Category: News

AN unprecedented 49 planning application were deemed invalid by Clare County Council during the first week and a half of this year.

Of the 90 applications made to the planning authority, almost 55 per cent were invalid for a total of 109 reasons.

The high number is believed to be due, at least in part, to a new application scanning system within the council.

Acting Director of Services Liam Conneally said that 25 of the applications were not accepted due to mistakes in newspaper advertising, 14 site notices were incorrect, 35 drawings proved troublesome, while there were mistakes with maps in 18 of the applications.

There were further miscellaneous problems with 17 other applications.

Meanwhile, a special meeting of the council on planning heard how pre-planning meetings for every application is not possible, as the local authority do not have the staff required.

Despite being regarded as best practice, Mr Conneally admitted that if he were to give every individual a meeting, he would require twice the staff currently allocated to his department.

County Manager Alex Fleming said he will increase the planning staff to allow the validation and filing of applications be reduced to one day rather than the five days it currently takes.

Horror stories of people being refused for planning permission were recounted throughout the three-hour special meeting.

Cllr Michael Kelly (FF) went as far as saying that, “people are being evicted from their own land through a backdoor system based on planning regulations and guidelines that are impossible to comply with.”

The council argued that planners were not consulting the members. They also claimed that the planners’ interpretation of the development plan was not as intended when passed by the council members. After hours of discussion it was decided that the subject warranted even further discussion at area meeting level before any changes or clarifications be made to the County Development Plan.

CLARE junior Minister Síle de Valera has said she has no intention of resigning her ministerial post, despite political pressure to do so.

The long-serving TD, who announced that she would resign from politics at the next election, said she was encouraged by the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern to keep her ministerial portfolio until then.

However, just a fortnight ago, Mr Ahern was believed to be coming under pressure from TDs in marginal constituencies to banish the outgoing Clare politicians to the backbenches.

Elements within the party believe a junior minister’s post would benefit areas such as Mayo, Cork South-West and Limerick-West, because, they believe, Clare can return two seats.

A minor shuffle is expected within the junior ranks this week, with Junior Minster Pat “the Cope” Gallagher likely to take the post vacated by the controversial former junior minister, Ivor Callely.

Mr Gallagher’s replacement is expected to come from Dublin North, so side-stepping a need for a major reshuffle. Without a major reshuffle, junior Minister de Valera is likely to see out her political career in her education portfolio.

Meanwhile, a date for the Clare Fianna Fáil convention has yet to be decided.

The Constituency Committee, headed up by Finance Minister Brian Cowan is to begin considering a new date for the local convention in consultation with party officials in the county.

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.

GARDAÍ are hunting for a gang who they believe are responsible for a spate of post office robberies in the east Clare/north Tipperary area over the past few months.

A woman in her 40s endured a terrifying ordeal when she was tied up and locked in the bathroom of her home, adjacent to the post office in Whitegate in the early hours of last Wednesday.

Three intruders, wearing balaclavas and carrying a baseball bat, broke into her home and tied her up, at around 3.20am. She remained tied up until another family member arrived on the premises shortly after 8am.

The men fled with what gardaí described as “a very small sum” of cash, after they failed to gain entry to the safe.

An aluminium folding ladder, with the initials “EW” written on black marker, was found at the Whitegate premises, the bottom rung of which was green. Gardai say this did not belong there. They have urged people to check their premises, to see if a ladder is missing.

Inspector Kevin Moynihan said a link between this robbery and post office robberies in Broadford – in which €30,000 was stolen – Kilkishen and various parts of north Tipperary in recent months was been investigated.

“We are certainly actively pursuing that there may have been a link between the Broadford post office robbery in November and this one. There is a possibility that other post office robberies in north Tipperary and Clare were carried out by the same gang,” said Insp Moynihan.

He is advising people to have alarms fitted to their premises and to ensure they are connected to a monitoring station.

“People should look at the possibility of having CCTV cameras installed. These people would case the place a day or two before carrying out a robbery, maybe not buying much, but paying attention to a premises.”

Senator Timmy Dooley (FF) said the break-in at Whitegate should prompt An Post to improve security measures at rural post offices..

A spokesperson for An Post would not comment publicly on security matters.

But she said the company would spend €15 million on security across the national post office network this year.

SERIOUS crime in Clare fell by six per cent last year while gardaí were busiest in the month of June, according to preliminary figures obtained by The Clare People .

