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THE director of Shannon Airport Authority (SAA) and the chairman of Shannon Development come out in support of a planning applica- tion for a multi million euro tourism project on Lough Derg.

Last month, the €100 million plan was lodged with Clare County Coun- cil to convert a health spa formerly jointly owned by Paschal Carmody into one of the country’s leading resorts. The former Killaloe doctor and his wife, Dr Freida Carmody, sold Tinarana House – on the shores of Lough Derg – to Limerick devel- opers Joe Hanrahan and John Shee in the summer 2006 in a multi-mil- lion euro deal.

In the largest single investment in the east Clare economy in a number of years, the developers have stated that 200 permanent and temporary

jobs will be created when the centre becomes operational, while a further 200 jobs will be generated through the construction of the development.

The plan includes that the refur- bishment of TJinarana House; an 18-hole championship golf course designed by designer, Jeff Howes; a spa and wellness centre; a 32-bed- room aparthotel; multi-purpose ban- queting and function/conference fa- cilities; 155 two-bedroom short-term accommodation units and an eques- trian holiday village.

An Environmental Impact State- ment is being lodged with the ap- plication and Tinarana Ltd are esti- mating that the resort will contribute €30 million to the regional economy every year and €8 million to €10 million for the local economy.

Despite of the scale of the project, the planning application has received no planning objections from locals.

Instead, the director of the SAA, Martin Moroney, has taken the unu- sual step of making a submission on a planning application offering the au- thority’s support. In the submission, Mr Moroney states, “I wish to support the integrated tourism development proposed for Tinarana House.

“The development will enhance the tourism product offering in County Clare and will increase the attrac- tiveness of the region to international visitors. The project will contribute to the growth of Shannon Airport.”

Chairman of Shannon Develop- ment, Kerry county councillor John Brassil (FF) has also offered his written support for the project in a separate submission.

Joe Hanrahan said, “I believe that our proposals are a vote of confi- dence in the future of east Clare and the Lough Derg area.”

A decision is due later this month.

A NEW report highlights the contri- bution of primary schools to the fight against litter in Ennis.

Ennis Town Council launched the Ennis Environmental Challenge in July 2007 with the aim of building on Ennis’s success in the National Tidy Towns competition.

One of the principal aims of the scheme was to generate commu- nity wide responsibility and owner- ship for the appearance and tidiness of Ennis. Along with community eroups and residents associations, schools in Ennis also took up the challenge.

Their efforts were rewarded at the Best Kept Schools competition where first prize was awarded to En- nis National School, second prize to Scoul Chriost Ri and third place to St Anne’s school. Both the Holy Family Senior School and the junior school were highly commended for their ef- forts.

The council’s report praised the fantastic work done by the schools and stated “as well as undertaking amenity projects in school grounds, children are now involved on an on- going basis on litter patrols within school grounds and various projects were undertaken during the year”’.

The report states, “The Best Kept

Schools competition continued to foster greater environmental aware- ness and education amongst primary school children which was evident es- pecially among those whose schools had acquired green flag status.”

The report also reveals that Ennis Town Council spent €784,000 on street cleaning in 2007 and that the council’s environmental programme had expenditure of €468,000.

According to the report, the en- vironment section of the council received a total of 570 complaints, enquiries related to litter and envi- ronment in 2007. 87 abandoned ve- hicle notices were served on vehicles on public spaces within Ennis and 35

of these were removed.

At the March meeting of Ennis Town Council, Fianna Fail council- lor Joe Reidy said a problem existed with cars for sale on public roads.

Town Clerk Eddie Power said, “If people persist to do that, then it is a prosecutable offence. We will con- sider our options and putting up signs to remind people is one of them.”

Fine Gael councillor Mary Coote Ryan said more needed to be done to remove litter from laneways in En- eh

Fianna Fail councillor Tom Glynn paid tribute to former Tidy Towns chairman Donal Griffin and congrat- ulated new chairman Noel Crowley.

in response to a Freedom of Information request show that there was never a prospect of the mid-west securing the €53 million sought since July 2006.

In January, the Ministers for Trans- port and Tourism announced details of an economic plan in advance of the ending of the stop-over the next month. The tourism minister, Sea- mus Brennan, stated that the monies involved would amount to €15 to €20 million over the next number of years.

A senior Department of Tourism official described the €53 million demand, made up of €44 million in Government aid over several years plus a once-off payment of €9 mil- lion, as “off the wall’.

“€44m over five years is off the wall. How much do we spend direct- ly or indirectly on marketing in Ire- land? Maybe that over four years?” he said.

