GOOD LUCK ANJA

CLON WOMAN ON ST. JAMES WALK TO SANTIAGO

Clonakilty woman, Anja Bakker is started the St. James Walk last Thursday 27th May from St. James Well, Ardfield, just outside Clonakilty, and will finish at Santiago, Spain later in the summer. Anja has decided to engage on the walk, carrying a harp which she will play along the 4,000 km route, to raise funds for the “One in Four” organisation and Cork Sexual Violence Centre.

She says she was horrified like most right-minded people by the Murphy Report and Ryan Report into the abuse of children by those who were supposed to be caring for them.

She stated, “I believe, in fact, that we believe ‘abuse’ in not acceptable anymore in this society. And because I feel the point cannot be made strongly enough I am committing my summer to standing in solidarity with all whom have been and are still being abused. I am carrying a 26-string harp from St James’ Well in Ardfield, Clonakilty, West-Cork to Dublin and after that to Santiago de-Compostella in Northern Spain”.

She is currently on route to Dublin, and from there will walk down the coast to Rosslare, from where she will catch the ferry to Roscoff. She will follow the French coastline down to the mouth of the Gironde just above Bordeaux where on the Point Grave she will join the Voie Littorale one of the four medieval Camino routes over Bayonne where the way will come together on the Voie Francese a little before Burgos to finally finishing in Santiago de Compostella.

The Camino to Santiago or the ‘St James’ Way’ is traditionally one of personal growth and healing. People can follow her progress and make donations by logging onto her website: http://web.me.com/kees.vroege/From_here_to_Santiago/Welcome.html

Fair play to her. God bless her strength.

INTERESTING TALKS FOR HOUSEHOLDERS THIS THURSDAY NIGHT

TALKS ON LIGHT, HEAT AND SEA LETTUCE!

This Thursday 20th May Sustainable Clonakilty will hold it’s monthly open public information meeting, starting at 8pm at O' Donovan's Hotel. This should prove to be a very interesting meeting for householders, as the group has invited three local speakers, to talk about a different aspect of sustainability.

Consultant Robbie Lambert will be speaking on the best lighting for home and industrial use that is environmentally-friendly, but also economic for the person paying the bills! Paddy Rose of local company, “Progressive Solar” will give a talk on heating with the help of the sun, and thirdly, students from Sacred Heart Secondary School will give a presentation on the sea lettuce briquettes they have produced which has won them national recognition.

As usual, the monthly meetings of Sustainable Clonakilty are open to all who are interested to attend.

In the meantime, the group is appealing to people to please complete and return (via email) the survey about your energy usage in the home. Recently, everyone on their e-mail database was asked to fill up the form and email it back. The information from this survey will be important going forward as the group lays plans for the Clonakilty district to become energy-neutral by 2020.

WEST CORK SF CANDIDATE TO BE AGREED ON FRIDAY

SINN FÉIN GENERAL ELECTION CANDIDATE TO BE AGREED ON FRIDAY

Clonakilty Sinn Féin enthusiastically welcomed the results of last weeks General Election results in the Six Counties which saw all of the party’s five M.P.’s retain their seats. The big focus was on Fermanagh-South Tyrone, where the Minister for Agriculture, Michelle Gildernew was defending the seat in that constituency, against an SDLP and a united Unionist candidate.

In the end, she kept the seat by the narrowest of margins after three counts. A number of West Cork Sinn Féin members, including one member from the Clonakilty Cumann, were on the hustings in the last week in Fermanagh-South Tyrone to help boost the campaign there. The seat was taken from Unionist control 29 years ago by Bobby Sands, while he was on Hunger Strike in Long Kesh. Ken McGuiness held it for around 18 years after, and Sinn Féin since 2001.

Looking to the next General Election here in the southern state, all SF members and supporters in the West Cork area are invited to attend an important party meeting in the Parkway Hotel this Friday evening 14^th, where the candidate will be selected. While no one knows when the general election may be, given the instability of the government and the economic crisis that has enveloped the country, it’s possible the government could fall at any time. Sinn Féin in Cork South West aims to be ready for this fight whenever it comes along, and agreeing and endorsing a candidate on Friday is the first step in the process. All Sinn Féin members and supporters in the area are encouraged to attend.

