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this week, both the Construction Indus- try Federation (CIF) and the Clare Plasterers Union called for the gov- ernment to fast-track projects such as the Gort/Crusheen Bypass, the Western Rail Corridor and the Ennis Main Drainage Project. “There is no doubt that the down-

turn in the housing sector, which is due to a number of factors including the liquidity of the banking sector, has had an impact on the construc- tion sector in Clare,” said director of the CIF’s Southern Region, Conor O’Connell.

“But it is very important that the skills built up over the years is net by the government in terms of rolling out the National Development Plan. It is vital that spending on public in- frastructure is not cut over the next number of years. This infrastructure will provide for the development of the next stage of our economy.”

The Clare Plasterers Union, which represents almost 1,000 builders in the county, called on an increased government spend in school build- ing.

“The government could do some- thing by tackling the prefabs in the schools. There aren’t proper class- rooms in Barefield or Ennis or in most schools around the county. If they could invest in this they would alleviate some of the unemployment in the system and boost the education system down the road,’ said Branch Secretary, Paddy Connelly.

‘The undercutting is getting cut- throat, and it’s not foreign compa- nies – it’s Clare builders undercutting Clare builders. People are undercut- ting by as much as 30 per cent. There is no profit in that they are working just to keep a cash flow going.

“A lot of people are emigrating, a lot have gone to Australia but it is hard enough to get in over there at the moment. A lot of ground workers

are heading to the UK in preparation for the Olympics and we would pre- dict that a lot of finishers like plasters would be going over there in a few years time.

“Things are very bad – there is mass unemployment in Clare at the moment. It’s not just Clare, the whole western seaboard is very badly hit. I would say that 60 per cent of the construction workers in Clare are idle. You can drive all around Clare, Limerick and Cork and they are idle. Some of them are on the dole, but there is a lot of undercutting going Oe Dem salem ett-Du. Colm

The CIF would like to see govern- ment spending on key infrastural projects speeded up in the county.

“In lots of respects Clare has some of the biggest infrastructural projects

underway at the moment. You have the Shannon Tunnel – I know it’s just outside of Clare but it will have an impact on Shannon and that catch- ment area. There is also the Crush- een Bypass and the Ennis to Galway Rail Link. All of these projects will have a significant impact on the county. These must be continued and if possible speeded up,’ continued Mr O’Connell.

“There is pent up demand in the housing market. The condition of the banking sector is effecting peoples ability to get loans and we need some government and industry working on this. It cost so much to build a house in Clare. If people believe that hous- es will fall dramatically then they are living in a pipe-dream. I can’t see how prices can continue to fall.”

ENNIS Brass Band received the Presidential seal of approval after a memorable performance at Aras na Uachtaran

All 28 members of the Ennis Brass Band performed for the president and guests along with Riverdance and musicians Sean Davey & Liam O’Floinn at the Aras Garden Party on July 1.

It isn’t the first time the band has per- formed for the President McAleese. Two years ago, the band welcomed the President to the County Museum, on the occasion when Ennis was named Ireland’s tidiest town.

But, according to band member Daragh McAllister, this most recent reception at Aras na Uachtaran, ranks

as the highest accolade bestowed in the band’s 37-year history.

“We had had heard that the Presi- dent hold these type of events pretty regularly. So we sent the letter saying that we would love to perform for the President”, explained Daragh, “It’s the biggest thing that has happened to the band in its history”.

The band marked the occasion by presenting the President with a gift. “We presented her with a piece of Burren Limstone engraved with the name of the band and the date”. President McAleese hosted the event to recognise the contribution of teachers to Irish society.

More than 350 recently retired teach- ers from throughout the country joined the President at the Aras along with representatives from the main

teaching unions – ASTI, INTO and the Teacher’s Union of Ireland. Speaking at the event, the President said, “The Irish story of success at home and success against the odds abroad is not a story of coincidences but of commitment – the commit- ment of those who chose the great vocation of teaching whatever the ups and downs of the times. Through that vocation they introduced each unique pupil to his or her abilities and talents, developed their strengths, helped them devise coping strate- gies to manage and overcome their weaknesses and sent them out into the world as well-equipped as they could, to become the best people they could.”

Another milestone in the history of Ennis bras Band will be achieved lat-

er this week when the band travel to a pocket of southwest France closely linked with Ennis. St Paul de Fe- nouillet was twinned with Ennis in 1989 and the band are due to perform there on Saturday night.

“We are going there mainly as a holt- day for the band, but we got in touch with some people over there and there is going to be reception for us in the town. We are mainly going to be based around Perpignan. Playing at the Aras was the biggest thing for us but this trip is pretty big as well”, said Daragh.

