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ENNIS is set to reap a major economic benefit from the All-Ireland and International Irish Dancing Championships, which continue in the town this week.

Figures from organisers of An Comhdail show that in 2009, when the competition was last staged in Ennis, the benefit to the local economy was € 5.2 million.

The figure is based on the total level of direct and indirect expenditure that takes place in Ennis and the wider Shannon region during the duration of the event.

The championships, which run in the West County Hotel until Saturday, have also brought about a welcome boost to the hotel industry, organisers say. The total number of bed nights increased steadily between 2007 and 2009, with 12,123 bed nights being recorded when the championships came to Ennis two years ago.

The championship sees the highest standard of solo and team dancing for ages 10 up to senior level. It is an annual event, which runs every year during Holy Week.

Almost 3,000 solo competitors from all over Ireland, England, Scotland, the USA and Slovakia are expected to take part in the championships. Approximately 8,000 to 10,000 friends, relations, teachers and other Irish dancing enthusiasts will support the competitors during the weeklong event. The level of participation in the event has risen over the past number of years.

According to organisers, the economic benefit that the dancing cham- pionships will bring to Ennis and the Shannon region is enormous, with hotels, restaurants, retail outlets, travel agencies, transport companies and other leisure facilities all benefiting from the huge influx of visitors.

The region won the contract ahead of stiff competition from many other Irish regions, Northern Ireland, Scotland and England.

Events, conference and banqueting coordinator at the West County Hotel, Deborah Coughlan explained, “It is great to see the event coming to Ennis. The fact that the motorway is open and that you have the airport (Shannon) so close by was a really big thing. The airport was key.”

Ms Coughlan added, “It has had a very positive impact. I came through the town on Saturday and it was alive and buzzing.”

THERE was success for one budding Clare entrepreneur at the national final of the Student Enterprise of the Year awards in Dublin last week.

Emer Mooney, a student at St Anne’s Community College, Killaloe, was awarded third prize in the Junior Category of the awards in Croke Park. ‘Christmas Fair’ from Ennis Community College competed in the Intermediate Category and ‘Starling Records’ from St Anne’s Community College, Killaloe, competed in the Senior Category.

A total of 242 students from 76 different student enterprises from all over Ireland gathered in Croke Park to take part in the event.

Emer received the prize for her company, Natural Hampers, a range of Irish-made affordable gifts. Emer’s aim was to source quality Irishmade products, such as soaps, lotions and shampoos that were free of chemicals. She also donates 20 per cent of the profits to Trocaire.

“Sourcing products at a good price that are Irish and natural whilst fulfilling my aims of a little piece of luxury pampering with 20 per cent to Trocaire at a very reasonable price make my Natural Hampers unique. Altering them to be produced all year round makes the business more viable and innovative,” she said.

Emer is planning to develop her business further. She qualified after her company impressed judges at the Clare finals held in Ennis back in march.

Students from 16 Clare secondary schools together with Youthreach groups, representing 66 different businesses, attended the event that showed that the spirit of enterprise is alive and well in the Banner County.

Lucy Reidy, Clare County Enterprise Board, organiser of the Clare awards, praised the innovation displayed by Emer and her fellow finalists. “The overall standard at the national final was outstanding and it was a great achievement for Clare to be among the winners. It was very encouraging to see the innovation in the projects and to see so many young people are inspired to set up their own businesses. The experience of setting up a small business and the work put into the projects will, no doubt, stand to them when setting up their own business in the future.”

Since last September, an estimated 15,000 students from 400 schools have been researching and setting up their own businesses, through the Student Enterprise Awards, making it the biggest competition of its kind for secondary schools in the country.

The Minister for Small Business, John Perry TD, presented a total of 16 prizes.

IRISH industries can play their part in beating the recession by actively going out into the marketplace and bringing foreign direct investment into the country.

This call for companies to become proactive and do work normally left to the Industrial Development Authority or Enterprise Ireland has been sounded out this week by Clare businessman Edmund Jennings, managing director of the Cregg Group that has secured 170 new jobs for Clare with Zagg’s decision to locate in the Shannon Free Zone.

Mr Jennings’ company took the lead for industry in the region by bringing Zagg to Ireland, a major boost to the mid-west economy that he says can be a business model for industry in the region going forward.

