Category: News

PAYMENTS to consultants working on Clare County Council’s €32 million Cliffs of Moher visitor centre pushed the council’s overall consultants’ bill to over €5 million last year.

In figures released to The Clare People through a Freedom of Information request, the council confirmed this week that the council paid out €5,275,131 to consultants last year.

The biggest winner was Corkbased architectural firm, Reddy O’Riordan Staehli, for designing the award-winning visitor centre at the Cliffs of Moher.

The council confirmed that last year, the company received €834,499 in fees for the project. Last year’s payment brings to €1.437 million the amount the company has received to date for its work on the scheme.

Another company working on the Cliffs project to scoop one of the highest amounts was Dublin-based Martello Media Ltd, receiving €579,320.

The company is developing for the visitor centre, 16 major audio visual installations that include a walk through “float off the cliff-top” virtual reality experience that caters for groups of up to 100 people.

The payments of €5.275 million represents a 11% increase on the €4.719 million paid to consultants in 2004.

Along with the consultants involved in the development of the Cliffs of Moher visitor centre, the big winners were engineering firms and architects.

The list released by the council shows that 78 firms and individuals received the €5.275 million.

The top ten firms received payments totalling €3.675 million. Along with the companies involved in the Cliffs project, Jacobs Babtie received the second highest amount at €691,953; RPC MCOS Ltd €284,896; Nolan Ryan Partnership €257,732; Brady Shipman Martin €251,816, Dermot and Sean Merry €216,763; Ove Arup & Partners €190,668, White Young Green €186,836 and Ove Arup & Partners €181,500.

Some of the region’s other top architectural firms feature in the payments. The records show that Murray O’Laoire Architects received €115,699, Byrne O’Donnell Scully Architects, €86,597; Paddy Coleman & Associates received €74,902 and Thomas McGahon architects received €55,771.

AN EAST CLARE man has hit out at claims by Clare County Council that a new electronic scanning system has speeded up the process of applying for planning permission.

The use of the new system has resulted in more than half of the planning applications received by the local authority in December being ruled invalid.

But the council has defended the system saying that it speeds up the process in the long run.

An angry Killaloe man, who has been trying to sell a site, told The Clare People that this had not been his experience.

“The people who want to buy my site applied for planning permission on it and were told 24 hours before the reply period expired that their application was invalid and they would have to start again. These people applied on December 14 and they were told on January 15 that there was a problem with the application and they would have to go back to the start. Even allowing for the holiday, that’s a whole month and just one day inside the period they had to have a site notice up. And that was just to tell them the applications wasn’t valid. If that’s speeding things up, I’d hate to see the council’s system on a go-slow”, the landowner said.

He asked not to be named so as not to identify the site in question, but added that he was “very frustrated not just because the site is being sold subject to planning permission, but also for the people who are trying to get a house built. I can’t see any reason for that kind of a delay.”

The planning office received 90 applications during the month of December . Of these 49 were ruled invalid.

Twenty five were deemed unacceptable due to mistakes in the newspaper advertisement, 14 site notices were inaccurate, 35 drawings were invalid, 18 had problems with maps and 17 other applications had miscellaneous problems.

December was the first month that all applications were scanned.

Previously, staff would phone the agent who applied on behalf of a client, to let them know if there were mistakes and this allowed the agent to resubmit a valid application.

But the scanning system automatically register applications and rejects as invalid any which have mistakes.

A COROFIN Manor House has been sold for a figure believed to be over €3 million.

Clifden House, which is located eight miles outside the north Clare village, was sold last week by international estate agents JacksonStops.

The early Georgian house is located on a 12 acre wooded estate and overlooks Lake Inchiquin. It had been the subject of intense interest from three English bidders since it went on the market last summer with a guide of €1.75 million.

The property was sold by Jim and Bernadette Robson, who had been operating it as a family run guesthouse for the last number of years. They purchased the then run down property some thirty years ago and restored it painstakingly to its former glory.

The Corofin property is the lat est in a series of high profile sales that have taken place in the area in recent times. Indeed, Jackson-Stops also sold a Tipperary mansion to an American businessman for €4 million last week.

