Month: February 2006

WEST Clare is lending its support to the fight to ensure a 24-hour consultant-led accident and emergency service remains at the Mid Western Regional Hospital Ennis.

A new group, “West Clare Friends of Ennis General Hospital”, emerged from a public meeting on the future of the county hospital last Tuesday.

A spokesperson for the new group told The Clare People , “There is intense anger that the Hanly plan remains Government policy in West Clare.”

He said there was a lot of support for the long running “Ennis General Hospital Development Committee” and more than 20 people had signed up to be part of the new grouping in the West.

The West Clare Friends of Ennis General Hospital will get its first outing at the St Patrick’s Day parade in Kilrush. The group is inviting representative from 20 West Clare parishes to march with them behind their parish banners on March 17 next. Leaflets outlining the group’s concerns are also to be distributed on the day.

In the interim, letters from the West Clare hospital lobby group are to be sent to the Taoiseach, Tánaiste and CEO of the Health Service Executive, Prof Brendan Drumm, voicing West Clare’s concerns at being so far from an A and E, should the services in Ennis be down graded. They will also ask the health trinity of Ahern, Harney and Drumm to sign a letter confirming the status of the hospital.

“We need to know what services will be available in the long term and if we will have a consultant-led A and E in the future,” the spokesperson added.

CLARE County Council is not granting planning permission to any development in a number of Clare’s towns and villages due to inadequate infrastructure.

That was the claim made by the chairman of the Council’s Planning Special Policy Committee (SPC), Councillor Richard Nagle.

Cllr Nagle said that the council must look at interim solutions to allow the planning difficulties be overcome.

“No one had the right to make unilateral decisions on planning and the council should not be trying to hinder development.”

Councillor Martin Lafferty (Ind) said, “I’m very despondent over the amount of villages that have sewerage systems in place. I saw a list provided by the council that shows that out of the county’s 70 towns and villages, 39 to 40 had no sewerage.

“We are light years behind having a proper infrastructure in place. I was more than surprised to see the number of towns and villages that don’t have schemes in place.”

SPC member, Padraig Haugh said, “It is terrible that you would have towns and villages releasing raw sewerage.

The council’s Senior Planner, Liam Conneally said that the council was working towards interim solutions towards the provision of waste water treatment plants in relation to a number of developments.

THE failure by the Department of the Environment to provide the infrastructure to allow for the growth of Clare’s towns and villages is the biggest disappointment of outgoing Clare senior executive planner, Graham Webb’s time in Clare.

During his five years in Clare, Mr Webb was the architect of Clare’s various County Development Plans that envisaged the Department providing the infrastructure for Clare’s towns and villages to prosper.

Speaking in a personal capacity, Mr Webb said, “All the settlements are zoned which means we should be able to start making the arguments to have the infrastructure put in place to support growth in those settlements.

“Unfortunately, the council has been let down by the Department and the funding hasn’t come forward. That is the biggest disappointment. The failure of the Department to recognise that Clare has a particular problem due to its rural location and that it can’t meet the same numbers and figures per capita in relation to costing that you get on the outskirts of Dublin.

“The whole policy structure from central Government is to build up settlements, to show that you have a critical mass of people in those settlements and we will give you the infrastructure to support that.

“You are not going to get people to move into settlements where there is no basic infrastructure and try as we may as planners to encourage people to do that, if they have got the money and the wherewithal to live outside those settlements, they will do.

“That is the rule of thumb they tend to use, so we are always on a back-foot trying to put forward the case.

“If you can’t get the population back up, you can’t get the funding to put the infrastructure in, so you will have shops and schools closing down, because you don’t have the population to support those services.”

Mr Webb was also involved in the development of a tourism initiative, Clare Live the Life. He believes it has “huge potential and it could lead to re-branding of tourism in Clare, because at present, tourism is a bit lost in Clare. It is a bit unclear who and how it is going to be promoted”.

Mr Webb said he was “hugely sorry to be leaving Clare at all. I don’t tend to stay long in a job because I find that you peak and you’re delivery falls away.”

“CAN we provide a service that is up to the highest standard as closely and conveniently as possible? Rather than saying we can close up, lets see first what we can build up.”

The words of Professor Brendan Drumm in response to a query about whether he was going to implement the Hanly Report on health services and the effect that would have on hospitals in Ennis, Nenagh and Limerick.

The question, on the lips of everyone concerned about the future of services at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital Ennis, was not posed, however, by Clare County Council’s four representatives at the first Regional Health Forum, West.

It came instead came from North Tipperary County Councillor Dr Joe Hennessy (FF) who said, “All reforms will be bought into if they (the public) have A and E service within reasonable time.”

Prof Drumm told the meeting that he was not sure Hanly was the issue.

He did say, however, that like the doctors’ after hours service, he suspected that hospital services would not remain the same.

