Category: News

ENNIS Town Council yesterday heard calls for shaving foam, eggs and other messy substances to be banned from the town during certain public events such as St Patrick’s Day. The ban was called for by Cllr Mary Howard (FG) in the wake of a number of unsavory incidents which took place during this year’s St Patrick’s Day festivities in Ennis.

According to Cllr Howard, large numbers of young people gathered at the Fair Green during and after this years parade because they were “too scared” to go up town.

“I think that it is obvious that if a group of 11 or 12 year olds are buying lots of shaving foam that they are not all going home to shave their legs. I walked through the Fair Green on St Patrick’s Day. I asked the young why they were gathered there they told me that they were too scared to go up town. It doesn’t look good to have people frightened or intimidated,” said Cllr Howard.

“Shaving foam creates a huge mess. I raised this with a member of the local Chamber of Commerce who said that we could not ban the sale of shaving foam on these days because traders have had a bad year. I think they [the traders] will have worse years if people don’t come into town for [for St Patrick’s Day] next year.”

Cllr Howard called for the council to foster to join with local businesses, the Gardaí and local schools to draw up a voluntary code of conduct for days such as St Patrick’s Day and the last day of the school year.

Meanwhile, Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG), called for Ennis Town Council to introduce a scheme to aid people make Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) against a group of “untouchables”, which he saws are hurting the image of the county town.

“It is heartening to hear that they are looking at issuing warning notice for these groups which are in the town centre. If you took out maybe 12 of them [the untouchables] out of the town centre, and put warning notices on them, it would take another dozen or so out of the equation as well,” he said.

THE recession may slowly be releasing its grip from Clare’s county town as live register figures for March show that the number of people signing on in Ennis has reduced to their lowest level in more than five years.

According to figures obtained from the Central Statistics Office (CSO), the number of people signing on the live register in Ennis last month was just 4,975 – the lowest level recorded in the county town for any month since January of 2009.

These figures represent a market reduction of 560 people or 10.1 per cent compared with March of 2013. The number of people currently signing on in Ennis is also 1,064 people, or 17.6 per cent, fewer than in March of 2010 – the worst March on record.

These recent improvement were also replicate in other parts of the county but the overall figures would suggest that the improvement is taking place in Ennis quicker than in the rest of Clare.

According to Ennis Chamber of Commerce, a number of new jobs could be created in Clare right now, if credit was made more easily available to businesses.

“We certainly feel that there are businesses in Ennis who could expand if the situation with credit was normalised. We need to see some sort of connect between the finance aspect and the supports available. While we believe that there is no point in giving credit to businesses that are not viable and would not work even give credit, there needs to be some sort of support there to make credit available to businesses who have a justifiable plan,” said Rita McInerney, CEO of the Ennis Chamber of Commerce.

“Sometimes there is a bit of a disconnect. You can have a business that, if given the right advice and support, would be in a position to justify receiving credit and moving the business forward. If a business is refused credit from a bank, the question that should be asked is why it was refused. The bank might think that the business is not viable but if might also be the case that the business just need more planning and help to show that they are viable.”

Overall figures for Clare show that 9,023 people signed on the live register last month – a drop of more then 800 people on the same month last year. The number signing on reduced by 200 in Ennis with Ennistymon also performing well, with a drop of 80 people last month.

CLARE County Council is investigation complaints about the possible disposal of asbestos at three sites in the Shannon region. The local authority said the complaints are still being investigated but no asbestos material has been located at these sites to date. It confirmed however that “intact pipes” have been identified and need to be removed from Clonmoney Reservoir near Shannon where pipes were replaced. The complaints follow the discovery of nine sites in West Clare where the material known as “the hidden killer” was illegally deposited and not disposed of properly. This week the council said it is progressing with its independent investigation into why the material was illegally deposited in the west. The issue came to light last June when former Kilkee Town Councillor PJ Linnane raised concerns about broken asbestos pipes found dumped at a former reservoir near his home. A specialist asbestos consultant was engaged by the council to advise the authority on the removal of the materials just last month. Since then it has removed pieces of broken asbestos pipe from the surface of four of the nine sites. A spokesperson told The Clare People last evening that the surface asbestos should be removed from all nine sites within a fortnight. When this work is completed a specialist asbestos consultant will be employed to develop and carry out soil testing on the sites to establish the extent of asbestos material, which is buried at the sites. “Phase three [of the clean up process] will involve the removal of any asbestos material at any of the sites which is buried. The timeline for phase two and three is not known in detail as yet because it is subject to estimating the amount of material in each site,” he said. The costs associated with carrying out these works are not yet known.

EAST Clare is in mourning today following the tragic death of an eightyear-old boy in a quad-bike accident on Thursday evening last.

Ultan Hayes from Ballinagough in Whitegate will be laid to rest this morning, April 8, following mass of the angels at St Camin’s Church in Mountshannon.

Ultan passed away at Temple Street Hospital in Dublin on Friday evening, after receiving head injuries in an accident just after 9pm on Thursday. The youngster was the passenger of a quad bike driven by his father, Brian Hayes, which came in contact with a stone wall close to their home.

