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PLANNING and preparation is “systematic and effective” at a second-level school in Shannon, while assessment practices are of a high standard.

A report in relation to St Caimin’s Community School in Shannon noted that the school has good lines of communication with students.

The report presents the findings of an evaluation of the quality of learning and teaching. It has been just published by the Department of Education and Skills, after an inspection was carried out at the school in November.

“The overall quality of learning and teaching in the lessons observed was good,” noted the report.

“With the support of senior management, a dedicated and effective team of teachers works closely with colleagues to promote inclusive practices among all teachers in all lessons,” stated the report.

It remarked that students identified with special educational needs benefit considerably from their time in St Caimin’s, while “a continuum of supports and interventions is implemented wisely and reviewed regu- larly”.

A number of recommendations are contained in the report. It is suggested that more detailed tracking of the total allocation of resources and their impact upon students be introduced.

It states that the extension of “individualised planning for students with low incidence needs merits consideration”.

“Greater use of team-teaching merits consideration as does the exploration of opportunities for staff to share practices that promote inclusive learning,” stated the report.

It noted that good time-tabling practices are evident in the school, which promotes access to and the development of an inclusive curriculum.

“The school adopts a holistic approach to meeting the needs of each individual in the school. Personalised learning in the collective setting of the classroom is central to the school’s engagement with students and this practice is manifested in the school’s movement, away from an over reliance on individual withdrawal, towards more in-class supports such as team-teaching. This shift in focus is in keeping with Department policy and guidelines,” stated the report.

THE efforts of hundreds of Clare people who have given their time and energy over the last two decades to charity work in central and Eastern Europe is to be recognised in a new book die to be published this week. Going Forward Looking Back was officially launched by MEP Mairead McGuinness last week and features a number of photographs taken of volunteers at work with the Burren Chernobyl Project in Belarus.

Indeed, a photograph taken by award winning photographer and Burren Chernobyl Project volunteer Maurice Gunning was chosen for the cover of the book.

The picture features Lahinch woman Tessa O’Connor in conversation with a residents in Rudyna – a residential home for older people in Belarus.

A second photo taken by Maurice is also featured in the publication. This photo features an unidentified Burren Chernobyl Project volunteer singing to Nikita – a child from the Cherven Orphanage for children with disabilities in Belarus.

Maurice travelled to Belarus for three months in 2010 and full exhibition of his photographs in planned for Glór in Ennis this April. Going Forward Looking Back tells the extraordinary story of the Irish relief efforts in central and Eastern Europe since the early 1990s.

The publication is based on interviews with 31 different Irish charity workers and volunteers who have dedicated themselves to helping the most vulnerable citizens in this region over the past twenty years.

There are more than 100 Irish voluntary groups still operating in the region today. The interviews highlight different approaches to aid and development work over the years – the highs and lows, the success stories and the lessons learned.

The publication was developed by the Eastern Europe Aid and Development Network, which was set up in 2009 to increase co-operation between Irish charities working in Eastern Europe.

The exhibition of Maurice Gunning’s photographs with the Burren Chernobyl Project in Belarus will take place on April 14 for two week. John Spillane and Juliet Turner will play a charity concert afterward with all proceed going to the Burren Chernobyl Project.

THREE were lucky escapes for a number of Clare people based in New Zealand following last week’s devastating earthquake which shook the city of Christchurch – killing 145 people.

As hopes fade for the 200 people who are still unaccounted for fol lowing last Tuesday’s 6.3 magnitude earthquake, one north Clare woman is returning to Christchurch after miraculously avoiding being caught up in the devastating natural disaster.

Ennistymon woman Aoife Garrihy is currently living in Christchurch and had a lucky escape when she decided to leave the city and travel to visit a friend in Perth, Australia, hours before the quake hit New Zealand.

Aoife, who is a doctor in Christchurch Hospital, returned home to New Zealand city on Saturday last unsure of whether her belongings survived the earthquake or not. The Clare People spoke to Aoife before she returned to Christchurch who confirmed that she was okay and looking forward to getting back to work in Christchurch.

Christchurch Hospital escaped any serious damage during the earthquake but it has been inundated with a wide variety of serious injuries since the earthquake. The Clare People contacted a number of other Clare expats currently living in New Zealand to confirm that no-one from the county had been injured in the disaster.

The earthquake was felt as far away as Auckland on New Zealand’s north island where David Hanrahan from Lissycasey and Theresa Hassett from Tulla have been living for almost a year.

