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THE possibility of expansion in the milk sector could be made very dif- ficult for Clare farmers if a proposal discussed at last week’s European dairy farmers meeting in Strasbourg iS passed.

The proposal involves instigating a moratorium on milk quotas as a means of building up milk prices across the EU. This proposal was put forward by the Deputy President of ICMSA and Chairman of its Dairy Committee, John O’Leary.

O’Leary argued that a milk price of 43c/litre has been set by the member associations of the dairy farmers’ as-

sociation, the European Milk Board, as the rate necessary to provide for increased costs and fund a viable family farm income.

“It is vital that the Irish dairy in- dustry does not sleepwalk itself over a price cliff. The present level of on-farm investment by farmers will never be recouped by sales at world prices, or by prices approaching that level,” he said.

‘The deep and detailed analysis be- ing presented at the three-day Stras- bourg conference by fellow Europe- an farmers is in stark contrast to the kind of third-hand, casual observa- tion and chat that is brought forward as research in Ireland.

“The research we’re having pre- sented to us here points to an unmis- takeable conclusion on the question of increasing quota and trying to achieve a specific price.

“Irish farmers are queuing up to outbid each other on the quota in- crease they desire and it is rapidly becoming clear that this is not only ill-advised but but quite reckless.”

O’Leary said the moratorium should be introduced even if it means ‘pulling’ the future direction of the milk quota off the agenda at the cur- rent Health Check discussions.

‘Unlimited production scope is not possible if we are to achieve 43 c/litre and build our sector and our incomes

on a solid and rational basis.”

“The ICMSA therefore believes that Ireland should now seek a mora- tor1um on any further quota increas- es until the European dairy markets have absorbed the current produc- tion increases and there is a return to higher and sustainable milk prices that can measured, verified, and most importantly, maintained.

“The challenge to Minister Smith is not expansion for the sake of expan- sion, but expansion in a manner that rewards adequately the investments and expertise of the people who are the bedrock of the whole industry and who are the starting point for everything else.”

“LIGHTS, camera, action” and “roll- ing’ are words that will be heard around Lough Graney shortly thanks to the support of the local communi- ty which has netted a €10,000 prize for the youth club.

The club, along with the Clarecare community childcare initiative, both were winners of a €10,000 prize in the AIB Better Ireland Awards.

The youth club and will be using the cash to buy film-making equipment. Groups appealed to members of the public to vote for them in a text-vote and the Tuamgraney group and the Killaloe childcare group heard last

week that they had garnered the most votes of organisations nominated by the Gort and Killaloe branches.

Delighted club leader, Kathleen McNamara, said that the members and leaders “are just thrilled. The members worked terribly hard on the campaign. We can’t thank people enough – everyone got involved, par- ents, members, leaders, local people and they got their families, friends and work colleagues involved. There was a lot of hard work and massive support for us.”

The money will be used to buy cameras, editing and other film-mak- ing equipment so that club members can capture local issues, events and

people on film.

“We want to get them involved in making short documentary type films about the local community – it’s a way of helping young people to integrate and develop an interest in their community”, said Kathleen.

The club operates out of the Lough Graney Kids Corner créche in Flag- mount every second week and has 35 members, with the support of 13 leaders.

Sinéad Corbett, childcare co-ordi- nator with the Clarecare project said the money will be extremely useful for the many services which are on offer in the Molua centre, not least the summer camps which will cater

for 200 plus children this summer.

The Childcare project offers sup- port and services for children aged O to 18 with issues arising from school, the home and relationships such as loss, separation, adjusting to new surroundings and grief. It also offers programmes in anti-bullying, parent- ing and _ personal development as well as parent and toddler groups.

“All of these services are vital in a community setting and are very much alive here at the Molua cen- tre. We can’t thank people who sup- ported us enough, both in Killaloe, Scariff and further afield. We need funding to continue this work and to expand,” said Sinéad.

CLUBS may have been without the services of their county players at the weekend but with most games going according to form, a clearer picture of both the promotion and relegation candidates emerged as the leagues approach the latter stages.

