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FOR Kilmihil student Eimear Con- sidine, this year seems to be bring- ing just about everything together in sporting as well as academic achieve- ment.

On the brink of All-Ireland success in intermediate football with Clare, she already has had a once-in-a-life- time opportunity in the US Scholar/ Athlete Games run annually by the Institute for International Sport.

It all began with a chance encoun- ter at the University of Limerick sports arena for the girl from Leitrim outside Kilmihil while she was on a second-level break.

Emer was taking part in a badmin- ton work-out when a scout for the US games spotted Eimear’s ability in that sport and immediately “booked

to uae

The end result was a 10-day stay at Rhode Island university at the end of June where she fielded with the Athens team. Only two other Irish students were selected to participate – a student from Donegal and another from Limerick.

Eimear, now back in University of Limerick in an entirely different role – 515 points from the Leaving Cert. ensured a place in her choice of the physical education course – has won- derful memories of the American experience, for which she has ex- pressed thanks to the several Clare businesses who sponsored her trip.

To concentrate on her more recent sport involvements, she was voted player of the match in the Intermedi- ate Football semi-final against Long- ford that has brought Clare into the

All-Ireland decider against Tipper- ary on Sunday week.

She wil be following on _ the achievement of younger sister Aul- ish, a student at St. Michael’s, who already has an All-Ireland medal by virtue of Clare’s recent under-16B football win over Tipperary in which she scored a goal and a point.

As well as her recent sporting achievements, Eimear has played club football in all grades with Kilm- ihil as well all grades for Clare from cailiini 6ga to this year’s intermedi- ate grade; she was also captain of the Clare minor A team that won the Munster championship.

She also plays camogie with Kilma- ley and this has brought her county u- 14, 1-16 and u-18 medals in the sen- ior league, Munster u-16A and u-18 A and appearance in the All-Ireland

final against Kilkenny in the recent u-18A decider.

She is a Community Games AII- Star with the college’s basketball team and was chosen sports star of the year 2008 at St. Michael’s Col- fexer

She is also active in volleyball and athletics and achieved grade 8 in pi- ano as well as completing coaching and refereeing courses.

For Eimear Considine, it seems that there are not enough days on the week to accommodate all her inter- SSE

THE sand-dunes in Fanore will be the setting for a community nature day out this Saturday, September 27.

The free guided walk will be given wildlife expert John Murphy from the Clare branch of Birdwatch Ire- land and has been organised by the Burren Connect Project.

The project, which began last year, aims to deliver a co-ordinated ap- proach to environmental protection and visitor management in the Bur- ren area.

“We will be hosting a walk around the dunes on Fanore beach. John

Murphy will lead the walk and he will explore the unique environ- ment that is up there and hopefully we will see some of the wildlife that JTAtCorses DOME DOCG Ur: e000 s(C GN NOL omOLUDSlercmMMmy-nTG| Edel Hayes of the Burren Connect Project.

“The walk is really open to anyone from the local community who is interested in nature and wildlife and would like to find out more about the habitat up there in Fanore.

“One of our aims is to protect the dunes in Fanore and make sure that they survive as a protected area. A lot of people don’t realise that they are a protected area and home to

some rare wildlife.

“We first want to protect the special grasses in the dunes and that will en- Sure a Safe environment for the birds and other animals that live there,’ added Ms Hayes.

The Burren Connect Project will also host a series of night classes be- ginning in October.

The free classes are open to anyone from the north Clare area and will focus on the wide range of biodiver- sity found in the area of Fanore.

“Our aim is really to give people a little bit more information about the wildlife that is right there on their doorsteps.

‘We want to work alongside the lo- cal people, to let them know what we are about and to help to provide them with as much information about their local environment as we can,’ con- tinued Ms Hynes.

The guided walk begins this Sat- urday at lam from the car park at Fanore beach. The night classes will commence on Thursday, October 9 and run until October 23.

Classes will take place in the na- tional school at Fanore and com- mence each evening at 8pm.

For more information see the par- ish newsletter or visit www.burren- Toys batse Ie

AN ENNIS worker who, it was claimed, tried to under cut the com- pany which employed him has been awarded a total of €4,600 for unfair dismissal by the Employment Ap- peals Tribunal.

