The Clare People Archive

A DECISION to grant permission to plans to develop outdoor café facilities aimed at boosting “activity” and “vibrancy” in Ennis town centre have been appealed to an An Bord Plennála.

The Ennis-based Duesbury Limited sought planning permission for the incorporation of one car parking space at O’Connell Street, Ennis, to provide extended pavement area to allow provision of an outdoor seating area adjacent to Poet’s Corner/Town Hall, along with provision of fascia signage and surround to existing central door-way and incorporation of existing Poet’s Corner porch with main bar area. That part of the Old Ground Hotel is classified as a protected structure.

In granting planning permission, the Council ruled that the applicant shall obtain the appropriate the consent of the Road Authority to the alteration of the public footpath and roadway.

The Council ruled that the proposed development would not seriously injure the amenities of the area or of property in the vicinity and would be in accordance with the proper planning and sustainable development of the area.

Under the conditions of the planning permission, the proposed paving shall match the existing pavement on O’Connell Street.

In a report submitted on the proposed development, the Director of Service and Ennis Town Manager, Ger Dollard, noted there had been no objection from the Fire Department or the Conservation Officer.

He stated, “I would concur with the planner’s report that the principle of outdoor seating is considered acceptable and would improve the vibrancy and character of the street.

“This is the type of activity that the Planning Authority would wish to encourage to increase activity and vibrancy on the main thoroughfare in Ennis.”

The decision has been appealed to An Bord Pleánnala by Ennis businessman Oliver Moylan, who also filed an objection to the proposed development.

In his submission, Mr Moylan states that it is not for a public authority to grant public space for a private enterprise.

Mr Moylan, who owns the Ennis Cash Company, says Woolworths were refused permission to build on two feet of the O’Connell monument in 1960. The submission states that the removal of two parking spaces would result in an estimated loss of € 800,000 to the Council in one year, based on calculations carried out in a previous parking survey.

He states that the development would create “enormous danger” to pedestrians and motorists. Mr Moylan argues that Ennis is already well served by cafés, pointing out that 15 such businesses are located between the Old Ground Hotel and Hughes and Hughes bookstore.

He added, “As there are 200 wet days in Ennis every year, canopies and heating will have to be put in due course. What an obstruction to passing traffic.”

CLOSURES or a reduction in opening hours of district Garda stations has emerged as a serious concern for rural communities in Clare, a meeting has heard.

At yesterday’s meeting of Clare County Council, councillors were divided over the impact on communities of the closure of eight local Garda stations.

Stations in Quin, Inagh, Lahinch, Broadford, Mountshannon, Doon beg, Kilmihil and Labasheeda will close as part of budget cuts.

Despite strong opposition from Fine Gael members, a motion tabled by three Fianna Fáíl councillors Bill Chambers, Pat Keane and Cathal Crowe, requesting the Council to call on the Minister for Justice to reverse the decision to close the sta- tions – was voted through by 18 votes to 10.

Opening the debate, Cllr Chambers said the closure “represents another nail in the coffin of rural Ireland”.

He added, “The very core of what rural Ireland is and represents is being eroded by a government that seems to have turned its back on its grass roots.”

Cllr Crowe said the closure of the Broadford Garda Station would only save the Exchequer € 5,000 per annum. He said Government Oireachtas members should give their political and financial justification for the closures in the Council Chamber.

Cllr Gerry Flynn (Ind) said stations give rural communities a sense of comfort and security. He added, “This Government stands for closing down rural Ireland.”

Cllr PJ Kelly (FF) said a form of “rural decommissioning” is taking place, calling for a major re-activation of the community alert scheme.

However the closures were defended by Fine Gael members who said Gardaí would now be freed up for mobile patrols.

Cllr Joe Cooney (FG) said he had been given assurances by Chief Supt of the Clare Garda Division, John Kerin, that policing in rural areas would not suffer.

Of greater concern, Cllr Cooney argued, was a proposed reduction in opening hours of Killaloe Garda Station.

Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) said crime levels had fallen in Ennis and that the county compares favourably to Limerick and Galway. He said in light of reduced crime levels, he could not support the motion.

Cllr Patricia McCarthy (Ind) said she would rather see gardaí on the beat than spending a few hours a day in a station.

Cllr Christy Curtin (Ind) said the closures represented “devastation” for West Clare.

Cllr Pat Burke (FG) told the meeting that while the closures are regrettable, people in Mountshannon are not concerned. He said the area would be well served by community gardaí and a re-invigorated community alert service.

Cllr Burke said Chief Supt Kerin had said gardaí would be willing to hold clinics with communities concerned about crime.

Cllr Joe Arkins (FG) said communities would be better served by mobile Garda patrols, adding, “Crimes don’t happen in Garda stations.”

