Month: February 2008

A VALUABLE piece of specialised gymnastics equipment is being left outside rusting in the rain, as there is no storage available for it in Shan- nte)eF

The Shannon gymnastics club bought a €17,000 linear trampo- line in November and was under the impression at the time that storage would be available at the local lei- sure centre.

However, the storage is not avail- able and the equipment has been left O)ULMB NOMA slomod (one lo OLR

The club, which was formed 10 years ago, trains at the leisure centre. However, in recent years, a number of its members have achieved nation- al honours, with the result that they

are in need of improved facilities.

There are currently 80 members signed up, seven of who recently made the Irish team. One of its mem- bers, 12-year-old Becky O’Donnell (from Kildysart), will travel to Por- tugal in March to represent Ireland in an elite junior open competition. Last year she competed in Lithuania and was placed in the top ten in a world cup event in Poland.

Club coach Elaine Ryan said the success has become a struggle, as facilities are not satisfactory.

“It (the trampoline) is outside in the rain, wrapped up. It would be mas- sive work to get it in and back out,” said Ms Ryan.

“Over the past few years, the club has raised over €42,000 which was spent on specialised equipment, to

allow the club to develop at high competitive level,’ she said.

She also said that the other equip- ment is being damaged, because it is not located in a permanent, suitable No NLELOR

“The equipment is left in open ar- eas because there is no storage at the leisure centre. If we were to take out all of our equipment, it would easily take an hour,” she said.

“Very expensive equipment is get- ting damaged at an alarming rate, due to lack of storage, but the club has nowhere else to go,’ said Ms Ryan.

She said the club needs a tall build- ing. While many warehouses are too expensive to rent, the club would be willing to pay an affordable rate for a building.

“Realistically we need a permanent residence. We would be willing to oy Nas ean

“It is crazy that there are so many empty buildings around Shannon that would be ideal. Even part of a building would be a dream.

‘There is a huge demand for gym- nastics in the area and the coaches work very hard to meet the demand,” said Ms Ryan.

DEMANDS are to be made for the post of a development officer for Shannon to be filled.

The post was vacated last April, when Padraig MacCormaic’s con- tract was not renewed.

At the time, local residents were concerned that the post was not go- ing to be immediately filled. At the time, it was indicated that the job

would be re-filled at a later stage.

However, almost ten months on, Fine Gael councillor Tony Mulcahy is now calling on Town Manger Ger Dollard and Clare County Council to confirm a date for the re-instatement of the post.

“As far as I was concerned, we were given a commitment by the manger last year. While the post had to be discontinued for some time, we were led to believe it wouldn’t be forever,”

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“The post of development officer has to be reinstated,” the councillor rE HLGe

Mr MacCormaic had been deeply involved in several key projects in S)it-NevelOssMmeNClOOMEOT:Mmm OD Mmn ODDS COMEBDOMEENAT®

post.

He had forged strong links with the local community and the business sector.

‘He was involved in plans to draw

up the extension of the boundary for Shannon and did a huge amount of work on the bus shelters and the Shannon website, Shannon.ie,” said Cllr Mulcahy.

“The town benefits from having a development officer liaising with groups and attracting businesses,” he AYOCe(oxen

“We don’t have a full-time town council in a town of its status. It isn’t acceptable,” he said.

A WEST Clare man is pioneering a campaign to take alcohol out of Soa F

Richard Hall from Doonaha West has begun the campaign by writing to the GAA, local print media and the providers of sports wear.

The gold pin pioneer maintains that something must be done to guard and protect children from the “perils of alcohol’.

“We are fully aware of the problems of alcohol in our society, in particu- lar the problems that face our young children day after day. As a society we must do all we can to protect our

younger generation. We are going to need them for our own welfare, in the future,” he said.

In his appeal to the GAA Mr Hall proposed that the sporting organisa- tion would display the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association’s (PTAA) emblem in Croke Park, as close as possible to the Guinness advertising.

He also suggested that the emblem be incorporated on to team shirts when requested by players wishing to wear it.

“There are many GAA players and team trainers/managers who are members of the PTAA and, as members of the Pioneer Associa- tion, | am positive that they would

be very pleased to see the benefits of membership of that organisation be- ing promoted to young and upcom- ing players and stars of the future,” he said.

“Why does the GAA not create a pioneer cup competition in football and hurling for both male and female players? The stipulation being that in order to play for a pioneer team, the player would have to be a member of the Pioneer Association,’ he said.

Mr Hall has also contacted the two largest producers of GAA jerseys. He asked about the viability of putting the pioneer emblem on the jersey at the manufacturing stage.

