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ALMOST 200 new jobs are to be announced for Ennis-based firm, Microsemi which produces equip- ment for the US space exploration eyueseaw-baepasten

A further investment of €2.4 mil- lion is to be announced today at

Async Technologies Ltd, enhancing the company’s R&D and internation- al sales capabilities and creating 11 new high skilled jobs.

The multi-national Microsemi’s General Manager, Richard Finn has stated that the company will be in- creasing its Ennis workforce by 185 to 400 over the next two years.

Though the jobs have not been of- ficially announced, Mr Finn has in- formed Clare County Council of the imminent expansion in the course of a submission for additional car-park- ing at the Gort Road Business Park

site.

WEST Clare councillors have vowed to change what has been described as a bias towards the southern half of the Shannon estuary in terms of commercial development.

At a special meeting of the two elected bodies responsible for the west of the county, councillors agreed that the northern half of the estuary was under-developed com- pared to the southern half.

Shannon Foynes Port Authority apologised that they could not attend the meeting which was held at the re- quest of Kilrush Fianna Fail council- lor Tom Prendeville.

Clir Prendeville told the meeting that to his knowledge, there hadn’t been a metre of quay development since the Foynes Port Authority opened.

“We have all been peeved that millions go up stream every year to Shannon Port Authority and some of it never comes back,” he told his fel- low councillors.

He said some of this money was used to fund court cases and to set- tle internal disputes – which was not value for money.

‘“Moneypoimt would never have been here but for the deep water. If we can convince Shannon Port Au- thority that if there is development on the northern half of the bank then

there will be knock-on benefits for all,’ he suggested.

“We have lost out on the northern bank on infrastructure and then lose out on all auxiliary development on Were h ne

Cllr Prendeville said he believed that Moneypoint had not reached its

JUD oxeKonerle

“Tt is inherently wrong that that state would invest €1 billion in a development and it not be used to capacity. We feel there is a great natural resourse out there for devel- opment.”

Mayor

of Kilrush Cllr Liam

O’Looney (FF) said that many of the problems facing the development on the Clare half of the peninsula is of the councils’ own making, as they did not “talk up”’.

“We are isolated. We have potential and we should put forward our case to the minister,’ said Kilrush Town

Councillor Collie Sweeney (Ind).

Cllr PJ Kelly (FF) told the meeting that there are two points on the Clare side of the estuary with deep waters – an area close to Cahercon and at La- basheeda – that could accommodate more tonnage than Foynes.

He said he is aware of a foreign in- vestor who was interested in develop- ing part of the estuary, but planning issues deterred him from doing so.

Cllr O’Looney said businesses in Kilrush were now having heavy raw material delivered by sea to Wick- low and taken across the country by road, as Cappa could not cope with the quantity.

Cllr Oliver Garry (FG) said, “Eve- ry time you hear of development in the estuary you hear of Ballylong- ford and businesses going to the land zoned. I agree we have to have the land on the north zoned and ready for a developer to see.”

Cllr Prendeville proposed _ that Clare County Council and Kilrush Town Council call on the Minister and the Port Authority to address infrastructural deficiencies on the northern bank of the estuary and this motion was passed.

When contacted by

THERE were no winners and for the family of the young girl and the driver of the car, the pain will never go away.

A drive to Ennis for Sharon Shana- han was brought to a sudden halt, af- ter her car struck a 10-year-old girl, who had been crossing the road.

While Ms Shanahan, a special needs assistant in a north Clare school, was cleared of a charge in connection

with the accident, the tragic crash has undoubtedly changed her life.

She cannot explain how the accident occurred, but is acutely aware that what happened that fateful evening led to a little girl receiving horrific injuries. The girl’s family are forced to contend with her injuries. The lit- tle girl left her home that evening to go to her friend’s house to collect a mobile phone, but tragically ended up in hospital.

It is every parent’s worst nightmare.

The girl’s distraught mother heard details of the accident in court last week, where the extent of her injuries were revealed.

The girl was unable to be in court, but her friends were there to tell what happened. She had been crossing the road and waved to two of her friends, when she was struck. They watched in shock and called for help as the little girl was propelled into the air before landing behind the car.

