Category: News

A FISH thought to be extinct in the waters around Clare was on display recently in the county.

The ‘Arctic char’ could be used as a measure of the cleanness of our water supply.

The fish, as well as more common species, was on display at this year’s Clare Biodiversity Day. The day has now become an annual event.

The exhibition of fish, by the Shannon Regional Fisheries Board in association with University College Cork and the Irish Char Conservation Group, had Arctic char as its central theme.

This is because it is believed that all of County Clare’s Arctic char populations are now extinct. The Arctic char in the aquarium were hatchery fish, originally from County Kerry.

According to those involved in the project, they were put on display “to illustrate to the crowds not only how beautiful these fish are but that they are also useful water quality indicators.

“The Arctic char are very sensitive to water pollution and it is in everyone’s interest to ensure that water quality is maintained at the high standard required by this fish.

“There is no reason why they could not be reintroduced into County Clare and four of the five loughs where they once occurred also serve as a public water supply. Their presence would act as a freshwater canary, which would alert us if anything went wrong with water quality.”

Also on display was a river lamprey that was found attached to a brown trout caught by an angler on Lough Derg last week. This parasitic fish is unusual as it sucks onto other fish, feeding off them.

They are now relatively rare in Ireland and it is thought that there is a landlocked population in the lough. More common fish species, such as pike and tench, were also on display. These fishes are not native to Clare unlike the trout, Arctic char and pollan.

The Shannon Regional Fisheries Board is currently running a research programme with the Lough Derg Angling Association to look at the native fish biodiversity in the lough including the elusive Irish Pollan.

Anyone with information, or who might be interested in taking part, please contact Fran Igoe at 061300238.

THE Clare People has learnt that senior Fine Gael officials visited the county in the last ten days to meet privately with the four candidates from last month’s convention.

The party is now believed to be close to making a decision about who should represent Fine Gael next summer.

It is understood that the party will stick to a promise made by party leader, Enda Kenny, to Cllr. Madeleine Taylor-Quinn, two years ago, offering her a place on the ticket.

Fine Gael General Secretary, Tom Curran, and the National Director of Elections, Frank Flannery, met with the candidates in an attempt to resolve issues to emerge out of the convention fiasco.

It is believed that they held out a Seanad nomination, in a bid to decide which of the candidates outvoted at the convention would be added to the Dáil ticket, for next year’s election.

This offer is thought to have been refused by Cllr Madeleine Taylor Quinn, in light of a previous deal she made with the party leader.

It is believed that Enda Kenny promised the former TD and Opposition front bencher a chance to run in the next general election if she put her name forward for the European election in 2004.

It is understood that having secured 22,000 first preference votes from the county in 2004, Cllr Taylor-Quinn is now insisting that the party adheres to the deal and adds her to the ticket.

Sources say that senior officials have now agreed that the deal was indeed made and should be adhered to.

Fine Gael sources also claim that the son of former TD Dónal Carey, Cllr. Joe Carey has been offered a Seanad nomination, but that there has been no suggestion that he is out of the running for the Fine Gael ticket.

Meanwhile, some members of the party in Clare believe that just two Fine Gael candidates should go forward, while others argue that a third candidate is necessary.

There has also been suggestions that a final decision is unlikely to be made until Fianna Fáil shows its hand.

On Sunday May 14, the Clare Fine Gael delegates elected sitting TD Deputy Pat Breen and Shannon Town Mayor Cllr Tony Mulcahy to represent the party in the next election.

FIANNA FÁIL is expected to add Senator Brendan Daly to the party ticket for the forthcoming General Election, within the coming week. He will join Junior Minister Tony Killeen and Senator Timmy Dooley.

The west Clare senator is expected to agree to run following confirmation last week that €4.5 million of the €20 million outlined to upgrade the Mid Western Regional Hospital, Ennis, is to be spent this year.

Party sources say that the former minister met with Minister for Finance, Brian Cowen, during the week to discuss his future in politics.

While the matter hasn’t been finalised, the likelihood is a decision will be made by the weekend.

Promises of a Catscan for the hospital, coupled with some other visible improvements there, are likely to sway Daly towards running again.

