The Clare People Archive

A LANDOWNER has urged to National Roads Authority (NRA) to reconsider the current design of a salt depot proposed for the old GAMA site on the outskirts of Ennis.

Clare County Council is proposing to build a road maintenance depot for the region at Tulla Road, Ennis, (old GAMA site) adjacent to Junction 13 of the N18 motorway with access from the R352 Tulla Road from Ennis. It is anticipated that the depot will be run by the NRA.

Landowner Michael Murphy, whose land at Knockanean was the subject of a compulsory purchase order in 2000 for the Ennis bypass, has objected to aspects of the proposed development.

In a letter from his solicitor Mr Murphy states that the land taken at the time was “grossly excessive”.

In his submission, Mr Murphy, states, “My road frontage and access points onto Tulla Road are being acquired and I am pleading with you to reconsider the junction design and reduce the land take in this area which would allow me an access onto the Tulla Road from my property on western side of the bypass.”

He continued, “This bypass is having a serious impact on my property and I would urge you to carefully consider the above items and meet with me at the earliest opportunity to discuss accommodation works which would reduce the impact.”

Council officials have said that they would urge the NRA to meet with Mr Murphy. According to the council, the development will include: offices, storage area and workshop, car parking, salt barns, depot, weighbridge, hard standing area, ESB sub-station, refueling bay, access road directly from the R352 road.

The development will also encom- pass ancillary services such as water supply, foul treatment, surface water collection, bounding and landscaping around the site, the diversion, protection and provision of utilities and construction of boundary treatments, accommodation works and fencing at required locations.

In a submission, An Taisce have asked the council to take into account the needs of bats feeding in the area. They cite the example of the custombuilt bat house built during construction work on the Ennis bypass. An Taisce says the council must “take into the account the need for bats to have a wildlife corridor of vegetation leading to the bat house concerned especially the Lesser Horse Shoe Bat species”.

The project has been strongly criticized by former Mayor of Ennis, Cllr Tommy Brennan. Cllr Brennan, who is chairman of the Ennis East Electoral Committee, has labelled the project a “waste of time” and taxpayer’s money, saying it represents an unnecessary duplication of resources. Cllr Brennan says the Council has adequate salt supplies at its depots in Beechpark. Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) has said the site should be used for the development of a secondary school for the Barefield area.

A GROUP of students will present plans to make Ennis the age friendly capital of Ireland to members of the Government tomorrow.

It is anticipated that the Taoiseach Enda Kenny will be among the audience in Leinster House when transition year students from Colaiste Muire present a comprehensive report on positive ageing.

The research project has been undertaken by six students – Muireann O’Shea, Aoife Sheehan, Roisin Curran, Jenny Hansbury, Orla Bredin and Sarah O’Reilly.

They have proposed a number of safety measures to promote Ennis as an ‘Age Friendly Town’.

A survey conducted among elderly people about road safety found that 100 per cent would like to see new signs around Ennis to warn drivers about the elderly.

The research, which is ongoing, also found that 85 per cent of elderly people feel unsafe crossing the road in Ennis, while 85 per cent believe that Ennis does not have adequate signage to warn motorists to slow down.

The project identifies six “hotspots” where extra signs could be added in Ennis, cautioning motorists to be aware of elderly pedestrians

The students have now been invited to present in Leinster House on Wednesday, February 8, by Minister Kathleen Lynch, Minister of State at the Department of Health and the Department of Justice, Equality & Defence with special responsibility for Disability, Older People, Equality and Mental Health. Senator Mary White will also be in attendance as she has a special interest in this area.

Teacher Finola Howard explained, “Senator White has written a number of publications on ageing and ageism. She is also a patron of the All Ireland Inspirational Life Award, which is a celebration of older people who exemplify an active inspirational life. All Clare Oireachtas members will be in attendance for the presentation and it is hoped that the Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, will be in a position to view their presentation. The students have also been invited to participate in a question and answer session with Sinead Shanon, Research Manager for Ageing Well Network on Wednesday afternoon.”

In addition the students are attending a launch in Dublin Castle by invitation on Thursday, February 9. President Michael D Higgins is launching the 2012 Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations. Ms Pa- tricia Goan, Regional Programme Manager Age Friendly Counties at The Ageing Well Network facilitated this lauch at Dublin Castle.

Ms Howard added, “This is a huge honour for the students as they will be one of the youngest to attend the launch.” This initiative is part of the Young Social Innovators Programme. YSI is Ireland’s largest social awareness and active citizenship and education programme for 15- to 18-year-old teens. Colaiste Muire have been involved with YSI over the past six years achieving the overall prize in 2008, placed second in 2004 and were overall category winners in 2010.

CLARE could have its own university campus in the next five years if ambitious plans to create a Munster Technological University are given the green light by the Government.

