The Clare People Archive

THE Irish Kidney Association has paid tribute to the West Clare Kidney Support Group as it has exceeded raising € 200,000 for the organisation during the past decade.

The enormous funding has been used for projects benefiting kidney patients and their families from Clare and throughout Ireland.

In recognition of the West Clare group’s fundraising, chairman of the committee of the West Clare Kidney Support Group, Tom Prendeville, was presented with an award.

The Kilrush man was instrumental in setting up the West Clare group.

Clare IKA board member Peggy Eustace, from Ennis, who accepted a presentation on his behalf, thanked the entire committee for the enormous contribution they have made to the Irish Kidney Association over the years through their annual walk from Kilrush to Corraclare, which takes place every May bank holiday weekend.

Projects which have benefited from the West Clare Kidney Support Group’s fundraising include the Irish Kidney Association’s Renal Support Centre, which has 12 ensuite bedrooms and is located on the grounds of Beaumont Hospital in Dublin; a Holiday Centre in Tramore, Co Waterford, which offers free week-long holidays for kidney patients and their families; and the establishment of a home haemodialysis programme rolled out by Beaumont Hospital benefiting renal patients from around the country including a patient from Clare.

The IKA’s Renal Support Centre, which opened in 2000, is open all year round and provides a dayroom and free overnight accommodation for kidney patients and their families from Clare and other counties.

Many Clare families have benefited from the use of the centre, which has become a home away from home for them when their loved ones are called for a transplant at Beaumont Hospital. Families of Clare transplant recipients from the living donor kidney programme have also benefited from the use of the centre. Also using the facilities are patients who have to travel long distances to various Dublin hospitals for outpatient visits and require overnight stays.

A PRIVATE air tour company based in Mountshannon is bidding to have Davy Fitzgerald flying high this week, as it is proposing to fly the Clare hurling manager all over the county with the Liam McCarty Cup.

Harbour Scenic Tours are propos- ing to give the manager and members of the Clare team a scenic view of the county, covering almost every town and village in an hour and a half.

Operator with the company Darren McNamara said it was hard to get commitment for the venture the morning after the All-Ireland home coming, but he was convinced he already had an orange light for an air trip that would see the Liam McCarthy Cup leave the base in Mount Shannon and circle the county before landing at Shannon airport.

“This would have many benefits. It would get him everywhere in a short space of time, continue the buzz and give the company some promotion,” he said. Last night he was proposing the event for early Wednesday afternoon, so the children could run into the schoolyard and wave on the plane that flies between 300 and 500 feet high. He admitted however that those watching from ground level would not be able to see the Liam McCarthy cup or anyone on board, but maintained it would be a very special and unique event causing a stir around the county.

AFTER lying empty for almost a month, the old Ennis National School will re-open on Friday for the upcoming referendum.

The building has traditionally served as polling station for elections and referendums and will swing open its doors once again on October 4.

The site has been practically vacant for the best part of a month since pupils and teachers moved to the new school building at Ashline at the start of September.

The project involved the construction of a new 32-classroom school including ancillary accommodation. The design is of a St Bridget’s Cross layout – a central area with four separate wings of eight classrooms ema- nating from the core.

The school has moved from its former site on the Kilrush Road near Carmody Street where it had been located since 1973.

Ennis Town Football Club, who have been based at the Kilrush Road for a number of years, have retained the use of the pitch and dressing rooms at the old site but the building has been vacant. The Ennis Parish Council were asked about the possibility of opening the builder to cater for voters on referendum day.

Electricity will also be re-connected at the building this week. Polling cards have already been printed bearing the name of the old school. Voters are being asked to decide whether or not to abolish the Seanad and whether or the country needs a new Court of Appeal.

BOAT owners are being encouraged to install tracking devices after a raft of engine thefts from Clare piers in recent days.

A Mariner 65 HP engine was stolen from a boat at Seafield Pier in the early hours of Sunday morning. Thieves pulled the boat ashore and the engine was forcibly removed. Engines were also stolen from boats at Doonbeg pier overnight between Friday and Saturday and overnight between Wednesday and Thursday.

One of the stolen engines was valued at € 16,000. Sgt Joe Downey, Crime Prevention Officer, said Gardaí have not received many reports of suspicious activity as passers by may think thieves are actually the owners working on a boat.

He is encouraging boat owners to install tracking devices on engines. Similar devices are required by insurance companies for the owners of cars valued at € 50,000 or more.

The owners of JCBs can also use tracking devices to send out text messages to alert when machinery has been moved outside a certain set area.

Sgt Downey explained, “People are going to have to seriously ask themselves is it really necessary to keep engines overnight at piers? And if so have they installed tracking devices. A well installed tracking device can be be very useful.

“For instance tracking devices are very useful in laptops. People should seriously consider installing tracking devices when the value of the item is high.”

Despite a small number of breakins around the county over the AllIreland weekend, Sgt Downey said homeowners and businesses are heeding advice for someone to keep an eye on properties during major events.

