The Clare People Archive

THE early impact of the phased in- troduction of the Open Skies avia- tion deal is being felt at Shannon Airport where transatlantic traffic has dropped by 5 per cent to date this year.

In figures for the first six months of 2007 released yesterday, the Shannon Airport Authority (SAA) confirmed that transatlantic traffic had dropped 5 per cent to 325,000.

This follows American Airlines withdrawing its dedicated Boston Tos mats een

Airport Director, Martin Moroney said: “We are pleased that Aer Lin-

gus, Continental Airlines, Delta A1r- lines and US Airways have commit- ted to Shannon for next winter and summer.”

However, the overall figures for Shannon remains very positive with the six month traffic report showing an increase of 9 per cent in interna- tional terminal traffic.

A record 1.4 million people trav- elled to and from international desti- nations since January | this year.

A statement from the SAA states: ‘Record traffic figures were recorded for the month of June also. Interna- tional terminal traffic numbers rose by 12 per cent when compared to the same time period last year.”

Mr Moroney said, “Our key focus in the coming months will be to en- sure that with significant reductions in our cost structure Shannon will become a viable, self sustaining busi- ness, with capacity and efficiency to grow its airline network in the inter- ests of the region.

We will continue to compete ag- gressively with all the other airports and consolidate our position as Ire- land’s second largest airport.”

Mr Moroney added, “We are pleased with the strong perform- ance of our traffic to date and the outlook for the remainder of the year looks positive. Passenger throughput for the month of June alone is well

ahead of expectation with short haul and transatlantic services increasing by I5 per cent and 4 per cent respec- tively.

The statement continued: “In the six-month period to the end of June the short haul European and UK scheduled network has grown by 16 per cent to over | million passen- ae

“This strong growth is mainly at- tributed to the development of new routes by Ryanair and ongoing de- velopments by Aer Lingus and Cen- Wee DAY eNO nSace

“On charters, over 100,000 passen- gers traveled from Shannon to sun CLA a a reLu (eye hone

THE Government’s economic and tourism plan for Shannon Airport in- cludes a series of wide ranging pro- posals for the development of infra- structure, tourism product, tourism promotion and institutional reform.

Junior Minister, Pat “The Cope’ Gallagher, told the Dail that the plan will be considered by the Govern- ment in the coming weeks and sub- ject to approval, will be published as soon as possible.

“The report and its recommenda- tions have been examined by the relevant departments in the prepa-

ration of the proposed tourism and economic development plan for the Shannon catchment area,’ he said.

Minister Gallagher added that there was “considerable overlap between the proposals and existing initiatives that are underway or planned”.

The minister also welcomed the input to this process by the liaison eroup established by the mid-west Regional Authority which also in- cludes Clare County Council, Shan- non Development, the Shannon Air- port Authority, SIGNAL and IBEC.

In his contribution, Limerick East TD Kieran O’Donnell said: “Open Skies is effectively now in place for

Shannon. A transitional period was Supposed to operate from October 2006 to April 2008 but flights can be stacked and averaged over the pe- riod, three for one.”

He added that airlines are using Open Skies for Shannon Airport has “grave implications”.

“Three airlines are about to pull out from Shannon Airport. American Airlines, which flies year round to Chicago, will be gone from October. Air Canada, which flies year round to Toronto, will cease operations on August 10. Delta, which flies to At- lanta…will be gone from this win- oa

He added that this is a serious is- sue for the “six new hotels in Limer- ick, one of which 1s down 2,000 bed nights for 2008 because of uncer- tainty around future flights”.

He asked the minister of state to confirm that “CIE International Tours is redirecting all of its US business to Dublin because of that same uncer- tainty with disastrous consequences for the region in 2008 and 2009”.

“The Government has neglected the mid-west region to date. I want to know when the plan will be imple- mented, how much will be spent and who will implement it,” he said.

SEAPOINT College in Kinvara is to close in June of 2012 but first year students will be admitted next year, it emerged over the weekend.

After a week of contradictory re- ports concerning the future of the school, the RESCUE Seamount eroup released a statement on behalf of the Seamount Board of Manage- ment on Saturday evening.

“The Board of Management of Seamount College can confirm that the Mercy Trustees have agreed to

accept first year girls at the school in September 2007 on a five year cycle,’ said a spokeswoman from RESCUE.

“The trustees authorised this intake of students on the clear understand- ing that the school will close in June 2012. The students who wish to en- roll in Kinvara this September will not have transition year option avail- able to them. The Board of Manage- ment welcomes this decision by the Trustees.”

The validity of an agreement for the staged closure of Seamount and the

construction on a new school came into serious doubt when an argument erupted between the Sisters of Mercy and the Department of Education last week over the timetable for the school’s closure.

