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LIKE all grannies Ouma likes to spoil her grandson and give him some money for sweets. She is one of the few living in the townships of South Africa who has managed to get a government pension.

But in the case of 11 year old Veron, his granny’s kindness is literally kill- ing him. Veron is infected with the AIDS virus and the sweets are play- ing havoc with his blood counts.

Sr Ethel and her care workers are on one of their regular visits to his mother, Rochelle Grootboom.

Rochelle and two of her sisters are also HIV positive. A third has died from the virus.

“Rochelle had a CD4 (blood count) of 22 when we found her. A normal count 1s 500. She should have died’, says Nurse In Charge, Muriel Eskok.

Rochelle is concerned that Veron is getting wild and neglecting his schoolwork. Typical of an I1 year old, he doesn’t like medicine and is not taking his anti-viral medication . The stick-thin woman knows she is too week to force him. It’s too much for Rochelle, who breaks down in ReraN Ce

“lve known Rochelle since she was a little girl. She was one of the chil- dren who came to me when all I had was the loan of a tree to sit under’, says Sr Ethel.

Rochelle is just one of 120,000 people who live in the shantytown.

Every day, the five teams of trained careworkers visit about five clients rele ee

They have around 200 clients at any given time who need to be vis- ited twice a week. The workers dress wounds, check how medication 1s go- ing, treat hypertension, wash out peo- ple mouths — oral thrush and TB are two common diseases among people with the virus — and clean houses when the clients are too sick.

The house where Rochell, her mother, son and her mother’s part- ner live is made of thin wood and measures no more than 18 feet by 30 feet. There are four tiny rooms, no bathroom and they cook on a primus stove. Some shacks are much worse than this one, which is painted and Ore

Township people are often in de- nial about the possibility of having AIDS. “If they are tested early and get the antiviral drugs, they can live for maybe ten or twelve years. If they come late, about two years’, says Muriel.

Six in ten people are infected with the virus. Sr Ethel dosn’t like speak- ing about numbers. “One mother dy- ing of AIDS is too many”, she says.

Rape is common in the townships, based on the myth that having sex with a virgin is a cure. Sr Ethel tells the story of a nine-year old girl who was raped by her uncle. The child be- OF Weslo NNKerelKerO mrs NeLOMONoem

It is the culture than men are disin-

clined to use condoms, thinking it a slur on their masculinity or the faith- fullness of their partners.

The testament that the virus is

decimating the poor is in the cleared spaces where the shacks of AIDS victims have been burned and in the rows of fresh graves which stand in

the shadown of a large cross on the javeeR

The cross bears the inscription, ‘“Ethel’s People.”

AIR passengers at Shannon Airport breathed a sigh of relief yesterday as they dodged industrial action on two fronts.

As late as Sunday evening passen- gers faced disruption involving both Aer Lingus and air traffic control- Suse

Just yesterday air traffic controllers called off a planned 24-hour strike for Thursday.

The strike would have affected flights into and out of all Irish air- ports including Shannon, and all flights through Irish air space.

The dispute erupted over claims by

air traffic controllers that they were short staffed.

Their employers – the Irish Aviation Authority – maintained, however, that the industrial action related to claims for an increase in payment for overtime.

The air traffic controllers called off the industrial action yesterday (Mon- day) following talks at the Labour Coliian

The workers have also suspended their official overtime ban that was due to take effect from tomorrow.

Meanwhile threats of industrial ac- tion at Aer Lingus yesterday (Mon- day) was averted at the eleventh hour as management and the union SIPTU

reached agreement on a package of cost cutting reforms and work prac- tices. Following almost 34 hours of continuous talks Aer Lingus Chief Executive Dermot Mannion said, “We have agreement on the imple- mentation of productivity and cost cutting measures with SIPTU and we await the outcome of their inter- nal ballot process. Nothing will be implemented until the ballot 1s com- pleted.”

SIPTU National Industrial Secre- tary Gerry McCormack said agree- ment had been reached subject to a ballot of members.

“We accept there has been genuine commitment by both sides to reach

an agreement and the process has protected SIPTU members’ interests and also prevented disruption to Aer Lingus passengers,” he said.

Aer Lingus had threatened to sus- pend staff if they failed to cooperate with new work practices it planned to introduce yesterday morning without union agreement.

SIPTU will spend the next week consulting with members to explain the deal to them. It 1s expected the consultation process and the ballot will take two weeks. It 1s believed that €7.5million of the cost saving package will be generated in Dub- lin, with around €2.5 million being saved on the Shannon operation.

CHILDREN attending the gaels- coil in Shannon were given the chance to enjoy a personal tour of their local garda and fire stations last week!

Twenty-one infants from Gaels- coil Donncha Rua, accompanied by their teacher Aisling Harnett and one of their parents Geraldine Hickey, were given guided tours of both venues.

