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A SHANNON councillor has been accused of painting a “bleak” picture in relation to funding available to Shannon Town Council.

The comment was made by the Town Manager Ger Dollard, after Cllr Gerry Flynn (Independent) said that lack of funding for the local au- thority was proving problematic.

The discussion arose amidst a de- bate on the effects of flooding in various parts of Shannon.

Cllr Patricia McCarthy raised the issue, Saying she wished to thank the council staff who worked so hard to get to the root of the flooding in Drumgeely.

Clare County Council Senior Ex- ecutive Engineer Donal Hogan said there are “always gulleys getting blocked in Shannon”.

He said that manhole covers in the Corrib Drive estate had been lifted and a section of the sewer which had been blocked was freed.

A similar problem had been recti- fied at St Conaire’s school, said Mr Hogan.

He added that he was confident that the problems in those areas will not recur.

Councillor Gerry Flynn said, “They have left you with no funding. You have no money. You haven’t enough of a crew. This is the facts of it,’ he Said.

He said he regularly walks and said he believed that 90 per cent of paths “were not accessible in certain areas’.

‘Planners allowed so much develop- ment in the Ballycasey area. Women with buggies couldn’t get out of their homes in the last few weeks. A lot of this is due to developers leaving infrastructure around,” he said.

“Money has to be found to do something with the infrastructure in general in Shannon,” he added.

Shannon Town Manager Ger Dol- lard reacted to Cllr Flynn’s com- ments and said, “Councillor Flynn is painting a very bleak picture. It is a phenomenon. Climate change is hap- pening in Shannon.”

Mr Dollard stressed that there had been “a huge volume of water in the past couple of weeks”’.

He said, “We certainly could do with more funding. We will contin- ue to try to improve the situation. I don’t think the picture is as bleak as it’s being painted.”

Cllr Flynn said he wanted to point out that improvements had been made in a number of areas such as lighting and footpaths, but there was a lack of funding in other areas.

“I have no problem working with the council to try and get extra fund- ing. I don’t think it’s fair of you to say I am painting a totally bleak picture. I have to tell the truth,” said Swe aise

THE Roslevan-based Homeless Help service has already helped find ac- commodation for four homeless neo

Help was set up two weeks ago by local women Josephine O’Brien and Ann Quinn to provide support to the homeless. So far the service has helped two Polish men and two members of the Travelling commu- nity find accommodation.

Help co-coordinator Josephine O’Brien said a number of people have made contact with the service since it opened.

“We have been able to get some people into temporary accommoda- tion. Two of the lads we helped find a house in Cahercalla and the other two we helped get a place in a bed and breakfast. That’s four people off the street at the moment. The system at the moment is crazy – people don’t know where to go if they can’t get accommodation. They sort of slip through the cracks.”

The service is located at Fahy Hall, Roslevan and operates every Wednesday night at 7pm. Volunteers and a qualified teacher offer practi- cal help in sorting through social welfare applications and assistance finding accommodation.

Josephine said the service had re-

ceived several enquiries from foreign UETBCODeE Dice

“Some of them find it very difficult and have problems and end up squat- ting in abandoned houses.”

The group behind Help have sought assistance from Clare County Coun- cil and hope that in the future it will tie in with other adult education pro- grammes currently being run in the county. Despite objections from local residents, An Bord Pleannala earlier this year upheld a decision by Ennis Town Council to grant planning per- mission for the homeless hostel.

The €2.1 million transitional hous- ing unit on the Clare Road will pro- vide temporary accommodation for 13 people.

The centre will be run by the St Vincent de Paul, working in conjunc- tion with Clare County Council and the Health Services Executive.

The centre will provide temporary accommodation for people who have found it difficult to acquire rented af- fordable housing. Outreach workers will work alongside community wel- fare officers to ensure the maximum help is given when people are stay- ing at the centre. Staff will maintain contact with residents once they leave centre and will provide assistance in finding permanent housing.

Referrals will be made by the homeless unit of the council.

TWO men who were caught with a scissors and kitchen knife claimed they were carrying them “for self- protection” as one of them had been badly assaulted previously.

Patryk Dej (22), of Bru na Sionna, was convicted of possession of a sharply pointed scissors, at Shannon

Town centre, on November 17 last.

