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A SHANNON priest who left the parish to minister to the poor in Ec- uador has led the first ever Easter celebrations in his new parish of El Bautismo del Jesus.

Fr Colm Hogan decamped from Shannon to work with the communi- ties in Ecuador who are leaving their homes in the county and living in wooden huts on the outskirts of the city in the hope of better employment opportunities.

But the Shannon curate is already making his mark, having led a con- eregation in the first ever Easter cel- ebrations in the community of the poor and now he’s planning to build a church there.

In letters back to his former Clare parish, Fr Colm explained that they have had to cope with monsoon rain- falls since the beginning of the year, in a place with no running water and no toilets.

“Some days the roads to my par- ish are impassable, there are huge craters, not potholes, developed in the mud roads and the roads that were tarred have either collapsed or just washed away. In all honesty the mud tracks on my brothers farm at home are in much better condition,’ he wrote.

Fr Colm is working with people who are living on the outskirts of a city which is steeped in wealth while his parishioners don’t even have a minimum wage.

“I was chatting to one guy today who is a mechanic in a garage in the city centre, and for 45 hours work every week, he takes home $80, his lunch break each day is ten minutes. Many of the families in the parish where I am based live in straw huts with no sewage or water facilities and basically only one big room, for families of up to ten people. Nights of heavy rains destroy such homes very easily.”

But despite their poverty, the people have “great dignity” and have made him welcome, Fr Colm and his pa- rishioners have now begun work on a small chapel which will hold about 100 people.

‘Much more facilities are needed in time, a central church location, a

parish house to live in, development of some of the schools which are in terrible conditions, a medical clinic and who knows what more,” Fr Colm Said.

There are two accounts open to support Fr Colm’s work, an account in Shannon Credit Union which can be accessed through the Shannon parish office beside St John and Paul Presbytery and the Fr Colm Hogan Ecuador Relief Fund account. The account number 1s 04613076 and the sort code is 93-22-72-AIB Birr.

WEST Clare’s newest football club has been hailed a success with more than 200 members signed up since its inauguration less than five weeks ago.

The Kilrush Ladies Football Club has a total of 182 players ranging in ages from four to 40, making it one of the fastest growing clubs in the eee as

The founders of the club attribute the overwhelming success to local support and a strong local base.

At the launch of the club just over a month ago more than 300 people turned out to support the venture.

Guests of honour on the night were

the 1970s ladies who played for the town in the Cailin Ban competition.

Not only were the ladies attributed the honour of being life-long honor- ary members of the club; they also joined the younger members in the St Patrick’s Day parade.

The young members of the club even won a prize on the day.

Those involved in the club said that the huge support they are receiving locally points to the need for such a club for so long.

Although in its infancy the club hosted this year’s under-12 West Clare Football Blitz, which included well-established teams such as Co- oraclare, Doonbeg, Western Gaels and Kilmihil.

The junior team has already played two games, with the under 16s also having fielded a team.

The club can now boast two nurs- ery groups, with under six and under eight age groups.

These young players learn basic skills of football and simple drills.

There is also an under 10 founda- tion group, and under 11 develop- mental group.

The Kilrush club enters competi- tions for the under 12, under 14 and under 16 age groups as well as for its junior team.

Plans are in place to have a minor ore ROOMoAoIMUCUE NTA

On the night of the launch the Munster Ladies Football chairman

Michael Ryan was very impressed with the enthusiasm for the game among the Kilrush ladies.

He told those gathered that girls who met involved in the game avoid potential trouble down the road. He encouraged the parents present to support the club for this very reason.

The community are also showing its support for the girls as sponsor- ship for all jerseys has already been found.

The recent church gate collection was also well supported, as was the Holy Thursday night quiz.

The next fundraiser for Kilrush’s newest teams will be a bag pack in Super Valu Kilrush on April 4 and a

THE idea of a ground up approach to hurling among kids about to enter the game took off last year with the launch of Go Games in Clare, and this weekend, the second season of the initiative was launched.

The idea is simple, but effective. Allow kids the opportunity to de- velop their basic skills before they’re

put into a match situation. Give them the chance to play, to have time on the ball.

There’s a maximum of eight play- ers per team for the Under 8 games, a maximun of ten per team for the Under 10s and four games can take place at any one time on a standard pitch. The other stipulation is that every player — back or forward — must remain in their zone, with the excep-

tion of the midfielders. Players swap positions at regular intervals and the the emphasis is on inclusion: each player will play at least two quarters in every Go Game.

The blitz schedule for the upcom- ing Go Games season has just been drawn up and the project is now se- cure in the landscape of the Clare GAA. It’s obvious that those who participate stand to significantly ben- efit so clubs, really, should embrace the concept. They should ensure eve- ry parent with a kid who 1s interested in game is aware of Go Hurling’s ex- istence.

