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THERE is enough oil and gas re- serves off the Clare coast to pay off Ireland’s nation debt several times over and lift the country out of the recession – if the Government can renegotiate contracts with multina- tional exploration companies. According to a report by the Petro- leum Affairs Division of the Depart- ment of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources there is the potential for some 10 billion barrels

of oil to be recovered off the Irish coast, with an estimated 206 million barrels of oil located in the Spanish Point field. Even at current low mar- ket prices the total value of oil at this field would come to more than €1 billion. This is just a small fraction of the overall estimated value at the Spanish Point field however, which has a known reserve of one and a quarter trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

At present exploration at the Span- ish Point field, as well as the neigh-

bouring Burren field, is being man- aged by Providence Resources.

New legislation requires explo- ration companies to pay the Irish Government 40 per cent of their oils and gas finds in Irish waters – how- ever, older fields, such as the Spanish Point, Burren and Corrib finds, only require a payment of 25 per cent.

Fine Gael spokesman for Energy and Natural Resources, Simon Cov- eney said last week that the Govern- ment should renegotiate this deal – while local councillor Martin Con-

way (FG) believes that the Govern- ment should seek even better terms or even go into the exploration busi- ness themselves.

“The least that the Government should get from these resources should be 50 per cent. You have to make projects like this viable for pri- vate companies but I think that we need to get a better deal,” said Cllr Conway.

“In terms of employment we need to maximise everything that we have. I was in Doolin over the weekend and

it was shocking the number of build- ers who are unemployed.

“We need to look at every way that we can think of for generating any jobs, whether they be low-skilled jobs or high-skilled jobs. I think that we need to look at ways that the Gov- ernment could go into partnership with oil companies and exploit the resources of the country together.”

The Spanish Point and Burren fields are located in an area known as the Porcupine Basin – located some 200 km directly off the Clare coast.

A TRANSITION-YEAR – student from Scoil Mhuire in Ennistymon will represent the county in the All- Ireland final of the Soroptomists Public Speaking Competition later this month.

Sharon Howley will pit her wits against some of the most talented young debaters in the country at the national final after winning the re- gional heat in Tralee last week.

“Both myself and my friend Niamh Brosnan made it through to the sec- ond qualification round in Tralee and

I was lucky enough to qualify from the national finals,” she said.

“The finals will take place on the 28th of this month in Athlone. You keep the same topic throughout each round so I will be using the same speech for Athlone as I used in Tral- ee. The judges sometimes tell you to change a few bits from round to round but after Tralee they told me to keep the speech that I have.

“There will also be an impromptu round in Athlone. This means that we will be given just two minutes to prepare a speech on a subject – it can be any topic under the sun – and you

have to speak on it. Everyone gets the same topic but no-one knows un- til exactly two minutes before you go on so it is very challenging.”

Sharon qualified for the final after winning in the last round of heats Where she debated on the subject of education. “I decided to talk on the subject of education. The main phrase of the talk was that “education is what remains’ so I spoke on the underachievers in education and how the system has to change. Things have been discovered but real chang- es need to be implemented to make it a success,’ she continued.

Both Sharon and Niamh were pre- pared for the competition by Scoul Mhuire teacher Mrs O’ Flaherty.

Meanwhile, Gort Community School’s under-15 public speaking team – which includes Francis Whe- lan, Amy Quirke and Meagan Mulcair – are also through to the All-Ireland final of the Women’s Business Insti- tute public speaking competition.

After winning the local heat by speaking on the subject of the envi- ronment, health and relationships, they will now represent the west of Ireland in Trinity College on Febru- Na PACe

CLARE County Council has been told that the adoption of the Ennis and Environs Development Plan may have jeopardised the level of future “infrastructural investment” in the county.

The Department of the Environ- ment has also stated that in its cur- rent form, the plan may fail to meet certain statutory obligations and could be open to legal challenge by the European Commission.

The warning is contained in a let- ter written by Eddie Kiernan, private secretary to the Minister for the En- vironment John Gormley to Berna- dette Kinsella, Director of Services at Clare County Council.

Members of Clare County Council passed the Ennis and Environs De- velopment Plan last December.

In doing so, they ignored Minister Gormley’s request to de-zone large tracts of land and to tighten controls on one-off housing.

In the letter Mr Kiernan said that the minister acknowledged the con- cerns of councillors over the “financ- ing of water services infrastructure” for the Ennis area.

However, Mr Kiernan said _ that land zoned in the plan catered for a population jump of “30,000 to over 100,000 although the expected pop- ulation growth over the period of the plan is only of the order of 6,500”.

