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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.

GORT’S water supply is being al- lowed to fall into a state of disrepair according to a local politician, who described Galway County Council as being “awash with fools”.

The south Galway town was last week named by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as one of 23 areas which exceeded the safe limits for lead in drinking water.

The town has been waiting a major development in it’s drinking water system for more than a decade with €15 million allocated for this in the last County Development Plan.

“There really is no water system

in Gort. It’s a joke. We were allo- cated €15 million for the creation of a system but when the time came to roll that out, we were told to see how the farm nitrates issue panned out before action was taken.We are still waiting,” said Adrian Feeney, of the Gort Chamber of Commerce and Independent candidate in next year’s local election.

“Gort is not represented in the council and that is the main problem here. It is very easy for towns on the edge of the county just to be ignored because they don’t have someone in their corner. At the moment, from what I can see the council is awash with fools.

“The reality is that the pipes in Gort were put in place way back in 1927 and almost without exception have not been changed since then. It’s not really a surprise that there is lead in the water.”

According to Mr Feeney, the state of the town’s water is seriously ham- pering the future development of the area.

“We cannot develop our town be- cause we don’t have the water, either the quantity of the quality. If you run a bath in Gort the bath will turn out brown, if you fill a glass of water it will be yellow, that 1s no condi- tion to have in a modern first world country,’ he said.

THE farming organisations has wel- comed what they described as a “bal- anced” stance taken by Minister for Agriculture, Brendan Smith, at last week Council of EU Agriculture Ministers in Brussels.

Minister Smith spoke at the meet- ing about the need to measure the steps taken to combat climate change with the current needs and challeng- es of the agriculture and agri-food sector in Ireland

“This is a clear recognition by Ag- riculture Ministers of the importance of ensuring that the EU’s policy ob- jectives for the agriculture and food sector are upheld in the Climate Change negotiations,” he said

“While climate change actions are vitally important it 1s equally impor-

tant that any proposed actions are considered from an agriculture and food production perspective leading to greater coherence in the pursuit of EU policy objectives in both areas.”

Minister Smith said that Ireland fully supported the goals agreed by the Heads of State and Government at the 2007 Spring European Council for reduction in the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions.

“Tam, however, concerned that the implementation of the reduction pro- posals should not result in unintend- ed impacts in terms of Ireland’s and the EU’s role in global food supplies and global greenhouse gas levels,” he Se AOR

“Given the relative size of the ag- riculture sector in Ireland’s economy and the high proportion of green- house gas emissions coming from

our largely animal-based production, the EU target posed particular dif- ficulties for us including the pros- pect of having to reduce our bovine ate) xe ad

The Minister referred to the fact that Ireland is one of the countries facing the highest target of 20 per cent under the effort-sharing pro- posal of the European Commission’s Climate Change strategy.

World demand for food is growing with the possibility of a doubling of meat and dairy consumption globally by 2050.

“It 1s important then to encourage our agriculture and food sectors to respond to these developments in the interests both of global food security and of the pursuit of important mar- ket opportunities,” he said.

“IT am anxious to ensure that Ire-

land continues to play a full role in the efficient production of food maximising its strengths in livestock husbandry that is heavily reliant on forage based on grass.

“We can do this only if a much greater level of flexibility 1s provided for in the Commission’s proposals and Ireland has put forward a number of ideas in this area including secur- ing recognition for carbon sequestra- tion from forest and other sinks.”

CLARE farmers could soon be counting the benefits of a number of new bio-energy crops which could soon be filling the fields of the coun- ty. SWEGEN is a new farm initia- tive covering Clare as well as parts of Limerick and Kerry and aims to show farmers the opportunities available in the production of alter- native energy sources.

The group has reported receiving a large number of visitors to their stand at the Nation Ploughing Champion- ships, with farmers seeming keep to find out how to get their own bio-en- ergy crops Started.

“The high standards of work done by SWEGEN over the last year has

been reflected in the large volume of interested parties at this years Na- tional Ploughing Championships,’ said the Director with SWEGEN, Liam Browne.

‘There was also a fantastic level of interest from national media, prov- ing just how relevant bio fuels and their production are to the public and industry.”

SWEGEN is currently working in tandem with both the GEGA and GESCO organisations.

GEGA was established in 2006 to facilitate the production and process- ing of bio energy crops and fuels.

The GESCO Network’s primary focus is to establish viable long term green energy supply services and is essentially a country wide network of

Green Energy Service Companies.

