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CLARE county council has ex- pressed reservations over plans by developers to build 77 homes in Doonbeg because of traffic safety, density, waste water, archaeology and design.

Brian McGoey and Niall Cun- ningham have lodged plans with the council for the homes and a separate application for a restaurant.

The council has told them that the density of 19 houses per hectare is too excessive in terms of the zon- ing for Doonbeg and they have been asked to reduce the density from 19 to 15 units.

The council has also raised con- cerns over the demolition of two ex- isting houses and the construction of two town houses at the entrance to the development.

The council considers that the cot- tages may be vernacular, 19th or 20th century dwellings and may form part of the historic fabric of the village and make a contribution to the streetscape. The developers have been asked to submit a photographic survey of the cottages both internally and externally in order to allow the council to assess their importance.

The most prominent community- based organisation in Doonbeg has also expressed its opposition to the

proposal.

The Doonbeg Community Devel- opment Co Ltd state that the pro- posed development by virtue of its scale and density and the proposed neighbourhood concept does not ‘respect the existing character of the surrounding area’ and that it ‘harms the amenity of adjoining properties and the surrounding area’.

Their submission goes on to state that “The additional traffic generated by the proposal will have an adverse effect on the amenity and character of the surrounding area. You simply cannot lift an urban design model and implant it on to a rural village especially at such a sensitive river-

bank location.”

“To create a new, competing neigh- bourhood within the context of Doonbeg village conflicts with the sustainable development of the vil- lage and we contend, with the set- tlement strategy of the Clare County Development plan 2005.

“These houses will dominate the skyline and approach from the south along this route. We also suggest that they may impact on, by overlooking, the streetscape of the village.

The community development group is also concerned about the scale and density of development proposed for this elevated site located in such close proximity to the riverbank.

THE Mayor of Clare, Cllr Patricia Mc- Carthy and former Clare hurler, Brian Lohan have re-iterated their opposition to contentious plans to establish a ‘ca- sino-style’ operation in Shannon. Earlier this year, the council re- fused planning permission to John O’Donovan to establish a “sports and leisure emporium’ at Bru Na Sionna, Shannon. After opposition from Cllr McCarthy and Mr Lohan, the coun- cil refused planning permission hav-

ing regard to the nature of the pro- posed development and character of the surrounding area.

The proposal would reduce the attrac- tiveness of the area and would impact negatively on the residential amenities of the adjacent properties which are lo- cated and whose balconies are located within 20 metres of the facility.

Describing the proposal as essen- tially a ‘casino’, the council also ruled that the location of the proposed fa- cility outside Shannon would materi- ally contravene the South-East Clare

Development Plan.

The plan states that developments of amusement arcades or similar estab- lishments must be located within or immediately adjacent to town centres. The council concluded, ““The proposed development would therefore be con- trary to the proper planning and sus- tainable development of the area.”

Now Mr O’Donovan has lodged a revised plan and, in response, con- Sultants for Mr Lohan stated, “The only difference between the previous application and the present applica-

tion as far we understand is a differ- ence in the description of the pro- posed use which remains assembling and gambling activities.

‘The proposed new use is incom- patible with the designated office and retail use of this building. It will not create desirable synergies and also it will introduce undesirable congrega- tion of people in the vicinity of our chent’s property and will therefore be damaging to his business and oth- er businesses around.”

In her submission, Cllr McCarthy

said, “The proposed change of use would not be in keeping with the character of the surrounding area. The proposed development would be a source of nuisance and annoyance in a predominantly residential area.”

She added, “The proposed develop- ment would lead to increased noise and disturbance in a predominantly residential area and the proposed de- velopment would lead to increased traffic movements in the area.”

A decision is due on the application later this year.

A FAMILY friendly approach, cul- tivated through their own love of eating out as a family, has seen the Stonecutters Kitchen in Doolin carve out a special niche for itself in the north Clare restaurant market.

Proprietors Karen Courtney and Myles Duffy were in Dublin’s Shel- bourne Hotel last week to collect a Gold Medal Award in the Cafés and Coffee Shop section of the Irish Ho- tel and Catering Review awards.

The award, which was sponsored by Kenco Coffee, recognises and re- wards excellence within the Irish ho- tel and catering industry in 2007.

