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KILRUSH area councillors have agreed that holiday home owners in Clare should pay for the water sup- as At last night’s (Monday) meeting of the council, Cllr Madeleine Taylor Quinn (FG) said that holiday homes were a commercial interest and as such the owners should have to pay for the water supplied to them.

Under Government policy, all non- domestic water must be paid for but local authorities, such as Clare Coun- ty Council, cannot charge domestic users for their water supply.

As many as 3,092 non-domestic water users in the Kilrush area have been identified but this does not in- clude holiday home schemes.

“People who are trying to make a living in the county are being charged and those making money from the county are not contributing at all,’ said the former TD.

Supporting Clir Taylor Quinn, Cllr Patrick Keane (FF) said, “There is a lot of revenue that can be collected.”

The 3,092 non-domestic water cus- tomers identified by the council in the Kilrush Electoral area includes all non-domestic customers on group schemes supplied with public water.

According to Derek Troy, Execu- tive Engineer with Clare County Council, “The process of surveying, compiling lists of works and meter installation is currently ongoing and the total number of customers may change due to additional connections being made or non-domestic connec- tions being removed.

“This project should be complete over the next number of months.”

Revenue that may accrue from non- domestic connections will depend on total usage. However, current rates are €1.10 per cubic metre for water supply, €2.08 per cubic metre for the consolidated supply (water and

sewerage connections), and a fixed charge of €1.45 per customer,’ he said. Installation of the meters will cost €145.

It was argued at Clare County Council level that the installation of such metre should be borne by cen- tral government.

The cost, however, will have to be paid by the customer. Clare County Council must also find €80 million to upgrade the county’s treatment plants, to maintain water schemes, and to monitor them if it is to reach the targets set in the first report on the Provision and Quality of Drink- ing Water in Ireland, 2006 – 2007.

STUDENTS from Ennis Commu- nity College proved to be the bright sparks at the 2008 National Elec- tronic Engineering Quiz.

Rebecca Murphy, Victor Aku- jobi, Shona Ni Meachair and James Philips came first in the regional round of the 2008 National Elec- tronic Engineering Quiz in GMIT before narrowly missed out winning the overall prize.

The annual quiz took place in si- multaneously in University College Cork, Dublin Institute of Technology and Waterford Institute of Technol- ogy and the Galway Mayo Institute

of Technology on January 26. The quiz attracted schools from across Ireland and this year the standard of entry was again very high

Having won the regional round in GMIT, the Ennis team was tied with a team from Cork for the national wa Con

It came down to one question; what was the record time for winning the Dublin City Marathon?

The closest answer deciding the BUONO Coe

Unfortunately for Ennis Commu- nity College, their opponent’s answer was closer and the Ennis team had to settle for second place.

All teams from the four simultane-

ous events were competing for the national title and a national prize worth €2,000 donated by MIDAS Ireland to the winning school.

MIDAS Ireland (Microelectronic Industry Design Association) is a joint industry and academic organi- sation, which defines and develops the future direction of Integrated Circuit design in Ireland.

MIDAS as an organisation was launched in February 2001 by the Minister of Enterprise, Trade & Em- ployment Mary Harney TD.

It is a national cluster consisting of the microelectronics design com- panies and third level institutions in Ireland, building on the already-

strong relationships between them.

The quiz success is just the latest for Ennis Community College. In 2006, Victor Akujobi, who repre- sented Ennis Community College in GMIT, won a gold medal at the Irish Science Olympiad. Victor qualified for the competition based on his ex- cellent results in junior certificate maths and science.

INDIVIDUALS, groups and organi- sations interested in undertaking works aimed at protecting Clare’s biodiversity are being invited to ap- ply for funding under the Biodiver- sity Fund for 2008.

The fund was established last year by the Department of the Environ- ment, Heritage and Local Govern- ment following the Interim Review of the Implementation of the Nation- al Biodiversity Plan 2002-2006.

Administered by the Heritage Council, with the support of Clare County Council, it aims to encour- age and enable people to undertake capital projects that help protect Clare’s abundance of wildlife and

wild places.

The types of works being targeted by the Fund include enhancement, protection and conservation of Bio- diversity, creating wildlife areas, re- moving invasive species, and plant- ing native wild flowers and trees.

“The objective of this fund is to Support site conservation and man- agement for the enhancement of bio- logical diversity at a local level,” said Congella McGuire, Heritage Officer, Clare County Council.

“Priority will be given to high qual- ity and well thought-out applications that assist the management of sites that contain habitats of special con- servation importance in Ireland, or which support threatened or vulner- able species.”

A grant allocation can cover up to 50 per cent of the project cost and can be used in conjunction with grants from other sources.

Individuals, community groups, properly constituted non-profit or- ganisations, local authorities, statu- tory institutions, academic institu- tions and private companies are eligible to apply to the Fund for grant assistance.

“Clare has a rich variety of dif- ferent animals and plants as well as some of the best examples of habitats in Europe. However, our biodiversity is disappearing fast with animals and plants becoming extinct and habitats being damaged.

Therefore, I would urge anyone interested in protecting their local

biodiversity to consider applying for funding,’ said John Murphy, Biodi- versity Officer with Clare County Council.

