Author: admin

FARMERS from all over the county began last week to benefit from ad- vanced payments under the 2007 Single Payment Scheme.

Nationwide some €533 million, representing a 50 per cent advanced payment, was made available to farmers from last Tuesday.

“T am particularly pleased that these payments, worth in excess of €533 million, have begun issuing today to some 113,500 farmers,” said the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mary Coughlan.

The payments are being made six weeks earlier than would otherwise be the case as a result of the success- ful outcome of her request to Com-

missioner Fischer Boel for an ad- vance payment in 2007 in response to the bad weather situation over the summer and the resultant farmer cash flow needs.

Minister Coughlan confirmed that advance payments would continue issuing up until November 30, with balancing payments issuing from | DY—fersia loro an

“While payments will continue to issue as individual cases become clear, | would again urge anybody who has received correspondence from my department highlighting problems in relation to their appli- cation, to respond without delay as, by doing so, these cases can then be processed to finality and payments issued,’ she continued.

“To date, over €231 million has been paid out under DAS, to about 94,000 farmers. DAS payments con- tinue to issue as cases are cleared and again, I urge farmers to respond to outstanding correspondence.

“In order to facilitate those farm- ers with specific queries relating to their SPS/DAS payments, I have had dedicated Lo-call numbers allocated in my department.”

Clare and Limerick farmers who wish to learn more should call KORY Perma evi Comm Or-U Asch ams eD we oes ers should call 1890 200502 and Tipperary farmers should call 1890 pm) e728

Meanwhile, Mary Coughlan has announced changes to the REPS sys- tem which she claims will make it

easier for farmers to move to REPS 4. Coughlan has confirmed that REPS 3 farmers who want to switch over to REPS 4 will now have two months after their anniversary dates to submit REPS 4 plans.

Up to now, farmers moving over to REPS 4 before their existing con- tracts were finished would have had to get their REPS 4 applications in before their anniversary dates.

“Getting the Commission to clear REPS 4 took a bit longer than we had hoped. So it was early August before I could launch the new scheme. At that stage we still had to finalise all the documentation, and much work had to be done to update the REPS system which planners use to pre- pare the maps,” she said.

that the group feels that Aer Lingus has been in breech of European leg- islation namely article 95/93.

The group have pointed to a section of the 1993 regulation which says that “slots may be freely exchanged between air carriers from one route or type of service to another, by mu- tual agreement or as a result of a total or partial take-over or unilaterally.” This is called “flexibility mecha- Tbh ee Mae

The regulation goes on to clarify that the use of flexibility 1s limited

and cannot be used for slots to routes considered “vital” for the economic development of the region where the airport is located. Mr Geraghty said the group would also be asking if any impact study of the region had been done by the airline.

“We will also ask if the grandfather rights follow the route of the airline,” he said.

The group will ask the European public representatives if a mediator can be ap- pointed to help re- solve the difficulty at Shannon.

“We will be telling them that last year the Irish government owned the company

which holds he Irish airports slots to health. It sold 75 per cent of this company holding 25 per cent for strategic interest. The company is not trying to remove the route on one hand while the government is can- vassing support for a new company to acquire new slots from the very same co-ordinated airport on the other,’ he said.

tribute to ‘the greatest goalman that ever clutched a ball’ has that affect on Tulla folk.

There was much more of the same near Dr Daly’s windswept hill on Sunday night, on the grand stage erected for the occasion of Tulla’s triumphant homecoming opposite

Corbett’s Menswear.

All because in wake of Tulla’s historic re-emergence as a hurling force, Karl Quinn took the micro- phone and pelted out

A STRANGE, tough day for Stephen Cunningham and he says as much as he wheels away from a small knot of Crusheen men as Tulla captain Michael Murphy is about to put his paws all over the Canon Hamilton.

Cunningham turns his back to the stand and runs his mind over the past 60 minutes of hurling. Still hard to stomach. Still impossible to explain.

