Category: News

THE Health Service Executive in the mid west has sought funding to replace what ambulance staff have described as “obsolete” cardiac equipment but can only do so when the money is made available.

The HSE had been accused by ambulance staff of being “slow” or “reluctant” to replace portable defibrillators. The executive has already admitted that some of its older cardiac equipment cannot be upgraded to meet the recent changes to international resuscitation guidelines.

Emergency Medical Technicians have claimed that defibrillators on board ambulances across the mid west are up to ten years old and are not in line with the recently introduced codes from the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR).

“All these defibrillators need to be replaced because the software in the older machines cannot be upgraded to meet the new guidelines. As it is, if we are shocking a patient we have to switch off the defibrillator in the middle of the treatment and start it up again. It is a disgrace,” one EMT has claimed.

“All we want is to have the same standard of equipment as other ambulance services have had for years. We know that our colleagues in Cork, Dublin and the south east all have the most up-to-date defibrillators but with the machines we have, we can’t provide optimal care to the patient,” another Emergency Technician said.

Staff accept however that the money is simply not available in the mid west but say it must be provided from somewhere.

The HSE (Mid-West) said it had some equipment which couldn’t be upgraded with new software to meet the recent changes to the ILCOR guidelines. However, they had been advised by their suppliers that the current equipment could be configured to facilitate the recommended two minute interval between each defibrillation. In future, cardiac monitoring/defibrillation equipment will be purchased nationally on a phased basis in accordance with the national procurement policy and through national procurement.

The HSE spokesperson confirmed that submissions had been made for funding and the defibrillators would be replaced when that funding was made available. Asked whether it was a case of the money not been made available from HSE head office or the Department of Health, the HSE spokesman said the ambulance service had to work within its budget.

AN TAISCE has been forced to withdraw an objection against a planning application for the second time in three months in Clare after concerns were expressed over the accuracy of the objection by a developer.

Last July, An Taisce withdrew its objection against a planned extension by journalist, Fintan O’Toole to his holiday home in Ballyvaughan after labelling his proposal ‘criminal’.

Now, the Director of An Taisce, Gavin Harte has informed Kilkee architect, Tom Byrne that the association is withdrawing its objection against Mr Byrne’s planned development for the erection of a single terrace of six, two storey holiday homes in Kilkee, because An Taisce’s Head Office found its submission by the Clare Association “not of a necessary standard”.

In a letter to the secretary of the Clare Association of An Taisce, Anny Wise, Mr Byrne a former member of the Dublin City Association of An Taisce, described the An Taisce submission as “wild and illconsidered”.

In the submission, An Taisce stated that it was objecting under a number of headings, pointing out that large estates of holiday homes needed good access and services.

In response, Mr Byrne wrote: “What exactly do you mean by this bland statement?

“The density proposed here is well within the guidelines set out in the West Clare Local Area Plan and the Clare County Development Plan. How does a scheme of six terraced houses constitute ‘a large development’?”

Arising from An Taisce’s decision to withdraw the application, Mr Byrne told Mr Harte: “I have no problem with observations/objections to any development, but when such an inaccurate submission is made on behalf of An Taisce then the process becomes farcical and potentially costly to the applicant.

“I trust the ongoing ill-informed submissions by the ‘local association’ will cease . . .

“I also trust that the ‘cut and paste’ and ill-judged mentality of such submissions will soon be a thing of the past. Such submissions needlessly add to the growing disregard which some have for An Taisce and their efforts.”

The Byrne plan is facing opposition from a number of local residents.

Advising that An Tasice withdraw its submission, Mr Harte said: “However we intend to monitor this application and in the unlikely event that the local authority decide to approve planning, it may be appropriate for An Taisce to make an observation on an appeal to such approval.”

ILLEGAL fireworks are wasting the resources of the lifeboat crews along the western coast, as their bright lights are often mistaken for distress flares.

The crew of Kilrush’s RNLI Rose West Inshore Lifeboat have been the latest victims of a false alarms.

Lifeboat Press Officer Charles Glynn told The Clare People that false alarms associated with fireworks were prevalent this time of year.

“It is a tricky situation as once the call comes in, the station is given the option to go out or decide if it is a false alarm.”

