The Clare People Archive

ENNIS is bidding to be the new home for a 2, 500sqm pavilion that drew thousands of visitors to one of the world’s largest cultural exhibitions.

Expo Ireland’s Ireland Pavilion – a major multimedia exploration of Irish history and culture – was one of the biggest draws at Expo Park in the Chinese city of Shanghai last year.

Now members of the Ennis Development Forum are pushing for the exhibition to be re-homed in the Clare county capital. The forum met with Minister for State Brain Hayes during his visit to Ennis last week.

They outlined their proposal to the Minister at a meeting in the Temple Gate Hotel. The bid, if successful, would see the Ireland Pavilion re-located to a two-acre site adjoining the 13th century Ennis Friary.

Forum member and Ennis town councillor Johnny Flynn said the pavilion could generate a huge tourism benefit for Ennis and Clare.

He added, “The Ireland Pavilion was commissioned by the Office of Public Work (OPW) and it was one of the most successful at the Expo exhibition. Ennis would be very happy to be the new home of the pavilion.”

Cllr Flynn said Minister Hayes, who has responsibility for the OPW, seemed “quite interested” in the proposal. He said that he intends to seek support from fellow councillors when he raises the matter at the September meeting of Ennis Town Council. He added, “It could be a big opportunity for Ennis as a venue for heritage and archaeological tourism.”

The forum is also calling for the two-acre site near the Friary to be opened up as a car park for coach tours. According to Cllr Flynn an estimated “120 coaches are passing Ennis a day” on the way to tourist attractions like the Cliffs of Moher.

He explained that tourists can often spend four to five hours in towns like Ennis, spending on average € 20 to € 50 per person. He added, “If we could even get 20 or 30 of the 120 (buses) you’re talking about € 50,000 a day being spent in the town.”

The call for more bus parking in Ennis forms part of a wider appeal for the renovated Ennis Friary to be opened up for more public and community use.

Ennis Development Forum believes the Friary could be the centre of a new tourism hub in Clare.

A roof has been installed over the 18th century church in order to provide protection for the collection of carved features, which survive at Ennis Friary.

However in June, the OPW ruled out the possibility of opening the Friary for greater public use. In a letter to Ennis Town Council, Marie O’Gallagher, of the OPW’s National Monument’s section, explained that “it is not envisaged that this space will be available for wider public use or community-based events. It is anticipated that the site will re-open to visitors in 2012.”

Work on the € 100,000 renovation project, which will include a wire mesh to provide security for the display area and deter birds and wildlife, is due to be completed by the end of the year.

A MAN who was involved in a “one punch” incident in Shannon has been given one chance by a judge.

Jason Lynch (22), of Kincora Apartments, Shannon, was accused of assaulting David McKee at Shannon Town Centre.

Mr McKee told Ennis District Court yesterday that he was out socialising in Shannon on November 21, 2010.

He left the Knights Bar at around 2.30am and was walking home with two others when an incident occurred.

He said he saw two males walking along a roadway near Darcy’s Bar in the town centre “and they stood right in front of me. I thought one was my cousin”.

“I remember saying, ‘Sorry, I thought you were my cousin’; maybe not in those exact words,” he said.

He said that he was then punched in the face.

He said he didn’t know the name of the man who had punched him, but when asked to identify him, he pointed to the defendant in the courtroom.

“I received a black eye and broken tooth. I received a good bit of dam- age,” he told the court.

However, defending solicitor Jenny Fitzgibbon put it to Mr McKee, “My client will say you egged him over.”

She added, “Your left hand went into your pocket as if to reach for something. My client felt threatened and in self-defence he hit you one slap.”

Mr McKee replied, “I had my two hands in my pockets. My hands stayed in my pockets throughout my whole walk.”

Garda Lynsey Nason told the court that the defendant admitted to gardaí that he had hit Mr McKee, but said it was out of self defence.

The accused told the court that he was walking home that night and was about to walk into the building where he resides when he heard a voice and then saw three men.

He said he saw Mr McKee reaching into his pocket. “He said something like, ‘I have something for you’,” he said.

“I hit him out of self-defence. I was frightened,” he said.

Inspector Tom Kennedy, prosecuting, put it to the accused, “You deliberately approached Mr McKee and you hit him into the face.” He denied this.

Judge Olann Kelleher said, “I have no hesitation in convicting this man.”

The court was told the accused had two previous convictions for assault.

The judge said he would give the accused one chance. “I’ll give him a chance. It was a one-punch event,” he said.

He imposed a four-month jail term, suspended for two years.

