Category: News

ENNIS General Hospital has been given the green light not just to provide the first bowel-screening programme for Clare, but for the whole mid-west region and beyond.

Hospital Manager Frank Keane, who will remain on at the hospital until the new management structure is up and running, described the accreditation of the hospital’s endoscope service by the UK-based Joint Advisory Group (JAG) as “a major feather in the cap of Ennis hospital.”

The status was not easily achieved, he reminded journalists and medical professionals at a press launch yesterday (Monday).

“The National Cancer Control Programme announced at the end of 2010 that a colonoscopy screening would be provided to an isolated age group,” he said.

At that point, centres throughout the country vied for the tender to provide screening services. Ennis General Hospital was one of 15 centres picked as a potential candidate, but it still had a lot of work to do.

Firstly, the endoscopy unit only existed on paper at the time. Once it was built, it had to receive hardsought accreditation from JAG, which is the standards body for endoscopy throughout the National Health Service. In 2011, this accreditation was deferred due to the issues relating to the length of the hospital’s waiting list and waiting lists throughout the mid west.

In September last year, issues relat ing to waiting lists had been rectified and on February 28, Ennis General Hospital got the green light.

Mr Keane said that while Ennis will provide the screening service for all of the mid-west, and areas outside the mid-west, the hospital will continue to work with the unit in Nenagh who is also seeking accreditation if and when more screening centres are opened.

Advance Nurse Practitioners are also being employed at every unit. As there are currently no such positions in the country, these specialised nurses are being employed especially.

Kathleen Stack took up the position in Ennis on Monday last, and will coordinate with patients who take up the offer of this life-saving screening.

“Ennis hospital has a bright but different future,” explained Mr Keane.

THE NUMBER of homeless people in Clare has skyrocketed over the last 12 months with local agencies reporting scores or families going hungry in the county each week.

A total of 304 homeless people presented in Clare last year, an increase of more than 23 per cent on the 2011 figure. That is according to the draft report of the Mid West Regional Action Plan, which is due to be published later this week. The report also reveals that 17 Clare people identified themselves as being homeless to Limerick City Council, 14 to Limerick County Council at 2 to North Tipperary County Council.

Domestic violence was the main cause of homeless in Clare last year with 83 people made homeless because of an unsafe home environment. Nearly 200 of the people were aged between 20 and 40 years of age but 10 Clare people in their 60s were made homeless last year as-well-as 19 teenagers.

Josie O’Brien of the HELP homeless organisation in Ennis has seen a large increase in the number of people going without food in Clare over the last 12 months.

She is currently providing food each week for two familes in the Ennis area, including a seven month old baby and a newborn infant.

“HELP has been feeding a little baby and his mother since October. Over the past few weeks I have also been bringing food to another Ennis based family with four children, including a newborn infant,” she said.

“The people of Clare have been so generous. I put a request for food up on our facebook page and invariable someone always comes up with the goods. They are in a desperate situation, I went out to them [the family with four children] yesterday and they had nothing in the fridge but butter. We went out with a load of food that a woman in Miltown donated but other than that they had nothing.”

According to Orla Ní Eile, of the Clare Immigrant Support Centre, legal and illegal immigrant in Clare and their Irish-born children are currently falling through the cracks and not receiving any support from the authorities.

“People are going hungry in Clare each week. It is sad to say it but it is the truth,” she said.

“A lot of these people are returning Irish nationals or foreign workers, who were working legally in Clare but they discover, when they lose their job, that their employer has not been paying tax for them.

“Without a record or paying tax it is almost impossible for them to get any assistance from the state.

“There are dozen of families going without basic food in Clare each week and the situation is getting worse.”

For more information on HELP, search for ‘help the homeless in Clare’ on Facebook.

THE chairman and management of Shannon Airport Authority have welcomed the appointment of four new members to the board of the newly independent Shannon Airport Authority. The new appointees are US-based public policy consultant and transport expert Kathryn O’Leary Higgins, Managing Director of Clare FM and Tipp FM radio stations Liam O’Shea and Shannon Airport worker-directors Joe Buckley (Cargo & Technical Traffic Development Manager) and Kevin McCarthy (Airport Police Fire Officer).

The four new directors join existing board members, Chairman Rose Hynes, Airport Director Mary Considine and Pat Dalton, Chief Financial Officer of One51.

“I welcome these board appointments. The new directors provide us with the type of expertise and experience that is required to deliver the strategic vision for the airport, which is around achieving significant passenger growth and the development of the International Aviation Services Centre at Shannon over the next five years,” said Rose Hynes, the chairman of NewCo, the new company established to oversee the new independent Shannon Airport.

“I look forward to working with the new board members at this exciting and challenging time for Shannon Airport,” Ms Hynes added.

Shannon Chamber president Kevin Thompstone has described the new board appointments at Shannon Airport Authority (SAA) as a step nearer the completion of the change process at the airport.