With only two rounds remaining in the Clare Cup, there are still 16 teams vying for four semi-final spots in the three divisions but that list will significantly decrease after tonight’s remaining fixtures in Division 2B.

In Division 1, Cratloe and Sixm1- lebridge both continued their recent good form to move alongside New- market-on-Fergus at the summit while Crusheen’s one point victory over Eire Og gives them an outside chance of claiming one of the two semi-final places. Crusheen’s re- maining fixtures however, are against Clarecastle and Sixmilebridge and they will need other results to also go their way as well so the odds are certainly stacked against them.

The biggest losers in the top divi- sion at the weekend were last year’s champions St Joseph’s Doora/Bare- field, and Clarecastle who played

out a draw at Gurteen on Thursday evening. The result didn’t suit either side really and it means that both are SISUD sya La nestle eCere BPMN slow us) (ose-tmlO)I me (Oye fight along with Kilmaley, Clooney- Quin and Eire Og with the bottom two to drop down.

In Division 2A, both Inagh/Kilna- mona and Tubber still lead the way but the north Clare side have now completed their fixtures while In- agh/Kilnamona only have one game remaining which gives the chasing pack of Tulla and Wolfe Tones a slim chance of catching them. The county champions from the last two years play in the final game to decide who has a chance of bouncing straight back to the top flight. Leaders Inagh/ Kilnamona play Scariff in their last game which will have implications at both ends of the table and the Combo will secure the title and a place in the penultimate stage of the Clare Cup if they win and more than likely rel- egate Scariff in the process.

Scariff’s ten point victory over Ballyea at the weekend gives them a fighting chance of survival but the bottom club will have to beat both Killanena and leaders Inagh/Kilna- mona if they are to avoid the drop.

Last year’s Division 2B champions Whitegate are also amongst the rele- gation favourites after going down to Tubber at the weekend and they will need to beat fellow strugglers Kil- lanena in their final outing and hope other results go their way if they are to survive. Killanena, Ballyea and possibly even O’Callaghan’s Mills could be dragged into it if Whitegate do pull off the much needed victory.

Division 2B is still far from de- cided with three matches down for decision this evening. Clonlara lead the way in the division but Broadford can leagfrog over them if they can beat Smith O’Briens tonight. Eight sides are still 1n contention for the two promotion places but the relega- tion places are all but decided after the bottom two Ruan and Kilmaley both lost at the weekend. Kilmaley are the first team to be relegated in the Clare Cup without a win in seven outings while Ruan need to beat both Ogonnelloe and Broadford if they are even to force a play-off and even so, they need either Sixmilebridge, Ogonnelloe or Feakle not to gain an- other point.

In the intermediate league, En- nistymon were the big winners at

the weekend as they saw off fellow promotion rivals Inagh/Kilnamona to jump to the top of the table. With only one round remaining, the top two, Meelick and Ennistymon meet in the final game with the loser likely to be caught if third place Clarecastle can overcome bottom side St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield. Along with promo- tion, the top two sides will also con- test the intermediate league final. Down the bottom, Cratloe secured lifeline after seeing off Clarecastle at home to push them ahead of Wolfe Tones with the Shannon side to play St Joseph’s in a relegation battle this evening.

In Division 4, Newmarket-on-Fer- gus and Eire Og topped their respec- tive groups to earn a place in the fi- nal with the winner to go up while in Division 5, Inagh/Kilnamona and Clonlara qualified for the semi-finals of the Junior B league along with Ballyea and Eire Og. Following a motion passed at convention in De- cember, the make up of the Junior B and C championships are based on a team’s performance in the league and the draw for these champion- ships will be made tonight at the July meeting of the county board

LIGHTS Out! is a new type of film festival for young people dedicated to providing 6 to 16 year olds with the best films from Ireland and around the world with a diverse programme of animation, live action, documen- tary and short films. There will also be opportunities to get hands on ex- perience behind the camera with an exciting set of film workshops.

Lights Out! screenings 1n Clare will take place in the Glor Irish Music Centre in Ennis and will showcase plenty for young film enthusiasts to get excited about this summer.

