Month: July 2006

SPIRITS were high in the Kilrushbased Western Yacht Club this week as its two ships that took place in the Round-Ireland Yacht Race came first and second in the large ship category.

Limerick’s Atlanta Chieftain, whose crew came from the Kilrush Yacht Club, came in first in the Super Zero class, with Clare’s only yacht in the race, The Spirit of Kilrush, coming in second place.

Skipper of ‘The Spirit of Kilrush’, Tom Whelan, was overjoyed with the result and adamant that the crew never dreamed of such success.

“Kilrush never had a ‘Super Zero class’ boat before and this year we had two and won the category,” he told The Clare People .

The Kilrush crew sailed around Ireland in an impressive 116 hours. The overall winner, Cavatina, completed the sail in 153 hours, but when the handicaps were applied it was deemed the overall winner.

Mr Whelan said there were many high points for the crew along the way. One of the biggest highlights was when The Spirit of Kilrush came in ahead of the professionallymanned New Zealand yacht, Konica Minolta Zana. The New Zealand boat later finished third behind the two Western Yacht Club yachts.

The elated businessman said the crew hoped to get home first but that was before they learnt that the Konica Minolta Zana was entering.

The Spirit of Kilrush is a Volvo 60 yacht. The Volvo 60 is a 19.5m ocean racing yacht and is capable of 35 knots, which is helped by a 5,000 litre of water ballast.

The only other Volvo 60 yacht in the race was sailed by the yacht’s designer, Roy Heiner, who last year sailed around the word in a similar yacht.

“When we saw him entering, we were nervous but then we passed him in Tory Island,” said Mr Whelan. This was another highlight of the trip for the amateur Kilrush crew.

The Spirit of Kilrush was sponsored by local business people who wished to raise the profile of the West Clare capital.

“This costs a lot of money but they supported us so well,” said the Kilrush yacht’s skipper.

Among the local sponsors were Shannon Ferries, Whelan’s Garage, Kilrush Credit Union and 3Ps solutions. Starting in Wicklow, the 704mile round-Ireland race began on Saturday, July 1, with the contenders sailing clockwise around Ireland, keeping all islands to Starboard.

A VERDICT of medical misadventure has been returned in the inquest of a 54-year-old woman, who died at Ennis General Hospital, after attempts were made to insert a central vein line into her neck.

Ennis Coroner’s Court heard that Barbara Canavan, a retired nurse, of Church Street, Ennistymon, was admitted to hospital on June 29, 2004, having had abdominal pain associated with vomiting. She died there on the morning of July 2.

Some time after admission, she was operated on and her condition was reviewed a number of times.

Consultant Surgeon, Dr Denis Ó Ceallaigh, said she was “confused, disorientated and agitated.”

Some time before 9am on July 2, arrangements were made to have the central line inserted, so that medication could be given.

He said the insertion of the line was unsuccessful and she was confirmed dead at 11.15am.

He said “deterioration in her condition really occurred at 10pm the previous day.”

Consultant Anaesthetist, Dr William O’Brien – who, like Dr Ó Ceallaigh was not involved in inserting the central line – told the inquest that from his “contemporaneous records, the patient was expected to die.”

“When I saw the patient initially in ICU, despite her failure to respond to standard treatments administered for these situations, I knew she was a young woman. I took a slight chance that the patient might survive,” he said.

“A chance is worth a chance, in preference to being dead, even though she might die in the effort. Without intervention the outlook was fatal. The patient never stabilised satisfactorily post-operation. Her blood pressure was always temperamental. Her pulse rate was always racing,” he added.

The deceased’s sister Mary Healy, was at the Intensive Care Unit on the morning in question. She stated, in her deposition, “In my opinion I feel Barbara arrested while they were trying to insert the central line.”

Pathologist, Dr James O’Driscoll, said Ms Canavan’s death was due to cardiac failure, associated with an extensive haemorrhage to the right side of the neck.

“I believe the haemorrhage to the right side of the neck was the final event in this woman’s illness,” he said, adding that he believed that damage to the vein in the neck caused the haemorrhage.

“I would conclude they [the injuries] came in a critically ill woman, during an attempt to insert a central line,” he added.

County Coroner Isobel O’Dea and Inspector Tom Kennedy expressed sympathies to Ms Canavan’s family.

THE people of Lahinch have been left in a constant state of fear with some even considering taking the law in their hands following last weekends rioting now in the town.

People in the town suffered almost 5 hours of torment on Saturday July 1, when a large group of drunken youths went on a rampage through the towns streets.

