been working to gain accreditation from Ecotourism Ireland and in piloting Ireland’s first ecotourism certification programme. A number of local businesses are due to receive their own individual accreditation from Ecotourism Ireland this month.

“The network is offering visitors opportunities to engage with the protected landscape of the Burren in a manner which is sustainable both in terms of the environment as well as the community,” said Edel Hayes of the Burren Connect Project.

“Accommodation, food, farming, outdoor activities, culture and heritage are all part of the network, which has woven together all the elements that make the area attractive to visitors looking for authentic tourism experiences. Tourism businesses involved in the network are committed to local produce, conservation and the community, as well as to continuing high standards in sustainability.”

The Burren Ecotourism Network elected its first committee last year with Joanna McInerney of the Burren Outdoor Education Centre elected as chairperson; Marie Neylon of Corofin Camping and Hostel elected as secretary and Orla Vaughan of Kilfenora Hostel and Chris O’Neill of Burren Painting Centre elected as joint treasurers. The network will be officially launched at Gregans Castle Hotel in Ballyvaughan on March 3.

A SIX-MONTH suspension of commercial rates in Ennis and greater independence for Shannon Airport were among the main commitments sought by businesses from Clare’s General Election candidates, at a public meeting last week.

Michelle Madden, of Madden’s Furniture told the meeting in Ennis last week that her family had been in business for 99 years in Ennis.

She said Madden’s, which employs five people, pays € 16,500 in commercial rates to Ennis Town Council every year. “High rates are rates are closing businesses,” she claimed.

Ms Madden added that rates should be determined on profit and not the size of a business. She called on the council to suspend rates for six months.

Local publican and representative of the Vintner’s Federation of Ireland (VFI) Gerry Collins, said that instead of having 20 shop units closed in Ennis, it would be better if the council lowered rates “and kept half of them open”.

Gerry Barry of Clare Trade Supplies said that businesses were finding it very hard to pay rates. He said businesses had to cut costs to survive and the council must do likewise.

CEO of Ennis chamber Rita McInerney told the meeting that businesses in Ennis paid € 5.5 million in rates to Ennis Town Council last year. She described the business community as a “significant stakeholder” that should have a greater voice at local government level.

However, Green Party candidate and Ennis councillor Brian Meaney said that without commercial rates, the council would not be able to provide essential services to the public.

He said there had been no increase in rates in Ennis for the past three years and any suspension would represent a “serious deficit in income” for the council.

He said water charges and domestic rates were needed to fund local government.

“Which library are we going to close? How are we going to salt roads?” asked Cllr Meaney.

He added, “These are very real services that have to be paid for.”

The meeting also heard pleas for greater promotion of Shannon Airport.

Pat McCarthy of Pat McCarthy Shoes described Shannon as the “nucleus” of the economy in the midwest.

Addressing the candidates, Mr McCarthy said, “Please, please, please go to the Shannon Airport Authority and get Shannon moving the way it was when I came to Clare.”

Brian O’Neill, Managing Director of the Rowan Tree Hostel and Restaurant, called for a dedicated marketing strategy for Shannon and for the “ridiculous” travel tax to be abolished.

A GENERAL Election in Clare would not be the same if Shannon Airport wasn’t one of the biggest burners of the day. Indeed, it’s doubtful if there’s been an election campaign this past 30 years without the airport’s future being up for discussion.

“The rights of Shannon have always been protected under Fianna Fáil governments, no matter what the circumstances,” said Charles Haughey during the 1987 election campaign.

“There were often threats from different quarters, but we always stood by Shannon. As long as there is a Fianna Fáil government in office, the future of Shannon is assured. Fianna Fáil and Shannon are synonymous with national progress and will be for a long time to come,” Haughey added.

Those words must haunt Fianna Fáil now, because Shannon has been grievously wronged by Fianna Fáil governments, from the abolition of the Shannon Stopover in 1993 onwards.

The current state of ill-health with the airport was graphically illustrated recently when a survey of 300 airports revealed that passenger numbers at Shannon dipped by 37.2 per cent in 2010 – the biggest drop in Europe.