An Oireachtas member with more than 30 years’ experience, he lost out to Senator Dooley and Junior Minister Killeen at the party’s convention in April. Days before the Clare delegates selected their candidates, Fianna Fáil headquarters decided that just two rather than the preferred three would be selected, with HQ to add the third.

After losing out and following weeks of speculation about his political intentions, Daly issued an ultimatum to his party.

The former minister said he would not agree to be added to the party ticket for the next election unless issues such as Ennis General Hospital and the ongoing wait for sewerage schemes were adequately addressed.

“I do not believe in issuing ultimatums, or making unattainable demands, but in the matter of the development of Ennis hospital, unless there is a very clear unambiguous decision, as far as I am concerned, Fianna Fáil will have to seek another candidate other than me to stand in the next election,” he told The Clare People.

“Unless there is a clear understanding that the Ennis hospital project is on track, the political positions is unsustainable,” he added.

“This time last year, I made it clear that I stake my political future on the safeguarding of Ennis General Hospital and was given assurances in that regard.”

Meanwhile, Clare hurler Niall Gilligan has denied that any approaches were made to him about running for Fianna Fáil in the election.

DOG OWNERS face fines of up to €1,270 if they allow their dogs roam Clare’s beaches from this Thursday.

The ban on dogs – which also applies to dogs kept on the leash – will be in place from June 1 to the end of August, between the hours of 11am and 6pm

It has emerged that Clare’s Dog Warden, Frankie Coote won’t be available to enforce the ban at weekends, when the beaches are likely to be busiest. Mr Coote, who originally floated the idea of banning dogs, only works from Monday to Friday.

Instead, gardaí and lifeguards will be deployed to enforce the regulation, according to a Clare County Council spokesman.

He said that there would be a “softly-softly” approach at first, with the emphasis on education.

But, those dog-owners found accompanying their dogs during afternoons on Clare’s most popular beaches, including Lahinch and Spanish Point, will face on-the-spot fines of €125, or fines of up to €1,270 if their case goes to court.

“I hope the beach by-laws will make a difference. It is now down to the members of the public to act responsibly on the county’s beaches,” said Mr Coote.

The ban comes despite opposition from the Irish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ISPCA) and international bestselling author, Nuala O’Faolain to the move.

In a submission, ISPCA General Manager, Mark Beazley urged the council to leave a section of each beach accessible to dogs on a year round basis, marked out by wooden posts, or signage.

In her submission, Nuala O’Faolain who owns a house near Lahinch offered similar views to the ISPCA.

“It seems a pity to prohibit families and visitors the company of their dogs. Couldn’t part of the beach be designated dogs allowed?”

Ms O’Faolain also questioned the data behind alleged attacks by dogs on beachgoers.

Councillor Joe Carey (FG) described the new law as “a draconian measure”.

“The council may come to regret the decision as Clare is a tourist county and the ban on dogs is not a family friendly policy. We were told that they will be reviewed, but once they are introduced, they are difficult to reverse.”

TRAFFIC gardaí have mistakenly hit a number of Clare motorists with double penalty points.

Gardaí at Ennis have asked any driver caught in the mix-up to write to them to have the extra points deducted.

A Department of Transport spokesman pointed a finger at some gardaí who sent notices of penalty points to two processing centres, instead of one at Garda Fines Office at Capel Street in Dublin.

Since last month, when a new automatic computerised system was introduced, gardaí were to send notices only to the Dublin office, rather than to SWS in Cork, the company responsible for inputting the points electronically. But some continued to send them to both.

Staff at the fines office are meant to notify officials at the Department of Transport of all new points handed out. These are then automatically added on to a driver’s licence.

A spokesperson for the Department of Transport admitted that there was an overlap, in the cases of a number of Clare, Galway and Limerick drivers, and that the issue would be rectified.

“The department became aware of it and got in touch with the gardaí, to ensure that only one notice will be sent,” said the spokesperson.

“It will be rectified soon, between gardaí and the SWS system in Cork,” the spokesperson added.

The Head of the Clare Garda Division Traffic Corps, Inspector Kevin Moynihan, said only a “handful” of drivers in Clare were affected by the mistake.

He urged any drivers affected by the error to contact gardaí and said the extra points would be deducted as soon as possible.

“If someone reports to us that they have got double points, we will write to the Department and get the penalty points taken off. This is only a temporary thing and it shouldn’t happen from now on,” he said.

