News

THE proposed enforcement of a ban preventing Clare county councillors from bringing their own laptops into the council chamber for statutory meetings should generate heated debate amongst members at their March meeting.A proposal to broadcast council meetings live on a webcast is also likely to provoke differing opinions from elected members.Official confirmation of a debate on whether laptops should be allowed in the council chamber has prompted Councillor Brian Meaney to table a motion requesting the broadcast of all statutory meetings on a webcast as well as retaining a digital archive of the entire proceedings.Councillor Meaney, who is opposed to any restriction on the use of laptops, said the council should follow the example of their counterparts in Fingal County Council, where the contents of discussions are broadcast on a webcam.He stressed that using a laptop at a council meeting is an essential tool for any councillor who wished to be kept up to date with all the latest developments …

LIMERICK and North Tipperary county councillors will be lobbied by their counterparts in Clare County Council to oppose sections of the draft Mid-West Regional Planning Guidelines, following a special meeting on Monday.Clare county councillors are up in arms over various sections of the economic blueprint, which they claim promoted retail and economic development in Limerick City at the expense of the Banner County.Councillor Joe Arkins said the council should propose the deletion of certain paragraphs, replacing them with policies that protect rural development in Clare.He was supported by Councillor PJ Kelly, who warned that if the draft document is adopted by the regional authority, then development couldn’t take place in Clare without having all of the necessary infrastructure in place first.However, senior planner Gordon Daly and county manager Tom Coughlan cautioned against suggesting alternative wording as it could be viewed as an attempt by the council to re-write a regional strategy.Councillors Kelly and Arkins stressed that councillors should have amendments …

NORTH Clare councillor Richard Nagle has urged the Government to provide funding for necessary upgrade works at Doolin Pier to allow for safe access for ferries at low tide.“I have been working on this project for some time and Clare County Council engineers and staff have been most helpful in advancing a solution to the problem at Doolin, and what we need urgently is the funding to begin the work,” Councillor Nagle pointed out.This enhanced facility, he said, would also cater for and make possible year round landings at the pier thereby making Doolin a main access point to the Aran Islands.“Many tourists bypass Doolin to access the Aran Islands from harbours in Galway and if this work was undertaken, Clare tourism would benefit greatly. The funding of this project would also create much need construction jobs in North Clare at this time,” he suggested.Councillor Nagle said that these upgrade works will greatly improve the overall safety for visitors travelling …

TWO of Kilkee-based Raidió Corca Baiscinn’s volunteer reporters, Brian Doyle and Conan Brophy, travel to Zambia next Wednesday to make a documentary on community radio in the landlocked African country.Both originally from Dublin, Brian lives in Carrigaholt, while Conan resides in Killimer. They will spend over a week in southern Zambia, returning to West Clare on March 6. They will visit three local community radio stations, Radio Chikuni, Radio Mazabuka and Radio Mkushi, and report on how people in the country engage with community radio and the effect it has on their lives.One of the projects they are due to examine is what is termed ‘a good governance project’ funded by Irish aid at Radio Mazabuka. This helps to take the radio station into small, isolated, rural villages and asks local people what their concerns are and what help they need from the Government and local politicians, who also attend these meetings. The meetings are broadcast on community radio and, …

Clare county councillors should be able to publicise what tax they pay on their statutory allowances and expenses, according to Councillor Christy Curtin.Welcoming the publication of councillors’ expenses on the council’s website last week, Councillor Curtin said that it would be a worthwhile exercise if elected members were permitted to publish the tax they paid in a particular year.However, the county council has decided that the publication of a councillor’s tax affairs is a private matter and haven’t included it on the website.Councillor Curtin revealed he paid €5,000 to the taxman last year and suggested that other councillors should also consider publishing their own individual tax payments.“I welcome the publication of the list of councillors’ expenses in the interest of openness and transparency. The expenses are there for anyone to view online. I drove over 4,000 miles last year attending conferences in various parts of the country,” he said.Councillor Curtin’s comments came after Environment Minister John Gormley reduced the maximum …

AN independent review of the performance of accident and emergency departments in the country has highlighted deficiencies in acute hospitals in the Mid-West, including Ennis hospital.The Comptroller and Auditor General published its review of the performance of A&E departments last Friday. It examined departments by cost per attendance, capacity, speciality access and availability, diagnostics and bed-waiting time, based on information and official statistics provided in 2008. According to this analysis, the average cost per attendance in Limerick is the 13th highest in the country at €163 for each casualty patient. The average cost of treating a patient in Ennis is €141, while Nenagh Hospital is the least expensive at €107.In 2008, up to 19,662 patients attended the accident and emergency department in Ennis hospital compared to 16,257 in Nenagh.The survey found decision capacity – the extent to which consultants and specialist registrars in emergency medicine were available in the department – was inadequate at Limerick, Ennis, Nenagh and St John’s. …

A wreath-laying ceremony will be held on Sunday week, February 28, at 10.15am in Clouna graveyard, Ennistymon, to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the death of Martin Devitt.He was a 25-year-old draper apprentice and vice officer commanding of the Mid-Clare brigade who was fatally wounded after a failed IRA ambush on an RIC patrol on February 24, 1920. Mary Crawford, who lives in the house outside which Devitt was killed and is one of the organisers of the ceremony, says that he was a native of Cahersherkin, Ennistymon. According to the Clare library website, plans had been made to deprive Sergeant Giles and Constables O’Donnell, Hughes and Glynn from Maurices Mills Barrack of their rifles and consequently, their movements had been closely watched for some time.  “They were lying in wait here,” Mary Crawford explained with reference to the IRA brigade. “There was a wall running down through our field. What happened was there was a civilian travelling either with …

Facts and figures on how tourism in the Shannon Region fared in 2009 were not available for an industry roadshow recently.  The chief executive of Fáilte Ireland, Shaun Quinn, made an illustrated point of the absence of statistics when he delivered the first key pitch when the Tourism Roadshow get-together returned to the Radisson Hotel, Limerick, on Thursday of last week. With an image of leotard-clad ladies shaping up in a fitness centre projected onto the big screen, he commented, “This is the extent of the figures you are going to see.”It was much the same when the focus zeroed in on the immediate region. The Shannon Development regional tourism agency was again making use of the gathering to launch its tourism-marketing plan for the year. The format was identical to the previous year but with a marked difference in content. While the 2009 publication carried a review of figures from the previous year and set out targets for the …