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IN ITS end of year statement, Enter- prise Ireland reported that 2009 was a year of unprecedented challenge for Ireland’s exporters as a result of the significant drop in global de- mand and the sustained pressure of sterling/dollar exchange rates.

While Enterprise Ireland client companies achieved an estimated €500m in new export sales, total exports fell by approximately 10 per cent to €13bn.

In four of the past five months cli- ent companies recorded growth in export orders. While that growth is small, the companies have risen to LM eCoMmeLaY-0U (oJ OToXoMm-D OX MNO OU ISMED Ro) 010 MB Kio Ite couraging when compared with the situation at the start of the year.

Entrepreneurship and investment in R&D were both ahead of target in 2009 indicating improved confidence amongst client companies as they position to address opportunities in early 2010. 73 new innovative high potential start-ups were supported over the course of the year (10 per cent ahead of target) and 115 client companies were approved funding support for significant R&D.

Although 7,400 new jobs were created by Enterprise Ireland client companies over the course of the year, there was an overall net decline of 19,000 jobs.

Noting the outturn for the year, Tanaiste Mary Coughlan T.D. said that the Government made strategic interventions to protect jobs. Around 7,213 jobs were sustained in the 148 companies supported under the En- terprise Stabilisation Fund which was launched in April to support vulnerable but viable manufacturing and internationally traded services companies, with a particular focus on SMEs.

“Over 450 companies, which were approved for funding under the Government’s Employment Subsidy Scheme, committed to maintain- ing approximately 36,000 full-time jobs.”

Over the past 12 months, Enter- prise Ireland prioritised providing access to finance for client compa- nies through new and existing fund- ing vehicles and through enhanced co-operation with the main banks.

Enterprise Ireland provided fi- nancial assistance to approximately 1,600 companies over 2009. €59m was approved under the Enterprise Stabilisation Fund while a further €93.6m was paid to client compa- nies in 2009 through Enterprise Ire- land’s existing supports such as the R&D and Growth funds.

Enterprise Ireland chief executive Frank Ryan said that during 2009, the agency pursued a sustaining en- terprise agenda that prioritised help- ing client companies through the economic crisis and companies dis- played great dedication and determ1- nation in sustaining their businesses over the past year.

“The answer to Ireland’s chal- lenge remains a return to export-led erowth. That is what drove the econ- omy in the foundation stages of the boom and in Ireland, exports equals jobs,” he said.

IRELAND now looks likely to be wiped off the map of “The World’ following the collapse of Ennis-based consortium Larionovo last year.

Dubbed “The World’, the develop- ment is believed to be the largest ever building project undertaken in the modern era. It consists of more than 300 man-made islands off the coast of Dubai in the United Arab Emir- ates and was designed to be a scale model of the Earth, filled with hotels and tourists attractions.

The Ireland island on the world was bought by Larionovo for €28 million in 2007. The island was meant to feature a marina, a hotel, apartments and villas along with an Irish-themed pub and a recreation of the Giant’s Causeway.

With the Ennis-based company in liquidation for more than a year, and a group of investors mounting a legal challenge to recoup their money, it is unlikely that any progress will be made on the mini-Ireland for some time if at all.

However, it now looks likely that as a result of the recent upturn in the global economy the rest of “The World’ is going to move on without Ireland.

Development company Nakheel says that it has finished the first phase of the project as planned, meaning all the islands themselves are com- plete. They also say that 70 per cent of the projects islands have been sold

and a number of island are to be de- veloped in 2010.

A spokesman for the development company claims that it is “looking forward to the commencement of construction by owners on several islands next year” – with Germany

believed to be one of the islands to be developed in 2010.

According to Nakheel, more than 33 islands have been handed over to developers as of December of 2009.

‘Some foreign media have a wrong perception of such a _ long-term

project,’ said a Nakheel spokesper- son, who estimated that the entire project could be finished as soon as 2015.

The World islands are composed mainly of sand dredged from Dubai’s shallow coastal waters and are one of

several artificial island developments in Dubai. The population of Dubai has exploded from just 20,000 peo- ple in 1954 to an estimated 1.7 mil- lion today.

