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Before the count – Tally Timeline

Clare hurlers get their game on

BALLY VAUGHAN residents have told Clare County Council they want to keep the water supply they have and only use the new €5 million scheme currently under construction as a back-up.

The Ballyvaughan Development Committee has been campaigning for two years to have the new scheme abandoned. Less than a month ago, Clare County Council confirmed its commitment to finishing the scheme which will connect the local supply to Lickeen Lake in Ennistymon and decommissioning the indigenous supply at Newtown.

The new scheme is being construct- ed to allow the council to maintain the supply to Ballyvaughan within EU drinking water standards.

But residents of the area don’t want the new scheme and say their exist- ing water is just fine.

A spokesman for the committee said that the Likeen Lake source “measure for measure at many levels falls short of the quality of our own water’.

At a meeting last week, residents unanimously passed a_ resolution which has been sent to Clare County Council, calling for the existing Bal- lyvaughan water supply to “be up- graded to a level of complete accept- ability by Clare County Council, in accordance with EU standards” and that “Clare County Council commit to the upkeep and maintenance of

that supply in accordance with EU standards”.

The group also called for the ex- isting supply be channelled via a separate pipe other than the Lake Lickeen supply and that “this newly upgraded indigenous supply serve as

the primary water supply for the Bal- lyvaughan community” and that “an appropriate interchange valve system be inserted in the respective supply lines so as to facilitate their function as mutually operating auxiliary sup- plies in the event of back-up being

needed for either supply”.

Above: The proposed Ballyvaughan water scheme has come in for criti- cism from residents.

THERE were tears from Geraldine Lambert, a prepared speech from Sean Hillery, while Mike McKee reminisced about being arrested sev- eral years ago, as a Sinn Féin activist. Emotions ran high as three outgoing Shannon town councillors made their final speeches at their last ever meet- ing last Tuesday.

More than two decades of involve- ment in Shannon Town Council came to a close as the three council- lors decided not to seek re-election to the local authority. Nostalgia was in abundance as tributes were also paid to town manager Ger Dollard, who is moving to Ennis, and town clerk Tomas MacCormaic, whose re- tirement will take effect later in the summer, after 27 years in the post.

Fianna Fail Town Councillor Sean Hillery – who was also a county councillor between 1985 and 2004 – said he had thoroughly enjoyed the past 24 years of public life and said the town council was a “totally dif- ferent kettle of fish” to the county council. “In the county council we were pulled and dragged. In Shan- non it was a community effort,” he said.

“T can relax in the knowledge that I helped or tried to help every person who came to me looking for help,” said Mr Hillery.

He said when he is asked why he is retiring, he explains to those enquir- ing, “I feel I’ve given enough. I have other ideas in my head that I want pursue,” he said.

He said Mr MacCormaic was “more than a town clerk to me. Tomas was a friend from college, a friend from my youth. He is very straight, upfront.”

Independent councillor Mike Mc- Kee said he was “for the last time speaking here after 24 years.” He said that while there were some good

times, he could not remember any bad times.

He recalled, with humour, the lifting of the broadcasting ban on members of Sinn Féin speaking in the media in Ireland. “I think I was the first Sinn Fein person to speak on radio, Clare FM. When Caimin Jones asked me the first question, my lips just froze. I was like a robot. He couldn’t deci- pher what I said,” he recalled.

The former Sinn Féin councillor said that over the 24 years, he just missed two meetings out of 240. “One I was arrested as a Sinn Féin activist. They wouldn’t let me make a second phone call,’ he recalled.

Geraldine Lambert fought back the tears as she bid farewell to her days on the council, telling her colleagues it was “an absolute privilege” to work alongside them.

Fine Gael councillor Tony Mulc- ahy’s words rang true: “Half of us won’t be here in September.” Five of the 11 people around the table – the nine councillors, manager and clerk – will no longer be part of it all in the

autumn.

Mr Mulcahy said Mr Dollard’s de- parture was Shannon’s loss, but En- nis’ gain, while he referred to Mr MacCormaic as “a kind of monu- ment in the town hall.”

