Category: News

A MAN who gardaí say went on a “serious crime spree” over ten days last month has been charged with setting fire to a house in Kilkee.

Patrick McNamara (29), from Miltown Malbay, and of no fixed abode, appeared before Ennis District Court last week, charged with arson, at Lisgreen, Lisdeen, on March 19 last.

He was also charged with entering Lernihan’s Garage in Cree, Kilrush, as a trespasser and stealing a cash till containing €80 in cash on February 20 last. He pleaded guilty to this offence.

Detective Garda Oliver Downes gave evidence of arresting the accused last Wednesday morning. He said McNamara made no reply after caution. Inspector Tom Kennedy requested that the accused be remanded in custody.

In Kilrush court last month, the accused pleaded guilty to trespass, at Kilkee Bay Apartments on March 21 last; trespass at Cunningham’s caravan park, Kilkee, in January and with entering Matt Lernihan’s garage as a trespasser and stealing €36 of petrol at Cree, Kilkee, on March 17 last.

According to gardaí, he gained access to an apartment and caravan in Kilkee and lived there, on different dates. He also admitted driving without insurance at Ennis Road, Kilrush, on March 19. A report relating to these matters will be available to the court later this week.

Inspector Kennedy said the new charge was “substantially more serious.”

Judge Joseph Mangan remanded the accused in custody to appear again in court later this week.

BUSINESS people involved in renewable energy in Clare have welcomed the introduction of grants totalling €27m to install renewable heat technology in homes.

The scheme was agreed in last year’s Budget and is part of a multiannual finance package of €65m for renewable energy that will also include grants for a range of renewable heat, electricity and transport initiatives.

The “Greener Homes” scheme will allow householders to get grants for the installation of renewable technologies including wood pellet stoves and boilers, solar panels and geothermal heat pumps. Grant aid of €1,100 to €6,500 will be given, depending on the individual technology used.

Michael Neylon of Solargen, an Ennis company which provides solar panels and collectors for hot household water, said that the new grants “will help more people become aware of the benefits of renewable energy and will certainly encourage householders to install this technology.

“It is a major boost to the whole renewable energy field.”

Neylon explained that using renewable energy, such as solar panels, could save up to 70 per cent of the cost of household hot water bills in the year.

“And it doesn’t have to be hot and sunny. Solar panels work on light and will do their job even on a dull day,” Neylon added.

Dick Whelan, project manager of Renewable Energy Skills, a company which trains people in the installation, workings and maintenance of renewable energy technology, says he has had a huge increase in calls.

“We have certainly seen a raised level of interest.

“This is a very welcome announcement, both as part of the Kyoto agreement and with a view to de-coupling from oil prices,” said Whelan.

The company has been training people such as plumbers and electricians over the last two years.

“It will be more important than ever now to have people who are trained and accredited in this technology.

“Qualified people in Clare meet regularly and have now built up an extensive bank of expertise and knowledge which they can share,” said Whelan.

CLARE County Council is to spend in the region of €250,000 demolishing a €1.5 million emergency traveller accommodation unit it built only four years ago to ease Ennis’s traveller accommodation crisis.

Already, the estimated costs for providing 24 hour security at the site in Gleninagh have been put at €378,000, or €9,000 a month since it opened in March 2002.

The security bill arose from a High Court challenge, which brought the council head-to-head with residents, in 2001.

The agreement reached after that challenge to ensure the site opened, saw the council agreeing to implement a report by consultants CAAS.

That report, focussing on a 17.5 acre site at Gleninagh, recommended the provision in the area of a games area, passive amenities and a pathway to adjacent houses.

In recent weeks, council officials have held discussions with representatives from the local residents and St Claire’s School to see what part of the CAAS plan can now be implemented.

“The agreement entered into needs to be honoured to show the bona fides of Council,” said Ennis Town Councillor, Donal O’Bearra (GP).

“One in five of all Europeans are now obese so it is more important than ever to put in elements of CAAS plan because they are all active amenities.

“The residents have kept their side of the deal.

“It is now up to the council to fulfil their side and be generous and speedy in carrying it out”.

No final figure has been put on the works and the council is to lodge the proposed works programme with the Department of the Environment. That is expected back within a couple of weeks.