Yes, it’s crisis time for Shannon. The potential to develop the airport is still there, but this past generation it has gone un-tapped. The incoming government has to act because the survival of Shannon is at stake.

Fianna Fáil has failed miserably to live up to Charles Haughey’s words failed to such an extent that the party has no representation on Shannon Town Council.

Fine Gael and Labour have made soundings about making Shannon “great again”. But is the political will there? Is the will there to give fair treatment to an airport that has been under the thumb of Dublin for many years.

Independence for Shannon Airport is one way.

A new Irish Airport Authority, where Dublin, Shannon and Cork are equal partners, ensuring Dublin doesn’t have the whip hand on Clare, is another way.

Handing over Shannon to Michael O’Leary and giving him incentives to make the airport is hub of operations is another way.

One thing is certain – something has to be done and done fast.

Or else the hares John Dillon talked about back in the 1940s will be on their way. The tumbleweed Michael O’Leary talked about too.

FRESH from his success at the World Press Photography Awards, Corofin photographer Kenneth O’Halloran was one of the big winners at the Press Photographers’ Association of Ireland Awards that were announced in Dublin on Friday.

O’Halloran claimed four prizes on the night, scooping first, second and third prizes in the Portrait category, while he also was placed second in the Daily Life category.

He was awarded first prize for his photograph of a young girl with her geese, second prize for a shot of a girl in a pub and third for a cryptic image of Mis Africa Ireland, which the judges said “at first glance, this could be a portrait about Africa, it is in fact an Irish portrait with extraordinary good use of light and colour with a clever subject matter”.

Freelance and former Clare People and Clare Champion photographer, Eamon Ward, won second prize in the Reportage category for a photograph titled ‘Chernobyl’s Human Cost’ and third place in the Daily Life Category for ‘Country Gents’.

Clare Champion staff photographer John Kelly was also among the winners for his Christmas Day photograph called ‘Ice Cycle’.

SITTING amongst 100 or so people in Drumbiggle at the General Election meeting, one could not help but notice a considerable representation for minority groups.

With 50 members of the Travelling community present, and maybe 10 or more foreign nationals, the questions being hurled at the candidates mainly focused on the difficulties now facing marginalised people; the closure of adult education centres; the cuts in welfare and many other problems.

Also present was Colette Bradley, from Ennis Community Development Project, and Orla Ní Eilí, from the Clare Immigrant Support Centre, who are the official representation, of sorts, for the minority groups.

“We have been turning up to these meetings to get politicians to sign a protocol that they promise they will use their voices sensibly, instead of jumping on marginalised people and using them to highlight issues in the recession,” said Orla Ní Éilí.

“We’re aiming to dispel people’s misconceptions. Recently two politicians rang us saying that some people were giving out about travellers and foreign nationalists abandoning buggies because they didn’t have to pay for them,” said Colette Bradley.

“But this is far from the case, and we want to make people aware of the exact difficulties facing minority groups. And we also don’t want this to be something that could be left behind due to all the other problems that are facing Ireland,” she added.

Anne Cronin pledged that if she didn’t succeed in this election, that she would mentor someone from these groups, and make sure they had proper representation in 2016. Other politicians did, however, promise not to forget the problems of the minorities when they get into power.

CLARE TDs in the next Dáil have agreed to meet with business leaders in the county four weeks after taking office to discuss how Clare can become the first county in Ireland to exit recession.

The pledge was made by 14 of Clare’s 16 General Election candidates, either present or represented, at a public meeting attended by almost 220 business owners in Ennis last Wednesday.

The meeting was told that those present employed 1,300 people in Ennis.

Organised by Ennis Development Forum and Ennis chamber, the meeting in the Temple Gate Hotel was held to highlight the growing jobs crisis in the county, canvass new ideas and initiatives and encourage consumers to buy local.

Nine business representatives explained the main issues facing small and medium-sized businesses in the county with candidates also outlining their strategies to boost Clare’s economy and save local jobs.

President of Ennis Chamber of Commerce John Dillane said that meeting was not about “bitching and pointing fingers” but rather looking forward.

Chairman of the O’Connell Street Trader’s Association Gearoid Mannion told the meeting that there is a lot of “goodwill and enthusiasm” in Clare. Citing the success of the Wallcandy Street Art project and the Ennis Street Festival, he said it was important for everyone involved in business to “stay positive”.