“If not from a financial point of

view then would you consider such a Suggestion as being a means of pro- moting the benefits of alcohol absti- nence. You could possibly produce a small number of shirts with the pioneer emblem on at the outset, to judge the market.”

“Your promotion of the Pioneer Association would be seen, I am pos- itive, aS a genuine step in the right direction in combating alcohol prob- lems amongst the youth of today and such action could only enhance the opinion of your customers in regards to your products.”

He has also approached a soft drinks company about sponsoring a pioneer cup.

KILMIHIL is the latest west Clare community developing a life saving programme for its citizens. Following on from the success of the Kilrush meeting the community met to organise the Kilmihil Public access Defibrillator Programme. The brain child of Kilrush RNLI man Ian Lynch five years ago Kil- rush will soon have a number of defi- brillators, as will Kilmihil, to be fol- lowed by Cooraclare and Cree. Supported by local GP Dr Michael Harty, who outlined the medical benefits of early CPR and trained de- fibrillator personnel in the locality, it is hoped local people will be trained

in using defibrillators as early as Xoeartaas ce

A mass CPR training course will also be organized for west Clare. As many people as possible can attend the two-hour course, which is pro- vided, free of charge by the HSE.

From the course it 1s hoped that more will come forward and volun- teer for the three to five hour defibril- lator-training course.

LM Keating Ltd has already agreed to sponsor one defibrillator for Kilm- ihil, while the community hope to provide a second.

In Kilrush it is hoped to have five defibrillators by this time next year. To date ESB Moneypoint and the Kilrush Credit Union have agreed to

sponsor one each.

The importance of a defibrillator in remote communities and at sporting venues was highlighted last month when a young Cork schoolboy was revived by the machine after he col- lapsed following a_ cross-country eeTOon

In county Clare, a grieving mother has raised €37,000 to purchase de- fibrillators and facilitate cardiac resuscitation training for sporting clubs, following the death of her 16-year-old son from Sudden Adult Death Syndrome.

Brid Manning began the campaign after her son Robert died while play- ing rugby in the front garden of his Cratloe home.

Defibrillators work by _ sending shock waves to kick-start the heart. According to health experts, quick access to the machines greatly im- proves the survival rate of the pa- OL

Registration forms for anyone from Kilmihil who may be interested in becoming involved with the local programme are available at local outlets.

The forms should be completed and returned as soon as possible to allow training sessions to be organised.

A committee to organise a rota, funding and training will be formed from the information received on the registration forms. For information ring 0872862304 or 0863633998.

THE man, who is bringing a case to the High Court to ensure a right of way to Doughmore Beach remains open, has spoken out as to why he has under taken the mission.

Cree man James McNulty, was eranted permission by the Attorney General to take a case in respect of the public right of way to the beach from the Caherfeenick Road, last year.

‘For many years now I have been in- volved with the local efforts to ensure that public access to the public beach was maintained via the Caherfeenick Road resulting in a High Court case taken with the fiat of the Attorney General against Doonbeg Golf Club Limited to clarify once and for all whether or not an established public right of way exists between the end of the Caherfeenick Road L-61041

through Doonbeg golf course to the public beach at Doughmore Bay,” he ene

“My reason behind instructing my solicitor to take such a case are sim- ple. For far too long both Doonbeg Golf Club and Clare County Council have insisted that the only one who could make such a determination is the courts.

“After receiving the permission or fiat of the Attorney General proceed- ings are winding their way through the High Court system sine 2006, but I have now decided to speak out fol- lowing the comments made my Cllr Patrick Keane and Oliver Garry who recently suggested that they reached their decision on the basis that the recent extinguishment proposal was improving public access to Dough- more and that it was not interfering with matters currently before the High Court.”

Mr McNulty argued that he and his Wife were part of the original mem- bers of the Carrowmore/Caherteen- ick Right of Way action group.

“Although Doonbeg Golf Club has repeatedly (gone) on public record stating or suggesting that the golf club reached an “agreement” with this particular action group, neither my wife or I were party to any high court agreement with the golf club,” |aTemncy-H (6

A High Court Agreement exists however between five local people and Doonbeg Golf Club allowing them access to the beach through a “new” right of way that is also off the Caherfeenick road.

This allows the five named farmers (one since deceased) vehicle access to the beach from November to Feb- UCD aYs

Mr McNulty is not one of the five.

