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TRACES of the GM maize Herculex Rw, which is not authorized in the EU, has been detected in samples taken from animal feed imported from the United States according to the Department of Agriculture and Food.

This GM Herculex Rw maize va- riety is authorised in a number of countries including the US and an application for its approval in the EU has been made. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has evaluated the application as part of the EU authorisation process and has

recently given a favourable opinion.

The authority concluded that it is unlikely that the placing on the market of products consisting of, or produced from GM maize Herculex Rw will have adverse effects on hu- man or animal health or the environ- eeloale

The Food Safety Authority of Ire- land (FSAT) have been consulted and they agree with EFSA’s evaluation.

Some 6,000 tonnes of Corn Glu- ten Feed and 6,200 tonnes Distillers Dried Grain was discharged at Dub- lin port from a ship, the MV Pakrac, which went on to Rotterdam where it discharged the remainder of the ani-

mal feed cargo.

The cargo of animal feed was certi- fied as not containing GM Herculex Rw maize product. However, infor- mation was received from the Dutch authorities that official samples tak- en by them had tested positive. The Department immediately arranged for samples to be taken from the ani- mal feed off-loaded at Dublin Port and sent to the State Laboratory for analysis. The State Laboratory in- formed the department that the sam- ples submitted had tested positive for eloceilo.@ ays

When the department received the information on positive results

from the Dutch authorities they 1m- mediately put in place a restriction order on the 7,000 tonnes that still remained in portal stores.

In the meantime, steps have been taken to take out of circulation ma- terial that had left the portal stores. While some of the material has al- ready been incorporated into the an- imal feed chain, it 1s unlikely, based on the EFSA evaluation, to have any adverse effects on human or animal health or the environment.

The application for approval of GM maize Herculex Rw will be con- sidered at EU Standing Committee Meeting in Brussels on June 8.

THE problems faced by Irish sheep farmers made national media head- lines last Thursday following a successful stunt by the Irish Cattle and Sheep Association in Dublin’s O’Connell’s street.

The farming organisation took ad- vantage of last Wednesday’s morato- rium of general election coverage in the media and succeeded in bringing the issue to a non-farming viewer- ship for the first time.

ICSA sheep farmers gave away their lamb on Dublin’s O’Connell

Street last Wednesday, giving more than 400 families a free and tasty evening meal.

The promotion was designed to highlight the low lamb prices that farmers are currently getting while giving the public an opportunity to sample Irish lamb, which is at its very best at this time of year.

“The lamb giveaway this morning was a huge success. We are delighted at the public’s appreciation for Irish lamb, which is at its prime at this time of year, and also at the public’s understanding of the plight of the sheep farmers,” said ICSA president

Malcolm Thompson.

“They were genuinely shocked to hear that farmers are only getting €66 – €76 for their lambs, which would retail in the supermarkets for between €240 – €278.”

ICSA Sheep Chairman, Mervyn Sunderland, thanked members of the public for offering their support to farmers. “This kind of support for ICSA, and all sheep farmers, is very heartening. Maybe now the retailers will realise that the price they are paying for Irish lamb is unsustaina- ble, and that they had better improve their prices to farmers if they want

to maintain supplies and satisfy their customers.”

“If this doesn’t happen, the Irish consumer will be forced to buy sub- standard imported products at an inflated price, and today’s public response clearly demonstrates that they don’t want that.”

The best of cuts, including legs of lamb, chops and various joints, all reared in Laois, were handed out to the public, as well as hot lamb chunks, freshly prepared, so that the passing public got a sample to taste and a sample to bring home and try out with a simple recipe.

NORTH Clare community groups will be prohibited from ‘hounding’ Clare County Council for top-up funding should they fall short in capital for developing playgrounds, it was decided at yesterday’s local area meeting of Clare County Council in Ennistymon.

A motion put forward by Cllr Flan Garvey (FF), proposed that Corofin playground would be granted one off top-up funding of €12,000 from the 2008 Playground Grant Scheme (PGS), but that no future proposal for extra funding for playgrounds would be entertained.

The proposal came following a dis- cussion from the council as to which playground should benefit from some €§3,000 available under the PGS for 2007. New playgrounds in Lahinch, Ballyvaughan and Kilmaley all made applications for the funding as well as the Corofin playground which re- ceived some €50,000 last year.

