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AN ADMINISTRATIVE error in Clare County Council’s planning department cost the local authority €650,000 in a High Court settle- ment, it was confirmed yesterday.

Stunned councillors were told of the cost by council executives at a meet- ing behind closed doors on Monday.

The €650,000 payment is made up of compensation to a couple, Bernard Madigan and Mary Keane, as well as legal and professional fees and other “substantial” costs. The breakdown between compensation, legal and professional fees and the remaining costs has not been revealed.

The settlement arose from the cou- ple taking a High Court judicial re-

view over refusal of a planning ap- plication for 31 houses at Inagh.

Cllr PJ Kelly (FF), who called for the special meeting last month, said he was shocked by what he had been told by the council executives.

“TI didn’t think it could happen. It 1s beyond my wildest imagination what has occurred in this case,” he said.

He declined to state what details emerged from the meeting or the fig- ure involved, but said: “I don’t know the couple but I commend them for succeeding where others have failed and having the financial wherewithal to successfully challenge the system.

‘I hope we never see the likes of this again otherwise heads will roll.”

Cllr Kelly, who tabled a number of motions on the issue over the past

year, said the local government audi- tor could investigate the matter.

Cllr Madeleine Taylor Quinn (FG) said she was astounded at the infor- mation that had surfaced.

“This matter is not over yet and there are a lot of questions still to be answered,” she said.

At yesterday’s meeting, the council executives claimed there was no loss to the council as their insurer covered the €650,000 and they were able to claw back money in planning finan- cial contributions from the couple.

However, a number of councillors raised concerns over what effect the payout might have on the council’s premium.

Mr Madigan and Ms Keane lodged their application for 31 homes at a

site outside Inagh in 2005. It is under- stood that when they lodged further information on the application, it was not logged on the internal planning system and resulted in the due date for decision not being signalled.

This gave rise to the application not being decided upon within the prede- termined timeframe.

The two were then refused planning permission, but initiated High Court judicial review proceedings. Coun- cillors were told that if the case went to court, the local authority’s expo- sure could have been much higher.

Last year, the council granted plan- ning to the couple for a revised de- velopment on the same site. It is now up for sale with a guide price of €2 million.

HASTING’S Cottage in Shannon should be considered if a cremato- rium is built in the town according to a local heritage group.

Duchas na Sionna has made a number of recommendations relating to the Hasting’s site.

A planning application to build a crematorium, covered walkways and remembrance garden in Tullyvarraga is pending.

In a letter circulated to members of

Shannon Town Council last week, Duchas na Sionna said it wished to point out that the remains of Hast- ing’s Cottage would be sandwiched between the new structures and the present graveyard at [llaunamanagh, should the plans get the green light.

‘“Hasting’s Cottage is a vital part of the heritage of Shannon town. It is shown on the 1840 ordnance survey map of the area and may indeed have been built considerably before that date,” stated the letter.

“The cottage was the setting in

a drama that unfolded during the War of Independence when a Brit- ish Army General was held captive there,’ added the letter.

“Given the location of the cottage in the immediate vicinity of the pro- posed development, we feel it is of the utmost importance that a bound- ary be erected before the commence- ment of building works to prevent any accidental damage to the cottage and garden boundaries during the course of construction. A fine set of concrete gate piers would be particu-

larly vulnerable as they are located very close to the edge of the site,” it added.

The letter stated that Duchas na Sionna feels that the remains at the cottage site present an “invaluable Opportunity to the people of Shan- non to learn about the history of their locality and hopes at some stage in the future to carry out a detailed survey and supervised excavation of the site of Hasting’s Cottage as part of a community heritage project,’ it added.

THE PROMOTERS of the €150 million Doonbeg Golf Resort are to finally implement the terms of a High Court agreement struck four years ago in relation to a disputed right of way.

This follows four locals settling their claim with the golf club over its failure to date to implement the terms of the High Court deal reached in February 2004. This prompted four locals in Doonbeg to lodge pro-

ceedings at Ennis Circuit Court.

The case was due to be heard at Ennis Circuit Court last Wednesday. However the court was told the case nE:YeMoleres soln O(oreb

A spokesman for Doonbeg Golf Club said yesterday that “we are hap- py that the matter has been resolved to everyone’s satisfaction”.

As part of the terms of the High Court agreement, five locals agreed to an alternative right of way lead- ing to the golf club to build a bar- rier across the existing right of way

which traverses the 15th hole of the golf course to Doughmore beach.

The five that secured the agree- ment with the golf club were Thomas Considine, James O’Leary, Chris Carroll, Sinead Carroll and Simon O’Donnell, who has since passed on.