“It happened before the new computer system was fully operational – between February 20 and April 3. The Department was accepting what they were getting . . . I have come across three or four drivers who were affected,” he added.

Inspector Moynihan has also urged Clare drivers to pay their fines at their local post offices, or to a PO Box address in Kilrush, and not at Garda stations.

“People are supposed to pay them at post offices, as it says on the back of the notice. People are paying them at Garda stations,” he said.

ENNIS based gay rights organisation, Gay Clare, has called on the Minister for Justice Michael McDowell to go farther than the legislative changes promised last week and introduce full civil unions for homosexual couples in Ireland.

Gay Clare believes that there could be as many as 300 Clare men who are cohabiting in committed relationships and would be in a position to take advantage of civil unions. They estimate there are 3,000 gay men living in the county.

“We believe that gay marriage should be recognised in Ireland. It is an issue of equality and a gay couple should have the same rights and responsibilities as married couples,” said a spokesperson for Gay Clare.

“Minister McDowell is trying to change the legislation, but we do not feel that he is going far enough. We want to have full equality.”

While Gay Clare is committed to the creation of equal status between gay and heterosexual couples, it believes that this can be created whilst maintaining the special status of marriage as set out in the constitution.

“It does not have to be called marriage – it could be a civil union, or a partnership,” continued the Gay Clare spokesperson.

“There is a system like this already in place in at least four other countries and the sky has not fallen down over there.”

Speaking at the Royal College of Physicians in Dublin last week the Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, outlined a number of legislative changes which he has planned concerning gay couples.

This meeting was interrupted by a group of protesters claiming to represent the Ancient Order of Hibernians who heckled the Minister and held up proceedings for 10 minutes.

“I would consider the Ancient Order of Hibernians to be a homophobic group and I would not like to give them any more publicity by talking about it,” concluded the spokesperson for Gay Clare.

THE threat of strike action could see taxi services grind to a halt in Ennis next weekend.

Taxi drivers met last night in Ennis to discuss possible strike action over new proposals put forward by the industry regulator, Ger Deering. Members are expected to adopt a motion for strike action which would see taxi services withdrawn from 10am on Saturday, June 3, to 6am Sunday, June 4.

The work stoppage could lead to commuter chaos over the busy bank holiday weekend.

Drivers are unhappy with proposals put forward by Mr Deering that would lead to an extensive overhaul of taxi, hackney and limousine services in Ireland.

There is strong opposition to the introduction of a new standardised fare service and the overhaul of current licensing laws.

Speaking yesterday, Chairman of the Ennis branch of the Taxi Drivers’ Federation, Martin White, said he expected the strike to go ahead.

“It will probably go ahead. The public have nothing to do with this and it is unfortunate that the public has got caught up in the middle. I would hope that we could resolve this without going on strike. It’s bad enough with Iarnród Éireann, but we don’t want to let the public down as well. I’d like to apologise to the public on behalf of all members”.

Mr White added that new centralised licensing proposals could compromise the safety of drivers and passengers.

“He’s (Ger Deering) issued these numbers from 10,000 up and it’s impossible to tell where a taxi is registered. With the old system, there was a single number and if you had a problem with a taxi driver you could easily identify the car. Look at where that woman was attacked by someone posing as a taxi driver. It’s easier for people to pose as taxi drivers,” said White.

The row escalated between unions and the regulator last month when members of the Cork branch of the National Taxi Drivers’ Federation voted for an overnight stoppage. Head of the National Taxi Drivers’ Union, Tommie Gorman, has said that the strike could lead to chaos on the streets.

Other mooted reforms include a new complaints system for customers and extra training.

THE new interim water supply for Ennis should be on stream within the next 10 days.

Town Engineer Tom Tiernan told The Clare People that the system was 95 per cent complete.

“There is a delay on the delivery on one component,” he said.

Once the piece is installed within the next ten days, the system will begin working immediately, according to the latest council information.

Initially it was thought that the temporary water filtration plant would be running from May 1. A two-week delay occurred due to the delay in the arrival of pumps.

The temporary system was commissioned following the detection of cryptosporidium in the county town’s water supply.

The parasite, which cannot be killed by disinfectant, resulted in a number of recorded illnesses.

