The Clare People Archive

WITH just hours until the Government announces yet another ‘austerity’ budget, charities such as Clare Haven are bracing themselves for a year when they may have to cut services.

The women’s refuge for families who have been subjected to domestic violence and abuse has already had their statuary funds cut by as much as 10 per cent, and have been warned more cuts are on the way.

Since 2009, the statutory funding for the organisation has been cut by € 80,000.

Even with the level of statutory funding that was received in 2009, the organisation still had to fundraise in an attempt to meet the needs of women and children who were subjected to abuse in the home.

Clare Haven Manager, Denise Dunne explained, “Unfortunately, as well as cuts in statutory funding, since the recession it has become increasingly difficult to fundraise. We rely so much on the goodwill and generosity of the local community in County Clare, not only for monetary donations but also for donations in food, clothes, emergency supplies such as nappies, baby food and toiletries.

“Our volunteers are also an essential part of our service, including those who carry out church gate collections, help out with fundraising events, such as the Clare 10K, sort through donations and help out in the refuge,” she said.

“We have already been told to expect further cuts in 2013. This is why fundraising events such as the Clare 10K are such a lifeline for our organisation.

“We are hoping to make the Clare 10K the biggest and best so far and would encourage walkers and runners to help out their own local charities by taking part in this. All proceeds from the Clare 10K registration fees go directly to Clare Haven Services.”

During the first 10 months this year, as many as 208 women and 303 children fleeing from domestic abuse were unable to find accommodation at the centre, as all six units were full to capacity.

Ms Dunne explained that Clare Haven staff gave these families the numbers of other refuges around the country or helped them to locate one, but finding a place able to accept them was often difficult as most women’s refuges are working to full capacity.

As many as 73 women and their families, which included 109 children, have stayed in Clare Haven’s Refuge Centre this year.

While the service has also helped as many as 186 in total through its support visits, outreach programme and refuge centre.

PEOPLE living with disabilities in Clare have suffered more than other sectors and “have nothing left to give” in this week’s budget. That is according to local organiser for Enable Ireland, Margaret Burke, who believes that cuts to local authority budgets has made it very difficult for people using wheelchairs to get around Ennis and other towns in the county.

Ms Burke was speaking after an event in Ennis last week which saw a number of politicians taking to wheelchairs to experience, firsthand, the difficulties experienced by disabled people every day.

“They really want the people who represent them to know exactly what they are talking about. If someone hasn’t been in a wheelchair, it is not always that easy to represent them and to understand exactly where they are coming from,” she said.

“The biggest thing is that this event was organised by the service-users themselves. They are used to people being vocal for them, on their behalf, but this an event organised by the service-users themselves. That is a big step.

“It is empowering for them – it gives them more of a voice. It is beginning to unfold like that more and more in Clare. Our role is more and more to sit back and support them, and let them speak for themselves.”

According to Ms Burke, there is a lot of fear among disabled people in Clare ahead of this week’s budget.

“When you cut local budgets, it has a massive effect on people with disabilities. If Clare County Coun- cil don’t have the funding to fix the paths and fix the roads, then people in wheelchairs struggle every day. It is an massive obstacle to get into town [Ennis] every day. They need their busses, they need their transport,” she said.

“These people are on a disability allowance – they really don’t have much. They have everything to lose and nothing left to give. Everyone is hoping that there won’t be any further cuts. We have always been in a recession down in this part of the world.”

MEMBERS of Ennis Town Council will meet today to pick a name for the newly opened € 2.5 million section of the inner relief road.

Jail Road and Bothar Na Rince are among the names that have been so far suggested.

It has also been suggested that a plaque be erected near Madden’s Furniture, the site of the old Paddy Con’s dance hall, to commemorate musicians in Ennis.

Up to 4,500 vehicles per day are expected to use section E of the Ennis Inner Relief Road project, which opened to traffic last week.

The newly completed 180 metres of single carriageway road links Station Road at Madden’s Furniture to Friar’s Walk and the Clare Road at Cathedral Court.

The € 2.5m road also features new traffic lights at Station Road and Clare Road.

Ennis Town Council says the com- pleted section of the Inner Relief Road will improve traffic flow to the town centre for customers and visitors to Ennis, and will reduce traffic congestion in the Station Road and Upper O’Connell Street area of Ennis.