“We are okay, we are up her in Auckland so we’re away from the earthquake, thank God. It’s crazy down there,” said David.

“A mate of mine from Monaghan was working in a tunnel down in Christchurch, right beside where the quake struck. He had just come out of the tunnel a couple a minutes be- fore the quake hit – he is a lucky man but he is very shook up.”

The earthquake was also felt on Wellington and Lower Hutt on the north island, where Miltown Malbay brothers David and Declan Rynne are based.

“We’re all good here in Wellington,” David told The Clare People .

“We did feel the quake but it was quite minor here compared to Christchurch. They’ve had a pretty bad six months of it down there.”

This is the second earthquake to hit the city of Christchurch in recent months. On September 4 of last year a 7.1 magnitude quake struck outside the city, injuring two people and causing major power outages.

ONE man was taken to hospital for precautionary reasons following the accidental spillage of 250 litres of sulphuric acid at the Organic Lens manufacturing plant in Ennis on Friday.

The incident occurred at 6.30am in the chemical storage area of the plant, which is located in the Gort Road Industrial Estate. The plant, which is owned by Essilor Ireland, manufactures ophthalmic corrective lenses. It has 310 people employed there.

Employees were evacuated from the building, while six units of the fire brigade from Ennis and Shannon attended the scene. 50 of the plant’s night shift workers were in the building when the incident occurred.

It is thought two drums of 98 per cent sulphuric acid fell from a pallet while they were being moved with one of the drums bursting.

No one was injured in the incident though one man was brought to Ennis General Hospital, “just as a precaution” a company spokesperson confirmed yesterday.

Employees returned to work later on Friday while a full clean up of the storage has taken place, the spokesperson said.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Health and Safety Authority were informed of the incident. An EPA inspector visited the site and verified that the spill- age was contained.

In a statement, Jim Crampton, General Manager, outlined the details of the spill. “At approximately, 6.30am Organic Lens Manufacturing had an accidental spillage of 250 litres of sulphuric acid in the chemical storage area. As part of our plant emergency procedures, the plant was evacuated and the local fire brigade alerted,” he said.

Mr Crampton also thanked emergency services and employees for their assistance.

He added, “The fire brigade are assisting the company with the clean up procedures. There were no injuries to any of our employees and the plant is returning to full production. All relevant statutory bodies have being notified. We thank the fire brigade staff and our employees for their assistance.”

The incident is the first of its kind to have occurred at the plant, which opened in Ennis in 1991.

Human Resources manager Amy O’Leary explained that a “small” chemical spill had previously taken place but this had been dealt with at the time by fully trained and equipped in house staff. “We’ve never had the fire services out here before,” she added.

Essilor is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of ophthalmic lenses. The company has been in Ireland since 1973 when a glass manufacturing facility was first established in Limerick.

NEXT WEEK Clare will more than likely have three Government TDs as Fine Gael and Labour enter coalition talks, and the longest serving of those TDs believes the county should also have a ministry.

Speaking after he topped the poll in the General Election to be the first TD returned for the Banner Fine Gael’s Pat Breen said he believed that the county should at the very least get a junior ministry.

“We have returned three Government TDs here tonight and three Government TDs can make a difference. I would hope also that the Taoiseach would take the opportunity to give one of us in Government a ministry,” he said referring to himself, party colleague Joe Carey and Labour’s Michael McNamara.

“It would make a great difference to the county if we had a junior minister or a minister in the county it- self, and after returning three Government TDs I think Clare at least deserves that.”

The Ballynacally man was coy and evasive however when asked if that TD should be the longest serving in the county. “That would be up to the Taoiseach himself,” he said.

In the neighbouring constituency of Limerick city, where more than 4,000 Clare citizens vote, the constituents are also expecting a “full car” in the form of a senior ministry.

For the first time ever the party’s Finance spokesperson and former party leader Michael Noonan topped the poll in the constituency with more than 30 per cent of the vote.

The 67-year-old is now favourite to take the key position of Minister for Finance, even in the likelihood of the Fine Gael Labour coalition.

The constituency’s proximity to Clare makes it very unlikely that the TDs from the Banner County will also get a seat on the Government front bench.

Most political commentators say the most Clare can hope for now is a junior ministry. The last Fine Gael TD from Clare to hold such a position was Donal Carey, father of Fine Gael’s second TD in Clare Joe Carey. He was appointed Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach and Minister of State at the Department of Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht by then Taoiseach John Bruton in January 1995.

