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FIFTY years is a long time to spend at any one activity, but few have passed the half-cen- tury milestone with more commitment than twin sisters Philomena and Annette O’Dea, otherwise known as Sister Celine and Sister Ann-Marie. The twins recently returned to their home in Ballygannor, near Kilfenora, for a holiday and a very special surprise Mass

to mark the golden jubilee of their vocation.

In 1955, aged 19, the sisters joined the nuns in Mallow following the sudden death of their mother, Lilly. Left behind in Ballygannor was their father John and 11 brothers and sisters, including Kitty, who later gained fame with the Kilfenora Ceili Band and Jack, who cur- rently resides in the old homestead with his wife Margaret.

After spending six months in Cork, the twins were moved to London where they were officially welcomed into the nuns in separate ceremonies. In all their years as Nazareth House nuns, they have never been stationed in the same convent and only see each oth- er on holidays. Sister Celine first returned to Ireland in the 1960s and gained national prominence when a story of the kindness she showed towards teenage mother Wanda Machnicha and her son made front page news Kom aets

THE local tourism industry has been told to cut its prices after being accused of not doing enough to promote new routes into Shannon Airport.

Making the charge, Chief Executive of Ryanair, Michael O’Leary said, “If there is anything we would complain about at Shannon, it is a per- ceived lack of support for Shannon Airport from the local tourism interests.”

In Shannon to announce Ryanair’s 17th route from the airport to Malaga, Mr O’Leary said, “It is time for all tourism interests, who have done lots of bleeding, whinging and complaining over the last 10 or 20 years, to get off their arses and start supporting Shannon Airport.”

Mr O’Leary’s call to the tourism industry was echoed by Director of Shannon Airport, Martin Moroney who said, “The tourist sector should wake up and get out there and organise them- selves right across the West of Ireland and capi- talise on Ryanair and other carriers using Shan-

non as a gateway.”

Mr O’Leary added, “Shannon will almost dou- ble in the space of two years. No Irish airport has ever done that before, no airport will ever do it again. We need, through this first difficult winter, the support of all the tourism industry, not to have the tourism industry here looking for handouts.

“It 1s time that the tourism industry down here stopped f**king sitting there with the cap out say- ing ‘we need the Government to fund this or we want a subsidy for that’. In the next three months, we are spending €1 million advertising Shannon in 15 different countries and giving away 200,000 seats. We know that we can deliver the numbers. Now we’ve got to give people a reason to come here in the Winter.”

Mr O’Leary added, “Shannon and Ryanair are delivering passengers. We need the hoteliers, res- taurants, pubs and everybody else to do their bit, drop the prices for the Winter and send the visi- tors home all happy.

“The West of Ireland is fine in the summer. The sun is shining and all the rest of it. The West

in the middle of winter, when it 1s cold, wet and dark, you really have got to persuade people to come here.

“This winter, we have all recognised, 1s going to be the hardest time for us. We are trying to op- erate 17 routes into an airport with a surrounding population base of less than 500,000 people.”

Mr O’Leary expressed confidence that Rya- nair will reach its two million passengers out of Shannon in three years instead of the five origi- nally agreed with the Shannon Airport Authority (SAA).

The Ryanair Chief Executive revealed that the establishment of the new route to Malaga stemmed from a phone call from SAA chairman, Pat Shanahan, after the collapse of EUjet who op- erated the route.

‘The new route, which wasn’t planned by us, is a by-product of how good the partnership is between Shannon Airport and Ryanair. Shannon will call us up and say ‘can you try to do some- thing’ and we’ll try to do something for Shannon if we can at all.”

CONCERNS have © been raised over the use of money raised from the sale of Ennis Information PC’s.

At a meeting of Ennis Town Council last Tuesday, mem- bers requested a review of the documentation of the agree- ment with Ennis Information Age Services.

According to Ennis Town Mayor Cllr Frankie Neylon the Council had been given assurances that as a share- holder in Ennis Information Services, no decision on the use of funding would be taken without consultation between EIS and the Council.

“When I was on the board of EIS I was told that €1.1m of the money raised from the sale of computers would be ringfenced for the commu- nity. There is now €750,000 left and I would like to know why decisions on spending were taken without the con- sent of the Council,” stated Seyler

He went on to add that he would be seeking legal clari- fication for his position on the

board after receiving a phone call from some one saying that he “could be destroyed” if he spoke to the press about matters pertaining to the work of the board.

