The Clare People Archive

THE number of people signing on the live register in Clare has increased for the third straight month – with North Clare continuing to return worrying statistics.

While a slight increase in the live register is normally seen in January, with temporary Christmas workers returning to the list – the concentration of continued poor live registers results from the Ennistymon area office have been seen by many as a cause for concern.

Indeed, nearly half of the entire increase reported in Clare last year was recorded in North Clare. The number of people signing on at the Ennistymon Social Welfare office increase from 1, 541 to 1,605 – a month on month increase of more than 4 per cent or 64 people.

The number of people signing on in the county as a whole increase by 133, amounting to a county wide average increase of just 1.4 per cent. This increase was largely driven by the number from Ennistymon.

The Ennis figures showed a increase of just 1.09 per cent with the number of people signing on increasing by 56, from 5,111 to 5,167 people.

The increase was even less in Tulla and Kilrush which recorded increases of just 0.5 per cent and 0.4 per cent respectively. The live register figures from Ennistymon have been increasing quicker than anywhere else in the county in recent months.

It had been thought that this increase was due to the areas dependence on the tourism sector. However, the continuation of the trend long past the end of the tourist season has caused some in the region to worry about long term difficulty.

Despite this results from Ennistymon, the overall outlook remains positive with last month recording the lowest number of people on the live register in January since 2009.

MEMBERS of Kilrush Town Council accumulated salaries and expenses to the total of € 72,114.97 last year.

The biggest earner was Cllr Mairead O’Brien (Ind), who was mayor for the first six months of the year and claimed € 11,046.55. As well as her councillor’s salary Cllr O’Brien was also entitled to a mayoral allowance of € 1,487.50 for the period.

Also influencing her council expenses last year was the St Patrick’s Day trip to New York, which cost the council € 2,045.88 and costs associated with the Kilrush Famine Commemoration which she worked on as mayor.

Cllr O’Brien also attends meetings of the Clare Local Development Company on behalf of the council ,which also added to her expenses list.

Current Mayor Cllr Paul Moroney (Ind) also received a mayoral allowance for the last six months of 2013 bringing his expenses to € 9,369.43.

All nine councillors received a basic taxable salary of € 4,160.94 as well as a tax free allowance for attending meetings of € 2,036.

Cllr Christy O’Malley (FF) who was seconded to the town council following the death of Cllr Stephen O’Gorman (FF) in February received a salary and an allowance for just 11 months.

Councillors were also entitled to receive a mobile phone allowance up to the value of € 400.

Not all councillors claimed expenses beyond their salary and meeting allowance however.

Cllr Tom Clyne (Ind) did not claim any conference or mobile phone expenses, while Cllr Moroney and Cllr O’Malley did not claim phone expenses. Cllr Ian Lynch (FG), like Cllr Clyne, did not have any travel expenses to conferences or seminars. The remaining seven councillors spent € 12,125 attending meetings, seminars and conferences outside of Kilrush.

Cllr Liam William (FG) was the least travelled of the seven however, claiming just € 74.44 for a trip to the Inn at Dromoland for the launch of the Integrated Plan for the Shannon Estuary.

With the exception of the AMAI conferences (a body which represents the interests of municipal bodies in Ireland) there were just five conferences that attracted more than one councillor.

Cllr Tom Prendeville (FF) and Cllr Liam O’Looney (FF) both attended the conference of Reconstructing the European Economy; Debt Relief in Ireland and a conference on Facing the fear of Alcohol and Mental Health in Ireland.

Cllr Marian McMahon Jones (FG) and Cllr O’Brien also attended the Tourism Annual Conference in Ennistymon on separate days, while Cllr O’Malley and Cllr Williams made their way to Dromoland for the launch of the Integrated Plan for the Shannon Estuary.

KILKEE Town Council proved to be the most frugal and least expensive in the county in 2013, with its councillors claiming just under € 32,000 in salaries and expenses.

The total bill came in at 31,971.21, € 19,342 shy of Shannon.

It was also over € 40,000 less than Kilrush, which unlike Kilkee is a planning authority, and cost over € 59,000 less than Ennis.