The festival has been designed with the help of a Young Consultants Panel which enabled young people to have an active part in the planning of all aspects of the festival.

Clare was well represented on the panel by two young film buffs, Conor (12) from Ennis and Ruth-Ann (14), from Cree.

Lights Out! in Clare will kick-off with a programme of workshops that aim to foster the next generation of film talent. All events take place in

Glor Irish Music Centre. There is a weeklong crash-course “Make your own Movie with Fresh Film Festival’ (July 14 to 18 – Age 12 plus), one day Animation Workshops (July 14 to 18 – Age 8 to 12) and a special opportu- nity to learn about the classification process and let young people’s voices be heard at IFCO – Meet the Censor! (July 14 – Age 8 to 12).

At the end of the week ,there will be an opportunity to see and discuss the films made by young people dur- ing the week at the Young Filmmak- ers Panel (July 18th All Ages).

The film screenings aim to create new film experiences for all ages and in addition to the main shows, there will be two sets of Quick Flix (6 plus and 15 plus) short film screenings showing the best of young people’s shorts from the film festival circuit.

Lights Out! is an initiative of the Irish Film Institute and is supported by our lead partner, the Ombudsman for Children’s Office as well as RTE, The Ticket, The Irish Film Board and The Arts Council. In Clare, support is provided by Clare County Council Arts Office.

THERE could be some welcome news on the horizon for Clare beef farmers with indications last week that Saudi Arabia might be on the verge of opening it’s borders to Irish beef once more.

Irish beef exports have been banned from the Middle Eastern country since the first outbreak of BSE around Europe in 2000. However, recent ef- forts by Irish politicians, including an official state visit by then Minis- ter for Agriculture, Mary Coughlan

last June, coupled with a consistently improving BSE record has made the reopening of trade a real possibility.

So much so that last Wednesday, Clare TD and Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, with special responsibility for Fisheries and Forestry, Tony Kil- leen expressed confidence that Irish beef exports to Saudi Arabia will resume in the near future.

His comment follows an announce- ment by his ministerial colleague Brendan Smith, Minister for Agri- culture, Fisheries and Food, that an

agreement has been reached on ex- port conditions for Irish beef going to the Middle East.

‘Agreement in principle to resume exports was reached in October 2007 and was subject to the approval of plants and export conditions,” said Minister Killeen.

“This was followed by a visit by a veterinary delegation from Saudi Arabia in March this year to inspect plants and discuss the terms under which exports could take place. In the meantime there have been related contacts and discussions between the

two countries.”

The junior agriculture minister said that the agreement paves the way for the resumption of beef exports to this important and valuable market.

The Saudi Arabian market was closed to Irish beef following the disclosure of BSE in Europe in 2000. Exports in the previous year amount- ed to 25,000 tonnes, which is valued at an estimated €33 million to Irish farmers.

Minister Killeen added the agree- ment indicated “an international confidence in our product”.

ALMOST 60 adult students proved that you never stop learning when they were presented with their quali- fications in Killaloe last week.

The mature students turned their energies to subjects including infor- mation technology, digital photogra- phy, art and design and childcare and age was no barrier.

“We have students of all ages want- ing to take classes, either in the leav- ing cert curicculum or a whole range of other courses and skills’, said

Back to Education co-ordinator for Clare, Mike Ryan.

The classes are held in the Family Resource Centre, the Molua Centre and St. Anne’s Community College, are organised and given by CAB- BIES, the Clare Adult Basic Educa- tion Service, the Back to Education Initiative and the Killlaoe/Ballina learning network.

Courses are free to anyone who has not attained a full leaving certificate, social welfare recipients, their de- pendants, medical card holders and their dependants.

New classes are now planned for the autumn. Anyone who has left full time education can take part but priority will be given to early school leavers and to existing students.

Courses are held in centres all over the county, and subjects on offer range from leaving and junior cert subjects such as maths and English, to childcare, community care, personal development, computer literacy, food and cookery, arts and crafts, growing your own fruit and veg, stained glass, ceramics, woodwork and textiles.