Thomas Moroney, of 75 Inis Ealga, Shannon took a case against I-Homes Limited, Quin Road, Business Park, Ennis after they fired him, claiming he was dong nixers for their custom- ers, undercutting them to get the business in the process

Moroney denied the claims and

said that he had never been given a chance to properly defend himself against the allegations before being dismissed on October 9 2007.

The tribunal heard evidence from the company, which carries out in- Stallation of home automation, that they had trained Moroney.

The company became aware that Moroney was carrying out private work in what they said was direct competition.

He was given two verbal warnings and in October 2007 as a result of a tracking system which was installed on all company vehicles, Moroney’s

jeep was tracked to a number of lo- cations which placed him in areas where he should not have been dur- ing the course of his work. He was dismissed for gross misconduct on October 9, 2007.

Moroney said in evidence that he had never been made aware of the seriousness of the accusations and had variously been told he should not have the company vehicle in sight if he was doing work outside his com- pany business and that is was not ac- ceptable to use the jeep while work- ing on Sundays.

He denied ever working in competi-

tion with his employers and said that he was not informed of his right to have representation at the final meet- ing at which he was dismissed.

The tribunal found that Moroney had not been made aware of the grav- ity of the accusations and given a fair chance to explain himself and that a witness who claimed he had heard him underprice jobs had never raised this with the company until two days before the hearing.

The tribunal made an award of €3,000 for unfair dismissal and €1,600, two weeks wages under minimum notice regulations.

THE reputation of Ennis Hospital lies in tatters this morning, after it emerged that a second cancer patient was misdiagnosed at the hospital. The family of Edel Kelly (26) from Kilrush have called on Health Min- ister Mary Harney to resign. The call comes after mother-of-two Edel died from cancer in June, having been misdiagnosed at Ennis General in

December 2006. She suffered from cancer in her breast, liver and bones.

Edel’s parents John and Una said questions must be answered by those responsible for the misdiagnosis at Ennis General.

The Kellys took the decision to air their grievances after learning of the misdiagnosis of Ennis resident Ann Moriarty. She died from breast can- ten N Oe UMM NTR Det mmole MESA os MEALS all-clear at Ennis General. Her hus-

band Karl Henry went public a fort- night ago and last night reiterated his calls for a full independent enquiry into practices at Ennis General.

He strongly fears that further mis- diagnosis cases will emerge.

“IT wasn’t expecting another situa- tion quite as appalling as that of Edel Kelly appears to be,’ he said.

The HSE said his wife’s case was an isolated one, but the Edel Kelly case proved otherwise. He said this

left him feeling “angry and bitter”. ‘The claim that my wife’s case was an isolated one has a particularly hollow ring to it,” he added. But he said he would not support calls for Minister Harney to resign.

THE Fianna Fail party in Shannon is struggling to find nominees to contest the next county council elections.

With most areas around the coun- try having returned their nominees to Fianna Fail head office by the September 5 deadline, sources close to the party said Shannon town is struggling to find a candidate to con- test the expanded Shannon electoral area.

The party met in Shannon on Sun- day night however to propose nomi- nees to run for the town council, just a week after its two sitting council- lors announced that they would not

be running again.

Among the three nominated is a Polish national, a director of elec- tions and a well known community “oO Mane

Director of elections for Fianna Fail in Shannon during the last gen- eral election Noel McNamara will be hoping to get the nod from head of- fice to run as a candidate in the next election.

Polish native Woyceich Wieviewski is anew name and face to politics in Shannon, and those nominating him will be hoping he appeals to the non- national vote.

The third nominee is Ollie Allen who is hoping to capture the local

community vote.

Shannon town councillors Sean Hillary and Geraldine Lambert told the Sean Lemass Cumann last week that they would not be contesting the next local elections, leaving the town council, like the county coun- cil without any returning Fianna Fail councillor from Shannon.

The current Shannon area has fa- voured Independent candidates for the county council with former may- or of Clare Patricia McCarthy and Cllr Gerry Flynn both from Shan- non sitting on the town and county council.

Fine Gael Cllr Tony Mulcahy (FG) is the other county councillor from

the town.

While the Sean Lemass Cumann may be struggling to find candidates for the county council elections, oth- er cumann preparing to contest the expanded Shannon Electoral Area have no such problems.