““T would like to say in relation to the

Attorney General High Court case that in 2000, I was offered and given my own private right of way across the golf course to the beach, by way of a letter from Doonbeg Golf Club in 2000. Unfortunately at the time I simply could not understand why lo- cal people and members of the public should have to give up something that they always had, used, and enjoyed over the years,” he said.

“Some years ago and out of pure frustration I instructed my Dublin solicitor to issue legal proceedings in the High Court to establish and ensure “forevermore” that public ac- cess to the public beach at Dough- more beach would be guaranteed by a High Court ruling to all members of the public I took this legal action at a personal financial cost to myself and my family, to ensure local people and members of the public could continue to access their public beach.”

AN AMBITIOUS plan to establish the mid-west as a region of excel- lence and expertise in the area of en- ergy efficiency will be unveiled later WT Le1e).e

Junior Environment and Energy Minister Tony Killeen will launch Ireland’s first Regional Climate Change Strategy at the Mid West Re- gional Authority’s (MWRA) annual

conference in Adare on Friday.

And the importance to the region was highlighted by Authority Ca- thaoirleach Lilly Wallace who urged every individual in the mid-west to CCM doles bum oy Nu mB OMusxO LUCID OrcamNalomKorealO) IM dependence on fossil fuels as well as reducing carbon emissions by five tonnes per person.

“The economic and environmen- tal costs of doing nothing are far too great. Carbon costs alone for the

mid-west are calculated to be €62.2 million by 2010, and €94.5 million by 2020,” she said.

Explaining the reason behind the Adare conference, MWRA _ Direc- tor Liam Conneally said the author- ity decided to produce a strategy designed to enhance the mid-west’s energy, environmental and _ eco- nomic sustainability in response to increased concern about climate change and the Government’s recent

carbon budget.

Mr Conneally said that the ‘Mid West Climate Change Strategy’ had been developed as a working docu- ment ensuring the sustainability of the region’s energy needs, while playing a substantial role in support- ing the Government in achieving Ire- land’s Kyoto commitments.

He said the mid-west was well placed to exploit its substantial re- newable energy resources of wind,

wave, wood and energy crops.

“Much is already being done to establish the mid-west as a centre of excellence for the development and delivery of renewable energy technologies, and energy efficient buildings. The future development of this region as a region of excellence and expertise in the energy area will bring opportunities for communities, entrepreneurs and third-level gradu- ates,” he added.

NEWQUAY native John Kerin has been promoted to the rank as Garda Chief Superintendent.

He was among a number of Super- intendents included on a list for pro- motion, announced last week. The promotion is not likely to take effect until later this year, when a number of vacancies are due to arise across the country.

He is currently Superintendent at Henry Street Garda Station in Lim- erick, having been transferred there from Ennis last March.

He had been based in Ennis since UithatomA COL 07

He had spent over six years at En- nis, having previously been based at Henry Street, between 1994 and Av ereh

During his career to date, he has been involved in many high-profiled investigations in Limerick, not least

the killing of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe. He was killed during an at- tempted raid on a post office delivery van in Adare, Limerick, in 1996.

Mr Kerin was detective inspector at

Henry Street at the time and headed up the McCabe investigation. He had been a uniformed inspector for two years at the time, but was on his first day as detective inspector on the date of the Garda McCabe killing.

Supt Kerin joined the force in 1978 and spent his first eight years in Mal- low where he was promoted to ser- geant. After a further seven years as detective sergeant in Clonmel, he moved to Limerick.

He has also worked in a new post at the Garda College in Templem- ore, where he co-ordinated specialist training courses in criminal investi- gation.

Policing is poised to continue in the Kerin family for many years to come – his daughter Emma passed out at Templemore almost two years ago. She is currently stationed in Galway.

CLARE builders have called on Bishop of Killaloe, Willie Walsh, to intervene on a disagreement involv- ing the ongoing renovation work on St Flannan’s College in Ennis.

The head of the Clare Plasterers Union, Paddy Kenneally, called on Bishop Walsh to support “social jus- tice” and end a ban on Clare builders from the site.

According to the union, which has more than 600 registered members in the county, St Flannan’s are us- ing non-union builders from outside of Clare and in the process breach-

ing union agreements made with the Construction Industry Federation (CIF).

‘This project has been going on for more than 12 months now and not one of our members are employed. The contractors are completely ig- noring long-standing agreements and keeping Clare working out of the job,” said Mr Kenneally.

“They are bringing in non-union workers from Mayo and Galway while Clare tradespeople are unem- ployed and being forced to immigra- tion.”

The diocese of Killaloe has been in- tegrally connected with St Flannan’s

College since it was first established more than 150 years ago.