Arising from the High Court set- tlement, Doonbeg Golf Club built a six foot high wall across the disputed right of way.

However, this precipitated An Bord Pleanala ruling that the club acted 1l- legally in building the wall and that

decision is now the subject of sepa- rate High Court action by Doonbeg Golf Club.

In the circuit court action, the sur- viving four involved in the original High Court settlement lodged papers alleging that Doonbeg Golf Club “has failed, refused and neglected to take the requisite steps to comply with the Terms of Settlement and has failed to meet its obligations on foot of the settlement”.

The four claimed that no steps had been taken by Doonbeg Golf Club

to register the four’s right of way as a burden on their title deed; that no steps have been taken by Doonbeg Golf Club to register the right of the four to drive onto Doughmore beach and that Doonbeg Golf Club has failed to extend the existing carpark by July 1, 2004.

Following the settlement, it is ex- pected that a public consultation process will soon be initiated to al- low the works be carried out, which includes a car-park for 30 to 40 cars at the site.

CLARE County Council and the Health Service Executive started a process of damage limitation at the weekend ahead of revelations that both agencies failed to inform the public of increased risk of contract- ing cryptosporidium from the Ennis public water supply.

Documents released under the Freedom of Information Act show that the Environmental Protection Agency warned in January of an another possible outbreak of Crypt- Osporidium one month before the most recent outbreak where two chil- Cleon lmnEe

The agencies never informed the public of the increased risk and an RTE Prime Time Investigates pro- gramme quizzed top officials last week on their role in the failure to inform the public.

The programme is not going to be broadcast until September and is focusing on the outbreak of crypt- osporidium in Ennis and Galway.

Both the council and the HSE re- leased statements last Friday and in an apparent move to shift the blame to the council, the HSE told all GPs, pharmacists and dentists in Clare that “the HSE advised that consum- ers should be regularly updated by the council of developments affect- ing the Ennis water supply”’.

The council posted a statement on its own website which for the first time acknowledged problems – ob- liquely – with the temporary Ennis

water treatment plant.

It does not refer to the damning January EPA audit but says only the capacity of the plant has been in- creased by 25 per cent “in response to increased demands on the system and the requirement of the EPA that full filtration be applied to all drink- ing water going out to consumers”.

The statement also admits for the first time that not all water go- ing through the plant is treated for Cryptosporidium.

In a careful understatement of the ongoing situation over the past number of months, the council states that because of technical require- ments associated with the construc- tion of the new Ennis Water Treat- ment Plant and servicing of the interim plant, “it has not been pos-

sible to provide fully filtered water to date.”

The statement once more re-iter- ates the precautionary boil notice in place for vulnerable groups, includ- ing patients who are immunocom- promised, infants, pre-school chil- dren and visitors.

The statement goes on, “These groups are advised to continue to boil tap water before consumption. Institutions serving vulnerable peo- ple should also continue to boil tap water or use alternative supplies. This includes hospitals, nursing homes, créches, pre-schools and day CF eee tne

BATS and badgers are to benefit from a local building boom.

The creatures are to get their own means of safe passage around the proposed new Shannon Tunnel.

The €600 million project will take 40,000 vehicles off the streets of Limerick city, but it will be built right in the path of a number of crea- tures who need protection.

Kevin Cleary of White Young Green Consultants said that four badger sets have been identified within the construction site span-

ning the river between Coonagh and Bunlicky and a the same number of protected species of bats have been found along the construction site.

To prevent the badgers from meet- ing a terrible fate if they wander on to the tunnel road, the construction will include badger fencing, which is sunk into the ground to prevent them burrowing and specially constructed underpasses the help them cross the road.

The mature tress which are home to the bats will now only be felled at certain times of the year to allow the bats time to breed and rear young and

once they are cut down , they will be left without further disturbance for 24 hours to allow their winged in- habitants to move home.

The biggest engineering project in the midwest region, the fourth river crossing’s new planned route in- cludes 11 bridges and each will be complete with two bat boxes and a bat fly-over.

“This means keeping the vegeta- tion raised to a certain height to al- low bats, which rely on sonar, to stay clear of traffic and other dangerous obstacles’, said Mr Cleary..

And birds and other wildlife are to

get a newly constructed wetland and dry reserve to compensate for the loss of 15 per cent of habitats in the area.

Rare plant species, meanwhile, will be experimentally transplanted to the Trinity Botanic Gardens.

The tunnel scheme is hailed as the answer to congestion on the roads into Limerick

It will also act as a method of short- ening journeys and cutting costs for commercial transport.

