Category: News

THE Mayor of Clare has challenged young people in Ennis to have the “courage” to say no to drugs

Cllr Joe Arkins (FG) was speaking to a group of teenagers at the launch of a Drugs Awareness Art Project in the headquarters of Clare County Council earlier this month.

Students attending the Ennis Community Development Project Traveller Education Peer Support Project designed a calendar aimed at highlighting greater awareness of the dangers of drug abuse.

Praising the effort and dedication of the students who all come from a Traveller background in Ennis, Cllr Arkins said it was important they now stand by the work they have done over the past 12 months.

He explained, “People take drugs because they believe they will change their lives. They can be certain about that, it will change their lives but it will change it for the worse. People take drugs because they think it’s going to solve a problem. It doesn’t solve a problem. It creates a problem.

“I salute the wonderful work you have done. But it is important you have the courage to stand by the work you have done and to be peers amongst your own. So when some youngster in school tell you he can get a bit of weed, or he can get this that or the other drug and it will do you no harm…you have to have the courage to stand up and you have to have the courage to say not it isn’t, no it doesn’t, no it won’t.”

Cllr Arkins also praised the work of Ennis CDP and the Mid Western Regional Drugs Taskforce who supported the campaign.

He added, “The most important thing I’ll tell ye lads is have the courage to stand by the work ye have done here. Ye have done absolutely wonderful work but have the courage to bring it forward for the year into the rest of yer lives and into the lives of the people ye come across. Have the courage to stand up and say anyone who takes drugs is a fool.”

A GROUP of traveler students from Ennis can become “role models” for their community and help break down barriers to education.

That’s according to one Ennis man who plays a key role in helping young people from Traveller backgrounds achieve success through education.

Peer support worker David McCarthy worked alongside the group who recently devised a Drugs Awareness Art Project, a campaign supporter by Ennis CDP, the Mid Western Regional Drugs Taskforce, Clare County Council, St Vincent de Paul and the Courts Services.

Mr McCarthy, who works on a weekly basis with 12 secondary school students in Ennis, says an absence of role models is one of the main factors why many young people from a Traveller background fail to complete education.

“Role models is a big one and a lot of them feel that it doesn’t matter if they stay on in school, they won’t get jobs. That’s what we’re trying to challenge. That’s our big challenge at the moment,” he explained.

However he believes certain preconceptions about Travellers are being challenged

He explained, “There still is a taboo around Travellers getting married young and having families and settling down (and not continuing in education). That’s been challenged in Clare over the past few years. In the past five years, we’ve had Paddy McDonagh who has finished his degree course and is teaching in Scariff at the moment. We have a Pa Sherlock who did a Sports and Recreation course in the University of Limerick. Lee Sherlock is studying in UL as well. I’m in college doing youth and community work.”

He continued, “Traveller students are still not finishing school in any way close to their settled peers but we’ve seen an increase in school retention to at least the Junior Cert year. Currently in our group, we have four lads going into fourth year. You can never tell if they are going to stick with it but I believe the lads will push through.”

15-year-old Brian McDonagh is a student at St Flannan’s College in Ennis. He is also a member of the peer support group that devised the drugs awareness campaign.

He said, “It was very enjoyable. Doing this project, it makes more kids aware of what drugs can do to you. This group gives kids a positive message rather than a negative message in life, to go down the right path and not do drugs. It’s really good.”

Brian, a member of Ennis Boxing Club, says he hopes to study sport at third level.

A PROPOSED € 1.75 million facelift of the Ennis market has been given planning approval by members of Ennis Town Council.

The council now intends to “undertake a detailed engagement with users” of the market in Garraunakilla.

The council is proposing to develop a semi-enclosed structure on the existing car park for the purposes of a market and car-parking facilities.

The proposed 608-sqm structure would consist of two adjacent pavil- ions with a Plexiglas roof covering the central corridor.

The redevelopment would also include the upgrading or surrounding streets, lighting, drainage, street furniture and trees.

The plans also include provision for a shared surface area on Market Place from its junction with Barrack Street to its junction with the lower Drumbiggle Road.