‘“T’m very clear in my conscience that our commitment this year is to Lahinch. I would suggest that we al- locate the €12,000 to Corofin out of next year’s funding,” said Garvey. “If committees know they can come back to us every year if they over- spend then they will be coming back and hounding us year after year.

“As from next year, no-one will

get extra funding should they over- spend.”

An informal decision was made last year to prioritise the Lahinch play- ground, which is being developed in parallel with a major council devel- opment on the village’s promenade.

“T have no problem with Corofin getting more funding we would first need to find out how much it would take to complete the playground in Lahinch. We don’t want to have a half finished playground in Lahinch. There cannot have a finished play- eround without money. We gave a commitment to Lahinch last year, a unanimous commitment from this committee,” said Cllr Richard Nagle (FF).

“The playground committee and local community in Lahinch have en- gaged in a load of fundraising events which have raise some €50,000. Everything is in place to proceed, with a view to the community sup- port and the commitment that we gave last year. I think we should pro- eTere Ma Laem ore Lie

After lengthy discussion it was de- cided that the Lahinch playground would receive the full allocation of this year’s funding, with Corofin to receive an amount of funding from the 2008 budget. Other playgrounds, such as in Ballyvaughan and Kilma- ley will also be considered for fund- ing in 2008.

FITZPATRICK & Co are currently selling a Retail Unit in the Bru na Sionna development in Shannon, Clare. In a superb central location adjacent to SkyCourt Shopping Cen- tre and within easy reach of Shan- non International Airport and Shan- non Free Zone, Bru na Sionna when completed, will consist of approx. 230 residential units, 11 commercial

units and car parking.

Under construction by Paddy Burke Builders Ltd. and available through Fitzpatrick & Company is a 205 sq. m. prime ground floor unit with full planning permission for Retail use.

The unit will be ideally located within the Bru na Sionna develop- ment with adjacent parking.

For further details, please contact Rory Fitzpatrick at 061 361118.

THE Emerging Talent Programme concludes in Clare next Monday June 4, with a four county end of year “Development Day” featuring Clare, Limerick County, Roscommon, and North Tipperary at Lees Road.

The focus of the day is on player development with each league field- ing two squads each playing three games. One half of each match will be a coaching game where coaches will stop and coach players during the games.

Through the programme for under- age talent in Clare aged from 1I1 — 16,

the FAI are seeking to develop the game outside the traditional urban centres of Cork and Dublin.

The programme has been developed along similar guidelines to many of the European Countries such as Italy, France, Germany and Holland. The major difference between those pro- grammes and the FAI’s is that each Emerging Talent Squad is coached and administrated by qualified lo- cal people in each of the 33 School- boys/girls leagues in the country. The CPSSL agreed to join the FAI’s emerging talent programme last Sep- tember

The aim of the Emerging Talent

programme is to identify, monitor, and develop players from age 11 to 16 that are capable of reaching their full potential.

The CPSSL began year one with the selection of a Squad of 30 play- ers born in 1995 in August 2006. This squad was then enlarged to 44 players at Christmas 2006. The pro- gramme consisted of 34 coaching sessions run weekly from August to May. The sessions have to be con- ducted by minimum two qualified coaches.

These coaches who commit to working with league emerging tal- ent quads then get their additional

coaching qualifications funded by the FAI as long as they stay in the programme. The coaching sessions are designed and implemented in line with an age appropriate syllabus to try and produce all round players.

Eventually the players will be able to have the confidence and talent to express themselves in competitive situations such as Kennedy Cup and Umbro Cup. Each League Emerging Talent Squad has to meet strict set criteria during and at the end of year in order to receive tunding from the Wave

According to Denis Hynes FAI Re- gional Development Officer, “Any

kid now living in any part of Ire- land can now get access to the pro- gramme. There is no need for kids to have to leave their locality be that club or league to receive top quality coaching”.

All club coaches and parents to at- tend the day. The under 11 Emerging Talent Development Day begins at llam and runs to 3pm at Lees Road.