A YOUNG Lissycasey man who died yesterday has been remembered as a kind person who loved gaelic football.

Brian Casey died in hospital in Limerick following injuries he sus- tained in an incident in Ennis on St Stephen’s night.

The 26-year-old was educated at primary school in Lissycasey and is a former student of St Flannan’s Col- lege, Ennis. Mr Casey, who taught

mechanical drawing, was involved in a relationship with a local girl for several years.

He is survived by his parents Mar- tin and Eileen Casey, brother Niall and two sisters Aileen and Martina, who flew home from Chicago on Sunday night to be by her brother’s bedside in hospital.

Mr Casey’s father is also a well- known figure locally, having worked in the building trade for many years.

Martin Casey was the foreman of the first group of volunteers who

travelled to Missionvale in South Africa with the Building of Hope project two years ago to build a feed- ing centre for Lisseycasey nun, Sr Ethel Normoyle.

Building of Hope organiser, Ol- ive Halpin said she was “absolutely shocked”.

“This is a terrible tragedy for the Caseys and for the whole communi- ty. Martin is a gentleman and he was so generous and kind on the project. My heartfelt sympathy goes to him and to his family,” she said.

Mr Casey was an active member of Lissycasey GAA club. He was a member of the panel when Lissy- casey won the senior football club championship in 2007 and devoted a lot of his time to helping out with the club’s underage football teams.

A relative last night paid tribute to him, describing him as one of the “nicest guys you could ever hope to meet.”

‘He was a great person, always jok- ing and kidding around. He was re- ally one of the nicest guys.”

He was also a keen and committed sportsman.

“He was huge into football. He played with Lissycasey he would have been on the panel when they won the championship. He was mad into football. He also helped out with the training of younger teams at the club. He was big into it,” said the relative.

Locals offered prayers for Brian at a special Mass in Lissycasey on Sun- day night. He will be laid to rest on Thursday.

FOUR people including a one and a half year old boy escaped unharmed when fire ripped through an award- winning pub and adjoining residence in Ennis on St Stephen’s Day.

It took ten fire brigade units al- most 14 hours to bring the blaze at the Aylmer’s Rest pub and restaurant under control.

Fire services were first alerted to the fire, which is believed to have started accidentally, at 8.30am. Four units attended the scene and it was thought that the fire had been brought under control by Ipm.

However flames were again seen shooting from the building soon af- ter and six units returned to the scene at the Turnpike area of Ennis.

The pub, which is located just yards from a sculpture specially commis- sioned in honour of Muhammad Al1’s visit to the town in September, was extensively damaged by the blaze.

A commemorative plaque erected to mark the visit of the former world boxing champion was one of the few items not damaged in the blaze.

The adjoining residence and guest- house also suffered damage in the incident. Four people – owners Frank and Carmel Daniels, their daugh- ter and their one-year old grandson, were in the residence at the time and were all safely evacuated.

Speaking yesterday, the owner’s son Francis Daniels said the pub had been completely destroyed.

“The fire brigades were up around 9.30am and they left around lpm but they had to come back again about a half an hour later. [’d say it was al- most 11.30 that night before they got it under control. Its totally destroyed, I was up there again today for a look and it’s wrecked”.

He added, “We’re going to re-build. We’ll have a big cleanup and hope- fully in three to four weeks they can Start re-building it”.

Formerly called the Gallows, the Aylmer’s Rest has been run by the

Daniels family since 1997.

It underwent an extensive refur- bishment four years ago and has previously been named as ‘Dining Pub of the Year’ by the Dining Pub Ireland guide.

The owners erected a plaque and number of pictures to commemorate the visit of Muhammad Ali to Ennis in September.

MORE than 500 people are expected to turn out for the annual sponsored walk organised by the Clare Branch of the Alzheimer Society of Ireland, which takes place next Sunday, Janu- Tear

Now in its eighth year, the walk has become a charity institution in the north Clare area each January.

Sponsorship cards are still available locally or from the Alzheimer Socie- ty office in Ennis, but people are also encouraged to come along on the day and donate what they can.

