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EVERY primary and_ secondary school in Clare is to get free access to online versions of the popular Ency- clopedia Britannica and World Book as part of a nationwide elearning in1- tiative announced by the Department of Education and Science.

The online encyclopedias use text, video clips, three-dimensional simu-

lations, research aids and other new media in presenting information to students.

The department pays an annual licence fee of €450,000 to Encyclo- pedia Britannica and World Book to authorise schools to use the online resources.

Clare TD Tony Killeen said he strongly supported efforts by the Government to integrate informa-

tion communications technology into teaching and learning.

“The Government is making enormous strides in developing our schools ICT capacity. For example in 2009, it launched a €150 million plan for smart schools, which will give every classroom a teaching lap- top, software and digital projector over the next three years.

“The provision of these online

learning tools marks the next phase in the Government’s ambition to develop our schools into centres of elearning and to make new technol- ogy an integral part of the learning KOCK Te

“The range of information avail- able to Clare schools through these encyclopedias will enrich students’ learning experience and deepen their knowledge of the sciences, humani-

ties, arts and other areas.

“Furthermore, the schools broad- band network enables us to deliver targeted digital resources directly to teachers and students through the scoilnet.ie website,” he said.

With over 11,500 learning resourc- es and an average of 180,000 visits each month, scoilnet.ie is an impor- tant online resource for primary and post-primary schools.

THE success of pedestrianisation in Ennis hinges on problems regarding town centre parking being properly recognized and addressed, according to the Chairman of the O’Connell Street Trader’s Association.

Gearoid Mannion was commenting last night on Ennis Town Council’s proposal to introduce Saturday pe- destrianisation in Ennis.

Mr Mannion said that it is time for the council to recognize that there is a problem with parking in Ennis.

“Come into Ennis on any busy day

and you can’t get parking. The dogs on the street know there is a prob- lems with parking in Ennis but the council don’t believe it is a problem,” he said.

Mr Mannion added, “The success of pedestrianisation be it on a Saturday or everyday does hinge on parking.”

He explained that a balance also had to be struck between the views of the public, who seemed broadly supportive of the proposal, and those of a “significant minority” of retail- ers who have seen their business suf- fer on days when pedestrianisation 1s in place.

Members of Ennis Chamber of Commerce met last night to discuss the proposal ahead of a meeting with council officials today.

Town Clerk Eddie Power told the January meeting of Ennis Town Council that a report on pedestria- nisation would be presented at the council’s next meeting in February.

Mr Power said the report would be presented along with a recommenda- tion to pedestrianise Ennis’ streets on Saturdays. The council is also expected to appeal to the public to ensure that cars are not left parked on streets during the hours of pedes-

Wet-DIpecrIN(O)0e

The council is also expected to in- stall permanent electronic barriers in order to close the streets to vehicular nee BeElen

The barriers will be controlled by keys that will be available to council staff, gardai and other members of the emergency services.

Councillors have said that a system should be in place to allow for the manual removal of barriers in the event of a serious emergency.

There have also been calls for free parking to be introduced on the same days as pedestrianisation.

CLARE will be the loser in matters of development consideration in the mid-west unless councillors and council executives act, it was warned last night.

At the first meeting of the local au- thority’s elected representatives this year, Cllr PJ Kelly (FF) called for all members to be provided with a copy of the draft strategic planning guide- lines for the mid-west, so that they would be aware of what is proposed.

“It proposes that each local author- ity plan would leave a green belt around Limerick and that Limerick should be the core area for retail ac- tivity in the region – subtitled, to hell with everywhere else,” Cllr Kelly told the meeting.

He said the draft also suggested that each part of the county should have its own centre of development “to the exclusion of other areas. It says that economic activities for north Clare should be ‘coast based’. What does that mean?”

The Fianna Fail councillor de- scribed the draft as “hostile to our region. Instead of the description ‘draught’ it should say ‘daft’.”

Cll Cathal Crowe (FF) said that Whenever development in the mid- west 1s raised, “we’re told about Lim- erick and this doughnut effect.” The phenomenon “hasn’t existed and it should never become part of our de- velopment mantra.” he said, adding that objections to retail development in places other than Limerick city are regularly raised on this basis.

House prices drop by 30 per cent

CLARE County Council still needs more then €3 million to balance its books after the devastation reeked on the county during last month’s flood- ing.

The local authority was last month granted more than €1.1 million by the Department of the Environment to pay for the extra expenses incurred during the massive flood efforts in the county in December.

However, it has emerged that this money will only cover the direct cost of the actions taken during the flood- ing and will not stretch far enough to repair any of the damage to infra- structure. This will cost an estimated €3 million, which the local authority last week contacted the Department

of the Environment about securing. It is not clear yet how much, if any, of this money will be made available from central government.