Zenek Moroniski (26), of 9SA Bo- heron, Newmarket-on-Fergus, was convicted of possession of a knife with a sharply pointed blade, at Tul- lyvarraga, Shannon, on the same CPI Kes

Inspector Tom Kennedy told Shan- non District Court that the two were intoxicated outside Murphy Brown’s

pub in Shannon. One was found in possession of the scissors and the other with a kitchen knife.

Defending solicitor Jenny Fitzgib- bon said Dey had had his jaw broken in two places in an attack prior to this incident and had become paranoid as a result.

‘He was very much afraid he would be attacked again. He had a scissors

on him only for self-protection,” she Sr AKOE

She said Moroniski was accompa- nying Dej on the night and was “very much aware” of the previous attack.

“The kitchen knife was strictly for self-protection. He didn’t believe it was unlawful,” said the solicitor.

She said both men had drank a bot- tle of vodka each and were paranoid.

Judge Joseph Mangan asked was this paranoia caused by drink and was told it was. Both men told the court they have not drank since the night of the offence. However, In- spector Kennedy said, “I would 1m- agine that’s a bit of a fairytale.”

The case was adjourned to establish if either have previous convictions in Poland.

A YOUNG Shannon student’s skills in art have been recognised in a na- tional awards competition in which she scooped first place.

14-year-old Desislava Valkanova, a student at St Caimin’s in Shan- non, won the top prize in a postcard competition which was organised by Léargus, which promotes language learning 1n Ireland.

The event was organised to cele- brate European day of languages last September and the winners have just

been announced.

Junior cycle German students were asked to depict a site of cultural in- terest for another country and write a message in a language of that coun- try on a postcard.

Dessi, who is a native of Bulgaria and moved to Shannon with her fam- ily a few years ago, drew a picture of the Aleksandar Nevski Cathedral in Sofia and wrote a friendly message in her native tongue on the back.

She even went to the lengths of drawing a stamp on the back of the postcard. Her work earned her a

book token for €500.

Dessi and 16 others from St Caimin’s entered the competition. While Desi particularly impressed the judges, her schoolmates also fared well as they were all com- mended on their efforts.

Her teacher Anne O’Loughlin, who organised the competition in St Caimin’s, said everyone was very proud of Desi, who thoroughly de- served the award.

“She is deserving of the award and always puts her heart and soul into her work. It is great to see her getting

some kind of recognition,” she said.

“We are thrilled. We incorporated this into celebrating the European day of languages,” she said.

This was the first time that the school entered this competition and Ms O’Loughlin is optimistic that this success will be followed by fu- ture accolade.

SPAN e DS ee Eli iael ance secait-leleye speech to Dail Eireann in 1992 sprang to mind. In that speech he famously quoted from Othello when saying, ‘I have done the State some service, and they know it, no more of ere

Simon Moroney could have used the line last Thursday night when he announced his own resignation — he has done GAA in Munster some great service over the past four years, something he is proud of.

“It was a great job to have and I was delighted to serve in the position,’ he

says. “The province is very success- ful on the pitch, but I feel that you have to have a similar standard off the pitch.”

“I’d like to think that I contributed to getting to that. I loved the job and I was the first Clare man in the job and only the sixth Munster Council secretary since the position was cre- ated in 1901.

“I thought I put a very good struc- ture in place. The headquarters wasn’t there when I came into the job and I was the first secretary to move into new headquarters.”

“I set up good systems there — it’s not very exciting stuff, but we have

a good financial system, we have a very good development grant system set up with clear guidelines. I would have said that the Munster Council was very well administered in my time there — that’s the first and fun- damental requirement of a good sec- retary,’ he adds

‘“We’ve been very fortunate that we ve had very little controversy and I would say that the ship was steered quite well over four years. The record will show that.”

“My successor, coming in, I would like to think will certainly have a system and a structure there that will be relatively easy to follow.”

A MAN who stole from a house in SIT VeTLOMPOMWZO OOM ome Bao lesetcm ert been jailed for six months.

Greg Tuite (31), of Herbert Grove, Castletroy View, Limerick, pleaded guilty to stealing a PlayStation, five PlayStation games, six DVDs, a mo- bile phone and €100 cash from a

house at Cronan Lawn, Shannon, on October 14, 2005.

Detective Garda Andrew Hayes told Shannon District Court that the owner of the house where Tuite was renting complained to gardai that Some items had been stolen from the house.

Dt Gda Hayes said as part of the investigation, he viewed CCTV foot-

age from a computer game shop in | Bibeeterale) Gy sen emcieledi ioe ma slom-lere nies selling the PlayStation and two mem- ory cards to another man.

