Tag Archives: clare county council

DRAMA was kept to a minimum when members of Clare County Council gathered at Glór in Ennis for their first full meeting since the lockdown. The state-of-the art auditorium, which has capacity for 485, enabled the attendance of councillors, media and the general public, while also ensuring social distancing. “It’s great to see you all,” said CEO Pat Dowling. “We’ve missed you – a little.” Monday’s meeting coincided with the first day of Phase Two of the road map for the re-opening of Ireland and provided an opportunity for local authority members to assess the impact to-date of Covid-19 on Clare, and to consider the actions needed and the choices to be made to turn the county’s fortunes around. Any councillor considering making a song and dance, in a venue more accustomed to theatrical performances than political ones, would have been dissuaded by the CEO’s sombre account of the economic impact of the coronavirus. Outlining the additional expenditure of €500,000, …

The public acknowledgement by ESB chief executive Pat O’Doherty that Moneypoint power station “faces a real risk of closure” has sparked renewed calls for the utility to come clean and outline its plans for the plant going forward. The 915-megawatt coal-fire station, once the top supplier to the country’s electricity demands, faces new challenges ahead of the Climate Action Plan’s goal of ending coal burning at the Killimer plant, built nearly 40 years ago for €900million, by 2025. Mr O’Doherty further fanned local concerns for the jobs that remain at the plant when he ruled out the conversion of Moneypoint to gas and described the station as a winter plant used only when electricity demand peaks. Kilrush Independent councillor Ian Lynch has called on the ESB to end the scaremongering and provide clarity on the future use of Moneypoint post 2025. He added that there was also need for a new government to be formed and a viable plan put …

A COUNCILLOR, who is still suffering from a severe bout of Covid-19, has proposed that their next council meeting should only last two hours in view of public health guidance. Clare County Council will hold its June meeting in Glór to comply with social distance guidelines instead of its normal venue at council headquarters. Councillor Ann Norton believes councillors need to make the necessary changes to standing orders to limit their statutory meetings to two hours as a precautionary safety measure. “We need to be cautious and ensure whatever can be done is done. I wouldn’t like to see anyone getting the virus. “I didn’t know I had Covid-19 so how can one of my colleagues know they had virus unless they were tested and told and then they will be in quarantine. “People don’t realise they have the virus. A number of people who had the virus weren’t tested because it was so mild but they could still pass …

CLARE County Council is facing a potential deficit of €19.7 million as a result of the collapse in economic activity due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it emerged this week. Deputy Cathal Crowe has called on the government to intervene with additional funding to prevent the need for the local authority to request businesses to pay commercial rates next August. Even though local businesses have got a three-month commercial rates payment deferral, Deputy Crowe believes the government needs to address this issue to avoid a situation where the council will be seeking rates that are already owed. The Meelick Deputy said it is unfair to pubs and restaurants to be paying full commercial rates next Autumn. He pointed out a lot of the council’s expenditure can’t be cut because one of its biggest outlays is its wage bill. If the council has to reduce expenditure, he expressed fears that works on capital projects such as roads will have to be scaled …

AN ENNIS newsagent has voiced his concern over recently-introduced pedestrianisation measures, which have blocked access for deliveries to his premises. Gerry Connellan of Abbey Newsagents said that the erection of bollards close to his shop will make handling deliveries extremely difficult. The businessman, who has run the newsagents for decades, said he is able to manage currently – albeit with considerable inconvenience, but fears the impact of a spike in congestion from next Monday. The busy shop is located at the junction of Abbey Street and the Abbey Street car park, and relies on being able to receive deliveries seven-days-a-week. “First of all, there are bollards outside the shop, so I have to drive up onto a kerb which is two or three inches high,” he outlined. “Access to the shop is essential for me, as it is for all of the traders on the street.” Mr Connellan also hit out at the lack of consultation on the process. “As …

Irish Water and Clare County Council are working to restore water supply to Miltown Malbay and surrounding areas following a burst water main this morning.  Customers in Milltown Malbay, Annagh, Poulawillin, Knockloskeraun, Spanish Point, Rineen, Kilfarboy, Ballyvaskin, Toureen, Ballard and surrounding areas may experience low water pressure, discolouration and/or outages. It is expected that the repairs will be completed by 6pm today. However it may take a number of hours for normal water supply to fully return to all affected properties. “We understand the inconvenience when a burst occurs and thanks customers for their patience while we work to repair the burst and restore normal supply to impacted customers. Our customer care helpline is open 24/7 on 1850 278 278 and customers can also contact us on Twitter @IWCare with any queries.  For updates please see the water supply and services section of our website. “Irish Water is working at this time, with our Local Authority partners, contractors and others to safeguard …

THE Office of Public Works has insisted that plans to re-develop Knockanean National School will alleviate traffic problems outside of the school after concerns about the proposal were raised by the local authority. The Office of Public Works (OPW) submitted a planning application for the re-development of Knockanean National School earlier this year. The plans include the construction of eight new classrooms, with an existing four-classroom block retained and integrated into the new build. Clare County Council sought further information on the new plans, and according to the response the OPW have insisted that just renovating the existing school would not “help in any way in alleviating the traffic ad hoc parking on the main public road”. It points out that the school currently has 11 classrooms and the proposal will result in just one additional classroom. “By moving the location of the building back further in to the site it creates space at the front and in doing so …

HOUSING applicants seeking affordable accommodation in South-East Clare have been dealt a major blow following confirmation plans have been shelved for a major multi-million Euro housing development in Meelick. The Clare Champion can reveal that Clare County Council is not actively pursuing the development of 70 housing units containing a mix of badly needed social and affordable houses on zoned land. According to official  correspondence from the Department of the Housing, which has been obtained by the ‘Champion, the council’s finance section confirmed in early March the local authority were not progressing the Meelick lands further. In June 2019, the council sought approval to borrow €6 million to purchase ten sites across the county for housing development. The Clare Champion has learned the loan application also included €2 million for unidentified sites as well as the Meelick site. The department decided it wasn’t possible to sanction a loan request for sites that had not been identified at the time of …