A FAR CRY from last year’s downpour where the crowds ran to the pubs to avoid the rain, this year visitors to the Doonbeg Jazz Festival had to be enticed inside from the beaming sunshine by the banjo, trombone and trumpet.
Thousands of people descended on the long village at the weekend to enjoy the festival which is now in its seventh year.
Launched by the Deputy Polish Ambassador, Dr. Jacek Rosa, on Friday evening, jazz music accompanied the sunshine and the crowd throughout the weekend.
THE seaside village of Liscannor has honoured a local man and maritime legend.
The 125th anniversary of the invention of the world’s first working submarine by the Clare-born John Philip Holland was marked at a ceremony yesterday. Junior Enterprise, Trade and Employment Minister, Tony Killeen, unveiled a bronze sculpture at the site of a new hotel in Holland’s home village of Liscannor. The sculpture is the creation of Clare artist, Shane Gilmore.
The €3.5 million Cliffs of Moher Hotel is located just miles from the world-famous tourist attraction and will lead to the creation of 40 new jobs. The facility features 23 bedrooms, a public bar, 70-seater restaurant and the bronze sculpture commemorating Holland.
It is the second hotel in as many weeks to be opened by The Atlantis Holiday Group. Two weeks ago, the Clare-based tourism body opened the €8 million Tír Gan Éan House Hotel and Holiday Complex in Doolin, leading to the creation of thirty new jobs.
John Philip Holland was born in Liscannor in 1841. His father, John Holland Senior patrolled the headlands of County Clare as a rider with the British Coastguard Service. The young Holland was a teacher in Ireland until 1872, when he emigrated to the USA, where he taught in Paterson, New Jersey, until 1879. He drew up plans of submarines and in 1881, with funds from Irish associates, launched a small submarine called the Fenian Ram. He was later awarded a contract to build a submarine for the US Navy.
In 1900, the Navy bought the Holland VI for $150,000, about half of its design cost, and later renamed it the USS Holland. The vessel could travel 800km on the surface of the sea and 40km submerged. One US newspaper described it as “Uncle Sam’s Devil of the Deep”. Other countries, including Great Britain, Japan and the Netherlands, purchased Holland’s submarine designs. He died in August 1914, just months before a German submarine sank a British vessel at the start of the First World War.
“John P Holland is a figure of pride for many people in County Clare and unveiling a commemoration to this historic figure is our way of ensuring that his contribution to Liscannor and the wider world does not go unrecognised,” said Paddy Maher, of Atlantis Holiday Group.
PLANS by Ennis developers, McCarthy Brothers, to construct 120 residential units in the Ballybeg area of Ennis have been thrown into question.
Local resident, Jim McEnery, has lodged an appeal against Clare County Council’s decision last month to give the contentious scheme the go-ahead.
The proposed development comprises of 40 three-bedroom homes; 47 two-bedroom homes; five fourbedroomed homes and 28 apartments.
The council granted planning permission on the basis that the proposed development would not seriously injure the amenities of the area.
However, in the comprehensive appeal, Mr McEnery claims that the proposed development would seriously injure the amenities and depreciate the value of property in the vicinity”.
Describing the area as a “rural haven of tranquillity”, he maintains that if permission is granted for the present development, the use, enjoyment and amenity of his property will be irretrievably lost.
The location of an amenity area beside his property could also result in untold sociable behaviour and the diminution of privacy and he claims it is neither fair nor just that the applicant should make substantial financial gain at his expense.
Mr McEnery’s appeal has also raised concerns over the infrastructure serving the development.
He maintains that the Ballybeg Road, as it exists in its present condition, is incapable of accommodating the volumes of traffic that would be generated by the construction of 120 residential units.
The layout of the development also comes in for criticism and Mr McEnery believes that the proposed layout is an attempt to maximise the number of houses within the development and represents an over-intensive use of the site.
On that basis, he believes that permission should therefore be refused.
A decision is due on the appeal in September of this year.
TWO people have been charged as part of an investigation into an attack on two men in Shannon six months ago.
Two Lithuanian brothers – Arturas and Aivaras Segzda – sustained stab wounds in the incident, at Rossbracken, on December 5 last.
David O’Loughlin (19), of Finian Park, Shannon, is facing four charges while Jessica O’Leary, of Cronan Lawn, Shannon, is facing five charges. Both appeared at Ennis District Court last Friday.
Mr O’Loughlin is charged with two counts of assault causing harm; possession of a knife and possession of a knife with intent to cause injury.
Ms O’Leary is accused of two counts of assault causing harm; possession of a screwdriver and possession of a screwdriver with intent to cause injury. She is also accused of obstruction.
Solicitor William Cahir, for David O’Loughlin, said his client is currently serving a sentence and he was remanded in custody.
Ms O’Leary, an unemployed single mother, was released on her own bond of €100 on the application of solicitor, Una Moylan.
The cases were adjourned, for preparation for a Book of Evidence.
SHANNON DEVELOPMENT has welcomed calls from the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation for a 2,000seater international conference centre to be located in the region.
The ITIC says the centre would benefit from access to Shannon Airport, underpin passenger numbers there and help develop the Mid-West as a hub for wider economic growth.
