Category: Uncategorized

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern could lose more than nine county coun- cillors in Clare less than two years ahead of the local elections.

Clare County Councillor Richard Nagle is chairman of the Clare tour- ism forum and one of the nine gov- ernment party county councillors contemplating leaving their parties if the government fails to ensure con- nectivity between Shannon and Lon- don-Heathrow.

Aware of the implications the 1s- sue has on his tourism brief and the economy of the western region, Cllr Nagle said, “I would have to strongly consider my position if that were to happen.”

The north Clare councillor was not alone in his sentiment.

Green Party councillor Brian Meaney has already informed party leader John Gormley of his intention to step down if the Government does not fight to acquire or retain the re- quired slots into London Heathrow.

Cllr Bernard Hanrahan was one of three councillors who did not want to give a definite yes to the answer, opt- ing for probably instead.

He said he would “probably resign” but under serious consideration.

“I would have to seriously consider it. | can’t fight from the outside. I can only fight from the inside.”

Cllr Bill Chamber said, “There is no point in leaving the Fianna Fail party. I am not in the Dail.”

If the councillors were to uphold their promise that Fianna Fail will be sending, at most, seven sitting county councillors on the hustings in 2009.

Even among those that gave a nega- tive answer to

PLANNERS have been accused of “flying in the face of their own poli- cy” in relation to the granting of per- mission to mobile phone operators to erect masts.

Councillor Cathal Crowe (FF) said at a meeting of Clare County Coun- cil last night that he could not under- stand the mechanisms behind many of the permissions granted.

Referring to a presentation made to the council the previous week by an official of O2, the councillor said that

he was told “that there is a four mile radius coverage from these masts.”

Yet in many places, the masts are going up in clusters. In Meelick there are up to five in a one-mile area.”

Cllr Crowe said the frequency with which masts are given planning per- mission “flies in the face of the coun- cil’s policy on co-location”.

The councillor said it was “impos- sible to understand some of the per- missions given.

“In the case of Coolderry, a 70 ft mast is not considered to be visually obtrusive yet and ordinary dwelling

house in the same location is refused permission on grounds of being visu- PO RYAcO)0 10 UU Aone

Seconding the motion, Cllr Pat Hayes (FF) said there “has to be consistency here, particularly con- cerning these masts being visually obtrusive.

“It opens another issue entirely. More often than not an Bord Plean- nala overturns our inspector’s re- ports and this is something we have no input into.”

Officials told the meeting that each planning application is “dealt with

on it’s own merits, having regard to the site and the application”.

Cllr Crowe said he wanted “‘a justi- fication on how a a 6/0 foot mast is considered appropriate when a nor- mal dwelling isn’t. We need to start refusing some of these applications if we have any care at all for the people of this county.”

In a separate discussion on plan- ning matters, Cllr PJ Kelly (FF) told the meeting that people who were born and have lived all their lives in the county are having difficulty with permission because they cannot

prove they have been resident here for ten years.

“If someone is applying to build for the first time and they are living with their parents, how can they prove they satisfy the local rural person rule if they have no utility bills in their name because their parents pay the bills?” the councillor asked.

He also challenged the practice of insisting that people prove they have lived in Clare for the last ten years.

“If someone is a guest of the nation in Mountjoy for 18 months then they lost their status,” he said.

WHEN four plucky cyclists said “the sky’s the limit” as they volunteered to be part of a 300k cycle for the East Clare Chernobyl cause, they really meant it.

In order to get to Belarus, brothers Eoghan, Feilim and Micheal Begley and pal Pat Gannon have to raise €2,600 each.

As a first step to doing that, the fearless foursome lined up for a par- achute jump which gave their funds a jump-start.

“It was an amazing experience,”

said Eoghan, who made a €1,200 dent in the amount he needed to raise.

The four made the jump with Sky- dive Ireland earlier this summer and they are now preparing for the off on the cycle from Minsk to Malech.

The route which up to 50 cyclists will take is more than 300k and the money raised will go towards build- ing projects at two schools in An- topol and Gantsvichy.

Last year’s cycle bought a new mini-bus and car for the orphanage and also went to buy new kitchen equipment and provide ventilation.

This year’s cycle aims to replace roofing which is in a very bad state of repair.

Previous year’s cycles built new toilets and provided showers for the bedroom blocks.

The funds raised have also gone to providing modern laundry facilities in Malech Sanatorium, where chil- dren whose immune systems have been damaged by radiation go for naerelbeetoelm

And with the money they were able to plant an orchard so that the sanato- rium can earn an income from press- ing apples and selling juice as well as

a fruit garden, which is a great boost to the nutrition of the sick children.

In Gantsvichy, previous cycles have provided money for kitchen equip- ment and refurbishment of the can- oer

The cycle committee has commit- ted to finishing the projects chosen in Antopol from funds raised this year and extra money raised will be used to further projects in Gantsvi- chy and other institutions.

THE Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern could be facing outright revolt in Clare if the feelings of his county council- lors are an indication of the mood within the party.

Though the majority of Clare county councillors from Fianna Fail and the Green Party would not only expect the Government TDs from the western region to resign the whip, many are prepared to see the Government fall over the issue.

