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MORE than 20 people in Clare who have had development on their lands frozen by part of the planning act are being treated unconstitutionally, it was claimed last night.

The council is damaging it’s own policy to halt rural depopulation by putting Section 47 orders on land Where one permission has_ been granted, members of Clare County Council were told.

The deferred meeting of the coun- cil heard from Cllr PJ Kelly(FF) who had asked for details in relation to section 47 conditions placed on the granting of planning in areas where the is a lack of development, known as structurally weak areas.

The condition means that no other permission, regardless of what it is, will be given on that land for a pe- riod, usually five years.

“I believe that many people in County Clare have had section 47s

imposed illegally. Section 47 is in- tended for urban areas, not for rural areas which are structurally weak. We are suffering from a condition called planorexia,” he said.

The councillor called for the “1- legal burdens to be removed forth- We LNee

Cllr Madeleine Taylor-Quinn (FG) seconded the motion.

“In my view, the issuing of section 47’s is an unconstitutional act. Land where a section 47 is applied could

vary in size from 10 acres to 100 acres and no distinction is made. It’s inequitable,’ she told the meeting.

Councilor Pat Hayes (FF) said he supported his fellow councillors. “I sought legal opinion six months ago on this area.”

Councillors expressed concern that section 47’s were making freezing family lands where a second and subsequent children in one family would need to build homes.

ClUlr Martin Lafferty (Ind) said he believed the application of a section 47 is “often a matter of opinion. I know of at least one case where one planner was going to impose a freez- ing order and after discussions with a more senior planner. It wasn’t im- posed.”

In written reply to the councillor’s query, Director of Services, Berna- dette Kinsella, said that there have been 21 section 47 conditions 1m- posed in Clare since 2005 and she was not aware of any being removed in that period.

Cllr Kelly said he wanted officials to go back and find out how many of these had been imposed in structur- ally sensitive areas.

Manager Alex Fleming told the meeting that in relation to the ques- tion of the equal provisions in struc- turally sensitive areas was that the act itself made reference to such areas.

CLARE football is at a crossroads and can go one way or the other. It’s nothing new for the minority GAA sport in the county to be in this state of chassis. It’s always been the way, in all the bad times and very few good times there have been down the generations.

It’s simple really — those charged with promoting the game can commit themselves to the future 1n a positive and proactive way or just carry on the way things have been for most of the 124 years of the GAA in Clare.

People in power don’t like hearing it, much less reading it, but it’s the lack of commitment that’s institu- tionalised at county board level that has kept Clare football down so often and for so long.

County boards have always point- ed to the balance sheet, explaining away its commitment to the game in terms of the amount of money spent on county teams every year. Money never papers over the cracks that are more like the San Andreas faultline.

This is the board’s annual cop-out — the safety net to absolve the top ta- ble from any responsibility for doing something tangible about address- ing Clare’s Third World status as a county football entity.

It was no fault of the Clare senior

team that went down to Killarney on Sunday as ready-made fodder for Kerry’s machine as it very slowly cranked into action for another year.

The Clare team that went down by 1-14 to O-5 were a product of neglect — the blame for which goes to the top and has nothing to do with Frank Doherty and co.

You see, it’s more than county board money that makes the wheels turn — much more important than money is mindset, from the top table down to the clubs. Value, real value, just isn’t placed in a Clare football jersey, from the board or many club WEN Ece

A properly audited system for the development of football in the coun- ty isn’t there — the coaches aren’t there. It’s simple mathematics, but coaches in numbers in every nook and cranny of Clare would help give truth to theory that you speculate to accumulate.

Instead, Clare football has just let good men go. Former manager Do- nie Buckley was a de-facto member of the Limerick backroom team on Sunday, brought in by Mickey ‘Ned’ O’Sullivan to help with the team’s preparations.

Buckley should not have been lost to Clare football — think of the ex- pertise he could give young players in the Development Squad system. Pat

Hanrahan too — a man who helped Clare to win in ’92 and Doonbeg win a Munster club in ’98.

It’s not just the board though, some- thing that came home to roost on Saturday evening in Doonbeg. When Kilmurry Ibrickane brought on Paul O’Connor and Martin McMahon as subs in the O’Gorman Cup, Clare county football was dealt a mortal blow. Both were in action for the Clare junior team the following day.

