Tag Archives: Shannon Town Council

A PLAQUE has been erected at the bandstand in the Town Park, in memory of the late Mike McKee. Mr McKee was a member of the Shannon Town Council for many years, while in 2014 he was the first Sinn Féin representative elected to Clare Council Council since the 1970s. While he retained his seat in 2019, he was seriously ill by the time of the election and died that November. Donna McGettigan was co-opted onto the Council in his place, and she said the plaque honouring Mike is a very suitable gesture. “It was proposed by PJ Ryan, just before I came onto the Council, he proposed naming the bandstand after Mike, which was very appropriate considering Mike was involved with music. “Mike worked hard with his Council colleagues to get that park going, so it’s very fitting.” Due to Covid restrictions only a small number of people attending the unveiling of the plaque, but she said it went …

By Dan Danaher SIR Winston Churchill is credited with summing up the value of democracy. “Democracy is the worst form of government, except all the others that have been tried,” the former British Prime Minister stated. Environment Minister Phil Hogan bit the bullet and introduced several controversial changes as set out in the Government’s Action Programme for Effective Local Government, following a succession of reports on local government reform. However, when Clare people pick up the phone to ring their local councilllor for assistance to resolve a personal difficulty after the May 23 elections, they could find that Minister Hogan’s new local goverrment structures have put consistituents last for the most important aspect of every local councillor’s work – public representation. The number of councillors in Clare will be slashed from 68 to 28 following the abolition of four town councils in Ennis, Shannon, Kilrush and Kilkee. This will result in a total loss of 36 town councillors and the …

By Dan Danaher THE last meeting of Shannon Town Council ended in disarray this week, after a row erupted over the distribution of €111,000 in funding for community projects. Claim and counter-claim were levelled by councillors, who left the meeting early on Tuesday night, after a divisive split emerged concerning counter-proposals over where the last major tranche of funding should be spent in the county’s second largest town. Mayor of Shannon, Councillor Greg Duff was subjected to stinging criticism from Councillor Gerry Flynn and Councillor Michael Fleming, after he used his casting vote to ensure a proposal from Councillor Patricia McCarthy, Mary Brennan and Vincent Coleman was passed by a four-to-three margin. Before he left the meeting, Councillor Flynn declared to Mayor Duff, “Well done, you got your way.” Having supported Councillor Duff in the mayoral election, Councillor Fleming stated he was “disappointed” with the mayor and condemned his decision to use his casting vote as a “disgrace”. However, Mayor …

THE reality of local government reform will hit home in County Clare this Tuesday when Ennis Town Council, Kilkee Town Council and Shannon Town Council meet for the last time. The final meeting of Kilrush Town Council takes place on Thursday night. The meetings will recall the contributions which members of the respective councils made to their local communities over the decades, as well as the improvements which the authorities brought to the towns. The councils will also be able to look back at how the local authorities acted as a springboard to national politics for many members.

Former Mayor of Clare Pat Daly and current Mayor Joe Arkins have topped the list detailing how much Clare County Councillors have recouped in allowances, expenses and miscellaneous payments in addition to their basic salaries of €16,565. On the other end of the scale, Councillor Johnny Flynn claimed no expenses Ennis East Pat Daly (€40,294.83) SERVING as the county’s mayor for the first half of the year, Fianna Fáil’s Councillor Pat Daly has claimed the second-highest amount of €40,294.83, just €850.66 below current mayor Councillor Joe Arkins. A total of €3,907.04 was claimed for attending 10 conferences and events. As well as the councillor’s basic pay of €16,565, which is subject to taxation, and the annual allowance of €5,339, Councillor Daly received the mayor’s allowance of €13,500. Councillor Daly represented the county in both Chicago and New York over the St Patrick’s Day festivities last year, claiming subsistence expenses of €717.72. His mobile phone allowance was €212.07 from July to …

DEBATE and disagreement broke out over the scale of the rat problem in Shannon at Tuesday’s town council meeting. There have been numerous complaints about the amount of rats going around the town in recent weeks but at Tuesday’s meeting, there were suggestions that the problem isn’t as bad as has been claimed, something some of the members angrily refuted. At the meeting, Councillor Sean McLoughlin put forward a motion asking that County Council carry out rat baiting on a regular basis in Shannon and for the council to clean out any place where rats might nest. Councillor Cathy McCafferty had another motion requesting that members be informed of what arrangements the council had entered into with regard to pest/rodent control since the last local elections in 2009. The written response to Councillor McLoughlin’s motion from senior executive engineer Eugene O’Shea said Shannon isn’t worse than any other county. “While it is impossible to inspect all possible locations where rodents …