The Clare People Archive

PLANS to create a university campus in Ennis have been sunk – following a decision by the Limerick Institute of Technology (LIT) to pull out of the ambitious Munster Technological University project.

The project would have seen the amalgamation of LIT, Cork Institute of Technology and IT Tralee into a single university with 25,000 students.

The Munster Technological University plans included the creation of a campus in Ennis which would have offered lectures, initially through video conferencing, while a Clare-based academic staff was being built up.

In a statement last week, LIT confirmed that it was no longer interested in an amalgamation with the Cork and Tralee ITs.

“Following the address by Minister Quinn TD of all higher education leaders at the end of last month and the publication of new policy documents by the HEA, LIT has reviewed its future position in the higher education landscape. A decision has now been taken to prioritise collaboration with partners in the regional cluster (LIT, University of Limerick, Mary Immaculate College and IT Tralee) and to pause further development of an earlier proposal to apply for designation as a technological university with Cork IT and IT Tralee,” said a spokesperson.

“This decision, which was unanimous and has met with broad support among external and internal stakeholders who were informed immediately, reflects the ambition of LIT to set the standard for a strong Institute of Technology sector.”

LIT’s decision to pull the plug on the Munster Technological University has been met with some criticism – not least from the institute’s own lecturer Dr Frank Houghton, who said it will foster the continuation of a “twotiered” education system.

“The decision is short-sighted and will harm both the institute and the people of the mid-west in the long term. We live in a highly unequal society, characterised by a two-tier education system at third level,” he said.

“We know that there is a real status difference between universities and the institutes of technology in Ireland. This decision reinforces that division and copper fastens elitism in Irish education.”

Dr Houghton also said that he has “serious concerns” over LIT’s expansions plans and its attempts to build links with foreign universities in an increasingly globalised education sector as a result of this decision.

CLARE is now a more Catholic county that it has been in 110 years but there are also rising numbers of people devoted to other religions in the county, as well as a huge increase among those who don’t believe in any religion at all.

The latest report released on the 2011 National Census of Population by the Central Statistics Office in October revealed that, for the first time since 1901, there are more than 100,000 people who are classed as Roman Catholic living in the county.

The newly released census figures show that there are 101,984 people of Roman Catholic religion in the county – the last time the figures topped the 100,000 mark was with the 1901 census when there were 110,062 Catholics out of an overall population of 112,334.

However, the 2011 census confirms a trend that over the past 20 years has seen significant increases in the nonCatholic population driven by not only growing numbers with no religion but also large increases in the religions of immigrants from Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia, coming into the county.

Outside of members of the Roman Catholic faith, the biggest religion, or in this case non-religious grouping, is among member of the population who are of no religion at all or declined to say in their census return of what religious persuasion they were.

There are 6,384 people in the county with no religion – the highest number of areligious people in the county ever and a figure which represents a 4,612 increase over the past decade. A total of 1,795 declined to state their religious faith in the 2011 census return.

The largest religious grouping outside of Catholics are members of the Church of Ireland/Protestant faith that represent 1,960. There are 694 people of Greek Orthodox or Russian Orthodox persuasion, 283 Presbyterians, 283 Muslims and 52 members of the Jewish faith.

HOUSE values in Clare have more than halved over the past five years as the unprecedented property price crash continues unabated in every corner of the county, The Clare People revealed in October.

This is one of the key statistics contained in a new report published early in the month, which claimed that the prices for houses across a range of sizes in the county have plummetted by just under 53 per cent since the peak of the property price boom back in 2006/2007.

The claim was made by Daft.ie in its latest House Price Report. The study for the third quarter of 2012 has shown the continued acceleration of the property crash in the county, even though it is running at a slower rate than the rest of the province apart from Limerick City.

The average price of a house in Clare in October was € 144, 524, which translated into at 52.9 per cent drop from the peak of € 306,845.

These latest figures. produced by Daft.ie economist Dr Paraic Kenna of NUI Galway. showed that there had been a quarterly fall of 4.8 per cent in the county’s house prices and a drop 19.5 per cent in the past year – this is the biggest year-on-year drop since that property crash started to kick in back in 2008.