Subjects offered depend on the

centres and the numbers enrolling as there has to be a minimum class number.

Some courses are recognised to FE- TAC levels. Full details are available from the BTEI at Clonroad Business Park Ennis, the Family Resource Centre in Killaloe and the Adult Ed- ucation Centre in Scariff.

ESSAM Eid was merely a prop in the operation because the State wanted to ‘get’ Sharon Collins, according to lawyers for the Egyptian.

David Sutton, SC, for Essam Eid, said the conspiracy to murder charge was a bridge too far when in reality it was a fraud operation.

“Tt wasn’t “Dial M for murder’. It was ‘Dial M for money’. The State overegged the pudding for Mr Eid, because they wanted to get Ms Col- lins and what patsy are they carrying along? Mr Eid,” he shouted.

“Clearly it was nonsense, because they were trying to get Ms Collins. That’s who they are after. We’re only a prop in this operation,” he added.

He said the case had been “dressed

up to look like the most important case on earth. Yesterday (Thursday), who was brought in to the back of the court? The Howard brothers, here to eyeball you, two live exhibits. .. be- cause no-one was killed here.”

Mr Sutton said the evidence was in- consistent and the State was seeking to rely on an accomplice, Teresa En- gle, who presented “a tissue of lies” to the court.

He said that after she was released from custody at Ennis Garda Station, she “went home on a plane.”

‘Her only purpose for coming back was to give evidence against Mr Eid and Ms Collins. Only for that, we would never have seen this woman again,” he said, in his closing speech to the jury last Friday morning.

“In Las Vegas, Ms Engle comes

to the attention of the law again. In- stead of blagging her way out of it, or scamming her way out of it, she is caught again, using the same website. Another woman was shaken down for money. Who was at it again, but Ms Engle,” he said.

‘That was the reason why we were graced with her presence,” he added.

He said she produced “one of the most self-serving and conniving pieces of perjury I’ve heard in an Irish court. A liar and conniver here to serve her own interests, when she was caught like a rat in a trap,” he SrnCee

“She sat here giving evidence like the stone face of a liar. That is what the State was relying on to tie togeth- er their case,” he added.

He said that in her closing speech,

Ms Ni Raifeartaigh claimed there was nobody else apart from Sha- ron Collins who could have sent the emails, “but the State has never said there was anybody other than Tony Luciano who sent those messages.”

He said in the US, Teresa Engle was involved in the same thing, but there were no conspiracy to murder charges there. “Maybe the FBI take a more hard-nosed approach and they don’t get carried away,” he said.

“The evidence produced by the State is one only that points to fraud. I say it was a fraud operation from Start to finish,’ he said.

Referring to the ricin element of the case, he said, “There is no evidence OVME-TON Arc DeOOLUDel MO) MNMLesUOMMst-nmeCOltOCOM @ND anybody and if there was, I’m sure we’d hear all about that.”

He said that gardai “know in their heart of hearts that what was go- ing on here was a shakedown. They know that the conspiracy to murder charge is a bridge too far.”

He said that Ms Engle claimed the intention was murder, but she hadn’t a notion as to how that was going to happen. “Was she going to follow the Howard brothers around Kilkee with a bottle in the hope that they would get thirsty? It’s at that ridiculous lev- el,” he said.

“You have to be satisfied Mr Eid was there at all and that he was Tony Luciano. I say that evidence is not there and it cannot be welded togeth- er by self-serving perjury,’ he said.

He said the hitman website was a “clownish operation run by clowns in the hope of hooking fools.”

A MOVE by members of Clare County Council to force through a contentious planning permission for an Ennis businessman seeking to build one-off house in the Burren SERENE Coe

Councilors believed that they had secured planning permission for Gerry Danagher to build a home at Bally- cullinan, Corofin after they voted 27 in favour and 3 against contra- vening the Clare Coun- ty Development Plan at WeCoJDMM LUN ComselerelBE Ite

A planner’s report be- fore members recom- mended that planning be refused on a number of grounds.

