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that there has been no consultation with GPs in the county, who will be asked to take on extra responsibility as a result of the oe nee

“If casualty goes, there is an expec- tation that GPs will fill the gaps but no one has spoken to us to ask how this will be implemented. We feel we are not the appropriate people to become A and E doctors overnight,” he said.

He said insurance, manpower and qualifications won’t allow it and dis- puted the figures used by the HSE to change the 24-hour A and E service

to a 12 hour service to deal with m1- nor injuries.

According to the HSE, the average number of attendances between 8pm and 8am at Ennis A and E 1s 9.2 and of these many are self-referral who “would be more appropriately dealt with by GP out of hour services”. There 1s no indication if these figures are contemporary.

PUKE IE Noe Iioke) MORON eon cy ambulance calls in Ennis at night. While A and E will be transferred to Limerick, plans are also in place to transfer all surgical emergencies from July. The HSE said it is clos- ing the A and E service as the night numbers is so small.

The Ennis General Hospital Action Committee, who has campaigned against such an eventuality has de- scribed the plan as “a murderous pol- icy’ which will “sound a death knell to the ability of rural areas and pe- ripheral towns to attract investment and jobs into areas with restricted access to acute medical and surgical Services’.

‘The report is a missed opportuni- ty, containing very little primary re- search and recommendations which are based on inappropriately used Statistics.”

, the low cost of la- bour in Poland was the main driving force behind the move. According to figures produced by top US econo- mist Dr Robert Kennedy, Ireland’s average wage, when calculate as pop- ulation divided by GDP, is €37,000

compared to just €8,190 in Poland.

According to the latest statistics available from the CIA’s World Factbook, Poland had _ industrial growth rate stands at nearly nine per cent – far in excess of that in Ireland. Despite this growth however, the un- employment rate still stands at 12.8 per cent with inflation less than two ome ale

Both these factors help to keep wages in Poland low compared to Ireland.

‘Poland has pursued a policy of economic liberalization since 1990

and today stands out as a success story among transition economies,” said the CIA World Factbook.

“GDP has grown by an estimated 6.5 per cent, based on rising private consumption, a jump in corporate investment, and EU funds inflows. GDP per capita is still much below the EU average, but is similar to that of the three Baltic states.”

Meanwhile, an EU Commission in- vestigation into the €52 million pay- ment to Dell from the Polish govern- ment will commence this week.

The commission has doubts as to

its compatibility with the rules on regional aid for large investment projects and in particular needs to verify more closely the definition of the market for the products to be made at the plant, the extent of the increase in production capacity re- sulting from the investment and the extent to which demand for these products is in decline.

PLANS to cut working hours at the Element Six factory in Shannon have been strongly resisted by staff.

Short time working hours were due to come into effect yesterday but staff have continued to work as per normal working arrangements.

Shannon SIPTU branch organiser Mary O’Donnell said management had failed to negotiate the proposals with staff

“The company decided in Decem- ber that they were going to intro- duce short-time working hours. But SITPU members, decided prior to Christmas, that, given the fact that there had been no negotiation or dis- cussions of a meaningful kind with the union, that we would not be ac- cepting the new conditions,’ she said.

Element Six employs over 500 peo- ple at it’s Shannon plant.

BUNRATTY Search and Rescue has just wound down after a particularly quiet year, in terms of rescue opera- tions.

It responded to just two alerts over the past 12 months, which is calm in comparison with previous years. It was one of the quietest years since the group was established in 1989.

One of the operations resulted in the body of a woman being recov-

ered in Limerick in November, while three men were rescued in the other incident earlier this year.

“We were out for 23 days in the search for the woman. Apart from those two incidents, we were quiet,” said treasurer of Bunratty Search and Rescue, Bob Potter.

However, although their services were not regularly required, the 23 members of the club were busy throughout the year as regular train- ing is part and parcel of its work.

“The training is important. Over the years, there were times when bodies were found while we were out training,” said Mr Potter.

It costs in the region of €20,000 to run the club annually and fundrais- ing is essential for its survival. A col- lection at Shannon town centre prior to Christmas yielded €4,000, while almost €3,000 was raised by gardai from Clare during their annual cycle for charity earlier this year.

The club held its New Year’s Eve

party in the Creamery Bar last week and the proceeds of the night went to WeCome tUloy

“Local support is important,” said Mr Potter.