According to a planning report presented to members of Ennis Town Council, the proposal “would narrow the existing roadway along Market Place resulting in clearer definition for all road users and provide natural traffic calming and increased pedestrian safety.”

Ennis Town Manager Gerard Dollard told the council’s February meeting a detailed consultation process would first take place.

He said most of the estimated € 1.5 million cost of the proposed redevelopment would be spent on improving facilities in the market.

The structure is expected to cost

€ 500,000. Mr Dollard said, “Our sole objective is to enhance the market. We want to strengthen the market.”

Urging councillors to adopt Mr Dollard’s recommendations, Cllr Brian Meaney (FF) said;

“This is a small step in a very long process but we need to grasp this opportunity with both hands.”

The council received submission from a number of groups and individuals including the Farmer’s Market, Rita McInerney, CEO Ennis Chamber of Commerce, and local businessmen Leo and Gearoid Mannion.

There was a broad welcome for the proposal however some concern has been expressed about the design of the proposed structure and how it would impact on the residential amenity of the area.

Archeological investigation of the site will have to be carried out prior to any development, as recommended by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and the Clare County Conservation Officer.

It is thought archaeological work could begin within the next fortnight.

Councillors approved the Manager’s Report on Garraunakilla and also a formal application for approval for a loan of € 1.75 million.

THE awards continue to roll in for the Cliffs of Moher Visitors Experience, with the North Clare tourism location involved in the business end of three separate awards over the past week.

This glut of awards and recognition comes in the wake of the best year for tourism number on record at the Cliffs of Moher – with almost 950,000 people visiting the world famous tourism site last year.

Management are hopeful of breaking the one million visitor mark this year – and maybe reclaiming the title of Ireland’s most visited tourism site for the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin.

The website of the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience has just been shortlisted for the Samsung Digital Media Awards in the ‘Best in Travel and Tourism’ category, with the results due to be released later this month. This comes just weeks after the website was shortlisted for the prestigious Eircom Golden Spider Awards, finishing runner-up.

“The website is designed to have a high visual appeal with full screen background images and exciting video and 360 degree image content bringing the site alive. It can be viewed on mobile devices including smartphone and iPad,” said Geraldine Enright of the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience.

“Visitors planning their trip have use of an interactive map with suggested walking routes and can even book their tickets online at a dis counted price. The website is fully integrated with social media including Facebook and Twitter, YouTube, TripAdvisor, Pinterest and Stumble- upon. The story of the Cliffs of Moher is told along a timeline reaching back into the distant past.”

Meanwhile, the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience last week was presented with a Silver Merit Award at the 2014 CIE Awards for Visitor Attractions. The awards are chosen from an independent evaluation of feedback surveys completed by over 17,000 CIE Tours International customers.

DOZENS of Clare people who were the victims of industrial abuse have contacted new state abuse agency Cara Nua during its first three weeks in operation.

Close to 100 people from the county are understood to have contacted the new agency – which has been set up to help connect victims of abuse with a selections of practical services.

The new agency cannot take on any candidates who have not been previously before the Residential Institutions Board or had a successful case before the courts. With the board now closed to new applications, some Clare people who have suffered abuse in an industrial setting may be excluded from the scheme.

Abuse victims can still choose to take a case through the courts, but only if their level of abuse they endured was severe enough to be considered and indictable offense. The statute of limitations for less serious offenses – such as assault (six years), personal injury (two years) and summary offenses (six month) – will have elapsed.

The group currently has a budget of € 74 million funded by the religious institutions but that could swell to € 100 million in the months ahead.

“We can only provide services to people who have actually received an award – either through the Resi- dential Institutions Board or through the courts. We are limited to those people and we can’t deal with people who have spent time in a residential institute but did not take a case or go through the courts,” Fiona Coyne of Cara Nua.

“That said we know of around 400 people who are currently going through redress and we will be able to help them once there cases have been completed. Unfortunately the redress board is closed to applications – they are currently hearing their last 400 cases.”

The scheme is mainly aimed at meeting the needs of the victims of industrial abuse as they enter old age.