“The estimates involved in relation to the flooding has amounted to €3 million. The first allocation made before Christmas was just in relation to the management of the council in managing the flooding,’ said County Manager, Tom Coughlan

“The €700,000 estimate in Decem- ber was just an early estimate and when that was all added up it came to €1.145 million, all of which has been recouped by the council. The next issue is the damage which was cause by the flooding and that is the €3 million, which has gone to the department and we are not sure what will happen with that at this stage.”

THE freezing weather conditions may be causing havoc across the country but at least one group in east Clare are happy that the big freeze has replaced the big flood.

Work has begun on the playground for Kilkishen after a delayed start because of the heavy rains and flood- ing.

‘“We’re making good progress now. It’s very cold but because the ground is dry, we’re able to get on with it,” said Mike Hogan of the Kilkishen Development Association.

Mike explained that the machinery was on-site two days before Christ- mas to begin clearing work but the ground was too wet.

The play equipment for the facility

has already been delivered and is be- ing stored until the area is ready for it to be assembled.

“We’ve very kindly been given a place to store it. There’s €18,000 worth of equipment there so it has to be kept safely.”

“We were planning to do the groundwork in November but couldn’t because it was just too wet. But if it continues dry and we are able to work on through February and March, then that would be a big help.

We’ve had plenty of volunteers on the groundwork which is going on at the moment and we have more for the time when the equipment needs assembling. People have been very good and are very supportive,” said Mike.

The land for the facility was donat- ed and €43,000 was raised through the local authority Playground Grants Scheme.

The local school and community were also closely involved, with the children themselves designing and selling Christmas cards, stag- ing a concert and locals organising a Thousandaire night and a bumper eNO ECee

The Clare Shout Festival also raised a sizeable sum towards the €60,000 which 1s needed in addition to the money from the county coun- cil’s fund.

The initial play equipment will be for the use of toddlers to 12-year-old and the playground committee hopes to go on and provide facilities for teenagers as well.

It’s hoped that the area will eventu- ally be able to boast basketball and skatebording facilities in addition to the slides, swings and roundabouts.

When the first sod was turned on the facility some weeks before Christmas, local councillors were invited and thanked for their support in getting funding, it wasn’t a politi- can or a celebrity who did the hon- ours. “We asked the children from the school to do the official first sod turning because it will be their facil- ity,’ said Mike.

The most important consideration, the Chmaber CEO said, is that a bet- ter response be put in place for future dramatic weather events.

‘The emergency services are doing an amazing job but the real disaster

would be if we don’t learn the lessons we need from this. This may have been a very rare weather event, as were the floods, but we need a faster response to keep the country mov- ing. How long does something have to go on before it’s considered a na- tional crisis? We need better plans in place to ensure that people are kept moving. If people keep moving then commerce will keep moving.”

Ms McInerney said that there were some good things during the very difficult weeks leading up to and im- mediately after Christmas.

“There were lots of stories of how people in business and communities reached out to help each other and it was good that this was highlighted.”

For some smaller towns and vil- lages, the dreadful road conditions meant increased business.

Traders in Kilrush said that more people than usual did their Christ- mas shopping in the town and they are putting this down to shoppers re-

luctance to drive very far.

While many businesses have suf- fered losses because of the double blow of flooding and freezing, one sector will benefit.

The building trade, which has been going through a massive slump, 1s now in demand to repair damage to businesses and private property and to supply grit for roads.

Meanwhile, Shannon airport was one of the few airports which didn’t close at all during the big freeze.

A spokeswoman for the airport said that while there had been some flights delayed, none were cancelled.

“We were lucky. We remained op- erational the whole time and what delays there were were mostly due to conditions in UK airports.”

THE region’s flagship tourism company sustained losses of over €250,000 in 2008 as visitor numbers continued to plummet last year.

Shannon Heritage Ltd operates Bunratty Castle and Folk Park along with King John’s Castle in Limer- ick and accounts just returned to the Companies’ Office show that the Shannon Development subsidiary in- curred losses of €254,476 to the end of December 2008.

This followed the company return- ing a pre-tax profit of €27,745 in 2007.

Confirmation of the losses coincide with the company absorbing a 13 per cent drop in visitor numbers last year to around 440,000. This follows a 13 per cent drop in 2008 resulting in a total drop of 141,000 visitors over two years.

This has resulted in the company — which employs 300 – imposing a 10 per cent pay reduction or 12.5 per cent reduction in hours worked, for staff and management.

Chief executive John Ruddle con- firmed the pay/hours reduction yes- terday, but stated: “Overall, staff numbers remain unchanged during 2009 despite the global downturn. The company is making the retention of its full staff a key 2010 priority in this very difficult climate.

“The Shannon Heritage operation is vitally important to tourism in the Shannon region as it continues to an-

nually contribute an estimated €20 million to the local economy and in- directly supports many more jobs in the wider region.”

In 2008, Shannon Heritage sus- tained a 10.5 per cent drop in gross profit from €9muiullion to €8&million that year. The €245,000 loss sus- tained in 2008 reduced the company’s accumulated profits to €621,237.