“The fear is very real,” said Donogh O’Loghlin, Chairperson of the Community Council. “There was a 90-year-old woman who had to ring the guards three times and she was scared, I can tell you. They were spinning the wheels of their cars up around her house and there were three houses beside her which all had their windows broken.

“There are not that many people left living in Lahinch. The people who can get out are going out.”

One possible solution, according to the community council is the enforcement of the long promised by-laws for anti-social behavior in Lahinch.

“We received a message from Ger Dollard apologising for the delay in getting the by-laws in,” said Mr O’Loghlin.

“The message I got said that they are sitting on the Minister’s desk just waiting to be signed into law.

“They are putting in every law you can think of about dogs and horses, but they are holding up the one law that we have been campaigning for 4 years.”

In a statement to The Clare People , the community council said that they would be organising a public meeting in the next couple of weeks to decide how best to tackle the problem. They also said that the council rejected the calls from some locals to put civilian protection in place saying that the gardaí were the best people to tackle the problem.

“People blame the gardaí but I don’t blame them,” continued Mr O’Loghlin. “You are talking about 1,100 people coming out of the three club venues, not to mention about 1,000 people from the pubs.

It’s not possible for four guards to deal with that. It’s not possible to police to have that volume of people in the village.”

The statement went on to make four specific demands; that the anti social by-laws be enforced; that the local gardaí be supplied with better equipment and more man power; that the granting of late licences to night clubs must be better controlled; and that the ‘irresponsible letting’ of local holiday homes for stag nights and party’s be put to an end.

A UNIT on the grounds of Our Lady’s, which was last year described as in urgent need of closure, has shown improvement in the most up to date Mental Health Commission report, although a number of shortcomings remain.

In 2004, the commission was particularly critical of St Anthony’s Unit in Ennis, “urgently” requiring that the unit be closed.

“All residents must have full multidisciplinary assessment of their future care and accommodation needs and be transferred to more appropriate community facilities,” it said.

The 2005 report shows that just one patient has had a “functional needs assessment carried out and it is planned that the other patients will have a needs assessment.

“There are no formal risk assessment tools in use within the unit,” the report states.

The document also reports that there are two people who have “moderate intellectual disabilities within the unit”.

In 2004, the commission criticised the unit for having “no input from the intellectual disability services”.

In the most up to date report, there is still no mention of such a service being provided.

The unit, which was used to take some of the long stay patients from Our Lady’s Hospital when it closed, did show “considerable” improvement in its environment.

Patient numbers have been reduced from 19 to 11 in the 12-month period and the empty bedrooms converted into an activity area, a visitor’s room and a games area.

“The number of toilets had increased to a more appropriate level and there were toilets outside,” the report said.

“The garden area was considerably improved.”

The unit’s records, however, do not support staff reports that a named system of nursing is used in the hospital.

“The nursing staff interviewed by the Inspectorate reported they are keen to implement evidence-based practice within the unit but needed some support and guidance on how to do this.

“It is also evident that the staff need training in the process of care planning.”

“Access to therapy monthly meetings are held within the unit and all disciplines attended. However, it was reported that none of the nursing staff from the unit attended these meetings.”

There does not appear to be any training in the management of violence or debriefing “after serious untoward incidents”.

The report recommends that a policy “on risk management, incorporating training for staff and for debriefing” following such incidents should be implemented.

Other recommendations included an individual care plan be provided for each patient developed by a multidisciplinary team with the assistance of the patient.

A STUDY into the mental health services in the county has highlighted a number of shortcomings, most notably the need to get patients and clients more involved in their own care plan.

The annual report by the Mental Health Commission also pointed to some improvements in the service, while highlighting previous recommendations that remain unchanged.

Across all the services in the Clare area the commission has recommended that each patient have an individualised care plan that contains a social, psychological, occupational, nursing and medical needs assessment, including a risk assessment, and a documented set of goals collaboratively developed by the patient and the multidisciplinary team. It also recommended reviews of the care plan.

“There must be documented evidence that the patient has been involved in developing his or her care plan, and the patient must have a copy of the care plan. The care plan must be co-ordinated by the patient’s key worker.”

Referring to the acute psychiatric unit in Ennis, it criticised the practice of patients sleeping in other facilities due to bed shortages in the service.

“When bed occupancy is high, some patients area transferred to other units, through new arrangements has just been implemented to cease this practice.”

