Month: July 2007

THE Dermot Power and Kildysart Cultural Festival four mile open road race and fun walk sponsored by Clare Oil Co Ltd will take place this Friday evening, August 3, around the roads of Kildysart starting with the walk at 7pm and the road race at 7.30pm.

Entries will be taken at the Com- munity Centre in Kildysart and their will be t-shirts to all competitors.

This will be the fifth annual road race around the roads of Kildysart and many of the well known stars will be taking part.

John Downes, Donore Harriers, Brian Maher, Kilkenny City Harri- ers, Gerry Ryan, Galway City Harri- ers, Dermot Galvin, St John’s (runner up three years ago) will take part.

Former Inter Club Cross Country Champion and nine times All-Ire- land Inter Counties Cross Country Champion and defending his title and going for five straight wins in a row will be Seamus Power, Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare.

He will be looking to big local sup- port to retain his crown from his former training partner Peter Mat- thews and Cormac Smith, both Dun-

drum South Dublin.

Also in contention will be James Liddane, Tulla, who finished second in the Dundrum 10k Road Race a few weeks ago. Other leading contend- ers will be Brian Murphy, Marian,

Rory Chesser, Michael Maher, Dav- id Quinn, all Ennis Track, Eugene Moynihan, Marian, Michael Harvey, James Kenny, Donal Howley, Kil- murry I[brickane/North Clare, Ger- ard Mullane, Tom Blackburn, both

of Bilboa AC, Limerick, Mick Rice Athenry, and the Clare hill running champion, James McIntyre, Tulla.

In the team contest Galway City Harriers will start as favourites from the host club Kilmurry Ibrickane/ North Clare, Tulla, Bilboa, West Limerick, St Mary’s, Ennis Track Club, and Marian.

The ladies race will be a very com- petitive race with many fine athletes in contention. The girls to watch will be the Cork Marathon champion Tracy Guilfoyle, Kilnaboy, and her training partner Veronica Colleran, Ennis Track Club, the 2005 cham- pion. Also in contention will be Sue Garrahy, Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare, the road specialist Loretta Duggan, St Mary’s, who has pro- duced outstanding performances re- cently in Dundrum, along with Mar1i- an Burke, St Mary’s, Cushla Murphy Hehir, Marian, Maura Falsey, Sile O’Loughlin, both Kilmurry Ibrick- ane/North Clare, Margaret Ryan and Frances Guilfoyle, Kilnaboy, Mar- ion O’Loughlin, Ennis Track Club, Bernie Kelly, Galway City Harriers, and Ciara Hassett, Marian.

The ladies team award will be well contested between Ennis Track Club,

Kilmurry Ibrickane/North Clare, St Mary’s, Marian, and West Limerick.

WHEN Adam Coleman, director of Lahinch-based business _ solutions company, Interventions took the helm at A Clare Industry Service Tourism (ACIST) skillnet, the aim was to provide training for 435 peo- ple in the first two years.

Six months short of that target they have trained 536 with more courses in the pipeline.

Interventions is the training bro- kerage for ACIST and has organ- ised all kinds of training for the 70 companies which are now on board and now Limerick and Galway based businesses are also joining.

The organisation has become so succesfull that it has been decided to hold open recruitment days with plans being laid to apply for addi- tional funding from Skillsnet Ltd, through the Department of Enter- prise and Employment.

ACIST, which is a not for profit organisation, set up with a training and business networking grant of €300,000 from the Skillsnet parent body.

Member companies pay a small joining fee but the returns are worth every penny, says Interventions D1- rector, Coleman.

“What we provide is training and development across the board, tai- lored to the individual company’s needs. It’s training that small compa- nies, particularly, could never access with this kind of subsidisation.”

An example of that access was the

arranged two day visit last year of French cheese making guru, Jamal Kebchaoui, who gave instruction to two cheesmaking companies which are members of Acist. And a follow- up tarining visit is planned for later this year.

A keystone of the ACIST mindset is that they “engage expert trainers – people who been there and done that, actually worked and suceeded

in thier field’, said Coleman.

