Month: November 2009

Farmers face into an even bleaker midwinter

SB el ae elem oa Woorml tom eleom en Otte farmers and the prices paid to farm- ers in the UK grew by more than €60 in the month of October alone. This massive month-on-month in- crease has prompted Clare farmer and Chairperson of ICMSA’s Beef and Cattle Committee, Martin Mc- Mahon, to call for radical action to be taken.

The gap between the average price paid per head of cattle in the UK and Ireland now stands at a massive €150 per animal.

“There is absolutely no justifica- tion for such a price gap between Irish and UK cattle prices and this gap must be bridged immediately by meat processors,’ he said.

“The facts demonstrate that since the start of October beef prices have actually increased in the UK while prices have fallen in Ireland with the result that the average steer in Ire- land is now being sold at €150 less than its equivalent in the UK.

“At the start of October, the gap stood at €90 per head. The reason the gap has grown is simple.

“With the increased kill over the past month, meat processors are simply taking advantage of the in- creased supplies and are profiteering at the expense of farmers by pulling prices.

“These cattle are now being sold at a loss and farmers will simply not be able to stay in the business unless

prices return to sustainable levels. Once again, our processors take a short term benefit with no account taken of the long-term damage to the overall sector.

“The UK accounts for over fifty

percent of Irish beef exports and prices are rising in that market so the drop in beef prices over the past month simply cannot be justified. The cost of the price gap for Irish farmers on steers alone is over €11m

for October.

‘Farmers cannot afford such losses and yet again they must appeal to the processors to pay fair prices that will safeguard the future of the sector and ensure a supply of Irish beef.”

RESIDENTS of Cappahard Lodge, a long-stay psychiatric residence on the Tulla Road, have spent their fifth night in Ennis General Hospital, hav- ing been evacuated from their home due to the flooding.

The 28 residents were removed from the unit on Thursday afternoon due to flooding in the unit’s sewerage system.

Museum House on Francis Street, which houses Clare’s health promo- tion services, opened for business yesterday (Monday) having also fall- en victim to the flooding.

The Bindon Street clinic in Ennis was also cut off by flooding. All ap- pointments for dental and communi- ty care services were cancelled and members of the public were asked not to attend. New appointments will be made later.

HSE staff, including community welfare officers, doctors, child care and social workers, psychologists and psychiatrists, have also been em- ployed to work through the weekend to assist 105 people from Ennis who were evacuated to the West County elolror

The staff were employed to help those evacuated to come to terms with the trauma of the experience.

Driven from home of 33 years

A SETTLEMENT which will see Clare County Council and the Rev- enue Commissioners write off 85 per cent of a hotel groups debts has come under fire.

Last week, the High Court ap- proved an Examinership deal which will save the Lynch Hotel group from liquidation and secure more than 500 jobs. The deal included preferential creditors being paid 15 cent in the euro on what the group owed while other creditors will get 10 cent.

Among the largest preferential creditors are the Revenue Commis- sioners, who had an outstanding bill of €1.2 million for the Clare-based group and Clare County Council, which was owed €113,071 when the examinership process began.

Unsecured creditors were owed a total of €2.8 million before the Ex- aminer stepped in.

But while the securing of the future of the group – which owns the West County in Ennis, the Clare Inn in Dromoland and runs the Ocean Cove hotel in Kilkee seasonally – was gen-

erally welcomed, their have been concerns raised.

Responding to the council and rev- enue write-off, Ennis hotelier Allen Flynn, who is one of the owners of the Old Ground and the Imperial Hotel in Cork, said the two bodies ‘should never be seen to allow unfair competition take place. The flexibil- ity they showed to the Lynch Group should, and must, apply to all busi- eA ohn

The Flynn Group owns hotels in Cork, Dungarven, Kilkenny and En- nis and Allen Flynn said that a “level

playing pitch must apply and if other hotels are struggling – and the hotel industry is going through its worst ever crisis – then the Revenue and local authorities should write off the debts of other hotels which are strug- gling…the Revenue can’t enter into special arrangements with one hotel group and not apply the same rules to other hotels.”

He predicted that the Examiner’s deal will present problems for the local authority and Revenue when they come to collect debts from other businesses, if the same flexibility is

not shown.

He said that he is “quite happy to see the Lynch Group survive. The West County has been very good for the town in the many conferences it brings and the economic benefits that result. My biggest concern is govern- ment bodies doing deals with one business and not applying the same flexibility to all businesses.”

The Clare hoteliers comments came after the chair of the Shannon branch of the Irish Hotels Federation also expressed concerns about the fall-out of the examinership.

SUSU m eV ENitom Neon stl IloaALos produced – that’s the key message be- ing delivered by the Limerick Clare Kerry Regional Waste Management Office (RWMO) ahead of the first annual European Week of Waste Reduction, which takes place from November 21-29.