The construction was approved by An Bord Pleanala in 2004 after a five year period of consultation.

STUDENTS at Clarecastle National School rolled up their sleeves for the annual spring clean, to help the school’s bid for another green flag.

As part of Environmental Action Week, staff and student students took part in a major clean up of the school and the surrounding grounds.

The work didn’t end there with stu- dents helping to further enhance the appearance of the school by potting new plants.

Clarecastle National School has already firmly established its green credentials with a number of envi- ronmental initiatives.

The school’s commitment to en- couraging greater awareness of green issues has been acknowledged through the awarding of two green flags.

Everyone in Clarecastle now hopes that efforts of the last few months will be recognised with a third green ne hee

The aim of Green-Schools is to increase students’ and participant awareness of environmental issues through classroom studies and to transfer this knowledge into positive environmental action in the school and, also, in the wider community.

Schools that have successfully completed all the elements of the

JO) ROy:a eH ANUS Oem T Rem RU DRO Lo(OME NO lem Osteo te Flag. This award has now become a well-recognised eco-label. The award has to be renewed every two years.

The Green Schools initiative has gone from strength to strength since it was launched in Ireland in 1997.

Eleven award ceremonies are be- ing held this month. Over 2000 Irish schools are registered for the pro- eramme, representing over 49 per cent of all the schools in the coun- (ry.

290 children attend Clarecastle Na- tional School, representing a number of different nationalities.

The school now has a two stream

system up to second class and 15 teachers, 12 mainstream teachers and 3 resource teachers.

The pupils receive their education in state of the art classrooms equipped with up to date I.T. resources includ- ing interactive white boards.

The school also houses a library/ computer room, resource area and PE/Multi purpose room in addition to 16 classrooms. Work commenced on the new building in 2006, seven years after procedures were instiagt- ed to secure a new school.

Prefabs were erected for temporary use and the old school was demol- ished apart from the original 1935 building which was retained.

TO celebrate the launch of their 2008 range of electrical goods, Ennis Electrical has joined forces with Sie- mens Domestic Appliances in bring- ing T’V3’s Andrew Rudd to Ennis to cook up a storm for their customers.

Andrew will share his expertise with Ennis Electrical customers at the store’s first cookery demonstra- tion, which will take place on Satur- day May 10 at lpm, 2pm, 3pm and 4pm.

Preparing up to ten different recipes, Andrew will demonstrate healthy and energy efficient options using steam and induction hob appli- ances. The demonstration will also illustrate the user-friendly nature of Siemens kitchen appliances.

According to Paul Flynn of Ennis Electrical, the company is hosting the event to provide customers with an opportunity to see their Siemens kitchen appliances in action and experience the difference a well de- signed kitchen can make to home life. All are welcome to join in the fun and learn of the latest technolo- gies to make cooking more fun, en- joyable and even energy efficient.

“We are using the event as an op- portunity to thank our customers for their continued support. Custom- ers will have the chance to win spot prizes and we are offering 10% dis- count on all

Siemens appliances”, he said.

Siemens will also have experts on hand to talk about energy efficiency in domestic appliances and the most up to date technologies and innova- WOO A BEE e) lon

With two branches in Ennis, on Par- nell Street and in Quin Road Busi- ness Park, Ennis Electrical is in busi- ness over 30 years making it one of the oldest, electrical suppliers in the mid west. With it all under one roof, Ennis Electrical serves the people of Clare and beyond with experienced sales assistants, private parking and free delivery nationwide.

Anyone interested in Saturday’s event should contact Ennis Electri- cal, Quin Road Business Park, to reserve a place. Telephone (065) 6829684.

AMONG the joy that rattled among the management and players out on the grass in Cusack Park was a definite feeling that the victory over Donegal and the silverware secured would act as a spring to further suc- cess.

The championship remained in the front of the mind of Clare captain Louise Henchy and manager Deirdre Murphy.

“What we want is the champion- ship,’ said Murphy. We want to get to Croke Park. When we started out

in the league we said we would keep working for the championship and that’s still the aim.”

Henchy, too, was unswerving in her view that greater things could lie in store.

“We want to keep on winning but today was great,’ she said. “We knew Donegal were strong so we had to up it against them. We struggled at times, around the middle especially but the minute we got the ball into our forwards we looked dangerous. We knew if we could keep ball going in we would get scores.”

David Browne is tucked away in a

corner of the field as Henchy is walk- ing up the steps to collect the trophy and emotionally, he says he’s stuck for words to put perspective on the 200

“I’m delighted for the girls because for the past few years, football has been in the doldrums in Clare. Fair play to Deirdre [Murphy]. She came in three years ago and we got on board with her and things have taken off.

