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FINE Gael in Clare proposes to dou- ble its membership of the county’s two urban councils.

The party met on Friday night in Ennis and in Kilrush last night to nominate its candidates for the re- spective town councils in the up coming local election.

It has nominated four candidates for Ennis Town Council including the two outgoing councillors Mary Coote-Ryan and Johnny Flynn.

No stranger to local elections – Tony Mulqueen’s name will also be on the ballot paper, as will new kid on the block Rodger Fox.

Nominations for the selection proc- ess closed on September 19 at 6pm and on Friday night all four got the seal of approval at the convention meeting chaired by Limerick Coun- ty Councillor and former director of elections in Limerick East Leo Walsh.

Described as a woman of “integrity and honour” Mary Coote-Ryan was the first to be nominated by Michael

Carey and seconded by Suzanne Mangan.

In her acceptance speech the only woman to have served as mayor of Ennis maintained that her Fine Gael pedigree could be traced back to the blue shirts.

She told delegates that she was still passionate about politics and her door is always open to anyone who wishes to call.

The other three nominees were all part of the remaining proposing 1D KOLen Ice

Sitting councillor Johnny Flynn was proposed by Tony Mulqueen who described him as a family man with great knowledge on health is- sues. The former chief of the Limer- ick Fire Service had fire in his belly as he spoke of how he believes that public services should be audited externally and he had serious issues with how the town, county and coun- try has been run.

“T think the health services and (the political element of) the local authorities are not being managed properly,’ said Cllr Flynn.

His nomination was seconded by his other running mate Rodger Fox who he in turn nominated as a candi- date. Praising Mr Fox as an extraor- dinary administrator, Cllr Flynn said he also worked hard volunteering for different groups. Best known as the chairman of the Ennis Community Games last year, Rodger is a native of

Barrack Street Ennis and worked in two well known local businesses – Bredin’s and Shannahan’s. He was seconded by Earl Mulqueen, who explained that as Rodger had chil- dren in both primary and secondary school he was more than aware of the issue of class sizes and school ac- commodation in the town.

Accepting the nomination the new candidate said he was well aware of issues surrounding the elderly, edu- cation, water and the hospital.

Earl Mulqueen nominated his brother Tony as the fourth candidate. He told delegates that Tony lived in the town all his life and was aware of its difficulties.

Seconding the nomination Johnny Flynn described Tony as a man of “integrity and honour.” In accepting the nominee Tony outlined his ambi- tion for the town council.

‘“W hat we hope to achieve next year is to double the membership of the Fine Gael on Ennis Town Council.”

Fine Gael in Kilrush will be hop- ing to do the same as last night the party nominated outgoing councillor businesswoman Marian McMahon Jones and newcomer farmer Liam Williams.

All candidates will now have to be ratified by head office before going on the ballot paper on June next.

COME to sing or come to listen – the Kilnaboy X-PO is pioneering a new venture that will brighten up Monday evenings for local music lovers this winter.

The singers club is the first in a host of new projects started at the former post office since it was taken over by the local community last month.

Young and old have been making their way to the revamped post office each Monday for an evening of mu- sic, tea and catching up with friends and neighbours.

“We started off by saying it was a singers and players club but we soon found out that there was a lot of peo- ple who wanted to come and listen. So we have changed it into a singers, players and listeners club,” said Phil Gaston of the X-PO.

“We have a real wide range of age groups. We have some older people who have been involved in choirs down the years but we also have a few younger people and a young singer-songwriter from Ennistymon who is playing a lot of newer music.

“Everyone plays or sings what they like. It not about the quality of what

is sang but more so about the partici- pation.

“We have people who have come who say that they can’t sing but after an hour they have decided that they have no problem singing and have joined in with the rest.”

Along with the singers club, the X- PO 1s also hosting a range of commu- nity events including set dancing, an Irish conversation evening, mapping and history group, the local Macra, music teaching, a coffee morning and drawing classes.

The idea of the project is to protect the community interaction and fel-

lowship that existed in the building when it was a post office.

