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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.

A SENIOR Clare County Councillor has said lessons must be learnt and new building practice put in place if water shortages and burst pipes are to be avoided during similar weather in the future.

Cllr PJ Kelly (FF) said that the spo- radic bursting of underground water pipes connecting the mains to homes across the county during the freezing weather conditions was due in large

part to a lack of regulation in pipe laying.

He went on to say that while the location the pipes are positioned in is a condition of planning permis- sions, how deep those pipes are set is not.

The building regulations then con- tend with the structure of the house and not what is underground.

“We have to have better practice of best practice when supplying domes- tic water to homes,” he said.

“TWe need] Better insulation and for pipes to be laid in a certain way so they are adverse to these traitor- ous conditions,’ he said.

“A thing is only a mistake when you fail to learn from it. There are going to have to be new codes of practice in this area.”

Senior Executive Engineer with the Water Section of Clare County Council, Sean Ward said that under- ground pipes in numerous houses across the county had been frozen in

the past week.

In the same housing estates, the pipes in some houses froze com- pletely while the water in neighbour- ing houses flowed freely.

He said that issues such as insula- tion and the depth of pipes could have contributed to these differences in circumstances.

Burst pipes and people letting taps run all night to avoid pipes freezing has also increased the water usage in the county by 10 to 20 per cent.

CLARE will learn of their quarter- final opponents in the Oscar Traynor Cup next week with the draw for the last eight round scheduled to take place in the Aishling Hotel in Dublin on Friday, January 22.

The Clare side, managed by Hugh Kelly advanced to the knockout stag- es for the first time since 2004 thanks to taking four points from their two games in Group 5 of the prestigious nationwide competition.

In their opening game with the Limerick Desmond, Clare secured a valuable away point when Rock Rov- ers’ Stephen Hickey grabbed a share

of the spoils with a goal in the 90th minute.

Then in the second game against the Cork Business League at Mc- Donough Park in Newmarket-on- Fergus, an injury time strike from Bunratty’s Con Collins gave Clare a thrilling 3-2 win and safe passage into the quarter-final stage.

Those teams who will be in the draw with Clare are Galway or Mayo from Group 1, Roscommon, Sligo or Don- egal in Group 2, Tipperary Southern & District League in Group 3, Cork AUL in Group 4, Wexford in Group 6, The Defence Forces in Group 7 and Dublin AUL in Group 8.

Manager Hugh Kelly, in resum-

ing the management reins for the 2009/2010 competition said “any- thing is possible and we could go all the way”. The Derryman was man- ager of the Clare team that scored a famous victory in the competition six years ago, when they beat the Dublin Senior League 2-1 in the final played in Ballycasey.

It was Clare’s first national cup suc- cess since the Clare Youths won the Irish Inter League Youth Cup in 1971 thanks to a 2-0 win over Dublin Ath- letic Union League in Ennis Show- erounds. Clare’s Youths are also in the knockout stages of the FAI Youth Inter League for the first time since the 1970s.

CLARE County Council was forced to switch off the water supply to areas across north Clare over the weekend, as the impact of the big freeze con- tinued to be felt by local families.

The local authority was forced to temporarily shut off the supply to ar- eas around Lahinch, Liscannor and Ennistymon on Saturday and Sunday last because of low levels of water re- corded at the reservoir.

According to a spokesperson from the Ennistymon Area Office of Clare County Council, they are continuing to closely monitor the situation but levels at the reservoir appear to be returning to normal.

“We have also advertised in the media where people can collect wa- ter from the council yard in Ennisty- mon. A number of individual houses in the north Clare area have frozen stop-cocks and, even though there is water flowing in the mains system, it is not able to get into the house,” said the spokesperson.

“We have had to monitor water Supplies in Ennistymon, Lahinch and Liscannor closely over the last number of days. We have decent water supplies in the reservoir at the moment, but that situation can change quickly.

Meanwhile, the roads connecting Lisdoonvarna with Kilfenora and Ballyvaughan were closed by Clare County Council yesterday at the re- quest of the gardai. According to a council spokesman, the area around the Corkscrew Hill were particularly dangerous.

“We are monitoring the situation as closely as possible and we can say that all the major routes between the major towns are open at the mo- ment,” said the spokesman.

