Tag Archives: Councillor Gerry Flynn

DOZENS of submissions have now been made to Clare County Council on controversial plans for a serviced caravan/motorhome park at Kilkee Road, Doonbeg, writes Owen Ryan. By last Friday three county councillors – Gerry Flynn, Ian Lynch and Cillian Murphy – had made submissions on it, along with one from Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII). Others to voice concern include Doonbeg National School’s board of management, Doonbeg Community Development and Doonbeg Residents Group. The submission made by TII said the proposal is not in compliance with its requirements. “The Authority has examined the above application and considers that it is at variance with official policy in relation to control of development on/affecting national roads as outlined in the DoECLG Spatial Planning and National Roads Guidelines for Planning Authorities (2012). “The proposed development by itself, or by the precedent which a grant of permission for it would set, would adversely affect the operation and safety of the national road network”. In his …

A SHANNON-based councillor has described himself as “very annoyed” at the lack of adequate funding to upgrade local authority housing stock. Councillor Gerry Flynn told the July meeting of the county council it is imperative that the authority make financial provision for the upgrades required to bring its vacant stock to a standard for rental, in order to assist applicants on the social housing list. The Independent councillor also requested that funding be provided for maintenance for existing tenancies in need of works. Acknowledging the fact that, at the same meeting, he had been one of only two councillors to vote against leaving the Local Property Tax in Clare at 15% above the standard rate, Councillor Flynn insisted his stance was “in no way contradictory”. “I received a brief form the Finance Department which outlines that there should be sufficient funds there,” he said. “However, €2m was siphoned off Housing to go to other funding streams. I’m very annoyed about …

MORE clarity on the future of over 100 council staff, earmarked for transfer to Irish Water is expected in the coming months, according to Chief Executive, Pat Dowling. Nationally, services are currently delivered for Irish Water by local authority water services staff operating under 31 Service Level Agreements (SLAs), which are due to continue until 2025. Doubt was cast on the duration of these agreements however, when the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage published a policy paper in February, aiming to streamline services by transferring the local authority workers to the single water utility before the end of this year. The move has been vigorously resisted by unions and the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) is currently involved in talks on the matter. The government has set the end of July as a deadline for securing a deal on the proposed transfers. The issue, which would affect around 3,000 Council employees around the country and 130 in Clare, was …

Kerry and Limerick families can earn €5k more and access housing assistance THE plight of working families who are unable to access housing support because of “bizarre geographical discrimination” was highlighted in a joint motion from seven councillors at the May local authority meeting. The matter was raised by Councillors Cillian Murphy, Gerry Flynn, Tony O’Brien, Johnny Flynn, Shane Talty, Pat O’Gorman and Pat Hayes who called on the housing minister to review the maximum household income thresholds as a matter of urgency. Councillor Murphy outlined his concerns by describing a hypothetical case of a young woman, with three small children. “She works part time in a local business and earns €180 per week,” he said. “She gets income support of €152 and one parent allowance of €226 per week. “She is separated and doesn’t receive any maintenance, so her grand total income is €558 per week. Her rent is €165 per week and she pays out €240 every week …

CLARE’S first citizen has spoken of how moved she and her family were by the gestures of sympathy extended by her Council colleagues on the untimely passing of her sister, Bríd. Cathaoirleach Mary Howard said it had been “a very strange time to lose someone and a very difficult time,” as she thanked members for a vote of sympathy to herself and to Councillor Gerry Flynn on the recent passing of his brother, Michael. Proposing the motion, Councillor Pat Hayes extended sympathy to Councillor Howard on “the sad loss of Bríd at such a young age” and the difficult time her family are going through. On behalf of the Fianna Fáil members of the authority, Councillor Hayes also extended sympathy to Councillor Flynn and proposed a 15-minute adjournment of the monthly local authority meeting. Seconding the motion, Councillor Ann Norton sympathised on behalf of the Independent members. “It must be an extremely difficult time to lose someone so young, and …

Clare County Council must adhere to procedures and safeguards that are in place to make sure it operates openly. That’s the view of independent Gerry Flynn, who will introduce a motion to that effect at the council’s adjourned April meeting. His motion states, “In view of the increased demand by some senior officials for in-committee meetings at County Council and Municipal District Meetings under the heading of briefings and failure to adhere to Standing Orders, I am calling on this practice to cease in the interest of accountability, transparency and the public interest.” The motion from Councillor Flynn, who is chairman of the council’s Standing Orders Subcommittee, said the required procedures for the council to meet in committee, when required, are already in place and should be complied with. “Standing Orders under section 61 states quite clearly and in fact facilitates the holding of a meeting in committee or part of a particular meeting when at least one half of …

THE county council has been asked to outline its vision for Shannon’s future, following the recent rejection of an application for planning permission by Aldi. There has been local anger at the rejection of the application, which people hoped would help revitalise the town and help towards giving it a conventional streetscape for the first time. At this week’s Shannon Municipal District meeting, Councillors Mike McKee and Gerry Flynn both put down motions regarding local development, while there was very widespread annoyance among the members regarding it. At Tuesday morning’s meeting, Councillor McKee said he had been amazed with the decision to give the Aldi proposal the thumbs down. “I was stunned with the reasons given and I couldn’t understand the logic,” the Sinn Féin representative said. He claimed that the development would have “taken away the stranglehold SkyCourt has on retail in Shannon”. Councillor McKee said that he hopes Aldi appeal. “I hope they appeal and are successful. For …

Plans are being made to set up a new governance structure to help secure the future of Sixmilebridge and District Community Complex, following a public meeting in the village earlier this week. A recent Clare Champion investigation revealed that the Registry of Friendly Societies (RFS) cancelled the centre’s registration on April 17, 2015 over its failure to submit annual audited accounts to the registrar. It also found that November 21, 2007 was the last time that annual audited accounts were lodged with the RFS for the year ending December 31, 2006. It has been decided that local resident Pat Hayes will operate as an independent facilitator to seek legal and accountancy professional advice, and to put this information to a group of special members, shareholders and members of the Bridge Kids interim management. Mr Hayes, who is a parent of children attending the crèche, said he would be prepared to link-in with the present interim board of management to form …