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AS CLARE County Council cele- brated the official opening of its civic offices on Thursday last the conver- sation among guests was dominated not by the architecture, the environ- mentally friendly heating system or the disability access but the walls – the very green walls.

While the building itself was green in the environmental sense of the word, the bright green paint high- lighted the modern architecture and guests were evenly divided into two camps – those that loved it and those that favoured magnolia.

Whatever the feelings it certainly

made a conversation piece for those in attendance for the afternoon par- AY

The no-show of Minister for the Environment John Gormley didn’t dampen the spirits as Clare’s first citizen Mayor Cllr Patricia McCa- rthy opened the €25 million civic building.

Aras Contae an Chlair now pro- vides accommodation for 300 staff, as well as meeting rooms, staff canteen, laboratory, Mayor’s office, Council Chamber and three party rooms for the elected members. 320 car parking spaces are provided at the rear of the building.

Director of Services David Timlin,

who oversaw the building project, outlined how the Corporate Head- quarters building incorporates a number of environmentally friendly measures and operates as a naturally ventilated building. Solar panels and a wood chip heating system have been installed.

While many former local authority members and staff from the county were in attendance at the opening one former county councillor, who served with the county council for 11 years, took pride of place.

One time councillor, now success- ful businessman Bernard McNa- mara, was involved in the building as Michael McNamara and County

Building Contractors won the con- tract to construct the prominent building on New Road.

“T am delighted to be here because I probably took a bigger scelp off this job for old times sake when we were tendering for it. I think it was fortu- nate that it was the times that were rete

“It was a design build finance job and the financial rates that were available at the time were extraordi- narily more benefited than they are at the present.

“So the delivery of cost per foot here is half to two thirds to what some of the local authorities have spent in these buildings,” he said.

EVERYBODY who has volunteered with special olympics athletes in Shannon over the years will be hon- oured at a civic reception in the town later this month.

The event is part of the celebrations to mark the 30th anniversary of spe- cial olympics in Ireland.

Shannon Town Council will host the civic reception on Friday, May 23, while a family fun day will take place two days later, on May 25, at the leisure centre.

A primary schools art competition is also being organised, involving the six primary schools in Shannon and two nearby schools, Clonmoney

and Stonehall.

Prizes will be presented to the win- ners of that competition, also at the civic reception.

The family fun day will also incor- porate a walk from the Wolfe Tones GAA club to the leisure centre. Eve- rybody who takes part in the walk will receive a scroll, which will be an exact replica of the overall win- ning art piece.

35 people who have volunteered with the Shannon Flyers Special Ol- ympics Club will be honoured at the reception. The club was set up four years ago and has gone from strength to strength since then.

A number of young athletes who are members of the club will speak

at the reception. They will thank the volunteers who have put in much work to ensure their progress has been continued.

Chairman of the club Frank Fitzger- ald said the world games highlighted the need for a club in the area.

“Previously the work was done through the various services. There came a time when there was a need for a club in the area and a group got together,” said Mr Fitzgerald.

“With special olympics, it is very intense on man power and we need a lot of volunteers to run the club,’ he added.

Councillor Greg Duff (Lab), who is a member of the organising com- mittee, said it was important that the

profile of the club continues to grow.

“We are trying to keep up a contin- ued interest in the club,” he said.

“It will be a nice event, a family event and will recognise the work of the special olympics in Shannon. A lot of good work has been done over the years,’ added Mr Duff.

Members of Shannon Town Coun- cil pledged their support to the in1- tiative, at its monthly meeting last week.

AN BORD PLEANALA has ig- nored the objections of a number of residents’ associations to give the go-ahead for a €45 million housing development near the O’Keeffe oil depot in Ennis.

Dismissing objections from _ resi- dents in Pine Grove, Oak Park, Wil- low Park, Tobarkeel and Drehid- nagower Road against the 241 house

plan by Michael Lynch Ltd, the ap- peals board also overruled the strong recommendation of its own inspec- tor to refuse the application on four separate counts.

Two years ago, Ennis Town Council granted permission for the scheme at Drehidnagower Road, Lifford, and an inspector’s report into the appeal was delivered in January of last year.