The Stonecutter was joined in the list of finalist by Lahinch’s Moy House who narrowly lost out to the Rathsallagh House Hotel and Golf Club in Wicklow in the country house category of the awards.

“We decided right from the start that we wanted a spot in the market that wasn’t being looked after at the time. We had a small child so we were aware how hard it was to find somewhere which was family friend- ly,” said Karen.

“We were amazed and blown away by winning it. It’s our very first award, it was a long time coming but well worth the wait.

“It’s really great to get the recog-

nition. You can get very subjective about your own work. You believe that you are doing a good job but I think you do sometimes need some- one from outside to come in and say it as well. It’s great for yourself but it’s even better for the staff, and there’s no way we could have done this without the staff.

More than 200 hotels, country hous- es and restaurants entered this year’s awards with some 120 businesses making the shortlist. The short-listed businesses were visited incognito by the nine members of the Gold Medal Jury throughout the summer and as- sessed for their quality.

The judges are all highly respected

experts in hospitality with proven track records and can proudly stand over the exemplary impartiality and fairness of these awards.

“We moved down from Dublin in 1992 with my husbands redundancy. We decided that we would get a hell of a lot more going down the country that we would up in Dublin. My sis- ter is the potter down here, she has been down here more than 30 years, so we knew the area.

“We came down here and bought a site, a mobile home and a hot-dog wagon. Myles worked the hot-dog wagon for about eight years. We bought the restaurant in 2000 and it open then in 2001.”

this week, lives were put at jeopardy due to contfus- ing road markings.

On Sunday, September 16, Laura Burke from Lisdoonvarna was in- volved in an accident at Shop Cross on the R477.

“I was driving my car that morning, having been to mass in Lisdoonvar- na. I had one of my children in the car and one of her friends — they had both been serving Mass that morning,” she said.

“Tl slowed, braked and indicated to

turn right. As I did so, a car pulled out in an overtaking manoeuvre and crashed into the back of my car.”

Despite the existence of warning signs at that section of the R477, the road contains broken white lines, in- dicating that it is safe to overtake.

“Both children were screaming, distressed and traumatised. My daughter’s friend is an asthmatic and it took considerable effort to gain her confidence and calm her down,” she said.

“This is not the only accident of this nature to take place at this junc- tion recently. I don’t think it would be too difficult to replace the broken line with a single solid white line.

“I don’t think there is any time where it is safe to overtake at a cross- road, and my own personal experi- ence bears this out. Needless to say,

it would be distressing for the coun- cil to wait for a fatal accident before they took action.”

Meanwhile, in a separate corre- spondence with

IT goes to show you – you just can’t keep a good thing down. No sooner has the Stella Maris Day Care Centre reopened for two days in September 2005, than a message went out; we eNO LM ON KsLee

Now, almost two years to the day since Mary Harney reopened the centre, they have achieved just that. Last Wednesday a group of older people from Bell Harbour, Carron, New Quay, Kilfenora and Kilnaboy visited Stella Maris, taking a well deserved day out to socialise and re- lax.

Their weekly day out has been made possible by funding from the Department of Health and a new

bus, bought with money donated by a group of local businesses.

“When we started off we had two days and our long term goal is to have four or five days. The latest group are coming from the most remote places, so to cover these places we needed a bigger bus,” said Nuala Dillon of the Stella Maris Centre.

“So out of the blue, a group of local businessman came forward with the funding. Eugene Garrihy organised it, his father Jack used to come in and spend some time with us.

“Jack loved coming here, he was very enthusiastic about the place. So Eugene gathered together a group of local business people, people who have become very successful at their different types of businesses, they

contributed and now we have a brand new bus.

“We would also really like to thank John Curtin, who was our bus driver here. He was very involved in the committee and very involved in us getting the new bus. He unfortunate- ly passed away a couple of months x On

Alongside this, student from Mary Immaculate School raised €5,500 for the Stella Maris.

“We’re going to use that money to start a brand new project, we are going to compile a personal history for all the people who use the facil- ity here. It is something that a lot of older people don’t know about and will be really interesting. It will be about their own lives, how they grew

up, old sayings that they might have,” Leys lepeLeCre MN LUE DEB

“Each person will get a bound per- sonal history of their own life.