Companies involved vary from the huge multi-nationals such as Gen- worth to the three surf schools in Clare and companies which make chocolate, market goods, provide lifting machinery or hotels, pubs and restaurants.

ACIST tailors training to the needs of each member company as well as organising networking events and

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Two major courses run by ACIST are the Applied Management and Applied Marketing courses, which can be done in modules and one of the latest initiatives from the organi- sation is the Loyalty Programme, with which companies and services give discounts to other members, en- couraging members to do business with each other and network.

ACIST has even also organised English language courses for polish workers and are planning to organ- ise Polish classes for members in September. “It’s a training need and we re meeting it”, said Coleman.

The bottom line, Coleman stresses, is that membership is a win/win situ- ation for businesses. “Our brief is to see how we can work with compa- nies to improve their situation. They can take advantage of training and development opportunities which are organised to to suit their needs, in their time and conducted locally.”

The ACIST expose days are being held in Genworth Financial Offices in Shannon on July 25 between 4pm and 8pm and in the Temple Gate Ho- tel in Ennis, also from 4pm to 8pm.

Everyone is welcome and Coleman predicts a large rise 1n companies wanting to join.

“Training can start at any time that the members want after joining but it would be important that new mem- bers sign up soon, because we need to do a trainig needs analysis with each new company very soon, as we will be reapplying for funding.”

Further information available at www.skillsacist.com.

THERE are opportunities for third level graduates and highly skilled staff to work in rural enterprises in the west of Ireland. That’s one of the key points to emerge from new re- search by the Western Development Commission (WDC) on rural enter- prises in the West.

The WDC’s publication “Rural Businesses at Work” concludes that retaining and attracting young peo- ple to rural areas is critical to the continued growth of rural enter- prises and for the establishment of new businesses in such areas. Rural enterprises are at the heart of the Western Region’s future given that 68 per cent of its population live in rural areas, compared with 39 per cent of the population of the state. While in county Clare, 67 per cent of the population is rural.

Speaking at the launch of the publi- cation, Gillian Buckley Chief Execu- tive of the WDC said “Our research shows that there is a close fit between the needs of employers and of staff. SW ilorteomalbeveubercmolbnsen lento wm DOMMEDesDErDee eas have a demand for graduates and Skilled workers, while the WDC’s LookWest.ie campaign shows that many skilled workers have a strong desire to work and live in the West”.

Buckley added, “Recent CSO fig-

ures showed 16 per cent of adults in county Clare have a third level de- gree. This is positive news for enter- prises in the county as it provides a pool of locally available, highly edu- cated workers”.

The new WDC publication profiles ten businesses in different sectors including traditional and high-tech manufacturing, professional servic- es, natural resources, internationally traded services, tourism, retail, and the creative and construction indus- tries. The profiles show the diversity of firms operating in rural Ireland and give an insight into how they operate, including how and why they first came into being.

“This study lifts the lid on rural enterprises,’ said Buckley. “It shows that it is possible nowadays to run a successful business in almost any sector in rural Ireland, particularly if you have access to the latest in- formation technology and can net- work easily with customers, suppli- ers and peers. It also underlines the importance of high speed, affordable broadband to rural areas. It 1s essen- tial that universal broadband access be a national priority and hopefully the National Broadband Scheme an- nounced earlier this year will be ful- ly implemented as soon as possible’”’, she added.

The Skillnets initiative was _ par-

ticularly praised by those involved in the study because it delivers training for small businesses without requir- ing long distance travel, as well as providing an opportunity to network with other business people in a simi- lar situation.

“When a small business owner wants to attend training that only takes place in Dublin there are sev- eral costs; the cost of the training, the cost of travelling to Dublin and the cost of being away from the business for two or three days. Small busi- nesses are more likely to upskill if they can do it locally without losing days for travel,” Buckley said.

For those companies who primarily service the Irish market, the key con- cern was how a general slowdown in the national economy would affect their performance. Given the signifi- cant role of businesses that largely depend on the local market, particu- larly in rural towns and villages, this is a very real concern for the viability of rural economies generally.