Although the final figures will not be published until a later stage, the preliminary statistics show that the demand for garda services in the Clare Garda Division increased by 15 per cent last year, when compared with the previous year. Some 9,922 incidents were dealt with by gardaí in Clare last year, compared with 8,644 in 2004.

“This is a combination, from the most serious to the most trivial offences, all of which require a response,” said Chief Supt Liam Quinn.

Gardaí in the division — which takes in parts of north Tipperary — received over 1,000 calls in June of last year.

This compared with 588 in February, which was the quietest month last year.

The summer months — June, July and August — showed gardaí on the receiving end of an average of 950 calls per month. Behind February, the other quiet months were January, September, November and December.

“Obviously it is reflected in the traffic and tourists and the increased activity in the county as a result,” said Chief Supt Quinn.

Among the other statistics included in the figures were increases in drink-driving arrests (12 per cent) and speeding detections (17 per cent), while there was a 15 per cent increase in the number of drug seizures, much of which was attributed to the rise in the number of cocaine seizures.

There was a sizeable decrease in the number of theft and robbery offences, while the number of sexual assaults reported dropped by 29 per cent last year.

“There are huge variations in the area of sexual assaults.

“The reporting of these incidents is crucial. It is extremely important to report issues of that nature.

“Otherwise the offenders are left to do it again,” said Chief Supt Quinn.

He said, overall while the figures were preliminary, the targets set by gardaí in the county were met.

“Headline crime is down by six per cent,” he said.

TOURISM bosses are buying visitors a drink and offering them free boat trips as well as discounts, kiddies’ concessions and free-bed nights in a bid to tempt more tourists into the region.

Shannon Development’s new Extra Value Holidays brochure aims to improve on the €125 million which domestic visitors spend each year in the Shannon region.

Among the goodies that visitors are being offered are free bottles of wine with meals at certain restaurants, free dolphin-watching trips, free bicycle hire, free over-50s clubs, free accommodation for children and free summer camps for them, free afternoon tea and free walking maps and additional free nights accommodation.

The extra value guide was launched at the Holiday World Show, which started in the RDS in Dublin at the weekend.

John King of Shannon Development said, “the Extra Value Holidays guide will encourage people to take an early holiday break, with tourism interests in the region offering extra-value breaks from January through to June 2006. And visitors can get discount admissions to a range of local attractions by downloading them from our website at www.shannonregiontourism.ie”

Mr King said that the drive is being put in place because competition for the home market “is stronger than ever with all regions in the country actively promoting their own areas. That is why Shannon Development will be working even harder, in partnership with the region’s tourism interests, to attract more domestic visitors and encourage them to stay longer.”

With the domestic tourism spend at €125 million, it represents the region’s single biggest tourism market.

“This guide highlights the excellent value-for-money packages available for every age and group covering a wide range of activities and interests, as well as great value in fine food and entertainment,” said Mr King.

MEMBERS of the Ennis General Hospital Development Committee say they remain concerned about the future of 24-hour A and E service at the hospital following a meeting with the HSE.

A week after the group nailed eight questions to the door of the authority’s regional head quarters in Limerick, a delegation met with John O Brien, HSE General Manager, and the Hospital Manager, John Doyle.

A spokesperson for the lobby group told The Clare People that Mr O’Brien was unable to answer the eight-point questionnaire presented to him, to the group’s satisfaction.

They also did not receive a satisfactory answer as to what was HSE policy.

Mr O’Brien did say he was hopeful that a planning application would be made next March for the proposed hospital upgrading.

Meanwhile, Tánaiste and Minister for Health, Mary Harney, refused to provide guarantees over the services at Ennis General Hospital, when questioned in the Dáil this week.

The Tánaiste faced nine separate questions — eight from Pat Breen TD (FG) — over the future of services at the hospital.

He asked if the hospital would retain a 24-hour, seven-day, consultant-led accident and emergency service, if the Hanly report was still Government policy and if the Hanly Report, as it related to Ennis General Hospital, was still Government policy.

In response to the question on A&E services, the Tánaiste said that the re-organisation of regional hospital services under the Hanly report was a task for the Health Service Executive.

However, she said that the government was, “committed to supporting and developing critical services, including key areas such as accident and emergency services in hospitals, which should open in line with patient need.”

She said that there was “substantial scope” for increasing the services provided in many hospitals such as Ennis.

“We need to harness the potential of every acute hospital to provide the best possible service to the local community.

“We are committed to developing facilities at Ennis General Hospital under the first phase of the capital developments proposed, which will include new and upgraded facilities in ward areas, radiology, accident and emergency, and outpatients.”

