Tag Archives: funding

WORK on returning dozens of vacant and boarded-up social housing units throughout County Clare to productive use will begin next month. Clare County Council’s Housing Department says it will refurbish 42 properties before the end of the year as a result of two tranches of funding allocations received from the Department of the Environment, Community & Local Government. The council this week received €399,500 to carry out works to 20 vacant properties in Ennis (10), Ruan, Shannon (2), Kilrush, Cross, Clarecastle, Whitegate, Killaloe and Moyasta. Eaarlier this year the Department approved €400,740 for the purpose of refurbishing 22 other properties located in Clarecastle, Ennistymon (3), Kildysart, Tulla, Corofin and Sixmilebridge (2), Ennis, Mullagh, Cross, Newmarket-On-Fergus, Shannon, Kilkee, Miltown Malbay and Broadford. Work is scheduled to commence next month with all 42 properties expected to be made available for habitation before the end of 2014. The news has been welcomed by Cathaoirleach of Clare County Council, Councillor John Crowe, who said: …

SINCE the storms which wreaked havoc in the early part of the year between €2.5 and €3 million has been spent on clean-up, repair and restoration works in Clare. This information was presented to Clare County Council members in a report at their June meeting, held on Monday. The members discussed progress being made on restoration works and in a report Senior Engineer Tom Tiernan outlined some of the issues being faced by the local authority. “Ultimately a multi-annual programme is required to deal effectively with the extensive and varied instances of coastal damage which occurred in January and February last. In this context an overall programme is required but the Council is limited in its endeavours to collate a firm programme due to the fact that there hasn’t to date been a Government response in relation to coastal strengthening funding applications arising from January’s severe weather events or in respect of the Council’s funding application on foot of February …

Nine East Clare community and Tidy Towns groups have benefitted from a once-off funding allocation, totaling €34,000, under the Public Area Enhancement Scheme, to improve their own locality. The Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government is providing 75% of the finance, with the remainder being matched by Clare County Council. Scariff Community Council’s project to carry out improvement works to Riverside Park, and Sixmilebridge Development Association/Tidy Towns’ proposal to develop a Slí na Sláinte Walk Route have benefitted from most of the funding available, each receiving €6,000. Further to this, two East Clare groups will receive €5,000 under the fund. They include Kilkishen Development Ltd, which aims to develop a Kilkishen Castle Bog Walk, while Tuamgraney Development Association will also benefit from this funding, which will be used to carry out improvement works to the approach road to Tuamgraney from Bodyke. Aistear Iniscealtra Mountshannon have been awarded €3,000 in funding to upgrade the public park, while, in a …

FIANNA Fáil TD for Clare and spokesperson on Tourism, Timmy Dooley has accused the Government of holding back funding for storm repairs in County Clare. Towns like Lahinch, Kilkee and Doolin were severely battered by Storm Darwin back in February and communities are now working on the restoration effort before the busy summer season. However, Deputy Doley said there are now concerns about the level of fundingbeing made available by the Office of Public Works. “This winter saw some of the most severe storms in recent history hit the west coast, damaging homes, businesses, roads and other essential infrastructure.  Since the end of February work has been underway to repair all the damage, however the Government funding of €16 million falls well short of the mark,” Deputy Dooley maintained. Clare County Council has estimated that the damage will cost almost €37 million to repair, but the Government has allocated less than half of that for the work. “Minister Hayes’ short-sightedness …

By Dan Danaher and Carol Byrne LORD Inchiquin, Conor O’Brien, is up in arms over the lack of Government funding and planning for the Brian Boru Millennium celebrations. In an exclusive interview with The Clare Champion, the head of the O’Brien clan, who is the 32nd indirect descent to Brian Ború, issued stinging criticism against Ministers Leo Vradkar and Jimmy Deenihan, claiming the national launch in Trinity College in January came “18 months too late”. During his last meeting with Arts Minister Jimmy Deenihan, the 18th Baron of Inchiquin proposed the Government allocate €150,000 to organise celebrations in Killaloe, Clontarf and Cashel, which could have generated €600,000 for the country if Armagh agreed to contribute a similar amount. However, this proposal wasn’t taken up and instead county groups only received a relatively small amount of funding. Accusing the Government of adopting a very “short-sighted” approach, he recalled last January he was advised by Tourism Minsiter Leo Varadkar that groups could apply …

LOCAL authorities in Clare will receive a further financial allocation under the Community Involvement Scheme which will pave the way for works on the county’s regional and local road network. Environment Minister Leo Varadkar confirmed in the Dáil that he is allocating an additional €4.5 million to the CIS, on top of the €2.3 million previously allocated in 2013. Clare Fine Gael Senator Tony Mulcahy has welcomed the additional funding. “I am delighted that Clare roads are to receive funding from the Community Involvement Scheme (CIS) again this year. CIS funding totalling €550,000 allowed for 26 road works projects in Clare in 2013 covering over 17 kilometres of road. This was the third highest number of completed projects in the country. “This scheme was designed to fund works on local roads which would usually only be considered for funding towards the end of a council’s road programme, after more heavily trafficked routes had been worked on. ”It is crucial that …

MONDAY’S Government announcement of almost €233,000 for storm damaged Clare piers will be met with relief in the communities affected. Clare Labour TD, Michael McNamara  said that four piers will benefit from a funding package for the repair of public owned piers, harbours and slipways damaged during the winter storms. Funding for four Clare Piers is as follows: Liscannor                                             €130,950 Ballyvaughan Pier                           €65,700 Seafield Pier                                      €18,000 Kilbaha Pier                                       €18,000 “These funds will be made available to Clare County Council for the immediate repair of the piers concerned as part of an extended capital programme for 2014. I welcome the Clare allocation announced by Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney,” commented Deputy McNamara. “When I met him in Liscannor, where he surveyed the storm damage, I have no doubt that the minister was shocked by the scale of the damage and that fact that he has reacted so swiftly is very good news,”  Deputy McNamara added.

CLARE County Council has slipped from third worst to the bottom of the list in a league table of allocations under the Local Government Fund (LGF). Councillors criticised the reduction in national funding under the LGF at the authority’s budget estimates meeting on Wednesday. Mayor of Clare Joe Arkins revealed he contacted a representative of Environment Minister Phil Hogan to complain about the reduction in the LGF and Clare’s place on the bottom of the list. Councillor Arkins said he was informed that Clare’s LGF allocation had to be considered in the context of the expenditure by Irish Water and other local government payments. Councillor Tom McNamara noted that Clare had a compliance rate of about 75% for the Household Charge and over 90% for the Property Tax and yet it found itself bottom of the list in terms of LGF. Councillor Richard Nagle said it looked as if the council was going back to the bad old days of …