The nuns had agreed to take in first year students next year, but only if the Department of Education guar- anteed a new school would be com- pleted before 2010.

When this commitment was deemed impossible by the depart- ment the entire agreement looked set to collapse.

AN ENNIS couple, who received over €100,000 from a developer in 2004 after withdrawing their objec- tion to a €20 million housing devel- Opment, are now seeking to block a proposal for a retail development on Francis Street in the town.

Vincent and Ann Coffey of Clon Road, Ennis recently lodged the ob- jection against a plan by Galvin Con- struction Ltd to build a retail outlet at Francis Street, adjacent to their own

property.

Three years ago the Coffeys with- drew their objection against a multi- million euro housing scheme at the Quin Road, Doora by Luxury Homes (Galway) Ltd after the company paid them £85,000 (€107,930) and gave them two free sites.

A letter to the board from the Cof- feys stated that at no time did they approach the developers with the in- tention of securing payment of mon- ey, gifts, or consideration of other inducement by any person.

An Bord Pleanala upheld the Cof- feys’ concerns in relation to the Francis Street proposal last year by refusing planning permission to the development. But Galvin Construc- tion has now re-applied to do work at the site.

In their new objection, the Coffeys stated that they “are not opposed to the development of the site provided it’s carried out in an orderly manner and in accordance with the proper planning and sustainable develop- ment of the area”.

They added, “The current planning application involves the development of part of one of the most important sites in Ennis town centre situated at the junction of Francis Street and Clon Road and whilst the site is va- cant, it is deemed suitable for a mix of uses.”

They also said that their property would be devalued by overshadow- ing and loss of amenity and privacy.

The objection emphasised that pro- posals should be of high quality to “protect the amenity of the surround-

ing areas” and “respect the character of the town centre’, according to the local development plan.

In their submission, Galvin Con- struction stated that it had overcome the reason for refusal issued by An Bord Pleanala and the development was now in compliance “in ac- cordance with the proper planning and sustainable development of the area’.

The council has requested further information on the plan and a final decision 1s expected later this year.

THE Ballyduff Beg Liaison Com- mittee are to receive advanced notice of all reports relating to the Central Waste Management Facility in Inagh, it was decided at last night’s meeting of Clare County Council.

This is following the circulation of an independent report on odour

levels at Ballyduff Beg, which was released by Clare County Council to the elected members of the council and the media but not to the liaison Loy nebeeblatoton

“We have had an ongoing problem with odour in the area and most of the community liaison meetings are taken up with discussions on the mat- ter. I was disappointed that a copy of

the report was not there at the last meeting, we are supposed to be mov- ing on this in a spirit of partnership,’ said Clir Joe Arkins (FG).

‘The press had it but the local com- munity did not, that is the issue. If this had been made available to the people of the committee I would have been able to be better informed. Anything that we have that is perti-

nent to the operation of the landfill should be circulated to the laison committee.”

Independent Lisdoonvarna council- lor Martin Lafferty called into ques- tion the same consultant being used by Clare County Council and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to conduct separate environ- mental audits at Ballyduff Beg.

“The same company is coming back after doing our report are now doing another report for the EPA. I’m not saying anything about this com- pany but consultants can often give a report that reflects favorably on the opinions of the people who are pay- INOTSMn alos pe RMN A CoMCT- BOE

‘Tribute has to be paid to the ac- tion committee in Inagh. At the be- ginning they were laughed at about it but a lot of their fears have proved to be true. The committee has to com- plimented on their vigilance.”

Responding to the motion, Sean Ward of Clare County Council said that odour was the one significant issue that still remained with Bal- lyduff Beg. He also revealed that of- ficials from the local authority had recently visited dumps in Laois and Offaly to study how odour was dealt ALAN Neo KoR

It was also confirmed that plans were in place to use the gas produced by the landfill as a potential source of fuel in the future.

PLANNING issues once = again threatened to overshadow last night’s meeting of Clare County Council with councillors engaging in a half hour long shouting match about plans to conduct an audit of planning pro- cedures at the local authority.

Following a heated debate in coun- cil chambers, it was decided that a cross party committee would meet before the next meeting of Clare County Council and draw up the boundaries in which an audit could take place.

Concerns were raised by council- lors as to whether an audit was the best way to proceed and also if any audit could be completed before the next local election.

“I could say to the county manager he doesn’t need any audit, I could bring him in the car up to north Clare and show him houses built that should not have been built.

“T’m all for change in the planning process but we have been promised this over and over again,” said Cllr Martin Lafferty (Ind).