The Lifeboat PRO said that to date the Kilrush RNLI has reacted to 100 per cent of the calls by launching the lifeboat and carrying out a detailed search of the area.

Late on Sunday week last, the crew were contacted by the Irish Coast Guard following reported sightings of a white distress flare located between Glin Pier, Co. Limerick and Colman’s Point, Labasheeda on the Shannon Estuary.

Lifeboat Operations Manager, John Lamb said, “This is the third time that Kilrush lifeboat has responded to reported sightings of distress flares in the Glin/Ballylongford area and it is a cause for concern if unauthorised use of fireworks results in the waste of search and rescue resources.”

Both Mr Lamb and Mr Glynn said it was important however that all cases be reported.

Mr Glynn said that while most distress flares were red in colour with a parashoot attached to slow their landing, some of the flares on older boats were still white in colour.

He said that while most sailors and boat enthusiasts carried mobile phones and VHS for alerting the authorities in case of an emergency, flares were only used in extreme cases.

He said once a call reached the lifeboat station the crew preferred to err on the side of caution, but false alarms tied up a lot of its resources as up to ten people could be used in any one call out.

He said to date the majority of the “firework” false alarms had come from the North Limerick and Kerry area.

New legislation was introduced this year to put an end to such “displays”. Under the new laws those accused of misusing fireworks in public can face a €100,000 fine or a jail term, with those found guilty of smuggling fireworks into the State for sale, likely to face prison.

There is also a €10,000 fine for possessing fireworks.

PROBLEMS with planning are one of the main factors which make people in Clare less happy than those in neighbouring counties, according to a new survey produced by UCD.

The survey, which was presented at the “Towards Sustainability in the National Development Plan 20072013” earlier this month, rated each county and region of Dublin on a five point happiness scale.

People in Clare were rated as the fourth most unhappy in the country with only Dublin City, Dublin South and Waterford receiving a worse rating. Clare was grouped in the second tier on the unhappiness scale along with eight other counties. Galway and South Tipperary were group among the most happy counties while Tipperary North, Limerick and Kerry were group in the second most happy category.

Dr Mary Kelly, director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) called for a strategic environmental assessment to be carried out before the introduction of the National Development Plan 2007 to 2013.

“It will be too late in 2013 to look at it and say ‘I wish we had done this some other way’ so the time to try to determine the impact is before the plan gets underway,” said Dr Kelly. The survey was conducted by Professor Peter Clinch and Dr Susana Ferreira of UCD.

MORE than 200 pupils of Seamount College in Kinvara will take part in a silent march this morning, October 24, which will see them walk from the school to the Kinvara Post Office to post letters begging for their school to be saved.

The letters, which are individually hand written by each the students, are addressed to the Sisters of Mercy head office in Ballinasloe, who announced the winding down of the school last week. A new board of management for the school was due to be appointed on October 14, but the Sisters of Mercy revealed last week that they intended to introduce a manager to oversee the phased closure of the school instead.

“We have two main objections at the moment,” said Jane Joyce of newly formed organisation Retain Education at Seamount College United (RESCUE).

“We really feel that we need an intake of students in 2007, or we are in real trouble. If we miss one year, people will lose confidence in the school. Our next step is to re-instigate the board of management. They are needed now more than ever.”

Parents have appealed to the Department of Education to intervene in the dispute and RESCUE are hopeful of organising a meeting with the Minister for Education, Mary Hanafin, in the next few weeks.

“The students all wrote personal letters to the sisters,” continued Ms Joyce.

“They wrote them all themselves, not prompted by us. They say how fearful and panicked they are about it. They are begging the sisters to let them stay.”

CLARE County Council has been strongly criticised over the non-disclosure of the details of two planning applications at the centre of legal actions.

The council, acting on the basis of legal advice, opted to keep details of the cases secret amid claims that it acted against legislation set out in the Local Government Act.

According to Councillor PJ Kelly (FF), the confidentiality agreement entered into by the council was contrary to Section 136 of the Local Government Act, which precludes any local authority from entering into such agreement.

In response to a motion tabled by Cllr Kelly in which he requested the number of planning applications not decided upon within the statutory period between January 1, 2005 to September 9, 2006, it was revealed that legal steps had been initiated in two instances.

