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SHANNON-based Halifax Insur- ance Ireland was one of the com- panies awarded the prestigious FAS Excellence Through People award by Labour Affairs Minister, Billy OTS om em os.e

A subsidiary of Halifax Bank of Scotland, Halifax Insurance Ireland has 320 employees specialising in creditor repayments insurance for HBOS customers. All business func- tions are located in Shannon, includ- ing underwriting, customer services, direct sales, finance, information technology and human resources.

Paying tribute to the company, Min- ister Kelleher said the Excellence Through People awards scheme was unique in that it is the only standard dedicated to the role of people.

He went on to stress the importance of innovation and emphasised that “people and corporate culture are in- ternationally recognised as the most important drivers of innovation”.

FAS Director General, Rody Mol- loy added that the FAS Excellence Through People Standard provides a step-by-step roadmap for human resource management and helps achieve bottom-line business results “through valuing, involving and de-

veloping employees”.

The 36 organisations who received this national standard comprise a variety of sectors including retail, hospitality and transport and the to- tal number of employers who have received this accolade now stands at more than 600 nationwide.

A FORMER Clare TD and MRSA sufferer has criticised the HSE for its extravagant use of expensive lime- stone cladding on a “glorified shed” at Ennis General Hospital.

Hospital campaigner James Breen said that with underfunding and over- crowding being blamed for the recent C- diff outbreak at the hospital, he received a number of phone calls in

recent weeks from hospital staff and the general public in relation to a building currently being constructed on the grounds of the hospital.

“This building is being faced with limestone, which seems to be ex- travagant in what I am led to believe is a glorified shed to house electrical equipment for the hospital, while staff and patients have to use pre-fabricated facilities for their needs,” he said.

The HSE has defended the con-

struction of the power sub-station on the basis that it is part of the site master plan and will integrate with it when completed.

“The first floor of the hospital re- development is to be stone-clad and the substation will match it as part of an overall scheme which has passed through the appropriate process of public review,” the HSE has said.

However, the proposed €39 million redevelopment will not commence

this year as funds were diverted to another project in Dublin. It is also unlikely that the project will get un- derway next year unless additional funding can be made available. James Breen says the new construc- tion is totally at odds with the exist- ing hospital building and pre-fabri- cated structures already on site. “This building is completely out of character with the others on the com- plex but more importantly is whether

this €1 million expenditure is justi- fied,” he said.

But the HSE claims that “given the prominent location of the Energy Centre on the site, the overall mas- ter plan and the protected structure status of the hospital, the additional cost involved in achieving the level of finish is not deemed excessive.

In December 2005, the emergency generator at Ennis General failed during a power failure forcing the

A SHANNON woman who special- ises in physical therapy is expanding her business, to incorporate pilates.

Caroline Hannan from ‘Tradaree found that many of her physical ther- apy clients would benefit from doing pilates and decided to organise class- es in Shannon and Sixmilebridge.

She felt that while treating muscle injuries and back pain was of huge benefit to clients, they also needed some type of rehabilitation in order to facilitate a full recovery.

“Pilates is an excellent treatment method for muscle injuries and back problems. The pilates exercises can be modified to fit the needs of each client,’ she said.

Caroline is extremely busy as she works at Halifax Insurance during the day and organises pilates classes in the evenings. As a physical thera- pist, she treats injuries including chronic neck and back pain, sciatica and sports injuries.

She has worked with the Sixmileb- ridge senior hurling team for the past two years.

Caroline has specialised in physi- cal therapy for the past two years. She was awarded her qualification with the Pilates Institute through the National Training Centre in Dublin.

She explained her decision to ex- pand her business: “There were four or five people who came back to me with issues. I felt I was referring them on to pilates so I decided to get into teaching pilates myself. I love it. My aim is to get into it full-time,” she added.

“The classes are very mixed and cater for all ages,” she added.

Caroline is well-known in Shannon, not least for her involvement with the special needs youth club, of which she is one of the main organisers.

The pilates classes take place on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings at the leisure centre in Shannon and on Thursdays at the old courthouse in Sixmilebridge, between 7pm and Spm.

If you are interested in joining one of Caroline’s pilates class- es, phone her on O87 6163384, or alternatively, email her at carneuromuscular@yahoo.co.uk.

CLARE County Council’s policy of banning holiday homes across the county has become even more ex- treme with the local authority over- ruling its own planner to prevent any further holiday homes in Bally- vaughan.

Last month, the council granted planning permission to Kevin Tuo- hy to construct 44 homes in Bal- Ivaughan. In the planner’s report, it was recommended that 19 of the

houses be used as holiday homes, with 20 as permanent residences and five to be used as affordable homes. The planner cited an application lodged in 2005 proposing that a pro- portion of homes be used as holiday homes and said it was reasonable to approach the use of the Tuohy devel- opment homes in a similar manner. However, the planner was overruled by the council and all homes must be used for permanent occupancy, though it is unclear if the Clare County Development Plan proposes

that there should be a ban on holiday homes in the county.

The council granted planning per- mission on the basis that the develop- ment should not commence until the water system 1s upgraded.