Clare’s planning authority was de- scribed as being “an emergency situ-

ation” by north Clare Cllr Michael Kelly (FF) while Labour’s Pascal Fitzgerald raised fears that the audit would take in excess of two years to complete and that the coulcil was “going around in circles’ on the is- sue.

Responding to these remarks, May- or Patricia McCarthy (Ind), said that no planning files would be ommited from the investigation by the auditor.

“The purpose of the audit is not to pick which cases to examine and which ones not. Every file would be examined by a specific person and that person would give us a report,’

she said.

“At least we will have something solid to talk about. An academic would quickly be able to look through the system and find out if files were missing.

“We need to try and find a balance between what the elected members and the planning officials are saying.

‘However, I did not say that all discussions on planning would stop while this was going ahead.”

Delegates are now to be chosen for an eight person cross-party commit- tee to decide how the audit will oper- a1 Ken

PEOPLE who live in rural areas all their lives are being turned into urban dwellers who can’t get permission to build homes, it has been claimed. Speaking on a motion he tabled for last night’s county council meeting, Cllr Joe Arkins(FG) said that people, “who have been brought up and lived their lives in rural areas, surrounded by green fields are being urbanised because this council has drawn a line around their homes and re-zoned.” The councillor wanted the county

development plan interpreted as, he Said, was discussed with a former senior planner, to ensure that people who enjoyed the status of local rural person status should not have that status “eliminated by virtue of re- zoning the area of their birth”’.

The councillor said that much of the land which had been rezoned “will not be developed in the lifetime of this plan. Meanwhile, sites are sell- ing for figures that resemble foreign mobile phone numbers. It’s virtually impossible to buy a site.”

Councillors supported the motion

and detailed how people who had lived in the country could not now get planning permission to build if they wanted to build even a few hun- dred yards down the road.

Cllr Cathal Crowe (FF) described it as, “absurd that a person can have a line drawn around them and be told they are urban when all around them are green fields”.

Cllr Madeleine Taylor Quinn (FG) said that when the council had origi- nally discussed the issue “we were conscious of people coming in and buying up land. Now we have a situ-

ation where local rural people are be- ing actively discriminated against.”

In a reply to the councillors motion, planners said that the result of doing as the councillors had asked would be “to remove any need for any land- owner to show they have current links with the rural community.”

Replying at the meeting, senior planner John Bradley said that what councillors had asked of planners in the past was “to be consistent”.

“You don’t want us flip-flopping. You want to see consistency in deci- sions,” he said.

A 55-YEAR-OLD man has been found guilty of making more than 8,000 nuisance phone calls to the garda emergency line in Ennis, over a five-month period.

Eddie Kirby, of Glenoir, St Senan’s Road, Ennis, was found guilty by a jury on nine charges, at Ennis Circuit Court on Friday. However, the trial judge indicated he was not likely to jail him.

Kirby admitted making the calls between October 2004 and March 2005. However, he argued that he suffered from a paranoid delusional disorder at the time.

The trial was told that on one oc-

casion, Kirby threatened to carry out a public hanging on public property. He was asked who was to be hanged and he said himself. During another phone call he made a reference to “corrupt gardai”.

On another occasion, he told gardai he had a rope around his neck. Each time, a garda car was dispatched but did not get any response.

The majority of the calls were made late at night and during some of the conversations, Kirby was abusive and often appeared drunk. His calls regularly clogged up the emergency line and he was told to stop ringing the 999 or 112 emergency numbers but continued to do so.

“Some nights the whole night was

taken up answering calls to this in- dividual, just ringing and ringing and ringing,’ Sergeant Michael Ha- ran told the trial. A log was set up at Ennis Garda Station where the calls were tracked.

Kirby’s barrister Michael Fitzgib- bon said, “This poor man has an ob- sessive compulsion.”

He said the accused was “not a bad man. He’s a misguided man. It’s not his fault. He suffers from this ill- ness.”

Kirby’s psychiatrist Dr John O’Mahony said that in his opinion the calls had been motivated by his condition. “He has a_ personality structure that’s of a paranoid nature. He feels that figures of authority and

other people conspire against him or do him harm,” he said.

He said another psychiatrist con- cluded that Kirby was “like a ter- rier with a bone. Once he gets it, he won’t let it go.”

Kirby told the court he was “very sorry he had to go to that extreme to try to express” himself through his phone calls to Ennis Garda Station.

He said he was abused by a farmer, when he was aged 11.

He made a complaint to gardai in Limerick, but the DPP directed that no prosecution be taken. He said he was sorry he ever made that com- plaint.

He told the trial he was socialising in Galway in 1997, when he was as-

saulted by aman who put his “fist into my mouth and burst three crowns.”