MORE than a third of all road traffic cases brought to the district court last year were struck out – for the second year running.

Last year, 6,175 cases were brought to court; 2,358 of which were struck out. An additional 268 cases were dismissed, while 99 defendants had jail or detention sentences imposed.

According to figures just published by the Courts Service, prison or de- tention terms were imposed in less than one eighth of all assault and public order cases.

The figures show that 843 assault and public order cases were dealt

with in the district court throughout the county last year.

Just 104 of those cases resulted in jail being handed down. 175 of them were struck out, while fines were im- posed in another 175 of the cases.

55 drugs cases were brought to the district court last year. Just nine of those resulted in prison sentences being imposed.

Most of the drugs cases were either struck out or taken into consideration ALN O MON elo Me Et: DEohe

287 cases of larceny were dealt with; 49 of which resulted in defend- ants going to jail.

The overwhelming majority of sex- ual offences were either struck out or

taken into consideration by the judge. 13 cases were taken. Six were taken into account, five were struck out, while a jail term was imposed in one and another defendant was fined.

The figures also show that 36 cases were dealt with in the Circuit Crim1- nal Court in Clare last year, while 154 District Court appeals were heard in the Circuit Court, during 2007.

104 cases of sexual offences came before the Circuit Court in Clare last year. There were 10 assault cases, nine drugs matters, eight firearm of- fences, seven larceny/robbery cases, two road traffic cases and one man- slaughter case.

Sentences imposed in the Circuit

Court ranged from community serv- ice and sentences of up to 10 years. 15 defendants received sentences be- tween two and five years, eight were jailed for between two and five years, while one individual received a sen- tence of between five and 10 years. Nine were given suspended sen- tences, two people were fined, while community service was applied in three cases. One case was struck out in the Circuit Court last year.

819 new cases were initiative at En- nis Civil Court last year, which was a substantial increase of 509 in 2006. 65 civil trials, 326 motions and 36 district court civil appeals were dealt with last year.

else terday Jim Power, Chief Economist with the Friends First Organisation said that while the situation is criti- cal in the county, the regeneration of Limerick may offer some light on the keleyZeyee

“The situation in Clare and right across the mid-west is perilous at the moment. One possible source of light is Limerick city and the regen- eration work that is due to take place there over the next months and years. GMA dereTmp tour DU lO (cre mmKO mee rlBNTLUComBatssO BLE could be a real help. But it’s going to get worse before it gets better,’ he Sr nLGe

In a bleak overall assessment, Mr Power noted that key employers such as manufacturing, construction and tourism face a tough time over the next 18 to 24 months.

According to the 2006 census, these sectors employ more than 15,000 people in Clare, or 27.9 per cent of the total employed. One major sec- tor which could grow in the county Thsere Faw (UN LAUD Kee

“Competition internationally has increased while at the same time we are losing ground in terms of manu- facturing competitiveness. I can’t see how manufacturing or construc- tion can lead us out of this current trough,” he continued.

“T would be more upbeat about the prospects for Clare farming. The issue of food safety and food secu-

rity is one that I think will become of greater importance over the next while. So the outlook for quality out- puts in farming should be good. “Clare suffers from a high depend- ency on US tourists and with the de- pression in America, the weakness of the dollar and prices in Ireland, we just don’t represent good value for money for American tourists at the

moment.

“There can be a positive outcome but we need to survive through the next 18 months. I would see the glo- bal subprime crisis working its way through the system next year which should return credit to a more work- able place. We have about 18 months of excess stock in the housing mar- ket to work through so I think it will

be 2010 before we see any kind of meaningful recovery.’

Mr Power’s bleak outlook on the immediate future was echoed by Ae) cTOMM ORC E-TIMES ONO NenmE(cenlbio in LIT’s School of Built Environ- ment.

“IT think the recession could poten- tially hit Clare quite severely due to the adverse trade effects upon a re- gion with a high dependence upon high value added trade via Shannon,” he said.

“The decision to permit the aban- donment of the ‘hub’ status of Shan- non may well exacerbate a reduction in regional competitiveness. Wor- ryingly tourism jobs, especially de- pendent on the USA will also take a vie

“These largely external threats make it imperative that infrastruc- ture spend from central government is maintained on roads, projects such as the tunnel, and higher education. Irish agriculture will also need ro- bust support at the WTO talks, since this staple of the local economy will take on even greater relative signifi- cance in a downturn.”

THE business community in Ennis is seeking further talks with Ennis Town Council ahead of the introduc- tion of new litter byelaws.