IN one of his last official EU actions confirmed before the Christmas break, Clare TD and Junior Minis- ter at the Department of Agriculture, Tony Killeen, announced a total of €202 million in fishing quotas for Ireland in 2009.

This announcement came after weeks of negotiations at EU level and represents an increase of five per cent on last years figures.

The Hague Preferences again came under sustained attack from several Member States this year and their re- moval had been identified as a real risk with serious consequences for Ireland.

The preferences, agreed by Heads

of State in 1976, give Ireland addi- tional quota in certain species and are a fundamental part of relative stability. They give Ireland a bigger share of the traditional stocks around Ireland, if they are at low levels. They have become increasingly im- portant to Ireland as quotas of fish that fishermen are allowed to catch have decreased.

“The Hague Preferences almost doubled Ireland’s cod quota in the Celtic Sea and increased the cod quota in the Irish Sea by some 40 per cent,” said Minister Killeen.

“I cannot emphasise enough the difficulty we faced on a number of fronts in regard to the Hague Prefer- ences and I am both pleased and re- lieved that we have been successful

in our efforts to defend an issue of critical importance for Irish fisher- neoee

“IT am delighted to have been suc- cessful in delivering a_ balanced package of fishing opportunities for our fishermen in what were ex- tremely difficult negotiations. I have worked closely with our Industry Representatives, the Federation of Irish Fishermen (FIF), over the past number of weeks and especially dur- ing the negotiations to ensure that where possible Ireland’s priorities were delivered.”

One of the major objectives of Ire- land was the roll over of the Prawn quota in The Irish and Celtic seas. This was virtually achieved with the reduction being rolled back from the

proposed 15 per cent to just 2 per oom

‘This year we faced a severe range of cuts across many of the commer- cial stocks that our fleet are reliant on,” he continued.

‘After careful consideration of the Scientific advice for these stocks, I sought increases on the proposed quotas where I was satisfied that the state of the stock could sustain high- er catch level.

“IT accepted cuts on stocks where the science was strong and created cause for concern. In the final pack- age, a balance has been struck that will give our fishermen, whitefish opportunities to the value of €202 million for 2009 from €194 million on 2008.”

ae AM rl (oO eC MED M OTIC EranLE

THE racing season is once more coming under the spell of Tubber jockey Derek O’Connor. His latest feats on the saddle came over Christ- mas when he rode the massive total of ten winners throughout the festive period.

Four of those came on the track — including Leopardstown, Limerick, Tramore and Navan – while the re- maining six came, amazingly, at one meeting in Dromohane, just outside Mallow in County Cork.

There was an historic element to his six winners at the Cork course, as O’Connor became only the third jockey to complete such a feat. On the day, O’Connor had ten rides and his 60% success rate meant he was pleased on his way back to Clare while those who backed him on the day were just as happy.

“Anybody who’d been on me that day would have left with a smile on their face for sure,” he said on Mon- day. “It was a great day definitely. But I’d great support as well from trainers and owners and when you think about it, you wouldn’t be able to manage something like that with- out that kind of support.”

JS Oyobeu oom abNOM Yee D) maelemssQuomcitce nificant considering he had been out of action for six weeks after he dislo- cated his shoulder at Roscommon on November 2.

“I’m delighted with the way things have gone since I came back,’ he added. “The season is only a couple of months old and I’ve been missing for a fair chunk of that but after the

Christmas run I’m up to 20 winners, which is decent enough for this time of year.”

The highlight of that Christmas run came at Leopardstown on St Stephen’s Day when he landed the €30,000 Bumper.

‘There was a bit of pressure going into that one. A packed house and big purse and an important race, but thankfully everything went right and we got the result we were looking for.”

O’Connor will remain on the point

to point circuit for the coming weeks and months in a bid to continue the winning streak he has built up and maintain the Christmas momentum.

“It’s the point to points that I’m in- terested in really. That’s what I’ll be concentrating on for the next while

and hopefully Pl be able to build on the Christmas form.”

AT a blustery and bitterly cold Doo- lin, Burren United managed to get the better of Rineanna Rovers thanks to a 15th minute goal from striker Pat Nagle and some solid work from captain Kevin Danaher.

