A round-up of today's regional news stories in brief
Call for means test for rural grants
Irish Rural Link (IRL) has called for means testing of rural development grants to landowners to ensure money is directed to the most vulnerable smallholders hit hardest by the downturn in the sector, writes Seán Mac Connell.
In a submission to Government on the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, it said bureaucracy was stifling administration of funds. “Red tape is now acting as a filter excluding all but the most privileged,” said IRL, which is the umbrella group for more than 500 rural community groups across the State.
Cork council planning defended
Cork county manager Martin Riordan has expressed confidence that planning procedures in the council will prove to be of the highest standard when examined as part of a review announced last week by Minister for the Environment John Gormley.
Mr Riordan said Mr Gormley raised issues identified by An Taisce where it had appealed Cork County Council decisions to An Bord Pleanála. The majority of the 42 cases identified by An Taisce in its correspondence with the Minister referred to single rural housing applications, said Mr Riordan.
Woman claimed father's pension
A Sligo woman who claimed her late father’s pension for six years has been given a 12-month suspended sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Clodagh Smiley, a mother-of-five of Camross, Ballymote, began claiming the pension in fortnightly instalments on behalf of her mother when she died in 2001.
Sgt Maeve O’Sullivan revealed that Smiley’s father, a former Telecom Éireann employee, had died in the 1970s, and her mother had been receiving cheques from the company until her own death.
New visitor charge at Cliffs of Moher
The company operating the Cliffs of Moher visitor attraction has confirmed the introduction of a charge of €6 per person to view the cliffs.
The charge will apply to adults only and will also allow admission to the visitor-centre exhibition.
The introduction of the charge comes against the background of the Cliffs Of Moher Visitor Centre Ltd incurring combined losses of €500,000 in 2008 and 2009.
Until now, independent travellers have been charged €8 per car at the cliffs car park. The new pricing structure is due to come into force later this mont