However, in finally making its de- cision on the appeal, the Board has

significantly reduced the number of units in the proposal due to concerns over the impact the development will have on the Ennis floodplain.

The Board ruled that five apartment blocks be omitted and 28 terraced TO leehe

In her report, the inspector said the development was contrary to the En- nis Development Plan because of its excessive density, its inappropriate urban style site layout and its nega-

tive impact on existing houses.

She recommended refusal on the basis that the development didn’t take account of the basic principles of good urban design; would result in a substandard form of development with diminished on site residential amenity; would be out of character and visually obtrusive in the town- scape, with consequent serious injury to the visual amenities of the area.

In deciding not to accept the In-

spector’s recommendation to refuse permission, the Board had regard to the location and zoning of the lands in Ennis and considered that the modifications required addressed the Inspector’s concerns in relation to flooding, traffic safety and the order- ly development of adjoining lands.

The proposed development would, therefore, be 1n accordance with the proper planning and sustainable de- velopment of the area.

THE Ennis Town Engineer admitted yesterday that is it very difficult to emerge “squeaky clean” when decid- ing what level of information to re- lease to the public.

Tom Tiernan was commenting after it emerged that the Environmental Protection Agency warned the coun- cil that there was a risk of an out- break of cryptosporidium a month before two children went down sick 20M eLom DD BS Lotss

The council decided not to make the EPA’s concerns public and Mr Tiernan said the council was liaising with the Health Service Executive and the EPA on a continuing basis and “wouldn’t have time to do any- thing else if we were telling the pub- lic about all our dealings with these bodies”.

He said that a balance had to be struck between advising the public of any elevated risk and causing panic amongst the population.

“There are enough people do- ing that and we try our best to keep councillors and the general public informed as best we can.

“When there is a change to the sta- tus quo or a deterioration in the water supply, we would notify the public in consultation with the HSE”.

GET rrebeitcameer Imm selomMN sc IKo mm BKO)DOMENOLe Ennis public water supply was “very safe to drink’, he said that with the

treatment capacity of the plant in- creased by 25 per cent, there had been significant improvement in the water quality but not on the scale that a permanent plant would provide.

He pointed out prior to June 2006 when the temporary treatment plant became operational, there was no fil- tration of the water for cryptosporid- ium.

“Since then, there has been a sub- stantial improvement in the qual- ity and reliability of the water and a significant reduction in the risk of cryptosporidium.”’

“We are working towards compli- ance and we are taking this very se- riously. I would expect the council would be compliant over the next number of days as we are tweaking and optimising the additional capac- LANs

Mr Tiernan said that the council had to increase the number of filters in the plant for eight to ten in March due to extra demand on the system over the past 12 months and had faced technical issues in trying to maximise the treatment of the water for cryptosporidium.

“A number of the filtration units required servicing as the demands placed on the system over the winter took its toll and the issue is further complicated by the construction of the permanent plant because there are a number of parts that are inter- linked,” he said.

A YOUNG Barefield woman broke down in tears as she listened to her sister, Laura, recall how her mother suffered from MRSA and kept the extent of her illness from her family.

Laura, a young mother of one, who has now found the strength to lead the Ennis support group, explained how she was due to give birth to her first child at the end of 2006 when the MRSA nightmare began for the EVOOUE As

“I was due to give birth to my daughter in Limerick. It would have been my mother’s first grandchild. My mother had Parkinson’s for years and she was admitted to Ennis hos- pital while I was in hospital for five weeks before I gave birth to Alicia.

“I had to go visit her in the Inten- sive Care Unit and go back to the maternity unit directly after my visit. Only for I took it upon myself and the matron in the maternity warned me about the MRSA bug, I would not be aware of the threat.

“T wasn’t asked to wash my hands. I wasn’t asked to do anything. I did it of my own accord. Nobody met me at the doors.

“IT wore no gowns going into the Intensive Care Unit. My mum had MRSA for 40 days and the doctors denied it. My mum visited Caher- calla for a short period and she had a bed sore that was left untreated. She went back to Ennis General Hospital again and it was left untreated there as well, only for my aunt took it upon herself everyday to wash the wound.

