Category: Uncategorized

IN ITS end of year statement, Enter- prise Ireland reported that 2009 was a year of unprecedented challenge for Ireland’s exporters as a result of the significant drop in global de- mand and the sustained pressure of sterling/dollar exchange rates.

While Enterprise Ireland client companies achieved an estimated €500m in new export sales, total exports fell by approximately 10 per cent to €13bn.

In four of the past five months cli- ent companies recorded growth in export orders. While that growth is small, the companies have risen to LM eCoMmeLaY-0U (oJ OToXoMm-D OX MNO OU ISMED Ro) 010 MB Kio Ite couraging when compared with the situation at the start of the year.

Entrepreneurship and investment in R&D were both ahead of target in 2009 indicating improved confidence amongst client companies as they position to address opportunities in early 2010. 73 new innovative high potential start-ups were supported over the course of the year (10 per cent ahead of target) and 115 client companies were approved funding support for significant R&D.

Although 7,400 new jobs were created by Enterprise Ireland client companies over the course of the year, there was an overall net decline of 19,000 jobs.

Noting the outturn for the year, Tanaiste Mary Coughlan T.D. said that the Government made strategic interventions to protect jobs. Around 7,213 jobs were sustained in the 148 companies supported under the En- terprise Stabilisation Fund which was launched in April to support vulnerable but viable manufacturing and internationally traded services companies, with a particular focus on SMEs.

“Over 450 companies, which were approved for funding under the Government’s Employment Subsidy Scheme, committed to maintain- ing approximately 36,000 full-time jobs.”

Over the past 12 months, Enter- prise Ireland prioritised providing access to finance for client compa- nies through new and existing fund- ing vehicles and through enhanced co-operation with the main banks.

Enterprise Ireland provided fi- nancial assistance to approximately 1,600 companies over 2009. €59m was approved under the Enterprise Stabilisation Fund while a further €93.6m was paid to client compa- nies in 2009 through Enterprise Ire- land’s existing supports such as the R&D and Growth funds.

Enterprise Ireland chief executive Frank Ryan said that during 2009, the agency pursued a sustaining en- terprise agenda that prioritised help- ing client companies through the economic crisis and companies dis- played great dedication and determ1- nation in sustaining their businesses over the past year.

“The answer to Ireland’s chal- lenge remains a return to export-led erowth. That is what drove the econ- omy in the foundation stages of the boom and in Ireland, exports equals jobs,” he said.

MORE than 4,000 calves born on farms in Clare die before they reach six weeks of age each year, accord- ing to official figures from the De- or Danese lmelmvatauUUIRUI Ros

The department’s Animal Identifi- cation and Movement (AIM) system report for 2008 reveals that, nation- ally, 70,000 calves died between birth and six weeks. Based on these national figures, a total of 4,100 calves died on the 5,200 suckler and dairy farms in Clare – while a further 2,00 calves were stillborn.

According to veterinary special- ist, Maureen Prendergast, scour ac- counts for well over half of all calf deaths in Clare. Extreme cases of the disease can result in the death of up to 30 per cent of calves in a herd.

“However, on the majority of farms, calf deaths represent only a small proportion of the costs of a scour outbreak. The biggest costs are treat- ment, additional labour and reduced animal performance,’ she said.

Prendergast, who is veterinary ad- viser with Intervet Schering-Plough, explained that scour is the symptom of a disease caused by bacteria and WAUMEN oe

“Bacterial infection can hit the calf within a couple of hours after birth. The high risk period for viral infec- tion is five to 1O days after birth,” she Sr nLGe

“Vaccinating the cow anytime between three and 12 weeks prior to calving is proven to provide the antibodies in the cow’s colostrum, which will protect the new-born calf. Farmers should consult their vet to discuss the best vaccination strategy for their herds.”

Meanwhile, the ICSA Connaught Ulster vice president John Barron has expressed alarm at proposed changes to the TB regime arising from the need to facilitate the slaughter of cattle that are over 12 months since

their last TB test.

“The new proposals to permit the slaughter of animals that are be- tween 12-18 months since their last TB test is something we have been

looking for.

“However, at a meeting with de- partment officials, it has emerged that the proposed change is to be accompanied by a whole raft of new

bureaucracy,’ he said.

“This includes complex assess- ments which categorise herds into those with less than 20 per cent ani- mals out of test and more than 20 per

cent animals out of test.

