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ALMOST 60 students at Ennisty- mon’s Mol an Oige Steiner School will be going ‘to school through the falls’ from September following the eranting of planning permission for four prefabs at last weeks meeting of Clare County Council.

Parents, teachers and_ students were in council chambers for the announcement last week which re- ceived the unanimous support of all county councilors present.

The planning will allow the school to erect four prefab buildings on a site beside the Falls Hotel. It is an important step for the school which is involved in a long running battle to secure official state recognition from the Department of Education.

“We are delighted with the unani- mous cross party support received from Clare County Council in fa- vour of the temporary re-zoning of a site in Ennistymon for Mol an Oige school,” said Mary Fahy, secretary of Mol an Oige.

“This honoured a previous guar- antee made by the April ’06 council meeting when a unanimous motion was passed in support of Steiner multi-denominational schools in north Clare.

“We would like to sincerely thank the 25 county councillors present. Their lOO per cent support reflects the broad support in the local com- munity for diversity in education. Sincere thanks to the planning au- thorities for furthering our applica- tion for temporary planning.”

Hopes are now high that the schools new premises will help in the schools aim of getting official state recogni- tion. To date the school has received no support from the Department of Education and has survived through an ongoing series of fund raising events.

“Our understanding is that a posi- tive recommendation went from the New School’s Advisory Committee to the Department of Education,” she continued.

“With 56 pupils pre-enrolled in Mol an Oige for September ’07, we are confident that Minister Hanafin will respect the growing trend in multi-denominational education and respond to the need for choice in education in rural Ireland.

Steiner schools approach learning

in childhood through a process of imitation and example. For exam- ple, language development in Steiner Schools is addressed through songs, poems and movement games.

Extensive time is given for children to play freely, under the guidance of adult(s), in a home-like classroom environment that includes natural materials. The school emphasises the importance of children experiencing the rhythms of the year and seasons, including seasonal festivals drawn from a variety of traditions.

MUSIC lover in north Clare are in have a real treat in store next month with the arrival of the Munich Boys and Girls Choir to Ennistymon.

The 40 strong German choir have gained renown over the years through a series of international appearance and now spends most of each sum- mer touring across Europe and North America.

The choir, which contains members from between the ages of 10 and 20, will perform in Ennistymon Church on Wednesday, August 22.

The concert itself is free, but organ-

isers are appealing to the local peo- ple to pitch in by offering the mem- bers of the choir a place to stay on the evening of the concert.

‘The choir contains about 40 mem- bers, 20 boys and 20 girls. They travel all around Europe during the summer months playing concerts as they go to pay their way,” said Can- non Richard Thorpy.

“The concerts themselves are free but the people who attend are asked to make a small donation and they also sell CD’s after the performance to help pay for the journey. To save on the costs they also ask local people to put them up for the night and save on

the cost of accommodation.”

Ennistymon Church has hosted a number of high profile performances in recent years, most notably the Irish National Orchestra last year.

“We are looking for people to host some of the children, there are about 40 in total and about six or seven adults who travel with them. We al- ready have a good few people signed to help put the children up for the night, some are taking two children but there have been others who say they can take four or five,’ continued Cannon Thorpy.

“They have been touring in various countries and have had a number of

concerts in Ireland before this. It is how they spend their summers. They sing a great variety of music, from the classical to the more religious songs, so there should be something for everyone’s taste.”

The group will arrive in the early afternoon of August 22, and have a short rehearsal before the perform- ance that evening. After spending the evening in Ennistymon they will be leaving the area early on August 23.

Anyone interested in taking in members of the choir for the evening should contact 065 7071346. The concert will take place in Ennisty- mon Church on August 22 at 8pm.

A 17-YEAR-OLD youth was in Garda custody in Kilrush yesterday, amid allegations that a 14-year-old girl was raped in the town at the weekend.

A woman made a complaint to gardai on Saturday that her daugh- ter had been raped by a young man,

who was known to her, the previous night.

The 17-year-old was arrested yes- terday afternoon. He can be held for up to 24 hours. The young girl was treated at the Sexual Assault Unit at Limerick regional hospital and inter- viewed by gardai. Gardai say they are not looking for anyone else in relation to the incident.

Elsewhere in west Clare, gardai are investigating the theft of a shotgun during a break-in to a house near Cranny, on Sunday.