Both Ultan and his father were rushed to University Hospital in Limerick, with Ultan being transferred to Temple Street Hospital. His fathers injuries are understood to be non-life threatening.

Ultan, who was a keen sports person, had been at training with the Whitegate Under 8 and Under 10 hurlers on the evening of the accident. The youngster had also completed his First Confession with his fellow students from Mountshannon National School earlier that day, as part of his preparations for his First Holy Communion.

“People are absolutely devastated. It’s a big blow for everyone in East Clare to be honest. To lose anyone in an accident is a tragedy but to for a family to lose someone so young is devastating. On behalf of everyone in Whitegate, I’d like to extend the sympathy of the whole community,” said local councillor Pat Burke.

As well as being a talented hurler, Ultan was also a promising athlete and a keen Irish dancer who was studying in a local Irish dancing school.

Ultan is survived by his parents Orla and Brian, his siblings Alannah, Oisin and Donnacha, and his grandparents Patrica and Liam Hayes from Broadford and Kathleen Hayes from Whitegate, as well as a large extended family and many friends.

A MAJOR new survey is being undertaken in North Clare, which aims to examine how happy the 18,000 residents of the greater Burren area are with their lot in life.

The survey, which is being undertaken by the newly-formed ChangeX Burren organisation, is the first of its kind in Ireland and will be used to analyse different approaches that could be taken to sustaining Burren communities, which are under constant threat from depopulation and economic hardship.

When completed, the ChangeX Burren project will be used as a prototype to roll out a ‘wellness’ analysis of other communities in Ireland and eventually to compare relative happiness in different areas as well as tracking changes over time.

Work on the ChangeX Burren survey has been underway since February and the project will be officially launched on May 8. Once the survey have been completed, they will be analysed with the help of NUI, Galway, and a number of community initiatives will be promoted to tackle any problems identified in he survey.

These initiatives include the promo- tion of a number of existing community groups such as Grow It Yourself (GIY) groups, Coder Dojos and the Slow Food Movement.

“The idea of the survey is to give us an insight into what innovations would work [to improve life] in the Burren region but also to measure well-being. Key to the whole process is community involvement and we want to community to take this into their own hands from the very beginning,” said Elaine Williams of ChangeX Burren.

“Well-being is a very broad term, and one person’s idea of well-bring is very different to anothers, so people will define their own definition of well-being for themselves. The hope is that through the survey we will be able to come up with a base-line definition of well-being for the Burren.

“The Burren is the pilot project for this. It is a great opportunity for the people of the Burren to be involved in this. It is the perfect place to start. We are very excited because there is already a great community spirit in the Burren.”

The group are hoping to collect as many completed surveys as possible before the end of next week but will continue to collect surveys after that date. To complete the survey email elaine@changex.io.

THE Moneypoint power station could be transformed from Ireland biggest polluter to Ireland’s biggest source of renewable energy, according to a new report.

A BW Energy report, which was released over the weekend, claims that a switch from coal to biomass in the three Moneypoint electricity generators would effectively be a “silver bullet” for reaching Ireland’s renewable energy targets.

The transfer from coal to biomass at Moneypoint would, at a stroke, bring Ireland’s renewable energy levels above the 40 per cent target required by the EU by 2020. With Ireland’s renewable energy levels currently around 19.6 per cent of total, the estimated 25 per cent boost would bring Ireland comfortable over the target and even allow for a slower roll out of other renewable plants.

The three current power plants at Moneypoint are likely to be phased out on or before 2025. At present, there is no obvious choice for what form of power plant might replace the plants as coal or gas plants are unlikely to go ahead without the addition of carbon capture technology, which has yet to be developed.

Pro-nuclear group have begun lobbying the Irish Government about the possibility of building a new form of nuclear reactors, known as Small Modular Reactors, at the site. However, with both nuclear energy and the storage of captured carbon currently illegal in Ireland, there is no obvious energy form to replace the current system.

According to the BW Energy report, the conversion from coal to could be done for € 380 million. The proposed new new generators would burn mainly wood pellets at the West Clare site.

While biomass energy sources do release carbon, they are considered environmentally friendly and renewable as the carbon they release during burning is equivalent to the carbon captured by the trees and other plants used to make wood pellets. In this way, biomass factories do not contribute extra, previously trapped carbon, into the environment.

The majority of the wood pellets needed would likely have to be shipped from America, creating both extra cost and environmental impact, as Ireland currently does not have enough planted biomass plants to meet demand.

RAHEEN Hospital Support Group said it was satisfied that the 28 beds in the local community hospital would be upgraded to HIQA standards within 18 months.

Following years of requests and a Dáil motion on the issue, senior management from the HSE finally sat down with the group yesterday (Monday) to outline its plans to have the hospital HIQA compliant before the end of next year.

The first phase of the plan will see the upgrade of the current beds, which will entail adding an extension and converting the rooms from fivebed wards to single ensuite rooms.

William McLysaght from the Raheen Hospital Support Group said the meeting was positive and “the HSE were very positive everything was going to be done”.