Their school principal Eamonn

Bromell decided to request the visits, amid enthusiasm among the youngsters, who were keen to learn how both services operated.

Their first port of call was the fire Station, where Richie Sunderland gave them a tour of the building and a close-up look at the fire engines.

This tour lived up to the eager childrens’ expectations and they then took in the garda station.

Garda Sean O Murcht – himself a Gaeilgeoir – gave a guided tour, as Gaeilge. One of the highlights of

that visit was their trip to the hold- ing cell at the station – the young- sters compared it to a prison cell and expressed hope that they would never get to experience a real cell in the future!

Mr Bromell said the initiative was an unforgettable experience and benefited the young children im- mensely.

“It was good for them to see dif- ferent people working in the com- munity. School is one service, the fire service 1s another, while the

gardai also provide a Service,” said Mr Bromell.

The trips formed part of an overall project and the youngsters recalled the afternoon’s excitement when they wrote of their experience.

The extra-curricular activities are sure to continue over the next term as Mr Bromell’s next plan is to bring a mobile pet farm to the school.

This 1s poised to create much ex- citement for the children, who will be able to show care for the animals on the farm.

HAVE you ever heard of Motown’? No, nothing to do with soul music, but a nickname given by a PR man to the area around the start of the Naas Road in Dublin which is proliferated by car companies.

The first car importer you hit when you make your way to ‘Motown’ from Dublin city centre is the Gowan Group. Recently I tested Citroen’s first SUV, the C-Crosser, now it’s the turn of Peugeot, the other company in the Gowan Group, to eventually get in on the SUV act with their new mL UrE

The 4007 is built on the same plat- form as Citroen’s C-Crosser and Mitsubishi’s Outlander. So it’s a tough call to make and ultimately it will come down to the brand you are loyal to. The entry price for the Peu- geot and Citroen is similar, while the Outlander is slightly cheaper.

I drove a black 4007 and I must say it looked very impressive. The front headlamps would do any sports car justice and the two silver roof rails definitely do add to the SUV effect.

Women are supposed to wear black to make them look slim; indeed I’ve known a few men to opt for black for similar reasons. But there is no need to try and make the 4007 look slim as it’s very neat especially the rear end. The only place you will see any colour other than black in the 4007 is the rear door, where there is a nice

touch of chrome as you open it. To be fair there 1S also a touch of chrome inside.

Like all SUVs, the 4007 is very There are no problems with any pil-

high and the seating position gives you an excellent view of the road.

lars to hide your view and overall I think it makes for very safe driving.

In the cabin everything is well laid out and decent size knobs are provid- ed for the radio. The back seat could hold three well built adults, whether they are wearing black or not.

I won’t say that the diesel was very noisy, but there is no doubt you will know straight away that it is a diesel. In some other diesels I have driven recently you would have to double check to see if it was petrol or diesel they were so quiet.

But diesel is the new black as eve- rybody wants one to cut down on the COQ2 emissions and avail of the ben- efits of Mr Cowen’s recent budget. Therefore you might like to wait un- til July 1 for the best deals.

I drove the ST version which gives you an option of five or seven seats and goodies like cruise control and MP3 player. Like most SUVs if you opt for seven seats there is very little luggage space left. You can switch from two-wheel to four-wheel drive by means of a switch located near the gear lever. I didn’t get an opportunity to drive the 4007 off-road but it felt like it could handle any terrain.

Prices start at €40,200 for the 4007 five-seat SR model and go up to €47,395 for the top of the range seven seater. All are powered by a 2.2 litre diesel engines. Peugeot say they expect to sell between 150 to 200 units in Ireland this year.

A LONG running battle which Car- rigoran Nursing Home and _ local residents in the Newmarket-on-Fer- gus area have waged to prevent a 100 foot high mast from going ahead has EDU (oreR

An Bord Pleanala has overruled the recommendation of its own inspector to refuse telecommunications com- pany “three” planning permission for the proposal.

Last year, Clare County Council refused planning permission after

it concluded that all options for the co-location of the mast had not been maximised.

In their initial objection, Carrigoran Nursing Home, through Sr Christina Murphy, said, “Our nursing home is within 200 metres of the proposed mast. The nursing home has 152 beds and a staff in excess of 70 people.

“The residents range from short- stay medical care to ages in excess of 80 years of age. In this, patients will have a range of illnesses includ- ing Alzeimer’s.

“Our mother house in the US 1s

extremely concerned, particularly of the health hazard created by the development and of the high level of energies emitting from the develop- ment.:

However, in its appeal, “3” stated: “We believe that it has been demon- strated that a rigorous search of the area was undertaken by “3” before nominating the appeal site as the pre- ferred option in terms of coverage, acquisition and planning issues.

