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IT HAS been on the cards for several years and now the builders have ar- rived on site. The long-awaited con- struction of the €1.2 million créche in Sixmilebridge has got underway.

Builders moved in to the site on the Shannon road last week and it 1s hoped that the creche will be com- pleted by next Easter.

Its completion will dramatically increase the number of childcare places available in Sixmilebridge. At present there are just 20 spaces and this will increase to 102 (51 full-time and 51 part-time) when the new fa- cility is up-and-running.

Among the facilities to be built at the créche will include two montes-

sori rooms and baby rooms, while a sensory room may also form part of the plans, at a later stage.

The creche 1s part of an overall €10 million project which will incorpo- rate a playground, community centre and multi-purpose hall.

It had been anticipated that the playground would be the first part of the project completed, but there has been a delay with this part of the de- (odo) oy anton le

PRO of the Bridge Complex in Sixmilebridge, Marelen Cadogan, said there is great joy that the work has got underway.

“There will be a huge increase in numbers. We will be able to take children from three months to 12 years. We had originally looked at

figures in 2003. It has taken this long to get it going. It seems to be very much on par with what we need,’ she said.

“The railway station in Sixmilebri- dge is due to open in 2009 and that 1s literally over the bridge. It would be ideally located as a drop-off place,” added Ms Cadogan.

The existing montessori school has operated at the parochial hall in Sixmulebridge for a number of years, but has now moved into the court- house building. It will continue to operate out of there until the comple- tion of the créche.

After the summer break, several projects have regained pace over the past few weeks. There was good news for the teen café, which was

eranted €1,000 in funding from the National Lottery, towards the pur- chase of equipment.

Funds of €20,000 were also grant- ed for renovations to the courthouse. The works were carried out in 2005, at a total cost of €40,000 and the money was granted by the Depart- ment of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. The committee is indebted to Fianna Fail TD Timmy Dooley, who delivered the good news that the money was granted.

THE DPP has not yet decided if former Killaloe-based doctor Pas- chal Carmody is to be retried on 11 charges of deception and false pre- aeons

Mr Carmody (60), of Ballycug- garan, Killaloe, was acquitted of 14 charges, at the end of a five-week trial at Ennis Circuit Court earlier this year.

However, the jury could not decide on 11 charges and verdicts of disa- greement were returned on those. The 11 charges relate to more than €30,000.

The charges relate to three cancer patients who visited his clinic in Killaloe, between September 2001 and October 2002. They were John Sheridan from Kilkenny; John James Gallagher from Westmeath and Conor O’Sullivan, a 15-year-old boy from County Wexford.

All three died within a relatively short period of time of receiving treatment at the East Clinic.

Mr Carmody had denied obtaining money by falsely pretending that he would cure the terminally ill cancer patients through photodynamic ther- “lO ae DADE

The case was adjourned to yester- day, for directions from the Direc- tor of Public Prosecutions on the 11

outstanding charges. However, Ennis Circuit Court was told yesterday that no decision had been made.

“The DPP hasn’t made a decision yet, but it is imminent,’ Counsel for the State, Stephen Coughlan, BL, told the court.

Defending solicitor Michael Staines asked that the case be made peremp- tory against the State.

Judge Carroll Moran said he had not presided over the trial, but if there was to be a retrial, October (when the next trials will take place in En- nis) would be too near in time to the initial trial, which concluded in July. He adjourned the case until January 12, when the DPP directions will be made known to the court and marked it peremptory against the State.

Mr Staines said he may make a number of applications on the next date. He applied to the court for his client’s passport to be returned to him for three weeks in November and this was granted.

During the trial, the trial Judge Rory McCabe directed the jury to find Mr Carmody not guilty on eight charges, due to insufficient evidence. The jury found him not guilty on six other charges and failed to agree on Oe beer

A MAN who pestered his former girlfriend through offensive text messages and phone calls after their relationship ended found himself before a court on charges of harass- ment. The man sent flowers to the woman and also played requests for her on several radio stations, a court heard yesterday.

John Considine (29), of Bramble Lane, Ennis, pleaded guilty to har-

assing his former girlfriend over a period of time and also admitted as- saulting her, by throwing a drink at her in a nightclub last year.