Kenneally has called on Bishop Walsh to use his influence to con- vince Flannans President, Fr Joe McMahon, to speak to the contrac- tors on the issue.

“We are calling on the Bishop of Killaloe to make a positive contribu- tion to social justice by raising the matter with the college and urging the employment of Clare plasterers,” he continued.

‘There is a real slowdown in the in- dustry and the college can assist in maintaining local jobs by employing Clare tradesmen on this site.”

ALLEGATIONS were levelled yes- terday that the Ennis Town Manager hid information pertaining to pro- posed development at the Post Office nCOAKG

At Monday’s meeting of Ennis Town Council, Green Party council- lor Donal O’Bearra accused Town Manager, Tom Coughlan of not shar- ing information collected in a report compiled last year.

After Cllr O’Bearra and Fine Gael

councillor, Johnny Flynn co-tabled a motion calling for a cost benefit anal- ysis prior to any development taking place at the field, Mr Coughlan said a study about the viability of such a project had already been completed.

Cllr O’ Bearra said, “I find it bizarre to say the least. What’s the point of me asking for a cost-benefit analysis when the manager has hidden infor- mation? You said you would keep us informed and I think that is relevant information.”

Mr Coughlan replied, “I was going

to bring all the information when a decision had to be made.”

Cllr O’Bearra said, “I consider that bad judgement on your behalf.”

Mr Coughlan rejected the accusa- tion he had withheld the information from the council and said he would forward copies of the report to all councillors.

The independent study, carried out by Hughes and Roll associates, found there were significant obstacles to re- developing the existing site of the De Valera Public library in Ennis.

It also recommended an infill sec- tion of the Post Office field, located between the post office and St Co- lumba’s church, as the most commer- cially viable site for any new library OlAVolley evento

Mr Coughlan stated that without the sale of the De Valera library, it was unlikely a new library would be event

He said, “It’s an unrealistic assump- tion that it could happen elsewhere.”

Following a lengthy and at times intense debate, members proposed that consultants be engaged to draw up a master plan setting out potential OCSAIeA Co) oy ea erslmr-lmm i elomSI COR

Fianna Fail councillor, Joe Reidy said, “As far as I’m concerned, it’s going ahead. It’s a pity people are changing their minds.”

Fine Gael councillor, Johnny Flynn said he had raised concerns when the project was first mooted about the sale of the original library site.

Fine Gael councillor, Mary Coote Ryan called for a report into the potential effect of construction on flooding.

Town Engineer, Tom Tiernan said a previous flooding report had found the proposed infill section of the field had a “miniscule” effect on flood eynlnKeye

Independent councillor Taiwoo Matthew requested more information on the level of funding available.

TALKS over a timetable for pedes- trianisation in Ennis will get under- way at the end of the month.

It follows yesterday’s monthly meet- ing of Ennis Town Council where the results of a survey carried out on December 20, 21 and 22 revealed a largely favourable response to pedes- trianisation in Ennis at Christmas.

The survey, carried out for Ennis Town Council by Amarach research, found that between 79-81 per cent of respondents indicated that pedes- triaisation was a good idea in each

of the four areas surveyed. The four areas surveyed were Abbey Street, O’Connell Street, O’Connell Square and Lower Market Street.

Town Clerk Eddie Power said he expected talks between Ennis Town Council and the local business com- munity would resume at the end of February. “The next stage would be to meet with traders from the areas to see when and what days would be the most suitable. I would suggest a meeting take place in February with a final report to be presented at the March meeting,” he said.

The survey found that the principal

reasons given by those who viewed pedestrianisation positively was that it improved safety (58 per cent), cre- ated a more pleasant atmosphere (38 per cent) and that it would be easier to get around (37 per cent). Some 41 per cent of those surveyed cited this as a reason. 273 people were polled for this section of the survey.

46 per cent respondents felt that parking facilities were conveniently located and facilitate shopping in Ennis. However, this opinion var- ies between drivers and non-drivers, with just 35 per cent of drivers agree- ing with the convenience of parking

facilities.

The key reasons given by those who view pedestrianisation nega- tively were concerns about vehicular access to the streets, concerns about getting around and concerns about access to shops and banks.

96 per cent of respondents felt their frequency of shopping would not de- crease, with 36 per cent indicating they would shop more often in Ennis should the streets be pedestrianised.

SW ilo Kom sku hd ucoeelo NL MBDOMMAOlomeler-Nene ber that the introduction of pedestri- anisation was now a matter of “when’ and not ‘if’.