Who allowed this happen? The club want call on their players — nothing wrong there, but it shouldn’t have come to this. If there was a danger that they’d be played in the O’Gorman Cup final, the fixture should have been pulled by the county board and re-fixed at a later date.

Of course the board will argue that it wasn’t their decision, as the com- petition is run by the Doonbeg club. Doesn’t wash though — the competi- tion has the backing of the board and the board had a duty to intervene and protect the interests of the county team.

This must never happen again, but then again there are a lot of things that shouldn’t happen.

PUBLIC opposition to plans to build on the post office field is mounting, a meeting of Ennis Town Council has heard.

Councillors at last Wednesday’s meeting warned of protests against any moves to alter the post office field from its current status as a greenfield site.

There were renewed calls to ex- plore alternative sites including the de Valera Library and the post office yard.

However, Town manager Jom Coughlan told the meeting that an independent report had already rec- ommended against re-developing the CHUM ESN Le) EPMA SI Kos

He also confirmed that while En- nis Town Council would manage the new library, Clare County Council would incur the cost of hiring con- sultants.

Ennis Town Council is looking to develop a new two-storey library at an in-fill site between the post office and St Columba’s Church, Bindon Nl stslel

Independent councillor Frankie Neylon said people in Ennis were opposed to developing the post of- fice field.

He said, “Why was it called a land- fill site between the post office field and the church. As far as I know there has been no vote to change the status of the field. The people out there don’t want it changed. People

are angry. I would like to see the public involved at an early stage.”

Cllr Neylon said the de Valera li- brary should be re-developed. “Why wasn’t the present site of the library considered or the old museum’? There are plenty of areas. You could Open up the museum and extend the library. There is plenty of room.”

Fine Gael councillor Johnny Flynn said he would vote against re-zoning the land.

“The site isn’t zoned for library use. I wouldn’t be voting to have it re-zoned. There was a public consul- tation process two years ago and the public voted overwhelmingly against it. We are going down the road of protest and I would be supporting the protests.”

Councillors agreed in November 2007 to appoint a design team for the library project and prepare a plan outlining any future use of the field.

Mr Coughlan said Ennis needed a new library. “Its to the benefit of the town to have a new and better library in the town. The public consultation process hasn’t even started…If the public consultation process deter- mines that the post office field isn’t suitable, then we won’t proceed.”

Fianna Fail councillor Tom Glynn urged the council to re-consider a site closer to the post office building. Mr Coughlan said he was unsure whether such a site was available. “If anyone has a suitable site that they know is available, they can suggest it to us.”

LISCANNOR man Thomas Buckley, leads the way at the half-way point in this year’s Biland National Karting Championship. With five races under his belt, Buckley leads the standings by three points from second place David Yamamoto.

After winning the first race in the Series, Thomas has claimed three second place finishes and one fifth place finish. The season has taken a summer break but Thomas is hopeful of continuing his impressive second season when racing starts again in August.

“There are some hard-core racers taking part in this years. There are about 10 or 12 racers who are really in contention to win each race,” said Thomas.

“It’s very tight at the top. At the moment there is just two points be- tween myself and David but it’s even closer than that. At the end of the season each racer is allowed to drop his worst result from the final com- petition. So if we both drop out worst results at this stage I am only a point ahead.

“Tt’s quite now of the national championship for the next few months. There will be a number of

two day plate races taking place but they don’t count towards the national championship.

“Once August comes around again the races will be coming quick and Jeo me ex- 0 0

Thomas’ lead in this years compe- tition has been built on consistency. With four different drivers winning the five races to date his ability to get close to the front on a regular basis is paying dividends.

‘Three of the last four races are on tracks that we know well and have raced already this year so that is a good sign. There is only one really unknown track,” continued Thomas,

who represented Ireland in the World Biland Championship in Brazil last year.

“The good thing is that we have been on the pace in every track – we haven’t had any really poor results. In the last two races in particular, we have finished second but we were only a few hundreds of a second off the first place.

“We haven’t heard what is going to happen with the World Champion- ship yet this year but I’m sure it will be taking place later in the season. I would hope to get as far as the world final again this year.” Thomas is sponsored by Lahinch Surf Shop.