This decision has been appealed by Pauline Burke of the Ballyvaughan Lodge who described the design of the houses as “a perfect example of the architectural banality that is spreading like a disease across Ire- land”.

“A cursory review of the Bal-

lyvaughan area will show that the houses that were for sale at the time of our original objection in July 2007 are still for sale. There are approxi- mately 300 permanent residents in Ballyvaughan and this development seeks to increase this by at least 50 per cent – an unsustainable figure in reality.

“Given these statistics, it 1s clear that the developers intend to market the development as holiday accommo- dation. We do not feel that this is in keeping with the current Government

policy on development in villages in the west of Ireland and not in keeping with recent high-profile similar cases in Liscannor and Doolin.”

Elsewhere in her appeal, Ms Burke states that employment in Bally- vaughan cannot sustain its popu- lation and thus commuting is the norm. The N67 bears the majority, if not all, of this traffic and is already at breaking point. The road in ques- tion is full to capacity and congested all day every day. A decision is due on the appeal later this year.

A NEW handbook encourages fami- lies to continue their involvement with children in care.

The Family Advocacy services in Limerick, Clare and North Tipperary have developed a handbook for fam1- lies who have children in the care of

the Health Services Executive (HSE). The book was launched in Limerick in April, by Kevin O’Farrell, child- care manager with the HSE.

The purpose of the advocacy serv- ice 1s to Support families to continue their involvement with their children in care. The service is volountary and confidential to any family member who wishes to avail of it.

The advocacy workers offer fami- lies help and a listening ear on a one to one basis or in a group Setting.

A spokesperson for the service said there are numerous reason why chil- dren go into care.

“It is important to acknowledge that

children go into care for many differ- ent reasons for example, sickness in the home, bereavement or finding life’s circumstances difficult to cope with,” she said.

The spokesperson added that the process can be difficult for all parties involved: “When a child goes into the care of the HSE it is a difficult time for both parents and children. Parents may feel isolated, confused, alone or angry because others don’t under- stand what they are going through.

“The reason this book was devel- oped was to respond to the huge need for support, information and advice for parents whose children go into

care. The involvement, the input and the interest of many of the parents in developing this book has been vital.”

Many of the parents who use the ad- vocacy services attended the launch of the book and shared some person- al feelings on what this service meant Komdsloene

The booklet gives clear information to families who have children in the care of the HSE. It explains parent’s rights, what parents can do in relation to their child in care and what kind of help is available. The advocacy serv- ices can be contacted at Clare Ad- vocacy Service, Clarecare Harmony Row, Ennis.

CREATING energy awareness has earned a school in Sixmilebridge major honours – its second ever PARI E ENE

St Finnachta’s National School won the flag, after it put in a major effort in relation to energy saving.

The previous green flag was achieved in 2006, after the school focused on targeting litter and waste. For the second flag, their task was to focus on energy while not forgetting to take care of litter and waste.

A committee of staff and students at the school, along with local tidy towns committee member Rita Higgins, put together a plan for the

project.

“We began by carrying out a sur- vey on heating and electricity in the homes. There were two different surveys and the results were very in- teresting. We found that most homes use oil for home heating, followed by solid fuel and then gas,” said teacher, Frances Downes.

“The most used electrical appli- ances in homes were chargers of all descriptions,” she said.

Under the initiative, the school as- sessed its oil and electricity usage over previous years and then put measures in place to save energy.

“We checked our expenditure one year later to see if things had 1m- proved. We did very well on oil. We

had halved the oil bill in the school. We had turned down the heating by one degree. Even though the school got bigger, we reduced the amount of electricity used. This was partly due to things like closing the doors and turning off lights when we weren’t using them,” she said.

She paid tribute to the students at the school, who showed a great inter- est in their environment.

“There were energy wardens in every class, to keep an eye on things,” said Ms Downes.

While everyone enjoyed being in- volved, it also took a huge effort on the administrative side of things. An application, submitted to An Taisce, included details on all the work car-

ried out at the school. This contained graphs and descriptions of the work involved.

A representative from An Taisce visited the school and spoke of the importance of keeping the environ- ment clean. The good news that the green flag was to be presented to the school was relayed in January, but it was not unveiled until last week.

Hopes are high that the school can now make it three-1n-a-row and earn its next flag in 2010.

“We will be going for it again in two years’ time, when the theme will be water,” said Ms Downes.

Every effort will be made to ensure that the impeccable standards are again met, with the next project.

ALMOST €24.5 million has been allocated to support the 2008 social housing programme in Clare, with €2 million going to Traveller-spe- cific accommodation in the year.

The 2008 allocation represents a €2 million increase on the figure provided to Clare Local Authorities last year.

The biggest share of the funding will go to the local authority hous- ing programme which has been al- located €18 million with a further €4.25 million going to improvement works.

Welcoming the increased alloca- tion, Clare Minister of State, Tony Killeen said the money will enable the local authority to continue with its house-building programmes

which delivered approximately 120 starts and completions in 2007.

“The county also has an ambitious programme of improvement works relating to existing local author- ity estates with extensive works to be undertaken in John Paul Estate, Kilrush and Inis Eagla in Shannon amongst others. The allocation for this work has almost tripled to €4.2 million,” he said.