Their main aim is to develop real business opportunities for rural com- munities in the developing green en- ergy market and to ensure that rural communities continue to benefit long term from energy production. GEGA has doubled its crop production in the last year and expect to do the same this year by keeping in line with their organisational strategy.

The GESCO Network has an ongo- ing, rapidly expanding Miscanthus development programme and _ this year saw the first of large-scale field trials of industrial hemp to establish its suitability and application as a Bi- omass Corp. The crops both flourish in the Irish climate and the support of GEGA means that crop growers

can maximise the quality of their produce.

SWEGEN meetings will run in the Clare region between the end of October and January of next year. For more check www.swegen.ie, e- mail info@swegen.ie or contact the GEGA office directly on 1890 232 POE

A NEW group, aimed at improving the lives of elderly or mature resi- dents in Sixmilebridge, has been set WOR The Golden Years club has just been formed and held its first meet- ing last week, at which up to a dozen senior citizens attended. It will meet fortnightly at the old courthouse in the village, where a variety of enter- tainment will be provided for those who attend.

While the primary target group of the initiative 1s senior citizens, the club is also open to anyone who would like to spend an afternoon with others. It 1s open to people from Sixmilebridge and surround- ing areas, such as Bunratty, Cratloe,

Newmarket-on-Fergus, Quin and Kilkishen.

The idea has been on the cards for several years, particularly as senior citizens from the area have had to travel to the daycare centre in Clare- or TS Aer

A €10 million development recent- ly commenced in the village, which, when completed, will incorporate a centre where groups such as senior citizens can meet. Until this is fin- ished, the group will meet at the old courthouse.

Organiser the of new club, Vicky Ward, said the new initiative will serve many purposes and the feed- back has been positive.

‘A lot of the more mature residents want to get out of the house. We were going to hold it once a month, but

they wanted it every two weeks. Peo- ple were really enthusiastic and that speaks for itself,’ said Ms Ward.

Variety will form a central part, with various guests entertaining the group every fortnight. Local mag1- cian The Great Padini will present a show next week, while Sixmileb- ridge native David Egan, of the Red Branch, will speak about the value of exercise at the next meeting on Oc- tober 28.

Local florist Lisa Kelliher will present a flower demonstration on November 11, while the special guests will be given a break on No- vember 25 and the group’s members will play bingo and card games.

“We are trying to do something different every time,’ said Ms Ward.

“It is needed. There are a lot of ma-

ture residents in Sixmilebridge and surrounding areas. There is no age bracket. It 1s not an over-60s club. There may be some people who have an illness and may only be in their 50s and they are welcome to come along. It is specifically geared to- wards those who are not able to get out and socialise; not necessarily for elderly people,’ she added.

“This is something we have been talking about setting up for as long as I can remember,’ added Ms Ward.

The initiative, organised by the Bridge Complex, is free of charge and further information is available from the old courthouse in Sixmileb- ridge. The committee 1s also seeking volunteers to help run the club and lend a hand with its activities on a weekly basis.

EAST Clare county councillor John Crowe has defended the water supply in Sixmilebridge.

The Fine Gael councillor claims the water in the town and surround- ing areas is perfect, with the excep- tion of an isolated case.

He was reacting to an EPA report, which recorded the second highest lead content in Irish water from a house in the Sixmiulebridge.

The EPA recorded 157 micrograms per litre in the water in a house in Church View on September 30.

“*T think that the 1950s old lead con- nections coming from the mains that are the cause of this,” he said.

The councillor said that from the 1960s on, PVC piping replaced the majority of these pipes. Water from the reservoir at Castle Lake, which supplies Sixmilebridge and Shan- non, was perfect and safe.

Last night Clare County Council said that they along with other local authorities, had increased monitoring of water supplies for levels of lead in recent weeks.

David Timlin, County Council Director of Service said, the risk relates specifically to premises built before the early 1960s and have not been renovated since and continue to have lead services. If your home was built since the early 1960s, it is likely that there are no lead pipes in your property. People who stay or live in homes built before the early 1960s

and are concerned that their supply is from lead services are advised to flush their pipes as a precaution by running the cold water from the kitchen tap until the sink 1s filled, be-

fore consuming the water,” he said.

“This advice applies particularly first thing in the morning or if the water has been unused in the pipes for longer than six hours.”

“If adverse results are verified by the current programme of monitor- ing, further assessment will be car- ried out. Consumers particularly at risk include children under six, and

pregnant women.”