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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 Acute services now provided in En- nis and Nenagh will be withdrawn,” the statement issued by the Clare fac- ulty of the Irish College of General Practitioners stated.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.

IN assuming the reins of power last autumn, Mike McNamara was at pains to point out that Clare’s hurling future lay in a re-building process. It was all about “restoring our pride in Munster” — a soundbite McNamara has used many times in the interven- ing months.

How long that journey takes will only be known with time — in the heat of summer battle, this summer or maybe in summers beyond as Clare bid to mix it at provincial level for the first time 1n many years.

The county has only recorded one victory in the Munster Championship since 1999 — that was on a rainy day by the Lee in 2003 when Tipperary were pummeled into submission.

Breaking that cycle of defeat is McNamara’s main focus, something he’s been eyeing up during Clare’s five-match league campaign that fi- nally ground to a halt in O’Connor Park in Tullamore on Sunday with a spluttering win over Offaly.

However, despite it being a poor league in terms of results, it can be deemed satisfactory in the context of the re-building process. Twenty six players saw duty for Clare in the five games.

Some were tried and trusted, with a spine of players from the Clare 2002 All-Ireland final team still in- tact as McNamara set about blending some new players into the fold. The old hands were players like Frank Lohan, Conor Plunkett, Niall Guil-

ligan, Colin Lynch and Tony Car- mody. The big disappointment was that Gerry Quinn, who emerged as one of Clare’s real on-field leaders in 2007 made only one appearance, while he dropped off the panel after a challenge game against Kilkenny in early March.

Meanwhile, a raft of new players were given their chance to shine. Mark Flaherty was on the panel for a few weeks last year, but this term he started all five games and notched up 5-42. David Barrett recovered from his nightmarish debut of being sent off after a couple of minutes against Galway to play three more games; Tommy Holland played in the last three games, while Ger Arthur, Ca- thal Lafferty and Martin ‘Ogie’ Mur- phy were other league debutants.

Others like Pat Donnellan and Dar- ragh Clancy, who featured on panels past were also given their chance to claim championship jerseys. Now it’s a matter and waiting and see who’ll make the team for the | June clash with Waterford in the Gaelic Grounds.

PLANS to demolish one of Clare’s best known hotels to make way for a mixed residential and commercial development is facing widespread opposition in Liscannot.

Earlier this year, Derek, Alan and Petra Logue lodged plans to demol- ish the Liscannor Bay Hotel and, in its place, construct 41 residential units and 444 sq m of retail space.

The Logue are planning to con- Struct six three-bedroom homes, 20 two-bedroom homes, 14 three-bed- room homes and one two-bedroom duplex unit. The Logues are also planning 1,477 sq metres of base- ment parking.

The Liscannor Bay Hotel is located on an elevated site with panoramic views of Lahinch bay and lies adja- cent to Liscannor harbour.

However, the application has prompted a large number of objec- tors to raise their concerns with Clare County Council over the plan.

In one objection on behalf of a number of residents, they claim that the development would have an ad- verse visual impact on the village and its character and would not be appropriate to its setting.

The objection continues that the

development would unbalance the village due to its size and proposed usage and would, therefore, have a detrimental impact on the settlement. They also claim that the development does not comply with the local area plan and that it 1s premature pending the upgrade in sewerage services in the village.

The objectors also claim that there is no need at present for the scale of commercial activity proposed by the harbour; the development is not a tourism development product and will not add to community life in the village in any comprehensive way.

A separate objection points out that Liscannor has been waiting over a decade for improved waste-water infrastructure. The objection states, “No development of this scale should take place until a new, local authority managed facility is in place.”

The objection adds, “It must be re- membered that without the residents and community spirit of Liscannor, it would not be as attractive a place to come on holidays. This very re- source 1S being degraded with the steady dilution of the village char- acter by excessive and inappropriate developments.”

A decision is due on the application next month.

PLANS to market the west Clare capital as a “key economic, com- mercial and administrative centre” through a specially published guide has been proposed by local council- lor Tom Prendeville.

The guide suggested would target prospective settlers and investors to Kilrush outlining all it has to offer.

“This council has been most posi- tive and progressive in stimulat- ing and accommodating economic erowth,” said Clr Prendeville (FF).

“The layout of Kilrush is most at- tractive. As the capital of west Clare there is an expectancy that Kilrush has the capability to create its own vision of where the town would hope to be in 2020.

“That vision would have to be built on a bedrock of economic sustain- ability. We need to aggressively chase investors to establish an indus-

trial base in west Clare,’ he told this month’s meeting of Kilrush Town Council.

‘Nowadays people seek quality of life and this presumes a wide accept- ance of social inclusion and integra- tion and the promotion of vibrant lo- cal communities,.

“An admission that we lack ad- equate services in some area will of necessity be counterbalanced by the many quality of life advantages we enjoy here in west Clare.

“Perhaps at a later stage we can produce a town or regional guide highlighting their advantages.”

Senior staff officer, Siobhan O’Keefe said that while there is no one publication that fulfils that criteria there are many examples of marketing tools that are used by the council including the “Welcome to Kilrush’ brochure, www.kilrush. le, participation by the council in various advertising and _ business

features, and county development board’s “Clare Means Business’ CD.

“In light of the ongoing invest- ment by Kilrush Town Council in all of the above marketing tools, I feel the publication of a new guide as requested could potentially be deliv-

ered through the partnership struc- ture of the West Clare Economic Task Force.

“Kilrush Town Council would be happy to support the task force in the delivery of such an objective,” said Mrs O’Keefe.

