Tag Archives: clare county council

Clare County Council is making significant progress delivering the Shannon River Crossing project, which will be on of the biggest infrastructural project in South-East Clare. The estimated cost of the project totals €69 million, which includes construction, land acquisition, design, supervision, risk, contingency and archaeology. It is expected the new Shannon River Crossing, Killaloe By-Pass and upgrade of the Ballina to Birdhill R494 regional road will take up to three years to construct and could start next summer if everything goes to plan. Out of 110 affected property owners, two homes were acquired under the Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) process, which will have to be demolished. One of these is in Clarisford while the other one is at the Ogonnelloe end of the scheme. The council concluded a deal with these two property owners at an early stage – one built a new dwelling in the locality and the other home owner has moved out of the area. In an …

CLARITY has once again been sought over the use of CCTV to convict those involved in illegal dumping, in light of concerns raised the Data Protection Commissioner about remotely-operated cameras. A question was tabled at the November meeting of the local authority by Councillor Alan O’Callaghan, asking whether or not footage could be used in prosecutions. The Fianna Fáil member noted that the issue had come up at the most recent meeting of the Joint Policing Committee (JPC). He said he had been “taken aback” by the advice given there. “It seems that the Data Protection Commissioner has highlighted issues,” he said, “however, we all watch programs where Gardaí make appeals for dashcam footage. It’s very frustrating. We are trying to battle dumping and littering issues across Clare.” Councillor O’Callaghan noted that his party colleague Councillor Cillian Murphy had drawn his attention to an article reporting that 64 littering fines were issued in Tipperary thanks to the use of CCTV …

DETAILS of how and when the National Broadband Plan will be rolled out in rural Clare are to be made available, after representations on the issue by Councillor Pat Hayes. It follows a case, highlighted by the Fianna Fáil member where a Tulla resident tried a total of ten providers, but still could not secure a satisfactory service to enable her to work from home. The Caher native tabled a motion at the November meeting of the County Council calling on National Broadband Ireland (NBI) to outline its plans and to explain “how areas will be prioritised, [the] timescale of the project and how they plan to interact with other providers”. Councillor Hayes, who is Cathaoirleach of the Killaloe Municipal District, told the meeting that everyone had come to learn the importance of good broadband connectivity during the pandemic. Joining the meeting remotely, along with four other members, Councillor Hayes noted that good coverage was now essential to the business …

FRUSTRATION is growing South-East Clare over repeated water breaks involving an old water mains pipe coming from Corbally that is supplying water to householders in Parteen and Westbury. Residents are becoming increasingly concerned with the frequency of water breaks with eight disruptions in the Parteen and Westbury area this year. Grainne Flynn, Ballykeelaun, Parteen, who has two children, said residents needed a proper water supply to have showers and wash clothes. She said the interruptions in the water supply were happening too frequently and even when the water comes back she can’t really depend on it because the pressure can be low for days. She is annoyed with the amount of times she has to call Irish Water to unblock a public sewer manhole outside her back garden, which she can’t access. She described the smell after overflows as “disgusting”. When this public manhole overflows, workmen acting on behalf of Irish Water have to go through property owned by one …

THERE has been a 25% increase in the amount of glass collected at local authority bottle banks across the county this year, already surpassing last year’s figures, Clare County Council have revealed. Details of the county’s recycling habits have been unveiled ahead of Clare Waste Awareness Week. Other statistics show that while almost every householder in Clare has a three bin collection service, only 75% use the brown bin. More than 156 tonnes of textiles are thrown away in County Clare every year, and in 2019, 65 tonnes of paint and 30 tonnes of waste mineral oils and filters were collected at civic amenity sites in the county. The awareness week to provide information and tips that will help the Banner County reduce its waste production will take place from November 16 to 20. Clare Waste Awareness Week is a five-day virtual event organised by Clare County Council, in association with the Southern Regional Waste Management Planning Office, to highlight …

A TOTAL of €150,000 has been spent by Clare County Council to-date on legal costs relating to an illegal encampment on the Kilrush Road in Ennis. The figure was given in response to a series of questions posed by Councillor Clare Colleran Molloy at the November meeting of the authority. Members were also told that the advice from the Department of Housing is not to remove families from unauthorised sites while the Level 5 restrictions remain in place. Councillor Colleran Molloy expressed surprise that all six of the unauthorised encampments are in Ennis. “My purpose in raising this issue is to find out that the council is doing to deal with it,” she said. “I was not previously aware that they are all in the Ennis district and all in a short distance of the Rocky Road roundabout and the Doora exit off the motorway.” A written response from Director of Social Development, Anne Haugh, outlined that the council secured …

Fiona McGarry and Dan Danaher A ROUND of applause was given by members of Clare County Council, at their November meeting, to a leading advocate for the protection of the rural post office network. A total of ten councillors had signed up to two motions call for the enactment of a Dáil motion passed in 2016, calling for the establishment of a post office banking service to help secure the future of rural offices. Tom O’Callaghan, Chairperson of the Independent Postmasters’ Group, a proponent of the motions was in attendance at last Monday’s meeting and, after an appeal from councillors PJ Kelly and Gabriel Keating, was allowed to address the gathering. In a letter circulated to local councillors, Tom O’Callaghan outlined the financial gravity 31 Clare Post Offices find themselves in and warned that revisions to incomes would shortly make them unviable. “I spent the first ten years of my career working in the postal service,” Councillor Keating told the meeting. …

REMOTE access to meetings of Clare County Council may continue into the future, members were told, after a number of them joined the November meeting via Zoom. Standing Orders were amended to give effect to a Ministerial Order drawn up in response to Level 5 restrictions, meaning that councillors can attend meetings virtually, as necessary. “This is a historic occasion,” said the council’s Chief Executive Pat Dowling, as members including Councillors Donna McGettigan, Ian Lynch, Pat Hayes and Tony O’Brien connected by video link. Mr Dowling noted that a national template had issued to all councils and he thanked meetings coordinator Ann Reynolds for her work in facilitating the new arrangements. Councillor Clare Colleran Molloy questioned whether the arrangement was limited by time, to which Mr Dowling replied that it would be kept under review. “A number of local authorities, like those in Dublin, had been offering remote access even before Covid-19,” he noted. “It is at the discretion of …