As with all the other local authori- ties, the top earner was the mayor, with Cllr Paddy Collins (FG) who took the chair in June claiming € 4,840.19. Unlike other council’s the mayor in Kilkee does not get a second allowance.

All Kilkee town councillors are entitled to and claimed a taxable salary of € 2,266.88, with an annual allowance of € 1,018 for attending statutory meetings.

As many as five members of Kilkee Town Council did not claim travel expenses for conferences or seminars or any allowance for their mobile phone bills. They received the minimum € 3,284.88 salary and meeting allowance.

Three other councillors claimed mobile phone bill allowance, but did not attend conferences.

The current mayor, Cllr Collins, instead represented the council outside of the town in 2013.

Cllr Collins attended six separate meetings in conference at a total cost of € 1,255.31.

Kilkee Town Council, like Ennis, Kilrush and Shannon is to be abolished this year.

“WILL the Euro survive?” was one of numerous conferences, foreign trips and “fact finding missions” attended by members of Ennis Town Council during 2013 that cost the tax payer a total of € 18,000 last year.

As many as six councillors – two thirds of the council – went to Langfeld in Germany as part of a town twinning investigation trip in May at a cost of more than € 5,000 to the council coffers.

Three councillors returned in October for the twinning ceremony Mayor Cllr Mary Coote-Ryan (FG), Cllr Mary Howard (FG) and Cllr Tommy Brennan (Ind) at a further cost of € 2,275.

Cllr Michael Guilfoyle (Ind) returned to the German town alone in September as part of a sporting and culture trip. The “sporting councillor” also attended the FAI Stakeholders Conference at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

The three-day “Will the Euro survive?” conference in Letterkenny, County Donegal, was attended by town mayor Coote-Ryan at a total cost of € 727.58.

In the course of the year the councillor, who was mayor from July to December attended three conferences, two trips to Langfeld in Germany – one as part of a twinning investigation trip and one for a ceremony, and fact-finding trips to markets in County Limerick, Dublin and Mayo.

Three other councillors – Cllr Tommy Brennan (Ind), Cllr Guilfoyle (Ind) and Cllr Peter Considine (FF) – also went on the market fact finding mission.

Among the other foreign trips was the six-day St Patrick’s Day trip to New York, undertaken by Cllr Brian Meaney (FF) at a cost of € 2,242.38 and a trip to Charleston by the then mayor Cllr Considine for the dedication of an Irish memorial. This cost € 1,830. Cllr Considine also attended three other conferences around Ireland during the year.

JUST over € 91,000 was paid out to eight of the nine members of Ennis Town Council last year.

The payments were made up of expenses, wages, and the cost of attending conferences and seminars, with the two councillors who served as mayor for six months each during the year accruing the largest payments.

Current mayor Cllr Mary Coote Ryan (FG) and former mayor Cllr Peter Considine (FF) received € 17,166 each.

The sum included the councillors’ taxable salary of € 8,362 as well as mayoral allowance of € 5,750. Cllr Considine’s expenses also included a trip to Charleston, USA, while mayor.

All town councillors are entitled to the taxable salary, with the exception of those who also serve on Clare County Council – Cllr Tommy Brennan (Ind), Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) and Cllr Brain Meaney (FF).

The deputy mayors also receive a deputy mayoral allowance of € 2,625 for the six months of the year they serve. In 2013 that payment went to Cllr Brennan and Cllr Frankie Neylon (Ind).

Members of Ennis Town Council are also entitled to claim for 50 per cent of vouched mobile phone costs, as well as the cost of a mobile phone and other “IT equipment” and office costs such as printing.

Cllr Flynn was the only councillor not to receive any payment from Ennis Town Council as he did not claim any expenses. He also refused to claim expenses as a member of Clare County Council, receiving only his Clare County Council salary.

When it came to attending town council meetings, including specialised committee meetings, Cllr Mary Howard (FG) was top of the class, having been to 23 meetings.

Two thirds of the councillors however had a full attendance rate for the monthly town council meetings with everyone in attendance at the budget meeting.

