Category: News

CLARE drill makers Mincon made a record profit of € 15 million last year, despite a general slowdown in the international mining sector. The Shannon-based company last week posted operational profits in excess of € 15 million for 2013, despite a sizable shrinkage in their overall sales.

The company, who famously played a key role in a mission to save a large group of Chilean miners trapped un derground for 69 days in 2010, saw their overall sales drop from € 63 million in 2012 to € 52 million last year. Despite the reduction in overall sales, Mincon managed to raise their overall profits by nearly 20 per cent over the last 12 months.

The company’s increased profits came against the background of a shrinking global mining market, with the price of precious metals continuing to decline in 2014. Mincon’s yearly sales were also hot in 2013 through by currency fluctuations in some of its key markets, particularly in South Africa and Australia.

Indeed, according to the company’s accounts, this currency fluctuation cost the company € 1.3 million in profits last year. The company determines that the profit increase has been brought about by increasing its share of the global rock-drilling products markets, which generates higher margins than what it can earn from the sale of third-party products.

Earlier this year, the company’s two biggest shareholders gave employees € 1.2 million from their own private funds to reward them for their hard work over the years. Company founder Paddy Purcell and Kevin Barry initiated the employee recognition plan, which excluded all members of senior management. The money was paid to Mincon’s 140 eligible employees across the group and was based on years of service with a payment of € 1,000 per staff member per year of service.

The company was founded in 1977 and listed on the Dublin and London stock exchanges late last year. Many of the company’s Shannon based employees have been there for a number of decades.

SHANNON Airport has taken to the Big Apple to promote the latest strengthening of its US network – Aer Lingus’ first year-round service to New York since 2009.

The airport kicked off the most significant week for route commencements in almost a decade as it held meetings with travel, trade and US media in New York to promote the enhanced services.

Airport chairman Rose Hynes and marketing manager Marie Slattery led the Shannon delegation and during the four-day visit also held meetings with New York-based business interests and investors with regard to the wider Shannon group activities, including members of the influential Irish diaspora.

According to the airport chairman, the American market for services into the west of Ireland is heating up. “We have had a tremendous response from the trade, which is our key audience this week, as well as US media. There is a particular demand from the US for services into the western half of the country and Shannon because of the uniqueness of the product we have.

“Shannon is, of course, the only airport on the entire Atlantic coast with direct access from the US and we are delighted to have strengthened the services this year again. The Wild Atlantic Way is also generating considerable interest. It will be the longest coastal driving route in the world and that’s the type of product the discerning US market demands,” she said.

Aer Lingus will add 31,000 seats on its transatlantic services in 2014, a significant increase in capacity over last year when it operated seven flights a week between Shannon and the US compared to 13 flights a week this year.

Said Tourism Ireland’s Head of North America Alison Metcalfe, “The Shannon region has extensive links with the US, forged over generations, and it has been a major gateway to the West of Ireland for US visitors over the years.

“Getting to the Shannon region has never been easier with great value non-stop flights from cities such as New York, Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia with a welcome that is second to none.”

AN ENNIS postman is on the verge of making a big splash in the film world with two new film credits to his name in 2014.

Local postie, Kerry Whitehouse, took up composing as a hobby a number of years ago and has been inundated with offers of work, including two films which will receive Irish releases in 2014.

Kerry worked on the sound effects and title music for Irish film ‘Somebody’s There’, which will released on DVD and Blueray across Ireland and the UK in June of this year.

He also completed the score for the American horror film ‘Slender’, which will be shown at a number of Irish film festivals in the coming months.

Indeed, Kerry has been in so much demand lately that he was considering giving up composition altogether because it was taking up too much of his time.

“It is going really well. So much so that I was considering packing it in before Christmas because I was just too busy.

“I work a full time job and the film composition has always been more of a hobby,” said Kerry.

“If the opportunity arose I’d go into it [film score composition] in a heart beat. I work in the post office and I get my fair share of bad weather going around the place.