He added that the Mid West Re- gional Authority demand for <€44 million “was always totally unrealis- tic and has done much to undermine the credibility of its broader case. If there are real marketing needs, these are likely to be far more modest. “The demands need to be tempered by realism and, of course, the strong possibility that major concessions to Shannon could give rise to copy- cat demands from other parts of the country. Throwing marketing money at Shannon is not the solution to the challenges facing it.” The memo, dating from early last year, goes on: “Also, the ongoing uncertainty about ‘open skies’ does mean that we have to avoid a situ- ation where we would embark on ‘open skies’ related initiatives only for them to go off at half cock due to delays in negotiations. “We understand that the Minister for Transport has a draft economic and tourism plan for Shannon, but the contents of that may not be earth Jerlaroowentee “If there are extra funds, this might allow for the implementation of the north American strategy in full, though in a convoluted way. “Our view is that marketing funds Should be for the wider catchment, be put through the super regions mecha- nism and be in accord with the north American strategy.” In March, an internal departmental memo stated that the proposed annu- al spend by the Mid-West Regional Authority “of €8.8m would actually exceed the entire marketing of Tour- ism Ireland in the US market which is, of course, to promote the entire island of Ireland”.

SECTIONS of the Clare fishing in- dustry are on the verge of collapse as a result of the all-out ban on wild salmon fishing.

The ban, which was introduced last year, has already resulted in a number of fishermen leaving the industry, with many others being forced to switch to the already crowded lobster and crab sector.

According to one west Clare fisher- man, the Government has abandoned GET com ER ialouselosMO Om Asim ITI (on

“It’s affecting an awful lot of peo- ple, from Loop Head right up to Black Head. It’s very difficult for any of us to keep going. The salmon was our big thing. We had 32 days a year and in those days we were able to pay for the rest of our fishing for the whole year. But that is all gone now, said Quilty fisherman Michael Crane

“The compensation being offered by the Government won’t make one inch of difference to the fishermen in ETc

“The bottom line is that Govern- ment didn’t do its job on this. We have got no back-up here at all, we have just had to take everything on the chin and get on with it. We have no choice and the Government doesn’t seem to care.”

According to Mr Galvin, fishermen are being forced to either leave the industry altogether or switch to the already well served lobster and crab sector.

“The navy are out there checking us every day. When we come back to port, we are met every day by people going through our catch, checking all the fish. Everything we land is gone through,” he continued.

“There are lot of people who just can’t cope with it. People are leaving the business all over the place. The

only choice is to try and get into lob- ster or crab but there 1s enough peo- ple already doing that and it’s just putting more pressure on people.

“It just doesn’t pay anyone to get in a boat and go out there and fish. Peo- ple are walking away from it all over the county. They have no choice.”

Meanwhile, Minister of State and Clare, Tony Killeen last week said that the Government remained com- mitted to helping Clare communities to diversify and reduce the effect of the loss of income from wild salm- on.

His comment follows the announce- ment of an allocation by Minister Eamon Ryan and Minister Eamon O’Cuiv of €200,000 to Rural Re- source Development Ltd.

EXHIBITIONS and demonstrations of age-old skills will bring prehis- toric Ireland to life at the Clare Mu- Nol Uuse brat e eee

Heritage Education week will run at the Clare Museum from April 8- 11. The main purpose of the four-day event 1s to generate greater interest and encourage appreciation of Ire- land’s heritage in a practical and pu- Um Rule ICUAaae-NA

The event coincides with the dis- play at the museum of a rare 2500 year old Iron wooden bowl.

The bowl was discovered during excavations along the N18 bypass and the N85 western relief road.

Heritage education week kicks off

on Tuesday, April 8 when specialists Simon and Maria O’Dwyer will give a presentation and demonstration of prehistoric musical instruments of Ireland. Simon has been employed as a heritage specialist by the INTO and the Heritage Council for the past seven years. He has conducted stud- ies into prehistoric and medieval mu- sical instruments in Ireland.

One of the highlights of this event will be Simon’s playing of replica’s of Bronze Age and Iron Age horns.

Three such original Bronze Age horns are displayed in the museum and the event represents for the stu- dents present a unique opportunity to hear and experience these sounds not usually heard in these parts for over 2,000 years.

On Thursday, April 10, students from Clare will get the opportunity to witness a demonstration of the traditional Traveller craft of copper Seon ioperee

The demonstration will be per- formed by members of St. Joseph’s Traveller Training Centre in Ennis.