He made a complaint to gardai about that, but was upset that nobody was held accountable and admitted he was “obsessed” about it.

In his closing speech, Judge Sean O Donnabhain told the jury, “If you believe the defendant was entirely delusional or partially delusional, you have to give him the benefit of the doubt.”

The jury found Kirby guilty on all charges. Judge O Donnabhain ad- journed sentencing until a later date, but said he did not believe a prison term would be appropriate.

‘IT don’t see any merit in imposing a custodial sentence,’ he said.

And so it’s finally about to come to pass. Clare versus Galway. And the real thing too, not a league game forgotten about once it’s over, but a championship encounter with much at stake.

Bragging rights for one, between the two neighbouring counties. That’s always there anytime Clare and Galway meet, but this time it’s a little bit different. It’s all to do with Ger Loughnane, and Tony Considine

too.

Whether they like it or not, eyes will be fixed on Ger Loughnane and Tony Considine. As much as it’s Clare v Galway, it’s Ger v Tony. Two golfing buddies who once stood shoulder to shoulder in the salad days of Clare hurling.

Now, they could go shoulder to shoulder as they occupy different worlds. Loughnane trying to build a team to deliver an All-Ireland to Gal- way. And as Loughnane said him- self, “If within two years we haven’t

it done, we will be a failure here. Our eroup will be a failure. It will be time to get somebody else.

“But I don’t aim to be a failure — I don’t even contemplate that word failure. I never contemplated in my life in any area. I have a total belief that despite the huge task that’s out there, the huge competition, that our eroup — the players, county board, management and supporters can be successful in that two years.”

Considine wasn’t talking All-Ire- lands on his first day, but talking suc-

cess at the same time: “I think Clare are up there with the best of them but there’s no point being up there with the best of them. You have to be the best,” he said when assuming office.

It means something has to give — for the victors the likelihood is that they’ll have the easier of the All-Ire- land quarter-final. That means safer passage to the All-Ireland semi-final, where the All-Ireland is only a game AeA

That’s what Loughnane and Con- sidine are aiming for, for Galway

and Clare respectively, but for them- To AVone

All because, it’s all about them, even if Considine was quick to re- mark after the victory over Antrim “it’s not about Tony Considine or Ger Loughnane, none of us are going to hit a ball. It’s going to be done by the two teams. It will be down to them.”

Tony Considine and Ger Loughnane will puck every ball with their teams though. They wouldn’t have it any other way, as their two tribes go to eve

TONY CONSIDINE was drinking furiously from a small plastic bottle that contained one of those pro-biot- ic potions. Danone Actimel it was — strawberry or blackberry in flavour.

Thing is, the lifelong and devoted non-drinker could have been forgiv- en if this particular potion contained a thimble or two of Bushmills’ finest whiskey. Some malt even.

All because this hurling game was thirsty and stressful work and with each pro-biotic swig Considine was restoring some normal service and colour to his cheeks. His words be- trayed this — his team had just en- dured a rocky ride before securing the win.

“Relieved,” he says in the Case- ment Park corridor outside Clare’s dressing room. “They’re the words. Relieved, because we were on a hid- ing to nothing coming up here. To win was great. They put it up to us for a very long time.

“You can see that Antrim are no bad team. They’re well able to hurl and I was a happy man when Gilly buried that ball. It was looking dicey there for a while. I only relaxed when Gilly put that ball away.

“We said at half-time that there was going to be a period in the second half when we were going to have to really battle. They came at us and we showed a bit of character. It was the most important game I’ve had since being manager of Clare. It looked scary at times but 3-21 isn’t a bad score, no matter who you’re playing,” adds Considine.

Another swig of his pro-biotic po- tion, before Considine nods in the direction of Galway in Cusack Park. “The win colours up everything,” he says “and we know we still have a lot to do because we’re up against a good team next week.”

Then back to Antrim: “A win was important here, going home with the two points. If it was two points to one, we’d have been happy enough.

You could say that we were in trouble but they held on.

‘“Boc (Brian O’Connell) was tre- mendous at midfield and took the game to them all through. Diarmuid McMahon got great scores. It’s lead- ership we wanted and they showed leadership. There were leaders all over the field. Gerry Quinn, Conor Plunkett and Brendan Bugler who gave a great display.

“It was also an apprenticeship for the lads that came in. Those lads are going to be involved with Clare when I’m long gone. That’s what the game is about. It’s not about managers and coaches — it’s about fellas coming on, young players coming on and fight- ing for the cause of the jersey.”

They’ fight on their backs on Sat- urday next. They’ll have to when two Eee Te MOF E aoe miele. qmsi ments game of the weekend.