Category: Uncategorized

THE tourism subsidiary operated by Shannon Development increased its profits by 50% last year, accounts filed to the Companies Office reveal.

Shannon Heritage and Castle Banquets Ltd. increased its profits to €117,040 in a success- ful year for the company.

Prior to an exceptional cost of €60,000, the company, which employs 200 people, made a profit of £69,073 in 2003.

Last year, it made a turnover of €11.3 miul- lion, which was up 5% on the 2003 figures and attracted 625,000 visitors to its attrac- tions, an increase of more than 6%.

According to the accounts, “the 2004 year has been a difficult year for many in the Tour- ism industry particularly the latter half, due to a combination of factors. These include the downturn in US visitors due to the value of the dollar against the euro. However Shannon Heritage has managed to attract over 625,000 people to its range of day visitor attractions and evening entertainments.

‘Most of this increase was achieved in the first half of the year when trading conditions were much better.

The most popular visitor attraction remains Bunratty Castle & Folk Park which attracted 324,903 visitors in 2004 — an increase of 17,000 on the 2003 figure of 307,145.

A PROPOSAL by Clare County Councillor Michael Kelly (FF) to lower the speed limits in Crusheen and Corkscrew Hill was turned down last Tuesday, three days before five peo- ple were hospitalised following accidents at both locations.

Cllr Kelly’s proposals were among nine al- terations to speed limits made by councillors for the North Clare area, none of which were recommended. In each case, Inspector Kevin Moynihan, Head of the Garda traffic unit in Clare, and Sean Liddy, Senior Executive Engi- neer of the Clare County Council, advised that a speed change would be contrary to the De- partment of Transport’s policy and would also

be impossible to enforce.

Several councillors raised concerns about their role in deciding speed limits, consider- ing that none of their proposed changes were recommended. Inspector Moynihan and Mr Liddy stressed that they were only making rec- ommendations and the final decision would be made at the council level.

Four people were hospitalised following a serious two car accident at Tubber cross in Crusheen at 7.30am on Friday morning. Three were Americans, who were travelling in one car. Two people were hospitalised after a two vehicle crash just after 5pm on Friday evening at Corkscrew Hill.

It’s understood that Israeli tourists were among those involved.

A SMART security system which allows security guards to speak to criminals about to commit a crime has been brought into play by a Clare firm.

John O’Dwyer, Clare’s biggest hardware company and a member of the National Hardware Group has bought in the Netwatch secu- rity technology system, to prevent losses from vandalism and theft at its premises in the Westgate Business Park in Ennis.

Since its inception in 2003, Net- watch, the remote visual monitoring security company, claims to have prevented nearly 800 crimes against businesses throughout the country.

Netwatch is an intelligent security system which allows the Netwatch Command Centre to watch in ‘real time’ any intrusion taking place at a premises and to speak directly to the criminals before they commit a oamnneles

John O’Dwyer has been in busi- ness for 21 years in Quilty, Miltown Malbay, and more recently in Ennis employs 44 people.

“Like many businesses, the com- pany has had its share of theft and vandalism over the years. Generally these have been break-ins to the com- pany’s premises where stock of con- siderable value is stored. The compa- ny previously protected the premises by traditional means, but due to the distance to the Ennis site from the headquarters, response time in the event of an alarm was too long,” a spokesman for Netwatch said.

‘Traditional security methods act as a deterrent, but they do not stop intrusions from taking place. A 24- hour security presence on the premis- es was too expensive but we needed a system that would give us the benefit of 24-hour protection without the cost. Since installing the Netwatch system almost two years ago, we have suffered no loss or damage at our Ennis site.”, said John O’ Dwyer, Managing Director of the hardwear

eyeal er TENA

“The new system installed, Net- watch, 1s an interactive system em- ploying satellite technologies which allow our premises to be watched 24-hours a day for a fraction of the cost of employing full-time security men and allows us to be aware of any attempted intrusions immediately. There have been occasions when

thieves have tried to gain access to our premises, which covers a 10,000 sq.ft. site, but the fact that the system provides an immediate response is critical. Intervention from the Com- mand Centre as an event is happen- ing means that we are successful in preventing acts of vandalism or theft occurring”, said John O’Dwyer.” The system can also help record

what happens iduring the day.

‘For example if someone walked O)ULMAY a LHe COLUL Mm oychYAn rca LO) mnLeseelelODNIToMAWYe would be able to identify them from the recorded footage,” said John.