“The research shows that the rural economy can sustain a broad range of different enterprise models but that there are gaps in infrastructure that must be addressed if they are to grow and if new enterprises are to set up in rural areas,” Buckley said.

SHERRY FitzGerald Hussey Mad- den, Ennistymon, has just launched a new development of homes locat- ed on School Road, Lahinch, with prices ranging from €290,000 to €450,000. Being sold off-plans, the 77 houses in this development are due for completion within 18 to 24

months.

In close proximity to Lahinch beach and golf course, selling agent Evelyn Madden explained, “these houses are situated on an elevated site and will offer excellent sea or countryside views. She added, “designed by char- tered architect Bernard O’Loughlin and under construction with home bond guarantees, this development

consists of a 77 homes, including de- tached, semi-detached and a court- yard style development, together with with a spacious creche”.

With nine different house types to choose from, this development is ide- al for those seeking a family home with all the advantages of living in a village combined with a coastal location. The development is within

strolling distance of Lahinch prima- ry school and is very close to shops, restaurants and other amenities. These houses will be sold in turn key condition and will include so- lar panels, oil fired central heating, wooden floors, tiling, bathroom suites and fireplaces as well as fully fitted kitchens. All external works will be completed including tar-

maced drives, lawns and communal ereens.

House specs on this development range from a three bedroom 957 sq ft terraced house priced at €290,000, through to the top end detached four bedroom homes encompassing 2,131 sq {t, priced at €450,000.

For full details contact 065 7072833.

IT looks increasingly likely that the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Mary Coughlan, will face many of the same challenges in her second term of office as she did in her first.

One issue that shows no sign of res- olution is the ongoing issue concern- ing BSE testing. Coughlan has come under renewed pressure to move on the issue of compensation for the cost of testing animals between 30 ZNeCe melo mse leyelaetce

Last week Clare farmer and Chair-

man of the ICMSA Beef and Cattle Committee, Martin McMahon, stat- ed that in line with the commitment given under “Towards 2016”, the De- partment should immediately agree to fund the cost of BSE testing cattle between 30 and 36 months until such time as EU legislation is changed to remove the requirement.

According to Martin McMahon, under the terms of Towards 2016, a commitment was secured that the Government would seek a higher age for BSE testing. The ICMSA has stated that it is very disappointed with the slow progress being made

on this matter with a conclusion now unlikely until well into 2008 at EU Aron

The Beef Chairman said that the matter was “perfectly simple – farm- ers cannot continue to carry this cost’.

“At a time when beef farmers are under severe pressure on prices and costs, it 1s essential that regulatory costs be kept to a minimum. BSE testing of cattle between 30 and 36 months cost farmers nearly €6 mil- lion in 2006 and farmers now want to see this cost removed immediate- ly,” he said.

“Given the delay at EU level in ad- dressing the BSE testing age and as recognition of the problems facing beef producers at this time, the IC- MSA 1s proposing that the Minister should immediately fund the full cost of BSE testing cattle between 30 and 36 months.

This would represent a one-off cost only as it would no longer be required once the EU rises the age of BSE test- ing. It would, however, immediately meet the commitment give under ‘Towards 2016’ and would remove a substantial cost on beef farmers at this time of depressed prices.”

A NEW Dairy Consultative Com- mittee is to be set up to help Ireland avoid a farming meltdown, following next year’s CAP Health Check and WTO talks.

The forum, which will comprise in- terested parties from within the sec- tor, was announced my the Minister for Agriculture, Mary Coughlan, at last week’s National Dairy Forum and will assist her in the evaluation of policy proposals ahead of the OEE Nee

Minister Coughlan will shortly an- nounce membership of the Consulta- tive Committee. “I am affording the sector as a whole the opportunity to

contribute to an all inclusive indus- try-wide perspective on the future policy and growth strategy for the dairy industry,’ she said.

Speaking after the Forum, Minis- ter Coughlan added that discussions were wide-ranging including the current market situation and the op- portunities and challenges that sus- tained market buoyancy will bring.

