Category: News

FIREFIGHTERS battled for hours last night with flames that engulfed hundreds of acres of mountain and could be seen more than 20 miles away.

The blaze started in an area close to the Hand in Miltown Malbay, on a hill known locally as Mary Walsh’s Mountain.

It began some time in the afternoon and by 5pm, four units of the brigade as well as back up four wheel drive vehicles were on the scene to get to grips with the inferno.

It was three hours before the massive blaze was brought under control and crews worked into the night in a damping down operation.

A spokesman for the fire control centre said that the fierce blaze was visible as far away as the motorway at Dromoland and residents of Kilshanny could clearly see the flames.

Firefighters said that the very dry weather and heat provided ideal conditions for the mountain scrub to ignite.

One eyewitness reported seeing a massive plume of smoke emerging from the hills to the south east of Miltown Malbay.

“We first noticed it around 4 o’clock,” said the local business person.

“There was so much smoke that it just looked like a giant cloud and we didn’t even realise that it was a fire until a neighbour, who lives out by the Hand, called up to see it.

“It didn’t get too close to us thankfully as a wind blew up and drove the flames in a westerly direction.”

Meanwhile, as temperatures soared into the high twenties in Clare yesterday, householders with their own wells were getting hot under the collar.

Suppliers of household water pumps were reporting record number of calls from homeowners who thought their pumps were malfunctioning.

“They think that the pump has broken down, but in fact, the well has run dry.

“Springs that never dried up before have dried up this week”, a spokeswoman for an east Clare pump contractor told The Clare People .

Temperatures yesterday were the hottest recorded so far this year and the dry spell is set to continue until Wednesday, when there may be thunder storms and rain.

The weekend promises to be cooler, with showers.

THE 2007 general election is likely to be one of the toughest fought in living memory with four Fine Gael candidates now on the ticket.

In an unprecedented move, the party’s Executive Council decided to add Councillors Joe Carey and Madeleine Taylor-Quinn to the party’s General Election ticket, which already included Deputy Pat Breen and Cllr Tony Mulcahy following a contentious convention, last May.

Already unrest is emerging within the party at grassroots levels, with fears of losing the current Fine Gael seat.

A party poll last Christmas showed an increase in Fine Gael popularity in Clare and the possibility of securing the coveted second seat.

But the addition of the two names has left local delegates screaming blue murder amid claims that the current seat held by Pat Breen could now be in danger.

Disgruntled members of the party have blamed the selection process and weak leadership for the large number of candidates.

At the national conference in Athlone, the party leader Enda Kenny tried to revert back to a selection process that would allow a number of delegates from each branch select the candidates. He was narrowly defeated in a vote, which meant the oneperson one vote method introduced six years ago remained. During the last year, there was a 2,000 per cent increase in Clare membership to the party, resulting in a large attendance at the convention in the West County Hotel.

At the convention Joe Carey, the son of former TD Donal Carey, was just a few votes away from being selected making him a likely third candidate.

But a promise made to Cllr Taylor-Quinn, coupled with her front bench experience and polling in the European Election meant the Fine Gael party had a difficult decision to make.

It is believed Mr Kenny promised the former TD a place on the ticket if she ran in the European election, a promise that he did not renege on last week.

In a statement this week, sitting TD Pat Breen said he accepted the decision of the National Executive regarding the fielding of four Fine Gael candidates but said the decision made the party’s task of winning an extra seat in Clare “infinitely more difficult”.

When Fine Gael last suggested running four candidates in the fourseat constituency, it failed to return any TD. In 1948, a sudden election was called, so party leader General Richard Mulcahy rushed through a convention in the Queen’s Hotel. The leader told the small gathering of delegates assembled for the convention that he had four “excellent candidates” and he intended to run all four. Among the line up was son of the late TD Charlie Burke from Whitegate, Eddie Monaghan a solicitor from Ennis who was defeated in a bye-election two years previously, Colonel Austin Brennan and Bill Murphy from Ennistymon. Bill Murphy withdrew his name a few days later, believing it to be a joke and the other three went on to contest the election, but to no avail. Instead Eamon de Valera and Sean O’Grady were returned for Fianna Fáil, Paddy Hogan took a seat for Labour and Tom “The Bonesetter” Burke took the fourth seat as an Independent. But, while members within the Fine Gael Party may fear this as a bad omen, they take some comfort that in 1948 the Fine Gael Party was returned to power under Cosgrove.

