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MORE THAN 200 volunteers were out in force on Saturday and Sunday as the search continued for a woman who has been missing from the Cliffs of Moher for more than a week.

The missing woman, who has been named locally as Gillian Richardson from Limerick, was last seen on Saturday, December 10, and the alarm was raised when local gardaí located the car belonging to the 38-year-old Dell employee parked on a road close to the Cliffs of Moher.

More than 200 people took part in one of the largest searches to take place in north Clare in recent years with the emergency services being joined by more then 150 family, friends and neighbours over the weekend.

The Doolin Unit of the Irish Coastguard, who have been leading the search effort, was joined by volunteers from the Kilkee Coastguard and the Lough Derg Rescue Service over the weekend as-well-as members of the Gardaí and a number of local volunteers.

The search area has also been widened and now stretches from Blackhead, between Fanore and Ballyvaughan in north Clare, and Quilty in West Clare. According to Mattie Shannon of the Doolin Unit of the Irish Coastguard, the search will continue for a number of days this week but is likely to scaled down later in the week if no major discovery is forthcoming.

“We are still searching and we will continue to search tomorrow (Tuesday, December 20), and later on into the week.

“We had more than 170 people out with us looking on Sunday with most of them being relatives, family and friends,” said Mattie.

“The search area now stretches from Blackhead down to Quilty so it is a very large area to be searching. The search will continue for the time being, but is likely to be scaled down later this week.”

As well as the various local units of the Irish Coastguard, family, friends and relatives, the search has also included the Shannon based Irish Coastguard Rescue Helicopter aswell-as the SARDA Dog Team.

The search was officially launched on Saturday, December 9, when a car was discovered on a road near Aill na Searrach a short distance from the Cliffs of Moher on the road to Doolin.

Inquiries also confirmed that the woman had left her home early on Friday and she is understood to have told family members that she had a doctor’s appointment.

UNOFFICIAL REPORTS from the Beckman Coulter manufacturing plant in East Clare have indicated that the plant, and the majority of its 180 strong workforce, is likely to survive the company’s restructuring programme.

An announcement has been expected concerning the future of the plant for more than two months since vice presidents Pamela Miller and Charles Pittman visited the O’Callaghan’s Mills plants in early October.

The company now operates two manufacturing plants in the west of Ireland with the Beckman Coulter top brass expected to close either the East Clare plant or its sister facility in Galway City and roll operations into one location.

Workers at both factories have been warned to expect an announcement at some stage this week but no formal time or date for an announcement has been identified. The company currently employs 180 people in East Clare with more than 200 people employed in its Galway facility.

SIPTU are currently engaged with ongoing negotiations with the company and unofficial indications are suggesting that it will be good news for the East Clare facility.

“It is looking positive at the moment but we must stress that we have heard nothing official from the company at this stage,” said local Cllr Joe Cooney (FG).

“This would be a huge boost for the area if the factory remains in East Clare, especially when you consider the 70 or so jobs that have been lost at FINSA over the last 12 months. It would be a massive blow for the area of something happened to this facility as well after what has been a really tough year.”

The East Clare facility was formally operated by Olympus Diagnostics until it was purchased by Beckman Coulter in 2009. Beckman Coulter was in turn purchased by US medical giant, the Danaher Corporation, earlier this year and it is this latest buy-out which has brought about the stand-off between the Galway and East Clare factories.

The two facilities, which have both retained the Beckman Coulter name, develop and manufacture products used in complex biomedical testing. While Beckman leases the facility in Galway, the company owns the site in East Clare, which has also been upgraded in recent years.

This is thought to be one of the key factors which may swing the decision in favour of the Clare factory.

TEACHERS may have to be hired on a temporary basis to cope with retirements from Clare schools, a meeting has heard.

It has been predicted that a high number teachers will take early retirement in February.

According to the Association of Secondary School Teachers in Ireland (ASTI),

“Under the terms of the Croke Park Agreement, teachers who retire before February 29, 2012, will have their pension and lump sum calculated on ‘pre-cut’ salary – the salary they were earning before the pay cut imposed in January 2010.”

Clare VEC is waiting to see how many teachers take up the option in order to assess the impact on Clare schools.

At the December meeting of Clare VEC, Fianna Fáíl councillor, Peter Considine asked what contingency plans are in place to cope with teacher retirements.

“Hopefully there will be no disruption to students,” he added.

CEO George O’Callaghan told the meeting that teachers could be hired in a temporary capacity to take classes until the end of term.