However, part of the money will be invested in implementing the CAAS report.

In advance of the site being demolished, the Council relocated the six traveller families to a new emergency site on Ennis’s Quin Road last October.

The structures contained in the halting site contained re-enforced concrete.

It is proposed to demolish these and put a layer of top-soil on the surface.

A PIGEON loft in Marian Avenue, Ennis, that has been the source of a bitter neighbours dispute, has been granted planning permission. Ennis Council has granted planning permission to May Guilfoyle to continue housing 30 racing pigeons from a loft at 24 Marian Avenue, in spite of neighbours John and Mary Flynn claiming that they are “prisoners in their own home” due to the presence of the pigeons.

Commenting on the outcome, George Guilfoyle said, “We’re happy with the decision. The loft is kept up to a very high standard and the pigeons are very well looked after.”

Mr Guilfoyle said that Marian Avenue has had a long history of involvement in pigeon racing. “As kids, we didn’t have Playstations or anything like that,” he said, “All we had were the pigeons.”

Relations between the neighbours have broken down due to the bitter fued. “We don’t talk at all,” said Mr Guilfoyle, “We could really do without the hassle that this has caused and I would be prepared to do anything to stop the bickering. I don’t want any trouble and my parents are elderly and they don’t want any hassle.

“We’ve not done Mrs Flynn any wrong by having the pigeons here. They have been here since 1982 so I can’t understand why she objects now. We’d like everything to go back to the way it was. I have nothing against the woman.”

Mr Guilfoyle said that he hopes Mrs Flynn doesn’t appeal the Council’s decision to An Bord Pleanala. He said that if she does, his pigeons won’t be able to race this season.

The Town Council’s planner stated that the details submitted by the Guilfoyles on the management and care of the pigeons would not adversely interfere with the amenities of adjoining properties. The planner stated: “The objectors have not submitted any details to prove their claim that the pigeons have not been kept since 1985 at No 24.”

The Council granted planning after the Health Service Executive (HSE) kept the number of birds to 30 and instructed that the birds are vaccinated annually and that they are checked by a vet on a regular basis.

Efforts to contact the Flynns for a comment failed.

FIVE months after being named the tidiest town in Ireland, Ennis was given the Presidential seal of approval on Saturday.

Flanked by the Ennis Brass Band and members of the Civil Defence, President Mary McAleese addressed the rain sodden crowd assembled outside the entrance of the Ennis Tourist Office.

She said they could feel justifiably proud of the massive community effort that had secured the town its fist ever Tidy Town’s crown.

Ennis scored 279 marks out of a possible 300 in the competition to take top prize last year, in addition to winning the title of Ireland’s Tidiest Large Town.

“Only 32 towns can lay claim to the title of Ireland’s Tidiest Town since this competition was started way back almost 50 years ago in 1958, and now Ennis has joined this elite group.

“It is a huge achievement and a hard-earned one as anyone who ever competed in Tidy Towns will tell you.

“There are no short-cuts, no easy wins.

“Patience and persistence and a community effort worthy of a mobilised army are essential and Ennis has shown these qualities in abundance”.

President McAleese was welcomed on her arrival at the Ennis Tourist Office by a host of Clare’s political and community leaders, including Mayor of Ennis, Councillor Frankie Neylon (Ind) and Donal Griffin, Chairman of Ennis Tidy Town’s Committee.

After meeting with councillors and senior staff of Ennis Town Council, Mrs McAleese unveiled a plaque at Place St Paul De Fenouilent museum plaza in Ennis to celebrate the Tidy Towns win.

Noel Crowley, treasurer of Ennis Tidy towns Committee said that the location of the President’s address held special historical significance to the town of Ennis.

“This was indeed an historic occasion for the people of Ennis and County Clare and was just a metres distance from the scenes and public meetings associated with both Daniel O’Connell and the 1828 election and de Valera and the 1917 elections.”

The man who masterminded Ennis’s triumph, Donal Griffin, praised the contributions of the town’s community organisations and businesses. Welcoming President McAleese, Mr Griffin reflected on the immense feeling of pride that engulfed the county in the wake of Ennis’s success.

“September was the culmination of 11 years’ work from many in the town and by many people and organisations.

“People who took responsibility for their environment and their town, people who wanted to make a difference and who took the first step to get involved.”

