Tag Archives: opw

POSITIVE progress is being made on the development potential of Scattery Island as a tourism destination. The Office of Public Works has appointed conservation architects to prepare a Conservation and Management Plan, which will see Scattery Island as the first off-land destination point on the Wild Atlantic Way. Councillor Gabriel Keating said, “It is great to see Clare County Council, the Office of Public Works and the local community working together to deliver on the undoubted potential that there is.” He said the appointment of the conservation architects, combined with the upgrading of the exhibition in the Scattery Island Visitor Centre and the proposed enhancement of ferry services to the island, offer the prospect of Scattery further developing into a key and unique part of the Wild Atlantic Way. “I know also that the council is looking at a Rural Economic Development Zone (REDZ) project for the island, which will further develop heritage tourism in the wider Kilrush area. The …

Clare County Council has been requested by the Office of Public Works (OPW) to provide additional information, including photographic evidence of flooding in Springfield. The request was made in respect of the OPW’s ongoing review of the council’s request for funding approval. This development emerged in a week when the council was notified by the OPW of its decision to allocate €49,500 to undertake remediation  works on a 250m section of river embankment (Blackwater River). The council expects remediation works to commence during November. Weather permitting, it is hoped the works will be completed by the end of the year. The council has completed a procurement process and has identified a consultant who would carry out a focused feasibility study with a view to identifying a sustainable solution to the historic flooding issues at Springfield, Clonlara. As of June last, the council has been seeking funding approval from the OPW to appoint a consultant. It envisages that any flood prevention works approved ancillary …

TWO artefacts were uncovered following a week-long archaeological dig at Quin Friary but the significance of what was unearthed and the structures beneath the surface will not be known for a number of months. A musket ball and a pipe bowl were unearthed at two separate trenches at the Friary, which is locally known as Quin Abbey. Although there is no date for the musket ball, an early 17th century date has been assigned to the pipe bowl. The dig musket ball was uncovered in the soil from a trench which revealed remnants of the old castle ditch. One of the two archaeologists over the dig, Joe McCooey said, “We have other things to work on. We have to process everything. We have to do a lot of post-excavation work, so we will step back and see. We should have some further information for the public in three or four months time”. He said it is hoped to hold an …

PLANS for a new primary school in Knockanean, developed by the architects behind the state laboratory and other high-profile buildings, have been lodged with Clare County Council. The proposals put forward by the Office of Public Works for the new two-storey school are awaiting validation by the local authority to enable to planning process to commence. The development plans consist of a new two-storey primary school building with a gross floor area of approximately 2,535m², accommodation consisting of 16 classrooms, a general purpose room, a library/resource room and ancillary accommodation. The existing four-classroom block is to be incorporated into the new school plans. The proposal also includes the re-location of the existing gated vehicular entrance and a new gated vehicular and pedestrian entrance is proposed off the Knockanean Road boundary, serving 24 on-site car-parking spaces and associated set-down areas, pedestrian pathways together with two ball courts, play areas, a bin store, a bicycle shelter, three flagpoles, connection to existing foul drainage …

THE new Government has been urged to put in place an accessible compensation package to enable residents in South-East Clare restore their flood-hit properties. A local Sinn Féin activist has also called on the new administration to ensure that insurance companies will not be allowed to abdicate their responsibilities by compensating householders who have the necessary policy in place and should continue to give them cover in the future. In a wide-ranging address to the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis on Saturday, Margaret O’Connor claimed several insurance companies are now refusing to cover people in entire regions because they are what has been described as “designated flood zones”, even though they have never been flooded or are never likely to be flooded. Prior to the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis, the East Clare cumann member spoke to members of the Quinlivan family in Springfield, Clonlara, who are only getting back on their feet with much work on their house still to be …

A SOUTH Galway man, whose farmyard and milking parlour are under water, has described the “terrible mental strain” he feels from the loss of his livelihood and his efforts to keep his herd of 95 cows alive. “Two days after Christmas, the water came into the yard. It was like the tide coming in on top of us,” Micheál Flaherty recalled. “I don’t know what I will do, to be honest,” the Tierneevin dairy farmer admitted, “because the parlour will cost a lot of money. We will have to rewire it completely. It is all under water. It will take months for the water to even go away. If it stopped rising today, it would still take three months for the water to recede. That is my income. I have nothing else. All our life’s work is gone and nobody cares. “I genuinely thought we could keep the water out. I had two good pumps from the council. It came …

Residents who have been left traumatised by flooding on the outskirts of Clonlara have vowed to embark on a campaign in the New Year to secure long term solutions. Springfield resident, Geraldine Quinlivan stressed that householders deserved proper flood protection to avoid a repeat of the scenario where her husband, brothers and nephews were forced to “sleep on sandbags underneath an umbrella” in an effort to protect homes. Three possible solutions to prevent future flooding in Springfield have been identified in the draft CFRAM study, which is being conducted by the OPW, according to Ms Quinlivan. They include the completion of dredging and cleaning the old River Shannon at an area known locally as The Cut as well as changing the current course of where the Mulcair River cuts across the River Shannon to ensure it flows in the one direction. Another solution involves the completion of a new landbank about one mile behind houses in Sringfield with a sluice …

DRAFT maps produced by the OPW to identify and prioritise the most feasible solutions to managing Ireland’s flood risk will remain on public display at Áras Contae an Chláir, in Ennis until Wednesday, December 23. The maps, which form part of the Flood Risk Assessment and Management (CFRAM) Programme, have been drafted following surveying and modelling of 6,700 km of watercourse throughout Ireland. The areas featured are typically communities, large and small, where flood risk is concentrated. The majority of the areas are at risk from fluvial (river) and tidal sources. The main flood maps being published under the statutory public consultation are available to view at Áras Contae an Chláir and on the individual CFRAM project websites, accessible via www.cfram.ie. Members of the public wishing to make a comment or observation to the OPW on the flood maps may do so before the deadline of close of business on December 23. People whose land and property is shown to be within one of the three …