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ST TOLA Goats Cheese in Inagh is officially the best cheese in Ireland – after it’s new Ash Log took the top award at the Irish Cheese Awards this weekend.

The award was the finale of a big week for the North Clare producers, who were already celebrating the opening of its first cheese shop in Inagh last week.

The development of the shop is a major milestone for St Tola and for the local eco-tourism community and will stock a number of locally roduced products alongside a full range of cheese.

“The shop is a big step for us. There is a growing demand for food tourism and a lot more people are becoming interested in food and how it is made,” said Grainne Casey from St Tola.

“When people come to our shop they can look in on the animals and see for themselves how well they are treated and the high standards of the farm. As well as cheese, we also stock a range of local products and we will have a lot of information about tourism and the local area. It is a real holistic approach to food and tourism.”

St Tola’s newest product, the Ash Log, won a Gold Medal and then was named the Supreme Champion of this weekend’s Irish Cheese Awards.

“The team in Inagh are dedicated and uniquely skilled and awards such as these motivate us to continue to develop high-quality products for our customers,” said Siobhán Ní Ghairbhith of St Tola.

“The St Tola Ash Log is rolled in vegetarian food grade charcoal by our experts in Inagh. Rolling the cheese log while its fresh preserves the unique citrus and slightly acidic flavours of the cheese. Consumers will particularly appreciate the smooth and creamy texture of the finished product which is encapsulated by the ash.”

The new shop is open from Monday to Saturday, 12am to 5pm, and on Sundays from 12 noon to 5pm.

CLARE students are among those participating in a pilot drugs education project that highlights the dangers of solvent abuse.

Seven secondary schools in the mid-west, including a number in Clare, have taken part in the workshop series, which is aimed at both parents and teenagers.

The workshops provide information on the dangers of alcohol, cannabis and solvent misuse.

The programme, developed by the HSE and the Mid West Regional Drugs Taskforce, was piloted in the mid-west from January to May.

Dr Sancha Power, HSE post primary substance use education worker, explains, “We specifically target second year students in secondary system. The reason for that is they are the moat at risk. They are not the newbies and they are not third years doing exams. All the education research carried out in Ireland shows that if a child is going to disengage from education, it’s that year. A lot of the drugs research would show that if kids disengage with school, that’s when they are most at risk of getting involved in substance abuse.”

Dr Power said the number of children misusing solvents has grown in recent years.

“We only look at alcohol, cannabis and solvents. Solvents are on the rise. Aerosol cans, lighter fluid, petrol. It’s gone back to 1980s when there was a lot of glue sniffing. It’s cheap, it’s available, it’s affordable. It’s everywhere you look. Some of the parents would ask us why are you teaching us about it when we are looking at 14/15 year olds. We have to keep an eye out for it because it’s so affordable. Markers are another big one. They are back on the rise.”

The programme is due to be rolled out last this year. Dr Power is encouraging Clare schools to get involved.

She said, “We have had huge positive results. Parents have thoroughly enjoyed it and the confidence they got from it. The teachers are really positive about it. They feel that it is really supporting the work they are doing and primarily that’s what we are doing. We are not trying to replace teachers. This is a supplementary programme that directly links what they are doing in classrooms to the homes.”

She added, “If there are schools out there and they want to get involved, please ring us.”

THE new Emergency Department for the mid-west region will not be open and ready for its first patient for at least another year and a half.

The region’s only 24-hour Accident and Emergency Department, the Mid West Regional Hospital, Limerick has on-going overcrowding issues as emergency cases from Clare and Nenagh are routed through the Limerick hospital.

Last April the HSE announced that 20 beds would be reopened in a bid to alleviate chronic overcrowding.

Patients from Clare, Limerick and North Tipperary had been subjected to long waits and hours on trolleys as staff struggled with patient numbers.

A spokesperson for the HSE said at the time;

“We are very much aware of the inadequacies of the present Emergency Department and construction has commenced on a new department which is expected to be operational in two years.”

Ann Doherty, CEO, Mid Western Regional Hospital Group now says that the new Emergency Department would be open and ready for occupation in late 2015.

“Construction has commenced for the new Emergency Department. The project is being delivered in two phases.