AFTER years of work behind the scenes, Ennistymon has moved one giant step closer to having its own Enterprise Centre.

A Project Ennistymon-backed proposal was granted planning permission by Clare County Council late last month.

The €1 million development had looked to be terminally stalled last December, following a disagreement between Project Ennistymon and Clare County Council over the upgrading of the access road to the site.

While this disagreement has not been completely resolved, moves have been made by both sides, which look likely to lead to a compromise. If the situation is not resolved, Project Ennistymon stands to loose more than €350,000 in grants obtained from Shannon Development and the County Enterprise Board.

“The planning is a major step, but we are still working against the clock,” said Robert Crosbie of Project Ennistymon.

“A contractor is on board and we are hoping to begin construction after Easter. We would then hope to have it completed around November and open it before the end of the year”.

The granting of planning permission has been welcomed by local councillor and businessman Martin Conway (FG).

“The enterprise centre will offer existing businesses the chance to locate outside Shannon and Ennis. It will give local people who have ideas for businesses, a means of getting started and it will also create much needed employment in the area,” said Cllr Conway (FG).

The enterprise centre was made possible through a donation of land by the Sisters of Mercy.

“I would like to make a special thanks to the Sisters of Mercy without whom this project would never have gotten off the ground,” said Mr Crosbie.

A DOOLIN pub’s wastewater exceeded its legal limits by up to six times, a court has heard.

Ennis District Court was told that an environmental technician from Clare County Council visited the waste water treatment plant at O’Connor’s pub in Doolin last August.

Karen Hayes said certain limits were set out for discharges from a wastewater treatment plant.

She analysed samples and found that Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) was six times the legal limit and suspended solids exceeded the legal limit by four times. BOD is an indicator of organisms in the water.

She stressed that the pub’s proprietor, Patrick Sexton, had authorised considerable works to be carried out at the site over a number of weeks and this was ongoing.

In this regard, a company employed by Mr Sexton attended the site. Ms Hayes said work got underway in January and had been ongoing since.

She said Bord na Móna had also been employed on site.

“Bord na Móna have been on site and have recommended works to be carried out,” she said.

Solicitor for the council, Mairéad Doyle, said, “He was slow in taking steps but Clare Council is happy he is carrying out work on the plant.”

She said there had been reductions in the levels of both BOD and suspended solids, since the summons was served.

Judge Joseph Mangan asked what were the effects of BOD and suspended solids.

Ms Hayes said when effluent was not treated property, the number of bugs increased and took oxygen out of the water. This affected plant and animal life.

She said the river discharged just outside O’Connor’s public house and was not used for fishing at that point.

Judge Joseph Mangan said he was declining jurisdiction and adjourned the case until June, for a Book of Evidence to be served.

THE failure of the Industrial Development Authority (IDA) to create any new jobs in Clare or the midwest in 2005 was yesterday branded a disgrace.

Fine Gael deputy, Michael Noonan, said the IDA were doing “very badly in the Mid-West,” in terms of creating jobs.

The agency provided no grants for new jobs last year in Clare and the mid-west and only 25 the previous year.

There were 23 visits by potential overseas investors organised by the IDA to Clare and the Mid-west. In all, since 2002, there had been 97 visits.

Shannon Development organised 84 visits by potential investors to the Shannon Free Zone since 2002 with 22 visits last year.

The figures were revealed in the course of a Dáil reply by Enterprise, Trade and Employment Minister, Micheal Martin, to a question tabled by Deputy Noonan.

Minister Martin said that the number of potential expansion jobs approved for assistance was 254 in existing companies last year and 332 the previous year.

“From 2002 to 2005 a total of 15 projects were approved for assistance by IDA Ireland in the Midwest. These projects had the potential to create over 1,900 jobs in both new and expanding enterprises.

“Also, in the period 2002 to 2005, a total of 1,950 jobs were created in IDA supported companies in the region,” he said.

However, Deputy Noonan said yesterday that the mid-west was not getting its fair share.

“The main economic Ministries are elsewhere and that is where a lot of the jobs are going,” he said.

“There needs to be more attention on the Midwest. To have created no new jobs last year and only 25 new jobs in 2004 is disgraceful.”

