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CLARE Fine Gael TD Joe Carey is one of a number of political fig- ures that has asked the minister for health to reverse her decision not to proceed with the vaccination programme against HPV (Human Papilloma Virus), a sexually trans- mitted infection that can lead to cervical cancer in some women. Deputy Carey said the abandon- ment of the programme proved that

“the minister for health is not pre- pared to address the fundamental issue of a real and genuine public sector reform’.

Speaking in the Dail on the HPV debate Deputy Carey explained how cervical cancer had ruined the life of one of his neighbours.

“She was diagnosed two years ago with cervical cancer. Her life was turned upside down; in her words, her life has been “wrecked” by the scourge of cancer. Her family life

has been ruined. She cannot under- stand what the minister is trying to do to the Irish people,” he said.

Cervical cancer is the eighth most common cancer in Ireland, with 240 new cases diagnosed every year and some 100 deaths.

“The minister gave an assurance to the public three months ago that this vaccine would be provided to all 12 year old girls. Three months later, however, this lifeline has been taken away for no apparent

reason other than to save a few euro. It is absolutely outrageous,” he said.

Clinical trials have shown that HPV vaccination prevents ad- vanced forms of non-invasive cer- vical cancer.

Although there are in excess of 200 HPV strains, just a small number are associated with the de- velopment of cancer of the cervix.

HPV types 16 and 18 are found in almost 70 per cent of cervical can-

cers, while another five sub-types are responsible for a further 20 per cent of cases.

However, the published data on the vaccine does not yet extend be- yond a six and a half follow-up pe- riod. There is currently a nine year study been under taken.

It has therefore yet to be scien- tifically proven that HPV vaccine prevents invasive cancer of the cer- vix or if a booster injection will be required in the future.

YOUNG people interested in music in the Shannon area are being chal- lenged to take part in a musical bat- tle, during which they can showcase Wd eCoy Dame DCooeLm

‘The Battle of the Bands’ compe- tition is being organised by Clare Youth Service in conjunction with the Shannon Music Project.

Open to all musical genres and all young bands, aged between 15 and 25, the competition will take place on Saturday, November 29, in New- market-on-Fergus hall.

Shannon Music Project was set up

to offer young people in Shannon the Support they need to develop their musical talents and provide them with a space to practice, perform and showcase their talents in their com- munity.

This is the first time that the Shan- non Music Project has organised such a competition. It is the latest in a series of well-organised initiatives run by the youth office in the town, which seeks to encourage young peo- ple in every way.

The youth office focuses on assist- ing young people to get the best out of their lives, through a diverse range of activities, competitions and social

events.

Local youth work worker, Cathal Dillon is hoping for a large turnout of bands, given the huge level of in- terest in music in the area.

“We hope that youth bands in Shannon will see this as a chance to showcase their talents and hopefully win the top prize title of Best Band in Shannon 2008,” said Mr Dillon.

While participation will be at the centre of the competition, there will be the added incentive for ambi- tious potential music stars, as there are prizes on offer on the day. Com- petitors will attempt to win the ‘Best Band in Shannon 2008’ or ‘Best

Original Song! award.

The winning band will receive an inaugural trophy, while the runners- up will receive five free music prac- tice sessions valued at €100. The third-placed team will win a €50 voucher for Roxy Records in Shan- nevae

Entry is by completed application form and these are available from music teachers at St Caimin’s and St Patrick’s Comprehensive School in Shannon and from Shannon Youth Office in Rineanna View.

Full information on the rules of the competition and eligibility can be found on the application form.

CLARE TD, Tony Killeen, came out swinging last week in response to a number of negative comments made by Irish farm leaders in relation to last month’s budget.

Despite much negative sentiment being directed towards the budget, and especially it’s impact on poorer farmers, the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Fisher- ies and Food, released a statement on Thursday describing Ireland’s Dis- advantaged Area Scheme as one of the best-funded schemes of its type in the European Union.

Minister Killeen said that a total of €200 million in funding has been earmarked for the scheme in 2009.

“Despite the intense pressures

caused by the current economic difficulties, the fact is that Ireland continues to benefit greatly under the Disadvantaged Area Scheme,’ he said. However, the decision has reluctantly been taken to reduce ex- penditure on the disadvantaged area scheme in 2009.