The council is tightening the laws on the disposal and storage of litter outside premises in a bid to reduce the amount of litter on the streets, long a source at irritation in the council chamber.

Businesses, however, are concerned at the impact the new byelaws will have. Many of them lack the correct facilities to store rubbish to meet the proposed guidelines.

Rita McInereny, CEO of Ennis

Chamber of Commerce, said that while meetings between businesses and council officials have been con- Structive, further discussions are re- quired.

“The objectives of the byelaws are something that all businesses wel- come and agree on. Everyone ben- efits if the town is cleaner and more aesthetically pleasing. The end result would certainly be welcome and there is no certainly no opposition to that proposal,’ said Ms McInerney.

She added, “The council have been very accommodating so far and have met on a couple of occasions. But there is a lot of concern out there. Businesses are under pressure as it is

and this would make things harder. A lot of businesses don’t have the plan- ning permission for an area to store waste. We would be looking to meet with councillors to put forward sug- gestions and ideas before the byelaws are brought in”

Ms MclInereny said the proposed byelaws have forced businesses to re-evaluate their means of waste disposal and in some cases has even reduced their overall level of waste produced.

She said “It certainly has forced businesses to take a good, hard look at what they are doing, which is no harm. I know some people have sig- nificantly cut down on the amount

of waste they are producing. In one instance, a business has reduced their waste from 13 bins to 4 bins. Businesses are investing in crushers and bailers and different systems of disposing waste. But there are still genuine cases out there, where there is still an issue about where people are going to put their bins.”

She added, “So far there has been problems with suggestions; one per- son’s point of view against some- one else’s. It might be a case that we might have to look at bringing in different bins for different busi- nesses. The problems vary, depend- ing on whether you are talking about a small or large business”.

A FAMOUS victory for Clare last night as they totally outclassed hot favourites Cork in the Cadbury Mun- ster U21 hurling semi-final at Pairc Ui Chaoimh, setting up a final meet- ing with Tipperary on Wednesday Nelo)

This was a brilliant display by the Banner boys who no doubt will sav- iour this victory especially as the counties meet at senior level in a few days time. The home side tried eve- rything to turn the tide, but such was the solid performance from the visi- tors, there was very little they could do.

Clare were on top all over. Note- worthy though was the contribution of full forward Caimin Morey who finished with a very healthy 1-8 while outside him wearing the number 11 shirt Ger Arthur swung over three magnificent points in the second half (four in all). They pulled the strings too at midfield where Damien Browne and Nicky O’Connell stood out, and a very solid defensive per- formance yielded just 1-5 from the Rebels, that goal came right at the ler Tdee

A brilliant first half display by the Saffron and Blue resulted in an in- terval 1-9 t O-5 lead, and it was no more than they deserved. They were

literally on top in all sectors conse- quently it was a lacklustre Cork who had three county seniors on their side — Cathal Naughton, Patrick Cronin and Patrick Horgan. They only man- aged one point from play in the open-

ing 30 minutes, which came from corner forward Stephen Moylan on three minutes.

GUE Tees eben ore marcanlaeubetcmcle-DamLUD ESC ing ahead by three points after five minutes with full forward Morey fir-

ing over a pair of frees and a beauti- ful long-range effort from midfielder Browne. They increased this advan- tage to 0-6 to 0-3 before a splendid lengthy delivery from O’Connell out around the middle of the park was whipped to the net by Morey to put them comfortably ahead by five points with 10 minutes to go to the eee

Twice they denied Cork goal op- portunities when firstly goalkeeper Donal Tuohy came off his line and then Gary O’Connell stopped a blis- tering shot from Naughton. The visi- tors finished the half strongly with a trio of points from Arthur, Morey and Colin Ryan who had switched from the corner to full forward.

Significantly, Clare maintained that momentum for the new half. They gained valuable breathing space when a Horgan penalty was expertly saved by outstanding keeper Donal Tuohy. And when Eamon Glynn darted out of defence to find Arthur, you could sense something special was about to happen. The sides swapped points, but entering the final quarter, Clare had raced 1-15 to 0-9 in front.

O’Connell and James McInerney pushed on from the half back line, and some impressive shooting from Morey, John Conlon, Sean Collins and sub Conor Tierney ensuring there was no way back for Cork.

Clare were ahead now by more than double scores before Horgan finally got through for a late, late consola- tion goal.