“Once the architect has drawn up the plans local fundraising will take place for a community donation to the project,” he said.

The money raised by the community will fund an identifiable tangible part of the work.

“We were disappointed it [the meeting] had taken so long but hope now it will be a positive outlook for the hospital,” he said. Work is almost completed in upgrading projects to bring Regina House in Kilrush and Ennistymon Community Hospital to HIQA standards.

SINN Fein and the Labour Party added new candidates this week to contest the Ennis local elections, and both parties are understood to be in talks with potential candidates for the West Clare Municipal Area.

With just over seven weeks until polling day Sinn Fein selected Corrovorian man Cathal O’Reilly to represent the party in the Clare County Council Elections in May.

A butcher by trade his family have been traders in Ennis for generations. “I suppose my grandparents would be the best known of my family. My grandmother was May Lyons whose family owned Lyons’ Bar at the top of Parnell Street and my grandfather was John O’Reilly who owned O’Reilly’s butchers shop at the bottom of Parnell Street,” he said.

“This is the first time I have run for election and I’m really looking for- ward to it. There’s a real buzz around the party and I’ve been delighted with the pledges of support I’ve received already. I’m also grateful to my comrades for selecting me.

“I care strongly about my home place. It’s terrible to see the state of not only Clare but the whole country. I want to be part of the fight back and recovery. I want a better future for my children. I believe Sinn Féin have the best policies to achieve that.”

Mike McKee, Shannon, is the only other Sinn Fein candidate declared to date, but it is understood that a West Clare candidate is to be announced in the coming week.

Meanwhile the Labour Party in Clare has added Dermot Hayes to the party’s list of candidates for the local elections in Clare.

The trade unionist and advocate for people with disabilities will join Seamus Ryan on the Ennis ticket. Mr Ryan was selected ahead of Mr Hayes at the Labour Party conven- tion last November.

Mr Hayes said he is being added to the ticket, as Labour is “getting a very positive response on the canvas and now believe that there is a good opportunity to get two candidates elected.

Mr Hayes comes from Kells, Corofin, from a family of 13 children. He attended Ennis Community College and, as a mature student, he studied Community Development in Galway and Maynooth Universities. He has lived in Ennis since 1974 with his wife Marian and two teenage daughters.

The Labour Party in Clare is also running a candidate in the new look Shannon Municipal Area in the form of County Councillor Pascal Fitzgerald.

There are approximately 25 candidates running in the Ennis municipal Area for eight seats, to date, and an estimated 11 in the Shannon area for six seats.

DOONBEG is hoping for All-Ireland glory this weekend as its drama group is in the All Ireland Drama Final in Claremorris, Co Mayo.

Having reached the top nine of the 34 drama groups doing the “competition circuit” nationally, the group are now in a position to bring national gold to the long village.

The Doonbeg Drama Group is no stranger to the pressures of national competition having come runners up by just one point to the All-Ireland winners in 2012.

Producer and co-founder of the group 34 years ago, Mary Egan said the 22-strong crew and actors were looking forward to taking to the stage in Mayo on Sunday night with The Cavalcaders written by Billy Roche.

The group was reformed in 1980 by Ms Egan and Murt McInerney who also served as producer for the group for numerous years. In 1990 Doonbeg Drama Group began competing in competitions around Ireland and has been one of the stronger groups on the circuit since.

Those wishing to see the play one last time before the set and cast relocate to Claremorris for the All-Ireland Final, can do so in Doonbeg Hall this Thursday, April 3, at 8.30pm.

The winner of the All Ireland will be announced on Saturday, April 12.

MORE than half a million euro has been made available for the upgrade of parking facilities at the Cliffs of Moher Visitors Experience.

The cliffs, which attracted just under one million visitors to Clare last year, has been operating using a gravel car park since the opening of the € 31 million re-development of the facility in 2007.

Management at the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience announced the € 550,000 investment last week which includes an upgrade of the existing public car park, provide additional coach parking as well as an upgrade the centre’s exhibition.

Contracts have already been awarded for the coach parking and exhibition upgrades with works due to commence shortly, while a plan ning application has been submitted in respect of the proposed car park improvements.

“The upgrades to the coach park and car park will provide an improved experience for our group and car-based customers with increased capacity and a better layout including e-car charging points, additional disabled parking and improved pedestrian flow,” said Katherine Webster, Director of the Cliffs of Moher Visitors experience.

“The new exhibition content will bring fresh exciting new experiences and greater visitor interactivity to the cliffs exhibition. The upgrade is being provided by Dublin-based Rockbrook Engineering and we’re delighted with how their proposals will bring some of the outdoor ex perience of the cliffs inside into the dome area.”

Advanced booking at the Cliffs of Moher for 2014 indicate that the facility is likely to top one million visitors this year for the first time ever.

This follows a 10 per cent increase in 2013, when 960,134 people visited the world famous tourist attraction. This compared to 873,988 visitors in 2012.

The Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience has also been identified as one of the three Signature Discovery Points in Clare on the Wild Atlantic Way, alongside the Bridges of Ross and Loop Head Lighthouse.