Category: News

ALLEGATIONS of aggressive and intimidating behaviour by people visiting Drumcliff have emerged amid calls for less restrictive access to the graveyard.

Fears that vehicles would damage graves led to the permanent locking last year of one half of the cemetery’s gates. There have also been reports that groups of people were observed drinking and behaving aggressively in Drumcliff on Christmas Day.

The issues were disclosed at the January meeting of Ennis Town Council as councillors discussed a motion tabled by Cllr Paul O’Shea (Ind).

Cllr O’Shea proposed the gates at Drumcliff be unlocked every second Sunday “to enable loved ones to transport tools, equipment, plants and flowers so as to maintain their loved one’s graves.”

Administrative officer Betty Devanny stated in her response that access to Drumcliff cemetery has been restricted since November 2013, with exception give to undertakers, grave diggers, memorial sculptors, caretaker and those with mobility difficulties.

She continued, “This is necessary to prevent possible damage occurring to the kerbing, grave surrounds, and grave markers from vehicles accessing the cemetery which hap- pened on a regular basis while the gates remained unlocked. It will also provide for better management of the cemetery.”

Ms Devanny said only one side of the double gates are locked so it is possible for people to bring tools and flowers to graves. She states extra staff would be required to facilitate Cllr O’Shea’s request. “In the current economic downturn and a staffing embargo in place, it is not possible to facilitate this request,” she added.

Cllr Michael Guilfoyle (Ind) told the meeting he had witnessed incidents where vehicles drove at speed around the graveyard. “When the gates were left open, it was abused,” he said.

Cllr Mary Howard (FG) said she saw people drive through the graveyard on Christmas Day and park up for 40-50 minutes. “There is no room to maneuver and damage will be done,” she warned.

Cllr Howard told the meeting she also witnessed the same group of people “drinking and being aggressive” on Christmas Day.

Mayor of Ennis, Cllr Mary Coote Ryan (FG) said she recently saw two carloads of people enter the graveyard in a “very intimidating fashion”.

“There are some people who do misbehave and cause trouble for others,” she added.

Town manager Gerard Dollard said the changes at Drumcliff were introduced for the better management of the facility.

IT MAY be one of the worst villages hit by the storm but the high winds and waves did not damage he community spirit in Kilbaha.

On Tuesday three young mothers returning from the early school run decided to begin a tidy up at the year -old playground that had fallen victim to the storm.

Suddenly passers bys joined in and other parents returning home with their children at 3pm joined the group with shovels, wheelbarrows and children willing to give a helping hand.

Farmers and local contractors joined the impromptu clean up with tractors and mini diggers and what could have taken weeks, according to local woman Ailish Connolly, took three hours.

As many as 30 adults and 20 children were involved in the clean up, with council workers and Rural Resource workers staying around to help.

“We are so privileged to be in a community like this where the methil is alive and kicking,” said Ms Connolly adding that there was time for the odd seaweed fight and some merriment.

The mother of three who is part of the playground committee said an engineer is expected next week to access the damage, but she is hopeful that the community will be able to do the repair work themselves.

Already farmers have pulled the buckled fencing into place using their tractors.

As clean ups are planned for neighbouring Ross and Rhinevella on Saturday, the community remain concerned about the impact the storm will have on local tourism.

Many of the roads have been com- promised which is a concern ahead of the launch of the Wild Atlantic Way next month. The Loop Head peninsula has been included in the bus tour of the west coast of Ireland so proper roads are essential.

TWO Clare surfers, who took to the water during the height of the Storm Catherine last week, are in the running for this year’s Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards.

Lahinch surfer Ollie O’Flaherty and Peter Conroy from Miltown Malbay both braved massive swells on Mullaghmore Beach in Sligo last Monday, during the height of the storm.

The waves on the day were between 20 and 30 feet in height but they were also incredibly powerful. Because there was a extended period of time between each wave, a massive volume of water is inside each wave making them incredibly powerful.

“It is kind of an addiction. It’s something you have to build up to over. You can’t just wake up one day and decided to go out and surf 30 of 40 foot waves. You have to build up to it,” said Ollie.

“There were maybe 18 or 20 seconds between each wave, which is unheard of in this part of the world. This means that even if the waves are not 60 foot, they are incredibly powerful and travelling very fast.”

According to Peter, it takes years of experience before surfers can safely take on big waves like those produced during Storm Catherine.

“It is all about stepping stones. You have to comfortable just being in big waters like this never mind surfing. You have to know what the sea is doing. You have to realise that the sea is in charge, not you. We catch the waves, we play on the waves but if the sea wants to catch you, you are dead,” said Peter.