The planned university would be made up of an amalgamation of the Limerick Institute of Technology, IT Tralee and the Cork institute and, with 25,000 students, would be the largest university in Munster. Be sides the main campuses in Limerick, Cork and Kerry, the university would have a presence in every Munster county except for Waterford – with Waterford IT already in amalgamations talks with Carlow IT.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny (FG) will meet with the presidents of all three institutes on February 22 and The Clare People understands that an official announcement on Munster Technological University will be made then.

Speaking to The Clare People yesterday, the President of IT Tralee, Dr Oliver Murphy, said that video conferencing and other new technologies could be used to build a Clare campus both quickly and cheaply.

“Video conferencing has become a very important resource for thirdlevel education.

“It is a great way of delivering lectures across a spread-out area and it is also very cost-effective,” said Dr Murphy.

“I would envisage a situation where we would begin delivering lectures to somewhere in Clare – in Ennis, let’s say – using video conferencing to begin with and then building it up from there.

“Once we have the technology in place, there is no reason why we can’t begin delivering lectures the other way around soon after, with someone based in Clare lecturing to students there as well as people taking part in these lectures in Limerick, Cork, Tipperary and Kerry.”

With 24,000 students and in excess of 2,000 staff members, it is envisioned that the Munster Technological University would be more effective in attracting both research funding and foreign, fee-paying stu- dents.

Involving all parts of Munster in the new university has been identified as a key part in its success.

“The Munster region quite naturally sticks together as a region and it also is a brand name that is clearly very strong,” said Maria Hinfelaar, president of LIT.

Former Mayor of Clare, Flan Garvey, has been the chairman of IT Tralee for the past 10 years and believes that this new project will provide exciting opportunities for the people of Clare.

“This just makes sense. If you have the numbers and you have university status then your chances of getting funding is greatly improved,” he said.

DETAILS of the latest auction of distressed Irish properties by Britishbased firm Allsop Space have been announced, with just one Clare prop erty set to go under the hammer and another from Gort at the sale which will take place in the Shelbourne Hotel on March 1 next.

The Clare property is a farm 10km west of Ennis comprising of 48 acres and a derelict farmhouse and outbuildings, with a reserve price of € 120,000 place on the property. The property is being sold by Allsop Space on the instructions of the receiver, KPMG. There was an expectation that more Clare properties would be included in the 100-lot sale, following on last November’s auction when the lowest price nationally for any property was recorded in Ennis.

In that sale, one of four that was organised by Allsop in 2011 attracted an attendance of 1,600 and saw a site with planning permission for a retail unit and two apartments up until 2015 was sold for just € 11,000,

Meanwhile, a three-story derelict building on the Mill Road in Ennis that had full planning permission for a five-story hotel was sold for € 55,000. In the March 1 sale, a property from Gort will also go under the hammer – a mid-terrace town house situated in Market Square that has a reserve asking price of just € 90,000. The property that comprises of three stories and a basement and is 2,250 square feet in size, while it also comes with a 3,304 square feet site at the rear of the building, with the two properties being sold in one lot.

ONE East Clare school faces the prospect of having its teaching numbers halved next year, if the Minister for Education continues with his proposed cuts to staffing levels in primary schools.

The Killaloe Boys National School, which currently has a staff of 14 – nine mainstream and remedial teachers and five special needs assistants (SNA) – could be starting next September with just 7.5 – 6.5 teachers and one SNA if the cuts are implemented.

School principal David McCormack explained that it will not only be the teachers that will struggle to cope with the increased class numbers.

“Our school building will not facilitate an increase in class sizes as three of our classrooms are part of the old building and will not sustain extra furniture to accommodate 30 children. We have statistics from our school engineer to confirm this,” he said.

The school was given special status in 2002 entitled Giving Children an Even Break which allowed for an extra class teacher and a reduced pupil teacher ratio.

This school has now been notified that this teaching post will also be cut.

Concerned parents attended a meeting at the Killaloe school on Thurs- day last to hear what Clare INTO Executive Sean McMahon described as “social injustice”.

“A new buzz word has entered the Irish dictionary and the Irish psyche – austerity,” he told parents.

“Austerity in primary schools like Killaloe Boys translates to staff cuts be they teacher, SNA or ancillary personnel. It translates into larger classes, multigrade classes, lower school budgets, and less learning support for weaker pupils.

“This will undoubtedly lead to a under achievement and a denial of the rights of pupils to reach their full potential. Obviously these impacts will be most severe among our disadvantaged and marginalised pupils,” he added.

Hundred of parents and teachers from Clare also travelled to Dublin last week to protest at the proposed cuts to staffing levels in smaller rural schools.

The majority travelled from east and west Clare to the Dáil protest on Wednesday.

