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FEARS that a €35 million hous- ing development would have a negative impact on the operation of Ennis Golf club have been dis- missed by Clare County Council and Ennis Town Council.

This follows the two planning authorities giving the go-ahead to Joe McNamara to build 159 homes on Ennis’s Golk Links Road.

Ennis Golf Club did not object to the planning application. Howev- er, local residents opposed to the plan raised fears over the impact the proposal would have on Ennis Golf Club.

They stated: “The established in- tegrity of the golf course would be seriously undermined by the pro- posed development and its future viability would be uncertain.

“Tf basic land use conflicts are

to be avoided in the future, the present housing application needs to be refused on the basis that it will result in injury to the recrea- tional and visual amenities of the area.

“The proposed housing, because of its proximity to the existing golf course, would give rise to mutual conflicts and injury to both the amenities of the golf course users and of any residential properties which would adjoin it.

The residents also requested the County Council “to refuse the planning application, as the ap- plicant site is not appropriate for housing development in terms of isolation from the sustainable ur- ban structure as a whole”.

“There are no significant public transport facilities. The applicant has failed to include a proposal in relation to the co-ordinated and

integrated approach between land use zoning and public transporta- tion provision and the merits of the scheme having regard to the principals of proper planning and sustainable development.

“The proposed development will erode the semi-rural character of the area as there are sufficient lands zoned within the Ennis en- virons plan to cater for future ex- pansion within the plan and the is premature under the current plan.

“The development as proposed would be detrimental to the amen- ities of the area and the amenities of our property and the amenities of potential occupiers of the devel- e}eyetonim

The objection continued, “Ennis Town Council and Clare County Council should have major con- cerns in regard to the principal of the development. This is a site that

is on the periphery of Ennis town.

In adjudicating on the plan, the Council stated, “Although, the proposed development is located outside the designated Residential Development Area, in practical terms, the proposal cannot be con- sidered to be premature.

“Having regard to the Residen- tial Density Guidelines and the designation of Ennis as a hub town in the National Spatial Strategy the provision of housing at the pro- posed medium density and within walking distance from the town centre is considered appropriate.”

However, having regard to vari- ous provision of the Ennis and Environs Development Plan, the Council gave the planning appli- cation the go-ahead. The decision has now been appealed to An Bord Pleanala by local residents.

ENNIS Educate Together National School (EETS) may have to turn away new students if their current situation continues.

The school’s Board of Management has called on the Department of Education and Clare County Council to assist it in purchasing the site it currently occupies on the Gort Road in order to facilitate the building of a permanent school. The Board of Management are calling on local and national elected representatives to help the school achive its goal in the short term

and say they had received assurances from Clare County Council that it would support the school in purchasing the site.

Since 1998 the school has leased its current premises on the Gort Road from Clare County Council. While the Department of Education pay the majority of the rent, the school must make up the shortfall. The pre-fabricated buildings house over 160 pupils, 12 teachers and two special needs assistants, and accord- ing to school principal Sean O’Conthaola the structural limitations of the building means the school is bursting to the seams.

‘The difficulty here is really a practical one. Because it is a pre-fab the classrooms here are smaller. There are over 160 children in the school so we are officially full, we don’t have room for anyone else but we have a very open enrollment policy and we are very reluctant to turn anyone away. We are as full as can be. We have an application in for an extension and it just seems to be bad value to be throwing more money at it. The site can’t be developed either we don’t have the money to do it and the De- partment won’t give any grant aid to a site they don’t own.”

With around 60 per cent of the school’s stu- dents living within walking distance of the building, Mr. Confhaola believes that relocat- ing the school would impose an extra burden on parents while another difficulty facing the site iS proper access to the sewage system. The big- gest obstacle though facing any future develop- ment of the site, according to Mr. O’Confhaola is planning.

“The planning issue is a big problem. The development plan for the town has zoned vari- ous sites community, originally they had zoned them educational but that didn’t go through. We looked at a few of these sites that were zoned community, but they are not actually for sale. They are owned by private developers”. He went onto add that it was “unfair to keep the school waiting just because of bad planning”.

Earlier this year Clare County Council wrote to the Office of Public Works (OPW) regarding the Gort Road site and stated that in accord- ance with the Ennis and Environs Development Plan 2003 the land adjacent to the site of the school would not be considered consistent with the proper planning and sustainable develop- ment of the town. The OPW have said that they don’t accept that the Department of Education and Science and the OPW had forgotten about the school’s situation.

PLANS for a hostel and 39 homes for the north Clare coastal village of Fanore are encountering opposition from local residents.

In September, Tom Considine lodged plans for the 18-bedroom hostel and 39 homes on zoned land at Craggagh, Fanore. According to a statement with the plans lodged, the hostel “will be a major contribution to the tourism industry in Fanore as at present, it is not possible to stay overnight in Fanore, except for Bed and Breakfasts.”