“With a governance strategy now in place at SAA, plans underway to merge SAA and Shannon Development into a new entity, and the selection of a new CEO for the merged entity pending, the elements to drive the transformational change required at Shannon Airport are progressively being put in place,” he said.

“The SAA board’s complementary set of skills in public policy, transport, aviation, communications, change management, investment and planning, contributes the collective capability to chart a new future for Shannon,” the former chief executive of Shannon Development said.

AN ELDERLY Lisdoonvarna man is recovering in hospital today following a serious accident just outside Ennistymon on Sunday afternoon.

The man, who is in his 60s, was injured when the van he was travelling in collided with a concrete pillar at the Kilfenora junction on the N67 between Ennistymon and Lisdoonvarna.

The man is understood to have suffered a blackout before the vehicle veered off the road and into the pillar.

Two units of the fire brigade and an ambulance from Ennistymon, along with a rapid response paramedic and the Doolin Unit of the Irish Coastguard, all responded to the incident.

The man was transferred by helicopter from North Clare to the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Limerick where injuries were said to be serious but not immediately lifethreatening.

The road remained closed for several hours on Sunday while a forensic examination was completed.

Meanwhile, a stag weekend in the Burren nearly turned to tragedy on Saturday when a male climber had a lucky escape after falling nearly 30 feet while abseiling.

The incident happened just before 5pm on Saturday afternoon when a group was climbing near Moneen Mountain in the Burren.

The Doolin Unit of the Irish Coastguard stretchered the injured man from inside a rocky gorge to an area where the Shannon-based Coastguard helicopter could airlift him to hospital.

The man is understood to have broken both of his ankles in the incident, as well as suffering back injury.

“There was a group of people on a stag in the Burren. One man fell around 25 feet and had suspected fractures to both his ankles and some lower back pain. The spot was just 400 metres from the road but, because of the way his body landed, it was difficult to move him,” said Mattie Shannon of the Doolin Unit of the Irish Coastguard.

“The helicopter was on the scene and we assisted the winch-man to airlift him from the location and on to Limerick.”

THE Lahinch-based West Coast Surf Club (WCSC) say that they still have “serious reservation” about the impact that the constr uction of a new pier at Doolin will have on the local surfing waves around Crab Island.

The group, who along with the Irish Surfing Association (ISA) and a number of individual surfers, compelled Clare County Council to lodge a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) with an Bord Pleanála, say they are still available to consult with the design team for the pier on ways that the impact on the waves could be minimised.

In a joint statement, the WCSC and the ISA also said that they had serious questions over safe access for surfers to the water once the new pier is completed.

“The WCSC and the ISA welcome the conclusion of the review by An Bord Pleanala which will now allow the pier development to proceed. However, serious reservations remain regarding the decision and it is unfor tunate that the board in finalising their decision have not taken on board the serious concerns and recommendations set out in sections 7.1, 9.7 and 11.0 of the An Bord Pleanala Inspector’s Report,” read the statement.

“The pier development will impact on the surf environment in the area with the wave at Ballaghaline Point destroyed and a potentially significant impact on the world famous Crab Island wave.

“The WCSC and ISA again reconfirm their availability and that of their exper t advisors to meet with Clare County Council to ensure that the impact of any design and constr uction works car ried out for the new pier facilities on the waves at Doolin can be minimised. The WCSC and the ISA further note that significant concerns remain regarding the surfer’s access as proposed.”

THE 200-year-old hand of St Don Bosco was on show in Shannon Airport last Sunday, before it boarded a plane bound for Croatia.

The hand, which is a preserved relic from the 19th-century saint, has spent the last week travelling around Ireland. The relic arrived in Shannon in a casket, which is used to transport it around the world.

John Bosco, who is popularly known as St Don Bosco, was born in Castelnuovo d’Asti in Italy in August of 1815. In the run up the 200-year anniversary of his birth, the relic has been engaged in a world tour.

Don Bosco dedicated his life to the betterment and education of street children, juvenile delinquents and other disadvantaged youth. He devised teaching methods based on love rather than punishment which became known as the Salesian Preventive System.

A follower of the spirituality and philosophy of Saint Francis de Sales, Bosco dedicated his works to him when he founded the Salesians of Don Bosco.

Together with Maria Domenica Mazzarello, he founded the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, a religious congregation of nuns dedicated to the care and education of poor girls.

Following his beatification in 1929, he was canonised as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church by Pope Pius XI in 1934.

Meanwhile, Shannon Airport yesterday welcomed the early launch of Aer Lingus’ US schedule for the summer season.

Flights will operate from Shannon to Boston four times weekly and to New York three times weekly.

