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EIRCOM has finally rolled out broadband to Ireland’s first e-town. As part of its nationwide broad- band rollout programme, Eircom announced it has broadband-enabled the exchange at Miltown Malbay. Commenting on the launch of broadband in Miultown Malbay, Michael Kennedy, Marketing Direc-

tor, Eircom said, “Eircom is delight- ed to announce the roll out of broad- band to Miltown Malbay in County Clare. Eircom is 100 per cent com- mitted to making broadband avail- able to as many parts of the country as we can.

“The enablement of this exchange and the planned enablement of an ad- ditional 20 exchanges across County Clare demonstrates we are deliver-

ing on our commitments.”

A statement from Eircom said that the Miltown Malbay announcement was part of Eircom’s public commit- ment to broadband-enable over 400 exchanges across Ireland, including a further 20 exchanges in the Clare area.

“Our determined efforts to increase broadband availability nationwide means that more than 900 exchang-

es, representing 96 per cent of the working telephone lines in Ireland, will be connected to a broadband ex- change within the next two years.”

Eircom said that it would pro- vide numerous services through its broadband to meet everyone’s needs, including a music portal, live sports and games online, Internet security, file storage and sharing, and wireless connectivity.

HOPES are high that a new public art project will provide a fitting trib- ute to the newly re-developed Clare- castle National School.

During the month of May, a spe- cial subcommittee of the board of management of the school will com- mission a contemporary artist(s) to develop a new art project for the school.

Artists are now invited, through an Open competition basis, to submit proposals to the school and a special site visit is arranged for April 10 for those interested.

The vision is to commission a new art project in the context of the school and/or surrounding area.

The school is keen that the art project will be modern and, in keep- ing with school ethos, would like to see the commission progress in a child-centered way.

However, the school is managing the project in line with the National Guidelines on Public Art, which pri- oritises time for the artist in the com- missioning process.

This public art project is funded through the Department of Educa- tion and Science’s Per Cent for Art Scheme and 1s coordinated by a Pub-

lic Art Subcommittee of Clarecastle national school’s board of manage- ment, with assistance from Clare County Council’s Public Art Pro- gramme and Arts Office.

Seven years after instigating pro- cedures to secure a new school, re- development on Clarecastle National School began in 1996. Apart from the original 1935 structure, which was retained, the rest of the building was demolished.

The new school caters for 290 children, housing — state-of-the-art classrooms fitted with the latest IT resources, library, computer rooms, PE and multi-purpose rooms.

The teaching staff comprises 12 mainstream teachers and three re- source teachers.

A spokesperson for the school said, “The school sees this as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for pupils, teachers, parents and grand- parents, of the broader school com- munity, to engage with a major art project.”

Those who wish to view submis- sions made through the open compe- tition process may view images of the proposed art projects in the school hall on Saturday, May 17, when the school will be open for First Holy Communion.

CUSACK PARK will hold no fear for Kerry minor manager John Kennedy. As the Clare senior football manag- er for three seasons this decade, he familarised himself with every blade of grass at Clare headquarters and although this is his first competitive return since he left the post in Octo- ber 2005, the memories of his time in Clare are still vivid.

“IT had some good days and some

bad ones in Cusack Park” recalls the former All-Ireland winner, “but I must say looking back on my three years in Clare that we put in a big effort – Dave Loughman, Frankie Griffin and myself. There are some great people there. We had a certain amount of success and there were a few disappointing performances also, but it’s always nice to go back and meet guys that I knew on a regu- lar basis and return to familiar sur- roundings. I made great friendships

in my time there and certainly that’s what sport is about. Winning is one thing but I suppose it’s the friend- ships you make and the contacts and they are there forever and it’s in years to come that they will become more important.”

Although Kennedy admits that he doesn’t know too much about the current Clare minor side, through his Banner contacts, he knows the man- agement well and considers Michael Considine and his team among the

best in the country.

“You’re always confident but cau- tious. I would know James Murrihy particularly well and also Michael Considine. These guys are as good as you’ll get anywhere and I’m not just saying that because it’s Clare. They prepare professionally and I know they are putting in a big effort. They have played a huge number of challenges games and in terms of preparations, they won’t be found ween bate

“We’re ready for a real tough bat- tle against Clare because we played them last year in a challenge and pipped us by a point and quite a number of those are underage this year. You’d know by the approach they had that day that they have left no stone unturned and this will be no different. So we’re certainly treating Clare with respect. We are expect- ing areal battle and we are certainly not looking beyond Cusack Park on Wednesday evening.”