Mr Considine also encloses a let- ter from auctioneer, John Vaughan, which states that property is in huge demand in Fanore and it is rare property of any kind to come on the market.

However, the proposal is en- countering opposition from local residents. In an objection lodged on behalf of Rita Dowling, it states that Ms Dowling has no objection in principle to development but has

serious concerns about the scale of the proposal, the negative impact on the laneway to the side of the devel- opment and the absence of public sewerage.

“The anticipated growth over the Development Plan period from 2005 to 2011 1s for an additional 10 units

for permanent residential units. The applicant proposes 39 houses within five years and argues that there is a demand for this scale of develop- ment for permanent occupation,” the statement continues.

‘The locals do not want more holi- day homes, nor would such homes

lead to any sustainability with re- spect to the proper planning and de- velopment of the area.”

A separate objection lodged on be- half of Margaret Leyden stated, “One has to remember that until about 15 years ago, Fanore was by and large an idyllic virgin landscape. However, since then development pressure has increased and is, at present, serious- ly threatening the very existence of this visual amenity, some in part by the Council in trying to reinvent the house in the vernacular, others not complying with their permissions.

“The housing scale as proposed is totally out of scale with any lo- cal vernacular. It must be pointed out that in the County Development Plan, this whole area is deemed to be a ‘vulnerable landscape’ on a scenic route. How does the proposal comply with these objectives. We would suggest that they are in direct conflict.”

A decision is due on the applica- tion later this month.

APPROVAL has been given to try to make safe a junction which was the scene a recent fatal accident.

38-year-old Shane Browne from Meelick lost his life in a two-vehicle collision at Harold’s Cross, an acci- dent black-spot where dozens of cars have crashed and many people have lokero em Oleba me

The November meeting of Killaloe area councillors was told that cash had been set aside and stop signs or- dered for Harold’s Cross.

Councillor John McInerney, who put a motion to the council request- ing the safety measures, was told by officials that signage had been or- dered and that every effort will be made to highlight the junction.

But calls from other councillors for changes to speeding controls in the area met with a mixed response from gardai and road engineers.

Of 21 requests from Cllr Cathal Crowe for alterations to speed lim- its, just three were granted.

These were at Barry’s Cross, where the 60 kph limit will be extended to a point 10 meters west of the post of- fice junction, on the Roo/Broadford road and the Roo Post Office junc- tion where the limit will be reduced from 80 kph to 60 kph.

Cllr Paschal Fitzgerald had asked for an increase in the 50 kph limit at the Longpavement and it was agreed that this would go up to 60 kph, while Cllr Tony O’Brien was grant- ed an extension of the 50 kph speed limit at Hill Road in Killaloe.

The meeting was attended by members of the gardai who, along with the county’s road engineers, had been involved as consultants on the list of requests for advised re- strictions.

Cllr Crowe said that he was not happy with the refusals. “There’s no doubt that East Clare is being used as a rat run. These are requests based on what the residents in these areas are telling me.

“These are the people who have to live in these areas and they are

crying out for speed controls,” the councillor said.

Clir Tony O’Brien said that while he understood that his colleague was acting on behalf of residents, ““These decisions were made in consultation with people who are experts in traf- fic management and I feel we should

accept their recommendations.”

Officials told the meeting that all of the limits and restrictions on roads in the area will be made public to give residents a chance to make any submissions they wish to, once the regulations have been adopted at a full council meeting.

WANDER EI place in Shannon later this month.

Irish Country Pottery is to hold a factory clearance sale of €180,000 of its stock, over three days.

The stock being cleared 1s a mixture of first quality and a selection of slight seconds, which have built up over the years, since the company was formed almost 40 years ago.

The decision to sell the stock at a reduced rate — up to 50 per cent off — was made in advance of the launch of a new range, which is expected to hit the shelves early next year.

Among the items on sale include lamps, wooden ac-

cessories, hand painted shades and various kitchen ACCESSOTIES.

“We haven’t done this be- fore and the main purpose 1s to clear out the stock. All of the items on sale are of high Standard,’ said Alec Good of Irish Country Pottery.

People from a wide range of countries are among the 70-strong workforce em- ployed at Irish Country Pot- tery, including those from South Africa, Zimbabwe, the Philippines and Ro- mania, while a number of people with disabilities also 0) U.N SESE

The clearance sale, at Shannon Community Work- shop, in the Shannon Indus- trial Estate, will take place between 10am and 6pm on Friday and Saturday (No- vember 25 and 26) and be- tween 12 noon and 6pm on Sunday (November 27).

Clare County Council is set to become a major player in the pro- motion of tourism in Clare, as part of a shake-up of regional tourism SB uC R EN KeNE

The Government overhaul of the current structures is aimed at ad- dressing the growing imbalance between visitors to Dublin and the west of Ireland.