Almost 60 years on, a dogfight is predicted as four candidates take to the hustings.

Cllr Joe Carey who trebled his vote to 1,939 first preferences, the highest vote ever recorded for a local election candidate in Clare, will be hoping to attract the youth vote.

“I am a young, enthusiastic, energetic candidate who will devote all my energies to delivering for my number one concern – the people of County Clare,” he said adding he was honoured and delighted to have been selected by Mr Kenny.

So far Cllr Taylor-Quinn is the only female candidate to have announced an intention to run in the next election.

“At next year’s General Election, the people of Clare will have the choice to vote for a woman candidate. For those who say that women’s voices are heard when Government makes its decisions, I point out that just 13 per cent of TDs are women. That figure is so low that it places Ireland on a par with countries in sub-Saharan Africa,” she said.

A CLARE County Councillor was left red faced on national radio when he was told information given to him at a council meeting was not correct.

In a debate with An Taisce’s Ian Lumley, Cllr PJ Kelly (FF) criticised the environment watchdog for not allowing the people of Clare access to its comments on planning applications in the county.

At the June meeting of the council, the councillor was told that the An Taisce files could not legally be made available under law.

Cllr Kelly said he was embarrassed when told by Mr Lumley, “you have no problem with us. Go back to your county council who have a restrictive policy.”

Cllr Martin Conway (FG) said he “genuinely felt sorry and embarrassed for him.

Director of Services Bernadette Kinsella said the information given to Cllr Kelly was factual, as that was the council’s interpretation of it.

“We went back and the department advised us our interpretation was not the same as interpretation made in other county councils.”

“We were happy to correct something we had misinterpreted.”

CAMPAIGNERS will have to wait another week to discover if they will be granted leave of appeal to halt the erection of an 80 foot ESB telecommunications mast in Ennis.

The case was expected to be heard yesterday (Monday) in the High Court but has now been adjourned until Monday, July 31. The adjournment was sought by An Bord Pleanála who requested more time to prepare an affidavit. Campaigners are now hopeful that the case will be heard on July 31, before the courts break for summer recess. Locals who have mounted the potentially expensive legal battle are disappointed with the further delay. Campaigner Michael O’Doherty says residents are frustrated, but are still confident of a successful outcome.

“We were hoping that it would go ahead today, but An Bord Pleanála have requested more time to prepare an affidavit. People are waiting for the case to be heard and expected it to go ahead today.

Local people are anxious and we are anxious, but we would still very confident that we have a good case.

“This is the second time the case has been adjourned in the High Court. It was originally to be heard on July 5, but was adjourned at the request of the ESB. Residents agreed to the request on the condition no work was to be carried out on the site of the ESB substation adjacent to Mangan’s Cash and Carry.

Residents are opposing the decision on the grounds that the proposed site was not chosen as a site of last resort; the ESB did not provide the necessary notification of the development within the required time frame and that An Bord Pleanála did not request additional information on additional sites looked at by the ESB.

EVEN though more people are putting their name forward to represent the Banner County in politics this week, it seems County Clare could still be under represented when it comes to fighting its cause in Dublin.

Figures to be released by the Central Statistics Office later this week are likely to show that Clare is under represented in the Dáil by as much as five per cent.

The data is also expected to show an increase in the population, especially in Ennis, Shannon, Sixmilebridge and Killaloe.

With the increase in population the ratio of TDs to Clare citizens is likely to significantly decrease.

According to the Irish constitution “the number of members of Dáil Éireann shall not be fixed at less than one member for each 30,000 of the population, or at more than one member for each 20,000 of the population”.

According to a report in the Sunday Tribune it has been stated by successive boundary commissions and endorsed by the Oireachtas that variances of more that five per cent for the national average of population per TD should only be permitted in exceptional circumstances. The variance in Clare has been estimated at five per cent.

It predicts that as many as 23 of the 43 Dáil constituencies will be in excess of the accepted variance.

Meanwhile, Galway East to the north of the Clare constituency is also outside the accepted five per cent maximum variance. Limerick West to the south of Clare is outside the highest ever limit of 7.89 per cent, but unlike Clare this constituency is over represented.