Aoife Madden of Madden’s Furniture and the Ennis Development Forum said, “Clare will be the first county in Ireland to get out of recession”. She said that over 500 people had signed up to a Facebook page, urging customers to “stay here and shop local”.

She encouraged all businesses to fly Clare flags outside their premises. “They will think we’ve all gone mad down here, but we have to shop local, its important,” added Ms Madden.

GARDAÍ HAVE submitted a file for the DPP in connection wit h an att ack on a baby in Shannon in which a burn mark, broken l imbs and multiple br uising were sustained.

Last mont h, a 10-mont h-old baby boy was taken to hospital with serious injuries, including two broken arms – one of which was broken in three places – and a broken leg. He had also sustained br uising to several par ts of his body.

A Garda investigation swung into action and two people were questioned as par t of t he enqui r y. Gardaí then prepared a file on the matter and t his has been sent to the DPP, who wi ll decide whether charges are to be brought in relation to the case.

The Healt h Service Executive is also investigating the mat ter. Last mont h, an emergency care order was t aken out by the HSE in the distr ict cour t in relation to the baby boy.

MAYOR of Clare Cllr Christy Curtin (Ind) is to pick up the bill for his mayoral trip to New York this St Patrick’s Day.

The mayor’s council expenses usually cover the official trip by Clare’s first citizen to the Big Apple, but this year the man from Miltown Malbay said he would be covering his own costs.

“I will be paying for it myself. I think it is only right and fitting,” he told The Clare People .

Each year the mayor of the day travels to America to promote Clare from both a tourism and enterprise point of view.

The first citizen also takes part in the St Patrick’s Day parade.

“The purpose is to promote Clare and meet with the diaspora,” said Cllr Curtin.

“I will be there to show that Clare is a county worth coming back to, especially for anyone with entrepreneurial and enterprise skills,” he added.

The agenda for the visit to New York by Cllr Curtin has yet to be finalised but it is expected he will be there for March 17.

Meanwhile the mayor of Kilrush has been invited to New York to promote the town and area for the first time ever.

No decision has been made yet as to whether the current mayor Cllr Liam Williams (FG) will travel.

Ennis Town Council will not be represented at the annual St Patrick’s Day in New York, after councillors declined an invitation to attend the event at this month’s meeting.

Mayor of Ennis Cllr Tommy Brennan (Ind) turned down the invitation, saying the mayor’s place on St Patrick’s Day should be in Ennis.

Members of the Ennis/Phoenix twinning delegation will be in Arizona however for St Patrick’s Day.

Cllr Brian Meaney (GP); Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) and Cllr Michael Guilfoyle (Ind), who as deputy mayor represented Ennis at last year’s parade in New York all turned down proposals that they should attend the parade in the Big Apple in place of the mayor.

It is not known if Shannon Town Council is to send a representative abroad this St Patrick’s Day at time of press.

SINCE moving to Ennis in the early ‘70s he hasn’t missed an election count – he won’t miss the action of February 26 either, even if his beloved Fianna Fáil are in grave danger of being usurped from poll position in Clare General Election politics. Once a soldier, always a soldier, who doesn’t dessert his post and all that.

Frank Conway has seen it all, from being in the Ard Fheis audience the famous RDS day when Paddy Hillery told the world that they “can have Kevin Boland, but you can’t have Fianna Fáil” to facing down Charles Haughey when on the National Executive and voting against the expulsion order of Des O’Malley from the party.

“Elections are great,” he says, “because they’re a bit of a blood sport and from Council to General Elections I’ve experienced a fair few,” he adds, rolling back the years to when this love affair with the machinations of politics took hold.

“I was living in Shannon,” recalls Frank “and my friend Paddy Monaghan ran for Fianna Fáil in the 1967 local elections. Paddy was a character and he was chairman the Community Association and somehow talked his way into getting an audience with Lyndon Johnson. He called himself the Mayor of Shannon – this was way before there was Town Commission in Shannon – and it worked and he met Johnson in the Rose Garden in White House.