“It is difficult though – even composers who are working on film shows in America often have another job. But if the opportunity arose I’d jump at it.”

Kerry is also in line to work on a new TV series which will deal with the events surrounding the famous Roswell alien sighting in 1947.

“I think one of the maddest things that I’ve been involved in recently is to do with the UFOs.

“I do music for a radio station in America and through that I came across Jessie Marcel, the grandson of Lieutenant Jesse Marcel – who was first on the scene at the Roswell UFO incident in 1947.

“He is putting together a new series for the Sci-Fi channel in America and I am in talks about doing that as well,” continued Kerry.

TENDERS have been invited for a ferry service between Kilrush and Scattery Island.

A ferry service has been provided to the historical landmark off Kilrush by a local company for the last number of years, and once again the contract has been put to tender by the Office of Public Works.

The monastic island has seen an increase in visitors of more than 62 per cent last year, with the manager of OPW Heritage sites in the Shannon region, Pádraig Ó Ruairc, and the Scattery Island Heritage and Tourism Group working to increase that number again.

The Commissioners of Public Works are seeking the services of ferry operators for the provision of a ferry service from a designated berth at Kilrush Creek Marina to the picturesque island.

Located 2.5 kilometres off Kilrush, the island is home to a monastery founded by St Senan in the early sixth century consisting of a round tower and several churches. Visitor facilities located on the Island house some exhibition material on the history of the island and a free OPW Guide Service is provided during the tourist season or on special request.

Applications for the ferry contract are invited from those who are interested in tendering for the concession to provide a service between the OPW berth and the island for the 2014 season.

Closing dated for receipt of expressions of interest is mid-day Thursday, April 17, 2014.

GENDER balance is unlikely in the new look Clare County Council from next May, as just seven of the 60 candidates declared to date are female.

This week the local authority’s only female representative, Cllr Patricia McCarthy (Ind), announced her retirement from elected politics, which means there are no sitting female county councillors contesting the election on May 23.

Fine Gael has nominated just two women – two of its sitting female town councillors – Cllr Mary Howard, Ennis, and Cllr Marian McMahon Jones, Kilrush, to contest the council elections.

These are the only two women among the party’s 16 candidates in Clare.

Fianna Fáil’s gender balance does not compare favourably either.

Again, just two of its 18 candidates are female: Louise Roche McNamara, contesting the Shannon area, and Clare Colleran Molloy from Ennis the Municipal Area.

And while the two larger political parties in the county have just four women candidates between them, Labour and Sinn Fein have as yet included no women among their candidates.

The party’s are expected to announce candidates for the West Clare area in the coming days.

The remaining three women who have put their name’s forward to date are all Independent candidates, and contesting the Ennis area.

These include former Labour member Paula McNamara, school teacher Seonaidh NíShiomoin and Ann Norton from the Clare Crusaders.

Those voting in the Killaloe Municipal Area will not see any women on their ballot papers come polling day, unless some one declares in the next few weeks.

Asked why she believes there are so few women involved in local politics in Clare, Cllr McCarthy said, “What I have found is that women always want to get things done and solve problems. We are not as patient at just talking about it and putting it off on the long finger. You want to get something done, to feel you are achieving something. Now maybe men feel the same but it doesn’t come across, but I think women they just don’t see it as something they want to get involved in.”

Candidates have until April 24 to declare as a candidate.

KILRUSH Town Council is expected to vote on Thursday night to ring fence and redesignate money once earmarked for Civic Offices for other local community projects.

More than € 373,000 had been sitting in the council’s coffers to pay for office buildings, but as the council is to be dissolved next month concerns had been expressed that this money would be lost to central government.

In March former mayor Cllr Marian McMahon Jones (FG) had proposed that the council use the rarely used Section 140, Subsection 3 of the Local Government Act 2001, which would request the manager to ring fence money from the town council capital funds for specific projects such as the sports field on the Cooraclare Road.