“We had a few of the old school songs there last week and all of the sudden there were all of these memo- ries about school days years ago and great banter back and forth,’ contin- ued Phil.

“Music is a great medium for trig- gering memories. If someone asks you about a song they almost always have a story to go with it. It’s a great way of getting chat going with a group.”

For more information on the X-PO e-mail xpo.kilnaboy@ gmail.com.

THE families of two mothers who died from breast cancer having be- ing misdiagnoised at Ennis General Hospital, have welcomed the terms of reference of HIQA investigation into the quality and safety of patient care at the hospital.

The health service watchdog was ordered to carry out the investiga- tion after Ann Moriarty (53) and Edel Kelly (26) died earlier this year having been incorrectly given the all clear from breast cancer.

Ms Moriaty’s husband Karl Henry said he initally had a few concerns relating to the terms of reference of the investiagtion but following a tel- ephone conversation with the Direc- tor of Health Services with HIQA he was Satisfied.

He wanted to know “what was go- ing on at Ennis A and E” and why vital blood tests from his late wife

remained in a file unread.

Mr Henry, however, is not satis- fied that a crucial missing x-ray at St James’s Hospital, Dublin, is not be-

ing investigated.

“T am sure that HIQA will under- take a thorough and robust investi- gation and we will be provided with

recommendations that will lead to a better quality of care and improved patient safety at Ennis hospital. I ex- pect that many of the lessons learnt will also be applicable to other hospi- tals across the country,” he said. “The terms of reference don’t make specific mention of my wife, Ann Moriarty. However, I know I will have the opportunity to input into the investigation and I expect that the final report will provide me with the answers to the many questions I have relating to her care, and how my complaints were dealt with within the HSE at local and corporate level. “The issues surrounding St James’ Hospital are excluded from this 1in- vestigation and, in my view, remain outstanding and unresolved. I am considering how best to pursue these very serious matters,” he added. Speaking through Kilrush solicitor Eugene O’Kelly, the late Edel Kel- ly’s family said they were generally

pleased with the review.

‘They are pleased that the terms of reference take into account the expe- rience Edel had. They are not con- cerned that it does not specifically refer to them,’ said Mr O’ Kelly.

Chief Executive of the Health In- formation and Quality Authority, Dr Tracey Cooper, said, “the investiga- tion team will review the arrange- ments for providing safe, quality clinical care which will include how the hospital focuses on the needs of patients, the management and leader- ship at the hospital. The investigation team will also review the systems and processes that support safety and quality and the communication be- tween staff and patients, particularly when patient safety incidents occur and when complaints are made.”

JOBS are under threat in Ennis with the announcement that the hotels in the Dunne Hotel group are to go into liquidation.

The Woodstock Hotel, which cur- rently has 39 people on the payroll, is one of three hotels for which a liqui- dator has been appointed.

It has also been announced that Cronan Nagle Construction, one of Clare’s best known buildiung com- panies is facing liquidation.

Sources at the hotel said that it is keeping its doors open, with business as usual and all existing bookings are being honoured.

Sources have also said that while

staff are very concerned about the situation, they are hoping that the public in Ennis will support the busi- ness going forward.

The businesses have been in ex- aminership since June and the High Court has now been told they have no prospect of survival.

The hotels facing going out of busi- ness are the Woodstock in Ennis, Patrick Punches in Limerick and the Clybaun in Galway.

Other hotels in the group, the Two Mule Inn in Limerick and the Ridge- pool in Ballina are to have a receiver appointed by the Bank Of Scotland, who are their main creditors.

The court was asked to take no ac- tion in relation to the sixth concern,

the Seno Hotel and Property Ltd as this would have a reasonable pros- pect of survival.

Price-Waterhouose Coopers have been appointed as provisional liqui- dators and Mr Justice Barry White made the matter returnable until October 13 next after counsel for the exmainer, Rossa Fanning asked that the hotel be allowed to continue in operation to honour any existing bookings.

