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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.

AN INNOVATIVE project by Kail- rush Community School was proving the ideal Christmas present for west Clare people at home and abroad, at the Christmas market in Kilrush on Thursday last.

The Kilrush secondary school de- veloped a 2010 calendar ‘Present- ing the Past’ featuring the people and places of Kilrush as part of a new Kilrush Local History Group, founded by teacher Laura Hogan in November 2009.

Principal Rock Kirwin – said, “Schools are the heart of every com- munity, so it seems only natural that we should take on the responsibility of researching and recording the his- tory of Kilrush town. We have great plans for our local history group.”

Ms Hogan said, “We’ve been con- sidering establishing a group like this for quite a while. As a history teacher, I’ve always been conscious of the rich historical heritage of the town itself and I’ve tried to use it in class wherever possible. I’ve worked with several classes completing projects on local history, and this is the obvious next step: involving the students themselves in researching and recording the history of their home place.”

The group’s first endeavour, the calendar, features many fascinating photos, which give a glimpse into the past. Many have not been widely seen before, like photos taken from the steeple of St Senan’s Church in one

Others show how iconic local buildings have changed, an 1888 photo of Patterson’s Stores is paired with a photograph of its demolition,

and an interior view of the Church of Ireland over 100 years ago is com- plemented with recent photos of its present use as Teach Cheoul.

The calendar is priced at €10, and has proved an ideal Christmas present.

“We’ve included lots of group pho- tos in the calendar. For example, Mags Rush gave us a fantastic photo

of a mouth-organ band formed in the CBS in 1949, and Pat Galvin kind- ly donated a picture of the Kilrush Scouts in 1954. I think people will be surprised by the amount of names and faces that they will recognise,’ said Ms Hogan.

The calendar is available at many different outlets in Kilrush and cop- ies can also be ordered through Kilr

ushLocalHistoryGroup @ yahoo.com or by visiting Kilrush Local History Group on Facebook.

THE HEALTH Service Executive’s chief of acute hospitals in the mid- west said yesterday that absenteeism rates at the region’s main hospital will cost the HSE up to €3 million this year.

HSE Mid-West Director for Acute Hospitals, John Hennessy was com- menting on statistics that show ab- senteeism rates at Limerick’s Re- gional Hospital as one of the highest in the country.

During this year, the Limerick hospital took on responsibility for all acute surgery from Clare and for Clare A&E patients between 8pm ANeCe mor DeO MOC BENs

Out of 27 hospitals evaluated, the main hospital for the mid-west has the sixth highest absenteeism rate in the country.

Ennis General Hospital is not one of the hospitals evaluated by the HSE Healthstat office, but Mr Hennessy said that the absenteeism rates across the network of hospitals in the mid- west, including Ennis, “wouldn’t be unduly different” to Limerick’s ab- senteeism rates.

Figures show that the hours lost due to absenteeism at Limerick are run- ning at just under six per cent- down from eight per cent at the start of the year. Mr Hennessy said that the HSE target was to reduce absenteeism to four per cent by year end.

“There is a lot of disappointment that we haven’t achieved that and it represents a huge priority to make dramatic improvements on that. A lot of progress has been made and while there is something to show in terms of improvement, we are still a long way off the target figure of four per cent that is the norm for the health sector.

“We are happy there is progress, but not happy at the pace at which we are getting to grip with the problem. We have a fair bit to go yet to achieve the best in class, but we have a pretty vig- orous action plan to achieve that.”

The vast majority of sick leave at Limerick is certified.

Absenteeism rates by general sup- port staff that includes hospital por- ters, catering staff remain just under eight per cent, while other patient and client care that includes nurse assistants remains at 16 per cent.

Mr Hennessy said that absenteeism at the hospital last year cost €3 muil- lion to €4 million in direct replace- ment staff costs for nursing and gen- eral support staff.

“There is a slight reduction as we bring the figures back, but you are

still talking up to €3 million in lost opportunity as a direct result of sick leave and absenteeism this year.

He said that 16 per cent in absentee- ism rates “is unacceptable and run- ning at a level that no organisation can sustain and has to be brought back to a reasonable proportion as a matter of urgency. There is direct follow up by managers with individ- uals who are abusing the sick leave scheme”’.

“We have information on patterns of sick leave and that is telling us the issues of Monday morning and Fri- day sick leave patterns. The unions are quite supportive of the endeav- ours we are making on this, they are not unduly defending the indefensi- ble.”

