Category: News

THE head of the National Roads Authority (NRA) has been challenged to come to Clare and explain his comments that the county’s road network is unsafe and had not been constructed in accordance with NRA guidelines.

Following a motion put forward by Cllr Patricia McCarthy (Ind), Clare County Council is to write to Fred Barry, CEO of the NRA, asking him to identify which roads in Clare he considers to be dangerous and which were not constructed in accordance to guidelines.

This follows comments made by Mr Barry earlier this year in which he appeared to question the quality of roadworks carried out in the county.

“If someone is saying that we are not following guidelines then there is something that should be taken seriously. The issue here is are we following the guidelines or are we not,” said Cllr McCarthy.

“To say that I was surprised and perplexed by the comment of the NRA would be putting it mildly. He should be communicating directly with the council [and not speaking through the media].

“He even goes on to question whether we are following the guidelines with regards to roadworks.

“We follow the guidelines as set out by the department and we only have the funding to complete the roads which are funded by the Department of the Environment.

“We need to know, if he is to make these charge, that he can identified parts of the county where the roads are deficient. We cannot have people using unsafe roads and that [Mr Barry’s comment] is the message that some of our roads are unsafe. It is grand to make statements but you have to back it up with facts.”

Cllr McCarthy motion did not get the unanimous support of the councillors with Cllr Gerry Flynn (Ind) agreeing with Mr Barry, saying that the roads in the county are sub-standard.

“I would not disagree with Mr Barry. I don’t think that he stated untruths. He also says that there was an inadequacy of finding to the council. The council probably do the best they can with the money that they have. But I don’t see anything that he says as being untrue and maybe it is good that they lay it out like that,” said Cllr Flynn.

Commenting on the motion Cllr Michael Kelly (FF) said that “the NRA have been very active in telling us what to do. I think the NRA should be more active in securing the money to let us do it.”

CLARE County Council is bracing itself for further jobs losses in the coming months following the revelation yesterday that the local authority may only be half way through its restructuring programme.

The workforce of Clare County Council has been reduced by around 150 employees over the past two years and according to county manager Tom Coughlan, the local authority may be forced to shed even more jobs in the coming months.

Speaking at last night’s meeting of Clare County Council, Mr Coughlan said that he expects the council to be hit hard by the reduction in public sector numbers promised by some political parties ahead of the General Election.

“There are not all going to be guards and nurses, there is going to be cuts right across the entire public sector. We are looking at severe losses in local authority as well as in the other across the public service,” he said.

Mr Coughlan was commenting on a discussion about the possibility of increasing the numbers employed by the council in roads maintenance. Mr Coughlan said that there was “no point in saying that there is a chance of us increasing our staffing levels” at the current time.

Under the terms of the Croke Park Agreement, wage levels cannot be reduced so any proposed reduction in the overall staffing costs of the local authority would have to come reducing the numbers employed.

“It is a bleak outlook and it looks certain that there will be a further cut in the numbers employed by Clare County Council, as with other areas of the public services,” continued Mr Coughlan.

Speaking on the motion, Cllr Pat Hayes (FF) urged the local authority to take advantage of any national schemes which would allow the local authority to take on unemployed people as part-time council employees without adding to Clare County Council’s wage bill.

“We need to look at different ways of doing things if this is going to be the way it is in the Council,” he said.

“There is going to have to be very much more about working with communities and with the unemployed.”

Speaking on the motion Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) described the jobs cuts in the local authority as “a fundamental attack on the local authority” and “privitisation by stealth”.

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.

A LOCAL traders group has said they have serious concerns over a proposed large-scale retail development on the outskirts of Ennis.

Planning permission has been sought by Michael Lynch Ltd for the development of a retail park at five hectares of land at Limerick Road and Tobertascáin.

It is projected that as many as 500 jobs could be created if the project gets the go-ahead.

According to planning consultants DPP (Development Planning Partnership), 300 temporary jobs will be created in construction while with a further 200 full time jobs in retail on completion.

However Gearoid Mannion, Chairman of the O’Connell Street Traders Association, has said there are concerns about the potential impact of the development on business in the town centre.

He explained, “It is a significant worry. It would be bad, not just for O’Connell Street but the town centre. It would be a huge matter for Ennis town centre. We would be very concerned.”

The O’Connell Street Traders Association has written a letter to Ennis Town Council outlining their observations of the proposed development.

Mr Mannion explained, “We are saying that we would be very concerned that it would be detrimental to existing business in the town centre. Such a development is unnecessary in size and scale and is way in excess of what could be considered suitable for a town the size of Ennis.”

Ennis chamber and An Táisce have also written submissions to Ennis Town Council outlining their concern over the project.

Three businesses have closed on O’Connell Street since the start of the year. However Mr Mannion be- lieves Ennis has not been affected as badly as other similar sized towns.

He said, “It is the time of year when it is most likely to happen. I would be hopeful and confident that we have seen the last of the closures.”

He added, “We are still in a slightly better position than other towns. Tralee and Nenagh would be in a significantly worse place than we are. Limerick, even though it is a city, has also been badly hit. That’s very clearly as a result of the success of the Crescent Shopping Centre.”

Noreen Twomey Walsh of the Parnell Street Association said businesses all over Ennis are “feeling the pinch”. She added, “It’s universal, it’s in every town and city. It’s not just Parnell Street, O’Connell Street and Abbey Street, but we’re optimistic that things will start to turn the other way.”

