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, at an event hosted by Clare County Council. The book is the twenty-second to be published in the National Invento- ry of Architectural Heritage (NIAH) series.

NIAH surveys record a sample of built heritage, ranging from struc- tures of grand design to simple con- struction, spanning the period 1700 to the present day. The surveys inform recommendations from the minister to planning authorities for inclusion of structures in their Record of Pro- Kore CoOL OME LCLAUD Khe

The minister referenced the diverse historic built stock of County Clare when noting that “the built heritage of County Clare is a major contribu- tor to its unique identity and sense of place’. He pointed to the signifi- cance of “the restored tollhouses at D’Esterre’s Bridge, the Spectacle Bridge at Lisdoonvarna and the great

hydro-electrical complex at Ard- nacrusha’’.

Minister Gormley congratulated Ennis Town Council, Clare County Council and their officials for their interest and enthusiasm in ensur- ing that the County Clare Record of Protected Structures is robust and comprehensive. This approach helps to support existing pride of place at community level — the most power- ful tool in ensuring conservation of Ireland’s national and local built her- itage.

Mayor of Clare, Councillor Tony Mulcahy (FG) urged the minister to restore full funding for conservation projects to help preserve the “rich ar-

chitectural heritage of Clare”.

Deputy Mayor of Ennis, Council- lor Michael Guilfoyle (Ind) thanked Minister Gormley, saying that gov- ernment funding was critical to the future development of Ennis.

The NIAH survey is accessible on www.buildingsofireland.ie and work on a further nine surveys is under- EN

The publication

Gormley: ‘Not much in the kitty’

THE talents of an extraordinary young dancer, whose life was tragi- cally cut short, will be remembered at a competition in her honour in SUED Om io.e

Kitty Leyden and friends are or- ganising the third annual dance competition to honour step and sean

nos dancer, Margaret Brohan who died aged just 19.

Dancers will compete for a cup – which is being put up by Margaret’s family – and afterwards there will be a céili for everyone who wants to take part.

“Tt will be a great night – there’ll be music, sandwiches – it will be a real party and any money we have over

will go to two special causes,” said Gia

Remembering Margaret’s fabulous talent, Kitty – herself a noted dancer – said that she was “so lovely and so very talented. She was a step-dancer and a self-taught sean nos dancer. She had a style all of her own, no-one could beat her. She was just lovely, a lovely dancer and a lovely person. She had a smile for everyone.”

The competition takes place in Murray’s in Tulla and Andrew Mac and friends will provide the music, while adjudicators are Mairéad Ca- sey and Susan Lee. Entry on the night is just €5 and any money made will be divided between the Clare’s School Club – which has competitors in the special Olympics, including one girl from Tulla – and the Debra WeOETiemestvelae

The entire community of east Clare and dancers all over the country were shocked and saddened to hear of the death in November 2003 of Margaret

in a car accident in Pittsburgh, Penn- sylvania. Margaret was just 19 and her exceptional talent was becoming widely noticed. She spent the summer as a resident dancer in Glor in Ennis where she was spotted by

GENEROUS Clare people haven’t said ‘Bah Humbug’ to charities despite the recession. Operation Christmas Child – also know as the Shoebox Appeal – saw 5,600 boxes sent to children in need for people in Clare up to Monday of this week. And the appeal closing date has been extended until tomorrow so there is still time to get shoeboxes into the main warehouse in Elevation Park in Ennis, Curves or Shoe Zone. Clare co-ordinator for the appeal, Louis Duffy, said that while there are fewer boxes this year than last year, the average donation in each box is up. Louis reiterated the position of the Irish Operation Christmas Child on the controversy about handing out religious information with the boxes. “We are instructed not only that no religious item or information is to go in but that we are to take anything we find in a box out. People are wel- come to come here to the warehouse and see for themselves what goes in,’ said Louis. Meanwhile, Niall Mellon, founder of the Niall Mellon Township Trust led the Clare volunteers onto site in Wal- lacedene in South Africa last week as part of the Niall Mellon Township Trust’s eighth Building Blitz. Over 950 volunteers paraded into site, all kitted out in their coloured team t-

shirts, hard hats and tools. The vol- unteers were greeted with open arms by hundreds of delighted residents. The ‘Walk In’ marks the first day of this year’s week-long build, where the Clare volunteers, together with others from around the country, will construct over 200 houses for fami- lies in Wallacedene. Despite the car- nival atmosphere, all the team mem- bers were building within minutes. In the face of global recession, al- most 3,500 people have volunteered this year with the Niall Mellon Township Trust. This record-break- ing figure comprises of 1,500 Irish and 2,000 South African volunteers and brings the total number of peo- ple who have volunteered with the charity to 8,500, since Niall Mellon first launched his house building in1-

