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AN Ennis-based businessman believes he can reduce the HSE’s exorbitant taxi bill by as much as 40 per cent.

It was revealed at the HSE West’s Regional Health Forum Hospitals’ Committee that as much as €677,000 was spent on taxis bringing non-emergency patients in the Mid West to hospital during the first 10 months of this year.

Now Bus Slánte’s Seán O’Shaughnessy says he has proposed a solution to the local HSE that could reduce that bill by more than €270,000.

Bus Slánte currently services the Mid Western Regional Hospital Ennis, St Joseph’s Hospital Ennis, Shannon Health Centre, the Maternity Hospital Limerick and the Mid Western Regional Hospital Limerick three times a day with an open bus service.

The company plan to add the Orthopaedic Hospital in Croom to the service early next year.

The service is open to patients and the general pubic.

Mr O’Shaughnessy explained that many people with disability or mobility difficulties also use the service for going to Limerick as they can access it easily.

He is proposing that the service can be expanded and used by the hospitals in Clare and Limerick for ferrying non-emergency patients to other hospitals in the mid west for tests – a service that is currently costing the taxpayer hundreds of thousands of euros.

The service would be free to those availing of free travel and could cost just €5 per head to others.

Mr O’Shaughnessy has suggested that taxis could be used to bring patients from rural areas to one of the urban centres and Bus Slánte could then pick them up there.

He said taxis are currently bringing people to hospitals for tests and waiting for them while they are treated.

All the while the cost is increasing.

“There will be no inconvenience to the person (with the new service).

“The only change to the current service is that people would have to change on to the bus,” he said.

Bus Slánte currently has one bus in service and another on the way.

Should it be successful in convincing the HSE of the merits of this idea, it plans to add two more to the fleet, and also hopes to secure charity status.

Clare Representative to the HSE Mid West Regional Forum Cllr Brian Meaney (GP) believes that Mr O’Shaughnessy’s proposal could help reduce the spiralling costs to the health services.

THE DOOLIN Coastguard Unit yesterday confirmed that surfers have made contact in a bid to improve safety measures for surfing near the Cliffs of Moher.

Mattie Shannon said that one of the five surfers who was surfing off the Cliffs of Moher last month when two refused assistance from the Irish Coastguard has made contact to discuss improved safety measures.

“It was agreed that the Coastguard Unit would be notified if the surfers would be going out surfing again and that they would be contactable by VHF radio,” he said.

On November 24 last while engaging in tow-in surfing of the 30 ft Aill na Serracht wave off the Cliffs, two surfers got into difficulty with a third on the shore and they all refused to be winched to safety by a winchman from the Irish Coastguard Helicopter in an rescue effort involving 40 people.

Mr Shannon described the decision by two of the surfers not to accept assistance from the coastguard as “very foolish”.

The latest move comes after the surfers who refused assistance were warned that they could face fines of up to €2,000 each.

Irish Coastguard Service search and rescue manager, Eamon Torpay confirmed that they intended to take action against the surfers concerned.

“We are looking at provisions of the Irish Maritime Safety Act and are consulting with Gardai, Irish Water Safety and the local Water Safety Officer,” he said.

Mr Torpay said that the surfers’ actions “were irresponsible and showed a lack of respect towards the rescue services”.

Last Thursday, the Irish Marine Search and Rescue Committee (IMSARC) described the surfers’ behaviour as ‘completely unacceptable’. They claimed the surfers “refused assistance from the helicopter, because the crew would not recover their surfboards. Eventually the surfers were rescued by the Doolin Coastguard boat and transferred to the Aran Islands lifeboat”.

“During the attempted helicopter rescue, the pilot and crew displayed exceptional airmanship and courage in manoeuvring the aircraft into position to carry out the rescue. They were operating close up against the cliffface and succeeded in lowering the winchman on a 260-foot cable to recover the surfers who had become stranded on rocks below.”

Along with Gardai and the Dept of Defence, the committee is also made up of representatives from the Irish Coast Guard HQ, Naval Service HQ, RNLI HQ Ireland Aircorps HQ and Irish Water Safety.

THERE has been a dramatic increase in the number of cases of Chlamydia, gonorrhoea, and syphilis in the western region, including Co Clare.

Overall figures for HSE West however – an area that encompasses the old Western, Mid-Western and North-western regions – saw a reduction in the number of STIs reported last year, down 16.4 per cent to 2,721. Drops were reported in ano-genital warts down 18 per cent to 1,040, non-specific urethritis down 46.7 per cent to 626 and herpes down 7 per cent to 91.