“Once you get onto the smaller, secondary roads then the situation is more difficult. It 1s a constantly changing situation. For example, the road between Lisdoonvarna and Kil- fenora was impassible this morning (Monday) but that situation could change again very quickly.”

2009 presented an exciting new dawn for Clare camogie as they am- bitiously met the double challenge of playing at the top level in both league and championship head on in a bid to establishing the county as a new senior force.

After several attempts during the decade, Clare finally made _ that breakthrough on the back of an un- precedented 2008 in which a Nation- al League Division 2 and All-Ireland AUT eb Ce) MMOL O(c) Rom UITDO A aRcecDuIEsIen

However, the beginning of 2009 also brought great change in Clare camogie. Orla Considine was ush- ered in as county chairperson, Clare subsequently entered two adult teams for league and championship for the first time (one at senior and one at intermediate level) and a new man- agement team of Bertie Sherlock, Catherine O’Loughlin, Kevin Ryan, John Sheedy and Fintan McNamara was introduced to guide both panels into the new unchartered waters.

In hindsight, it was perhaps too demanding to initiate such an ambt- tious two pronged set-up in the first year. The lack of numbers were an constant issue which meant there was a significant doubling up of play- ers and possibly a year at junior level would have served the second team better in their inaugural year.

That said, Clare can feel quite un- fortunate not to have taken more points in both the league and cham- pionship, especially at senior level. Clare entered the league in typical determined fashion but overall, in- experience at the top level was to repeatedly prove their undoing. Des- perately unlucky to be edged out by a point in their opening tie against eventual finalists Tipperary, Clare then led by 0-8 to 0-5 with less than 25 minutes to go against defending champions Kilkenny in Meelick only a week later before conceding nine unanswered points. Unperturbed by such set-backs, Clare finally got their just rewards with a final day 2-7 to

2-6 victory over Dublin in the capital and it was enough to give them re- newed confidence for the champion- ship campaign.

The intermediates on the other hand had a largely fluctuating league debut in Division 2. Going down by seven points in their opening tie against Tipperary in Cashel, the young side actually claimed a major scalp in their next outing by comprehensively beating defending All-Ireland inter- mediate champions Kilkenny by 0-11 to 1-O in Meelick, inspired by Carol Kaiser, Roisin McMahon, Chloe Mo- rey and Danielle Sheedy.

It should have initiated a new level of confidence in the predominantly teenage side but they were soon brought back down to earth by a 3-

14 to 2-04 defeat to Antrim and in fact, were unable to field in their final game against Derry a week later.

The final nail in the second side’s coffin came in their intermediate championship debut against neigh- bours Galway. With a largely experi- mental side, Clare were simply over- ran by a vastly experienced Galway who were ruthless in a 7-13 to 1-03 victory in Athenry. Clare chose to pull out of the competition after that while Galway eventually went on to win the intermediate championship O)binw resale

There was a similar camogie lesson for the senior side that afternoon as Clare supporters were left scratching their heads after totally contrasting halves. Despite being without the

experience of Sharon McMahon, Laura Linnane and Aimee MclIner- ney, Clare more than matched the All-Ireland finalists in the first half, only to undo all that good work with an abject second half display as Gal- way eventually ran out 3-17 to 1-04 victors.

It would have been enough to de- rail most sides but Clare had recog- nised long before the Galway game that their derby tie with Limerick would be the most pivotal game of their championship season. A tense, nail-biting encounter subsequently ensued with both sides craving the points to remain in the race for the semi-finals. In the end, Clare’s resil- ience saw them prevail by the bare minimum after the sides had been

level on three occasions in the final minutes. It was also a significant coming of age performance from Under 16 Chloe Morey who took responsibility for the final, pressu- rised free from 65 metres that sealed victory for the home side. That dis- play would subsequently earn her a national Gala Performance Award and also ensured that Clare’s hopes of advancement hinged on their fi- nal game against league champions Wexford a fortnight later.

Essentially a_ straight play-off in Bodyke, Clare battled hard but were unable to cope with Wexford’s smooth interplay and superior scor- ing ability who eventually ran out 2- 15 to 0-03 winners.