Addressing the defendant, he said, “It’s up to yourself what you want to do.

“If you are involved in any other incident in the next two years, you will serve four months. I’m giving you one chance.”

CALLS for the resignation of the Bishop of Killaloe, Kieran O’Reilly, have been described as “unfair and unjust” by diocesan spokesperson Fr Brendan Quinlivan, who believes that the diocese “can stand up to” any judicial or Church investigation into the handling of allegations against clergy in the Killaloe Diocese.

This comes after calls from Clare Senator Martin Conway (FG) for the resignations of both the Bishop of Killaloe, Kieran O’Reilly and the Bishop of Galway and Kilfenora, Martin Drennan.

“I think that to call for his resignation is unfair and unjust, he has been in office for less than a year. He has [implemented], and will continue to implement, the child policy in the Diocese of Killaloe as begun by Bishop Willie Walsh,” he told The Clare People .

“Bishop Willie Walsh was very open and reports concerning the conduct in the diocese were published either last year or the year before.

“Bishop O’Reilly has continued on in that way and any statutory body or Church investigation would get access to any files they are looking for.

“We have been fully compliant with both Church and state guidelines [on the handling of allegations against the clergy].”

It also now looks likely that the Diocese of Killaloe will publish the results of an audit into its recent performance with regards to the handling of allegations against priests when the audit is completed later this year.

The audit, being undertaken by the Church’s own child welfare organisation, is due to take place in September.

“We stand ready for the audit of the diocese which will take place later this year. My understanding is that an audit will take place in Killaloe in September and we are ready for that,” continued Fr Quinlivan.

“I am confident that we can stand over our practices and that we can stand up to any investigation from any Church or state body. It is down to each bishop to decide if he wants to publish the results of these audits and I would imagine that Bishop O’Reilly will do so.

“I think it must be remembered that it was just such a report that prompted the Cloyne Report to take place.”

Meanwhile, relations between the Irish government and the vatican reached an all time low yesterday when the vatican recalled its ambassador to Dublin. Papal nuncio, Giuseppe Lenaza, was called back to Rome yesterday after what was described the “excessive reaction” by the Irish government to Cloyne’s Report.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny (FG) received a standing ovation at the McGill Summer School over the weekend following his unprecedented attack on the hierarchy of the church last week.

CALLS for a properly benchmarked judicial investigation into the Church’s dealing of child sex abuse cases involving members of the clergy that took place in Clare have been sounded out this week as the fall-out from the findings of the Cloyne Report gathers momentum.

Fresh from Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s Dáil Éireann broadside against the Vatican, Clare Oireachtas member Martin Conway has told

KIERAN O’REILLY was ordained Bishop of Killaloe on August 29 last, but now, less than a year into his tenure as leader of the diocese that takes in parts of Clare, Tipperary, Offaly, Limerick and Laois, he should tender his resignation to Pope Benedict XVI. That’s the controversial call made this week by Clare Fine Gael senator, Martin Conway, who has told The Clare People that “a complete wipe-out” of the Church hierarchy “is the only way forward” and that Bishop O’Reilly should be one of the casualties.

“It may be seen as being a dramatic call,” said Senator Conway, “particularly in Killaloe, given that Bishop O’Reilly is in situ for less than a year. However, I firmly believe that there has to be a complete clean-out.While there are some in the hierarchy I would have a regard for, like Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, I think what’s needed in the church in Ireland is a change. A complete change.

“People have absolutely no confidence in the hierarchy. There are good guys there and there are people there who are not culpable for what’s happened, but at the same time there has been an institutional failing.

“That has been proved in the Cloyne Report. The Church systematically failed – not just the Irish hierarchy, but the Vatican as well.

“The only way as a practicing Catholic that I can have any confidence going forward is if there is a complete wipeout of the present hierar- chy and new people are appointed to lead the Church going forward. All bishops in all dioceses must go and must be replaced by younger people who are more in tune with how modern Ireland views these things,” continued Senator Conway.

Turning his attention to the Galway diocese, which takes in vast tracks of his political base in north Clare, Senator Conway said the handling of sex abuses cases again highlighted the urgency for Bishop Martin Dreannan to resign.

“I have absolutely no confidence whatsoever in Bishop Drennan,” he said. “My confidence in Bishop Drennan has been eroded a long, long time ago. He is there against the wishes of the vast majority of people in the Galway diocese. He does not in anyway reflect the mood of genuine Catholics within the Galway diocese.

