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THE Clare-based Irish Seed Savers Association, 1n association with Tea- gasc, organised a series of biodiver- sity walks which took place across the country last week. The walks were organised to highlight the larg- est planting of hedgerow in the his- tory of the Irish state.

Nationwide, farmers are busy planting hedgerows on their land, with 15,000 expected to plant an in- credible length of 5,000 km of new native Irish hedgerows in the next KAW (erase

According to Teagasc this will change the landscape of every parish in Ireland as farmers participate in

the REPS 3 and REPS 4 schemes.

More than 25 farm walks will take place around the country between now and the end of February.

The Teagasc walks will demonstrate best practice in hedgerow planting and maintenance. A full range of na- tive Irish hedgerow species are being planted on farms, including whiteth- orn, holly, hazel, spindle, guelder rose and blackthorn.

“Correct planting methods and maintenance will ensure the estab- lishment and survival of all these new hedges,’ said Tim Hyde, Tea- gasc environment expert.

“This is the start of widespread planting in the countryside so it 1s important to get it right first time.

All the stages, including cultivation, planting, pruning, weed control and fencing, will be featured.”

Most Irish hedgerows were planted in the 1700s and 1800s. Acts of Par- liament were then passed, making it obligatory for landowners to plant hedgerows at that time. Hedgerows along townland boundaries often date from medieval times or earlier.

Over time if hedgerows are not managed they grow into an escaped hedgerow with a thin, gappy base. One management option for such hedgerows under REPS is to rejuve- nate by laying or coppicing.

A further 2,800 km of existing hedgerows will be rejuvenated, and the skill of hedge laying will be

CC aaeyeOecIKceMmDOMBOOT- DIN AMGOleII Non MEvaN a number of events contractors will demonstrate coppicing with a circu- JE Tansy- Me

A range of other demonstrations/ stands will also be presented at this series of Teagasc Biodiversity walks, and may include broadleaved tree planting, traditional orchards, LIN- NET crops for wildlife, The Hen Harrier Scheme and slurry injection methods.

The walks are being held in as- sociation with Coillte Nurseries, Seed Savers, the Hedge Laying As- sociation of Ireland, the Professional Contractors Association of Ireland and others. A full schedule can be viewed on www.teagasc.ie

FURIOUS members of Clare County Council told their officials that charg- ing people for recycling will result in fly-tipping and a sharp drop in the amount of recycling which goes on in the county.

At a resumed budget meeting of the local authority to set out the coun- cil’s spend and income for the com-

ing year, the proposal to raise cash by charging people who come to the council’s recycling centres met with stern opposition.

Council members were told that a “nominal” charge of €3 per car would raise an estimated €160,000 in the coming year. This would go to- wards the costs of improvements and additional services at the centres.

Cllr Brian Meaney (GP) said that

for the amount raised 1n the exercise, it would not be worth the damage to recycling practice.

He said there were other ways of freeing up money to improve facili- ties. “Nothing the director of services tells me will change my mind about these charges. We are not using best practice or methods of compacting, SO we’re paying to transport fresh air. There are savings to be made there. I

want to appeal to your better sense which says we should reward people who do the right thing and look at other means of raising funding.”

Cllr Martin Conway (FG) said he agreed “100 percent with Cllr Meaney – we are Sending out the wrong mes- sage if we start to charge”’.

Cllr Tommy Brennan (NP) said that the minister “has said publicly that his department is awash with money – the manager should ask him to send some of it down here instead of these Oi Neon

Cllr Flan Garvey (FF) said that the “way to get people to comply is to reward and encourage them, not pe- nalise them with charges”.

Cllr Pat Hayes said that the Govern- ment is already collecting for recy- cling through the Repak system and asked how much comes back from the scheme to the local authority.

Cllr Patricia McCarthy (NP) told the members that they have “been presented with a balanced budget and either we find some other way of raising this money or we don’t ap- prove the budget, in which case the council 1s disbanded.”

Director of Services, Ger Dollard said that if the council wants to con- tinue having new and improved recy- cling facilities, ““we need the funds to do it and we don’t have any extra funds to avail of so we have to intro- duce charges.”

Mr Construction, but neither of the chart toppers are likely to be as big a hit with the people of Kilrush as the RNLI calendar.

The fundraising object has a spe- cial calendar pin-up in local curate Fr Michael Collins, who is one of just two Irish people to make it on to the RNLI fundraising calendar.

The only other Irish member is a lady from Ballycotton.

Fr Collins has been a crewmember with Kilrush lifeboat station for two years.

His involvement began when the station invited him to look around. It was an inspirational visit that made his mind up to volunteer.

