Tag Archives: Timmy Dooley

QUIN Abbey has come in for a “Terrible” rating on Trip Advisor after a visitor was appalled by the behaviour of youths who were loitering at the popular tourist attraction. The tourist posted the review on June 25 on Trip Advisor, the world’s largest travel site, which reaches nearly 260 million unique monthly visitors and spans 42 countries. The post outlined that while visiting the abbey, the lady and her children were approached by five youths “who verbally abused us and made very intimidating actions”. “When we ignored them and walked away the “mother” who was me was again verbally abused and when I looked them in the eye one pulled down his trousers and showed me his bottom. My daughter was crying at this stage. I was then called a nasty word and given the finger. When we got to the car I thought one was going to kick it. Will never visit Quin again. It’s a pity cos …

Clare Fianna Fáil TD, Timmy Dooley TD has deplored the Government’s failure to make any attempt to replace two support schemes for people with disabilities that were discontinued last year. The Mobility Allowance and the Motorised Transport Grant were closed to new applicants from February 2013. The Government promised last June that these schemes would be replaced. “There was outcry when the Government discontinued these two important supports for people with disabilities were cancelled last year. Almost 400 people in the Mid West are dependent on the Mobility Allowance alone. They are still in limbo as the Government drags its heels on establishing alternative support schemes. It is completely unacceptable that a year later, these people are still waiting,” said Deputy Dooley. “The Government first announced the cancellation of these schemes early last year, describing them as ‘obsolete’. It caused great distress among people with disabilities who depend on such support to maintain a level of independence. The Mobility Allowance …

Clare TD Timmy Dooley has criticised the Government for “unnecessary changes to the LEADER programme”, which he says is underming the sizeable amount of voluntary effort that is involved. “The vast majority of people involved with LEADER companies in Clare and throughout the country have expressed their opposition to Government changes to the programme, which they feel is undermining the considerable community effort involved. For instance, by publishing the expenses and salaries of those employed in LEADER companies, it suggests that the administrative costs are out of kilter with the work that is being done,” the Fianna Fáil deputy said. Deputy Dooley claimed the change of Government policy towards LEADER companies fails to take account of the huge voluntary effort in communities throughout Clare. “In fact, in comparison with every other state entity, the benefit to the local communities far outweighs the costs. The hard work that is done by everyone involved in LEADER companies is being undermined by the …

FIANNA Fáil TD for Clare and spokesperson on Tourism, Timmy Dooley has accused the Government of holding back funding for storm repairs in County Clare. Towns like Lahinch, Kilkee and Doolin were severely battered by Storm Darwin back in February and communities are now working on the restoration effort before the busy summer season. However, Deputy Doley said there are now concerns about the level of fundingbeing made available by the Office of Public Works. “This winter saw some of the most severe storms in recent history hit the west coast, damaging homes, businesses, roads and other essential infrastructure.  Since the end of February work has been underway to repair all the damage, however the Government funding of €16 million falls well short of the mark,” Deputy Dooley maintained. Clare County Council has estimated that the damage will cost almost €37 million to repair, but the Government has allocated less than half of that for the work. “Minister Hayes’ short-sightedness …

THE  GAA still has a lot of questions to answer over its deal with Sky Sports for TV rights,   Fianna Fáil spokesperson on Sport Timmy Dooley said this Tuesday. Under the agreement, Sky has been given exclusive rights to 14 games, including two All-Ireland Football quarter finals involving the Leinster and Ulster champions. GAA director general, Paraic Duffy and president, Liam O’Neill appeared before the Oireachtas Transport and Communications Committee earlier today to outline the rationale behind the new broadcasting contract. Deputy Dooley said, “Despite the appearance by Mr Duffy and Mr O’Neill, there are still a lot of questions about the decision to sell off national games to an outside broadcaster.  The association says it has to base its approach on the significant number of fans living abroad, but I would argue it could do that without alienating its fans at home.  The deal with RTE digital will allow fans in the UK and US access to games, while …

By Owen Ryan SHANNON Airport will remain open on Friday morning, after the High Court granted an injunction preventing SIPTU from going ahead with a planned four-hour work stoppage. The work stoppage had been due to take place between 5am and 9am and SIPTU had organised it due to an ongoing dispute over a €780 million hole in the Irish Aviation Superannuation Scheme. It had been set to cause chaos, not just at the Clare airport, but also at Dublin and Cork. Both the Dublin Airport Authority and Ryanair challenged SIPTU in the High Court and on Wednesday evening, the Court found in their favour. While Shannon was not a party to the case, there was an agreement that the Court’s decision would also stand for the Clare airport.   Aer Lingus was not involved in the High Court case either, but it is understood that its workers who were also due to carry out a similar work stoppage will …

SEVERAL TDs who attended the Mid-West meeting of general practitioners in Limerick last night said that they would not sign the proposed new contract, which has been offered to GPs,  if they were in practice themselves. This was outlined in statement isssued by the National Association of General Practitioners on Tuesday evening. Limerick TD Willie O’Dea said that nobody could contemplate signing a contract, which contained a ‘gagging’ clause. The deputy said the contract was more onerous than the one in Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, which demanded a ‘pound of flesh’. The meeting was held as part of an on-going series of meetings that are being held across the country to highlight the opposition of GPs, not just to the new contract, but the on-going FEMPI cuts which are causing a crisis in general practice. The chair of the meeting, Dr Conor McGee, said that the on-going FEMPI cuts were discriminatory and affected elderly and more isolated people disproportionately. This …

CLARE TD, Timmy Dooley, has expressed outrage at the lack of progress being made on A&E waiting times at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Limerick, which currently has the highest number of patients waiting on trolleys in the country. “I am listening to harrowing stories week in week out from Clare patients who have been deeply traumatised by prolonged waiting times in cramped and overcrowded conditions at the acute hospital with no end in sight. We are now told that it will be 2016 before the new A&E facility will be opened to the public. “The facilities are poor but it should be possible with appropriate funding to increase the throughput of A&E, without this increase in funding the new facility to be opened in 2016 will not resolve the crisis. “The CEO and staff are doing an outstanding job given the resources available to them and if it wasn’t for their dedication and hard work, the situation would be …