The committee in Stella Maris have now set their sites at getting funding to open the centre for a fourth and then a fifth day. In the future, they also plan to devote one day each week to people from the area who suffer from Alzheimer’s.

THE Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey has been unable to tell the Dail when the long-anticipated eco- nomic plan in response to Open Skies aviation deal will be published.

This follows a Dail question from Deputy Pat Breen asking whether funding will be made available to the Midwest region following the in- troduction of Open Skies; and if so, when it will be made available and who will have responsibility for the management of the fund

In response, Minister Dempsey said, “My department is currently finalising an Economic and Tourism Development Plan for the Shannon Airport catchment area. The plan has been prepared in consultation with the Department of Finance, the Department of Arts, Sport and Tour- ism, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the De- partment of Communications, En- ergy and Natural Resources.

“The purpose of the plan is to en-

sure that the region is well placed to respond to the challenges and oppor- tunities emerging in the context of full liberalisation of the transatlantic aviation market and the phasing out of the Shannon stop as envisaged under the EU-US Open Skies Agree- ment. I hope to bring the plan to con- clusion shortly.”

The plan, which was launched in July 2006, seeks to achieve a tour-

ism promotional fund of €44 mil- hon from Government funds, a route support fund of €9 million and an independent and financially viable S)at-beveleyembeneleum

Already, the Mid-West Regional Authority has written to Government asking why funding has not been forthcoming.

The phased ending of the Shannon stop-over commenced earlier this year and Shannon has already lost a number of transatlantic services for the next winter.

The agreement stipulates that full Open Skies will commence in April pau eres

The five-year plan aims to secure a 30 per cent share of the direct trans- atlantic market between America and Ireland and to achieve an appro- priate sustainable level of year-round services to main US gateways.

Currently, Shannon has 37 per cent of the Irish transatlantic business.

THREE and a half years of planning paid off this weekend as the crowds gathered in the west Clare village of Quilty for the first ever Leon XIII oneal

Even the weather played its part as musicians dancers and singers enter- tained those gathered to remember the final voyage of the ill fated ship 100 years ago.

The local fishermen men who car- ried out the dramatic rescue of its crew were remembered by a special currach race, which saw local people including the local priest training for the last year.

On Friday evening, anew commem- orative plaque and lectern featuring the Leon XII story was unveiled by relatives of the Quilty fishermen of IONE

AN BORD Pleanala has refused planning permission for a €15 mil- lion wind farm in west Clare due to the impact the proposal would have on protected birds such as Hen Har- riers and Whooper Swans.

Earlier this year, Clare County Council granted planning permission to a German company, Pro Ventum, to construct a six-turbine windfarm near the west Clare towns of Kilrush and Kilkee. The company already has in place a seven turbine farm in close proximity to the new site – only one of two in operation in Clare.

The application was originally lodged four years ago in May 2003 but it wasn’t until February of this year that the council granted permis- sion after a long delay by the appli- cants in providing new information.

However, the decision was appealed to An Bord Pleanala by chairman of the Moanmore Action Group, Frank Lillis. Mr Lillis claimed that the cu- mulative effect of an enlarged wind- farm operation in such close proxim- ity raised serious health issues and that Birdwatch Ireland stated that there should be a presumption against siting windfarms in or adjacent to sensitive ecological areas including Special Protection Areas (SPAs).

The Inspector’s report cites a De-

partment of the Environment which states dissatisfaction with the ab- sence of any recent bird survey and an analysis of the impact of the adja- cent windfarm upon certain species.

The Inspector stated, “I have as- sessed the documentation submitted regarding these Annex | species and visited the site, yet consider the detail provided with regard to the impact of the development upon these Annex | species and furthermore, the cumula- tive impact of a 13 turbine wind farm upon these birds to be inadequate.”

The inspector said that an updated bird survey should have been carried out by the applicant. “I consider that insufficient information has been pro- vided to support the applicant’s state- ment that the proposed development would not by itself or cumulatively have an adverse impact upon the mi- eratory path or feeding grounds of these three bird species, identified un- der EU law for protection.”

The inspector warns that the cu- mulative effects of the two turbine developments on the habitat of the hen harrier on the basis of current knowledge and research are not es- tablished. The proposed develop- ment is located on a site identified as being in close proximity to a direct flight path for feeding and roosting sites of species listed for protection in the Birds Directive.