“You’d have thought the experience of the past couple of years would have drove us over the line at the end,” he says. “Because we were hungry for it. Nobody knows how hungry we were. I just can’t put my finger on why we lost today. There’s something else missing and that’s what we’ve got to find out.”

Straight, honest answers. It’s just over five minutes since the final whis- tle shrilled across the park and the game is still fresh in Cunningham’s head, still waiting to be digested.

“You can look at it any way you

like, but today just wasn’t our day. It belonged to Tulla and we’re the ones who’ll have to live with that. Get- ting to a final is all fine, but today isn’t about losers. A final isn’t good enough for Crusheen any more. We

need to win one. We’ve got to win one. Ah, we’ve been knocking on the door, putting in the hard work, coming close and other management teams have done as well. But this is heartbreak. The lads put in a great

effort and everything but today is about winners. Nothing else.”

High up on the stand, Murphy is holding the cup over his head now and Cunningham allows himself a gaze towards the podium.

“In fairness to Tulla you have to hand it to them. They were a hungry team. We missed some frees – some of them weren’t easy – but we did have a few wides and they cost us. You need to get those. Most other days they were going over for us but today, they just didn’t.”

And at the break, when the game looked like it was moulded for Crusheen, did his team believe they could create history?

“Of course. During half-time we reckoned we were in good shape and wed come back out and try to push forward. It didn’t work out. We knew wed be up against it, but we believed wed do it. The early goal, the wides. They all add up.”

He turns and walks back to the gathering of Crusheen men. A small waterhole of understanding among an ocean of Tulla delight.

THE bottom line? Tulla hit harder, scored easier and devoured posses- sion when it mattered.

It was raw, powerful hurling and if this game was ever to develop into an intense battle, it was clear where the advantage would fall.

Crusheen simply lost their way. For three quarters of the game, they played with ferocity but in the end, the wides added up and chipped away at their confidence. By the time Ger- ry O’Grady slotted their first score of the second half, 46 minutes into the game, Crusheen were already look- ing like wolves on the prairie who had lost their scent.

Tulla smelled strengthened.

Sean Torpey gathered a couple of raking balls in front of his goal, Ean- na Torpey sped around the midfield area like a cannonball, Michael Mur- phy broke every ball in his orbit and Mark Quinn was his now familiar self at centre-back, dependable and unflappable.

For a second, it looked like Paddy Meaney was about to crush Tulla’s slender lead but his kick skidded left and wide and Crusheen were left with nothing.

It was another tough dose to swal- low and another painful descent from the climb just as the peak was in sight.

This year they got closer than ever — a Stroke of a hurley — but when, in decades to come, last Sunday after- noon is dusted down and recalled, they will realise that Tulla simply out-fought them in the last quarter.

All year, the champions of 2007 have been strong of body and strong of character. Back in Scariff as the summer was ending, they lost to Smith O’Briens and it hurt. Last

the fear. They

week before the final, when they were asked where was the turning point of the season, a few Tulla men pointed their finger east and highlighted that game.

A couple of hundred people sat in the stands that day, looking on as Tulla struggled with minutes left to salvage something. They failed but since then momentum has been with them. They walked away from Scariff quietly and set about turning things around. One main theory has subsequently surrounded that day, that Jim McInerney, in a stroke of genius, over-trained the team before the game to set up a straight knock- out against Scariff.

But according to the Tulla boys, there were no special preparations against Smith O’Briens. They trained as normal and may have played an extra challenge game earlier in the week, but nothing to put lead in their

legs.

It doesn’t matters now, but the loss against Smith O’Briens and the win against Scariuff put them on the way WOR And on Sunday, in front of thou- sands, they followed through on the pace they had gathered, becoming the only team in the county to win championships in three centuries. History makers now live among the locals on the hill of the apostles.

All year, the approach to the sea- son has contrasted between the two. Crusheen sat down in the winter and mapped out their route. They said a final had to be reached and noth- ing else would matter. They were deliberate and steady in everything. On Sunday, they gathered and went to 11:45am mass together in the vil- lage. They stood together and they focused.