The house, located on the Cranny/ Ballynacally road, was ransacked between Ipm and midnight. A sin- gle-barrelled licensed shotgun and a portable television were taken in the incident.

BUSINESS interests have reacted to news that one of the mid-west’s larg- est employers is to cut jobs by say- ing that the situation could have been worse.

Rita McInerney, CEO of the Ennis Chamber of Commerce, has said that it bodes well that the Limerick Dell plant will only be losing 3 percent of the workforce as opposed to the 10 percent being shaved off elsewhere.

And the 80 to 100 jobs which will go at the Raheen Plant will all be voluntary redundancies, it was point- ree) b

While the cuts at Dell Ireland were smaller than expected McInerney said that it was “important for us to remain vigilant, to listen to the needs of industry and convey that back to the Government.”

She added that there had been many examples “of multi-nationals scaling down and coming good again so that they take on more people than they let go in the first place. I would hope that will be the case with Dell”.

Limerick chamber also reacted to the voluntary redundancy package announced at Dell’s Limerick plants, saying that although it was disap- pointing to hear of any job losses in Limerick, the announcement was

not a surprise and that realistically the situation could have been a lot worse.

“Luckily the global target was not sought in Limerick, otherwise three times more jobs could have been lost and the situation would be a lot more serious” said Reginald Freake, Pres- ident of Limerick chamber.

Staff were informed shortly before llam last Thursday that the company would be seeking voluntary redun- dancies. Dell would not comment on the details of the redundancy pack- age beyond describing it as “com- ORLA ome

But sources close to the company say that Dell is offering between 80 and 100 staff a redundancy package of six weeks’ pay per year worked, capped at one year’s salary. Job cuts are being sought among skilled staff from support functions such as IT, HR, marketing and manufacturing management and supervisors.

Production line staff will not be entitled to apply for redundancy.

Last month, Dell CEO Michael Dell announced that the company would reduce its global workforce by 10 percent. The company has been hit by falling sales of desktop computers and last year lost its spot as the world’s top PC maker to rival Hewlett- Packard.

SHERRY FitzGerald Hussey Mad- den, Ennistymon, have just reduced the asking price on a superb detached

house in a peaceful rural setting in Kilshanny, by €20,000. The new price representents excellent value for money at €375,000.

Located in Gortaboul, Kilshanny,

this recently constructed four bed- room dormer house, is presented to the market in excellent condition, with lots of stylish features and fin- ishes.

It occupies a 0.6 acre site and there’s a detached garage on the grounds. The garage is fully plumbed and fea- tures a stairwell leading to additional accommodation at first floor level.

The internal accommodation com- prises a spacious, tiled entrance porch, a kitchen cum dining room, with fully fitted kitchen units, with tiled splashbacks. The dining room area has wooden flooring and there’s access to a conservatory from this room. The conservatory, enjoys beau- tiful views over the rolling country- side and has double doors leading to the rear garden. The utility room is also very well kitted out.

The living room has an open fire with external gas supply, wooden floors and tranquil views. Also on the ground floor is a double bed- room, with double aspect windows and wooden floors, there’s also a good sized bathroom on this floor.

Upstairs are three additonal bed- rooms and a large bathroom. The bedrooms are all double sized.

This house is close to Ennistymon and to the village of Kilfenora.

For full details contact 065 7072833.

THE Minister for Agriculture, Fish- eries and Food Mary Coughlan, ac- companied by her colleague Minister of State John Browne, met with rep- resentatives of the major fishermens’ organisations at Agriculture House in Dublin last week.

Among the issues discussed were progress on the implementation of the new Seafood Strategy and the fu- ture development of the sector.

Minister Coughlan welcomed the Opportunity to meet with the catch- ing side of the industry to discuss important issues of concern to them and listened carefully to the case put forward by them.

She said, “I intend to work with the Federation and also to use the con- tacts I have built up at the Agricul- ture and Fisheries Council to pursue Ireland’s interests at EU level”.

Following a long meeting all par- ties fully endorsed the new Seafood Strategy that had resulted from the work of the Review Group led by Dr. Noel Cawley. Minister Cough- lan noted that all are committed to working positively to deliver on the outcomes”.

