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THE IFA has already set its sites on the next round of the social part- nership talk with President Padraig Walshe putting the Farm Improve- ment Scheme (FIS) as number one on his wish list from the Government.

With more than 5,000 farmers ef- fectively locked out of the scheme al- together Walshe is looking for urgent action coupled with the introduction of a flexible arrangements to allow farmers to complete work under the Farm Waste Management Scheme (FW MS).

Speaking after last week’s first bi-lateral partnership meeting, Mr Walshe said many farmers who ap- plied for the FIS between October 21, 2007 and the closure date of Oc-

tober 31, 2007 had not been approved by the Department of Agriculture to proceed with much-needed invest- ment.

“Most of this work is linked to other investments under the FWMS as well as investments to modernise and improve efficiency on farms,” he Sr NIGe

“In relation to the FWMS, as many as 33,000 farmers had yet to com- plete work under the scheme and the December 31 deadline to finish work is totally unreasonable.

“We need a flexible arrangements to be put in place to allow any farmer who has started work to be eligible for the 60 per cent grant when work is completed.”

Mr Walshe raised IFA’s serious concerns over the failure of the De-

partment of Agriculture to increase standard costs in line with the in- creased cost of structural steel, con- crete and labour.

“I would like to remind the Gov- ernment of their commitment in the charter of rights that costings would increase each year in line with gener- al building costs. Failure to do this is imposing higher net investment costs on farmers,” he continued.

A further meeting of partnership is planned for next week when IFA expect a Government response to the farm grant issues, and other demands set out in IFA’s submission.

Meanwhile, IFA countryside chair- man David Wilkinson has reacted angrily to Department of Commu- nication confirmation through the Freedom of Information Act that the

National Broadband Scheme was not getting priority attention.

“Rural homes and businesses are already years behind the rest of Eu- rope when it comes to the availability of affordable broadband. It is totally unacceptable that at times there was nobody working on ensuring that this essential initaitive is rolled out across the country,’ he said.

“It is vital that this Government investment in rural broadband is prioritised so that every rural home and business has access to affordable broadband as quickly as _ possible. The Minister for Communications, Eamon Ryan, must ensure that this scandalous neglect within his depart- ment of a vital initiative 1s addressed and now has an obligation to deliver the rural broadband scheme ASAP.”

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The Irish Road Hauliers Associa- tion (IRHA) have set a deadline of June 27 for progress to be made on the issue or they will take to the Streets on protest.

One of the counties oldest haulage companies, Spa Transport, revealed yesterday that it has had to cut back staff as a direct result of the soaring cost of diesel.

“This is a huge issue, people have gone out of the business already and there are going to be more casualties. I myself had to sell two trucks and let people go because of this,” said Eu- gene Brennan of Spa Transport Ltd and the IRHA.

‘No matter how big or small you are this is savage. We have had a higher percentage increase in the last year and a half than has been felt over the last 20 years.

“It has affected us in many ways. The increases in diesel are really massive and we cannot be going to OUT MCLUT Kees RMAY ALO MUST KERA (OM ANCE RA

Besides that it has hit business gener- ally meaning that there is less busi- ness for us to compete for. Coupled with that we have been hit by a sur- charge by the shipping companies meaning a further increase in our overheads.

More than 100 years old, Spa Trans- port began life hauling produce from the west Clare railway using a horse and cart. The company now trans- ports high tech produce out of Shan- non as well as agricultural produce.

“It needs to be addressed in a two fold process. First we must go to the customer and look for a surcharge. We are going to have to do this to keep going. We are trying to meet with all the industry and get this idea across to them. We want a simple rate that does up and goes down with the price of oil,” continued Mr Bren- WE NOe

‘The other side of it is that we have to go to Government. They can either declare us an essential service like the buses and give us a special rate, they can rebate our fuel like they do with farmers, they can create a stable structure for a switch to using plant oil, they can assist us with the intro- duction of surcharging or they could help us to hedge our fuel and buy for- ward like the way airlines do.”

ENNIS Town Council has raised a number of questions over plans by an Ennis builder to establish a private members club in the centre of Ennis.

Earlier this year, Jack McCarthy lodged plans with Ennis Town Coun- cil for change of use of office on the third floor of the former Central Buildings at the Abbey Street car-

park to a private members club.

A decision was due on the applica- tion last Friday, however, the council has put the plan on hold, requesting further information on the proposal.