Detective Garda Andrew Hayes told Ennis District Court that Con- sidine persistently contacted the woman, between August 2 and Oc- tober 25, 2006 and between October 31 and November 27, 2006.

The court also heard that he rang her last Tuesday and left a voice mes- sage on her phone, saying, “See you

in court”.

Defending solicitor John Devane said his client was contrite and said his affections “went a little bit too far” but the garda said that last week’s phone call to the woman showed that he hadn’t changed his ways.

Considine apologised in court and said he accepted he had sent curt, an- noying and rude text messages to her > ercannseulsselem

Asked about last week’s phone call, he said, “I was very drunk and very

bitter at the time over this. I accept now I put myself in this position.” The court heard that his former girlfriend had made a complaint to gardai in 2005, but this did not go any further as they got back together. Asked about this, Considine said in court, “She liked the attention.” Judge Joseph Mangan asked him, “What attention?” Considine re- plied, “In fairness, with all due re- spect, calling the guards and then getting back with someone… It was

my own fault. I should never have got back with her.”

Considine said he would undertake to stay away from the woman and her current boyfriend.

Judge Mangan put it to Considine, “You have leveled criticism at the in- jured party here today. I don’t think you are in any position to criticise anybody.”

The judge said he would adjourn the case for six months when the matter will be reviewed.

A MEMBER of the Newmarket- on-Fergus Gun Club was the star of the show as Ireland took part in the Home Countries international tour- nament last week.

Although the Irish lost out to Eng- land, by 40 targets, Seamus Ryan of the Newmarket-on-Fergus club per- formed impeccably.

The two-day event took place at Llandegla shooting grounds in

Wales. Winning his first cap, Ryan stole the show, particularly as he outshone professional shooters Peter Cole and John Winn from England. He outscored the duo, who have fine reputations at international level, and in the process finished near the top of his class.

He finished with a total of 192 targets, which was a single target behind the tournament overall high gun Ian Mullarkey.

According to Pat McCoy of New-

market-on-Fergus Gun Club, Seamus Ryan’s performance was fantastic.

“He did very well against two of the top guns in England. They scored 99 and he scored 100,” said Mr McCoy.

Mr Ryan (53) 1s a native of Limer- ick and was previously a member of the Castleconnell Gun Club in Lim- erick. He has been a member of the Newmarket-on-Fergus club for more than two decades.

He runs a garage Newmarket-on- Fergus and lives in the area. He has

shot for County Clare on several oc- casions over the past few years and his selection on the Irish team was a welcome boost for his dedication over SO many years.

“It was a dream come true for me. I didn’t think I would make the team, having hurt my shoulder in qualify- ing,’ he said.

He hopes to compete for Ireland again next year and also has ambi- tions to participate in the Olympic trench event in 2009.

‘STORY Sack’ courses have become a wonderful means of parent-child interaction to help develop the read- ing habit early in life.

Devised by Clare Family Learn- ing Project (CFLP), a new series of courses 1s about to be launched in the county’s six public libraries, with an introductory workshop to which par- ents and their primary school chil- GieNm-DucmUIN AI Koree

Frances O’Gorman of Clare Li- brary Service is supporting CFLP to attract parents to the courses so they

can encourage their children to read more. A week after each workshop, a six-week course begins when each parent gets two free books, a cloth bag and background information.

The deValera Library in Ennis, Kilrush library and the Sean Lemass Library in Shannon will kick off the workshops on Tuesday, September 23. Next day it is the turn of Killa- loe followed on Thursday, September 25 by Ennistymon and Scariff. All workshops get under way at 3.30pm. The succeeding courses are delivered on the corresponding weekdays from 10.30am to noon.

CFLP co-ordinator Mary Flanagan explains, “Participants create their own ‘story sack’ made up of props related to a specific book.

“This is developed week by week as a different part of a book is focussed on and the appropriate items are made and collected together in the sack. The process gives participants an opportunity to think about what elements there are to a book, the val- ue of sharing books with children, all in a fun and creative milieu.”

She describes the aims of the cours- es, firstly, as encouraging parents to improve their confidence and stimu-

late an interest in books and stories. Going on from there, they can identi- fy a good book, choose suitable ones for their children and be aware of use of voice and tone when sharing/read- ing stories.