AN 81-YEAR-OLD retired farmer from Sixmilebridge who drowned in February may have slipped and fallen into the river, an inquest heard last Ni sle @

Ennis Coroner’s Court heard that the body of Tom McInerney was found, some time after he went missing from his home, at Ballysheen, Sixmilebri- dge, on February 26 last.

McMclInerney was well known and well respected in the locality, where he looked after the local church.

The inquest heard that Tom was at home with his wheelchair-bound nephew Michael, that evening.

The two watched television and Michael went to bed at 7pm.

He woke several times during the night and noticed that his uncle hadn’t brought him tea, as was the norm.

He realised early in the morning that his uncle wasn’t there and the televi- sion was still on in the sitting room.

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He searched for ‘Tom, but could not find him. He went out to the yard and called his name, but did not get a re- sponse.

A neighbour, Eddie Russell, said

Michael phoned him at around 8am and said that his uncle had not brought in his tea, as he usually would.

They searched the house, farm- yard and sheds, before extending the search to the local area.

Mr Russell said he saw a body in the river, close to Mike Gleeson’s pub, a short time later. He identified the body to a garda.

Pathologist Dr Elizabeth Mulcahy carried out an autopsy on Mr MclIner- ney’s body the following day.

She noted there were two small cuts to the forehead and apart from that, there were no other obvious external injuries.

“In my opinion, the cause of death was drowning,” she said.

She said Mr McInerney had “‘signif- icant heart disease”, adding, “it was possible he could have had a cardiac event, that may have caused him to NIB DAKOmssopUh ome

County Coroner Isobel O’Dea said the appropriate verdict was an open one.

“It may well be that Mr MclIner- ney suffered a cardiac incident and slipped,” she said.

She said Mr McInerney was a “*well- known member of the community” whose loss was deeply felt.

IN her first major speech, the newly inaugurated national president of Macra na Feirme, Catherine Buckley, has called on the political parties to commit to devising and implement- ing a national strategy to encourage employers to facilitate employees in working from home through ‘e- working’.

Speaking last week, Ms Buckley, who is the first woman Macra presi- dent said that employers should be incentivised into allowing workers the option of “e-working’.

‘“Work-life balance has been a buzz- phrase for a few years now, but the

concept should not be discounted,” she said.

“It’s widely accepted that working from home can bring huge benefits, helping workers to organise their time more efficiently, work more effectively and reduce the stress of commuting.

“Studies have also shown that by offering employees a flexible work- ing environment – such as the op- tion to work even part-time from the home — productivity and employee retention levels are increased while costs can be reduced.”

She pointed out that giving people the opportunity to work from home would also be an effective way of al-

lowing local people in rural areas the chance to work in the areas where they are living, providing them with more time to become involved in community life rather than wasting hours commuting.

“If more people were facilitated in this way, it would reduce the number of commuters on our roads, improve peoples’ family hfe and would also mean that less people are wasting hours and hours per week stuck in their cars increasing carbon emis- sions and having a detrimental im- pact on the environment,” she con- abOLeCoe

“While everybody pays lip service to balanced regional development,

it has only had limited success. Yet if companies were to adopt a more enlightened approach in facilitating working from home, I believe they would benefit significantly in terms of staff retention and increased pro- Clie UAL AYAae

According to Buckley, many em- ployers and employees may not be aware of the fact that equipment provided to an employee by his/her employer is not assessed for tax as a benefit-in-kind so long as it is used primarily for business use.

She pointed out that an employer can also provide expenses to cover costs such as heating and light, with- out the employee being taxed.

THE IFA has reignited the war of words between farmers and factories this week by launching a blistering attack on the beef factories for the price paid to winter finishers.

IFA President, Padraig Walshe, lashed factories, describing it as “an outright disgrace and a body blow” inflicted by factories on the coun- try’s best and most committed beef producers.

Beef finishers have taken a ham- mering this spring and there was now a serious question mark over beef factories’ commitment to a 52-

week supply from Irish farmers.

The IFA President said the big play- ers now had significant investment in Brazil and he was highly suspicious that price manipulation was taking place, not just in the Irish market, but across Europe including Italy, which has always been a high-priced outlet for beef and cattle.

‘Factories that had talked up cat- tle prices in November and Decem- ber were now gone to ground and messing farmers around getting cat- tle killed, and at bad prices,” said Walshe.