WEST Clare Coastal Windpower has lodged plans for a windfarm to be constructed outside of Doonbeg, months after An Bord Pleanála rejected their previous proposal to build a controversial windfarm in the same area.

Plans were lodged with Clare County Council last week for the construction of nine electricity generating wind turbines at Carrowmore South, Einagh and Shragh – two kilometres south of Doonbeg village.

These wind turbines would have a central stack 85 metres high, with a rotor diameter of 82 metres.

This would give a total height of 126 metres or 413 feet – or well over half the height of the Cliffs of Moher.

Besides the turbines themselves, the new planning permission also includes the construction of hardstandings, a control building, an electrical compound, a permanent meteorological mast as well as associated site roads.

Last July, An Bord Pleanála refused planning permission for what was described as an “industrial scale” € 200 million wind farm in the same location as the current proposal.

This proposal included 45-turbine each of which were in excess of 400 feet.

The proposal caused a rift in the local community with 79 landowners in the area missing out on a significant cash payment to lease their land for the windfarm.

One of the grounds for refusal was the pollution threat the windfarm posed to Doonbeg river that contains 5,000 freshwater pearl mussels – the highest concentration of the species in Clare.

The original decision followed a six-day oral hearing into the wind farm in April of last year, at which the country’s foremost authority on the mussel, Dr Evelyn Moorkens, said that if nothing was done to secure the future of the mussel, the species would become extinct there over time.

A decision on the proposal is not due for some months.

THE Irish Red Cross said it is available to help the people of Clare affected by flooding and storms.

More than a month after the first two storms that destroyed homes, infrastructure and livelihoods on the west coast of Clare and along the Shannon River and estuary, and weeks following the third storm, those affected are still referring to the fallout as an emergency.

In Doonbeg a special group has been set up to lobby for “emergency works” along the coast, while families in Cloughaninchy in Quilty battle with insurance companies as they struggle to repair their homes.

In areas like Loop Head, main roads remain impassable and farmers through out the county struggle to reclaim land in time for spring.

Acknowledging the issues facing people in the county the Red Cross said it is there to help.

James Lafferty, Irish Red Cross Clare Area Treasurer, said anyone in Clare’s affected areas that wish to apply for assistance from the Irish Red Cross should contact Fintan Breen, National Services, to be put in contact with their local Community Welfare Office. His e-mail is f breen@redcross.ie. Meanwhile the Red Cross is under financial pressure to provide such services.

“The Irish Red Cross, Clare Area, wish to make an appeal for funds and over the next few weeks we hope to raise much needed funds through church gate collections all over Clare,” said Mr Lafferty.

MONTHS of fundraising paid off yesterday as, what has been described as life changing equipment for people with Cystic Fibrosis in Clare and Limerick, was unveiled at the University Hospital, Limerick.

The fundraising drive by TLC4CF, which raised more than € 205,000, resulted in the € 160,000 Bronchoscope suite and an Exhalyzer D which cost € 44,000.

The Bronchoscope suite will be used to carry out internal examinations on the lungs and airways of children with Cystic Fibrosis.

Paediatric CF consultant Barry Linnane welcomed the launch of the new equipment and said, “The Bronchoscope suite allows us to visualise the internal structure of the lungs, and to obtain samples from the lower airways of children with CF. With this approach infection and inflam- mation can be detected even before the patient develops symptoms, facilitating early, targeted treatment.”

The installation of the new Exhalyzer D means the regional hospital is the first hospital in Ireland to acquire such specialised equipment. This piece of high-tech equipment has just been installed in the Paediatric CF Unit and provides a unique system of measuring and monitoring pulmonary function in children and adults.

Welcoming the launch of the new equipment, Ann Doherty CEO UL Hospitals stated that, “the added bonus of this equipment is that it allows us to attract more clinical trials and research to Limerick because it is a very sensitive and can measure clinical outcomes.

“New developments in technologies and research have the potential to improve the quality of life for people with CF and other inherited illnesses.”

A MAN accused of robbery in Ennis earlier this month as admitted breaching his bail conditions.

Mao Kimbadi (40), with an address at Laurel Lodge, Clare Road, Ennis, was granted bail subject to conditions at Ennis District Court earlier this month.