“Phase one is due for completion by end of March 2014. Phase two which is the ‘fit-out’ of the Emergency Department is due to commence in June 2014,” she said.

Meanwhile the five-storey critical care block development on the site of the Mid Western Regional Hospital, Dooradoyle will be officially opened once full services have moved in.

The cardiac services have already moved in to floors three and four. The first and second floors are currently being equipped and commissioned. Staff recruitment has also commenced.

No date for the opening had been released by the HSE however.

HOPES are high that a breakthrough could soon be on the way in one of Clare’s longest running unsolved murders. Ennistymon woman Emer O’Loughlin lost her life in a mobile home in Tubber in April 8, 2005.

A number of attempts have been made over the years to track down the chief suspect, John Griffin, with Interpol releasing a photograph and a description for John Griffin in early 2011.

Despite a number of leads and suspected sightings of Mr Griffin in Europe, the official search has gone cold in recent years. This has prompted the family of Emer O’Loughlin to launch a new online campaign which they hope could uncover information about the tragic killing.

A new group entitled ‘Justice for Emer O’Loughlin’ was set up on Facebook last week and has already received almost 600 followers.

The reward poster for Mr Griffin, which was shared on the site, has been viewed by more than 15,000 people in the last seven days – with residents living in mainland Europe asked to be particularly vigilant.

It has also been confirmed that the case of Emer O’Loughlin will feature in the first episode of a new RTÉ series entitled “Cracking Crime” later this summer.

The first episode, which will be broadcast on RTÉ 1 on Tuesday, July 23, will include interviews conducted with the O’Loughlin family at the eight anniversary of Emer’s death this April.

Emer was killed on April 8, 2003. She was studying art in Galway at the time and would have been in college that day had it not been for funeral of Pope John Paul II.

Her body was found in the burnedout neighbouring mobile home and was only identified following DNA testing.

The chief suspect in the case, John Griffin, was tracked to the Aran Island where Gardaí believe he tried to fake his own suicide before he fled the country.

For more on the new group visit www.facebook.com/JusticeForEmer.

A KILRUSH man has emerged at the centre of a diplomatic row which has seen the Republican movement in Ireland accuse the British government of violating the ‘Good Friday Agreement’.

Sixty-one-year-old John Downey, who is originally from St Patrick’s Terrace in Kilrush, was arrested in Gatwick Airport on May 23 last and charged with four counts of murder and conspiring to cause an explosion in the infamous Hyde Park bomb- ings of 1982.

In the attack four members of the Household Cavalry – Roy John Bright, Dennis Richard Anthony Daly, Simon Andrew Tipper and Geoffrey Vernon Young – were killed in the IRA attack.

Sinn Féin’s Gerry Kelly has said the decision to arrest and charge the Kilrush man “is vindictive, unnecessary and unhelpful. It will cause anger within the Republican community.

“This development represents bad faith and a departure from what was previously agreed by both govern- ments,” he added.

Now the case has been taken up by the local Sinn Féin organization in Clare, with party spokesperson Anne Hayes describing it as “an attack on the peace process”.

She also said, “Republicans have been asked many times to say the war is over and we have acknowledged that fact.

“When are the British going to say their war is over? We are now 15 years on from the Good Friday Agreement and 31 years on from the Hyde Park bomb.

“We negotiated a deal for those thought to be wanted by the British and in 2007 John received a letter assuring him that he was no longer wanted by any British police force. He has since travelled to England several times.

“We have been concerned at the attitude of the Tory government in London for quite some time now. Sinn Féin have lived up to any commitments we have given but the British have not. However, none of us saw such a blatant breach of agreements coming. Vindictive actions like this have no place in a peace process,” she added.

UNEMPLOYMENT and social inequality is feeding a rise in mental health problems and drug abuse, according to the chairman of the Mid West Regional Drugs Task Force.

Mick Lacey was speaking at a meeting of drug support services in Ennis last month.

He said that the recession and austerity are indirectly leading to a “huge rise in suicide”.

Mr Lacey explained, “National statistics for suicide are not out yet but anecdotally there seems to be a huge rise in suicide, indirectly as a result of austerity. There has also been a rise in drugs issues and mental health issues right across the board. Social inequality, unemployment all contribute to this problem.”

