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THE water supply in west Clare is clear of any traces of cryptosporid- Leteee

That is according to Derek Troy, executive engineer with the local au- thority, who confirmed that reported cases of cryptosporidiosis in the west Clare area was in no way linked to the west Clare public drinking water supply.

“On receipt of reports from the HSE that a number of cases had been

reported, Clare County Council Wa- ter Services section immediately put in place testing equipment on both Old and New Doolough water treat- ment plants on April 30,” revealed Mr Troy.

“Both tests revealed no traces of cryptosporidium. On May 20 the testing equipment was put in place again. And again both tests revealed no traces of cryptosporidium.

“Finally, the testing equipment was placed on the Drumellihy Reser- voir, which is the closest reservoir to

the locations on the reported cases. Results revealed no traces of crypt- osporidium,’ he told Kilrush Town councillors.

“Doolough Lake, which is the main source of water for the west Clare area, 18 regularly assessed and is considered low risk by the EPA water supply risk classification for crypt- osporidium,’ he added.

The engineer was responding to questions from Kilrush Town coun- cillor Marian McMahon Jones (FG), who asked for a full report following

10 reported cases of the illness in the last two years.

“I can guarentee those cases are not as aresult of the water,’ said Mr ‘Troy.

Cllr McMahon Jones said she was happy with the response, as the HSE also confirmed that the water was clear.

Cllr Tom Prendeville (FF) de- scribed Cllr McMahon’s motion as “reckless” and accused the Fine Gael councillor of scare mongering and causing undue panic.

CLARE County Council is propos- ing that the home of the Ennis man who sought over €500,000 for his objection against a €40 million resi- dential development to be withdrawn be included in the list for recorded Nea UCe AU Key

Last month, it emerged that John Madden of Glencairn House, En- nis sought €550,000 for himself to construct a flood defence system on his lands near to the proposal and a separate payment of €50,000 for Cahercalla Community Hospice to withdraw his appeal against a hous-

ing development at the Golf Links in J Spayavese

In the end, no money was handed over and as a result, the appeal was not withdrawn and planning permis- sion was refused by An Bord Pleana- la to the proposal.

In a submission to An Bord Pleana- la, solicitors for Mr Madden, Call- inan & Co told the appeals board that the Ennis man had no desire to profit from the matter and is not motivated by the desire for personal gain.

In a personal submission, Mr Mad- den stated that he has “no history of seeking compensation from any- body”, later adding that “my com-

mitment to the concerns of the wider community with regard to inappro- priate development in the locality is well documented”’.

Now, the council is proposing to include Mr Madden’s 17th century Glencairn House in the list of pro- tected structures, which will place additional contraints on a property owner in seeking to make any chang- es to his property.

Already, there are 526 Protected Structures in Ennis and as part of drawing up of the new draft Ennis and Environs Plan, the council is proposing to include Mr Madden’s home and four other properties.

Mr Madden’s house sits on a land- bank of 20 acres within the Ennis town boundary and the lands could be worth millions of euro if devel- oped.

To date, Mr Madden has chosen not to avail of any windfall from the sale of any of his lands at the site.

According to the council, the con- dition of the house is good and is or regional architectural, archaeologi- cal and historical importance.

The draft plan is set to go on pub- lic display in July in order that public submissions can be made and, there- after, the plan is due to be adopted in December.

CLARE left Fitzgerald stadium beat- en and a little dazed after 70 minutes in the company of the All-Ireland champions. No backdoor, no quali- fiers. Eight months hard work cul- minates with another meeting with Tommy Murphy and a competition that will disappear from the fixture schedule after this season.

Kerry left to mutterings over the

quality of their 12-point win and the adulation of wide-eyed kids waiting for autographs and jerseys. The con- trast could not have been greater.

Clare captain Michael O’Shea stood outside the dressing rooms, frustrated.

“It’s very disappointing. At the be- ginning the qualifiers were brought in to help the weaker teams and at the moment, now all they are doing is giving the stronger teams their

second chance. Maybe the higher authorities are going to have to look at themselves there and ask why they were brought in, in the first place. I know they are coming back next year for everyone, but it’s no good for us now’’, said O’Shea.

