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THE wagons have started to circle ahead of next months WTO talks with the Minster for Agriculture and Food, Mary Coughlan, travelling to Berlin last week for a meeting with her German counterpart, Horst See- etae

According to Coughlan, the pair discussed a wide rang of WTO rfre- lated issues and agreed that the latest developments posed great dangers to EU agriculture and they expressed strong dissatisfaction with the direc- tion the talks were taking.

Both Ministers were agreed on the need for balance under the current proposals and that EU agriculture could not be sacrificed for the sake of a deal.

Following on from her meeting with her German counterpart, Coughlan has arranged a further meeting with Commissioner Mandelson, to take place today.

Coughlan is likely to use the op- portunity to outline her dissatisfac- tion with the current direction of the talks on WTO and the serious dif- ficulties that could emerge for Irish agriculture.

A large number of Clare farmers attended the national IFA protest against WTO in Dublin last week.

“Despite it being a very busy time on farms – naturally more than 10,000 farmers protested. The large rally gives a definite mandate to President Padraig Walsh to try and persuade our government and Eu- ropean politicians for a complete u-

turn on the deal that is proposed,’ said IFA Chairman Michael Lynch.

“No deal is better than a bad deal and with food inflation and scarci- ties in parts of the world why should European and Irish consumers be forced to become dependant on food from South America while their own agriculture industry is made redun- CP Tal a

Meanwhile, speaking in the Dail last week, Clare TD, Joe Carey (FG) put pressure on Coughlan to stand strong on the WTO.

“Mr Mandelson is following an his- torical British obsession with cheap food. The UK can no longer feed it- self and this mode of thinking was fine when they had an Empire behind them but we now live in a different world,” he said.

“You Minister must not fall into the trap of thinking that protection of the Single Farm Payment will suf- fice and keep people happy at this time. This is not at issue here. This is not a time for presentation and mealy mouthed responses.

You have previously not acknowl- edged the seriousness of the deficien- cies of Brazilian beef and at this time both you and the Taoiseach need to send out a strong and unequivocal signal from the Council of Ministers that this deal in its current state is just not on.”

NINE north Clare farmers have come together to form a co-opera- tive to promote their land as a tourist location.

The Burren Farmers Eco-Tourism Co-op, which was established last week, aims to create environmen- tally-friendly means for farmers to make an income in the Burren.

The co-op is designed to act as an umbrella group to help farmers to de- velop the Burren as Ireland’s prime eco-tourism destination. It is the first farmer-led eco-tourism initiative of its kind ever attempted in Ireland.

“T have a farm of around 420 acres and there are loads of things that eco-tourists would find interesting. I have a totally undeveloped natu- ral cave, a silver mine and a calcium mine,” said Michael Davenport, one of the nine farmers who have found- ed the co-op.

“Tf you were to start walking around the land, you would be walking for four or five hours before you would see most of the things up here. A lot of the roads are already in place be- cause I have been using them myself for farming down the years.

“It’s another way of making a liv- ing but it is not for everyone. It suits

me to get involved but there are oth- ers I know who would like to stick with the farming.

“The one thing we would worry about is insurance – but I’m sure we will all come together and get a group insurance scheme that will cover us all.”

The co-op has targeted farmer-led guided walking tours and heritage tours as one of the main activities it can develop as a tourist product.

The nine co-op members have hold- ings which run into the thousands of acres, including a significant part of the Burren’s three major desig- nated Special Areas of Conservation

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The designated land includes an array of monuments, both recorded and non-recorded, and a wide selec- tion of flora and fauna.

The co-op has also stated its com- mitment to upholding both the Burren Code and the principles of ‘Leave No Trace’, which seek to limit the damage done to the area by mass tourism.

The co-op has organised a two- day training weekend on ‘Leave No Trace’ in the Burren on May 24 and 25. Anyone interested should con- tact burrenecotours@gmail.com or phone 087 785 0140.

SEVEN charities will benefit to the tune of €8,625.48, thanks to the fundraising efforts of a group of stu- dents at the Shannon College of Ho- tel Management.

A hard-working committee of 16 staff and students chose the charities and organised several events, over the past six months.

They chose Clare Haven, Cancer Care West, Milford Hospice, Bar- nardos, Breast Cancer Research, the Clare Crusaders, the Children’s Hospital as the beneficiaries of the money raised.