Town Manager Anne Haugh had suggested that a request be made to the county manager and Head of Finance to ring fence the town council’s money for the projects for which it had been intended.

This Thursday the council is expected to reallocate the money from the Civic Office fund to community projects, and ring fence monies already designated to other projects for the purpose they were intended.

Cllr McMahon Jones said that she is happy with this outcome.

“It is important this money stays in Kilrush for what it was intended after the council is dissolved,” she said.

“As long as the money is prioritised for projects that will benefit the town of Kilrush and the hinterland, I am happy with that. The main objective here it to see the town and area well served.”

Meanwhile the Department of the Environment and Local Government released € 350,000 of the council’s budget for local capital projects.

Town Clerk John Corry had expressed his frustration last month that the department had not given permission for projects already identified by the council as necessary and strategic.

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GARDA resources are being stretched to the limit trying to deal with the rise in burglaries in Ennis.

Yesterday’s meeting of the Ennis Joint Policing Committee heard that 59 burglaries were recorded in Ennis for the first three months of the year. That is an increase of three burglaries on the same period in 2013.

Supt Derek Smart of Ennis Garda Station told the meeting burglaries are the area of most concern to gardaí.

He said a large number of Garda resources, including the establishment of crime checkpoints near Ennis, are being allocated to tackle the crime.

“Burglaries are taking up a lot of time and effort. People’s homes should be their castle. So a lot of my resources are stretched trying to tackle that and detect that crime,” he said.

“We’ve taken checkpoints and brought them back closer to Ennis town where the majority of our burglaries are being committed. There are a lot more crime checkpoints which are directed at trying to find the culprits,” added Supt Smart

In his report to the committee and members of the public, Supt Smart detailed crime figures for Ennis for the first three months of 2014.

He said there have been five robberies of persons in 2014 compared to one in the same period as last year.

A number of people are currently before the courts in relation to the allegations.

There were three incidents of criminal damage by fire in the first three months of 2014; 28 reported thefts and 26 thefts from mechanically propelled vehicles.

Supt Smart told the meeting there is an 81 per cent detection rate in thefts from persons.

Garda have investigated 13 reports of missing persons, conducted 50 drugs searches and 46 searches under warrant.

There have been 11 drink-driving detections compared to 12 for the same period in 2013.

Three people were detected on suspicion of drug driving in the first three months of the year. The meeting was attended by a large number of business people who expressed concern about the level of anti-social behaviour on the streets of Ennis.

A number of them highlighted incidents that occurred on St Patrick’s Day.

Supt Smart urged people in the town to contact them anytime an incident occurs.

In response to questions on the use of Anti Social Behaviour Orders (ASBO), Supt Smart said very few of the orders have been issued in Clare.

On the prospect of increased Garda resources for Ennis, Supt Smart said the force in Clare has been hit hard by retirements in recent years. Committee member Michael Guilfoyle (Ind), quoted a recent comment by Chief Supt John Kerin who said 55 gardaí had retired from the force in Clare over the last few years.

THE National Roads Authority (NRA) will continue to monitor a stretch of the M-18 which they closed to all drivers for a week last month, in an unprecedented move.

The northbound stretch of the motorway between Barefield and Crusheen was closed to allow repairs to take place between March 10 and March 14.

The main focus of the repair work was focussed on a patch of the mo- torway an overpass between Junction 14 and Junction 15.

A spokesperson from the NRA said yesterday that the repair effort had required “additional resources” but the roads authority is happy with the work which was carried out.

“There was cleaning out of culverts and maintenance of road drainage system and yes there was some areas worse than others, so it took additional resources but currently the road appears to draining well and we are monitoring it,” said a spokesperson from the NRA.

The work, which was described by the NRA as “drainage assessment and improvement works”, follows months of pressure from Clare County Council, Clare gardaí and the local media, following a spate of accidents on the road over the Christmas period.