THE bravery of a young man, who jumped into the Fergus river in an effort to save a drowning man, was praised last week.

The tributes were paid during an inquest into the cause of death of a young mechanic. Dermot Molloy (21), of Cahercalla Estate, Ennis, lost his life due to drowning last December.

Ennis Coroner’s Court heard last Wednesday that his body was recov- ered from the river in Ennis on De- cember 12, three days after he was

seen entering the water, in the early hours of the morning.

Colman Tubridy recalled being in Ennis, picking up a group of people, on the night of December 9 last. He had arranged to collect the group at the carpark across from the Queen’s Hotel at 2.15am.

He said he got to the carpark at 2.05am. He saw three young men to his right-hand side.

He said the three of them were talk- ing, before one of them backed away from the other two. That young man then placed his hand on the wall and

jumped and went straight into the river. The other two young men ran OD(o ma Kom eb beee

The inquest heard that Patrick Harding left the Queen’s nightclub rare b

In his deposition to the inquest, Mr Harding said he saw a lot of people running towards the Club Bridge. His sister told him that Dermot Mol- loy had jumped into the river.

‘“T went up to Club Bridge and could see him under the trees. I ran back to Abbey Street carpark. I climbed over the wall at the Bagel Factory

and waded through the water towards Dermot.

“When I got to him, I grabbed hold of him and | grabbed a tree with my right hand. We were there for a short period and then I started to panic. He was moving around a good bit. That’s when I lost grip of the tree,’ he recalled.

“We flowed down the river un- derwater, passing under the Club Bridge,” he said.

However he then lost grip of Mr Molloy. Members of Ennis fire serv- ice then got Mr Harding out of the

river, on the garda station side of the river. Mr Molloy’s body was taken from the water on December 12.

Pathologist Dr Vouneen Healy car- ried out an autopsy on Mr Molloy’s body on December 13. She conclud- ed that death was due to drowning.

Coroner Isobel O’Dea said Mr SE Tiebbetoacmese Cova nme (e)00 (eM lowe. @rle sce edged, along with those of the fire Service.

“T think the appropriate verdict is death by misadventure. It’s very sad that a young man’s life was lost in such tragic circumstances,” she said.

AFTER just one year’s work, Ire- land’s first ever e-town has now opened in Miltown Malbay.

Those curious to see what the new homes – that promise work-life bal- ance – look like can go along and see for themselves this weekend.

The €4 million e-town project is the first of its kind in Ireland and construction work on the 12 com- bined home/work units in the scheme have just been completed.

The e-towns initiative will allow people to work from home and has been designed by Shannon Develop- ment as an innovative way of helping people find a better quality of life.

This unique integrated develop- ment combines living and office space with high-tech broadband ac- cess.

E-towns are not just for those wish- ing to find work and a lifestyle out- side the urban rat race. It also gives an opportunity to the students of Miltown Malbay to return home and set up a business when they have re- ceived their qualifications.

The e-town is expected to attract micro-businesses to the area and cluster them so that they in turn could grow from each other and pro- vide further employment.

“With many commuters facing reduced quality of life due to the ever lengthening commute times to work, Shannon Development saw the need to generate a new 2\st-century solution to this growing problem. In launching our first pilot e-town in Miltown Malbay, we feel it is an ideal location in which to live, work and raise a family. It has everything you could possibly want on your

doorstep, including stunning scen- ery, top local amenities and a superb quality of life,” says Paul Ryan, E- Town Project Leader with Shannon Development.

As part of the Cuirt na dTonnta Miltown Malbay e-towns project, people who want to work from home have the option of work units either attached or adjacent to each house on the two-acre, high-tech courtyard site. Developed as either detached, three story and/or town houses, the units are wired for broadband with office space. They are designed to aesthetically complement the exist- ing townscapes, the house sizes aver- age 2,000 sq. ft., with business units ranging from 750 to 1,000 sq. ft.

“The development is designed for people who currently have long com- mutes to work each day and wish to set up a business and could easily

work from home. It would ideally suit micro-businesses in the traded Services sector, or businesses such as graphic design, consultancy, web design, publishing and professional oss ohe

“It is also ideal for people who have already set up a business from home but find their current home is no longer suitable for their growing business needs,” said Mr. Ryan.

To introduce the scheme to the peo- ple of County Clare, Shannon Devel- opment has issued a special invitation to come and view an e-town house at Miltown Malbay at weekends from 2pm to 4pm or by appointment. Just contact Bernie Lynch at 061 710349 and email: lynchb@shannondev.ie.

