Category: News

CLARE County Council officials are proposing to “de-bundle” the county’s proposed sewerage scheme in an attempt to speed up the much-needed service to some of the county’s villages and towns.

Villages close to the sea that require an off-shore licence for the new sewerage system will still have a long wait, however, as they apply for the foreshore licence and battle with the Department of the Environment over the controversial water pricing policy.

“In hindsight bundling has been a delaying factor for a number of schemes.

“The bundle only moves as fast as its slowest scheme,” explained council engineer Declan O’Regan.

The council official said that under the water pricing policy system, the sewerage scheme in Quilty will cost €16,000 per house, while the cost of the Feakle one will break down the same. Scariff, which is bundled with the two other villages, is estimated to cost €8,000 per house, €2,000 under what the government proposes to pay.

The cost of the Feakle and Quilty schemes include the €1.4 million off-shore work, an inclusion that had been described as ridiculous by west Clare councillor Christy Curtin.

“There is no allowance for the offshore work which is €1.4 million. There should be an allowance for that. There must also be an allowance for rural areas, otherwise it is a false economy,” he said.

It has also emerged that when the houses in the Quilty/Mullagh area were counted to estimate the cost of the scheme under the water pricing policy, 80 were ignored as they had private septic tanks.

A draft value for the water pricing policy in the area has been informally submitted to the Department of the Environment, according to the county council.

The local authority is awaiting comment from Department officials before making a formal submission.

Meanwhile, the council has advised that Cooraclare be de-bundled from the Carrigaholt and Labasheeda scheme when submitting the reviewed report for the scheme to the Department.

“Cooraclare is most economical of the three. If it has to wait for the off-shore licences it could be three or four years before they have a scheme,” said Mr O’Regan.

Mayor Pat Keane said he is disappointed for Labasheeda and Carrigaholt as he feels they will now be left behind.

“I don’t think it will benefit Cooraclare either, as it will be difficult to get someone in to do a small scheme,” he said.

AFTER years of controversy, setbacks and a long battle for planning permission, the Pol an Ionain cave in Doolin will officially open its doors to the public this Friday.

The cave, which boasts the world’s largest free-hanging stalactite, will employ up to 20 local people during peak periods and could cater for as many as 65,000 visitors a year.

The cave was the subject of an extended battle for planning permission which saw the developers taking their case to the High Court being allowed to begin work on the site.

“It is done and dusted as far as we are concerned,” said Helen Browne, who is developing the cave along with her husband John. “We wouldn’t be human if we were not disappointed that it took so long but that is life, I suppose.”

Clare County Council granted planning permission to develop the cave in 2000 but this permission was overturned by An Bord Pleanála in February 2001, before the developers took the matter to the High Court to resolve the matter.

The cave will operate on a yearround basis, with tours — consisting of no more than 20 people — being run on an hourly basis.

“I think that it will be a big positive for the locality. It will help to make the tourist season longer and provide some employment,” continued Ms Browne.

“It will operate alongside Ailwee Caves. Caves tend to form together in limestone areas and it is not be uncommon for a number of clusters to operate in one area.”

The stalactite was discovered in 1959 and is believed to be the largest known free-standing stalactite in the world, measuring almost 24 feet.

It was developed using non-explosive drilling techniques to protect the ecology of the cave and its surrounding area. Sensor equipment has been installed by Hull University in England, which is designed to protect the delicate structure of the stalactite from any erosion.

To facilitate visitors’ access to the cave, an 80-foot metal stairs was installed at the cave using a specialist crane yesterday (Monday).

The stalactite was formed over millions of years with the slow dropping of water and limestone from a tiny crack in the caves ceiling.

SEVEN members of the Travelling community have been charged in connection with a serious public order disturbance in Ennis last week.

Substantial damage was caused to Brandon’s Pub on O’Connell Street, while windows were broken on several other premises nearby, in the early hours of last Wednesday morning.

There were also attempts made to remove two tills from Brandon’s.

Garda reinforcements were called to Ennis from Shannon, Ennistymon and Corofin to deal with the disturbance, which arose at a Traveller engagement party at Brandon’s, at around 1am.

Seven people were arrested and brought before Ennistymon District Court later that day, all charged with engaging in threatening, abusive, or insulting behaviour.

Six of the accused are from west Limerick and the other from Ennis.

Before the court were Alan O’Brien (20) and Luke O’Brien (22), both of Castleview Estate, Newcastlewest; John O’Brien (18) of Ash Crescent, Newcastlewest; Michael Qulligan (21) of Knockane Rd, Newcastlewest; William Kavanagh (18) of 12 Castleview, Newcastlewest; Bernie Mongan (18) of Clancy Park, Ennis; and a teenager from Newcastlewest who cannot be named for legal reasons.