“There are severe penalties for any animal inadvertently sent for slaughter over 18 months since its last test.”

Addicts opt for community help

THE operation of Cappahard Nurs- ing Home in Ennis has been over- hauled after the Mental Health Com- mission identified “serious concerns and significant levels of non-compli- ance” at the centre.

Cappahard provides care to 35 eld- erly patients suffering from various forms of dementia and mental ill- nesses.

However, the Commission in its June inspection uncovered a number of “dysfunctional systems” at the home when 20 breaches were identi- fied. The Commission sent its report ‘as a matter of priority” to its Acting

Chief Executive Officer and as a re- sult, the Commission decided that an unannounced inspection would take place within three months.

The report followed the discovery of 17 separate breaches in June 2008, which found that the centre breached mechanical restraint policy.

In its damning verdict on the cen- tre, the Commission stated, “There was a lack of managerial and clinical leadership.

“This resulted in policies not being signed, residents not receiving active and timely reviews and a complete lack of clarity on who was to perform physical examinations.

“Local systems for management

and review of risks were absent. In a single small centre, two separate and complex medication systems were in ej oroe leone

‘A number of residents had no ca- pacity to make informed choices and were dependent on profession- als to provide safe and effective care. Scepticism towards the unit being an approved centre was partially responsible for the current level of compliance.

‘Staff must use the protections af- forded to residents under the act to bring about change and improve or ones

The report concluded that a recent audit found that nurses were spend-

ing up to 90 person hours a week completing non-nursing duties and that the agreed staff complement had not been reached due to staff short- eae

The Commission carried out an un- announced inspection of the unit on September 22 when seven breaches were recorded — a decrease of 13 in the space of three months.

The Commission reported that at the time of re-inspection, a signifi- cant improvement in the practices and procedures in Cappahard Lodge had been implemented since the last inspection.

A report on the care provided to the late Gerard Finn (69) at Cappahard 1s

due to be published next year.

Last night, his daughter Lourda said: “It is an absolute disgrace that serious clinical and managerial prob- lems were found at Cappahard last June three years after the fact that this was pointed out to them.”

She said that the Commission un- covered more breaches in June 2009 Wor DeMLMmOnlOMDOMLONNoMPAGLOlon

Mr Finn had Alzheimer’s Disease and angina, and was admitted to Cappahard Lodge in late December 2005.

During his time there, he was ad- mitted to Ennis General on a number of occasions and he died at the home on June 6, 2006.

ENNIS Samaritans are urging peo- ple not let their worries spiral out of control and to seek support for emo- tional distress this Christmas and during the coming year.

According to a new survey carried out on behalf of the Samaritans, over half of the population (59 per cent) in the Republic of Ireland has worried this year about debt and money.

The survey also found that exam stress and pressure to achieve high marks in studies were one of the big- gest worries for 52 per cent of young

people (aged 18 and 24), while lone- liness was one of the top worries amongst 17 per cent of young people (aged 18 and 24) compared to only eight per cent of older people (aged 55 plus).

Mary Lynch of Ennis and Clare Samaritans said: “In the last year, Samaritans received more _ than 375,000 calls in the Republic of Ire- land and many of them were about the worries identified in this survey, with approximately one in every ten calls linked to financial stress.

The poll of 1,000 people asked the public to identify their five big-

gest worries over the past year. After money, the other top-five sources of anxiety were problems in relation- ships with family and friends (re- ported by 38 per cent of people) and fears about job security (35 per cent) followed by concerns about physi- cal health (32 per cent) and domestic politics (28 per cent).

Ms Lynch said sharing problems allows people to cope better with life’s challenges.

“If people don’t talk about their problems, they can build up over time and spiral into more serious emo- tional distress. Sharing your troubles

can be a huge relief and is often the first step to finding a way of coping with the challenges that life throws at all of us. Samaritans-trained vol- unteers are available 24/7 to offer confidential support to anyone feel- ing anxious, unhappy or distressed this Christmas and throughout the coming year,’ she said.

The Samaritans offer confidential, non-judgemental emotional support on a 24-hour basis. They can be con- tacted by calling 1850 60 90 90, by email at jo@samaritans.org or face to face at the premises on the Kilrush Road in Ennis.