“In my 40 years in the business, I have never seen the market as buoyant as how it is now,” said Philip O’Reilly, Managing Director and owner of Philip O’Reilly Ltd in Ennis.

“We have more than 2,000 people looking for a house in Ennis right now while there is also a report of huge prices being paid for specialist propertys around the county.”

Mr O’Reilly believes that it is the IT sector that is driving the housing market at the moment.

“The IT industry is what farming was in Ireland 20 years ago,” said Mr O’Reilly.

“ It is the barometer of our success and there is great confidence in it at the moment. Low interest rates and things like that are contributing factors but it is the IT sector that is the real driver.”

Clifden House was the birthplace of the pre-Raphaelite painter Frederick William Burton, whose family originally built the property. The water colourist was born in the house in 1816 and enjoyed a career as an artist before he took up the position of Director of the National Gallery in 1874.

The house boasts home grown organic fruits and vegetables from the walled garden and farm, as well as a wide range of trout and pike fishing. Other attractions include horse riding, hunting and walking.

CLARE Vocational Educational Committee will seek legal advice after receiving a report of the inquiry into the involuntary resignation of the organisation’s first ever female chief executive officer.

The report, prepared by the Department of Education and Science, examined the functions of Clare VEC and the events surrounding the resignation of former CEO Padraigín Uí Riordáin in 2004.

Following a private meeting held last Wednesday, Clare VEC issued a statement saying that any future consideration of the report would be deferred until legal advice had been sought from local authority solicitor, John Shaw.

“Following the resignation of the then chief executive officer, Padraigín Uí Riordáin, County Clare Vocational Education Committee requested the Minister for Education & Science to establish an inquiry.

“The report of the inquiry has now been forwarded to the committee. At a special meeting of the committee in private on Wednesday evening, it was decided to defer consideration of the report for a period of time following legal advice,” said the statement

The Department of Education and Science launched an initial investigation into the workings of Clare VEC in 2004, following the involuntary resignations of both Ms Uí Riordáin and Ms Teresa Lineen, the former principal of St Michael’s College in Kilmihil, who left her post in 2003.

That investigation was heavily criticised at the time by Fine Gael T.D. Pat Breen, who claimed it had been botched. It was subsequently terminated by the Minister of Education and Science, Mary Hanafin, as problems had arisen regarding the terms of reference.

A new investigation with expanded terms of reference was then initiated, and headed up by retired assistant chief schools inspector, Turlough O’Connor. His report was delivered to the Minister in January. Ms Uí Riordáin announced her resignation in July 2004 at a stormy meeting of the board of Clare VEC. She was replaced as CEO by former Kerry football goalkeeper Eamon Fitzgerald. He has since left the post.

RESIDENTS from two counties are to unite to fight the decision on where to situate a new crossing over the Shannon.

Angry residents from Killaloe and Tipperary are to meet on Wednesday night to plan a campaign to oppose work going ahead on a location, which would see the route pass less than 200 meters from historic Clarisford Palace.

Residents say that the route chosen will cause maximum damage in terms of the town’s amenities and residential considerations.

People in Killaloe have already met to discuss their concerns and opposition to the plan, as have residents in Ballina. Now the two groups are to come together to plan an orchestrated campaign of opposition.

One person involved in the Killaloe campaign said that at least part of the group’s action would be to highlight the potential damage to historical monuments.

“There is a lot of history and heritage being vandalised by this bridge,” the resident said.

“People here tell stories of how noone ever starved in Killaloe in the famine because the Bishop fed people who came to the walls of Clarisford Palace. And there is a plan to put one of the pillars of the bridge in the canal. There are records of barges drawing Guinness form James’s Gate to Clare going back two centuries.”

The objectors say they are also concerned that this route will bring traffic too close to St Anne’s Community College, putting pupils at the school in danger.

It is likely that people from a third local authority may become involved, as a second bridge downstream from O’Briensbridge and Mountpellier in Limerick is also on the cards as part of the plan.

Local Councillor for Montpellier, Noreen Ryan (FF), said that the bridge decision “was anti-democratic from the start. This has done nothing but veto any possibility of getting a proper crossing which that serve the whole region.”