Anyone in the general Clonakilty area interested in going who wants to share transport should contact Cumann Cathaoirleach, Séamus deBúrca on 086-4009649.

PROGRESS MADE AT SPEEDING PUBLIC MEETING

Further information/comment: Cllr. Cionnaith Ó Súilleabháin, 086-2202029

HOPEFUL OF PROGRESS AT CLONAKILTY SECOND PUBLIC MEETING ON RECKLESS DRIVING

The second public meeting on the issue of “reckless driving” in residential areas and approach roads in Clonakilty was held last Thursday evening with Superintendent Pat Maher and Sgt. Eamonn Brady of Clonakilty Gárda Station, Mayor Cllr. Anthony McDermott, the recently-elected Chairperson of Clonakilty Joint Policing Committee Cllr. Humphrey Deegan and over 20 concerned residents and businesspeople in attendance.

The meeting was a follow up of a similar one held two weeks previously and was once again organised by Cllr. Cionnaith Ó Súilleabháin, who welcomed everyone. He outlined some of the issues which were raised at the previous meeting, which were speeding in built-up areas and approach roads to the town; reckless late night activities by car owners in Deasy’s Car Park in particular, and the loud exhausts that cause much annoyance for many, particularly late at night. That meeting agreed to invite Garda representatives and all nine town councillors to the second one, and he conveyed apologies from Cllrs. John Loughnan and Anne Cullinane. (There was no communication from the other absent four town councillors).

The meeting opened to the floor with members of the audience raising a variety of issues of concern to themselves and the areas where they live. Superintendent Maher replied to all matters, advising that unless the Gardaí are made aware of the problem at the time they are happening, it can be difficult for the Gardaí to pursue them. He also pointed out in response to one person that if the Gardaí don’t respond immediately when something is reported, the likelihood is that they are dealing with an emergency. But he emphasised the need for residents to report issues and he assured them that “Clonakilty is a safe and peaceful town and is well policed”.

He backed up his statements with statistics relating to various traffic offences going back to 1995, which were lower than in many similar sized towns in the country. On the matter of loud exhausts on cars, Supt. Maher said that his information was that if they have passed the NCT then there is little that can be done. He did point out that the Clonakilty Gardaí do not have the equipment that could measure the loudness of exhausts, and therefore no case could be proven against anyone. He also assured people that reckless driving had been apprehended in Deasy’s car park in recent times.

Supt. Maher also said, “There will be no zero tolerance policing in Clonakilty”, as Gardaí would continue to deal with each issue using their own discretion, based on all circumstances. He pointed out that Clonakilty was a tourist town dependent on outsiders coming in to enjoy their break, and common sense had to prevail to ensure this continued.

It was raised at the meeting that the same issues are arising in the same places constantly, and it should be easy enough to apprehend culprits by proactive policing. The Gardaí were urged to monitor roads in built up areas, as opposed to roads and places where there was no danger for residents or pedestrians as they simply did no exist a lot of the time where speed traps are often located. It was also suggested that the Gardaí would do these random checks for short periods at different locations regularly. People were not expecting 24 hour surveillance.

It was also stated by a couple of people that when they report incidences to the Garda Station, they have never received any information back about the matters, and it was suggested that that two-way communication would ease many peoples perceived inaction on matters when they report them. The Superintendent and Sgt. Brady noted peoples concerns and pledged to try to address them in the time ahead.

Meanwhile, Cllr. Humphry Deegan, who was elected as the Chairperson of the Clonakilty Joint Policing Committee at the May council meeting held two days before, outlined to the public meeting how that forum would work. It would be a place for people’s problems to be aired and addressed as best possible.

Cllr. Ó Súilleabháin encouraged the public to attend its meetings (as observers) and to contact the chairperson with written issues they want to have put on the agendas. Mayor McDermott welcomed the public meeting, and urged more visibility of Gardaí, and hoped the JPC would mean a big positive difference.

The meeting concluded with everyone encouraged to report every incident that they feel is unlawful to the Garda Station on 023-8821570; the Gardaí pledging to deal with the issues raised and apply action where possible; better communication; and an encouragement to everyone to engage with the Joint Policing Committee when it becomes active.