“When the whole county is gone to the All-Ireland final, someone has to stay behind to mind the house. A lot of people heeded that advice. We had a couple of break ins in that period (match) and one that happened around the time of the homecoming on Sunday”.

A number of items were stolen from a houses in Newmarket and Corofin between Saturday and Sunday morning. A ladies handbag was stolen from a house in the Drumcliff Road area of Ennis between 6pm and 10pm on Sunday night.

Thieves ransacked house in the Hawthorns estate on the Limerick Road overnight between Sunday and Monday. The rear window was forced open.

AS NEW hurling Clare heroes were being written into the sporting annals on Saturday, a former Clare hurling great was inaugurated into a sporting hall of fame in Limerick.

Sean McMahon was one of the first 16 sports stars of all disciplines to be inaugurated in the new University of Limerick Sports Hall of Fame at the University Arena.

While he was shouting on his fellow Clare men on the pitch in Croke Park, miles away, back in Limerick, UL President Professor Don Barry announced the Doora Barefield man as one of the country’s sporting heroes at an event in the university.

Regarded as one of Clare’s greatestever hurlers, the 40-year-old holds the record as the highest scoring back in All-Ireland Championship history with 0-97 from 51 games.

In his book, ‘Raising the Banner’, Clare hurling manager Ger Loughnane famously said of the hurling star, “There are men, then there are men, then there’s Sean McMahon.”

The event on Saturday was open to members of the public to attend free of charge and was followed by a live screening of the replay of the All Ireland Hurling Final between Clare and Cork on a large screen at the University of Limerick Sports Club.

The other inaugural University of Limerick Sports Hall of Fame inductees were Dr Sarahjane Belton Rugby; Brian Mullins – Gaelic Football; Eimear Cregan – Hockey; Seán O’Grady – Paralympic Athletics; Jimmy Deenihan – Gaelic Football; Eddie O’Sullivan – Rugby; Gerard Hartmann – Triathlon; Ciara Peelo Sailing; Dr Liam Hennessy – Athletics; Ray Silke – Gaelic Football; Dr Eddie Keher – Hurling; Pat Spillane – Gaelic Football; Carmel Vekins Kayak and Canoe Polo; Tony Ward – Rugby and Sinéad Millea – Camogie.

WITH Clare already on a natural high following last Saturday’s AllIreland final victory over Cork, the county is now preparing to enter the stratosphere with the news that a new form of cannabis has been named after famous Banner witch, Biddy Early.

The seed, which is one of five new strains developed in recent years by Magus Genetics in Holland, is described as growing to between 1.8 metres and 2 metres high and is ready for harvest in early October.

Selling and buying cannabis seeds is currently legal in Ireland but cultivating these seeds for person use of sale is a criminal offense. The Biddy Early strain has been specially bred to allow it to grow outdoors in a European climate.

Biddy Early is synonymous with Clare hurling because of the 81-year curse which the East Clare woman placed on the Banner county.

According to the Marijuana.com website, the Dutch company chose the Biddy Early name because her connection with witchcraft.

“Biddy Early is named for a 19th century woman accused of witchcraft, whose story became the subject of folk ballads and entered Irish legend. Magus, from the Latin for ‘priest’ or ‘sorcerer’, felt kinship with Biddy Early’s plight given the similarity between the witch hunt hysteria in times past and the current war on drugs.

“Biddy Early is the first variety that Magus genetics specifically formulated for outdoor gardening in temperate regions. Although an even mix of sativa and indica, this plant exhibits the strong lateral growth typically seen in sativas.

“Biddy likes to branch out. The branches are very elastic and pliable, easily trained or tied like vines to suit the available space. Outdoors, this suppleness makes the plant storm proof or resilient to harsh weather.”

The seeds are no longer available from Magus Genetics who have transferred distribution rights for Biddy Early to another Dutch company, Serious Seeds.

Magus Genetics were unavailable for comment yesterday, either about the Biddy Early seeds of Clare All Ireland success.

CLARE County Council is working to remove a planning law which requires all building projects at Shannon Airport to be first lodged with an Bord Pleanála – no matter how small the project.

Under current planning legislation, the national planning authority must assess every development at the airport to see if it qualifies as a Strategic Infrastructure Development (SID).

However, as the vast majority of development are too small to gain SID status, this requirement is effec- tively slowing the planning process by adding an unnecessary layer.

“If somebody wants to build a chicken coop at Shannon Airport, it has to go to an Bord Pleanála first to be determined if it is strategic infrastructure,” said Director of Service for Clare County Council, Ger Dollard.

“In most cases they [an Bord Pleanála] say that it is not as SID and it reverts back to the normal planning process. What people would prefer is that development that are clearly not of strategic important should go into the normal planning process.

“By going to the board and then having to come back to Clare County Council actually lengthens the planning process. In fairness to them [an Bord Pleanála] they have agreed to deal with submission after 21 days and they have stuck to that so far.”

A review of this planning law was recommended in the report of the task force into the future of Shannon Airport.

Under the current law all airports with passengers great than two million people per year must submit every development to an Bord Pleanála. While Shannon Airport has just 1.4 million passengers last year, the national planning board have included them in the SID process as they deem that Shannon has the potential to exceed two million passengers per year.

