Tag Archives: Councillor Clare Colleran-Molloy

AN APPEAL has been made for equal access for artists with disabilities to a new pilot scheme introduced to support the sector. At the May meeting of the local authority, Councillor Clare Colleran Molloy said she had been delighted to hear Minister Catherine Martin introduce the Basic Income for Artists Pilot Scheme. “This is for those who haven’t been able to perform or create any great income due to the pandemic,” Councillor Colleran Molloy said. “A total of 2,000 applicants at random will be picked to receive €325 per week, paid monthly. This is a very positive thing and it will last for a number of years. “There has been a call from the music and entertainment industry who have highlighted that the scheme will not be applied equally. Those who have disabilities will not be treated equally. “This is a very straight forward motion. It is a call on Department of Social Protection to equalise the application of the …

Enforcement of planning conditions were brought up at Ennis MD, as alternatives for return of popular walking bus at Ennis school are explored ALTERNATIVE options are being examined by an Ennis school to allow for the return of a popular ‘walking bus’ after access to its traditional meeting point at the Westpoint Retail Park was prevented. A meeting is due to be held between council officials and public representatives and the board of management of Ennis National School this week in a bid to find a solution which will allow the walking bus to go ahead in another location. Questions are also being asked about Clare County Council’s enforcement of planning conditions, with Ennis councillors insisting that the facilitation of the walking bus was part of a previously granted planning application. The walking bus had operated from Westpoint Business Park every morning for eight years, and late last August parents of school children were informed that the facility was cancelled due …

A CLARE councillor has said she enjoyed driving and covering long distances was not a chore to her when an investigation highlighted she made claims to different public bodies for overlapping events at distant locations on a number of occasions. Fine Gael Councillor Mary Howard was one of two Clare elected representatives to feature in an investigation aired by RTE’s Prime Time into alleged breaches of rules on expenses this week. Councillor Howard had overlapping expense claims for Clare County Council, Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board and GMIT. She had claimed expenses for travel between Bantry and Limerick; Gorey and Galway and also Donegal and Limerick for engagements that overlapped. Councillor Howard and Fianna Fáil Councillor Clare Colleran Molloy, both elected to Ennis Municipal District, were part of an RTÉ Investigates probe into potential contraventions of the law by councillors through failing to declare expenses received from external organisations. This week’s  Prime Time, RTÉ Investigates show highlighted a sample …

STATE-of-the-art signs aimed at reducing speed on the roads can lose their effectiveness if they are used too much, the council’s executive engineer with responsibility for Ennis has warned. Residents of the Ballybeg Road have been urging that speed ramps, and or VMS signs which highlight how fast drivers are travelling, be installed by the council to deter speeding. Eamon O’Dea told a meeting of the Ennis Municipal District that if VMS signs are used too often to deter speeding they can become normalised and their effect “significantly reduced”. He was speaking in response to a motion by Councillor Clare Colleran Molloy who highlighted concerns about pedestrian safety in the Ballybeg area. The councillors stated, “There has been a welcome abundance of pedestrians and cyclists along the Ballybeg Road as people take the loop walk along the Kilrush Road and Limerick Road, and locals who walk are complaining about the speeding on the road which I have observed and find …

A “DANGEROUS” stretch of road in Ennis needs to be lit up with more and more walkers using the route, a meeting of the Ennis Municipal District has been told. Councillor Mark Nestor proposed at the meeting that the local authority request Clare County Council “explore the possibility of installing public lighting on the Golf Links road”. The councillor said that he has received numerous complaints about the lack of lighting from members of the public saying it is a popular location for walkers. “They told me this is a very dangerous stretch of road in the darkness. We are all very much aware that we are limited to our 5km due to Covid-19 restrictions and this is a very popular loop,” he said. Eamon O’Dea, Senior Engineer, responded, “The Ennis Municipal District recommended planning conditions on developments at Ballymacaulla, Beechpark for a special contribution to cover the cost of the provision of public lighting on Circular Road from Golf …

“NEAR miss’” accidents on a local road on the outskirts of Ennis have sparked calls for measures to be taken to slow down motorists. The L8172 road in Doora is regularly used as a shortcut between the Quin Road and the Tulla Road a meeting of the Ennis Municipal District has been told. Councillor Clare Colleran Molloy urged, “Further to report of near-miss incidents on the L8172 road in Doora and its use as a shortcut between the Quin road and the Tulla road, that efforts be undertaken to slow down the traffic that is using this narrow and windy road.” The motion was seconded by Councillor Pat Daly who said it was a “very, very busy road”. Eamon O’Dea, senior engineer, replied, “The Ennis Municipal District Office has inspected the road and is consulting with the Road Design Section and other Municipal Districts to confirm the appropriate provision of warning signs at the entry points from the Knockanean and …

ACCUSATIONS of an ambush on Clare’s first citizen, as she chaired the monthly meeting of Clare County Council, were robustly denied by three members who tabled a motion calling for a ban on the use of the title ‘Mayor of Clare’. Councillors Ann Norton, Mark Nestor and Paul Murphy refused a number of requests from fellow councillors to withdrawn their motion. They noted that, under the Local Government legislation, the only mayoral title is that of ‘Mayor of the Ennis Municipal District,’ owing to the population of the area, and that the title for the county council chair is ‘Cathaoirleach’. Their motion asked “that the executive use the correct titles of Cathaoirleach of County Clare and Mayor of Ennis in all correspondence and media releases”. Responding, Councillor Howard, who is the current council chair, said she found it hard not to take the motion personally. She agreed with the assertion of Councillor Clare Colleran Molloy that it represented an ambush. …

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 …