The copper craft group at the Train- ing centre have been showcasing their skills at festivals and events around Ireland for the past two years.

In March 2007, the centre earned national recognition, when three members showcased the art of cop- per craft at the fourth annual Cork lifelong learning festival.

Last year, the centre also donated seven copper items including buck- ets, pots and scuttles to the Cork

public museum for a permanent dis- eA

It was the first time a permanent display of Traveller culture had been showcased in a national museum.

Metalcraft instructor Brian Cros- sen explained the group were de- lighted to be part of Heritage Educa- tion Week.

“We were out in Barefield Nation- al School during the week doing a similar demonstration. It was a good idea by the school because it’s great for the kids to see the demonstration up close.

“We are going to be doing the same thing for Heritage Week, in the mu- seum, so yeah, I think it’s a good idea because it brings to life for the jae Kae

THE European Commission is to launch a pan-EU public survey of invasive flora and fauna species. These invasive alien species disrupt local flora and fauna and cause con- siderable damage to nature and the economy.

The findings will feed into an EU framework for invasive alien species to be adopted by the end of this year. In Clare, the invasion of rhododen- drons, Japanese knot weeds and hog- weed are having a particular impact on the local flora.

Parts of west and north Clare have been infested with Japanese knot weeds while Lough Corrib in Galway has been invaded by Lagarosiphon, a

weed native to southern Africa that suffocates the lakes ecosystem by creating a dense canopy impervious to light.

Ireland’s biodiversity is also under attack from non-native grey squir- rels, who compete with native red squirrels.

“Europe is committed to halting the loss of biodiversity by 2010. We know that invasive species are one of the major threats to biodiversity, and that economies often suffer as a result, but we lack a harmonised system for tackling the problem and assessing its impact,” said EU Com- missioner Dimas.

“A strong public response to this survey will help Europe define the problem more clearly, and ultimately

help us develop a suitable mecha- nism to halt it altogether.”

The European Commission is tack- ling this problem by launching an internet consultation on the issue until May 5. Interested parties, in- cluding individual citizens, industry and consumer representatives, inter- est groups, the NGO community and other organisations are all invited to contribute information and opinions. The results of this consultation will be used to inform the development of EU policy in the field of invasive alien species, the options for which will be presented in a communica- tion from the commission at the end of 2008.

Ecosystems are dynamic by nature, and many species become estab-

lished far from their place of origin.

These new introductions are often the result of human action — Europe’s rhododendrons originated in the Himalayas, and staples of the Euro- pean diet such as tomatoes, potatoes and maize originated in the Ameri- cas.

But while many introduced spe- cies bring considerable benefits to local economies, others upset the balance and proliferate in ways that are highly destructive to the environ- ment and to economic and human interests. This consultation is a first step to address this problem on a Eu- ropean scale.

You can take part in the survey. Simply check out www.invasivespe- ciesireland.com

A THREE-year building project to construct a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal on the Shan- non Estuary is to begin shortly.

The EPA report attached to the €400 million project in Tarbert and Ballylongford states that the danger to the people living nearby and to the environment is very low.

The report said, “The resident im- pact of the proposed development on human beings will be a positive eco- nomic and employment effect.

“Results from the quantitative risk assessment show that the risk to in- dividuals living and working around the facility would be very low when compared with other ‘everyday’ risks.

“The existing residence around the terminal lie outside of the Health and Safety Authority’s respective land use planning zones.”

Once up and running, the natural gas will be pumped from tankers to storage tanks, then converted to natural gas before being piped to end users.

The terminal will include a ma- rine berth, jetty and secure mooring, LNG offloading facilities, storage tanks, and vaporisers to turn LNG from a liquid back into a gas.

The gas will then be connected up to the national gas grid.

The terminal will be built on 281 of the 600-acre land bank owned by the State for large-scale maritime-re- lated industry.

Shannon LNG, which is an Irish subsidiary of Hess LNG, outlined a number of reasons as to why the terminal was first proposed for the

Shannon estury. Among these was the exhaustion of gas fields.

“The Kinsale Head Gas Field is now nearly exhausted” and the “UK North Sea reserves are rapidly de- pleting,” it stated.

In an outlining brochure on its plans, Shannon LNG claimed that its natural gas is one of the safest and least environmentally hazardous en- ergy sources.

“LNG has had an exemplary oper- ating history and all these facilities have been operating without seri- ous public safety incidents, some for

more than 30 years.”

