Category: News

FIANNA Fáil is maintaining the support of more than a third of the people in its traditional stronghold of Clare, while Fine Gael has 18 per cent of the vote.

According to the most recent poll taken in the county between September 18 and October 2, 35 per cent of the electorate said they would vote for the party, with 18 per cent opting to give their first preference vote to Fine Gael. 22 per cent were undecided, four per cent opted to support the Green Party, three pre cent Sinn Fein and three Labour.

When asked to give votes to particular candidates however, Fianna Fáil’s first preference vote increased to 42 per cent and Fine Gael’s to 33 per cent.

According to the TNS/MRBI poll for TG4, Minister of State Tony Killeen would top the poll with a surplus of five per cent, a marked increase on his 2002 outing when he received 16.32 per cent of the number ones on offer.

He received a quarter of the first preference vote in the poll of 500 people.

Not surprisingly the junior minister received 30 per cent of the first preference vote in the Corofin, Ennistymon and Ballyvaughan area. He also received 29 per cent of the vote in the Ennis area, which for the poll included Shannon and Sixmilebridge, and 25 per cent of the number ones in what is considered Timmy Dooley land – Meelick, Tulla, Scariff.

Independent James Breen who topped the poll in the last election harnessed a strong first preference vote again -18 per cent – in areas similar to Killeen.

He received 22 per cent of the first preference vote in the Ennis/Shannon area and in North Clare, while he polled ahead of Killeen in the west.

The survey outlined the west as Fine Gael Deputy Pat Breen’s stronghold, with 26 per cent of the KilrushKildysart vote.

He also polled well in east Clare at 15 per cent, but showed just seven per cent of the vote in Ennis and Shannon.

Senator Brendan Daly is, according to the poll, the most likely to take the seat vacated by Síle deValera.

Not surprisingly, Daly’s stronghold is in the west, where he polls 20 per cent of the vote, six per cent behind Pat Breen.

The senator is also strong in east Clare at 18 per cent and in north Clare at 11 per cent. If he is to secure the fourth seat with ease, he will have to build his support in the urban areas of Ennis and Shannon, where he showed a first preference vote of just five per cent.

Former Mayor of Shannon Tony Mulcahy received eight per cent of the first preference vote polling ahead of colleagues Madeleine Taylor Quinn on seven per cent and Joe Carey on five per cent of the vote. Brian Meaney (GP) showed at 6 per cent first preference.

Mulcahy received 17 per cent of the vote in Ennis/Shannon, but got no vote in the west . The poll shows that a lot of his votes were personal with just 48 per cent transferring.

KILRUSH Town Council has decided to unearth a forgotten by-law in an attempt to curb anti-social drinking on the streets of the west Clare capital.

A by-law banning the consumption of alcohol in public places in the town has never been enforced, according to councillors.

At this month’s meeting of the council, Cllr Marian McMahon-Jones (FG) called for a law to be introduced that would control and regulate the consumption of intoxicating substances in a public place. The councillor made the call after she was informed of an incident where three men sat in the playground drinking alcohol while children played nearby.

“If that was younger people, there would be gardaí on to them immediately,” she said.

The councillor was surprised to be informed that a by-law outlawing such activity had already been passed by the council a number of years previously. “I feel they are already on the books and they were never enforced,” said Cllr Christy O’Malley (FF).

Cllr Tom Prenderville (FF) said, while the council adopted the by-laws, it was a matter for the Garda to implement them.

The town manager and director of services Bernadette Kinsella told the members that the executive could “unearth” the byelaws.

Councillor and local publican Liam O’Looney (FF) told the members that, as a result of public drinking in Kilrush, “We got a very bad negative reaction from tourists. Some I know pulled out of town,” he said.

The council are to invite the local Garda superintendent to address the next meeting.

WORDS of caution have been issued in relation to the latest political poll in the county.

Among its critics is Councillor Joe Carey (FG) who polled just seven per cent of the first preference votes in Ennis (five per cent in the constituency), despite topping the poll in the county town in the last local election.

“There was an over-emphasis in this poll on Shannon. Both Shannon and Ennis were coupled together as an individual polling area, thus diminishing the influence of the Ennis vote,” he said.

“Given the fact that Ennis and its environs is by far the biggest population area in the constituency, with over 30,000 people, one has to question the validity of such a poll.”

“Because Ennis was not given a proper weighting, this poll dramatically underestimated my vote. As an Ennis-based candidate I was put at a disadvantage. The same can be said of the Green Party candidate, Brian Meaney,” he said.