In Sixmilebridge they have already nominated former council candidate PJ Ryan and new candidate Pascal avis

Sitting Fianna Fail county council- lor Pat McMahon and Robert Frost have been nominated by Newmar- ket-on-Fergus, while former county councillor Pat O’Gorman has been nominated by the Cratloe Cumann to contest the Shannon area.

CLARE Youth Service are to under- take a comprehensive survey aimed at establishing literacy levels among students and staff.

The survey is being orgainsed as part of events for National Adult Literacy Awareness (NALA) Week, which runs until Friday, September 26.

All staff and students working in Clare Youth Service are being asked to take part in the survey, along with members of the public availing of in- ternet services at the Youth Centre, Carmody Street, Ennis.

Volunteers will record answers us- ing audio equipment, with a prize

also available for the most imagina- tive method used to record respond- ents answers.

The theme of this year’s NALA Week has been broadened to “the benefits of learning in the communi- ty’, chosen to highlight the benefits of improving literacy and numeracy levels among different communities in Ireland.

Theresa Larkin of the Adult Litera- cy Programme with the Clare Youth Service, explained the project is be- ing undertaken to help broaden the understanding of literacy problems.

“We want to raise awareness, first and foremost. There are a lot of peo- ple out there who experience difficul- ty reading and writing. There is such

a stigma attached to illiteracy and it is our job to get the best of people.”

She added, “We are always aware too that some of the people taking OL Na MONO MM OOCoMmCLED A VoavMB OCU TcAlMmOT-A/oMOODUUCS culty filling out forms, so the people asking the questions will have audio equipment with them. The prize will be for the most novel form of answer- ing, be it singing dancing, anything.”

Meanwhile eight students of Com- munity Employment Project with Clare Youth Service received their certificates for completion of FETAC level four training at a ceremony in the Old Ground Hotel on Friday supra al

The students completed their train- ing on the FAS supported scheme at

the Hospitality Academy in Doon- beg.

Tina Byrt of Clare Youth Service said the students had worked ex- tremely hard over the course of the project and were delighted to have received their certificates.

SHARON Shannon is only one of the many musicians who credit retired Toonagh schoolteacher Frank Custy for inspiring her passion for music.

“It’s thanks to Frank Custy that we got a great love of music. We used to be just mad for music” she comments in the first of a six part TG4 series featuring some of Ireland’s finest tra- Cia CeyereUmeNlUKT(ervIhe

The September 28 ‘Sé mo Laoch programme celebrates Frank Custy’s many musical achievements, and his invaluable contribution to the future of Clare’s traditional music.

Featuring contributions from musi- cians Sharon Shannon, Ian O Cathain, Siobhan Peoples, members of the Di- seart Ceili Band, as well as Frank’s son, Tola Custy and his daughter,

Mary Custy, the programme looks at the huge influence banjo player and teacher Frank has had on genera- tions of young Clare musicians and how, through his work as a teacher, he generated and passed on a love of music to hundreds of young players.

Fiddle player Siobhan Peoples re- calls: “He taught us how to be con- fident individuals, to be able to go places, and take our music or singing or sport with us and to have no fear of being good at something.”

Next week’s programme features Dubliner Mick O’Connor. Other mu- sicians featured in the new series of ‘Se mo Laoch include Connemara box-player Johnny Connolly, Brian ETCMe OS LUCT IC UUW meme ceeemmauaentcrsate Cork singer Sean O Sé, and Tommy Peoples, who spent much of his life in Clare before moving to Donegal.

IT may not make it to the Guinness Book of Records, but here in Clare it is probably the longest running gar- den fete in the county.

The Friends of Clare Mental Health Services will hold their Annual Gar- den Fete on the grounds of Our La- dy’s Hospital, Ennis on Sunday next, September 28. This is the fifteenth year in a row that the fete has taken

place in the grounds of the former hospital.

Our Lady’s Hospital closed in 2002, yet staff and friends of Clare Mental Health Service still continue the tradition of the fete. The money raised is used for client-based activi- ties both in the community and resi- dential units. Proceeds are also used to provide clients with essentials or comforts, which are not covered by healthcare or social welfare funding.

WORKERS at Aer Lingus in Shan- non may have to wait another two weeks before knowing their fate in the company’s cost-slashing plan.