It stated that the construction and operation of the facility would be regulated by Government depart- ments and agencies including Kerry County Council, An Bord Pleanala, the Environment Protection Agency, the Health and Safety Authority, the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources and the Commission for Energy Regula- tion.

“Trish and international regulations and standards will govern the design and operation of the facility.”

IT was all green action at Ogonnel- loe National School last week, when rosy-cheeked pupils and staff braved the elements to plant apple trees.

Last Thursday, members of the Irish Seed Savers Association (ISSA) came to the school to plant three apple trees under a grant scheme, which is a joint venture between the Department of Agriculture, under the Genetic Conservation Fund, and the ISSA.

“Under the scheme, funding has been set aside for planting native ap- ple trees in schools,’ School Secre- tary, Joanne Allen said. “The staff,

pupils and parents really enjoyed this event,’ she added.

Eleanor Walsh, Chairperson of the school’s parents association said the event “continues in the green schools theme and it allows the children be more aware of their own contribution to the environment, which 1s not in- significant. Every time they recycle, pick up rubbish or even bring their lunch wrapper home they are making a difference and making the world a better, cleaner place for everyone.”

The theme of the planting day links into the natural environment and Irish heritage and is linked to key strands of the primary SESE (Social, Environmental and Scientific Edu-

cation) and SPHE (Social, Personal and Health Education) curriculum.

While youngsters taking part in the planting got a birds eye view of where their delicious apples come from, the event will continue to promote the school’s healthy eating policy as the trees – and the children – grow.

The ISSA is a voluntary organisa- tion dedicated to the location and preservation of traditional varieties of fruit and vegetables. In the early 1990’s ISSA began a search for the last surviving traditional Irish varie- ties of apple.

They have now found more than 140 different types of Irish apple trees which are all thriving in their

orchards and where they were origi- nally found – in people’s gardens. Native apples are more intense in flavour than those now grown com- mercially.

Special membership offers are available to support the work of the ISSA and members get discounts on any seeds and trees they buy.

For details, contact Aine Ni Fh- latharta 061 921866, the education officer at the Capparoe site, Scariff, for more information on ISSA.

THE 2008 Cheltenham Festival will go down in history as a landmark meeting which saw the abandon- ment of racing due to high winds on Wednesday but the main reason last week’s action at Prestbury Park will live long in the memory is due to the brilliant performances from a triumvirate of national hunt stars, Denman, Master Minded and Inglis Drever.

Despite the pressure on the fixture list, the Gold Cup still held onto its’ position as the feature contest on a bumper nine-race card on Friday and it is hard to remember a horse race that was so eagerly anticipated by the racing world. The big clash between Kauto Star and Denman even made its’ way onto the pages of the non- racing papers as the outside public could not resist the engaging battle that was promised between the two chasing stars who are near neigh- bours at the stable of Paul Nicholls.

As many pundits, fronted by Den- man’s ebullient part-owner Harry Findlay, correctly predicted, Den- man’s power and relentless galloping style proved too much for the reign- ing Gold Cup champion who had no answer to the punishing pace set by the eight year-old son of Presenting. The winner of his only point-to-point start for Adrian Maguire at Liscar- roll, County Cork in 2005, Denman (9/4) was settled in second place be- hind his stablemate, Neptune Collon- ges, before taking control under Sam Thomas as the field headed out on the final circuit. A heavily backed 10/11 favourite to claim his second Betfair Million, Kauto Star never looked at ease on the tacky ground and he also made a few uncharacteristic jumping errors in contrast to the impressive fluency of the winner. The much- hyped contest never materialised as Denman had the race won a long way from home and he maintained his unbeaten record over fences with a decisive seven lengths verdict over Kauto Star who stayed on strongly to his credit despite not performing at his best. Neptune Collonges ran a fine race to complete a historic 1-2- 3 for Paul Nicholls, some 25 years

after Michael Dickinson saddled the first five home in the Gold Cup.

It is hard to believe that Denman’s demolition job could be eclipsed by another horse at Cheltenham but that is exactly what happened when Master Minded (3/1) produced a breathtaking performance to turn the Queen Mother Champion Chase into a one-horse race. The French bred five year-old, who raced in the Clive Smith colours of Kauto Star, was sim- ply awesome in the manner in which he brushed aside Voy Por Ustedes by nineteen lengths and Ruby Walsh’s post-race assertion that the winner is a “machine” only confirmed what our eyes had told us that Master Minded has the chasing world at his feet. Paul Nicholls will have a nice headache trying to keep his three stable stars apart next season and the Ditcheat maestro has already hinted that the

Gold Cup principals are unlikely to meet next season until renewing ri- Neb Yar-1 Om Oo Ted ike sDet-beee

Already a dual winner of the race in 2005 and 2007, Inglis Drever wrote his name into the history books when claiming his third World Hurdle title on Thursday. Given a fine ride by the Galway Plate winning jockey, Denis O’Regan, Inglis Drever (11/8f) was many people’s banker of the meet- ing and Howard Johnson’s admira- ble nine year-old did not disappoint his supporters with a typically de- termined performance to hold off a strong challenge from the French horse, Kasbah Bliss with the Eoin Griffin trained Kazal running a cracker back 1n third.