When a break-in takes place, the Netwatch system sends live pic- tures of the area where the security breach has occurred to the command system. The command centre then

speaks directly to the intruder, in- forming them that they are on private property and that the Gardai have been called. “Knowing that they are being watched and that the Gardai have been notified is a huge deter- rent — in 99% of cases recorded the intruder leaves the premises without committing a crime,’ the Network spokesman said.

IN THE MIDST of news that the Shannon stopover is to end, there was good news for the airport.

Delta airlines have announced that they are planning a major expansion of its services out of Ireland, a move which will see 100,000 extra seats for Shannon on Transatlantic routes.

As well as a new scheduled daily

service between New York’s JFK and Dublin and Shannon from May 15 and there will also be expanded summer services between Atlanta and Shannon and Dublin.

Shannon management said the ex- panded routes will be a major boost for the West of Ireland gateway and the region in general.

“As we approach the end of a record-breaking year for Shannon,

Delta’s plans to add a New York serv- ice and a dedicated Atlanta-Shannon service in 2006 will help ensure and even better traffic performance next year.” said Airport Director martin Moroney.

He added that it is “estimated that capacity on the Shannon-Atlanta service will double to 120,000 seats and that the airline will add 45,000 seats to the Shannon-New York ca-

pacity.”

Delta has also announced new routes between the US and Edin- burgh, Venice and Budapest in an effort to overtake British Airways, American Airlines and Continental Airlines as the biggest Transatlantic operator.

The announcement marks one of the most significant expansions by a US airline since the September 11

attacks on New York and Washing- Keer

US airlines have seen domestic profits fall by 1 per cent so far this year, while profits on Transatlantic routes have increased by 6 per cent.

The figures suggest that while Delta may be the first operator to switch the emphasis to Transatlantic business, they will probably not be the last.

MOST Irish companies choose be- tween the .ie and the .com domains for their email address. Now their choice 1s to be widened, with a new top-level domain (TLD) scheduled to become available for companies, bodies and individuals based within the European Union. A TLD is basi- cally the last bit of an email address.

Anyone wanting to be able to use the .eu TLD, should start making plans now.

EURid, the European registry of Internet names, has fixed December 7 as the start of a “sunrise period” for filing applications. Although any person or company within the EU is eligible to apply for names, it’s not going to be a free for all.

Top of the queue will be owners and licencees of registered com- munity and national trademarks, national and community public bod- ies, and the holders and/or licensees of a geographical indication or des- ignation of origin. They have been given a preferred two-month period from December 7, 2005, to Febru- ary 6, 2006, during which they can apply for registration of .eu domain names. All applications have to be

made through a registrar accredited by EURid.

Registered and unregistered trade mark owners then come next line, with a further preferred period of two months, from February 7, 2006,

to April 6, 2006.

Then, once this four-month sunrise period is over, .eu domain names are to be available on a first-come-first- served basis for everyone, with the proviso that applications are subject

to a dispute resolution procedure.

The Irish Internet Association (IIA) has issued a warning about queuing. On Tuesday, October 18, the Chair- man of the IIA Working Group on Domain Registration and Hosting, Eoin Costello, said that potential ap- plicants should be aware that queuing of applications cannot guarantee that the desired domain will be awarded.

The EURi1d’s website states, “First- come-first-served will be determined by the time/date at which the appli- cation is received into our database after it opens”.

The European Commission has been warning for some time about companies offering to “pre-register” or “reserve” domain names. It points out that pre-registering a domain name within the .eu TLD is techni- cally impossible.

“These companies can only com- mit to keep the application for reg- istering a domain name and to for- ward them to the Registry as soon as it opens its doors to accept applica- tions,’ it says. “This however cannot be considered a real pre-registration inasmuch as it does not guarantee to the applicants that their applications will indeed reach the registry prior to other registrations.”

THE chances of the father of a Fianna Fail member of Ennis Town Council becoming a multi-millionaire moved a step closer this week, with the publication of the proposed rezoning to the Ennis and Environs Develop- ment Plan.

As part of the review of the Plan, coun- cillors from Clare County and Ennis Town Councils have agreed to rezone 70 acres of land owned by Damien Reidy on the outskirts of Clarecastle.

As a result of the move, Damien Reidy, father of Fianna Fail councillor, Joe Reidy

could be in store for a windfall of €16.8 mil- lion, following recent land-sales which valued housing land at €240,000 an acre.

As a result of the plan, 22 separate parcels of land are to be rezoned and the largest par- cel of land is the one owned by Mr Reidy at Clarecastle.

