Category: News

TWO Clare primary schools which follow the Steiner method of instruction have moved a step closer to achieving official recognition from the Department of Education and Science.

Raheen Wood School Tuamgraney, Scariff and Mol an Oige, Ennistymon both applied to County Clare VEC to act as patron of the schools so they could progress to stage two of a process that would see them gain official Departmental recognition. To finalise stage two the schools must agree to the curriculum as laid down by the Department. In the case of Mol an Oige recognition would allow them to pursue a permanent site.

The Board of Clare VEC last Thursday accepted a proposal that would see the VEC adopt the role of patron for both schools, provided the Department of Education and Science first grant recognition to both. The Raheen Wood School was established over 20 years ago and transferred to Tuamgraney in 1996. Like Mol an Oige, established in September 2005, it has followed the Steiner method of instruction.

The proposal was put forward by Cllr Peter Considine (FF) who said that stage two should go ahead on the basis that it imposed no financial impact on Clare VEC. He was supported by Cllr Tom Prendeville (FF) who added that the Steiner system was a very advanced style of education and it shouldn’t be subject to suspicion.

“The Steiner system operates at secondary and primary and in some instances is probably more advanced than the system we espouse,” he said.

George O’Callaghan, CEO Clare VEC confirmed that any wage costs would be handled by the Department but that in the case of Mol an Oige official recognition may have implications for student and teacher numbers in schools in the Ennistymon area.

FAILTE Ireland has pledged to spend €9 million this year to try to get more tourists to come to the Midwest region and to spend longer here once they arrive.

The cash injection comes as figures were released which show that overseas visitors spend less and stay for shorter times than visitors to any of the country’s other six tourism regions.

Failte Ireland research shows that overseas visitors spend €261 on average.

This is in comparison to the south-west, where the average visitor spends €413 and the west where the spend is €368.

And while visitors to the Midwest stay an average 3.7 nights, visitors to the west stick around for 5.3 nights and spend an average of six nights when they visit the south-west.

The money will be used for marketing, business supports, training and backing Shannon Development. Now management consultants,Mayday have been engaged by Failte Ireland to set up a network of workshops for people in the tourism industry.

The workshops are to start straight away and participants in the courses are promised they will improve their business performance, get greater visibility in the marketplace, increase their productivity, achieve higher standards and better customer value and greatly increase confidence in their management skills.

WORKERS at Shannon Development are “flabbergasted” over comments made by chairman, Liam McElligott that there is now alignment in thinking between the Board and staff over the future development of the company.

A spokesman for staff at Shannon Development told The Clare People this week, “The staff are flabbergasted by Mr McElligott’s comments and his lack of grasp of the situation. He obviously doesn’t appreciate the depth of feeling by staff at what is being done to the company. His comments have resulted in a further distance between Board and staff.”

Earlier this month, at a press briefing to mark the publication of Shannon Development’s end of year statement, Mr McElligott said: “I am quite confident now that there is alignment in our thinking,” when asked about ongoing tensions over the future role of the company.

The spokesman said, “Mr McElligott’s comments are demoralising for staff as they infer that there is now tacit approval by staff of the company’s new mandate, and give the impression that everything is sorted. Nothing could be further from the truth.”

Currently, staff are refusing to co-operate with the implementation of the new mandate, pending the outcome of talks between SIPTU and the Department of the Enterprise, Trade and Employment.

The mandate would see Shannon Development lose its core enterprise functions to Shannon Development and the IDA.

The spokesman added, “There is real anger and weariness at Mr McEliggott’s comments. This re-affirms SIPTU’s call for the present Board to resign en masse. They are not in touch with what is going on.”

Asked are staff confident that Shannon Development will hold onto the promotion of Shannon Free Zone in their talks with the Department, he said, “We are confident that we have made a very good argument. As to whether we will be successful, I don’t know.

“If it does proceed, it will lead to an impoverished situation for the company and drastically weaken its ability to do positive things for the region as Shannon Development has been a lynchpin in a lot of things.

“In practice, it will reduce Shannon Development to a property management company. And we are very disappointed over the lack of analysis behind the decision to revise the mandate.”

MEMBERS of the Ennis General Hospital Development Committee are to meet with members of the HSE this Thursday, just a week after the group nailed questions about the future of the hospital to the door of the organisation’s regional head quarters in Limerick.

The sheet contained questions for the HSE’s chief executive Brendan Drumm, who the group say has refused to meet them despite numerous requests.