“It’s not the first time TG4’s poll was way off the mark, as evidenced by the poll which was conducted before the 2002 General Election,” he added.

While believing that the poll showed her “well positioned to win a second seat for Fine Gael” in Clare, Cllr Madeleine Taylor Quinn was equally cautious of the poll’s finding.

She said when last TG4 sampled her support – just two years ago on the eve of the European Elections – they underestimated her actual vote on the day by 50 per cent. She added that, in recent years, for various reasons, Irish political polls had become less accurate and required a wider margin of error.

“A final point I will make is that even when it is viewed with appropriate caution, the TG4 poll casts in a rather peculiar light the last poll published in the county just a fortnight ago,” she said.

Deputy Pat Breen, who according to the poll will retain his seat, said “With four candidates in the field, there was bound to be fragmentation of that first preference vote, which will make the gaining of a second seat all the more difficult. I have always stated that my preference was for two or three candidates seeking to regain two seats in the county.”

Meanwhile, Deputy James Breen said he was happy with his showing but said the only poll that matters was the one on the day of the election.

CLARE County Council and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) look destined to lock horns once more over the Central Waste Management Facility at Ballyduff Beg.

The local authority issued a strongly worded statement last week in which they claimed to be “baffled” by the EPA’s decision to issue two fresh non-compliance orders following an unannounced audit of the facility on August 23rd.

The EPA breaches relate to the amount of cover being used to cover the landfill cells in use as well as the final capping of the cells. The council has also revealed that it intends to appeal the findings, claiming an “assessment of its overall operation of the site would indicate that noncompliance orders should not have been issued.”

The EPA has given the local authority until this Friday, October 20, to respond to the non-compliance orders. It declined to comment on the matter until that time. However, a spokesperson from the EPA did confirm that as of yesterday, October 16, no response had been received from the council despite its release of the media statement.

“Clare County Council is somewhat perplexed at the non-compliance orders issued by the EPA considering that very significant improvement works have been undertaken at the site,” said Ger Dollard, Director of Services with Clare County Council.

“As the EPA has not indicated that any nuisance arose on the day of the audit, it is the council’s view that the existing cover has adequately fulfilled its purpose and a non-compliance finding is unjustified and not supported.”

Ballyduff Beg locals have reacted angrily to Mr Dollard’s comments, claiming that while there was no nuisance on that day, the council was in breach of the licence and that breaches on other days have led to problems with both smell and vermin.

“The council accepted the licence, were delighted to get it and said that they would comply with it. That is all we are asking for,” said local resident Perry Longe.

“If they did apply the 6 inches of covering each day, as the licence states, then there would never be a problem with smell. But it an ongoing problem, it was there this morning (Monday) and it was still there at half past three when I left the house.”

Aside from the two non-compliances, the EPA also noted 20 separate minor breaches during the August 23rd audit. The Ballyduff Beg facility was found to have breached its licence earlier this years for disturbing waste without first receiving permission from the EPA.

THREE local landowners have opposed plans by Michael Lynch Ltd to construct a road-link to the Ennis bypass that would open almost 60 acres of land for commercial development on the outskirts of the town.

The Lynch project is the latest in a scramble by developers to exploit the commercial opportunities provided by the opening of lands by the €190 million Ennis by-pass.

One of the options put forward for the Lynch lands near Clareabbey is the development of a 42,000 capacity G.A.A. stadium.

The company has lodged an ‘expression of interest’ in the Clare County Board’s search for new stadium and the proposal to provide a new county grounds at Clonroadmore is the focus of the Lynch bid.

However, three landowners, Richard O’Connell, Pat Hynes and Paddy McInerney have come together to oppose the plan on the basis that the development of the distributor road takes no account of their right of access to their lands.

They claim that the proposed distributor road cuts through the existing farm and right of way and makes no allowance for a sustainable access to their lands which are zoned as ‘other settlement’ in the Ennis Development Plan.

The three also point out that the proposed new road would raise land levels around their property.

This week the Council planning department confirmed that the application was invalidated on a technical issue and it was open to the applicants to re-submit their application. It is understood that the company has now opted to re-submit their plans.

The proposed development of a 1.5 km long single-carriageway is to connect the Clonroadmore industrial estate where the Lynch company headquareers is based and the western relief route of the Ennis by-pass.

One option put forward by the company is the development of the stadium along with a 70 bedroom hotel, gym, all-weather pitch offices, conference centre, 240 houses, a public park around Clareabbey as well as a train stop and park and ride facilities.