GoM etclmp usta Vue PMO LoM\U EINK Ro MEK ID Ese! the industry that it was a priority to get EU Commission agreement on a new decommissioning scheme as early as possible. Minister Coughlan welcomed the establishment of the

Federation which gives a single voice to fishermen right around the coast- line. She assured the Federation that she and her officials are committed to regular contact with the indus- try in the future and agreed to meet chee NDOM OMG elomr-lelaepesyee

In November 2006 the four main fishing organisations, Irish South and West Fishermen’s Organisation, Killybegs Fishermen’s Organisation, Irish Fish Producers Organisation and the Irish South and East Fisher- men’s Organisation, united into one representative organisation for the catching sector, to be called the Fed- eration of Irish Fishermen.

The Federation advises that it rep- resents over 90 per cent of full-time

fishing vessels over 12 metres in length in the country.

The Seafood Strategy Review Group, or Cawley Group, was estab- lished in June 2006, under the chair- manship of Dr. Noel Cawley, sup- ported by Mr. Joey Murrin and Mr. Ruain O’ Bric.

The objective was to consult with all stakeholders to devise a strategy for the 2007-13 period for the deliv- ery of a sustainable and profitable seafood industry in Ireland.

The establishment of the Cawley Group, and its analysis of the current state of the seafood industry, coin- cides with the ending of the current National Development Plan (NDP), and the advent of the NDP 2007-13.

IT looks increasingly likely that the Minister for Agriculture, Fisher- ies 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 resolution is the ongoing issue concerning BSE testing.

Indeed Coughlan came under re- newed pressure to move on the is- sue of compensation for the cost of testing animals between 30 and 36 peeved ete

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 McMahon, under the terms of “Iowards 2016’, a commit- ment was secured that the Govern- ment 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 level.

Mr. McMahon added that the mat- ter was perfectly simple – farmers cannot continue to carry this cost.

‘At a time when beef farmers are under severe pressure on prices and costs, it is essential that regulatory costs are kept to a minimum.

BSE testing of cattle between 30 and 36 months cost farmers nearly €6 million in 2006 and farmers now want to see this cost removed imme- diately”, said McMahon.

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 re- quired once the EU raise the age of BSE testing. It would, however, 1m- mediately meet the commitment give under “Towards 2016’ and would re- move a substantial cost on beef farm- ers at this time of depressed prices,” concluded McMahon.

ALMOST two years after the first emergence of the dreaded HSNI1 Strain of bird flu, its effects are still being felt across the world.

Even though Ireland has yet to con- firm a single case of the dreaded dis- ease, the related industry and social pass-times continue to be affected on an almost daily basis.

An example of this was seen last week when the Minister for Agri- culture, Fisheries and Food, Mary Coughlan, announced an immediate ban on pigeon racing to Ireland from France and the Channel Islands.

This action was taken following the confirmation of cases of HSNI avian

‘flu in swans in the Moselle region of eastern France and a subsequent deci- sion by the French authorities to ban pigeon racing throughout France.

Minister Coughlan also confirmed that her officials had been in close contact in recent days with colleagues in the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in Belfast and, given the all-island approach which the two Departments have been op- erating, said that a similar measure was also being introduced in North- ern Ireland today.

“The current ornithological advice available to the Department, from the National Parks and Wildlife Service, suggested that the recently confirmed cases in the Czech Repub-

lic, Germany and France did not sig- nificantly increase the risk to Ireland and that the overall risk of the intro- duction of HSN1 avian “flu to Ireland remained low,” she said.

‘Nonetheless, these measures are appropriate and entirely consistent with the actions taken by the French and UK authorities.”

Racing between Britain and Ireland and throughout the island will con- tinue to be permitted.

Coughlan reiterated that, notwith- standing the current low risk to Ire- land, there was no room for com- placency and she urged continued vigilance among the general public.

She strongly advised the poultry industry of the need to maintain very

high levels of biosecurity and added that a considerable amount of infor- mation and advice, for the poultry industry and the general public is available at www.birdflu.ie

Poultry flockowners have also been reminded of the grant scheme, in- troduced by Minister Coughlan’s department, for the installation of water chlorination facilities in com- mercial poultry units.

The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food’s helpline to which unusual patterns of wild bird or poultry mortalities should be re- ported is 1890 252283.

IT seems that the European Om- budsman, Nikiforos Diamandouros, is going to have to brush up on all things Irish, as it was revealed last week that at least three of the Irish Farming Organisation have lodged official complaints with his office.

