Category: News

GREEDY taxi drivers who refuse to bring passengers on longer journeys outside the town of Ennis during peak hours, are a rare exception rather than the norm.

That is according to Union Taxi Federation representative, Martin White. He was responding to claims that a young woman, living miles outside Ennis, was left in town on a busy weekend night, in preference to shorter taxi runs.

Other late night party goers have also told The Clare People that they were asked to wait for half an hour for a taxi, until the driver was finished with local runs.

“I can imagine it happens,” said Mr White. He said, however, that 99 per cent of drivers would take the person home immediately.

“Once a person gets into the taxi to hire you, they must be taken home.

“I know I have never refused such a fare. I can’t see any taxi driver seeing any girl left there.”

The only exception is if a passenger has taken drugs or alcohol and is abusive or threatening to the driver.

There are currently 115 taxis in the county town, an increase of 400 per cent over the last two years. New legislation is currently being considered that will allow taxi drivers refuse fares over 18 miles.

CLARE’s “globetrotting” Oireachtas members ran up an expense bill of almost €300,000 in 2005, records released to The Clare People reveal.

Independent TD, James Breen, almost doubled his Dáil salary, receiving €75,121 in expenses, the highest amount received by any Clare Oireachtas member.

He was closely followed by Fine Gael’s Pat Breen, who received €73,054. Senator Brendan Daly (FF) received €56,259 and Senator Timmy Dooley (FF) received €44,088.

The records, released under the Freedom of Information Act, show that Junior Ministers, Tony Killeen and Sile de Valera, received €18,251 and €17,776 respectively. Their figures are lower as their expense funds are drawn from direct Government department funds.

It cost the taxpayer €2,369 to send James Breen on a week-long trip to Tokyo last May, where he was one of a number of TDs to accompany the President, Mary McAleese.

However, Clare’s most frequent flyer was Brendan Daly, who ran up travel bills of €9,965 through his membership of the Council of Europe.

Senator Daly’s travels took him on 10 separate trips to Bucharest, five to Strasbourg, and twice each to Geneva, Iceland, and Paris. The most expensive trip was a three day trip to Iceland last September, which cost €1,575.

“Ireland is one of the founder members of the Council of Europe and it is very important that Ireland is represented as the Council of Europe does very important work and its work on rendition has received a lot of publicity recently,” said Senator Daly.

“However, much of its other work does not receive much attention.”

At one time, Senator Daly led the Irish delegation to the Council of Europe.

Senator Daly confirmed that he stepped down as a Council of Europe representative on January 1. This is expected to result in a drop in Senator Daly’s expense bill this year.

Fine Gael’s Pat Breen ran up a travel expense bill of €8,409 on Council of Europe business. Deputy Breen’s seven separate trips took him to Strasbourg, Baku, Turkey, Paris and St Petersburg.

Deputy Breen’s most expensive trip was to St Petersburg for four days last April, which cost the taxpayer €1,620. A separate four day trip to Turkey last May cost the taxpayer €1,531.

The expenses records relating to Senator Timmy Dooley show that he went on no overseas trips paid by the taxpayer in 2005.

THE Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Dick Roche (FF), received a hostile reception from a group of Clare farmers when he visited the Temple Gate Hotel in Ennis last Friday.

Some 50 farmers door-stepped the Minister outside the hotel and challenged him on the implications for farming in the county if the new Nitrates Directive is enforced.

“If it comes in, it will destroy the very fabric of rural life, there are still 200,000 jobs dependent on farming in rural Ireland,” said Clare IFA President, Seamus Murphy. “It will lead to massive de-stocking, put fulltime farmers out of business and put a huge amount of pressure on the whole sector.”

The controversial regulations were introduced before Christmas and limited the amount of nitrates and phosphates that can be used on farm land. It has prompted an unprecedented response from farming organisations and has even seen the IFA boycott Teagasc over its role in introducing the regulations.