He added, “There is a certain amount of people irrespective of our social and economic system who will get addicted. They are pre-disposed to it. But social inequality, marginalisation, unemployment and austerity have contributed to people who would normally not develop mental health or alcohol problems, being affected. We’re seeing a lot of that. People from right across the board.”

Mr Lacey said despite a near 4 per cent cut in funding, the task force has not reduced services.

He said, “We’ve something like € 1.4 million and we didn’t have to cut back services. We streamlined the services. We were able to set up community substance misuse team (CSMT), which we are very proud of because it takes a multi-dimensional approach. It’s not just about pathologising the addiction. We’re looking at the young person, relationships in the community, employment issues and identifying underlying mental health issues also.”

Mr Lacey also warned of a rise in the number of people using benzodiazepines.

He said, “Benzo use is huge at the moment. Benzo use and pharmaceuticals are being used right across the board.

“Not just with teenagers but we’re finding it a problem with young women and older women. Where as heroin you can treat it with methadone, with benzos it takes six months to get out of your system. You can be going through withdrawls for six weeks because of the half life of the drugs.”

AN ENNIS-based Traveller health care programme has launched an awareness campaign warning of the dangers of using the injectable tanning agent melanotan.

The campaign was in response to health concerns sparked by the easy availability of melanotan online.

It is one of a number of information campaigns launched by the Ennis Primary Traveler Healthcare Programme.

Operated by the Ennis Community Development Project, the programme is run by three community healthcare workers.

Dr Siobhan O’Connor, Co-ordinator, said the programme works as a conduit between the health services and the traveler community.

Dr O’Connor explained, “We offer specific services to individuals of the families in the Traveller community affected by substance misuse. Our drop-in service, every Wednesday, has Traveller community health care workers who will give information and advice to any body that calls in, no appointment is necessary. We also have information sessions and develop materials and resources to spread information”.

She continued, “We put together a DVD last year and we have had a road show earlier this year where we showed the DVD to audiences made up of Travellers in Ennistymon, Shannon and Ennis in a number of locations including the Family Resource Centres and the Community Development Project. This year we have put together an information/ awareness flyer on the dangers of Melanotan, an injectable tanning agent. There had been a couple of stories in the UK about the risks of using it and we wanted to get the message out that you can keep beautiful but in a beautiful way.”

The programme educates young people from a Traveller background on the dangers of substance misuse through the work of Education Peer Support Worker, David McCarthy.

According to the latest census figures, there are an estimated 840 people from a Traveller background living in Clare. The programme has also launched a five-week Traveller men wellbeing programme.

The aim is to support Traveller men to gain the skills and knowledge to take better care of their physical and mental health. This is an opportunity for Traveller men to learn new skills and to hear about the benefits of healthy eating and exercise in a fun way. It runs at Ennis CDP, Clonroad, until June 25.

THE amount of money the HSE West is paying out for agency staff increased by almost one million euro during the first three months of this year.

The 21 per cent increase in agency staff had been attributed to a staff monitorium introduced by the Government and the inability of the hospital sector to attract specialist medical personnel on a full time basis.

While the cost of agency staff has increased, the overtime bill has decreased by 11 per cent.

Fianna Fáil county councillor Brian Meaney said staff are genuinely frustrated by these financial cuts.

“What they are saving on one side they are losing on the other,” he said.

He added that the CEO of the Mid Western Regional Hospital Group also informed him that the increase in the cost of agency staff in the midwest region was higher than the rest of the HSE Area West.

“The only people winning here are the agencies,” he said, as it emerged agency nurses cost the hospitals € 28 per hour, compared to a staff nurse at € 17 per hour.

“We should go with long term temporary contracts. They would give stability and improve morale,” he suggested.

The figures outlining the costs show a comparison between the amount paid out for overtime and agency staff during the first quarter of this year, and the sum paid from January to March in 2012.

During the first three months of last year € 4.354 million was paid to agencies supplying staff to hospitals in the HSE West area, including Ennis General Hospital.

During the same period this year that figure had risen by € 921,000 to € 5.275 million, leaving Cllr Meaney to question if the HSE was getting value for money and patients consistency of care.