Despite owning most of the pos- session, Rineanna never managed to threaten Eric Cahalane in the Burren goals as his back four remained solid throughout the game.

It meant that the Nagle goal after a quarter of an hour was looking like stealing the points for the North Clare side but they couldn’t allow themselves the opportunity of resting

on that lead — particularly consider- ing the amount of possession their opposition enjoyed.

Still, Burren could have edged fur- ther ahead when two decent opportu- nities fell to substitute Ghat Marine. He got behind the Rineanna defence on both occasions but didn’t manage to hit the net.

This was in contrast to Nagle’s ear- lier opportunity. He was put through expertly by Daniel Carey and Nagle managed to round the ‘keeper and slot the ball calmly to the net.

The goal definitely roused Rinean- na and from there they tried to wres- tle something from a game that was high on tempo and commitment. A

couple of yellow cards were flashed throughout the contest as both sides went at each other with vigour.

It’s an important win for Burren, considering the three teams direct- ly below them failed to win at the weekend.

With a couple of games in hand, it also means they’re in a position to further propel themselves up the table.

It’s a disappointing result for a R1- neanna side that had hoped to jump a couple of places in the table, but they were without the services of eight regulars and took to the field with a somewhat makeshift side.

Still, the points go to Burren and

deservedly so for their dedication and ability to convert in front of goal.

A MIRROR image of Bunratty’s duel with Moher Celtic as Lifford kept up the pressure on the leaders by pre- vailing against Corofin on away soil.

If Bunratty had the tough task of fac- ing second from bottom Moher Celt- ic in Liscannor, then Lifford’s jour- ney was just as tricky as they took on bottom placed side Corofin and like their tithe chasing counterparts had

to endure a nervy first three-quarters before eventually seeing off their op- ee slo sling

In the end, it had to take a moment of brilliance to decide this encoun- ter, just as it seemed that Corofin had

done enough to secure a valuable point. The decisive goal came in the 70th minute when Scott Hennessy raided down the right and drilled a cross to the always dangerous David McCarthy. With his back to goal, McCarthy spun with one touch be- fore rifling to the net.

It was a huge relief to Lifford who had been frustrated for long peri- ods by the home side. Corofin were strong in defence and until the goal, they were more than a match for the second placed side. However, when you are down at the bottom of the table, lady luck often deserts a side and so it proved for Corofin, who are still the only team in the division yet to record a win. They will take great heart from this display though and will have to be equally as stubborn this weekend when Avenue come to town.

However, at the other end Lifford are still hanging on to Bunratty’s coat-tails, waiting for the leaders to slip. It doesn’t look like happening on current form but it’s important to keep up the pressure anyway.

BRIDGE Celtic survived a strong second half comeback to see off the challenge of Bridge United on Sun-

day

Celtic raced into a three goal first half lead but let their guard slip after the break.

United, who are loitering around

the lower reaches of the table, forced their way back into contention with two early goals. Only a late Barry O’Connell ensured all three points for the home side.

The win sees Celtic climb into fourth place level on points with third place Avenue and seven behind league leaders Bunratty.

With Ger O’Connell and Daniel

Aherne still to return to the fold, Celtic will hope they can maintain their recent run of good form.

A win looked a foregone conclu- sion on Sunday after the home side completely dominated the first half. Shane Byrne opened the scoring for Celtic who doubled their advantage through Kieran Aherne’s goal soon Nilo

Wesley Flemming knocked in the third goal as Celtic rubberstamped their authority on the first half.

But Celtic aren’t the first team and they certainly won’t be the last to rest ONO eloi Dum E-1UNus) KEN AKo) UOT @Detcam: Meese nce manding lead.

The job was by no means complete. United regrouped for the second half and a converted penalty made it 3-1.

A shock really looked on the cards when Kieran Aherne put through his own net to reduce Celtic’s lead to one with 20 minutes still to play.

Celtic manager Johnny Flynn made a few changes to his side and they had the desired effect. Celtic kept United at bay and Barry O’Connell popped up to seal the victory with a late goal.

A good win for Celtic but equally encouraging will be the performance of debutant Tommy Lynch. Lynch was part of the Clonlara team that won the Clare senior hurling cham- pionship and he looks set to play an important role in the remainder of Celtic’s season.

Next up for the east Clare side is a home encounter next Sunday against second place Lifford.