The Clare People Archive

A GROUP of volounteers behind an animal shelter in Clare who feared closure earlier this month are planning to spend the night on the footsteps of Ennis Courthouse next month.

‘Out with the Dogs’ will see members of Paw Pourri and Bernese Mountain Dog Rescue leave their warm homes for the steps of Ennis Courthouse on December 16.

The aim of the sleep-out is to raise awareness and funds for the two charities.

According to Hillary Killowry of Bernese Mountain Dog Rescue, “Even in recessionary times, we have to be mindful of animal welfare. We want this night to highlight the plight of unwanted animals in Clare and the rescue and rehabilitation of Bernese Dogs.”

Hillary added, “If every home in Clare that has a pet gives us one can of food on that night, that will go a long way to alleviating the huge food bills that we are faced with.”

Paw Pourri Animal Rescue and Shelter rescues and re-homes abandoned dogs and cats. All animals remain with the centre until new homes can be found.

The shelter has launched a Christmas appeal aimed at attracting more donations, volunteers and much needed fosterers.

Earlier this month, the shelter said it was struggling to maintain its service because of a lack of volunteers and funds.

However, Catriona Lowry of Paw Pourri has stated that the local com- munity had responded well to the appeal.

The shelter is also seeking more volunteers to help keep the shop open, along with urgently needed fosterers to give a home to some of the animals at the shelter.

The amount of animals in Clare that need shelter and rescue continues to grow, according to Paw Pourri.

Their Christmas Wish List is made up of everything from dog and cat food as the weekly bill for feeding the animals runs into hundreds of euros.

People of Clare can get behind the ‘Out with the Dogs’ fundraiser by supporting those with official sponsorship cards. People can also drop by on the night and meet Molly, Clare’s famous Bernese Dog, whose sibling now resides in Arás an Uachtarán.

Molly works hard as a therapy dog with the elderly, children with autism and those with special needs in Clare.

People can also donate online on www.pawpourri.net

MARY Rice, owner of Babyzone store, from Ruan, Ennis and 66 years young, was crowned Breakfast with Hector’s ‘Granny Grand Prix Champion of 2012’, in Mondello Park, Kildare, on Sunday, November 18, with an impressive time of one minute and seven seconds.

Said Mary about the event, “It was the best day of my life. I’m still recovering. I wasn’t out to win. I was just out to do what I was told to do. Little did I think that I would be the winner.”

Mary was more surprised than anyone to be taking part in the contest, let alone winning the title, having no knowledge of the event until she found herself picking up the phone to Hector at work.

“I thought it was my son-in-law in England; he’s always playing tricks,” she chuckled. It was her daughter, Sheena, who nominated her for the competition. Sheena, who lives in Germany, listens to Hector’s show to avoid getting too homesick and happened to hear about the competition one morning.

Blessed with a family of eight children, and 11 grandchildren, Mary was not short of supporters on the day. Family and friends travelled from as far as Germany and Birmingham to cheer her on, donning printed t-shirts reading ‘Mary Mops for Grand Prix Title’.

In honour of her win, Mary was also presented with a voucher for a weekend away in The Radisson Hotel, Galway to enjoy with a few of her friends.

AN TAISCE has recommended that the proposal by the National Parks and Wildlife Service to build a carpark at Mullaghmore be withdrawn, because it’s “premature” ahead of the implementation of a Burren Management Plan and because it could “lead to future demand for expansion” of visitor facilities at the site.

The environmental watchdog made its comments in a submission to Clare County Council planners on Thursday last and in it the NPWS has been advised to withdraw its controversial application pending proper public consultation and the publication of the Burren Management Plan.

“Any consideration of new car parking provision should be undertaken only as part of the current 2011-2018 Management Plan for the National Park and surrounding area,” says An Taisce spokesperson Ian Lumley.

“The current Management Plan does not make any provision for a car park at this site.

“If parking provision is deemed desirable in or near the core area of the National Park, a careful site selection evaluation is required identifying a number of site options and considering site suitability on a number of criteria. State ownership is not sufficient grounds to justify location selection of this site,” he adds.