“Our focus is on their quality of life now and promoting well being. We’re looking at the issues that they are faced with now, not their time in an institution. These people have already told their story [to the redress board] they don’t need to go into that side of things with us. We are just there to help,” continued Ms Coyne.

“We don’t provide services directly ourselves but if people do need counselling or any kind of physiological support we can put them in touch with people.

“We have a budget of € 74 million and out anticipation is that this money won’t last indefinitely, so we feel we many be able to fund this service for the next three years.”

Contact Cara Nua at 1800 212477.

IT APPEARS that Christianity and paganism coexisted in the Burren for hundreds of years – far longer than than had been previously thought.

Radiocarbondating of three bodies discovered at the Caherconnell Stone Fort in Carron has revealed that the woman and two infant children died somewhere between 535 AD and 649 AD.

The human remains, which were discovered underneath the fort last summer, have given archeologist a new perspective on the relationship between pagan and Christian peoples in the area.

The burial cist was discovered underneath the remains of a stone fort built in the area in the 10th or 11th century. The placing of the cists indicates that the fort was built on top of the ancient burial site, with part of the site actually visible inside the fort.

The current theory is that the people who built the fort were drawing on their connection to this pagan people buried their 500 years earlier to help legitimize their own rule in the area.

It has previously been determined that the fort belonged to a high status local, Christian clan.

“The fort was built on top of the burial site and it must have been done on purpose. By all accounts Christianity should have been fully in at this time, but it seems that the high status people who lived here were happy to keep one foot in each world,” said John Davoran of the Caherconnell Stone Fort.

Testing on the remain has shown that they belonged to a woman who was at least 45 years old, a baby aged between one and two and a very young baby, possibly a newborn or still born child.

The bodies were discovered during annual excavation led by Michelle Comber of NUI, Galway, last summer. There will be further excavation on the site this summer.

“I’d say we will be digging here for another 1,000 years. We have plenty left to discover,” continued Mr Davoran.

“We will be focusing on the fort again this year.

“We’d like to locate the original house of the people who built the fort. We feel that this could unlock a few more of the secrets of the fort.

“But we will be moving from the fort in the years to come.

“There is a large amount of interesting sites in the area and we are very keen to see what they contain.”

FOUR houses were evacuated in Doonbeg during the early hours of Saturday morning as waves smashed through windows and doors.

The houses along the Dunmore road had never previously experienced flooding or such force from the waves as the battlement along the bay protected them.

On Saturday morning last the 70year battlement could not hold back the ferocity of the storm and the homes along with the local caravan park were flooded.

During the storm on January 7, the land was flooded up to 150 metres from the village, reaching the 50 kilometres per hour sign at the bridge.

On Saturday morning the water far surpassed that reaching areas that had never before seen floodwater.

Community activist Tommy Commerford told The Clare People there were a number of vulnerable areas in the parish following the storm.

The stone barrier at Rhynnagonnaught was swept away allowing the water to run as far as Mountrivers.

By yesterday (Monday) up to 150 acres of land in this area still remained under seawater.

Stones and debris once again made agricultural land unworkable for lo- cal farmers, with many contending with reseeding land once again under seawater.

The road to Rhynnagonnaught is also under threat following the storm and the loss of this would maroon the residents on an island similar to what happened at Kilcredaun on the Loop Head peninsula.

Manager at the Doonbeg Golf Course and Spa Joe Russell said that while the golf course was once again victim to the storm the damage was not as significant as in January.

“It brought back the dune face again but not as much as before. The most notable thing is the debris on the golf course,” he said.

A significant clean up at the golf course is underway and plans are beginning for a major clean up at Doughmore beach.

“More needs to be done long term. If this happened every year we would have a problem,” the manager said.

“There is a long-term discussion that needs to be had. A long-term Government strategy needs to be prepared for this instead of going from crisis to crisis every year.”

An estimated € 800,000 worth of damage was done to infrastructure in the Doonbeg area in January, but with more places affected following the weekend that number is expected to multiply.

ANY repair work carried out along the Shannon estuary following the January storms were quickly disposed of by the St Bridgid’s Day at the weekend, and now up to 2,000 acres of agricultural land remains under damaging sea water.

New breaches have also been added to the Shannon embankment.