The initial kick off takes place on Saturday April 19 at a number of venues across Clare. It continues throughout May, June and July.

For further information on_tak- ing part, contact Peter Casey on O86 6000027, Joe Gleeson on 087 1333430, Sean Chaplin on 086 3613779 or John Culligan 085 1744342.

CLARE’S GPs believe that the death knell has already sounded, albeit very lowly and slowly, for acute serv- ices at Ennis General Hospital.

Following a meeting of some of the county’s most experienced general practitioners and hospital consult- ants, the medics issued a detailed statement, predicting the hospital’s death by a thousand cuts.

The doctors have no belief or con- fidence that 24-hour acute medical, surgical, accident and emergency and intensive care services would continue at Mid Western Regional

Hospital Ennis (MWRH-Ennis).

The meeting strongly maintained that should the hospital lose any fur- ther services, it would be impossible to continue as an acute hospital.

“All available evidence to date in- dicates that Government health strat- egy 1s to centralise all acute services in Mid Western Regional Hospital in Limerick (MWRH-Limerick) and its proposed co-located private hospital. Acute services now provided in En- nis and Nenagh will be withdrawn,” the statement issued by the Clare fac- ulty of the Irish College of General Practitioners stated.

The statement outlined how the

consultant staff of the hospital wrote to the health minister two years ago, stating that it was unsafe to continue practising without a CT scanner. The scanner has not been provided, and the collective opinion is that it will not now be installed.

“The persistent failure to address these concerns serves to illustrate the lack of interest and commitment which exists within HSE manage- ment to address the serious clinical concerns of senior medical staff,” the statement read. “Further evidence of the lack of interest in the develop- ment of services at MWRH-Ennis is indicated by the dereliction of HSE

management in replacing consultant staff who have resigned or retired.” During the past six years, the radi- ology department has been forced to operate using the services of a series of locum radiologists. The general physician who retired five years ago has not been replaced, and the med- ics have little hope that the general

surgeon who retired in January and the second surgeon to retire later this year will be replaced.

“The closure of 24-hour services will be gradual and final. The timeframe for this process is uncertain, but it will probably occur over the next four years, but possibly sooner,” the Clare Faculty of the ICGP predicted.

AN exhibition that highlights so- ciety’s dependence on forestry has opened in the Sean Lemass Public Library.

The ‘Wood of Life’ exhibition is a traveling, hands-on, interactive ex- hibition on the social, economic and environmental importance of the world’s forests through education for sustainable development.

The exhibition is aimed primarily at pupils from fifth and sixth class and second level students.

Run by Just Forests, the exhibition has been a big hit in galleries and li-

braries around Ireland. Just Forests was founded in 1989 in response to global deforestation, making it one of Ireland’s longest established non- governmental organizations. The eroup works solely on global pover- ty-related and tropical forestry/tim- ber issues from a local development perspective.

Just Forests uses society’s depend- ence on wood and the on-going de- cline in global forests as a tool to establish links between the loss of terrestrial biodiversity, development, conflict and poverty.

Tom Roche, spokesperson for Just Forests, said one of the key features

of the exhibition is interaction be- tween the public and the exhibits.

He said, “Its not a typical exhibi- tion. It’s very much hands on, we want people to touch the exhibits. There is an activity sheet that peo- ple can fill out. It’s very much aimed at kids and we’re hoping that all the schools in Shannon will get the chance to come down.”

With the exhibition booked to run in venues around Ireland until May 2009, Tom believes that given the current climate, people are keen to learn about environmental issues.

He said, “We have been touring the exhibition for a while now, but there

are new elements to it. It is an envi- ronmental exhibition and though it we try to explain how important it 1s to manage forests. We have to con- sider why forests are so important in our lives. It is very topical at the mo- ment, because of all the debate about eae oy VM c-v meen be lcame

In association with Just Forests and the Wood of Life Exhibition, Coillte, the Irish Forestry Board has agreed to donate 10 native trees to all schools that visit the Wood of Life Exhibi- tion. Interested schools can forward details to woodlife @justforests.org

‘Wood of Life’ runs in Shannon un- til April 4.

MARY Coughlan has missed a golden opportunity to restructure the milk sector and make it more attrac- tive for young farmers. That is the opinion of Macra President, Cather- ine Buckley, who last week hit out at the Minister for her “disappointing” performance on the milk quota re- eul(qnunwperce

Last Wednesday, Coughlan an- nounced the allocation of the two per cent increase in milk quota.