Prices in Munster outside the cities fell by 6.8 per cent between June and September, the largest quarterly fall since the crash started.

In Munster, only Limerick County, Tipperary and Waterford City now have lower average houses prices than Clare.

Daft.ie also gave a breakdown of the new average asking prices of housing units in the county, which graphically illustrated the extent of the property crash over the past five years.

The asking price for a one and twobedroom units was € 83,000.

This figures rose to € 124,000 for a three-bedroomed house, € 191,000 for a four-bedroomed house and € 223,000 for a five-bedroomed house.

A NUMBER of strategic sites in Clare were identified as being key to Nazi Germany’s plan to invade and occupy neutral Ireland during World War II, a new top-secret dossier has revealed this week.

The document, which went under the hammer at an auction in England in October for € 2,961 – almost four times the reserve price – was compiled by Nazi spies in Ireland and graphically illustrates that Clare would have been given a crucial part to play in any German war effort conducted from Ireland.

In all, seven Clare sites were singled out by Nazi intelligence as having a role to play in German’s invasion plans in a document that clearly showed that neutral Ireland and the constituency of Taoiseach Eamon de Valera was viewed of strategic importance by the fascist regime.

The detailed document, which includes maps and analysis of the Irish countryside compiled by Nazi spies, shows how under Operation Green/ Sealion, Hitler planned to overthrow the State and turn it into one of six regional hubs for Britain and Ireland.

Ardnacrusha Power Station – which had been constructed by the pride of German engineering, SiemensSchuckert in the 1920s, at the cost of £5.2m, and at that time the biggest hydro-electrical plant in Europe – was circled as being a vital component in the German rule in Ireland.

Other key Clare sites included former capital of Ireland Killaloe, probably because of Lough Derg’s potential to cater for flyingboats, while the key coastal areas targetted by the Nazi regime were the Cliffs of Moher and Blackhead/Ballvaughan area.

The document entitled Militärgeographische Angaben über Irland contains detailed maps and postcards, with a number of images of Ardnacrusha highlighting it importance to the state.

These key places were numbered by military officials before being plotted on a series of eight fold-out maps, which would have been used during ‘Operation Sealion’. However, on September 17, 1940, Hitler was forced to scrap Operation Sealion because of the Luftwaffe’s failure to gain air supremacy over England during the Battle of Britain.

The Nazi offensive never took place after the German defeat in the skies, but experts believe the book reveals what could have happened if the Nazi’s had conquered Britain.

A FULL-SCALE murder investigation began in Clare following the death of a man shot during a wedding celebration.

The victim, who was nRobert Sheehan of Pineview Gardens, Moyross, Limerick, received numerous shots to the head and body while he stood outside the Bunratty Castle Hotel on a September Sunday morning.

He died later at the Mid Western Regional Hospital, Limerick.

The 21-year-old was attending a family wedding in the County Clare hotel, and had left briefly for a ciga rette break.

At approximately 3.40am, at least one gunman approached him and shot him a number of times. The culprit was then driven away in a dark saloon-type car.

Gardaí have confirmed that they are examining a “short type fire arm” found near the scene.

It is understood that detectives are following a number of lines of enquiry, including a link to a large row in Moyross in July during which two men were stabbed.

Two men in their 20s were arrested in Cork later on Sunday morning in connection with the Bunratty incident.

The late Mr Sheehan had come into contact with Gardaí previously. He was sentenced to two years detention in October 2007, after he pleaded guilty to recklessly endangering the lives of Gavin and Milly Murray.

He admitted acting as a look-out as two other men petrol bombed a car in which the four and six-year-old were sitting.

ROMANCE was in the air in September as a Canadian dentist travelled more than 8,000 kilometres to track down the love of his life, a Clare woman he met for just two minutes in Ennistymon more than a year previous.

Dr Sandy Crocker from British Columbia put his life on hold for four weeks, as he took an extended break from work to travel Ireland in search of his red-haired Irish beauty.

The story which made international headlines told how the lovestruck dentist was in An Teach Bia in Ennistymon on July 9, 2011, when he noticed the woman who has captivated his thoughts for the last 14 months. He describes her as being in her mid- to late-20s with freckles and redish-brown hair. Sandy spoke to her briefly before she left the cafe, but realised too late that he might have met the love of his life.