Killaloe councillor, Tony O’Brien (FF), has said that while a decision is welcome to end uncertainty, the bridge will not totally alleviate traffic problems in the lakeside towns.

“What is needed is a proper plan for the town to charter economic development and a bypass,” he said.

The route was chosen following a study of route constraints, commissioned by three local authorities; Clare, Limerick and Tipperary North County Council. It is expected that the new route will be finished in March.

A BUSINESSMAN who dismissed a woman working for him, was subsequently assaulted by four of her relations in Liscannor.

Convicted at Ennis District Court were brothers Michael (33) and Joseph (28) Malone, of Ballyvislane, Liscannor and brothers Martin (35) and John (29) McNamara, of Tarmon west, Kilkee.

They appeared in relation to two separate incidents at Liscannor filling station in July 2005.

The Malone brothers denied assaulting the owner of the business, Michael Cahir, and the McNamara brothers denied assaulting him, causing him harm. All four also denied a charge of criminal damage.

Michael Cahir, a native of Ballyduff, Barefield, said the Malone brothers went into his shop on the evening of July 15.

“They came in demanding a P45 for Michael’s wife, who I had dismissed several months previously,” said Mr Cahir.

He said he did not give them the P45 and they started spitting, kicking, insulting and threatening him. He claimed he got “several” blows and Joseph Malone tore his t-shirt.

Two days later, on July 17, Mr Cahir said the McNamara brothers – related through marriage to the Malone brothers – caught him from behind, “flung” him and threatened him.

He said they punched and kicked him and Martin McNamara headbutted him. John McNamara struck him once and the two brothers threw him out over the boundary wall on his premises.

Gda Michael Burke went to Michael Malone’s home on July 15 and said there was a strong smell of drink from his breath.

“He denied assaulting Michael Cahir but admitted there was pushing and shoving,” said Gda Burke.

One woman who was working at Mr Cahir’s filling station when the Malones entered said there was some pushing and shoving going on at the door of the shop and when her boss went back in to the shop, his t-shirt was torn.

Another employee of Mr Cahir was working on July 17 when the two McNamaras approached her boss.

She said Mr Cahir was lying over the wall and two men were holding his shoulders. She said Mr Cahir’s t-shirt was torn but she did not see him being hit.

A woman who lives close to Mr Cahir’s premises, said she heard a ‘racket’ on July 17. “Mr Cahir jumped over the wall into the field,” she said, adding that she did not see any blows.

CLARE savers will bring a massive €80 million in cash into the county when the first of the SSAI accounts mature this year.

That’s according to findings from a Bank of Ireland study on how much people will have to spend and what they intend to do with it.

But people who have saved for the last five years could lose a huge chunk of their investment if they don’t remember to fill out the necessary form for the Revenue Commissioners.

Presenting the findings of the survey, conducted among 400 Bank Of Ireland customers, Ennis branch manager, Rose Hally, warned that the forms “must be filled out in the three months leading up to the end of the month in which the fifth anniversary of the account falls. Otherwise, Revenue will tax the entire balance at 23 per cent.”

The bank’s research also discovered that a massive 112,635 of a total of 120,000 SSAI holders came on board with the scheme at the last minute.

And equity-based SSAI accounts performed extremely well, the bank found.

The bank is launching its own new products for those with cash to invest when the SSAI’s mature.

These include a special bonus investment plan, in which the bank will continue on the 25 per cent payment on investments for six months.

Other products are a combined lump sum deposit and savings account and an alternative lump sum deposit option, offering a three to five year savings plan free of DIRT and a two year bond offering a 6 per cent fixed rate.

At the launch, Ms Hally said that the research showed that 74 per cent of customers had no previous regular savings prior to the scheme, “and 80 per cent intend to continue saving on a monthly basis when the scheme ends. It has had a very beneficial effect on saving habits.”

THE four accused men denied assaulting Michael Cahir and denied causing criminal damage. In court, they said they did not threaten him and went to his premises seeking the P45.

Referring to the first of the two incidents, defending solicitor Eugene O’Kelly, said the Malones did not kick or punch Mr Cahir.

“You pushed Joseph and Michael Malone at the door of the premises. Joseph lost his balance, he reached out to hold his balance and in the process tore your shirt,” said Mr O’Kelly to Mr Cahir.

