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AN irrational blanket fear of teenagers in Ennis has resulted in a campaign from residents opposing the provision of a new youth café on the outskirts of the town, a local county councillor has claimed.Councillor Brian Meaney believes ephebiphobia (the irrational fear of young people) is causing harm to young people and adults in the locality following street demonstrations from householders in Cloughleigh over the location of a proposed youth and community resource building on Cloughleigh Road.Members of the newly formed Residents for Relocation of Ennis Youth Community Resource Building protested outside Clare County Council’s headquarters at New Road, Ennis on Friday to coincide with the visit of Environment Minister John Gormley and handed him a letter of protest.The group is taking legal advice on the procedures followed for Ennis Town Council’s Part Eight process and what their next course of action will be.Councillor Meaney stressed the “crippling” fear of youths and teenagers in Ennis has to be confronted and …

HEAVY rain and flooding caused tens of thousands of euro worth of damage to homes and business in Clare and South Galway this week. A number of motorists abandoned their cars unable to continue their journeys after driving into water on roads across the county on Tuesday night and Wednesday.Crowe Street in Gort on the main N18 between Galway and Limerick was particularly badly affected. The street was closed for a time on Tuesday night but reopened early on Wednesday. Water on the street reached nearly a foot at times before Frank Dillon Civil Engineering, a company currently working on laying the gas main in the town, began pumping it out.Local businessman Mike Finn of Finn’s Furniture on Crowe Street arrived at work on Wednesday morning to find most of his premises under between six inches and a foot of water. Mike estimates water damage could cost him in excess of €50,000. “I have €20,000 worth of furniture damage. I …

SPECULATION continues to mount as to whether or not Mike McNamara will be the Clare senior hurling team manager for 2010.Last week’s county board meeting unanimously supported McNamara to continue in the role, despite hearing that the players had voted no confidence in the manager by a margin of 26 to 1. The outcome of last week’s meeting was that county board chairman Michael O’Neill will meet with all parties, the players, the management and the board executive, in an effort to resolve the impasse which has developed.O’Neill announced after that meeting that he would appoint two mediators to join him in an effort to resolve the problems and he expressed the hope that he would have the matter finalised “in seven to 10 days”.“Meetings are taking place this week and we are all anxious to find a resolution. Hopefully, there will be a clearer picture by the weekend,” he told The Clare Champion on Wednesday.The players met following last …

A NEW study group is looking to make contact with young men who have lost male friends through death by suicide over the last five years.In 2007, 17 people were suspected of taking their own lives in the county, all but one of them male. Six of the males were in their 20s.The study is being carried out by St Vincent’s University Hospital and UCD and the researchers are seeking to interview men aged between 18 and 30 who have lost male friends of a similar age.Lorna Sweeney of UCD said that it’s a group that haven’t been studied closely before. “The majority of young men that die by suicide don’t consult their GP or a mental health practitioner so it’s important to focus on their support networks and get their perspectives.”Suicide among the age group in question needs to be studied in more depth she feels. “This is the leading cause of death in young men. Because they often …

WITH creditors consenting to write off debts of €3.5 million, the Clare-based Lynch Hotel Group has successfully emerged from its examinership process and the jobs of over 500 people employed in its hotel chain secured.The Lynch Hotel Group voluntarily undertook the process earlier this year in order to protect its business and the employment of staff members, 250 of which are based in its three Clare hotels – The West County, The Clare Inn and The Ocean Cove in Kilkee.In total, the group, which had debts in excess of €22.85 million, owns and operates seven hotels in the West of Ireland. All properties in the group remain intact and will continuing trading as normal as part of the Lynch Hotel Group.The group, Ireland’s largest family-run hotel chain, received a positive outcome at a confirmation hearing in front of Ms Justice Finlay Geoghegan in the High Court this week following the issuing of the report of examiner Michael McAteer of Grant …

CLINICAL assessments of residents in a Kilrush high-support unit has determined their needs would be better served in a different therapeutic setting, according to Minister of State at the Department of Health, John Moloney.Responding to concerns expressed by Deputy Pat Breen in the Dáil last week, Deputy Moloney said that the Health Service Executive (HSE) has consulted and engaged with carers, families and clinical and nursing staff and provided opportunities for them to have a constructive input as part of their current review of mental health services in the county. “At present, there are 16 residents in Orchard Lodge and following individual clinical assessments, it has been concluded that 11 of the residents, given their changing needs, would be more appropriately cared for in an older persons’ setting.  It is therefore proposed to refer these residents to the older persons’ placement panel for consideration as to the most appropriate care setting for each individual. The remaining five residents, who at …

UP to half of the old septic tanks installed to facilitate one-off housing in Clare before the adoption of stringent Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines would probably fail the most up-to-date percolation test, a North Clare civil engineer has claimed.Kilfenora-based civil engineer, Michael Daffy, has warned the European Union will impose severe financial penalties on Ireland until it gets its act together on the provision of proper on-site waste water treatment systems for soil with poor percolation qualities.Because wastewater treatment is such a technical matter, Mr Daffy, who has been involved in the installation of septic tanks for 32 years, argued that ultimate responsibility in law should not rest solely with the householder, as they had the least amount of knowledge about this important matter.If a serious problem develops with an on-site waste water system, he warned a resident could end up wasting time and money with a short-term solution, which is not in accordance with the EPA code of …

A NUMBER of people who were involved in dramatic near-drowning rescue incidents, several of them at Clare beaches, were honoured at the Irish Water Safety National Awards in Dublin on Tuesday.Athenry man Thomas Thompson was involved in saving two little girls who were swept out to sea at Spanish Point on September 25.“We had been out surfing and we were after coming back in and were getting changed,” says Thomas of the day of the rescue. “Then we heard the girls’ mother in distress and we went down to see what was happening. We found out they’d been dragged into the water. I went out on the surfboard and thankfully I found them, they were gone about 150 metres.”Emily Luff was one of the girls rescued that day and after being swept out to sea she kept a grip of her younger sister Isobel, something that probably saved her life. As a reward, Emily was presented with a SEIKO Certificate …