In Tulla, they’ve gone about things

the other way. Took each game as a single battle and didn’t look down the line. Before their games in Cu- sack Park, they travelled separately and met a little over half an hour be- fore each game. It’s worked.

With the drape of darkness sinking in above Ennis on Sunday, as they ac- quainted themselves with the Canon Hamilton for the first time, this band of Tulla men could reflect and take heart that simply and in the most ba- sic tradition of the game, they stood up when it counted.

The game was no classic. At one stage Crusheen averaged a wide eve- ry four minutes but as it played out, strangely and suddenly the quality of hurling hardly seemed to matter.

We expected a good old Western duel, back to back stuff and first to fall wouldn’t get to their feet.

It didn’t play out like that but it did eTocs DOA OTALMAY hs

Take this handful of sketches: It took nine seconds for the first hurley to break, 32 seconds for the game’s first moment on the edge when Alan Brigdale planted the boss of his stick into the gut of Brian Quinn.

Then, 55 seconds later, with just over two minutes on the clock, Quinn had dusted himself down and had the netting billowing.

He picked up the scrappy ball that fell before him, turned and over his Shoulder, lassoed the shotar into the net.

For the rest of half, when they could, Tulla looked to find Quinn with long, high ball and though the full-forward won most of what came his way, he didn’t create another clear-cut goal chance.

But just after his goal, the fuse was lit and we sat back and inhaled and waited for the explosion but the fire began to fizzle out.

Crusheen hit some terrible wides, O’Grady failed to get into the game but Tony Meaney and Paddy Vaughan were moving well in midfield.

If Tulla were to win, it looked like they’d have to score at least another goal to stay in contention. But those Crusheen’s wides just kept mount- ing.

Kieran Brennan bounded onto the field from the bench in the second half and within seconds, he had stretched Tulla’s lead to two. Murphy broke a ball on the half-forward line, Torpey picked it up and passed to Brennan and Tulla were away.

It was a simple, effective move and it summed up the champion’s sea- son.

AS THE success starved Tulla fans flooded the field to greet the players, it was easy to mistake Jim McInerney for the politican who stood before the people in the 2004 local elections. Everyone wanted his hand.

Young kids took photos and asked for autographs and there was no doubting who they believed was the chief architect of this victory. In es- sence, Jim McInerney is the epitome of Tulla hurling. He manages the team how he played the game him- self, throwing everything into it. As he stormed up and down the sideline,

hitting every ball in his mind during the game, his raw emotions came to the fore.

He longed for this day – when Tulla could take their place amongst the club’s great teams of the past. He has always believed in his players and they have equally responded this year. But, he was still in disbelief that it had finally happened.

“It is a proud day, there is no doubt and it’s great to finally win it. That’s what we have always strived for and now we have it, it is hard to believe we have it.”

But he is also quick to remember the other side of the coin too, deem-

ing it rather unfair that Crusheen had to lose such a close final.

“VL tell you, my feelings are with Crusheen too. They gave us a great battle. There was nothing in it in the end, they were very unlucky not to score a goal at the end and I hope someday, they will go on and win the senior title because they are there a long time without it and they have a lot of great work done for hurling. They have been knocking on the door for the last four or five years and hopefully their day will come as well.”

McInerney could certainly feel the tension on the sideline as the game

hung in the balance. He looked as exhausted as any player who played in the decider but felt that despite in- juries to key players, his squad lived up to expectation.

“Andrew Quinn was a huge loss to us and I think it upset our team prob- ably for the last 20 minutes of the first half. But we regrouped at half-time and we played the kind of passion- ate hurling that took us through the quarter and semi finals. Sean Torpey in fairness to him, he got man of the match there. He caught some massive ball inside in the square where it was most dangerous. He dominated that area and came away with the ball.

“But it was a tremendous display by all our backs. Mark Quinn had a great game at centre-back again and our two corners were massive as were the two wing-backs.