He continued, “In such circum- stances and without any clear phas- ing of lands for development, the plan provides for an ad-hoc and de- velopment led approach to planning, making the efficient and orderly pro- vision of physical and social infra- structure more difficult to achieve.”

Mr Kiernan said, “In the current climate, departments and agencies must consider how they should pri- oritise their resources to deliver best value for money and provide a sound basis for improving economic per- formance and competitiveness.”

“However, without a development plan that is coherent and consistent with regional and national policies and priorities and indeed with strong forecasts set down in the County De- velopment Plan and Housing Strat- egy, the Ennis and Environs Plan as adopted fails to provide the neces- sary framework underpinning the delivery of value for money for in- frastructural investment. It is likely that infrastructural investment deci- sions at central government level will take account of that in allocation of scarce resources.’

Mr Kiernan said the European

Commission may also challenge the ene

‘The plan as adopted has also sig- nificant issues relating to appropri- ate assessment under the Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC) and Strategic Environmental Assessment and the potential impacts of zoning deci- sions on the designated sites around the environs area, including the zon- ing of 25ha of land from open coun- tryside to industrial at Beechpark, which was recommended against under the Appropriate Assessment.

“Given the serious implications for designated areas and possible legal challenge by the European Com- mission, the department will have to consider whether the plan has met it’s statutory obligations and has been made in accordance with EU directive requirements,” said Mr Ki- ere

Emmy nomination for Inagh

HUNDREDS of Clare farmers are facing into a large cut in their income following the decision last week by Kerry Group to slash the price they pay for milk.

Farm leaders have reacted with an- ger to the decision by Kerry Group PLC to cut its milk price by four cents per litre to just 25 cents per litre. This cut now means that the overall price paid to farmers for their milk has now fallen by 14 cents per litre since January of 2008.

According to Clare farmer and IC-

SMA Cattle and Sheep chairperson Martin McMahon, an average Kerry supplier of 250,000 litres (55,000 gallons) will now loose €35,000 ona full year’s milk production and over €1,000 on January milk alone.

The Clare ICMSA spokesman not- ed that farmers are now very close to producing milk below the actual costs of production for the first time.

‘Based on this price, dairy farming is facing a disastrous year and our milk processors and Government have a major responsibility to avert a crisis situation,’ he said.

“It is also important to note that

Kerry Group – like other input sup- pliers – have failed miserably to pass back the benefits of reduced input costs to farmers, particularly ferti- liser and feed costs.

“It is clear that the wholesale price of fertiliser and feed has fallen dra- matically but farmers have not seen the benefit of this and now, as a result of the board’s decision to cut milk price again, they are also receiving a disastrous price for their milk. This is a catastrophic double-whammy.”

Kerry Group had an annual profit in excess of €300 million last year and the ICMSA believe that this puts

them in a strong position to support farmers during this difficult period.

“Simply cutting milk price cannot be the solution and Kerry must now use its vast resources to support milk price as well as passing back the ben- efits of reduced input costs to farm- ers,’ continued McMahon.

“The challenges facing dairy farm- ers at this time are extremely serious with mounting financial and other problems and Kerry’s suppliers have a right to expect some support from the Kerry Group whose prosperity has been founded on the efforts and work of their milk suppliers.”

NEW home completions in Clare were down on the national average, with almost 1,000 fewer homes fin- ished in 2008 than in 2007.

Home completions were down 39.1 per cent, while the average national drop was 33.7 per cent.

Last year saw 1,393 new homes fin- ished in Clare while there were 2,286 finished in the county in 2007. There were 2,/27 house completion’s in the county in 2006.

The drop appears to be mainly in the development of estates in Clare with 650 individual houses being fin- ished as against 604 homes in devel- opments and 139 apartments.

Noel Moore of Costello’s auction- eers said that the decision by many developers not to build more houses in estates until they have sold the ones already built has had an impact.

“Developers were building stock and it remained unsold. So many of them called a halt to construction until the existing stock has sold,” he explained.

But there may be some small im- provement in the situation at present, the auctioneer said.

“Developers have dropped their prices and that has had a positive ef- fect. There have been sales agreed on four of fourteen properties in one development and there has been a healthy interest since prices were reduced in another development last

week, so there is Some movement.”

Also helping interest in house sales are the drop in interest rates and re- lief for first time-buyers, Noel said.

In the second-hand market there “has been a levelling off of prices and there has been some _ pick up there as a result”, said Noel.

But the Clare auctioneers said that it is still a great time for prospective buyers to hunt for bargains.

