Category: News

IT IS just two days until the all-important meeting of the HSE that could determine the upgrade of the Mid Western Regional Hospital, Ennis.

The design for the upgrade of the hospital had been delayed amid concerns of a multimillion euro shortfall. A total of €20.8 million has been allocated to the project by the Department of Health but it has since emerged that this will not cover equipment or the extra staff required as a result of the upgrade.

It is estimated that as much as €16 million will be required to fit out the state-of-the-art extension, while further money will have to be located to cover the inflation in building costs since the project was first announced.

Recent regulations on hygiene and disease control have also added to the spiralling cost.

The project, which was due to go to planning in mid summer, has already been delayed and could be delayed even further if this issue cannot be resolved.

The design for the first two phases of the hospital redevelopment has been with the financial director of the HSE in Naas for two months.

A meeting has been scheduled for Thursday between the local hospital network and the financial department of the HSE to discuss this latest difficulty.

While refusing to comment on the issues facing the meeting a spokesperson for the HSE said there are a number of issues to iron out.

In a letter to the CEO of the HSE Professor Brendan Drumm, Senator Timmy Dooley described the current situation as “a most unsatisfactory position”.

“You will understand my frustration with this particular matter as it appears that while the HSE was established, among other reasons, to remove bureaucracy and work towards the delivery of a more streamlined, transparent and patient-centred health service, it seems in this instance to have failed that mandate,” he told the CEO.

AN ENNIS business consortium has bought the whole Island of Ireland – and they paid just €20 million for it.

And in this Ireland, you can take a water taxi to Thailand for lunch, do dinner in New York and still be back in Eireann before pub closing time.

The Ireland in question is a man-made island off the coast of Dubai, measuring five acres and is part of a project called The World in which countries are represented by smaller islands shaped like the originals.

Ray Norton, MD of Larionova has teamed up for the investment with his brother-in-law, Andrew Brett and property developer, Noel Conlon, both from Ennis as well as John O’Dolan from Galway.

“We will try to build a vision of Ireland on the land – that is the Ireland of 2007 – and we are currently developing plans for what we hope will be landmark buildings that will truly represent our country,” Norton said.

There are plans for 170 apartments and some villas with their own marinas, with prices on the properties ranging from €400,000 to €1.9 million.

The development will be worth €125 million in all and Norton is hoping that it will attract some Irish investors, although the local market in Dubai is the most likely one.

Larionova is also the exclusive Irish agent for Dubai Sports City, a 2 billion development that will include four sports stadia, a golf course, commercial district and office blocks.

THE developers of a €1 million crematorium proposed for Shannon sought an extension of time in their application last week to avoid a potential planning refusal.

Sean Hillery, director with applicants, Illaunamanagh Ltd, told The Clare People that the designation of ‘open space’ at the proposed location “would have given the planners no choice but to refuse”.

In order for the application to overcome zoning difficulties, members of Clare County Council will be required to materially contravene the South-East Clare Economic Plan in a vote. The two promoters of the venture, Sean Hillery and Tony McMahon, are long-standing members of Clare County Council from Fianna Fail and Fine Gael.

It has also emerged that An Taisce has expressed reservations over the plan. In a submission from the Clare Association, they request that an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) be lodged.

The An Taisce concerns include “having a crematorium so close to residential areas of the town; the impact on the environment as the site is surrounded on three sides by a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and National Heritage Area on the Shannon estuary; and the presumed lack of services such as good road access.

“We are also concerned about the chapel as this should be general in design to accommodate other faiths, such as Hinduism, who cremate their dead as there are now a large group of non-Christians in Shannon.”

Claims that the crematorium is the first planned for outside the Dublin region are incorrect. Earlier this year, planning permission was secured for a high-tech crematorium at Rocky Island in Cork harbour.

The Shannon plan is being opposed by Cllr Gerry Flynn, who claims, “Access to the crematorium is through local residential areas. Additional traffic generated will create a possible traffic hazard to children and other members of the community”.

Cllr Flynn also states that the planned future expansion of Illaumanagh cemetery could be curtailed if the proposed development is permitted.

However, Shannon’s parish priest, Fr Tom Ryan, has added his weight to the proposal, saying, “I congratulate Illaunamanagh Ltd. on undertaking this initiative and providing the public, not just in Shannon but throughout the entire western region, with the option of availing of cremation should they choose to do so”.