Among the fundraisers organised included a blind date competition, a quiz night, movie nights and a pan- cake morning, along with various

events in the run-up to Christmas.

The fundraising concluded last week, with a fun soccer match be- tween the staff and students. In a game where College Director, Philip Smyth made an appearance, the lec- turers (aided by fourth year students) Tore] tusl¢ mr OO ‘2 0 F

Committee member Stella Sloane said the fundraising has come to a halt, for another academic year at least.

‘The students are finishing for this year and we will start it off again next year,’ she said.

“The biggest amount of money would come from the events at Christmas. We find that people are very supportive of that,’ said Ms Sloane, who is a lecturer at the col- lege.

All 27 staff and 200 students played a role in some way in ensuring that a significant amount of money was collected. However, much credit goes to the committee, who put hours of work in to ensure the initiative was a resounding success.

Student, Des Loughrey-Grant ex- plained the idea behind choosing the seven charities.

“It was decided collectively be- tween all of us. We decided to help local and national charities as we are from all over the country,’ he said.

He said there was plenty of panic and chaos in the run-up to the Christ- mas fundraising.

“Things came to a head. We or- dered hoodies for all of the students, with the college emblem. As we were trying to organise carol signing

in Limerick and Galway, the hood- les arrived at the same time, so there was a lot of organisation involved. We were also trying to study for our exams .. .but we got through it,” he laughed.

“We are really chuffed with the amount we collected,’ he added.

The group particularly wanted to donate money to the Clare Crusad- ers, whose founder Howard Flannery was a past pupil of the college. Mr Flannery (39) died tragically in an accident last June.

COUNCILLORS have demanded that Minister for Health Mary Harney come clean and honour commitments made to the people of Clare regarding the future of Ennis General Hospital. Ms Harney’s credibility came under attack at yesterday’s monthly meeting of Clare County Council.

Members used the occasion to voice concerns over the lack of a definitive response on the future of Ennis Gen- eral Hospital.

Mayor of Clare Patricia McCarthy said current uncertainty and the ab- sence of honesty were a “dreadful indictment of the Government and of Mary Harney herself”.

Cllr McCarthy said, “I have been in politics for over 30 years and the thing I value most is my word. I am not saying Mary Harney is dishonest, but people are giving commitments in the interest of political expediency.”

The meeting was also told that a de- cision over the retention of 24-hour A and E at Ennis General Hospital and on the proposed €39 million in funding earmarked for Ennis rested with Brian Gilroy, National Director of the Health Services Executive.

There was also a warning to Fianna Fail members representing Clare in the Dail and to the party’s local grassroots ahead of next year’s local A TeL wey a Ise

Peter Considine, a senior member of the party and a long-serving mem- ber of Clare County Council, said that while there had been some 1m- provements at Ennis General Hospi- tal, “If that €39 million were to slip off the table, then a lot of people in the county will have to consider their position.”

Cllr Considine, who is recovering from a life-threatening illness, said he owed his life to the staff of Ennis General Hospital. “I wouldn’t have made it to Barefield or Clarecastle, let alone Limerick,” said Cllr Considine.

The chamber was debating a series of motions on Ennis General Hospi- tal. Cllr Joe Arkins (FG) asked that Minister Harney make a definitive statement on the future of the hospi- ee

He added that if past commitments were not honoured, Clare’s repre- sentatives in the Dail “would have to realistically consider their position”.

Cllr Pat Daly (FF) urged all mem- bers to write to Brian Gilroy at the HSE and ask him to keep Ennis Gen- eral open. Cllr Sonny Scanlon (FG) said, “I have the greatest respect for Timmy Dooley and the rest but they are only names.”

Cllr Brian Meaney (GP) said a recent report on an outbreak of Clostridium Difficille at Ennis Gen- eral Hospital highlighted significant ODKOLO) PON sLFO MOO ComorO lO bream E-LOVU IB [oe

MINISTER of State Tony Killeen launched an unusual picture show last Friday night when images were projected on to Ennis courthouse as part of an initiative to involve the public in tackling climate change. From 9pm until midnight adver- tisements from the Government’s climate change awareness campaign were projected onto the outside of the courthouse to encourage locals to engage with the campaign, find out about how they are impacting on

the climate and how they can play their part in addressing this global Otitis

“They are aimed at motivating peo- ple to deal with climate change and remind us that we have tackled other major challenges over the years, such as independence, emigration, unem- ployment and the peace process,’ said the minister.