Superintendent Eamon Dolan told Ennistymon District Court that investigations into the incident were continuing.

“I am not saying that any of the people before the court were connected to what I have outlined, but the Garda investigation into the disturbance is continuing and we hope to examine CCTV footage of what took place,” he said.

He added that gardaí were making efforts to interview individuals from another group, in relation to the disturbance.

Judge Joseph Mangan remanded all seven in custody with consent to bail.

As part of the bail conditions, he ordered that the six Limerick defendants stay out of Clare and that Bernie Mongan stay out of Ennis town centre and observe a night-time curfew.

All seven appeared before Ennis District Court again on Friday, where the case was adjourned until September.

Inspector Kevin Moynihan said a number of other matters needed to be investigated. “It will be a lengthy investigation,” he said.

Solicitors for the accused consented to this and legal aid was granted for all seven.

Mr Mongan’s solicitor, Daragh Hassett, asked that one of the bail conditions be amended, to allow him to go into Ennis Town Centre during the day.

This was granted.

CLARE is now a home for national research on physiotherapy. On Monday evening, the first Irish Physiotherapy Research Hub was launched at the University of Limerick’s North Campus, which is in this county.

Launching the Hub, Tim O’Malley, Minister of State for the Department of Health and Children, said that the aim is to encourage and facilitate the engagement of physiotherapists throughout the state in research activity, both at a professional and inter-professional level.

The status of Physiotherapy Research Hub was granted by the National Physiotherapy Research Network (NPRN), which was developed by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy in the UK. The network’s broad aim is to provide a mutual support to help to develop physiotherapy and physiotherapy-related research.

The university is breaking new ground here, as it is the only Irish third-level institution to become part of the NPRN.

The Minister congratulated the Department of Physiotherapy and the University of Limerick on being the first to achieve this status. He endorsed the broad aims of the network, saying that it would increase the numbers involved and the amount of physiotherapy research in Ireland, as well as increasing the profile of Irish research internationally.

He also paid tribute to all those involved in the initiative and said that the success of the Hub would be of benefit to physiotherapy.

According to Dr Susan Coote, Lecturer, Department of Physiotherapy at UL, practising physiotherapists throughout Ireland will now be in a position to draw on the research and clinical expertise available within the Department of Physiotherapy at UL.

“Seven academic members of the Department will offer mentoring support and peer review for novice researchers in order to facilitate their development as principal investigators,” said Dr Coote. “The Hub will also facilitate multi-centre trials and interdisciplinary research.”

Already researchers at UL have begun work on stroke rehabilitation, arthritis, foot orthotics, whiplash, muscle imbalance and developmental co-ordination disorder in children.

There are about 650 practising physiotherapists along our western seaboard alone. Professor Ann Moore from the UK, who chairs the NPRN, said that the Hub at UL would be an invaluable asset for them.

“Initial activities at the centre will include courses on research methodology, focused symposia on clinical specialities and regular research development meetings,” said Professor Moore. “Further activities at the Hub will be driven by the individual needs of clinical researchers.”

CLARE County Council’s new €27.5 million headquarters will not be in place until 2008 — one year later than originally scheduled.

Demolition work is expected to commence on the council’s increasingly dilapidated old HQ on Ennis’s New Road in the next number of weeks, with construction work expected to last 20 months.

This imposes a new deadline of January 2008 on the development.

However, in April of last year, councillors were told in a report that work would be commencing on the project in June last year and be completed over a 20-month period to February 2007.

At the signing of the contract with Michael McNamara and Co last December, county manager, Alec Fleming, said that he expected “construction of the corporate headquarters to commence in early spring”.

This failed to commence and independent councillor, Patricia McCarthy said that the delay “is not satisfactory”.

“It is a pity that there is a delay, but now that work has started, I would hope that the contractor would finish the work within the deadline and that there would be no cost-overruns,” she added.

Currently, the council’s offices are located at various venues around Ennis.

Cllr McCarthy commented, “The current situation is very awkward for the public, staff and public representatives.”

Cllr Martin Conway (FG) said, “My biggest concern is the additional costs as a result of delay as the council is paying large rents for various offices across Ennis.”

Cllr Christy Curtin (Ind) said that he was disappointed with the delay.

“The current set-up is not good for the harmony of the organization with departments at different locations around Ennis.”

Over the past number of months, the contractors have relocated the machinery yard and other facilities to Beechpark on the Kilmaley Road.

A spokesman said, “The work at Beechpark is now completed as scheduled and the Machinery Yard, together with record storage facilities and archive storage facilities, are now provided at the Beechpark site.