His party colleague Sean McLough- lin addressed Mr Dollard and said he was “definitely a people’s person. Whatever you did you did for the sake of the people and of the town, not for the council.”

Independent councillor Patricia McCarthy said she had the pleasure and honour of serving with the three outgoing councillors since they were first elected more than 20 years ago. “They were incisive, but they were never divisive. Whenever we hit a wall we worked to solve it,’ she said. She said Mr Dollard was very hon- est, open and receptive to dealing with people, while Mr MacCormaic was a diligent town clerk who did his job “without fear or favour.”

58 The Hawthorns, is a beautifully presented three-bedroom (three bathroom) end property, overlooking a large and well-maintained green area, located just off the Limerick Road, close to the bypass.

On the books with Costelloe Estate Agents, this property is priced to sell at €199,500.

The selling agent said, “It is in walk-in condition and occupies a private site with a lovely south-fac- ing rear garden, with two patio areas which are sun traps in the afternoon and evening.”

This family home offers high standard finishes, including a mix of timber, carpet and tiled flooring,

a quality fitted kitchen, utility and wardrobe units and partially tiled bathrooms.

The spacious accommodation ex- tends to 110.5 sq. metres. (1,090 sq. ft.) and comprises an entrance hall, living room, kitchen/dining room, utility and guest WC – all on the ground floor.

Upstairs, the large master bedroom runs the width of the house and fea- tures extensive built-in wardrobes and a large en-suite, with a further two bedrooms and the family bath- room also on this level.

The property is being sold with in- tegrated electrics, curtains and light fittings and a garden shed.

Councillors say goodbyes

DNG O’Sullivan Hurley has put the stunning show house at the Gort Na Coulle development at Ballynote, Kilrush, on the market priced at €250,000.

Also available in this very attrac- tive, low-density development of only eight houses is a detached prop- erty priced at €239,000 and a semi- detached, priced at €210,000.

The showhouse offers particularly good value for money as it has been fully finished to a very high standard and is very tastefully decorated.

Built by ANC Construction Devel- opments, Gort Na Coille comprises four detached and four semi detached houses located on the Kilimer Road within easy reach of Kilrush town and all local amenities.

The area is renowned for sport and leisure facilities, including a superb yacht marina in the town, golf cours- es, fishing and the wonderful Vanda- leur Gardens, which are within stroll- ing distance of this development.

The internal accommodation in these houses is particularly spacious, with well-proportioned rooms, mak- ing them ideal family homes. The detached house extends to 1800 sq. ft. of floor space.

Features include a cut roof with Stairs access to the attic space, which

also has a Velux window. The houses are painted externally, while inside the ceilings are painted. There are timber, oak veneered internal doors and architraves, while the stairs is made from red deal.

Other finishes include a tarmac drive, PVC double glazed windows, and the gardens are top soiled and

raked. The developers are also offer- ing generous PC sums for the kitchen and reception room fireplace.

For further information contact DNG O’Sullivan Hurley on: 065 68 40200.

AN ESTIMATED 50 per cent of people living in Clare have access to broadband Internet services, accord- ing to figures put forward by Clare County Council.

The council’s Head of Information Systems, Urban McMahon has stated that people are receiving broadband through a “fixed or wireless service with the availability constantly in- creasing due to the continued suc- cess and extension of the previous group broadband scheme an also the continued rollout schedules to pri- vate service providers”.

Mr McMahon was responding to a motion submitted by Cllr Sonny Scanlan at the May meeting of Clare County Council.

Cllr Scanlan had sought informa- tion on what areas of Clare are cur- rently covered by broadband. Cllr Scanlan also queried how long it would take all before all areas, par- ticularly Quin, will have access to broadband.

He said that it had been 15 years since Ennis had been designated as an information town and claimed that people living three miles outside of the town did not have Internet cov- eben

Responding, Mr McMahon said that the Minster for Communica- tions, Energy and Natural Resourc- es has entered into a contract with the broadband service provider, Hutchison 3G Ireland, (trading as 3) for the implementation of the nation-

al broadband scheme.

