by Sarah Clancy | May 6, 2021 | Current, Local Community Development Committee, Members News, PPN News
Welcome your new Clare PPN Representatives:
Congratulations to Cornelia Wahli, Christy Sinclair and Collette Bradley we look forward to working with you all.
We are delighted to let you know that we received nominations for each of three representative roles we advertised to our member groups on April 20th 2021. We are most grateful to all groups who nominated and in particular to the three candidates who have come forward to represent their communities through Clare PPN.
The vacant Environmental Seat on Clare PPN’s Secretariat will be taken up by Cornelia Wahli who was nominated by Clare Environmental Network and who also represents Clare PPN on Clare County Council’s Local Community Development Committee. As part of the Secretariat Cornelia will join 9 other community representatives to help to run Clare PPN on behalf of its member groups between plenary meetings.
The second environment seat- on Clare County Council’s Rural Development Forum goes to Christy Sinclair – nominated by Clare Environmental Network. Christy was one of the founder members of Clare PPN, his interests are environmental sustainability and social justice and he will make a valuable contribution to the ongoing work of the forum.
The third and final seat in this set of elections was for a Social Inclusion Representative to sit on Clare’s Local Community Development Committee and this seat goes to Collette Bradley of Shannon Family Resource Centre. Collette’s experience in community development and support for marginalised communities will be of great value to the LCDC.
We are so grateful to all who came forward, the ratification of these seats will take place at our plenary meeting which is taking place on May 11th online (contact admin@clareppn.ie if you would like to attend this meeting). Following the plenary we will write to each committee chair notifying them of our nominations and this will complete the formal nomination process.
You can read more about each new representative here:
Cornelia Wahli:
Cornelia’s participation in and membership of several environmental groups, including CEN – Clare Environmental Network, emerges from a deep-felt belief that the current man-made climate crisis, which has lead to global warming and loss of biodiversity, can be healed, but only with individual, societal, corporate and political input and action.
Cornelia lives an organic lifestyle without chemicals in her kitchen, utility room, bathroom and garden using vinegar, bread soda and lemon juice instead, sparingly. She believes that a lifestyle change with similar intensity like that imposed by covid-19 is necessary to assure and ensure a continued ‘food and clean water supply’ for now and the future. Cornelia’s vision is of an ‘Organic County Clare’ that is organic in public spaces, in private gardens as well as in agriculture, horticulture, aquaculture, silviculture and arboriculture. Such an ‘organic approach’ can facilitate the protection of the environment welcoming diversity of biological life-forms to flourish and allowing our soil, water and air to return to their natural clean state. Cornelia would like to be a voice for the natural world, a healthy and nurturing environment that is capable of feeding and supporting humans as well as fauna and flora with sustainable development a core value. Cornelia also represents Clare PPN’s member groups as the Environmental Representative for Clare PPN on Clare’s Local Community Development Committee (LCDC) since autumn 2020.
Christy Sinclair:
Christy Sinclair was one of the founding members of Clare PPN. He previously served as a Secretariat member and as part of the finance subcommittee. He specialises in the installation and certification of photo-valtic systems and is a keen environmentalist, rock climber and greyhound adopter. He has been involved with a number of community groups in Clare including the Burren Eco Tourism Network and Clare Bus where he served as a board member. His interests are in securing a ‘living wage’ for those working in Clare and ensuring that communities are takings steps towards sustainable energy use. He will bring all these interests to represent Clare PPN’s member groups on the Rural Development Forum.
Collette Bradley:
For the past 6 years Colette Bradley has been the coordinator of Shannon Family Resource Centre and is committed to the delivery and further development of services and activities for the local community. She also recognises the need for more community services for Shannon and the surrounding areas. Prior to Colette’s Coordination position in Shannon she worked in the Community & Voluntary Sector for 12 years based in Ennis.
Colette was a voluntary member of a number of committees over the years including the group which oversaw the establishment of a community crèche and a resource centre, now North West Clare Family Resource Centre, in Ennistymon.
Colette is committed to working towards a more equal society and recognises social inclusion, equal opportunities and environmental protection as key building blocks to the achievement of a fairer and more progressive society.
She feels privileged to call beautiful North Clare her home living in Lisdoonvarna and prior to that in Kilfenora since moving to Co. Clare from Co. Wicklow in 1998.
You can read more here about the Rural Development Strategy here:
https://www.clarecoco.ie/services/community/rural-development/strategy/
And more here about the Local Community Development Committee:
https://www.clarecoco.ie/services/community/lcdc/
by Sarah Clancy | Feb 9, 2021 | Current, Members News, PPN News
Clare PPN press release
Tuesday, 9th February, 2021
Emergency motion on CETA passed unanimously by Clare County Council
Motion brought on behalf of Clare PPN calls for full democratic debate and Oireachtas scrutiny of EU-Canada trade deal
Clare County Council has unanimously passed an emergency motion that calls on the Irish Government “to allow a full, open and democratic debate, including pre-legislative scrutiny by a Joint Oireachtas Committee, ahead of the Dáil vote on ratification of CETA.”