“We recruited Leonard Kiely and sent him over to America to see if he could recruit more business for us,” Mr Jennings told The Clare People this week. “He went into Best Buy and noticed that a portion of the shop had been allocated to this company called Zagg. We contacted Zagg and told them what we did. It so happened that they had a plan to establish a presence in Europe. They had been looking at either going to France, Germany or Holland, but decided to come to Ireland,” he added.

Now, Mr Jennings has urged other companies to follow the lead of the Cregg Group. “There is huge potential there, for companies who don’t want to set up a manufacturing company in their own right but who will go into partnership with a company in Ireland.

“The opportunity is there for companies to go out and try and source companies that might find themselves in the situation that Zagg were in – a company with some sales in Europe who want to expand.

“Irish companies should consider that rather than try and compete against fellow companies in Ireland for the small amount of logistics business that’s there. They should look overseas at the possibility of offering services to US companies and Asian companies who want to get product into Europe,” he added.

RENOWNED singer Paul Brady will take to the stage in Shannon this weekend, in what promises to be a concert with a difference.

That’s because the local gospel choir will provide support in what will be a source of immense pride for the choir members, at the Oakwood Arms Hotel on Saturday night.

The Shannon Gospel Choir was formed two years ago by local businessman Derek Barrett. Since its formation, the choir has played regularly at Masses in Shannon and has also performed in various churches across the county. The feedback has been hugely positive and the choir has gone from strength to strength since it was established.

Earlier this year, the group took part in a televised RTÉ Sunday Mass, which subsequently featured on YouTube. The choir has also supported Paddy Casey and the Harlem Gospel Choir and has performed at several weddings over the past two years.

Eighteen members of the choir, ranging from sopranos, tenors and altos, along with musicians, will perform with Paul Brady on Saturday.

Aoife Rice, who has been involved with the group since its formation, is thoroughly enjoying the experience.

Aoife, who is a piano teacher, was involved with the Quin choir for several years prior to joining the Shannon Gospel Choir.

“When it was starting, I felt that I would love to do something different. I am involved in music but this would be something different. I played the organ with the Quin church choir for 23 years, but I wanted a change. I wanted to get up and sing as opposed to always playing,” she said.

She is anticipating the Paul Brady gig at the weekend.

“It will be very different. We do Mass but this gig is a great opportunity for us. We haven’t even met Paul Brady yet. I am a little bit nervous,” she said.

Along with the enjoyment of taking part in gigs, the choir members are also forming great friendships. “You meet so many friends through it. There’s such a buzz,” she said.

The choir members range in age from 30 upwards. They rehearse in the Peach recording studios in Shannon town centre every week.

MANAGEMENT at Ennis Golf Club have welcomed new traffic control measures in the area, saying they are “essential from a health an safety point of view”.

Speed ramps have been installed on a section of road near the golf club while work on a new pedestrian crossing is set to commence in the coming weeks.

The club has contributed € 10,000 to the project which is being carried out by Ennis Town Council. The decision to install speed ramps

was criticised by some local representatives at the April meeting of Clare County Council, with Cllr Tom McNamara (FF) claiming the works had caused inconvenience for motorists.

However, speaking yesterday, Ennis Golf Club honourary secretary, John Cullinane said the speed ramps and pedestrian crossing are needed to protect members who used the road to cross from one section of the course into the other.

He explained, “We have over 1,500 members.

“A few hundred of them would be older members and then we have about 300 juvenile and junior members. They are trying to cross the road and it is very dangerous.”

Mr Cullinane said the club had been looking for a pedestrian crossing for a number of years.

He said that traffic had increased in the area since the opening of the N85 western relief road. He added that drivers are often unaware that golfers use the road to cross into the course. Mr Cullinane added;

“It’s unsighted at both sides. You have to run across at your peril.”

A plan to develop a tunnel in the area was deemed unfeasible due to the height of the road while rumble strips had “had no effect” on reducing speed, Mr Cullinane explained.

He said that apart from carrying golf bags, older members often crossed the road in buggies. “We’re lucky there hasn’t been a serious accident on the road,” he added.