Under the changes, the coun- cil will, for the first time, have a strong voice on issues such as product development. The council will become an integral part of the tourism planning of the region by way of participation on the Re- gional Tourism Partnerships and strong links at executive level.

The plan also states that council will be in a position to assist in the funding of particular initiatives led by the regional tourism centre.

OU stomata mecca Oye VeeMbCe RUD RoKIRYa08| pose a threat to Shannon Devel-

opment’s future role in promoting tourism.

The report commissioned by Failte Ireland and carried out by Pricewaterhouse Coopers, contains a dedicated section on the Shannon region.

‘The Shannon Development eco- nomic development role has influ- enced the tourism activity under- taken by the agency in the region, with a strong emphasis on product development as a response to mar- ket failure.

“In line with overall thrust of the recommendations, which favour the integration of national and re- gional tourism policy, considera- tion should be given to the integra- tion of the Shannon tourism region into the proposed revised regional Structure.

“It would be important, however, to ensure that the strategic tourism capability built within the Shan- non Development over-time is not lost to the region.

“As a potential future ‘gateway’ to the west of Ireland, this knowl- edge and know-how should be har- nessed to manage the flow of visi- tors to and through the region.”

This week, Tourism Minister, John O’Donoghue told the Dail: “At the end of July, I indicated to Failte Ireland that I was satisfied it should proceed with the proposed revision of regional tourism struc- tures on the basis of the PWC and ‘Travers reports.

“An implementation group is being established to assist Failte Ireland in implementing the rec- ommendations. Mr. Finbarr Flood has agreed to chair this group and has already begun his work. Failte Ireland expect that changes will be seen in the regions by the middle of next year.

“At a time of overall national tourism growth, I remain con- cerned that the issue of regional spread should be proactively and energetically addressed.

INDUSTRY and opposition politicians have slammed the agreement which will see the Shannon stopover grounded from April 2008.

IBEC — which represents 500 busi- nesses, employing 50,000 people in the region — has branded the announcement that a deal has been cut to phase out the stopover as “a black day for the west.”

IBEC Mid-West Regional President, Mr Damien Clancy, added that the impact on industry, business and tourism would be devastating given that Government has not outlined measures to minimise the negative effect of this decision.

“The harsh reality is that, under Open Skies, US-Shannon flights could easily be reduced from 50 to 7 per week with an equivalent drop in US passengers of up- wards of 500,000 per annum as airlines seek to consolidate their Irish operations

for cost reasons,” he said.

Beginning next November, the number of flights serving Shannon will be re- duced to one in four on all scheduled routes. “This drastic reduction in serv- ices outlined by Minister Cullen will no doubt have a significant impact on invest- ment and jobs in Shannon and the greater West of Ireland region unless action is taken to plan for this change,” the IBEC President said.

Mike Halpenny of SIPTU, the union representing workers at the airport, says the deal is a disaster. “The big problem is that it’s a poor deal, not just for the air- port workers but also for workers in the industrial estate and the backward link- ages. And this has all been done without even the courtesy of an impact study.”

Joe Buckley of the Shannon Signal eroup said that it was “an appalling day for Shannon.” He added that, while the

Government had neglected to carry out any impact statement before the deal, in the US, a bill is moving through congress to examine fall-out for American indus- try in the Mid-West.

Fine Gael TD Pat Breen has criticised the one-in-four deal for Shannon over an 18-month-period as a drip-feed solution. He said, “This is a sellout of the West. It is a ridiculous sop which takes no ac- count of the threatened effects of an Open Skies agreement on the airport.”

But the plan has received a welcome from tourism interests and from the Lim- erick Chamber of Commerce, who said that “Open Skies could offer opportuni- ties and Shannon Airport’s business plan does make provision for its advent but it is now critical that they get their cost structure in order to attract carriers and compete on transatlantic business by of- fering lower landing charges.”

A LONE Clare fisherman, reported missing late last Wednesday night in Galway Bay, was found safe and well, stranded on an island, in the early hours of Thursday morning. The 43-year-old from New Quay in North Clare went fishing at 4pm on Wednesday afternoon and was due home at around nightfall. When

there was no sign, his wife raised the alarm and reported him overdue at around Ilpm. A major sea and air search was launched soon after- wards.

The Aran Islands and Galway Bay lifeboats, along with volunteers from the Doolin Unit of the Irish Coastguard, rushed to the scene and began a water-based search in the area of New Quay. Shortly af-

terwards, the Shannon-based Irish Coastguard helicopter, which is equipped with specialist search and rescue thermal imaging technology, joined the search.

The man was located a short time later by the chopper crew as they carried out a low level sweep over Deer Island in Galway Bay, about two miles north of New Quay.

