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IT continues to get better and better for the ladies of Ennis. This week- end they travelled home with more silverware in their boot when they retained their Munster title having beaten Douglas in the final at the Monkstown Golf Club.

It was a case of living on the edge as Pamela Murphy sank the win- ning putt for the Clare club on the 19th hole under serious pressure. She showed her mettle when the ball dropped in the hold though and En- nis were celebrating.

The nerves of steel show a team who can not only play fantastic golf, but one that can also dig out a victory in the face of adversity.

That win follows their Senior Cup success of last year when they de- feated Royal Portrush in the year’s

final in Miltown Golf Club and the remainder of this season promises to hold more silverware for Ennis as they strive to dominate ladies golf.

“Ennis have proven themselves to be a fantastic team,’ said Ann Brad- shaw, ILGU President. “They’re go- ing from strength to strength and it goes to show hoe healthy the game 1s in Clare at present.”

A MAJOR HURDLE to plans for a €50 million retail park on the fring- es of Clarecastle has been removed.

This follows local developers, Sean Lyne and Noel Connellan with- drawing their objection against the planned retail park by Stephen Har- ris for a 48-acre site near Clarecas- (oe

It is now almost two years since Mr Harris lodged plans for the retail park at Skehanagh, Clarecastle and

the council is still awaiting further information it requested last Septem- ber on the plan.

Mr Lyne and Mr Connellan were rivals in the race to secure planning permission for the first large-scale retail park on the outskirts of Ennis.

However, Clare County Council refused planning permission after a consultant’s report stated that at that time, there was only capacity for one retail park and the Harris proposal was better located.

The two appealed the decision to

An Bord Pleanala, however, they withdrew their appeal late last year.

Now, it has emerged that they have withdrawn their objection against the Harris proposal.

In a letter to the council, their con- sultants state, ““We are now writing to confirm that our clients, Noel Connellan and Sean Lyne no longer wish to make any objection to the proposed development and wish to withdraw our letter of objection.

They ask the council to disregard the submissions made in September

2006 and October 2007.

The two do not give the council a reason as to why they have decided to withdraw their objection.

In their original objection, they Stated, “While it is understood that the council can interfere with healthy competition in retailing, it would be prudent for the council to seek justification for this proposed development in light of available in- formation on other retail outlets that include built developments since the 2003 adopted Retail Strategy.”

A DOZEN teenagers from west Clare with a keen interest in agri- culture took part in a tractor skills course last week.

As the sun heated the grounds of Kilrush mart the tractor enthusiasts – all males – learned how to use the VU OO MONT-Le UDI MYACT NK Ns

Their reasons for taking part in the course were various.

For Kevin Fennell from Fadragh, Kilkee the prospect of a life farming is one that appeals to him. Already familiar with farming life he could drive a tractor, but the course en- sured he had the necessary skills to look after the huge vehicle and drive it safely.

For fellow Kilkee teen Finbarr O’Gorman learning to drive a tractor properly will help him with his sum- mer job, as he takes up employment with a farming contractor, putting out slurry and cutting silage.

As most of the teens taking part were under 16, the daylong course concentrated on the use of tractors and machinery within the farm and did not include road usage.

A teenager is permitted drive a tractor on a farm from the age of 14, but must be 16 before they can be insured to take the vehicle on to the road.

The course agenda included safety checks before starting, setting up a good driving position, safe driving, hitching the tractor to other imple-

ments, operating trailed machinery from the tractor, checking the terrain and practical driving skills.

Each participant drove the trac- tor with trailer, provided by local agriculture and fencing contractor Damien Haugh, around a specified fe aston

They also took part in basic first aid training where each participant learned skills with particular atten- tion to common farm accidents such as cuts and bleeding, electrocution ANNO MEAN OK

Each participant received a certifi- cate of achievement.