The 60-second television adver- tisement, which has been _ broad- cast on television over the past few weeks, opens with footage of Eamon de Valera and Michael Collins and

continues with scenes showing chal- lenges that Ireland has faced since the foundation of the State. These include scenes of emigration in the 1950s, UN peace keeping and hu- manitarian involvement overseas, the peace process and economic de- velopment.

It ends with the call to action: “Change Your World; Change the World”.

“The campaign is about much more than advertising alone; an extensive stakeholder engagement programme is Well underway which aims to gal-

vanise organisations across large industry, SMEs, the public sector, education, agriculture, construction and tourism, with information and knowledge to change their behaviour in order to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions,’ continued Minister Ono

Seminars will be held throughout the campaign, starting this month, to inform and to show them how to change their work practices in order to contribute to a solution to climate change. See www.change.ie, or lo- call 1890-242 643.

THE efforts of the Gleann an Oir Residents Association in Shannon have been rewarded, through its se- lection to take part in the Pride of Place competition this year.

The group is one of five projects in the county nominated to participate in the Co-operation Ireland annual competition. Pride of Place, which was first piloted in 2003, emanated from the local authority All-Island

Steering Forum, and aims to recog- nise the contributions that commu- nity groups make.

Over the past five years, several Clare communities have taken part in the competition, including Shan- non and Sixmilebridge. Along with the Gleann an Oir group, the Obair Afterschool Project in Newmarket- on-Fergus has also been chosen to Oe-Du aCe Orem NOON eet Reale tle

The Gleann an Oir Residents Asso- ciation was set up two years ago.

It was the brainchild of Michael Fleming, who felt that some im- provements could be carried out around the area, while it also gave neighbours the opportunity to get to know each other.

According to Clare County Coun- cil, the projects nominated in Pride of Place “best represent” the “depth and breath of voluntary activity un- derway underway in communities across Clare.”

Pride of Place Co-ordinator with

Clare County Council, Nicola Cull- inan said, “The competition offers communities the opportunity to showcase the positive contribution that local groups make to the overall enhancement of their localities.”

The adjudication will take place in June and July and the awards will be presented later this year. The winners in each category will re- ceive cheques for €2,000, while the runners-up will be presented with cheques for €500.

THE dream of winning a place in the National Final of the 2008 Danone

Nations Cup, and possibly going on to represent Ireland in the World Fi- nals in Parc de Princes, Paris in Sep- tember, has ended for valiant Clare Rare b sete

Avenue United and Lifford had won the honour of representing the Clare

League in the South West Regional final of the Danone Nations Cup, which took place on Saturday in Rathkeale.

The competition was fierce through- out the day with several games de- cided by penalties.

Avenue United put on a talented display in the group stages earning them a place in the Finals where they were unlucky to lose on penal- ties to Killarney Celtic (Kerry). To

get there Avenue beat St Brendan’s 2-0 in their opening tie, while they then beat Mungret 1-0 on penalties to secure their final place.

In the shoot with Killarney Celtic in the final out both Liam Kearney (Kil- larney Celtic) and Eimhin Courtney (Avenue United) scored excellent Opening penalties for their respective teams. Shane Cronin also scored a terrific penalty despite Avenue’s keeper going the right way while Brian Guilfoyle’s effort skimmed the crossbar and went over.

When Darren O’Docherty stepped up to take his teams final penalty and despite the pressure he held his nerve and slotted the ball home thus ensuring a trip to the National finals for himself and his team

mates. Elsewhere fellow Clare league representative’s Lifford failed to progress past group Stages.

THE former chairman of the Ennis General Hospital Development Com- mittee has produced a copy of a let- ter which he says he put in the health minister’s hands but which Mary Harney says she didn’t receive.

A spokeswoman for the health min- ister said last week that there was no question of the minister having et- ther received or ignored a letter from Mid-West Regional Hospital Con- sultant, Dr Terry Hennessy, warning about the dangers of an outbreak of C-diff back in April 2005.

But former chairman, Peadar Mc- Namara said he was part of a nine- person delegation which met Minis- ter Harney on that day.

“We read nine scripts to her and Dr Hennessy read his. All nine were presented to her in a folder, including Dr Hennessy’s letter. That folder was put in her hand.”

Mr McNamara said that he person- ally heard the contents of Dr Hen- nessy’s submission read to the min- ister “and it clearly warned about the dangers of cross-infection”’.