Clare will take what they can from the Tommy Murphy Cup said O’Shea, who admitted Clare lost their way once Kerry found some rhythm.

“We stuck with them for 35 min-

utes there and maybe a bit after the re-start. But I suppose, when the goal went in and we lost Conor (Whelan), we lost our shape. It was hard to keep going after that. Especially when you are playing the likes of Kerry. They are a top quality team. They were bringing lads off the field there to- day, who would walk onto any coun- ty team in the country. It’s not easy in that respect. We’ll walk away, we’ll be happy enough with our first half

performance. We’ll try and build from this in the future.”

The end of another campaign but O’Shea feels that Clare football is in a better place than it was last year.

“The progress has been good. We’ve had ups and downs through- out the year. Compared to where we were this time last year, we’re a good couple of rungs up the ladder from there. So it’s just a matter of building oy nm aor: T mp OKO) \ vam

THREE men who stole the base of a bed from an Ennis apartment walked along a busy part of the town, carry- ing it, in the early hours of the morn-

ing. But they were noticed by gardai and one of them was charged and brought before a court last Friday. Adam Considine (18), of Stone Court, Ennis, pleaded guilty to en- tering a building, the Old Mill apart-

ments, as a trespasser and stealing the base of a bed, on May 5 last.

The court was told that the prop- erty was recovered. Inspector Tom Kennedy told Ennis District Court that the accused and two others went

into a new apartment that was being iu heacXor6 O)UL

‘They took a new bed and proceed- ed to come down the Parnell Street carpark,’ he said. The incident oc- curred at 2am and the accused was

spotted by gardai. Defending solic1- tor Tara Godfrey said the trio were likely to be caught.

Judge Joseph Mangan adjourned the case for preparation of a proba- tion report.

IT IS that time of year again when schools from around the county be- gin their annual spring clean before they break for the long summer hol1- days.

For many schools the majority of the work is already complete, as pu- pils and teachers stay ahead of any litter build up and dedicate their time to reducing, re-using and recycling.

And those who are successful with their efforts are rewarded with the

prestigious green flag award. Labasheeda National School last week celebrated its second Green Flag for Energy Conservation. ‘We had to try and reduce our en- ergy use by assessing our usage and coming up with strategies for using

less, for example monitoring of tem- perature levels in the school, closing of doors and windows, installation of a new and more efficient boiler,’ said school principal Liam Woulfe.

“To conserve electricity we moni- tored our usage levels by taking regular meter readings. We then set about reducing our usage by having ‘police’ to ensure that unnecessary light and socket use was discontin- ued,’ added the principal.

“We had a low energy day where we made a special effort to see what was the least amount of electricity we could use in a day,” he told

A CRECHE that provides services for 42 children is to close in Ennis with the loss of 16 jobs.

The Department of Finance has confirmed that the Ennis Civil Serv- ice Créche, Kilrush Road, will close on June 30.

In a statement Marie O’Loughlin, Chairperson, Board of the Civil Service Childcare Initiative said “Since October 2005, the board has sought to appoint an operator to man-

age Ennis Civil Service Créche. In the interests of parents and children in the créche, the board has kept the creche open through a series of tem- porary arrangements in this period. Following the most recent tendering process, the board is in discussions with a potential operator with a view to their taking over operation of the creche with effect from October 1, 2008.”

Ms McLoughlin said, “The board very much regrets having to close the créche. However, the current

arrangements can no longer be sup- ported. In the long-term interests of the creche it is vital that an operator is appointed under license to manage the créche.”

Ms McLoughlin added, “The cur- rent temporary arrangement comes to an end on June 30, 2008, and on this occasion 1s has not been possible to put in place arrangements to keep this creche open.”

In a statement the Department of Finance said that negotiations are underway to a permanent operator

will be in place for a five year period from October I.

The Ennis creche opened in Oc- tober 2003 and was operated for a two year period by Kite Childcare Ltd. The contract period expired on September 30, 2005, and was not re- newed.

