The Clare People Archive

A SISTER of the principal of the Ennis Holy Family Senior School was the only Ennis resident, along with her husband, to voice opposition to rezoning that allowed the relocation of Ennis National School.

In all, Clare County Council received five submissions relating to its plans to rezone lands at Ashline, on the fringes of Ennis, to facilitate the relocation of the national school.

Submissions came from the Holy Family Senior School, the Department of Education and the Killaloe Diocesan Trust.

However, a fifth was lodged by Catherine and William Sweeney of Tobartaoscain, Ennis.

It emerged yesterday that Ms Sweeney was a sister of Ennis Holy Family Senior School principal, Margaret Cooney. The senior school is strongly opposed to the proposed relocation.

In their submission, Ms Sweeney and her husband point out that the present Ennis National School site will be lost to primary education in Ennis and that the present site is in a central location.

The Sweeneys also state that the present site is within convenient walking distance for many pupils and that its loss would lead to more traffic congestion and inconvenience, as pupils would require transport.

Ms Sweeney told The Clare People : “I have no problem with the national school relocating as long as the school’s existing site remains a site for a new school.

“The Department of Education has pointed out that the current national school site is a perfectly viable site for a school.

“The site is a fantastic resource and that it might be lost to the town of Ennis is the main reason we lodged our submission.

“There has been an enormous increase in children seeking places in Ennis schools and it would be very short-sighted if the National School site was lost to education and it would be a long-term loss for Ennis town.”

Ms Sweeney said that her decision to lodge the submission with her husband to the council was “not connected” to her sister’s job.

She said: “I am a very independent person and I am surprised that more people didn’t make submissions.

Ms Sweeney said that she and her husband were, “very, very interested in education.

We are both teachers and from our time in Dublin, we saw the effect that schools moving out of areas can have on those areas.

“It can change the dynamics in other schools and change the ethos and balance and I would hate to see that balance being lost.

However, in response to the Sweeney submission, Executive Planner, Bill Sansum said: “The present site is not necessarily lost to education as education remains as appropriate use in Proposal Site (the current Ennis National site) in the Plan.

“It is understood that a high proportion of pupils currently travel by car and this would be likely to remain the case at Cahercalla until such time as local bus services are introduced and a local community develops in the area.”

PRIMARY school principals across Ennis yesterday railed against the reliance by the Department of Education on prefabs to address continuing accommodation difficulties for students.

A Clare People survey of Ennis primary schools found that there are over 1,000 school children being accommodated in 44 prefabs in the town’s schools.

The survey found that there are currently 16 prefabs in place at Ennis National School, 11 in place at Cloughleigh National School, eight prebabs at Ennis Educate Together, seven in place at the CBS primary school and two at the Holy Family School, where planning has recently been secured for a third.

School principal of Ennis Educate Together, Sean O’Comfhaola, said yesterday, “The lack of planning for the education of children now and into the future is criminal.”

Mr O’Comfhaola said, “We are at this site since 1998 and have not made any progress for a new school. There are two sites zoned for school use in the Ennis Development, but they are not available.”

Mr O’Comfhaola was supported by INTO spokesman, Declan Kelleher. He said, “Anyone who would have witnessed the growing numbers enrolling in Ennis schools over the past 15 years would have seen the demands that were being placed on Ennis schools. Why weren’t these demands acted upon?”

He said, “Someone, somewhere in the planning of primary schools in Ennis, stands indicted. It should never have got to this and there is a huge amount of catching up to do as the Ennis area has been totally neglected.”

At the CBS primary school, there are seven prefabs in place and school principal Br Liam de Roiste said, “I believe, economically speaking and from a common sense and forward planning point of view, that the prefabs are a terrible waste of precious money. If we want the best education for our children, it should be done in proper buildings, not prefabs.”

School principal of Scoil Chriost Ri, Pat Hanrahan, said, “Half the staff at the school here are in prefabs. There is no question of building a new school on this site. The site was never adequate.”

