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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.

CLARE and Limerick prepare for the McGrath Cup final with some striking similiarities. Both took the competition relatively seriously, nei- ther have played county opposition to date and a number of players have featured for both sides to date.

On Monday, the game was ten- tatively scheduled for Cooraclare pending the week’s weather and an- other home game for Clare should give them the advantage they need to take the honours.

The McGrath Cup may not be a sparkling, blue ribband competition on the bigger scale of things, but ask any of the Munster Final winning team of ’92 when they first started to believe they could make an impres-

sion and they’ll bring you back to the little-known All Ireland B title they captured before they won Munster.

That’s why Sunday’s match with Limerick is important. For all the players Frank Doherty has tried out and for all the information he has gathered, a medal from a tourna- ment that has so far thrown Clare up against well prepared — though physically weak — college teams, would not only be reward for a hard winter, it would tilt the confidence settings to the required level entering the league.

For the most part, Clare have been impressive over the past three games. Against UCC in Miltown, they start- ed well and kept the lead throughout the hour and in fact, they’ve never trailed a team in this competition.

Against LIT in the quarter-final they continued their composed, hun- ery attitude and strolled home in the second half. The thing is, they’ve yet to be put to the test late in a game. Should Limerick provide that test and should Clare come through it, then the signs are good for the league.

At the very least, Limerick will bring an added physical challenge for Clare. So far, Limerick have been highly experimental in their ap- proach to the competition but their forwards will have more consistent quality than anything Clare have come up against in 2008.

Against LIT in last weekend’s semi final, their full-forward line of Ger Collins, Ian Ryan and Johnny Mur- phy all impressed.

Clare, last Sunday, were caught

once or twice with swift moves through the centre. Gordon Kelly at centre-back may not the most physi- cally imposing of players, but he is Clare’s most consistent defender. His reading of the game is superb and he broke up several CIT attacks. The feeling here is that he will grow into the position.

The pattern of Clare’s play has now developed. Short at the back and long once it reaches midfield. With Frank O’Dea’’s effective distribution it’s a decent approach. And inside, there are options. With their height, Timmy Ryan and Colm Dillon pro- vide depth and width, though it now looks like a straight choice between the two with Ryan expected to shade it. In the corner, David Tubridy has been exceptional and the second

corner needs to be filled. Elsewhere, David Russell will be accommodat- ed and can fill a number of positions and Doherty is now beginning to see the pieces click.

Expect Sunday’s starting line up to be Clare’s strongest to date, though they are expected to be without a player or two. With Garry Brennan, Greg Lyons and John Hayes all due back for the league, competition for places is developing.

Mickey Ned O’Sullivan has already stated that Limerick are interested in taking the McGrath Cup across the Shannon. They won’t do that, but they’ll provide the required chal- lenge for Clare who next week will have Carlow on their minds.

A DUBLIN man who imported a haul of cannabis resin from Brus- sels, via Shannon airport, to pay off a drug debt has been jailed for four years.

Paul Hand (22), from Malahide in Dublin, admitted possession of drugs with a market value of €13,000 or more.

He was caught with cannabis resin, valued at €21,000, at Shannon air- port, on August 28, 2006.

Ennis Circuit Court heard yester- day that Hand had flown to Brussels on August 25 that year. On his return three days later, he was apprehended by Customs and when his suitcase was searched, the drugs were found.

The court heard that his own drug habit cost him up to €500 per week and he had imported the drugs to pay off a debt.

Hand’s barrister David Sutton, SC, said the accused had co-operated fully with gardai and had expressed remorse. He had since given up drugs, he said.

He pleaded guilty to the charge, which he said was at the lower end of the scale in terms of value.

He said it did seem to be a very “foolish enterprise” carried out for another individual and his client had

been naive.

Judge Carroll Moran said the im- portation of drugs was a serious mat- ter.

“Even though the value is small and the illicit drug is cannabis resin, which is not as poisonous as other substances, it’s still a Misuse of Drugs Offence,’ said the judge.

“You have to be living on another planet not to know that the legisla- ture expects and demands heavy sen- tences (for drugs offences),” he said.

The judge told Hand that investigat- ing Garda Michelle Holian had been fair to him and said “I hope you are appreciative of that.”

Noting that the accused was a pleasant individual, the judge said, “It is very difficult to send such a man to prison,’ and imposed a four- year term.

THE JESUIT COMMUNITY has been saddened by the passing of a much loved Ennis colleague.

Phillip O’Keefe spent most of his life as an SJ in Africa and came home just weeks before his recent olor hdee

He worked with his community in Mazabuca in South Africa, returning to Ennis to see his family every three to four years.

He was a student in Clongowes Wood before entering the Society in

1963 at the age of 17.

He studied Philosophy and Theol- ogy in Milltown Park, and was or- dained in 1975. Though Fr Phillip entered the Irish Jesuits, he subse- quently transferred to the Zambian province.

