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THE Progressive Democrats may just live to fight another day in Clare de- spite the announcement by the party top brass last month that it would be winding up all operations.

Clare party members attended a meeting of the western branch of the party in Limerick last week in which anger was expressed at the decision of the parliamentary section of the party to unilaterally announce that

the PDs would be disbanding.

‘We had more than 100 people at the meeting last week from Clare, Limerick and Tipperary and the vast majority of the people were very un- happy at how this whole matter was handled. There was a lot of members who felt very aggrieved at how the parliamentary party had handled the whole incident,’ said Tadhg Kearney, former national executive member of the PD’s.

“The room expressed very strong

views about how this whole situation was managed. To be honest there was a lot of anger among local represent- atives about how this situation could be allowed to happen.”

The meeting was attended by party leader Ciaran Cannon who faced questions about procedural errors in how the decision to wind down the part was announced.

“They have moved way beyond their remit in making this decision. Putting it bluntly, this was not their

decision to make,’ continued Mr Kearney. “We have more councillors right now than the Green Party and yet they have decided to call it a day. There was a lot of anger in the meet- ing, in fact that is an understatement. We had more than 100 committed members who said unanimously that they want the party to continue.

“A lot of people have made this party their home. For a lot of people out there the PDs is their political church. We don’t want to give this up

without a fight. At the moment is it unclear what is going to happen.

“There may be too much damage done for us to continue on as the PD, the decision may even be made to continue on but under a different name. We are just gong to have to wait and see.”

All members of the Progressive Democrats will meet on November 8 to vote on a motion put forward by the national executive recommend- ing that the party be wound up.

THE RECESSION is having little impact on the success of start-up business. Winning sales is the key to Start-up success – that was some of the key information from an expert line up of speakers presenting on winning sales techniques to an audi- ence of 200 entrepreneurs, sales pro- fessionals and investors at the second Mid-West Entrepreneur Showcase.

Launching the showcase, Frank Ryan, CEO of Enterprise Ireland said, “While the only constant in today’s business environment is change, Irish small and medium sized companies have shown them- selves to be remarkably adaptable in managing change.

“This flexibility and adeptness has been a crucial factor in the outstand- ing success of Irish enterprises. We have witnessed the emergence of Irish companies competing in global markets and forging ahead as market leaders and innovators in their sec- tors,” he said.

Ryan said that entrepreneurs are “making real and valuable contribu- tions in every part of every county throughout the country – in terms of employment and innovative capac- ity, and through anchoring the social

fabric of their respective localities.” Frank Hannigan, CEO of Yougetit-

back.com, told those attending that

he believes that companies who

think globally are better positioned

He also believes that recessions

to survive than companies who think have little impact on the success rate

locally in terms of winning sales and developing products.

for start-ups. “Inputs cost less and there 1s still

demand for good services and prod- ucts. In spite of all the bad news around a global recession and avail- ability of funds, we should not lose heart. There are billions of dollars in Venture funds. They only make a profit if they can spend that money investing in smart start ups. If the ideas are good enough institutional investors still have to invest,’ he Se HLGE

The Seminar and Showcase event was organised by the Enterprise Ac- celeration Centre (EAC) at Limerick Institute of Technology as part of Limerick City Business Week and consists of a half day Seminar and Showcase featuring clients of the EAC and the Limerick Enterprise Acceleration Platform (LEAP) par- aes Oye D OL Ace

The objective of this year’s Mid- West Entrepreneur Showcase event was to present business people with key techniques, tools and real life experiences on how to win sales in order to drive the development of early stage businesses from start-up to international business success.

AS the main throng of summer tour- ists begins to die down at the Cliffs of Moher, the centre has organised a number of new ways by which the lo- cal community can use the facility.

From this month until the end of May, a number of different artistic and community events will be hosted at the Cliffs of Moher. Starting with an exhibition of paintings this week, the centre will also have children’s events, concerts and a whole host of other special occasions.

The first of these events, an exhibi- tion of paintings by local artist Philip Morrison, opened over the weekend and will run until November 30.