Meanwhile plans are being put in place for a public meeting involving INTO members, parents, boards of management, patron representatives and school communities at the West County Hotel on Monday night, February 20, to address these issues.

“All Oireachtas members in Clare are to be invited to listen to our collective concerns,” said Mr McMahon.

FEARS have been expressed that history will repeat itself in Clare, resulting in beds remaining closed at one of the county’s best known nursing homes.

The HSE revealed this week that between five and 10 beds will close in the county’s public nursing homes when the results of a review of the Long Term Nursing Homes is announced.

A further 19 beds are to close at St Joseph’s Hospital in Ennis for refur- bishment, but one Clare representative on the HSE West Forum, Cllr Brian Meaney (GP), said he hopes that the word “refurbishment” does not have the same connotations that it has had in recent health history.

“What has to be welcomed is that the HSE is providing the resources to upgrade two large wards in St Joseph’s to comply with HIQA requirements.

“It is a credit to staff at St Joseph’s that they have been able to keep bed reductions to a minimum to allow the ward closures for the upgrade,” he said. “The greatest challenge to all nursing homes in Clare will be trying to keep beds operational as nursing staff are not being replaced. I am concerned that the HSE admission that between five and 10 beds will be lost could be compounded by hard decisions hospital management will have to make to safely manage beds,” he added.

“I request that Deputy Breen and the other TDs continue to make a case for the lifting of the embargo on frontline staff. The reality is beds will close unless nurses can be employed.

“While I understand that TDs have to try to be the first with telling their constituents some good news, I request them to make it clear to the Minister for Finance and Health that the embargo on hiring nurses will cause a reduction in the number of elderly care and acute beds.”

Clare TD Pat Breen (FG) welcomed news that no nursing home in Clare is to close following the review and said he was assured that 11 of St Joseph’s beds will be re-opened after six weeks, with the remaining eight beds re-opening after a further six weeks.

“I understand from the HSE that the situation in the Long Term Nursing Home area will be kept under constant review for the remainder of the year and that hopefully no further bed closures will be necessary but this will be dependent on a number of factors; namely an unanticipated increase in sick leave or further staff departures from the service or other changed circumstances,” Deputy Breen said.

The nursing homes included in the review are Regina House in Kilrush, Raheen Hospital in Tuamgraney, Ennistymon Hospital and St Joseph’s Hospital.

A SEISMOMETER located at the Cliffs of Moher has already recorded two earthquakes in its first week of operations.

The machine, which was installed by the Geological Survey of Ireland at the Cliffs of Moher last week, has already detected two earthquakes which shook the Pacific Islands of Vanuatu over the past few days.

An earthquake measuring 2.6 on the Richter Scale shook North Clare in May of 2006. This new device will be able to provide exact details on any future tremors which occur in the area.

“The seismometer is a precisionbuilt custom-made device which will be recording data on an ongoing basis at the Cliffs of Moher. Already, since it has been installed, a series of substantial earthquakes in Vanuatu in the Pacific Islands have been registered,” said Katherine Webster of the Cliffs of Moher Visitors Experience.

“When we record an incident on the seismometer we update the data to the Incorporated Research Institutions of Seismology (IRIS). The information that we pick up is quite technical. We can establish the distance at which the earthquake is oc- curring, however, in order to find the location of the earthquake we need to have the information from two other seismographs which would allow us to triangulate the exact location.

“Had the device been installed for the May 2010 earthquake in Clare it would have recorded data from it – likewise the one in Donegal last week.”

As well as recording seismic events from all over the world the seismometer will also be used as part of the Cliff’s Education Programme for students and a graphic display is attached to the device to providing both historic and real time informa- tion for visitors to view.

Meanwhile, the Cliffs of Moher Visitors Experience will celebrate its fifth birthday tomorrow with a number of events to mark the occasion. The centre, which was officially opened by the then Taoiseach Bertie Ahern (FF) on February 8, 2007, in one of his final events as Taoiseach.

To mark the anniversary, The Cliffs of Moher Visitors Experience will launch a detailed guide leaflet for the cliffs which will be presented to everyone tourist who comes to the North Clare centre. The celebration will take place from 12 noon to 4pm tomorrow with free entry for those who wish to attend.

TROUBLED teens from Clare were amongst those sent abroad last year for “treatment” at a cost of € 250,000 each, while a local specialist unit was closed for renovation.

That is according to Ennis Town Councillor Paul O’Shea (Lab) who raised concerns that Coovagh House was closed for renovations for more than six months.

The house on the grounds of St Joseph’s Hospital in Limerick was built in 2003 at a cost of € 10 million to house and assist teenagers from Clare, Limerick and Tipperary with behavioural problems.

Cllr O’Shea brought it to the attention of his council colleagues that as many as 13 young people were sent abroad for care at a cost of € 6. 5 million or a quarter of a million euro each.