THE hurricane and the whirlwind may have blown town, but the mis- sion continues for three Clarecastle girls.

Fiona Donnellan, Emma Clancy and Amy McEnery reaped the re- wards from last week’s exhibition match between snooker legends Alex Higgins and Jimmy White, but the work continues to raise funds for the annual Niall Mellon Building Blitz in South Africa.

Fiona, Emma and Amy travel to South Africa on November 28, to spend eight days working in the township of Khayelitsha in Cape

Town. Before going, the girls each have to raise €5,000.

Established as a ‘dormitory town’ in 1984, during the apartheid era, Khayelitsha is one of the youngest and biggest townships in the Cape. The Blitz will take place in one of the oldest parts of the township.

Housing conditions are very poor and the area is also desperately over- crowded, with up to four families in shacks on one tiny plot.

The Niall Mellon Township Trust will build 800 houses for the com- munity here and 250 of these will be completed by the volunteers during the one-week building blitz.

For one of the group, Emma Clancy,

there is a strong family association with the project. Emma will be fol- lowing in her father Michael’s foot- steps when she goes to South Africa.

She said, “We’re going out on the Niall Mellon building trip. They go to South Africa to do a 10-day stint every year. We’re heading out on No- vember 28 to December 6. So hope- fully it will all go well for us. My Dad, Michael Clancy, has been going for four years. Hopefully we’ll do a bit of building ourselves.”

Last Saturday’s high-profile fund- raiser came about through a meeting between Clare FM journalist Fiona Donnellan and one of the event or- ganizers.

Emma explained, “It was through Kevin. Fiona gave him a bit of air- time on Clare FM and he said if they ever came back to do something like this, he would keep us in mind.”

The Niall Mellon Township Trust was established in 2002 to provide homes to the impoverished com- munities in the townships in South Africa.

THE mother of three who suffered a cancer misdiagnosis has issued a heartfelt plea to the HSE’s chief ex- ecutive to ensure no woman is ever put in such a life-threatening situa- tion again.

In an open letter to professor Brendan Drumm, Rebecca O’ Malley launched a damning attack on the Health Services Executive. Rebecca,

from Ballina/Killaloe, was wrongly given the all-clear after tests for breast cancer in 2005 at the Mid- West Regional Hospital in Limerick and Cork University Hospital.

The misdiagnosis led to a potential- ly lethal 14-month delay in starting treatment for her condition. The 42- year-old went public on the mistake, which led to an investigation and re- port by the Health Information Qual- ity Authority (HIQA), the results

of which were published last week. The misdiagnosis was due to an er- ror, but could have been put right if the hospitals had used the recom- mended multi-disciplinary review of her case.

In her letter, Mrs O’Malley chal- lenges the HSE to name the rec- ommendations of the HIQA Which it says have already been implemented. She also calls for the appointment of an official to ensure

that all 15 recommendations are put in place.

Mrs O’Malley asks Dr Drumm to “please learn from the mistake and take us all into your confidence by adopting a new form of communica- tion with your patients”.

After the publication of the report last week, the Tipperary woman said she feels “achingly sad at the breadth and extent of the institution- al deficiencies which let me and my family down so badly and exposed me to such grievous and continu- ing danger. I am now left with vivid mental images of surgeons blindly poking their fine needles into pa- tients’ breasts without always having the obvious and beneficial assistance of ultra-sound equipment to guide their hands.”

The HSE said that it “accepts the report’s 15 recommendations which relate to clinical and process issues, a number of which have already been implemented and others are in the process of being implemented. Their implementation will be overseen by the National Director of the National Hospitals Office working with the Director of the Cancer Control Pro- rea: beeu selon

Commenting on this report and a separate report into procedures for breast treatment at Barringtons, Health Minister Mary Harney said she is “determined that each of these reports will lead to improved stand- ards of patient safety and patient care in all healthcare settings”.

A DISTRICT Court judge has spo- ken out against at a challenge taken in relation to the alcolyser.

A case 1s being stated in relation to the validity of the alcohol-testing ap- paratus and is due to come before the High Court in the coming months.

The case relates to the availabil- ity of source codes on the machines

UEtexem

In the interim, dozens of drink- driving cases are being adjourned in the district court.

At Ennis District Court on Friday, Judge Tim Lucey was asked to ad- journ a drink-driving case, pending the conclusion of the challenge.

He said, “I think it’s nonsense my- self. It’s not a matter of life or death.