The National Trust for Ireland has also echoed the Burren Action Group (BAG) fears that provision of car park facilities could signal further development. “A further concern is that any car park provision made will lead to future demand for expansion and ancillary services including toilets,” says Mr Lumley. “This is an additional reason why the site suitability of any car park provision needs to be properly considered in the first place. We recommend that this application be withdrawn and that any proposal be put forward after appropriate public and stakeholder consultation on the updating of the Management Plan for the National Park and provision of a Management Plan for candidate Special Area of Conservation designated area.

“Any car parking provision needs to be based on an overall visitor accommodation strategy, and any site proposed needs to be based on a selection process examining a wider number of location options, than those currently considered,” he adds.

CLARE tourism will be damaged internationally, while both private and State-run tourism operators will be the big losers if Clare County Council gives the green light for the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) to develop car park facilities near Mullaghmore.

This claim is a major plank of the Burren Action Group (BAG) submis- sion to the planning authority, opposing the controversial NPWS application, that has been secured by The Clare People this week.

In a hard-hitting submission, BAG says that the car park proposal “makes no consideration of tourism practice in the area and does not appear to inform itself as to the policies of other statutory agencies or of the objectives of the County Development Plan”.

According to the BAG submission, permission for the car park facility would “endanger the reputation of the Burren” and “poses a risk to investments of other tourism operators” throughout North Clare.

“Substantial inter-agency efforts helped secure Geopark status for the Burren and efforts are ongoing to achieve a UNESCO World Heritage Site listing,” says the BAG submission.

“Smaller operators have undertaken international marketing activities through the Burren Ecotourism Network and have developed an accreditation scheme for green tourism that has been adopted as the Irish standard and has been approved by Fáilte Ireland.

“News of the existence of a statemanaged facility that is operating contrary to the precautionary and sustainability principles will harm the area’s reputation and the international perception that it is a prime ecotourism destination.

“The application runs counter to the objectives and principles of ecotourism, is contrary to the objectives of the County Development Plan and will endanger the tourism investments of both private and statutory tourism providers.

“It is not compatible with the area’s reputation for ecotourism and thus poses a threat to tourism operators in the wider Burren,” the submission to the Clare County Council planners adds.

PUTTING car park facilities in place at Mullaghmore is a case of the National Parks and Wildlife Service putting the cart before the horse, the Burren Action Group’s 15-page document against the controversial development proposal has claimed.

BAG, which campaigned successfully against the Office of Public Works proposal to build an interpretative centre at Mullaghmore, has blasted the planning application as it comes ahead of a commitment to deliver the Burren Management Plan.

This management plan is now in its third draft, but the feeling on the ground locally in North Clare is that it will never see the light of day, with the NPWS instead pressing ahead with its car park proposal adjacent to the original Mullaghmore Interpretative Centre location.

In its submission, BAG says it shares the NPWS objective of “alleviating the problems associated with random car parking on the Crag Road and at the crossroads between the Crag Road and the Green Road”, but that the application is premature as it comes in advance of an agreed National Park Management Plan.

“Three draft versions of a Plan (Burren Management Plan 2011 – 2018) have been produced but none have been published and none have benefitted from the input of the public, tourism operators or adjoining landowners,” says BAG.

“There is no indication when this Plan will seek the views of the public nor is there any proposed deadline for its completion. The application, therefore, is not in a position to avail of any agreed or finalised management proposals,” the submission adds.

In a further indictment of the NPWS proposal, the BAG submission says that the application, which was lodged with Clare County Council on October 22 is “incoherent”, “uncoordinated” and “missing significant data”.

“The application lacks the coherence that might be provided by a Management Plan and, in the single instance where its impacts in combination with other practices are acknowledged, no data is offered, even in relation to the applicant’s own services and facilties,” the BAG submission says.

“There is considerable potential for successful dialogue that can result in a Management Plan that respects and promotes the needs of the host people, local environment and those wishing to engage in sustainable low impact tourism in and around the National Park.