The ICMSA and Farmers for Fair- ness in Europe (FFE), lodged a join complaint with Ombudsman, target- ing both the European Commission and the Council of the European Union on grounds of maladministra- tion by failing to ban Brazilian beef imports.

The complaint, which was drawn up in ICMSA Head Office, centres on what ICMSA President, Jackie

Cahill, has described as ‘the incon- trovertible evidence’ that the failure to ban beef imports from Brazil is in breach of EC law.

“We think we have identified the Commission’s vulnerable spot on this issue, which infuriates us all. The European Ombudsman func- tions in a similar way to the ombuds- men in member states – he must now undertake a full investigation of all the trails and reports drawn up by the Commission — including any that are as yet unpublished. He must then present his report with recommenda- tions to the European Parliament.

“The complaint is to be issued in the name of FFE and the presidents of the 12 associated farm organisa- tions and according to Mr. Cahill the

‘wriggle-room’ that the Commission have been using on the issue of Bra- Zilian beef will be severely circum- scribed by the formal complaint.”

The formal complaint is of the na- ture of a double-whammy in that the ICMSA/FFE complaint will also argue that the maladministration on the question of Brazilian imports coupled with the onerous regulations imposed on native European beef farmers amounts to an infringement of the rights of those farmers as Eu- ropean citizens as established and guaranteed by the European Court of Justice under the Treaty that estab- lished the European Community.

As a part of the FFE, the ICSA has also echoed the dissatisfaction of the ICMSA with the situation surround-

ing Brazilian beef.

“The Commission is failing in its legal duty to EU citizens by continu- ing to allow beef imports from Bra- Zil,’ said ICSA president Malcolm Thompson.

“The combined efforts of the or- ganisations in FFE are targeted at forcing the Commission to act on the clear veterinary evidence and other information collected by the Food and Veterinary Office of the European Union arising from nu- merous official missions undertaken by that office. In addition, FFE is confident that the Ombudsman will have to factor-in to his deliberations the complete ban on Brazilian beef imports operated by both the US and Australia.”

IT WAS a tale of two teams, two managements too.

Clare players and the backroom of Paidi O Sé, Vincent O’Connor and Kieran Kelleher made a hasty retreat to the dressing room. They wanted out of Cusack Park after the end of what has been a very disappointing year for Clare football.

Apart from the early National League wins over Carlow and Lei- trim, it was a harrowing year, poll- forked by some very disappinting displays.

Take your pick: Monaghan in Cu- sack Park, Roscommon in Hyde Park and worst of all Waterford in Fraher Field. Throw in this Tommy Mur- phy Cup semi-final before a couple of hundred, hence the rush for the dressing room.

Antrim were in no hurry. Play- ers gathered at midfield — first they warmed down, then manager Enda Gormley talked about the road to Croke Park.

Antrim are on that Dublin road and this was a big win, went Gormley’s line as his side exacted some revenge for their defeat to Clare in an All-Ire- land qualifier in Casement Park last year.

Then Gormley broke away to field questions and talked about the importance of this victory for the development of Antrim football. “Certainly at half-time we had a lot of work to do,” admitted the former Tyrone star.

“Clare definitely had the lions share of possession in the first half when

we got caught too deep at times. But in the second half our defence did very well and coped with what Clare could throw at us. We broke well from defence and set up some great attacks.

“A big this for us was midfield in the second half. Joe Quinn put on a great display in the middle of the park and fielded eight or nine ereat balls. That gave us a platform. We were putting good ball into the spaces and forwards ran on to it very well,” he added.

And, no forward impressed more than Conor McGourty who finished with a personal tally of 1-5. Gormley wasn’t surprised. “Conor McGourty is an outstanding talent and we knew that this performance was in him. He’s just one of a number of out- standing players in this team.

“We take a lot of heart from this result and are looking forward to the final. It’s great for these lads. It’s a long time since these footballers played a game in Croke Park. Many people have made little of the Tommy Murphy Cup but for this team and its development it’s very important.

“It’s a big stepping stone — we’ve said that we’re using this year’s Tom- my Murphy Cup to build for next year’s National League campaign. The fellas have responded really well and we’re looking forward to our day out in Croker.”

Clare, meanwhile, look towards a very uncertain future.