“The summer season does not officially begin until the end of the month but there’s definitely a sense that it’s kicking off early for us this year, with Aer Lingus commencing its transatlantic services earlier and in time for St Patrick’s weekend,” said Declan Power, head of Aviation Development at Shannon Airport. EXCITEMENT is mounting in Clarecastle as preparations are being made for a fashion show which is taking place this Thursday in the West County Hotel to raise funds for a new playground in the heart of the village. Nerves are getting to some local people as they prepare to make their debut on the catwalk but the anticipation of a great night out and the prospect of a fabulous new facility for children in the area overrides these initial fears. Seventeen local boutiques will be showcasing their spring/summer collections at the fashion show and many other businesses have been extremely supportive with donations, advertising and the provision of fantastic raffle prizes. It is open to everyone and it really should be a very enjoyable evening for all. Tickets are € 20, which includes a complementary glass of wine, a chance to win a weekend away and an opportunity to browse some fantastic stands. Tickets are available at the West County Hotel or Clarecastle Post Office or at the door on the night. The playground project was initiated at the end of last year by Clarecastle Community Development Ltd (CCDL). The total project is estimated to cost around € 150,000. Leader funding has been secured to fund 75 per cent of the total cost and Clare County Council has granted € 16,000 towards the project. This leaves around € 25,000 to be raised by the community and local generosity has already raised some funds to help reach this target. The fashion show is one of a number of fundraising projects that will take place over the coming months to raise the matching funds and it is hoped the children of Clarecastle will have their playground in the latter half of this year.

DOOLIN is set to become the centre of the Clare construction industry over the next two years as more than 100 jobs set to be created on two long-awaited projects on Doolin Pier.

As the Office of Public Works (OPW) prepare to start the tender process for the new Irish Coastguard Rescue Centre next week, an Bord Pleanála also gave the green light for the € 6 million Doolin Pier.

Construction work on both projects is likely to begin later this year with the rescue centre set to be completed by 2014 and and Doolin Pier expected to be operation for the beginning of the 2015 tourist season.

As well as pumping millions into the local economy during construction, the development of the completed pier is expected to drastically change the tourism industry in North Clare – making Doolin a major access point for the 70,000 plus tourists who travel to the Aran Islands each year.

“Clare County Council has invested considerable time and resources into ensuring that the Doolin Pier project is one that benefits all users of the existing pier. Once completed, this project will have significant, positive economic and social consequences for the people of North Clare and the wider region,” said county manager Tom Coughlan.

The Doolin Pier itself is expected to create more then 100 jobs locally, in the local tourism sector, once completed.

“It is regretable that this has taken as long as this to be decided upon. It is unfortuante that a project that was granted public funding around five years ago has had to wait until now to get the final go ahead, despite extensive public consultation,” said North Clare Senator, Martin Conway (FG).

“I am looking forward now to the construction of a new pier in Doolin which is going to create the bones of 100 jobs in the tourism industry – directly and indirectly.”

The pier was also welcomed be a large number of Clare politicians including Labour TD Michael McNamara, Fine Gael Senator Tony Mulcahy and Mayor of Clare Pat Daly (FF).

THE Deputy Mayor of Phoenix, Arizona, will lead a delegation of almost 100 people to Ennis next week to participate in a comprehensive programme of events marking the 25th anniversary of the twinning link between the Clare County and Arizona State capitals.

Michael Johnson will be joined in County Clare by Phoenix City Council representatives and executives, business leaders and Phoenix Sister City personnel.

One of the highlights of Phoenix Week 2013 will be the participation in the St Patrick’s Day parade of 35 members of the Saint Mary’s Catholic High School marching band from Phoenix. During their weeklong visit to the Banner County, the Phoenix delegation will also meet Clare business and tourism interests on the business opportunities that the region offers, participate in the St Patrick’s Day parade, and receive a guided historic tour of Ennis as well as visit some of Clare’s best-known tourism attractions.

Speaking ahead of next week’s visit, Mayor of Ennis, Cllr Peter Considine stated, “It is very important that we celebrate the real and enduring association between Ennis and Phoenix. We all benefit from this association in terms of culture, education and business. I wish to congratulate all of those who have been involved over the past 25 years.”

“Since the formation of the twinning relationship in 1988, civic and community leaders from both sides of the Atlantic have visited each other on exchanges and have developed strong ties and personal friendships. Phoenix Week 2013 is an opportu- nity for all of us to celebrate the very special relationship that has been established,” explained T J Waters, Chairperson of Ennis Phoenix Twinning Board.

He added: “The twinning arrangement has presented tremendous opportunities for the residents of both Ennis and Phoenix. For example, political and business leaders, arts and cultural representatives, technical experts, teachers and students from each location have participated in regular exchanges. We look forward to welcoming our friends to Ennis next week. ”

Meanwhile, Ennis Phoenix Twinning Board will host a breakfast forum for visiting Phoenix business people and officials. The forum on March 15, which is supported by Ennis Town Council and Ennis Chamber of Commerce, will concentrate on opportunities for employment in the region as well as showcasing the tourism opportunities on offer in Clare. Topics covered will include transport infrastructure, links to third-level research projects and opportunities for global business.