THE council chambers in Kilrush witnessed one of its most heated Kil- rush Town Council meetings of the year on Thursday.

More than 30 local business peo- ple packed into the small upstairs chamber to witness the June monthly meeting.

As some councillors spoke, those present coughed loudly in protest, at times drowning out what was be- ing said. Kilrush County Councillor Madeleine Taylor Quinn (FG) was also in attendance in the public gal- a

The contentious motion on the agenda was raised by Cllr McMahon Jones (FG) who asked for a detailed account from the town manager in relation to the acquisition of a site for the new civic offices in Kilrush.

Town Manager Bernadette Kin- sella told the meeting that “normal

professional advice was sought” and €15,000 was spent on valuation, a feasibility study and expert financial advice.

She said that in the mid-1990s five sites were examined and €20,000 was spent on that study.

In the last four to five years, 17 sites were examined and in the last year to year and a half, a feasibility study was carried out on four sites in the town including Park de Plouzane, John Paul Estate and the Cooraclare Road, according to the manager.

She said she did not have anything that equated to a €1.6 million civic office proposal raised by Cllr Mc- Mahon Jones, so she could not com- TneCsunLO) OMG eTeL

“Is that as detailed as that can be?” the councillor asked the manager af- ter she had answered.

Cllr McMahon Jones then asked for a detailed report on the four sites examined in the last year and a half

and a full list of land owned by the council.

“I am very very disappointed by the overall response. We need to be informed. Evasive answers and half answers are not what we are looking for,’ she said.

Cllr Liam O’Looney (FF) asked if the town hall would have to be sold to finance the venture.

“Last year when we could not bal- ance the books and afford €50,000 for the project, it was reduced to €24,000. I have reservations about how we can find €1.4 million. I don’t feel comfortable going forward with this,” he said.

Cllr Deirdre Culligan (Ind) asked if the manager considered acquiring the site under the derelict site act.

“IT don’t know what would have been the benefit, as we would have to pay for valuation and the mar- ket value, and in my experience we could have ended up in arbitration,”

said the manager.

“To suggest that I am withholding information is incorrect. I will give you information when I can. Like any such capital acquisition it will be spread over a number of years,’ she added.

She said she apologised if she mis- understood the motion and further information was required.

Cllr Tom Prenderville (FF) told the meeting that the questions asked by the councillors were legitimate and they were entitled to answers.

‘“T am satisfied that the property on Francis Street should be purchased. I have no problem in proposing a vote of confidence in the managers ability to do this,” he said.

He said the arrival of the areas of- fices to Kilrush put space at a pre- mium.

“If anyone made an argument, it is the people here tonight. We are breaching fire regulation and health

and safety regulations here tonight,” he said.

His comments were greeted with loud coughing from the public gal- a

He then referred to what he de- scribed as threats made to the town manager at a recent chamber of com- merce meeting.

Cllr Marian McMahon Jones asked the manager if Clare County Council had put up €700,000 for the purchase of the former Inis Cathaigh site.

“In principle, probably yes,” said Cllr Prendeville and the coughing began again.

His proposal of a vote of confi- dence in the manager was passed by five councillors to three.

Prior to this, the councillors were also split five to three in adopting the Annual Financial Statement.

THE GOVERNMENT should do more to drive home the advantages of life outside the big smoke. That was the call from the Mayor of Shan- non after it was revealed that only 60 of some 402 public servants due to decentralise to Shannon had made the move.

Despite having been provided with state-of-the art new offices in West- park, just 60 En- terprise Ireland staff have de- camped the capi- tal for Shannon.

yaUie mmm letomme)ueyeet ised exodus of the Irish Avia- tion Authority to Shannon, a move which was seen as one that would lend support to the status of the airport, hasn’t happened at all.

Not one member of staff has made the move.

DIMOrO MU ENE or of Shannon, Cllr Sean McLaugh- lin said that the Government had not delivered on what it promised would be “the be all and end all”.

“It’s understandable that a lot of people won’t want to move because they have children in secondary school or partners working in Dublin but I can’t believe there aren’t more than 60 people who would be will- ing to come to Shannon if they fully understood the advantages.”