In putting the plan on hold, the coun- cil ask ‘what kind of ‘private mem- bers club’ is proposed here? What will it facilitate? During what hours will it function? Will it function as a live music or nightclub venue? Will

it be rented out for parties, functions, gathering? Will sale of alcohol take place? Is it proposed to provide an outdoor smoking facility?’

The council state that under the En- nis and Environs Development Plan, proposals for development involving evening and late night commercial retail and entertainment uses will only be permitted within, or immedi- ately adjacent to Ennis Town Centre

or the local centres and where it can be clearly demonstrated that there will be no detrimental impact on the character and function of the area. The council are also seeking that the proposal will result in no adverse effect on the character of a conser- vation area or other place of special architectural or historic character; will not result in adverse transport or environmental effects; no det-

rimental effect on the amenity en- joyed by neighbouring uses or where the proposal relates to ground floor premises, a shop front or appropriate ols 0F

Mr McCarthy is of McCarthy Bros, which has built hundreds of houses in Ennis and other parts of Clare in re- cent years. Already, a private mem- bers club exists in a building opposite Ennis Community College.

CLARECASTLE rerun John McLaughlin and 17 others will travel by dog sled across 200 miles of snowbound Norwegian country- side in August to raise money for the Clare branch of the Diabetes Federa- tion of Ireland (DFI).

John’s trek is just one part of the Clare branch’s summer fundraising drive, which will be launched in Tes- co’s shopping centre next Saturday, Ut eae

The other major event is the annual 10k sponsored walk, which takes place on August 31 in Lees Road sports and amenity park.

“This year promises to be even

better than last year, although to give credit to the participants of last year’s walk that will be difficult,” said Grainne Flynn, secretary of the branch.

Both the sponsored walk and the dog sledding expedition will help raise much-needed funds that will enable the DFI to improve the lives of people living with diabetes in this country.

John, who was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2006, said: “I realised that while most treatments for diabe- tes are covered by the HSE, there is very little funding for research, edu- cation in self-management and for early detection and prevention pro- grammes for diabetes in Ireland.”

The money raised will go towards helping the DFI run CODE – Com- munity Orientated Diabetes Educa- tion and more local programmes.

It will also help the Clare branch to provide free support groups for peo- ple with diabetes and their families.

Services currently provided by the branch include diabetes screenings and education and awareness meet- Tb eae

CODE was developed by the Dia- betes Federation of Ireland as a re- sult of the organisation identifying that many people living in Ireland had poor access to community dia- betes services.

Anna Clarke, Health Promotion and Research Manager of the Diabe-

tes Federation of Ireland, said: ““The philosophy of the CODE programme is based on empowerment, empathy and self-efficacy; it supports people with diabetes through group learn- ing and participation.

“CODE encourages participants to become confident in their diabetes self-care management and aims to improve quality of life through in- formed decision making.”

Sponsorship cards for the 10k walk are available from Peggy Scholdei by calling 087 6415747 or by email- ing clarebranchdfi@ gmail.com.

Those wishing to pledge sponsor- ship to John McLaughlin for the Dog Sledding Trek can do so by calling 086 6142203.

WITH diesel prices continuing to Squeeze farm incomes the farm or- ganisation came out fighting this week, attacking ministers and call- ing for pressure to be put on the co- Ops.

First up was ICSA general secretary and Cratloe farmer Eddie Punch who attacked environment minister John Gormley, describing the Green Party leader’s comments that farmers may have to cut their livestock numbers to reduce carbon dioxide emissions as “ridiculous”.

“On the one hand we have Minister Smith at the UN World Food Sum-

mit in Rome discussing global food shortages, while on the other hand Minister Gormley is suggesting we reduce our beef production,” he said.

‘“That’s just ridiculous. The beef in- dustry is vital to the Irish economy and any attempt to undermine it will be resisted by ICSA and all farmers.

‘Farmers have been to the fore in protecting the environment, through- out 15 year participation in REPS schemes, as well as implementing the Nitrates Directive. This veiled attack would not be tolerated by any other sector in Ireland and it won’t be tolerated by farmers either.”

Next up was Deputy President and Chairperson of ICMSA’s Dairy Com-

mittee, John O’ Leary, who called for co-op boards to face into making a decision on milk price as quick as possible.

‘Co-ops must at least maintain the April milk price as farmers will sim- ply not absorb a further cut in milk price following the massive drops in April,” he said

“Markets are now beginning to strengthen with dairy product prices increases in the UK, the EU and at world market levelling. In addi- tion, co-op boards simply cannot ignore the fact that input costs have increased substantially this year in particular fertiliser, feed and energy costs.”