While the overall number of STIs may have decreased health experts believe that the observed decline could be masking an underlying trend that continues to rise.

There has been a dramatic increase in reported Chlamydia up more than 30 per cent to 817; gonorrhoea was up 34.2 per cent to 51 and syphilis up 85 per cent to 37.

These figures could be the tip of the iceberg however.

Brian Neeson, Health Promotion Functional Manager with the Health Service Executive said, “The figures around a disease like Chlamydia can be misleading because many cases go undetected – about 70 per cent of women and 50 per cent of men will show no symptoms of Chlamydia – and the same is true of gonorrhoea (up to 86 per cent of women and 55 per cent of men are asymptomatic. We cannot be certain how many undetected cases there are so we would ask people to have a check up with their GP or in a STI clinic if they are sexually active.”

Mr Nelson advices that a condom is the best protection and encourages people “to carry condoms as sex is unplanned on many occasions”.

Research into the attitude of people in Ireland towards sex uncovered a clear trend of decreasing condom use across all age groups.

In 18 to 24 year olds the most common reason cited for non-use of a condom was alcohol or drug use (20%), while 18 per cent claimed no contraception was available, 16 per cent said sex was unplanned and 15 per cent did not consider it.

Provisional figures from the HSE also show that slightly more than eight out of ten STIs reported are found in people aged between 20 and 39. The majority of reported STIs – 63.6 per cent – are found in the 20-29-age bracket.

THE PARENTS’ council of Seamount College, faced with the threatened closure of their children’s school, have come up with facts and figures supporting their case that the school should be given a reprieve.

The parents carried out an extensive analysis of the second level educational needs in the Kinvara area and, a spokesman said, their conclusion “is that to lose Seamount College, a quality school with an existing educational infrastructure, will be a catastrophe not just for the community but also for the wider area”. Meanwhile, the school principal is understood to have made an appeal to the trustees, the Sisters of Mercy, not to close the doors.

The analysis carried out by the parents included looking at the latest Census results which confirm the strong population growth in the area.

They also took into consideration existing and future planning permission. “Permission has been granted for 1,216 dwellings within six miles of Seamount College in the last five years and there is enough High Density Residential Zoned Land within 1km of Seamount for another 1200 houses.

“Already within the primary schools of the area, before any of these new houses are built, there are over 450 children that will require education over the next few years,” the spokesman said.

“Neighbouring schools in Oranmore and Gort are at, or near, capacity. We believe that there is a moral and political imperative that we in Kinvara and its environs are afforded the same opportunity that other communities have enjoyed – to move from a single sex school to a modern mixed model to cater for all the children of the catchment. The answer to our educational requirements is not to bus our 500 children out of our catchment across catchment borders to neighbouring schools that are already at or near capacity,” the spokesman said.

The parents say that if the government’s National Spatial Strategy is promoting growth of the N18 GalwayLimerick corridor as a counterweight to Dublin, “why allow the educational infrastructure to be dismantled? Particularly in an area that rapid growth has already started”.

In support of the argument for the school, parents also point to the fact that population growth in the area was 38 per cent over the last four years. In the Kinvara catchment area alone there will be 500 children requiring secondary education by 2010.

“If you add in the three schools that have a strong tradition of attending Seamount College that number rises to 700 children,” the spokesman said.

“THIS is like their Christmas in many ways because many of them don’t have families and would not be looking forward to Christmas Day.”

These are the words of Community Mental Health Nurse, Breda Latham, as she oversees the final dress rehearsal of participants in the concert being staged by mental health support network ‘Embrace’ in Glór on Wednesday, December 20.

“I hope that people come along and support it. That would be most important thing is that people would support it,” she said.

The concert will showcase talented performers who have been working with Embrace, most of whom are new to the stage. They will perform some original work including song and music.

“One in four people suffer mental health difficulties at one time in their life. Music, dance, poetry, story telling and painting allows our creative side to get in touch with ourselves. Building self-worth and self-esteem is all part of recovery and good mental health and it takes great courage to perform in front of a live audience,” Ms Latham explained.

“It is the first ever concert for many involved. It has been very scary and there have been a lot of ups and downs,” she said.

The launch of ‘Laughing Through Depression’, a book of jokes by Aidan Hastings and ‘Send me your Love’ a CD by Anthony Smith will take place on the night.

