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THE late Dr Brendan O’Regan’s work and commitment to regional development and cross-cultural ex- changes have been second to none and have won him numerous acco- lades including the ‘Commander of the British Empire’ (CBE) award for his contribution to peace.

In 1984 he was voted “Clareman of the Year” and in 1995 he was made “Freeman of the City of Limerick”.

In 2000 Dr O’Regan was awarded the “Peace Dove” by Co-operation Ireland in recognition of his contri- bution to promoting understanding and respect between the people of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Dr O’Regan has also received nu- merous doctorates from Academic Institutions around Ireland. In 1978, he was conferred Doctor of Laws by the National University of Ire- land with a particular mention of

his “originality, courage and innova- tion”.

In 1999, Dr O’Regan was awarded a Doctorate of Laws by the Queen’s University of Belfast for “his achievements as a peacemaker and as an industrial visionary’, while the University of Limerick recently hon- oured him for his work with the Irish Peace Institute and the development of the Shannon region.

Last year, An ‘Taoiseach Bertie Ahern launched a Clare County Council exhibition celebrating Dr O’Regan’s life which went on dis- play at the deValera library in En- nis and the Sean Lemass library in Shannon.

It’s believed that the €40 million price tag was put on the hotel last week in a deal which sees Brian Brennan of Brennan Hotels become the new owner of the Dublin Hotel.

Brennan Hotels has four properties in Tipperary, Kilkenny, Meath and Wicklow.

The Lynch family bought the land- mark property in 2003 for €11 mil- lion. They went ahead with a mas-

sive redevelopment which saw room numbers almost double to 270, with the addition of a swimming pool and spa facilities. The redevelopment is believed to have cost €30 million.

In a statement, Lynch Hotels said that it will now focus on operating its properties in the west of Ireland. These include the upmarket Breaffy House hotel near Castlebar in Mayo and the West County Hotel in Ennis.

After the deal, Brian Brennan said “our business focus is commercial and leisure and the Green Isle is ide- ally suited to our expanding needs and requirements and is an ideal ac- companiment to our business mod- el.”

AN AMBITIOUS plan to establish the mid-west as a region of excel- lence and expertise in the area of en- ergy efficiency will be unveiled later WT Le1e).e

Junior Environment and Energy Minister Tony Killeen will launch Ireland’s first Regional Climate Change Strategy at the Mid West Re- gional Authority’s (MWRA) annual

conference in Adare on Friday.

And the importance to the region was highlighted by Authority Ca- thaoirleach Lilly Wallace who urged every individual in the mid-west to CCM doles bum oy Nu mB OMusxO LUCID OrcamNalomKorealO) IM dependence on fossil fuels as well as reducing carbon emissions by five tonnes per person.

“The economic and environmen- tal costs of doing nothing are far too great. Carbon costs alone for the

mid-west are calculated to be €62.2 million by 2010, and €94.5 million by 2020,” she said.

Explaining the reason behind the Adare conference, MWRA _ Direc- tor Liam Conneally said the author- ity decided to produce a strategy designed to enhance the mid-west’s energy, environmental and _ eco- nomic sustainability in response to increased concern about climate change and the Government’s recent

carbon budget.

Mr Conneally said that the ‘Mid West Climate Change Strategy’ had been developed as a working docu- ment ensuring the sustainability of the region’s energy needs, while playing a substantial role in support- ing the Government in achieving Ire- land’s Kyoto commitments.

He said the mid-west was well placed to exploit its substantial re- newable energy resources of wind,

wave, wood and energy crops.

“Much is already being done to establish the mid-west as a centre of excellence for the development and delivery of renewable energy technologies, and energy efficient buildings. The future development of this region as a region of excellence and expertise in the energy area will bring opportunities for communities, entrepreneurs and third-level gradu- ates,” he added.

TRANSITION-Y EAR students from Ennistymon VEC have proven that pollution from the town is disturbing the ecosystem of the Inagh riven and could actually be responsible for the disappearance of the otter locally.

As part of the school entry for the Eco-Unisco Project, the students un- dertook a series of test to determine if pollution from the town was dam- aging the local river.

“We have entered the Eco-Unisco project for two years in a row now. The first year we built a solar panel and the second year a windmill,’ said teacher, Mary Joyce.

“So I asked the students what they

wanted to do. They started talking about the river, and wondering where the otters in the river had gone.”

