Councillors called on to reward innovators

Public representatives were urged to put their hands in their pockets and pay €31.25 each per year to counteract what one councillor called “a famine of ideas” and to reward creative thinking.

 

Councillors PJ Kelly, Tom McNamara and Gabriel Keating recently called for the setting up of an annual award of €1,000 “to acknowledge creative proposals from Young Scientists (secondary schools) which would identify a previously undiscovered local resource, which, when developed could lead to local employment” and that a scholarship, to the value €3,000, be set up “for post graduate research into a previously undeveloped resource which could lead to substantial employment within the county”.

Councillor Kelly said the county is very proud of its schools and the students’ achievements at national level in the annual science competition adding that the scholarship would “acknowledge their effort and focus the mind”. He added he was disappointed by the response from Clare County Council Director of Services Ger Dollard.

In his response, Mr Dollard recognised the importance of the Young Scientist competition saying it “offers an opportunity to secondary school students to progress creative ideas within a well-established framework and structure,” but reminded the councillors it was not included in the council’s budget for the year that the members themselves had voted on.

“The motion appears to suggest two separate schemes, for example, an annual award scheme supplemented by a scholarship scheme. It should be pointed out that no provision has been made for such schemes in the budget for 2013 that was recently adopted by council.

“It is suggested that the motion should be referred to the VEC (in regard to secondary schools involvement) and to UL and NUIG with regard to third level input. These bodies have the appropriate expertise to progress any such schemes,” Mr Dollard concluded.
Councillor Kelly said the response “discourages initiative”.

“There seems to be a total dearth of ideas, a famine of ideas, a lot of wafflers, politicians engaged in competition as if there was a new title, waffler of the year,” he said. The West Clare councillor pointed out that “there are umpteen natural cures out there which could be used” in medication but there was no incentive there for young people to examine this area and possibly develop it.

“If I had said two elections ago that products from my area would be exported around the world, I wouldn’t have got one vote,” Councillor Kelly said, referring to Clare Spring Water.

He called for the setting up of a committee to examine the proposal. His fellow Kilrush Area councillor Gabriel Keating disagreed on this point, quoting Councillor Kelly who he claimed had said on many occasions “if you want to kill an idea, set up a committee”.

Councillor Tom McNamara was also unhappy with the council’s response to the motion pointing to the many uses for rushes that had the potential to be further developed.  “If we put €31.25 a man into this it would be of great benefit,” he added.
Councillors agreed to refer the motion to the VEC, with regard to secondary schools, and to UL and NUIG with regard to the postgraduate scholarship.

Speaking on Wednesday Councillor Kelly said that there had been widespread support for the additional Young Scientist prize fund and, “a number of councillors came up to me afterwards and said they had no difficulty putting their hands in their pocket and gave their backing to the €1,000, whether it would be a €1,000 straight up for one school or made up of three prizes €500, €300, €200.”

“Good ideas cause things to happen and there is a huge amount of dormant potential out there that we haven’t recognised,” he concluded.