“It [the Billabong nomination] is a list of the best waves that have been surfed in Europe so far this year and mine and Ollie’s are up there. This will be knocked down to a shortlist of five later this year so for the mo- ment this is really a recognition that us Irish guys are putting it on the line for big wave surfing.” A final shortlist of five surfers for this year’s Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards will be announced in March.

HUNDREDS of people descended on Lahinch and Liscannor over the weekend to help in the biggest cleanup operation ever undertaken in the county.

More than 200 people took part in a two-day clean up of the Promenade organised by the West Coast Surf Club on Friday and Saturday. With people travelling from all over Ireland to take part, the club was able to send groups to Liscannor, Kilmacreahy and Cregg to help with the clean-up operations in those locations.

Both the Old Course and the Castle Course at Lahinch reopened for business last Friday following a major clean up by volunteers on Tuesday and Wednesday of last week. As of yesterday, 14 holes are playable on the Old Course with all hole playable, excluding bunkers, on Castle Course.

Two time major winner, Greg Norman, also mentioned the storms impact on Lahinch and Doonbeg on Twitter last week.

“Amazing photo of waves and wind pounding the beautiful town of Lahinch in Ireland last Thurs. My course at Doonbeg is okay,” he said.

Meanwhile, the gym at Lahinch Seaworld reopened for businesses yesterday and management are hoping the the pool facility will be open to the public again from next Monday, January 20.

According to Cliodhna Fawl of the West Coast Surf Club, locals and people from all over the coun- try have been doing their bit to get Lahinch back on its feet.

“People travelled from Dublin and all over Ireland to help with the clean up. We had about 80 people working with us on Friday and another 100 people came on Saturday, so we got a lot of work done,” she said.

“We collected a massive amount of rubbish and debris from Lahinch and we were able to send out groups to other areas on Saturday. A lot of debris and stone was removed from Liscannor, we still have some work to finish in Cregg which we will hopefully get to soon.

“We would like to thank Clare County Council and Clean Coast for providing the gloves and bags and to John and Jessie who drove up from Ennis with lots of food for all the workers.”

Lahinch Seaworld is hopeful of reopening fully from next Monday, but no official date can yet be given as it takes the pool between seven and fourteen days to warm up after a complete shutdown.

“The gym reopened today and we’ve had a great crowd in already this morning. People have been very supportive,” said Joe Garrihy of Lahinch Seaworld.

“We are working on the heating system at the moment and we should be able to turn that on tomorrow with a view to reopening next Monday but we will have to wait how long that will take to heat up the water.

A ROADWAY used by more than a million tourists each year to travel between the Cliffs of Moher and Lahinch will not survive a month, if urgent work is not carried out.

The road, which is located on the Lahinch side of Liscannor village, was badly undermined during last week’s storm and, according to Patrick Blake of the Liscannor Har- bour Committee, will not survive another large swell.

With large sea swells expected in February and March, the road will be lucky to make it to the summer of work is not carried out soon.

“We have a very serious problem with the road which has been completely undermined and the Cliffs of Moher road is in danger of being closed. A stone wall that was protecting the road has been totally wiped out. If I was driving on that road, and a lorry was coming in the other direction, I would not keep going. It is that dangerous. All that is left there is mud holding the road together and it is a drop of 30 or 40 feet. We have a high tide coming in February and a couple in March and that could be the end of it.

“The pier [in Liscannor] itself, which is over 200 years old, has also been badly damaged. The power of the tide also created a couple of very large craters, which will have to be repaired.

“The Clathane Road is also very badly damaged. Farm land is not even flooded, it is covered with stones. The storm came like a Tsunami and wiped everything before it.”

More than 200 people turned out in Liscannor last Saturday to help restore the local pier and harbour following the devastation brought by Storm Catherine.

“It was like a group of locusts moving across the place. They swept across the place going unreal hard work all the way. We have five tractors there and they removed tonnes and tonnes of seaweed out of the way,” continued Patrick.

“The work done was amazing. We had people from the Surf Club in Lahinch and people coming from all over the country to help. It shows how people come together in a crisis. It was an amazing day, the atmosphere was so positive and everyone coming together to help.”

THE last ever singular budget for the town of Kilrush was passed on Thursday night last, with councillors voting on an expenditure of more than € 1.34 million.

Unlike other years, the budget took account that the councillors would become redundant in May with the dissolution of all town councils, and as a result funding for councillors’ wages and expenses is to cover just the first half of the year.

The € 1,342,548 budget for 2014 increased from € 1,327,958 in 2013. Income, excluding rates and pension levy, was estimated at € 576,183 in 2014 compared to € 631,133 in 2013.

