Mayor of Clare Councillor Pat Daly has accused Environment Minister Phil Hogan of “reneging” on promises made to two local Fine Gael Deputies about recouping the €243,000 withheld from Clare County Council due to poor national collection rates for the controversial Household Charge.It now seems highly unlikely that the council will receive €243,000, which was part of its initial allocation for the 2012 third quarter, pending a national review of the national return from the Household Charge.This is despite the fact that Clare had the 13th highest compliance rate, with a return of 73.23% as of December 28, out of 34 local authorities.According to figures provided by the Local Government Management Agency (LGMA), €3,414,477 was collected from the Household Charge in Clare up to December 30 including €118,450 in direct debits and €3,296,027 in non-direct debits.Councillor Daly recalled Clare Deputies Pat Breen and Joe Carey made a commitment at a special meeting of Clare County Council that the €243,000 that …

FROM this week, all new cars bought in Clare will have a new number plate. Instead of 13-CE the new number plate will be 131-CE. Alan Nolan, director general of the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) said, “While it is too early to tell how new car sales are doing, given that it is only the first day of sales, there certainly has been a lot of interest from the public in the new number plate. Only time will tell what impact the new plate might have on sales but we expect demand to increase when we begin to see new cars on the road.”This new plate format will be in place each year from now on.SIMI has also just released new car sales figures for 2012. New car sales are down 12% on 2011 at 79,498. “This figure is very much in line with our predictions,” Mr Nolan stated. December new car sales are down 15% on …

GARDAÍ in Ennis are investigating two burglaries over the Christmas period. The first occurred sometime between 2pm on Christmas Day and 5.30pm on St Stephen’s Day when a house in Westwood was broken into. The intruder(s) gained entry by breaking the rear window and a number of items of costume jewellery were stolen. Between 1.30pm on St Stephen’s Day and 3.15am on Thursday, December 27, a house in Showgrounds View was also broken into. Again, entry was gained through the rear window. A number of items were stolen including a white Toyota Corolla saloon car, which was later recovered. Burglars also made off with a 32in Samsung TV, a Playstation 3 and eight Playstation games, a Hewlett Packard laptop, a 3D Panasonic TV, a DVD player and the key to the patio door. Anyone who noticed unusual activity at either location or who may have been offered some items matching those stolen in suspicious circumstances is asked to contact Ennis …

NINE fifth-year pupils at Scoil Mhuire, Ennistymon, received Pope John Paul II Awards recently.Galway hurler David Collins presented Sarah Flynn, Aisling Flynn, Eimear McNamara, Alanna Gleeson, Kate Healy, Kelly Hynes, Sinéad O’Brien and Siobháin Nestor with medals, certificates and letters from President Michael D Higgins. To receive the award, the girls had to take an active part in the life of their church, in the life of their community and society and increase their awareness of the teaching and role of the Catholic Church in the world. Aisling, Sarah, Eimear, Alanna, Kate, Kelly, Sinéad and Siobháin all took part in 20 hours of parish work and 20 hours of community work in the past year to receive their gold, silver and bronze awards. The girls had a busy year of fundraising, raising awareness and spending time with people in their own parishes. They read at mass, helped prepare the altar at school, visited Ennistymon Hospital and Daycare Centre and volunteered …

The Munster Senior, Masters and Junior Indoor Championships will take place this Sunday at Nenagh Indoor Arena, starting at 10.30am with senior men’s long jump and walks for men and ladies.

THE Toonagh Walk will take place on Sunday, January 20 at 12.30pm. Three routes offer walkers 3k, 5k and 10.5k options. All proceeds from the walk this year go to Mid-West Simon Community for services in County Clare.The charity provides services to people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. These services in Clare are based in their charity shop on Woodquay in Ennis where people with accommodation issues can drop in to get information and advice on how to approach their difficulty to achieve the best possible outcome. With the recent purchase of an apartment in Ennis, the organisation is actively providing real solutions for vulnerable people. This property will become home, offering security and comfort, to a small family in the very near future.The community service includes moving people out of homelessness into independent living,  long-term, supported accommodation, tenancy sustainment, outreach services, appropriate tailored support provided by housing support officers, housing advice and advocacy service, service user …

Ireland has both the privilege and the responsibility of hosting the presidency of the Council of the European Union until June 30. Holding the presidency is an important role at any time but the expectations for this forthcoming presidency are even greater, given the challenging circumstances that both the Union and Ireland face. This will be Ireland’s seventh EU presidency and it also coincides with the 40th anniversary of Ireland’s membership of the EU, having joined the EEC in 1973. Over the course of the last 40 years, Ireland has emerged as a leading member state in terms of diplomacy, solidarity and influence. Ireland has benefited immensely from EU membership. During our first three decades of membership, Ireland was allocated over €17 billion in structural and cohesion funds, with around €3bn in EU rural development and structural funding received over 2007-2013. Between 1973 and 2008, Irish farmers received almost €44bn under the Common Agricultural Policy. The benefits of EU membership …

CLARE’S Citizens Information Centre is encouraging consumers to be aware of risks associated with gift vouchers and to spend them quickly. According to Paul Woulfe, manager of the service based in Ennis, “Many people at this time of the year forget to use their gift vouchers that they received as presents following the festive activities, only discovering them months later at the bottom of the drawer. “We receive frequent enquiries around what happens with a gift voucher issued by a business that has ceased trading. In these difficult economic times. Unfortunately, gift vouchers do not benefit from any special protections in the event of the closure of a business. In the current difficult trading circumstances, we strongly urge consumers holding or receiving gift vouchers to use them quickly.”He went on, “Consumers who purchased gift vouchers over the Christmas need also to be conscious of the risks where the retailer issuing them may be in trading difficulty and to check expiry …