Without revision of the boundary or the number of TDs in any one area within the next few months, it will be 2012, if the next Government goes to full term, before any change is imposed to redress the imbalance.

MEASURES to slow down dangerous drivers and to make the roads around Ennis safer are set to be introduced by Clare County Council.

The Council are to commence repair work on a number of roads in the Ennis area that have been left in a dangerous condition. Re-surfacing is set to take place on a treacherous stretch of road leading from Drumcliffe to the Ruan road. Clare County Council are also to consider the introduction of traffic calming measures between Drumcliffe cemetery and Ballyalla after residents stated they are living in fear because of drivers speeding in the area. Realignment is also set to take place on the Claremount road in order to give drivers better sight distance at a dangerous bend in the road.

Senior Executive Engineer, Hugh McGrath also urged Clare County Council to formulate a strategy for dealing with over grown hedgerows in rural areas. He cited the problem as contributing to the dangerous condition of rural roads and said a strategy needed to be urgently adopted.

“Clare County Council need to address putting in place a schedule for cutting hedgerows. More important than hedgerows are the grass verges. If that system was in place, it would make a huge improvement to the condition of the roads”

Raising the concerns over the conditions of the roads in Drumcliffe and Claremount at yesterdays Ennis electoral area meeting, Councillor Bernard Hanrahan said Clare County Council needed to be more proactive in the area of road safety.

“Clare County Council has to seriously look at how we can look at preventing the carnage on our roads. Hedge rows are a big problem in rural areas”

Cllr Pat Daly (FF) who requested work be carried out in the Drumcliffe area said residents are “living in fear” because of the antics of boy racers.

Cllr Joe Carey (FG) said drivers would have to change their behaviour and slow down on the roads.

Cllr Tommy Brennan (Ind) said he was glad to hear that hedge rows could be cut down if they impeded safety conditions on a road.

A DEVELOPER who is building houses in Ennistymon has been charged with failing to comply with the requirements of an enforcement notice served by Clare County Council.

Solicitor for the council, Lisa Walsh told Miltown Malbay District Court that a warning notice was served on Ballinair Construction, of Moughna, Miltown Malbay, and this was followed by an enforcement notice, on March 23, 2006.

She said the company was given until April 14 to comply with the notice.

An officer from the council inspected the site on May 5.

“All items included in the enforcement notice were not complied with. . . Nothing at all,” said the solicitor.

She said the defendant was a developer and the case related to the development of eight town houses on the Ennis Road in Ennistymon.

She told Judge Joseph Mangan the main problem related to a car park space and footpath and that the council received one complaint in relation to the matter. Judge Mangan asked were the houses occupied.

“I believe so. Most of them are occupied. They are rented out,” replied Ms Walsh.

Judge Mangan said, “I will adjourn to September. In September I will make a determination on jurisdiction, and see if this is too serious to be dealt with in the District Court or if it should be sent forward to the Circuit Court.”

He told John Vaughan, a director of the company, who was in court, that he was advising him “in the strongest terms” to get a solicitor.

Mr Vaughan told the judge that Ballinair had not traded in the past 18 months and he now works for somebody else. “There isn’t a penny left,” said Mr Vaughan.

SPEAKING for the first time since his dramatic brush with death last week, popular Lahinch businessman Odran O’Looney has paid tribute to a good Samaritan from Moy, Mary Harney and Davy Spillane.

Mr O’Looney fell while walking his dog near to a cliff about a mile south of Lahinch last Wednesday afternoon. A blow to the head left him temporally paralyzed, unable to move a muscle from the neck down and alone in an isolated area.

“The first thing that I thought when I saw my hand dropping in front of me was that this was it,” said Mr O’Looney.

“I couldn’t move but I was breathing and I could talk so I knew from my experience in the rescue services that I would be alright. I was never really worried because I have been in the emergency services for so long and was able to be calm about things.”

Luckily for Mr O’Looney, Moy farmer Joe Vaughan was on the beach at the time and heard his cries for help.

“I was conscious but I could not move,” continued Mr O’Looney. “We called my son who contacted Dr Michael Kelleher who was there in about five minutes. It was very fortunate that they have a phone mast up in Moy because I was able to get coverage from right under the cliff.”

As luck would have it, the Doolin Coastguard were doing training exercises locally that day and arrived to lend their assistance within ten minutes.