This led the students to undertake research on the otter, and to discover that pollution is one of the main fac- tors which drive otters out of certain areas. Not content with this, howev- er, the transition-year students took to the river last Thursday, attempting to prove beyond all doubt that pol- lution from the town was damaging the river.

“We went down to the river with large nets and started collecting the insects that were in the water. We were trying to find out whether the bugs in the river were mostly ones that needed high oxygen or low oxy-

gen. High oxygen insects is a sign of good quality clean water and the presence of low oxygen insects is a sign of polluted water,’ said student, Michael McCormac.

“We caught more than 20 speci- mens altogether. There was much more high oxygen insects in the wa- ter before the town than we found after the town. This, we think, is be- cause sewage from the town is pol- Leiseetem atom eAiole

“We have brought the insect back to the school now and we are going to study them and see what else we can learn from them. After than we need to put together a 3,000-word re- port on our findings.

“The whole reason for this work

is to see why the otters have left the river. They like clean water and they used to be very common around here but not anymore. If we could treat the sewerage better before it goes into the river then we might be able to get the otters back.”

When they have completed their work, the transition-year students plan to bring their findings to the at- tention of Clare County Council.

IT was back to Thursday nights at the stadium last week where the feature was the Student Nurses Voulenteer- ing Abroad 575 that took place on the eighth race of the card. Top prize went to the Noel Mullins trained Ballingown Boy who produced a good finish in testing conditions. The outside runners were fastest away here and off the first bend trap five Donail Blueboy shaded the lead.

At the third bend, Ballingown shot to the front and despite the renewed attempt of Donail the Mullins trained tracker ran on to beat him by a length in a time of 31.99.

The strong running Burnpark Pad- dy in trap three ran on for third spot just under three lengths back.

John Fitzgerald of Kilrush was on the mark in the third race over 325 yards as his Ler Thisnthat made all to take this. Coming away well from trap three, this fellow was chased all the way by trap five Crannagh Jim but he held him off on the run to the line by just under a length in a time of 18.32.

Donies Dasher for Ann Carey of Cooraclare came away fastest and led up to the first turn in the fourth race over 525 yards followed by trap two Maxical owned by Michael Browne of Kilrush who took over off the second bend. From here the Browne owned tracker was always in control and ran on win by just over two lengths in a time of 29.74.

Owen Treston’s All Time Classic got back into the swing of things in

the tenth race as she notched up her fifteenth victory here with a decent performance. Got Derailed for Frank Browne of Quin in trap six was the early leader here but Classic was hot on his heels and led down the back straight and win in a time of 29.50.

The best wine was saved until last as the Michael Downes of Killa- loe trained Sloanes Beauty kept her excellent run of form going when making all in the bumper over 525 yards. Coming away fast from trap two, she pulled away quickly as there were some traffic problems with the placed greyhounds.

From here on, she was never getting caught and ran on to beat trap three Millview Roy by four lengths in a time of 29.43.

Friday night’s card at Galway fea- tured the three semi-finals of the UCG A4 575 which came late in the card on this very cold night. The track here was rated slow for the entire night as a result of the condi- tions.

Fastest of these was the Tom Fit- zgerald trained Black Bush who got back into winning ways when taking heat two of this.

Pat Curtin got into the winners en- closure as his Tullagower Blue took the third race over 525. Taking the lead into the last bend, this fellow ran on to win by just over a length in a time of 30.12 (-0.30).

The Semi Finals of the €30,000 Green Lane Pet Foods 525 came down for decision on Saturday Night Where connections of the 12 runners as well as the 12 Schools attached to

the greyhounds waited anxiously for the heats that came in the 8th and 9th races on the card.

Tyrur Taco owned by P.J.Fahy was the slight favourite here and things looked tough for him after a slow start from trap four.

Here trap two Carhugar Bobsie led up to the opening turn followed by trap one Clonfeigh Nikita for own- ers Johnie Maher Kilmaley and Noel

Gavin of Ballyea who took over at the second turn. Along the back straight Tyrur moved up into third spot and then exploded with pace to go right up to the leaders.

The door was shut here however, as Clonfiegh stayed at the front but Tyrur steered a wide course off the last bend and on the run to the line he powered up to snatch victory from Clonfeigh by a neck in a time

of 29.14.