“Biodiversity is all living things from the tiniest insect to the mighty oak. It is the variety of life on our planet. Our health, economy and quality of life depend on a healthy environment rich in_ biodiversity. Here in Clare, its presence is every- where, in our parks and gardens, by our roadsides, in our rivers and seas, and our ‘living landscapes’.”

Application forms will be automat- ically sent out to all previous appli- cants, and may also be downloaded from www.heritagecouncil.ie. The deadline for applications is 5pm on Friday 15 February 2008.

AS THE crowd filtered out of Co- oraclare and the emotion of a late penalty faded, it was easier to draw a clearer picture of the game. Some improvements, some things to work One

James Hanrahan, Clare selector and a link to the great days of Clare football, provided a slice of the half- empty/half-full reaction.

A good finish, but a below par per- formance.

“Tt didn’t look like we were going to do it at the end, and I’m pleased that we dug out the win. But we had a lot of possession and we didn’t use it. That was very frustrating.”

As expected, Limerick provided a bulkier challenge and Hanrahan says the step-up was noticeable.

“It was a lot more physical. It goes to show that there’s a big difference between colleges and inter-county. The lads were up against older fellas who were a lot stronger and at times

it took us a while to get going.

“We played bad but we won. That’s all you can say really and it might be character-building to do that, but there’s no way we’ll win if we play like that against Carlow next week. Carlow are going to be a major step- up in class again and we have to 1m- priove from today. We struggled at times, but defended well.”

He returns once more to the clos- ing stages of the game and Clare’s refusal to give-in

“We haven’t been under pressure in the last three games and we were under fair pressure today. We came through, which was the main thing. The lads kept battling – that was promising — but we won’t get carried AE Ale

that the council

was surprised that a blockage of this

size could result in such a problem with the water supply.

He said the weather also played a

part in the water problems.

The age of the system also made it more vulnerable, with Mr Tiernan admitting that the council expected the new water system to be in place lea IO

The new, permanent system, 1s ex- pected to be up and running in Feb- ruary next year.

“The supply is more vulnerable be- cause it does not have a fully fledged multi stage treatment process,” said Mr Tiernan.

While the most recent tests of the supply show that traces of the E-coli are no longer present, residents of En- nis, Clarecastle, Barefield, Crusheen and surrounding areas are warned to continue boiling the water which is to be consumed.

A number of clear water tests must be recorded to the satisfaction of the HSE before the boil notice is lifted.

Residents are advised to boil all water for human consumption, in- cluding food preparation and brush- bOTeaa Kore ee

ONE of Clare’s and indeed the mid- west’s best known hotels, the West County Hotel, Ennis will this year celebrate 40 years of being at the social and business heart of Coun- ty Clare. The landmark hotel was opened as a twenty bedroom opera- tion in 1968 and was the culmination of a vision by its founding Directors Michael and Christina Lynch.

Since then it has evolved over the years to become a 152 bedroom ho-

tel with large banqueting, conference and leisure facilities. Over the years the hotel has been a tremendous as- set to tourism in the County being the venue for the World Irish Danc- ing Competitions, International L1- ons Club Conference and All Ireland Darts Competition to name but a few events.

Looking forward, the hotels propri- etor and Managing Director Michael B. Lynch believes that the hotels edge of centre location to the town of Ennis will dawn a new and inter-

esting future for the hotel. The West County is currently very active in the conference and event markets and its strategy 1s to bring and create large National and International events for Ennis with the West County at their fe) Ken

SW slomectbe mee) (oe) e:18 (er moaLo tlm Bel mole a spectacular banquet in March, de- tails of which will emerge over the coming weeks. In addition to cel- ebrate the milestone of 40 years in business the hotel also plans to re-in- troduce for a limited time during the

year some old favorites like Saturday night dining and dancing, Club Oasis and the year’s celebrations will cul- minate with a gala Mistletoe Ball on New Year’s Eve.

The West County Hotel is a mem- ber of the Lynch Hotel Group which has hotels in Clare, Mayo, Limerick and Dublin.

CLARE County Council has reject- ed plans for a €10 million windfarm between the east Clare villages of Tulla and Feakle, close to the setting for one of the most celebrated poems in Irish literature.

The proposal by Ventus Energy sought to develop eight turbines in the vicinity of Lough Graney to sup- ply electricity to 22,000 homes.

The lake was the literary backdrop for Brian Merriman’s epic poem, ‘The Midnight Court’, which was written in 1780.

As part of the plan, the developers sought to remove 425 acres of forest ele lelOee

However, the plan encountered widespread opposition across the east Clare area and the Department of the Environment also expressed concern.

Ironically, it is the designation of a large tract of land on Slieve Aughty as a Special Protection Area (SPA) for birds — being opposed by local farmers and landowners — which in part led to the council refusing plan- ning permission for the proposal.

The council refused planning per- mission as it had concerns over the impact the development would have on the hen harrier, particularly in light of the designation of the area as an SPA.

The Clare County Development Plan goes against granting planning permission in areas that are likely to have significant adverse ecological impacts.