There is no multidisciplinary care plans in place in the 40-bed unit it emerged. The report recommends that the unit be self staffed to ensure continuity of care, that patients should have access to make drinks an snacks and the bed capacity in the high observation area be reduced.

“Alterations should be made to the seclusion room to ensure adequate ventilation, communication and sanitation,” said the report.

The high observation area currently has no toilet and no communication facility. A shortage of staff was highlighted at Unit Five in St Joseph’s Hospital, which meant some patients cannot be accompanied into town.

“Five of the patients leave the unit unaccompanied to attend church or go to the shop.”

In both Units Five and Six, a shortage of space was recorded.

There is also “no access to a garden for people who spend so much time indoors.”

NEW figures this week reveal that 414 complaints from the public about litter, illegal dumping and unauthorised dumping have been received by Clare County Council. Of these, approximately 65 per cent relate to suspected illegal dumping activities.

The figures have been released as part of an ongoing information campaign by the council to prevent the unauthorised collection and disposal of waste.

“Such illegal activity is inexcusable considering there are four recycling centres, including two transfer stations, 54 recycling bring banks and a central waste management facility located in Clare. It is time to stamp out this crime and raise awareness of the importance of our countryside,” said Sean Ward, Acting Director of Service, Environment Directorate.

The litter laws have increased the council’s powers to combat the problem.

Anyone involved in such activity does not necessarily have to be caught in the act in order to face prosecution. Also, if your waste is collected by an illegal collector and illegally dumped, both you and the illegal collector could face prosecution under the Litter Pollution Act 1997, Waste Management Act 19962000 and Protection of the Environment Act 2003, to a maximum of €130,000.

In addition, leaving or throwing litter in a public place can be subject to an on-the-spot fine of €125, or a maximum fine of €3,000 if you are convicted of a litter offence in the District Court. Clare local authorities issued 205 fines in the first half of 2006 alone.

One of the greatest problems still facing the local authority, according to Mr Ward, is the repeated use of various sites for illegal dumping.

It is suspected that several small Limerick-based operators collect waste from estates in Limerick at cut-price rates, and dispose of it illegally in parts of southeast Clare.

“Numerous locations throughout Clare have become prone to such violations and communities must be vigilant when litter offences present. Once located, the site is investigated and where possible, action taken . . .

Roadside checkpoints are also being held in cooperation with Garda, throughout the county, on a regular basis to try and prevent this form of illegal waste collection,” Mr Ward concluded.

MINISTER of State, Tim O’Malley, has called for the Limerick to Galway road to be speeded up and has also backed calls for a direct rail link to the airport as part of plans for the Western Rail Corridor.

Minister O’Malley said that the proposed completion date for the road of 2014 was too far away.

“This project must be brought forward by at least three years and be completed not later than 2011,” the Limerick East TD said.

He added that he was hopeful of getting cooperation from his colleagues in Government in having the plan brought forward.

“The Limerick to Galway motorway should be completed at or around the same time as the motorways linking Dublin to the major cities. I believe this is now achievable. If I can get support from my colleagues in Government for this, then this project could be completed by 2011, up to three years ahead of schedule,” he said.

Pointing to the need for a link from the Western Rail Corridor to the airport, he said that he was “confident there will be positive announcements in this area shortly.”

FINE Gael TD Pat Breen has come out in support of the stance of Shannon-based Aer Lingus workers in relation to job security and pension issue fears.

Deputy Breen was speaking in the Dáil on the Government motion to sell Aer Lingus.

The TD said that Shannon jobs were at risk due to the uncertainties in the industry and the fears raised over the mishandling of the airline’s sale.

He said the workers were the people who had protected the airport through the years, yet their security and pension rights were now in jeopardy.

“They will be the victims of what will happen in Aer Lingus in the future. I worry about the future of those working in the Airbus A330 hangar at Shannon Airport. In a privatised Aer Lingus, the jobs of workers at check-in desks at Shannon Airport could be at stake because a new owner could decide to sub-contract this work.”

He pointed out that Shannon Airport was the second-largest airport in the country, and that it is the “key economic driver for business and tourism in the mid-west region. It is a counterbalance to the immense growth in the eastern region.”

He said that since the withdrawal of World Airways from Shannon Airport, catering work had gone from 3,000 meals a day to 800.

The airport had been the main loser when Aer Lingus decided to cut its services as a reaction to 9/11.

“We lost in the region of 64 flights in Shannon Airport. Since then there has been a continual erosion of services.