“Expanding the A and E will not solve the problem,” he warned the assembled councillors.

“We can build bigger and bigger A and Es and I will guarantee you we will be back in this room with the same problem again in five years time.”

People waiting for diagnoses or tests, he said, took up many of the beds in hospitals.

Therefore, Professor Drumm argued, hospital services and consultants’ hours should not stop at 6 pm.

“There is no reason why Galway (hospital) are not doing ultra sounds tonight,” he said.

“60 per cent of work comes in between six in the evening and nine in the morning, when there are no consultants.”

He also outlined the processing problems where people were referred to hospital by their GP, going through A and E. This resulted in people on trolleys for up to a minimum of three to four hours alone, Prof Drumm argued.

Instead, he said, more responsibility should be given to what he described as the “most skilled clinicians – GPs”

“What we have to do is build up primary care.”

He also pointed to the Orthopaedic Hospital in Croom as a very effectively run hospital, catering for one form of treatment.

“It does not get blocked up during the night dealing with other issues,” he said.

THE most senior member of the Health Service Executive has admitted the health services in Clare and across the mid-west are under developed.

For years, lobby and protest groups across the county have been outlining the sheer lack of sufficient services and treatments for seriously ill patients, as well as outlying the neglect felt by the people of the Banner county.

This week, the health service finally put its hands up, when the CEO of the HSE, Professor Brendan Drumm, told the first meeting of the Regional Health Forum West that patients from Clare, Limerick and North Tipperary were travelling to Dublin for treatment because services in the area were under developed.

“Having no neurologist in Limerick is a classical example of how we under

ten motivated internal criticism rather developed the mid-west. It should be

than what was best for the patients. sorted out,” he said.

“Do you want to go to Dublin, or de-

cism no doubt and you will do too, I velop services in the mid-west?”

suspect, for engaging in the process,” Telling the councillors representing

he told the new members of the health nine counties along the western sea-

forum. board that the HSE wanted input from the grass routes level, he said the new

HSE are councillors Pat Daly (FF), health service should be about what

Bill Chambers (FF), Joe Cooney (FG) was best for the patients.

He warned that industrial issues of“We are going to suffer a lot of critiClare’s four representatives on the and Brian Meaney (GP).

First to address the historic meeting from Clare was Councillor Pat Daly who said little had been invested in Ennis General since the 1940s. He asked when the €20 million development at the hospital was likely to begin.

Councillor Joe Cooney asked if funding was in place for a CAT Scan unit at the hospital and highlighted the ongoing concern about the ambulance service in Scariff.

Ambulances, according to Professor Drumm, would be one of the first areas that the HSE would concentrate on.

Councillor Brian Meaney told the professor “We feel you are a good guy despite what is being said in Clare. I know you are not about taking our hospital.”

He told the HSE chief that it was felt that resistance was necessary in Clare, as it was successful in saving the hospital on previous occasions.

“I would appeal to you to afford the hospital development committee a meeting with you at a time and location of your suiting,” he added handing him a copy of the eight questions the committee had previously nailed to the door of the HSE.

Professor Drumm also told the meeting it would be impossible to meet everyone in the system over every issue.

TRIBUTES were paid yesterday to the hard work and dedication of the students and staff of Clare Youth Services, at the organisation’s certification ceremony.

Close to 300 people attended the event, where over 100 students received National Certificates from a range of educational and training bodies including FETAC, Clare VEC, FÁS and Fáilte Ireland. It is the first time in over three years that the ceremony has taken place. Minister of State for Labour Affairs, Tony Killeen TD, presented the certificates at the event, which took place in the Old Ground Hotel, Ennis.

Through the provision of courses in vocational and educational training, Clare Youth Services aims to give students a chance to attain Junior and Leaving Certificate qualifications away from a mainstream educational setting.

It encourages young people and adults alike to sample different technical areas and to develop personal and learning skills in mathematics, information technology and communication through the nationally-recognised FETAC scheme.

Monday’s ceremony formally recognised the achievements of the students and also the committed efforts of the service’s many co-ordinators, instructors and volunteers.

Mr Killeen acknowledged the achievements of all the recipients and stated that programmes such as FETAC provided an essential service for those alienated by mainstream education.

“If anyone has had negative experience of the formal education system, I would hope that the courses that you have taken under the auspices of Clare Youth Services have given you a different view,” said Mr Killeen.

“We need to have a flexibility in work and educational programmes which is something that has become enormously important in Ireland,” he added.

Dr Sean Conlan, Adult Education Organiser with Clare VEC, said that the principle of lifelong learning must be one taught from an early age and added that, “Today should be another step on the lifelong learning journey”.

A MEETING is being held in Killaloe tonight to allow residents objecting to the chosen route for the new bridge to explain their concerns.