In his recommendation, the board inspector stated that the proposal would not reliably accommodate fu-

ture telecommunication installation, would be needlessly intrusive in the area and would not be in accordance with the proper planning and sustain- able development of the area. However, the inspector’s recom- mendation was overturned after the board of An Bord Pleanala consid- ered the national strategy regarding the improvement of mobile commu- nications services. Its decision was also based on the guidelines relating to telecommunications antennae and support structures and the location of the proposed development on a site

which did not come within the scope of specific restrictions with regard to development in scenic areas.

The board ruled that the plan would not seriously injure the amenities of the area or of property in the vicin- ity, would not be prejudicial to public health and would be in accordance with the proper planning and sus- tainable development of the area.

It stated that it decided not to ac- cept the inspector’s recommendation to refuse permission, noting the lack of landscape designation and the dis- tance to residential properties.

can confirm that Ennis Lawn Tennis and Badminton Club, which occupies a prestigious and valuable site overlooking the River Fergus, has been approached by a developer, with a view to buy.

Niall Kelly, Chairman of Ennis Lawn Tennis and Badminton Club, which is located off the Mill Road, Stressed, ““We don’t have a ‘for sale’ sign on our club, but we are open to approaches and will listen.”

However, while confirming the ap- proach and subsequent meetings with an unnamed developer he added, ‘No decision has been made. We had a conversation and we listened and reported back to the club’s manage- ment and trustees.”

At the club’s 2007 AGM, a decision was taken to establish a development sub-committee.

According to Niall Kelly, “We see ourselves as wanting to provide qual- ity facilities for our members and as such we have developed a programme of phased improvements.”

Asked if those improvements could

involve the sale of the club in favour of a green field site elsewhere in town, plus a cash deal, much like that struck by the GAA with Cusack Park, Niall said, “We haven’t ruled any- thing out, or anything in, at present. We are happy where we are. We have a very contented membership and a great level of volunteerism.

“Our main objective is to ensure an environment that is as comfort- able as possible for our membership. We have given ourselves a year to progress the options that are there, and we intend to explore all op- aloe

He re-iterated, ““We are not closed to listening to people, we are open to suggestions, but as said we don’t have a ‘for sale’ sign on our club.”

Ennis Lawn Tennis and Badminton Club currently has over 400 mem- bers and facilities include five state- of-the-art, all-weather, floodlit tennis courts with full-length international size run-back, plus two sprung cham- pionship badminton courts, a bar and lounge area, ladies and gents chang- ing rooms with full shower facilities and ample car parking spaces.

The club, which sits on a scenic riv- erside site, was established in 1893.

NATIONAL honours will be be- stowed on a rural community in east Clare when seven young ladies take part in a All-Ireland talent competi- tion next week.

Seven members of the Lough- geraney Youth Club in Flagmount will participate in a national variety competition, organised by the Youth Council.

The event, which will see the girls sing a variety of songs, will take place in Maynooth on Saturday.

The girls got through to this stage of the competition, having been suc- cessful at both county and regional levels.

The seven – Cassie Comerford, Vasthi Curran, Ciara McNamara, Lorraine Moloney, Alanna Moro-

ney, Caoimhe Ryan, Sharon Keane – will sing a variety of songs, focus- ing mainly on folk and traditional music.

Fiddle player Colin McNamara also got through to the Munster finals, where he did his club proud.

They entered the competition under the auspices of their local youth club, which was set up last year and are tutored by Veronica Ni Chuilleagain from Bodyke.

Chairperson of the youth club Kathleen McNamara said young people are actively encouraged to get involved in events in the local com- munity.

“Young people have a lot to offer in the community. We have a lot of community projects ongoing. It is important for people to have owner- ship of the community,” she said.

“We had nothing in the area for so long, no community centre, no meet- ing point,’ said Ms McNamara.

“What brought the youth club on was having the childcare centre. It gave us a new lease of life,’ she ANOe(cre

“You have to have something for the youth,” she said.

The youth club is headed up by a variety of leaders – both adults and young people in the area. The club has 30 members, aged between 12 and 17.

SW stereo mca vek moter roe DUE ous activities, including fundraising initiatives along with fun events. They took to the streets of Galway last Christmas, where they engaged in carol singing, raising money for the Share A Dream Foundation in the process.

Next weekend’s event in Maynooth will be followed by an activity week- end for the club, from March 7 to 9, when the club visits Petersburg out- door recreation centre in Mayo.

Along with Ms McMahon, among those involve in the running of the club are Hillary Dully (secretary), Regina McCormack (assistant sec- retary), Tom Fitzpatrick (vice chair- man), Mary Kenny (treasurer) and Margaret Curran (assistant treasur- er). A number of youths in the area are represented on the committee – Eoin and Stephen Kenny, Sinead Reilly and Lorraine Moloney.

SINCE Mary Kelly from Tulla land- ed in Africa she has baked more than 4.000 scones.