According to a Coastguard

spokesperson, “The helicopter crew spotted the man on Deer Island waving his hands in the air but for safety reasons did not immediately attempt to airlift him. It appears he got caught in some bad weather and sought shelter on the island”’.

The presence of large colonies of birds on the island prevented the chopper crew from immediately airlifting the man to safety. It was

feared that if disturbed, birds could fly into the chopper’s engines and scupper any rescue bid.

The pilot decided instead to await the arrival of a lifeboat which used spotlights to illuminate the area so that an airlift could safely take place.

The man was taken to safety short- ly before 2 am and was reported to be safe and well after his ordeal.

THE founding chairman of the Shannon Status Committee, which lobbied to keep the Shannon stopover, has expressed his support for the controversial Open Skies policy. Minister for Labour Affairs Tony Killeen expressed his absolute confidence that Shannon Airport will continue to “grow and prosper in the exciting new era of EU-US Open Skies”.

The Corofin TD was founding chairman of the committee as Clare County Council Chairman in 1989, and led the local FF revolt when Shannon was under threat 12 years ago. But he sup- ported Minister Martin Cullen’s decision this week, pointing out that none of the other 24 EU states has managed to negoti- ate an interim arrangement similar to Shannon’s.

In response to queries that he had changed his stance over the last decade, he said, “When full “Open Skies’ finally arises in 2008, it will be close to 20 years since the start of the ‘status’ campaign. At that time, unemployment hovered at close to 18 per cent. It is now, at 4.2 per cent, one of the lowest in Europe.

“Our debt-to-GNP ratio was 125 per cent and completely out of control. It is now a comfortable 30 per cent. And growth was

virtually at stagnation point, compared with today’s healthy five per cent,” the Minister of State added.

“Shannon has weathered the storm and the unprecedented success enjoyed by the new independent airport authority proves that Clare’s airport is fully capable of winning new business against all comers. I believe that the improved relationship with the new Aer Lingus management will greatly benefit Shannon, and US carriers using the airport have been more than happy with their load factors and want to retain their share,” he said.

“The new airport board, along with a revitalised and re-fo- cused Shannon Development, must continue to expand and build the marketing focus on the West of Ireland in the US, UK and European markets. And the completion of a first-class road and rail infrastructure must be delivered by Government.”

He claimed that the same “prophets of doom’, who foretold that the rabbits would overrun the runways in the 1940s and predicted closure of Shannon in the °90s, are “‘at it again”.

‘Their predictions are as inaccurate now as they were then”, Minister Killeen remarked, “and, as always, it falls to those of us who were prepared to take a stand in difficult times to pro- vide positive support so that Shannon can benefit from exciting new opportunities.”

WHEN Gerry Sweeney left the pier in New Quay early JETS MA WV(crebslonree-himmaeleu sper reamm el tle did he know that he was about to face into the ordeal of his life.

Gerry had spent the early hours of Wednesday morning laying keep tanks and, as the weather began to worsen, he moved his boat to the Flaggy Shore. As he laid his final tank he lost his footing and plunged into the freezing water. Fail- ing to get back on deck, he had no choice but to hold on as the tide swept the boat out to sea.

“T had no choice but to hold on to the boat, take shelter from the weather and hope that it would drift out towards Deer Island,” he said.

As the boat drifted farther out to sea it became clear to Gerry that the boat would not reach Deer Island. He had no choice, he had to swim.

‘The hardest part was hold- ing on for the last 20 minutes. Leaving the boat I was fairly weak, I just decided to give it one last push.”

After making it to Deer Is- land, Gerry knew he had to find some shelter before the

storm worsened. Too weak to stand, he crawled to the top of Neo EDITOR

“When I got on to the island it was blowing force seven. I knew there was a mound of rocks on the top of the island. I had to get some shelter,’ he said.

Returning home after 10 pm, Gerry’s wife Martina knew that something was wrong.

COMA ACCU MANE KBE 0 MEO) the hob and that was unusual. I drove down to the pier and raised the alarm,” she said.

“It was a ferocious night,” said Gerry. “I knew that there were people out looking for me. They were risking every- thing by going out there.”

In force nine winds the Aran Galway Life Boat joined the search but it was the Shannon coast guard helicopter which finally spotted the stranded and weak fisherman.

“The first two times they flew over me,’ he said. “I put my life jacket back on so that they might see that.”

Visibility was so poor that the rescue teams could not even see the island and used the light of his life jacket to navigate. Just after 2 am, Ger-

ry was winched into the heli- copter and flown to safety. As he winged his way to Shan- non, the rescue teams joined

his family to celebrate.

“T would like to thank the Valentia coast guard, life boats from Galway and Aran,

the Doolin Coast Guard, the Shannon Helicopter crew and eround staff and all the locals who lent their support,” he

said. “They all came regard- less of the weather.”