‘This had been done in a targeted way that ensures that 67,000 of the 102,000 farmers in the scheme will experience no reduction in their pay- ments.

“All participants in the scheme will continue to benefit from the substan- tial increase of 8 per cent introduced in the rate of payments introduced in 2007 while almost half of those in receipt of disadvantaged area pay- ments will also benefit under REPS, which includes a seventeen per cent

increase in the level of payments made under REPS4.”

In addition, over 47,000 participants will benefit from the suckler welfare scheme, which is a new stream of in- come for Irish farmers and in respect of which €77 million will be paid out in the next couple of months. Furthermore, farmers in disadvan- taged areas will receive €920 mil- lion in single farm payments.

Despite these reassurances, Clare opposition TD Joe Carey last week attacked the government for the budget and in particular it’s effect on farming.

“The farming sector is being hit disproportionately in this budget. Hitting farmers by amounts in ex- cess of €2,000 is simply not right,’ he said.

“The measures are unfair, unjust and clearly need to be revisited. I appeal to the Minister to look again very closely at the harshness of sus- pending the young farmer’s installa- tion aid scheme, the early retirement scheme and the disadvantaged area payments.

“In disadvantaged areas 40,000 farmers will lose over €1,000 per year. This cut is a direct attack on the rural communities in the West of Ireland, it’s a direct attack on Farm- ers in my own constituency of Clare, where 6,120 farmers will be directly NEKO Koen

“The disadvantaged area payment was introduced to give farmers some respite as the land which they farm is poor and much harder to make a living from.”

THE well-known peace activist Ed Horgan has appeared in court, charged in relation to an incident at Shannon airport last June.

Mr Horgan (63), of Charnwood, Newtown, Castletroy, Limerick, 1s accused of failing to comply with the requirements of an airport police of- ficer, at Shannon airport, on June 18 last.

Mr Horgan, a retired army com- mander, told Shannon District Court last week there were a number of 1m- portant preliminary issues he wanted the court to address, concerning the summons.

Judge Joseph Mangan said, howev- er, that he would deal with the issues on another occasion.

Mr Horgan replied that there would

be an issue as to whether the sum- mons was valid or bad.

“It was issued to me to appear be- fore court today and that’s why I came. It claims to be issued by the DPP. . . Sergeant O’Hagan applied for the summons on behalf of the DPP; this I believe to be untrue,’ he said.

Judge Mangan said it was clear the matter would take some time and he did not have the time to deal with it on that day.

Mr Horgan replied, “This is the third time I have been brought be- fore the court on spurious charges, at great expense and inconvenience.”

The judge adjourned the case until next January.

CLARE County Council and Ennis Town Council are aiming to house 60 Traveller families in standard council housing in the greater Ennis area over the next five years.

According to the council’s draft Traveller Accommodation Plan, there will be a need to house 123 Traveller families between 2009 and 2013. It has been established that 88 indigenous Traveller families are in need of permanent accommodation and it 1s anticipated that an addition- al 35 new families will also require accommodation during the period of the draft plan.

The draft plan confirms that the county’s Traveller population will be concentrated in Ennis, Ennistymon and Shannon where all but two of the 123 residential units will be pro- vided. The other two homes will be provided in Scariff and Killaloe over the five years.

The council makes no provision for transient sites in Clare, holding the view that this should be implement- ed on a national basis using regional NSM CRE Kony

The local authority will gener- ally endeavour to accommodate a minimum of one Traveller family in a grouping of ten local authority rented houses and give due consid-

eration to proportionality throughout the county, subject to the interests of proper estate management.

“This will allow for the ongoing integration of Traveller families into standard housing. The council will promote a progression from Travel- ler specific accommodation to stand- ard housing where appropriate and where the family so desires. This would serve to minimise the number of Traveller specific sites required in the future.”

A comprehensive assessment of the accommodation needs of Travellers took place in September when it was established that by far the greatest need for accommodation was in En- nis where 65 families required hous- ing. This compares to thirteen in the Ennistymon area and eight in the Shannon area.

