THE ENNIS town engineer has denied that Clare County Council concealed information from the public in relation to the level of cryptosporidium in the Ennis water supply.

Tom Tiernan was commenting yesterday after it emerged through a Freedom of Information request from The Irish Times that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), had warned the council there was a risk of a cryptosporidium outbreak a month before two children contracted it.

The council decided not to make the EPA's concerns public and Mr Tiernan denied that the council had concealed information from the public. "We have been up front. Absolutely! We inform the public when we need to inform the public, and when we believe that it is appropriate," he said

// Read More //

NEW RESEARCH carried out on behalf of the Department of Transport has indicated that 10 per cent of all journeys here will be undertaken by bicycle by 2020.

Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey has reported that international cycling consultants, hired by his department as part of a national cycling policy study, have outlined the "prospect of a vibrant culture of cycling" in Ireland within the next 12 years.

"In 2006, the modal share enjoyed by cycling stood at just 2 per cent. Increasing the modal share to just 10 per cent would move as many people on to bikes as the public transport element of Transport 21 could accommodate," said Mr Dempsey, who also encouraged cyclists to be as vocal as the "well-organised motoring lobby".

// Read More //

BUSINESSES flouting Cork's street furniture rules will face prosecution.

Cork's city manager Joe Gavin issued the warning after complaints about several flagrant breaches of the licensing scheme governing the placement of tables and chairs on footpaths outside pubs and restaurants.

The scheme was introduced to enhance the ambience and atmosphere of the city streetscape.

It was strengthened in late 2004 when 29 conditions were added as the city prepared to become European Capital of Culture.

// Read More //

PUBLICANS say they will charge customers for tap water if local authorities continue to increase water rates.

Pub owners attending the Vintners' Federation of Ireland's (VFI) AGM in Carlow yesterday said water rates had increased by 300pc in some counties last year.

"My water bill has gone up from €2,400 to €9000 when this year's rates are paid," said Gerry Rafter, who runs Rafter Dempsey's pub in Kilkenny City.

"I know of hotels in Kilkenny where rates have risen from €36,000 a year to €90,000.

// Read More //

Think a Texas oil well. A bubbling, unlimited reservoir of high-value liquid resource, just waiting to be tapped. Only this is not oil, it's water, cool, clear, and pure and it has just made a dream come true for a Sligo entrepreneur who looks destined to be flushed with success.

The remarkable story of the birth of Glencar Water, which went on general sale for the first time this day last week, is as unique as the man behind the ambitious venture, Ballintrillick-native, John MacSharry.

// Read More //

ANGRY draft-net fishermen yesterday protested after a sudden change in the law which saw their licences to fish for wild Atlantic salmon revoked overnight.

The minister with responsibility for inland fisheries, Eamon Ryan, stepped in to overturn the regional fisheries board decision to allow limited fishing in the Cromane area of Castlemaine Harbour in Dingle Bay, Co Kerry.

The fishing season for the 13 licence-holders opened on Tuesday after being given the go-ahead by the South Western Regional Fisheries board and was to continue to mid August.

// Read More //

FARM families in the north-east were supported by the IFA yesterday in their efforts to ensure that a proposed 400KV power line is put underground.

IFA president Padraig Walshe said this position has being conveyed to EirGrid and the Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Eamon Ryan. North Leinster vice president Joe Brady said a meeting in Kells of IFA officers from Cavan, Meath and Monaghan unanimously called for the power line to be put underground.

// Read More //

A PROPOSAL by the Garda Ombudsman Commission that it examine the handling of protests over the Corrib gas project should be reconsidered by Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern, according to Denny Larson, director of US-based Global Community Monitor.

The Garda ombudsman's annual report published earlier this month identified Mayo as one of three areas recording the highest number of complaints submitted to it about Garda actions. The ombudsman commission wrote to minister for justice Brian Lenihan, proposing that it carry out an examination of management of crowd protests and civil disobedience. However, the minister turned down the proposal, as he "did not feel that it was appropriate at that time".

// Read More //

A SHELL to Sea protester charged with obstruction, which resulted in a garda falling into a deep drain, had his charges dismissed after a District Court judge said the evidence caused "total confusion".

Edward Collins, Ballina, Co Mayo, appeared before yesterday's sitting of Belmullet District Court in relation to the offence which occurred during a Shell to Sea National Day of Protest in Bellanaboy on November 10th, 2006.