ULB RYoas dA P-e

And Concern Worldwide has launched its 40th annual Christmas Fast, which takes place this year on Thursday, December 3 and aims to raise more than €1 million for the poorest people in the developing world. Throughout 2008, the gener- ous people of Clare raised a total of €765,419 and Concern is hoping for continued participation in the fast this year.

‘The Christmas fast has always en- joyed immense support from Clare and we hope to see this enthusiasm continue in its 40th year,’ said Phi- lomena Daly McDarby from Corofin, who works with Concern in Ireland.

LESS THAN six months after she took up the post as head of policing in Clare, Chief Superintendent Mary Fitzgerald has announced that she 1s Kom Kein Ker

Chief Supt Fitzgerald arrived in Clare in June, having previously been the head of the Garda Reserves. Her retirement will take effect on Der ilelo mes

It means that further changes are due in Garda management in the Clare Garda Division — which in- cludes the districts of Ennis, Shan- non, Kilrush, Killaloe and Ennisty- mon. Ms Fitzgerald was the third person to fill the role as chief super- intendent since Liam Quinn retired in December 2006.

He was replaced by Gerry Mahon, who, in turn moved to Limerick and was replaced by Kevin Donohoe. Chief Supt Donohoe was head of the Clare Division between December 2008 and June of this year. Chief Su- perintendent Mahon will also retire in the coming weeks.

The latest batch of retirements have emerged in the wake of several gardai opting out of the force this year for various reasons. Nationally, 708 gardai have retired or declared their intention to retire this year, in- cluding up to a dozen in Clare — in- cluding two garda sergeants.

The retirements include three as- sistant commissioners, 12 chief su- perintends, 26 superintendents, 31 inspectors, 166 sergeants and 466

ee NKOrNE

The numbers are the highest in 13 years and are far higher than levels recorded in recent years. There were 259 retirements last year and 184 in 2007. There were just 200 recruits to the force this year — there is currently a moratorium on job creation in the public service. Residents in rural parts of the county have expressed Losier u MDA MB Keo OLMmN DELO) INOKMmOercI Mmm ele retirees will not be replaced, due to cutbacks across the board and fear that community policing will suffer as a result.

Meanwhile, Detective Garda Ter- ese Flannery has been appointed the juvenile liaison officer (JLO), based at Ennis Garda Station. She succeeds Garda John O’ Neill, who recently re- tired from the post.

The role of the JLO is to deal with young offenders, under the age of 18.

A KILRUSH Town Councillor has called on the Minister for Commu- nications and Natural Resources to look to the future by integrating the ESB Power Station in Moneypoint with renewable energy resources.

Fine Gael Councilor Ian Lynch claims that the future of energy and the economy of west Clare is in bio- energy, specifically energy derived from seaweed.

“When we think of green energy the vast majority of us will think wind and wind farms but there is no doubt that Kilrush is located in a prime position, due to its geologi- cal location and the current national erid infrastructure at Moneypoint, to maximise several of our natural resources such as wind, tidal, hydro and on the rare occasion solar en- ergy, he said.

‘“T want the minister to go one step further, I want the minister to think outside the box use initiative and diversity to ensure the future of all those currently employed at the sta- tion but also to firmly grasp the pos- sible opportunity that Kilrush has to

offer in becoming not only a national leader but possibly a European lead- er in the production of biofuel thus creating an opportunity for Kilrush, west Clare and possibly for the econ- omy to regenerate and strive.

“The production of biofuels has reached advanced stages through the global industry of green energy. The production of biofuel from seaweed and algae presents Kilrush with an opportunity to make its mark and en- sure its future,’ said the councillor.