The plan anticipates that 60 Travel- ler families will be accommodated in standard council housing in the greater Ennis area with 24 families accommodated in group housing or SEVER UNTSMESSI Roe

Ten Traveller families will be ac- commodated in standard council housing in Shannon, while six fami- lies will be accommodated in En- nistymon in council housing, while an additional twelve families will be accommodated in group housing in the north Clare town.

A INNOVATIVE programme which encourages children to think posi- tively has been introduced at Scoil na Maighdine Mhuire, Newmarket- on-Fergus.

The ‘Incredible Years’ programme focuses on communication and en- thusiasm and is geared towards mak- ing children happier and more pro- gressive.

School principal Ann McMahon decided to introduce the programme in September, having seen the ben- efits achieved in other schools.

“T have always had an interest in positive behaviour management strategies. It is easier to lead children than to drive them,” she said.

The idea for the initiative was first mooted in 2006, but it took careful consideration by management and

staff at the school before any deci- sion was made to implement it.

“Richard Egan from NEPS (the National Education Psychological Service) mentioned the programme. It had been piloted in Cloughleigh in Ennis and had a huge impact in eliminating negative behaviour. We discussed the possibility of bringing it in,’ she said.

Nine of the 20 staff at Scoil na Maighdine Mhuire attended an in- formation evening on the project and were very enthusiastic about it. Two of the teachers – Moira McMahon and Elaine Ryan – went to Wales for training and the project was started in September.

The project will be achieved through commitment from teachers, parents and students. “It is a multi- agency approach, between teachers, parents and children,” she said.

The programme was devised in the US and has been taken up all over the world. Although relatively new in Ireland, Ms McMahon believes it will become hugely popular across WeTemeOLUUNLB AYA

“I believe this is a programme that will be adopted in every school in the country. You have the costs (to set it up) but the pay-off is massive,” she said.

“I found that previously I had to make telephone calls around nega- tive behaviour, but since we adopted this programme, I have made a point of making telephone calls around positive behaviour. Parents have been very supportive. The days of parents standing at the door of the school and coming no further are gone,” she added.

“Communication 1s critical, not just the children’s ability to communicate

with each other, but their ability to communicate with the staff and staff to communicate with parents,” she said.

While the programme is specifi- cally designed for children aged between three and 10, it has been adopted across the school and all 185 students will be part of it.

“The real proof of the pudding will be to come back in eight years’ time, when the juniors will have eight years of the programme. I firmly believe we will have almost no nega- tive behaviour. It can only augur well for Newmarket as a community,’ she added.

FINE Gael in Clare are calling on the Government to introduce emer- gency legislation to close a loophole which allows head shops in Galway and Limerick to sell potentially dan- gerous herbal-drugs legally. Concerns have been raised over the mental health implications of the use of a herbal version of ecstasy known as the ‘party pill’. According to South Galway Senator, Fidelma Hea- ly Eames (FG), two young people are currently undergoing treatment for

mental health problems in the area as a result of taking the ‘party pill’.

Herbal ecstasy contains a substance knows as BZP or Benzylpiperazine, which has been banned in most EU countries but remains legal in Ireland. According to north Clare county councillor and psychiatric nurse, Joe Arkins (FG), legislation is needed to tackle this situation.

“The onus is on the Government here to resolve this situation. If a sub- stance is dangerous then it should not be sold. Cannabis is a herb and that is not for sale legally in Ireland so the

same should apply here,” he said.

“These substances have been banned in most EU countries already but it is better later than never. If we had a good, quick bit of legislation on this then we could solve this problem very quickly.”

While no official figures exist on the usage of herbal drugs in Clare, anec- dotal evidence would indicated that both the ‘party pill’ and the halluci- nogenic herb salvia are both widely used in the tourists areas in the north and west of the county, particularly CLUN mn ercaMetomclUbevaeCoumeelOyelsetcy

Salvia, which is a variety of sage, is the only naturally occurring sub- stance known to induce a visionary or hallucinogenic state.

Last week gardai carried out searches in a number of head shops throughout the country as part of an investigation into the licensing of certain products.