Two tendering processes were held in November 2005 and February 2007, but, according to the Depart- ment of Finance, it was not possible to appoint an operator.

In a statement the Department of Finance said, “To ensure compliance with HSE regulations and having consulted with the HSE Preschool services, the board put in place a support structure of people with experience in créche management who were made available to manage- ment in Ennis creche three days per week.”

IT WAS always going to be more of a match on the radio.

At least on the radio there was the prospect of a contest, or so we hoped beforehand.

In Kerry’s corner were those deni- zens of the “Voice of the Kingdom’. You know them well, they’re the Ra- dio Kerry crew who provided an in- valuable service on the Clare side of the estuary a couple of months back when doing a live commentary on the Clare v Kerry first round Mun- ster minor football championship in Cusack Park.

Going over water and road was no obstacle to the Radio Kerry crew — the few hundred yards down Francis

Street was too long a journey for the Clare FM’s crew.

But Clare FM showed up this time — Georgie Fitzpatrick and Ger Keane going into battle against Gary O’Sullivan and Weeshie Fogarty in the Kerry corner.

Both teams were under no illusions of what lay in store. Lambs and lions were the order of the day for Geor- reales

“Minnows from Clare,’ he said, “came across on the ferry to try and put it up to the lion kings of Kerry in their own den.”

There was more of where that came from: “Clare came down like lambs to the slaughter in the great Kerry den,’ added Georgie.

Weeshie Fogarty wasn’t getting too

excited. “It will be an easy win for Kerry,” he said in almost subdued tones, just as Clare FM’s roving re- porter Marie Crowe struck a defiant note. “It’s anyone’s game down here in Killarney, the fans think Clare are going to do it.”

Obviously, she didn’t have one ear tuned into Ambrose O’ Donovan over on Radio Kerry. “I expect Kerry to win by 2-20 to 1-6 or 1-7,” he said confidently, while Ger Keane rub- bished this prediction mid-way through the first half when revealing that “Clare are standing up manfully to the task”.

It all changed in the second half, maybe because Kerry heard Am- brose O’Donovan’s words at half- time. “It’s a wake up call for Kerry.

Kerry must start the second half with all guns blazing and blow this Clare team away.”

Ger Keane certainly believed it was going to happen after Conor Whelan was sent off.

‘“That’s an absolutely ridiculous de- cision,’ he roared. “It makes a farce of the game and ruins the game as a contest.”

Fellow Kilkee Blue Georgie Fitz- patrick said soon afterwards: “With a cascade of scores the full-time whistle can’t come quick enough”.

As it turned out, it didn’t come quick enough for Kerry captain Paul Galvin. Radio Kerry were in no mood to condemn the man, but the Kilkee Blues were straight into the action.

‘Paul Galvin and John Hayes are having a right old battle,” exclaimed Georgie. “They’re exchanging pleas- antries,’ — a term that could be termed a euphemism for Micheal O’Hehir’s fabled used of the term ‘schmozzel’.

Then Ger took up commentary. “Paul Galvin did throw a knee,’ he roared. “Galvin’s punching Tomas O Sé on the chest…Galvin’s knocked the book out of Paddy Russell’s hand. He may not see action for three months.”

Ger Keane was the first man to make the call.

It ensured that Clare FM didn’t lose the game like Clare — they left Kil- larney with a draw on points against their heavyweight opponents.

A 30-year-old Kildare man has been brought before a special sitting of Ennis District Court, charged with assaulting a woman in Shannon last WElCE hs

Daniel Darcy, of Tannery Wharf,

Rathangan, County Kildare, is ac- cused of assaulting Bernadette Phiri, at Tullyvarraga, Shannon, on June 13 EWSe

He was also charged with steal- ing a jeep at Ballymore Road, Naas, County Kildare, last Thursday, June 12.

At Saturday morning’s court sit- ting, Inspector Tom Kennedy sought to remand the accused in custody.

“Mr Darcy was found in Shannon yesterday evening with a stolen jeep. He was charged with that and bailed to court next Thursday. Very shortly after his release, he went to the town

centre in Shannon and is alleged to have assaulted a lady in her car,” said Inspector Kennedy.