The slow down in the house build-

ing market has caused major head- aches for Clare County Council who are down millions in development levy funds which would normally be used for infrastructure and mainte- nN aleee

The figures from the Department of Environment Heritage and Local Government show that Dublin had the most new homes built last year, with 5,348 going up in the city coun- cil area.

The capital was closely followed by Cork county, where 5,091 new homes were completed last year.

Nationally, there was a 33.7 per cent drop in house construction and in Dublin this figure was 36 per cent.

In neighbouring Limerick, house construction in the county area was down 35.6 per cent but construction in Limerick City bucked the trend, rising by 9.3 per cent.

THE decision to discontinue a class for children with special needs at St Senan’s National School, Kilrush has been branded “inhumane and incon- siderate”’.

Maura Clohessey, whose six-year- old granddaughter is one of three pupils in the Mild General Learning Disability (MGLD) class at St Sen- an’s, said her family are “saddened and annoyed” at the decision.

Maura said her granddaughter has severe physical and intellectual dis- abilities and that it would not be appropriate for her to go into main- stream education.

St Senan’s is the only school in the west Clare peninsula that offers spe- cial needs supports.

“She would have to go into Ennis and she would not by physically able for a 70-mile round-trip every day. It’s inhumane and inconsiderate and the families weren’t even consulted,” added Maura. Maura described the school as a “home away from home” for her granddaughter.

‘She has an excellent teacher, Deir- dre Kenny, and she gets great support from the special needs assistants. The learning style is appropriate to her needs,’ added Maura.

School principal Paddy McInerney said the MGLD class at St Senan’s now catered for children with severe OURS leye bales

“This is in no way equitable; it’s just plain picking on the softest tar-

get. They have obviously not thought this through, because if they did they would have looked at individual cas- es,’ added Mr. McInerney.

Sean McMahon, INTO representa- tive for Clare, labeled the announce- ment by Education Minister Batt O’ Keeffe to close 128 special classes for children with mild learning dif- ficulties “a disgrace”.

Mr McMahon continued, “Coming as it did on a day when billions in tax payers’ money was found to recapi- talise the banks, 1t showed without any doubt how those who had noth- ing to do with the country’s economic difficulties are paying a huge price.”

Reacting to Minster O’Keeffe’s comments that many children would integrate easily into mainstream edu- cation, Mr McMahon said, “It is pat- ent nonsense to return these children to classes in which, through no fault of their own, they couldn’t cope with in the first place. These mainstream classes are themselves now even more over-crowded than they were when the children were withdrawn because of the other recent budget cutbacks, which resulted in signifi- cant increases in class sizes.”

MINISTER of State Tony Killeen TD this week said that the prepara- tion of a UNESCO World Heritage Site nomination for the Burren re- mained a key priority for the Depart- ment of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.

The North Clare TD explained that Environment Minister John Gorm- ley was committed to developing a management plan, which would have to be undertaken as part of the nom1- nation process.

The World Heritage List includes 878 properties in 141 countries, which the World Heritage Commit- tee considers as having outstanding universal value. They include monu- ments and landmarks as diverse at the Great Wall of China, the Great Bar- rier Reef, the Sydney Opera House, Machu Picchu in Peru, as well as the historic centres of famous cities such as Venice, Prague, Rome and Paris.

Ireland currently boasts two list- ed World Heritage Sites; Skellig Michael (1996) and Archaeological Ensemble of the Bend of the Boyne (1993). Each World Heritage Site 1s the property of the state on whose territory the site is located, but it 1s considered in the interest of the in- ternational community to preserve each site.

According to Minister Killeen, “A

key initiative of the Department’s UNESCO world heritage programme is the preparation of a UNESCO World Heritage Site nomination for the Burren. Munister Gormley has informed me that work on progress- ing the nomination will be brought forward in the context of the priori- tisation of the constituent elements of the Department’s UNESCO world heritage programme.”

“IT am especially delighted to learn from the minister that consultation with all relevant stakeholders and interested parties will be an inte- gral part of this nomination process. Consequently, I urge all local people to join in the discussion around the Burren region’s attempt to acquire World Heritage Site status’, he add- ed.

Minister Killeen noted that achiev- ing World Heritage Site status would be an important milestone for the future of the Burren. He explained, “Such status would not only help raise the profile of the Burren and at- tract additional tourists but it would help ensure the conservation of the fragile landscape for future genera- tions. The continued protection of habitats, including Special Areas of Conservation designated under the EU Habitats Directive, and conser- vation of sustainable farming prac- tices are also vitally important to the Burren region.”

THERE have been renewed calls for the Irish Government to order gardai to search all US military aircraft which stop at Shannon Airport fol- lowing news that a fugitive wanted by the FBI managed to fly into and out of the mid-west aerodrome with millions of euro worth of gold with- out being detected.

