***The year in review*** INDUSTRIAL employment at Shannon remained relatively stable in 2012, while the creation of a new entity to manage the industrial estate and the creation of new incentives for companies to come to the region has given hope for the future. Also, it’s hoped that the Government move to put Enterprise Ireland and the IDA in charge of enterprise development in the Free Zone will lead to job creation.While there weren’t huge job losses, there were some companies who reduced their workforces.Towards the end of January, it emerged that local IT company Avocent was making 13 of its workers redundant.In a statement at the time, the IT company said it was consolidating its operations. “Avocent International Ltd has informed employees at its Shannon facility of plans for a collective redundancy in its operations and sales departments. “This difficult decision is no reflection on the quality of the employees affected by this reduction, who have served the …

***The year in review*** LAST January, a survey in Kilmihil revealed that at least 87 people have emigrated from the West Clare parish within the previous two years. The vast majority of the emigrants were aged between 20 and 30.  

  ***The year in review*** IN February, Clare Fine Gael TD Pat Breen refuted claims that he didn’t spend sufficient time tending to issues in West Clare. At the official opening of the refurbished Kilkee library, a number of protestors greeted TDs, county and town councillors on their way into the building.Carrigaholt-based Pat Gavin was one of the protestors. He expressed anger at the fact that his autistic daughter has to travel a 130km daily round trip to Ennis to continue her education. His daughter received her primary school education at the autistic unit at St Senan’s National School in Kilrush.“I’d prefer to see these guys that are coming here to open the library, opening an autistic unit for my child, who’s travelling 130km a day to go to school. She’s doing that for the last three years. “This crowd that are in power now promised me when Fianna Fáil were in there that they’d open it when they got …

SHANNON’S future as an independent airport isn’t predicated on major reductions in labour costs, while legal advice on complying with State aid regulations was obtained from the Attorney General prior to Shannon’s separation from the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA), according to Transport Minister Leo Varadkar.Mr Varadkar, who spoke to The Clare Champion on New Year’s Eve, the day before Shannon split from the DAA, also said the new targets set for Shannon are “very doable”. Staff at Shannon have been given assurances that they won’t be facing cutbacks for a number of months at least, but there is concern that adjustments will be sought next year. Mr Varadkar said that while the business plan for Shannon isn’t based on cutting staff, some adjustments will probably be required.“The terms and conditions that the employees have transfer with them. The transfer happens today and those terms and conditions can only be changed by negotiation, so that may take some time, it’ll be …

Clare County Council has strongly denied a claim that hundreds of homes in Clare were devalued after they were listed on the Register of Protected Structures, without their owners’ knowledge. Christopher Eccles of Kilballyowen Manor House, near Carrigaholt, has told The Clare Champion his home has been devalued by more than €500,000 and cannot be sold.  In 2001 Clare County Council drew up a list of historic buildings in the county. “They were supposed to have given notice to all the owners of these buildings, allowing them to object to the inclusion of their homes and to allow claims for grant aid but it appears that, in many cases, notice was not given,” Mr Eccles claimed. “Auctioneers have told me that my house is virtually unwanted and interested buyers have walked away after they found out that the house was on this list. I have had my family’s property and my children’s inheritance devalued by over half-a-million euro and I …

The year just gone has been dubbed one of the worst on record for publicans and in Ennis alone it is estimated that up to 60 jobs have been lost in the trade in recent years. For Vintners Federation Ireland (VFI) Clare chairman, Declan Brandon, 2012 has been the worst since he went into business in Ennis almost 30 years ago.“It’s the worst in my experience anyway and I’m in business since 1984. We did a survey here in town recently and over 60 jobs went in the last couple of years and that’s just from pubs in Ennis itself, so it’s a huge amount,” Mr Brandon said. Asked why he believed 2012 saw the trade suffer so much, the VFI spokesperson said it was probably a combination of factors including the recession, supermarket prices and the lack of tourist footfall, which he attributed to the decrease in activity through Shannon airport. “I’d say the recession is a big part …

House prices in Clare plummeted in the last quarter of 2012 by between 10% and 16%, according to new reports out this week. The percentage fall in asking prices for three-bedroom semi-detached properties here was the second highest in the country.The MyHome.ie Property Barometer shows that the price of a four-bedroom semi-detached home in the county during the last quarter of 2012 dropped more than 11% compared to the same period in 2011, but was up 3.3% compared to the third quarter of the year. It states the median asking price for these homes in Clare is now €155,000, the lowest in Munster. The MyHome.ie report shows the median price of a three-bedroom semi-detached home in the county is now €125,000, down 10.4% from the previous quarter and 53.2% from the peak. Three-bedroom homes in Clare are now the sixth lowest priced in the country.The county experienced the second largest drop in asking price for this type of property, with …