Cllr Richard Nagle (FF) said the closures are serious; adding that only two stations – Kilrush and Ennistymon – would cover an area from Loop Head to the Galway border.

He said, “There will be continued retirement with no recruitment. The idea that you can keep stretching resources is not realistic.”

Cllr Cathal Crowe claimed later that Fine Gael councillors were engaged in “more flanking and shielding of Minister (for Justice) Alan Shatter than you would see in Thomond Park.”

He added, “You’re here to either shield your Minister or represent your communities. I know why I’m here.”

This drew a strong response from Cllr Joe Cooney who said he had never shielded any Minister. “I’ll stand up for the people of Clare and I always will,” he said.

Councillors also agreed on a motion from Cllr Joe Arkins that said in the event of any station closures, any additional resources be allocated to mobile patrols.

CLARE County Council is to write to the Office of Public Works (OPW) and the Minister for Justice, Alan Shatter (FG) seeking that the eight Clare Garda stations earmarked for closure be retained in community use.

It was confirmed last month that Garda stations in Quin, Inagh, Lahinch, Broadford, Mountshannon, Doonbeg, Kilmihil and Labasheeda are to be closed early in 2013.

At last night’s January meeting of Clare County Council, Lahinchbased Cllr Bill Slattery (FG) raised concerns over what might happen to those Garda stations when they are closed.

“I would like these buildings to be retained for community use. We have no community centre in Lahinch, no place for meetings to take place or for young people and different groups to gather. But we have a fine building here and a fine site at the Lahinch Garda Station. I would really hope that these buildings be retained for community use and not sold off to developers or other people,” said Cllr Slattery.

The motion was seconded by Miltown Malbay Cllr Michael Hillery (FF), who said that the proposal should go forward only if attempts to retain the buildings as Garda stations fail.

“If these Garda stations are to be closed, then I feel that they should be retained for community use. I know for a fact that there has been a lot of investment in Garda stations in places like Lahinch and other areas in recent years and that investment should not be lost,” said Cllr Hillery.

Other councillors also suggested that the Garda buildings could be used for other purposes such as community art galleries or for promoting tourism.

“I think they could be used for tourism-related purposes such as a hostel perhaps,” said Cllr Gabriel Keating (FG).

“They certainly should not be left there or boarded up to rot away.”

THE Banner County’s very own Mr Boxing, Colum Flynn, is set to be honoured with a civic reception by Clare County Council.

The motion to honour Mr Flynn was proposed at yesterday’s meeting of the local authority.

It was jointly tabled by councillors James Breen (Ind), Tony Mulqueen (FG) and Mayor of Clare, Cllr Pat Daly (FF).

The motion stated, “That this council award a civic reception to Colum Flynn, for his life-long dedication to boxing in this county.”

Cllr Breen told the meeting that Mr Flynn has made a massive contribution to sport in Clare over the past 40 years. These sentiments were echoed by Cllr Daly, who said, “He has done great work for boxing and GAA and he highly deserves this honour.”

Mr Flynn was a founding member of Ennis Boxing Club in 1961.

Along with long-time coach, Ollie Markham, Mr Flynn has helped to nurture the talent of generations of Clare boxers. Munster titles arrived in 1964 but success on the national stage eluded Ennis.

Speaking in 2011, as the club celebrated its 50th anniversary, Mr Flynn recalled the success the club enjoyed in the 1970s.

He said, “We’d never won an Irish title and in 1976 we made a breakthrough in Castlebar in the juvenile championships, we won the heavyweight – Mike Queally.

“Mike Daly, as well, from Cloughleigh, he was a great bit of stuff. He won three titles in succession.

“Then Ollie crowned it when he won the senior middleweight title. He had three or four internationals as well. That was the year it took off and we thought it would never end.”

Success didn’t always flow like it did in 1976 but there were some good days all the same. Ollie’s son, Trevor, won seven Irish titles on the trot in the early ‘90s.

The club paved the way for the formation of Clare County Boxing Board. Boxing flourished around the county, with clubs starting up in Kilkishen, Tulla, Sixmilebridge, Shannon and Ennistymon.

Mr Flynn fell in love with boxing at an early age, after watching Muhammad Ali fight in the 1960 Olympics.

Well known from his involvement with the Clare senior hurling team, Mr Flynn was present in the Civic Room of Ennis Town Council when Ali was named the first ever-honorary freeman of Ennis.

PARENTS in Shannon are invited to have their say on which of four patron bodies they would like to see running primary schools in their area.

The bodies, which have indicated they would like to become patrons of any divested schools in Shannon, include the County Clare VEC, An Foras Patrúnachta, Educate Together and the Redeemed Christian Church of God.

Parents of children aged 0 to 12 years in 38 areas across Ireland are being asked by the Minister for Education and Skills what patrons they would like to see operating their local primary schools.

As part of this, parents in Shannon are being asked for their views.