“This is the first exhibition but our plan would be to do a series of events like this throughout the winter. We have a great space here so we are looking at a host of different things that we can do here when the place isn’t packed out with tourists,” said Geraldine Enright, marketing man- ager at the Cliff of Moher visitor centre.

“We’d really like to bring in local people and give them an extra rea- son to come and visit the cliffs. We are very excited about the exhibition – it’s the first exhibition that we have had at the cliffs so we really hopeful that it will go well.”

The Cliffs of Moher Centre will host a number of special event for

Oi elcommshw elle (ore

“On Halloween night from 5pm to Spm we are inviting parents and kids to come. We are going to have a night of ghost-stories and games. Everyone here will be dressed up as different characters so it should be a lot of fun,’ she continued.

‘Separate from that we will be run- ning Samhain at the Cliffs of Moher over the whole bank holiday week- end. That will include face painting and all the traditional Halloween games.

“We have also been inviting groups of active retired people to the cliffs. We have a special package for them with a lecture, a guided tour and a meal.

“This year we are trying differ- ent things to see how they work out. There really are endless possibilities with the space that we have here. It’s such a great space so it’s really out aim to make it somewhere that is fully used by the local people.”

For more information or _ to book contact 065 7086141, e-mail bookings @cliffsofmoher.ie or check out www.cliffsofmoher.ie

SENTENCING in the Ennis con- spiracy to murder case will take place in three weeks’ time at the Central Criminal Court. Sharon Col- lins and Essam Eid appeared in court last Wednesday, when a date for their sentencing was set.

Collins (45), formerly of Ballybeg House, Kildysart Road, Ennis, was found guilty by a jury in July of so- liciting to murder PJ Howard and his sons Robert and Niall.

Eid (52), a native of Egypt and for- merly of Las Vegas, was found guilty of demanding €100,000 from Rob- ert Howard to cancel a contract on

his life and the lives of his father and brother. Eid was also convicted of handling stolen property.

At the end of the eight-week trial on July 9, sentencing had been adjourned as psychological reports were to be carried out on Collins and medical reports were to be made available in the case of Eid. The three-minute hearing last Wednesday was told that psychological reports on Collins were ready, but medical reports in the case of Eid were not yet available.

Collins’ barrister Paul O’Higgins SC, said there had been some confu- sion in the matter. He said that the Courts Service had acquired a psy- chologist to see Collins the week

before. This, he said, caused confu- sion as the defence had previously arranged with the Department of Justice to have Dr Brian Glanville see her. He pointed out that Dr Glan- ville’s psychological reports were at hand. However, David Sutton, SC for Eid, said he was having difficulty assembling medical reports for his client and he was seeking another four weeks to complete this. Una Ni Raifeartaigh BL for the prosecution said the State was ready to go ahead with the sentencing.

Mr Justice Roderick Murphy fixed Monday, November 3, as the date for the sentencing to take place.

DOCTORS who have been called to attend to the injured on a north Clare road have written to Clare County Council to have the road surface mended before anyone else is hurt.

The adjourned meeting of Clare County Council heard that a Baly- vaughan road which was recently re- paired after work was done to install amenities has been the scene of ac- cidents which have caused injury to people and damage to cars.

One cyclist had to be treated for in- juries at the scene by a local GP af- ter coming off his bike and a driver whose jeep overturned also had to have medical attention.

Cllr Martin Lafferty (Ind) tabled a motion asking what criteria the council uses to select contractors for water and sewerage schemes.

The finishing of the job in terms of reinstating road surfaces often leaves a lot to be desired, he said. “If you travel this road to Ballyvaughan you take your life in your hands,” he told

the meeting. “Why isn’t there more pressure put on individual contrac- tors to finish the job properly?”

Cllr Michael Kelly (FF) said that that the work on the road “was done in a prime tourist location. The state this road was left in for the summer won’t send visitors back with any good impression of the area.”

Cllr Tony O’Brien said the situation was “not confined to north Clare. We need a policy on what we look for in finishing roads after such work and we heed a strategy which involves

penalties. These people can’t just walk away from a job.”