Cllr. Ó Súilleabháin closed the meeting, thanking everyone for their contributions, and the attendance of the Gardaí and public representatives who turned up. As far as he was concerned, people now have the knowledge and the power to help themselves and the mechanism of the JPC to allay concerns if they are not happy with progress. He said he would not be organising any further public meetings about this issue, saying as a community with everyone working together in the one direction, many of the problems can by reduced if not totally eliminated.

SECOND PUBLIC MEETING ON RECKLESS DRIVING TONIGHT

Please feel free to forward to people in your area concerned about this issue, or publish on your publication, programme or website.

Thank you.

Further information/comment from organiser, Cionnaith Ó Súilleabháin 086-2202029.

SECOND PUBLIC MEETING ON RECKLESS DRIVING

A follow-up public meeting on the issue of “reckless driving” through residential areas and approach roads in Clonakilty takes place at 8.30pm this Thursday evening (6^th May) in O’ Donovan’s Hotel, Clonakilty.

Two weeks ago, a cross section of around 35 residents from many different areas of Clonakilty, attended a similar meeting on the same topic, but decided unanimously to call a second meeting to which a representative of the Gardaí and all Town Councillors would be formally invited to attend. On the previous occasion, the local Garda Superintendent (or a representative in his place), was also invited, but on the night, they didn’t attend. Many people at the last meeting on 22^nd April outlined specific issues that concern them, but it could be all summed up by the 50km/hour speed limits being constantly exceeded by all sorts of vehicles. There was also the related issue of nuisance caused to residents, particularly during hours of darkness by excessively loud exhausts on some vehicles.

Residents of some areas expressed a fear of walking or cycling roads in their areas, and they were seeking action from the Gardaí to enforce the speed limits and take action against offenders, as they feared a serious accident due to speeding would occur.

The meeting on this Thursday evening starts at 8.30pm in O' Donovan's Hotel and is open to all, with residents and business people directly affected by the issue of speeding in their areas, particularly welcome.

Further information 086-2202029.

Grant Assistance for using Irish on Shop Signs

There is potential for Small Businesses to draw down financial assistance if they use Irish in their materials, signage, etc.

Foras na Gaeilge has put up details on it's site, and the link below goes straight to information on signage.

http://www.irish.ie/ForasNaGaeilge/applicationform_listing.asp?toggle=yes&lang=en&id=15

At a recent meeting of Clonakilty Town Council a motion was unanimously supported on the need for Clonakilty businesses, (particularly new ones), to be more proactive in erecting good quality and if possible, bilingual signage. Cloich na Coillte was once the leader in this, thanks to the Town Council policy of 25 years ago, and people like Tomás Tuipéir, local signwriter and Gaelgóir.

Speaking in support of the motion at that meeting, Cllr. Cionnaith Ó Súilleabháin stated:

"Standards of our shopfronts and business signage have dropped dramatically in the last few years. This is a shame as we were once the leader of this initiative in the country. We in this council have a planning policy of traditional shopfronts made from traditional materials and using traditional, had painted signage, bilingual if possible. We have ample talented and experienced tradespeople who have the skills to carry out this work. Yet in recent years we have seen shabby and often plastic signs erected on business premises. This undoes the great pioneering work carried out in the 1980's and early 1990's when the planners of those times insisted on signage that met the criteria of our development plans. It drew national attention and complimented the tidy towns efforts and the related hanging baskets and window boxes which were tourist attractions in their own right. These policies made Clonakilty different and made us stand out proudly. We need to get back to implementing and enforcing this policy, and I would ask the council management to address the matter immediately"

The council management said they would be carrying out "an audit" of shopfronts in the following weeks, and also would be bringing out a booklet explaining the guidelines for signage and shopfronts in Clonakilty town, and would distribute this to all businesses. Cllr. Ó Súilleabháin said he believed this to be a costly and possibly ineffective method, and proposed the information be posted up on the Town Council section of www.clonakilty.ie which is the towns official website and anyone that wanted to would have immediate access to it there.

This is the link to the application form .........

http://www.irish.ie/ForasNaGaeilge/applicationform_listing.asp?toggle=yes&lang=en&id=15