“There are alternative sites that can accommodate parking in the ownership of the applicant. There are also options for more multifaceted management practices available that can contribute to better visitor management in the park.

“A process to explore these options should precede a grant of permission to return to a site that has already failed the test of one of the longest and most comprehensive planning processes in the history of the state,” the submission adds.

A PROPOSAL by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) to build a car park on the edge of the site earmarked for the controversial Mullaghmore Interpretative Centre is “part of a process” that will eventually lead to the building of a visitor facility in the area.

This warning has been sounded out by the Burren Action Group (BAG) this week as part of its detailed submission to Clare County Council planners opposing the NPWS plans for the car park at Knockaunroe in the Burren National Park.

The 15-page document was lodged with the planning authority on Friday ahead of this Monday’s closing date for submissions. It has warned that the car park will “create a new set of risks” in the Burren – chief among these a covert plan of “induced development” designed to eventually bring about the building of visitor facilities at Gortalecka, the original site earmarked for the Mullaghmore Interpretative Centre.

The BAG submission highlights what it calls the “danger of incremental development at the core of the (National) Park”, saying that the planning application was the “thin end of the wedge” and precursor for further development.

“The proposal excludes the provision of toilet facilities, picnic tables etc., it is inevitable that a demand will be created for these facilities on the site in the near future,” the BAG submission states. “Consequently, future applications for extension of the car park and provision of such facilities are to be expected. The initial choice of this site for a car park may be seen as the ‘thin end of the wedge’ for future provision of visitor facilities on the Gortlecka site. It will inevitably create demand for further development at the core of the park,” it adds.

The proposed car park facility is on the proposed site for the overflow car park that was originally included in the ‘Gortlecka’ application, a move that has prompted the BAG to claim that the NPWS application is going against decisions handed down by An Bord Pleanála and Supreme Court.

“The NPWS were obliged, by Bord Pleanála and Court decisions, to restore and rehabilitate the Gortlecka site at very considerable cost to the NPWS and the taxpayer,” says the BAG submission. “Consequently, the current application seems contrary to the intent of previous An Bord Pleanála and court decisions,” it adds.

A FINAL decision on whether fracking will be allowed to take place in the West Clare Basin will not be made until 2014 at the earlier, it was revealed yesterday. The terms of reference for a major Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report on the viability of fracking are currently being drawn up and the report will not be completed until 2014.

The Minister for Energy, Pat Rabbitte (LAB), has confirmed that no decision on whether to grant a licence for commercial fracking will not be taken until after the EPA report in completed.

British-based company, Enigi Oil, was granted limited exploration right in an area around Doonbeg earlier this year and provisional data indicates that a commercial fracking operation could be sustained in the area. This prompted a large anti-fracking campaign locally which resulted in councillors at Clare County Council voting to change the County Development Plan to ban fracking earlier this year. This move is of little legal value however, as the power to grant a license for fracking lies solely with the Minister for Energy.

The EPA produced an initial study on fracking earlier this year but Minister Rabbitte requested that a second, more detailed, study be produced. The steering group for this research was announced last week and will include representatives from the EPA, Department of Environment, the Department of Environment, in Northern Ireland, the Commission for Energy Regulation, An Bord Pleanála and the Department of Energy.

The Clare Basin is one of two locations in Ireland where the possibility of commercial fracking has been identified. Fracking involves drilling large vertical tunnels deep underground and then using pressurised water and other material to crack and shatter the shale rock located there and release the natural gas trapped inside. The technique has been blamed for causing earthquakes in some parts of the world and has also be sighted a possible major pollutant to local water system.

ENNIS’ grid-lock problems at peak periods are set to be alleviated from this Wednesday when the long-awaited inner relief road finally opens up for traffic.

Mayor of Ennis, Cllr Peter Considine (FF) will formally declare the road open at a special ceremony at Friar’s Walk Coach Park at 10.30am, bringing to an end a long running saga for the provision of a new road to alleviate traffic problems in the county capital.