Town manager Anne Haugh ex- plained, “It has been a particularly difficult exercise to balance the Budget for 2014. Kilrush Town Council are proposing no increase in commercial rates for 2014 being mindful of the current difficult economic climate and the difficulties that same pose for local businesses. It should be noted however, that with the proposed abolition of Kilrush Town Council a harmonisation of rates across the county over a ten year period is proposed.”

The Draft Budget been prepared with no income from the Local Government Fund.

“However we are still proposing to maintain the existing level of services in 2014,” said Ms Haugh.

Council payroll costs for this year are to remain the same at € 425,000

A 2005 loan for the upgrading of Henry Street and the Vandeleur Walled Garden project will cost the council € 66,154 this year.

Income from rents is expected to be up this year as refurbishment work to Kilrush Town Council’s Housing Stock means there are more houses available to rent.

An income from rents of local authority dwellings is estimated at € 320,000 with just over one tenth of the income ear marked for maintenance and refurbishment works.

Pay parking, which has proven a hot potato for the council in the past, is expected to bring in € 45, 500 to the council coffers.

Planning applications are also expected to be up. Due to the increase in the number of planning applica- tions received in 2013, an increase to € 3,000 has been provided for in Planning Application Fees for 2014.

Also included in this programme group is a provision of € 13,000 for tourism development and promotion, to fund the marketing and development of Kilrush as a significant tourist attraction.

“As in previous years, support for various projects have been included as it is felt that in these recessionary times, assistance to community projects is even more important than ever,” said Ms Haugh, aware that support for such projects in the future will fall to a larger local authority. Therefore it has been decided to again provide the Community and Development Projects Grants of € 5,500, the Community and Art Grants of € 2,000 and the Contribution to Graveyards of € 800. It is also proposed to increase the contribution to the Chamber of Commerce for the Christmas lights to € 10,500 to assist in the repayment of the balance of a loan taken out by the Chamber to buy the lights.

A further provision of € 5,000 has been provided for the Shop Front Initiative due to its success in 2013. It is also proposed that an increased provision of € 3,500 be made available for twinning for a delegation from Kilrush Town Council to travel to Plouzane in 2014 due to the proposed abolition of town councils in 2014.

One off capital projects are also to receive the full support of the town council before it comes to an end in four months time.

CLARE will receive less money from central government than any other county in Ireland in 2014, it was confirmed at last week’s budget meeting of Clare County Council.

Clare County Council will receive just € 2.647 million under the Local Government Fund (LGF) for 2014, a reduction of almost € 10 million on the € 12.3 million received by the county in 2013.

This represents a 78.48 per cent de- crease in the amount paid to Clare in just 12 months and also means that Clare County Council will receive less funding than any other local authority in Ireland under the Local Government Fund.

Much of this reduction is due to the transfer of water services from Clare County Council to the newly-formed Irish Water company.

Speaking at last week’s budget meeting, a number of councillors said that they felt they had been betrayed by the allocation from central government, especially considering that Clare recorded one of the highest compliance rates in the country for the Local Property Tax.

Commenting during the debate, Major of Clare, Joe Arkins (FG), said that he made contact with the Minster for Environment, Phil Hogan, to highlight the amount of LGF which has been allocated to Clare this year.

According to Cllr Arkins, the spokesperson for the Minister for the Environment said that the low level of funding for Clare County Council was a result of the establishment of Irish Water and the transfer of responsibilities from Clare County Council to this new group.

Cllr Tommy Brennan (Ind) also accused the new Irish Water company of taking “the cream” from this year’s budget.

Speaking about the budget a a whole, county manager Tom Coughlan said the Clare County Council would continue to work hard to provide services in a fast changing environment.

“Change is happening very quickly. Every day I am informed with some- thing different about the way that we work. Despite the fact that all that change is driving at us and challenging us we must ensure there is a structure in place to meet the needs of the people of Clare,” he said.

“If you look at the pay rates between 2009 and 2014, there has been a reduction of more than € 10 million.”

Mr Coughlan also confirmed that the budget was drafted before the recent storm damage along the western coast and that there was no funds in the budget for remedial works.

CLARE County Council last night debated a motion through the Irish language for the first time in years. The local authority gave their commitment to backing an Irish language Summer School for West Clare, based on the life of noted Gaeilgeóir and a champion of the Irish language, Anrai De Blác.

A motion on the subject, which was put forward by Cllr Gabriel Keating (FG) was passed at last night’s January meeting of Clare County Council.

A debate on the motion was conducted entirely in the Irish language, the first motion completed ‘as Gaeilge’ by the local authority in a number of years.

