Tag Archives: Councillor Joe Cooney

FRUSTRATION has been expressed at the red tape that surrounds the process of reviewing and appealing speed limits. The point was made by Councillor Joe Cooney, at the end-of-year meeting of the Killaloe Municipal District, that action is needed on the route between Tuamgraney and Killaloe. However, he described a Council response to his motion, calling for a speed limit change on the R463 from the Steiner Schools to Raheen Hospital, as disappointing. The response from Senior Executive Engineer Derek Troy outlined that Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), rather than Clare County Council, is responsible for conducting reviews. It also outlined an appeals mechanism whereby individuals can make a case to a local appeals board. If they are not happy with the outcome, that can be referred to a regional panel and then back to an annual Council meeting for final approval. “I am not happy with the reply,” Councillor Cooney said. “We are all well aware of this section of …

DESIGNS for three new homes in the village of O’Callaghan’s Mills have been described by planners as “highly suburban” and “not acceptable for a village setting”.  Council planners made their comments in a letter to developers, East Clare Construction Ltd, seeking Further Information (FI) on proposals submitted in recent months, for a site at Iragh. The Council said the while the principle of the proposed development is acceptable, the designs themselves are not. The company has now been told to submit revised designs “reflecting the rural character of the setting”. Variation in each site has to be provided and, for one of the houses, which would front onto both the existing regional road in the area, and a new access road, “dual frontage” must be created.  Planners have also noted that the new access road for two of the proposed homes “provides access to further zoned lands in the applicant’s ownership”. For that reason, East Clare Construction Ltd has been …

“IF landowners would cut hedges and Council would tar roads, we’d have a great county,” a recent meeting of East Clare councillors was told.  The remarks were made by Councillor Pat Burke, on foot of two motions tabled before the Killaloe Municipal District on the issue of hedge cutting. The topic was brought up by cathaoirleach, Councillor Alan O’Callaghan and Councillor Joe Cooney.  Councillor O’Callaghan said overgrown hedges were a constant concern. “Great work has been done last year by Clare County Council and the farmers who took responsibility and there was a vast improvement last year,” he said. “This year, it looks on the ground as if there’s a lot of regional roads that haven’t been done. Are the contractors there and fulfilling their duty? Are they coming when they’re called or putting it off? A push needs to be done. Some junctions are way behind.” Councillor Cooney seconded the motion and proposed his own. “My concern is that …

PRESSURE is mounting on public representatives in East Clare to show that a recent major funding investment will pay off soon for the town of Scariff.  That was the view of two members of the Killaloe Municipal District committee when the group held their July meeting. Both Councillor Joe Cooney and Pat Burke sought an update on progress with the Scariff Rural Regeneration Project, particularly the car park element.  Last January, an allocation of just over half a million Euro was made by The Rural and Community Development towards a multi-service centre, improvements to the centre of the town and the development of a town car park.  “There is a lot of concern in Scariff over the lack of parking,” Councillor Cooney said. “The main one is that if we leave it until the regeneration project, it could be a long way down the road.” Councillor Burke agreed that the issue of parking is a challenge. “Pressure is really coming …

A FARMER has had to use silage bales to prevent illegal encampments beside a graveyard in East Clare, in a situation described as “crazy, outrageous, and scandalous”. At the July meeting of the Killaloe Municipal District, incoming Cathaoirleach Alan O’Callaghan appealed to the Council to put in a long-term solution, saying the problem at Ballysheen Graveyard is an ongoing one.  “The ground was given to Clare County Council for the graveyard, in order to facilitate parking,” the Kilmurry man outlined. “Unfortunately, it was being used for other things. A local farmer hat to put bales out. I would not be in agreement with them being taken away, until something long term is actually done in order to stop the issue of illegal encampments. “When pressure is on in other places, that’s when encampments arrive there. Kerbing might work. We have to remember that the farmer has forfeited several bales of silage.There are a good few there.” The Fianna Fáil member …

THE provision of a new sewage treatment plant in Broadford will have to be prioritised, according to the outgoing chairman of the Killaloe Municipal District (KMD), Councillor Joe Cooney. In an interview with the Clare Champion, Councillor Cooney outlined a lot of projects have been progressed in the Killaloe MD over the last year. These include the new Shannon River Crossing, Iniscealtra, local authority housing developments in Tulla and Scariff and action taken on derelict buildings. One of the most positive developments is the possibility of securing a pilot scheme to provide a new sewage treatment plant in Broadford village. Unless rural towns and villages can secure new sewage treatment plants, he warned further closures of shops and post offices are inevitable. There are about ten locations in the KMD, which don’t have access to proper waste water treatment facilities, he said. Clare County Council will be putting forward two locations in the county to the Department of Housing for …

WARM tributes have been paid to the late William McLysaght, co-founder of the Raheen Hospital Support Group, as preparations get underway for the official launch of a new extension.  Last Wednesday, support group members, politicians and staff of Raheen Community Hospital were briefed on a Phase 2 extension, which contains six new bedrooms and other facilities. Contracts were also signed for works to upgrade kitchen facilities. These are set to get underway shortly.  Cathaoirleach of the Killaloe Municipal District, Councillor Joe Cooney said that Mr McLysaght, from Raheen, Tuamgraney, had been instrumental in developments at the community nursing unit.  “William did Trojan work for the support group and for the hospital,” he said. “All of the improvements couldn’t have been achieved without the support group or without William. He did fantastic work and was dedicated and generous with his time and energy.” With the second phase of expansion of the hospital due to be launched officially, Councillor Cooney paid tribute …

PLANNING permission was granted for 605 new residential units in Clare last year, according to figures from the Central Statistics Office. Of that number 45 were apartments, with the remainder being for houses and should all these developments be built, they would accommodate around 1600 people, going by the average household size recorded in the last census. It would be a welcome boost given the housing shortage in Clare at the moment, but Councillor Joe Cooney said that the rising costs of materials is a huge problem now. “Things are busy, but they have quietened a bit and that’s because of the cost of materials. The cost of materials has simply gone crazy. Unfortunately it’s going to prevent young people from building houses with the way it’s gone.” He said that in the last 12 months certain materials have come close to 100% increases in price, while others have seen a 30-50% jump. Despite the huge increases, he says it …