Cllr Pascal Fitzgerald called for contractors who don’t do the job properly to be “fined, not put in to do another job for us.”

Mayor Madeleine ‘Taylor-Quinn (FG) said that the timing of the work “was terrible. It was done at the height of the tourist season when the roads into that area are at their busi- est.’ A number of councillors said they had seen letters from local GPs outlining the dangers of a badly sur-

faced road and the accidents they had been asked to attend in recent weeks on that stretch of road.

In reply to Cllr Lafferty’s motion, the Director of Services had outlined the full procedure used in selecting a contractor. A contractor is obliged to carry out “temporary restoration” during the course of the contract. A sum of money is provided in the con- tract for the final repairs to the road and this money can be spent by et- ther the council or the contractor to get the work done.

DESPITE the recession putting chains on womens’ purses, one en- terprising Shannon businesswoman has come up with a bright idea to help keep her business in the pink.

Despite having no previous exper1- ence of running a business, Siobhan Hayes has been learning to adapt and change her fashion shop, Pink to do the necessary at the SkyCourt Shop- ping Centre in Shannon.

Hayes’ latest idea, launched just two weeks ago, allows women from the neighbouring industrial estate to buy frocks, fashions and accessories without even leaving their desk.

Pink’s online shopping site 1s prov- ing hugely popular with women shoppers who are long on style but SJaleya me) e manatee

“I often thought about how we could make it more convenient for women working in the industrial es- tate to shop. They are working very close to the town centre, but a lot of them only get half an hour for lunch. That’s just not enough time to come over, browse the rails, pick some- thing and get back to work. Then I was talking to a computer genius friend of my mine and we came up with the idea of the website.”

There are now 30 or more items

from the shop’s stock available on the site, www.prettynpink.1e.

“We can even deliver the purchases to the buyer or they can pick it up at the shop,” said Hayes.

The native of Shannon started the 1,100 sq ft unit when the new Sky- Court opened in 2004. Before that, the only self-employed experience Hayes had was in selling gel nails.

Since opening the shop, she has taken courses with the Enterprise Board in Marketing and Women in Business.

“lve always been interested in fashion and I felt there was a mar- ket for an affordable fashion shop in NJa-NeVelOVeMMcCe)eeloLMODDOTcMmMer-lmUvOlelleMOeKos women fashion at good prices. A lot of women will wear an item six or seven times and they get tired of it so they don’t want to feel they have paid is Levant be oae

She also aims to give choice for women aged from their early 20s well into their 50s.

Hayes has grown the business to employ four people.

“It hasn’t all been a walk in the park, but it’s very enjoyable,’ she told

A FIREWORKS display is poised to light up the skies in Shannon this Halloween. If plans to host the event get the go-ahead, it may well form the first prong in a plan for an annual Halloween festival in the town.

That was the overwhelming view of Shannon town councillors, who discussed the issue at its monthly meeting last week.

Labour Councillor Greg Duff brought up the issue and said he had received quotations for fireworks displays. He said that a display last- ing between five and eight minutes would cost €8,000.

He suggested that a fireworks dis- play would be held alongside a disco for children, which would be pro- vided by the Shannon Youth Service. He said that events could take place

in different parts of the town, to cel- ebrate Halloween.

He said that while there was some anti-social behaviour in Shannon during Halloween last year, it was relatively small. Three people were arrested, while there were five cases oem oreaca bho

“A small minority of anti-social yobs terrorise their neighbours,” he HCG

However, Labour’s Tony McMahon said he had concerns about fireworks. ‘‘T have grave reservations about fire- works in any capacity. They are quite a dangerous object to be operating with. Their effect on animals is very frightening,” he said.

Independent Councillor Mike Mc- Kee said the cost of clearing up bon- fires in previous years was €10,000. “In the last six weeks, fireworks have been let off all around the place.

Orolht (cM (ceexol merc eeeebeepionetsrl mm BKeye| residents associations to prevent fires and use the money for fireworks?” he asked.

Councillor Patricia McCarthy (In- dependent) said the fireworks were a good idea and it would be fantastic to run a display alongside a disco. She said the display should be in a cen- tral area in the town and not split into various events.