The dangers associated with farm- ing have been well documented, in particular, the dangers of the farm- yard to young children and teenag-

ers. An average of 20 deaths and over 3,000 accidents are reported on farms each year. According to the Health and Safety Authority one in five deaths, which occur on Irish farms, involves children. Almost half of these deaths involve tractors and other types of machinery.

It was in response to these statistics that the Safe Tractor Driving Skills course was Set up by the Farm Fam- ily Support Service and Farm Relief Services, just before young farmers get their summer holidays and begin their summer work.

IT’S been real roller-coaster ride, but after almost four years of bargain- ing, horse trading and achievement, Mary Coughlan left the Department of Agriculture for the last time on Thursday morning.

The last 5 year have been some of the most eventful and controversial in recent memory for Irish farmers, although Minister Coughlan has certainly left the office with more friends than she had back in 2004.

The Donegal woman will now take up a new position as Minister for En- terprise, Trade and Employment and will also act as Tanaiste.

Speaking on Thursday, IFA Presi- dent Padraig Walshe wished Minis-

ter Coughlan well in her new posi- tion and said she could look back on a number of achievements during her four-year term as Minister for Agri- TTA Ken

He also congratulated Brendan Smith on his appointment as Min- ister for Agriculture. Walshe said he looked forward to working with Minister Smith and dealing with the issues in agriculture.

ICSA president Malcolm Thomp- son has welcomed the appointment of Brendan Smith as the new Min- ister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

“We worked well with the minis- ter when he was a minister of state before and look forward to a positive and pro-active relationship with him

into the future,” he said.

“However, we would urge him to ‘hit the ground running’ so to speak on WTO issues, as he will have to vigorously defend Ireland’s agricul- tural interests both in Europe and at WTO.”

Macra na Feirme also welcomed the appointment of Brendan Smith and wished Mary Coughlan the best of luck in her new post as Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise Trade and Employment.

However, it was not all kind words from the young farmers organisa- tion.

“We want to warn Brendan Smith that the task ahead as Minister for Agriculture Fisheries and Food will have immediate challenges such as

WTO and the CAP health check, farm waste management scheme along with young farmer specific 1s- sues such as the reintroduction and the continual supports and incentives to young farmers to readdress the age profile in agriculture,’ said a spokes- person from Macra.

Indeed questions have been raised about the timing of this Government reshuffle and the impact that it might have on the upcoming WTO negotia- tions. Minister Coughlan had almost single-handedly been managing the Government’s plan for handling the WTO negotiations.

Fears have been raised that Minis- ter Smith may not have enough time to fully understand the complex is- sues on discussion.

NO ILLNESS has ever been con- nected analytically with the public water supply in Ennis.

That was the view expressed by town engineer, Tom Tiernan in a sub- mission to the Environmental Pro- tection Agency (EPA) on their audit

of the council’s temporary treatment plant last January.

Mr Tiernan also stated the council had written to farmers in the catch- ment area of the Drumcliffe tempo- rary water treatment plant to advise them of their responsibilities under guidelines on good farming.

In a letter to the EPA, Mr Tiernan

said regular inspections would be made throughout the vulnerable parts of the catchment area “particularly following significant rainfall events, with a view to ensuring that no ag- ricultural activities are taking place during such sensitive periods which would have the potential to exacer- bate risk to the public water supply”.

He admitted the temporary treat- ment plant was a “reasonable stop gap measure, but didn’t provide the required levels of defence and com- fort against possible contamination which the new plant will do”.

Mr Tiernan admitted in the letter 25 to 30 per cent” of water was not being treated for cryptosporidium.

In the letter to the EPA last Febru- ary and now released to

SENTENCING of a Clare man for sexually abusing two of his daugh- ters has been adjourned, because he claimed he was not told by prison staff that probation officers had at- tended to assess him for a report. The 36-year-old man has been on remand in Wheatfield Prison and told his counsel Gerard Groarke BL that there are four men with the same

name as him in custody there. He suggested that this led to one of them being informed of the probation of- ficers’ attendance, rather than him.

