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AN Taisce has joined the campaign to stop Dublin taking water from the Shannon.

North Tipperary branch spokes- man Paddy Mackey – who is also a member of the Save Our Lough Derg (SOLD) group – has warned that ex- tracting water for Dublin could seri- ously threaten fish plants and other species.

A controversial proposal to extract water from the Shannon system to help meet the capital’s needs has met with mixed reactions.

Last week, when Clare County councillors discussed the proposal, ClUlr Colm Wiley(FF) said that Clare should “help Dublin out if the water is needed. We could use any compen- sation money paid to drain farmland that is under water and put as much back again into the system”.

Mr Mackey described the proposed water extraction as “a smash and grab raid..while we are the ones left with the responsibility of trying to protect the ecological quality of Lough Derg and achieve good water quality by the 2015 deadline set under the EU water Framework Directive.”

THE little students and their teach- ers at Tuamgraney National School will this month be celebrating hav- ing room to breathe with the official opening of their new school exten- sion.

Schoolwork last year was often a bit of a squash for the youngsters, who were attending classes squeezed into what had been the library and computer room. The teachers had to dismantle the library and stow away the books and computers because the school was so stuck for space.

That was before the new extension went up, giving Tuamgraney two new classrooms and a full-time re- source room.

“It was funded by the Department of Education and cost more than €200,000 but it has really made a huge difference to the school,’ said Board of Management treasurer and parent of pupils at the school, Regine Roskam.

The school has 80 pupils, three full time teachers and a resource teacher and the extra space in the two storey extension will also be used for after- school classes in speech and drama

and French.

But while the spatial challenges have been largely solved for the present, parents, teachers and pu- pils are looking forward to next year when they will have an teacher allo- cated to them.

“We have 80 children enrolled at present. If we had just five more, we would have got another teacher but with 80, we won’t get that new mem- ber of staff until next year. To solve the problem for now, the eleven chil- dren in third class are floating. In the morning they join the first and sec- ond classes, so there are 36 children

in the class and in the afternoon they switch to go in with the fourth and sixth classes which gives us 31 kids in one room. It’s not ideal but it’s the best we can do until next year when we get another teacher,” said Regine

The board also had to get busy on fund-raising ideas as the original 1895 school building needed re-plas- tering and repairs to roof and win- dows when the new extension was ene im

‘“We’re very happy to have the new space and now the teachers can re-es- tablish the library in the room which they had to use for classes,” she said.

FOLLOWING on from Frank Lo- han’s decision to retire from inter- county hurling, tributes were paid to the Wolfe Tones native at last week’s County Board Meeting. Ruan del- egate Ger Lyons, Wolfe Tones’ Joe Kelly and current senior manager Mike McNamara all spoke at length on Lohan’s contribution to Clare hurling and football throughout his distinguished career.

Wolfe Tones delegate Joe Kelly re- flected on Lohan’s career from his early days winning Féile titles with Wolfe Tones to his county senior

career which spanned 14 years from 1995 to 2008. Kelly also promoted Lohan as the perfect example for young players to follow and outlined that his biggest attribute was his ea- gerness to keep improving.

Clare manager Mike McNamara was then asked by County Chairman Michael O’Neill to say a few words about Lohan and along with echoing Kelly’s glowing tribute, the Scariff publican spoke of his admiration for a player who made huge sacrifices to play for his county and had won eve- rything in the game.

McNamara also agreed that Lohan had everything required to be a top

player. “Frank had steel, determina- tion, pride and desire, four great at- tributes that made him great and he is one player you would always want in your corner.”

SWilowrberVepuseler-Uelmevan sso pale Ireland winning side, Lohan won two All-Ireland titles and three Mun- ster medals in his county career and even had the distinction of playing in a Munster football final in 1997, becoming the first Clare player since Tull Considine in 1927 to play in a Munster senior football and hurling final in the same year.

SCR NINO Bch (oer Ti aU GIO E-D mr RUE DKe! in 1999.

