Tag Archives: Deputy Cathal Crowe

A FUNDING plan for the long-awaited sewerage scheme for Broadford is due to be outlined in October, the Housing Minister has said. On a visit to Clare last Friday (August 27), Minister Darragh O’Brien met PJ Mason and other members of the Broadford Action Group and explained that a review of the National Development Plan will contain details of a funding stream for unserviced villages. Minister O’Brien commended the action group, which he described as “very organised”, and pledged that the situation of Carrigaholt, Cooraclare and Doolin would also be looked at. “Last year, I gave €188 million extra in capital to Irish Water,” the Minister told the media at an event in Ennis. “Now we got to look at the towns of villages where we want people to start living again, and to regenerate them. “We can only do that if we got the wastewater and freshwater capacity to do so… I’d expect in the National Development Plan review, …

A teaching union has declined to comment on Deputy Cathal Crowe’s decision to register as a substitute teacher for work in national or secondary school free of charge. The Clare Fianna Fáil Deputy has registered as a substitute teacher for the 2021/22 academic year, to assist Clare schools that are in need of cover. A primary teacher by trade, Deputy Crowe is offering his services to both primary and secondary schools on days when politics doesn’t take up his time. “I’ve registered with Sub Seeker, which is an online platform for school principals to get substitute teachers to cover absences within their staff,” said Deputy Crowe. Responding to Clare Champion queries, the INTO stated as a matter of policy, the union does not comment on the registration status of individual members. The union remains concerned that the national supply panel for primary and special schools, which provides ready access to a qualified teacher to schools requiring substitution, does not cover …

A FACELIFT is on the cards for six Clare towns and villages, three of them in the East and the South East of the county. A pot of €7 million is to be shared among 124 areas across the country under the Streetscape Enhancement Initiative. In Clare, the beneficiaries will be Tulla, Scariff, Clonlara, Kilrush, Corofin and Clarecastle, where property and business owners will be invited to apply for funding. The allocation will support a number of activities to brighten the appearance of towns and villages. These include strategic collaboration between property owners to paint buildings or shopfronts in vibrant colours and the commissioning of murals in towns and villages. The funds also enable the upgrade or restoration of historic and traditional shopfronts; as well as the provision of street planting, shrubbery, trees and flowers boxes. Enhancements through the illumination and lighting of architectural features can also be carried out, as well as the installation of canopies and street furniture …

CLARE’S Fianna Fáil TD has hit out at the “optics” surrounding social media commentary on the botched plan to make Katharine Zappone a special envoy to the United Nations (UN). Deputy Cathal Crowe told The Champion he “wouldn’t know where to find the Merrion Hotel” where a controversial gathering was held by the former minister days before her planned appointment was revealed. Deputy Crowe was sharply critical, however, of some Opposition party’s calls on social media for the resignation of the Tánaiste, who apologised for “letting his guard down” by going to the outdoor event. Since the event, which generated a political storm and caused pandemic guidelines to be clarified by the Attorney General, efforts have been intensifying on social media to identify the attendees at the Merrion Hotel event. “I wasn’t invited,” Deputy Crowe said. “I wouldn’t have attended and I don’t mix in those circles. When I’m in Dublin, I work damn hard and then I get back …

DESIGN work on the proposed Scariff to Limerick Greenway is to begin now that contracts have been signed, Clare’s Fianna Fáil TD has confirmed. Deputy Cathal Crowe, who is his party’s tourism and aviation spokesperson, described the potential of the 41km route as “transformational in South and East Clare”. The project, led by Waterways Ireland in conjunction with the ESB and Clare and Limerick County Councils, will result in a greenway stretching from Scariff to Killaloe, along the Errina Canal, crossing the River Shannon at the Black Bridge near the University of Limerick (UL) and on to Limerick City. “There are really good road linkages between south and east Clare and Limerick City but a greenway will take people off the beaten track and allow them to experience the natural wonders of our county,” Deputy Crowe said. “The old Errina Canal was once one of the busiest waterways in Ireland but has fallen into a state of dereliction over the …

THE 2021 Capital Plan has made an allocation of €6 million for health facilities in Clare, with six projects earmarked for investment this year. The blueprint unveiled by Health Minister Stephen Donnelly and seen by The Champion allocates €1.89m towards the provision for what is described as a “fit-for-purpose residential addiction treatment service” to replace the existing facilities at Bushy Park, outside Ennis. In respect of the replacement community nursing unit for St Joseph’s Hospital, which will comprise two 50-bed units on a green-field site, 75 of which will be long stay and 25 short stay, an allocation of €0.95m has been made by the Department of Health. Provision for the equipping of the new Out Patient Department (OPD) at Ennis General Hospital – which will include the provision of an X-ray room and other diagnostic facilities has been made and represents a spend this year of €0.44m. Meanwhile, Phase 1b of the redevelopment of Ennis General Hospital which will consist …

THE founder of the Clare Pyrite Action Group has warned of the serious mental and physical impact of any delays in extending redress to homeowners in this county. Dr Martina Cleary welcomed the news week that, last Friday, the local authority made a detailed submission to the Department of Housing asking that The Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme, which is currently only open to Mayo and Donegal, be extended to Clare. She cautioned, however, that any delay on the part of the government would have a detrimental effect on the mental and physical health of those living in defective homes. “The minister now has everything he needs to make the decision to extend the scheme,” Dr Cleary said. “He has the proof that the problem is the same as in County Mayo. There is no reason now to delay. The longer we’re left out of the redress scheme, the more our homes are going to deteriorate. What’s worse is that …

TWO of Clare’s most renowned heritage sites are to be considered for inclusion on UNESCO’s World Heritage Tentative List for Ireland. The Cultural Landscape of the Burren Uplands and Inis Cealtra are among six sites nationally being considered by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage for inclusion on the list. The sites on the highly prestigious list are updated every ten years. Following a public call and a deadline of June 30, six entries were received by the Department. In addition to the two Clare sites, the entries include the Trans-Atlantic Cable Ensemble going from Valentia, County Kerry to Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada; the Royal Sites of Ireland located in Counties Kildare, Westmeath, Tipperary, Roscommon and Meath; the Passage Tomb Landscape of County Sligo; and Glendalough Valley in County Wicklow. An independent advisory group will now consider the applications to determine which may be included in the next list of World Heritage sites in Ireland. “It’s a huge …