One case has been rejected by the High Court and is currently being appealed to the Supreme Court, while in the second, the applicant’s case has been “adjourned pending steps being taken subject to a confidential agreement”.

At last week’s meeting of Clare County Council, Cllr Kelly (FF) expressed surprise at the fact the County Manager had not taken into account Section 136 and that the legal advisor was not present to brief the council.

“At least I expected the legal advisor to be here. We are told that planning today is a mystery that we don’t understand but are meant to believe in . . . we are dealing here with the ethics of confidentiality.”

Cllr Kelly also accused Mr Fleming of acting in a “de-facto” fashion in agreeing to the confidentiality agreement and said that case law prohibited such agreements. Cllr Kelly added he had a “rough idea of the geographic location of one of the cases” due to the talk he had overheard in local “watering holes”

Mr Fleming defended his actions, saying he always acted in the council’s best interest and assumed the legal advisor was well aware of any existing legislation.

However, there was sharp criticism from others in the chamber at the lack of a written response to the motion. There were calls from Cllr Tommy Brennan (Ind) and Cllr Martin Lafferty (Ind) to make more information on the relevant cases available.

“I ask whether you can get access to the file, if those files aren’t available to the public, I want them to be identified. We are going down the wrong road . . . this is a sad day for the planning authority in Clare,” said Cllr Lafferty.

Clr Richard Nagle (FF) said it was naive to think the file numbers would be released.

AER LINGUS has strongly urged its shareholders to spurn the Ryanair’s take-over offer for the airline.

In a statement to the Irish Stock Exchange less than 24 hours after the publication of the offer document by Ryanair, John Sharman, Chairman of Aer Lingus said the offer from Ryanair was “without merit”.

Workers at Aer Lingus Shannon – who are among the staff whose jobs are under threat should Ryanair take over the airline – are today anxiously awaiting the shareholders’ answer to the Ryanair offer.

The statement said that Aer Lingus would “formally respond in detail when it issues its response setting out the views of the participating directors on the offer within the next 14 days”.

But the offer may well run into trouble in trying to secure the shares held under the Aer Lingus Employee Share Option Scheme Trustee Ltd (ESOP), despite offering €2.80 per share when the shares were floated at €2.20.

Ryanair’s claim that the average payment to staff would be €60,000 is being challenged by Aer Lingus, who say that €31,000 would be a more realistic figure.

Meanwhile, ESOP said that it has asked its advisers to review Ryanair’s offer document.

The ESOP said it would make no further comment on the offer document until after it had time to consider the views of its advisers.

In its takeover offer yesterday, Ryanair said it was offering €500m to the Government for its shareholding and a total of €220m to members of the airline’s employee trust.

IMELDA King Kennedy believes we all have a purpose in life and for her that means giving help to those who need it most.

Imelda has just released a CD entitled “Amazing Grace” in aid of the Alzeihmers society of Ireland.

Imelda has lived in Ennis for over 20 years and from her work with the Soroptimists International Society has worked closely with people providing care for people suffering from Alzeihmers.

Through providing quality dementia-specific care and supporting carers and families, the Alzeihmers Society of Ireland raises public awareness about the condition

Today, more than 35,000 people in Ireland have dementia, of which Alzheimer’s Disease is the most common form. The risk of developing Alzheimer’s Disease increases with age with its prevalence rising from approximately 1% in people under 65 years old to more than 25% for those over 80 years. Although rare and more commonly associated with older age, Alzheimer’s Disease can also occur in people in their 40’s and 50’s.

A voluntary worker for 28 years, Imelda says she received the inspiration for recording the album after observing first hand the dedication of staff and of families dealing with Alzeihmers.

“I was motivated and inspired to record the album by people I know and those who care for those with Alzeihmers. My purpose in life is to serve for the betterment of others. I have a purpose in life, a special talent to sing, a unique gift to give to others. When I channel this gift for the service of others, I experience the joy and exultation of my own spirit”

It was always inevitable that Imelda would be involved in music. As a young girl in Newmarket, music played an important role in the family home. At the age of six she was already performing for school and church choirs.