“The Doolin Coastguard were doing an exercise in Liscannor and, because of the extensive training that they go through, they knew exactly where to go,” said Mr O’Looney.

“Dr Kelleher was delighted with the assistance that the coastguard were able to give him. They were able to get me into a support stretcher and get me up from the rocks.”

The Irish Coastguard Helicopter based at Shannon was on the scene minutes later and airlifted Mr O’Looney to the Merlin Park Regional Hospital in Galway where his condition continues to improve.

“The last person who said goodbye to me as I was beng hoisted up on the helicopter was the musician Davy Spillane who is a member of the Doolin Coastguard,” he said. “everyone treated me so well. In my book Mary Harney has no problems at all with the accident and emergency services on offer.”

THE go-ahead has been given for a €1.61 million plan to end the continuing environmental damage to the Burren and rejuvenate the area’s tourism industry.

Fáilte Ireland has allocating €1.4 million to an integrated management strategy for the Burren – the first such inter-agency initiative to be launched since the Government announced its ill-fated visitor centre plans at Mullaghmore in 1991. The Department of the Environment has already contributed €210,000 to the scheme.

Clare County Council in partnership with Shannon Development is leading the initiative. The council’s Heritage Officer, Congella Maguire said yesterday that the project was initiated in response to the Burren’s rich heritage coming under increasing threat.

“The growing demands of the tourism and leisure industry and increasing visitor numbers are taking their toll on the environment of the Burren.

“This has resulted in environmental damage through car parking on fragile species-rich limestone grasslands, the destruction of limestone pavement through construction by visitors of ‘mini-dolmens’, the removal of weathered limestone for garden products and the picking of rare and endangered flora.”

Ms Maguire said that the initiative “marks the first phase towards an integrated management structure and a coordinated approach to visitor management issues in the Burren”.

Amongst the key objectives of the ‘Environmental Protection of the Burren through Visitor Management’ initiative is the implementation of a co-ordinated and integrated approach to environmental protection and visitor management.

According to Ms Maguire: “Actions to be undertaken include the development of four circular driving routes to direct visitors away from the main ‘honey-pot’ sites and encourage them to visit lesser known and accessible sites in the central and eastern Burren.”

The three-year project also involves the designation and promotion of various gateway entry points to the Burren; the development of touch screen digital information hubs at five key locations, and the development of themed walking routes.

Other actions include the erection of improved signage in the Burren region, the development of an innovative multimedia educational programme, the production and distribution of multilingual information packs, the development of geological trails, a Burren Monuments Trail and the provision of infrastructural works at the Poulnabrone archaeological site and Fanore Dunes complex.

SHANNON Development last year spent in excess of a half a million euro in maintaining vacant unoccupied factory sites around Clare.

In response to a Dáil question from Fine Gael deputy, Pat Breen, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Michael Martin said that Shannon Development last year spent €436,152 on maintaining vacant sites in the Shannon Free Zone and Smithstown.

Minister Martin said that €104,153 was spent on maintaining other sites in Clare, giving an overall total of €540,305

“The description maintenance covers landscaping, public lighting, security, staff costs and general building maintenance. Shannon Development does not break down its maintenance expenditure figures between vacant property and occupied property, given the ongoing change to that status as a result of new lettings etc.,” he said

The spend on maintaining the factory sites comes against the background of 20 new jobs being created at Shannon Development’s €11 million Information Age Park, where there is currently 8,500 sq ft available for letting in three units of large floor office space suitable for second stage incubation projects.

Deputy Pat Breen said, “It is important for the public to know how their money was being spent in relation to areas of industrial policy. This is particularly so in Clare, which has so many areas suffering from an inadequate jobs policy. I am disappointed that there is no breakdown of the figures for buildings let and unoccupied properties It is important for the public to know that there are not industrial units lying vacant for years and incurring unacceptable maintenance costs as has occurred in other parts of the country with the IDA.”

In a related property issue, the accounts for Shannon Development show that it has entered a joint venture agreement with Westpark Shannon Ltd, where in return for 20 acres of land in the development of Westpark, Shannon Free Zone, the company acquired a percentage return on the income which will accrue from the development. The 2005 annual report states: “The cost of the joint venture investment has been determined at €2.286 million which is the estimated market value of the land at the date of the investment.”