Clare Public Participation Network (PPN) had written to Councillors last Thursday, asking them to bring the motion, on foot of a request by a majority of member groups in Clare PPN’s Environmental College, who were very concerned at the lack of public debate and political scrutiny of CETA (Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement), a trade deal between the EU and Canada.
Proposing the motion at Monday’s (8th February) Council meeting, Cllr Donna McGettigan (SF) thanked Clare PPN for bringing the motion to her. She warned that the element of CETA due to be voted on by the Dáil, including the Investor Court System (ICS), allows multinational companies to “go straight to special tribunals, bypassing our court system and gives rights to corporations to sue national governments for compensation for loss of expected future profits.”
Seconding the motion, Cllr Cillian Murphy (FF) said that while he feels trade agreements are, “by and large, positive things, what does concern me here is the lack of public debate, legislative scrutiny and very low levels of understanding around the ratification of CETA and specifically the merits if any of the Investor Court System for Ireland. Will the ratification of CETA tie our hands with regard to introducing progressive social and environmental legislation?”
Cllr Murphy pointed out that most of CETA has been in place since 2017, and that the final element, including ICS, is “not necessary here in Ireland and will not deliver one iota of benefit for the country.”
Reacting to the passing of the motion, Theresa O’Donoghue, Co-ordinator of Clare Environmental Network, a PPN member group, said: “Members of Clare PPN have serious concerns about the lack of public and political debate and scrutiny of CETA. An issue such as this, that will have far-reaching consequences for future generations, must be properly discussed and publicly debated. We are very happy that our County Councillors in Clare respect that and we thank them for standing up for that principle.”
“Clare PPN member organisations are particularly troubled by the Investor Court System (ICS) element of CETA and the ‘regulatory chill’ effect it would have on policymaking on a wide range of issues, including the environment, public health, economic and human rights. No party has made any convincing case for why we need investor courts.”
Several other local authorities have passed similar motions relating to CETA in recent days, including Cavan, Monaghan, Leitrim and South Dublin councils.
The motion in Clare was signed by 16 members of Clare County Council: Donna McGettigan (proposer), Cillian Murphy (seconder), PJ Kelly, Ann Norton, Pat O’Gorman, Mark Nestor, Tony O’Brien, Michael Begley, PJ Ryan, Alan O’Callaghan, Pat Hayes, Ian Lynch, Clare Colleran-Molloy, Shane Talty, Bill Chambers and Susan Crawford.
Three other Councillors, Johnny Flynn, Joe Garrihy and Joe Killeen also spoke in favour of the motion. Nobody opposed the motion.
ENDS
Notes for editors:
Clare PPN is a network of more than 300 community, voluntary, environmental and social inclusion groups from Clare. It exists to facilitate the formal participation by the community sector in Clare County Council’s decision making structures. It is funded jointly by the Department of Rural and Community Development and Clare County Council but is autonomous and its activities are directed by its members through an elected secretariat.
Clare PPN’s website is www.clareppn.ie and they are on Twitter @clare_ppn and https://facebook.com/clareppn/
by Sarah Clancy | Sep 29, 2020 | Members News, PPN News, SPC for Rural Development
Reps report on 15th September 2020 Rural Development SPC – Anny Wise
Representative Name
Anny Wise
The two PPN Representatives were the only ones attending via Zoom – but the main committee who were in the Council chamber could not be heard by us. They could hear us but we could neither see them nor hear them. The Chair or people giving the reports were summarising what people were saying. Despite our patience being tested to the maximum we did get taken notice – in fact we were given priority as they felt guilty.
I got to ask the questions about what graveyards were available to some of the 12% of Clare’s population who are not Christian. The answer was no graveyard facilities for them other than the same as everyone else. It was then suggested that this would be discussed in the forthcoming review.
Leonard Cleary told the meeting that I had offered Pro Sweeney’s video and it was agreed that this would be covered in the November meeting. They asked to view it before the meeting. I am to ask for this from John Sweeney.
I noticed that the Community Funding was from March to September – this would not allow many environmental projects, due to the Habitats Directive.
by Sarah Clancy | Jul 10, 2019 | Members News, PPN News
Clare PPN reports on its activities and finances to both Clare County Council and the Department of Community and Rural Development. For Clare County Council we prepare quarterly reports and for the Department we report on an annual basis. You can read our most recent report at the link below. We welcome any comments on it from our member groups- you can drop us a mail at admin@clareppn.ie Clare PPN April to June 2019