“This year we have only four direct flights a week from Shannon to the US. The rest of the services originate in Dublin and go onwards to Shannon. That cuts back capacity for people coming in through our airport.”

Deputy Breen said that the climate was wrong for floating Aer Lingus on the stock exchange, with investor confidence at very low levels.

“Although Ryanair had its highest profits ever this year, the share price is down approximately 15 per cent since the beginning of the year. The share price has been flat over the past three years.

“One might question if this is the correct time to have an initial public offering.”

Deputy Breen accused Transport Minister Martin Cullen of making a fatal mistake in negotiating the three-for-one rule when he renegotiated the Bilateral Agreement last year in the run up to Open Skies.

“As a result of Aer Lingus being so small, in a post Open Skies scenario the company could be swallowed up by the big carriers, such as British Airways and Lufthansa.”

FINE Gael’s Madeleine TaylorQuinn has condemned the Government’s decision to sell Aer Lingus. as “reckless and irresponsible”.

The former Dáil frontbench spokesperson on tourism accused the Government of having “rammed through the Oireachtas the sale of Aer Lingus. They have shown such gross irresponsibility – it is almost beyond belief. They have dismissed the entire interests of Shannon Airport and the people of this county and region, which depend on it.

“Our economic security, and the security of our local communities that comes with balanced regional growth, has just been sacrificed in an act of monumental political foolishness.”

She said that the State’s capacity to underpin regular scheduled flights at Shannon “has proved to be a fundamental cornerstone of our economic security. Now that has been cast aside by people too incompetent to realise that our export and tourism-dominated economy cannot thrive, when the vital infrastructure to support it, is stripped away.”

She added that good economic policy was about providing the necessary infrastructure for the market to grow. “Balanced regional growth is about helping the market to grow in vulnerable areas. But, the end result of this woeful sale is that a viable economic future of the county and the region has just been put in serious jeopardy. I have no doubt that this is something that will impact greatly in the years ahead, particularly as the economy levels out and slows down,” Ms Taylor-Quinn said.

While welcoming the prospect of new US airlines coming into Shannon, she pointed out that these were only seasonal benefits.

“We need scheduled flights – concrete transport infrastructure. Aer Lingus has shown a lack of commitment to this and we have seen this Government rubber-stamp that lack of commitment. Aer Lingus is now almost totally Dublin-focussed, not simply because of the sale, but also because the current Government has sought the removal of the bilateral agreement. Because of the influence that Aer Lingus has on Irish air transport, major technology companies will increasingly need to cluster around Dublin, tourists that should be flying here, will instead fly into Dublin and our local exporters will be forced to transport out of Dublin”’ she said.

THE FLOTATION of Aer Lingus could come with a knock-down price tag, according to international aviation analysts.

The Government last week cleared the way for a September public offering of the airline. But it now appears that estimates are putting the price of the airline much lower than the €1 billion plus, which was the hoped for price tag.

Airline analyst with London company, Dresden Kleinwort, Mike Powell, said that the Government would face a “tightrope walk” in selling Aer Lingus, with a tough time ahead for the Initial Public Offering (IPO).

Aer Lingus will be coming on the heels of the troubled experience of Air Berlin, whose shares continue to trade below their sale price. They were floated on the stock market in May.

“Look how difficult it was getting away the Air Berlin IPO,” said Powell. “It’s not going to be an easy IPO for Aer Lingus. You cannot overprice an airline offering, particularly against a background of rising oil prices.”

Another analyst, Florence Tassan of Société Générale in Paris said that with oil prices remaining at above 70 dollars a barrel, it will be vital that the sale is keenly priced.

“Investors will be cautious and it is likely that the Aer Lingus valuation will be below the valuations for Air Berlin.”

That level of valuation would see the Irish airline floated at around €800 million, below the hoped-for €1.1 billion. On the positive side, traffic figures for airlines such as BA, Easyjet and Air France show that the industry is experiencing its best conditions in six years.

The warnings on overpricing have come just days after workers at Shannon and Dublin staged a protest against privatisation, which saw services in both airports stop for an hour. Just two flights were affected in Shannon, with one flight to London leaving on time, despite delays in check in, and a flight to Chicago leaving an hour late.

Shares in the airline will be aimed primarily at institutional investors, but there will be some shares made available to the public. But to guard against any repetition of the Eircom privatisation in 1999, a minimum investment of €10,000 will be required. Last year, Aer Lingus chairman, John Sharman, said it was right that the airline’s passengers be allowed to invest in the airline.