Next step is to realise that there are opportunities to extend vocabu- lary when sharing books; that books have component parts and come to understand there are different sorts of books.

Creating games that complement the stories is a further aim.

More details are available right now at each of the libraries.

CELEBRATIONS to mark the 40th birthday of the oldest soccer club in Shannon are being planned.

Shannon Town United AFC will celebrated four decades in existence next year and the club has taken the decision to improve the club’s facil1- ties, increase its profile and set up a website, to coincide with the mile- Stone.

The website, Shannontownuni- tedafc.com, has just got up and run- ning and contains useful information on the club, including details of the teams, fixtures and the notes on the club’s lengthy history. An archive section will also be added, as the

website becomes more popular.

There are 14 teams on the club’s books and its members range in age from just five years of age, through to senior level. All teams line out in the Limerick division.

Club PRO Andy Legge – who was instrumental in setting up the web- site – said the club will get a facelift, to mark the 40th anniversary.

“We had been playing catch-up with the rest of the teams in Shan- non. We are taking on board what other clubs have done. The idea is to get the information out there, to give us a mechanism to get kids involved and also to sell merchandise via the website,” said Mr Legge.

“A lot of work has gone into the

website, which was designed by En- nis web design company Ennisoft,” he added.

As part of the 40th celebrations, the club is also eager to increase its TpeKosesloresacieul on

“We are looking for new people to join and we are also looking for sponsors to get on board. We are approaching local businesses,’ he added.

The club holds training every Fri- day at the Wolfe Tones GAA pitches and plays its games at its own pitch in Corrib Drive. However, there are also plans to improve facilities for the club’s players.

“As part of the bigger picture, we plan to develop facilities. We have

planning permission for a clubhouse. Hopefully we can build that next year and we are hopeful of getting grants to help us with this. There is a lot of work to do,” added Mr Legge.

The club has a very active commit- tee at its disposal and hope that the community in Shannon will help out with the plans to improve the club, whilst taking part in the 40th cel- a) e218) IIe

IT MAY not be the all out lifting of restrictions that farms had sought, but the farming organisations have given a measured welcome to the an- nouncement last week that the age limit for BSE testing was being risen once again.

The decision was welcomed by the ICSA, who had earlier last week branded the 30 month threshold for BSE testing a “scandalous rip-off”.

Following the announcement by Minister for Agriculture, Brendan Smith, that the EU Commission had agreed to raise the minimum age for

BSE testing from 30 months to 48 months, ICSA president Malcolm Thompson pointed out that BSE test- ing was still costing Irish farmers €20 million per annum.

“T welcome the news that the EU Commissioner for Public Health, Androulla Vassiliou has recognised the sense of what ICSA has been say- ing for some time,” he said.

“Over 8 million tests were car- ried out in Europe last year, some $25,000 of which were carried out in Ireland, and the incredibly low number of cases found show that this was a complete and utter waste of farmers’ money. So far in 2008, we

have just 12 cases of BSE, and these cases are easily dealt without having recourse to the compulsory testing of over 800,000 animals.

“Older cows will continue to be checked, and it is our belief that this will become unnecessary over the next few years.”

The decision was welcomed by IFA National Livestock Commit- tee Chairman, Michael Doran, who said that it would remove prime cat- tle from the testing requirement and abolish the unnecessary ۩20 per head costs. The decision was also welcomed by Clare TD and Minister of State at the Department of Agri-

culture, Tony Killeen, who said that an increase of the minimum age for testing to 48 months would deliver significant savings to farmers.

“The current testing requirements are unjustified when one considers the significant progress made in re- ducing the incidence of the disease in Ireland, from a high of 333 cases in 2003 to 25 last year and 12 to date in 2008,” he said.

“Tam confident, based on the reduc- tion in the disease in Ireland and the extensive controls in place, that Ire- land’s application will be approved and that the new testing regime may even be in place from early 2009.”

FUNDING has been provided for the appointment of an addiction coun- selor at the Bushypark Treatment Centre in Ennis.

It was announced last week that €57,000 had been allocated to the centre by the Department of Com- munity, Rural and Galetacht Affairs. One of the main roles that the new counsellor will fill will be the estab- lishment of weekly aftercare groups to assist cocaine users who have completed treatment in one of the four centres in the mid-west region.