“I don’t know whether it 1s going to be done by scud mis- Sile, or the biro, but I will be seeking legal advice on what exactly my position is,” said Mr Neylon when contacted ONY TAU Ke rh YA

Ennis Information Age Services ceased trading in August with the loss of six jobs after it emerged that fur- ther funding would be needed for it to continue.

While Cllr Neylon praised the work the company had done in making Ennis an attractive location for new businesses to set up, discus- sions about the closure of EIS should have been more inclusive. At the meeting on Tuesday Cllr Tommy Bren- nan (Ind) requested a copy of the agreement that was signed before any money is spent stating that the coun- cil had been the only body to invest money in the scheme and therefore had a duty to

the public. The issue of ob- taining an injunction against any planned expenditure was also raised. Cllr Johnny Flynn(FG) stated that he sup- ported the idea of seeking le- gal advice to halt any spend- PITSMMSBUMOMeesecvecLbNOBLATapesl@yelentA

As part of the Information Age project homes in En- nis were offered the chance to purchase computers at a reduced price when Ennis was named Irelands Infor- mation Age Town in 1997. Over 4,000 computers were installed in homes at a cost of 260 pounds each.

“There is a tremendous desire among community members for this money to be directed towards commu- nity projects and in particular towards young people” said Cllr Peter Considine (FF) on Tuesday.

A meeting of Ennis Age Information Age Task Force was expected to take place on Wednesday, but Ennis Town Manager Tom Coughlan has requested on behalf of the council that it be postponed in order for members to re- view documentation.

THE newly appointed Bishop of Galway, Dr Martin Drennan, and Minister for State at the Department of Education and Science, Sile de Valera were in Lahinch on Friday to officially open a major new €350,000 develop- ment in the Scoil Muire primary school.

The school, which is currently attended by 118 pupils, received funding from the Department of Education to construct three new state of the art classrooms as-well-as revamp much of the existing facilities.

The space left vacant through the new construction has been transformed into a library, computer room and two resource rooms for special education teachers.

Speaking at he launch Minister de Valera paid tribute to all those involved in the project and the important role that schools play within the community.

“T want to congratulate the board of management and all those associated with the school because they have re- ally worked tremendously well with the Department of Education.

‘The department was able to supply €350,000 for the refurbishment and the new classroom here but really it was because of the dynamism among the community and the board of management that helped to put all of this together,” she said.

“The importance of a school isn’t just for the children and indeed the parents and the teachers, but really a school is the hub of a community and it’s wonderful to see SO many young people here celebrating what is a very important day for the whole of the community.”

The campaign to expand the school began in 1999 but it was not until January of 2004 that good news was forth- coming. School Principal Kevin Glynn and the chairper- son of the board of management Fr Tom Culloty met with officials from the Department of Education in Tullamore and negotiated the sizeable grant.

In addition to this €24,000 was donated by local man Tom Kavanagh towards developing computer facilities for the school. The school now boasts five full-time teachers as well as two special education teachers, a visiting rural co-ordinator and a resource teacher for children from the traveller community.

Earlier this year the students of the school raised some €3,000 for the victims of the devastating tsunami that hit south east Asia. A boat was purchased and christened ‘Lahinch National School, The Banner, Ireland’ and do-

nated to help in the relief effort.

In the past the school has also raised money for a varie- ty of charities including Bothar and the Special Olympics. The school also has a strong sporting tradition and music and art are also a central part of both curricular and extra curricular activities.

AN English company made moves this week to secure the go-ahead for a ‘Wellness’ destination Spa hotel near Killaloe.

Last month, Clare County Council refused planning permission to Unfinity Ltd of Worces- tershire, England, to develop a destination spa 28-bedroom hotel on 37 acres of land near Kil- laloe.

The local authority refused the application on three grounds, ruling that the proposal would seriously injure the amenities of the area; that the additional traffic movements would inter- fere with the safety and freeflow of traffic on local roads and that the development’s scale, siting and design would fail to integrate into the rural landscape.

However, the company has now lodged a comprehensive appeal to An Bord Pleanala in a fresh bid to kick-start the project.

In the appeal, the company explains the con- cept behind its development. It states: “The proposal is aimed at a niche market known as ‘Wellness’ destination spas.

‘The destination spa’s sole purpose is to pro- vide guests with lifestyle improvement and health enhancement through professionally administered spa services, physical fitness, edu- cational programming and on-site accommoda- Beer

‘The location 1s a critical part of the guests’ experience, where peace and quietness is the primary consideration and provides a distinct contrast to the busy urban environments most of the visitors will be used to.