SHANNON’S 300 Aer Lingus work- ers are to be asked to ballot on all out industrial action after hearing they are to be axed from the company Or NeRO ee

Responding to management plans to outsource all ground operations and introduce a pay freeze, SIPTU National Industrial Secretary Gerry McCormack said the plan “repre- sents a fire sale of good quality jobs by a management that can see no fur- ther than the next quarter’s profit and loss sheet”.

“Nobody in the company will emerge unscathed from this exercise. Even those who keep their jobs will have to sign up to new contracts, ‘a merit and performance based cul- ture’ and a pay freeze until the end of 2009. The company has also told us that it will continue to seek further savings so that surviving staff face the prospect of further reductions in pay and conditions.”

SIPTU representatives were offi- cially informed of the clean sweep of eround staff at a meeting with man- agement yesterday. It will mean 1,500 people being axed from the company payroll, 300 of them at Shannon.

The core of the package will see all ground operations, including ca- tering, cleaning and check-in out- sourced to third-party agencies.

Cabin crew based in Heathrow and Shannon are also victims of the cuts which are part of a plan to stem mas-

sive losses experienced by the airline in the last twelve months.

All staff will be subject to a pay freeze until late 2009.

“We are perfectly willing to discuss savings with the company and will be

entering the process to be chaired by Kevin Foley of the Labour Relations Commission. But, as we have made clear from the start, we are totally opposed to outsourcing. That mes- sage does not seem to have gotten

through to the management team and therefore we are in the place we are in,’ Mc Cormack said.

Meetings with shop stewards were on-going last night as the details of the jobs carnage were clearly out-

lined.

A SIPTU spokesman said that cab- in crew are the only ones who will be offered the direct option of taking up other employment with the airline.

“Everything on the ground is being cut. There will be a voluntary redun- dancy package on offer, where staff can decide to take a lump sum and then seek re-employment with the new agency, but there is no guarantee that they will be taken on. The other option is to stay on and to transfer to the new employer but there is no guarantee with that of how long it will be before the new employer re- negotiates contracts, probably with lower wages.”

Clerical staff will largely not be facing job losses, but it’s thought that they will have to enter talks on new contracts with pay being perform- ance related and possibly a change in the pensions scheme which will pos- sibly be contribution driven.

The company has told the unions it wants the deal wrapped up by No- vember 30 and the new scheme ready to go by December 1, a dateline that would allow the airline to carry out the changes during the traditionally flat business period in January and onarles

THE Armada Hotel in Spanish Point will become a refuge from the woes and worries of the economic reces- sion next week-end when guests will be treated to a “Recession Escape” break on the Clare coast.

Guests will be asked to leave their recession gloom at the front door as they arrive for a weekend with a number of unique events lined up on Friday and Saturday, October 10 and 11, with a repeat planned for Novem- ber 21 and 22.

The Recession Escape programme will include an in-house newspaper, “Armada News’, which will feature only positive news and ensuring that guests start the day with the ‘feel good’ factor as they enjoy a cham- pagne breakfast

Internal news broadcasts through- out the day will be presented by members of the hotel staff includ-

ing a chef and housekeeper with real news, but good news. A Fortune Tell- er will read palms before dinner and predict all that is positive and happy. Every hour will be Happy Hour over the weekend with pints of Guinness reduced to pre-Celtic Tiger prices.

Guests will receive a gift of an in- spirational book with the Atlantic ocean as their perfect reading back- drop. There will also be complimen- tary advice from a personal trainer who will ensure that guests leave the hotel with a spring in their step

Price of the two-night stay, includ- ing dinner in the Pearl restaurant, is €159 per person and guests will be asked to leave the mobiles and black- berry’s off as well!!

THE people of Shannon are being urged to take part in a walk around scenic parts of the town, to mark Mental Health Awareness week, on Thursday evening.