HUNDREDS of mourners turned out on Saturday for the funeral of Gort mother of six, Kathleen Rock, who tragically lost here life in a road traffic accident on Wednesday evening last.

Mrs Rock (51) died following a single vehicle accident on a minor road at Kiltiernan just off the main N18 road around 8pm on Wednesday abreaal

Originally from Ardrahan, Mrs Rock had been living in Gort for most of her life and had become a central part of the local community. She is survived by her husband Collie and their six children.

Mrs Rock was on the way to col- lect one of her daughters from Yeats College in Galway when the accident took place.

“The mood here in Gort is very sad at the moment. There is a huge outpouring of grief from the whole community to the family and friends of Mrs Rock. There is a lot of sad- ness in the local community, this has come as a great shock and the people are very saddened by it,” said Rever- end Thomas Marrinan from St Cole-

man’s Church in Gort.

Mrs Rock was the only occupant of the car and was brought to Univer- sity Hospital Galway where she died from her injuries.

According to a Garda spokesman the car overturned after crashing and finish up in a ditch.

“There was a massive turnout for the funeral, she was a very very pop- ular woman in the locality,” contin- ued Reverend Marrinan.

“She was a very popular woman and will be very badly missed. She was very well thought of here by her neighbours and all of the local peo- ple.”

Mrs Rock is the third person to die in single vehicle accidents on the roads around Gort in the last 18 months.

In April of this year a 19-year-old woman lost her life in a single vehi- cle accident near Kilchreest Castle on the Loughrea to Gort road.

In June of 2007, 20-year-old Gort man Daniel Kelly lost his life when his motorcycle hit a traffic control barrier at the outskirts of Coole Park. Mr Kelly, who has an address at Crowe Street, was pronounced dead at the scene.

THE Department of the Environ- ment has been accused of robbing Clare County Council of funding ring-fenced from motor-tax paid in the county.

Following the confirmation of a seven per cent cut in the council budget for next year, Cllr Patricia McCarthy (Ind) said that the Gov-

ernment was going back on a deal to ring-fence money collected from motor tax for use in the county.

‘This Government told us that they were ring-fencing the money from motor tax for the local authorities but now they are using this money for their own issues,” the councillor renee

“They said that this money was protected so why are they taking it

from the local authority. The level of money being paid for motor tax has not gone down so I don’t see why our funding in respect to this should be cut.”

Meanwhile, it was also revealed that Clare County Council is being forced to take out overdraft facilities to cover budget shortfalls as a result of delays in receiving payments from the Department of the Environment.

THE ‘Incredible Years’ programme rewards children who engage in pos- itive thinking and communication, through a variety of methods.

One novel approach that Scoil na Maighdine Mhuire has taken is to send home positive notes to parents, such as ‘happygrams’!

These are comical photographs and a piece of text praising students for their efforts. They offer great confi- dence to both students and parents alike.

“In the past, if you got a note going home, it was bad. Since September

we have been concentrating on send- ing home positive notes. I have had parents ringing me almost in tears they were so happy,” said Ann Mc- Mahon.

Students who try hard also receive ‘superstar’ awards, while classroom behaviour is also rewarded.

‘Each classroom teacher has a be- haviour plan. There is a target be- haviour and strategies around that behaviour,’ she said.

Students who make big efforts are rewarded with tokens and at the end of the week they can use the tokens to buy presents or goodies for them- To AVore

Every Friday, the school holds an assembly and a student of the week in each class is awarded with a cer- tificate.

The emphasis is on fairness as the teachers ensure the prizes are spread among all students.

“The whole school is told why a student achieves the award.

“With the programme, if you give feedback to a child, it is specific,” she added.

Children are also encouraged to communicate their feelings, through a feelings barometer and this also fo- cuses on positive thinking.

“They are taught how to talk them-

selves out of the negative place and engage in dialogue. The theory be- hind it is that over time it reduces negative thinking so much that it saves children from things like drug addiction, anti-social behaviour or ending up in jail,’ said Ms McMa- steer

“It is a win-win situation. Already I can see a decrease in negative be- haviour in the classroom and in the school yard. We kept a record of in- cidents in the yard book last year. I already know there is a sizable dif- ference in the number of reported in- cidents in the yard since September,” she said.