“I, as a public representative in the second instance, but in the first instance as a practicing Catholic, have absolutely zero faith in him whatsover. The best thing he could do in the interests of the people, in the interests of the Church and in the interests of the genuine people who are in the Church for the proper reasons, is resign.

“The Church has to look people in the eye and say that everyone who has been involved in the Church at hierarchical level is gone and we are starting again. It’s the only way forward,” he added.

CLARE County Council has invited members of the public to submit any observations or representations concerning a number of road closures planned to accommodate the staging of Michael Flatley’s ‘Lord of the Dance at the Cliffs of Moher’ this September.

The world-famous music and dance extravaganza is expected to attract as many as 20,000 tourists to north Clare this September.

The local authority have served notice that they intend to temporally close sections of the R478 – from its junction with the L5148 at Ballysteen to its junction with the R479 Doolin Road at Garrihy’s Cross – on September 1 and 2.

The road will still be open to local traffic and all other traffic is asked to use the N67 between Ennistymon to Lisdoonvarna throughout the restrictions.

The current plan is to close the road on both days between 3pm and 1am the following morning. It is expected that the event will have a number of spin-offs for the tourism industry in the county and if successful, could become the first in a series of concerts hosted at the Cliffs of Moher.

The concert will come just five weeks ahead of the D-Day in the Cliffs of Moher’s bid to become one of the new Seven Wonders of the World and could provide a welcome springboard for that bid.

Tickets for the event, which is being organised by MPO Promotions Limited, are currently available from Ticketmaster outlets and can also be purchased in person from the Cliffs of Moher Centre.

The show itself will feature 40 precision dancers acting out the mythical Irish folk story of a battle between Don Dorcha, the Lord of Darkness, and the Lord of Light, also known as the ‘Lord of the Dance’.

Local musicians Michael O’Connell and Hugh Healy, as well as special guests, folk legend Finbar Furey and the world-famous Kilfenora Céilí Band, will share the finale with the ‘Lord of the Dance’ troupe at the top of the Cliffs of Moher.

Anyone who wishes to make a submission on the proposed road closure is asked to contact the Roads Department at Clare County Council before Friday, August 5.

UNEMPLOYED people in east Clare are missing out on job opportunities because of the lack of a frequent bus service to Limerick city, it has been claimed.

A Clare barworker living in Westbury – who asked not to be named – told The Clare People that he has missed chances to get back to work because there is no later or early public bus service.

“I was recently diagnosed with a medical condition which means that I can’t drive at the moment. It’s not something that would stop me working, but I can’t risk being behind the wheel. In my line of work, there’s no good expecting to work nine to five,” he said.

A bus runs to Ardnacrusha, stop- ping at various areas along the way, six times a day but the service finishes at 6pm.

The Westbury man has six years’ experience and good references. He has applied for a list of bar jobs, but says he is hampered each time by the fact that he can’t get to and from work at times outside the bus schedule.

“There’s a bit of extra work going at this time of year and I was hoping to take advantage of that. In fact, I was almost certain of being taken on for a few hours at weekends in a place the far side of the city but then I discovered it would mean taking a taxi home every time. It wouldn’t make any sense financially.”

Local Labour councillor, Pascal Fitzgerald said that he wants to see an hourly bus service connecting areas like Westbury, Parteen, Meelick and Ardnacrusha with Limerick city.

“I’m going to be asking Bus Éireann what they can do. This part of Clare has a big population and is growing. There is plenty of demand for a more frequent bus service,” he said.

Cllr Fitzgerald added that the service would boost employment prospects for east Clare people as well as allowing people to travel into the city to do business, socialise and shop and would improve matters for people who are stuck for lifts.

“I live in the area and I regularly stop to give lifts to people who are thumbing. It’s not a safe situation, escpecially when you see young people, teenagers trying to get a lift” he said.

THE familiar site of the old Clare Library delivery van will soon be a thing of the past as the organisation was this week granted funding for a replacement vehicle.

Over the last number of years, the van has transported tens of thousands of books and other materials between Clare’s 15 libraries, making it possible for people in even the smallest rural libraries to have a full selection of reading materials.

Clare Libraries was last week granted € 40,000 in funding for the purchase of a new delivery vehicle, which library officials hope will prove as useful as its predecessor.

“Most people will be familiar with the library van which is always on the go, moving books from one library to another. The old van was a great service to the libraries over the years and made the service which we were able to provide much better,” said Frances O’Gorman, Senior Executive Librarian with Clare Libraries.