The rezoning of Mr Reidy’s land has also received the backing of the Council’s Plan- ning Department.

The rezonings also contain contentious pro- posals to extend residential clusters at Bally- maquiggan and Reaskaun on the outskirts of Ennis. The council’s Executive Planner, Bill Samsum warned councillors during the Sum-

mer that the areas in question had an area eroundwater vulnerability rating and were a zone of source protection for the public water supply for the Ennis area.

He said that if there was a move to vary the plan, due to the area having a groundwa- ter vulnerability rating and being a zone of source protection, the risk to human health would be increased. The rezonings also make provision for a train station at Clarecastle in response to the continuing growth of Ennis and its environs. The council proposes to re- zone 8.75 acres of land adjacent to Skehanagh Bridge at Clarecastle, along the main Ennis to Diiloueeesicansey

The rezoning of the land is expected to add significantly to its value.

Ennis councillor, Cllr Donal O’Bearra ex- pressed his dis-satisfaction with the entire process. He said, “I would be concerned about the whole scenario. It is a rezoning re- view, not a review of the plan as it didn’t look at any other objectives in the plan. Before engaging in any other rezoning, the Council should have determined whether there was a shortfall, or not. I don’t believe that there is a shortfall, and no rezoning should have taken place.”

The public has until Friday, November 1 Ithe 11 to make submissions on the proposals.

CONCERN has been expressed over a Clare County Council move to rezone an estimated 300 acres of land for commercial development on the outskirts of Ennis that contains EU pro- tected habitats.

In adopting the Ennis and Environs Devel- opment Plan, the Council along with Ennis Town Council rezoned land in the Doora area for commercial development that generated massive windfalls for the owners of the lands in question.

However, the lands which are subject of the rezonings are designated as areas of ecologi-

cal constraint in the published Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the €190 million Ennis by-pass.

The lands contain protected fen and the Marsh Fritillary and the Frog bit plants that are also protected species.

Asked if the Council had all the facts in re- lation to the lands when they were rezoned, the Council’s Director for Planning, Mr Liam Conneally said, “at the time of the adoption of zoning in the Ennis and Environs Development Plan, the information available to the Planning Authorities was relied upon to determine the appropriate zoning of land. At all stages of making the plan, Duchas were informed.

“All land constitutes some type of habitat and the importance of that habitat at a lo- cal, regional, or national level is only known where sufficient survey and analysis has taken place. The National Fen Survey carried out by the National Parks and Wildlife Service in 2001 did not make a detailed assessment of the Doora area and any information concern- ing any potential habitat value that existed was therefore not available.

“The Development Plan is constantly moni- tored and reviewed and where necessary vari- ations to the Development Plan will be carried out. The body now responsible for the protec- tion of nationally important habitats is the

National Parks and Wildlife Service and any recommendations made by them regarding the conservation of key habitats will be taken into PTO)

However, Cllr Brian Meaney (GP) said, “‘it doesn’t appear that due consideration was giv- en to the lands being areas of ecological con- straint and questions still have to be answered concerning the rezoning.

“The uncertainty over the issue would not have arisen if the new Strategic Environmen- tal Assessment Directive was in place at that time, which would have investigated in a much more comprehensive way the presence of these protected habitats in the lands in question.”

that tests of the supply showed a newly discovered bacterial contamination last Friday. It was decided at a subsequent meeting be- tween the Health Service Executive and Ennis Town Council to leave the boil notice in place until today, until the two bodies would meet

ree ne

Ennis Town Engineer, Tom Tiernan said of the contamination that, “It is a localised issue and we are investigating it.”

Junior Environment Minister, Batt O’ Keeffe has stated that a solution to the continuing vul- nerability of the Ennis public water supply to contamination won’t now be in place until Oc- tober 2007. However, Minister O’Keeffe said that the Department of the Environment would “provide any help we can to Clare County Council with interim remedial measures”.

One major Ennis business has made moves to try to the beat the town’s water crisis in its own way — by drilling for its own water supply. But the Lynch-owned West County Hotel has fallen foul of Ennis Town Council for its initiative.

The council has issued a warning letter to the

Managing Director of Lynch Hotels, Michael B Lynch in respect of the council’s contention that authorised development is being carried out at the West County, namely the unauthor- ised drilling for water. Mr Lynch has been ad- vised by the council that he is liable to fines if found guilty of an offence under Section 151 of the Planning and Development Act. Mr Lynch was unavailable for comment.

Meanwhile, a public meeting, organised by local residents, to discuss the issue will be held in the Auburn Lodge Hotel, Thursday at 8.30.