Describing 2009 as a very chal- lenging year when the company had to make adjustments to work- ing arrangements, Mr Ruddle said

that some visitor sites had a slightly shorter season, and minor adjust- ments to opening hours were also introduced in 2009. However, all ac- tivities are going ahead as normal for 2010.

“After five years of strong growth to 2007, Shannon Heritage, like most businesses 1n the tourism sector, has experienced the effects of the world recession. While 2009 results are not yet available, a 13 per cent decline in visitor numbers is anticipated. While any loss is disappointing, the

company is satisfied with the results given the dramatic fall in US visitor numbers to Ireland.”

The accounts show that visitor num- bers to Bunratty Castle and Folk Park dropped from 343,675 to 305,557, while visitors to Bunratty Banquets dropped from 65,878 to 57,911.

EMERGENCY services in Clare are warning people to remain vigilant in this inclement weather even as the thaw begins in some areas.

Clare’s local authorities, including the Civil Defence and Fire and Res- cue Services, are working with other public service authorities such as the Department of the Environment, the Gardai and the Health Services Ex- ecutive to ensure a co-ordinated ap-

proach for dealing with the various TSS CeSe

Last night, the HSE predicted more risks to the public from slips and falls on icy footpaths in the days ahead.

Hospitals across the country are reporting a significant upsurge in the numbers of cases of fractures dur- ing this spell of severe weather while emergency medicine consultants are reporting that a high percentage of these fractures are complex, requir- ing surgery.

The minimum increases in the number of people presenting with fractures in the last week are in the order of 30 per cent with a large number of hospitals experiencing a year-on-year increase for the period of 70 per cent or more.

Exact figures for Ennis and Lim- erick hospitals were unavailable last payee ole

Meanwhile, the HSE 1s advising the public to wear well-fitted shoes with non-slip soles if they have to go

out but try to limit walking during the current cold weather. Boots with rubber soles and solid ankle support that are preferably waterproof are es- sential to preventing slips and falls on the ice. Clear the ice from your footpath and around your house and assist less capable neighbours in do- ing the same. If you have a fall, even a minor one, make sure you visit your doctor for a check-up.

Meanwhile, gardai in Clare say that while there were no major accidents

related to the ice and snow, there were several minor accidents across the county over the weekend.

‘There were a number of accidents around the county. The advice is to slow down and treat the roads with caution. Roads may look well on the surface, but there may be black ice and hidden icy patches. Drive within your experiences and capabilities,” said the head of the Clare Garda Di- vision Traffic Corps, Inspector John Grate

EDUCATION #£Minister Batt O’Keeffe has issued a ‘call-to- arms’ to rally volunteer engineers to go into schools across Clare to enthuse students about maths as part of Engineers Week 2010.

Speaking at a photocall with busi- ness leaders, Minister O’Keeffe welcomed the Engineers Ireland initiative and called on engineers and businesses to support the day. “T strongly welcome the efforts of Engineers Ireland to promote eve- ryday understanding of maths in schools through Volunteer Day and Engineers Week more broadly. These initiatives support the Gov- ernment’s strategy to move more students into science and technol- ogy-based higher education cours- oe

“Our curriculum reform plan – Project Maths – will begin in all post-primary schools in September as part of efforts to radically re- form the way the subject is taught and make it more relevant and ac- cessible.”

Engineers Week is a campaign held annually by Engineers Ire- land to promote engineering as a career and the importance of the industry to Ireland. Volunteer Day on Thursday, Feb 11, Engineers Ireland’s first national volunteer day, will be a key day in Engineers Week 2010, which runs from Feb 8-13. On that day, it is planned that volunteer engineers, with the co-operation of local schools, will enter classes in Clare and across the country and spend a few hours working with pre-junior certificate students to improve their knowl- edge and appreciation of maths through puzzles and work sheets.

John Power, Engineers Ireland Director General, said: “Engi- neers Week is a critical campaign in the engineering calendar. En- gineers Ireland believes there is a direct link between the decreas- ing numbers studying maths and the shortage of engineers entering Irish industry. Leaving Certificate results showed that just 16 per cent of students took honours maths which is down on the 2008 figures. We need our students to become more comfortable with maths as it is a fundamental building block towards a career in engineering. Ireland already has a deficit of en- gineers and the situation is becom- ing more severe. A ready supply of engineers is critical to the Smart Economy and emerging industries such as the Green sector.”

Business Leaders came out in force today to show their support for the initiative. Representing in- dustry on the day was Paul Rellis, Managing Director, Microsoft Ire- land; Leonard Hobbs, Intel Ireland Research; Eamonn Quinn, Chair- man, Nualight and Paul Mallee President of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport.

To get involved, please contact the engineering team on O1 665 1340 or email info@steps.ie. Engineers Week 2010 will run from Feb 8-13.