Mr O’Callaghan said there should be no problems filling posts given the high level of unemployment in the country.

He said the VEC would examine the situation more closely in February.

Concern was also expressed over the impact of cuts to career guidance services announced in this month’s Budget.

Under the new system schools will have to provide the guidance service from within their general teacher allocation.

Mr O’Callaghan said the VEC would study the implications of the decision when to it receives its teacher allocation quota from the Department of Education and Skills in February.

“However he told the meeting that for schools in Clare and around the country, the cut “effectively means a de facto increase in the pupil teacher ratio”.

Mr O’Callaghan said the decision would have a varying impact on various schools, adding it would have “an upward impact on the pupil teacher ratio”.

In response to questions from Cllr Cathal Crowe (FF), Mr O’Callaghan pointed out that pupil teacher ratios would not increase at ‘disadvantaged’ or DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) schools around the county.

DESPITE a well-received bid, Clare has missed out on a € 200,000 music teaching windfall.

The Clare Music Education Partnership (MEP) is to meet in the New Year in order to consider making a third bid to the Music Generation a programme co-funded by U2 that aims to provide up to € 7 million to music education initiatives in Ireland.

Members of Clare’s music community met in October to formulate the bid, which was spearheaded by Clare VEC.

A successful bid would have seen € 200,000 invested in the Banner County over three years. Clare Music Partnership would also be expected to provide matching funding in the same period.

Local authorities, Maoin Cheoil an Chláir and the University of Limerick were among the groups who had backed the Clare bid.

In a report to Clare VEC, Dr Sean Conlan Music Education Officer confirmed that the Clare application had been unsuccessful.

He stated, “A second submission to Music Generation on behalf of the Clare Music Education Partnership (MEP) was made in November. Clare VEC was the lead agency. Unfortunately the application was unsuccessful again on this occasion. The Clare MEP application received a score of 71 per cent across the three key evaluative measures, core values, feasibility and value for money.”

Dr Conlan continued, “A further round of applications will be announced in the autumn of 2012. Successful projects will each received a maximum grant allocation of € 200,000 annually over three years. This has to be co-funded at local level and after three years the music education partnership is expected to be in a position to self finance its operation with collaborative funding from the Department of Education and Skills. The Clare MEP will meet early in the New Year to consider its position.

The second round of Music Generation funding was announced last week with partnership’s in Laois, Cork City and Wicklow receiving up to € 1.7 million.

In July 2009, U2 and The Ireland Funds announced a € 7 million donation to support music education programmes.

Music Generation will provide three-year seed funding to establish local services, which will be sustained by Music Education Partnerships on a long-term basis.

A RARE original copy of the 1916 Proclamation, belonging to a Clare volunteer who was wounded during the Easter Rising, was sold at auction last week for € 55,000.

The proclamation, which is one of just 40 originals copies of the famous document still in existence, was removed by Clare volunteer Murty Tubridy, who was wounded in the head while defending his post near North King Street, beside the Four Courts, on the day of the rising.

Just 1,000 copies of the proclamation were printed, under armed guard, at Liberty Hall on Easter Sunday 1916. The proclamation was printed on poor quality, newsprint-style paper – something which contributed to such a small number of such a small number surviving to this day.

Less than 40 copies of the original document still exist and few are in good condition. Murty Tubridy’s copy remained in excellent condition except for a section of the third paragraph of the proclamation – which was torn away when it was removed, in haste, from North King Street.

The area around North King Street saw some of the most intense fighting during the Easter Rising. The copy of the proclamation was removed by Murty Tubridy while his post was taking fire from British troops.

Mr Tubridy served in Ned Daly’s Battalion during the Rising and was part of a unit headed by Peadar Clancy. His main involvement centred around the Four Courts, where he was appointed as grenade thrower and was also responsible for constructing a blockade on Kings Street.

On the second last day of the fighting, he received some minor injuries and was grazed also on the ear. He was sent to Richmond Hospital for treatment and while being moved to the hospital by his comrades he first removed the proclamation from the hoarding at King Street which he had been blockading.

Soon after he arrived at Richmond he was advised to leave the hospital immediately as it was about to be overrun.

His battalion surrendered on April 29, 1916, but Tubridy was not detained at this time. He was later imprisoned at Dundalk Jail, where he was granted parole for four days to attend his father’s funeral in Clare. Following the Rising, Mr Tubridy also served in Belfast with Terence Mac Swiney, Thomas Mc Curtin and other prominent Republicans of the day.