“We feel that this legislation is totally over the top,” said Clare farming activist, Jim Enright. “As farmers we are custodians of the environment and we know what is good for it more than some civil servant in Dublin.”

Speaking outside the Temple Gate, Minister Roche defended his position to the farmers.

“The directive is the law and we have broken that law for 13 years,” said the Minister. “One of the reasons we are in a difficult position here is that we haven’t put in place a nitrates action programme.

“We are the last country in Europe to do it, even the 10 new member states have their programmes in place, so what we have done is put ourselves up a cul-de-sac. If we continue as we are, we will have daily fines and disruption on our farm payments.”

Mr Murphy said that the large turnout showed the level of anger that Clare farmers had with the current directives.

“It just goes to show you how committed these farmers are,” he said. “There are a lot of cattle in Clare who will be having a late breakfast this morning. But if this goes through, there will be no feed for them at all.

“Wherever Dick Roche goes, we will be there to meet him, lobbying him as intensely as we can. We won’t go away, we can’t. This is our livelihood.”

THE Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment has revealed that Shannon Development is to sell a prime 13-acre site in the centre of Shannon town, to allow Enterprise Ireland set up its new Shannon HQ.

However, in a Dáil response, Minister Michael Martin was unable to give a timescale for the decentralisation of 300 Enterprise Ireland jobs to Shannon.

Minister Martin revealed that so far, only 19 existing employees at Enterprise Ireland had indicated their willingness to transfer to Shannon, while an additional 33 public servants had also expressed an interest to move there, giving a total of 52.

“The most immediate implementation step for Enterprise Ireland is to provide for a new headquarters building designed to meet the business needs of the organisation.

“Enterprise Ireland, working closely with the Office of Public Works, OPW, has identified but not yet acquired a preferred site from the submissions received by the OPW in relation to the Shannon location.

“The preferred site is a 13-acre site owned by Shannon Development. In addition, and in cooperation with Shannon Development and OPW, the site was valued and a feasibility study carried out. The site occupies a prime position near the centre of Shannon and is considered suitable for a major landmark building or civic structure.

“It is too early to comment definitively on a timescale, or on the cost of the transfer of Enterprise Ireland’s headquarters to Shannon. The factors of significance in this regard, will be the acquisition of property and the level of interest in the Shannon location expressed by CAF applicants.

“My Department is corresponding with the Department of Finance regarding the acquisition of the preferred site.

In relation to the decentralisation of a section from the Revenue Commissioners to Kilrush, the Minister said that scheme was over-subscribed by 32 with 83 expressing an interest for 50 jobs. Minister Martin said that negotiations were continuing with a property owner to lease a building.

However, little or no progress appears to have been made in relation to the relocation of the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) to Shannon where 100 jobs are set to be decentralised. Only 16 people have expressed an interest.

The people of Clare can now assist a children’s charity by helping to preserve the environment.

From today The Clare People will be collecting empty toner and inkjet cartridges and mobile phones on behalf of the Jack and Jill Foundation, at our Carmody Street Office in Ennis.

For every item collected, the charity will receive a donation, which will be used to help sick children.

The charity aims to help the families of children up to four years of age, who suffer from extensive brain damage.

It provides emotional support through frequent visits to affected homes from the professional liaison team, finances home care, listens to what parents want for their child and helps to access the services required.

The charity now hopes to recycle the 20 million old mobile phone sets being hoarded all over Ireland to raise money for the charity.

As well as depositing the used phones and carridges in The Clare People Offices, people can also respond to the Jack and Jill Foundation Recycling Appeal by calling 1850 525 545.

SHANNON Airport management are set to adopt an aggressive marketing approach in order minimise the adverse effects on to Mid West region of a potential 35 per cent loss in transatlantic traffic as a result of the Open Skies agreement.

Roisin Kelly, Marketing Executive for the Shannon Airport Authority revealed that the authority expected to lose 35 per cent of transatlantic traffic in light of the Open Skies agreement brokered between the European Union and the United States. It will see the Shannon stopover permanentley ended by April 2008. The first phase of this agreement is due to be phased in later this year.