The main Ennis to Kildysart road remains flooded at Ballycorrick Bridge in Ballynacally and becomes impassable at high tide.

All low lying areas were still un der water on Monday with agricultural land in Ballynacally, Kildysart, Clonderlaw, Burrane in Kilimer and Carnacalla, Kilrush severely flooded. One house in Shore Park, Kildysart, was also flooded, as was the local graveyard.

The road from Kildysart to Labasheeda was closed on Saturday as the sea wall was damaged and debris littered the road.

Local county councillor Oliver Garry (FG) said local farmers are under pressure to look after the embankment as the Office of Public Works did not take over responsibility for the area from the Board of Works.

“30 years ago the Board of Works serviced those embankments, but when the OPW took over they did not service those areas, they only serviced land from Island Avanna down to Shannon Airport,” he said.

Cllr Garry said a meeting has now been arranged with the Minister for Agriculture and junior minister in the department in a bid to lobby them for a one-off grant to carry out works on the embankment forgotten by the OPW. It is hoped the meeting will take place later this week.

FORMER mayor of Kilrush Ian Lynch has pitted himself against his Kilrush Town Council Fine Gael colleague Cllr Marian McMahon Jones, as he declared himself an Independent candidate this week.

The former Fine Gael man, who failed to make it through the party’s convention, said he felt compelled to run by his strong desire to serve the community.

Cllr Lynch was first elected as a public representative in 2009 when he was voted onto Kilrush Town Council.

Even then he considered running for the county council but as advised to build his profile and experience in the town council first.

“Looking back this may have been a mistake because since the local elections in 2009 Kilrush Town and the greater hinterland have been without representation at Clare County Council level, and there is no doubt that this has been to the detriment of our town. The voice of the people of Kilrush and surrounds is not been heard, this is evident in decisions where things like road signs placed by the NRA direct people away from our town, in a time when footfall is badly needed,” he said.

Kilrush Town Council will be dissolved at end of this council term, and Cllr Lynch has no option but to put his name forward to contest the Clare County Council Municipal Area of Kilrush if he is to remain a public representative.

The young councillor believes change is needed in the Clare County Council Chamber.

“Change is badly needed, people are sick of seeing the same old same old. It’s time for new blood, new spirit, fight and new passion, some one that is not restricted by what they can say or flight for, someone that has courage to stand up and be heard and has the capacity to get things done, this is what people want, this is what they deserve,” he said.

“Yes, it has been said to me to wait, my time will come, but this is not about Ian Lynch or my career in politics, this is about standing up for what I believe in.”

A SITE has been identified in Ennis for the establishment of a park to honour the memory of Clare people who died in conflicts around the world.

A green area between Glór and the Temple Gate Hotel will be the location for the Clare Peace Park. There are already plans to erect a sculpture to recognise the sacrifices of men and women who fought in conflicts such as the Vietnam War

The € 200,000 sculpture will be funded by the Vietnam Veteran’s Advocacy Group, whose members have been regular visitors to Ennis.

The memorial will include the following inscription:

“This memorial is dedicated to the Irish men and women who served in Allied military service in south East Asia during the period 1959-1975. Those who were lost are listed in the order in which they were taken.” A Mayo artist has secured the tender for the project.

A local group, the Clare Peace Park Initiative, are proposing to erect a memorial to the estimated 700 Clare soldiers who served in World War I.

The group was founded in December 2012 from a Remembrance Day Service Committee.

It is intended that the park would be a focal point for the existing commemoration ceremony that takes place on November 11 each year.

Dr Keir McNamara of the Clare Peace Park Initiative explained;

“We also intend to remember those who died from Clare in international conflicts since then.

A total of 45 Clare men died in the Second World War (1939-1945), two in The Spanish Civil war (1936-1939) and two in Korea (1950-1953).”

The group are asking anyone who may have information on Clare people who fought in World War I to contact them.

Further information is available on www. clarepeaceparki nt iat ive. com and the group’s Facebook page.

The group also intends to launch a fundraising initiative.

“In a few years you’re going to have the centenaries 1916/17 so if we don’t get things going we may lose momentum,” added Dr McNamara.