As Mr Hanrahan was speaking, the school was taking delivery of another prefab for the coming school year. He said, “We are hopeful that the school will have a new school building on a new site in time for the 2010 school year.”

CLARE County Council is making moves to provide relief to entrepreneurs unable to afford massive rents for commercial spaces in Clare’s rural towns.

At the Council’s Special Policy Committee on Economic Development yesterday, chairman, Richard Nagle (FF) said that rents up to €100,000 a year are being sought from young entrepreneurs.

Cllr Nagle said: “They cannot afford these leases and that is why the Council has moved to make sites available.

Senior Planner, Liam Conneally said the Council passed a motion at its July meeting to acquire land in towns to provide sites to facilitate the start-up of small business. As a result, he has since been liaising with area engineers in the electoral areas in a bid to identify sites and the Council has also been in contact with Shannon Development to establish where vacant commercial space exists.

“The council wishes to work proactively in this issue and that includes adding lands to be zoned for commercial use. Purchasing lands will be a matter for the council,” he said.

SPC member, PJ Ryan asked was the Council proposing to subsidise the rent or sale of sites.

In response, Director for Economic Development, Bernadette Kinsella said the council was at an early stage in this process and a funding mechanism had to be decided.

Cllr Patrick Keane (FF) said: “I can’t envisage the Council subsidising sites. The Council doesn’t have the funds. It is not the Council’s job to provide subsidies. The Council can zone the land for commercial use”.

Cllr Nagle – who brought the motion before the Council’s July meeting – said that to charge €100,000 a year was totally impractical and occupied industrial sites were needed to keep small towns alive.

“The only way sites can be leased is that if they are at a reasonable cost. What we are talking about here are one and two-person businesses,” he added.

IN ONE of her final engagements before resigning as Tánaiste, Mary Harney praised Clarecastle’s highly skilled workforce after officially opening a new €5.4 million state of the art laboratory, at the Roche Ireland facility.

Ms Harney said the presence of a skilled labour pool, along with the company’s close community ties, were central to Roche success.

“The flexibility and commitment of the Irish workforce attracts companies like Roche to Clare and the mid-west. As people in Clarecastle know well, you don’t have to be in a big city to compete in big markets”

Managing Director John Liddy said, “We are fortunate to be well served by excellent schools and third level institutions in this region.”

The Clarecastle site was established in 1974 by thxe Syntex corporation and was acquired by Roche in 1994. Since then, Roche has pumped €200 million into the Clarecastle site which now produces final products and intermediaries for a wide range of health care products. The plant currently employs 240 people, 75 per cent of whom have third level qualifications. Mrs Harney said this figure underlined Roche’s importance to the region.

“We are very much moving into an era of fourth level education. The Government plans to double the amount of PhD holders so we continue to develop our knowledge based economy”

She was joined at the opening by the Chargé d’Affaires of the Swiss Embassy, the honourable Mr Ernst Balzili, Dr Jan van Koeveringe, head of Roche worldwide pharmaceutical manufacturing, Mayor of Clare Flan Garvey and Mayor of Ennis Joe Reidy.

SPENDING of €11.9 million on environmental works and €8.9 million on a redundancy programme contributed to a 60 per cent drop in profits at Roche Ireland last year.

Accounts filed to the Companies Office show that Roche Ireland, a subsidiary of the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche, returned a profit of €6 million to the end of 2005, compared to the €14 million profit secured after tax in 2004.

The drop in profits at the Clarecastle plant is explained by the €20.8 million spent on environmental works and redundancy payments last year to 35 workers let go. The director’s statement attached to the accounts state that the “directors have increased the company’s provision for obligations associated with its environmental development programme by €11,950,000 in the financial year. This is based on the conclusions of a number of on-site studies indicating soil stabilisation remediation requirements”.

It goes on: “In September 2005, the company announced that, as part of a group strategy to restructure its global manufacturing network, it would be closing its d, I Acid production plant during 2006. The above restructuring charge relates primarily to the costs of a redundancy programme associated with this closure.”