Officials have said that it will take a few months to adequately assess the impact the road will have on traffic flow on the town.

Speaking at the opening, Mayor of Ennis, Cllr Peter Considine said, “It is heartening to see that despite the current fiscal constraints faced by Ennis Town Council that it is still continuing to complete important infrastructure projects throughout the town. The completion of the Inner Relief Road will bring a range of immediate benefits, both to the local community and to those visiting the town.”

Ennis Town Clerk Leonard Cleary said the new section of the Inner Relief Road will complement similar road projects completed in recent years, including the Ennis Bypass and the section of the Inner Relief Road from Station Road to Francis Street, in further reducing traffic congestion in the Clare County capital.

“The completion of work on Inner Relief Road project will be welcomed by motorists throughout the town as it will bypass numerous traffic bottle necks and vastly improve commuting time for users,” he added.

The road project is funded by Ennis Town Council with a € 2.1M loan approved by the Department of Transport.

FIVE thousand new jobs can be created in Shannon by 2018 as Clare’s international airport finally prepares to free itself from the shackles of Dublin Airport Authority control and chart a new independent future for itself.

This ambitious blueprint for Shannon was revealed by senior Cabinet ministers, Leo Varadkar and Richard Burton at an aviation conference in Dublin on Monday, with December 31 next set as formal beginning of the new independent airport freed of its € 100m debts and given a start-up fund in this Wednesday’s budget as it begins life as a separate, stand alone entity.

The new airport authority has been provisionally named as NEWCO – a merger between existing Shannon Development and Shannon Airport staff, and in an early move to allay fears among the workforce in the two companies, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton has said “there will be no compulsory redundancies”.

Meanwhile, The Clare People can exclusively reveal that Clarewoman, Rose Hynes, is being lined up to become the first chairperson of the new airport authority. The Bellharbour woman chaired the Aviation Business Development Task Force that drafted the new airport plan, which she says is “the beginning of a new era” for Shannon.

The government has set a target of boosting passenger numbers at Shannon by one million over the next nine years, with Transport minister Leo Varadkar telling The Clare People that “if Shannon can’t achieve that kind of growth, then there is no fu- ture for the airport”.

However, it’s in the area of jobs that Shannon can expect its biggest windfall with Minister Varadkar revealing that a new international aviation services centre has “the potential to create between 3000 and 5000 jobs within five years”.

Minister Bruton said the airport’s independence, which will see two companies in Shannon provide up to 850 in the coming months represents “a new chapter in regional development” in Ireland.

GARDAÍ in Ennis have launched an investigation after an attempted arson attack on units in the Beechpark Traveller accommodation site.

Two buildings at the site on the outskirts of Ennis sustained smoke damage when an attempt was made to set them ablaze on Saturday night.

Intruders attempted to set fire to the kitchen of one unit after breaking a window. The rear was forced open in another unit and an attempt was made to set the building alight.

Gardaí in Ennis said yesterday that petrol was discovered near the scene of both attempted fires. No one was injured in the attack.

The family who live at one of the damaged units were away on the night. As of yesterday, no one had been arrested or charged in connection with the attack.

It is the second time in three years that the Beechpark site has sustained damage. Between 2010 and 2011, the Council was forced to spend € 2800 a week on providing security at Beechpark after units there were destroyed by vandalism and arson in April 2010. Last year, a report from Clare County Council on the costs associated with providing traveler accommodation in Clare, stated that Beechpark has been the subject of threats and intimidation since 2010.

THE Bishop of Killaloe has been asked to intervene after a “septic relationship” developed between some parents and the principal of a small West Clare primary school. Dr Kieran O’Reilly has been asked to mediate on issues at Labasheeda National School, details of which were aired at Kilrush District Court on Tuesday.

Martin Tubridy (55), with an address at Quarry Vale, Mounthshannon, Labasheeda, was found guilty of assault causing harm to Liam Woulfe at the school on December 9, 2011. Mr Tubridy, a father of two, denied the charge.

The court heard that Mr Tubridy punched Mr Woulfe in the face after complaining about the treatment of his son. The court heard that some parents had withdrawn their children from the school because of alleged disputes with Mr Woulfe.

Judge Patrick Durcan said this was a case where there were “no winners”. He said, “I want to say how saddened I am to see such divisions in Labasheeda over a septic relationship between the two parties.” He said he found the entire episode “distressing” and warned that the dispute threatens the future of the school and the local community. Judge Durcan added, “I know this kind of thing can sound the deathknell for a school and the deathknell for a school is a deathknell for the local community.”