“We lifted the siege and a lot of the girls who weren’t there a few years ago have come back and fair play to them and it’s days like this that it’s all about.

“It was a tough game there at the end and it was touch and go for a while. But we wanted to win it. We knew we were getting Division | sta- tus next year but we wanted to go up as champions. This day is great for football in the county and hopefully we can go on from here.”

His fellow selector David O’Brien said Clare recognised early on they would have to work hard to win. “We knew it was going to be a difficult game but when we heard it was on in Cusack Park, that gave us a boost.

“We didn’t give them many chances but we spoke about it all year. Once they have the ball, everybody filters back and that’s how we played. We worked very hard, but the goal is to win the championship.”

The first step has been taken now and the journey continues.

PSYCHIATRIC services in Clare are coming under pressure as a com- bination of staff shortages and indus- trial action by psychiatric nurses has left many of the county’s psychiatric facilities “unsafe”’.

SIPTU National Nursing Official, Louise O’Reilly says her union and the Psychiatric Nurses Association are likely to escalate their dispute when the joint strike meets later today.

The dispute 1s over a compensation scheme for members injured as the result of assaults at work.

The work to rule action already un- dertaken by the nurses has impacted on Clare, a county with a psychiatric nursing shortfall of between 16 to 20 LOD RNTorSe

The nursing shortage in the county has been attributed to a difficulty in recruitment. This problem had been solved with overtime in the past and the good will of the staff.

An average of six to seven psychi- atric nurses work overtime in Clare everyday. This number reached an

all-time high of 17 on one occasion.

Work to rule means that staff are now being redirected from the com- munity services to cover in patient services in the county as the posi- tions affected by the nurse shortages and sick leave go unfilled.

A source close to the service said the staff welfare and patient safety couldn’t be guaranteed.

“The vulnerable groups who rely OMAN oMON EDEN DIMM Ms onnOlNomYo better than this – nurses likewise want jobs, not overtime. Under- staffing also jeopardises safety for patients and staff alike. That is why SIPTU members rejected the ‘gener- ous’ HSE compensation scheme for injuries suffered as the result of as- sault at work by 91 per cent,” said Ms O’Reilly.

“It was a very clear message to the HSE but it still does not seem to have registered with them. Our members have given us a very clear mandate and we remain strong and deter- mined to secure a decent scheme which does not treat nurses as sec- ond-class citizens.”

MAKING banners for a Banner fes- tival is what youngsters are up to this week in Mountshannon.

Weve @ barca busCe(oJmmmatom sColiOVGUU MBB ITO MELOr tion of artists Nicola Henley and Melanie Jones, are twenty school children aged between nine and 12 from Mountshannon and Whitegate.

Their job is to prepare the silk- screen printed banners which will adorn the streets of the village for the up-coming Iniscealtra Festival of the Art from May 23 to June 1.

“They’re making a very fine job of it – the banners are beautiful and we look forward to seeing them hung for the festival,” said Nicola.

The banners will have plenty to

shout about this year as the festival has a programme full of spectacle and colour with something for eve- ryone.

The official opening of the week long festival by Theo Dorgan, re- nowned poet, writer, broadcaster and member of Aosdana and the Arts Council takes place on May 24.

With music, drama and dance per- formances from local and visiting eroups, some of the highlights of this year’s festival include musical performances by Eoin O’Neill, Orla Harrington and John Feely to name Ulm: IB AYA

There will be film night, a free storytelling family event and an art exhibition which will be opened by well known artist Charles Harper.

The Fishbowl Youth Group will present an acoustic evening of enter- tainment; music, poetry, prose and dance in a candle-lit café style set- ting. Visiting German students and young people from The Alfa Project school will work with artists to cre- ate a sculptural riverside installation for the festival on the river bank from Scariff Harbour to Lough Derg.

Also planned are a ceili with The Four Courts Ceili Band, weekend classes and workshops in sean nos dancing, traditional music and sing- ing and adding some cultural variety, an African drumming workshop.

Also being launched during the festival is ‘Does It Grow Corn?’, the feasibility study to determine the need for a new community/arts cen-

tre for Mountshannon.

One of the most unusual events will be the family boat building course. Families – or groups – get to build a real wooden boat over the bank holi- day weekend and then take it home. The boats will be assembled from pre-cut kits under the supervision of two experienced boat builders. All the boats made will be launched at the harbour, communally, at the end of the weekend.

More details of the line up of events will feature in