The family-owned business, run by Brendan and Hilda Dunne ran into difficulties last year.

The hotels suffered a serious down- turn with the fall-off of American visitors. The firm has said that the weakening of the dollar, a strong

euro and the emergence of cheaper holiday destinations has seen the number of Americans coming to Ire- land drop dramatically.

Meanwhile, Cronan Nagle Con- struction, the Clare building contrac- tors who worked on the ESB power plant at Moneypoint as well as 400 sustainable houses in Clare is to go into liquidation.

The directors of the company, which was formed in 1999, have called a meeting of creditors for later this month, when it 1s expected the business will be wound up.

The company, which had also worked on projects in Nigeria, could not be reached yesterday for a com- ment.

through the Freedom Of Information Act show that one of the options considered by the Elec-

toral Boundary Committee was to increase the Scarriff area to a five Seater.

This would have been achieved by adding the areas of Clareabbey, Doo- ra, Quin, Clooney, Spancilhil and Kiltraghtis from the Ennis area and transferring Killuran and Carrow- baun to the Killaloe electoral area.

Under this arrangement, Ennis and Ennistymon would have lost a seat

each and Killaloe would have gained VORorcoe Meelilanelee

However, the Committee opted to abolish the Scarriff area as its terms of reference ‘no longer permit three seater electoral areas save in very ex- ceptional circumstances’. It has now been merged into the Killaloe area with the Shannon electoral area also gaining a Seat.

Ennis has been divided into two

separate areas and increased the number of seats by two with Kilrush and Ennistymon losing out.

The committee decided that split- ting the town offered the best solu- tion as it “respects the reality that Ennis continues to be a strong focal point for its hinterland to the east and west”.

One of two Fianna Fail councillors in the Scariff area, Cllr Pat Hayes

said he didn’t wish to focus on the ‘what if?’ scenario and preferred to concentrate on the reality of Scarriff now being included in the Killaloe electoral area.

Confirming that he will be putting his name forward for the local elec- tions, he said it was important there was a high turnout in rural areas in order for local councillors to be re- NDA oLe

LAHINCH woman Tessa O’Connor has returned from Belarus with a message of thanks for all the people of north Clare who have contributed to the work of the Burren Chernobyl Project.

Earlier this year she organised a charity sandcastle building compe- tition, with all the money raised go- ing towards works on the Cherven and ‘Tarasiki projects. Tessa has just spent four week in Belarus, working with the people there effected by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

“Thanks to everyone who helped with the sandcastle building compe- tition – it wouldn’t be possible to help

the people out there if it wasn’t for people generosity,’ said Tessa.

“We went to the children’s orphan- age in Cherven for awhile and then on to Tirasiki, which is an adult in- stitution. It’s a miserable looking place, all blue and white, and with a very cold, institutionalized feel- ing. We really to give each person a different colour bedroom, and make them feel that they had somewhere of their own. The different colours are great for them, even that simple change helps to bring them out of themselves.”

Tessa has been involved in the Bur- ren Chernobyl Project for a number of years. Indeed, her latest trip was her fourth journey to Belarus.

‘My mum has been involved with the Burren group for a while and I think it was back in 1993 when we started getting children with us dur- ing the summer. We had a child called Sergi over with us from the Cherven orphanage and when they were no longer allowed to come over here, myself and a friend of mine decided to go over and visit them 1n- Stead,” she said.

“There is great satisfaction from being over there. They give you love so willingly. These people out there are in a really bad situation and even if you do something really small for them, the reaction is incredible. It’s gives you a real sense of perspective about your own life.”

For more information or to make

a donation check out Wwww.bur- renchernobyl.ie or contact the of- fice on 065 7071130 or e-mail office @burrenchernobyl.ie

A FATHER has allowed his teenage son go into voluntary residential care because he felt he could not cope, a court has heard.