A decision on the Shannon plan has been deferred to November 30.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS giant O2 has refused a request by Clare County Council to reduce the height of a 50-foot proposed mast at Lisheen, Ballynacally.

Earlier this year, the council put the plan on hold, stating that the proposed mast was visually obtrusive and asking O2 to reduce its height. In response, O2 claims that 15 metres is the lowest possible structure that will provide the required coverage.

The company states, “If we were to (reduce the height), coverage would be blocked by the hill to the east of the site and render that sector useless”.

The company was also asked by the council to investigate the option of colocating a mast. O2 responded, “There are no structures in the area upon which to co-locate”, but added that co-locating a mast would have been its first and preferred option.

The plan has encountered stiff opposition locally. In all, 57 objectors, led by the Lisheen Mast Action Group, have lodged objections. The objection lodged by the Action Group, and signed by over 120 people, expressed health fears over the mast.

A decision is due on the application later this month.

Meanwhile, residents in the Moveen area of west Clare have made a last ditch attempt to prevent eircom from retaining a phone mast that residents believe is illegal.

Last month, Clare County Council granted planning permission to eircom to retain the structure at Moveen Hill, Kilkee. A five year planning permission was previously granted to eircom and this permission expired in May 2004.

The proposed structure encountered stiff local opposition. In an objection lodged by the Moveen East Protest Group, its chairman, Shay Hynes stated: “The existing mast doesn’t have planning permission and should have been removed since May 2004. This is an illegal structure.

“Eircom Ltd has blatantly ignored the requirements of the original planning permission, has changed the use of the mast without permission, increased RF radiation emissions to unknown levels and ignored the enforcement order issued by the council.”

However, eircom warned that the removal of the mast would leave the area without eircom or Vodafone coverage for a substantial period of time.

Now, the Moveen Mast Protest Group has appealed the council’s decision to An Bord Pleanala. In a brief two-page appeal, Mr Hynes states that eircom has materially changed the development from that originally permitted. “This makes the mast a prominent feature in the skyline all around Kilkee,” he states.

A decision is due on the appeal later this year.

THE demand for hands-free kits has soared in Clare, as drivers take heed of the new law which bans the use of hand-held mobile phones while driving.

According to retailers in the county, thousands of car owners who wish to talk and drive at the same time are paying for new car kits.

Gardaí are advising drivers that failure to obey the law will result in them being summonsed to court, while penalty points will be issued for the offence from September.

Phone companies in Clare say drivers are willing to pay for the kits.

Mary Purtill of 3G Mobile Phones in Ennis said there has been a significant increase in demand in recent weeks.

“There has been a huge increase in demand for all kinds of handsfree kits, since the new law came into place,” she said.

3G charges €39 for a bluetooth headset, if users have the bluetooth option on their mobiles. It costs €250 to install a hands-free kit, while O2 are currently offering handsfree kits for €99, on a special offer.

RD Mobiles Manager Ronan Daly said the demand for handsfree kits had doubled over the past few weeks.

“Because of the new legislation, people are becoming aware that it is necessary to have a hands-free system in the car, in order to talk and drive,” he said.

RD Mobiles install car kits within 24 hours, at a cost of €250. “However, there are less expensive options, including the plug-and-play option, from Nokia, where the phone is plugged into the cigarette lighter, at a cost of €79,” said Mr Daly.

Bluetooth headsets cost between €59 and €79 at RD Mobiles.

“The demand has doubled over the past couple of months, as people have been preparing for the new legislation. One in five customers are asking about it and one in 10 carry it out,” he added.

Darren Stamp of DPS Communications said the new law means it is not just business people who are purchasing hands-free car kits.

“Even a couple of days after the legislation was brought in, there was a big change. Previously, people who drove a lot for business bought kits; now everyone is buying them,” he said.

His company charges from €240 for hands-free kits, while the ‘plugand-go’ option costs €79.

All of the companies fit the kits at no extra cost.

A MEMBER of Clare County Council has called for a total review of issues concerning landscape designation in the county’s controversial Development Plan.

Councillor PJ Kelly (FF) claims that an original report on landscape designation, requested by the local authority in 1997, showed that the council’s policy could be problematic.

