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THE Christmas and New Year sales were On a par with previous years, despite a slow start, according to En- nis Chamber of Commerce.

“The reports from talking to busi- nesses were good. Things were pretty good and on a par with other years,’ said Chamber Chief Executive Of- ficer Rita McInerney.

“Although the Christmas period didn’t pick up until quite late, it was busy after Christmas because the sales hit so strongly, with up to 50 per cent off in some shops,” she added.

“Consumers are returning to pre- boom shopping habits. Everybody shops in the sales,” she added.

Sunday shopping didn’t do too well with shoppers staying away on Sun- day, December 28. “That day was slow enough. People weren’t used to shopping in Ennis on Sundays as such,’ she added.

However, she expects that business will slow down in the next number of weeks, as the downturn in the econo- my takes effect.

‘Businesses are indicating they feel things will slow down. Mid-January and February are always quiet,” she said.

She is hopeful that businesses in Ennis will survive the downturn. “With the boom, we have seen new

businesses in Ennis. A lot of them have picked up. We have a lot of tra- ditional family-owned long-standing quality in shops. People are being a lot more practical in what they buy. They are looking for quality goods and that is something that will stand to us now,” added Ms McInerney.

Ennis businessman Gearodid Man- nion, of Tom Mannion Travel, said the decision to pedestrianise the streets of Ennis for four days in the run-up to Christmas worked very well.

“It was worth it. They were perfect- ly chosen and I think we got it spot on,” he said.

Meanwhile, the manager of Sky- Court in Shannon said that while footfall was slightly down, overall business was brisk during the sales.

“Our footfall was a little bit down on previous years, which was to be expected. Overall we were quite hap- py with it,” he said.

“People are not spending as they used to. The spending power just isn’t there,’ he added.

He expressed disappointment that the corporate sector didn’t buy into the gift card scheme launched last year.

‘There was a great take-up from the local people as opposed to the factories. We were a bit disappointed that the corporate market didn’t avail of it as locals did,” he said.

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.

ALLEGATIONS that a Kilrush man was intimidated and offered cash to drop charges in relation to an alleged assault on Christmas Eve have been made this week.

The claim came yesterday in the case of two young men charged in connec- tion with an incident in the west Clare town on Christmas Eve. Gardai have launched an investigation into the claims and said that the victim of the alleged assault was in fear of going to court yesterday.

Eamon Hall (20), of Wood Road, Kilrush, is accused of stealing a car at Burton Street car park in the town, last Wednesday, December 24.

Another man, Simon Rogers (19), of Willow Green, Kilrush, 1s accused of assaulting the owner of the car caus- bOrea er U OEE

He is also accused of allowing him- self to be carried in a stolen car and damaging another car in Kilrush, on the same date.

Airport traffic figures nosedive

THE operators of the Shannon Le1- Sure Centre, where workers have been told that they will be laid off for 21 weeks from next week while a major refurbishment project is un- dertaken, have warned SIPTU of the implications for the future viability of the facility if the works do not go ahead.

SIPTU has already asked that the €1.2m refurbishment plan “be shelved pending discussion on alter- native arrangements which would ac- commodate both staff and patrons”.

The centre’s 15 staff are due to be laid off for 21 weeks from next Mon- day while the work 1s undertaken.

While SIPTU has demanded that the work be put on hold, the board of the centre has warned of the serious implications for the long-term viabil- ity of the leisure centre if the works do not go ahead as planned.

A letter to SIPTU stated, “The board’s position continues to be that the only viable option is to com- mence the renovations and exten- sion on January 5 to ensure the long term viability of centre, guarantee employment into the future, and en- sure that the community continues to have affordable, modern recreation EYOVU BLO oxna

SIPTU Branch Secretary Mary

O’Donnell said, “This centre is fund- ed largely by public contributions and the public purse and we do not believe that it is in the public interest that people who are not affected fi- nancially by this decision should cast aside these loyal employees onto the public social system, while public funds are spent on renovation.”

A spokesperson for the leisure cen- tre said they thought “long and hard about this” before deciding it was the best option from a health and safety perspective.