The letter made no specific refer- ence to a danger of cross-infection with the C-diff virus, but did sound alarms about overcrowding.

Dr Hennessy said in his submission that average occupancy figures in

the hospital in 2005 running at 120 per cent were “not just uncomfort- able and emotionally distressing for our patient population but it is also frankly unsafe from a medical and surgical point of view.

“Due to the serious overcrowding, there are safety issues with regards to cross-infection of patients and resuscitation of patients in confined spaces.”

Meanwhile, the HSE has lashed back at claims by Sinn Fein that dirty hospital laundry is being transported next to clean deliveries of sheets.

The party’s Limerick representa- tive, Maurice Quinlivan, said, “It has come to my attention that dirty laundry from nursing homes and hospitals is being transported around Limerick, Clare and Tipperary with the clean laundry, severely increas- ing the risk of contamination from infections such as MRSA.”

In a statement, a spokesperson for the HSE said that clean linen is de- livered wrapped in heavy plastic and dirty linen is bagged and transported in metal cages.

‘This is normal practice here and in the UK but, in addition, in the mid- west there is a special sanitising unit in the truck, the only one of its kind in the country. The truck and laundry cages are disinfected daily and a log kept.”

THEY have four marathons under their belts, but the challenge isn’t even 50 per cent complete. Two young Shannon men, who are un- dertaking to run 12 marathons in as many months, in aid of charity, are making good progress in their mis- sion.

Darren O’Connell (32) and Alan Mullin (30) from Tullyglass have so far run four marathons out of the 12. Although they have had a few pains and aches, so far, neither have re- ported any major problems and are still vowing to complete the mam- moth task.

The duo have run marathons in Zurich, Valencia, Rome and Con- nemara and among those they will run over the coming months are Hel- sinki, Berlin, Dublin, New York, Lis- bon and a midnight run in Norway in

June. The final run will take place in Milan in December.

Alan has found that his times have improved with each run — he ran Connemara in three hours 33 min- utes — while Darren has found it dif- ficult to run the 26 miles in less than four hours. But, they readily admit, it is all about taking part and raising money for charity. “It 1s not about times,” said Darren.

The two friends are raising money for Cystic Fibrosis, after a friend of theirs died from the condition sev- eral years ago and are hoping that the people of Shannon will recognise their huge efforts in this challenge.

They found the Connemara run particularly tough, as it came just three weeks after the Rome mara- thon, but it has not put them off.

“I found it really tough, through- out the race in Connemara, but I will have a good rest now for a few

weeks. The next one is the Burren, at the end of May,” said Darren.

Darren lives in Shannon, where he trains, while Dublin-based Alan does his running in the capital. The dark winter nights were tough for training, but Darren is enjoying run- ning around Shannon, now that the evenings are brighter.

Now that the running is going well, the two are now increasing the em- phasis on collecting as much money as possible for charity.

“The fundraising is going well. A lot of people are helping us out, col- lecting money. We will organise a few table quizzes in Dublin and in Shannon,” said Darren.

Dublin law firm Whitney Moore, where Alan works, has come on board, to help them with the sponsor- ship. However they are still appeal- ing to the people of Shannon to help them with their task.

Further details are available on their website www.12marathons.org.

MORE than eight in 10 people in Ennis support the development of a major retail park in the town, a new SUT Voa Ol tbe the

The proposed RiverSide Quarter development at Cusack Park is sup- ported by 84 per cent of people in Ennis, according to the survey.

Crest Retail Excellence Ireland was commissioned by the Aisling Chiosoig Partnership to survey at- titudes of Ennis residents to current shopping choice in Ennis as well as shopping habits and attitudes of resi- dents to the Cusack Park project. “The results show that a world-class retail development within Ennis town centre will be unequivocally

welcomed by most people. It is also the opinion of the great majority of Ennis residents that the proposed Cusack Park development will vast- ly benefit the town’s prosperity,” a spokesman for the partnership said.

At a time when many town centre traders are closing their doors, the Aisling Chiosoig Partnership plans a €350 million mixed-use develop- ment to be known as the RiverSide Quarter.

The 10-acre Cusack Park is cur- rently the subject of a rezoning sub- mission to Ennis Town Council by Clare GAA.

The survey was carried out in En- nis town over the first week in March. A sample of 839 respondents were interviewed on three separate days.