In its report to government, the ITIC said that a regional conference centre for the region would rebalance regional growth, not only in tourism terms but in terms of overall economic activity.
In a statement, John King, Heritage and Tourism Director with Shannon Development said the body “fully endorses the call by ITIC for a major regional conference centre for the Shannon/Limerick area.
“The ITIC proposal is in line with Shannon Development’s regional tourism strategy, an important element of which is the undertaking of a feasibility study for such a regional conference centre. Shannon Development is currently working on the feasibility of this proposal in conjunction with key tourism trade partners in the Shannon Region. The study will determine the viability of this project and whether or not it can become a sustainable proposal”.
According to a statement from the ITIC, it is proposing “NDP tourism investment of €1 billion in 2007-2013 and, as part of this, a proposal for a major Regional Conference Centre in the Shannon/Limerick area with minimum capacity for 2,000 people.”
In its submission, the confederation said that if Ireland is to reach the Government target of 10 million overseas visitors by 2012, a “seachange ” is required in tourism performance.
The chairwoman of the ITIC, Catherine Reilly said that the Government “has done well from tourism and has the potential to do even better. But as this report articulates, much remains to be done on the investment side if the industry is to make its optimal contribution to Irish economic and social development.”
The confederation report claims that Ireland’s tourism product has become “tired and lacking in verve or bounce for many tourists”.
A TULLA man and his flug-tag crew found on Sunday that Red Bull doesn’t give you wings.
In fact, Emelyn Heaps and his home-built plane were grounded when they tried to take part in the Red Bull Flug Tag event in the River Shannon in Limerick city at the weekend.
An angry Emelyn told The Clare People that after rebuilding parts of his plane three times, when it came his turn to fly, “I was told that the tide had gone out. How hard would it have been to calculate what time the tide goes out?”
With a background in aeronautical engineering, Emelyn currently holds the distance record for the Flug Tag flight, after taking part in the event in Dublin five years ago.
A team of six worked to build his plane “Record Breaker” in a bid to beat Emelyn’s record.
“We arrived with the plane on Saturday, but weren’t told until Sunday that the launch trolley was too heavy. The Clare Scaffolding Company came to our rescue with aluminium poles to make it lighter and we rebuilt it.”
When the carriage was rebuilt, organisers then told the team that the river authority were not allowing trolleys to go into the river. “This despite the fact that there were already trolleys in the river from earlier flights,” said Emelyn.
They re-built their magnificent flying machine’s trolley a third time “but then we were told, sorry lads, the tide is gone out. You can’t go.”
The crew had planned to launch their “Lying Air” flight captained by Michael O’ Query, offering flights to anywhere in the world for €1 plus €300 Government tax.
Emelyn said that he was “bitterly disappointed and very embarrassed. I roped a lot of people into working on this with me and they were expecting a day of great craic. The Red Bull people said they would ‘look after’ us, but the only useful thing they did was to point out where the pub was.”
The plane cost about €1,000 to put together “but it took a lot of time from people who helped. I’m so angry because of them.”
A spokesman for Red Bull said that it was the health and safety team who pulled the plug on the Tulla team.
“It was such a hot day that the water level went right down with the tide. There were two teams left and we pleaded to even let both of them go together, but there was no go. We were gutted for them.”
The spokesman said that Red Bull would be contacting both teams in the coming days to try to find a way to ease the disappointment.
BUILDERS could be on site at the Kilrush Marina as early as the beginning of next year, developing a hotel, apartments and commercial units.
It is believed that Shannon Development has whittled down to three the number of interested parties contending to build on the site. All three are believed to have Clare connections.
Towards the end of the month, executives of the semi-state company will discuss the favoured contender with their counterparts in the Kilrush Marina Company, the Shannon Development subsidiary, which is responsible for the west Clare marina.
It is believed that the board of Shannon Development will then consult with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment before any final announcement on the future of the West Clare Marina is made. That announcement is expected some time in July.
Last summer, Shannon Development advertised for expressions of interest in developing the land around the marina. Its development was facilitated by a decision in December at Kilrush Town Council, to rezone areas of the town.
It is now believed that three companies are being considered for the project, all of whom are planning to build apartments, commercial outlets and a five-star hotel at the waterfront.
Promises have been made that the marina will continue in its present form, with plans to extend it by 100 births, up to 220.
The boat yard may have to be relocated towards the lock gates however.
The project will probably be built on a phased basis, with indications that ownership will only be handed over at the completion of each stage.
The semi-state company could face some difficulties in convincing interested parties of the benefits of transferring the land and marina to the private sector.
When contacted by The Clare People , a spokesperson for Shannon Development said the company could not comment on the details. He said “Shannon Development advertised expressions of interest last summer.
“We are currently carrying out final assessments of expressions of interest,” he said.
WORKERS’ representatives at Shannon Development have expressed concern about a new group that has come together to promote the west of Ireland.
The new entity, known as the Atlantic Way Group, includes many well-known names in business, politics, education and public administration.
The role it intends playing has already come under scrutiny in the Dáil.