The decision on where to site the new bridge was announced several weeks ago and since then, a large number of concerns have been raised by local people.

“We have written to everyone who will be directly affected within the impact area of this choice of route to ask them to come to the meeting,” said Ballina resident, John Young.

Young’s house is directly opposite the starting point for the bridge, on the Ballina side, at Roulagh Cross.

“If you think about the amount of heavy traffic which is going to now be coming through Killaloe, it’s not an exaggeration to say that we could be looking at the destruction of 1,000 years of history.”

He stressed that those objecting were “not objecting to a bridge being built – we are very pro having a new bridge. But the location is the wrong one.”

The objectors believe that no consideration has been given to the rate at which the town is expanding and to the amount of extra traffic that the bridge will generate.

The meeting is being held at 7.30pm at Tara’s Bar in Ballina and all are welcome.

SHANNON Development has welcomed the announcement by the Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism, John O’Donoghue TD, of up to €1 million to drive new strategic tourism marketing initiatives for Ireland’s Western Regions.

The Shannon region is one of the most important in tourism terms among those getting the new funding and will be benefiting along with Ireland West, and Ireland North West.

The overall Western Regions fund of up to €1.5 million for 2006 will be jointly funded by Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland, the regional tourism authorities and their industry partners.

Welcoming the announcement, John King, Heritage and Tourism Director, Shannon Development said, “This fund will allow us to undertake a range of tourism initiatives during the coming year. We will again be teaming up with Ireland West Tourism and North West Tourism to promote the West of Ireland as a holiday destination during 2006.

“Up to €1.5 million will be spent on promotion and related activities in the UK, US and key European markets, with the objective of enticing more visitors to holiday in the West,” he said.

Speaking at the launch of the Super Regions Tourism Marketing Initiative, the Minister said that the value of cross-region co-operation spoke for itself, “both in regard to economies of scale and increased market penetration.

Shannon, Ireland West and the North West Region could be said to have ‘pioneered’ this concept last year, when they came together to undertake a Special Strategic Marketing Initiative.

“The exposure and impact achieved by these three regions through pooling their funds and other resources, far exceeded the sum of what they could have achieved individually.”

PROVIDENCE Resources has released initial details of how the oil and gas fields located off Spanish Point and the Burren are to be developed.

Responding to a number of questions from The Clare People, the group said that the first step would be to send electronic charges through the earth crust from a specialist mechanism towed behind a ship at the site.

According to the company, these shocks would produce seismic data, which would in turn reveal whether further exploration was warranted.

Should the electronic charges reveal a good source of oil and gas, a drilling platform would be erected at sea.

The group, however, declined to give any indication on what impact the facility might have on shore in either Spanish Point or the Burren.

In a statement received by The Clare People a spokesperson said, “it is very early at this point and we are not in a position to talk about the economic or social impact of drilling at this stage.”

The fields, which are located some 200 km off the coast, came to public attention earlier this month when Providence and their junior partners Sosina Exploration, farmed out a large portion of the field to American giants ExxonMobil.

CLARE pharmacists have this week voiced their opposition to locating pharmacies in health centres, claiming it would reduce patient choice.

The pharmacists have also highlighted the potential risks to patient safety, if a doctor were to have a financial interest in a pharmacy and the traditional divide between doctor and pharmacist was not maintained.

It is current Government policy that there should be no business relationship of any kind between prescriber and dispenser. Pharmacists are calling on the Government to implement this policy, in the “interests of patient safety and patient choice”.

Responding to suggestions that this was merely the pharmacists looking out for their own interests, Shannon pharmacist Feidhlim Hillery, said that while pharmacy was a business, patients welfare was the first concern of pharmacists, as it was with doctors.

Dr Hillery said while pharmacies in health centres seemed to offer the patient a convenient one-stop shop, they were convenient for the small number of times that most patients needed to go to a pharmacy immediately after attending a doctor.

“However, what about all the other occasions when somebody needs to go to a pharmacy? People may only need the services of a doctor twice a year, but many need to go to a pharmacy every month to obtain repeat medication.

“The pharmacies that are located in health centres, are generally not as convenient for people as their local community pharmacy, as health centres tend to be located on the outskirts of towns. Many patients, particularly those who are most vulnerable in the community and those who are dependent on public transport, would be deprived of easy access to pharmacy services,” he said.

“If pharmacies are allowed to operate in these centres, it will enable one pharmacy to corner the market and will undermine the viability of other pharmacies in the neighbourhood, leading to closures. Ireland currently has a very wide network of pharmacies around the country, with many pharmacies operating late-night services, seven days a week.

“However, a reduction in the number of pharmacies in the community would mean reduced patient choice. We accept that doctors operate to the highest standards, however it is vital that patients can feel confident that there is no commercial relationship between a prescriber and a dispenser,” he added.