Mr Woulfe, who has been principal of the school for 17 years, said Mr Tu- bridy drove to the school after hours on the date in question. The court heard that Mr Woulfe had been talking to another parent in a classroom at the time. Mr Woulfe said he went out to Mr Tubridy and asked if he could come back to meet him again. He said Mr Tubridy told him he had put his son outside of the classroom and that he (Mr Woulfe) had been “at him all week”.

Mr Woulfe said, “He struck me and hit me in the face.” He added,“I recoiled back into the classroom. I was obviously shocked and dazed.”

The court heard that Mr Woulfe suffered a swollen nose, black eye and a broken tooth as a result of the assault. His injuries were disputed by defence solicitor Patrick Moylan who said they had not been noted in a dental report handed into court. Mr Moylan said Mr Woulfe had exaggerated the extent of his injuries.

Mr Moylan said in court that parents had withdrawn their children because it had been alleged that Mr Woulfe had behaved in an “aggressive” manner towards them.

The court also heard that Mr Tubridy’s wife made a complaint to the of- fice of the Bishop of Killaloe.

Mr Woulfe admitted issues had arisen in his dealings with the Tubridys. He described their behaviour in a previous meeting as “aggressive and over the top”. He said that 2011 had been a “difficult year” at the school.In his evidence, Mr Tubridy denied this and said it was Mr Woulfe who behaved in an aggressive fashion. Mr Woulfe denied Mr Tubridy’s version of events.

Parent Caroline O’Shea, who was in the school at the time, told the court she saw the assault. Mr Tubridy said she could not have seen what happened as the glass on the classroom door is opaque. He claimed Mr Woulfe grabbed him by the back of the neck and he reacted by pushing him away. He told the court that he drove to the school to meet Mr Woulfe because his son was very upset.

Judge Patrick Durcan said there had been “bad blood” between the parties. He said he did not accept Mr Tubridy’s version of events, describing it as “improbable.” Judge Durcan said he accepted Mr Woulfe’s and Ms O’Shea’s evidence. He adjourned the case for just over an hour to allow for discussions between the parties.

On the resumption of the case, Supt Gerard Wall told the court that Mr Tubridy had offered a “full and unconditional” apology to Mr Woulfe.

Judge Durcan said he accepted a proposal to invite Dr O’Reilly to mediate on the matter. He adjourned the case until April 9, 2013 and ordered Mr Tubridy to pay € 400 compensation to Mr Woulfe and Ms O’Shea.

, said he regarded the Mid West Business magazine as a rival for advertising revenue to The Cla re People . He said, “There was a fundamental breakdown in the office and he (Mr Collison) was the root cause of it.” Mr Moloney said there had been an “acrimonious relationship” between he, the shareholders and Mr Collison. Mr Moloney said he had never seen the agreement entered into between the company and the NUJ. He told the court that the paper had gone though a difficult period but that circulation is now growing. Judge Patrick Durcan said it was his view that Mr Collison was not in breach of the agreement. Judge Durcan added that he could not see how the reputation of the paper had been damaged when circulation had gone up in the context of Mr Collison leaving. He described Mr O’Rourke as “obviously a talented man” but someone who may have been “naive”. He said that in engaging Mr O’Rourke, Mr Collison’s behaviour was “despicable and manipulative”. He described Mr Moloney’s evidence as “honest, professional and refreshing”. Judge Durcan awarded Mr Collison € 4,700 but said he was making no order for costs “by virtue of his (Mr Collison’s) behaviour”. Judge Durcan dismissed the counter claim, making no order for costs.

THE possibility of a hurley shortage has been averted, at least for now, as Coillte have agreed to bring forward the harvesting of 40,000 hurley planks to meet the demand of manufacturers.

The state sponsored company agreed to a mass felling of ash on Friday after fears that Irish hurley manufacturers would run out of wood in the new year as a result of regulations brought in to prevent the spread of ash die-back disease or Chalara fraxineaposes.

The news will come as a relief to Clare’s hurley manufacturers – who between them produce around 25 per cent of the 360,000 hurleys made in Ireland each year.

The commitment from Coillte should provide hurley makers with an extra four to six weeks of raw material.