The accused, who is originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, was ordered to reside at Laurel Lodge, observe a curfew between 10pm and 7am and sign on twice weekly at Ennis Garda Station. The State was granted liberty to re-enter the cases should any breaches arise.

Mr Kimbadi is charged with robbing a handbag and cash from a woman in the Causeway Link Road area of Ennis at around 11.30pm on January 18. He is further charged with possession of a knife at Clon Road, Ennis on January 19.

He appeared before Ennis District Court on Wednesday. Inspector Tom Kennedy said the State were seeking to have the accused’s bail revoked as conditions had not been abided by.

Detective Garda John Casey of Ennis Garda Station told Insp Kennedy he visited Laurel Lodge on January 26 and 27 within the hours of the accused’s curfew.

He said Mr Kimbadi was not present at the address, which provides temporary accommodation to homeless men. Detective Casey said after further enquiries, he was told Mr Kimbadi had not stayed at Laurel Lodge between January 22 and 31.

Detective Casey said the accused had abided by the signing on conditions.Defence solicitor John Casey said his client no longer resided at Laurel Lodge but lived with his sister in Dublin. He said his client was in Dublin when Detective Casey called to Laurel Lodge.

Mr Casey said it had been explained to Mr Kimbadi that he would have to apply to the court to have his bail conditions varied. He said Mr Kimbadi accepts he breached his bail conditions. Judge William Early ordered Mr Kimbadi to abide by bail conditions. He was remanded on continuing bail to appear again at Ennis District Court on March 26.

Mr Kimbadi’s co-accused Clara Chapman (19) is also alleged to have breached the terms of her bail.

Ms Chapman, with an address at Banner Lodge, Ennis, was not present in court when her case was heard on Wednesday. On Wednesday, Detective Casey said he visited Banner Lodge on January 26, 10pm. He said Ms Chapman was not present and he was told by the owner she had not resided there since January 18.

Defence solicitor Tara Godfrey said her client, an unemployed mother of one, had a number of appointments and may not have been unable to attend court. He remanded Ms Chapman on continuing bail to appear again at Ennis District Court on February 12.

CLARE farming is on the verge of a civil war, with farmers from the north and west of the county examining the possibility of picketing Clare Marts in Ennis later this week.

A group from the Ennistymon branch of the IFA met last night (Monday, February 10), to discuss a possible picket and boycott of the Ennis Mart. This follows plans announced to sell Ennistymon Mart to supermarket chain Aldi, which prompted more than 450 people to attend a protest meeting in Ennistymon last week.

Ennistymon IFA say they feel “incredibly let down” by members of the board of the Clare Marts, which includes many prominent IFA members. It is not yet clear if a sale has been agreed between Clare Marts and Aldi, with neither organisation willing to comment on the subject.

“We are being totally ignored and left in the dark, and that is adding to the frustration that we are feeling. There are a number of IFA members on the board of Clare Marts – a number of prominent members. We feel that they are selling out farmers in North Clare,” said Pat O’Donoghue from Ennistymon IFA.

“This company [Aldi] were selling sprouts for 9 cent just a month ago. How can something like that be proIrish farming? We feel incredibly let down on what they [the board of Clare Marts] are doing.

“The word had gone out before the meeting that the mart had already been sold and we thought that that might put people off from attending. But in the end we had more than 450 people there from right across the local community.

“We are looking for a meeting with them but we get no answer. We are having a gathering ourselves tonight [Monday, February 10] and the top of the agenda the possibility of picketing the mart.”

Speaking to The Clare People yesterday, Jackie Fitzpatrick of Super- valu in Ennistymon said that, while she recognised the need for competition, jobs would be lost locally if Aldi moves into Ennistymon.

Fitzpatricks currently employ 70 local people, paying out € 1.4 million in wages annually, last year, and spend more than € 400,000 with local suppliers.

“Obliviously I accept the need for competition but if a retail outlet like Aldi were to open a store in Ennistymon there would be consequences for local business. I would anticipate job losses both in my business and in other local business. ” The Clare People contacted Clare Marts yesterday who said they had nothing to say on the proposed sale.