Welcoming the announcement, Minster of State Tony Killeen said ‘“Bushypark has provided many years of invaluable service as a resi- dential addiction treatment centre for those addicted to alcohol, drugs and gambling. I hope that the funding allocated to the centre will help in- dividuals and their families recover from cocaine addictions and regain control of their lives.”

Minister Killeen added that tack- ling cocaine use and implementing the recommendations of the Report of the Working Group on Drugs Re- habilitation remained priorities for

Government.

“It is important that we continue to treat the problem of cocaine use. This funding will assist Bushypark Treatment Centre assist in develop- ing vital services for those experi- encing problems,’ he concluded.

Bushypark Treatment Centre is a facility designed to help individu- als and their families by providing a comprehensive addiction treat- ment programme. This programme is based on the Minnesota model of treatment, using 12-Step work as its foundation.

The recovery-oriented activities

offered at the centre include group therapy, addiction education, coun- seling, study, meditation, therapeutic duties, and 12-step meetings.

Family or other concerned persons of the individual in treatment can also participate in an education and Support programme. This is as nec- essary for them as it is for the person in treatment.

Weekly group meetings over a two- year period follow residential treat- ment. These sessions assist ex-resi- dents and family members make the necessary adjustments to living that are part of early recovery.

NEWMARKET-ON-FERGUS scouts have regrouped for the forth- coming season, after a well-deserved break over the summer.

An exciting range of outdoor pro- grammes has been organised for the next few months.

Dozens of young beavers, cubs, scouts and venturers will meet weekly over the coming weeks and

those who organise the meetings are encouraging all young people in the area to join.

The cubs, scouts and venturers have already commenced their meetings, at the local community centre.

The cubs – aged eight to ten-and-a- half – meet every Monday, between 6pm and 7pm. The scouts – aged between ten-and-a-half to 15, get to- gether every Friday evening between 6.30pm and 8pm, while the venturers

– aged 16 to 18 – meet on Tuesdays, from 6pm to 7pm.

The beavers, aged between seven and eight, will hold their first meet- ing on September 30, between 6pm and 7pm.

As usual with all scouting pro- grammes, the emphasis will be on outdoors events.

The beavers will have regular days out, a Halloween party and a slumber yep hca ale

Cubs will have an overnight activ- ity each month while the scouts will have a jamboree.

The venturers will also have a number of exciting days out planned in the coming months, having ran a hugely successful surfing programme during the summer.

The club is advising parents of all scouts that the insurance for the year is €40 and should be paid by De- cember.

THE recent re-emergence of blue- tongue in the UK poses a serious threat to the livestock and sheep in- dustry in this country according to Macra na Feirme.

Chairman of Macra’s Agricultural Affairs committee, Eddie O’ Donnell, also last week called on all imports of animals for breeding or slaughter from the UK to be suspended on a voluntary basis.

“The Department of Agriculture must also be particular vigilant in terms of implementing the necessary

bio security measures to preserve our Bluetongue free status including extra bio security measures for cargo at ports,” he said.

“Protecting our all-Ireland blue- tongue free status is critical, we must take a very stringent approach when it comes to implementing control measures in relation to Bluetongue, otherwise Irish herds would be prone to sickness, infertility, distress and even animal deaths in some cases from the Bluetongue disease as well as the massive economic loss and implications for Irelands export sta- nthe

O’Donnell said results of a recent survey carried out by Macra indi- cated that young farmers believe there’s a lot to be done in reassuring the Agri sector that the government is doing enough to keep Bluetongue out of Ireland.

“In the unfortunate event of an outbreak, vaccination would be re- quired,” continued O’Donnell. “A farmer administered vaccination scheme would be the most effective means of quickly and effectively protecting Ireland’s sheep and live- stock from the disease.

‘“Farmer’s professionally adminis-

ter vaccines to their animals routinely to prevent illness and Mr. O’ Donnell believes that farmers must be given the choice to administer the vaccine themselves or through their veteri- nary surgeon.

“Many EU countries have a vet- erinary administered vaccination scheme; however, their Governments are co-funding the administration of the vaccine.

“In the absence of Irish Govern- ment funding, farmers who are the professionals in animal husbandry must be in a position to administer the vaccine.”