ICMSA estimates these additional variable and fixed costs in 2008 at over 4 cent per litre of milk which is equivalent to over €9,000 for a full year’s milk production for a 50,000 gallon milk producer.

“It should be noted that this figure does not include depreciation nor the massive nitrate related investment costs taking place on farms at the present time,” said O’ Leary.

‘Taking account of the increased costs and the drop in milk price for April, farmer margins have been cut by about 10 cent per litre which, for a full year’s milk production represents an income loss of nearly €23,000 for a 50,000 milk producer.”

yesterday WeTLOD LMR MMA DM RETUO RY, impossible for small businesses to get off the ground in Ire- land today.

“This situation 1s really tightening up our margins and that means that there is very little left for reinvestment and all businesses like this need to be able to invest in order to Survive,’ he said.

“If we were just starting now, there is nO way we would be able to get going. The entry cost for new busi- nesses is just too high. Smaller busi- nesses like ours are just not getting off the ground.”

Despite healthy sales, the Burren Smokehouse has already been forced to stop exporting to America because of high production costs and volatile exchange rates.

“It could get to the stage that we

will have to stop exporting to main- land Europe because the price would just be too high. It hasn’t got to that stage yet but it could do,” he contin- ued.

“There is no sign of the price of oil going down and if it goes up fur- ther, it will impact even more. You’d

wonder in the future, with the increasing price of oul, will it be competitive to ship abroad at all. “There is a real feeling of uncer- tainty in the mar- ket. Nobody seems to know what is coming next but

everyone _ thinks that it is not going to be good.

“The cost of dis- tributing the prod- uct has gone up and

that is having a serious impact on the business. The cost of the raw mate- rial has gone up and the cost of ship- ping the product has also gone up.

“We ship all over Ireland and into Europe. We used to ship into Ameri- ca but, because of economic factors, we have had to stop doing that.”

THE Raheen Wood Steiner School is just one of a number of groups in east Clare that has appealed the decision by Clare County Council to grant planning permission for a waste fa- cility that is aiming to half the capac- ity of the Inagh landfill.

Along with Raheen Wood, the Scariff, Mountshannon and White- gate Angling Club have appealed the decision, as have a large group of 1n- dividuals.

Already, the planning application is in the process two years and Clare Waste and Recycling Ltd was seek- ing to have the capacity to deal with 25,000 tonnes of waste each year.

The council’s own Inagh landfill is licensed to deal with 56,000 tonnes per annum and giving the go-ahead to the plan last month, the council stated that the proposed development would not seriously injure the ameni- ties of the area or of property in the vicinity.

As part of the 40 conditions at- tached to the permission, the coun- cil has ruled that there shall be no increase in production levels, no in- crease in storage volumes on site and the total disposal material to landfill shall not exceed 5,000 tonnes per an- nloueee

The facility is to be located on a 10

acre site near the small east Clare vil- lage of Tuamgraney and in their ap- peal the appellants state, ““We must indicate that the application has been a source of considerable distress to the community. We also submit that in the best interests of the commu- nity, a request for an oral hearing on the matter is not the way forward, as the process is likely to be even more divisive and stressful than the appli- cation process.

“Our submissions could be sum- marised by saying that too many assumptions have been made in the decision to grant permission to this development.

“When the risk of getting caught is low and the punishment for compli- ance is a small fine, or a written rap on the knuckles, the attitude to au- thority weakens and the damage gets worse.

“The waste business is growing and private operators are much less scrupulous than local authorities in the operation of their facilities. The Clare waste facility proposes an in- crease of 184 per cent in through- put capacity, up to a total of 25,000 tonnes per annum

“We submit that a deliberative search for the positive aspects of the application has been made by the council, to provide a new home for this industry.

THERE will be plenty of singing and dancing in Cois na hAbhna over the next two months, but organisers of Ceol na hInse hope that the pro- gramme will engage with the local community.

Ceol na hInse, a series of concerts and traditional music workshops, launches in Cois na hAbhna tomor- row night with the programme’s in- augural concert.

From June until August the Gort Road venue will play host to a mul- titude of award winning musicians and singers which, it is hoped, will draw big crowds.

Domhnal O Loinsigh of Comhaltas

Ceolteoirf Eireann explained that in a Summer season densely packed with traditional events, Ceol na hInse aimed to succeed by establish- ing a connection with the local com- munity in Ennis.

He said, “Its very important for Ceol na hInse that we do have that link with the local community. With the fleadh nua and other events, there is a lot going on.