The accounts show that Roche enjoyed a turnover of €118 million in 2005 compared to a turnover of €124 million in 2004, while operating costs also dropped from €111 million in 2005 to €106 million in 2004. But, accumulated profits stand at €99 million.

THE future of the campaign to secure a second entrance to Gort from the Gort/Crusheen dual carriageway hung in the balance last night as a meeting between south Galway politicians and the Gort Regional Alliance for Community and Environment (GRACE) went into overtime in a local hotel.

The ongoing situation has seen the National Roads Authority (NRA) at odds with Galway County Council over the construction of a second entrance. The NRA have advised GRACE that because of the growth rate of the town, Gort should have a second entrance onto the bypass. This point is disputed by Galway County Council. Council officials argue that the population of Gort does not justify a second entrance.

The latest census figures reveal that the population of Gort has grown by 53 per cent in the last six years. GRACE have examined the planning situation and zoning in the town and believe that the increase will continue in the foreseeable future.

The group have lodged a submission to the environmental impact study for the proposed roadway and are currently awaiting a response.

Aside from the bypass issue, the meeting also heard plans for the creation of a water and sewerage system for the town. These are already at an advanced state.

GRACE also announced preliminary plans to launch a Wealth from Waste project in the town. This project, which would be the first of its kind in Europe, would include a major recycling facility.

A public meeting is due to take place to discuss all of these issues in Gort on October 6.

THE latest JNLR figures show that Clare FM’s listenership and market share have dropped in the most recent survey published.

The figures show that Clare FM’s daily listenership, or reach figures, have dropped three points to 45 in the period from July 2005 to July 2006.

The JNLR figures show that the station’s market share has dropped by 2.7 points to 32.3 in the most recent survey.

The Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) state that “for the purpose of comparison, figures for this survey period are compared with the April 2005 to March 2006 period reflecting the rolling nature of the listenership survey”.

The figures also show that Clare FM’s weekly reach figure is at 74 points – down one point on the previous survey. The 74 total compares to RTÉ Radio One achieving 40 points and Today FM achieving 30 points in the same survey.

The figures published show the Clare FM listenership is up one point on the corresponding period for 2004-05.

Managing Director of Clare FM, Liam O’Shea said yesterday, ‘’We are pleased to see that the key indicator of how many people are listening to Clare FM – the listenership figures – are up in comparison to this time last year, and at a time when there are more and more players in the radio market here in County Clare.

He added, “We are, by a long distance, the number one station in the County with more listeners than RTÉ1 and 2FM combined, and with more than twice the listenership of Today FM. The same also applies to market share with Clare FM, although lower than this time last year, it is still nearly double the market share of its competitors.

“Clare FM’s weekend listenership is also very strong with our listenership and market share being more than all of the competition combined. We are all very proud of that and are very grateful to our listeners for this.

Commenting on the station’s Shannon optout service, Mr O’Shea said that the service “was a unique innovation for Clare FM and we are pleased with how the service is doing, but it is too early to have any official listenership figures at the moment”.

THE Clare Tourism Forum has failed in a bid to secure funding from Fáilte Ireland to boost the tourism industry in Clare and will have to re-apply.

Addressing yesterday’s Clare County Council Special Policy Committee (SPC) on Economic Development, Bernadette Kinsella said that the application by the Clare Tourism Forum had failed as the application didn’t qualify and a new revised submission would have to be made.

SPC member, John Madden said that Clare and the mid-west appeared to be the poor relation in comparison to other areas of Ireland where tourism funding was concerned.

“We are not getting the financial support that other areas are getting. We must actively pursue our politicians to ensure that we get our fair share.”

Disappointment was also expressed at the continued failure by Shannon Development to appoint a tourism development officer for Clare.

Ms Kinsella said that no progress had been made on the issue. Clare County Council first proposed the post last year and in response Shannon Development said that it would take the lead.

Chair of the SPC, Cllr Richard Nagle (FF) said: “It is particularly disappointing because if Shannon Development had not said that they would establish the post, there would be a tourism development officer in place by now.