Mr Cullinane said members are “very grateful to the council” for installing a pedestrian crossing. “From a health and safety point of view, it’s essential,” he said.

Club member and local Fianna Fáil councillor, Pat Daly, also welcomed the measures, saying;

“It’s a fast stretch of road that motorists will come to understand is a serious health and safety issues to the over 1,000 members that use the golf course on a regular basis”. Cllr Daly said that crossing the road on certain days can be “life threatening”.

A JUDGE has described the theft of heating oil from homes and businesses as a “particularly mean crime” and one that is on the rise.

Judge Timothy Lucey made the comments at Ennis District Court last Wednesday where he imposed a three-month suspended sentence on a 19-year-old man.

Stefan Coustrain, with an address at Ashline, Shanaway Road, Ennis, pleaded guilty to his involvement in the taking of € 872 worth of heating oil from a crèche near French Court, Clon Road, on February 14 (2011).

The oil was recovered by Gardaí at the scene. Garda Ross Garvey told the court that at around 2am on the night in question, Gardaí received a report of two men acting suspiciously in French Court.

He said that when Gardaí arrived, they observed two men hiding in bushes. He added that there was a “very strong smell of kerosene” off the men’s clothes. Gardaí subsequent- ly discovered six five-gallon drums of oil concealed in the bushes. The court also heard that a pipe leading from the tank had been damaged.

Detective Garda Paul Crowley, who examined the tank, told the court that the process of removing the oil “would’ve happened several times”.

The court heard that the accused, who has two previous convictions but none for theft, made a full admission to taking the oil.

Inspector Tom Kennedy explained that the other man involved in the incident had yet to appear before the court.

Solicitor for Mr Coustrain, Tara Godfrey, told the court that her client, a trainee chef, had been led to the location by another man. She said her client had not profited from the incident and that all drums have been recovered.

Ms Godfrey added that the man had received quite a “bad shock” from his run in with the law.

“Having had a brush with the dark side, he doesn’t want to go down that road,” she said.

Judge Lucey said that if oil had been spilled on the ground as it was being taken from the tank, then the defendant could have been liable for thousands of euros worth of damage.

Garda Crowley told the court that there had been “little or no spillage on the ground”. He added that the tank had been filled on the previous Friday.

Referring to the involvement of another man, Judge Lucey said that Mr Coustrain “knows what is going and should be coming cleaner”.

He said the theft of home heating oil is a “particularly mean crime” and one that is on the increase. He said people who commit this type of crime must understand that they face a potential jail sentence for doing so. He added, “This is something that must stop. It is a popular crime.”

He imposed a three-month suspended sentence and ordered Mr Coustrain to pay € 500 in compensation to the injured party.

A FATHER-OF-TWO, charged with the murder of a woman in North Clare last month, has made his second appearance in court.

Colm Deely (39), of School Road, Ballyvaughan, appeared before Ennistymon District Court, sitting in Kilrush, on Wednesday. He is charged with the murder of Deirdre McCarthy (43), whose body was found on Fanore beach on March 31 last.

She was last seen alive on Sunday, March 27, and was reported missing the following day after she failed to turn up to meet a friend.

Mr Deely was brought before Ennis District Court last Thursday week, charged with murdering Ms McCarthy on March 28 last. He was remanded in custody to reappear in court last Wednesday.

Inspector John Galvin applied to Wednesday’s court to have the accused remanded in custody for a further fortnight. Defence solicitor Gearóid Geraghty did not object. Judge Joseph Mangan granted the application and remanded Mr Deely in custody to appear again in court on April 27.

The court heard previously that when charged, Mr Deely said, “I’m very sorry for what happened”.

The court was told the accused is a part-time Fás worker employed three days a week. Free legal aid was granted at the initial court hearing.

AN 18-year-old woman involved in what gardaí described as a “nasty assault” at Ennis courthouse last year has been told by a judge to stay out of trouble.

Rosanne Joyce (18) with an address at Dún na hInse, Ennis, appeared at a sitting of Ennis District Court on Wednesday on charges of assault and shoplifting.

Inspector Tom Kennedy told the court that the assault had occurred just outside the courtroom when the defendant attacked a woman who had just given evidence against her brother.