Cllr McLaughlin said that the Government needed to promote the work-life advantages of living and

working outside Dublin.

“Shannon is a beautiful place. The Enterprise Ireland offices have the most amazing facilities – a fabulous view over the river, a restaurant and a gym. And people who are now com- muting from as far out as Kildare and spending three hours a day in the car could be from their house to the office in a fraction of that time with no jams.”

The region was promised 300 En-

terprise Ireland staff and 102 Irish Aviation Authority staff.

The Irish Avia- tion Authority has said that it does not expect to see the full quota of jobs de- camp to Shannon for another three years.

The one Clare success story for decentralisation was in KlIlrush, Where the move of 57 revenue employees was

completed last year.

Mayor of Clare Patricia McCarthy (Ind) described the lack of progress in Shannon as “extremely disap- joreypalansteaae

“Decentralisation has had some success but this isn’t one. It’s hard to understand, given that the same work at the same level is involved. And it’s also hard to understand why the IAA not decentralised as it was supposed to.”

DETAILS have been announced of the third annual Ennis Street Festi- val, which takes place from July 5 to 6. The festival, based in various loca- tions around the town centre, offers a wide programme of events, organiz- ers are confident will appeal to young and old alike. Saturday will kick off with a performance by the interna- tional award winning Mr Toons in O’Connell Square at lpm.

Other events on the Saturday will include the Cork Street Circus, dance workshops at Glor theatre. Live mu- Sic 1S an integral part of the festival and this year’s event offers every-

thing from eastern European classi- cal music to heavy rock.

All events over the weekend are run on a completely voluntary basis and rely on support from Businesses and Individuals in Clare.

On Saturday, Ennis also plays host to the 2008 International Pipe Band Championship. The event takes place in the Showgrounds Ennis and is expected to draw big crowds to the Oi e0k

The championship venue is tradi- tionally alternated between counties on both sides of the border. Ennis beat of stiff competition from Kil- kenny and Limerick to be selected as the 2008 venue.

The event will host pipers from the thirty two counties of Ireland and further afield including USA and Scotland.

On Sunday the gig rig, at Market Street car park, serves as the festi- val’s centerpiece with performances from local band Billy, Clare Youth Centre and a traditional music ses- sion.

Other events in Market Street will include the Ennis farmer’s market and a vintage automobile exhibition.

Brogan’s Bar will host a barbeque with all donations going towards the running cost of the event. Sunday will continue with music from Sam- barrada, Dog and String and street

comedy from the intriguingly billed West Kerry, Italian, Fancini Broth- ase

The evening continues with a string of live performances with the main event, a Cabaret competition hosted by Mr Toons and the Fanzini Broth- ers in the West County Hotel.

The street festival concludes with a performance by Latin music col- lective Armada Latina in Brandon’s bar.

Anyone interested in providing assistance or requiring further in- formation on the event can contact www.ennisstreetfestival.com, email ennisstreetfestival@eircom.net or phone 065 6893966.

THE IFA has already set its sites on the next round of the social part- nership talk with President Padraig Walshe putting the Farm Improve- ment Scheme (FIS) as number one on his wish list from the Government.

With more than 5,000 farmers ef- fectively locked out of the scheme al- together Walshe is looking for urgent action coupled with the introduction of a flexible arrangements to allow farmers to complete work under the Farm Waste Management Scheme (FW MS).

Speaking after last week’s first bi-lateral partnership meeting, Mr Walshe said many farmers who ap- plied for the FIS between October 21, 2007 and the closure date of Oc-

tober 31, 2007 had not been approved by the Department of Agriculture to proceed with much-needed invest- ment.

“Most of this work is linked to other investments under the FWMS as well as investments to modernise and improve efficiency on farms,” he Sr NIGe

“In relation to the FWMS, as many as 33,000 farmers had yet to com- plete work under the scheme and the December 31 deadline to finish work is totally unreasonable.

“We need a flexible arrangements to be put in place to allow any farmer who has started work to be eligible for the 60 per cent grant when work is completed.”

Mr Walshe raised IFA’s serious concerns over the failure of the De-

partment of Agriculture to increase standard costs in line with the in- creased cost of structural steel, con- crete and labour.

