Home » Tag Archives: Councillor Mike McKee

Tag Archives: Councillor Mike McKee

“There really isn’t much to the town” -Shannon’s lack of streets blasted

A PLANNED town it may be but Shannon has never had a proper centre and this week’s meeting of the local municipal district council heard several calls for change. There were also calls for those who had been involved in the Venue project (a proposed civic and arts centre for Shannon) to keep going, despite some recent setbacks. Sinn Féin Councillor Mike McKee put forward a motion that the local county councillors meet with senior officials from the county council’s planning department and other interested parties to agree a strategy for developing a streetscape. At the meeting, he said he had read one very critical comment from a visitor to Clare’s second- largest town. “The first thing you notice about Shannon is that there really isn’t much to the town,” he quoted. “That struck me; I didn’t like to read that,” he added. As a youngster in the North, he said that removal men came to his family’s home to …

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‘Drug den’ near Shannon primary school

A LANE close to Wolfe Tones grounds and St Conaire’s National School is being used extensively by drug dealers, it has been claimed. The dealers apparently take advantage of poor visibility in the area to sell their products away from the gaze of the public. At this week’s meeting of Shannon Municipal District, Councillor Mike McKee raised the matter and called for steps to be taken to make the area less secluded. He told the meeting that, after a meeting with representatives of the GAA club some weeks ago, he had been told about the issue, which he says arises on a lane running from St Conaire’s close to the astroturf pitches at Wolfe Tones. “There is quite a bit of drug dealing at this pathway,” he alleged. “This is the largest primary school in Shannon and the largest sports club and it is being used as a drug den and for drug dealers,” he claimed. Councillor McKee said that …

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Shannon Councillor slams Aldi’s planning refusal

CLARE county councillor Mike McKee has slammed the decision to turn down the planning application by Aldi to develop a store in Shannon. The local planning authority this week turned down Aldi’s application to develop an outlet on a site on the opposite side of Bóthar Mór to Skycourt in the town centre. The Sinn Féin representative said the decision is going down badly locally, in a town where many people have long lamented the absence of a conventional town centre. “The recent announcement by Clare County Council to refuse planning permission to build and operate a store has rightly drawn the anger and frustration of a large section of the Shannon community,” he observed. “Many are enraged that SkyCourt had submitted a seven-page document objecting to this proposed development, while shop units in the Town Centre remain boarded up due to the failure of the operators of the centre to attract new retailers,” he claimed. Councillor McKee added, “We …

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Shannon Knights enters receivership

Established in 1972, the Shannon Knights, the iconic bar and bistro and one of the most prominent social venues in the town, has entered receivership. A member of management said employees are, as yet, unaffected and that the outgoing owners had been good to work for and are well regarded in the community. Shannon Knights embarked on a multi-million euro revamp some years ago and when it reopened in 2010, there was talk of expanding its clientele to Ennis and Limerick, but economic conditions proved very challenging thereafter. Annual accounts filed in 2015 and prepared by Curtin, O’Friel & Co Chartered Certified Accountants, showed that in the year to the end of August 2014, Shannon Knights had accumulated losses of €1,745,549. The accounts also showed that there were bank loans of over €3.4 million to be repaid. At the time there was uncertainty about the ability of the company to continue, as the submission stated there was “uncertainty which may cast …

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‘Image conscious’ Irish Water criticised

IRISH Water is like a teenager going out to a disco, so conscious is it of its image, according to Councillor Cathal Crowe. At last week’s Shannon Municipal District meeting, the Meelick man spoke about how quick the controversial utility had been to get in touch with him after he posted a critical tweet. “They’re like a 15-year-old going to a disco; they are very image conscious,” he claimed. While he said that local staff are outstanding, he was very critical of failings of Irish Water on a recent occasion when there was disruption to services in a number of areas in South-East Clare. He said they had informed people that the problem was a leak in Kilkee, while separately they had said a crew was sent out on a Sunday, when that was not the case. “The communication is absolutely dire; it’s chronic,” the Fianna Fáil councillor claimed. Councillor Mike McKee said that a number being used by representatives …

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Councillors stump Tullyglass tree felling proposal

A PROPOSAL that all the trees at Tullyglass Hill be taken out in one fell swoop didn’t get much of a welcome at this week’s Shannon Municipal District meeting. The two members from the town, Sinn Féin’s Mike McKee and independent Gerry Flynn, were particularly against it, claiming that the job at Tullyvarraga Hill some years ago has meant that local people will oppose it. The meeting also heard a proposal for increasing the amount of open space at the town park by creating room by removing older trees, many of them behind the existing town hall. This was largely welcomed by the members. Speaking about this dimension, consultant Nicholas De Jong said the idea of the park works is to meet the recreational needs of the town going into the future and that the existing park area is restructured. He said many of the trees had been damaged last year, others have reached maturity and work is required. He …

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Shannon crematorium is still on the cards

WHILE a special meeting of Clare County Council was held on Tuesday evening to review the disposal of land at Illaunmanagh for the development of a crematorium, the way is still clear for the project to go ahead. For it to be halted, half of the members of the local authority, 14 councillors, would have had to look for the sale of the property to not go ahead. It would appear to be very difficult for those opposed to the development to get the numbers required. Prior to Tuesday’s meeting, which was attended by dozens of locals, a document outlining the views of the Concerned Shannon Residents Group was presented to the councillors. It raised nine concerns, claiming that the site in question is not suitable, that the level of consultation engaged in was inadequate and worries were expressed about emissions from a crematorium. Three local residents, John O’Toole, Michelle Hayes and Gary Piggott, all addressed the meeting, with Mr …

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Council not liable for unpaid water bills

IRISH Water has denied that Clare County Council will have to pay the water charges of tenants who fail to pay. The CEO of Clare County Council, Tom Coughlan told a meeting of the council that he understood that the council will have to pay Irish Water, if tenants don’t pay their quarterly water charges, the first of which have been dropping through letterboxes in recent days. But Irish Water said this Wednesday that this is not the case and under law, “the occupier of the house is liable for the bill.” “That also applies to private landlords, and once a landlord provides us with the details of the tenant then we will follow up any case on non-payment with the tenant,” a spokesperson for Irish Water told The Clare Champion. Clare County Council CEO, Tom Coughlan was responding to a series of questions put by Councillor Gerry Flynn after the council gave the names and addresses of tenants to …

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