“We were on our way to the Cliffs of Moher that morning and we stopped in Ennistymon to grab a bite to eat. She was eating and I didn’t want to interrupt her meal so I waited until I noticed her leaving and spoke to her. I asked her for directions to the Cliffs of Moher,” he told The Clare People yesterday.

“I was leaving Ireland a day later so, at first, I didn’t see the point in pursuing things more – but after she left I decided that I had to. So we paid our bill quickly and myself and my brother started looking for her. We searched the town for an hour or two and couldn’t find her, so we went to the Cliffs but later that evening we came back and looked for her again for another two hours. But there was no trace of her.”

DIPLOMATIC efforts are being made to get the Princess Royal – better known as Princess Anne – to visit Loophead Lighthouse in 2013, as part of the Clare contribution to ‘The Gathering’ initiative that aims to bring 300,000 extra tourists into Ireland. The Clare People learned in August that Clare County Council, local West Clare representative, Cllr Gabriel Keating (FG) and Deputy Pat Breen (FG) were spearheading this campaign after the Princess Royal wrote to the local authority in praise of the groundbreaking tourist initiative that has operated at Clare’s most westerly point over the past two summer seasons.

Princess Anne’s correspondence was sparked by a letter she received from Clare County Council last month, with Director of Service, Ger Dollard revealing “We wrote to Princess Anne and told her about Loophead and its success. We did this because Princess Anne is a pharologist, which is someone who takes a special interest in lighthouses and she was invited to come to Loophead,” added Mr Dollard. The Clare People has seen Princess Anne’s reply, which was written on her behalf by her private secretary, Captain Nick Wright. In the letter, Captain Wright said Princess Anne “was glad to hear that the opening of Loophead Lighthouse was an outstanding success”.

He added, “All visits overseas, including of course to the Republic of Ireland, are co-ordinated by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. As such, there are no plans at present for the Princess to visit. Should matters change, we shall bear your kind invitation in mind.”

Now, the campaign to bring Princess Anne to the lighthouse is being taken up by Deputy Pat Breen, on behalf of Loophead-based councillor, Gabriel Keating.

Through his chairmanship of the Dáil Foreign Affairs committee, Deputy Breen is to approach British Ambassador to Ireland, Dominick Chilcott about beginning the diplomatic process of extending an official invitation for Princess Anne to come to Ireland.

“Enda Kenny officially opened the lighthouse to start this year’s tourist season at Loophead on May 18,” said Cllr Gabriel Keating, “and the aim is to have Princess Anne to do the same in 2013 when we have ‘The Gathering’, because she has taken an interest in what we are doing with the lighthouse,” he added.

SHANNON’S ability to be transformed into a strategic freight logistics hub that would have direct connections to some of the world’s global logistics centres was highlighted following a major think-tank that took place in London in July.

The Mid West Regional Authority (MWRA) and the Irish Exporters Association (IEA) sounded out Shannon’s potential after meeting with international freight logistics experts in London this week to promote the mid-west region as a strategically located and sustainable freight logistics hub.

Through its participation in the EU co-funded Weastflows project, the MWRA chaired the meeting in London to discuss methods to promote the major North West European freight Gateways in terms of their connectivity to other European Gateways and onwards to the major global logistics hubs in the United States and Asia.

“The importance of an effective and well-managed Gateway for freight movements cannot be overstated for a peripheral European region, such as the mid-west,” explained Liam Conneally, Director of the MWRA.

“The Limerick-Shannon Gateway is at the heart of the region and is an important contributor to the economic development of the mid-west. Ireland’s exports continue to rise in 2012, despite the challenges faced by our key export markets, and our exporters rely on an efficient transport system to move their products within the North West Europe area and beyond.

“Furthermore, if Ireland is to meet its commitments in terms of reducing CO2 emissions, the region needs to learn the best methods for en- couraging modal shifts from road to more sustainable forms of freight transport,” he added. “The Weastflows project is seeking to improve and enhance freight logistics in North West Europe on a West-East axis. The project brings together experts from all sectors of the freight industry to work towards connecting and improving sustainable supply chains for the movement of freight. During the recent meeting in the UK, the MWRA promoted the LimerickShannon gateway, which as the most western gateway in the project has a key location for freight movements.”

