RETAILERS REVOLT OVER ‘OVERNIGHT INCREASE’ IN PARKING CHARGES

The increase by Fermoy Town Council of 33.75% to the daily parking charges, raising them to €3.50 from €2.70 has been slammed this week by a local retailer in the town. Valerie Murphy of All Seasons, Kent Street says she is ‘outraged’ at what she describes as ‘the overnight increase in the daily charge’ and has threatened to do something about it.

“I have spoken with quite a large number of other retailers as well as customers on this, and all are in agreement that the increase must be reversed immediately. In fact what I am calling for now is that the charges be abolished altogether considering the recession we are in at the moment.”

The Avondhu understands that some people who paid their €2.70, unaware the charge had gone up, came back to find they had been issued with parking tickets.

“We need to encourage people into the town and be seen to providing services for them rather than taking them away. In these difficult times, the last thing we want is for the council to be squeezing us even more.”

Ms Murphy said she is fully intent on fighting the issue to the last.

“Retailers in Fermoy are under enough pressure. We have taken enough and have no intention of taking this latest outrage lying down.”

95,000 REASONS TO SMILE

Nina Hynes capped a wonderful week for her family by taking home a cheque for €95,000 from last week’s Winning Streak game show on RTE. Netting €40,000 or €50,000 would have been a fantastic achievement but to scoop almost double that was a huge boost for Nina, a native of Ballyduff (nee Kenneally) now resident in Araglin.

The Hynes and Kenneally families travelled in strength for the Winning Streak game show and in the run up to the big day they were inundated with messages of goodwill from neighbours, relatives and friends.

Winning Streak is all about luck and Nina had it in bucketfuls – bagging an Opel Insignia to the value of €30,000 was a huge bonus as was being selected to spin the wheel - at one stage Nina occupied last place in this part of the game show, however, the number 5 ball kept popping up and before she knew it she was spinning for big money - €55,000 to be precise.

According to her husband Mike it was a fantastic experience and they were all treated very well. They are especially grateful to local bus driver Bill Russell who helped transport the group to Dublin.

Tom and Ann Roche of Roche’s Spar Supermarket, Upper Cork St., Mitchelstown, the sellers of the Winning Streak ticket, also travelled to Dublin for the show.

Speaking to The Avondhu this week, Ann Roche said that she was delighted for Nina Hynes and her family. The well known supermarket has now sold no less than four winning Lotto tickets – a lucky place to do your shopping, it seems!.

NO MOVE ON SWIMMING POOL THIS YEAR

- Mart group to consider options on Mitchelstown development -

CCM Property has confirmed to The Avondhu that they will have to consider the options available to Cork Marts as to the development of the old mart site in Mitchelstown.

It was planned that the site would house a new million-euro retail development, which would include the Mitchelstown Leisure Centre.

Eamonn O’Brien of CCM told The Avondhu, “There is no planning application submitted for the site at the moment and so Cork Marts will be considering all our options.”

Ben Lynch, who is chairman of Mitchelstown Leisure Centre Ltd said, “The project was priced at €9 million two years ago - what that would be in today’s climate would have to be investigated. The funds allocated to the project have not been withdrawn but I think there will be no move on the leisure centre in 2009.”

MARKET TRADER PLANS TO CREATE 20 JOBS IN MITCHELSTOWN

‘All the agencies have said that they have no funds available’

Figures released by the Department of Social and Family Affairs for January show an extra 36,000 people signing on for unemployment assistance, writes Brian Moore.

In Mitchelstown however, one local businessman is ready to employ up to 20 people immediately with a further 20 jobs in the pipeline within a year.

Joe Lunny and his wife Margaret are market traders; they import and sell kitchen rolls, toilet rolls and other household goods. Now they have bought a factory unit, machinery and raw materials to begin manufacturing these products here in Mitchelstown.

“We saw that we could make the products here and stop importing them from the other side of the world,” Joe told The Avondhu. He mortgaged his house to buy state-of-the-art equipment and has orders already for his products.