ENGLISH clubs are battling it out for the signature of talented Newmarket Celtic goalkeeper Shane Cusack.

Fifteen-year-old Cusack spent last week on trial at Colchester City, where he played against Cork City. It’s the fifth time in the past year he has travelled to play for the Champi- onship outfit.

Others too are monitoring Cusack’s progress, with Leicester City among the clubs keen to secure his services. Leicester know a bit about keepers, having famously given Peter Shilton his start in professional football.

Interest in the 6’3” stopper first emerged following his performances for Clare in the 2006 Kennedy Cup.

He travelled to Colchester in Au- gust 2007 and since then has trained with the club’s first team and started a match in a friendly tie against lower league opposition.

The East Anglian club were impressed with Cusack’s ob- vious physical at-

tributes, sound hands and booming goal kicks.

If, as anticipated, Cusack does make

the move, he would sign a two-year

apprenticeship contract and learn his trade on the club’s Youths Training Scheme (YTS).

Cusack wore the number one shirt for Clare squads at under 14, under 15, under 16 and at

youth level.

This season he made his debut at senior lev- el, between the posts for his hometown club Newmarket Celtic.

A graduate of the eV acm oniCom(ouse my itbee ster Emerging ‘Talent Programme at Lees Road, Cusack caught the eyes of English scouts for his perform-

ances at Ireland’s Premier underage tournament, the Kennedy Cup. Cusack’s rapid progress through the

ranks highlights the massive strides

made in recent years at grassroots level in Clare soccer. Shane’s father Seamus, is proud of his son’s com- mitment to playing at the highest lev- el. “That was the fifth time he was over. It’s a pretty tough schedule over there. You have to be really commit- ted to make it.”

Seamus praised the input of coaches in Clare and of St Patrick’s Athletic number one and Ennis man Barry Ryan. “Denis Hynes (FAI County Development Officer), Ronnie Pyne and Pat Tarrant have been great as well. Denis was his coach all the way along and he did a few coaching ses- sions with Barry Ryan which were creat.”

MARATHON man Pat O’ Keeffe is taking on the ultra challenge in run- ning on April 6, and his efforts are all in aid of a children’s charity.

The Sixmilebridge-Kilmurry na- tive, who now lives with his young family in Quin, will undertake Ire- land’s only on-road ultra marathon in Connemara for the first time ever.

Initially the army man took part in the mini marathon, later progress- ing to the full marathon.

Despite a back injury before Christmas Pat is now planning on the longest race in the country: the 39.3-mile ultra marathon through the hills of Connemara.

His efforts will all be in aid of the Ronald McDonald House.

The father of two became involved in fundraising for the charity when a colleague’s child had to avail of its Services.

The Irish Ronald McDonald House is 15,000 square feet stand- alone building on the grounds of Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Chil- dren, Crumlin.

The house gives a home from home to the families of children who have to stay in the national children’s hospital.

It caters for families, who has to travel a journey of two hours or more to Crumlin Children’s Hospi- tal, and whose child who is hospi- talised or undergoing treatment as an outpatient for five days or more.

The House has 16 en-suite family bedrooms. There are three kitchens and a large dining area.

Pat hopes to support the house with his fundraising effort.

A keen runner since before he

joined the army, this April will be the ultimate challenge in road rac- ing for the athlete.

In order to raise funds for this good cause Pat will be outside Pa- per chase in Dunnes Stores, Ennis next Saturday collecting donations.

He also has numerous sponsorship cards in local businesses.

The kind army man said while he has no fundraising target in mind, he hopes to raise as much as pos- sible for the children’s charity.

The 2007 Connemara Internation- al Marathon has already attracted a sell-out of 3,600 entries with repre- sentation from 30 countries.

A NEW project aimed at balancing the scales of history will take place in the Vandeleur Walled Garden this Maren tee rhs

The “Bring a Story’ open day, which aims to root out some positive stories about the often-abhorred west Clare landlord family, the Vandeleurs, will take place on the ground of their old homestead from |llam to 4pm.

The Inrush House seat of the family was burned out in 1897 and Wednes- day marks the 111th anniversary of the razing of the house.

“We are not attempting to re-write

history,’ centre manager Susanne Matejka explained. “The stigma at- tached to the Vandeleur family as cruel landlords has lived on in the folk memory of west Clare and the burned-out ruins of Kilrush House stood as a reminder of those op- pressed times right up to 1972 when the shell of the great house was de- molished in the interests of public SAAS

“Yet in the 89 years that it survived, Kilrush House was a landmark in west Clare and an outstanding exam- ple of the great houses of the time. As home to the military and political family, which owned most of Kil-

rush and built most of its civic build- ings, the building of Kilrush House under the direction of Crofton Van- deleur was completed in 1808. It was built on classical style rising to three floors over a basement and with 86 windows which were a feature of the building,’ said Ms Matejka.

“We would like to balance up the bad taste which was left by the Van- deleur landlords by gathering what- ever positive information we can,” she added. “As the Vandeleur era is now more than a century distant, we are hoping that locals will have sto- ries which were passed down to them through the older generations.

“We will have people on hand on the day to record the stories or make arrangements to have them docu- mented. Depending on the response, we would also envisage assembling the stories in a publication.”

Ms Matejka is also interested in collecting pictures of Kilrush House before and after the burning and any other memorabilia connected to the Vandeleur estate.

Local people and any other inter- ested parties are invited to attend the centre free of charge for a coffee and an exchange of stories. Information can also be emailed to info@vandele urwalledgarden.ie