CONSTRUCTION work on a new € 4.2 million Cystic Fibrosis Unit will begin in the new year after a historic fundraising effort by parents in Clare, Tipperary and Limerick.

The sod for the new facility was due to be turned in September of this year but work on the facility has now been delayed until the new year. Despite this however, the TLC4CF group are confident that progress will be made on the new facility early in 2012.

The group have also just launched a new fund-raising cook book which they are hoping can raise as much as € 100,000 to help to fund the completion of the unit and the machinery needed to fill it.

“The sod turning has not taken place yet unfortunately but we are confident that that will take place early in the new year. We are confident of that,” said Corofin mother and member of TLC4CF Marcella Clancy.

“This is the second Food 4 Thought cook book that we are released for TLC4CF. The first book was released two years ago and it was compiled by Breda O’Shaughnessy from Adare who is a great chef.

“The first book was a great success with more then € 100,000 being raised between Clare, Tipperary and Limerick from its sale. We will see how this one goes now – a lot of people were asking for a second version of the book to be launched.

“The book has all new recipes in it and while some of the recipes might be a little bit advanced they are presented in a way that anybody could do them. It does through the whole lot, from starters to soups, main courses to deserts. It is the kind of thing that would make a lovely Christmas present and it’s not too expensive at just € 10.

“We would also like to like to wish a happy Christmas to everyone in Clare and beyond who have supported TLC4CF in the past, their support is greatly appreciated by everyone in the Clare Branch of Cystic Fibrosis and everyone involved with TLC4CF.”

When completed, the new facility will be the only dedicated facility for people over the age of 16 who have Cystic Fibrosis in the west of Ireland. The facility, which will be built on the grounds of Limerick Regional Hospital, will be built entirely with money raised by TLC4CF and while the HSE has committed to staffing the facility. Food 4 Thought is available at Mary Kelly’s news agents in Ennis, O’Mahoney’s Bookshop in Ennis, Donnellan’s Centra Service Station in Ennis and the Spar Supermarket in Corofin.

STAFF were optimistic yesterday that work on a new building for Ennis National School will start by Easter 2012. It follows confirmation from the Department of Education and Skills that the school can precede to construction next year.

The funding announcement means that the Board of Management can proceed to tender, appoint a contractor and start construction in 2012.

The tendering process has so far received 30 expressions of interest. Tendering is to be completed within six months with construction to last 12 to 18 months.

“We would like to get going with the tender process as soon as possible”, said Deputy Principal Tom Glynn yesterday.

Students were informed of the announcement at the school’s Christmas concert. Mr Glynn explained, “It was for the junior infants and it was kind of appropriate in a way given they will be the prime beneficiaries of the new building.”

The school has been located on the Kilrush Road near the town centre since 1971. A long running campaign for a new school building resulted in the Diocese of Killaloe donating a site at Ashline.

In addition to 32 classrooms, the new building will include rooms for our reading class, special education teachers and library. The building will have an energy rating and a level of disability access, which is ahead of current regulations.

A campaign has been underway for the past 12 months to raise money for sports facilities, which will include a full-size sports hall with dressing rooms and a playing pitch.

Mr Glynn added, “It’s been a very long campaign. We got great support over the years from parents, teachers, pupils and the various different Boards of Management. We also got great support from the Parish, Ennis Town Council, our political representatives. We’re ready to roll now that the money is there.”

The announcement was welcomed by a number of Clare TDs. Fine Gael TD, Joe Carey stated, “At present, there are 16 pre-fabricated classrooms in use to educate children at the school that has a student population of between 600 and 700. Parents and staff stuck with this issue and ensured their voices were heard over recent years and they must be congratulated for this.”

According to Fine Gael TD Pat Breen, “Teachers and pupils have had to put up with prefabs for a number of years, but today’s announcement paves the way for the construction of a new state of the art facility.”

Labour TD Michael McNamara said, “The town of Ennis has badly needed a new national school for some time and that has been reflected in the Minister’s announcement today. It will, of, also bring some employment in the short term.”

MEMBERS of Ennis Town Council last night adopted a budget amid concerns that a continued drop in the amount of money collected from commercial rates could lead to an “across the board” cut in services next year.

The comments came as councillors agreed to maintain the current level of parking charges (€ 1.30) and commercial rates (€ 65.45).

The council will spend an estimated € 12,166,958 in 2012 despite an 8.98 per cent cut in the local government fund allocation. In his annual report, Town Manager Ger Dollard states that the council’s three primary income sources – grants, rates and parking charges – “have been under sustained pressure”.