If the import restriction are not lifted at that stage, and no further new Irish ash supply has be located, hurley shortages could still be in place by the middle of next year.

“Coillte is very keen to play its part in helping the hurley manufacturing industry in Ireland cope with the current supply challenge. We are already harvesting ash in one of our forests in County Westmeath and have identified a number of other locations where we will harvest material in the coming months,” said Gerard Murphy of Coillte.

“We have committed to supplying 40,000 ash planks to the hurley making industry in the coming months to ensure the ongoing survival of this important part of our social and sporting heritage.”

The issue was also discussed in the Dáil last week with Clare TD, Michael McNamara (Lab).

“One hurley maker in Clare employs six people and makes between 60,000 to 70,000 hurleys per year. There are several other hurley makers across County Clare from Tuamgraney, Ogonnelloe, Broadford, Kilmurry, Kilkishen and Tubber,” he said.

Ash die-back disease has now be confirmed in Galway, Tipperary, Meath, Leitrim and a number of locations in Northern Ireland. The disease has devastated ash forests in central Europe and is very difficult to contain.

Ireland currently imports more than 10 per cent of all the ash used in the country but current targets suggest that it will become self-sufficient for ash by 2020.

A NEW community group that has been established in Broadford has pledged to fight the decision by An Post to close the local post office overnight without giving any advance notice to any of its customers.

This campaign cranked to life at a public meeting in the village on Thursday night last that saw the formation of the Broadford Post Office Action Group that as a first step has demanded a meeting with An Post officials.

“People want their post office back,” the action group chairman PJ Mason told The Clare People . “This post office has been in Broadford for as long as there have been rural post offices in Ireland.

“We want an urgent meeting with An Post about this. An issue arose a couple of weeks ago, which we are not privy to. Suddenly when people turned up for their pensions and welfare a few weeks ago the office was closed and they were directed to go to Tulla.

“That’s a big problem for some people, who haven’t got transport. Tulla is about ten miles from Broadford, while some people would be 20 miles away from Tulla. It’s not good enough that they should have to go all the way to Tulla,” added Mr Mason.

The public meeting was attended by over 150 people, among them officers and members of all the local organisations including, the ICMSA, IFA, local hurling and camogie clubs, ICA Guilds, the local development association, community alert groups, gun clubs, parents groups, as well as members of the boards of management of the local schools.

Local councillors present were Michael Begley (Ind), Joe Cooney (FG), Cathal Crowe (FF) and Pat Hayes (FF), while Martin O’Loghlen represented Deputy Timmy Dooley (FF).

“The post office serves a large population in a wide catchment area that includes all of the parish of Broadford, an area of Bridgetown, O’Callaghan’s Mills and Bodyke,” revealed Mr Mason, who was elected chairman of the action group on the night.

“The closure of the post office has caused people severe hardship and disruption, as the Christmas period and beyond rapidly approaches. Some people have been unable to get to Tulla, others have had to get the assistance of neighbours and friends to get them to there. We want our post office re-opened as quickly as possible,” he added.

IARNRÓD Éireann has come in for fresh criticism over the length of time it has taken to create an online booking system for the Western Rail Corridor. At present, it is possible to view timetable information for services between Ennis and Galway but not to price a ticket or make an online purchase.

This was identified as one of the main areas for reform earlier this year and prompted Iarnród Éireann to commit to developing an online system. The delay in developing a system was described as “perplexing” by North-West MEP, Jim Higgins (FF), last week.

“I cannot understand how you can book most buses in the country on line, but not the train. I wonder if this was a train on the east coast, would a solution to the online booking problem have been found by now,” he said.

MEP Higgins was also critical of the time taken to travel on the Western Rail Corridor when compared to a car journey. “I’ve raised this issue before, and I will raise it again. To drive between Galway City and Limerick takes one hour and 25 minutes but on the train, it takes two hours and 15 minutes,” he said.

Iarnród Éireann confirmed last week that journey times between Limerick and Galway on the Western Rail Corridor will be reduced by as much as 15 minutes in the coming months.

Latest passenger numbers for the Western Rail Corridor show an increase of 6 per cent for the first nine months of 2012, the first positive passenger number trends since the service was established.

Meanwhile, the future of the proposed development of a new train station at Crusheen remains unclear. A final planning decision on the station was due in early November but no decision has yet been released.