“An allocation of €150,000 has also been made to Ennis Town Council for the completion of its central heating programme. Under this programme, the Department of the Environment provides co-fund- ing for the installation of modern central heating systems into local authority houses. Priority continues to be given to installations for older people,” the minister concluded.

that it has bought 17 houses in Clare. A spokesperson con- firmed that the houses were bought

within the past two years.

She said the council was free to purchase housing “inside or outside the boundary”, but refused to say where the houses were located.

A rescue and regeneration initiative for Limerick’s troubled Moyross area means that people have to be relocat- ed while work is taking place. It has not been confirmed that these resi- dents are bring relocated to Clare.

Mayor of Clare Patricia McCarthy said she was concerned as to how the

city council would manage the hous- es it has bought in Clare.

“If the council is applying a strengthened criteria for the new regeneration area then the same cri- teria should be applied in all local authority allocation and HSE rent subsidised housing,” she said.

“IT would be concerned if the city council was concentrating on buy- ing houses on the Clare side of the boundary rather than on the Limer- ick side,” she said.

She said she would also be con- cerned if all of the houses were lo- (OF: Ker OMB NOUN Ol omCT NO GlomreR Rotem

Corbally’s Des Long who 1s chair- man of the Munster Republican Sinn Fein Executive said, “Exporting those involved in anti-social behav- iour by stealth to Clare is no solution to Limerick’s housing problems.”

East Clare Councillor Pascal Fit- zgerald said he would be demanding to know where the houses had been purchased.

AN TAISCE has claimed that the planned €10 million explosives fac- tory at Cahercon would constitute an inappropriate extension of the in- dustrial development of the Shannon estuary.

Appealing Clare County Coun- cil approval for the development of an explosives plant on the northern shore of the estuary, An Taisce point out that there 1s already extensive in-

dustrial development on the southern shore at Foynes Port and Auginish Alumina.

An Taisce Heritage Officer, Ian Lumley has cautioned against the cumulative effect on the proposal in relation to shipping movements on the estuary and night-time lighting impact.

“The application site at Cahercon Pier would result in the development of a Seveso facility which would re- quire high security measures and a

cordon sanitaire.

“The proposal would therefore be prejudicial to the development of sustainable uses of the area.”

Mr Lumley said that Shannon Ex- plosives failed to resolve the reason for refusal by An Bord Pleanala to the previous plan in 2003.

“This decision was made on erounds of the extent of filling on the site; the likely significant effect of the works on local and adjacent houses; and that a significant element of the

proposal was not subject to Environ- mental Impact Assessment.”

‘The applicant has not resolved the primary grounds of planning refusal of the previous application, namely the extent of fill material required on this sensitive estuary site in order to accommodate the proposed develop- ment.

Mr Lumley said the applicants had not provided the required Foreshore License or legal entitlement to carry out the proposed development.

“The applicants have not demon- strated the required legal title to accommodate the proposed marine access at Cahercon Pier and resolved or addressed issues which relate to establishing public rights of way, in- cluding public rights of way to fore- shore and marine access.

“Since An Bord Pleanala has no retrospective power to validate and invalid application, this application should be dismissed,’ Mr Lumley concluded.

THE deadline for entries for the first ever Burren Marathon Challenge is fast approaching – and event organ- isers are expecting a great crowd to turn up for this historic walking event.

The marathon, which takes place on Saturday May 24, will take in some of Ireland’s most spectacular NEMA

Crossing the heart of the Burren, walkers will trek from Ballyvaughan to Fanore through the Cahir Valley before returning to Ballyvaughan via Blackhead.

The deadline for entries is this Sat-

urday, May 10.

“Preparations are all in place and we are delighted with all the support we are getting locally – from the resi- dents and the farmers to all the peo- ple who have come on board to do stewarding for the day,’ said Mary O’Brien from the Ballyvaughan-Fa- noe Walking Club.

“We need at least 30 stewards on the day and I’m delighted to say that we have the most of them already. We will be looking for help. To make this a success we will need lots of help on the ground on the day but we are getting great support.

“We’d love for as many people to get involved as possible – we really

want this to be a event for the whole locality.

“Entries have been coming in the whole time but in the last 10 days or so the pace has really upped. We will do our best to take any entries after the closing date but we really would like to avoid that if at all possible for logistics reasons – so that everyone can have a T-shirt and so that we can have everything ordered and printed Ko) mn na om eth VA

The marathon has been organised by the Ballyvaughan Fanore Walk- ing Club with the support of Clare Sports Partnership, the Atlantis Group including the Burren Coast Hotel and various local businesses.

Registration for the event takes place on Friday May 23 from 6.30pm to 8.30pm and on Saturday May 24 from 6.30am to 8.30am at the con- ference Centre of the Burren Coast sloroe

Each participant has a choice of full, half or mini marathon. All three challenges start at the Burren Coast Hotel in Ballyvaughan at 9am sharp and all three routes will take you back to the finish line at the Burren Coast Hotel for an evening of enter- Bb On eetes OL

For more information or to down- load an entry form check out www. ballyvaughanfanorewalkingclub. com.