Mr Hennessy said that absentee-

ism “is a huge problem and a regular feature of life for hospital managers of the disruption that this creates on a Monday morning or a ‘Tuesday morning”’.

With the levels of absenteeism amongst porter staff, Mr Hennessy said: “Typically, the services that are affected are the day wards, the thea- tres where delays getting patients into theatre. It is a very important cog in the system to keep the system going

“Tt results in a lot of lost productivi- ty and disruption for patients who are fasting for procedures,” he added.

FOUNDED in the wake of the first ever Lisdoonvarna Festival, the Celt- ic T-Shirt Shop has become an insti- tution in north Clare.

Later this month, the Lahinch shop will celebrate three full decades of making some of the most unique clothes ever produced in the county.

To mark this anniversary, the shop has been hosting a competition to find the best picture of someone wearing A Ora Cem Koroma OPM MESA SCoMUe)e (Cn

“It was just after the first Lisdoon- varna Festival that we started. My husband Mike did all of the posters for the Lisdoonvarna Festivals and

after the first festival we got the idea of making tee-shirts. It was just an experiment to see would they work, because in those days people didn’t buy tee-shirts the way they do now,’ said Lisa O’Connor of the Celtic T- shirt Shop.

‘We did more the next year and they worked well again and then Mike got the idea of putting a Celtic design on the tee-shirts. There was noth- ing like that happening at the time, I think there was one other company making tee-shirts with Leprechauns and silly slogans, which was just for tourists really. So we made up a few tee-shirts and took them around to the shops at the end of the season an

they liked them.”

As the tee-shirts became more pop- ular, Lisa and Mike obtained their current shop, right on the promenade in Lahinch and soon people from all over the world would be wearing their iconic Celtic designs.

“It’s exciting to think that people from all over the globe have been into the shop. Printing cannot be re- produced automatically and I think that is what has kept us apart from the other artificial printers around. It’s great that customers can come in and see the printing being done in the shop. There has been a lot of big changes in the business over the years.

“At the start it was all wholesale to the shops and then we got the shop ourselves. In the last year, business has really changed in Lahinch. There are fewer people around and it is tougher for everyone, So we will have to see what comes in the future.”

There is still time to enter the 30th anniversary photo competition, more details are available from www.celt- ict-shirtshop.com.

THE HEALTH Service Executive (HSE) chief for acute hospitals in the mid-west has confirmed that they will press ahead with plans to close Ennis General Hospital’s in- tensive care unit next year.

John Hennessy also confirmed that as part of the HSE’s continuing reconfiguration of hospital services in the mid-west, certain aspects of acute medicine will be transferred from Ennis General to Limerick Re- gional Hospital.

He denied that the transfer of serv- ices from Ennis and Nenagh to Lim- erick Regional represents a further

downgrading of the county hospi- tals, which have already lost their 24-hour A&E and acute surgery ca- pabilities this year.

Mr Hennessy said, “Absolutely not. On the contrary, the opposite is the case.

“It is the opportunity to develop for the future at Ennis and Nenagh and provide a range of services that can and should be delivered locally to the highest possible standard.”

He said that currently, there are six intensive and coronary care beds at Ennis General.

As part of the reconfiguration, the HSE has made substantial progress in the past two months with the

development of a new critical care facility in Limerick for the entire mid-west.

“There are currently a total of 34 beds at the moment spread across four sites. The new facility will have 34 beds but capacity to go to 42 as resources permit.”

He admitted that the timescale for the transfer of critical care and acute medicine to be completed by the end of 2010 was “ambitious”.

“It may take a little bit longer than 2010, but the ultimate inten- tion would be to bring all critical care services into the one facility and adopt the same approach as was done in A&E and surgery.”

Stating that the transfer of acute medicine “is the most difficult”, he said: “You are talking a very broad range from paediatric right through to the care of the elderly.”

“Tt is a difficult one and the big- gest challenge is to only bring into the centre what’s needed and to de- lineate what can be done to a high standard in a remote location.

“That is what we are working De ROLUCSA a MrcIMmOsComman Copano Olmm-ba\e mmol AB DOTS help and assistance from clinical colleagues.”

Mr Hennessy said that there will be opportunities for more day case surgery and this would be developed in Ennis and Nenagh.