The project aims to advise busi- nesses, local organisations and the general public about the kind of waste reduction habits that they can take up in everyday life.

According to Pauline McDonagh of the RWMO, there are many ways in which ordinary people can play a vital role in reducing the amount of waste produced in the region.

“With 522ke of municipal waste generated on average per person in Ireland, raising awareness about waste reduction and promoting changes in production and consump- tion patterns is more urgent than ever,’ she said.

‘Whether it is through the reduction or reuse of packaging, the purchase of long-life products or the reduc- tion of food waste, every individual and organisation in Clare, Kerry and Limerick can play their part.

“Eliminating or preventing waste makes good environmental and fi- nancial sense. After all, if waste is not created it does not have to be treated and disposed of, which is much bet- ter for the local and global environ-

ment, better for climate change, and better financially for householders, businesses and other organisations.”

Events taking place in Clare from November 21 to 29 include a waste prevention awareness initiative at Organic Lens Manufacturing in En-

nis and an RW MO information stand at the Shannon Development Busi- ness Centre at the Information Age Park in Ennis.

Dont let it go all to waste

CLARE County Council is to be asked by Kerry County Council to support a motion to have rural rep- resentatives appointed to An Bord Pleanala, as proposed by Kilbaha- based Irish Rural Dwellers Associa- intone

The IRDA has posted a booklet on this topic to every elected member in Ireland and at this month’s meet- ing of the Kerry local authority, Cllr Jackie Healy-Rae (Ind) called for the association to be supported.

The IRDA has also called for a sworn enquiry into how it is that farming and rural issues are official- ly represented on the board by two senior planning inspectors. “These inspectors were employees of the board up to the minute they were appointed on the board by Minister Noel Dempsey on January 1, 2002. They will be there until 2012 with a possible reappointment until 2017; at least 10 years and possibly 15, of rural representation on the board, by planners. These are the bare facts and from a rural perspective they are shocking enough in themselves but what is even more disturbing are the step-by-step details of the ap- pointment process as explained by the IRDA in their booklet,’ said Clir

Healy-Rae.

The IRDA maintains that An Bord Pleanala is inextricably linked to the Department of the Environment, and as the department controls the ap- pointment process as well as all other aspects of planning, the board can- not be considered truly independent, is not a balanced group with diverse backgrounds and is, in the view of the IRDA, undemocratic in its con- stitution.

‘These are very serious statements, but they have never been challenged since they were published. They paint a picture of an appeals process which is functioning in the exact opposite way to what was intended when it was established by the Oireachtas in 1977,’ said the councillor.

“An Bord Pleanala doesn’t live on a different planet. Councillors who spend up to 80 and 90 per cent of their time on planning matters must have total confidence that decisions appealed to the board are going to a completely independent body, whose members are a balanced group with diverse backgrounds and a_ body which is democratic in its constitu- tion – not the other way around.”

Kerry County Council also agreed to write to all of the other council’s in the country seeking support for the IRDA proposal.

A NEW website which promotes Clare as a value-for-money destina- tion for visitors will be launched on Friday at a landmark tourism confer- ence in Ennistymon.

The conference in the Falls Hotel, is the 21st all-Ireland conference for those involved in the tourism busi- i entoe

Up to 300 people will attend the conference over the course of the weekend and one of the first orders of business will be the launch of the website.

www.clareoffers.com is a compli- mentary website to the existing clare. ie site, which showcases everything there is to do in Clare.

‘The new site 1s an opportunity for people to publicise their special of- fers. It gives them a forum and show- cases Clare as a value for money destination – that’s important in the current climate. Value is what peo- ple are looking for,’ said Maureen Cleary of the Clare Tourism Forum.

The forum is responsible, in con- junction with Clare County Council, for setting up the site, which carries offers on packages for hotels, spe- cial menu offers for restaurants, and money-oif and discounts at business-

es all over Clare, from Durty Nellies to the Russell Art Gallery.

Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern will open the weekend conference, which is being organised by the Clare Tour- ism Council.

The site 1s open to anyone who is a member of the clare.ie site. New members are welcome to join at any mbeaten

Key-note speakers include Brian Simpson, MEP who is head of Trans- port and Tourism with the EU. Coun- ty Manager, Tom Coughlan will also address the conference.

This is the 21st year that Ennisty- mon has played host to the confer- ence and the theme – ‘Promoting Partnership in Tourism, 21 years of progress’ – reflects the milestone.

Participants have signed on from all over the country, including Northern Ireland.

Anyone who would like to join and avail of the new website can contact Maureen Cleary, Marketing Execu- tive with Clare Tourism Forum on 065 6846462.

Clare lakes hold the Ice Age secret