He added: “We were delighted at the time that Shannon Development would be making the appointment so at the moment we are in a limbo situation.”

Cllr Nagle said that both he and Ms Kinsella would be meeting with Shannon Development representatives at a Clare Tourism Forum meeting today and would be seeking answers to the questions that were made at the meeting in relation to the Tourism Development Officer post.

Senior Planner, Liam Conneally, told the meeting that the Clare Tourism Forum had become a serious entity and was achieving a buy-in from the local tourism industry.

Mr Madden agreed stating that the forum vehicle was something that people could hang their hat on rather than any other agency. Cllr Nagle said that the SPC would be writing to the county’s Oireachtas members on the need to secure tourism funding.

A CLARE County Council-led delegation will depart Shannon Airport tomorrow (Wednesday) for a factfinding mission to the Spanish cities of Girona and Barcelona.

During the visit, the delegation will meet with officials from the County Council of Girona, Costa Brava Tourism, Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, Barcelona City Council and the newly-appointed Director of Girona International Airport.

The trip, involving six councillors, three officials and four “sectoral representatives”, will cost €16,345.

Addressing the September meeting of Clare County Council, Councillor Richard Nagle – Chairman of the Planning and Economic Development SPC – said that the visit was part of the local authority’s ongoing education and training programme for Strategic Policy Committees.

Ms. Bernadette Kinsella, Director of Services, Economic Development and Planning, Clare County Council, pointed out that Ryanair’s expansion at Shannon Airport had made Clare one of the best-served regions of its size anywhere in Europe.

She added that there was huge potential for the development of tourism and business in the mid-west.

“We now have to formulate a policy whereby Clare’s economy can capitalise upon the increased number of passengers flying into Shannon Airport.

“This fact-finding trip to Spain will determine how such tourist agencies as Barcelona Chamber of Commerce and the County Council of Girona have profited from Ryanair’s increased business at Girona International Airport,” Ms. Kinsella added.

The 13-strong delegation is made up of representatives of Clare County Council’s Planning and Economic Development Strategic Policy Committee.

Those travelling on behalf of the SPC include representatives of the county’s agriculture, tourism, industrial, community and economic development sectors.

SPC member and President of Ennis Chamber of Commerce, John Madden will represent the local business and commercial sector.

The four-day tourism drive is the latest in a series of council initiatives geared towards the promotion of Shannon Airport as a key gateway to County Clare’s many tourist attractions.

Over 3,000 tourists are expected to visit County Clare via Shannon Airport over the coming months as a result of recent tourism promotion drives.

THE only woman candidate standing in Clare at the next General Election has placed the issue of domestic violence against women at the forefront of her election campaign.

Former Clare TD, Madeleine Taylor-Quinn, has revealed a set of key policy proposals, aimed at helping victims and catching the perpetrators. The measures cover an entire gamut, from institutional reform through to practical assistance for women who feel a lack of confidence in the capacity of the criminal justice system to protect them.

“One in four women in Ireland experience sexual abuse in their lifetime and at least one in five who have an intimate relationship experience systemic violence from a partner. I share the view of Amnesty International that, while violence against women is largely perpetrated by men, the majority of men are not perpetrators. However, those who are violent must be effectively dealt with by our criminal justice system, and their victims carefully protected from them,” she said.

She emphasised that individuals and agencies such as Clare Haven House should be fully supported and resourced.

“A central issue is that the vast majority of victims do not report what has happened to them, partly because there remains a stigma and shame around domestic violence, but very frequently because women lack confidence in the criminal justice system to protect them. The overwhelming majority of reports by women do not result in a conviction, so adding to the lack of confidence in the system and to the risk to victims. Moreover, domestic violence in the household has a deep effect on children. Witnessing domestic abuse is deemed a form of child abuse in child protection guidelines.”

She said that organisations, including Amnesty, report increasing calls to helplines, but that these were inadequately resourced to cope, leaving vulnerable victims to cope without appropriate help.