At two previous sittings, the court heard that during the protest, both Garda Orla Nelson and Mr Collins fell into a 243cm (8ft) drain full of water and mud. Judge Mary Devins said she had read and reread the evidence and privately visited the location of the incident.

// Read More //

THE ECONOMIC arguments for building Dublin's eastern bypass and the proposed Leinster outer orbital motorway were "immense", the chief executive of the National Roads Authority (NRA), Fred Barry, told a transport planning conference yesterday.

The all-island conference, entitled Transport Ireland: Towards a Modern and Sustainable Transport Future, also heard that CIÉ and Northern Irish Railways had in recent weeks briefed transport ministers North and South on plans for a €500 million high-speed Dublin-Belfast rail link.

// Read More //

// Read More //

MAYO County Council's last ditch effort to create a County Development Plan designed to halt rural decline could be shelved by the Department of the Environment.

At a special meeting last Tuesday, Director of Services Joe Loftus told the authority that the five-year plan must comply with regional, national and local levels, the National Spatial Strategy (NSS) and Government policy'.

But councillors voted in favour of adopting amendments to enable the increase of one-off houses in rural areas even though the move does not toe the line with the sustainable housing policy, regional planning guidelines or the NSS.

// Read More //

COUNCILLORS IN south Dublin have rezoned land in a green belt area at Citywest near Saggart to allow for the development of a shopping centre of up to 40,000sq ft (3,700sq m), against the advice of the county planners.

The rezoned land is known as "golf village" and is part of the Citywest Hotel complex. The land was previously rezoned to provide facilities specifically to cater for golfers and their guests, consisting of designer shops and golf outlets.

Councillors have now rezoned the land for a general retail centre, even though the site is less than 1km from the Citywest shopping centre and close to Saggart Village which, when combined with the current retail element of golf village, leaves more than 68,000sq ft of unoccupied retail space in the immediate area.

// Read More //

A ROW has broken out in west Waterford following a county council decision to controversially rezone a 200-acre site - reportedly linked to a Garda investigation.

A Fianna Fáil councillor branded Fine Gael TD John Deasy a "messenger boy" for making a complaint to gardaí over alleged planning irregularities.

Ignoring the advice of the county manager and planning officials, county councillors voted on Monday evening, by 13-8, to rezone a parcel of land, which is part of a Garda investigation into planning irregularities.

// Read More //

The Dublin Airport Metro is in danger of repeating Luas mistakes of under-capacity, unconnected lines and incompatible track widths, writes Ruadhán Mac Eoin

€5 billion buys a lot of train, and at a projected cost of €4.88 billion, Dubliners need to get a properly integrated airport metro that should also free up key elements of the capital's existing infrastructure.

At present there are a number of "ghost" railways, which although linking heavily populated suburbs are simply not used for passenger services. Two of these routes, the Heuston to Connolly Station line under the Phoenix Park, and the Navan - Drogheda - Dublin route, have obvious potential in that one links the capital's two rail termini, while the other could half commuters journey-times traveling to Navan. The tracks are in place and little further engineering is required.

// Read More //

// Read More //

IRISH-BASED wind energy company Airtricity, which was recently bought by Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE), is poised to begin construction of a £I.3bn (EURl.6bn) wind farm off the coast of Suffolk in England.

The so-called Greater Gabbard wind farm will be the world's largest offshore wind farm when completed in 2010. It received planning permission in February.

SSE has agreed to buy out the 50pc interest of its joint venture partner, Flour International, in the 504 megawatt (MW) project for £40m in cash. However, it intends sell the same stake later this year to raise more equity for the project.

// Read More //

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley yesterday signed into law a bill to delay a phosphorus ban by six months, until July 2010,

Sen. Brian E. Frosh (D-Montgomery), who authored the ban, had urged O'Malley to veto the delay legislation, which was requested by dish detergent makers. The bill was heavily debated during the session.

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (DCalvert) said O'Malley made the right decision and sought to play down Frosh's concerns about the negative effects a delay would have on the Chesapeake Bay.

"What you need is a balance . . . between the environment and economic development," Miller said.
© Washington Post

// Read More //

US lists animal as 'threatened' by warming

Once a symbol of Arctic wildlife's fierce resilience, the polar bear is now so vulnerable to the ravages of global warming that the US government placed the creature on the endangered species list yesterday.

Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said the bears' habitat was literally melting below their feet. Bears depend almost exclusively on sea ice to hunt for ringed seals and other prey. Yet Arctic ice coverage fell to record low levels last year, and scientists predict it could decline another 30 percent by mid-century, he said.

// Read More //

// Read More //