LOCALS in Newmarket-on-Fergus and Sixmilebridge are vehemently opposed to plans by An Post to move their sorting offices to Shannon in three weeks’ time.

Although it has yet to be finalised, An Post has suggested that the move will be made on February 20. People living in the two areas believe this move will inconvenience them.

Five postmen who operate out of Sixmilebridge and four, who work in Newmarket-on-Fergus, will have to work out of Shannon, where the letters will be sorted, if the move gets the green light.

“Why are they doing it? The postmen don’t want to move,” one local told The Clare People .

Another local in Sixmilebridge said that this could spell the death knell for the post office, in a village where there is no bank.

“Public support is needed, to prevent this,” said a local.

However, An Post said while the proposed change was been considered, nothing had yet been finalised.

“There have been some customer service issues there recently and any changes will take account of the growth in mail volumes and delivery points in the areas,” said spokeswoman Anna McHugh.

She said, currently, the issue was an “internal matter and the people in the areas would be notified, once it was finalised.

Asked would people from those areas have to travel to Shannon to pick up registered letters and parcels, she said, “It is too early to say that. That is all hypothetical.”

A DECISION has been taken to site the new bridge across the Shannon at historic Clarisford Palace in Killaloe.

It is expected that a second crossing, to be completed at a later date, will be located just below O’Briensbridge.

The choice of location for the Killaloe bridge and the road serving it has angered local people, who were informed of the decision yesterday, in advance of an official announcement due today.

The project will involve the demolition of at least one house and will cut across land close to St. Anne’s Secondary school .

The route was decided on after the completion of a constraints study report on eight different locations by consultants, RPS MCOS.

Locals angered by the choice of route say it will be a danger to the 400 students who attend St. Anne’s.

A statement issued on behalf of residents affected by the choice today claims it is in direct conflict with stated policies of a number of government and non-government organisations, including Vocational Educational Committees, Council planners, An Bord Pleanala, Government Departments, including the Taoiseach’s office, environmental groups and residents’ groups.

“The policies of the above bodies will challenge the councils leaving them with insurmountable obstacles in achieving funding for the favoured route,” the statement explains.

It goes on to say that the route passes within 15 meters of a residential site that received planning permission for a house as recently as twelve months ago.

“It also calls for the demolition and destruction of family homes. The development plan for this area (zoned residential) has no accommodation for such a major road and bridge.”

In running in front of Clarisford, it also proposes to go through land which has been “consistently protected by an Bord Pleanala because of the heritage importance of the house.”

Killaloe councillor, Tony O’Brien (FF), said that he was welcoming the decision, “because at least there is now some clarity to the situation. But now that the decision has been made, I want to see a proper town plan for Killaloe, with proper funding to put that plan in place.”

Michael Murtagh of the O’Briensbridge Environmental committee said that residents there would prefer to see their crossing done in tandem with the Killaloe bridge “for fear that we would be forgotten about once the first bridge is done.”

CLARE County Council has given the go-ahead to plans to develop a music school aimed at giving Doolin’s world-wide reputation for traditional Irish music a focal point.

In move that will add to Clare’s growing infrastructure for traditional Irish music, John D Flanagan and Richard Maher have secured planning from the council to develop a music school along with a retail unit and residential accommodation.

The council granted planning permission having regard to the site in close proximity to Fitz’s Cross at Doolin, ruling that it would not seriously injure the amenities of the area.

However, the council has refused planning permission to a pub which formed part of the application. How this will affect the feasibility of the overall scheme is not known.

The music school is expected to compliment the presence of Glór, the Irish Music Centre, the International Folk Music Centre, located in Doonbeg and the Ennis-based Maoin Cheoil an Chláir.

The architects for the venture, Michael Leahy and Paul Conway state that the “music school will give Doolin’s world famous scene a focal point.”

Their submission states: “the music school will consist of a performance hall, café practice rooms and manager’s apartment at the top of the site on approach to the Fitz Cross part of Doolin.

“The music school is a venue which will have activity through the day with classes taught during the day and performances at lunch-times and evening and will be a year-round industry.”

The council refused planning permission for the pub after opposition was expressed by a Dublin couple who own a holiday home in the area.

Brian and Dympna Campbell claimed that the proposed public house and fast food outlet would create noise, interference and disturbance that would seriously diminish their use, enjoyment and value of their adjoining property.

“The nature of the development comprising part of a public house and fastfood outlet will create a substantial security risk to the use and enjoyment of our property.

“Both of us and our family spend all our holidays on the property and it is our plan to reside there full time in the near future.”