Rarely do children of that tender

age give evidence in a court case and their evidence was compelling. Both the little boy and girl – friends of the girl at the centre of the case – put their emotions to one side as they recalled the evening of the accident.

Both witnesses were categoric in their evidence and recalled it as they had remembered. Their honesty stood out as neither was overawed by the occasion. Prior to taking the oath, the little girl was asked if she understood the consequences of not

telling the truth. She explained that she did; that failing to tell the truth in the witness box with result in her get- ting into “big trouble.” She, and the boy, confidently described in court their recollections of the accident; both unfazed by the occasion in the courtroom.

Like the little girl’s family and the driver of the car, these two children were also deeply affected by the ac- cident. A stark reminder of the trau- matic effects of road accidents.

BUSINESS representatives in the Shannon region are being encour- aged to attend a seminar on business strategy, later this week.

Entitled ‘Hidden Giants: How to lead your business successfully’, the event, organised by Shannon Cham- ber of Commerce, will take place at the Westpark Campus, on Thursday

morning, between 7.30am and 9am.

The seminar is specifically de- signed for business leaders. It will focus on the challenges faced by business leaders in the uncertain economic environment.

Mike Gaffney of LEAP will be the main speaker on the morning. His theories on leadership and manage- ment have galvanised several man- aging directors to take full respon-

sibility for the leadership of their businesses, resulting in significant, positive impact on their organisa- tions’ performances.

He will discuss the specific lead- ership challenges facing Irish busi- nesses and will examine how these challenges can be overcome.

The event is open to members and non-members of Shannon Cham- ber of Commerce. The entry fee for

members is €10 and €15 for non- members. A limited number of plac- es are available so the advice is to book as early as possible, to ensure you secure a place.

Given that this event will take place so soon after last week’s budget, a number of invaluable tips will be provided on the day, as some busi- nesses struggle in the face of the eco- nomic downturn.

COUNCILLORS will meet in Ennis today to discuss the draft Ennis and Environs Development Plan despite unease among some members that the process is being rushed.

The meeting, first scheduled to take place last Friday, will examine the Ennis Town Manager’s report on the submissions for the draft plan.

The plan will guide the future growth of Ennis and its surrounding environs in a way that will set out the

future land use requirements of the town’s community for economic de- velopment, recreational, social, com- munity, residential, transport and in- frastructural needs.

The review of the 2003 plan also addresses other zoning issues in re- lation to flood risk management, en- ergy efficiency and traffic manage- ment.

The review of the Development Plan for Ennis and Environs com- menced with a 9-week period of public consultation on December 8

2006. The Development Plan covers a 6-year period and the current plan is due to expire in December 2008. A deadline of December 9 has been placed on the adoption of the plan.

Speaking at yesterday’s meeting of Clare County Council, Council- lor Tommy Brennan said not enough time had been given to councillors.

‘Deadlines were given and not met” said Clir Brennan, ““Now we are leav- ing this to the last minute. The delay wasn’t the making of Clare County Council.

CUlr Johnny Flynn (FG), speaking yesterday to the Clare People, said he was concerned that the plan was be- ing rushed through.

*’T feel that the whole thing has been rushed through. There are an awful lot of issues that must be con- sidered here’, said Cllr Flynn

“T felt that it has been dealt with hastily and that it is being rushed through. Normal practices that allow for consideration don’t seem to apply here. It appears that the plan is being pushed through with undue haste”

Cllr Flynn said suitable provision should be made in the plan for zon- ing land for schools.

‘There needs to be a site found for the Ennis Educate Together school. Developers should be obliged to build a new classroom for a school in the area if they are engaged in a de- velopment of 30-40 houses. We have ongoing issues with regards to school buildings in Ennis”. Cllr Flynn also said the new plan needs to address sports and amenity facilities in En- Oh

SHANNON Development has de- fended its record in developing in- dustry on the northern bank of the Nerve mece rae

The body was responding to com- ments made at a special meeting of Kilrush Town Council and the Kilrush members of Clare County SSE EK ics

During the course of the meeting, Cllr PJ Kelly (FF) said Shannon De- velopment had continued to promote

and sell the southern half of the estu- ary by “sterilising the north side”.