Growing public disquiet over the contami- nation of the water supply, along with the re- sponse of local authorities to the crisis will be discussed.

Organisers are keen to stress that the meet- ing 1s non-political and that all are welcome.

A CONSTRUCTION company has been fined for failing to dispose of waste in a proper manner, on the site of a housing es- tate in Ennis.

Callanan Walsh developers, of Mill House, Mill Street, Galway, faced two summonses arising out of an inspection at Shanballa on the Lahinch Road, on August 15, 2005.

Solicitor Mairéad Doyle, for Clare County Council, said a number of complaints were made, stating that burning was taking place on the site.

A council engineer visited the site in Au- gust and noticed a pile of mixed soil, wood, clay and plastic, which hadn’t been segregat- ed. Ms Doyle said plastic and cardboard was scattered around the site.

The engineer attended the site again in Oc- tober and was satisfied that steps were being taken. There was no evidence of burning and

there was no sign of any waste scattered on the site.

Defending solicitor William Cahir said his clients acquired the site and said sections of houses were licensed to independent devel- opers.

He said Callanan Walsh accepted they held overall responsibility for the site but that li- censees who build independently on the site weren’t taking responsibility for the accumu- lation of waste on the site.

“There were instances of third parties bringing waste on to the site,’ said Mr Ca- hir.

He said his clients have spent €5,000 car- rying out work on the site and have put inde- pendent procedures in place.

Ms Doyle replied, “They are the registered owners of the property and the buck stops with them. The matter has been going on since June 2004.”

Judge Joseph Mangan imposed a fine of

€250 on each summons and ordered the defendants to pay €887 council costs and €500 legal costs.

Meanwhile, in the last two years Clare County Council has gone after 758 develop- ers for leaving a mess behind them. But just ten of these were developers of housing es- tates. The local authority issued 314 warning letters, 202 enforcement notices and brought legal proceedings in 42 cases.

The figures were made public by Cllr Pas- chal Fitzgerald (Lab) who said the actions taken fell short of what was needed by peo- ple who were living with the legacy of build- ers’ shoddiness.

“Tm not at all happy with this level of en- Koceonnonle

“Day in and day out, I get people calling me to tell me what a dreadful condition their CI RMKoer Dasa E

“We need more staff working on enforce- Tne toy nn

TWELVE Ennis based _ scuba divers stranded in Cuba since be- ing caught up in the aftermath of Hurricane Wilma, which pounded the Caribbean island at the week- end, are hopeful of returning home later today.

Following a ten hour drive from their base in Cayo Coco to the Cuban capital on Saturday, the group remained in an airport ho- tel last night awaiting confirma- tion of whether their Air France flight would be allowed take off for lake

The 12 strong group, all mem- bers Ennis Sub Aqua Club, left Ire- land on October 13th on a twelve day trip which included several days diving on Cuba’s Atlantic and Caribbean coasts. On Saturday, at the end of their holiday, their inter- nal flight to Havana was cancelled forcing the group to embark on a dangerous ten hour road trip to the

capital. The group finally arrived safely at their airport hotel on Sat- urday night however their flight to Paris on Sunday was cancelled be- cause of the storm.

Speaking from Havana last night, Brian Keogh from Newmarket on Fergus said, “The eye of the hurri- cane passed just 60 kilometres off the coast. The west of the country was affected worst but we were safe enough. It was very windy alright and our internal flight from Coya Coco was cancelled so we had to drive for over ten hours to Havana only to find out that our flight to Paris was cancelled as well.”

Cuba was fortunate to escape the worst of Hurricane Wilma al- though over 600,000 people were ordered by the government to evac- uate their homes particularly on the western side of the island. Yester- day (Monday), as Wilma reached Florida, waves churned up in her wake pounded the Cuban capital

of Havana flooding a highway and penetrating four blocks into nearby neighbourhoods.

“We are safe where we are and everyone is in good form. I don’t think we were in any real danger. We have had to stay an extra night in the hotel,’ said Mr Keogh as he surveyed the scene from his room. “We escaped the worst of it and at the moment it looks more like a bad winter’s day in Lahinch. The waves are high and it is very windy. We are still waiting to hear whether it is too windy for our flight to leave,” he said.

Earlier this year, the club do- nated all the proceeds of its annual flag day to the Tsunami relief fund. The money was sent to a boat yard in Sri Lanka where a small fish- ing boat was built, fitted with an engine and fishing nets and then donated on behalf of the club to a fishing family in Sri Lanka.