“We have had great support from people in Clare, Galway and Lim- erick and all over getting behind the

walk for the last eight years and it’s been a pleasure to do it.

“It’s a very nice walk. It goes from main road to the green road and then it goes to the grassy green road up in Fanore. There is a lovely view out over the sea and over all the Burren,” said walk organiser, Gerry Howard.

“We let people off individually or in small groups – we don’t have one big group moving off at the one time. We say 12 or half past for the walk but some people come a little bit ear- ly and some people come a little bit later. We had more than 500 people last year which was brilliant.

“It’s a nice relaxed walk. We have a great celebration on the day with tra-

ditional music, dancing and singing in O’Donoghue’s Pub after the walk. We have a great evening.”

As in previous years, all proceeds will go to improve and extend both daycare, homecare, and _ respite services for the Clare Branch of the Alzheimer Society.

‘There are very few families who haven’t have some sort of brush with it, either Dementia or Alzheimer’s.

“When you are organising some- thing like this, you are very much pushing an open door with people. Anyone who has had experience of it is always great when it comes to OIRO AU AMD MM CONDOR Gums

“Every bob we make goes into the services in County Clare. There isn’t

anything at all spent on administra- tion or anything like that.”

The 1OK Walk will start from O’Donoghue’s Pub in Fanore at 12.30pm on January 3.

For sponsorship cards or more in- formation, contact the Alzheimer Society Office at Unit 17, Clonroad Business Park in Ennis on 065 686 8621 or call Gerry Howard on 087 2346750.

A BUDDING east Clare writer has been short listed in the Concern

Cecil Woodham Smith Creative Writing Competition 2009.

Ana Flynn from Mountshannon was short listed for the senior cat-

egory of the prestigious international AMEN EOD

The talented young writer is a past pupil of Raheen Wood Steiner

School, Tuamgraney and the Alfa Project, Active Learning for Adoles- cents in Scarriff.

She is currently studying Televi- sion and Digital Film in Ballyfermot College of Further Education, hav- ing deferred, for a year, her place on the honours media degree course in Queen Margaret’s College, Edin- burgh.

Entrants to the Concern creative writing competition were asked to write a letter to President Obama on one of three critical issues; world hunger, climate change in the devel- oping world or child labour.

Ana wrote a letter highlighting child labour from the point of view of a 15-year-old girl from Kenya.

The competition received more than 800 entries from places far and near including Japan, Niger, Liberia, India, USA, UK and of course Ire- land.

Ana’s letter, along with other prize winning and short listed letters, has been published in a book

AN INNOVATIVE project by Kail- rush Community School was proving the ideal Christmas present for west Clare people at home and abroad, at the Christmas market in Kilrush on Thursday last.

The Kilrush secondary school de- veloped a 2010 calendar ‘Present- ing the Past’ featuring the people and places of Kilrush as part of a new Kilrush Local History Group, founded by teacher Laura Hogan in November 2009.

Principal Rock Kirwin – said, “Schools are the heart of every com- munity, so it seems only natural that we should take on the responsibility of researching and recording the his- tory of Kilrush town. We have great plans for our local history group.”

Ms Hogan said, “We’ve been con- sidering establishing a group like this for quite a while. As a history teacher, I’ve always been conscious of the rich historical heritage of the town itself and I’ve tried to use it in class wherever possible. I’ve worked with several classes completing projects on local history, and this is the obvious next step: involving the students themselves in researching and recording the history of their home place.”

The group’s first endeavour, the calendar, features many fascinating photos, which give a glimpse into the past. Many have not been widely seen before, like photos taken from the steeple of St Senan’s Church in one

Others show how iconic local buildings have changed, an 1888 photo of Patterson’s Stores is paired with a photograph of its demolition,

and an interior view of the Church of Ireland over 100 years ago is com- plemented with recent photos of its present use as Teach Cheoul.

The calendar is priced at €10, and has proved an ideal Christmas present.