He said the value of the items stolen amounted to €816 and €400 of this was recovered.

Defending solicitor Caitriona Car- mody said her client had been under serious financial pressure and needed

TCO) eLeAs

Judge Joseph Mangan asked was there compensation in court and was told there wasn’t.

The judge refused an application for free legal aid, after he heard Tuite had recently taken up employment.

He imposed a six-month jail term and fixed a bond – including Tuite’s own surety of €5,000; €2,500 of

which was to be lodged – in the event of an appeal.

However, the solicitor said her cli- ent had no savings and was not go- ing to be able to come up with the money.

Judge Mangan replied that the case had been before the court since April 2007. “My order stands,” said the judge.

ONGOING traffic congestion in Sixmilebridge is of a huge concern to locals, who fear that a major ac- cident will happen, unless the issue

is addressed.

That was the message delivered during a debate on a proposal to widen a bridge in the village, at a meeting of Shannon area councillors last week.

Clare County Council Senior Ex- ecutive Engineer Donal Hogan said he has asked the roads section to look at the possibility of widening the bridge.

He said there have been several new residential estates completed in

the area, while a major new commer- cial development is also mooted.

“The width of the bridge would be a major factor in the satisfactory operation of the bridge,’ said Mr Hogan.

“It is a protected structure. That is one of the issues,” he added.

Independent councillor Patricia McCarthy said that traffic conges- tion in Sixmilebridge “is actually dangerous. It is very hard to solve the problem. Maybe we should go for a ring road.”

CUlr Gerry Flynn (Independent) said the council has recognised that a problem exists.

“It would make a lot more sense if money was spent on the southern

Ring Road. I wouldn’t support what you are proposing. I think that’s wrong and would be a stop gap,’ said Cir Flynn.

Cllr John Crowe (FG), who lives in the area, said he had proposed the footbridge but “I don’t mind that be- ing put on hold.”

“I feel there should be an overall job done on it. A few years ago New- market was choked. That’s gone now to Sixmilebridge,” he said.

“If road design are coming in and doing an overall job and if it’s going to take that bit extra time to do it, at least do something that is going to be there for generations to come,” said Saver

Cllr Pat McMahon (FF) said the

problem exists and “will not go away. It will get worse. There could be a major accident”.

Shannon Town Manager Ger Dol- lard said there are issues in Sixmi- lebridge.

“The area engineer iS saying as Sixmilebridge develops, strategic decisions will be taken. There are is- sues which need indepth discussion,” he said.

Referring to suggestions regarding a relief road, he said, “It was devel- oper-led. I don’t think the council has acquired any lands in relation to that road. It is an issue that needs to be addressed. As Sixmilebridge de- velops further, the problem is going to get worse.”

SIMON MORONEY’S demand for the Munster Council to extend it’s full-time administrative capacity came to light in March 2007 in his third annual report to the provincial ruling body.

In presenting his report to delegates at the Munster Convention in Ballyr- after House in Lismore, Moroney outlined his vision for the fture that included the employment of a full- time assistant secretary.

In appealing for backing for this proposal, the Inagh man pointed to the increased pressures placed on him as secretary, which made it nec- essary for the council to come into line with both Leinster and Ulster that had put assistant secretaries in jo tleen

“The biggest single change which occurred in 2006, is the automatic presence of the provincial secretar- ies on the membership of a number of busy national committees — e.g the Competition Control Committee and National Infrastructure and Safety Committee,” he told convention.

“This is a most welcome develop- ment insofar as it enusres that the

provinces are immediately up to date on national issues and party to key decisions which can affect their own provincial activities.

“It allows for harmonisation of fixtures and uniformity in practices across provinces. However, this de- velopment does mean _ necessary absence by the provincial secretary from base for several days every year. There needs to be continuity at base and this challenge must be ad- Ore ethereb

“The staffing level in Munster, sim- ilar to Connacht is considierably less than in both Ulster and Leinster. Too much time as provincial secretary is spent on routine administrative mat- ters.

“The Council as an organisation must develop an inbuilt capacity to deal with changes — e.g. key staff changes over time, with serious disruption. In order to develop this capacity a Deputy Secretary is re- quired.

‘This person will have responsibil- ity for duties assigned to them from time to time — e.g. match arrange- ments, accounts etc., together with the management of affairs of the Council while the secretary is away

in Croke Park or on leave.