“We ran a unique campaign, printing leaflets saying ‘Shannon Needs Representation’. We were ahead of our time really and I was Paddy’s advisor – his Henry Kissinger. I remember we went up to Ennis to an election rally and Frank Collins, who was secretary of the Comhairle Dáil Ceanntair introduced Paddy by saying ‘now we have good Galway man Paddy Monaghan’. We were fecked after that.

“And at the convention a delegate from Sixmilebridge said ‘that Monaghan from Shannon is not a true Fianna Fáil man, I saw him reading The Ir ish Independent ’. After the election count we were going back to Shannon through Clarecastle and we threw the election leaflets out the window. I can still see them fluttering in the wind.”

However, even in defeat Conway’s interest was ignited. There were his 20 years on the National Executive, being a founder member of the Sean Lemass Cumann in Shannon that survives to this day, out on the canvas with Sylvie Barrett, Brendan Daly, Dr Bill Loughnane and Tony Killeen.

“I remember Conor Cruise O’Brien saying that Dr Bill was ‘a bogoak Irishman’. Dr Bill responded by saying ‘you can tell Conor Cruise I’m a proud bogoak Irishman’. Dr Bill was great, he was always a winner.

“Sylvie Barrett was a winner too and the night he was selected to stand for the Dáil is one of my outstanding memories. There was never a night like it. It was in the Queen’s Hotel and it went on until the early hours.

“Kevin Boland chaired the meeting and Frank Aiken was there too. With 15 candidates it became known as the ‘Night of the Long Count’. Boland ordered the door locked until the count was over. It was like the conclave in Rome, but some of the delegates had contacts out in the bar and bottle of stout were being handed in. In the end it came down between Sylvie and Jack Daly. I knew Sylvie from his days collecting rates in Kildysart and he got the three votes from the Sean Lemass Cumann, from myself, Rory Lynch and Peter Ryan. There was never an election like it. It changed history.

“I had great time for Slyvie. I remember he was drafted in by either Charlie Haughey or Jack Lynch to try and sort out a row in north Kerry between rival Fianna Fáil factions the Tom McEllistrim faction and the Kit Ahern faction.

“We went down to Tralee. It was like a peace summit and we came away thinking that peace had broken out. We had a good drink for on the way home and were delighted with ourselves, only to hear a few days later that the peace didn’t last long and they were at war with each other again. Such in politics.”

BUSINESSES around Clare are acknowledging the county’s volountary sector with the launch yesterday of the volounteer discount card.

The initiative, which is jointly supported by the Clare Volounteer Centre, Ennis Town Council, Clare County Council, Ennis chamber and the Clare Local Development Company, is aimed at recognising the work of all volounteers in Clare.

The volounteers discount card enables volounteers to access a range of discounts and special offers from over 120 businesses across Clare in 2011 – the European Year of the Volounteer.

The scheme is the first of its kind in the country and, according to Sharon Meaney, Development Co-ordinator with the Clare Volounteer Centre, it is hoped that Clare can be showcased as county who recognises and acknowledges the valuable contribution that all volounteers bring.

Sharon said, “You are inspired everyday by people’s stories of volounteering. Volounteers do make a difference. It’s important to say thanks. Without volounteers, the fabric if Irish life would be dull.”

Melissa Healy is a volounteer with Special Olympics Ireland and the Brothers of Charity. She urged people to volounteer, describing it as a worthwhile experience.

“When it came to the games [Special Olympics] and it all came together, the joy your work brings to the athletes and their famillies make it all worthwhile. I knew straight away it was something I was going to stay involved in.”

Melissa is a student on a community care course who started volounteering for Special Olympics Ireland last year for the summer games.

Asked what advice would she offer to anyone thinking of volounteering, she said, “I would definitely tell them to do it. You get a great feeling of self worth from taking time out of your day to help people who maybe would not receive help if it wasn’t for volounteers.”

The Clare Volunteer Centre is part of the national network of volunteer centres, supported by Volunteer Centres Ireland. The Clare Volunteer Centre opened its doors in Ennis in 2008.

Last year 256 people registered with the centre, an increase of 25 per cent from 2009, bringing the total number of volounteers registered at the centre to 496.