He was remanded in custody last November after a Dublin Circuit Criminal Court jury convicted him on 10 counts of sexual assault on two of his daughters.

The offences occurred on dates from September 2001 to December 2004.

A probation officer told the court she had been advised there were four people in the prison with the same name as the man. She provided the prison staff with his address, date of birth, his prison number and the wing he was on.

She said she was informed a few minutes later that he was unwilling to attend a visit with her. She said she never met him face to face.

She said that another colleague

also attended at the prison to meet the man and got the same response from prison officers.

She agreed she “could not be sure that there was not a mistake on the other side”.

Judge Desmond Hogan said it was ‘a matter of no small regret” that he could not proceed with the case but added that it would be “foolhardy” to deal with the sentencing without a probation report.

He added that he was “very con- scious’ of the age of the accused’s victims and was “very anxious” to deal with the case soon.

Mr Groarke said his client was “ready, willing and able” to meet the Probation Service and had not re- fused to meet with the officers.

Judge Hogan adjourned the case and told Mr Groarke he wanted him to ascertain “how accurate your cli- ent’s instructions are’.

A NUMBER of Shannon town centre businesses have expressed concerns over the final part of the redevelop- ment of the town.

Last month, SkyCourt sought plan- ning approval for two major stores and a courthouse as part of a €60 million redevelopment of the town on aKee

The plan incorporates a 60,000 sq. ft. unit for Dunnes Stores and a further 16,650 sq. ft. of retail space,

together with a new mall and addi- tional car parking.

The project will involve the demoli- tion of the existing Lidl store and its relocation to a larger site within the town centre.

This latest phase of development completes the masterplan for the town centre which was established in 2001 and forms part of the total regeneration of Shannon.

SkyCourt argues that the nature and form of the proposed develop- ment would support the viability and

vitality of the designated centre and would not seriously injure the amen- ity of property in the area.

But in an objection to the plan, Fei- dhlim Hillery of Sean Hillery (Phar- macists) Ltd has expressed serious concerns over the proposal by Sky- Court to remove the car-park to the rear of his business.

He said that he was concerned that the removal of this facility from the shopping mall would seriously erode its attractiveness to all potential busi- nesses.

“T am concerned that this will lead to the abandonment of units — which has already occurred — and to the area become vacant and rundown.”

In a separate submission, former President of the Shannon Chamber of Commerce and owner of McLough- ney’s Newsagency, Eoin Hoctor said that while he was not against the de- velopment, he had genuine concerns in relation to its possible impact on his business if disruption during the construction phase was not guaran- Keteren

Aidan Quish of Shannon Knights also lodged a submission, stating that if planning permission was granted, it would have a significant impact on his property and his ability to oper- ate his business.

“I had previously indicated to rep- resentatives of the developers of the town centre the difficulties with their proposed development but my representations to date have been ig- nored,” he said.

A decision on the SkyCourt appli- cation is expected later this year.

THE Shannondoc out-of-hours GP service suffered a slight financial loss for the second year in succession, ac- cording to its latest figures.

In accounts lodged to the Compa- nies Office, Shannondoc reported a loss of €40,000 to the end of 2006 and this follows an operating loss of €45,000 in 2005.

Asked if there were any concerns over the operating loss, manager of Shannondoc, Larry Maher replied, “No, not at all.”

The accounts show that in 2006,

Shannondoc handled 86,932 calls – an increase of 9,722 or 12.6 per cent over 2005. The Killaloe area showed the highest increase at over 30 per cent, while triage nurses dealt with over 20,000 calls as nurses advise without the need to refer the call on to a doctor.

“Given that Shannondoc provides out-of-hours cover for 274,000 peo- ple, the call rate per 1,000 population per week is up from 5.71 to 6.1 calls per 1,000 population per week.

“People don’t realise the scale of the operation. It provides a very com- prehensive service, but it must be re-

membered that it is a family doctor service, not an emergency service,” Mr Maher emphasised.

