Tag Archives: Joe Carey

It’s going to be another big day at the Falls Hotel in Ennistymon for the General Election 2016 Clare Constituency count. The Clare Champion captures the atmosphere in photos by John Kelly   DAY 2 IN PHOTOS:   DAY 1 IN PHOTOS:    

ENNIS Councillor Mary Howard has joined the race to receive the Fine Gael nomination at the party’s convention to decide its general election candidates, saying, “I’ve proved myself”. The councillor joins sitting TDs Joe Carey and Pat Breen and Senators Tony Mulcahy and Martin Conway in seeking the party’s nomination on September 11. Speaking to The Clare Champion, Councillor Howard said the decision to seek nomination is something that she has been thinking over for some time. “I’ve been mulling it over in my mind, I love what I do and I see my future within Fine Gael. I absolutely love my job within Clare County Council but I thought now is the time to put my hat in the ring. “I believe that I’ve proved myself over the last six years. I’ve worked hard and I have been very involved in my community. A lot of people have asked me would I go forward and when you hear that …

A date has been set for the Fine Gael convention to select candidates to run for the General Election in Clare. The convention will take place on September 11 in Ennis, with the county’s two sitting TDs, Deputies Pat Breen and Joe Carey, likely to receive the nod. Senators Tony Mulcahy and Martin Conway have both said they will seek the party’s nomination. Clare County Councillor Mary Howard may also seek to have her name put forward. Senator Mulcahy was on the ticket in the 2011 General Election but was not elected, while Senator Conway had expressed his desire to run for Fine Gael on that occasion but was not selected as a candidate. “In 2009, I topped polls in local elections with a significant surplus. I wasn’t running in the subsequent General Election, even though a senior cabinet minister living seven miles away from me had said he would not be running, so it left a vacuum. Fine Gael …

CLARE’S five Government Oireachtas members are divided over the possible implications of the decision to press ahead with the €1.4 billion sale of Aer Lingus to International Airlines Group (IAG). Furthermore, Fianna Fáil’s Timmy Dooley has added a twist to the debate in claiming the Irish Government might have no option but to sue IAG if the Aer Lingus Heathrow slots are sold. Fianna Fáil said it will table a Private Notice Question in the Dáil on Thursday, in a bid to suspend the proposed vote to sell off the national stake in Aer Lingus. The move follows the emergence of a report prepared by aviation consultants Nyras for Aer Lingus, in which the company sets out a range of cost reductions across the airline, including a proposal to outsource part of aircraft maintenance to Eastern Europe. The Government is recommending the sale of the State’s 25.1% stake, worth €335million, in Aer Lingus to IAG and put a motion to …

Arising from the low take-up of Government supports, a major awareness campaign is to be launched in Clare to inform SMEs of the programmes in place to assist start-up businesses. And local Dáil Deputy, Joe Carey has claimed the campaign is warranted as there are 80 Government supported programmes in place to support SMEs but “most people don’t know about these schemes and there is a very low take-up rate”. “With SMEs and regional growth taking a central focus in this year’s Action Plan for Jobs, we need to ensure that all existing businesses and start-ups in Clare are aware of the support on offer”, he added. The awareness campaign will consist of national and local radio advertising, online advertisements and the launch of a new website. “SMEs employ 650,000 people in Ireland, and start-ups account for two thirds of all new jobs created. SMEs are hugely important to local business life in Clare and I would urge anyone involved …

Following the announcements of recent approaches to Aer Lingus by IAG, the Irish Takeover Panel has deemed that Aer Lingus is now in an ‘offer period’, Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport, Paschal Donohoe said on Tuesday evening. He was speaking in the Dáil in response to a joint submission by Deputies Michael McNamara, Timmy Dooley, Joe Carey and Kieran O’Donnell on the necessity to maintaining London Heathrow slots to ensure balanced development. “The Takeover Panel Rules in relation to communications apply to all parties during such an offer period and all parties, including the Government as shareholder, must apply the highest standards of care to any statements made on the matter. Specifically shareholders must take care in any of their communications to avoid revealing any information that could potentially impact either positively or negatively on the Aer Lingus share price,” Minister Donohoe said. Currently, no formal offer has been made to Aer Lingus’ shareholders. The minister said he wanted …

THE number of people working in Enterprise Ireland (EI) client companies in Clare rocketed last year, according to figures presented to the Dáil by Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton. There were 1,580 people in full-time jobs in Enterprise Ireland’s Clare-based client companies in 2012, which jumped by 921 to 2,501 last year. In addition, the number of people working in non full-time roles in EI client companies increased substantially, from 194 to 365. Indeed, the number of client companies in the Banner increased by just over a quarter, from 120 to 151. Separately, there is speculation that one Clare-based multinational could announce the creation of several hundred jobs in the early part of next year. If this comes to pass, it would be by far the biggest employment boost seen in the county for years. Enterprise Ireland is the State organisation responsible for supporting the development of Irish enterprises that are involved in exporting. To put EI’s …

Minister of State at the Departments of Public Expenditure and Reform, Simon Harris, has confirmed, in correspondence to Fine Gael TD Joe Carey, that he will meet a deputation of Clohaninchy residents in the coming weeks. Deputy Harris also has special responsibility for the Office of Public Works (OPW) who, in correspondence last week, said that a new coastal protection project is not eligible for funding because available money was for “repair” of damaged coastal protection infrastructure. Residents in this area of West Clare have expressed concern that if coastal erosion works are not carried out, further instances of flooding, similar to January and February of this year, may re-occur in 2015. Clare County Council has estimated that remedial works would cost €4.7m. “I understand from correspondence issued to me from the minister that he has requested officials in his department to make contact with the officials in Clare County Council to ascertain the status of any proposals in relation …