“It was a lost opportunity by the Minister for Agriculture, Fisher- ies and Food to bring about real re- structuring to the industry,” said Ms

BLU alos

“We are constantly reminded of the poor age structure of the dairy in- dustry by all involved, yet when the Minster is given a golden opportuni- ty to readdress the issue and target a portion of the quota increase to new entrants, she chooses to instead allo- cate quota through a mechanism that favours larger and more established OJ ROLeLU once

Macra na Feirme had called for the targeting of a portion of the two per cent increase in national milk quota to young farmers who want to enter CREDO mys ercemOLULMAYelOm-DuoMebNBuS LOR VaUbOT-ce ble to do so by traditional routes such as inheritance or partnership.

“The real benefit of quota increases to the industry would have been re- alised if this approach was taken,” continued Buckley.

“Larger and long established pro- ducers are the real winners, while new entrants are ruled out from what has become a closed industry unless you have deep pockets to purchase | UCele: Kom) tIKcsmmlelomnnleleinm iam

Speaking at the opening of the new Emmental Cheese facility at Tip- perary Co-op last week, Munister Coughlan defended her position.

The Minister said that she had con- sidered a number of allocation op- tions that had been suggested to her by various organisations.

However, she was satisfied that allocating two per cent additional quota to every active producer active today, April 1, 2008 was the fairest and most equitable manner of al- location in that it rewarded farmers proportionately for the efforts they had made individually to building up their farm enterprises.

“In making this decision I am con- scious of the fact that further quota increases will be agreed in future years as the EU moves in the direc- tion of quota abolition in 2015. I will publish a notice giving effect to this decision shortly. The additional quo- ta will be available to producers with effect from April 1,” she said.

AT LAST, the script changes. It’s been a tough old time not only for Frank Doherty, but also for the small knot of hacks who follow his team around. So far, the posse has been looking for new ways to ask the same old post-game question. “Where did it go wrong, Frank?’ has been our opener for the last two months.

On Sunday, things were different. It was time to address the positives.

“Wicklow are a nice county team, probably on a par with ourselves,” Doherty says from under the Cusack Park stand. “Forget about London and Kilkenny — no disrespect to ei- ther of them — but this was a solid county team today and we had to step up to the mark. So I’m happy, delighted to get the win to be honest because I knew we had to score well and we had to up the intensity.

“I’m tired of saying it but we have a young team and there were a couple of lads out injured again today. But it was great to see the likes of David Russell coming back. He gives that bit of experience and is a help to

those young lads. At the start of the league I looked at Wicklow and said this was a game that we had to win if we had any aspirations at all. It was a game I targeted.

“We had David [Russell] back which was a boost – he’s been a great asset to Clare football down through the years and looking forward, we’ll need the likes of him to help the young lads progress. And Niall [Considine — also back from suspen- sion] had a good first half as well.”

Already, there are other targets on the horizon and there are stepping stones to get Clare there. The first arrives, Doherty says, with Offaly’s visit in a fortnight.

“Offaly will be another challenge, that’s for sure. They’re the serious team in this group, along with An- trim.

“The two of those will be battling it out to win the division. Offaly is a step up, but today’s win was im- portant because winning becomes a habit. As does losing.

“But against Offaly we have to stand up and be counted. If we can get a good result it brings us into the

London game and then it’s just a cou- ple of weeks to the Waterford cham- pionship match.”

For afew minutes, it looked like this win could have been placed in doubt as a result of Ger Quinlan’s sending off, but according to the manager, the mental strength of Clare to come through what could have been a diffi- cult quarter of an hour was pleasing.

“I didn’t see the sending off, I was doing something else at the time, but once Ger [Quinlan] was gone, we worked damn hard and showed some good initiative. There was a lot of determination there to win the ball and that possibly wasn’t there a few weeks ago.

“IT definitely think this win 1s a shot in the arm for the lads and hopefully it’s going to put them in a positive frame of mind. We’ve worked hard in training over the past two weeks, something we couldn’t do with the seven games we had before this one and we stayed the full 70-minutes to- day, which was great.”

He walks off into the dressing room, out of the rain. A smile on his face for the first time in some while.

DOOLIN residents are opposing plans to locate a park and ride facil- ity for the Cliffs of Moher in their AUN E:TSXon

The car park, with 120 spaces, is one of two which Atlantic Develop- ment proposes in order to service the cliffs with park and ride. The other is planned for Liscannor (see above).

Twenty Doolin residents, in their objection, state that “Doolin as a set- tlement suffers from being so spread out and lacking a strong central fo-

cae

It goes on, “The development of a facility such as this in Coogyulla, so far outside the village proper, will exacerbate this lack of focus and will result in a lost opportunity to the village. Located at Coogyulla, the development will draw the village further to this location as further de- velopments locate around the park and ride facility.”

The local residents argue that “no justification has been put forward for the selection of this site for the facil- ity. What makes it suitable and what

will the impact be on Doolin and its environs?