It’s feared that up to 300 jobs could be under threat at the airport as Aer Lingus trys to find ways to cut costs by €100 million in the wake of huge company losses in the last year.

But a meeting of the airline’s board of management last week failed to reach a decision on a review of the company’s operations.

The board will not meet again for two weeks and in the meantime, Aer Lingus boss, Dermot Mannion has written to SIPTU, warning that he

“cannot rule out any eventuality”.

SIPTU had written to the chief executive seeking assurances that speculation about out-sourcing jobs is not correct.

Mannion replied that he “can not give the assurances you seek”.

He said that “given the level of me- dia speculation and the concerns this causes for staff, I fully appreciate the need to expedite the completion of our review as soon as possible.”

He added that a senior manage- ment team are working around the clock to have proposals ready for the next board meeting.

It has been speculated that the air- line will seek to outsource 1,500 jobs nationally, mainly in ground

handling, cargo and catering.

It is also thought that they may want to replace transatlantic cabin crew staff with agency staff from the US.

The airline is also reportedly chas- ing a deal with Shannon Airport management to cut passenger charg- es on the transatlantic routes.

A planned announcement on the nature of the cuts had been expected after a lenghty board meeting last week, but the announcement was cancelled at the eleventh hour.

It was thought that the board would make the announcement to the stock exchange before meeting with staff.

Senior management representa- tives had travelled to Shannon and

Cork for the announcement but re- turned to base after the board meet- ing, which was scheduled to end at 1.30pm, went on for eight hours, fuelling speculation that the mem- bers could not agree on the cost-sav- Three

Staff and unions have just come through a heated dispute about the airline’s Programme for Continuous Improvement cost-cutting package.

Unions have sounded a scepti- cal note on claims concerning the boards agreement.

It is believed in union circles that had the board got unanimous agree- ment on the cuts then they would have immediately engaged in nego- tiations.

MAPPING the future economic de- velopment of Ennis, forms the main focus of a meeting of the local busi- ness community next week.

Ennis Chamber has launched details of the upcoming Planning and De- velopment Forum entitled ‘Business in a By-Passed Ennis – Sustainable Economic Development for Ennis’, sponsored by Ryan Brothers (Ennis) Ltd located at Toonagh Quarry.

SU stem CedeeeeMM, sul meUn eK MMa(omeLbNB KSDI! issues for the development of Ennis over the next five years from a busi- ness perspective and will take place from 5pm to 8.30pm on Tuesday September 30 in the Old Ground Ho- tel, O’Connell Street, Ennis.

Speaking on the forum, Ennis Chamber President Niall Garvey said, “The objective of the forum is to formulate the opinions of the busi- ness community, which will form the basis of submissions to relevant bodies.

‘This includes the Draft Ennis and Environs Development Plan 2008, which 1s a vital document in the shap- ing of the future economic growth of the town and surrounding area.”

Speakers to the forum will include private sector interests as well as Clare County Council senior person- nel who will display the maps relat- ing to the Draft Ennis & Environs Development Plan 2008.

The topics for discussion include: ‘A Vision for the Infrastructure of

the Mid West Region and Ennis as a Hub Town’; “Tourism Branding of the Mid-West Region and the Ennis Area Sustainable Development as a Driver for Future Growth’; ‘The Fu- ture Retail Experience of Ennis’ and ‘Ennis as an Employment Genera- Koue

Those attending will then be in- vited to participate in two workshops relating to these topics in order to garner key points from the business community which will form the ba- sis of a submission to the Draft En- nis and Environs Development Plan 2008 and other bodies as appropriate going forward.

Attendees will also be equipped with the knowledge and assistance to prepare their own individual submis-

sions to the Draft Ennis and Environs Development Plan 2008.

Ryan Brothers (Ennis) Ltd. op- erating from Toonagh Quarry on the Corofin Road outside Ennis are sponsors of the event.

The quarry is a key local enterprise, employing 20 people as well as indi- rect employment to hauliers among others.

General Manager, Martin Tierney, stressed their support for the forum and for the future development of business in the town.

“We are delighted to be involved with the Ennis Chamber Planning and Development Forum as _ the growth and enhancement of the area of Clare’s capital town is a vital part of our business’, said Mr Tierney.