The revelation emerged in the Ennis Children’s Court last Friday where a 17-year-old boy was charged with olen gcd bb ayoar- Im OURS loxtcB U0 wy IDONTS

The boy pleaded guilty to the of- fence at Altered Images hair salon on

the Turnpike Road in Ennis on July 7 last. Inspector John Galvin told the court that €150 was taken from cash register in the premises while money was also taken from a charity box. Insp Galvin said CCTV foot- age shows the accused entering the premises and that when questioned by the gardai, the accused had ad- mitted to the burglary and had been “very CO-operative’”’.

The court was told that the boy 1s

currently under the care of the Health Service Executive.

Defending solicitor Tara Godfrey told the court that her client’s mother had died last year and that this had had a “huge impact on his life’.

Ms Godfrey said that attempts were ongoing to secure her client a place in St Michael’s House, a residential care facility in Dublin.

“My client’s circumstances are very difficult, but there might be light at

the end of the tunnel,’ she said.

Ms Godfrey added that her client was not in receipt of any income or social welfare payment. “He doesn’t get anything,” she said, “And I think that is perhaps at the root of this burglary. His father voluntarily al- lowed him to go into care because he couldn’t cope,” said the solicitor.

Judge Joseph Mangan adjourned the case for preparation of a proba- Woe Ke) oO) um

THE number of people signing on the live register in Clare is up by al- most half on the same time last year, the latest shock figures have shown.

The latest Central Statistics Office figures show that numbers signing on are up by 1,940, bringing the unem- ployment total from 4,074 last Sep- tember to 6,014 this September.

The confirmation of the jobs crisis emerged as staff at Aer Lingus in Shannon were living under threat of 300 further jobs being axed.

No area of the county escaped the slump. Unemployment in Ennis was

up by 43.7 per cent with an additional 1,069 people signing on. In Ennisty- mon an extra 317 people have signed on since last year, bringing the job- less total there to 906 while in Kil- rush, 226 extra people are now on dole payments, bringing the unem- ployment figure for the area to 799. Tulla has seen the largest percentage unemployment increase, at 70.7 per cent and extra 328 unemployed mak- ing a total of 792 people without jobs and signing on.

The latest figures for Clare were re- leased as the latest quarterly ESRI re- port yesterday predicted that 14,000 jobs will have gone by the end of this

year and next year will see the loss of 33,000 more. “The rate of unem- ployment is expected to average 6.1 percent in 2008 and to jump further in 2009, averaging 8 percent. The net migratory outflow in 2009 is now expected to be 30,000,” the report predicts.

Fine Gael TD Pat Breen, comment- ing on the release of the CSO Live Register Figures for 2008, said that the rate of increase in the Under 25 Category is particularly worrying with a 65.1 per cent increase over the same 12-month period.

“Every year, the September Live Register figures reflect the fact than

students and others return to full- time education so we must look at the latest figures is this context. How- ever, when we compare September 2007 to September 2008 the figures tell a very different story. What is particularly worrying is the number of under 25s on the Live Register for that same 12-month period. 65.1% increase from 762 in September 2007 to 1,258 this month.’

“T am now calling on the Govern- ment to show the same urgency in dealing with this crisis as they have shown in dealing with the bank- ing crisis over the past few days’, he Cr HLee

SECONDS after the final whis- tle sounds, Tommy Curtin springs from the dugout and is enveloped in a small ocean of Liscannor bod- ies. Between the thick mist that has cloaked the field and the celebrations going on around him, he’s difficult to pinpoint but suddenly he shuffles off to the side of the festive group where you catch him and ask for two min- utes of his time.

Face beaming, he says he’ll give you ten.

You ask him was he concerned in that extraordinary second-half when it looked like Doonbeg had sucked the momentum from Liscannor.

He pauses for a minute, gathers his breath and tells you that yes, there’s no point saying other otherwise, he was anxi0us.

“I’d have to say I was worried al- right. They got the goal, they went ahead then by two points, got it up to three and there wasn’t a whole load of time left.

“But deep down I still had faith. At half-time, I knew we hadn’t got go- ing. We’d only kicked a couple of points and I sat the lads down and said that we hadn’t brought the inten- sity that a semi-final of a champion- ship deserved. It was put up to them that they had to come back out and improve.”