EMBATTLED Clare property devel- oper Bernard McNamara is to appeal a High Court judgment forcing him to pay €63 million back to a group which loaned him the money to de- velop the controversial former Irish Glass Bottling Site in Dublin.

The court ruled on Friday that the Lisdoonvarna developer must im- mediately pay the investors the €63 million used to purchase the site, with a stay being put on the decision until January so that an affidavit can be prepared in relation to what was described as McNamara’s deteriorat- ing financial circumstances.

The ruling was made following a guarantee made by McNamara in 2007, in relation to a loan issued to the developer through the investors Jersey registered company, Ringsend Property Ltd.

A group led by McNamara purchased the property for a massive €412 mil- lion but the estimated value of the site has plummeted to an estimated €60 million in the last two years.

OW slommekolel umm Dicomeca:NelkoeMm ds Come Deh (oice tors’ summary judgment of €98 million against Donatex Limited, a company owned by Mr McNamara, in relation to the same deal.

Ringsend Property Ltd is seeking the repayment of its loan, because it claims a key clause of the loan agree- ment had been breached.

The clause stated that if the devel- opment company, Becbay Limited,

hadn’t applied for the necessary cer- tificates from the Dublin Docklands Development Authority (DDDA) or hadn’t been granted planning permis- sion by Dublin City Council within 30 months, then the loans should be repaid.

The Dublin Glass Bottling Site has become the symbol of the property bubble of the last decade. The site, sections of which are contaminated with toxic waste, was described be- fore the sale as “the opportunity of participating with one of the most prolific and successful developers in the country in the development of the

largest and most high-profile proper- ty to become available in Dublin 4 for decades”’.

McNamara and Donatex put for- ward four defences, including that Ringsend Property had not complied with other provisions of the loan agreement, that the contract had been made invalid because the DDDA was not able to issue the certificates need- ed for the fast tracking of planning permission, and that the loan agree- ment was to last until 2014.

DOZENS of households in Newmar- ket-on-Fergus will receive special deliveries on Christmas Eve — in the shape of food hampers. Given the poor economic climate, demand for food has doubled this year.

The Obair Social Inclusion Project has teamed up with St Vincent de Paul for this year’s Christmas Food Appeal. Locals in the village have been very generous in donating food and this will be divided into hampers and distributed to families in need.

Trolleys have been set up in the Su- per Valu and Spar supermarkets in the village, while a collection also

took place at the four churches in the parish. The response has been very positive and locals are still being urged to donate non-perishable foods in the run-up to Christmas.

Several groups in the village are represented on the Social Inclusion Project committee. These include The Going Strong group, the Farm- ers’ Market, Meals on Wheels, the scouts, Brothers of Charity and Acorn Women’s Group.

“We were sponsored signs and money from Obair to advertise the food appeal and we have put signs on trolleys in our two supermarkets. They will put together hamper bas- kets and give them out on Christmas

Eve,’ explained co-ordinator Siob- han O’Driscoll.

She said that the demand has in- creased this year, compared to last year.

“We are hoping to do between 30 and 40 hampers. They will be given to the most vulnerable in the vil- lage such as the elderly or the un- employed. We have an increase in demand. It would be double what it was last year due to the economic climate. People are very good. They are coming in every day with new toys and books,” she said.

While sufficient toys have already been donated, foods will be accepted until Wednesday of this week.

“We are looking for non-perishable foods such as biscuits, tea, coffee, sugar, selection boxes, pasta, rice, jam and honey. People are great in these times,” she said.

While St Vincent de Paul has spear- headed a food appeal for many years, last year was the first time that the Social Inclusion Project got involved and the response has been phenom- enal.

“We started last year. There are a lot of new families in the village and there are a lot of elderly people. Some people don’t have a lot,’ said Ms O’Driscoll. Anyone who wishes to make enquiries about the food ap- peal should phone 061 368030.

FURTHER meetings are expected this week between union representa- tives of staff at Shannon airport and management at Aer Lingus.

However, there is little hope being held out that the airline might row back on plans to axe 102 jobs at the by oO a

Workers’ hopes were temporarily raised last week after the airline’s public affairs director offered up the possibility of a brighter prospect for the Shannon operations while field-

ing questions at the Dail’s public af- fairs committee.