“Because there is so much going on in Clare already to mark Mental Health Awareness week, we decided to organise a walk,” said organiser

Regine Steward, who is a commu- nity development worker with the Shannon Family Resource Centre.

“We just want to promote positive well-being and being active in a sub- tle way. Mental health doesn’t have the same connotation for everybody. We are trying to make it simple, like a social event,” she added.

Ms Steward said the possibility of running a mental health programme

in Shannon is also under considera- none

She is also encouraging members of the community to avail of the drop-in facility at the Shannon Fam- ily Resource Centre.

“We are hoping to open the centre to the community. People can drop in for information, to attend classes or to avail of a range of services,’ she Cr nLGe

“It is just a way of communicating with people and is for those who feel isolated and who don’t know what is going on in the community. We want people to join in the community spir- it,’ she added.

The meeting point for Thursday’s walk will be the Shannon Family Resource Centre and the walk will get underway at 6.30pm and will last for one hour.

A €5 million Clare county council ‘affordable housing’ scheme over- looking the Atlantic is facing local opposition in Kilkee.

Earlier this year, the Council lodged plans for the scheme on the Miltown Malbay road outside Kilkee as part of an initiative to reduce its waiting list for affordable homes, which now numbers more than 500.

One of those opposed to the scheme located in a ‘visually vulnerable area’ in the Clare County Development Plan is former councillor, Sean Mar- rinan who maintains that the plan 1s

committed to protect visual ameni- ties and must be upheld even where the local authority is involved.

The objection states that the afford- able housing scheme with the conse- quent concentration of first time buy- ers “would lead to the concentration of noise and light levels particularly at the nearby entrance.

In a separate objection, John Cos- erove claimed the proposed site would have a considerable impact on a visually vulnerable landscape and severely impact the amenity and pri- vacy of local residents.

In a third objection, Danny Mc- Donnell said the public water supply

in the area is deficient and the prob- lem will be increased not only in the Summer months, but all year round by the new houses.

“We have a problem with sewer- age and this will be also increased. There will be a problem of traffic as itis a very busy road in the Summer months and is a route to many scenic drives and Doonbeg golf course.

Unlike applications made by in- dividuals and companies, in ap- plications made by Clare County Council, objectors have no recourse to An Bord Pleanala and the local authority’sdecision on its own appli- cation 1s final.

can reveal this

in the wake of a serious aggravated

burglary in Sixmilebridge overnight last Wednesday.

Attempts were also made to steal

several cars in the Ballycullen area

of Sixmilebridge the same night. One car was stolen, while another car was crashed and burnt out in the same area that night. Gardai are trying to establish details about that car which has not been reported as stolen.

Some hours later, between 5am and 6am, the post office and shop premis- es in Cratloe was broken into. Three people entered the premises and at- tempted to steal a safe, but failed to do so after the alarm was activated and made way without any items of value.

Gardai believe that a car and van were involved in this attempted raid

and CCTV footage has been acquired by those investigating it.

Last week’s incidents follow bur- glaries in those areas over the past number of months, prompting anxi- ety among local residents.

While gardai say that the post of- fice incident was not connected to the Sixmilebridge attack, the inci- dents have prompted local concerns in relation to Limerick criminals tar- geting Clare.

Superintendent John Scanlan, who is leading the investigation in last week’s incidents, said gardai have grave concerns about crime in the

Ssixmulebridge area.

“We are concerned about the number of burglaries. We are con- cerned about the level of crime in Sixmilebridge. There has been an in- creased level of crime in that area,’ he said.

“We would ask for people to be vigilant. We are conscious of what is going on. We are putting in place po- licing patrols in that area, to prevent criminals coming out. People are go- ing to see a lot more of this activity,” added Superintendent Scanlan.

A STRONG, profitable and sustain- able future for our counties fishing industry is what Clare TD, and junior agriculture minister, Tony Killeen, was looking for at last weeks meet- ing of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).