Inspector Kennedy said Gardaí were forced to intervene, adding, “It was quite a nasty incident.”

Solicitor for the accused, Tara Godfrey said her client was very young and impressionable and had reacted to an allegation about her family.

Referring to the charge of shoplifting, Ms Godfrey said her client had been in the company of two other people at Dunnes Stores when clothes to the value of € 46 were taken.

Ms Godfrey said her client had pleaded guilty to shoplifting and that the probation services had previously highlighted the difficulties facing her client and her family.

The court was told that the woman had a number of previous convictions, including several for theft.

Judge Timothy Lucey said that the woman “seems full of good intentions but the facts contradict this”.

Responding to Judge Lucey’s question about whether she understood that she faced going to jail if she continued her current pattern of behaviour, the woman replied “yeah”.

Judge Lucey said he was enforcing the probation act “primarily because of her age”.

He told the woman that she was “starting with a clean slate” and advised her to stay out of trouble.

THE 170 new jobs announced by the Cregg Group and Zagg in the Shannon Free Zone could be just the tip of the iceberg – says Managing Director Zagg International Brian S Packer.

According to Mr Packer, who was in Clare to officially announce the deal on Friday, the total Shannon based workforce from the deal could exceed 300 before the end of 2015.

Mr Packer, who is the overseeing the company’s expansion in the European, Middle Eastern and African market, had credited Ireland’s under threat 12.5 per cent corporation tax as one of the key reason for going forward with the Shannon investment.

“There are many reasons why we picked Shannon, but Ireland’s com- petitive corporation tax rate definitely sealed the deal for us,” he said.

“We will be manufacturing, shipping, marketing and selling our products from this base [in Shannon] and will be creating job opportunities, both directly and indirectly, over the next few years as we have at our US headquarters for Zagg.

“While we will be recruiting for a number of key positions, the majority of jobs will be created indirectly, as Zagg International will create a good number of jobs through our partnerships and key vendors such as Cregg.

“In total we expect over 300 jobs to be created over the next four years.”

Based in Utah Zagg Incorporated manufacture and distributing protective coverings for small handheld electrical such as i-pods and mobile phones.

The company had a revenue of more than $60 million in 2010 and it is hoped that this major expansion, which will be coordinated from their new European Headquarters in Shannon, could double that figure.

Zagg’s Shannon facility will carry out the sales and marketing as well as product design and administrative activities for the new expansion.

The partnership with the Cregg Group will the Clare company carry out all the manufacturing, assembly, packaging and logistics work for the expansion.

Two of Zaggs flagship products – invisibleSHIELD and ZAGGskins – will be produced by Cregg in Shannon. Cregg will also be responsible for the distribution of the full range of Zagg products in Ireland and Europe.

APPROACHES will be made to local landowners to see if there is land available to provide a new car park for Killaloe. Angry traders from the lower end of the town attended a meeting last week to demand action on the complete lack of parking for clients, business owners and staff.

The council painted double yellow lines at the bottom of the town late last year to improve traffic flow. But the move left local traders in Royal Parade and Abbey Street with just two set-down spaces for cars.

Business people say the parking ban has had a huge impact on custom and footfall in that part of town.

Business owners have also now learned that the council plans to pedestrianise John’s Lane – which cars are using as a rat run to the traffic lights – and to address parking and safety issues at the boy’s national school. Car-poolers who meet Between The Waters and leave their cars there while commuting to Limerick and Ennis make it difficut to find any parking at the bottom of the town during the day.

TD’s from Clare and Tipperary North who attended the meeting indicated that it is very unlikely that any capital will be made available from the Government’s coffers to provide a car park.

The meeting heard that it was previously suggested that Dean’s Field, which is currently owned by the Church of Ireland, might be a suitable site. This would provide room for about 150 cars.

Officials agreed that they would approach local landowners to see if there is any land available to lease or buy before grappling with the thorny question of funding.

Former councillor, Tony O’Brien, said that the difficulty is that parking is badly needed but road traffic considerations also come into it.

“People want to be able to park and to have parking for their customers at that end of the town but there needs to be a short-term and a long-term solution,” he told The Clare People .

Another meeting will be called when the council engineers have found out what is available.