That they did. The vigour and force they applied for 25 minutes after the break was almost tangible. They scavenged for breaks, closed space and defended from the front but most of all, they didn’t once show any signs of panic.

Even after Doonbeg shook the net, Liscannor held their nerve and be- lieved that the football they played to bring them into contention would allow them breast the finishing tape ahead of Doonbeg.

Though Doonbeg continued to push every central Liscannor attack out wide towards the sidelines, Lis- cannor, contrary to the belief before the game, kicked well in front of the posts to claw back the deficit and

spring the win.

“We looked on the second-half as the time to step up. We said, look, were in a decent position to go back out and face the elements. In the group game, it was a different

situation at half-time and maybe we showed some complacency that day.

“That wasn’t going to happen here. We said we’d leave everything we had on the fields and in fairness to these lads, that’s exactly what they did.”

As he travelled to Miltown in the early afternoon rain of Saturday, Cur- tin’s confidence was rising. It wasn’t an arrogance or conceit, just a sense of contentment that the work logged since the summer began would tip the balance.

‘“We’ve put in an amount of train- ing and I just felt wed step it up today. So I did feel a certain con- fidence and that’s nothing against Doonbeg. They’re a fantastic side as they showed, but I had faith in these lads. We’ve had a couple of lads out injured and they were in the mind of the 15 lads who started as well.

“It’s an amazing feeling to get toa county final. It’s such a small parish, it must be one of the smallest foot- balling parishes in the country and it’s great for everybody involved to have that crack at the title.

“But look. We’ve still won nothing. We’re back to basics again in a couple of days, back training and we’re go- ing to be focused on the final. That’s the one we’ve got to get over now.”

One mountain scaled, another peak in the distance. With Curtin ready for this final ascent, Liscannor should have the energy and enthusiasm to reach the top.

PREPARATIONS are nearing com- pletion for this year’s Cooley-Collins Traditional Music Festival which take place in Gort later this month. This year is the 24th staging of the festival, which commemorates the lives of local musicians Joe Cooley and Ciaran Collins.

Festivities will be officially opened by Ciaran Hanrahan of RTE in Cooley’s Lodge in Peterswell on the evening of October 24.

Saturday will see improver music classes from Joe Burke, Nuala Hehir, Mary Bergin, Denis Liddy, Ciaran Hanrahan, Eamon Cotter and Jack

Talty at the Gort Community Centre, comhra Gaeilge and children’s work- shops at Coole Park.

The Cooley-Collins Festival is one of the final traditional music festivals of the year and attracts large num- bers to the area to soak up the last of WeComciUbO Sb OSTo) MEAUDOToCE

“There is a feat of music going on at this years festival. We will have music by Mary McNamara at the opening along with the Tulla Young Ceili group and a ceili with the Four Courts at the end of the night,” said organiser Mary Coen.

“The highlight of the festival is the gala concert which takes place on Saturday evening. This year we will

have Joe Burke and Ann Conroy- Burke, Nuala Hehir, Jodie Moran and the Shaskeen Band as well the local musicians. The Tulla Ceili band will also have a ceili that evening and we will have music in the square on Sunday. The last ceilis will come on Sunday and Monday with Matt Cun- ningham and Donie Nolan.”

As soon as this years festival is finished, thoughts will turn to next years 25th anniversary festival.

“Tt has changed a lot since the early days of the festival. I have been in- volved for more than 18 years now but it has changed a lot,’ continued Mary.

“It’s been growing year on year and

there are so many festivals out there now that you have to keep up the standards. We will be pulling out all the stops for next year.

“We will be inviting back al the people who formed the first festival and we are really hoping to get the people who took part in the first ever gala concert. It would be great if anyone who knew Cooley or Collins to get in touch. It should be a great year.”

The festival takes place from October 24 to 27. Anyone inter- ested in sponsoring the festival or pre-book a class should contact Mary on 086 3623765 or e-mail maryteresacoen @eircom.net.