“There is no rural park and ride facility that we are aware of in the country that is of the nature and type that is now proposed and where the park and ride facility is not operated by the operator of the tourist facility for which the park and ride facility is to cater for.”

The residents also contend “that this development should include an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) given the nature and extent of the development and its context. The

location is being put forward without any assessment of its impact on the sustainable development of Doolin and its environs.”

The residents argue that an EIS should be lodged as the park and ride is part of the wide Cliffs of Moher tourist attraction and cannot be con- sidered in isolation but must be con- sidered in association with the park and ride facility at Liscannor

“The social and economic aspects of the location and scale of park and ride facilities should now be consid- ered in the context of Doolin and the

wider north Clare area.”

The objection also includes a let- ter that the council’s former Cliffs of Moher project leader, Ger Dol- lard, wrote to Lisdoonvarna Failte in 2006.

He said, “The implementation of the mobility management strategy will require wide consultation with the communities involved as well as a very practical assessment of the feasibility or otherwise of particular proposals.”

A decision is due on the application next month.

DUCHAS na Sionna’s first newslet- ter highlighting aspects of the herit- age of Shannon town and its environs should have safely arrived in every house in Shannon by now. Those who did not could still pick up one of the remaining copies at the Sean Lemass Library at Shannon.

The formation of the Duchas na Sionna group was initially inspired by a wish to dispel the widely held belief that Shannon was built and developed on some marshy waste- land where nothing of any value or

significance existed prior to modern development. The group was formed by representatives of various other organisations based entirely in Shan- non like the Shannon Archaeological and Historical Society who produce the annual journal “The Other Clare’, Club na Sionna and the Shannon Wetlands Group and representatives of some local branches of national organisations such as Birdwatch Ire- land and Comhaltas Ceolt6oiri Eire- ann.

The current newsletter outlines many of the projects being under- taken by Duchas na Sionna which

will be of interest and significance to residents of Shannon. There are explanations on the historical ori- gins of the names of several local housing estates. There are facts and figures on the extent and signifi- cance of many of the historical and archaeological sites which still exist in the area. There is also an outline of the project to clean up and restore the The Shannon Wetland site which will, with time, revert to it natural state aS a wet meadow and provide a unique amenity and wildlife haven within the urban setting of Shan- non town. The _ restoration of this

wetland site has been supported and sponsored by The Heritage Council of Ireland, and the newsletter itself, which is produced on a fully bilin- gual basis, has been sponsored by Clare County Council.

The work of Duchas na Sionna and its members has been sadly over- shadowed in recent times by the sud- den and untimely passing of Oliver O’Malley who passed away unex- pectedly on Ash Wednesday. Oliver’s many generous and selfless contribu- tions to various aspects of commu- nity life in Shannon will stand as a lasting testament to his memory.

THE new REPS4 deal announced last week by the Minister for Agri- culture and Food, Mary Coughlan, has been described as “unaccept- able” by the IFA.

The organisations Rural Develop- ment Chairman Tom Turley attacked the decision, claiming that the move away from the early payments sys- tem, which he claimed has been a key feature of farmers joining the REPS scheme for the past 14 years, will impact negatively on uptake in the years ahead.

“It is now clear that the targets set out for the REPS scheme in the Part- nership negotiations will not now be

met. Farmers will be very reluctant to change from REPS 3 to REPS 4 until their five year contract period has been completed because by do- ing so they will be moving into a very different payment regime,” he PALO

“The REPS scheme has proven of enormous benefit to the rural envi- ronment since it was first introduced in 1994. Up to 60,000 farmers were in the scheme when REPS 3 closed for applications at the end of 2006.

“The scheme has shown itself to be one of the flagship agri-environ- mental schemes in the European Union delivering huge benefits to the countryside. Farmers who have been out of the REPS scheme for the

past 18 months and who now wish to join REPS 4 will have been without payment for two years following the Minister’s announcement.

“The objective for the scheme of having 70,000 farmers participating by the end of 2013 has been seri- ously jeopardized by the outcome of the discussions between Minister Coughlan and the European Com- mission.”

Earlier last week, the Minister for Agriculture, Mary Coughlan, an- nounced a change in European Com- mission rules which would allow more than 3,000 REPS farmers to join REPS 4 when their existing con- tracts come to an end this year.

“The concession on REPS 4 is

a very significant one. As things stood, the new Commission Regula- tions governing REPS 4 would have meant that most farmers with REPS contracts ending in 2008 would have had to wait until 2009 to join REPS 4 and would not have got any pay- ment until early autumn of next year. However, we have secured a special transitional arrangement for 2008 so that these farmers will be in a posi- tion to start their REPS 4 contracts and get payment later this year,’ she said.

The special transitional provisions are the outcome of intensive discus- sions on the interpretation of the Reg- ulation between Department officials and their counterparts in the Com-