AS THE year draws to a close, the Burren Chernobyl Project can look back at 12 months of help and progress with some of the most needy people on the planet.

Work has continued at the chil- dren’s orphanages, where groups of volunteers have travelled throughout the year – bringing food, nappies and other invaluable resources.

Great work has also been achieved at some of the adult asylums, where teams of builders and painters have made the place a much more com- fortable one to live in.

“Tt been another really busy year,

with volunteers going out to Goro- dishche and Cherven and more vol- unteers going to Tarasiki for the building work and painting. We are particularly thankful this year given the changed economic circumstanc- es that so many people did volunteer for Burren Chernobyl – particularly the builders, who have had a very bad year. But we still have had build- ers going out to finish some of the building works in the Internats or asylums,” said Cormac McCarthy of the project.

‘Belarus never would have had the best economy anyway, but the eco- nomic downturn does effect every- one, SO we are very conscience that

we need to maintain the fundraising and the donations that people are so generous in giving. It’s always the more needy people who suffer most in a downturn.”

The project has currently a number of Christmas fundraising projects on the go and are also hoping to recruit an experienced pediatri- cian to travel to Belarus in the New Year. Any interested doctor should contact Brian O’Sullivan at medical @burrenchernobyl.ie.

“At the moment we are selling the Burren Chernobyl Christmas cards in all the towns and villages around Clare but if anyone can’t find them they can get them from the main

office. People can also go onto our website and get bank details there or they can donate through our site on my.charity.1e where people can do- nate using their Laser or credit card,” continued Cormac.

“If people want to put on their own fundraising event we can create a page for them on my.charity.ie. We are also looking for a doctor with pediatric experience to head out in the New Year in January with the head of our medical team.”

For more information on any of the projects being run by the Burren Chernobyl Project contact the main office on 7071130 or check out www. burrenchernobyl.ie.

A PLANNED TESCO four island petrol station for Kilrush could result in the loss of a significant proportion of the 100 people employed in inde- pendently owned petrol stations in west Clare.

That is the view of the Irish Petrol Retailers’ Association (IPRA) who are once more opposing plans by the Supermarket giant to construct the petrol station adjacent to its recently opened store in the west Clare town.

Earlier this year, An Bord Pleanala turned down a previous plan by TES- CO due to traffic considerations.

Now, in response to a new plan, the

IPRA, independent retailer group, RGDATA and independent petrol owners are opposing the application.

In its objection, the IPRA states that petrol stations and associated shops provide full-time and part- time employment for some 100 peo- ple in the area, a significant number of which could lose their jobs based on the UK trend being replicated in Ireland whereby half of all petrol stations will have closed within a 15- year period.

The objection states, “We submit that such an impact is unacceptable in a period of economic recession in an area that has already a high un- employment rate. The evidence from

the UK is clear and unequivocal whereby the UK supermarkets have increased their market share from 11 per cent in 1992 to 40 per cent to- day in a market where the number of operators has over halved. The link therefore between supermarkets en- tering the petrol filling station mar- ket and offering discounted fuel and the closure of other petrol filling sta- tions cannot be questioned.

The objection states, “The open- ing of Kilrush Tesco petrol filling stations will result in preventing communities from accessing food supplies in station shops, remov- ing a critical and regular reason for residents to visit a location, therefore

reducing the critical mass of the area and affecting local traders, motorists having to travel further in order for petrol and in reducing the viability of west Clare as a place to live.

‘The closure of petrol stations will have an adverse and negative impact on the provision of retail services to vulnerable members of the commu- nity, who currently rely on access to retailing facilities associated with, and existing filing stations in the ru- ral area and from where there are no public transport links to Kilrush.

“We request the Council to con- clude therefore that the proposal is contrary to the provisions of sections 90-95 of the Retail Planning Guide-

lines and therefore not in the proper planning and sustainable develop- ment of the area nor in the interest of the common good and that the pro- posal will endanger public safety by reason of traffic hazard.”

In its objcction, RGDATA state that the application should be refused as it is not consistent with the proper planning and sustainable develop- ment of Kilrush.

Others to make submissions include David and Colette of Colleen Bawn, Texaco Station, Killimer; John and Vincent Crowley, Crowley’s garage, Kilrush; Michael Fitzpatrick, Fitz- patrick’s station, Killimer and Mar- rinan Oil, Cappa, Kilrush.