Mr O’Kelly said the McNamara brothers were “motivated by their desire to assist their sister.”

“These are decent rural folk. They didn’t set out to get themselves in this situation,” said the solicitor.

Michael Malone told the court he had three drinks in a public house before he went to Mr Cahir’s premises. He said he asked Mr Cahir for his wife’s P45 and was told to leave.

When asked by Inspector Michael Gallagher what he thought of Michael Cahir, Michael Malone said, “I think he is the lowest type of a c*** that ever came into the parish of Liscannor.”

After hearing five hours’ evidence, the judge convicted all four men of assault.

He dismissed the charge of criminal damage against Michael Malone and Martin McNamara and convicted Joseph Malone and John McNamara of criminal damage to Michael Cahir’s t-shirt.

He ordered the McNamaras to pay €2,500 compensation each and fined both €500.

He ordered Joseph and Michael Malone to pay €1,000 compensation and fined them €350 each.

He also fined Joseph Malone and John McNamara €250 each for the criminal damage charge and ordered both to pay compensation.

He ordered all four to pay €212.50 witness expenses and fixed recognisances.

“The reason I am not adding custodial sentences is because they have no previous convictions. If they had, I’d have no hesitation in sending all four to prison,” said the judge.

A YOUNG man who stole a car in Ennis, crashed it into a wall a short distance away, “destroying” it in the process.

Christopher Dobbin (22), of John Paul Avenue, Ennis, committed the offence, at Cusack Road, Ennis, on August 21, 2004.

Inspector Tom Kennedy told Ennis District Court that the stolen vehicle was valued at €1,000 and was effectively destroyed in the accident when it hit a wall.

The court heard that Dobbin committed two offences under the Public Order Act, at Fahy’s Lane, Ennis, on November 16, 2003.

He was also convicted of stealing a slab of Heineken, valued at €17.99, from Deasy’s shop in Clarecastle, on July 31 last.

Defending solicitor Tara Godfrey said the three incidents were alcohol-related.

Inspector Tom Kennedy pointed out that the car was crashed into a private wall which had to be repaired, at a cost of €2,200.

Judge Leo Malone convicted Dobbin of drink driving and fined him €250. He banned him from driving for two years. He fined him €200 for driving without insurance.

He adjourned the case of stealing the car for four months, for payment of the cost of the car and repairing the wall.

He said if the compensation was paid, he would impose a fine. If not paid, he would sentence Dobbin to three months in jail.

Minister for the Environment and Local Government Dick Roche has promised to sit down with Clare County Council to “break any log jams”, in the implementation of the county’s long awaited water and sewerage schemes.

During a visit to Ennis on Friday, the minister asked the council officials to carry out an examination to establish “how they will bring schemes back within the financial parameters” set by the department.

He vowed to be flexible in dealing with the ongoing problems with water and sewerage schemes.

Describing as “nuts” the need for continuous boil notices in a town the size of Ennis, the Minister said that his department would support the interim solution.

“It is an issue I want to see resolved. I understand exactly why it is in the difficulty it is in, but I am interested more in a solution,” he said.

During his visit he also met with councillors and the county manager.

He said he recognised that there were water and sewerage schemes in county Clare in difficulties, which a €200 million water and sewerage programme for the county, could address.

“I said to the county manager that I would be very flexible with that. If there are schemes that are in the 2007 . . . category that can be brought forward I’d be flexible bringing them forward. If there are some that are stuck in 2006 for whatever reason, maybe to do with foreshore licences or whatever else . . . we will be as flexible as we can.

“I want to see the money spent, I want to see the water schemes in, I want to see the boiling notices a thing of the past.”

Meanwhile Clare County Councillor Christy Curtain said that schemes such as that proposed for Mullagh and Quilty, had already completed the whole process and there should be no more delay in getting it started.

Minister Roche approved the contract documents submitted by Clare County Council for the final two elements of the Newmarket on Fergus Water Supply Scheme and for the extension of the Lisdoonvarna Water Supply Scheme to Ballyvaughan.

This will allow the Council to invite tenders for these contracts, with an estimated cost of €5.5 million and €5.6 million respectively.