A spokesperson for the lobby group told The Clare People that the group met with the Minister for Health and the Taoiseach and got clarification on the hospital’s future from them.

“The third person we need to find out from is Professor Drumm, and not get half assurances from a more junior employee,” he said.

“We have made it as simple as possible for him, as we drafted a form with simple yes or no answers and sent it to him by registered post.”

When the HSE Chief forwarded the letter to be dealt with by another staff member, the group nailed the form to the HSE doors in Limerick.

In response to the protest the HSE said, “The group knows the score perfectly well. They met the hospital network manager in October and then cancelled a further meeting.

“As far as the HSE is concerned, the door is open if they wish to meet us again. The decision is theirs.”

The hospital group accused the HSE of spinning the truth. The group admitted that it cancelled the meeting but argued that it was scheduled for the national day of protest and some of its members including its chairperson, long-time trade unionist Peadar McNamara, had to attend the protest.

While the members of the Ennis General Hospital Development committee were nailing their questions to the door, there were nine people waiting to be admitted to the hospital through its accident and emergency unit, the largest in the Mid West Region.

The following day, the number had decreased to three according to the HSE. The number waiting in St John’s Hospital Limerick was four, which decreased to two, and the Mid Western Regional Hospital Limerick reported four people waiting in A and E, which was also reduced to two the following day.

APPROXIMATELY 20 per cent of on-thespot litter fines went unpaid in the county last year.

While the number may seem quite high it is significantly less than the national average, where it is estimated that as many as two in every three litterbugs escape without paying any penalty.

Last year Clare County Council issued 228 litter fines.

Ennis Town Council was ensuring that the county town held its tidy town status and issued 363 offenders with litter fines, while Kilrush Town Council issued a total of 14 litter fines.

Of the on the spot fines issued though the county council, 97 were paid, 36 cancelled and nine ended up in the courts.

Less than half of the court cases were successful, with the council receiving a positive result in just four.

A total of 86 cases are pending further investigation, payment of fines or proceedings if the fines are not paid.

The county council made almost €14,000 in litter fines last year, more than €10,000 less than its urban counterpart.

Ennis Town Council secured €25,000 in the 200 fines paid. In total the town council issued 363 on the spot fines.

Seven of those cases went to court with the council winning six of the seven.

The two litter and environmental wardens in Ennis responded to 595 complaints in the 12 months of 2005.

Barry Keating, Staff Officer with the Environment Section of Ennis Town Council explained that any illegal dumping discovered in the urban area is referred to the county council’s waste management team.

He said that waste management is not a major issue in the towns and illegal dumping is more of a rural problem.

Kilrush Town Council likewise deals solely with one off litter fines. In 2005 it collected €1,000 from the eight fines paid.

Of its two prosecutions, it received a positive result in one, with a fine of €200 imposed.

Nicola Cullinan, Staff Officer with the Waste Enforcement Unit in the county said that imposing the fine can be difficult as people in rented accommodation move on and are difficult to relocate.

There is also a lot of investigation work for the three environmental wardens and the two engineers in the unit, who often have to go through rubbish bags to identify its owner.

Last year the waste enforcement unit issue 30 notices and fines for illegal advertising signage.

A further 70 notices were served under different sections of the waste management plan including notices to land owners for illegal dumping.

Nine prosecutions were successfully made under the waste management plan.

ENNIS has a new rival when it comes to commemorating Fianna Fáil founding father and colossus of 20th century Irish life, Eamon de Valera.

The People’s Park in Ennis will soon have competition when it comes to remembering de Valera’s contribution to world affairs. And this competition comes from outside Ireland, thanks to the decision by the Indian government to name a new road after de Valera in New Delhi.

The announcement to honour the former Taoiseach and president in this way was made during Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern’s four-day trade mission to India last week.

“De Valera was a good friend of India,” said the Taoiseach in welcoming the announcement. “Addressing the Friends of Freedom for Britain in New York in 1920, he made clear that he saw India and Ireland as having a common cause: ‘Patriots of India’ he told his audience, ‘your cause is identical to ours’.

“Interestingly, in 1947, when the Indian Prime Minister Nehru, expressed his admiration for the Irish Constitution and said that he intended to study it as a model for the Constitution of India, which was then being drafted, de Valera wrote that he felt deeply honoured,” added the Taoiseach.

Meanwhile, the Indian move to honour de Valera doesn’t represent a first. Back in 1935, Indian universities voted the Clare TD into eighth position in a ballot to decide the great men of the age.