‘Health and safety issues have to be our primary concern. We can- not have such major works going on while we have staff and clients in the oluun Counersam

Under the plan, the building con- tract will take 20 weeks while the centre will be closed for 21 weeks to allow time to prepare for the reopen- ing. If the works were allowed to go on while the facility was open to the public, it would take 30 weeks and cost up to €200,000 more, money which centre management say “we just don’t have”’.

The board of the centre has restat- ed, “This €1.2m refurbishment is a major investment in the facility and the town and it safeguards jobs at the centre for the future.”

SIPTU say its position is un- changed.

MUNSTER were not the only ones to pull off a victory when they defeated Clermont Auvergne in Thomond aeuseonleny

When Jerry Flannery pushed over Marcus Horan to give Munster the lead in those fateful final minutes, neither player knew that their actions were going to determine much more than the result of the game.

If that had not happened, then Paul Rossiter would not have been able to go through with his plan to propose to Olive McNamara, daughter of Clare County Manager and Scariff publican, Michael McNamara.

“Thank God for Horan, only for him I would have had to wait until another night and [ had it all planned. When he went over he saved my life, if they had lost I wouldn’t have been able to go through with it,” Paul said immediately after the big moment.

When the TMO finally gave the try over the ref-link, he turned to Olive and proposed in the middle of the mayhem that was going on all around Weloseen

“T was stunned for a minute. I re- member seeing the sparkle of the ring and then it made sense. He was be- side himself until the try was given. In fact, he was acting very strangely all day and I was wondering what was wrong with him, but then it all made sense,” said a delighted Olive.

Paul and Olive have been going out for seven months or so and had discussed getting engaged but hadn’t

made any concrete plans.

Olive is a garda stationed in Nenagh and Paul lives near New Ross and plays rugby with New Ross RFC but has been an avid Munster supporter for many years. Saturday was his 70th Munster match. Knowing that they were coming up for the game, Paul pre-arranged it secretly with the jeweller during the week that a ring which Olive had admired would be ready.

After he proposed and Olive ac- cepted, Paul grabbed professional photographer, Richard Leonard who had been working at the match, to

record the big moment with a picture on the pitch.

The happy couple haven’t yet set a date but are thinking of some time towards the end of 2010.

“It was kind of ironic that we got engaged at a rugby match when my dad is so involved with hurling but When he played for Waterpark in Waterford, we watched rugby every Sunday,” said Olive.

Government called on to help US Irish

THE first tentative steps have been taken towards the formation of what could be a new force in Clare foot- ball – a senior football champion- ship alliance between O’Curry’s and Naomh Eoin.

“We would have been very disap- pointed with our Munster final per- formance in 2008. We felt we should have and could have done a lot better than we did. We really have to make that good for the Clare supporters

who were there that day, the support- ers we felt we let down. We’re going to make that good and that’s our am- bition for the year. Our ambition now is to contest another Munster final and on this occasion to win it,’ Mc- Namara revealed.

“The bar is there. It’s held by Kil- kenny and held high. That’s what we have to attain and that’s what we have to achieve.

“We have levelled off what I used to determine the slide, now we can look with renewed optimism to what hope- fully will be a good league campaign and then an excellent championship campaign. It couldn’t be better. We train and train hard for big days and

big match days and we couldn’t ask for better than a Munster semi-final clash against either Cork or Tipper- ary, he added.

And, in sounding a bullishly confi- dent note for the year ahead, McNa- mara also revealed that youth will be given its fling throughout the season.

“There are some of last year’s panel that we didn’t bring back for a va- riety of reasons. There are a whole new range of people there. There is an open ended panel, with 10 or 12 players who haven’t appeared at sen- ior inter-county level before. We’re hoping that half a dozen of those will represent the county into the future.”

“We saw with the Under 21s last

year some very exciting new talents emerging. They were a very very good 21 team and a refusal to be beaten was written all over them, particularly against Cork in Cork.

‘“There’s excitement there and it’s up to us to target it and while it may not come to the fore immediately, certainly most of the new talent will be appearing and re-appearing through the league and through the championship with one eye to the fu- ture,’ added McNamara.