“They were aided and abetted by the Shannon Ports Authority whose only interest was to collect contribu- tions at Moneypoint,’ he said.

“It is industry in the south and birds in the north,” he told the meeting.

A spokesperson for Shannon De- velopment said that the Shannon Free Zone is close to the estuary on the Clare side and the company was also responsible for the Kilrush Creek Marina and its development.

On the southern half of the estuary the semi-state body inherited a large parcel of land in Ballylongford from the IDA.

“This was a strategic natural site with deep waters,’ said the spokes- ea Ree

Half of that site is now part of a three-year building project to con- struct a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal.

Once the €400 million project in Tarbert and Ballylongford is up and running the natural gas will

be pumped from tankers to storage tanks, then converted to natural gas before being piped to end users.

The terminal will include a ma- rine berth, jetty and secure mooring, LNG offloading facilities, storage tanks, and vaporisers to turn LNG from a liquid back into a gas.

The gas will then be connected up to the national gas grid.

The terminal will be built on 281 of the 600-acre land bank owned by the state for large-scale maritime related industry.

Shannon Development also owns approximately 200 acres in Askea- ton on the road to Foynes but again like the majority of land it is respon- sible for on the northern side this is also land-locked.

“We would be keen to support any development in west Clare. We helped with the development of La- basheeda and Kildysert Piers n the 1990s and the moorings in Carri- gaholt although that was about ten years ago,’ the Shannon Develop- ment spokesperson said.

A TEN-YEAR-OLD girl has sus- tained severe brain injury after she was hit by a car while crossing the road in Ennis.

The grave extent of the girl’s in- juries emerged last week, when the driver involved in the accident ap- peared in court.

The young girl had just waved to her friends, whilst crossing the road, when she was struck. She was flipped into the air and landed at a back wheel of the car and lost consciousness.

She sustained serious injuries and continues to receive medical treat- ment.

Sharon Shanahan (33), of Killura, Ennistymon, pleaded not guilty to driving without due care and atten- tion and at the end of the contested case at Ennis District Court, she was found not guilty by the judge.

The accident occurred close to the intersection between Circular Road and Childers Road, Ennis, at 5.50pm on February 25 last.

The girl’s 10-year-old friend re- called, in court, spending time with the young girl immediately before the accident. She had called to his house in that area to collect a mobile je) ateyaten

He said he, the 10-year-old girl and another friend, aged 12, walked across the road. “We stopped half way and she went forward. We went back. She turned around and waved back. I saw a car coming,’ he re- or Naeem

He said the 12-year-old girl called out the 10-year-old’s name. “She got hit. I think it was her head that hit the window. She slid across the car. She landed a foot away from the path. She was saying Oww and all that,” said the boy.

“She just got hit and the phone was on the grass. My dad said not to move her in case she had broken her neck,” he added.

The boy said the car was going “very fast.” “It went too fast. All I could see was a red car and a woman with blonde hair in it. If the car was going a little slower, I don’t think she would have gone into the air so high,” he explained.

He said he felt the driver probably thought the little girl would move, “but she didn’t.”

Under cross-examination from de- fending solicitor Stephen Nicholas, the boy said he was certain that the girl was waving at him. “She must have been on the footpath?” asked

Mr Nicholas, to which the boy re- plied, “No.”

“Why would she stand on the road and turn around and wave’? It is very dangerous to stop on the road and wave, said the solicitor. The boy said, “There were no cars coming.”

Mr Nicholas noted that the boy had said in court that the car had been travelling at speed. “It is a very 1m- portant fact but you never said to the guards anything about the car going fast,” he said. The boy replied, “But it did go fast.”

The 12-year-old girl who was also there that evening told the court the 10-year-old was about a step or two away from the edge of the footpath when she was hit. “She waved before she got to the footpath,” she said.

Lisa Russell (25) told the court she was driving behind Ms Shanahan’s

car that evening. Asked to recall the accident, she said, “There were two kids on the right hand side and as I looked at the left, I couldn’t see the child’s head. I could see her body. She was hovering as such. She was flung around. She ended up in a ball at the back tyre.”

Asked about the manner of driving, she said, “I didn’t take any notice to be honest.”