As a result, a boiling notice aimed at the elderly, young children and the sick remains in force, until the new system is up and running.

It is estimated that Ennis residents are spending around €35 a week on water, with nursing homes and health facilities paying a higher price.

Supermarkets and shops in the town have reported a substantial increase in the sale of bottled water.

“We have a large town and we didn’t have adequate treatment, just disinfectant,” County Engineer Tom Carey told the April meeting of Clare County Council.

The interim filtration system is expected to solve that problem, by dealing with cryptosporidium as well as more common water characteristics – bacteriological contamination and colour.

Ennis County Councillor Joe Carey (FG) said that while he welcomed the temporary solution to Ennis’s ongoing water difficulties, he felt it was long overdue.

He has called for a full report on the safety of the system from the county engineer and the Health Service Executive, to reassure the citizens of Ennis that the water will be safe once again.

THE legitimacy of Clare County Council’s decision to instigate legal proceedings to remove 19 buskers and traders from the Cliffs of Moher has been thrown into doubt, with a survey by The Clare People revealing that the majority of county councillors are opposed to legal action being taken.

Of the 32 elected members of the council, sixteen are opposed to legal action, 9 are in favour of it and 7 have declined to comment. The local authority presented the 19 buskers and traders with notice of court proceedings last Thursday.

“Taking legal action without engaging in dialogue is an admission of failure and the opportunity for dialogue has now been lost,” said Cllr PJ Kelly (FF).

“A small bit of dialogue could have saved a lot of trouble, but there was no broker there, no independent person who could have solved the problem. There are two sides to the arguments and the buskers have rights too, and they have precedent on their side.”

West Clare councillor Oliver Garry (FG), also opposed to the instigation of legal proceedings, said the council should not be going to court to settle the dispute.

“They are being too hasty and should be very sensitive in going to the courts with these people, many of which have been operating at the cliffs for years.”

The Director of Service at Clare County Council and head of the Cliffs of Moher Project, Gerard Dollard declined to comment on the results of the survey, but his actions were defended by some elected members of the council.

“I support Ger Dollard 100 per cent at what he is trying to achieve at the Cliffs,” said Kilrush Councillor Tom Prendeville (FF). “The traders have nothing to fear from coming on board with Clare County Council and I think that it is in their own best interests in the long run.”

Another in support was Shannon councillor, Patricia McCarthy (Ind), who said the council had no other choice.

“I think that they are right to go to court at this stage, there has been consultation going on for years and they have exhausted all other options,” she said.

Three locally based councillors, Martin Lafferty (Ind), Christy Curtin (Ind) and Flan Garvey (FF) also suggested that an independent third party should be brought in to resolve the situation rather than pursuing the legal route.

In a separate survey conducted by The Clare People , 25 of the 29 councilors who gave an answer, said that some accommodation should be made for traders and buskers at the Cliffs, in addition to the 6 traders who were to housed in the main visitor complex. In response to this , Gerard Dollard said that some buskers would be issued with licenses from the council.

RESIDENTS in Miltown Malbay have pledged to step up their to fight for the allocation of extra gardaí in the town.

A local petition calling for more gardaí is being circulated and will be sent to Justice Minister, Michael McDowell. To date, more than 150 people have signed their names to the document. One of those behind the drive, Joe Ryan, said the campaign would not end until some progress was made.

“We will wait and see what developments happen and see how we go from there,” he told The Clare People .

A meeting on the issue earlier this month secured cross-party support for the deployment of extra Garda resources for the town.

Meanwhile, independent TD James Breen said the issue must be addressed, as a matter of urgency.

He said the influx of people visiting the town for the Willie Clancy Summer School must prompt immediate action.

“There is an obligation to have the festival properly policed,” he said.

Minister McDowell told the Dáil last week the deployment of gardaí was a matter for Garda management, under the current law.

He was responding to a question from Fine Gael Deputy Pat Breen, who said it was incumbent on the Minister to allocate extra resources to rural areas.

Deputy Breen said he was far from happy with the response.

“It doesn’t answer the question. Having two gardaí in Miltown in this day and age is ridiculous. People are living in fear,” he said.

He said that there was a need for an adequate traffic control system for Miltown Malbay.

“The Minister has to get real to what is happening out there,” said the Fine Gael deputy.