Mr Hastings will be accompanied on stage by two of his children, Geraldine and James, while his daughter, Claire will be selling the books.

“The hope is that the night will raise a good few pounds for people with disability. My book ‘Laughing Through Depression’ is ideal for The concert starts at 8pm tomorrow adults and kids as it is book full of (Wednesday) at Glor. clean jokes,” he said.

“We will have a good laugh on the night. There will be a lot of fun, a lot of old songs. It is therapeutic for the performers too. It gives us a lift and it is nice to be known that you’re wanted, it is a nice feeling”, he added.

MEMBERS of Clare County Council can look forward to a prosperous New Year as Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government Dick Roche got into the festive spirit this week – announcing an increase in the tax-free expenses that the members can claim.

The Minister also introduced an allowance covering mobile phone expenses as well as improvement to the councillor’s retirement gratuity scheme.

The new expense allowance for the country council members has now been increased by €1,067 which includes the mobile phone allowance. Members will be able to claim €7,555 tax free allowance.

But while the Minister may seem to be very generous to his local authority colleagues during the festive season the money to fund the new allowances will have to be found by Clare County Council as it draws up the budget for the coming year.

The budget will come before the council members on January 12 for any changes and their final approval.

The Clare councillors’ wages and extra expenses will come from the revenue or operational part of the county finances. This money is collected through the local government fund, commercial rates, non-domestic water charges and other miscellaneous fees and charges.

The councillors are currently receiving a minimum salary of more than €14,000, which is taxable. The members also receive expenses for travel and postage, and from next year their mobile phone costs.

Earlier this year the council approved more than €1 million of the taxpayer’s money for their salaries, expenses an overseas trips.

The largest portion of the monies was ring fenced for the councillors’ wages.

The expense for members to attend monthly meetings was estimated to reach €221,000, but the break down of that figure will not be known until early next year.

In his festive announcement Minister Roche also increased the allowance for the chair of Special Policy Committees by €921 to €6,000.

The chairperson of the Municipal Policy Committee’s will receive an allowance for the first time ever of €500 or €1,000 depending on the size of the town, as will the chair of the County Development Board who will receive an allowance of €6,000 for the first time.

The Chair of the Regional Authority will receive a handsome increase of €3,112 to €12,000.

The minister rejected calls however from councillors for a state-funded pension scheme.

KILKEE Civic Trust are hoping that the season of goodwill ensures a good turnout on Christmas week as they attempt to recover some of the ‘Famine Wall’ lost to the sea more than two decades ago.

More than 20 years ago, during one particularly bad winter storm, handcut stone was moved from the steps on the Strandline Wall. It disappeared under the sand and is believed to have remained there ever since.

Previous attempts failed to uncover the lost stone, but on Thursday, December 28, the local civic trust hopes relatives of those who worked on the historic wall or those who would like to help out on the project will gather at 1pm in an attempt to uncover the past. The group are particularly interested in uncovering one big piece of the wall in the sand under the White Walls at the west end.

Clare County Council has promised the trust that it will replace the stone to its original position should it be found.

The wall was started 160 years ago during the Irish Famine. It employed hundreds of local men, many starving and dying on site. Stone was cut and carried from Walton’s quarry in the West End and painstakingly put in place. The wall is more than a mile in length and has withstood many storms.

It is believed that the seaside town would look very different if the wall had not been built more than a century and a half ago.

The coast road to Gooleen was built at the same time.

It is now hoped that the descendents of those who built the wall will bring a shovel and help resurrect their local history. It is also hoped that the project will highlight the history of the wall and its importance as a physical protection for the town as well as an aesthetically beautiful piece of architecture.

The oral history of the wall is carried in the hearts and minds of many of the Kilkee residents. Coosheen man Michael Geary recalls how the chisel marks on the top stone give an indication as to cut methods used at the time. Holes were chiselled along desired shape of stone and methylated spirits were put in and set alight to crack the stone along the desired line.

Tom Marrinan from Kilkee also recalls how his great-granduncle worked on the wall for a mere penny a day.

A DISTRICT court decision to cut back opening hours at a Lahinch nightclub has been upheld in the Circuit Court.

Last month, Judge Joseph Mangan granted an exemption at The Coast nightclub, until 1.30am, in the District Court. This is 30 minutes earlier than the normal exemption.

He made the ruling, after dealing with several Lahinch public order cases, in court. On that occasion, he said, “If a marked improvement is apparent some time in the future, the court may consider extending them to 2am. If there is no marked improvement, the court may consider cutting them back further.”