The NRA had previously rejected calls for a safety audit to be conducted and speed restriction to be introduced but had a change of heart in early March, confirming that a safety “engineering assessment” would take place in the com- ing months.

The NRA assumed responsibility for maintenance on the M18 between June and September of 2013.

A number of questions have been raised about the safety of sections of the M-18 between Ennis and Gort since it was opened in November of 2010.

A number of local people stopped using the motorway in the wake of a spate of accidents over the Christmas period, instead using the old N18 route between Ennis and Gort.

RESIDENTS of an Ennis housing estate plagued by almost two years of anti-social behaviour, threats and verbal abuse expressed their frustration at yesterday’s meeting of the Ennis Joint Policing Committee (JPC).

Four residents attended the meeting and outlined the issues affecting the beleaguered estate. They include the running of horses on one of the town’s busiest roads, anti-social behaviour and harassment.

One woman told of how two families have left the estate while many others have had to install security features such as chains, security cameras and alarms on their properties. “We feel we have a right to feel safe in our home. We shouldn’t be intimidated by either adults or children. Our children should be able to feel safe to go out and play,” she said. “It’s a terrible way to live. We’re here from an estate with a hundred houses, asking for help.”

The meeting heard the problems started after a man with a large family moved into the area two years ago.

One woman told of how children under the age of 12 are “running riot and destroying property”.

She said, “The horses are being chased up the road. They are just frightening the horses, pushing them into the estate. The horses are running wild. I feel sorry for the horses. The horses are bolting out onto the road and car could be coming down the road. It’s just frightening.”

Supt Derek Smart of Ennis Garda Station said he was aware of the problems in the area. Gardaí have conducted regular patrols of the estate. Supt Smart said the issue regarding the children has been raised with the Health Services Executive (HSE).

He said, “It is something that is very high on our agenda. In Ennis town in all the estates, we are now making an attempt to assign particular guards to estates.”

Concern was also expressed for the welfare of the children.

One resident said, “I’ve made calls to the HSE regarding young children under the age of 10, there all day and all night on their own. They’re rearing themselves. That’s their way, that’s fine but it’s not right to have an eight or nine year old looking after an infant. Who is feeding them? Who is cleaning the child? It’s just sad, very, very sad. The HSE has far as I’m concerned haven’t stepped in as they should.”

JPC Chairman, Cllr Paul O’Shea, said the HSE should be invited to attend a meeting to discuss the issue.

Cllr Mary Howard (FG) said she could not understand how the children have not been taken into care.

THE people of Lahinch are in search of a benefactor to come forward and help fund the purchase of the Lahinch Army Barracks and Sluagh Hall before the property is auctioned by the Department of Defense in May.

The appeal was made at a meeting of the Lahinch Community Council last week, with finances needed urgently if the barracks – which is located on the Liscannor Road beside the Lahinch Castle Course – can be purchased before auction.

According to local councillor and member of the Lahinch Community Council Bill Slattery (FG), the community could purchase the 5.2 acre site for € 380,000 now, a fraction of what it would likely receive at auction.

The property also borders the Lahinch community field, and locals aim to develop a number of additional playing fields as well as a community centre at the site of Sluagh Hall, if the property can be secured.

Cllr Slattery has been in contact with the Department of Defense and believed that if the money can be raised quickly – a deal is possible.

“I am disappointed that the local community do not have the funds available for this project.

“We still have time, there is a small window of opportunity available before this is sold. I know that € 380,000 is a lot of money but this could be a massive investment for the town,” said Cllr Slattery. “If someone can come forward with the financial backing, the community would be able repay the investment over a 10year period.

A spokesperson from the Department of Defense confirmed that the property was being readied for sale but would not confirm a date for the auction. The Clare People understands that the auction will take place in May of his year, giving the local community between four and six weeks to raise the finances needed.