“There is deep concern amongst staff over the role that the Atlantic Way Group will perform. It appears to have the same policies as Shannon Development,” a workers’ representative spokesman at Shannon Development told The Clare People .
“There would appear to be more than enough organizations doing the work that the Atlantic Way claims it will carry out. Is this just another unnecessary layer of bureaucracy?”
The official launch of the Atlantic Way Group is expected in the near future. Its mission statement says that, “it does not seek to do the work of any other group or organisation whose remit is to achieve stated objectives, but it will assist, profile and work towards supporting their objectives in an overall context”.
The group describes itself as, “a movement comprised of a number of committed people, representative of key private and public sector bodies, which seeks to maximise the development potential of the West by supporting and promoting best practice in every aspect”.
It sets out its principal aim as bringing “coherence, coordination and a sense of urgency to infrastructural development, excellent technological services, quality employment, lifelong education and quality of life.”
Those involved in Atlantic Way include former MEP, Pat Cox; Care County Manager, Alec Fleming; President of UL, Roger Downer; Shannon Development’s Chief Executive, Kevin Thompstone and the development body’s Chairman, Liam McElligott.
The group came under Dáil scrutiny, when Labour’s Ruairi Quinn quizzed Enterprise, Trade and Employment Minister, Micheál Martin, on whether it would receive State funding. He also asked what role it would play and whether this would overlap with Shannon Development.
The Minister said that Shannon Development “facilitates and supports the Atlantic Way initiative, as it is consistent with the company’s focus on balanced regional development.”
He confirmed that this support included “a small financial amount, approved by Shannon Development as a support for the proposed launch of Atlantic Way and a range of practical non-financial supportive actions.”
SUMMER has arrived at last – so it follows that the exams are about to start.
More than 2,700 Clare teenagers from all over the county are counting the hours of sunshine left until they begin their Leaving and Junior Certificate examinations this week.
1,344 students will sit the Leaving Cert in Clare, with 132 of them opting for the Leaving Cert Applied course.
More females than males will take part in the three state exams. Just two more female students than male have registered for the Leaving Cert exams, with 75 female students taking the Leaving Cert Applied exams as opposed to 57 males.
As many as 1,359 Clare students will face a state exam for the first time when they sit the Junior Cert. In total, 702 female students and 657 males will take the exam.
Tomorrow (Wednesday), the Clare students will join 113,500 candidates who will take their seats at 4,500 examination centres countywide to begin their exams.
Over the bank holiday weekend, the 4,500 superintendents involved in supervising the written examinations took possession of the boxes containing the three million examination papers that are required by candidates over the 13-day examination period. Almost 4,000 examiners will be involved in examining the work presented by candidates.
There will be a number of changes to the assessment of some of the examination papers this year.
The most significant changes in this year’s exams will be in the revised syllabuses in Leaving Certificate History and Geography and Junior Certificate Science. Candidates in these examinations have already completed practical coursework leading to their final grade.
For Leaving Certificate candidates taking History and Geography, the final written examination is worth 80 per cent of the overall mark.
Candidates taking the examination in the revised Science syllabus may have already accumulated up to 35 per cent of their final grade through the completion of the practical coursework element of the exam.
The examinations run until Thursday, June 22 for Junior Certificate subjects and Friday, June 23 for Leaving Certificate subjects, and then the partying can begin.
The written examinations in the Leaving Certificate Applied programme finish on Thursday, June 15.
The results of the Leaving Certificate examinations will be available on Wednesday, August 16.
Results of the Junior Certificate will be available in mid-September.
THE Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has tersely dismissed a bid by Clare County Council to have two warning notices issued over the management of its Inagh landfill withdrawn.
In March, the agency served the fifteenth non-compliance notice on the council over the management of the €8m landfill.
The council replied with a lengthy defence. But, after a five-week interlude, the EPA has issued a one-line response.
It states that, “notwithstanding the information submitted by the council, the agency considers that the non-compliances should remain”.
Council officials are currently drafting a response to the EPA letter. Chair of the Special Environment Policy Committee, Cllr Patricia McCarthy (Ind) said it was, “very difficult to comprehend the activities of the EPA at times”.
Accusing the EPA of nitpicking, Cllr McCarthy added that the agency was, “not giving clear directions or clear guidelines to the council. The Inagh site is a very well run site.”
The non-compliance notice centred on the council allegedly felling trees during the nesting seasons and on continuing odour problems caused by the landfill.
However, in a strongly worded five page response, the council formally requested that the agency withdraw the two non-compliance notices and claimed that the agency had acted outside its powers.
The council stated that, “the agency would appear to have arbitrarily issued a non-compliance in relation to tree-felling, which it can be argued is outside the scope of the licence as the issue of tree-felling is defined and protected within other statute.
“In the council’s view, the agency has in effect acted ultra vires in the issue of non-compliance notice as the basis for its issue is held by other authorities.
The council pointed out that the Forestry Service and the National Parks and Wildlife Service had both indicated that they had no reservations in relation to tree felling on this site.
The council also argued that ‘in no way can the tree-felling be considered as environment pollution and as such should not result in the issue of a non-compliance which is specifically linked to the Waste Management Act.”