Carhugar stayed on for third spot to get his Quin owners and trainer Michael Downes of Killaloe a sec- Oe OVE TKcmmebeNelolmBEOMelomEDeT-UE

A MAJOR jobs announcement for Shannon is expected today (Tuesday) with Enterprise Minister Micheal Martin (right) arriving in town.

The minister is to announce an in- vestment by an international player in the medical device manufacturing arena at 3pm today at the Park Inn Hotel at Shannon Airport.

The jobs announcement is being described as “significant” according to sources close to the free zone but both the department and Shannon Development have remained tight- lipped on details in advance of to- day’s announcement.

The good news on the Shannon jobs front comes at a time when work- ers at two Shannon manufacturing companies have expressed concerns about the future of their jobs.

Staff at Unbrako Europe S.P.S. International Limited voted in fa- vour of industrial action last week. Members of the SIPTU and TWU unions, are angry at what they say is the company’s continued failure to inform them about widely rumoured but unconfirmed moves to sell the company. SPS is a subsidiary of US based Precision Castparts Corp (PCC) which according to sources is involved in negotiations to sell the Shannon operation. The company

produces socket screws and other fasteners for industrial machinery and equipment.

A former PCC subsidiary, Mohawk Europa, also based in Shannon but sold off by PCC some years ago, closed last August with the loss of 90 jobs. Meanwhile, workers at another PCC company in Shannon, Highlife Tools, are also concerned about their future and are monitoring the SPS situation closely.

A SIPTU spokesperson said yester- day, “With all the rumours and sto- ries going around and in the absence of any information from the compa- ny, our members are understandably concerned for the future.”

THE man, who is bringing a case to the High Court to ensure a right of way to Doughmore Beach remains open, has spoken out as to why he has under taken the mission.

Cree man James McNulty, was eranted permission by the Attorney General to take a case in respect of the public right of way to the beach from the Caherfeenick Road, last year.

‘For many years now I have been in- volved with the local efforts to ensure that public access to the public beach was maintained via the Caherfeenick Road resulting in a High Court case taken with the fiat of the Attorney General against Doonbeg Golf Club Limited to clarify once and for all whether or not an established public right of way exists between the end of the Caherfeenick Road L-61041

through Doonbeg golf course to the public beach at Doughmore Bay,” he ene

“My reason behind instructing my solicitor to take such a case are sim- ple. For far too long both Doonbeg Golf Club and Clare County Council have insisted that the only one who could make such a determination is the courts.

“After receiving the permission or fiat of the Attorney General proceed- ings are winding their way through the High Court system sine 2006, but I have now decided to speak out fol- lowing the comments made my Cllr Patrick Keane and Oliver Garry who recently suggested that they reached their decision on the basis that the recent extinguishment proposal was improving public access to Dough- more and that it was not interfering with matters currently before the High Court.”

Mr McNulty argued that he and his Wife were part of the original mem- bers of the Carrowmore/Caherteen- ick Right of Way action group.

“Although Doonbeg Golf Club has repeatedly (gone) on public record stating or suggesting that the golf club reached an “agreement” with this particular action group, neither my wife or I were party to any high court agreement with the golf club,” |aTemncy-H (6

A High Court Agreement exists however between five local people and Doonbeg Golf Club allowing them access to the beach through a “new” right of way that is also off the Caherfeenick road.

This allows the five named farmers (one since deceased) vehicle access to the beach from November to Feb- UCD aYs

Mr McNulty is not one of the five.

““T would like to say in relation to the

Attorney General High Court case that in 2000, I was offered and given my own private right of way across the golf course to the beach, by way of a letter from Doonbeg Golf Club in 2000. Unfortunately at the time I simply could not understand why lo- cal people and members of the public should have to give up something that they always had, used, and enjoyed over the years,” he said.

“Some years ago and out of pure frustration I instructed my Dublin solicitor to issue legal proceedings in the High Court to establish and ensure “forevermore” that public ac- cess to the public beach at Dough- more beach would be guaranteed by a High Court ruling to all members of the public I took this legal action at a personal financial cost to myself and my family, to ensure local people and members of the public could continue to access their public beach.”

THE past and future of Ennistymon basketball came together in Dublin last weekend as a group of young players from the Clare Cascaders Club met with one of the leading lights of the Claremont Admirals in the 1980s.