Defending solicitor Daragh Has- sett said his client would be pleading guilty to stealing the vehicle. How- ever he said the assault allegation would be contested.

“Mr Darcy will say he merely asked someone for a light,” he said.

Seeking bail, Mr Hassett said, “He is certainly not shying away from the Ot Neon

Judge Joseph Mangan remanded the accused in custody, to re-appear in court later this week.

A MUSICAL movement which has been delighting children in east Clare took to the stage last week.

The children’s orchestra from Mountshannon National School came to play a fund-raising concert in Ogonnelloe as part of the orches- tra’s move to encourage children to enjoy music.

Now children from Ogonnelloe Na- tional School have joined the music makers. Orchestra director Jantien Vandenberg says that their doors are open to children from other schools who would like to try their hand at playing an instrument.

The Mountshannon school has mu-

sic classes from senior infants on- EN KO Ke

“Most children will start on tin whistle and then move on to other instruments in first or second class,” said Jantien. “Fiddle is a popular choice, then accordion, piano, gul- tar, banjo, drums and clarinet. Every year at the end of the school term we have a big concert where all the children will play in different groups and solos. That’s how our orchestra started out a few years ago. Now they get plenty of practise as they perform several times a year.”

The young musicians play a Christ- mas carol service, at the Christmas Eve Mass and during the nativity play. In February they were invited

to join the Festival of Junior Youth Orchestras in Galway and Clare. The group also played at the Mountshan- non Arts Festival in May. They will be playing in the Aistear again at the end of year concert in June.

There are a number of music stu- dents also involved in traditional groups. Some years the school has managed to put together a band with electric guitars, drums, a clarinet and a Saxophone.

Classes also perform musical shows during the summer concert.

“The main aim is to get as many children involved in and enjoying music at all stages and combina- tions,’ the orchestra director said.

For the Ogonnelloe concert the or-

cestra was made up of children from infants upwards and they played both classical and traditional music.

“We are trying to open up the or- chestra to children of other schools, at the moment we have a few kids joining us in Gort and Ogonnelloe. Any children wanting to join up for next year are most welcome and can contact me. Any donations will be gladly received and will go towards buying a cello for the school,” said Jantien.

RESIDENTS of the Acha Bhile housing estate in Ennis fear that they will be left carrying the can for thou- sands of euro in repairs for faulty and dangerous fireplaces.

More than 14 houses in the new es- tate have been without heating since a serious house fire last November raised questions over safety.

However, a number of residents in the new eco-home development have expressed concern that their claims are “not being taken seriously” by UK-based warranty company Pre- mier Guarantee.

After bringing the matter to the at- tention of contractors Cronan Nagle, residents decided to pursue the mat- ter through the UK-based insurance firm.

“We weren’t 100 per cent sure what was happening. Nobody was telling us anything but after that incident in November, Bord Gais came out to each of the houses affected and dis- connected the fireplaces.

“Nobody would tell us what was going on except that the fireplaces had to be disconnected,” said resi- dent David Morgan.

“We are really worried that we are going to be left carrying the can for Wenn

“We are not getting any answers

about this from anyone and it is very frustrating.

“T contacted Clare County Council, I’ve contacted Bord Gais, Cronan Nagle and the Commission for En- ergy Regulation and eventually came to realise that I was going nowhere. Now we don’t know exactly where we are going to proceed because the warranty company in the UK are not being forthcoming with any in- formation as to how they are going to honour the contract that we have with them.

“It’s very frustrating to invest a quarter of a million in an eco-friend- ly home and then be told that your fire is not going to work.”

In a correspondence to Pamela Marchant-Ragan of Premier Guaran- tee, Acha Bhile resident Sean Keane outlines his annoyance at the situa- tion.

“My frustration at this stage is un- paralleled and I do not feel my claim is being taken seriously at all.

“I have been very patient to date in these negotiations and have tried to avoid a legal route so that we may reach an amicable resolution,’ he said.