He was in exalted company – Albert Einstein was voted number one, while Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini were rated ahead of de Valera in the Indian Inter-University Body organised poll.

SHANNON industry has been dealt a hammer blow in the past week with the news that up to 105 jobs could be lost at the telephonic company Flextronics.

Employees at the Shannon Free Zone plant were rocked last Wednesday morning when Flextronics management announced that 65 jobs could be gone at the plant by April.

Flextronics management have refused to issue any statement on the potential job losses, but The Clare People has learned that the company could be moving part of their operation to Belfast in the near future.

And, a cloud of uncertainty now hangs over 40 more jobs at the Flextronics plant, with employees fearing the worst in the wake of a weeklong veil of silence by company management.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen,” one employee told The Clare People . “We have been told that 65 jobs are to go in the next two months, but the feeling is that this is only the start and that all the jobs could go,” he added.

Industry sources in Shannon have forecast that the Flextronics job losses could have a massive impact on freights services out of Shannon.

Flextronics was responsible for giving much business to freight operators in Shannon. It’s estimated that it transported 3.5 million kilos of freight by road and air through freight companies.

A worst-case scenario of the Flextronics job losses could be a domino affect of job cuts in the six freight companies that operate out of the airport free zone.

Shannon Development has revealed that it has been made aware Flextronics’ current difficulties. “We know that Flextronics are reviewing their Shannon operation,” Shannon Development spokesperson Dympna O’Callaghan told The Clare People .

“We are not aware of what the final outcome of the job losses will be. All we know is that they are restructuring and they will make us aware formally what the outcome of those deliberations will be,” added Ms O’Callaghan.

“Flextronics are not members of the Shannon Chamber, but we do know that they are having a number of operational difficulties,” said Shannon Chamber of Commerce, Tríona McInerney. “There hasn’t been an official announcement on job losses, but they have lost a major customer. We hope that they will be able to resolve their difficulties,” added Ms McInerney.

Last year, Shannon Devlopment’s annual report revealed that 739 jobs were lost in the Free Zone, while there were 450 new jobs created during the same period.

ONE of the leading objectors to plans by the Whelan Group to extend its flagship operation is the County Kildare man jailed last week in connection with a sheep protest.

Percy Podger, of French Furze House near the Curragh, Co Kildare was one of a large number of objectors who last week failed to prevent Whelan Limestone Quarries from securing planning permission to extend the company’s quarry operation.

Clare County Council granted planning permission to the quarrying company for the majority of the lands sought for the extension, and the move is expected to safeguard the jobs of the 110 people employed at the site.

However, it has emerged this week that Mr Podger was one of the objectors centrally involved in opposing the Whelan plan.

Mr Podger was jailed last week after refusing to pay €850 his sheep and passing motorists in fines and expenses. are endangered by the failure of

His refusal to pay arises from Kildare County Council to inhis bid to highlight a serious stall a sheep grid near his farm. road safety issue, claiming that However, apart from his disDROMOLAND Castle has claimed that plans by its neighbouring Lynch Group-owned Clare Inn to construct a golf suite hotel are “ill conceived and driven by tax-incentive deadlines and economics rather than sustainable development principles”.

Last month, Clare County Council granted planning to develop a golf suite hotel on the grounds of the Clare Inn, in spite of opposition from the five-star castle hotel at Dromoland.

However, Managing Director of Dromoland Castle, Mark Nolan has now appealed the decision to An Bord Pleanala, throwing the scheme into doubt.

In the appeal lodged on Mr Nolan’s behalf, it stateds: “The area is already well served by accommodation to serve all market niches from the business visitor to the golfer to the family. The Clare Inn annually closes for a number of months of the year due to the lack of demand for the facility. Falling occupancy rates is a feature of the area in recent years.

“The development, if permitted, will have a negative impact on existing established facilities in the area. The development is driven by a tax incentive rather than local need.

“The fact that no market research quantifiying need was submitted to the planning office in making a case for the facility bears this out further, and the applicant reduced the scale of the development without trying to justify need.”

The statement continues, “The proposed development represents yet another ad-hoc development on the overall site of the Clare Inn Hotel. No attempt has been made to integrate this development with existing developments on site.

“The Clare Inn now represents a series of linear and haphazard extensions over time adding to its visual impact, with little attempt to landscape and integrate the development within the exposed landscape.