The court heard that Ms Shana- han’s Ford Focus car was damaged in the impact – the front bonnet was dented, while the lower part of the windscreen was cracked.

Garda Joseph Ryan, who attended the scene of the accident, said the little girl was unconscious. She was immediately taken to Ennis General eevee

A statement made by the driver,

Ms Shanahan, was read to the court. In it, she said she was driving to the Adult Education Centre on the Kil- rush Road, when she took a wrong turn and ended up in the Cloughleigh area. She said she was unfamiliar with the area. She saw children and the next thing she could recall was a child hitting her windscreen. She stopped and got out of her car. The girl was lying on the ground at the back passenger wheel. Ms Shanahan was in deep shock and started to col- lapse.

“T do not know how the girl came in contact with my car. I was driving normally and concentrating at the time,” she said.

Garda Ryan said that with her consent, he checked Ms Shanahan’s mobile phone and it showed that no phone calls had been made and no

text messages had been sent at the time of the accident.

Mr Nicholas put it to him that the public service vehicle (PSV) inspec- tor’s report would suggest the impact was at low speed and the garda ac- cepted this.

Gda Ryan said that the girl received serious injuries as a result of the ac- cident. A medical report said she has suffered severe brain injury.

She is alert, but disorientated and is currently undergoing physiotherapy and speech therapy.

Sharon Shanahan told the court she has been driving for nine years and was never in court before.

Asked did she see the little girl, she replied, “No.”

“T was going pretty slow. I wasn’t sure where I was,” she said. She said she could not explain how the acci- dent had happened.

Inspector Tom Kennedy, prosecut- ing, put it to her if she was taking ad- equate care and attention, she would have seen the girl. She replied, “I was driving with care and attention. I’ve no idea where she came from.”

Mr Nicholas noted that the girl sus- tained “horrific injuries, but that is not what the case is about. It’s about Whether the accused was driving without due care and attention.”

He said the boy was mistaken in saying there was speed involved, adding, “Maybe the children are mistaken when they say where she was on the road.”

Judge Joseph Mangan said the ac- cident was “very unfortunate” and he sympathised with the little girl’s family. He said that Ms Russell was to be commended, but “nothing she has said will enlighten us to the de- fendant’s manner of driving.”

He said that while the boy suggest- ed the car was moving fast, he had not referred to this in his statement at the time of the accident. “It’s too vague,’ Said the judge.

He said, crucially, the little girl was not in court “for obvious rea- sons” and said her injuries were not relevant as to whether the defendant was culpable.

“In all the circumstances, I have to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt before I convict somebody. On no ac- count can I say I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt,’ he said and dis- missed the charge.

AS IT prepares to celebrate its 10th birthday next year, a basketball club in Shannon is planning to expand and attract new members.

Phoenix Shannon basketball club was set up in 1999 by local ladies Carmel Howard, Karen O’Callaghan and Bella Boyle and has participat- ed in the Limerick league, over the years.

It was narrowly pipped for over- all league honours last year, but its members are hopeful that silverware will be won this year.

PRO Majella Lillis said the club has enjoyed phenomenal success, but the ultimate aim is league honours.

“We were beaten in the play-offs

the last two years. Mary Immaculate College, Limerick beat us last year and University of Limerick were the victors the previous year. The aim 1s to win this year. We were just pipped last year in the play-offs. It went down to points,” she said.

The first match of the season, two weeks ago, saw Phoenix defeat St Colm’s Saints, also from Shannon. Tonight they will play University of Limerick, away, and are hopeful of Panne

“It will be a massive game for us, as the league has been between Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick and ourselves over the past couple of years,” she said.

A lot has changed since the club was initially set up and hopes are

high that it will continue to make good progress.

“When the club started off origi- nally in 1999, the players were from Shannon. Now, we have players trav- elling from Ennis to Shannon,’ she PALO

To cater for the Ennis players, the training 1s split into two locations – St Flannan’s College, Ennis and St Caimin’’s in Shannon.

“This year, it is the same group of players that have been there for the past few years,” she said.

“Up until recently our club had been the only basketball club representing Clare in the Limerick League. Last year the club played 14 games. We won 12 and only lost two. This is a fantastic record by any standards,”

she added.