Visit www.ennisphoenix.com or the Ennis Phoenix facebook page.

THE Clare County Council delegation’s trip to New York this St Patrick’s Day is estimated to cost one third of last year’s cost.

In 2012, a six-person delegation to the Big Apple cost in the region of € 12,000, with the council cutting costs by staying in the residence of the Consul General of Ireland in New York.

According to a spokesperson for the council, this year’s trip is estimated to cost € 3,000 as Mayor of Clare, Cllr Pat Daly (FF) and the County Manager, Tom Coughlan, travel to New York and Chicago. However, the St Patrick’s Day trips are not limited to the leader of the council chamber and council executive.

Cllr Brian Meaney (GP) will deputise for the Mayor of Ennis and travel to New York; Kilrush mayor, Cllr Mairead O’Brien (Ind) will represent the West Clare town in New York; and Shannon’s mayor, Cllr Michael Fleming (FG), will continue a 16year Shannon tradition by jetting off to New Jersey.

Mayor of Kilkee, Claire Haugh (FF) will not be going abroad this St Patrick’s Day.

Each mayor said that they would be representing the interest of the local people and encouraging investment in Clare during the trips.

Cllr Meaney will be in New York on the invitation of the Clareman’s Association. The Ennis councillor said that he does not use his town council expenses during the year, and believes that this would be a good use of those recourses.

“We didn’t send anyone last year, as we were afraid how it would look from a financial point of view. To me, that was a mistake,” he said. “It is important that we use every opportunity to ensure links with the Diaspora are maintained. It is important to encourage inward investment.”

Kilrush Mayor Mairead O’Brien’s expenses for flight and accommodation are set at € 1,177. Anne Haugh, Town Manager, will also be in attendance but the cost of sending the council official is not yet known.

The trip of the Shannon mayor, Cllr Fleming, to New Jersey on the invitation of the Union County Emerald Society is not known but last year the cost came to € 1,917.26. It is expected to be similar this year, according to Shannon Town Clerk Liam O’Connor who will accompany him on the trip.

Mr O’Connor said the Shannon delegation would promote the town to various investors and dignitaries.

During their trip to New York and Chicago, Mayor Daly and Mr Coughlan will meet with the wider Irish community representatives, United Airlines and city officials/representatives, enterprise agencies, Clare Association Chicago, Clare Association New York, Consul Generals of Ireland in Chicago and New York.

They will also take part in the St Patrick’s Day parade.

CLARE’S expectant mothers are not getting the best pre-natal case possible, according to a member of Ennis Town Council, who argues that a 20week scan would provide for a safer delivery in cases where the baby may need urgent treatment.

Cllr Paul O’Shea (Ind) received the support of his colleagues as he called on the HSE in the region to provide a 20-week anomaly scan for all pregnant women in Clare as part of the routine ante-natal screening process.

According to the former Labour councillor, these scans are only provided at the discretion of the obstetrician or through private healthcare providers.

“This routine scan can determine if the newborn child should be delivered in a territory centre so as to ensure the best chance of corrective surgery upon birth, such as cleft pallets, cleft lips and minor heart condi- tions,” he said.

The HSE does not have any plans to introduce the anomaly scan as part of a woman’s pre-natal check ups however.

“The maternity services in the midwest are not in a position to provide a 20-week ‘anomaly’ scan as a routine measure. However, far from it being provided at the discretion of a consultant, women with a high risk of an anomaly are referred for a 20-week detailed anatomy ultrasound, which is provided by a cohort of our obstetricians/gynaecologists who specialise in foetal medicine. There are four such consultants in the mid-west,” said the local HSE spokesperson.

“This service is not provided on a private basis,” he added.

Cllr O’Shea is adamant that in the interest of safety for the mother and child, such a scan should be introduced, and soon.

“There is a major disparity here between international antenatal care standards. For example, in the UK, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists recommends that all women undergo a two-scan regime. Women in other European countries receive an average of four to five scans during pregnancy. In 2010, Prof Fergal Malone, Royal College Surgeons Ireland and Master of the Rotunda, agreed that a two-scan regime should be available,” he said.

“I have been contacted by expectant mothers who do not have the means to pay for anomaly scans and who feel discriminated against as they live outside Dublin.

He continued, “These routine anomaly scans are presently only provided under the HSE at the Rotunda Hospital and the National Maternity Hospitals in Dublin. There is an equality issue here, as expectant mothers in Clare attending the Mid West Regional Maternity hospital in Limerick are not provided with the scan, and it is only available at the discretion of the obstetrician or through private healthcare providers.”