She added, “It’s sad to see shops close down but we’re hoping that things will get better.”

ONE of the first nuns to qualify in medicine, Sr Dr Maura O’Donoghue has been named as the Clare Person of the Year.

Sr O’Donoghue was honoured at the annual meeting of the Clare Association in Dublin last week.

A native of Lickeen, Kilfenora, Sr O’Donoghue was one of the first members of the religious order to practice medicine. Presenting the award, Liam O’Looney of the Clareman’s Association noted that Sr O’Donoghue qualified at a time when some people “were not happy that the religious sisters were qualifying in medicine”.

Mr O’Looney continued, “Sr Maura had a very distinguished career in the missions and most of her work was carried out in different parts of Africa and other developing countries. She initiated welfare schemes and clinics for the hungry during some of the very serious famines they suffered in those countries during that period.”

Sr O’Donohue now lives in Booterstown, Dublin, where she is very ac- tive campaigner on the issue of women being trafficked as sex workers.

Acclaimed singer and writer Robbie McMahon from Spancill Hill was nominated for the association’s 2011 Hall of Fame award.

The ceremony also saw the launch of the Clare Association’s new website, clareassociationdublin.com.

The primary aim of the website is the reach out to generations of Clare migrants living in Dublin.

The website was launched by businessman and prominent Clare supporter, Pat O’Donnell, who brought Clare GAA’s most sought after trophies – Jack Daly (football) and Canon Hamilton (hurling) – to the event.

Among the other attendees were previous Clare persons of the year, Martin Donnelly, Michael Tubridy and John Lynch.

WORKERS based at the old Halifax Insurance centre in Shannon will have to wait more then six week before being told which among the 300-strong workforce will lose their jobs. The St Andrew’s Group in Shannon, formerly known as Halifax Insurance, confirmed last week that 80 people are to be let go from their Shannon operations.

These latest job cuts come less than a year after Lloyds Banking Group, who owns the the St Andrew’s Group, announced that 21 people were to be let go because the company no longer going to operate in the payment protection insurance market.

Workers at the St Andrew Group were told last week that as much as 80 per cent of workers in some departments are to be let go while other departments are to be largely untouched. The Clare People also understands that every worker at the Shannon company is to be interviewed in the coming weeks before any decision on final redundancies is made.

These 80 redundancies form part of an overall cut of 200 jobs from the insurance section of the Lloyds Banking Group in the UK and Ireland.

“Lloyds Banking Group is today announcing 200 role reductions mainly within its insurance division as part of its ongoing integration programme. Lloyds Banking Group is committed to working through these changes with employees in a careful and sensitive way. All affected employees have been briefed by their line manager,” said a spokesperson from Lloyds. “The group’s union partners, Accord, LTU and Unite, were consulted prior to this announcement and will continue to be consulted throughout the process.

“The group’s policy is always to use natural turnover and to redeploy people wherever possible to retain their expertise and knowledge within the group. By making less use of contractors and agency employees, it reduces the impact on permanent staff. Where it is necessary for employees to leave the company, it will look to achieve this by offering vol- untary severance.”

These latest cuts mean that the Shannon-based operation will have lost just over 30 per cent of it’s entire workforce in just 12 months.

The St Andrew’s Group is a leading specialist creditor insurance provider. It manages claims and customer service on behalf of clients such as MBNA, Sainsbury’s Bank and AA Personal Finance.

In June of 2006, Halifax Insurance Ireland announced that it would be generate 185 new jobs in Shannon over the following five years.

COME what may there will be massive changes in the representatives put forward by the Galway East constituency after this month’s General Election.

That much was signalled early on when three of the four sitting deputies – Fianna Fail’s Noel Treacy and Fine Gael’s Ulick Burke and Paul Connaughton – announced their decision not to run, leaving Michael Kitt as the only member of the current Dáil left standing.

Despite the decision of Libertas leader Declan Ganley to sit this election out, there is still plenty to talk about in Galway East during this campaign season.

Possibly the biggest talking point is the emergence of the Labour Party with long serving party activist Colm Keaveney in with a fighting chance of taking a seat.

With his Labour Party running mate Lorraine Higgins also pooling well for a first time candidate, inter parties transfers could see the party take it’s first seat in Galway East in living memory.

Another major talking point in the constituency is the wrangling over who would make up the Fine Gael ticket.

With three men – Paul Connaghton Jnr, Jimmy McClean and Tom McHugh – left standing after the party convention, the Fine Gael top brass put a cat amongst the local blue-shirts by adding the former Progressive Democrat leader, Ciaran Cannon, to the ticket.

Cannon, who switched allegiances following the collapse of the PD’s last year, was added to the ticket in what has been seen by party insiders as pay-back for defecting to Fine Gael in 2009.

There could be a further twist to this tail as Cannon, despite being relatively unpopular within the local party, is proving very popular with the public and looks in line to take a second seat for Fine Gael ahead of both McClean and McHugh.

The one certainty, if such a thing exists in this election, is that Paul Connaghton Junior looks set to take the seat vacated by his father.

As for Fianna Fáil, many within the local party organisation have consigned themselves to retailing only one seat in what was always considered a party stronghold.

Unless there is a major shock, sitting TD Michael Kitt will have enough to see him home with running mate Michael Dolan unlikely to have a major impact on election day.

Independent Sean Canny looks likely to end up in a dog fight for the last seat with Labour’s Colm Keaveney, Fine Gael’s Jimmy McClean and Independent Tim Broderick.