The accounts show that Shannon- doc had a turnover of €5.08 million in 2006 — an increase of €300,000 on the turnover for 2005.

However, administration expenses for 2006 amounted to €5.12 million and this resulted in an operating loss of €40,000.

However, Shannondoc’s overall fi- nancial state remains healthy with an accumulated surplus of €100,000 at the end of 2006, while the co-op’s net funds stood at €499,000.

The Health Service Executive (HSE) contributed €3.8 million — up €300,000 on the 2005 contribution.

Prior to this year, doctors paid €10,000 each to fund the service but, this year, the rate decreased to around €6,000 per doctor.

In 2006, Shannondoc received €1 million in doctors’ contributions.

The service is also a major con- tributor to the regional economy, with salary costs coming in at €3.2 million.

The accounts show that Shannon- doc employs 38 drivers, 53 medical staff and 35 administrative workers.

THE Clare Primary School 5-a- side soccer tournament went ahead at the Lees Road astro turf facility last week with a huge turnout for the various competitions.

The smaller school competition went ahead on day one with 24 teams taking part in the boys competition. Lahinch NS had the better of An- nagh NS in the first semi final while Quilty beat Kilkee in the second with Lahinch prevailing over Quilty in the final on a score of 2-0.

A total of 20 girls teams took part in the girls competition. Newmarket NS beat Liscannor NS in one semi final and Quilty NS beat Lisdoonvarna in the second. The Quilty girls avenged the defeat of their boys counterparts when they won the final by 2-0.

The Lahinch boys and Quilty girls will now go on to represent Clare in the Munster finals later in the month.

In the bigger schools tournament, Ennis NS won the girls B event in a thrilling final which saw them pre-

vail over Kilrush NS after a tense penalty shoot-out and in the boys B event, Newmarket were 2-1 winners over Kilrush NS.

There was further success for Ennis NS in the large schools section of the draw when they beat the holy family in an entertaining final by 5-1.

“The event was a great success,’ said Tom Glynn, Clare co-ordinator of the event. “The facilities were top quality as were the referees, from Rice College.”

SPITTING is very serious and can lead to infection, a district judge warned, after he heard that a bar manager had been spat at after he ejected a man from the premises.

Marcin Tkacz (27), of Bruach na Sionna, Shannon, pleaded guilty to assault and two public order charges arising from an incident on Decem- ber 21, last.

Inspector Michael Gallagher told Ennis District Court that gardai were called to Durty Nelly’s bar in Bunratty amid claims that there were problems with a man who had been asked to leave.

“Gardai met the manager. He point- ed out the accused, who was sitting in the back of a taxi,” said Inspector Gallagher.

He said the accused was asked to get out of the taxi and he obliged. However, he became verbally abusive towards the manager Gary O’Toole and had to be restrained by gardai.

“Mr O’Toole alleged to gardai the defendant had already punched him in the face and pushed him against

the wall before the arrival of the gardai, when he was refused entry to the pub,” said Inspector Gallagher.

Defending solicitor Jenny Fitzgib- bon said her client had been out so- cialising with work colleagues.

He had a lot to drink and was “not in aclear state’, she said.

Mr O’ Toole told the court the 1nc1- dent lasted more than a half hour.

‘“T had asked him several times to

get a taxi. He assaulted me at the doorway. He swung a punch at me,’ he said, adding that he also spat at abbeee

Judge Tim Lucey said, “Spitting has become a very serious business nowadays, because of the possibility of infections especially. Where did he spit at you?”

Mr O’ Toole replied, “It didn’t actu- ally land on me.”

The judge asked did the accused have compensation in mind and Ms Fitzgibbon said he had €500 in court, which he was prepared to of- oe

The judge said, “Mr O’Toole, that is not in any way compensation for you being assaulted or being spat at, which is an assault in itself nowa- days. I hope you will accept it as a token.”

Mr O’Toole said he wished the money to go to charity and a recom- mendation of Cancer Research at Cahercalla Hospice was accepted by eemeelebum