The survey went live yesterday (Monday) on the Department of Education website and is an expansion of pilot surveys on primary school patronage which were conducted late last year in five towns.

The aim of the survey is to establish the level of demand from parents for diversity of school patronage in each of the towns. The current patrons of schools in Shannon are the Catholic Bishop of Killaloe and the Church of Ireland Bishop of Limerick, Killaloe and Ardfert.

If parents indicate they would like a wider choice of patron, then the Department of Education and Skills (DES) will ask existing patrons to come up with a plan to transfer some schools to other patron bodies.

“This is an historic opportunity for parents in Shannon to have a real say in the type of school they wish to send their children to, be it denominational, multi-denominational, allIrish or other,” said Minister Ruairí Quinn.

“In Shannon, there is little prospect of any new schools opening as the population remains stable and there is enough capacity within existing schools. However, if parents demonstrate through this survey that they want a greater choice of primary school, then we will work with existing patrons to transfer patronage to ensure they can send their children to a school which best reflects their own ethos and beliefs.”

The survey can be accessed online via www.education.ie and parents or guardians of primary school going children and 0 to 5 year olds in the 38 towns and suburbs (list below) are also being urged to fill it in before February 8. They will need to have their PPS number in order to complete the survey – for verification purposes. Paper-based versions of the survey are also available.

IRISH Rail has been urged to improve accessibility at Ennis Rail Station after claims that passengers are sometimes forced to cross platforms through the doors of two stopped trains.

Irish Rail yesterday denied the claim that was made at yesterday’s meeting of councillors in the Ennis West Electoral Area.

In a motion tabled at the meeting, Councillor Brian Meaney (GP) called on the committee to request Irish Rail provide seating and shelter on the Galway platform at Ennis Station. He said the absence of seating and shelter on the Galway platform is causing difficulty to elderly and disabled passengers. He said the new footbridge is still not accessible to disabled people.

Cllr Meaney added, “It is still quite frustrating to see elderly people moving across the footbridge and having nowhere to sit apart from the plinth of the Old Victorian footbridge.”

He called on the committee to write to Irish Rail to highlight these concerns.

Cllr James Breen (Ind) asked if Irish Rail is in compliance with Irish and European law on disability.

Cllr Breen said that as someone who has to use a crutch, he would have great difficulty catching a train on the Galway platform.

Cllr Meaney told the meeting that he had heard instances where passengers who are unable to use the footbridge are brought through the trains that are stopped side by side on the tracks.

He said in other circumstances, trains are switch tracks in order to collect passengers.

Councillors said this was not a satisfactory situation for passengers. They agreed to write to Irish Rail.

Cllr Meaney added that much of the recent criticism of the number of passengers using the Galway line was “unwarranted”.

Speaking yesterday, a spokesperson for Irish Rail denied that passengers are transferred across platforms through stopped trains.

She said, “We would never have a situation where passengers are brought through from train to train. As far as we are aware that has never happened in Ennis. There are situations where we bring trains into the other platform.”

The spokeswoman acknowledged there are issues around access for disabled people at the station.

CLARE County Council has acknowledged that there are still “major problems” with a sewerage plant in Quin.

It emerged yesterday that the council could not proceed with a planned € 800,000 upgrade of the Quin Gardens plant in 2012 due to a lack of funding.

In a report, the council stated that while € 130,000 was spent on improving some priority features of the plant, issues remained with capacity.

The issue was due to come before a meeting of councillors in the Ennis West Electoral Area yesterday. Quin councillor, Sonny Scanlan (FG), tabled a motion requesting an up to date position from the council on the sewerage system in Quin Gardens.

The project consists of the upgrading of the existing wastewater treatment plant including the provision of additional underground tanks and associated site works to increase capacity from 740 population equivalent (pe) to 1400 pe at Quin Gardens, Quin.

In his reply, Sean Ward, Senior Engineer, stated that it was not possible during 2012 to commence a full upgrade of the Quin wastewater treatment plant due to the non-availability of funding.

He continued, “However in August and September of 2012, Clare County Council applied to the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government’s rural water section for approval to divert Quin an amount approximately € 130,000 of our small schemes allocation which could not be spent at its original intended destination because of design issues. We succeeded in our application, and have spent this money on a number of the highest priority items of improvement at the existing plant – including screening, improved aeration and sludge tank. These works will be incorporated in any larger upgrade which we may be able to do in the future i.e. the money spent in 2012 won’t go to waste if we do the bigger job.”

Mr Ward added, “Already we are seeing an improvement in effluent results and a reduction in the costs of sludge management and are confident that odour problems will also be alleviated. We cannot however guarantee that the works done to date will solve all problems in the Quin sewerage system. These works do not add significantly to the spare capacity of the plant to cater for any future developments and there are still major problems of infiltration of stormwater and/or groundwater into the sewers. Furthermore when we receive a wastewater discharge license from the Environmental Protections Agency, we may have to comply with stringent conditions which the works done to date cannot in themselves achieve.