Just six of Clare’s county coun- cillors from the government par- ties said they did not believe that the TDs of the area should resign their seat 1f a link between Shannon and London-Heathrow is not main- tained, and one of the councillors answered no only because the sug- gestion did not go far enough.

West Clare councillor Bill Cham- bers (FF) said the TDs should be prepared to resign before a vote of the issue is even taken and let Ber- tie Ahern know they are prepared to vote against the government on the issue of Shannon.

“That is letting them off the hook, there is no point resigning after.

They need to force the vote on the S)areveb ae) sm Re one

The issue of using the Govern- ment 25 per cent Aer Lingus share was not as clear a resigning matter for the Clare councillors.

Ennis councillor Peter Considine said it was not a yes/no answer and felt that the other two questions on

NEWS of massive investment in wa- ter and sewerage schemes in Clare is ‘bad news dressed up as good”, as there will be a massive shortfall in funding which the council will have to meet, it was claimed last night.

At a meeting of Clare County Council, Cllr Martin Lafferty (Ind), asked for clarification on how much the council was expected to contrib- ute to anumber of important schemes which have been granted funding in the county.

He was told that the shortfall would be in the order of €23 million.

‘This is bad news dressed up as good. The Government is not bring- ing in a proper financial basis for local authorities. They are making councils collect up the money for these schemes themselves,” he said.

Cllr Richard Nagle (FF) called for the council to “write to the minister to point out what an intolerable bur- den this puts on this local authority”.

Cllr Madeleine Taylor-Quinn(FG) said that on average, Clare County Council was being asked “to pay 60

per cent of the cost of these schemes. Where are we going to find that?”

Mayor of Clare, Patricia McCarthy (Ind) said that the council was facing a “very serious issue in going from a situation where Government fund- ing was 100 per cent to a place where we re being asked to pay nearly fifty nea Ae

In the case of one scheme, we are being asked for more than 90 per cent of the cost. We can’t expect peo- ple on the ground to pay for this.”

Green Party councillor, Brian Meaney described the announce- ment as “disappointing”.

He said he had spoken with Min- ister John Gormley twice and “out- lined the feelings of the council on DONIC OOF IA Kosa

He added that when he spoke to the minister last Thursday, he “assured me that he is going to reappraise the situation with allocations he will make next year and I will be follow- ing through with him on that”.

Councillors agreed they would write to the minister to express their concern about the effect the alloca- tions will have on council finances.

THE streets of Ennistymon will be crammed with music lovers of all ages this weekend as the first ever Ennistymon Music Festival takes place.

The festival, which will this year take the place of the Ennistymon Family Festival, offers a massive line-up of free music to suit every- one’s taste.

“Years ago in Ennistymon, in the ‘60s and °/70s, the family festival was an annual event. In recent times, myself and Willie Daly, along with a few others, decided to reform it,” said Co-organiser, Marian Cliff.

“We have organised the family fes- tival for the last two years and it has gone very well. For a number of rea- sons it didn’t happen this year, but we

didn’t want to let a year go by with- out something happening so we have organised the first ever Ennistymon Music Festival.

The central focus for the weekend will be a gig-rig set up in the towns square. Bands, trad musicians and singers of all descriptions will take to the stage there on Thursday and Friday evenings and all day Saturday and Sunday.

“We had a lot of young band play- ing last year, which was great – we had a lot of rock and reggae. But we wanted to have some more trad and folk this year. We have an all around programme with something for eve- ryone,” continued Marian.

“We are trying to complement all the music. If there is a rock band on the stage at a certain time, we will have a trad or a folk band in the pubs,

especially Daly’s, Cooley’s, Cull- inan’s and Marinan’s, at the same time. So there is something to suit everyone.”

Besides being a treat for music lov- ers, the festival will also provide a timely boost for the local economy.

“It’s a really good weekend for the town as well. It brings that extra bit of life around the place and is a ben- efit for the tourism related business- es, especially so late in the tourism season,’ said Co-organiser, Kevin AZT dbree-h ee

Aside from the music, organisers are trying to organise a number of events to keep the younger people NL KosM RN DELeLem

“We will also have an indoor soc- cer tournament as part of the festi- val, organised by Carrie Fleming. She started it as an outdoor event,

but she has turned it into an indoor five-a side competition which will be a welcome pat of the festival,’ con- tinued Marian.

“We are working on a tight budg- et. The more money we can raise through sponsorship, the more dif- ferent events that we will be able to put on. We have been is contact with clowns and people who run pup- pet shows, so hopefully we will be able to have some of these on for the kids.”

For more information on all aspects of the festival, contact Marian Cliff on 086 8782617.

KILRUSH Town Councillors have been accused of “not caring about” the Shannon crisis, and the loss of Aer Lingus’s London-Heathrow slot from the airport.

Mayor of Kilrush, Tom Clyne (Ind) said he is aware of comments that the councillors have been very quiet on the issue and “did not speak out in public’.

At this month’s meeting of the town council, Cllr Marian McMahon- Jones (FG) said while the council may not have been there as a unit, members of the council did attend.