He said that the objective of the scheme is to provide access to af- fordable, scaleable broadband serv- ices to rural areas, many of which do not have any broadband services.

Mr McMahon continued, “The scheme will be rolled out on an elec- toral division basis and currently 49 electoral are divisions in County Clare have been identified under the scheme. It is expected that al residences and business premises lo- cated within the national broadband scheme coverage area and will be able to avail of broadband services by the end of the September.

Cllr Scanlan has welcomed Mr Mc- Mahon’s response but he added that more needs to be done to ensure the delivery of high-speed broadband services to rural communities in Clare. Cllr Scanlan described it as a priority issue.

THE family of Kay Cregan, who died after undergoing a facelift in the US, has been given the right to sue the anesthesiologist who was responsible for overseeing her operation.

Ms Cregan (42), from Croom and who had family connections in Kil- laloe, died after she underwent fa- cial surgery at a Manhattan clinic in March 2005.

The family is taking a case against the plastic surgeon who carried out the procedure, Michael Sachs, and that case is due to commence in the US on September 15 next.

The New York Supreme Court has now ruled that Ms Cregan’s husband Liam can also sue Dr Madhavrao Subbarao, a certified anesthesiolo- gist.

Last year, the case against him was thrown out. However, this decision was appealed and the ruling emerged last week. The judges at the Supreme Court decided that a jury should rule Whether Subbarao abandoned Ms Cregan after the operation.

Ms Cregan, a mother-of-two, had read about Mr Sachs in a newspa- per and travelled to New York for the procedure. She collapsed in Dr Sachs’ recovery room after she had received the facelift, which was to be a surprise for her husband.

She complained of feeling dizzy the morning after undergoing five procedures, including a facelift, eye- lid surgery, nasal reconstruction and chin augmentation.

She was taken to St Luke’s Roo- sevelt Hospital and her husband im- mediately travelled to the US. He was present by her bedside when the life support machine was turned off, three days after the facelift.

Ms Cregan was a senior executive with Limerick City Council.

Dr Sachs, who was dubbed “Dr Botch” in the New York media, had

been involved in more than 30 mal- practice cases since 1995.

The Cregan family is being repre- sented by medical malpractice spe- cialist, Waterford-born Thomas A Moore. Mr Moore is suing on behalf of Mr Cregan and his two sons.

THE Shannon-based insurance arm of UK bank, HBOS plc last year re- corded a sustained £21 million (€24 million) pre-tax loss after record- ing pre-tax profits of £75 million in 2007.

According to returns lodged with the companies office by Halifax In- surance Ireland Ltd, the company se- cured a profit after tax of £8m after a tax credit in the accounts of £29m from the Irish tax authorities.

The accounts show that the compa- ny recorded a turnover of £205.2m — down three per cent on the £211 mil- lion in revenues generated through premiums in 2007.

The main business of the company — which employs 319 people in the Shannon Free Zone — is to underwrite general insurance elements of repay- ment insurance cover for HBOS plc customers and the repayment insur- ance 1s provided on mortgage, credit card and personal loan products.

The company’s ultimate parent is now Lloyds TSB after it completed its takeover of HBOS plc earlier this year in a move that created a banking giant of 145,000 staff.

The accounts for Halifax Insurance Ireland Ltd show that during 2008 the company paid dividends of £97m and this followed dividend payouts of £32.6m during 2007 and £130m in 2006. The accounts show that £49m was paid out last year in claims and benefits — down £5 million on the 2006 total of £54.8m.

The returns also confirm that the company’s retained earnings at the end of 2007 was £93 million, while the company has cash and cash equivalents of £149 million.

The accounts show that the compa- ny increased its workforce last year by 18 and its wages and salaries bill increased by 88 per cent from £5m to £6.7m. Total staff costs were £7.5m.

Directors’ remuneration increased from £395,000 to £462,000.