“It was a great performance defen- sivewise. But Crusheen have great backs too and they made life awful hard for us and our forwards. As a result, with two great sets of backs, it was a low scoring game. It was a very tight battle right to the end and we just got through it in the end. Just about!”’

But justified as well. A one point victory and McInerney is on top of the pile.

RYANAIR, Aer Lingus’s largest shareholder, has confirmed that it has submitted a formal complaint to the Irish Financial Regulatory Services Authority (IFSRA) concerning the alleged breach by Aer Lingus of Irish Company Law and Stock Exchange Rules.

The low-cost airline says the breach was in the Aer Lingus “*’selec- tive briefings to one shareholder (the Department of Transport) of market sensitive information (the closure of the Shannon-Heathrow route) some eight weeks prior to the announce- ment through the Stock Exchange

notice.”

A Ryanair spokesman said it is of grave concern “that one shareholder (the Department of Transport) which only holds a 25 per cent interest in Aer Lingus was repeatedly briefed on this market-sensitive informa- tion…before the Stock Exchange an- nouncement of this route closure on August 7.

“This repeated and selective dis- semination of market sensitive in- formation to one shareholder up to eight weeks prior to making all oth- er shareholders aware of the facts is a clear violation of Stock Exchange rules and Irish Company Law,” he claimed.

, suggested that the loss of the Aer Lingus Heathrow service could open up the possibility of new connections to China, South East Asia and India.

Referring to reports that the Shan- non Airport Authority had identified potential cost savings on the Heath- row route that could be passed on to the airline to encourage it to keep the slots in Shannon, Mr Slattery said if this was true, there was a funda- mental lesson there for the airport authority.

‘Stable doors are best shut while the horse is still inside. Aer Lingus might not have given warning of its inten- tions towards Heathrow but the onus was equally on the airport authority to be vigilant rather than complacent towards its airline customer base. Its management of costs should be as ruthless as that of its current leading airline customer – Ryanair.

“*T don’t believe that the Government emerges with either credit or cred- ibility from the situation. It is diffi- cult to see how maintaining a neutral position on such an important com- mercial decision squares with retain- ing a 25 per cent so-called strategic shareholding in the company. But it

seems quite clear that Aer Lingus is not for turning and that the Govern- ment is not going to intervene.

“The loss of the Heathrow connec- tion is unquestionably bad news. But it does have the silver lining of oblig- ing us to take stock. Initially, the objective was a simple restoration of

the Heathrow slots. Now, equivalent connectivity to any nearby major hub that can offer a wide range of far reaching destinations in one further hop would be a successful outcome. Paris, Frankfurt and Amsterdam are the most obvious candidates along- side Heathrow.

“Already, we are witnessing a marked shift in the balance of glo- bal economic clout away from North America and Europe towards China, South East Asia and India. IBEC has called for more direct flights between Ireland and Asia and I don’t see why Shannon shouldn’t aspire to connect directly with Hong Kong, Shanghai, Bombay or Mumbai.

“There is no reason why the Mid- west can’t establish itself as the Euro- pean centre of excellence not just for people from this continent seeking to immerse themselves in the culture and ways of the large economies of Asia but also for their counterparts from China or India seeking to reach out and develop their understanding of how Europe works. Provided we have the confidence to believe in our own capacities, this region can be- come the premier European hub for commercial and intellectual inter- action and communication between Europe and Asia,” Mr Slattery con- cluded.

has learnt that Air India is selling slots into Heath- row. A proposal has been put to the minister that at least one of these slots is purchased and the slot leased to Continental be returned to Aer Lingus when the lease is up in 2008.

Those proposing such a move ar- gue that as these slots are already in place there will be no drawn out set up process.

Meanwhile ACA, the action group comprising of key industry, tour- ism and community leaders in the Shannon and western region and set up in response to the announcement that Aer Lingus’s Shannon Heath- row slots were to move to Belfast, has lodged an application for slots at Heathrow.