The council also stated that the pro- posed development had the potential to have a serious ecological impact on the SPA by virtue of the proposed removal of an extensive expanse of trees and the disturbance and loss to natural habitats.

In one objection, the Centre for Environmental Living and Train- ing (CELT) claimed that houses and farm prices in the vicinity of the wind farm would drop by 20 per cent.

The plan was also opposed by a eroup of east Clare-based artists, including Aosdana member, Joe Comerford who pointed out that the county planners had worked for many years to protect the landscape heritage of east Clare with good rea- son. The group sais they hoped this precious resource would not be dis- carded so easily.

In a separate objection, Mairin Kel- ly pointed out that “the cumulative effect of the turbines in combination with the existing communications mast on Maghera would be to alter the landscape character from remote upland to semi-industrial”.

The developers now have the op- tion of appealing the decision to An Bord Pleanala.

THREE wins out of three at Coora- clare and it didn’t take long for talk to spread of the possibility of mov- ing the league opener against Carlow back west.

In all probability, that game will be played in Cusack Park as expected, but on Monday evening, definite confirmation from the county board wasn’t available.

“We’ll wait and see what develops with the venue over the week,” said

Frank Doherty after the game. “Co- oraclare has been a happy hunting ground for us lately and I’ve always been of the opinion that if it ain’t broke, then don’t fix it.”

If the Carlow or any league game was to be moved to Cooraclare, then the grounds are well capable of hold- ing any potential crowd.

For the past three weekends, the traffic flow has been superb, the pitch has been up to standard given the time of year and with plenty of parking space, it could cope with any

following that the footballers would bring.

With an estimated 1,200 people at the McGrath Cup Final on Sunday, things ran seamlessly again and the professional attitude to hosting county games is down to two dozen volunteers who show up and lend a aE DaXe mM RcsAbU EDU AYA

No reason why the field and those who tend it shouldn’t be rewarded with a league game there this year. In their own interests and in the in- terests of Clare football.

A DECISION by a motorist to over- take on acontinuous white line would have led to a fatality were it not for the vigilance of another driver who pulled in to create space.

That was the view expressed by a garda, during evidence in a court case in Kilkee last week.

Darren Grant (22), of Marian Es- tate, Kilkee, pleaded guilty to dan- gerous driving, at Lisdeen, Kilkee, on August 7, 2007.

Garda Charlie Killeen told Kilkee District Court that he came on the scene on the night in question.

He said that Grant, who was travel- ling in the direction of Kilkee, was overtaking a car on a continuous white line. The car he was overtak- ing managed to manoeuvre.

“It happened on a hill crest where the road was veering to the left, on a continuous white line,’ said Gda Ona

‘Had the other car not been able to manoeuvre, we would have been

dealing with a head on collision and we would probably be dealing with a fatality,’ said the garda.

Defending solicitor Eugene O’ Kelly said his client was an inexperienced driver. He said he “misjudged” the speed at which the car in front of him was travelling. He was afraid he was going to hit the rear of that car and “took the chance of overtaking,” said Mr O’Kelly.

He said as he commenced the ma- noeuvre, the other car came around the bend in the opposite direction.

He accepted that there could have been “a very Serious accident” were it not for the ability of the car in front of Grant’s car to pull in and create space.

“TV’d ask you not to deal with this case on what might have happened. There were no fatalities. ’’d ask you to deal with it on the basis of how he was driving,’ said the solicitor.

Judge Joseph Mangan disqualified Grant from driving for a year and fined him €1,000. He fixed a bond in the event of an appeal.

KILLALOB’S twin town in Wiscon- sin is inviting all and sundry to join in their all singing, all dancing cel- ebration of St Patrick’s Day

The City of New London – known as the city of New Dublin for the week around the Patrick’s Day fes- tival – is getting set to paint the town ate te

The Shamrock Club, which rep- resents those of Irish descent and those who wish they were, sent a del-

egation to the Shannonside town last year at the invite of local councillor, Tony O’Brien.

The reception which the visitors got copper fastened their decision to get the twinning process underway.

The annual parade and Irish Festi- val will kick off on March 15.

The week-long celebration of all things Irish kicks off on Monday March 10 when the “Leprechauns” officially change the name of the city from New London to New Dublin. On Tuesday, March 11 it’s Hooligan’s

Day the official beginning of all area restaurants serving corned beef and cabbage – some serving as much as 1,500 pounds over the week.

Other events planned include Irish singing at the city apartments for the elderly and an evening of Irish enter- tainment.

As well an Irish céili on the Fri- day while on the same night the residents of the city will say farewell to Michael Finnegan as his Wacky Wake makes it’s way to various es- tablishments in the area, including

Pup’s Irish Pub.

On Saturday, March 15 the Irish Fest tent opens with lots of Irish mu- sic followed by a Grand Parade fol- lowed by more music.

“Any one from Killaloe or Clare who wants to visit will be assured of a warm welcome,’ a spokesperson for the festival organisers said.

For more information on the “New Dublin’ week-long St Patrick’s Day festival log on to www.newdublin. com or Wwww.newlondonchamber. oro) e0