“We’ve included lots of group pho- tos in the calendar. For example, Mags Rush gave us a fantastic photo

of a mouth-organ band formed in the CBS in 1949, and Pat Galvin kind- ly donated a picture of the Kilrush Scouts in 1954. I think people will be surprised by the amount of names and faces that they will recognise,’ said Ms Hogan.

The calendar is available at many different outlets in Kilrush and cop- ies can also be ordered through Kilr

ushLocalHistoryGroup @ yahoo.com or by visiting Kilrush Local History Group on Facebook.

FOUNDED in the wake of the first ever Lisdoonvarna Festival, the Celt- ic T-Shirt Shop has become an insti- tution in north Clare.

Later this month, the Lahinch shop will celebrate three full decades of making some of the most unique clothes ever produced in the county.

To mark this anniversary, the shop has been hosting a competition to find the best picture of someone wearing A Ora Cem Koroma OPM MESA SCoMUe)e (Cn

“It was just after the first Lisdoon- varna Festival that we started. My husband Mike did all of the posters for the Lisdoonvarna Festivals and

after the first festival we got the idea of making tee-shirts. It was just an experiment to see would they work, because in those days people didn’t buy tee-shirts the way they do now,’ said Lisa O’Connor of the Celtic T- shirt Shop.

‘We did more the next year and they worked well again and then Mike got the idea of putting a Celtic design on the tee-shirts. There was noth- ing like that happening at the time, I think there was one other company making tee-shirts with Leprechauns and silly slogans, which was just for tourists really. So we made up a few tee-shirts and took them around to the shops at the end of the season an

they liked them.”

As the tee-shirts became more pop- ular, Lisa and Mike obtained their current shop, right on the promenade in Lahinch and soon people from all over the world would be wearing their iconic Celtic designs.

“It’s exciting to think that people from all over the globe have been into the shop. Printing cannot be re- produced automatically and I think that is what has kept us apart from the other artificial printers around. It’s great that customers can come in and see the printing being done in the shop. There has been a lot of big changes in the business over the years.

“At the start it was all wholesale to the shops and then we got the shop ourselves. In the last year, business has really changed in Lahinch. There are fewer people around and it is tougher for everyone, So we will have to see what comes in the future.”

There is still time to enter the 30th anniversary photo competition, more details are available from www.celt- ict-shirtshop.com.

AS THE year draws to a close, the Burren Chernobyl Project can look back at 12 months of help and progress with some of the most needy people on the planet.

Work has continued at the chil- dren’s orphanages, where groups of volunteers have travelled throughout the year – bringing food, nappies and other invaluable resources.

Great work has also been achieved at some of the adult asylums, where teams of builders and painters have made the place a much more com- fortable one to live in.

“Tt been another really busy year,

with volunteers going out to Goro- dishche and Cherven and more vol- unteers going to Tarasiki for the building work and painting. We are particularly thankful this year given the changed economic circumstanc- es that so many people did volunteer for Burren Chernobyl – particularly the builders, who have had a very bad year. But we still have had build- ers going out to finish some of the building works in the Internats or asylums,” said Cormac McCarthy of the project.

‘Belarus never would have had the best economy anyway, but the eco- nomic downturn does effect every- one, SO we are very conscience that

we need to maintain the fundraising and the donations that people are so generous in giving. It’s always the more needy people who suffer most in a downturn.”

The project has currently a number of Christmas fundraising projects on the go and are also hoping to recruit an experienced pediatri- cian to travel to Belarus in the New Year. Any interested doctor should contact Brian O’Sullivan at medical @burrenchernobyl.ie.

“At the moment we are selling the Burren Chernobyl Christmas cards in all the towns and villages around Clare but if anyone can’t find them they can get them from the main

office. People can also go onto our website and get bank details there or they can donate through our site on my.charity.1e where people can do- nate using their Laser or credit card,” continued Cormac.

“If people want to put on their own fundraising event we can create a page for them on my.charity.ie. We are also looking for a doctor with pediatric experience to head out in the New Year in January with the head of our medical team.”

For more information on any of the projects being run by the Burren Chernobyl Project contact the main office on 7071130 or check out www. burrenchernobyl.ie.

Credit Unions to help bail out flood victims