This process has since ceased, leaving Cllr O’Shea to question where Clare teens with problem are now being referred.

“This is a national disgrace,” he said.

The Ennis councillor added that he also wants to know when the local unit, which closed in June last year, will reopen. “It closed at the time for renovations, which were to take six weeks,” he added.

He said that he was having difficulty getting any commitment on the future of Coovagh House from the HSE, and was now bringing the matter to the attention of Labour TD Michael McNamara.

In reply to questions from The Cla r e People, a spokesperson for the HSE said that Coovagh House was scheduled to reopen in March 2012, once the remaining development work was completed.

“The staff are reassigned locally or to other units within the National High Support and Special Care Service,” she said.

Asked where the young people who rely on this specialist unit now reside, the spokesperson replied, “Young people are accommodated in other units within the National High Support and Special Care Service.”

Meanwhile, Ennis Town Council has agreed to write to the HSE seeking clarification of the re-opening date, and when referrals can be made for Ennis children who require urgent special care.

TAXI drivers in Clare say they are facing financial ruin as changes to the law mean they will not be able to sell their licences after October.

While MEP Jim Higgins (FG) maintains that the new taxi legislation is good for Ennis, the men and women behind the wheel have a different opinion.

Ennis taxi driver and member of the Irish Taxi Drivers Federation Martin White described as “ludicrous” the ban on selling licences.

“It is absolutely ludicrous to tell drivers that have invested in plates, that they can’t sell them after October,” he said. “A lot of theses lads have 25 to 27 years experience and if they, God forbid, has a stroke or heart attack after October their family would be left with a licence that could not be sold.”

He added that at least three local taxi drivers spent more than € 100,000 on licences before deregulation in 2000. “Then too many plates were issued when deregulation came in,” added Mr White.

He said taxi drivers are struggling to make ends meet as Ennis town has become very quite and there are so many licensed drivers out there.

“I worked for 12 hours last Monday for € 18,” he said.

Another driver told how she worked from 9pm to 12.30pm on Sunday and made just € 6. He maintains the new legislation will force a lot of experienced drivers out of the business before October and on to the dole queues. “The Government should buy back the plates from lads that want to get out,” he said. “There is € 22 million in the national reserve that was handed over from the regulator and we are asking the Government to put € 2 million a year aside and let some drivers out with a bit of dignity.” He said that there were a lot of regulations in the new legislation, which he welcomed, but the non-sale of licences was crazy.

The MEP, Mr Higgins has welcomed the new legislation which he says will resolve the problems currently in existence in Ennis due to an oversupply of taxis.

“In recent years, taxi ranks in Ennis were overflowing. It’s about getting the balance right. In the ‘90s there were not enough taxis in Ennis, but in the past decade, things went too far in the other direction. These new proposals mean professional drivers will be given a fairer crack of the whip, by eliminating rogue operators, and at the same time increasing the service levels provided to the public.”

Among the measures to be introduced include taxi drivers having to accept credit cards, a new more tamper-proof taxi plate, and a smart phone application to allow customers to check in real time with their phone that the taxi driver is properly licensed.

THE amount of racism being experienced by migrants living and working in Clare has increased over the past 12 months – but the vast majority of people still do not report racist activity to the authorities.

The Immigrant Council of Ireland (ICI) released its 2011 statistics last week which showed that they received 155 queries from people in Clare over the last 12 months. As the vast majority of people who contact the ICI do not identify their county of origin, the number of Clare-based people contacting the organisation is believed to be closer to 500.

According to Brian Killoran of the ICI, the recession has increased the pressure on migrants – most of whom will lose their legal right to reside in Ireland if they lose their job.

“There is a definite noticeable increase in the numbers who have been reporting racial incidences over the last year. There is still not a huge amount but there has been a very noticeable increase in the negative experiences that people are having on a day-to-day basis. The big hill that we are facing in terms of racist abuse is that people are reluctant to report an incident,” he said.

“The people will speak about it to their own family and friends but will not report it to the authorities or to the Guards. They just get on with it. The results of that is that statistic across the board for racism are still relatively low but all the anecdotal evidence suggests that racism is quite high but people are just not reporting it. They just don’t think that anything will happen if they do.”

According to the ICI figures, the type of questions being asked by Clare-based migrants has changed also – with people now more concerned with what will happen to them if they lose their jobs and how they can apply for full Irish citizenship.

“The tone of queries has changed. Originally it was about family reunification but it is now much more about dealing with people who have been here for five or six years and the questions that they would have about gaining citizenship and things like that. People are very insecure about their jobs – most of the people we deal with are from outside the EU. So they have a work permit that is tied to their job but a lot of people are afraid of what will happen if they lose their job. Will they also lose their home,” continued Brian.