Cllr Keating, Cllr Christy Curtin (Ind) and Mayor of Clare, Joe Arkins (FG) each spoke on the motion in the Irish language with only Pat Keane (FF) speaking though the English.

The restoration of a Gaeltacht area in Clare has been mooted on a number of occasions in recent years. Works to restore the Irish language has been ongoing in a number of locations in Clare in recent years.

The former Mayor of Clare proposed the establishment of Gaeltacht areas in West Clare a number of years ago to facilitate the creation of an Irish college in area. Figures released following the last census showed a strong proficiency in the Irish language among Clare people are hopes are high that a revival is on the cards.

Meanwhile, in a separate motion, Cllr PJ Ryan (Ind) has requested that Clare County Council write to the newly-formed Irish Water Organisation demanding that they replace all lead piping which remains in the system.

Irish Water, which took over responsibly for the Clare water system 14 days ago, was last week embroiled in a controversy after it was revealed that the organisation has spent € 50 million on consultants last year.

THE prospect of swarming bees chasing stampeding cattle over dangerous cliffs in the Burren was raised at Clare County Council yesterday, as councillors could not decide whether to support a project to creation an Apiary (or bee sanctuary) in the Burren.

A motion to support plans by NUI, Galway, and other agencies to help reintroduce bees to the Burren created an unexpected stir at last night January meeting of Clare County Council, with a heated argument breaking out between North Clare based Cllr Michael Kelly (FF) and Ennis Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG).

The motion was opposed by Cllr Kelly who claimed that the introduction of bees would lead to cattle stampeded, which would result in the injury and death of animals.

“I am opposed this motion. Farmers are well aware that swarms of bees can cause a stampedes of cattle. I wish the bee keepers every success but if Cllr Flynn can suggest a site for this in Ennis, I would be very happy to supported it,” he said.

“I have 50 years of experience in farming in the Burren and if this goes ahead I have no doubt that it will create swarms of bees which will interfere with farmers and cattle.

“If the Burren floura is to flourish, it needs to be grazed during the summer. If you put bees into the Burren you won’t be able to graze cattle there safely.

“If you get an expert (from NUI, Galway) to speak here, of course they will be in favour of it, because they don’t have land in the Burren and they won’t have cattle with broken legs following stampeded in the Burren.”

Following a long debate on the motion, it was decided to defer a vote until expert opinion on the subject are invited to speak before Clare County Council.

“The experts at NUI, Galway and GMIT have a number of sites already in the Burren. With the history of organisations such as BurrenBeo and the significate investment already given to further farming practice in the Burren [the Burren Farming for Conservation Project] and there is an agreement that the Burren is the perfect spot for something like this. I would not consider that there would be any significant danger to livestock through this. Bee keeping is not an illegl activity; you can do it anywhere. This is not something new.”

A MOTHER has spoken of the terror felt by her family when their home was the target of a suspected gun attack in Ennis last week.

Shots were fired at a family home in the Cloughleigh area of the town in the early hours of New Year’s morning. No one was injured in the attack but windows and the front door of the house were damaged.

A husband and wife and seven children including a one-year-old girl were in the house at the time. A 46-year-old man was questioned and subsequently released without charge.

Gardaí in Ennis yesterday issued a renewed appeal for information.

They are interested in a grey saloon type car that was seen leaving the area at the time with two occupants on board. A garda spokesman said that investigations into the matter are ongoing. A large downstairs window and door remained boarded over at the house yesterday.

In her sitting room, the mother of eight, who was present in the house on the night, relived the horror of the attack.

The couple were upstairs watching television having just returned from a New Year’s Eve party when they heard the sound of windows breaking, according to the woman.

“We looked out and saw three men well known to us driving a silver private car. We shouted down at them,” she said.

The woman, who did not want her name to be published, said shots were then fired at the front door and at the upstairs bedroom window where her husband was standing while “rocks came through the sitting room win- dow”.

The couple’s daughters (ages eight, three and 16) and one-year-old grandchild were asleep upstairs at the time. Their three sons were asleep in a downstairs bedroom.

“We were terrified but the kids were probably more terrified,” the woman said.

The incident may be linked to a recent court case in Ennis, which the family had no direct involvement in.

The woman says the family’s car has previously been damaged while she says her son was the victim of a serious assault in Ennis last June.

She said, “We feel like our lives have been taken away from us. We are afraid for our children.

“We know nothing about any feuding that’d be going on in this town. We have nothing to do with anything like that. My husband has never been in trouble in his life. All we want is justice for this.”

Members of Ennis Town Council will meet in private today to discuss the incident in Cloughleigh.

Independent councillor Paul O’Shea yesterday warned that lives will be lost if violent incidents in Ennis do not stop.