“These figures are based on our traffic assumptions if nothing happens but we are working hard to reduce any potential loss,” she told a Shannon Development tourism briefing.

“There will be fallout but it is hard at this exact moment to determine the level of it,” said Ms Kelly yesterday.

“Shannon is already firmly established as a gateway to the west. There is real potential in attracting young backpackers from the US to stay in the Mid West before travelling on to Europe” she added

Shannon Airport is also pursuing a number of other specific tourism initiatives including joint initiatives with other European airports, developing new markets such as short term breaks and sports tourism, publishing new promotional literature and greater promotion through the airports website.

The move is part of an overall strategy that is to be implemented in the Mid West Region, designed to increase visitor numbers in the region.

Shannon Development has set a target of increasing tourism growth to the region by 5 per cent over the next year.

John King, Director of Heritage and Tourism at Shannon Development, said the strategy was designed to ensure a more evenly balanced spread of tourism revenue throughout the entire Mid West region.

Mr. King was also speaking at the Shannon Development tourism briefing.

“Increased traffic through Shannon International Airport with the introduction of new services from the UK and Europe operated by Ryanair, from Boston by American Airlines, and in more recent times from Warsaw, all had a positive impact on the Shannon Region tourism industry during 2005.

“For the first time ever, Shannon International Airport recorded 3.3 million visitors, and the Ryanair announcement of four new routes from its Shannon base to Manchester, Wroclaw, Rome and Murcia, will continue to impact positively during 2006,” he said.

A NEW plan that would spark a major overhaul of taxi services in Ennis has been given the green light by Ennis Town Council.

The plan was warmly welcomed be members of Ennis Town Council at yesterday’s meeting of the local authority.

The proposal incorporates six sub-proposals, which will see the existing taxi rank on the south side of the O’Connell Square removed and re-designated as a loading bay; and the removal of the taxi rank on the north side of O’Connell Square.

The existing taxi rank at Bank Place will be redesignated as a parking facility, while a new overnight taxi rank will be provided at Market Place. A new 24 hour taxi rank is also due to be provided at the Parnell Street car park.

A proposal which would have seen an overnight taxi rank provided on Abbey Street near the Queen’s Hotel, was not recommended to the council due to concerns raised by Mulqueen’s Florists over possible security issues.

In total, 16 submissions were received by Ennis Town Council regarding the Draft Ennis Appointed Stands Bye-laws 2005. There was broad support for the proposals from the Ennis Chamber of Commerce, the Taxi Federation and the gardaí.

Ennis Town Engineer, Tom Tiernan, said that the plan was the first step in an eventual redevelopment of O’Connell Square and that the selection of new locations for taxi ranks was based on the current existing use of the location.

Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) said that there should be an onus on shopping centres to provide taxi ranks for customers.

“With over 100 plates in the town, the taxi service is crucial to the Ennis economy and it is good that there is this level of agreement. It should succeed and will lead to a better environment in Ennis. All shopping centres in the town should also provide taxi ranks”.

THE Clare People has learned that a dying West Clare woman spent some of her last hours on a borrowed bed in the male medical ward at the Mid Western Regional Hospital, Ennis.

The distraught woman’s family said the 90-year-old broke her hip early on Wednesday, January 18, and was taken from her home to the Ennis hospital by ambulance.

On arrival, they were told that there was no beds available in Limerick for the woman.

Her son-in-law, hospital activist, Peadar McNamara, said he was told that there were 36 people waiting for a bed at the Mid Western Regional hospital Limerick.

His mother-in-law was then put on a bed borrowed from St Joseph’s Elderly Care hospital. This bed was placed under the sink in the male medical ward, according to Mr McNamara, the chairman of the Ennis General Hospital Development Committee.

On Thursday morning at 8 0’clock, she was removed to the Regional hospital in Limerick, where 12 hours later a bed was found. She died in the early hours of Friday morning.