The Champion Hurdle proved a big disappointment for the strong Irish contingent who were seeking to win the opening day’s feature

for the eighth time from the last ten runnings. All seemed to be going to plan when Sizing Europe smoothly moved to the front under Andrew McNamara to challenge at the sec- ond last while last year’s winner, Sublimity, was also travelling well in behind under Philip Carberry. Things changed dramatically in the closing stages however as Sizing Eu- rope capitulated dramatically and it was later discovered that Henry de Bromhead’s six year-old had pulled muscles in his back. The John Carr trained Sublimity could not go through with his challenge on the rain softened ground and it was left to the Alan King trained Katchit to continue his love affair with Chelten- ham with a typically gutsy victory over Osana at odds of 10/1.

The number of Irish trained win- ners was seven at this year’s Festival

which was a respectable tally consid- ering the defeat of many fancied run- ners like Zaarito, Mossbank, Sizing Europe and Wonderkid. The roll of honour for the Irish contingent was Captain Cee Bee (Supreme Nov- ices’ 17/2), Garde Champetre (Cross Country 4/1), Finger Onthe Pulse (Jewson Novices’ 9/1), Cousin Vinny (Champion Bumper 12/1), Fivefor- three (Ballymore Hurdle 7/1), Tiger Cry (Grand Annual 15/2) and Silver Jaro (County Hurdle 50/1).

For Tony Martin, the 2008 Chelten- ham Festival was a meeting he will want to quickly forget. The Meath trainer failed to yield a winner from a powerful string which saw Robin Du Bois (Pertemps Final), Wonderkid (Cross Country Chase) and Psycho (County Hurdle) all head the betting for their respective races while Patsy Hall could only finish fourth after being heavily backed for the Wil- liam Hill Chase on Tuesday. To add insult to injury, Martin’s Coral Cup ante-post favourite, Leg Spinner, was withdrawn due to the softening conditions after the race was moved from Wednesday to Friday. Like a lot of Irish punters, Martin also had to leave Cheltenham with a sour taste in his mouth after Paul Carberry gave Psycho a hugely over-confident ride on the well-backed 5/1 favourite who came from a long way back to beaten less than a length by Tom Hogan’s 50/1 winner, Silver Jaro.

The prizes for leading trainer and jockey at this year’s festival unsur- prisingly went to Paul Nicholls and Ruby Walsh who both recorded three winners while Davy Russell, despite some high profile defeats, also en- joyed a profitable meeting with two winners and three second places. Racing fans can now look forward to the upcoming festivals at Fairy- house, Aintree and Punchestown but thanks to the likes of Denman, Mas- ter Minded and Kauto Star, the an- ticipation is already growing for the 2009 Festival which will seem like an unbearably long wait for many punters.

A COURT has heard that a motor- cyclist is still receiving treatment for injuries sustained in a road collision with a bus last June.

Arising out of the accident on June 30, 2007, bus driver Simon Quinn (51), of St Michael’s Place, Ballya- gran, Limerick, was convicted of

careless driving.

Garda Diarmuid O’Brien told Shannon District Court that a Mr Baker was driving his motorcy- cle and stopped at a stop line at the end of a road at Bothar na Luachra, SJ etbabetoyey ;

He said that a Bus Eireann bus, driven by the defendant, approached from the motorcyclist’s left, indicat-

ed and turned right onto Bothar na BE e Ne

‘The bus cut the corner and collid- ed with Mr Baker,” said the garda.

‘The motorcycle fell to the ground on top of Mr Baker. He received injuries. He is still receiving treat- ment for his injuries,’ said Garda O’Brien.

Defending solicitor Mr Lenihan

said as Mr Quinn was approach- ing the junction, a car was also ap- proaching and he did not see the motorcycle.

He said his client had been driving with Bus Eireann for seven years and previously had driven heavy goods vehicles for 25 years.

Judge Joseph Mangan imposed a fine of €400.