“But if it doesn’t engage with the local community, a concert or a festi- val won’t succeed. We would be hop- ing that with the calibre of the venue we have in Cois na hAbhna, we will get the crowds.”

Tomorrow’s concert brings together some of the more established names

on the traditional scene for a night of music, song and dance.

The first half of the show will fol- low the format of a regular concert. After the break the focus is on audi- ence involvement

Doreen Norris, the newly appoint- ed Riarthoir in Cois na hAbhna, says the summer show will give visitors the opportunity to experience Clare’s rich musical heritage.

“It is important to showcase the in- credible traditional talent that exists in the region and Ceol na hInse is the perfect vehicle through which to highlight this and it will give visitors and local people an opportunity to encounter real traditional entertain- ment,’ she said.

Cois na hAbhna is the headquarters of the Clare branch of Comhaltas Ceolteori Eireann.

The building was re-opened after an extensive period of development last summer.

A teach cheoil area and conference room were added as part of the re- development.

The most significant addition was the Cois na hAbhna regional ar- chive, established to record, collect and preserve the cultural heritage of local areas.

The archive currently stocks over 1,500 hours of recordings.

Tickets for Ceol na hInse are availa- ble from Cois na hAbhna at 68242276 or at coisnahabhna@eircom.net.

UP TO 42 children, clutching hand- made father’s day cards, were col- lected from Ennis Civil Service Créche, by distressed parents on Fri- day evening last.

Just hours before the parents, along with upset staff were told by the De- partment of Finance that the creche was to close in two weeks time.

While worried parents searched for childcare facilities at short notice, the 16 skilled staff, which include two part-time workers, faced into unemployment, many without a re- dundancy programme.

Gathered outside the creche, parents paid tribute to the staff. They were not as satisfied with the Department of Finance, however, who pulled the plug on the civil service creche until they finalised an agreement with a new créche operator.

The department “hope” to have this finalised by October.

Linda Hayes, the current temporary operator of the créche which received the All-Ireland Centre of Excellence Award, said she was happy to contin- ue running the creche until the new operator took over.

Ms Hayes began running the creche on a temporary basis six months ago

when the department failed to attract a full time operator.

Her contract 1s to finish on June 30, but she said she is happy to remain Oy se TH etom enn sre) tor

Spokesperson for the parents Ger- aldine Sullivan said that letter of the closure informed parents on Friday morning as they dropped their chil- dren off.

“It said the consultants would be here all day and next Monday to of- fer us support. So I asked what was the level of support being offered and that was the photocopy of the list of other créches in Ennis which are nearly all full,” she said.

The schoolteacher said she experi- enced a similar situation a number of years ago when Kite ran the créche and parents got two days notice.

Deputy Pat Breen (FG) is demand- ing that the Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan review the decision to close the civil service creche in En- he

‘The manner in which this decision was communicated to the parents and staff of the civil service créche is appalling.

‘A Government agency should be leading by example instead of op- erating in this manner,” the deputy said.

CLARE manager Joe Garry was left to rue a string of missed chances fol- lowing his side’s defeat to Kerry in the semi-final of the Munster junior championship on Sunday.

Clare trailed by six points at half time after passing up two glorious opportunities to take a decisive lead early in the first half. Kerry made no mistake in front of goal Mike O’Donoghue and the impressive Ni- all Fleming finding the net.

Brian Donnellan’s late penalty re- duced Kerry’s lead to five points with eight minutes remaining. Clare were awarded a second penalty two min- utes later but this time Donnellan’s

shot struck the foot of the post and Pat Nagle was unable to convert the rebound.

Standing on the pitch at Fitzgerald Stadium shortly after the final whis- tle, Garry paid tribute to his side’s resilience in the second half.

“In fairness to the lads, it didn’t look great going in at half time two goals down. But they stuck into it”, said Garry. “We spoke about it at half time, its easy to play football when things are going well, when the going got tough and it got tough here today, they deserved more out of the game. We had plenty of chances and in fairness you have to take your hat off to everyone of them. They fought manfully in the second half.”

Garry felt his side shaded the second half but acknowledged that against a side like Kerry, with three members of the Kingdom’s All-Ireland under 21 wining team in their ranks, Clare needed to take their chances.

““T thought we were the better team in the second half but unfortunately it comes down to chances. We creat- ed maybe five or six chances during the course of the game and we come of with I-7 or 1-8 whatever it was and you have to better than that when you take on Kerry.”