Discussions included the WTO and CAP Health Check and, in particu- lar, their implications for competi- tiveness at farm and factory level.

Minister Coughlan observed that there was a great sense of optimism amongst the participants about the future of the dairy sector and a great deal of confidence that current mar-

ket buoyancy would continue for the foreseeable future.

In this context, there was general agreement that the Irish dairy sector should take full advantage of the op- portunities that will arise to expand market opportunities.

“In the light of forecast growth in world market demand, the sector needs to adopt appropriate market- ing strategies that would best secure a growing share of international markets,’ she said.

“The general mood of confidence was tempered by concerns that com- placency might prevent the sector reaching its full growth potential. In this regard issues relating to com- petitiveness at both farm and fac-

tory level were identified including the need to expand production and processing potential in order to meet the growing demand for dairy prod- ucts in the EU and worldwide.”

According to the Minister there was a Shared view that any WTO agree- ment must be balanced and there should be parallel progress across all three pillars of the agriculture sector. ‘The period ahead and the decisions we take will have a lasting impact on the Irish dairy sector and this Fo- rum has started a process that will result in the development of a policy framework to build on the success of the sector and enable the industry here in Ireland reach its maximum potential,” she said.

AS THE new Killanin stand opens for the first time this week to accom- modate over 7,000 racing enthusi- asts, it incurs memories of that fa- mous day when the Pope came to the Ballybrit racecourse on September 30, 1979. The new €22 million stand is a state of the art work of modern architecture which provides bar, res- taurant, lavish seating arrangements and countless hospitality suites but this is in stark contrast to the servic- es provided to the estimated 280,000 people who travelled far and wide to see Pope John Paul II.

For the three day duration of his stay, the country came to a veritable standstill. Traffic was chaotic, busi- nesses were shut down, families were gathered and surrounding buildings got a lick of paint as hundreds of thousands flocked to Dublin, Droge- da, Clonmacnoise, Galway, Knock, Maynooth, Limerick and Shannon airport to welcome the Catholic church’s highest figure in what was a whistle stop tour of Ireland.

He arrived in Ballybrit racecourse on the morning of September 30 to a crowd estimated at under 300,000. Flags, banners and umbrellas were all being sold by the clued in en- trepreneurs en route to the famous arena which was stewarded by 4,000 volunteers. It was a dreary, damp day but the entusiastic crowd were enter- tained by the pope’s support act, Fr.

Michael Cleary and Bishop Eamon Casey the singing duo who belted out such classics as “by the rivers of Babylon” among others in a scene which possibly would not have been out of place in Father Ted.

Such was the atmosphere as his holi- ness appeared on stage that the crowd began to chant “he’s got the whole world in his hands” before the pope began to address the eager masses. A spiritual silence fell on the crowd as the pontiff began to say mass. Dur- ing the ceremony, he relayed his messages of reassurance and hope to the youth of Ireland. “This morning the Pope belongs to the youth of Ire- land. I believe in youth with all my heart and strength of my conviction, and today I say: I believe in the youth of Ireland. Young people of Ireland, I love you.”

He also insisted that the ‘lure of pleasure’ would be strong and the ‘desire to be free from external re- straints may manifest itself very strongly in the sexual domain. How many young people have already warped their consciences and have substituted the true joy of life with drugs, sex, alcohol, vandalism and the empty pursuit of mere mate- rial possessions?” Prophetic stuff indeed.

The county had or will never see anything like this ceremony again. It was a momentous occasion which probably will never be equaled but will be forever remembered.

that landowners would be compen- sated for any delays in resolving cas-

es and that efforts were being made to speed up the process.

“In the event that agreement can- not be reached on the compensation to be paid, the landowners or the local authority may refer the claim for non-binding assessment under the 2001 agreement and look to the Statutory Arbitrator whose decision is final and binding,” he said.

“The local authority is entitled to enter onto the land following service of the Notice To Treat and subse- quent Notice of Entry on the expira- tion of 14 days notice. Once the local authority has entered onto land, in- terest on the eventual compensation

becomes payable.