“The transfer of the actual facilities and records has taken place over the past few weeks.”

McNamara’s are actually on site in New Road at present, preparing for the demolition and subsequent construction of the new headquarters.

The contract in the works was not signed until last December due to the complexity involved in the 35-year agreement.

MEMBERS of Clare’s tourism business have come together and are willing to put their hands in their own pockets in order to boost the county’s tourism industry.

Speaking at Clare County Council’s Special Policy Committee (SPC) on Economic Development, committee chair, Cllr Richard Nagle (FF) said, “Arising from the tourism forum, all the indications are that members of the trade are willing to put their hands in their pockets to ensure that the financial burden doesn’t fall with the council.”

Council Director for Economic Development, Bernadette Kinsella told the meeting that the forum has established four working groups.

One is to make a submission to the National Development Plan on needed infrastructure; the second to lodge an application to Failte Ireland for general revenues; the third to finalise funding arrangements on how the trade will contribute; and the fourth to identify a brand for County Clare.

Ms Kinsella said that 50 applications have been received through the competition established to identify a new brand and the result will published in the near future.

“It is found when applications are made for central funding from Clare, it is coming from three or four separate sources,” he said, “and it is much easier that it comes from an umbrella group rather than from individual groups.

“We will be successful in what we are seeking to do. The programme is very encouraging.”

Cllr Peter Considine (FF) said that it was critical that the tourism trade contribute, “It is very welcome that they have agreed to contribute.”

Ms Kinsella said, “If the forum is going to be council-driven, it is not going to make too much progress.”

Cllr Martin Lafferty (Ind) agreed, saying, “The council should only act as a facilitator in this initiative.”

On plans to appoint a tourism development officer, Ms Kinsella said that Shannon Development has stated that it is to appoint a tourism development officer for Clare.

She said, “The forum has expresses the wish that it should form a very close working relationship with the tourism information officer.”

Cllr Peter Considine said, “I would be very much in favour of keeping the Tourism Development Officer under the watchful eye so that the Tourism Development Officer is not siphoned off to north Kerry or Offaly.”

Cllr Pat McMahon (FF) said, “What we have heard today is very positive. It has taken an awful long time to reach this point as efforts to promote tourism have been very fragmented.”

FEARS that Miltown Malbay may become a safe haven for fugitives has prompted concerned locals to take action.

The Clare People exclusively revealed five weeks ago that a 61-yearold man, who was wanted in the UK on suspicion of committing sex crimes against children, had been living in rented accommodation in the town while an international manhunt was underway.

He was arrested by local gardaí, working in co-ordination with personnel from the Crime and Security section of Garda Headquarters.

His presence in the heart of the town sent shockwaves through the local community.

This dramatic revelation, allied to concerns over a recent spate of crime in the area, has prompted locals to organise a public meeting on crime and social order. The meeting has been organised by the newly-formed Active Retirement Association, whose secretary Joe Ryan is hopeful of good community support.

He said locals were shocked to discover that a man suspected of committing sex crimes was living in the community, unnoticed, for at least two months.

“That man, who was taken away, was one of the most wanted men in England and that is of concern,” said Mr Ryan.

He pointed out that a number of incidents, including damage to cars and windows, has also led to public concern.

Mr Ryan said, while the past five to six weeks have been relatively quiet in Miltown, previously a spate of car break-ins had caused grave distress.

“We don’t know when it is going to break out again. We wanted to talk to gardaí about our concerns and then decided to open the meeting up to the public,” he said.

“We want to re-activate Neighbourhood Watch, stamp out crime and get back to the way things were.”

Local county councillor Christy Curtin is encouraging people to attend the meeting next Monday night, at the Armada Hotel.

“People are entitled to be safe. We have to be reassured about permanent garda presence in the town,” he said.

Sergeant Joe Hehir, who is stationed in Miltown Malbay, said he is hopeful that that Neighbourhood Watch scheme will be set up in Miltown and Mullagh/Quilty, after a lapse of a number of years.

“The Neighbourhood Watch scheme existed up to four or five years ago, but unfortunately, it became inactive. It is a very good way where local people are given a chance to participate in the locality and look out for each other,” said Sgt Hehir.

THE arrest of a west Clare man in connection with the murder of Limerick bouncer Brian Fitzgerald has been described by gardai as “significant”, and the DPP will decide soon if charges are to be brought.

The 48-year-old man was arrested at Barefield, on the outskirts of Ennis, shortly before 6pm last Thursday, in connection with the death in November 2002.

He was detained at Mayorstone Garda Station in Limerick under Section 30 of the Offences against the State Act, before being released 24 hours later.