More than 40 young boys and girls travelled to Dublin to watch the fi- nals of the National Senior Mens and Ladies Cup. After two hugely enter- taining matches, the youngsters from north Clare got to meet Ed Randolph, former Claremont Admiral and play-

er coach with Killester who won the senior men’s final.

Randolph, played basketball in En- nistymon in the 1980’s and has a long and happy relationship with north OE

“This was our first year heading off to the finals. We had two really good games. The ladies’ final was a great match,” said Vincent Leigh of the Clare Cascaders

“Of course, we have the connection with Killester through Ed Randolph. After the game, he gave loads of time for all the kids with the cup. He talked to them and posed for pictures

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The club has been going from strength to strength in recent years and is attracting hundreds of local young people back into the sport. The increase 1n participation is start- ing to yield some success for the club orm aetemee)loue

‘In the last week we have had a few of our players called for trials for the north Munster boys team, that’s Michael Leigh and Ian Cuddihy. We have also had two girls called for trials, Jenny Canavan and Mairead Healy,” continued Vincent.

“As well as that, we have Ciaran

Devitt, who has been called for a trail for the Irish U-15 boys team. We have good hopes of him getting onto the main Irish panel and ever repre- senting his county.

“It’s great to have players who are making an impact on Munster and even Ireland teams. It gives great en- couragement for the younger players to see where they can get. In terms of matches the U-17 boys got to the final of an U-17 tournament in Cork just before Christmas. They beat a few Cork teams along the way and did very well. The U-12 and U-14 teams played two games each last week.”

SHANNON ~~ Development has launched a major domestic tourism marketing campaign aimed at entic- ing Irish visitors to holiday in Coun- ty Clare, at the Holiday World travel show in Dublin.

The campaign will involve an ex- tensive marketing, advertising and PR campaign to increase the coun- ty’s share of the national domestic tourism market.

Meanwhile, Failte Ireland, the na- tional tourism development author- ity, and Tourism Ireland, the body re- sponsible for promoting the island of Ireland overseas, met with the tour- ism industry interests in the Shan- non region last week to outline their plans for developing and promoting tourism in the region over the 2008 season.

Attending the meeting Shaun Quinn, Chief Executive of Failte Ireland, said they plan to “almost double investment in new and ex- isting tourist attractions and related infrastructure and to provide more practical business supports to tour- ism enterprises.’

Mr Quinn said that in light of inter- national economic challenges, cond1- tions in 2008 could be more difficult than those of recent years.

Referring to the recent announce-

ment by Ministers Seamus Brennan and Noel Dempsey regarding the Shannon Airport Catchment Plan, Tourism Ireland Chief Executive Paul O’ Toole said that an additional €3 million had been provided to pro- mote tourism to the West of Ireland in the post-Open Skies era.

“Tourism Ireland, together with Shannon Development and the Failte Ireland regions, has formed a work- ing group to agree a marketing plan for the Catchment Area; this plan will be implemented as soon as possible. It will aim to highlight the many at- tractions of the Shannon Airport Catchment Area in our core markets, to show how easy it is to get there from overseas and to showcase the good holiday value available from the tourism industry in the area.”

Meanwhile, the Western Develop- ment Commission (WDC) has out- lined how rural communities can tap into the potential of ecotour- ism. Addressing the Greenbox All Island Ecotourism Conference, Gil- lian Buckley, WDC Chief Executive, outlined the WDC’s experience of developing the Greenbox, Ireland’s only ecotourism destination, and told delegates how communities could use the WDC Model of Rural Devel- opment to help develop ecotourism and other innovative projects in their local area.

A YOUNG man was robbed of €40 while he walked to a local shop in Ennis, a court has heard.

Christy Donovan (21), of Clancy

Park, Ennis, pleaded guilty to rob- bing €40 from an 18-year-old youth, at Dalcassian Park, Ennis, on March 18, 2007.

Inspector Michael Gallagher told Ennis District Court on Friday that

the 18-year-old went to the shop for his mother at 5pm. He had €40 in his hand.

He was just a short distance from his home when the defendant and an- other individual approached him.

“The defendant was all friendly at first asking him how he was,” said the inspector.

He said the victim was asked to hand over the money and got a “dig into the ribs”.

He said the youth was “very shak- en” and had known the defendant all his life.

Judge Joseph Mangan imposed a four-month jail term and fixed a bond in the event of an appeal.