But when Airline Chief Executive, Christoph Mueller met Dail depu- ties from Clare in the Oireachtas on Tuesday night, he gave no commit- ment on the Shannon routes, includ- ing a proposal that the New York route could be served with a smaller je) E-Nalen

Then on Wednesday, Mueller came to Shannon for a meeting with staff where workers were told that the plan to lose 102 jobs will go ahead.

IMPACT’s Neil Shanahan = said

there was “huge disappointment” among workers that no alternative to the jobs losses has been agreed.

‘They’ ve said they’re going to forge ahead with 102 job losses under the so-called Greenfield Plan. That would leave between 20 and 25 cab- in crew in Shannon and the plan for 2010 would be that they would work on the Shannon/Heathrow route.”

Mr Shanahan said there was a “lot of emotion” at the meeting and staff “were devastated because they had hoped that more would be done to save jobs.”

Union representatives said that “there are some staff there for be- tween 20 and 30 years who have been told they are going to be out of a job. They are devastated.”

Mayor of Clare, Tony Mulcahy was one of a delegation from the Mid- West Regional Authority which met with Aer Lingus management who came to Shannon last week.

The mayor said that he believes there is “substantial” new business which could be developed for Aer Lingus at the mid-west airport, with the corporate market making up a

significant part of this.

‘For the business community it 1s critical that they be able to get to Dublin and Heathrow early in the morning and get back in the evening. There is a big business community here and that is a primary issue for Weloe0e

“We are also urging Aer Lingus to look at the customs and Border Pro- tection facility. You can be left wait- ing for hours in New York and it is certainly people’s preference to pay a few euro at Shannon and cut out the wait on the other side.”

A BUDDING east Clare writer has been short listed in the Concern

Cecil Woodham Smith Creative Writing Competition 2009.

Ana Flynn from Mountshannon was short listed for the senior cat-

egory of the prestigious international AMEN EOD

The talented young writer is a past pupil of Raheen Wood Steiner

School, Tuamgraney and the Alfa Project, Active Learning for Adoles- cents in Scarriff.

She is currently studying Televi- sion and Digital Film in Ballyfermot College of Further Education, hav- ing deferred, for a year, her place on the honours media degree course in Queen Margaret’s College, Edin- burgh.

Entrants to the Concern creative writing competition were asked to write a letter to President Obama on one of three critical issues; world hunger, climate change in the devel- oping world or child labour.

Ana wrote a letter highlighting child labour from the point of view of a 15-year-old girl from Kenya.

The competition received more than 800 entries from places far and near including Japan, Niger, Liberia, India, USA, UK and of course Ire- land.

Ana’s letter, along with other prize winning and short listed letters, has been published in a book

CHANGES should be made to health policy to ensure that cancer sufferers are automatically entitled to medical cards, a meeting has heard.

Speaking at the December meeting of Clare County Council, Cllr Pat Daly (FF) called on the local author- ity “to request the Health Service Ex- ecutive, to implement a health policy for the future “that a person that suf- fers from cancer (or any other serious illness), should automatically receive a medical card, thus ruling out the procedure of means testing”.

Cllr Daly told the meeting that worrying about the financial costs of cancer treatment imposes extra bur- dens on patients.

He said cancer sufferers should not be subject to means tests. He claimed that in some cases patients were forced to wait “two or three months” for treatment.

“There are still situations when serious ill patients have to fight for medical cards,” added Cllr Daly.

Cllr Pat Keane (FF) said he fully supported the motion. Cllr Joe Ar- kins (FG) said that he fully supported the sentiment of the motion but stated that he understood that “such an ar- rangement already exists for people with serious medical conditions”.

Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) expressed his support for the motion, saying it was of “critical importance” that cancer sufferers receive immediate access to medical treatment. Mayor

of Clare Tony Mulcahy (FG) said he emphatically supported the pro- posal.

According to the HSE, “Medical cards allow people to access family doctor or GP services, community health services, dental services, pre- scription medicine costs, hospital care and a range of other benefits free of charge. Most people who get a medical card do so because their income is below a certain level. It is also possible to get a medical card if the costs of meeting your medical needs causes you financial hardship,

or if you have entitlement under EU Korean FLW CO) ete

Medical card holders are exempt from paying the Health Levy part of social insurance and from the In- come Levy introduced in 2009.

A 50 cent charge per prescription item was introduced in Budget 2010 for medical card and Long Term Illness Card holders, subject to a monthly ceiling of €10 per family.