FROM bungie bulls to bouncy cas- tles, from lazer zone to hotshot foot- ball, from circus shows to puppet acts, Scariff GAA Park will see the biggest ever Family Fun Day on the upcoming August Bank Holiday Sat- urday as part of the Scariff Harbour OMe IE

According to Karena O’Brien, one of the organisers of the fun day and member of the Harbour Festival Committee, “The GAA field will literally come alive with a line-up of activities and entertainment on a scale never seen before in Scariff, suitable for children of all ages and set to exceed the amazing success of last year’s event’.

Mayo-based fun company, “Toons & Balloons’ returns to Scariff this year to deliver the festival’s dream AVE CCUKs eMC MCAVoINLMM ALN OMB AUUI EE: DOLOMNSY-H(cIRY a high priority for everybody. In ad- dition to the bouncing castles and inflatable games, an exciting fun- packed interactive laser game arena will be set up in an 1,000 sq.ft self- contained covered space. Another

new dimension is a fast-moving com- petitive pony race called the ‘Pony Hop’.

The amazing Franzini Brothers who describe themselves as devilish- ly handsome west Kerry Italians will perform their spectacular antics with a 40 minute interactive circus skills Show, ‘Deathwish’. These heroes of the Irish circus scene will carry out death-defying stunts and so-what magic giving a hugely comic edge to their whole performance.

Marie Barrett, another member of the organising committee agrees there will be an air of magic on chil- dren’s day not just with the Fran- zini Brothers but also with the Dog & String Theatre Company. “Their hand puppets, shadow puppets and life size figures will engage children in a lively interaction with the world of imagination,’ she said.

This year Scariff sees the return on Sunday, August 3, of the much-loved ‘Armagh Rhymers’.

THE latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, has found Munster employers remain the most optt- mistic in the country with seven per cent of employers planning on hiring more staff in the next three months. Regionally, Munster employers re- corded the highest outlook recorded by any region for the quarter. Ac- cording to the employment agency figures, this figure was “closely fol- lowed by Dublin employers (five per

cent) and Leinster employers (four per cent) who are, as a whole, remain- ing optimistic about future growth. In contrast, Ulster has reported the weakest employment outlook of mi- nus eight per cent, which shows a significant decline of 20 percentage points since last quarter. Connaught employers have also reported a dis- appointing employment outlook of minus two per cent.

Despite serious job losses and a sig- nificant number of business closures in Ennis. Official figures show that

Clare had just half the number of company failures in the six months to the end of June 2008 that it had in the same period in 2007.

Between January and June 2007, ten companies went to the wall in the county, This year, just five have closed their doors in that time.

The Manpower survey also shows that Ireland’s Net Employment Out- look for the next three months is just three per cent, the third weakest forecast of hiring intentions reported across the globe for this quarter.

The figure of three per cent is Ire- land’s overall ‘Net Employment Outlook’ figure which is calculated by taking the percentage of employ- ers anticipating total employment to increase and subtracting from this the percentage expecting to see a de- crease in employment at their loca- tion in the next quarter.

Ireland’s Net Employment Outlook of three per cent is second only to Spain (0 per cent) as the weakest em- ployment outlook while India (47 per cent), Peru (40 per cent) have report-

ed strongest employment outlooks. The Manpower Employment Out- look Survey, which measured 686 Irish employers’ intentions to in- crease or decrease their workforces over next three months, reveals that employer confidence in the mining and quarrying and the construction industry sectors has weakened by 33 and 27 percentage points respec- tively since last year. The restaurant and hotel sector has also undergone a steep decline, with employers report- ing a 22 percentage point decrease.

This year the talented singer wal be joined by Anthony Kearns of the

Irish Tenors.

This has been described as a real coup for the area as Anthony now spends much of his time performing in the States.

Described as a true lyrical tenor, he has an incredible agility and flexibil- ity of voice and the ability to colour notes gracefully and beautifully.

Kearns has a deep love of opera and a devotion to the genre, and feels that French and Italian operas best suit his voice.

His work includes a variety of music from the classics to traditional music. He was born in Kiltealy in County Wexford at the foot of the Blackstair Mountains.

The Wexford man came to promi- nence in 1993 when he won “Tre- land’s Search for a Tenor”.

After winning the competition, Anthony studied for three years with voice teacher, Veronica Dunne, at the Leinster School of Music.

He has toured Germany, Italy, Ire- land, and the United States to an en- thusiastic response and this August he will join Ms Nathan in Labash- rere

Regina’s career in opera, concert and recital has taken her from her native Ireland across Europe, and as far as Kuala Lumpur and New York’s Carnegie Hall.

She has appeared in some of the most famous opera houses in the world and sung major lyric soprano roles throughout her career.