Killeen was taking part in a discus- sion by ministers marked the start of the debate on the reform CFP, which will see a new policy in place by PAU

‘“T hope that the debate on the CFP will lead to a simplified policy for all the stakeholders concerned. How- ever, I will not support a policy that promotes the concentration of ac- tivity and benefits in the hands of a small number of large companies,”

he said.

“Our aim is for a policy, which maximises the development of all our coastal communities, and for this reason it is vital that quotas and their management are retained under na- tional competence and not moved to a market based mechanism.

“T strongly argued that restrictive days at sea were not necessary for the Celtic Sea south and west coast fish- eries. I argued that alternative meas- ures such as closed areas to protect spawning stock could be as effec- tive.” Ireland also hosted a meeting in Brussels last week on its initia- tive for a pilot project on eliminating discards in fisheries. The meeting brought together the European Com- mission as well as representatives of France and the UK.

“This 1s one of my key priorities as discarding of fish at sea is an 1s- sue which needs to be tackled im- mediately and I am pleased that to- day’s meeting advanced the proposal which I presented to Commissioner Borg recently,” he said.

“T am hopeful that the Commission will consider carefully the detail of our proposed scheme which seeks to work in partnership with industry on providing incentives to reduce the current unacceptable level of dis- cards.”

Meanwhile, Minister Killeen, also last week launched a new online service, Integrated Forest Informa- tion System (IFORIS) Internet.

The new service will allow ap- proved foresters and forestry compa- nies to track online the processing of

Forestry applications that have been submitted to the Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

‘The service is the first phase of a planned development for IFORIS In- ternet. The second phase will enable foresters and forestry companies to submit pre-approval applications online on behalf of their clients,’ he nLOe

“This will streamline admuinistra- tion issues for foresters and the For- est Service. The provision of online access to IFORIS for approved for- esters via the Internet is one of the eGovernment initiatives being un- dertaken by the Department as part of its current IT Strategy, and under- pins its commitment to the delivery of improved online services.”

THE Shannon Homework Club, which provides assistance for pri- mary school children, has just been relaunched for the coming year.

The club, which was set up three years ago, is hosted by the Family Resource Centre at Rineanna View.

Twenty-six children, between the ages of five and 12, attend the pro- gramme four days every week, and engage in a variety of activities.

The project is funded by the Health Service Executive, under the Travel- ler Health Initiative, and the focus 1s on healthy eating, while there is also an emphasis on physical exercise.

The Cul Kids Club meets on Mon- day and Tuesday evenings, while the homework club meets every Wednes-

day and Thursday evening.

SW ileMeDAVIOr-lOh (cmp rMOnhrsle (cre mB DOMNU(olO mE. way as all children get the opportu- nity to do their homework and also take part in activities.

Barbara Molloy co-ordinates the Monday and Tuesday groups and facilitates visits by the children to places of interest in Shannon, such as the fire station or leisure centre. The children also get the opportunity to engage in activities such as arts and crafts, drama and music.

Debbie O’Halloran-Browne co-or- dinates the homework section of the programme. She said the programme was initially set up in response to lo- cal feedback.

‘Members of the community iden- tified a need for an after schools club that wouldn’t cost an arm and a leg.

It ran initially as a pilot scheme for one day a week. It then went to two days a week and the homework club was added as a result of feedback from children, last year,’ she said.

A number of children who are members of the Travelling commu- nity attend the club every week and this has greatly pleased the organ- isers. “It 1s about integration. They are keen to. be involved,’ said Ms O’Halloran-Browne.

“We were surprised by the feed- back. Children felt there was a lot going on at home and wanted to do their homework in a club like this,” she said.

Given that the club has gone from strength to strength over the past three years, its organisers are keen to attract volunteers.

“This programme has been a huge success with minimum input. We are depending on volunteers and fund- ing,’ she added.

Anyone interested in becoming a volunteer should contact the Family Resource Centre in Shannon, where application forms are available.

“You need two references. Let us know why you would like to get involved and if you have child pro- tection training, that would be a bo- nus. Training will be offered,’ she added.