“If someone wanted a book in Ennistymon, let’s say, and it wasn’t available, then the van would transport what they needed from Ennis or whatever library had the book. So it allowed us to offer people a large amount of services, even in smaller places.

“We have 15 libraries around the county so this new van will certainly be kept busy.”

The € 40,000 was part of a national allocation of € 5.8 million announced by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government last week.

PLANS have been lodged with Clare County Council for what has been described as the mid-west’s first driver training school in Ennis.

Martin Fitzgibbon Builders Ltd have applied for planning permission for the development of a driving school including entrance, roadway signs, underground services, perimeter fencing and pre-fabricated office.

According to the application, the two-hectare site at Bunnow, Doora, Quin Road, Ennis, will include a closed network of roadway with roundabout, controlled and uncontrolled junctions.

A report prepared by Complete Site Services explains that the academy will provide “total driver training for people with little or no experience behind the wheel to encounter some of the typical traffic control features in a safe and controlled environment away from other traffic”.

The report, by architect Joe Cahill, continues, “The proposed development would provide much needed employment and I am aware that no other facility of this nature exists in the mid west area.”

According to a flood risk assessment, the site is on the periphery of a flood plain and remains at risk from: flooding from groundwater; flooding via overland flow from adjacent land; flooding from surface water drainage.

The report finds that according to the initial flood risk assessment, “flood risk of the site is considered low”.

Objectors have raised concerns over the potential impact of the proposed driving school on the area. Vincent J Coffey and Sons of Clon Road, Ennis, “respectfully submit that the proposed development contravenes the zoning and aims and objectives of the Ennis and Environs Development Plan 2008 and must be refused in the circumstances”.

The submission states that land owned by Vincent J Coffey and Sons is currently used as a knackery yard and for agricultural purposes.

The submission continues, “If the development on the other hand is permitted then it will seriously impact on the validity of the whole operation and its continued existence on the site will be seriously at risk.”

Sean J Heeney of Castlewood Park, Ennis operates greyhound kennels opposite the site of the proposed development.

In his submission, Mr Heeney states, “I would point out that to my certain knowledge this site has flooded annually since planning permission was granted for kennels in 1992.”

Mr Heeney says that he was forced to evacuate his dogs in 1999, 2007 and 2009. He states that flooding at the site normally occurs between the end of September until April.

The Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government have also raised concerns about the proposed development.

In a report, Paul McMahon of the Development Applications Unit, states, “the department is concerned that the infilling and development of site will reduce the area of floodplain for the river and has the potential to result in the release of pollutants both during and after construction”.

The department has requested further information on the proposed development. This includes a copy of an emergency plan containing a protocol in the event of any pollution incident. The department is also seeking details of full mitigation measures to be put in place to protect all watercourses from contamination during construction.

The department also states that the council should “satisfy itself that the development will not result in the loss of a valuable flood plain”.

JUDGEMENT day for the Burren’s bid to become one of Europe’s official Geoparks arrives next week as two Geopark evaluators visit the area.

The evaluators, who represents Geoparks in Germany and Sicily, will spends three days in the Burren judging how tourism is operated in the area before coming to a decision on whether the area will be granted membership to the European Geopark Network. Geopark membership would mean a substantial increase in the number of tourists visiting the Burren each year and it is hope that it could provide a kick-start to a number of new eco-tourism ventures which have been launched in North Clare over the past two years.

It is hoped that an increase in ecotourism, prompted by gaining Geopark status, would lead to a sharp increase in the revenue gained by local people, with eco-tourists likely to spend a number of days in the area, rather than bussing through and staying in Galway or Limerick.

While a final decision on the Burren’s bid will not be announced until September of this year, next weeks visit will go a long way to deciding what that decision will be.

“At the moment there are 45 different Geoparks around Europe and the vast majority of them are in places that we are targeting for tourists. People recognise the Geopark name in Europe and this will help attract more tourist to the Burren,” said Ronan Hennessy of the Burren Connect Project.

“It is about the type of tourists that we are going to attract; when people see the Geopark symbol it will let them know that there is more here to explore. It’s about adding value for the local people and encouraging people to stay in the area for a number of days and not move on to Galway or Limerick.”

Next Tuesday, August 2, a group of local stakeholders will meet with the delegation to try and convince them of the Burren’s suitability.

“We have organised an event at the Burren Outdoor Education Centre which will see more that 30 people from the local tourism sector and other relevant parties meet the delegation from the two Geoparks,” continued Ronan. “The European Geopark Network is a self governing body and it’s up to its own member to decide whether a new area should be given Geopark status and whether existing members deserve to keep their status.”