CLARE County Council insists that it has done ‘quite well’ in securing flood funding from the Office of Public Works since the flood disaster in November of 2009 – despite Clare receiving approval for fewer projects than other affected counties.

The local authority confirmed to The Clare People that they are awaiting decisions on “seven or eight” projects which they have submitted to the OPW for funding.

Since November of 2009 the local authority has received € 300,000 in OPW funding for the Gort Road Flood Relief Scheme; € 135,000 for schemes in the Watery Road, Elm Park and Fior Uisce areas of Ennis; and € 160,000 for a number of small flood relief schemes in the north Clare area.

This compares to an allocation to Cork County Council of € 1,805,000; Galway County Council of € 1,695,000 and Kildare County Council of € 1,466,000 in funding since the November 2009 flooding, although Clare County did receive in the region of € 9m to complete flood relief scheme in the Ennis Town Centre just before November 2009.

Clare County Council last week circulated details of progress made in securing flood funding from the OPW following a question raised at last month’s meeting of Clare County Council.

In addition to these schemes, Clare County Council is waiting for “confirmation of continuation of funding” for a flood relief scheme in the St Flannan’s/Ballybeg Area while flood defences have been improved in the Shannon area.

“Clare County Council has reviewed and will continue to review its inventory of flood defence infrastructure and equipment and is continuing to develop and improve its response strategies in the face of prospective major flood events as resources permit,” said Senior Engineer, Tom Tiernan.

“Records were retained in relation to all of the locations where flooding became a problem and these records have been/will be of benefit in the design of flood relief schemes and in informing the Councils Emergency Response Strategy as required in future.”

The council also pointed out that first phase of the Ennis Town Centre Flood Relief Scheme had just been substantially completed before November of 2009 at a cost of € 9,000,000.

A council spokesperson also confirmed that the tender process pertaining to the second phase of the Ennis Town Centre Scheme is substantially completed and the project is scheduled to get under way in the near future.

CLARE parents of all babies, from birth to 12 months, are being advised this week to give infants a daily vitamin D supplement to protect their growing bones.

This advice from the Health Service Executive (HSE), the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) and the Department of Health and Children is for both breastfed and formula fed children and should be given 5 micrograms of Vitamin D daily.

The health organisations have said that Vitamin D, also known as the sunshine vitamin, is essential for healthy bones, but is present in very few foods.

Ireland’s northerly latitude and lack of winter sunlight means that Irish people can no longer make enough vitamin D in this way, according to the groups, so they are advising that it is added to infants food intake instead.

Severe and prolonged vitamin D deficiency can cause softening of the bones or bone deformities, known as rickets in children or osteomalacia in adults.

Less severe vitamin D deficiency also affects bone health, may increase the risk of osteoporosis, and some studies have also linked it to conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and diabetes.

“Babies need a daily supplement of vitamin D because their delicate skin cannot be safely exposed to the sun, and because their feeds or diet alone do not provide enough of this important vitamin to ensure healthy bone growth,” a HSE spokesperson said.

Rickets in children was known as a problem in Ireland up to the mid20th century, but due to better nutrition in our population over recent decades, it was thought to have been eradicated.

However, a number of cases of rickets have been seen in the country in recent years.

According to Dr Mary Flynn, Chief Specialist in Public Health Nutrition, FSAI, “the cases of rickets that we have seen are likely to be the tip of the iceberg, and indicate that there is a wider, undetected level of vitamin D deficiency in our population. There is growing evidence that this can increase the risk of conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis or diabetes.”

BRIAN Meaney is in line to become the next leader of the Green Party, following the party’s disastrous result in last week’s General Election.

The Clare county councillor, who was an unsuccessful candidate in Friday’s election, says that while he has no desire to be party leader it was the “likely outcome” following the collapse of the party.

Cllr Meaney was speaking after being eliminated following the seventh county of last week’s General Election.

“I am delighted to be a town councillor, I’m delighted to be a county councillor the only thing that I don’t want to be is the next leader of the Green Party – which a lot of people [in the Green Party] are saying is the likely outcome,” he said.

“There is going to be significant restructuring of the Greens. We need to rebuild the party right across the country but the future can only be brighter when you are down at the bottom.”

Cllr Meaney says that the Green Party has to regroup, both in Clare and nationally.

“The Greens have not gone away. This has not been a good day for the Greens but we need to dust ourselves off and start again,” he said.

