Tag Archives: Senator Timmy Dooley

RYANAIR has agreed to a refund for a school group from St Joseph’s in Tulla, whose planned Transition Year tour to Barcelona last April had to be called off because of the pandemic. While the airline insists that it was prepared, at all stages, to return the money which the students had paid through an operator called Saffron Travel, a dispute had arisen as to how the refund was to be made. The seat-pricing policy operated by Ryanair means that individual refunds – the method preferred by the airline – would have resulted in some students getting far less money back than the €200 each of them had paid. After intensive efforts on the part of Oireachtas members Deputy Cathal Crowe and Senator Timmy Dooley, a solution has been agreed. The total flight fare of €17,500 will now be paid to the school who will make an equal refund to each of the 80 affected students. “This has been allowed …

A COMPREHENSIVE business case for the retention of Broadford Post Office is being compiled by a local action group as part of a new campaign to get An Post to reverse its closure. The Broadford Action Group has described the decision of An Post to take advantage of the retirement of postmaster James O’Brien by confirming they will not be continuing a postal service in the village as a very “callous act”. A Zoom meeting hosted by Senator Timmy Dooley, with An Post recently, was attended by Clare deputies Joe Carey, Michael McNamara, Cathal Crowe, Senator Martin Conway, Councillors, Joe Cooney, Pat Hayes, Tony O’Brien, Pat Burke, Alan O’Callaghan, BCAG members, Emer Smith, Martin Cooper, Aonghus O’Brien, Aidan O’ Brien and P J Mason. Following the meeting, An Post agreed to accept a submission from the group on why a post office service, which was first established in the village in 1831, should be retained. BAG chairman, P J Mason stressed …

TECHNICAL tests are to be carried out on a number of Clare homes to prove the presence of defective blocks and make the case for the extension of a redress scheme for those affected by pyrite or mica. Following representations from the county council to the Department of Housing, a detailed report on the extent of the issue has been requested. Of the 40 householders who have joined a Pyrite/Mica Action Group, five will now have a detailed and costly core-sampling process carried out on their homes. The results will be used to develop a profile of the extent of the problem in Clare and to make the case for the extension of the Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme, which currently covers just Mayo and Donegal. “This is a fairly invasive process,” said Senator Timmy Dooley who hosted a virtual meeting between the action group and staff of the council. “It will prove what we know to be the case. …

KEEPING Broadford Post Office will be a “real challenge”, according to Communications Minister Eamon Ryan. A new campaign has started to re-open Broadford Post Office, which has been in operation in the village for almost 190 years. A case for the retention of Broadford Post Office was presented during a Zoom meeting between representatives of An Post, Clare’s Oireachtas members and councillors in the Killaloe Municipal District on Thursday. This meeting, which was organised by Senator Timmy Dooley, is part of a new lobbying campaign to ensure the post office remains in the village. Broadford Post Office closed a few weeks before Christmas temporarily on compassionate grounds. However, fears have been expressed that it may not re-open as the current operator is retiring. Communications Minister Eamon Ryan didn’t give any commitment Broadford Post Office would re-open when questioned by Deputy Cathal Crowe in the Dáil. Deputy Crowe claimed An Post is taking advantage of the retirement of the postmaster, James …

EIR have still not responded to a formal request from the local authority for clarity on who members should contact in emergencies during phone and broadband outages. Councillor Pat Hayes said that despite recent revelations by Eir’s Chief Executive about problems in staffing its customer service function, the council had received no formal response to a query sent some months ago. “Considering that the company was once State owned and now it’s privately owned, I can’t understand why it never recognised or placed any value on customer loyalty,” the Chairperson of Killaloe Municipal District said. “People still ring their local councillor on a regular basis because they get no satisfaction from Eir, or can’t get through at all to them. As councillors, we would like to know who we can speak to within the company, but as yet, have had no reply from the company. I am hoping that, in terms of broadband, the National Broadband Plan, who have agreed …

A PARTEEN woman, whose home has been seriously damaged by the presence of a defective building material, has made an emotional appear for others affected to go public about their situation. Geraldine Kennedy is one of more than 35 members of the recently-formed Clare Pyrite/Mica Action Group. The group is calling for home owners in this county to be allowed into a scheme to address the issue of defective concrete blocks in Donegal and Mayo. The grandmother of ten has already spent thousands of Euro on tests to prove that her home has 95% pyrite. She later spent €6,000 to have a chimney taken down, after fears it might fall. During a meeting over Zoom with Senator Timmy Dooley, Mrs Kennedy urged others to go public to highlight the extent of the distress the issue is causing. “I would encourage people to get in touch with the media,” she said. “We have already gotten local and national publicity. It’s not …

MORE than 20 people shared their stories of living in homes which are cracking, crumbing and letting the elements in, at a meeting between members of Clare Pyrite/Mica Action Group and political representatives. In one case, a homeowner has had to put metal cladding over a gable wall to stop the rain getting in. Since the action group was set up at the start of last month, 31 people have contacted it to call for the extension of a grant scheme for those with defective concrete blocks. A number of their stories have been covered to-date by The Champion. At the outset of last Monday’s meeting, which was held on Zoom, group founder Dr Martina Cleary outlined details of a survey conducted with 24 members. Homeowners across the county have now come forward, from Fanore to Feakle and Kilrush to Meelick. The majority of the houses were built in 1989 and 1990, but homeowners with properties built between 1984 and …

AWARD-winning North Clare businesswoman Breege O’Donoghue should be reinstated to her position on the board of Fáilte Ireland, according to Clare’s Fianna Fáil senator, who has warned about the risks of “blood letting”. The Boston native stepped down last month after controversially travelling to a non-Green List country, at a time when a major summer ‘staycation’ campaign was running. Ms O’Donoghue also tendered her resignation as Chair of the Design and Crafts Council of Ireland (DCCI), but has since been reinstated, prompting Senator Timmy Dooley to call for her to be reappointed to the tourism board. “I very much believe in the public health message,” said Senator Dooley, “but we need to be really careful of the blame game. The kind of expertise that Ms O’Donoghue has is not in huge supply. It’s not the same things as having a government minister resign. They can be moved around reasonably easily.” Ms O’Donoghue’s was the second resignation from the board of …