The application has been made on behalf of the action group by Astrae- us Airlines, an established provider of chartered and scheduled services

throughout Europe, Africa, North America and Central Asia.

The authority responsible for slot allocation and schedule facilitation at all major airports in the UK – Air- port Co-Ordination Ltd has received the application, which seeks landing and take off slots at London Heath- row in line with the existing schedule of air services between the interna- tional hub and Shannon.

Mayor of Clare and Alliance mem- ber, Cllr Patricia McCarthy said the Alliance had taken it upon itself, its members and the people of the region to engage with Astraeus Airlines in seeking to ensure that the slots are

retained for Shannon into the future.

According to John Brassil, Chair- man of the Atlantic Connectivity Al- liance said the Alliance had formed a special limited company – Shan- non Air Link Ltd. – to enable man- agement contracts to be entered into with Astraeus should we be success- ful in securing the slots at Heathrow.

Capt John Mahon, Director of Flight Operations with Astraeus said, “We are an experienced airline with an expanding base and would be very happy to provide services on the Shannon-Heathrow route on be- half of the Atlantic Connectivity Al- liance. Our board has considered the issue and will work with the Atlantic Connectivity Alliance on progress- ing the proposal.

Based in Crawley in England, Astraeus operates scheduled and chartered flights for around 50 tour Operators specialising in serving destinations in Africa, Europe, and Canada. It also specialises in pro- viding operational capacity to com- panies, and has worked with Iceland Express, Air Asia, FlyBe and Ster- ling to commence or enhance their ol MIA

Its main bases are Manchester Air- port and London Gatwick Airport. Astraeus Ltd flies over 4,700 seats worldwide per week.

AER Lingus is flying in the face of commercial logic, according to the Atlantic Connectivity Alliance (ACA).

The Alliance has claimed in its re- port on the commercial analysis of the removal of the Heathrow slots from Shannon to Heathrow shows a complete absence of any business ecle(eyeted e

The ACA’s findings show that Bel- fast-Heathrow passenger traffic has dropped alarmingly in recent years.

The ACA compiled its report fol- lowing its analysis of the Interde- partmental Report into the Shannon- Heathrow issue.

Statistics show that the region on

this island with by far the greatest fall-off in traffic on Heathrow routes is the Belfast region, where passen- ger traffic has dropped by 43 per cent in the years 2000 to 2006.

During the same period traffic vol- umes in Shannon grew by 6.3 per cent while Dublin dropped by 10.9 per cent and Cork increased by 9.0 percent.

In 2000, more than 1.6 million people were flying from Belfast to Heathrow. That has now decreased to 425,516.

In the same period, the Shannon passenger figures grew from 303,937 Kee Pelee

The ACA, in its analysis, found that Belfast share of total Ireland-Heath- row traffic has fallen from 28.5 per

cent in 2000 to 19.5 per cent in 2006. At the same time, the Shannon share of Heathrow traffic grew from 7.4 per cent to 9.5 per cent.

“How then can the (Interdepart- mental) report possibly determine that the Belfast-Heathrow option could constitute a valuable commer- cial opportunity and that Shannon- Heathrow is underperforming?” the ACA report asks.

“It may be the case that there are Opportunities to develop commer- cially viable routes from Belfast Al- dergrove (16 miles outside Belfast) for Aer Lingus but Heathrow is not one of them given that the city is already served in this market by a strong incumbent carrier (BMI with eight daily Belfast City Airport serv-

ices to and from Heathrow).”

The report also points out that there is already an established carrier (BMI) on the route operating from Belfast City Airport, which is more attractive for higher yielding busi- ness travellers.

“Aer Lingus will be offering an in- ferior product to the incumbent car- rier with half the number of daily flights from an airport that is less convenient than the alternative locat- ed closer to the city centre,” the ACA report said.

“Furthermore, to replace its lost traffic on Shannon-Heathrow (320,000 passengers), Aer Lingus will have to capture almost half of the current Belfast-Heathrow market with an inferior product offering.”