The final stage of the project was signalled in July when Ennis Town Council revealed that the final phase of the road was to begin later that month after the local local authority signed a € 360,000 construction contract with Gildoc Limited.

The contract provided for the construction of 180 metres of single carriageway road, footpaths and serv- ices, including new traffic lights at Station Road and Clare Road.

The Ennis Inner Relief Road Section E contract, to be delivered by Ennis-based Liam O’Doherty Building Contractor on behalf of Gildoc Limited, had a completion deadline for late September but was held up until final funding was secured.

At the time, outgoing Mayor of Ennis, Cllr Michael Guilfoyle (Ind) praised the local authority “for delivering this project which many had feared would not go ahead due to the “current fiscal constraints”.

“However, the necessary funding has been secured to ensure the delivery of what will be a very beneficial infrastructure project for Ennis town centre.

“It will complement similar road projects in recent years, including the section of the Inner Relief Road from Station Road to Francis Street and the Ennis Bypass, in further reducing traffic congestion in the Clare county capital,” he added.

“The new road will link Station Road at Madden’s Furniture to Friar’s Walk, the Causeway, Clare Road at Cathedral Court,” explained Eamon O’Dea, Ennis Town Engineer.

“This 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,” added Cllr Guilfoyle.

A MAN has been ordered to pay compensation after he admitted to jumping on a garda patrol car in Kilrush last month.

David Cuggeran (36), with an address at 6 St Senan’s Terrace, Kilrush, appeared at Kilrush District Court on Tuesday.

He pleaded guilty to engaging in threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour with intent to provoke a breach of the peace at Parknamoney, Ennis Road, Kilrush on October 21.

Superintendent Gerard Wall told the court that Gardai were called to deal with a disturbance near Kilrush golf club on the night in question

The court heard that Mr Cuggeran was an intoxicated state and was asked by gardaí to leave the area.

Supt Wall said the accused then ran in front of a stopped patrol car, jumped on it and cracked the windscreen.

The court heard that Mr Cuggeran also directed bad language at the gardaí. Solicitor Joe Chambers told the court that his client had been at a function with friends.

He said an element of alcohol was involved but Mr Cuggeran was not drunk.

Mr Chambers added, “An incident occurred outside of his making which incensed him greatly.”

He told the court that his client did not say anything abusive to the gardaí and that he respects the force.

“He did a silly thing. He jumped on top of a squad car,” Mr Chambers added. The court heard that € 407 worth of damage was caused to the car. Supt Wall said the garda was grounded for the night because of the cracked windscreen.

He said there had been no garda provocation on the night.

Judge Patrick Durcan adjourned the case until December to allow for payment of compensation.

Mr Cuggeran was remanded on continuing bail to appear again at Kilrush District Court on December 18.

A WOMAN has apologised after pleading guilty to a breach of the peace at Ennis Courthouse earlier this year.

Nora Maughan (24), with addresses at 20 Stonecourt, Drumbiggle, Ennis and Brayton Park, Kilcock, Kildare, appeared at Ennis District Court on Wednesday.

Inspector Tom Kennedy said the accused was charged following a commotion that developed in the foyer of the courthouse on September 25.

He told the court that gardaí found Ms Maughan with another woman. Insp Kennedy said Ms Maughan was not the only person involved in the incident.

She has no previous convictions. Defence solicitor William Cahir told the court that his client was extremely anxious to deal with the matter.

He added, “She holds her hands up and admitted it was out of order.” Mr Cahir told the court that Ms Maughan’s involvement in the melee was “not of her character or nature.”

Ms Maughan told the court that she was “very, very sorry for what happened.”

She said she had never been in such a situation before.

Judge Patrick Durcan the public had been discommoded by what had occurred in the courthouse on the day. He added, “This court discharged its functions in discomfort.”

He ordered Ms Maughan to pay € 100 to the court poor box. He also struck out the charges against her.

Judge Durcan said, “Whenever you go to courthouses in the future, behave yourself in the future.”