There is a close-knit aspect to the club – which is sponsored by Maid- enform – as the girls who play also run the club. Mike Hickey, who trains the girls, is also the chairman; Karen Moclair and Grainne Lynch are the treasurers, while Majella is the PRO.

New members and_ supporters should contact Mike Hickey on (086) 6030250.

GARDAI in north Clare are follow- ing a definite line of enquiry, after an elderly man was targeted three times by conmen. The man, who lives alone in the Turlough area, was visited by men pretending they were workmen, over the past few weeks.

On one occasion, the callers claimed they were television repair men and they fraudulently obtained more than a €1,000 from the man. On the second occasion they claimed they would clean the eaveshoots on

his house, but he did not part with any money on that occasion.

On the third visit, a week ago, the callers claimed they were carrying out work on tarmacadam. However, the owner of the house was not at home at the time and his sister re- fused entry to the men. She made a note of the car registration and im- mediately contacted gardai.

Gardai believe all of the men were part of the same gang. “We are fol- lowing a definite line of enquiry,” said a garda source. Locals are con- cerned about this, given that it is not

an isolated incident.

Another man has also been robbed of thousands of euro, while several homes in north Clare have been bro- ken into over the summer.

Gardai have pledged to put re- sources in place to stall the activities of travelling criminals, while the lo- cal Turlough/Belharbour/Newquay community alert programme has raised its profile.

Secretary of the group, Margaret Healy said locals are very concerned about the latest visit on the same vic- mbeee

“Locally, everybody is disgusted and frightened, more than ever be- fore. It is important for people not to let strange people into your house,” she said.

She is encouraging residents in the Turlough, Belharbour and Newquay areas to liaise with the community alert programme and report any suspicious activity to gardai or to a member of the scheme.

Meanwhile, Ennis town and sub- urbs has been hit by a spate of day- time burglaries over the past week. Several houses have been broken into

and valuables, including jewellery and plasma televisions, taken.

Ennis Superintendent John Scan- lan is advising people to take care of their premises.

‘People need to be more careful locking up their houses. We are ask- ing people to ensure their windows and doors are locked, when they are leaving their homes,” he said.

“We are concerned about the level of domestic burglaries during the daytime. We are asking people to be vigilant and take an inventory of their valuables,’ he added.

AN ENNIS chet is flying the flag for Clare at an international foodie gath- CHureea rele vA

Clare Slow Food movement rep- resentative, Sean O’Connor of Bia na Dia in Ennis, will be setting out plans for Clare to be one of just a few centres nationally to get involved in a pilot project aimed at turning teens from a diet of fast-food.

Sean is this week attending the four-day Terra Madre conference in Turin, the bi-annual gathering of the Slow Food movement which is attended by 10,000 delegates from every continent.

The Slow Food movement has grown apace in Clare in recent years and with Brigette Curtin of the Bur- ren Smokehouse chairing the Clare contingent, now has more than two

dozen members.

Brigette is discussing a Slow Food pilot project with a local secondary school. “The emphasis in this year’s conference is educating teenagers about the joys of real food and I will be attending workshops to hear what various country’s are going to do”, said Sean.

Sean explained that Clare will be one of just a few centres in Ireland to take up the challenge.

“It’s a bit like the Jamie Oliver school dinners campaign. The de- tails are being worked out at the mo- ment and I will be bringing informa- tion back from the conference about it’, said Sean.

The conference will be a chance for Sean, a firm supporter in his restau- rant of the Slow Food ethos, to show- case Irish produce and to see what is going on with producers worldwide.

“Tt will be a very busy and very en- joyable few days and I’m delighted to be able to go and represent Clare”, said Sean. “We have such excellent producers in this county but by their nature, organic and artisan producers tend to be small and it can be hard to get any time off to attend events like Wee

One event the producers will be out in force at will be the Slow Food weekend planned for Lisdoonvarna from May 15 to 17 next.

“Tt will be a fabulous weekend with a market and lots of stalls where people can sample produce. We have such variety in Clare. There’s one woman who grows 20 varieties of native spuds and varieties of native apples. We have cheese producers and the Burren Smokehouse has won a huge number of awards. And it’s erowing al the time.”