Overall though, Clare will feel sat- isfied that they were extremely com- petitive in their inaugural season at senior level. Wins over Dublin and Limerick, a one point defeat against Tipperary and the fact that they were still in contention for a semi-final place going into the final round of championship games indicates that they were far from daunted by their more experienced opposition. On the flip side however, sizeable champ1- onship defeats against Galway and Wexford mean that Clare still have a bit to learn before they can realis- tically challenge for honours at this Aree

The key to Clare’s future at the top level though could rest with their burgeoning underage system. The county have been consistently knocking at the door of All-Ireland glory at Under 16 and minor level in recent years and much like Kilkenny, that continuous supply to the senior squad, combined with the experi- ence of their more established play- ers means that the future is certainly bright for the county. Consequently it’s simply a matter of when, not if.

Lifesavers lose out on funding

THERE was an upsurge in demand for support from St Vincent De Paul in Shannon in the run-up to Christ- jet kce

50 families in Shannon and Sixmi- lebridge requested support from the voluntary organisation.

Oil, coal, toys and food were among the demands of the people of Shan- non, who found it difficult to cope. Some families did not have enough money to buy toys for their children for Christmas and sought help from St Vincent De Paul with this. The poor economic climate, allied to the inclement weather, was a major fac-

tor in the increase in demand.

Christmas hampers and_ super- market vouchers were distributed to families in need in the run-up to Christmas, as the organisation did what it could to ease the plight of the poor.

Secretary of St Vincent De Paul in Shannon, Bridget Kirby said a lot of people were in financial difficulty this year.

“We were out until late on Christ- mas Eve. We helped 50 families. There was a huge increase in de- mand this year. People didn’t have the double money (social welfare) and they were really stuck. A lot of people lost their jobs and they

didn’t have toys for the children,’ she said.

Some parents are finding things so tough that they don’t have the money to pay for their children’s examina- tions.

“Parents don’t have enough mon- ey for the Junior Certificate or the Leaving Certificate. Parents don’t have money. It’s sad. There is a lot of poverty,” she added.

She paid tribute to the people of Shannon, who donated generously to the annual collection.

Some businesses donated toys, while individuals also donated mon- ey. Golf societies around Shannon also contributed to the fund, while

St Caimin’s Community School and St Patrick’s Comprehensive School helped out.

‘They were so good this year. Peo- ple were very, very generous. It was the best year we ever had. A lot of people gave us children’s clothes and we delivered those. We got a personal donation of €2,000 from one man. He said he had too much and felt sad for people who don’t have enough. That was the kind of thing that people did,” she said.

After a tough few months, St Vin- cent De Paul 1s predicting that 2010 will be equally challenging.

“It will be very tough this year,” said Ms Kirby.

THE coming year will see renewed efforts in Mountshannon to provide a second defibrillator for the village.

Already the community has man- aged to secure one life-saving device and this is now installed in its special security case on the wall of the pot- tery shop.

“We’d certainly like to get a sec- ond defibrillator and we’ll be work- ing towards that this year.’ said Jane Murray, one of the organisers of the committee effort which secured the

first defibrillator.

Twenty people are now fully trained in the use of the machine which could make the difference between recovery and a tragedy if someone experiences coronary problems.

The teams are on a rota which turns over every couple of weeks, with the emergegency phone (086-320997) being given to the person on duty.

Jane said the community is very pleased to have the defibrillator and to have a secure location for it.

But locals have proved so willing to train and do their part in protecting

lives that there could well be enough volunteers to warrant a second ma- chine. This could be kept at a dif- ferent location, making help close to hand wherever it is needed in the village.

Without any grants available, the community will be back on the fun- draising trail this coming year. “We will have to raise the money locally but people here are very genrous when it comes to something impor- tant,’ said Jane.

6,000 people a year die from sud- den cardiac death in Ireland. Two per

week will be under the age of thirty five.

The defibrillator provides a vi- tal link in the chain of survival as speedy combination of CPR and the defibrillator can often restore life which would otherwise be lost.

Statistically in Ireland, anyone whose heart stops has just a one in one hundred chance of surviv- ing. But if there is a cardiac first responder program in place involv- ing trained people using a defibril- lator, those odds are significantly INNO KeranNel ew