Despite his comparatively short time as a crewmember, he’s had his fair share of drama, particularly the rescue of a family of five whose boat had capsized and was drifting out to sea.

Fr Collins will feature on the cal- endar for the month of July, making him a household name in homes and offices around Ireland and Britain.

The calendar has been on sale since

late last year on the RNLI website or from its catalogue.

As a sea faring town, Kilrush has always been a huge supporter of the RNLI providing funds to maintain the life boat and people for its crew.

The “Rose West’ lifeboat has car- ried out great work for years provid- ing vital assistance to seafarers from Kilbaha to Limerick.

The 30 strong crew are trained and retrained for every eventuality.

The members of the RNLI meet once a week and take part in dilf- ferent exercises with the lifeboat. In case of an emergency a beeper alerts all the crew within a seven-mile ra- dius who make their way to the life- boat station, change and be on the water within eight minutes.

The first three to arrive set out on the boat, one person stays in the sta- tion to assist the crew with any direc- tions. Others open the doors to the lifeboat and see it safely to the sea.

All from 18 to 45 are welcome to ove

FOLLOWING the Dublin launch of BurrenLIFE’s first ever Farming for Conservation international con- ference last week, the Carron-based organisation has teamed up with the National Parks and Wildlife Service to announce a series of illustrated rece

These will take place in the Coun- cil Chamber of the County Museum Building in Ennis for six Wednes- days, from February 6 to March 12.

The series will reflect on and cel- ebrate the hugely diverse range of natural and cultural heritage in the Burren region. It promises to be a rich and varied programme of talks.

The series kicks off with a talk entitled “Eating The Landscape – Farming The Burren’ by Ruairi O Conchuir.

The talk will highlight the upcom- ing conference and will also focus on the production of quality food from a quality environment.

The lecture on February 13 will be delivered by Barry O’Donoghue, park ranger with the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

O’Donoghue grew up watching hen harriers on the family farm in Tralee and this helped him attain a depth of knowledge of the factors regarding the conservation of these rare birds.

His talk is called ‘Rare, Beautiful and Preying – the Hen Harrier’.

Ian Doyle will take up the mantle on February 20 and give a talk en- titled “The Vanishing Monuments of the Burren’.

This will be concerned with, amongst other things, the huge den- sity of archaeological monuments in the region and the real threat posed to them by the onset of scrub.

Guest speaker on February 27 will be Eugenie Regan. She is one of two ecologists in the National Biodiver- sity Centre in Waterford.

Eugenie’s research is focused on wetland and limestone grassland ecology.

The penultimate talk in the series will focus on the rich geological di- versity of the Burren Region. The

talk is entitled “Rocks and Land- forms – The Geodiveristy of the Bur- ot

The speaker in this case is Mat- thew Parkes, assistant keeper of the National History Museum in Dub- lin with special responsibility for its geological collections.

CLARE County Council has warned the National Roads Authority (NRA) to “keep its nose out” of planning is- sues in County Clare.

A heated debate erupted at last night’s meeting of Clare County Council where council members at- tacked the NRA and other Govern- ment-sponsored agencies for hanging rural Clare dwellers out to dry.

This followed a motion put for- ward by Cllr PJ Kelly CFF) in which he accused the NRA of engaging in

an “anti-rural campaign” against de- velopments beside national second- ary routes.

“This will result in hundreds of miles of road in Clare where no houses will be built. This is a crazy situation.

“If you continue with this logic, then the road to Kilrush will end up being the road to God knows where. This regulation doesn’t make sense, and if something doesn’t make sense, then it shouldn’t be there.”

Commenting on the motion, Tom Prendeville (FF) said that other agen-

cies such as the Environmental Pro- tection Agency (EPA) and An Taisce and An Bord Pleanala were all also cuilty of interference.

“If you want to talk about rural bias, then each of these organisations would have something to say on this matter,” he said.

Cllr Madeleine Taylor-Quinn called on the Government to take action to ensure that these agencies did not in- terfere with local planning issues.

‘We must remember that the NRA are an agent of the Government. They are appointed by the minister and the

minister has responsibility for them,” she said.

“If the NRA is getting involved in planning applications, then this must be brought to the attention of nation- al Government. In my view, the NRA are going beyond its remit.

“We have about 130 miles of na- tional secondary roads in Clare. This is a huge part of the county which is being adversely affected by the NRA.

“We need to send a message to the minister on this.”

Independent councillors Christy

Curtin and Martin Lafferty also criti- cised the role played by the NRA.

“The NRA’s role is overplayed in this county when it comes to plan- ning. They are mitigating against good decision-making.

“The legitimate planning authority for Clare is Clare County Council,” rem GubsunnO

“They are statutary consultees. It wasn’t Santa Claus who promoted the NRA into their position.