Linda Newport, EU Projects Officer with MWRA, explained that the benefits for the mid-west region in participating in the Weastflows project include an opportunity to improve the connectivity from the region to the major North West Europe transport corridors, as well as an opportunity to test out the latest in innovative approaches to freight transportation via participation in pilot projects.

“The mid-west region is strategically located on the west coast of Ireland and is an important logistics hub in Ireland with the Shannon Estuary and Shannon International Airport. The Limerick-Shannon gateway is at the heart of the region and is an important contributor to the economic development of the region.

“Through our participation in the Weastflows project, the MWRA will work with the Irish Exporters Association and other partners to establish the Limerick-Shannon gateway as a sustainable gateway and improve links with the Seine gateway, the Liverpool-Manchester gateway and the London-Thames gateway, among others. It is anticipated that the results of the project will feed into the regional planning processes,” she added.

HOUSEHOLDERS in Clare are being exposed to radiation doses that are the equivalent of having three chest x-rays a day, a shocking new study conducted by the Radiological Protection Institute (RPII) of Ireland and released in July revealed.

The statistic emerged from a new radon investigation in the county, which found that one in five homes tested by the RPII registered high levels of the gas, with a number of dwellings in the county containing over five times the acceptable levels of exposure to the cancer-causing substance.

And, the findings revealed that the county capital of Ennis was the county’s chief radon blackspot, which prompted the RPII to sound out new appeal on all householders to carry out radon tests on their dwellings.

“It is a serious problem,” an RPII spokesperson told The Clare People, “because 11 homes in the county have been identified as having radon gas levels above the acceptable levels in the past five months”.

Two homes in Ennis had up to five times the acceptable levels of the gas, while another six in the county capital as well as two in Clarecastle and one in Tubber levels up to three times the acceptable level.

“Tens of thousands of homeowners in Clare have yet to test for radon and among them are many hundreds that are unknowingly living with a high risk to their family’s health,” said RPII scientist Stephanie Long.

“Only a small fraction of homes in Clare have been tested for radon. Our research shows that, of those that have already tested, there is a large percentage with high radon levels and so we are urging homeowners to take the radon test.

“It is really important for people to test their home for radon as this is the only way of knowing if your family is exposed to this cancercausing gas,” she added.

Radon is the second biggest cause of lung cancer after smoking and is directly linked to up to 200 lung cancer deaths each year.

THREE Junior Certificate students from Ennis were hailed as heroines by Clare Civil Defence chief Liam Griffin after their quick thinking helped save the life of a woman who got into difficulty after going into the River Fergus to retrieve her dog.

Rice College students Ellen McMahon (15), Aisling O’Sullivan (15) and Eve Copley (15) came to the rescue of a woman, who hasn’t been identified, who was out walking her dog one June evening near Steele’s Rock in the Lifford area the town.

“The three of us were walking past at about 7.15pm, having been up town for something to eat after our Business Studies exam,” revealed Ms McMahon. “When we were passing, the woman was standing behind the wall and the dog was on the steps at Steele’s Rock. We walked on a bit and, when we looked back, the dog was being dragged downstream and the woman had moved to the steps and was calling him.

“Then she went in after the dog and was taken away by the flow of the water down towards the FBD offices. She was very tired because she had swum out to get the dog and the current was so strong there was no way she would have been able to swim back to the steps,” she added.

The three students quickly raced back to get the lifebuoy that’s located near Steele’s Rock and came to the aid of the woman, who was getting into difficulty.

“She had a hold of the dog and we raced up got the lifebuoy and threw it in to her and slowly dragged her in. We didn’t get her name because, after being soaked to the skin, she got a drive home from a passing motorist,” revealed Ms McMahon.

“Their quick thinking helped save that woman’s life,” Clare Civil Defence chief Liam Griffin told The Clare People . “It just shows the importance of lifebuoys,” he added, “because sometimes they get vandalised and the people who do that can cost a life. Luckily in this case, it was there and the girls were able to use it and come to the rescue of the woman.”