“Wellbeing holidays account for 15% of the European holiday market but facilities of this nature are very uncommon in Ireland. The con- cept behind this tourist product is a purpose built spa designed by internationally renowned consultants.”

In their appeal, the company state: “The de- cline of agriculture has deprived the rural com- munity of valuable public, social and economic Services.

“In order to address this concern, the Develop- ment Plan observes that the long-term sustain- able development of rural community can only be achieved through the provision of alternative employment opportunities.

“The proposed development represents an opportunity for the creation of employment op- portunities and inward investment to address rural decline in the surrounding area.

“Whilst agriculture is declining as a source of employment for rural people, the need to retain rural communities is still a major concern for the Council. It is our view that the proposal can be justified on planning grounds in reference to these objectives.”

A decision is due on the appeal in December.

CLARE cattle are in demand on the continent and in Italy in particu- lar according to livestock exporter David Murphy. Speaking at the IFA Livestock meeting in Ennis last week, the Cork based exporter out- lined the growing demand for good quality weanling heifers and bulls vem Le Nave

Mr Murphy went on to compli- ment the quality of animal that is being produced by farmers in Clare and told of the importance of export- ing cattle and the need to insure that cattle are in test when they are sold. A large crowd was in attendance at the meeting which took place in the Auburn Lodge on Tuesday evening.

A panel of expert speakers out- lined how the weanling trade and beef trade post decoupling is shap- ing up. Martin McNamara of Clare Marts also spoke at the meeting and revealed that there are a large number of exporters attending marts in Clare. He went on to confirm the point made by Mr Murphy and said

that good quality weanlings are making good money in the export market.

Mr McNamara also advised Clare farmers to sell their cattle in a mart as this is the only place where they are sure of payment. He warned that a number of farmers who sold their cattle off the land did not receive payment.

The IFA’s National Chairman of the Livestock Committee John Bryan, spoke about the problem of imports of Brazilian beef which are putting a lot of pressure on Irish beef price. He outlined a four point plan that the IFA is putting forward to deal with the problem.

The plan includes correct labelling of beef imports, the role of Feile Bia, placing a tariff on imported product and introducing a ceiling on beef tonnage entering the EU.

Mr Bryan also revealed that while on a recent visit to the continent he was able to assess the current qual- ity of foreign beef. He reported that beef from Ireland is among the best quality on the European market and

that French beef would be our main oyenereeicoe The meeting was followed by a

lively questions and answers session between members of the panel and the farmers who attended.

PFIZER nurses will be on hand to pro- vide free cholesterol, blood pressure and blood glucose checks at this years Na- tional Ploughing Championships. This is the second year that the pharmaceutical company will offer health checks as- well-as advice for stopping smoking.

Heart disease and stroke are the two leading causes of death in Ireland today claiming in excess of 10,000 lives a year. The IFA Farm Family Committee 1s sup- porting Pfizer’s efforts to raise awareness about the dangers of high blood pressure and cholesterol.

‘Many people don’t know their blood pressure or cholesterol level,’ said Mary McGreale, Chairperson of the IFA Farm

Family Committee. “Farmers, especial- ly those over 50, need to become more proactive in making sure that their cho- lesterol level and blood pressure are in the healthy range.”

The Pfizer nurses will be joined by nurses from the Irish Heart Founda- tion (IHF) and the Diabetes Federation of Ireland (DFI) who will also conduct health checks on patients and offer a wide range of health information.

Staggeringly almost some 50 per cent of those tested at last year’s champion- ship were required to be referred to their GP for either raised blood pressure or high cholesterol.

“The Health Check at the National Ploughing Championships forms part of Pfizer’s overall health check pro-

gramme, which has actively partnered with the IFA in the past year,” said Ryan Quigley of Pfizer. “As well as a presence at the National Ploughing Champion- ships, Pfizer has also conducted health checks around the country through the [FA’s Regional branch structure.”

“In addition, Pfizer and the IFA are carrying out a detailed survey of the Car- diovascular Health of the Irish Farming Community for the over 50 age group,’ he continued.

Those interested in having a health check during the event should visit the ty Aa mpaetcduelt(crer

Health checks will be conducted on a first come first served basis, though Pfiz- er will do its utmost to accommodate all requests.