‘After I had my daughter who was prematurely born, it was a while be- fore I was able to visit my mum again. When I went in to visit her, she was in a public ward and they still denied she had MRSA. I was there with her as much as I could, not knowing she was carrying the bug and I’d go back to my daughter every night.

She died Christmas Eve morning. The day before she died, I just looked at her chart and her doctor had writ- ten MRSA, just two days before she ehteren

“Only for I looked at her chart that day, I would have never known. I lost the head and went out and called for the matron – or whoever she was – I don’t know. And they still denied it. The doctor came down and he denied it and it was written down in black and white. A day later she died.

‘“Ttis down on her death cert that she died of the bug. I made everybody on that ward know she carried it.

All these elderly people with open sores and they just lay beside her on the ward.”

PLANS to build a pitch and putt fa- cility in Shannon have been mooted by members of the county pitch and putt association.

The aim is to have the centre open to the public and available to the town of Shannon.

Although the proposal is only in its initial phase hopes are high that it will get the go-ahead given that there is no such facility in the town

at present.

There were attempts to start up a pitch and putt course in Drumgeely several years ago but it never got off the ground.

The nearest pitch and putt facility is a private initiative in Sixmilebri- dge.

In a letter to Shannon Town Coun- cil last week, two members of the county pitch and putt club made sug- gestions regarding the establishment of a club.

The letter, signed by Niall Reynolds and Declan Sheedy along with local man Paddy Halton, said that market research has been carried out on the possibility of such an initiative.

Site design criteria and course op- erating costs have been examined, while a model on what a pitch and putt course in the town might look like has also been drawn up.

“We would like to appraise the town council of our work so far and seek the council’s support for the

project,” stated the letter.

The proposers have suggested that they make a presentation on the plans to Shannon Town Council next month.

“We believe the course will have widespread community appeal and add to the recreational and sporting fabric of the town,” added the letter.

The Mayor of Shannon, Councillor Sean McLoughlin (FG), said he will do all he can to bring the project to fruition.

THE founder of the Irish Rural Dwellers Association, Jim Connolly has complained to County Manager, Alec Fleming about a verbal attack on him by a senior council planner.

Last month, Scottish-born planner Bill Sansum responding to a claim from Mr Connolly (below) that ru- ral dwellers are suffering from an imported “British ideology in the planning system” said that as a for- eign national and planner working in Clare, he took strong exception to this sort of “gratuitous, offensive and paranoid drivel’.

Mr Connolly has now written to Mr Fleming and the Ombudsman stating that any attack of this kind made by a local authority employee on a mem- ber of the public was in breach of the code of conduct for employees and brought the Council into disrepute ‘‘as well as shattering any confidence in the planning system vis-a-vis fair- ness and impartiality”.

“As a private citizen pursuing my

democratic right to lobby for legisla- tive change in planning and to public- ly challenge what the IRDA contend is a historically accurate planning ideology of forced urbanisation on rural Ireland which has its origins in the UK, I object in the strongest pos- sible terms to the personal attacks made about me in newspapers by planners employed by local authori- (one

“T also refer to the Ombudsman’s Guide to Standards of Best Practise for Public Servants which “clarifies citizens rights and the principles of good administration which include objectivity and impartiality and the need to avoid unfair discrimina- wo) eae

“It is not just a damning indictment of the planning process that indi- vidual planners are permitted to vent their spleen in the media on private citizens going about their legitimate, democratic pursuits, but confirms the behaviour of many planners as being personal, autocratic, arrogant and unaccountable.

In his comments last month, Mr Sansum said that by attacking local authority planners in this way and as a soft target, Mr Connolly did the IRDA no credit whatsoever.”

Mr Sansum said that the IRDA’s arguments in favour of loosening up the rules for more one-off hous- ing in rural areas don’t stack up as Government policy was moving the other way.”

He said that as a professional plan- ner, he was accountable to Irish law and Irish guidelines on planning.

through the Freedom of Information Act show that the Environmental

Protection Agency warned the coun- cil in January that the water supply was at risk of another outbreak of cryptosporidium.

