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THE founder of a Donegal action group on defective concrete blocks is urging homeowners in Clare to work together on a national campaign for better redress. Paddy Diver from Carndonagh said an “all-Ireland movement” is needed to persuade the government to extend the Defective Concrete Blocks Scheme to counties beyond Donegal and Mayo, and to increase the level of redress to 100%. Mr Diver, who is part of a working group set up to examine the scheme, warned that the situation in Clare, where more than 50 homeowners have joined a local action group, may yet be as serious as that in Donegal where an estimated 5,000 homes are affected. While County Donegal homes are experiencing damage due to mica, its impact is similar to that caused by the pyrite that is present in Mayo, Clare and potentially several other counties. “We really need to pull together on this,” Mr Diver told The Champion. “Whatever we get from government, it’ll …

AN Bord Pleanála has overturned the decision of Clare County Council in February to reject an application from Eircom for an 18-metre mast in Kilfenora. The telecommunications company appealed that decision to An Bord Pleanála, who have now granted approval. According to the original County Council decision, such developments can only go close to populated areas, but the An Bord Pleanála inspector was of the view that there had been a misinterpretation. “In my opinion,” wrote the planning inspector, “the Planning Authority have incorrectly applied the appropriate ‘last resort’ test in this instance. The test they applied relates to ‘larger towns and in city suburbs’.” The inspector was also of the view that the facility was required, due to the poor state of coverage in the area. “I have reviewed ComReg’s online Outside Coverage Map1 for this area and note that for Ireland’s three main service providers coverage generally ranges from ‘Fringe’ to ‘No Coverage’ for 4G, from ‘Fringe’ to …

THE President of St Vincent De Paul in Clare has said the dysfunctional rental market is causing huge issues for many families. This week it emerged that the average rent sought for residential accommodation in the county exceeds €1,000 per month and St Vincent De Paul is seeing the impact the red hot market is having on people around the county. Denis Carty told The Clare Champion, “Obviously a lot of the people that come to us for support would be living in private rented accommodation and the cost would be a big issue for them. “It has had a really bad impact on a lot of people, they have had to move out of Ennis or other towns to get accommodation and the accommodation isn’t of a great standard. It adds to their transport costs and to their heating costs. “For people who are driving, the cars are much more expensive to run and to repair. It’s kind of …

SPEEDING traffic is causing concern on the approach roads to the village of Tuamgraney, last month’s meeting of the Killaloe Municipal District has heard. The matter was raised by Councillor Pat Hayes who asked that new traffic calming measures be put in place “as present measures are not fulfilling their requirements”. The Fianna Fáil member outlined his concerns for the safety of residents with the increase in traffic over the summer period. “Many people are using the new path from Killaloe to Scariff,” he noted. “It’s around St Cronan’s Church in particular that you realise how much speed there is and how it’s creating a danger to residents. There’s speeding on all roads approaching Tuamgraney, but particularly on the road from Killaloe. The signage is helpful, but it’s not solving the problem.” Councillor Hayes asked that solutions be investigated, potentially with a view to securing a funding allocation for works. “Speeding starts at the hill at Raheen, he outlined. “There …

CLARE County Council has raised some issues regarding Gaelscoil Donncha Rua’s new school development and sought further information.  In the further information request, it says that there is a question about the site area. The local authority suggests that elements of the design are outside the developable boundary of the application. The Council stated, “It is noted that the site area for this application as outlined in red on the details as submitted with the application, does not extend as far as the roadside edge with the Bealach Brí road and as a result aspects of the proposed development, including the new vehicular entrance from the Bealach Brí road and the proposed pedestrian access from the bus set down area, do not appear within the developable boundary of the application.  “It is not clear therefore if the applicant has sufficient legal interest to develop these particular items, which are considered to be integral aspects of this proposal. You are therefore …

CLARE Gardaí have issued advice on identifying bogus trades people following an incident in the county last week. On Monday, August 9 at 12.30 p.m. two men on foot called to a house in St. Joseph’s Terrace in Clarecastle. They told the owner of the house that they were checking the house for leaks or dampness. The lady had been waiting for the Council to paint her house and asked the men were they from the Council. They replied that they had been sub-contracted by the Council and would require an upfront payment of €250 before they carried out any work. The lady unfortunately paid the men and they left on foot without carrying out any work. On foot of this incident, gardai are reiterating crime prevention advice in relation to bogus callers and rogue tradesmen. They advise the following security checks and measures. If you are not expecting callers, look out the window to see who is at your …

A MAN has been remanded in Limerick Prison following an alleged armed robbery in Ennis. At five past six on Tuesday evening, August 10, a lone male entered the Gala shop on Cloughleigh Road, Ennis wearing a balaclava over his face and carrying a knife. He demanded the staff member to open the cash register but he couldn’t open it. The man then took a number of packets of cigarettes and left on a bike in the direction of the Lahinch Road. This was a traumatic incident for the staff member but he wasn’t physically injured. Later in the same evening gardaí executed a search warrant at a house in Ennis and a male in his late 20s was arrested and detained at Ennis Garda Station. On August 12 he was brought before Ennis District Court and was remanded in custody to Limerick Prison.

DOOLIN Community Council has complained that the area had three breaks in water supply within a week, causing disruption to local residents and business people, while it has also criticised the level of communication around the issue. In a statement it said, “In some parts of the village water supply simply stopped on Thursday for about six hours and in other parts of the village the same thing happened on Saturday for almost 24 hours. “A third outage occurred on Tuesday morning leaving residents and businesses without water. In all cases the outage was made worse by the fact that it was followed by a full day of “dirty” water that couldn’t be used for any purpose and couldn’t be consumed.” With many visitors in the area, it said the lack of water was a huge problem. “At the height of the tourist season owners of businesses such as B&Bs had no water for guest showers and had to supply …