“We have to be mindful of the fact the town is spread out. I don’t see having one event in one place and another in another would be good for community spirit,” she said.

Referring to a display of between five and eight minutes, she said she feared it wouldn’t be big enough.

“TI don’t think we are going to stop the bonfires. It’s a tradition that has built up,’ she said. However, she said bonfires should be supervised.

Councillor Duff then said that gardai would educate schoolchildren on the dangers of crossing the road when events were taking place.

He said he would encourage fam1- lies to get involved on the night and said it would be important that secure places would be found for people to watch the fireworks.

“We could start building towards a Halloween festival,’ he said.

Shannon Town Manager Ger Dol- lard said that considerable costs were incurred in cleaning up after Halloween every year, right across the county. “We are in the lead- up to Halloween. There is evidence of stockpiling already,” he said.

The mayor of the town, Council- lor Gerry Flynn (Independent) said, ‘This is probably a first step to some- thing that is going to be good in the future.”

A HOUSE with uninterrupted sea views iS a winner every time, as proven by the €530,000 sale price achieved by Sherry FitzGerald Hus- sey Madden on Friday, October 10, when this modest, but perfectly sited house in Clahane went under the hammer.

Credit crunch, gloomy outlook, stock market blues all disappeared to make way for a bright and lively auc-

tion. The price achieved exceeded the guide price by €80,000, so much for that credit squeeze.

According to auctioneer Evelyn Madden, “The auction opened at €350,000, there were 37 bids and the hammer finally came down at €530,000. This auction result has topped what has been a very busy week for us and it makes us feel con- fident that the property market may well turn the corner in the near fu- ture”.

CLARE County Council is being held to ransom by it’s own elected members who are refusing to ap- prove a review of the Development Contribution Scheme until a number of questions regarding planning are addressed by County Manager, Alec Jaa (senbbaree

With the local authority currently facing a hefty budget deficit, the council had hoped to review the Development Contribution Scheme to raise extra revenue. However, a

number a councillors, led by Cllr PJ Kelly (FF), have blocked this process until 17 specific queries are answered by the county manager.

“If there is a delay, don’t blame us, blame the manager. The shortfall has been brought about by the failure of this authority to grant planning permission. If a small shop was go- ing out of business do you think they would save themselves by doubling the price of bread? No, they would put themselves out of business alto- gether,’ said Cllr Kelly.

‘There is list of 17 problems on the

manager’s desk which should have been sorted out long before this. If the manager can get these sorted out we can deal with the review in the adjourned meeting.”

Green Party Cllr Brian Meaney, said the Development Contributions Scheme is how this council funds a great deal of it’s day-to-day activi- Woe

“We have a €10 million shortfall this year between what we are bring- ing in and what is going out. This is a necessary part of the funding for this local authority and this review needs

to take place. It is simply not meet- ing the need of this council funding at present,’ he said.

County Manager Alex Fleming, said he hoped to have all 17 queries dealt with by the next council meet- ing later this month.

“They have to do with interpreta- tion of the Development Plan and we have solved most of the issues,” he said.

“T have no problem with this stay- ing over until after the budget so we can see what is the situation at that point.”

TOM Hogan Motors are delighted to announce they will be hosting a Munster Rugby Player evening in their Showrooms on Monday, Octo- ber 20, at Tom Hogan Motors in En- nis and Tuesday, October 21, in Tom Hogan Motors in Shannon.

Don’t miss your opportunity to meet some senior Munster Rugby Players, get autographs and have your picture taken with the Heineken Cup.

Munster Player Evening commenc-

es on both evenings at 5pm sharp until 7pm. Clare FM will be on-site with their outside broadcaster and there lots of Munster giveaway items up for grabs with the free raffle.

The Heineken Cup will be on display in the Tom Hogan Motors Showroom from noon on each day and everyone is welcome to come eM Ceyatee

You can contact [om Hogan Motors, Gort Road, Ennis, on 065 6821704 or Tom Hogan Motors, Smithstown, Shannon on 061 477600.