Another option involves the development of 400 residential units, retail warehousing, a public park around Clareabbey along with the train stop and park n ride facilities.

However, before any of these scenarios can be contemplated, the company has to secure planning permission for the road and it points out that this is a key objective of the Ennis Development Plan.

A SHANNON man who went ‘berserk’ at a Garda station, verbally abused gardaí and kicked out, has been jailed for three months.

Michael James McDonagh (33), of Ballycaseymore, Shannon, was convicted of engaging in threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour, at Shannon Garda Station, on April 9, 2005, in the District Court. He appealed this at Ennis Circuit Court yesterday (Monday), but his appeal was dismissed.

Sergeant Noel McMahon told the court that McDonagh and his wife were in the public area of Shannon Garda Station.

The garda took a certificate of insurance from McDonagh’s wife and was going to photocopy it, as he had to go to the airport on other business. McDonagh then became agitated.

“He tried to come in the hatch window. Garda David Laing had to force him out. He called Garda Laing a scumbag,” said the sergeant.

“He (McDonagh) told me he had injured his finger. I didn’t see any mark on it,” he added.

Garda Brian McCarthy, who was also in the station at the time, said Garda Laing had to physically push McDonagh out the window.

“He started kicking the door. We tried to calm him down, he was shouting,” said Gda McCarthy.

Defending solicitor Tara Godfrey said there was no intent on the part of her client to breach the peace. Judge Carroll Moran replied, “On the garda evidence, he was certainly doing that, and more.”

McDonagh told the court he “lost the head” after Garda Laing pushed the hatch out on his finger. He admitted calling Gardaí McCarthy and Laing ‘scumbags’ and ‘assholes, but said he did not attack the gardaí.

State Solicitor Martin Linnane, in cross-examination, asked McDonagh why he called the gardaí names. He replied, “Because he hurt me.”

Mr Linnane said, “You hurt yourself getting through the hatch.”

Ms Godfrey said her client was “frustrated” and didn’t understand the delay in processing the insurance.

She said a verbal disagreement was not sufficient for a conviction for breaching the peace.

Judge Moran said McDonagh went “berserk” and was very abusive.

“He tried to get through the hatch. He called gardaí scumbags and assholes and he was kicking the wall of the public office. These were acts of violence. He just went out of control.”

He dismissed the appeal. The threemonth sentence will run consecutively with a four-year term currently being served by McDonagh, who has several previous convictions.

THE Shannon Airport Authority (SAA) yesterday confirmed that passenger numbers at Shannon are up 13 per cent to 2.8 million for the first nine months of this year.

Confirming the continuing growth of Shannon, a SAA spokeswoman said that terminal passenger traffic is up 15 per cent on the corresponding period last year to 2.3 million.

In 2005, transatlantic traffic increased by three per cent.

However, this year with new services available, the important transatlantic sector has shown a 12 per cent increase.

Traffic to UK destinations has increased by 14 per cent, while passenger numbers to Europe have increased by 20 per ceny.

Meanwhile, the number of US troops who have passed through Shannon Airport since the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, in the US has exceeded the one million mark.

It has been estimated that Shannon Airport has earned €25m from the Pentagon so far this year and netted around €37m in 2005. The overall figure since the September 11 attacks has put been at around €130m.

In that time, a total of 1,037,765 US military personnel have transited Shannon on an estimated 6,800 flights.

Figures released by the Shannon Airport Authority have confirmed that the number of US military personnel who have transited the mid west airport in the past five years has topped one million.

But the numbers for the third-quarter of this year slumped by almost half on the same period last year due to the pull-out of troop carrier World Airways.

The most recent figures, up to the end of September this year, show 250,220 have passed through the country’s second largest airport.

However, during the third quarter of this year, 41,146 personnel passed through Shannon, compared to over 81,000 in the same period last year.

During the whole of 2001, a total of 91,495 US military personnel passed through Shannon, although the majority of the activity followed the terror attacks of September 11 when the US launched air-strikes in Afghanistan.

In 2002, the figure decreased to 74,870, while the following year, with the commencement of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the US led invasion of Iraq, 121,943 troops landed at Shannon and their way to or from the Middle East.

In 2004, that number had increased to 158,549 but then more than doubled in 2005, which was a record year for troop activity at Shannon, with 340,600 using Shannon.

THE Clare Shell-to-Sea group has stepped up its campaign against the construction of the Corrib gas pipeline with a series of protests in the county. The organisation hosted its largest protest in Clare last Friday outside Shell’s depot on the Limerick road in Ennis and are planning a number of events this weekend.