He worked at Maamba Catholic Church, Maamba and also St. Mary’s Parish, Monze.

His most recent appointment was as Superior and parish priest of Na- kambala Catholic Church, Parish of St Paul, Mazabuka, Zambia.

He was a keen golfer and wrote

little religious instructional books for the African children he worked wel80

At his funeral, Mass in Milltown Park, ex Jesuit Provincial, Fr Colm Brophy, paid tribute to Fr Phillip and his faith. He said that Fr Phillip, normally a shy man who didn’t like the limelight, “is awe-struck today, lying here listening to us, with what- ever ears death has, to find himself the root and centre of an enormous number of conversations of people who knew him. People in Zambia who admired and respected him,

people in Zambia who loved him.

Friends who are no longer in Zam- bia, many who are here. His cher- ished Jesuit family and his treasured own flesh and blood”.

He added that Fr Phillip was “very honest with himself” and had a “wry sense of humour which didn’t desert him, even at the end.

Fr Philip passed away peacefull in St. Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin aged 62.

He is survived by his brothers, Dan Rory, William and David and his twin sister, Molly.

THERE are now almost double the number of holiday homes in Kilkee to homes used in the resort on a per- manent basis.

In statistics cited by Clare County Council in refusing to allow a por- tion of 64 new homes be used as holiday homes, the local authority points out that there are now just un- der 1,000 holiday homes in the west Clare seaside resort.

According to figures secured from the Central Statistics Office (CSO),

there are now 996 holiday homes in Kilkee representing 83 per cent more homes that the 544 permanent holiday homes in Kilkee.

The council points out that 67 per cent of homes in Kilkee are unoc- cupied. Last year, Keelgrove Con- struction secured planning permis- sion for 64 homes in the resort.

However, the council inserted a condition that the homes be used only for permanent occupation in response to the high percentage of holiday homes already in Kilkee.

In response, Keelgrove lodged a

fresh application seeking to modify the planning permission so that a percentage of the homes can be used as holiday homes.

Consultants for Keelgrove Con- struction Ltd argued that the clause insisting that the homes be for per- manent occupancy is not supported in the West Clare Local Area Plan.

The consultants argue that if the council applies the permanent oc- cupancy clause to all future housing in Kilkee, “then the plan is failing to provide for a key sector of the housing and tourism market and

this could adversely impact on the economy of the town”.

The developers argue that “in the interest of fairness and equality, only a percentage of the residen- tial units within the development should be restricted to permanent occupancy — similar to the concept of providing social and affordable jaLO)UESS EO Toa

However, in the planner’s report, the council cited an An Bord Pleana- la inspector’s report on a previous application for holiday homes.

The report stated that “having

visited Kilkee on June 2, albeit mid-week, it was starkly evident the extent of holiday home develop- ment present in the town and on its fringes and its underutilisation”.

The council planner recommended “that this development proposal be refused as it would further contrib- ute to the loss of community, lack of housing choice for permanent residents in Kilkee and lead to an unsustainable demand for all year round services and would therefore materially contravene an objective in a local area plan for the area.”

THE chairman of the Shannon Air- port Authority (SAA), Pat Shanahan is expected to advance the case for an independent Shannon Aijrport when he appears before a high level Oireachtas Committee tomorrow.

Mr Shanahan’s appearance before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport on Wednesday follows on the SAA lodging with the DAA the 10-year business plan for an inde- pendent Shannon Airport.

Mr Shanahan resigned from his role as executive chairman of the SAA last October in protest at the failure of the DAA to inform the SAA of Aer Lingus proposals to transfer the Heathrow slots to Belfast.

Remaining as chairman, Mr Shana- han said that he would concentrate all his energies in securing autonomy for Shannon.

The State Airports Act 2004 envis- ages Shannon having full financial independence.

However, talks on a €36 million restructuring deal that went on for over 18 months were only complete last year involving the voluntary re- dundancy of 200 workers.

The restructuring plan allowed the SAA to formally lodge the business plan with the DAA last November.

The plan envisages Shannon’s €67 million debt being assumed by the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) and an injection of capital for a new US customs clearance facility and works to the airfield and other infra- Seg eCel ab cen

The business plan envisages just 20 per cent of the current level of US troop movements through the air- port.

Clare TD, Timmy Dooley (FF) is a member of the committee and said yesterday that he is looking forward to the SAA’s proposals being put for- ward in a very public way before the Loynabasblaneron

He said: “The critical focus will be on the business plan.”

CONCERNS for the safety of chil- dren going to school in Parteen have prompted a local councillor to call for agreement from lorry drivers to change traffic movements.

Councillor Cathal Crowe learned for himself what peril children are in going to and from school when he joined Parteen National School as a teacher this year.