“Anyone getting on an aeroplane

relies on codes. It’s the same with cars. You press the brake, you are perfectly happy to rely on it, but it 1s different when it comes to alcohol in the system.

“It’s nonsense. The sooner people cop on, the better. I think we are losing the run of ourselves when it comes to that kind of thing,’ he Sr HLG

““T think the law is the law as it 1s,

until it’s changed,” he said.

However, he noted that Judge Joseph Mangan, who regularly sits in the district, has granted adjourn- ments and said he would do the same.

“IT wouldn’t grant it if it were me,” he said.

He adjourned the case until June, by which the outcome of the High Court case should be available.

A CLARE County Councillor has called for measures to be put in place to ensure that the taxpayer will not have to pay for security operations at Shannon Airport when expected dig- nitaries do not arrive.

The Green Party’s Brian Meaney wants to know who will pay for the security operation at Shannon last weekend when US President George W Bush was expected on a refuelling stop, and how much was spent.

“This is the second time Mr Bush has failed to land here, despite costly security operations being undertak- en. I appreciate there is a reciprocal protocol between states to provide security for visiting dignitaries but where that dignitary does not turn up, their government should pay the bill, not the Irish taxpayer,” he said.

Air Force One was expected to land at Shannon at 4pm on Sunday but the Presidential jet overflew Shannon while a second support aircraft, Air Force 2, believed to have been carry-

ing senior US officials, made a tech- nical stop at the airport.

Security around the airport was tight from early morning with over 200 personnel from the Garda and Defence Forces drafted in, although it had never been confirmed to gardai or Shannon authorities that Mr Bush would definitely land. He was re- turning to Washington from a NATO summit in Bucharest and a visit to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s holiday retreat on the Black Sea.

The operation involved the US Se-

cret Service, Gardai, Army and Aer Corps. Gardai were posted at loca- tions around the airport while all access roads to the aerodrome were closely monitored by mobile patrols. Checkpoints were also mounted while an Aer Corps helicopter car- ried out aerial surveillance.

A team of garda motorcycle outrid- ers from Dublin Castle was sent to Shannon in case the President had to be taken from the airport for any rea- son. A mini-cavalcade, comprising one of the President’s official cars as

well as personnel carriers for Secret Service agents, was also on standby.

The security operation was wound down shortly after 3pm following confirmation that Air Force One would not be landing at Shannon. It is estimated that the deployment could have cost as much as €250,000.

On May 10, 2005, a security op- eration was mounted in anticipation of a similar stop by the President. However, that was cancelled just two hours before his plane was due to touch down.

CLARE Youth Theatre will per- form their production of the classic “To Kill a Mockingbird’ in Glor this Neto) .e

Based on the book by Harper Lee, the story is set in 1930’s Alabama at the height of the American Depres- sion and addresses the themes of racism, poverty, honour and rites of passage as seen through the eyes of a young girl.

The cast is comprised of teenagers from across Clare and the globe, in- cluding Ennis, Ballyvaughan, Lahi- nch, Liberia and Bosnia.

The cast have been rehearsing since last September every Saturday in Glor and, together with their direc- tor Eleanor Feely, have adapted the book for performance, scripted ad- ditional scenes, designed the set and are creating live music for the per- formance.

This is the third production by CYT. The previous shows were “The Story of Eyam’ in 2006 and ‘Alien Nation’ by Max Heffler in 2007.

Earlier this year, another cast, com- prising members of the CYT, pre- sented a show entitled ‘Streetscape’, directed by Theresa Leahy, which took a jaundiced look at the received

concepts and attitudes towards men- BDO N LoTR

Director Eleanor Feely said the cast were keen to meet the challenge of bringing an established classic to SRR SX or

She said, “This year we decided wed like to have a go at a classic. I love books, obviously, and I knew that this particular book was on the school courses. I thought I’d like to have a shot at it and bring the young people with me on another journey. I thought we could adapt it ourselves.”

Eleanor added, “The whole book is about prejudice, about fear of differ- ence more than anything else. People

usually associate the book with be- ing about racism. | don’t think that is its main theme. I think it is probably fear of difference as seen through the eyes of the young.”

The Clare Youth Theatre is an ini- tiative of the County Arts Office and is dedicated to excellence in artistic endeavor through developmental cre- ativity. The company 1s also aligned to the National Association of Youth Drama (NAYD), which allows ac- cess to national and international theatre events and practitioners.

‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ runs in Glor on April 10 and 11 at 8pm. Informa- tion and tickets from Glor box office.