Clare County Councillors have voted to change the County Development Plan in a move which could see people who have nev- er lived in the county, being given the same planning rights as families who have lived here for generations.

Councillors supported a call from Cllr PJ Kelly (FF) to allow anyone who owned land in the county in January 1999 to apply for planning permission in areas where normally only locals would be considered as special Or Wor

Councillor Kelly said that he was simply

seeking a “wider interpretation” of the regu- lations and he was supported by other mem- eo Ese

They agreed with Cllr Kelly that it would be important to facilitate people who own land and want to help give their children a start.

In reply to the Councillor’s written motion, county officials pointed to Government poli- cy on rural development. The reply stated that to “adopt any person who owns land as being local would undermine the local rural com- munities in the county who are intrinsically linked to the their area.”

The reply went on to say that the “Minister’s policy makes no reference to persons who

have no connection with the rural areas other than owning land.”

The county’s Director of Services for Plan- ning, Liam Conneally, warned that the move would be, ‘in contravention of the rural plan- ning guidelines and also in direct contraven- tion of the Government’s National Spatial Strategy which is why I would like legal ad- vice.”

The director pointed out that the regulations refer to making exceptions in areas where planning permission would not normally be granted.

However, the County Manager said that he would proceed on the vote of the councillors.

ENNISTYMON_ emerged victorious in the final of the third annual under 10 Michael Greene Memorial Football Blitz which took place in Ballyvaughan on Sunday. The young Ennistymon team squeezed past an unlucky Kilfenora team 2-1 to 0-6 in the final.

Ennistymon had earlier overcome Lisdoon- varna in the semi-final with Kilfenora seeing off Ballyvaughan/Fanore to reach the decider. Teams from Corofin and Michael Cusacks also contested the blitz with each match lasting for about ten minutes a half.

The blitz is play in memory of Michael Greene, former Ballyvaughan footballer and

co-founder of the Burren College of Art, who died suddenly in July of 2001. Mr Greene, who was keenly interested in the development of underage sport and football in particular, be- came ill while playing for Ballyvaughan in a club match against Kilmurry Ibrickane.. Michael was an accomplished footballer and represented Clare at both minor and sen-

ior level. A keen soccer player, he reached an All-Ireland final with his school Summerhill of Sligo in 1974 and also represented Ireland in an European soccer tournament.

A real all around sportsman Michael played club rugby with the renowned Limerick side Garryowen and also won an All-Ireland U-16 wrestling medal.

A SENSE of déja vu wrapped itself around the Clare dressing room in Croke Park around 2.20 on Sunday af- ternoon. All-Ireland final afternoon and for Clare the type of afternoon they’re well used to by now.

The final was there to be won, but they didn’t win it and the sense of dis- appointment was palpable. They lived to fight another day, but this was the day they wanted to win their All-Ireland.

Some of the players were disconsolate — others accentuated the positive and looked ahead to the next day with confi- dence. As selector, you have to be posi- tive at all times and look to the future.

“We’re deeply disappointed not to have won because we felt that we were the better team,” said selector Mick Ma- her. “But when you look at it logically, over the hour we have to be happy with the draw and are happy to be getting a second chance.

“We got a very bad start and that had an unsettling effect on the team — Dub- lin were very physical and that certain- ly knocked us off our stride. It was 20 minutes before got into the game at all,” AYeCeCeM\YENeoe

However, once Clare got going they were the dominant team and clawed their way back into contention and inched ahead for the first time with four minutes to go when Claire McMahon pointed a free.

Clare looked to be on the cusp of a fourth All-Ireland junior success in Croke Park as the game entered injury time, but a Dublin point deep in lost time brought the sides together again.

It was rough justice on the Banner girls — there were only supposed to be three minutes of injury time but Niamh Taylor’s equalising score came in the fourth minute.

However, there were no complaints from Clare — instead they just looked

forward to the next day out. The replay has been fixed for October 8, with Port- laoise likely to be the venue.

Mick Maher is hoping that the three- week break will give time for injury concerns to ease, while he will also be looking for the improvement needed if Clare are to win their fourth All-Ireland junior crown.

“We have a lot of young girls on the team and you have to realise where we re coming from. Clare camogie 1s coming from a base where it was non- existent a few years ago. We’re not the finished article yet but we’re getting there,” he said.

‘We learned another lesson today and I think we will be the better for that in the replay. It’s about the team producing the goods for the hour. We will have to play better than we have before and do it for the whole game to win, but I believe that we have it in us,’ added Maher.