Mr Dollard told the meeting that the rate of collection of commercial rates currently “falls below what is acceptable. He said that unless the council examines more ways of collecting rates, “there will be a serious impact on the services we can provide”.

Mr Dollard said rate collection currently stood at 60 per cent, down significantly on the desirable 85 to 90 per cent rate. Pressed by Green Party councillor Brian Meaney on what services could be cut given the difficult retail environment forecast for 2012, Mr Dollard said services would have to be cut “across the board”.

However Mr Dollard added that there was no element of panic about the issue at the moment and that the council expected to run a surplus in its end of year accounts.

Cllr Meaney said he was not seeking to scare local authority workers with stories of New Year cuts.

Cllr Tommy Brennan (Ind) said, “I would appeal to rate payers, if they can pay, to pay for their services they are getting.” The meeting heard that income from parking charges fell significantly in 2011.

Mr Dollard stated, “The increase in parking charges in 2011 by 10c to € 1.30 was designed to partially recover the VAT increase. In my report on the budget 2011, I advised council that they would need to revisit the issue in the budget for 2012 to full the bridge the income loss in the area.”

He continued, “It is clear that that wider economic environment has continued to deteriorate and parking income will be significantly below budget this year. In the current business environment the option of further increasing parking charges in 2012 to recover the VAT element is not realistic. In addition the increase in VAT rates from 21 per cent to 23 per cent in the national budget imposes a further cost on the council in 2012. This 2 per cent VAT increase will result in an estimated additional cost on off-street parking of € 12,000.” Mr Dollard explained that the council, in conjunction with the local business community, had engaged in a number of initiatives aimed “stimulating economic activity” and promoting the town.

He continued, “It is clear that communication of the parking offer with- in the town to the wider public needs to be strengthened as there would appear to be a lack of awareness of the long term parking options.”

The budget for parking income and fines for 2012 of € 1,324,000 shows a reduction of € 184,000 over 2011.

In the area of commercial rates, Mr Dollard states that the council intends to maintain the commercial rate for 2012 at the level adopted in 2009.

He said, “The general rate on valuation proposed for 2012 is € 65.45. At the present time there is no buoyancy in the valuation base and the number of vacancies is a cause for concern.”

Mr Dollard also told the meeting that the € 100 household charge would not have any impact on the council’s budget.

THE global birthplace of duty free in Shannon has received a € 1m upgrade. The investment at The Loop at Shannon will be completed next month.

This is due to a redevelopment of the Shannon Airport retail facility by the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA).

The development on the site where Dr Brendan O’Regan founded the world’s first duty free experience in 1947 includes an upgraded perfume and cosmetics area, a new dedicated Irish whiskey store, an Irish Memories souvenir outlet, a new concession giftware store from Glenaran and an area devoted to selling Irish food, including a range of artisan products.

“This investment will radically improve the retail offer at Shannon,” said DAA Retail Director, Paul Nee- son. “Shannon Airport was the birthplace of international duty free and we are delighted to be improving the spiritual home of airport shopping. Following this significant investment, the new retail area in Shannon is much brighter and offers our customers a much more pleasant shopping environment.

Shannon Airport Authority (SAA) Chairman Brian O’Connell welcomed the investment.

“From its earliest days, Shannon Airport has always prided itself in providing a uniquely memorable visitor experience for air travellers. Customer satisfaction is the be all and end all of our daily business and this € 1m investment by the DAA will ensure Shannon’s traditional welcome in our attractive new retail facilities will continue into the future,” he said.

The new 900 square metre Shannon retail area is being delivered in three phases. Work started on the revamp in September and the project will be fully completed early next month.

Shannon’s new perfume and cosmetics area will offer consumers the leading international brands at significant discounts to downtown prices, while Glenaran Irish Market stocks a range of Irish crafts including handmade sweaters, fashion items, crystal and jewellery.

One of the features of the new development at The Loop in Shannon is the opening of the new Irish Whiskey Collection outlet, a sister shop to the award-winning version at Terminal 2 in Dublin Airport that has already boosted whiskey sales there by 30 percent.

“The Irish Whiskey Collection is designed to be a living shrine to Irish whiskey, which is one of this country’s greatest exports,” said Mr Neeson. The new outlet in Shannon will carry a wide range of whiskey brands and is designed to cater for both the whiskey enthusiast and the casual shopper.