“Tam so angry at factories that to- day I have called on Minister Cough-

lan to put a stay on the €50 million government grants she announced for the industry some weeks ago, un- til law and order 1s restored.

“T am demanding that the Depart- ment of Agriculture publish the weekly kill for each factory. This in- formation is available in the Depart- ment and I’ve repeatedly asked for it to be published in the interests of transparency.

“The Minister for Agriculture must stop the foot—dragging. If factories have nothing to hide, then the figures will make it quite clear that the beef leaving the plant was slaughtered under the supervision of the Depart-

ment’s vets in that plant.”

The IFA President said that unless the meat factory owners put forward real and coherent marketing plans to lift the price of Irish beef, there is no reason the government should fund their Irish plants and allow them in- vest their own capital in Brazil.

“IT am also calling on the Minister to ban trade in imported beef by li- censed exporters to preserve the integrity and good name of Irish beef, both at home and in our export markets. A factory with an export h- cence should not be allowed import or handle South American beef on the same premises,’ he added.

THE inadequate public sewerage in- frastructure in the greater Ennis area is beginning to halt residential devel- opment on the outskirts of the town.

Clare County Council and Ennis Town Council jointly refused plan- ning permission for a development that would have opened up lands at Bunnow, Doora, Skehanagh and Clar- eabbey for housing development.

The council refused to grant plan- ning permission to Gareth Kelly on

four grounds. One of these is that the council “is not satisfied that there is sufficient capacity for the existing Clareabbey treatment plant to ac- commodate the proposed develop- nates Laan

It is understood that a new €50 mil- lion plant may not be in place for two to three years and further planning applications may be refused, pending the completion of the new plant.

Mr Kelly had lodged plans seeking planning for a sewerage and water supply scheme to facilitate the devel-

opment of the lands 1n question.

The proposal was said to be “pre- mature, pending the completion of an integrated sewerage design scheme to serve the general locality”.

Mr Kelly applied to have a total of 150 acres of land in those areas re- zoned from low-density housing to residential/commercial and remove the flood risk designation as part of the review of the Ennis and Environs Development Plan.

A further impediment to future housing growth around Ennis has

also been identified with the council refusing planning permission pend- ing the completion of a flood risk study of lands around Ennis.

The council pointed out that the proposed development encroaches on an area of land zoned as “flood risk” in the 2003 Ennis and Environs De- velopment Plan- the role and future of which is under review at present.

The council also ruled that it is not satisfied that the applicant has demonstrated sufficient legal inter- est to enable him to carry out the de-

velopment and that the route of the proposed Quin Road to Skehanagh roundabout ‘link road’ is not in ac- cordance with part of the develop- ment plan.

The Department of the Environ- ment and the National Roads Au- thority (NRA) also raised concerns about the application.

The department stated that a major development in this low-lying coastal floodplain area could create a need for upgraded flood defences in the OUTRUN Kon

can reveal.

Folklore, which is being developed by Sony Computer Entertainment, is scheduled for a worldwide release in October of this year and is set in a fantasy version of the north Clare AUN ETSXon

Little is presently known about the game but it 1s believed to be a “dark fantasy” inspired by fairy tales and ancient adventure stories.

The game’s version of Doolin is de- scribed as a “mysterious town” where it is said that the living can speak to the dead. It follows the story of two strangers, Keats and Ellen, who are drawn together to uncover a myster1- ous legend of the town, which serves as a gateway between Earth and a number of fantastic other worlds in- habited by creatures, fairies, spirits

and monsters.

“Doolin is a worldwide tourist at- traction and it doesn’t surprise me that Playstation would decide to model a game on the town,” said lo- cal councillor, Martin Conway (FG).

“It is a unique spot, there is a magi- cal feel about the place. I think that Doolin itself is the best attraction for tourists but this could also be a help, not just for Doolin but for the whole north Clare region.

“With Fine Gael going into Gov- ernment, I would be fighting to see supports put in place for more projects like this as well as films and TV to be promoted in the area. Look at the boost that Fr Ted had for the area when it was shot here. It was a brilliant boost, especially as it came in off season times of the year.”

Folklore is due for release on the PS3 later this year.