“The cultivation of algae and sea- weed for harvesting and converting into bio fuel is advancing at a rapid rate. The potential of this as a fuel of the future is astounding and the possible benefits are immense to the local and national economy,’ he ex- je e-Nelexen

Algae naturally absorbs carbon and is currently being used in several coal burning plants through out the world as a filtration system he added.

“Filtering carbon dioxide using such a method will eliminate the need to develop the Carbon Capture Storage (CCS) facility at Money- point, the 235km pipeline, 50km of which would be under the sea, and

the storage site at Kinsale which is put at about €3 billion and over the 25 year lifetime of the plant,’ he added.

‘Harvested seaweed and algae can then be processed in to meal and bio fuel providing not only a system of reducing CO2 emissions, it produc- es employment in the cultivating, harvesting and processing process which in turn offers two additional new industries creating meal product and a biofuel product, not to men- tion the return of seaweed collection from our local beaches creating em- ployment and adding to the tourist potential of these attractions.”

“The cultivation and harvesting process can both take place at sea adding an additional advantage by ensuring that the new industry pros- pects is not competing with farm land as with the traditional wind farm method but it also allows the current lands at Moneypoint to be maximised as a possible dock land for the export of these new products,” he explained.

CLOSE on 50 certificates were formally presented in Ennis Adult Education Centre to learners who took part in Clare Campus Skillnet courses. They were conferred by the Further Education and Training Awards Council of Ireland following courses of studies completed in the Ennis area in management develop- ment, presentation skills and English as a second language

By tar the biggest individual busi- ness representation was from the Old Ground Hotel, Ennis. All non-nation- als, this major group took its course in English as a second language in- house as well as at Ennis Adult and Community Education Centre.

They were joined for the occasion by the hotel’s manager, John Maher, as an expression of appreciation of their achievements.

Clare Campus Skillnet collabo- rates with County Clare Vocational Education Committee in the delivery of a diverse range of courses from basic skills to project management and green belt masters in technology management.

Its courses are original in that they are devised as the result requirements identified by local businesses and en- terprises who form a local network.

Clare Campus Skillnet Network 1s about 18 months in existence. In that time it has delivered programmes to network members in Clare that,

among other subjects, covered man- agement development, health and safety, manual handling, project de- velopment and softer skills such as presentation programmes and stress management courses.

What happens is that the network of local businesses and enterprises defines its own training needs and sets out a programme of training and education activities.

In this regard, deep appreciation has been expressed of the steering group comprising Barry O’Brien and Kevin Moore, Vitalograph; Corey Downes, Billpost; David Deighan, Shannon Development; Michael Byrne, Acton BV; Alan Flynn, Old Ground Hotel; Carmel Mitchell, Loyalty Build, and Richard Morton, Time to Market.

“Without this group, we would have been floundering without direction,” acknowledged Dr Sean Conlan, edu- cation officer with County Clare Vo- cational Education Committee, who formally presented the certificates. He also thanked Clare Campus Skill- net Network’s co-ordinator, Sinead Mellett and the network’s adminis- trator, Ina Reddan.

Dr Conlan went on to say that at this time of great challenge for all businesses, when unemployment has risen dramatically, the learn- ing agenda comes into more focus for everybody. Those receiving cer- tificates on the occasion, he urged, should see the occasion not as an end of the road but rather the beginning

of a new learning route.

“Then, maybe together, we can learn our way out of this recession and be well prepared to take advan- tage of the upturn when it comes, as it surely will in a year or two or ab Reromean OComcT-n (Gm

That was what Clare Campus Skill- net was all about as it set about putting together a funding application for the coming two years. Priority areas had been identified nationally as transfer- ability of skills and key competencies

for lifelong learning. This was what the organisation would be working on in the coming weeks with a view to getting a budget to continue the work at local level into the future.

Looking at the broader picture, he noted that at the last count there were 123 training networks in the Skill- nets programme overall, showing it had come a long way since its incep- tion in 1999 as a pilot project in en- terprise-led training.

The success of the concept of busi-

nesses, small and large, identifying and delivering in a shared way on their own training needs had ensured that the Skillnet Training Networks Programme had become a key player in training and learning delivery in Ireland.

VARIOTAS SPECIALS

RETAIL Ireland, the IBEC group that represents the retail sector, has called on all local authorities to cut commercial rates when voting on the matter later this month.