“The Greens in Clare will have to regroup, as we will nationally. There are significant questions that we have to answer on an organisational level that we will have to address if we are to rebuild.

“I knew we were facing a significant challenge to hold onto any seat nationally. I knew I faced a difficult challenge locally here in Clare – the wind was blowing against the party and I don’t make populist decisions. Maybe there is an amount of political naivety there but that is how I do my business,” he said.

“I’m happy that I ran. I’m happy that I faced the people after being part of a very unpopular party in government who had to take some very difficult but necessary decisions.

“I have to make one thing clear, and that is the depth of sincerity that I have for the people who did vote for me and the people who gave me second and third preference, and the people who came out and canvassed with me. It was not an easy thing to do under the current circumstances.”

HISTORY was made in the Galway East yesterday – but it was a long time in coming. After a marathon 28 hours of counting, Labour’s Colm Keaveney did just enough to take the final of four seats – the party’s first ever inroad in the long history of the constituency.

Keaveney will now join Micheal Kitt of Fianna Fáil and Paul Connaughton and Ciaran Cannon of Fine Gael in the Dáil. Though widely predicted to be in contention for a seat, Keaveney’s election was one of the big surprises of the count after he polled a disappointing 4,200 first preferences.

The drama of Keaveney’s eventual election began, in truth, with the performance of his running mate Lorraine Higgins. Higgins, who covered the southern half of the constituency, came in with in a disappointing tenth place after the first count with 3,577.

But the transfers were all going red and Higgins survived count after count, staying just ahead of the chop, until the fifth count when the flood of preferences could no longer save her.

By this time she had increased her share of the vote to just under 5,000 and, with Keaveney next in line to be eliminated, a massive transfer was needed to keep the Tuam man alive and kicking.

Against all the odds the flow the votes materialised with Higgins transferring just under 4,000 votes to her party colleague – lifting him above Fine Gael’s Tom McHugh and Jimmy McClearn and the highly fancied Independent Tim Broderick and Sean Canny.

So dramatic was the manner of the Keaveney comeback that few could have begrudged the recount called by the Fine Gael’s Tom McHugh. But there was no changing the result with Keaveney making history to take Labour’s first ever seat in Galway East.

No doubt there will be many disappointed Fine Gaelers in the constituency today, with the party’s hopes of winning a third seat faltering at the final hurdle. There was much success for the party on the day however as Paul Connaughton held onto the seat vacated by his father and former PD leader Ciaran Cannon taking a second seat for the party.

There had been some contention surrounding Cannon’s selection ahead of the election, with some local party members upset that he was added to the ticket by the Fine Gael hierarchy in Dublin.

Fianna Fail’s Michael Kitt was the only sitting TD returned by the electorate, taking the seat on the eight count.

AS MANY as 4,200 Clare citizens from the east of the county were required to cast their votes not in the Clare constituency, but the hotly contested new constituency of Limerick City.

As many as 3,270 of those Clare people cast their votes in nine boxes in a school in Parteen and a Scouts Hall in Shannon Banks.

The Clare vote reflected that of the constituency as a whole with Fine Gael’s former leader Michael Noonan receiving almost 30 per cent or 967 of the votes cast on the Clare side of the ever-contentious boundary line. This was just a few percentage points shy of what the Fine Gael stalwart received in the constituency as a whole when he topped the poll for the very first time.

Despite such supporters in Clare as Cllr Cathal Crowe (FF), Willie O’Dea (FF) saw his vote drop to 16.89 per cent or 545 votes.

Despite being elected on the seventh count after failing to reach the quota Labour’s Jan O’Sullivan polled strongly in east Clare, coming in as the second most popular candidate with 21.44 per cent of that vote.

In the only Clare area with a Labour Clare county councillor in the form of Pascal Fitzgerald, the Clonlara native secured 705 votes.

The second Fine Gael candidate and TD Kieran O’Donnell was also the second TD elected following a healthy transfer from running partner Michael Noonan.

Deputy Noonan, had increased his first preference vote across the constituency by 77 per cent.

Fianna Fáil’s Deputy O’Dea’s first preference vote had fallen however by as much as 64 per cent.

Former mayor of Limerick City and former Fine Gael councillor Kevin Kiely, who has long since been an advocate for moving the Limerick City boundary into Clare, did not poll well in the Clare area he believed should belong to Limerick city.

The now Independent candidate received just 36 out of a possible 3,270 Clare votes or one per cent of the vote.