“A Deputy Secretary will also pro- vide continuity and perhaps a poten- tial successor when the erm of the secretary ends. It is prudent to plan ahead. I therefore make a specific recommendation, and seek the ap- proval from Convention to proceed immediately with its implementation on the adoption of the report, that the secretary proceed to manage the recruitment and appointment of the deputy secretary at a level consistent with similar posts in both Ulster and Leinster.

“The costs associated with the improvement will be borne by the Council and should not be out of line with that obtaining in the other councils,’ he concluded in his direct appeal to delegates.

However, delegates didn’t back his the secretary’s proposal — a move that set in motion a chain of events that have led to his resignation.

DECLAN Collier, CEO of the Dub- lin Airport Authority, came under strong criticism at the Dail Transport Committee as he defended his deci- sion not to inform the Shannon board of Aer Lingus’s plans to pull the Hea- throw route.

The DAA CEO said that when the Department of Transport contacted him in mid-June about Aer Lingus’s plan, the information was imparted in “strict confidence”’.

“At the time, Aer Lingus was the subject of a hostile takeover bid from Ryanair and it was critical that this

information was dealt with on a con- fidential basis,’ he said.

Clare Deputy Timmy Dooley (FF) asked, “What kind of action would Mr Collier take if he became aware that somebody was giving considera- tion to terminating a service 1f the sit- uation related to an airline other than Aer Lingus to Dublin Airport?”

“If I was given the information in the same circumstances as I received the information on Aer Lingus, I would have treated it in exactly the same way, said a defiant Mr Collier.

Deputy Dooley, however, did not accept the response.

“I do not think it 1s fair to view it

on the basis that the DAA is part of a large State organisation and that a hostile bid was in place. There are lines of demarcation. The Dublin Airport Authority 1s responsible for developing business at the airports. This was a commercial airline in a privatised environment and surely the lines of demarcation would not have put Mr Collier in that position?”’ he said.

Senator Shane Ross accused the DAA of regarding Shannon as its future competition and the news that Aer Lingus was withdrawing the Heathrow flight “was music to the authority’s ears because it would land

Shannon further in the manure”.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Shannon Airport Authority, Pat Shanahan, said Aer Lingus had been offered the same deal as Ryanair as far back as 2004.

Deputy Pat Breen (FG) asked if any incentive was offered after the Rya- nair deal?

According to Mr Shanahan, the air- line was made aware that, on the ba- sis of our restructuring programme in particular, costs at the airport would decrease.

‘Aer Lingus was aware of that but never engaged with us on a detailed level about it,” he said.

IRISH farmers have been told to re- main vigilant following the discov- ery of a fourth swan infected with bird flu in England on Thursday.

IFA National Poultry Committee Chairman Ned Morrissey said last week that reports of the bird flu in England reinforces the need for poultry growers here to maintain the highest levels of vigilance.

‘Producers here have implemented extra measures such as the installa- tion of water chlorination systems to ensure the health status of their flocks is protected,’ he said.

“Flock owners are safeguarding

their domestic flocks by having the highest levels of bio-security meas- ures in place, to avoid any exposure to wild birds.

“Poultry producers meet the high- est veterinary standards at all times, and are particularly vigilant at the moment to protect the health of their flocks.”

The new outbreak has renewed calls for the routine vaccination of all free-range, organic and hobby birds in the UK against the deadly flu virus.

The Elm Farm Organic Research Centre has been campaigning for such a preventive strategy for more than two years. The Defra institute

has a stock of 10 million does of vac- cine but so far they have been offered only for use to save rare birds and collections in zoos.

Richard Sanders, senior policy re- Searcher at the centre, said the latest outbreak at Abbotsbury was now “a trigger point” and gave a definite in- dication the virus was circulating in wild birds.

Sanders has urged Defra to release its stocks of HSNI1 vaccine to start an orderly programme of preventive acer eeeloele

However, a spokesperson from the British Department of Agriculture siad late last week that there was, as yet, no evidence of a large infection.

‘There is currently no evidence to Suggest widespread disease in the wild bird population but enhanced surveillance is taking place and poultry keepers in the area are re- minded to remain vigilant,” said her spokesperson.

Britain’s first case of the strain was in a wild swan found dead in Cel- lardyke in Scotland in 2006 and there have subsequently been outbreaks at poultry farms in eastern England, most recently in November 2007.

The virulent HSN1 strain has killed more than 210 people worldwide since 2003 and millions of birds had either died from it or been killed to prevent its spread.