The CASS report stated that the legislation pertaining to landscape design could face difficulties.

According to the report the plan “seeks to preserve a landscape which always has and always will change.

“It (the development plan) assumes that there are fixed reference points as to what constitutes features of natural beauty when in fact these vary from individual to individual and from time to time. This analysis also highlights the legal insecurity of any development control measure – such as designations on account of natural beauty – which could limit the development rights of private property.”

The CASS report went on to state “it is unconceivable that designations on the grounds of natural beauty alone could be legally justified as being bases upon judicious, replicable, objective or equitable criteria.”

Cllr Kelly said while the broad provisions of the CASS report were incorporated into the 2005 development plan, it was modified so that it is self contradictory in application.

The councillor, who has criticised the council’s blue print for the county on numerous occasions, said, “Many of the planning permissions refused because of this issue may have been improperly refused. A total review of this whole area of designation is not alone desirable but essential”.

However, when Cllr Kelly raised the issue of landscape designation at the June meeting of the county council, he was told that its inclusion in the county development plan is based on objective study of three key documents that provide for the assessment, characterisation and valuation of the landscape of Clare.

“The underlying subjectivity of landscape valuation is recognised by the council,” he was told, “and hence the objective assessment of two landscape studies, and the application by Clare County Council of a standard nationally recognised methodology and process put forward in the 2000 government guidelines on landscape character assessment in an appropriate response to that subjectivity.

“In reply to concerns raised by Cllr Kelly, the county manager, Alec Fleming confirmed that it is stated clearly in the Planning and Development Act 2000 that landscape must be taken into account in the County Development Plan.”

A MIDWEST businessman has called for regulations which would level the playing field when it comes to waste collections in different counties. Mr Binman boss, Martin Sheehan Snr, told The Clare People that he collects waste in seven different areas and has to deal with different rules in each of them.

He was responding to an announcement from Environment Minister, Dick Roche, of Government approval to initiate a public consultation on regulation of the waste management sector.

“In recent years we have put in place a robust system of environmental regulation to ensure that the waste management sector can operate in a sustainable manner. The time has now come to examine whether there is a need for a better system of socio-economic regulation to complement this,” the Minister said.

But Sheehan, head of one of the biggest waste collection businesses in the MidWest, with collection services in Clare, Kerry, South Tipperary, Limerick county and city, Waterford and Kilkenny, said the Minister should standardise the regulations in every county.

“If you look at the permits we have, there are lots of differences from one county to the next. For instance, in some places you can collect dry recycleables in bags, in others they have to be in a bin and in another, there has to be a third bin. There’s no standard operating procedure which makes it very difficult. If the minister plans to regulate the waste collectors, he should also regulate the way local authorities draw up their rules,” he said.

Sheehan also claimed that the situation makes it very difficult for companies like his to expand and do business in neighbouring counties. “I need a permit to go into each county and I have no problem with that but they should be standard permits. There should be one waste strategy across the board,” said Sheehan.

Announcing that he was starting the consultation process, the Minister said: “We now have a waste management marketplace which, unlike other similar sectors, has not got an independent regulator. It is timely to consider if such independent regulation is now warranted and, if so, the form it should take.”

Minister Roche added that he is keeping an open mind on the matter and wants to hear the concerns of the various people involved, “most particularly the public”.

WELL-heeled and middle-income people are now coming in increasing numbers for money advice after running up crippling debts through overspending.

The service originally set up to help those living on the breadline to manage their money is now seeing well-off people in increasing numbers.

The Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) is warning people against availing of easy finance and letting their spending get out of control.

Spokesman Paul Woulfe said, “In the start, the people we were seeing were on low incomes and often we would contact creditors for them if they are in trouble. Now, more often than not, the people we see are middle income and high earners. They are increasingly coming to us after borrowing way more than they can afford to pay back. It’s because credit has become so easy to get,” said Paul.

The MABS spokesman said that even those on good incomes are getting caught in the debt trap.

“They borrow for cars, they borrow for holidays, they spend on their credit cars and they take personal loans. It just gets out of control,” he said.

The warning came as a Shannon company revealed the results of a survey which shows that couples are borrowing in excess of €10,000 on average to fund the cost of their wedding.

An internal study conducted by GE Money has revealed that brides are willing to borrow €10,450 on average to ensure that they have their perfect day.