Council officials did not make the public aware of the EPA concerns and a month later, an outbreak of cryptosporidium resulted in two children being hospitalised.

The documentation shows that de- spite a budget of €3 million for a

temporary water treatment plant, 25 to 30 per cent of the water go- ing through the plant was not being treated for cryptosporidium.

This was also kept secret and the EPA audit stated that when raw water conditions are poor, there is in effect no treatment barrier to the parasite in the Ennis public water supply.

“This places the supply at risk of another outbreak of cryptosporid-

tum’, the EPA concluded.

Clir Meaney said, “I don’t know if we can trust the officials anymore. This is appalling, people who were elected to represent the people are being kept in the dark, misinformed, told that the filtration plant was Oya ena

AN additional 18 charges have been brought by the State, as part of an in- vestigation into alleged damage to a Bank of Ireland pass machine. Romanian nationals Pavel Cirpaci (29), of Carrig Court, Fortunes- town Lane, Tallaght, Dublin 24, and Gabriela Lupo (20), of Stewart House, Dublin 1, had nine charges

each brought against them in court last week.

They were both charged with un- lawfully withdrawing money – to- talling €4,860 – from nine Bank of Ireland accounts at New Street, Kil- larney, on February 11 last.

The amounts allegedly taken from the accounts range from €220 and a L0eR

Both were previously charged with

damaging a Bank of Ireland ATM at SkyCourt, Shannon, on February 12 last. At a previous court hearing into the matter, Judge Joseph Man- gan declined jurisdiction of the case and it was adjourned for preparation of the Book of Evidence for the Cir- cuit Court.

Shannon District Court heard last Thursday that the new charges were included in the Book of Evidence.

Both were returned for trial. The defendants’ barrister Michael Hour1- gan applied for bail for Mr Cirpaci, who was in custody.

‘He has a wife and child here. He has lived here for the past six years. It’s his entitlement to bail,’ said the barrister.

However, Judge Joseph Mangan re- fused the application. Ms Lupo was remanded on continuing bail.

TO celebrate National Biodiversity Week, Coole Park in Gort will next week host a number of events de- signed to promote the diverse ani- mal, plant and habitats that exist in the Burren area.

Events begin this Sunday, May 18, with the Coole Park Family Day. The day’s festivities, which will run from 2pm to 5pm, will include storytell- ing, nature based games and activi- ties for children and the chance to discover what lives and grows along the woodland in the Biodiversity sheik

The following Saturday, May 25 from 7.30 to 10.30pm, environmen-

talist and artist Gordon D’Arcy will be joined by the Galway Bat Group for the Evening Bird Chorus and Bat Walk.

On Sunday May 25 a guided Tree Walk at 3pm will offer people the chance to learn more about the story of the trees at Coole Park.

“Biodiversity includes all living things – everything from micro- organisms to whales, bugs, birds, plants, animals, people and _ their habitats,” said a spokesperson from Coole Park.

“It is vital that we protect and pre- serve as much of the delicate balance of nature as we can.

“The variety of living things 1s enormous, and we all depend on each

other for survival.”

Meanwhile, a number of other events will take place in Clare to cel- ebrate Biodiversity Week.

On Thursday May 22, Clare Bat Group will host a bat walk and talk at the Burren College of Art in Bal- lyvaughan.

CELT have also organised evening walks on May 20 and 22 with guide Andrew St Ledger of the Woodland League.

On Tuesday May 20, at 6.45pm, a walk will leave from Tuamgraney Heritage Centre.

It will take in the Raheen Ancient Oak Wood and the ‘Brian Boru Oak’ which is said to be more than 1000 years old.

Then on Thursday May 22, also at 6.45pm, a walk will leave from Flagmount shop before taking in the Cahermurphy Oak Wood Nature Reserve. Both walk are free to the public.

All activities at Coole Park are free of charge and organised by National Parks and Wildlife Service and Peo- ple and Nature – the Galway Biod1- versity Project.

Coole Park is managed by the Na- tional Parks and Wildlife Service of the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government.

For more information contact Coole Park at 091 631804, e-mail info@coolepark.ie or check out www.coolepark.ie