“Our optimum goal would be that any development at Shannon Airport would not be seen as a SID and would come to us. That may not happen but I think that something could be done regarding the minor development,” continued Mr Dollard.

“We are working with the airport on a number of issues and I think that everyone is working very well together. There is a serious intent there collectively to get the airport to grow in tourism terms and economic terms and in any other way that we can. Everyone is really up for achieving that.”

ONE of Clare’s most popular tourist locations is to undergo a major facelift with the news that almost € 190,000 in government funding has been allocated to the Lahinch Promenade. Indeed, there was a second major funding boost for North Clare with the news that a further € 145,000 has been allocated towards the improvement of lighting in Liscannor.

Both allocations, which total € 323,000, were made available under the Department of Agriculture’s Marine Leisure and Marine Tourism Capital Infrastructure Development Programme.

The Lahinch allocation will be used to redevelop access and slipways and the Liscannor end of the promenade while the money earmarked for Liscannor itself will be used to totally replace the surface of the pier and improve public lighting.

“This is a big boost for Lahinch and Liscannor and it will also allow Clare County Council to keep on a number of their part-time workers throughout the winter,” said Senator Martin Conway (FG).

“This will greatly improve the look and the access in both locations and will hopefully encourage more of the tourists travelling to the Cliffs of Moher to stop off. I am asked over and over about the parking charges in Lahinch, and if they are being ringfenced, and maybe there is an issue there, but I am very happy to be able to welcome this funding at least.”

When parking charges were first introduced in Lahinch they were done under the condition that any proceeds from the charges would be reinvested in Lahinch.

This issue has been raised by a number of councillors at recent North Clare area meetings of Clare County Council, with specific attention being paid to the last of public toilet facilities in Lahinch and a the need for upgrade work, including basic security measures, on the Liscannor Road car park.

LABOUR TD for Clare, Michael McNamara has signalled his opposition to rumoured € 100 million cuts to education spending in October’s budget.

In a statement, Deputy McNamara told a public meeting organised by the Irish National Teacher’s Organisation (INTO) that the “range and nature of the cuts proposed in the media in recent weeks are not acceptable”.

He continued, “I had a long conver- sation with the Minister for Education about that funding and schools big and small are at the limit of what they can endure. There is simply not a future for a further € 100m in cuts and savings to be found or anything near that amount.”

The statement was read by a spokeswoman. She told the meeting that Deputy McNamara was unable to attend Thursday’s meeting in the West County due to a prior commitment.

Fine Gael TD Pat Breen said no decisions had been taken on the exact level of cuts and tax increases in the budget. He added, “It is a challenge but as the Minister for Finance says, ‘we are going in the right direction’. At the moment all departments are putting together their budgets, including the Department of Education and Science.”

His party colleague, Deputy Joe Carey said, “It [education] certainly is a priority of mine. I will fight for ye as people here, as parents, as teachers. Education is so important for our country and our economy. I’ve listened to what ye have to say and I will certainly support ye.”

Referring to recent economic data that says Ireland has emerged from recession, Fine Gael Senator Martin Conway said, “I certainly want to see that coupled with a period of growth in investment in education in this country.

Fianna Fáíl TD and party spokesman on Transport, Tourism and Sport, Timmy Dooley, said he would like to see an easing of the cuts to school grants and minor works schemes. He added, “There has also been the increase in the student population but unfortunately there hasn’t been a requisite increase in the number of teachers to cater for that demand.”

OVER 3, 500 Clare children are being taught in classrooms of 30 pupils or more, a meeting has heard.

The increase in the pupil teacher ratio and it’s impact on small and large schools was the focus of much discussion at a public meeting organised by the Irish National Teacher’s Organisation (INTO) in Ennis last week.

The meeting at Tracey’s West County on Thursday night was at- tended by an estimated crowd of 400 people.

In a presentation, INTO Vice President Sean McMahon outlined the level of education cuts that have hit Clare schools in recent years.

The meeting heard that Ireland has the second most crowded class size in the European Union.

Mr McMahon said that of the 13, 501 primary school pupils enrolled in Clare schools in 2012/13 3, 585 are in classroom of 30 or more students; 1,887 are in classrooms of 0-19 students; and 8,029 are in class- rooms with between 20 and 29 students.

Mr McMahon said it is vital that Department of Education and Science moves away from the “madness” of a “magic number” of pupils that determines a school’s future.

He said, “I had a conversation with a teacher in the Ennis area this morning with 37 children in second class. In that class were four children whose first language is not English; there was an autistic pupil and a pupil with Aspergers. They are in a very difficult environment.”

“We want an increase in spending in primary education and a reduction in class size in line with European norms which would facilitate the employment of our young, enthusiastic and well-trained professional young teachers. We also want the madness, which is the assault on smaller schools, some rural and some urban, to cease,” Mr McMahon added.

Brendan Horan INTO National representative urged parents and teachers to lobby government TDs by taking part in the union’s post card and email campaign.