“While I am outraged on a personal level, I am equally outraged as a citizen of this state. How many more Clare people have gone through this and continue to go through it?,” asked Mr McNamara.

He praised the work of the medical and nursing staff who cared for his late mother-in-law. He said the problems were at a more senior level and with provisions.

Meanwhile, the hospital committee chairman claimed that the unavailability of a cat scan in the hospital made the future of 24 hour emergency services there more tentative.

Mr McNamara said he was aware of a private company willing to provide and man the scan, on site in the hospital, at a cost of €250,000 per annum. This would ensure that the 820 Clare patients going to Limerick for a scan could be treated in Ennis.

THE prospects of Tullycrine National School in west Clare holding onto its two-teacher status, have improved, following the securing, by Rural Resettlement Ireland (RRI), of planning permission for four houses in the depopulated area.

“We are delighted with the decisions. It is something very positive for the school,” Principal of the two-teacher school, Mary Lynch said this week.

“With the possibility of four new families moving into the area, the outlook is looking more healthy and it will also help us to move away from our borderline figure of 12 that allows the school to retain two teachers.

Ms Lynch said that three students were set to the leave the 14-pupil school this summer reducing the numbers to 11, but added that the school was confident of a new in-take of students in September.

“Our younger classes have stronger numbers than so that is a good sign.”

Director of RRI, Jim Connolly said, “I am very happy to get these decisions. The school, provided that the project reaches fruition, will be saved by the four families moving into the area.”

The decision to lodge the applications for housing at Tullycrine was in response to a direct plea from the Chairman of the Board of Management of Tullycrine National School, John Deely.

Asking the council to take into account the school’s situation when making a decision, Mr Deely said, “That is not a happy situation and the future of the school is in doubt.”

The Council’s Acting Director of Service for Planning, Liam Conneally, said that each RRI application would receive a fair, transparent and professional planning assessment.

The decision by the Council in relation to the homes in the Tullycrine area are the only successes RRI has enjoyed in its rural housing programme of 11 proposed homes lodged last May with the Council.

VISITING restrictions have been put in place at two of Clare’s largest hospitals following detection of 19 cases of the winter vomiting bug.

Yesterday, the Health Service Executive Mid West Region confirmed an outbreak of the highly infectious virus in the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Ennis.

Fourteen cases were confirmed among patients and five among staff there. A further four suspected cases were reported in Unit 7 of St. Joseph’s community hospital in Ennis. Strict infection precautions have been put in place.

Norovirus, more commonly referred to as the “Winter Vomiting Bug,” is a community infection, with outbreaks in hospitals simply a gauge or reflection of what is happening in the community, according to the Department of Health.

Visiting restrictions have therefore been introduced at the hospital and anyone wishing to visit is requested to check with reception staff, or contact the hospital.

“Attendance at the Accident and Emergency Department should only be if absolutely necessary,” said a HSE spokesperson.

“Out patient, day care services and routine hospital admissions are not affected,” she added.

The public are also requested to co-operate fully with the advice and instruction of staff.

“All the usual infection control measures have been employed and anyone wishing to visit the unit is asked to check first with hospital reception,” warned the HSE.

The bug was detected at the hospital a year ago. According to the National Guidelines on the management of outbreaks of the Norovirus Infection in Healthcare Settings, such outbreaks are not completely preventable, but they are controllable.

There is growing international evidence that thorough hygienic measures can effectively minimise the impact of this virus.

Ireland had 148 outbreaks caused, or suspected as being caused by Norovirus, which produced about 7,500 cases of illness, in 2002.

This compares with 63 outbreaks and just over 1,000 cases of illness in 2003.

“This is fairly typical of what we know about the behaviour of this virus.

“It comes in waves, producing extensive continent-wide outbreaks every four or five years,” said Dr Paul McKeown, Specialist in Public Health Medicine, NDSC and Chairman of the Viral Gastroenteritis Sub-Committee.