“I would like to remind the Gov- ernment of their commitment in the charter of rights that costings would increase each year in line with gener- al building costs. Failure to do this is imposing higher net investment costs on farmers,” he continued.

A further meeting of partnership is planned for next week when IFA expect a Government response to the farm grant issues, and other demands set out in IFA’s submission.

Meanwhile, IFA countryside chair- man David Wilkinson has reacted angrily to Department of Commu- nication confirmation through the Freedom of Information Act that the

National Broadband Scheme was not getting priority attention.

“Rural homes and businesses are already years behind the rest of Eu- rope when it comes to the availability of affordable broadband. It is totally unacceptable that at times there was nobody working on ensuring that this essential initaitive is rolled out across the country,’ he said.

“It is vital that this Government investment in rural broadband is prioritised so that every rural home and business has access to affordable broadband as quickly as _ possible. The Minister for Communications, Eamon Ryan, must ensure that this scandalous neglect within his depart- ment of a vital initiative 1s addressed and now has an obligation to deliver the rural broadband scheme ASAP.”

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The Irish Road Hauliers Associa- tion (IRHA) have set a deadline of June 27 for progress to be made on the issue or they will take to the Streets on protest.

One of the counties oldest haulage companies, Spa Transport, revealed yesterday that it has had to cut back staff as a direct result of the soaring cost of diesel.

“This is a huge issue, people have gone out of the business already and there are going to be more casualties. I myself had to sell two trucks and let people go because of this,” said Eu- gene Brennan of Spa Transport Ltd and the IRHA.

‘No matter how big or small you are this is savage. We have had a higher percentage increase in the last year and a half than has been felt over the last 20 years.

“It has affected us in many ways. The increases in diesel are really massive and we cannot be going to OUT MCLUT Kees RMAY ALO MUST KERA (OM ANCE RA

Besides that it has hit business gener- ally meaning that there is less busi- ness for us to compete for. Coupled with that we have been hit by a sur- charge by the shipping companies meaning a further increase in our overheads.

More than 100 years old, Spa Trans- port began life hauling produce from the west Clare railway using a horse and cart. The company now trans- ports high tech produce out of Shan- non as well as agricultural produce.

“It needs to be addressed in a two fold process. First we must go to the customer and look for a surcharge. We are going to have to do this to keep going. We are trying to meet with all the industry and get this idea across to them. We want a simple rate that does up and goes down with the price of oil,” continued Mr Bren- WE NOe

‘The other side of it is that we have to go to Government. They can either declare us an essential service like the buses and give us a special rate, they can rebate our fuel like they do with farmers, they can create a stable structure for a switch to using plant oil, they can assist us with the intro- duction of surcharging or they could help us to hedge our fuel and buy for- ward like the way airlines do.”

ENNIS Town Council has raised a number of questions over plans by an Ennis builder to establish a private members club in the centre of Ennis.

Earlier this year, Jack McCarthy lodged plans with Ennis Town Coun- cil for change of use of office on the third floor of the former Central Buildings at the Abbey Street car-

park to a private members club.

A decision was due on the applica- tion last Friday, however, the council has put the plan on hold, requesting further information on the proposal.

In putting the plan on hold, the coun- cil ask ‘what kind of ‘private mem- bers club’ is proposed here? What will it facilitate? During what hours will it function? Will it function as a live music or nightclub venue? Will

it be rented out for parties, functions, gathering? Will sale of alcohol take place? Is it proposed to provide an outdoor smoking facility?’

The council state that under the En- nis and Environs Development Plan, proposals for development involving evening and late night commercial retail and entertainment uses will only be permitted within, or immedi- ately adjacent to Ennis Town Centre

or the local centres and where it can be clearly demonstrated that there will be no detrimental impact on the character and function of the area. The council are also seeking that the proposal will result in no adverse effect on the character of a conser- vation area or other place of special architectural or historic character; will not result in adverse transport or environmental effects; no det-

rimental effect on the amenity en- joyed by neighbouring uses or where the proposal relates to ground floor premises, a shop front or appropriate ols 0F

Mr McCarthy is of McCarthy Bros, which has built hundreds of houses in Ennis and other parts of Clare in re- cent years. Already, a private mem- bers club exists in a building opposite Ennis Community College.