This provision is designed to pro- tect the landowner’s interest. The longer cases take to settle, the more money will be paid as interest, there- by giving the local authority a pow- erful incentive to deal with cases as quickly as possible.”

The Irish Farmers Association (IFA) had stated their wish for a defi- nite time structure to be put in place for disputes to be resolved. The NRA have agreed to work towards this.

“The NRA has proposed the intro- duction of a clear timetable for all stages of the process in an effort to resolve outstanding compensation

claims more quickly and make pay- ments to landowners. The authority has allocated funding to Clare Coun- ty Council to meet such payments.

“Land values are assessed having regard to comparable land sales in the area – the local authority adopts an open and transparent approach to the comparable used and makes the information concerned available to valuers acting for landowners,” said Mr Fagan.

In addition to the cost of the land, compensation can also be paid to landowners for any disturbance or injurious that emerge as a result of O OKs

CLARE is quickly becoming one of the most cosmopolitan counties in Ireland with the latest figures show- ing that 44 per cent of people living in Clare have been born outside the county.

The latest census figures show that out of the 2006 population of 108,760, 47,339 people were born

outside Clare with 16,102 of that fig- ure born outside Ireland.

The trend of people born outside Clare living in the county is also an upward one.

The 1991 census recorded 36 per cent of the population coming from outside Clare. In 2002 that increased to 39 per cent. In four years this in- creased by five per cent.

The Clare figure is well ahead of

statistics for the same group in Mun- ster counties. The figures show that only 29 per cent of Limerick resi- dents have been born outside Limer- ick, 32 per cent of Kerry residents, 24 per cent of Cork residents and 36 per cent of Tipperary North residents. Underlining the changing face of Clare, there are now more Poles in the county than Africans, with 1,381 Polish-born people compared to

1,155 African born.

The figures also show that there are more than double the number of residents from the EU accession countries in Clare than citizens from the original EU 15. Accession state citizens in the county number 2,421 while those of the EU 15 total 1,204.

The highest proportion of non-Irish nationals in Clare remains people from England and Wales who ac- count for 6,889 of the population. There are 582 people from the United States, 667 from Asia and 603 who are included in the “other category”. Within the Asian category there are 211 Chinese.

The census shows that there was net migration of 4,169 into Clare during the 2002-06 period.

Underlining the growing cosmo- politan nature of Ennis and Shannon, the figures show that of the 23,101 population in Ennis, 10,456 of the residents have been born outside of ET

The figures show that there are 1,128 residents in Ennis born in the EU accession countries. In Shannon, the figures show that the town has a population of 8,942 with 5,765 not born in Clare.

The figures for Ennis and Shannon are in contrast to Kilrush. The figures show that of the 2,569 population of the west Clare town, 1,804 have been born in Clare.

THE findings of a major new study looking at the experiences of ethnic minorities living in Ennis will be published in September.

The study is a joint project car- ried out between the Department of Politics and Public Administration at University of Limerick and Ennis Community Development Project (CDP). It is the first time that such extensive research has been conduct- ed outside of Dublin.

The study will focus on the expe- riences of members of the Traveller community and asylum seekers. It looks at the issue of discrimination and the experiences both groups have had when dealing with the pub- lic services.

The study is now in the final stages and the findings are due to be pub- lished in September.

Professor Tom Lodge and Dr Mau- ra Adshed of the University of Lim- erick are spearheading the project.

Professor Lodge is a_ professor

of peace and conflict studies in the Department of Politics and Public Administration at the University of Limerick. Dr Maura Adshed 1s a lec- turer at the same department.

As well as contributing to broader international and comparative re- search mapping rights and discrimi- nation across Europe, it is intended the project will pilot partnership ap- proaches to public policy research that actively seeks out the participa- tion and involvement of community groups and individuals.

Members of both communities eulded by UL and Ennis CDP com- piled the data.

From the communities perspective the project will seek to enable full participation in policy analysis of services that affect them and provide a record of the communities’ present experiences of public services. It will also identify barriers to people’s ac- cess to public services.

The type of formal and informal supports the communities receive will also be identified.