Retail Ireland has written to the Chairperson of every local author- ity as well as all City and County Managers to ask for a reduction of 20 per cent. In addition, the group has written to An Taoiseach Brian Cowen TD, Enda Kenny TD, Leader of Fine Gael, and to Eamon Gilmore TD, Leader of the Labour Party, to request that their councillors support such a move.

Retail Ireland Director Torlach Denihan, said, “Over the last year 30,000 retail jobs have been lost and the sector is struggling to avoid fur- ther redundancies over the coming months. Local authorities must play their part in the retail sector’s efforts to regain lost competitiveness and safeguard employment. As can be seen from the Consumer Price Index released last Thursday, retailers have cut prices aggressively over the last year.

“Over the last decade local authori- ties have been able to fund many projects through development levies and commercial rates paid by the re- tail sector. They now need to act re- sponsibly and help the sector retain

employment in view of the threat posed by the collapse in sales, aggra- vated by cross- border shopping.

‘Since 2000 the annual rate on valuation has increased by a cumu- lative 57 per cent nationally. Last year some local authorities took the incredible decision to increase the annual rate on valuation (Clare 3.8 per cent, South Dublin 3.63 per cent, Fingal 3.5 per cent, Wexford 3.5 per cent and Dublin City 3.35 per cent) despite the fact that the retail sector was in crisis. We are particularly dis- turbed that a revaluation exercise in South Dublin and Fingal is further aggravating the problem, resulting in some retailers facing increases of up to 50 per cent.”

A BUILDER who demolished a house without planning permission has been told he has “blatant disre- gard for court orders”.

The comment from a judge was made in the case of Patrick Costello, who has been convicted of failing to comply with an enforcement notice.

In court last July, Mr Costello, of Shannon Road, Sixmiulebridge, said he was in debt to the tune of more than ©3.6 million.

Last December, Mr Costello was fined €1,500 and ordered to pay €1,800 in expenses for an offence under the Planning and Develop- ment Act, after a court heard he de- molished a house without planning

permission at Main Street, Sixmile- bridge, in 2006.

Ann Colleran, an enforcement officer in Clare County Council’s planning section, told Ennis District Court on Friday that Mr Costello was convicted of failing to comply with an enforcement notice, in De- cember 2008.

“There has been non-compliance with that order,’ she said.

She said that the council had re- quested Mr Costello to reconstruct the house he had demolished with- out planning permission.

Ms Colleran said that an inspec- tion was carried out on February 19 last and the works had not been car- ried out on that occasion.

She explained that when the house

was demolished, damage had been caused to the adjacent house.

Defending solicitor Jenny Fitzgib- bon said she was not calling any witnesses. Judge Leo Malone said the matter was proven.

Rachel Dobson, solicitor for Clare County Council, said the maximum fine open to the court was €508 per day, which amounted to €135,128.

Ms Fitzgibbon said her client is currently not working and is living off donations from his parents.

“He has no savings. Everything that they have is tied up at the mo- ment,’ she said.

The judge said that the demolition occurred in 2006, which is almost four years ago. “There were birds showing in the attic of the property

next door. It’s really serious,’ said the judge.

Ms Fitzgibbon pointed out that she has only been on record for her cli- ent since June of this year.

“I should really impose a prison sentence on your client for his bla- tant disregard of court orders,” said the judge and imposed a fine of €2,000, giving him two months to pay. He also ordered him to pay €2,500 in costs. A bond was fixed in the event of an appeal.

Meanwhile, the judge also refused to extend time for an appeal of the case from December last year. In making the application, Ms Fitzgib- bon said Mr Costello was not rep- resented when the case came before the court 11 months ago.

“He was unwell and left the court. We appreciate our application is out of time. I’m asking that the appeal be dealt with,” said Ms Fitzgibbon.

However, Ms Dobson said that ap- plication would be opposed.

“This came before you almost a year ago. He left the court,’ said Ms Dobson.

She said that a notice of appeal was not filed until July of this year, after another summons was issued.

Ms Fitzgibbon said her client ap- preciated that. She said he has re- ceived medical attention and “has a lot of medical conditions.”

However, the judge refused to extend time to appeal and said Mr Costello could appeal that to the cir- LED Lmerel bya