This decision was appealed to the Circuit Court last week by The Coast and Judge Carroll Moran upheld the decision made almost three weeks earlier.

While a spokesperson for The Coast was unavailable for comment when contacted by The Clare People yesterday, garda sources said they were happy with the court ruling. They are hopeful that this will help in the fight against crime in Lahinch, on weekend nights. Serious public order issues have been a concern to locals over the past few years.

Chairman of Lahinch Community Council, Donogh O’Loghlin – who opposed the appeal by The Coast in court – said he was pleased that the decision was upheld.

“I am delighted. It is not going to solve anything, but at least it puts the ball back in their – nightclub and publicans – court, to do something about it. Some publicans make more money out of the discos as young people are in the pubs before the discos open,” he said. “It won’t solve the public order issue but it should help it a little bit,” he said.

Mr O’Loghlin has urged nightclub proprietors and publicans to meet up, to discuss the public order issue in Lahinch.

He said the Community Council is also pledging to lobby politicians, in an effort to prevent capacity numbers at nightclubs being increased – capacity increased substantially last year, much to the concern of locals.

Mr O’Loghlin said there are insufficient gardaí available to patrol the streets of Lahinch and numbers allowed in nightclubs should not be allowed to increase.

“There are four gardaí to deal with 1,000 kids on the street. You can do nothing. There is a health and safety issue outside the discos as much as inside,” he said.

THE developer of a €50 million retail park on the outskirts of Clarecastle has warned that the retention of one-third of the site to protect a fen area would make the entire project unviable.

Earlier this year, Galway developer Stephen Harris unveiled a €50 million masterplan for a series of developments on a 48-acre site purchased last year from Clarecastle man JJ McCabe for over €18 million.

The plans lodged with Clare County Council by Mr Harris include a retail warehouse park, motor sales village, Travelodge hotel, drive-thru restaurants, storage and distribution at Skehanagh, Clarecastle.

Planning permission is only being sought for the retail park at this time in the south-east quadrant of the site.

However, council planners have expressed serious reservations over the retail impact of the development, its effect on traffic flows and the flooding regimes of the area.

In response, Mr Harris’s consultants stated that the revised proposal had not been arrived at lightly.

Turnover for the development will be €33 million in 2010, the year the project is expected to commence.

“It is clearly evident that the estimated increase in population within the catchment area is capable of supporting the proposed development,” the consultants state.

On the issue of protecting fen in the area, the consultants state, “If an area of fen was to be retained, the exclusion zone that would be required around the fen would be significantly larger than the area of fen itself.

“The retention of a significantly larger proportion of the site – potentially one third – in its strategic location would render the overall masterplan and potentially the development of the entire site unviable.”

Doubt also surrounds the translocation of protected species from the Ennis by-pass to the subject lands.

The consultants state, “The previous owner of the site was not informed of any proposed translocation. The current owner, who purchased the site in 2005, was not informed during the sale of the site and permission was not sought subsequently.”

A decision is expected on the application next year.

WHEN Elsevier Ireland was founded in Shannon in 1976, there were just two workers employed in the provision of subscription services from its tiny base on the Shannon Industrial Estate.

Thirty years later, there are 135 staff involved in the publication and support of medical, technical and scientific journals.

The Shannon plant is the second largest production unit in the Elsevier Group, producing 423 journals, generating 643,000 pages and operating a customer support department answering 4,000 queries a week.

The 30th anniversary of the company’s Shannon operation was marked at a function hosted by Shannon Development and attended by Minister for Labour Affairs, Tony Killeen and senior representatives from Elsevier Ireland.

Minister Killeen said Elsevier’s track record showed that companies can be globally competitive in a regional location such as the Shannon Free Zone.

Shannon Development chief executive Kevin Thompstone said the company’s growth mirrored the continuous reinvention which Shannon Development has had to undertake to maintain the Free Zone’s position as one of the leading business parks in Ireland.

Elsevier Ireland managing director Brendan Curtin said the Shannon operation has developed a very good reputation for innovation, contributing many ideas which were implemented globally.

While Elsevier has adopted the outsourcing model, the overall number of staff in Shannon continued to increase.

Elsevier Ireland Ltd is part of the Elsevier Group, a world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services.

Working in partnership with the global science and health communities, Elsevier’s 7,000 employees in 71 offices worldwide publish more than 2,000 journals and 2,200 new books per year.