While the cost of agency staff had increased significantly the cost of overtime at the area’s hospitals had dropped significantly.

During the first three months of 2012, overtime came to € 11.698 million. This dropped by 11 per cent to € 10.377 in 2013, saving the HSE € 1.321 million.

Francis Rogers, Assistant National Director of Human Resources HSE West, said this issue continues to be a “major challenge” for the HSE West, but there has been “a significant drop in expenditure”.

He added that while the cost of agency staff had “bottomed out slightly” last year, “it crept up on us during the first quarter of 2013”.

“These costs are a key element of 2013 Cost Containment Plans and reductions in expenditure levels will be critical in delivering the pay reductions necessary in 2013,” he said.

He attributed the need for agency staff to the moratorium.

The HSE’s assistant national director for finance, Liam Minihan, said that a large number of nurses had also left the HSE West under the early retirement scheme last year, and there were not enough nurses left to cross cover – hence the need for agency nurses.

AS MANY as 2,830 Clare students will sit state exams this week.

A total of 1,313 Clare teenagers and some more mature students have registered to sit the Leaving Cert exam.

Thirty one more girls than boys will take part in this final state secondary school exam in Clare, as 667 females are officially registers and 646 males.

Another 76 students from the county have already sat year long as- sessments and completed projects as part of the Leaving Cert Applied. As many as 47 boys have taken part in this exam compared to 29 girls in the county.

Another 1,441 Clare students will sit their first ever state exam this week, as 690 girls are signed up to sit the Junior Certificate exam and 751 boys. The number of male participants in the Junior Cert outweighs the female students, while the opposite is the case in the Leaving Cert.

Nationally for the 2013 examinations, 53,749 candidates are entered for the Leaving Certificate examination,

2,853 candidates for the final year examinations in the Leaving Certificate Applied and 60,243 candidates for the Junior Certificate examination.

And for those students who like to torture themselves by pouring over the exam they have just completed or for eager fifth and second year students, this year all written examination papers will be published on the state exam website on the evening that the examination is completed.

Leaving Certificate will only have to wait until Wednesday, August 14, to learn their fate, as the results will be available from 12 noon on that day for Leaving Certificate candidates.

Junior Certificate results will be issued in mid-September and the online results service will be available from 4pm on that day for Junior Certificate candidates.

Some spiritual intervention is also being offered around the county on the morning of the first exam, with a special Mass taking place in Churches like St Senan’s in Kilrush.

IT IS hoped that a new directory featuring information on a range of services available to homeless people in Clare, will help to prevent the death of another person on the county’s streets and combat the growing number of people forced “to live rough”.

Josef Pavelka died on the streets of Ennis last month having come to public attention for sleeping in the county town’s public toilets.

The Clare Homelessness Alliance (CHA), which was launched in early 2012, is now making available a directory of services, while also launching a five-year action plan to combat homelessness in Clare.

The new Directory of Services has been produced by CHA member agencies including the Society of St Vincent de Paul, HSE, the Department of Social Protection, Clarecare, An Garda Síochána, Mid-West Simon Community, Clare Probation Services, Clare Haven Services, Clare County Council, and Kilrush and Ennis Town Councils, and is available from any of these organisations.

Councillor Patricia McCarthy, Chair of Clare County Council’s Housing and Cultural Services SPC (Strategic Policy Committee), said that homelessness in the county has been on the increase in recent years.

“The plight of the homeless and the need to ensure that every effort is made to redress the problem was highlighted in recent weeks as a result of the tragic death of a homeless person in Ennis,” she said.

“The agencies involved in providing services for homeless persons came together last year as they recognised the growing need to address the issue of homelessness in a coherent manner. The directory is the initial outcome of this coordinated approach and sets out information in relation to services and supports available to homeless persons, including necessary contact details.

“During the next month, the CHA will be publishing its Draft five-year action plan to deliver on the objectives of the mid-west regional homelessness action plan 2013-2018. The CHA will continue to provide a forum for the sharing of information and development of awareness of issues and services impacting on the homeless. Its members will also promote best practice in service delivery and provides essential links between services providers,” Ms McCarthy added.