A devoted recitalist, Regina’s tal- ents also embrace everything from classic Lieder to traditional Irish

eyes

She recently performed at the American Embassy in Dublin for the fourth of July party in front of 1,500 guests

SW stoma Come Dletlkmm sll mereyeCom Keyxcls sles for a must hear performance in St. Kieran’s Community Centre, La- basheeda on Saturday, August 9.

Accompanying music on the night will be provided by piano player Mairéad Hurley.

Due to seating requirements there are a limited number of tickets and those interested are asked to ensure they get their tickets early to avoid disappointment.

Tickets cost €35 and are available from Paul at 065 6826578; Patricia at O87 6370223; Liam at 087 2220289 and John at 087 2941556.

GER Loughnane has witnessed many ups and downs in his managerial ca- reer but perhaps none were as bewil- dering and demoralising as Galway’s defeat to Cork on Saturday.

Rumours of intense preparation were backed up by a National League final appearance in May and opti- mism was widespread in the stands on Saturday that Galway finally had a side to match the likes of Kilkenny.

That confidence only grew by haltf- time as Galway led by two points with the strong wind to come, and Cork had been reduced to 14 men af- ter Donal Og Cusack was dismissed for a second yellow, but with only Joe Canning proping up a toothless attack, Galway failed to emerge after the break.

Their overreliance on Canning was well founded as the teenager racked up 2-12 over the 70 minutes and de- servedly took the man-of-the-match award but it was a poor reflection on the rest of the forwards who only managed three points between them.

Standing by the team bus, Ger Loughnane appeared a shellshocked

figure. In full view of his players from their seated position on the bus, dis- illusionment was the key phrase he repeatedly used to describe Galway’s collapse but he was just as willing to praise Cork’s qualities.

“At half time and even early in the second half when we were four points up, it looked good but you have to hand it to Cork. The fellas they have, the drive they have, the physical power, the quality of their hurling and their support play.

‘That is the most susceptible mar- gin of all time, two points, because at least twelve points would have been the real difference between the two teams because only that we had Joe Canning, we would have been beaten off the field.

“It was a complete and utter col- lapse when you think of the amount of training that we have done, the quality of training that we have done, to see a team going down like that, it is absolutely disillusioning when you produced a display like we produce in the last 25 minutes when the game was really there to be won and lost.

“So it was very, very disappointing but you had to admire Cork. When

their backs were to the wall, all their big men came up trumps and that’s what champions do. Unfortunately, only one of our big men performed and he gave a fantastic display at full-forward but too many other of our players just didn’t perform on the day.

“Now you can as have as many reasons as you like for that. I know that they will all say about having no matches but that’s for another day. But I suppose when you see Cork getting beaten by Tipperary and then having another game against Dublin and we play just Antrim and Laois, I mean that is crazy, absolutely cra- zy. Io go into a game of that inten- sity, the players didn’t know what hit detoye0 a

The subject inevitably turned to where he and Galway go from here.

‘“That’s for another day but the road back for the players I think de- pends on the decisions that the hurl- ing board will make now. Are they going to go for matches early on in the year or are they going to cling to this system of just dropping in a team at the end of July when every other team has already played one or two

or three big matches and hoping that you will pull off one big display and get on the road after that.

“What was I was hoping there at the end is that we would get a draw and then you would have a replay and then you would see where you are going.

“But we didn’t deserve a draw, there is no question of deserving it, it would have been total robbery if we had got a draw.

“I’m just totally and utterly disil- lusioned. Completely disillusioned. You know we have had disapoint- ments before with teams but that was inexplicible when you see how we were playing in training and the qual- ity of the hurling in training and then to come down and play like that, you just look out and say ‘this isn’t the team that has been training with us for the last seven or eight months’.”

Another probing arrow came from the pack, enquiring whether he re- gretted saying when he took over the job that it would be a failure if Gal- way didn’t win an All-Ireland in two years?

“No. I don’t regret it whatsoever. It is a failure. There 1s no other way of

saying it. I went up to Galway for two years and I said I would give it two years to win an All-Ireland and we didn’t even win a quarter-final, we didn’t even get to a semi-final, we got nowhere in two years.

‘The very same problems as we had in the league final against Tipperary where only one or two forwards per- formed, happened again today after all the training we have done so in any man’s language, that’s a failure.”

The final missile was launched when he was questioned whether he would give it a third year, to which Loughnane quipped.

“Have a guess.”

With that, more tactical questions ensued but the bus wasn’t willing to wait any longer and with a beep of the horn, Loughnane promptly exited through the doors in what appears to be his last journey with Galway.