Imelda trained as a singer under the tutelage of Dr Veronica Dunne in Dublin and also with Mary Fulham and Olive Cowper. She attended the Ursuline Convent in Thurles and went on to graduate from the Royal Irish Academy.

Imelda has also enjoyed success on the festival circuit, winning awards at Feile Luimni and Feis Cheoil.

Apart from performing regularly with the Cathedral Choir in Ennis and the Clare Music Circle in Newmarket-on-Fergus Imelda practices a form of musical therapy known as Spirit of the Voice.

Spirit if the Voice deals with a concept known as microtonal healing, a process where the tone of the voice is used for therapeutic purposes.

“The sacredness of the voice has long been recognised in prayerful utterance, song and word and breadth convey the power of the creator and can be used as a transformer and healer” says Imelda.

Sales of Amazing Grace have been going well and Imelda now plans to record a second album in aid of the Alzeihmers Unit in the Clarecastle Day Care Centre. Amazing Grace is on sale at the offices of the Alzeihmers society at the Clonroad Business Park. Copies can be purchased Price: €10 including lunch

by contacting Imelda 087 278 6717.

childhood care and education.

ORTHODONTIC consultants in private practice have been accused of “driving parents to use their service” by preventing delivery of adequate orthodontics through the public sector.

Speaking in the Seanad, Fianna Fáil Senator Timmy Dooley said for a number of years it had been “recognised that there has been an effort by consultants in private practice to drive parents to use their services.

“They are using a dominant position to prevent the delivery of the service through the public service,” he said.

“That is a pity, particularly with the pressures on parents of teenage children. It is right that the State should have a proper and coherent policy on orthodontics.

“We are aware of the difficulties young people have at that vulnerable age.

Their physical appearance is most important to them,” he added.

‘”Parents are obliged to pay large fees to private consultants.”

Last week The Clare People revealed that teenagers in Clare were waiting up to five years for essential orthodontist services; while those considered less serious were forced to go private or not have their teeth treated at all.

Almost a third of the teenage population of the county require orthodontic treatment.

The HSE Mid West Consultant Orthodontist Ted McNamara has left the responsibility for the backlog squarely at the door of the Department of Health and Children and what he describes as vested interests in the dental profession.

He said parents were often told that if their child was a less serious case they should consider going private as the wait in the public sector was now so long they might never be seen.

The startling figures released by the consultant may just be the tip of the iceberg.

Many parents feel pressured into an expensive move to the private sector, but the figures for those waiting for the public service is distorted as patients are removed from the public list once they decide to go private.

Mr McNamara last week addressed members of Clare County Council and called for the recommendations of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children 2005 to be implemented immediately.

Some of the recommendations included a return to the system used in the nineties, which saw dentists trained to assist the Orthodontists in routine check ups, therefore speeding up the process.

THE break down in the Ennis town water supply, which led to the discovery of ecoli and colifrom bacteria in tap water tests last week, could happen in any water supply and there are no guarantees it will not happen again.

That’s according to Ennis Town Engineer Tom Tiernan, who said that giving a guarantee that a similar problem would not happen again was like guaranteeing that the town would not flood.

“We cannot predict the future but we are confident we are moving in the right direction,” he said.

The €2 million interim temporary filtration system installed during the summer was turned off when power returned to the system after an outage in the Drumcliff area.

The council was forced to revert to the old system, which was the subject of ongoing boil notices when cryptosporidium was discovered in the supply.

Mr Tiernan said the interim system has been up and running for the past few months and running well.

“As with any new plant there are teething problems. It takes a while to fine tune any new plant. When it is put in place quickly it does not help.”

He said, “practically all of the problem had passed through the system when the notice was called.”

The water was further analysed and tested during the weekend and all results returned have been clear for any harmful bacteria.

“The boil notice remains in place however as protocol dictates that a number of consecutive clear analyses must be returned before it is removed.

The HSE and the two local authorities will work together to decide when it is safe to drink the water without boiling again.

Consumers of the Ennis Public Water Supply should also boil the water for drinks made with water (including Baby Feeds), food preparation, brushing of teeth and making ice.

They are advised that water filters should not be used as substitute for boiling.