“We should get on to the minister and ask about the remit of the NRA and all the other consultees.”

THE new Kilrush Chamber of Com- merce president Paul J Coady has one over ridding ambition for the coming year – to make the local chamber big- ger and better.

Like his predecessor – Karen Whe- lan – the Limerick born Munster Group Director wants to increase membership of the busy chamber and get people more involved.

Last year was one of the most suc- cessful to date to encourage people to join the chamber.

Although attendance at the month- ly meetings was low the chamber came out in support of the numerous projects in the town.

The busy chamber has led the way with the St Patrick’s Day Parade,

Santa’s Den, chamber dinner dance, Spirit of Kilrush Christmas lighting project, parking refund initiative, Law and Order Committee and the pre-Christmas shopping promotion.

Mr Coady said he is determined to follow on the good work of his predecessors and build on the strong foundations already in place.

Paul Coady is no stranger to organ- isations in Kilrush.

Although a relatively new face to the chamber in recent years, he was secretary of the Kilrush Chamber of Commerce in the 1980s.

Not one to shy away from com- munity involvement Paul has been involved with organisations and groups in his adopted home of Kiul- rush for years.

He was president of the Kilrush L1-

ons Club, captain of the Kilrush Golf Club and has just finished a two-year stint as president of the golf club.

“IT thought this year I would have a free year but I got nabbed for this,” he said.

Although the year as president is very busy Paul is looking forward to it and is happy to be part of a vibrant chamber.

“I work in the business community. I felt a need to continue the develop- ment of Kilrush as a vibrant business town and continue on with the work of the previous presidents.”

The president realises that 2008 is likely to be one of the busiest ever for the chamber. Added to the busy schedule is further development in the town, including the planned de- velopment of the marina.

‘“Shannonside building supplies is one of the fastest growing businesses in Ireland,” he added.

A feasibility study is also taking place for more advance or warehouse units on the Cooraclare road point- ing to a developing economy for the west Clare capital.

‘There seems to be a lot of interest in Kilrush,” said Mr Coady.

The new president has split most of his working life between Ennis and Kilrush, firstly as a director of Shannonside Insurance and now as a director of the Munster Group.

He lives in Kilrush with his wife and three children.

CONTENTIOUS plans for a €15 million park and ride facility for the Cliffs of Moher at Liscannor have been withdrawn by the developers.

A decision was due by Clare Coun- ty Council last Friday. However, 24 hours prior to the anticipated deci- sion, Mermaid Partnership wrote to the council requesting that the appli- cation be withdrawn.

Applications are usually withdrawn at the last minute when developers are told informally that the applica-

tion 1s set to be refused.

The proposal was facing wide- spread opposition across the village of Liscannor.

The area has suffered a population loss, according to the most recent census.

The developers had also made ef- forts to allay the concerns of locals by reducing the size of the plan.

Last year, the Mermaid Partnership lodged plans for the park and ride fa- cility that also included a major re- tail component with a total of 6,322 Square metres.

However, Clare County Council declared that it had ‘a number of serious concerns’ in relation to the proposal.

In revised plans lodged with the council, the applicants scaled back the retail component by almost two- thirds.

The original plan envisaged retail space of 6,322 sq metres; the revised plan scaled back the proposal to 2,361 sq metres.

According to the developers, “the overall scale and design of the pro- posed development has been signifi-

cantly reduced”.

However, a wave of fresh objec- tions were lodged against the revised plan in the last 14 days.

A number of residents stated, “If the development goes ahead, it will irreparably damage the sustainable retail and commercial element in Liscannor which has evolved over many years.”

They stated that “the residents of Liscannor have for too long been subjected to the gradual and sadden- ing deterioration in the fabric of the community”’.

HUNDREDS of walkers are expect- ed in north Clare this May for the first ever walking marathon ever to take place in the county.

The Ballyvaughan-Fanore Walk- ing Club will host the Clare Burren Marathon Challenge on Sunday May 24, and organisers are expecting a treat for enthusiast who can experi- ence first hand some of Ireland most SURINDER OMA

The marathon will coincide with the Burren in Bloom Festival in Bal- ly vaughan and will finish in the in the Burren Coast Hotel in Ballyvaughan. It starts at 8am in the morning and

will go cross country through a va- riety of different landscapes before arriving in Fanore.

They return via Black Head and the Green Road and back into Bal- lyvaughan.

“It’s more of a challenge than a running marathon. Half of it will be done on road and half of it will be cross country. It’s the exact same distance as a marathon,” said Mary O’’ Brien of the Ballyvaughan-Fanore Walking Club.

“We will also have a half marathon route and a mini-marathon route available for people on the day.