However, Joe has gone to the Enterprise Board, the IDA and the banks hoping to secure some help, “I am looking for €100,000 as a loan or an overdraft, with this I will be able to start manufacturing and employ people to get the orders filled. All the agencies have said that they have no funds available, the IDA said they were only interested in attracting multi-nationals to Ireland. I offered the banks €1.5million in collateral but to no avail.”

Mr Lunny continued, “We are told that we need to be enterprising and to work our way out of the recession, well I could offer 20 jobs right now to the people of my area. I have the orders, I have the machinery all I need is some help to get the business off the ground.

"I want to be able to manufacture the products here in Mitchelstown instead of sending money to another country. There are skilled people on my doorstep that would be an asset to my company but I need to get some support to get up and running.”

Local election candidate Timmy ‘Rancher’ White is angry at the lack of support Joe Lunny has received. “In this time of recession and greed by the financial big bosses, a local man is being over-looked in his effort to get start-up capital for his new business. Joe will create much needed employment in an area ravaged by unemployment and recession.

"Small business will take Ireland out of recession. If Joe was a multi-national company, the Government would be throwing money at him, all he wants is start-up capital - he has everything else out of his own pocket. 20 jobs in the Mitchelstown/Fermoy area would be like 300 jobs to Dublin or Cork.”

BURNCOURT RESIDENTS UP IN ARMS OVER TRAVELLER ENCAMPMENT

Burncourt residents have described a Traveller encampment near their village as ‘an accident waiting to happen’.

Up to 30 caravans have moved on to land adjacent to the new M8 at Toomore. South Tipperary councillor, Andy Moloney (FF) told The Avondhu that local residents feel that they are being intimidated by the Travellers and fear that an accident could happen as the caravans are parked at the side of the road.

Cllr Moloney said: “It’s only a matter of time before someone is hurt in Toomore on the new M8 between Cahir and Kilbehenny. The National Roads Authority (NRA) should have erected barriers along side roads adjacent to the motorway so as not to allow Travellers to take up residence there. I have taken this matter up with the NRA before and nothing was done.

"I feel that now the NRA should make available a site along the new motorway that can be used for parking caravans. This could be offered to the Travellers at, say €10 a night, with a seven night maximum stay. After all if they are Travellers they should be travelling around.”

A spokesperson for the NRA said, “If there are safety issues with anyone camping at the side of a road then the gardai have the authority to remove them. The NRA is not responsible for any group who are breaking the law.”

NEW LAWS PROMISED ON USE OF PLAYGROUNDS

Local laws governing the use of playgrounds in Cork are to be drawn up in the coming months.

The by-laws, which will be based on similar regulations brought into force in Kerry, will be drafted by a Strategic Policy Committee of the Northern Area of Cork County Council for the 16 playgrounds currently in North Cork but adopted across the county if suitable.

This week the SPC received a report from the council’s environmental department outlining the issues such a policy document should address. Amongst the issues raised by the report were litter, graffiti, afterhours access to playgrounds, loud music, inappropriate use of the facility and the use of recording equipment within the playground.

Other suggestions brought to councillors include a regulation on signs at each playground detailing its opening hours, rules of use, suitable age group and emergency contact details.

Cork county councillor Liam O’Doherty welcomed the proposal, adding that inappropriate use of playgrounds often lead to complaints by residents living close by.

Cllr Frank O’Flynn said the number of playgrounds put in place across North Cork was one of the local authority’s greatest achievements during his time on the council, a sentiment echoed by Cllr Aileen Pyne who paid tribute to the various community bodies who were the driving force in developing the amenities. In welcoming the proposal Cllr Kevin O’Keeffe asked council officials to reveal the extent of official complaints received as a result of local playgrounds, and further asked if any compensation claims had arisen from injuries at the facilities.

Tom Stritch, director of services with Cork County Council, said that there was little enough anti-social behaviour at playgrounds noted across the board, while a representative of the environmental department referenced a single compensation claim as a result of injuries arising from a fall.

A draft of the regulations is expected in the coming months.