“The design is not sensitive to the landscape and will, if built, represent a prominent intrusion in the landscape, which necessitates significant landscape interference in terms of reduction in finished floor levels.

“It is clearly evident that pressure has been exerted on the council in reaching a decision in view of pending tax incentive deadlines. In the most recent correspondence to the council, a ‘quick response’ was requested by the agents in view of stringent timetable to which he must operate. Quick decisions do not represent proper planning and sustainable decisions,” the statement concluded.

A decision is due to be made by the appeals board in May of this year. pute with Kildare County Council, Mr Podger was involved in seeking to prevent the Whelan Group expanding its plans at Fountain, Ennis.

The Clare People has learned that Mr Podger was involved in establishing a company aimed at seeking to prevent the Whelan Group from proceeding with its plan.

The Certificate of Incorporation of Cairn Hill Environmental Protection Group Ltd show that the members of the company are made up of local people opposed to the Whelan plan.

However, the document shows that Mr Podger was involved in the processing of the certificate. The document shows that the Kildare man was a witness to the signature of the directors involved in the company. The solicitor involved in establishing the company is Greg Casey, who represented the Rossport Five.

In his objection against the Whelan proposal, Mr Podger claimed that the proposed was contrary to the EU Directive, EU policies and Irish legislation; that the plan was contrary to proper planning and sustainable development and that the proposal was a material contravention of County Development Plan.

MEMBERS of Clare County Council ended a heated meeting on the budget by demanding an increase in funding from central government. The council are to bring their concerns about inequality in the allocations of funds to different counties to the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Dick Roche.

Cllr Madeline Taylor Quinn received the support of her council colleagues when she proposed that a letter be sent to the Minister and the department expressing “the dismay of the council” at the funding received.

She told the meeting that the council received the 25th highest grant in the country at €14.65 million, and it is placed 30th if rated by the increase received.

The council agreed to tell the Minister that the inadequate funding places an unfair burden on the ratepayers who are then relied upon to fund services.

Agreeing with Cllr Taylor Quinn, her party colleague Cllr Joe Arkins said, “We have no chance of a third (Dail) seat (for the current government) so there is no need for us to be considered for extra funding.”

Green Party Councillor Brian Meaney further proposed that the Minister be asked to redress the inequality of the local funding bill and in the process increase the Clare allocation.

The County Manager asked the council members to approve a €12.5 million over draft for 2006, although he said he does not expect to have to use it. The council will spend €101 million this year – an increase of 8.4 per cent on last year’s spend of €93 million.

GREEN Party councillor, Donal O’Bearra has stated that the planned €20 million redevelopment of a site overlooking the River Fergus in Ennis raises the spectre of a concrete jungle in Ennis, unless a number of issues are addressed.

Last month, a Galway company, Briarlane Development Ltd lodged plans for the site, which would provide a new pedestrian bridge across the River Fergus to the Abbey Street car-park, adding to the four vehicular bridges already in use in and around the town centre.

The new proposal – in common with the application turned down by An Bord Pleanala last July – seeks to transform the Ennis skyline with a six-storey apartment block.

The development also includes a plan to develop a 30-bedroom hotel, 58 apartments, eight commercial units and 238 car-parking spaces, along with one three-storey and one two-storey block.

The developers are expected to state to Ennis Town Council that if permitted, the development will revitalise what is currently an underutilised backland site.

However, Cllr O’Bearra has lodged an objection against the proposal.

“The spectre of a concrete jungle is not an exaggerated prospect unless the role of nature as a significant component and partner in our built environment is recognised, actively and seriously cultivated, restored and progressed in real terms.

“The built component of our environment has alone dictated our social environment in the absence of nature for too long and to the detriment of the balanced whole.

“It is time to redress the natural deficit.”

Cllr O’Bearra claimed that the application “from the point of view of urban ecology, the built town’s relationship with the natural environment lacks respect, creativity and application and consequently goes against both the spirit and intentions of the Town Plan.

“The council should acknowledge this and act decisively and proactively in its role as upholder of the Ennis and Environs Development Plan 2003.”

Cllr O’Bearra has requested “a detailed Environmental Impact Assessment (EIS) should be carried out of the bird life, aquatic flora and fauna, so that the importance of wildlife in urban areas such as this is highlighted.

“It is clear that without a little more imagination and application the current proposals are patently at cross purposes and even belligerent to the intention to protect, conserve and enhance the natural environment contained in the Development Plan.”

A decision is expected on the application next month.