Tag Archives: Councillor PJ Kelly

LAND acquisition issues stand in the way of a long-term solution to flooding at the cemetery at Kildysart, members of the West Clare Municipal District have been told. At the most recent meeting of the district committee, Councillor PJ Kelly tabled a motion calling on the council to draw up a plan to solve the ongoing issue. The council’s official response, however, has cast doubt on the possibility of a solution. A written reply from Steve Lahiffe, Senior Executive Engineer (SEE) at the Project Management Office, outlined how lands required to build an embankment currently stand in the way of a successful outcome. “This is very sad situation,” Councillor Kelly said. “It’s very upsetting for people because the graveyard is prone to flooding. People go there to pay their respects to their relatives and it’s very emotional for people to find that graves are under water. I would like if the council could be more humane and do something to …

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. …

COMMUNITY playgrounds are facing huge hurdles in securing insurance cover, with the county council being urged to step in to support them. The matter was raised at this month’s meeting of Clare County Council, where Councillors Cillian Murphy, Ian Lynch and Joe Garrihy tabled a motion calling for new playgrounds and those whose policies had lapsed to be taken in under the council’s policy. “We could soon be looking at two-tier communities,” Councillor Murphy said. “Those who have community playgrounds and those who don’t, if this situation isn’t resolved. This is a grossly unfair and utterly risible situation.” The Fianna Fáil member said he was aware of two community groups who would not be able to draw down their core funds for playground facilities, if they are unable to get insurance cover. “In one case a group has spent €275,000 and is ready to go, but the playground has to have insurance cover,” he said. “Significant time and energy has …

REDUCING planning levies on new houses and commercial developments in the parts of Clare most affected by population decline should be used as a means of helping those areas. Councillor PJ Kelly said that the Government seem to have forgotten the West of Ireland and that, if there was no levy for new commercial developments, it would encourage industries to locate in struggling areas. The Lissycasey man put forward a motion that a reduced scale of Section 48 planning levies be approved to encourage development in the worst affected areas. Referring to the most recent census, he said Kilkee had lost around 300 people, while the parish of Cooraclare, home of Bill Chambers, cathaoirleach of Clare County Council, is down by 9%. He said that while Ennis might seem to be expanding, its population was up by a marginal 2%. “If we give a zero rate for areas in decline, it can encourage industries to go in,” Councillor Kelly said. …

CLARE County Council has been asked to conduct a thorough planning review concerning the start of civil engineering works for a €20 million windfarm amid claims it constituted unauthorised development. Councillor PJ Kelly has called on chief executive officer, Tom Coughlan, to conduct a review into how a windfarm company, Tullabrack Energy Limited, was allowed to start work on its site in  Tullabrack in West Clare despite a series of written warnings about its alleged non-compliance with planning conditions. The Lissycasey councillor wants a review to establish whether or not planning laws were administered in accordance with proper procedure and to put the necessary structures in place to ensure there is no repetition of “administrative confusion”. “It seems that one section of the council doesn’t know what the other section is doing. There is a management deficit and I am calling on Mr Coughlan to intervene,” he said. A seven-day commencement notice for an ESB substation on the site came …

COUNCILLOR Ian Lynch has expressed “bitter disappointment” at Clare County Council’s decision not to debate his motion, relating to the purchase of houses by Clare County Council on the Beál an Inbhir estate in Kilrush. It was the first time in many decades that a sitting councillor was stopped from having their motion debated. “It’s extremely disappointing that a decision has been made without being privy to the full facts. Legal advice was sought on the motion and opinion was formed based on one side of the available information,” he claimed. “At Monday’s meeting, I asked for the members to hear my claim that the legal advice was incorrect but members chose not to give me the opportunity to stand behind my motion. The removal of my motion denied me the right of raising genuine concerns in relation to how these houses are being purchased. By removing the notice from the agenda, I was further denied the opportunity to amend …

INDEPENDENT Kilrush councillor Ian Lynch has expressed his “dismay” that a motion he had forwarded for debate at next Monday’s county council meeting has been rejected and will not be on the agenda. Clare County Council has taken legal advice from county solicitor John Shaw, who deemed the motion invalid. Veteran Lissycasey councillor, PJ Kelly, has told The Clare Champion that the rejection of the motion is the first time this has happened in his 42 years on the council. The motion reads: “This county council directs the chief executive of Clare County Council, under section 139 of the Local Government Act 2001, not to proceed with the proposal to purchase houses at Beal an Inbhir, Shanakyle, Kilrush”. The housing estate in question is located on the Shanakyle Road in Kilrush, where Clare County Council has expressed an interest in purchasing approximately a dozen of the houses. Five of the houses are currently being purchased by the council. “I am …

LEADER funding will be down by €105 million over the next five years, according to Councillor PJ Kelly, while CEDRA funding will be worth just 34 cent a year to every person in Clare. Councillor Kelly was calling on the Government to reverse its cutbacks to Leader funding at the adjourned April meeting of Clare County Council and said he was extremely disappointed in the reduction of funding, following a huge level of expectation throughout the country. “The money involved here is EU money, of which the Government only pays 37%,” he said. “In the previous programme we had €352m and because of costs rising over the past five years, we could have expected at least €100m more. Instead, it was cut back by €105m. We were given the impression that we would get €250m, until we actually looked at the small print. It said co-operation projects around the border, €10m; artisan foods, €15m – two in Ireland; CEDRA, €5m …