Members of the organisation have been travelling to Mayo to take part in the ongoing blockade of the €200 million project while Clare members were also involved in the sitdown protest last Monday.

This protest was significant as it was the first occasion that members of the Shell-toSea protest defied the law and also the first time that Gardaí physically removed protesters from the site.

“Monday marked a new departure for the situation up there,” said Tony Kirby of Clare Shell-to-Sea. “There were a couple of unsavory incidents. It was complete chaos for three hours or so. Some of the guards were being very heavy-handed but that was a minority of them.”

The organisation has also dismissed media reports that Sinn Fein is now orchestrating the Mayo protests.

“Of the 150 to 200 people that are protesting every day, maybe two or three are from Sinn Fein,” Mr Kirby said. “The people who are saying this are trying to undermine the real debate, to discredit the health and safety concerns and to distract the people from the real issue.”

Clare Shell-to-Sea are planning another protest this Friday while a number of their members will travel to Mayo to take part in the national day of protest on the same day.

A MAN who set fire to a house, forestry and bogland in west Clare within an eight-hour period after he “lost control” has been jailed for three years.

Patrick McNamara (30), of Lisgreen, Lisdeen, Kilkee, and also of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to damaging a house, by fire, at Lisgreen, Lisdeen, on March 19 last. The estimated damage caused was up to €60,000. He also admitted burning two hectares of forestry, at Monmore South, Kilrush, and bogland, at Tullaher, Doonbeg, on March 18.

Detective Garda Michael McDonagh said the accused brought gardaí to the scenes of the fires.

“He was going through great difficulty in his life at the time,” said the garda. “He is not your average criminal that I would be dealing with every day. He is a man who has committed crime but I believe he makes nothing out of it. He always admits his involvement,” he added.

He said it would cost €2,000 per hectare to restore the forestry.

Garda Michael Ryan, who investigated the Lisgreen house fire, said McNamara stole diesel from a building site in Doonbeg, drove to Lisgreen, poured the diesel around the house and on hay and set it alight.

Gardai did not realise the bog fires were deliberate until they began to investigate the house fire.

Defending Barrister Mark Nicholas said his client regretted his actions and called the emergency services after he set fire to the house.

He said McNamara had a row with someone in Kilkee and “flipped and lost control…lost all sense of responsibility for a period of six to eight hours.”

The court heard that McNamara has several previous convictions, mainly for road traffic offences, while he has also convictions for deception.

Judge Carroll Moran said McNamara, “doesn’t appreciate the duty to observe the law and keep out of trouble.” He said if he had not pleaded guilty, he could be facing a term of up to seven years in jail. He imposed a three-year jail term.

CRITICISMS of the promotion of the annual Fleadh Nua festival have been accepted as reasonable.

Donal O’Loingsigh, Fleadh Nua PRO said he accepted comments made last week by John Madden, President of Ennis Chamber of Commerce.

In calling for the establishment of major international cultural festival for Ennis, Mr Madden was also critical of the methods used to promote previous Fleadhanna.

Mr Madden said that the Fleadh would have to play a major role in any proposed venture, but that the event would have to embrace new methods of promotion in order to make it more relevant to modern audiences.

“It requires a new and contemporary vision of how the music and culture is presented. Better organisational and promotional skills are needed to implement a new and enriched programme of events” said the chamber president.

Close to 5,000 people descended on Ennis for this year’s Fleadh Nua, but according to Mr O’Loingsigh, a greater promotional effort is definitely needed and a lack of resources has restricted efforts in recent years.

“In one way, I would agree with what was said, but the question is, if you were to invest more effort in it, where would you stop. At a local level we wouldn’t have a huge budget and neither would we have much personnel. A more vigorous approach is needed. To go beyond local advertising then you would have to go national and that would require a bigger budget. It is reasonable to comment that more could be done”.

In supporting Mr Madden’s proposal for an international festival, Mr O’Loingsigh also called for greater integration between community and promotional groups.

“We were working on a shoestring budget and a small voluntary committee. As I say resources are thin on the ground and both public and private groups would have to come on board. Neither Fáilte Ireland or the Arts Council have supported the Fleadh despite numerous submissions”

He continued; “If Wexford, Cork and Kilkenny can have major festivals then why not Clare”.

Mr Madden had last week deemed it remarkable that a town of the size of Ennis did not have an annual festival of national and international importance.

According to Mr Madden events like the Fleadh Nua, Ennis Trad Festival and Glór and the planned construction of a new GAA stadium, meant Ennis had the infrastructure to stage such and event.