The overall number of wedding loans is up on corresponding years, GE found.

Commenting on the findings of the survey, Eoin Lynam, Marketing Director at GE Money said, “We have seen an increase in the number of Clare people applying for personal loans to finance their wedding especially in the last five years. While this is a big change from the old days when it was assumed that the bride’s father would pay for the do, it makes much more sense than simply sticking it on a credit card at 15 per cent when you can get a rate as low as 8.2 per cent with a personal loan.”

Woulfe said that, while many couples may be able to afford to take out loans, they should think carefully before going into debt.

“People have be realistic and look at whether they can afford the repayments. If they can, well and good but being in debt that you can’t repay is very stressful so we would say, be realistic.”

THE commercial growth of Ennis continues, with plans lodged for a €25 million retail development at Claureen on the town’s western fringes.

Tom Howard is seeking permission to demolish the One Mile Inn and construct a mixed use development of 11,895 sq metres in total.

A retail impact statement submitted with the planning application estimates that the development will have an annual turnover of €25 million each year.

The development will include retail units, a car showroom, an office-medical centre, and a café bar and restaurant. It also includes 15 residential units and a crèche, along with the provision of 566 car-parking spaces.

In lodging plans, consultants acting for Tom Howard state: “The attached planning application is requesting planning permission for a high quality, architecturally designed mixeduse development at a local centre.

The consultants point out that the town council’s planning department “has not raised any major issues with the scheme and have been broadly supportive of the principles of same” in pre-planning discussions .

The retail impact statement states, “The amount of retail space available in the catchment area is seriously inadequate to absorb even conservative estimates of shopping expenditure”.

It also points out that, while Ennis town centre is the main centre within the catchment area, “it is widely perceived that the town centre is lacking in convenience and high order comparison outlets.

“The development proposed under this application will not be in competition with Ennis town centre but will service a local catchment area in addition to the western hinterland of Ennis in terms of bulky goods.

“The lack of and nature of retail provision at present in the immediate area ensures that a considerable leakage of retail spend seeps out of the catchment area to other areas such as Limerick city. This proposal will help to reverse this leakage.”

The retail impact statement also points out that the “proposal will facilitate local people to do their shopping in a more convenient place to where they live and it will facilitate multi-functional trips.

“Therefore, the granting of this retail planning proposal would be of significant advantage to the retail sector and most importantly to the consumer.”

A decision is due on the application later this year.

A YOUNG west Clare man has claimed that a submission made on his planning application by the environmental watchdog An Taisce was untrue.

Stephen Considine, a native of Doonbeg, applied for planning permission on October 10 last to build a bungalow in Lislanaha, located between Bansha and Kilkee.

The 23-year-old said that he planned to build the house on the site given to him by his uncle.

However, an observation made by An Taisce, dated November 25, stated that “the development is not on any family land”, a statement that has been described by the applicant as totally untrue.

Writing on behalf of the Clare association of An Taisce, Anny Wise stated in the observation that, “The landowner is involved in a number of commercial developments and we feel that this may be such a case.”

This statement was also a cause of consternation to Mr Considine who said his uncle, the landowner, was retired. He said while his uncle worked on the buildings in England and Ireland, he did not own the companies and had never been a developer.

When contacted by The Clare People, Mrs Wise said she did not comment on individual cases but added, “we are not a decision-making authority”.

When asked about the factuality of An Taisce submissions, she said the local planning authority “are very good at checking facts.”

Meanwhile, Mr Considine feared that Clare County Council was taking as fact all of An Taisce’s submission.

“It angers me that this could be taken into consideration and, if the council say it is not, then why are they bothering with An Taisce at all?” he said.

Further observations made by An Taisce in reference to Mr Considine’s application included the submission that the development was along the main road and would encourage ribbon development “in what is a scattered community and is out of character.”

The west Clare man argued that the site was on a secondary road. An Taisce also stated that the proposed design was not in “keeping with the landscape” and the “water management may not be adequate for a four-bedroom en-suite dwelling.”

An Taisce also pointed out that the applicant was working in Shannon.

Mr Considine confirmed he was working in Shannon but the planning application was for what he hoped would be his family home and “it was not for resale”.

He withdrew the application on June 27 to reconsider the exact location of the house.