It was the first time since 1983 that council- lors had invoked special powers in the planning area by tabling a sec- tion 140 motion directing the county manager, Alec Fleming to grant planning permission.

It was also the first time that the councillors had overturned the coun- cil’s own “locals-only” rule that was introduced in 1999 to grant an indi- vidual planning permission.

However, Mr Fleming has refused planning permission to Mr Danagher after securing legal advice.

Prior to voting on the planning ap- plication at the meeting, the members did not deal with the recommended

reasons for refusal. That is believed to form the legal basis for the vote not resulting in Mr Danagher secur- ing planning permission.

At the meeting, Mr Fleming said that by tabling a section 140 motion, the members took over the manag-

er’s duty in a planning case “and when you do that, you take over all the responsibility”.

Mr Danagher has now been refused on two erounds. The council has ruled that he does not comply with the policies of the Clare County Development Plan; because he was not born in the area he does not qualify as a local person.

As a result, the coun- cil ruled that the pro- posal would materially

contravene the objec- tives of the 2005-11 Clare County Development Plan.

Furthermore the council was con- cerned that the proposal would give rise to arisk of water pollution affect- ing the quality of the surface waters. As aresult the proposal was contrary to public health and the amenities of the area.

The councillor who proposed the material contravention at the meet- ing, Cllr Tommy Brennan (Ind), said yesterday that he was disappointed with the refusal.

THE lifeblood of any community is its people. Over the last three decades, photographer Peter Rees has docu- mented the lives and times of his peo- ple — the people of Kilnaboy. From the unique vantage of his truck, Peter has marked births and deaths, matches and marriages, the dying of the old and the dawning of the new. From joyous election nights to days of conflict on and off the sports field,

Peter has been there, armed only with the unjudging eye of his camera and a thirst to take the picture that tells the Story.

Of the tens of thousands of images captured by Peter since 1980, just 1,500 have been chosen for an exhibt- tion in the Kilnaboy X-PO.

‘An Udder View – Documenting a Community’ runs until July 13 and of- fers not just a collection of enthralling images, but a family photo album for a whole community.

WHEN a man and woman sat down in Joe Sciascia’s pub, The Old Mill, one Sunday, he thought they were just two more customers for his hugely popular Sunday lunch menu.

When they handed him a card declaring they were judges in the Licensing World magazine’s Bar Awards, apart from being glad that they had enjoyed fabulous food and courteous friendly service, he thought no more of it.

Even when he got a letter telling him the pub had been shortlisted and an invitation to the awards ceremony, Joe and his wife Kathleen thought it

would be little more than a nice night out.

“T couldn’t go so my wife and my step-daughter, Clodagh went up. I was struck dumb when she told me we’d won the Best Country Bar cat- egory ”, said Joe.

Joe and Kathleen took over the pub ten years ago and since have invested €300,000 to bring it back to it’s old world glory.

Joe jokes that it’s not so much a business as a storeroom for his col- lection of original Guinness signs, antique cigarette packets and other memorabilia. “I’m wouldn’t be the greatest barman in the world – the success of this place is down to my

wife and my step-daughter, who manage it, and the hard-working rea

“We wanted to do this place right and the bar food and restaurant are doing very well now but there’s no doubt the pub side of things is very slow. The traditional Irish pub is dy- ing out,” commented Joe.

Meanwhile, Ireland’s best food pub was named as Casey’s of Baltimore having won the Febvre Bar Food aN ENKee

“These are great victories for the province,” said Nigel Tynan, editor of Licensing World and chairman of the judging panel, commenting on the win. He added that The Old Mill

had been chosen from hundreds of pubs visited by judges countrywide. “The rural trade has come through some tough times so it is fantastic to see the trade’s commitment to excel- lence and service being recognised.”

“Country pubs play an integral role in rural society – a hugely important factor that needs to be acknowledged. The Old Mill is an exceptional coun- try bar that goes above and beyond to ensure a quality and responsible drinking environment for its pa- trons,” he said.

Local counveillor, Tony O’Brien congratulated the couple. “It’s a great boost for O’Briens bridge and well deserved.”