Christopher Warren (26), who has Since been arrested in the US, was wanted over a $100m (€78m) mort- gage scam in California. He spent a day in Shannon earlier this month af- ter chartering a private jet in Las Ve- gas. US authorities believe Warren may have had up to €4m worth of gold, weighing over 160 kilograms, in his possession when he arrived in Ireland however he managed to pass through Shannon without being stopped.

Millions of euro of taxpayers’ mon- ey 1S spent at Shannon to provide round-the-clock armed protection for US military aircraft. Despite the security presence at the airport and countless claims that US planes have illegally carried armaments and pris- oners through the airport on small private jets, no searches are carried out on aircraft there.

Retired Irish Army Commandant and prominent anti-war campaigner Edward Horgan has reiterated his calls for all US planes to be searched at Shannon, describing the airport as

the “wild west”.

“Gold is a harmless and completely inert substance to be taking through Shannon, but it does emphasise that Ireland, and Shannon airport is the “wild west” as far as controls are concerned. It now appears that any- thing can be brought through Shan- non Airport mainly because the gardai have been told not to search any US aircraft, especially executive type jets, in case they may turn out to be CIA planes carrying prisoners. This of course would embarrass the Irish Government and expose their complicity with the torture rendition programme.”

Mr Horgan added, “Again, I strong- ly recommend that the garda do their duty at Shannon and carry out regu- lar and random checks on all aircraft, including and especially US aircraft, to ensure that no such aircraft are carrying contraband of any sort, es- pecially drugs, dangerous explosives or kidnapped prisoners.”

The jet which Warren had char- tered made a refuelling stop at Shan- non on February 3rd where the pilot and crew took a rest break before flying the fugitive on to Jounieh in Lebanon.

Warren was apprehended last week after attempting to return to the US using a false passport.

When caught he was carrying two false passports while immigration officers also found a total of $70,000 (€54,554) in cash; $lm (€778,970)

in Swiss bank certificates and nearly $6,000 (€4,675) worth of platinum. Warren now faces charges of con- spiracy, fraud and conducting a fi- nancial crime.

It appears that the FBI was unaware of Warren’s movements until after he had left Shannon.

It 1s believed that neither gardai nor customs were informed by US

authorities that Warren was passing through Shannon.

EMPLOYERS body IBEC have announced plans for a practical in- formation briefing for employers in Limerick, Clare and North Tipper- ary on the critical people manage- ment issues that businesses have to face to survive this recession.

The event will take place between 8.30am and 10.30am on Tuesday, February 24 in the Strand Hotel, Limerick and is open to all, IBEC members and non-members alike.

“The economic downturn is of grave concern The role of manage- ment is to chart a course through these challenges. In doing this, IBEC can provide the support and advice that a business needs in order to po- sition itself to weather the storm and come out stronger at the other end.” stated IBEC Director for the mid- west, Chris O’Donovan

SW slomm oyulosibercamrsU0 mele (onlAU Ram nelommOyon tions and risks for businesses to con- sider when making decisions on pay costs, downsizing and absenteeism, among other issues, in the current economic environment. It will also highlight key legal issues involved when addressing people manage- ment issues.

A spokesman for IBEC explained what will take place during the brief- ing.

“Topic one of the IBEC briefing will specifically focus on under- standing your costs Payroll costs are a significant cost in every organisa- tion. IBEC will guide you in how to scrutinize your pay costs so you can ensure every element is adding value; what to examine in reviewing pay costs; how to measure the cost of absence; sector, national and interna- tional comparators.”

“Topic two will focus on reduc- ing costs. What are your options and what do you need to consider to make the right decisions? Redundan- cy, Lay-off and short-time working, Pay reductions, Leave, Implications of the national wage agreement”

“Topic three is about manag- ing people. For those left behind, how do you cope with the ‘survivor syndrome’; communications- who, when, how? Managing performance, cross-skilling; managing absence,’ he added.

“In 2007, National Employment Rights Authority (NERA) inspectors carried out over 14,000 inspections and detected 2,344 breaches of em- ployment legislation securing almost €2.5 million in arrears for employ- ees. Compliance with constantly changing employment law is becom- ing more challenging than ever.

“Membership of IBEC provides companies with access to specialists in a broad range of business areas including human resources. Local services include practical industrial relations assistance, including IBEC attendance at any third-party repre- sentation.

“Your local office is also a mecha- nism to ensure policy issues of local importance are raised at national level,’ he concluded.

If you would like to attend the briefing, please book online at www. ibec.ie/O/briefing.