A WEST Clare GP outlined in clear terms the uphill battle facing the people of the county if it loses its 24- hour accident and emergency serv- ice. Dr Michael Harty, Chairman of the Clare branch of the Irish College of General Practitioners, was also clear on the current challenges faced by Ennis General Hospital and laid the blame squarely at the door of the HSE and the Government.

“This systematic starving of the hos- pital of resources has led to the lower- ing of morale among the staff work- ing in the hospital and has eroded the confidence of the general public

in the hospital. These are the facts of the situation but as professionals we are not supposed to mention them as we might further undermine the con- fidence in the hospital. The time for such niceties has long passed,’ he told the protesting crowd on Saturday.

‘The vision of the Government and the HSE for the future of the Irish health service does not include En- nis General Hospital as a provider of 24-hour acute medical care. The minister for health has indicated that the consultant-led accident and emer- gency services will be limited to day time services only and there will be no consultant service at night.”

Dr Harty outlined the knock-on ef-

fects of this policy. “There will be no intensive care services, there will be no coronary care services, there will be no medical or surgical staff on duty at night. There will be no radi- ology or laboratory services. Ambu- lances will be directed to Limerick with all emergencies.

‘There has been a concerted cam- paign by consecutive governments, the health board and now the HSE to undermine Ennis hospital,’ said Dr Harty.

“One of the fundamental problems in the Irish health service 1s the short- age of beds. Nationally we are short 3,000 beds. In the mid-west region, this 1s equivalent to 250 beds.

‘To put Ennis in context, there are times, when Ennis operates at 117 per cent capacity, that there are 15 extra beds in Ennis over and above the 88 they are allocated.

“General hospitals such as Ennis should operate efficiently at 85 per- cent capacity. Thus at times Ennis is operating at 32 per cent above opti- mum capacity.

‘The fact that Ennis operates at 117 per cent capacity proves that there is a demand for acute services in Ennis. When acute services close in Ennis where will the replacement services be? Limerick Regional Hospital is already operating at maximum ca- pacity as well,” he said.

A ROW over water pressure led to one councillor blowing a valve and storming out of last night’s meeting of Ennis Town Council.

Independent councillor Frankie CAV Cente CesM mm MelommeclercinbercamnemecDemrcDelca my mood, less than 15 minutes after it started, 1n protest at continuing prob- lems with water pressure in areas of Ennis.

Councillor Neylon said he had been raising the issue for the past 12 months and was fed up with the coun- cil’s failure to solve the problem.

The argument between Cllr Neylon and Town Engineer, Tom Tiernan

arose as members discussed the min- utes of the September meeting of En- nis Town Council.

As Town Engineer, Tom Tiernan listed the difficulties with ensuring adequate water pressure in elevated parts of Ennis, Cllr Neylon rose from his chair and declared, “I?ll have to leave this meeting. I’m sick and tired of the bulls**t coming across this table”.

Cllr Neylon said homes in Connolly Villas, St Flannans Terrace and the Tulla Road are regularly affected and he had fielded numerous complaints from people living in those areas.

According to Cllr Neylon, low water pressure in homes and fire hydrants

could result in a serious accident.

“Tam 12 months talking about wa- ter pressure in this town and I am sick and tired of having to bring it up. It is taking up to seven hours to fill tanks in Connolly Villas. There is an ac- cident waiting to happen if someone lights a fire in their home and there is no water in the tank.”

He continued “There was a fire on Station Road last week and luckily it was contained, but we have problems with the fire hydrants. It’s a potential disaster. And this isn’t just a Connol- ly Villas problem, this isn’t a Frankie Neylon problem — it affects Flan- nans Terrace, Tulla Road, Station Road, Mill Road. I’m constantly be-

ing contacted by people. They think I’m a fool. ’m getting embarrassed at this stage”.

Mr Tiernan conceded problems did exist in elevated parts of town. He said, “We are doing everything we can to resolve the problems. The mains in those areas are very old. An awful lot are laid in back gardens and that brings problems in time.”

He added, “Extra resources are be- ing put into finding leaks. The 1m- pression is that we are doing nothing and that is not the case.”

Fine Gael councillor, Johnny Flynn supported Cllr Neylon and said he awaited Mr Tiernan’s report on the matter.