“This is the only place in Parteen

where there’s no footpath and it’s a road that is used by trucks serving several companies in Parteen. We talk all the time about childhood obesity and encouraging children to walk and take exercise but it’s just not safe for them to walk on this road,” the councillor said.

Apart from the immediate danger to children. Cars meeting trucks find they have no room to pass each other and at school drop off and collection times, this brings other problems and

Cro ue

“Parents are entitled to get their children to school in safety. And at school times, there can be hold ups anywhere on this road between the school and Larkin’s Cross. The long- term solution is to widen the road but in the meantime, there are things that can be done to make the road safer.”

At a meeting of the Killaloe Area Committee of the council today, Cllr Crow plans to ask the director of services to put a traffic management

plan in place to limit the movement of heavy goods vehicles in both di- rections and to get agreement with all concerned to finance passing bays so that trucks and cars can safely pass each other.

“When the quarries were given planning permission, it was a condi- tion that they put passing bays on the roads. That is what is needed here in the short term, along with restric- tions on two-way traffic,’ Cllr Crowe said.

AS planning permission for a new hospital for the mid-west was lodged this week, a Clare County Council- lor was calling for work to begin on Ennis General Hospital, which has al- ready received planning permission.

Fianna Fail Cllr Bill Chambers, who is also one of Clare’s four rep- resentatives on the HSE Forum West, said that in order for work to progress, the long overdue review of acute health services in the mid-west region must be published now.

The Cooraclare man said the so- called Teamwork Report needs to be in the public domain so people can object to parts of it they disagree with and get on with securing acute health services for the people of Clare. It 1s widely believed that the report will suggest the closure of 24 hour A and E at the county’s hospital.

Meanwhile, a private company maintains that it can have a state-of- the-art hospital built on the grounds of the Mid-West Regional Hospital Limerick within 30 months of the start date.

The Beacon Medical Group (BMG) applied for planning permission to construct a co-located hospital on the grounds of the public hospital on Thursday. Plans for the €250 million hospital comprise 175 single rooms

with eight CCU (critical care) beds, six operating theatres, ambulatory surgery and full diagnostics incorpo- rating some €24.7 million worth of new generation equipment.

The hospital will mirror the case- mix of the public hospital, as all spe- cialities catered for in the public hos- pital will also be catered for in the co-located hospital – both medical and surgical, with the exception of national specialities. As recommend- ed by the SARI Report 2005, which made recommendations for infection control in hospitals, all rooms will be single occupancy, each with its own en-suite facility.

BMG is seeking the planning per- mission under the controversial Co- located Private Hospitals Project.

The project, which the Government claimed would free up additional beds for public patients in public hospitals, will see privately operated hospitals for the provision of health care to public and private patients on the grounds of public hospitals.

The new co-located hospitals will allow for 24/7 admission from the public hospital, the public Emergen- cy Department (ED), primary care centres and through GP referrals.

Critics of the policy have claimed, however, that this policy will further increase the divide in our two-tier health system.

NINETY-YEAR old Tom Casey from Sixmilebridge loaded the first piece of luggage on to the first Shan- non Heathrow flight fifty years ago.

Tom – who worked even before that laying drains on the site where the airport was to be built – was in Shan- non on Sunday to say goodbye to the Heathrow slots.

“It’s a very sad day but this airport could never close,’ an emotional

Tom said.

Among passengers checking in for the last flight, feelings were also run- uubereaseuhcaaw

Sharon McGann from London was a regular traveller on the route.

“Tm from Gort originally. I like to come home as often as I can. My fa- ther was ill recently and at the age my parents are, I want to be at home as much as possible. I live ten min- utes from Heathrow so it was very handy. I don’t know how often I’ll be

able to make it now,” she said.

Peggy Owers from Hampshire has a house in Clare and flies regularly. “It’s disgusting the flight is always fully subscribed. TV’ fly to Dublin now and travel down but I won’t fly Aer Lingus.”

Aideen Goggin from Shannon was flying out to Heathrow but will have to return from another airport. “And Pll have to stay an extra day. The course I’m doing finishes Friday but I can’t get a flight till Saturday.”

Bernadette Marren for London flew regularly to visit relatives in Clare and the west.

‘This is cutting off the west of Ire- land for everyone. Aer Lingus must have have got loads of money to move to Belfast but they shouldn’t have been allowed to leave Shannon Stranded,” she said.

Theresa and Tom Madden from North Tipperary say the loss of the flight means many lost family days.

Tom has to travel on business and

connect to a flight from Heathrow several times a month.

“IT could fly from here late Sunday or even early Monday – now I’II have to add the most of two days travel- ling to every trip,’ he said.

Thersa is angry that the move will mean more time away for Tom.

“Sundays are important days when you have small children – weekends are important. This is robbing us of time with our children growing up,” ORO KeKy Mr HUCe