“Therefore we still intend to carry out a major upgrade if funding becomes available, and the works done to date can be regarded as an important advance element of such an upgrade,” he stated.

According to the council report, the proposed development will serve the needs of Quin village and its environs into the future. The report stated that Quin village will have a population of 789 persons by 2017.

CLARE County Council has been urged to consider modifying roundabouts in the Barefield area to prevent cars from being deliberately driven through them.

Flowerpots and other items on a roundabout near the M18 motorway were damaged during incidents of vandalism last July, with members of the Barefield Tidy Towns committee blaming the activities of boy racers.

Yesterday’s meeting of councillors in the Ennis West Electoral Area heard that the deliberate driving of cars through the roundabout is a source of “significant frustration” to the local community.

Councillor Brian Meaney (GP) made the comments as he tabled a motion calling for measures to be “provided for to hinder access onto the roundabouts in Barefield village”.

Cllr Meaney told the meeting that cars are being driven late at night through the roundabout. He said the local community in Barefield had devoted a lot of resources into the upgrade and maintenance of the roundabouts.

Senior executive engineer for the Ennis Electoral Area, Eamon O’Dea, said it was important that all incidents be reported to the Gardaí.

He stated, “The council recognises the excellent work that is being carried out by the Tidy Towns and community groups in Barefield village. It is impracticable and unsafe to put measures in place to hinder access onto the centre of roundabouts, however it is important to report all non emergency intrusions onto the roundabouts and green areas to the gardaí as there are issues regarding pedestrian safety and incorrect use of a motor vehicle.”

Cllr Meaney said that while he would be happy to allow time for the gardaí to deal with the matter, it may be necessary for the council to install some sort of barricade.

DOUBLE yellow lines outside a Kilrush primary school are one road marking too many for one member of the local council, who has vowed to quit the council in four weeks if they are not removed.

Cllr Tom Prendeville (FF) said that he would leave Kilrush Town Council if parts of the line were not removed to allow parents to park when they pick up and drop off their children to St Senan’s Primary School.

He believes that the council executive has crossed a line by not remov- ing the offending lines on the direction of the elected council members last September.

At Thursday’s meeting of the council, Cllr Prendeville asked why the lines had not already been removed.

“This is becoming farcical. Parents are being forced to park illegally. If it is not carried out, I will resign from the council in the next four weeks,” said the father of the council.

“It is making a farce of what is happening in this town council.

“Is there another school in Ireland where there are double-yellow lines for 300 yards either side of the school?” he asked.

Cllr Marian McMahon Jones (FG) said there was no need for an emergency roads and traffic meeting on the lines as suggested by the town clerk, as the issue had already been decided.

“We have already agreed that there is a strip on either side of the pedestrian crossing where the double yellow lines can be removed,” she said.

Cllr Liam O’Looney (FF) added that legally under the Road Act the council could remove some of the yellow line.

“There should be minimum room for three spaces above and two spac- es below,” he said.

“My recollection of it was that the town engineer would go back and look at it,” Town Clerk John Corry told the councillors.

The councillors, however, expect the lines to be removed by the February meeting or they will be down their longest servicing member.

In the meantime, Cllr Prendeville has called for an amnesty for people parking on the double yellow lines outside the school.

“If anyone has a parking issue on that part of the road, they should be written off because a member of this council did not carry our instructions,” he said.

CLARE’S four town councils will meet in Ennis on Monday to begin their fight for survival.

With an estimated 16 months left before they are to be dissolved in favour of local municipal councils made up of members of a smaller Clare County Council, some believe the members have left it all a little too late.

The councils have been issued with forms and formats from their governing body, the AMAI, outlining how best to present their individual cases for survival to the Minister for the Environment, Phil Hogan, the minister also responsible for announcing their demise.

Kilrush Town Councillor Paul Moroney (Ind) said he was not expecting a lot from the process, as input from the councillors prior to the announcement was all but ignored by central Government.

Cllr Marian McMahon Jones (FG) said town councillors had not come out fighting but they had to do something, even now.

“If we adopt the attitude of we can do nothing, then nothing will happen,” she said.

Kilrush Town Council is already researching and compiling a list of all that it has achieved in its 128year history, in its bid to the minister.

“I have trawled through archives both here [Kilrush Town Council] and in Clare County Council and in the Clare Local Studies Centre in Ennis.

“There are some very interesting snippets available from the land league, post famines and the Vandeleurs, right up to the present day,” explained Kilrush Town Clerk, John Corry.

All four councils – that is, Ennis, Kilrush, Shannon and Kilkee – will meet on Monday night, January 21, to further compile a county-wide argument to hang on to its four town councils.