‘In a marathon like the Dublin City Marathon you would have walker,

runners and elite runners and the route is always flat. This event is dif- ferent, you are talking about walking up hills and over many different ter- rains. It’s not an event for wearing runners, you would need a good pair of boots.”

The Ballyvaughan-Fanore Walking Club was set up in 2006 and has al- ready some 80 members drawn from all over the country.

The club was all the brian child of Kevin McCormack from Fanore who is a well seasoned walker himself. Now we have members from all over the place and organise walks each Sunday all year round,” continued Mary.

“For each walk we leave around 11 in the morning and we wouldn’t be back until half three or four. You bring some lunch with you and make a day out of it.

“We have walked in spots all around Clare and we will be going to Letterfrack and Kilkenny later in the year. The islands are a big thing for the Club. Each year so far we have gone for a walk to the Aran Islands in August. Last year we had 67 peo- ple in the Aran Islands. We walked on each of the islands throughout the weekend.”

For more information check out www.bally vaughanfanorewalking- club.com.

THE way is now clear for the smooth relocation of 300 staff to Clare Coun- ty Council’s €27 million HQ after a dispute with IMPACT has been re- solved — for now.

Last month, IMPACT members voted four to one for industrial action in relation to disciplinary procedures that the council have in place.

The vote threatened to disrupt the council’s relocation from_ offices around Ennis back to the recently completed HQ, which is set to be

open to the public on Wednesday.

However, the vote by 130 members of its 270 strong membership at the council overwhelmingly voted for industrial action.

In response to the threat of industri- al action, the two sides met last week and agreed to refer the council’s con- tentious disciplinary procedures to a third party.

The third party will be a profession- al in the industrial relations field.

According to a spokesman for IM- PACT, the union are anxious that members be afforded proper union

representation in disciplinary proce- dures and that the employees be made aware of allegations before them.

The spokesman said that an issue that will be addressed by the third party will be staff transfers with only 24 hours notice as a means of disci- plining a staff member.

The IMPACT spokesman said: ‘The council denies that the transfers are carried out to discipline people, but we take a different view.”

The spokesman said that the dis- pute had the potential to disrupt the council’s relocation if it was not re-

solved.

He added: “We are asking that the council deal with people in a civi- lised way.”

The major logistical exercise of re- locating to the council’s new HQ was continuing last night.

As well as providing office accom- modation for 300 staff, the new cor- porate headquarters incorporates a number of environmentally friendly measures and will operate as a natu- rally ventilated building. Some solar panels and a wood chip heating sys- tem have been installed.

IN THE space of twelve months, K1i- eran Kelliher has seen Clare exit the McGrath Cup at the first stage and make the final of the competition. He’s the only arm of the manage- ment team that links the 2007 season and the progress this year is clear to him.

“It’s an achievement getting to a final and the lads played some good football out there. We got a great start with the goal almost right after the throw-in, but they seemed to go into that comfort zone again.

“We were sliced open a couple of times and that was worrying. Joe Hayes made a couple of great saves but if CIT had taken those opportun1- ties, they’d have been back to two or three points. We’d have been forced to start over again and establish out lead.”

The McGrath Cup, as always, has been used by Clare as a springboard to the league, a vehicle for establish- ing the best 15 come early February. But it’s been more than just a compe-

tition to blow early season cobwebs eee

The preparation has been ongo- ing since mid-winter and the fruits are showing. Still, Kelliher believes some more work is required.

“You have to say that CIT caused us some problems. They ran at us through the middle and we’ll have to tighten that up. If we’re going to com- pete with the county teams come the league, we’ll have to make sure they don’t get the goal chances that CIT got. Simple as that. But we’re still us- ing the McGrath Cup to look at play- ers in different positions. Nothing’s decided on yet and the team is still open.”

So far, 23 players have been used, discounting Greg Lyons, Garry Bren- nan and John Hayes who were each involved for their college. The pool of talent, Kelliher says, is increas- ing and improving. Fitness levels are high and competition for places is rising.

‘““We’ve wanted to have a look at as many players as possible and we’ve done that. We still haven’t stopped

looking and that’s the message we want to send out.”

One of those to resume training in the past fortnight was David Russell. He was named to start wing forward, was replaced on the starting 15 by Kevin Larkin but eventually made an appearance with 12 minutes left.

“This was David’s second week back and it’s been a big plus for us. He’s a strong player, a team player.”

Sunday is Clare’s fourth game in a month and it brings added incentive.

‘“There’s only four or five lads in- volved this year who already have a McGrath Cup medal. They’ll want to finish the competition on a high note, but we won’t take too much for eranted against Limerick. They’re the first county side we’ll have met.”