Gardai say a file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions, who will decide within weeks if charges are to follow.

The man’s house was searched on Thursday evening, following the arrest which was conducted by Limerick gardai, who were working in conjunction with officers from the Clare garda division.

“This development was significant, in the investigation, which is continuing,” said a garda source.

The man who was arrested had been outside the jurisdiction for several months and returned to his home in County Clare during the past fortnight. While several people have been interviewed in connection with the death of Mr Fitzgerald at his Corbally home, just one man is serving time for the murder.

James Martin Cahill (30), from Birmingham, who has strong west Clare connections, was jailed for life last November for murdering Mr Fitzgerald.

He was offered €10,000 by a gang to murder the father-of-two, after he refused a gang member entry to the nightclub where he was a bouncer. Cahill, who pleaded guilty to murdering Mr Fitzgerald, told his sentencing hearing that he would testify against those who he said paid him to carry out the murder.

“I will testify against people. That’s why I feel my life is in danger,” he told the Central Criminal Court, during his sentencing hearing six months ago.

He said he felt his life was in danger in prison and said that others involved in the case should be brought to justice.

SHANNON DEVELOPMENT staff will form the first wave of the decentralised Enterprise Ireland, the body’s CEO has said.

Frank Ryan was speaking at a lec ture evening organised by the Mid West Marketing Institute last week.

Speaking to The Clare People , Ryan said that plans are firmly in place for the move.

But he added that, as far as Enterprise Ireland having a particular plan for the Shannon region to replace the industry brief-stripped Shannon Development, “those plans are still in development at this stage.”

He added that he, “can say, having worked in the development agency for 27 years, that I have a very high regard for the Shannon development staff. We look forward to the staff in Shannon development joining us. They made a super contribution to this region and to this state.”

During his talk to the Marketing Institute, Ryan said that the main source of economic growth for Ireland in the post-Celtic Tiger era is indigenous industry which is exporting value-added products to a world-wide market.

He said Shannon Airport would have a vital role to play as a gateway for such products and for accessing markets.

“In a developed economy there are two main engines for growth – overseas investment and the development of the indigenous industries. Going forward, we plan to help develop indigenous industry – that means helping them to design products that are in demand overseas and help them break into those markets,” Ryan said.

The Enterprise CEO added that as a developed economy, they can no longer look to inward foreign investment to sustain growth as this is part of a phase common to developing countries.

And help getting co-operation between centres of education and companies which need research and development is another vital part of the support which Enterprise Ireland is offering companies who will form the business backbone of the future Ireland, he said.

Commenting on claims that there have been serious set-backs to Enterprise Ireland’s decentralisation schedule, Ryan said that plans are on-going for the move and that the Shannon Development staff who will be coming over to enterprise Ireland will form the first wave of the process.

“The first part of that decentralisation will be our colleagues in Shannon Development joining us. They will be the first core group in.”

Asked if he might personally make the move to Clare, Ryan said “that is the plan.”

VISITORS to Lahinch will be forced to foot the bill for the proposed new public toilet and shower facilities that are planned for the town. At last night’s meeting of Clare County Council, a motion was unanimously passed to double the cost of parking on the village’s promenade and in the Liscannor Road Parking lot.

The cost of parking in both locations will increase from €1 to €2 for a three hour parking disc and from €2.50 to €4 for an eight hour disc. With tens of thousands of tourists parking on the promenade each Summer the increase is likely to bring in more than €90,000 extra for the local authority each year.

“If you compare it to the cost of parking somewhere like the Cliffs of Moher, where people are charged €6 to park, it is excellent value for money,” said Ennistymon-based Councillor Martin Conway, who has been campaigning for toilet and shower facilities for surfers in Lahinch.

The extra revenue generated from the increased charges is also likely to be channelled towards improving the lifeguard facilities in Lahinch. While passing the motions at last nights meeting, councillors insisted that all the money collected must be redirected into the local area.

“We have been given a firm commitment from the director of services that all the extra money received from the increase in charges will go directly to provide toilet facilities and other amenities for the promenade,” continued Cllr Conway.

“More money will be invested in the prom than will be collected through the increase. The lack of public toilets in Lahinch is a disgrace and it has been neglected for many years while other towns have received resources ahead of them.”

It is hoped that the public toilet and shower facilities should be up and running in the village by the beginning of the 2007. However, no firm timetable has been put in place for their development. The proposed facilities are likely to be located on the promenade, in a area believed to be close to the Seaworld building.

In recent years Lahinch has seen a massive growth in the amount of surfers coming to the village each week. The numbers are believed to be in the region of 300 people a week.