Having been president of the Ap- ostolic Society for 25 years, Mary says she “always wanted to come to Africa to see what they were all talking about when they came home and made presentations. And I’m not one bit sorry I came — it’s been bril- liant and please God I’ll come back again.”

Mary took up station in the Mis- sionvale kitchen to provide creature comforts for the ravenous volunteers at their tea-breaks.

And when she wasn’t busy turning out Spotted Dick loaves, scones, trea- cle bread and apple tarts she spent

her time teaching the women in the craft center to crochet and knit.

For years, shopkeeper, Maire Talty from Lisseycasey has kept every spare free toy, pencil or colouring crayon that came with a comic.

SS er eel W KM RUUU COM stROm Ns loeee

“I always thought there would be someone coming over with an empty Suitcase sometime’, said Maire who is also Ethel’s sister.

She struck pay-dirt with the group she was travelling to Africa with. Everyone loaded up with a dozen or so bags of toys for the Missionvale Santa to distribute at Christmas.

Dr Rory O’Keeffe left his practice in Ennis for the entire eight weeks to deal with the cuts, bruises, hyper- tension, heat exaustion and swollen limbs of the volunteers. When he

is not being called on to doctor, he plays with the township children.

Another volunteer shouldn’t be alive to be here, having been serious- ly ill, but he’s wearing his trademark straw hat and weilding power tools.

As they leave each day, volunteers bring bags of sweets for the children who wait in droves at the gates.

One volunteer had his passport and money stolen before he even left the airport. Within minutes, the group organised a whip-round and the money was replaced.

Every morning, volunteers squirrel away rolls, sausages and bread from their hotel breakfast so the African workers will have something to eat.

The litany of little acts of heroism goes on. But then, they are all he- Keen

A PROTECTED seal, that defied death, will be released back into the wild at Seafield Beach in Quilty this SUTer AA

Kringle was discovered on New Year’s Eve at Merchants Quay, Lim- erick, significantly under weight, dehydrated, with serious bite marks and a painful cracked tooth.

The grey seal pup, who is a protect- ed species, was to become part of a Munster wide rescue.

The four-week-old seal was discov- ered by a family waiting to attend the skating rink in the Potato, who con- tacted the LSPCA.

The little pup was then taken by the LSPCA to the vet, before being transported by the Limerick Animal Welfare (LAW) to Cork wildlife res- cuer Chelsea Collins.

Kringle was treated with fluids, an-

tibiotics and pain relief.

His wounds were most likely inflict- ed by an adult male seal (or “bull’’) in an attempt to force him away from his mother, who had probably come into season.

Kringle was cared for by Ms Col- lins in Carrigaline until he was well enough to be transferred to the Irish Seal Sanctuary in Dublin. Kringle has been recuperating at the seal sanctu- ary in recent weeks and regaining his strength on a diet of fresh fish. He has now made a complete recov- ery. The Irish Seal Sanctuary will be releasing Kringle into the sea at 3pm on Sunday at Seafield Beach near the village of Quilty. This will be a pub- lic event and all are welcome. Those who go to Quilty to see Kringle on his way are asked to keep all dogs in cars until he is safely at sea.

AN BORD Pleanala has given Par- teen GAA club permission to extend its club facilities, despite concerns of a board inspector that the develop- ment could prove dangerous for local children.

Clare County Council approved the club’s plan last year. Subsequently, the inspector advised that the de- velopment would generate extra car traffic which would pose a risk to lo- cal children.

The inspector’s advice came after residents from Westbury appealed Clare County Council’s ruling.

Video evidence of congestion near the site, which residents submitted with their objection, contributed to the inspector’s decision.

“The local residents are obviously concerned with the impact of this

extra car traffic on their amenity and own freedom of movement,” the in- spector stated.

“It is evident that road safety and especially the safety of children is uppermost in their minds. It 1s not so much the objective degree of danger to children that is at issue here.

“Even the reasonable apprehen- sion of danger and the consequential degree to which children’s freedom to play unsupervised out of doors is constrained is a material consid- eration and one which must be taken into account in any proper planning assessment of the merits of the devel- opment.

“T conclude on the second main is- sue that the proposed development would create a degree of danger and disturbance, as perceived by local residents.”

However, the board over-ruled the

inspection stating that the proposal would not seriously injure the ameni- ties of the area or of property in the vicinity.

The board stated, “In deciding not to accept the inspector’s recom- mendation to refuse permission, the board concurred with the planning authority’s conclusion that the pro- posed facilities are complementary to the existing established use of the site as a Sports/recreation facility and would contribute to its continuing development and beneficial value to HeComyraCOCormmeevec vee LeUID IR VAM

Furthermore, having particular re- gard to the nature and scale of the additional facilities proposed, the board considered that the vehicular traffic movements likely to be gener- ated would not significantly alter the existing intensity of usage of roads in the vicinity.