‘Maybe we should have had a state- ment out by now,” she said.

“T think we as a council need to be a lot more aware and a lot more vo- cal,’ she added.

Independent councillor Deirdre Culligan told the members, “It has been noted that councillors were TPO Basso be roa

In addressing the meeting, Cllr Tom Prenderville (FF) said, “a lot has been said about the issue. We at- tended a lot of meetings, we are four- square behind the airport.”

“We are a sinking ship and there are people out there who can throw us a life raft and that is the Govern- ment,” said Cllr McMahon-Jones.

“Tf small councils, big councils and our politicians stand united, disre- garding political parties, and call

Bertie out, we could force his hand,” she said.

She said it was time that the TDs and Government stood up and were counted.

“They were not elected to roll over for Aer Lingus. They are elected to represent the people.”

Fianna Fail councillor Liam Looney agreed with his council colleague.

“T am beginning to question my own membership of Fianna Fail,” he told the meeting.

Despite the uncertainty surrounding the future of Shannon Airport, ten per cent of Munster employers ex- pect to recruit more workers by the end of the year, according to the lat- est Manpower Ireland survey.

This is the most optimistic figure of all regions nationwide and shows a three per cent increase 1n quarter- over-quarter results. In year-over- year comparisons, Munster also saw a four per cent increase and was the only region which reported an 1m- provement in year-over-year com- parisons.

Nationally only 12 per cent of Irish employers say they expect to hire

more people during the fourth quar- ter of 2007. These results are down a disappointing eight per cent on the corresponding quarter for last year and down three per cent on the Q3 results for 2007. The survey also shows that seven per cent of Irish em- ployers expect to reduce their work- force while 81 per cent anticipate no change over the coming quarter.

Conducted quarterly, the Man- power Employment Outlook Survey measures employers’ intentions to increase or decrease their work- forces over the forthcoming quarter. Ireland’s Net Employment Outlook for the final quarter of the year is just five per cent, down six percentage points from Q3 2007.

A DELEGATION from the French seaside village of Arzon will be in Lahinch this weekend to help locals in the naming of a brand new street.

Years of development have seen the once small village of Lahinch grow into a bustling tourist town. In the process however, a number of areas have been left without a recognised name or title, as new houses and es- tates have created whole new streets and urban areas.

Earlier this year the Lahinch Com- munity Council, in partnership with Clare County Council, launch a pro-

gramme to give the poor postman a dig-out, and put some order an the Lahinch street names.

They began an extensive consulta- tion process where local were invited to suggest possible names for the unnamed streets. The first results of this will bear fruit on Sunday when a recently developed street, running parallel to main street, will be re- named Rue d’Arzon.

Lahinch has been twinned with Ar- zon for a number of decades and del- egations from both towns meet and hold regular exchanges.

‘There is a group coming over from Arzon who will be staying in Lahi-

nch for two or three days over the weekend. The big thing is happening on Sunday, we will be naming that street. We have all the signs ready for it So we are all ready to go,” said Gerry Hartigan of the Lahinch Com- munity Council.

“Besides the naming of the street there will also be an exchange of an Irish style post box for a French style post-box. That night then we will have an official twinning dinner in the Liscannor Hotel and we will be bringing them around to see some of the great attractions the the area has to offer.

“We will bring them into the Court-

house Exhibition in Ennistymon, up to Lisdoonvarna, they might want to go up to the Burren or up to the Cliffs of Moher. where ever they want to 20.” Besides putting names on previ- ously untitled areas, the council also hopes to sort out a number of con- fusing situations, such as two estates who both have the same name in the AUF TS

WOODSTOCK’S hopes of All-Ire- land glory perished in Belfast on Thursday afternoon as they bowed out of the Pierce Purcell Shield at the semi-final stage to a crack Warren- point side.

The semi-final clash was played in Shandon Park, just outside Belfast, but the local knowledge of the War- renpoint club from nearby Down was crucial in driving them to a compre- hensive 4-1.

Woodstock failed to win any of the five matches in the foursomes competition. Indeed, the semi-final bid of the 2002 champions started on the worst possible note when the lead pairing of Michael Kelly and Stephen Spencer went down by 6 and 4 to S Sands and D Flanagan.

Woodstock then gave themselves some hope for the remainder of the tie when Jimmy Kelly and Jason Dor- mer played out a halved match with S Colgan and P Devlin. They were one up with five to play, but then found themselves one down with three to play. However, they battled back to Neu kommer DEe

Match three then became a cru- cial rubber for Woodstock, but the

pairing of Noel Dinan and Liam O’Connor bowed out after putting up a brave battle against N Devine and A Campbell. They were four down after five but battled back to be only one hole adrift by the 16th. However, Devine and Campbell held firm and closed out the match on the 18th to win by two holes.

It meant that Martin Nolan and Michael O’Brien had to win their match — they made a bold bid but had to be content with a half. It was the all-important half-point for Warren- point that put them through to a fi- nal meeting with Donabate who beat Bearna in the other semi-final.

The final match out on the course also went Warrenpoint’s way with M Redmond and M McGivern beating Tony Lawlor and James McMahon by 3 and 1.