Deputy Noonan also claimed that the number of site visits by potential investors to Clare and the mid-west was “a problem.”

“Two site visits to date this year is very meagre. Inward investment has dried up in the mid-west and this should be acknowledged and it must become a political issue”.

Deputy Noonan said that the continuing uncertainty over Shannon Development was not helping the situation.

Last July, Minister Martin announced a new mandate for the company, but it has yet to be implemented due to union opposition.

“I thought it was a bad idea at the time, but in order to bring certainty to the situation, the new mandate should now be implemented,” said Mr Noonan.

ONE of the longest established companies in the Shannon Free Zone has recorded a large increase in sales.

Element Six – formerly De Beers Industrial Diamonds – increased its turnover from $185 million in 2003 to $237 million in 2004.

The most recent accounts filed to the Companies Office, also show that the company increased its gross profit from €83 million in 2003 to $123 million in 2004.

The profit increase can be linked to an increase in the size of Element Six’s sales and marketing division, which almost doubled its personnel, from 25 people to 48, in 2004.

However, the accounts also show the company’s pension fund for employees was deficient by $59.7 million. The company says there are proposals to remedy the deficit.

Element Six is the world’s leading supplier of high quality superabrasives and industrial diamond materials.

The principal activity at Shannon is the manufacture and sale of industrial diamonds.

According to the Directors Report, the company made a net profit of $15 million in 2004.

“We expect the general level of activity to improve in the foreseeable future,” the directors’ state.

The accounts also show that Element Six – which re-branded from De Beers in 2002 – paid a dividend of $89 million in 2004, which followed a dividend of $20 million in 2003.

In 2004, Element Six employed 530 people at the Shannon plant, an increase of four on the previous year.

Underlining the importance of Element Six to the Clare economy, staff salaries and associated costs amounted to $42.5 million in 2004. This represented an increase on the 2003 figure of €34.9 million.

The accounts also show that loans have been advanced to three Element Six directors, “to assist with the acquisition of housing and are interest free”.

The company accounts state that the loans “are repayable on retirement, or when the directors leave the company”.

The accounts record that at the end of 2004, MC Sexton, Dr TA Spooner and EA Brooks had loans of $43,000 each, amounting to a total of $129,000.

On its pensions deficit, the company state in the accounts statement the trustees have formulated a funding proposal to the Pension Board to address the deficit.

“The proposal involves increasing the contribution rate and reducing certain scheme benefits.”

CLARE County Council’s controversial €8 million landfill site near Inagh will be around for another 30 years, if the current disposal levels at the facility are maintained.

But that’s because disposal rates of waste have plummeted in recent months, to 42 per cent of their permitted levels, according to a council report.

If this continues, the landfill will have a licensed capacity that will allow it remain open until 2036.

The landfill is licensed to receive 900,000 tonnes, or 56,500 per annum. If the landfill were used to its maximum capacity, it would be closed by 2018 and the council would have to locate a new landfill elsewhere in Clare.

However, in the first 11 weeks of 2006, the Inagh facility accepted just 5,002 tonnes of waste, the equivalent to 23,645 tonnes per annum.

The dramatic fall off occurred after the landfill’s biggest customer opted to go elsewhere, in search of cheaper prices.

“The number of options now available to waste collectors is such that there is no guarantee that any particular collector will use any particular facility,” said Senior Engineer, Sean Ward, in a report to council.

“Collectors will dispose of their residual wastes at the landfill which is most benefit for them commercially, having first minimized the quantity to be landfilled.”

At the adjourned March Council meeting last night (Apr 3rd), councillors were told that a total of 15 non-compliance notices, incorporating 38 items of non-compliance had been served on the council from the EPA, since work started on the project in November 2001.

“All the non-compliance items in 2002 were related to construction activity rather than operation of the facility,” said the Director for the Environment, Ger Dollard, in his report

“It is impossible to guarantee that a landfill accepting a mix of municipal waste will never emit an odour, but the highest possible standard has to be aimed at.

“The most effective means of mitigating fresh waste odour are to keep the area of the active landfilling face as small as possible. The face area has at all times been kept as small as possible.

“The foregoing demonstrates that the council has been and remains committed to sourcing the best cover materials, in consultation with, and where applicable in compliance with the instructions of the EPA.